Into the Corner Pocket

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 5:43am by Cailus Griffin & Commander Owen Nash
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:32pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: The Pool Table, Pandora's Box
Timeline: After "Catching up on Paperwork..."

Having completed his work for the shift, Owen had taken the decision to wind down for a change and not go straight back to his quarters.

With Janet away on SCIS duties and the Pandora now docked safely at Paradise Station, he decided to take some time to get caught up with Cailus. It had been quite a while since they had shared a conversation over a game of pool and with the recent issues they had dealt with, he wanted to make sure he was ok...as best you could be.

=/\= "Nash to Griffin, I've got a pool table waiting with a game ready to go, if you're free for a while?" =/\= he offered before tapping his combadge after sending the comm. It never normally took the Chief Security officer long to either respond or to just arrive with impeccable timing.

Tonight, however, proved to be the exception. A good thirty seconds passed before a response came, and Cailus, normally so calm and collected, sounded distinctly exasperated and harried.

=/\=Griffin here. That's a good idea, Commander. I'll just need to...Aoife, come on now, that's quite enough of that. Yes, you heard me little one. Put that down, now, it's time to eat.=/\=

Owen's combadge made an odd sound then, going quiet for a full minute before Cailus' deep voice returned, now sounding weary. "Apologies, Commander. I should be down in a few minutes if you don't mind me...Aoife, no, the food goes in your mouth, not on your shirt. You know better than this. I'll be down there in about ten minutes, Owen, if you don't mind waiting. I need to wait for Shae to come home first.=/\=

Owen couldn't help but smile as he realised how much fun Cailus was having with Aoife. =/\= No worries, I'll have the table warmed up for you, I'm in no rush =/\=

After sending his response, he racked up the table and set the balls in the correct order. Understanding that Cailus would be a little while, he removed the triangle and then hit the cue ball hard, scattering the remaining colours and stripes across the table.

It was a good few minutes before, as promised, Cailus arrived, strolling in from the door that led to the Box, a brimming beer in hand. The security chief was clearly inclined to be relaxed tonight, having eschewed his uniform for a comfortable blue shirt and pants.

"Damn good idea to do this, Owen," Cailus said as he set his beer down on a table, grabbing a cue. "It's been a while."

"Tell me about it," Owen agreed. He stood up from the table as he walked over to shake Cailus' hand good and firmly. He'd missed spending some time with his friend after recent events and was in no doubt they both needed a break.

"I wanted to take the time to catch up after the events over recent weeks, its been too damn busy and it's been too damn miserable at times, I figured a break might help us both for a bit," he explained. Owen re-racked the balls in the triangle and then offered the cue to Cailus.

"Care to break?" he asked.

Accepting the cue, Cailus moved around the table, bent down and did just that, sending the balls flying. He watched one ball teetering on the edge of a pocket, then frowned when the ball refused to slip in.

"You're right about us being busy," he grumbled. "I forgot how much of a bureaucratic nightmare it is to manage liberty at a foreign port. If it wasn't for Sandoval's people helping with the legal jargon and liaising, I'd never leave my office. I've no idea how you and the captain are managing your share of the paperwork." Cailus picked up his syntheholic beer from one of the side tables, taking a deeply satisfying sip. "Hell, Shae is even busier than me nowadays, doing all that analysis on the Indigo Sky. She'll probably get a promotion out of that paper when she's done, maybe even a publication in a major journal back home."

Owen smiled as he leaned in to take a shot and slowly potted a stripe into a nearby pocket. "Trust me, paperwork is a bitch in any role," he answered before lining up his next shot. "However, I'm glad I don't have to be Captain again... That brings so much more paperwork with it than being the XO."

Taking aim, he hit the cue ball too hard and his shot missed the nearby pocket, bouncing off the cushion. "As for Shae, she deserves a promotion for her work... The Indigo Sky was a difficult one to work out."

"Just try organising an intergalactic wedding," Cailus grumbled as he lined up a shot. He slammed the ball in with powerful pizazz, then another in quick succession, before missing a tricky long pot to a corner. "The whole thing is starting to drive us mad, and I've done this three times already. Speaking of which, Shae's mother has forbidden dress whites. You'll need a proper tuxedo, or whatever your preference of formal attire is."

Owen looked down at his uniform and smiled. "It's been years since I've worn a proper tuxedo and not dress whites...that will make a nice change," he commented as he lined up his next shot and potted the ball easily from his angle.

"I'll have to make sure its a good fit mind you, but its good to turn up at these functions not looking so... Starfleet," he chuckled. He looked up at his friend after missing his next shot. "If there is anything I can do to help, just ask. It goes without saying that you'll both get all the time you need," he offered.

Cailus nodded as he took a drink, watching as Owen lined up a shot. "I...hell, we appreciate that. And we'll probably use you, too. One thing I've learned from my previous weddings is to ask for help like the greediest Ferengi." He paused, frowning. "This had damn well better be my last wedding. Two with Harriet, now two with Shae...it's getting repetitive." Considering Owen for a moment, he added, "How about you? I haven't heard from Glyndar in months, and SCIS won't give an answer on whether we'll be getting an agent afloat again. Having her onboard made my job a lot easier."

The mention of Janet meant that Owen missed his next shot and he quietly cursed himself for it. Just hearing her name at the moment almost distracted him nowadays. Owen stood up before answering.

"That's a very good question and I'm glad that I'm not the only one to ask it," he answered, standing straight before taking a deep sip of his drink. "I wish I knew, is my answer."

He walked around to meet Cailus at the other end of the table. "I'll be honest, I haven't heard from Janet in a long while...but whilst I know she's a SCIS agent, I also know that they have to report in regularly, even if they are undercover." Owen looked Cailus in the eye.

"I'm worried. I don't know where she is and my efforts aren't getting a response either. It's taking all of my efforts somedays not to take a Runabout at maximum warp to SCIS headquarters and demand some answers the good old fashioned way," Owen finished. He'd been holding this for a while and he wanted to tell someone about it.

Looking his friend in the eye, Cailus nodded grimly, the game abandoned for the moment. "You have friends here," he said with quiet intensity, "and family with Kaleri. If you want to go to SCIS HQ to confirm that she's alright, you won't need a runabout. We'll take the whole damned ship, and to hell with the consequences." As ridiculous as the words were, Cailus' voice was full of grave seriousness.

Owen placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, knowing that if that's what it took to find out what as going on, they would. "Thank you, recently with everything that's going on, I've been more the XO and less of Owen," he explained. "Hearing that means a lot to me, especially now when we seem to be headed into another storm here at Paradise station."

"Hell of a storm," Cailus replied gruffly as he stepped to the side, picked up his beer from the side table and took a hearty swig. He scowled as Owen smashed in a difficult long pot into a corner pocket. "Looks like you still have your edge. Good. A sharp XO is exactly what we need right now." As Owen slotted in two more pots in succession, Cailus continued with the same gruff tone, "Janet will probably have all sorts of stories for you when she's back in contact. All SCIS agents do when aboard. Hell, did I ever tell you about an SCIS agent I met in a club on Sherman's Planet. He was wearing a bikini at the time, and he was in a drinking contest with some Klingons and my crewmates..."