Cultivating Conversation

Posted on Mon Oct 31st, 2022 @ 10:01am by Corporal Briar McKinnon (Bailey) & Sergeant Trent Busby (Kosugi)

Mission: The Goddess
Location: Hydroponics area
2724 words - 5.4 OF Standard Post Measure

From the messhall Trent led Briar towards the hydroponics area. It looked like the place had been repaired after what had happened earlier. "Figured we'd have a better talk here amongst the greenery instead of people just ogling you." Trent stated. "Besides this is one of my favorite spots upon a ship if they have this sort of set up." looking around and finding a couple of stools to sit upon. "The air is much better here than anywhere else." giving a bit of a smile.

"I didn't even know this area existed to be honest, but the air is definitely nicer in here." Briar stared in amazement at their surroundings as she took a stool next to him, "And don't get too jealous, I don't think red is your colour, haha," she gave him a flirty smile back.

"Now hold on, why would i be jealous? I would be green with envy not red. I don't own you and haven't laid claim on you." Trent paused "Son of a gun, my ears went red didn't they. I need to watch out for you. You are dangerous like TnT." Trent rubbing the back of his head chuckling. He then looked around, "And yes, this place is lovely."

"At least I'm not going to blow up in your face unless you really piss me off." Briar suddenly wondered why he was single. "So I feel like we've covered quite a few topics so far, what do you want to know or do?"

"Yes we've covered quite a bit in just a small amount of time. Have no clue what can happen, at least we are not mortal enemies right off the bat. Oh hey a few questions I've not asked. Favorite foods, favorite colors. Music you like that sort of thing." Trent deciding to ask those.

"I have three favourite colours: orange, green and a really nice dark purple, and I absolutely love sparkly gemstones as well, although I don't like diamonds." Briar shifted in the seat and crossed her ankles in a relaxed position. "And I do enjoy a good BBQ with chicken and steak."

"Ohh those are great, and you are making my mouth water. " Trent said, with a grin. "Its been way too long, well in my own mind since I've had a good bbq. " Trent picked up his lemonade and took a drink of it, trying to take his mind off of a bbq. It wasn't working, this was due to him liking lemonade on a hot summer day, with bbq.

"Okay any other questions you'd like to ask?" Trent directing this Q and A back to Briar.

"Ooooh, um, I dunno." she shrugged in response. "My brother Kaleb, who's currently stationed at Starfleet HQ, does a top notch barbeque that no one has been able to beat. He's like competition quality, he's that good. But anyway, questions! Do you have any scars or tattoos, and if so, what are the meanings behind them? Or are you against them?"

Trent looked at Briar for a few moments, then he spoke, "I've got a scar on my left hand where I had used a dull axe when chopping wood. " showing her the scar which looked almost like a check mark. "Mom had to put stitches in my finger. We went out camping old style. No dermal regenerator, old school with a first aid kit. She wanted me and my siblings to know how to take care of ourselves and not be so dependent on the technological wonders of modern day medicine." Trent gave a smile. "It hurt yes but I wear that scar with honor. I call it the check point, as in reminding me that I can be strong." Flexing his hand. "And well it does make for quite a conversation starter if a woman is into scars. I also have a tattoo got one with my dad's name on it. Just a memorial to him. Left shoulder, its being covered right now, by my uniform."

"Ah, nice. There's nothing like the old school way of doing things sometimes." Briar nodded in response and understanding. She too had the memorial tattoos, "I've only got one major scar," She pointed to the one on her cheek, "And that's a product of my brother throwing a rock at me when we were kids. And only two small tattoos on my forearms, also in memorial." Thankfully her sleeves could be rolled up to show them.

Trent reached out to take a look at the forearms, "Who are the memorial tattoos for?" the marine trying to make out the writing. "And that is definitely an ouch with the scar there."

She noted the light touch he had and looked down, "The one on the left was for my twin brother Reagan who passed in 2394, and the other one is for Andy." She thought they were nice subtle tributes, and remembered that Reagan had had her initials with a queens crown in the same spot on his arm. "Andy's last name was Foxwell and he liked daisies, hence the pictures next to it, and Reagan means 'royal' so I got a crown for him and he had my initials with a matching crown too."

"Those are great memorials." Trent replied, letting go of her arms. "I don't know how I'd react if my siblings died, would probably devastate me as we are fairly close. And having a twin die, isn't that a bit difficult?"

She didn't know how to respond to that question without pausing for a long minute, "It's like.. um, I can't explain it, I'm sorry. There's just not enough words to describe it." She looked at him and put on a kind of smile.

"I had heard that if you lose a twin, its like losing a part of yourself, an irreplacible part." Trent said quietly. "Anyway, what would be your favorite flower? Do you have a preference?"

Briar smiled at the question, "Does this mean next shoreleave I'm going to get flowers from you if I tell you?" Then she laughed and stood up, looking from him to her surroundings and taking in the greenery while stretching her legs, "I actually don't have a favourite type of flower, but it would probably be peonies. I'm not sure if you're familiar with what they look like at all, but they're big kind of round fluffy-looking flowers that have tonnes of petals and are most commonly light pink."

"I really am not familiar with those, you'll have to show me some images of them." Trent looking at Briar apologetically. "I wasn't one to get into learning the types of flowers there are out there. I just know that ladies like roses, and some other flowers. Its nice gesture to let a woman know you are interested in them or make them smile, or brighten their day. That's what my mother told me a few years back."

"They're basically oversized roses with a lot of petals, haha. But yeah, I can definitely show you some pictures of them at a later stage, and I think it's sweet that your mother says that, mine does too. She sounds like a lovely woman." Came the soft reply from Briar.

"Yeah she's great, I love her a lot. Heaven forbid anyone gets her angry." giving a bit of a grimace. " Mom, you don't want to deal with her when she is really pissed off. I don't care how much taller I am than she is, that woman has no problem in taking down a man twice her size." Trent gave a sheepish grin. "I got too big for my britches gave her some flak and mom put me to the floor rather quickly. Come to find out, Dad had taught her a thing or two about fighting. That was the first and only time I did that to her. After that, I made certain not to cross her again."

Briar couldn't help but let out a laugh at the thought of him getting owned by his mother. "It's definitely always a surprise when it's the ones you least expect to have the most fight in them." She sat back up on the chair next to him. "My parents are the complete opposite: my mother is the quiet one who I don't think I've ever seen get overly angry, even when one of my brothers would start something, and it's my father who's loud and brash but has a heart of gold for a Marine."

"Sounds like you've got great parents." Trent said. He was feeling a wave of wistfulness, and maybe a touch of home sickness. Even the hardened Marines can get that feeling of wanting to touch base with home. He looked at Briar not knowing what else they could talk about, things were definitely going into a strange direction. And it definitely looked like he and Briar were bonding on a friendly level which is a good thing, and could also be a bad thing.

Trent rose from his seat, and stretched his back. "Talking about parents, family and such, I probably should go get in touch with my mom. She said she had something she wanted to talk with me about. Maybe she is going to reveal to me her secret love interest of which I have a good idea who it is, and I approve of the choice." Trent flashing a smile.

"Here's to hoping that's exactly what it is!" Briar returned the smile and realised she probably should do the same and contact her own family, but they could wait a little longer. "Why does it feel like we've just overshared everything with each other on a first meeting?"

"its just how things flowed, Briar. There are times you meet someone that you just click with on some level, now if the level goes any deeper than what it is, at a certain point, then it happens. Otherwise, we're going to be living and breathing in the same air for a bit unless any of the marines end up getting transferred, or something happens to any of us out in the field. And this crazy family that we call marines, its good to have a connection there. It may open things up for some pain but, the connection that we may end up having will be good, I think in the long run."

"Yeah, I agree with that." She turned to start walking, "By the way, you do realise that Walken sent me to talk to you as my direct superior, but you got there first, right?" She had a playful grin on her face.

Trent was dumbfounded on that one, "You're not kidding me are you? " scratching his head for a moment "i was just working on getting to know the marines here. How about that." he started laughing his laugh coming from deep in his chest. "Talk about timing, right?"

"Perfect timing, if I don't say so myself." Briar replied. She liked seeing people smile when they were around her, and she had made it her mission to make people happy even though they were mostly battle-hardened Marines who'd seen a thing or two in their time.

"If you don't watch it you're going to enchant a few of the Marines. And maybe others who are not marines. Just be careful where you use that dazzling smile of yours. We may have to assign you some bodyguards." Trent giving a teasing smile. "You maybe our secret weapon, and cause others to fall at your feet."

That comment made Briar blush a deep red and her voice falter a bit, "I guess I'll be doing something right then, won't I? I've got all the charisma in the world and I know exactly where to use it." She didn't care that much about the unwanted attention, as long as there wasn't unwanted advances that came with it. "And you, sir, are going to get yourself into trouble if you keep up that flirty tone too.."

Trent raised an eyebrow at that. "Too much? Guess I'll have to put my big guns away as well. Deal?" he laughed. "I'm a heartbreaker, and I've got to watch myself, so not a good man for someone to end up with." giving her a wink. "I'll be going some place where it is very hot, if I don't watch out."

"Are you sure about that? Not being good enough for someone to end up with? But yes, I do believe we have a deal." Briar smirked and stuck out her hand for a shake to confirm the agreement. She wasn't going to rule him out as a possibility in the future. "Hell isn't a bad place to be, I've heard."

Trent gave a bit of a smirk as he shook Briar's hand. " Yup and I'd be either driving the bus down below or be flying the rocket ship to Hell. Or on the express elevator to the lowest levels. At any rate its time to get to work and you get to know the others. Or even meet other crew on this ship."

"So here's the question I have to ask you, Trent." Briar turned and faced him with a daring look in her eyes, "Who's going to get there first? Are we going to take bets on this?" He was right that she did need to meet some other people as she'd only met him and Walken, not that they were bad or anything, but little Miss Sunshine needed to be a social butterfly.

"Nah we don't need to make a bet, Briar." Trent answering pretty quick. "Just keep that pure flame a burning, and don't let anyone put it out. Sometimes a person who has that sort of flame will be hard pressed to keep it burning brightly. Just what ever happens keep that spirit of hope, and positive in your heart. And if it does dim slightly, there will be those willing to bring that flame back up again."

"Oh don't you worry about me: I don't let anyone dull this flame." Briar nodded in agreement, "Many have tried, but all have failed." She wasn't about to let him know about a couple of incidents that had happened in the past because they were stories for a different day and time. "I'd say good luck if you try to though!"

Trent stopped abruptly and turned towards Briar placing his hands upon her shoulders locking gazes with her. "One thing I will promise you, I will never, ever, try to put that flame of brightness you have, out. I won't cross that line as that will most definitely send me to Hell faster than my thoughts." he had a really serious expression in his eyes, Trent's voice almost a growl. "My mother would kill me, as well as my sister. And I hope and pray I do not slip to the very depths of depravity to even attempt such." Trent removed his hands from her shoulders.

Briars mismatched eyes widened as she locked them with his, and for once she didn't have a comeback or anything to say. Instead, she just stood there and took in what he said, her mouth opening and closing while staying silent.

Trent took one more look at Briar, was going to say something else when he heard his combadge chirp. "Sergeant Busby here."

"Sarge, you're almost late for a meeting." came the reply.

Trent winced, he had forgotten a meeting that was coming up. "Thank you, I'll be on my way, Busby out."

"Well looks like our conversation has come to an end, thanks for the chat, Corporal McKinnon." Trent going into business mode. It was as if a switch had been flipped and him going into a slight change. He wheeled around to head out the door then paused to look back at Briar. "I really meant what I said, Briar. And I'll see you around." with that he stepped out of the hydroponics area, the door closing behind him, cutting him off from her view.

Briar just looked in disbelief at what had just transpired within the space of a minute and just stared at the now closed doors before saying, "What the.." and walking out and back to the barracks to unpack herself.

OFF