Belated Apologies, Part III
Posted on Mon Jun 15th, 2026 @ 10:59pm by Ensign Tenzi Sh'reyva & Josef Forstinger & Aislinn Finnegan
1,739 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Shuttle Engineering / Mechanics Lab, Deck 28
Timeline: MD012, 1015 Hours
Continued From: Belated Apologies, Part II
"Josef dear," she said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for coming all the way down here to apologize. It was very sweet. But unless you know how to disassemble a thruster assembly and recalibrate an ODN line, we'll have to talk later."
She offered him a pleading expression while her antennae seemed to wave slightly, hoping he would take the hint.
Tenzi gave his shoulder a light squeeze before letting go, already half turning toward the shuttlecraft.
"But--" she added, throwing a look back over her shoulder, "I'm telling you not to vanish completely."
"Right-uh-" Josef had been a bit dumbfounded how easy she had accepted his apology and also that she called him sweet. Uncharacteristically from what she had seen earlier he bumbled over his words a little.
"Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt your work--I was going to buy you lunch if you had still been mad--I'll leave you to your spaceship thingy." He seemed to finally be leaving but with his totally not lacking social skills, and he just implied asking her out?
Tenzi felt her cheeks flush slightly as she popped the last microspanner into her toolkit. She paused and turned to face Josef fully now.
"Two things," she said, her lips coming to a faint grin. "One: the spaceship thingy is a multi-day endeavour. Two: lunch is free here." She turned away from him and was about to close her kit when she spun around again.
"Three things, actually."
Right, free lunch. Plus, he was broke, well, money doesnt really exist anymore either. So, he wasn't or was both at the same time? "Okay--well, Miss Bachelor's Degree, I would've done something, okay?" he teased her, clearly because she was a commissioned officer.
"Three things?" now she got his attention. Having not seen her blush.
Tenzi nodded, her antennae standing straight up, with a slight lean toward him at the tip. "Three: my shift is over in less than an hour. So we can definitely do lunch. What do you say we meet at Maple Leaf Coffee and Pastries on Deck 10?"
Now it was Josef who got slightly flustered. Of course, him and her had bantered a bunch already-hell that was one of the few things he felt like hadn't changed when he woke up-well except she was a woman-and an alien, and not one of his guys. But, this ?
"I-oh,uh, sure !" he accepted it with a uncharacteristically smaller grin, trying to remember in the back of his head just where that place was. He had been to Deck 10 once before.
"Great," Tenzi said, placing her hands on his shoulders. "You head up there now, and I'll join you in about an hour."
"You think its gonna take me an hour to find the place?" he asked, not moving as she placed her hand on his shoulders. They did not tense up surprisingly.
Tenzi smirked at him. "Listen, Sergeant Yesterday," she said playfully, "I think it's miracle you know how to use the turbolift."
He inhaled. Opening his mouth but pausing before he could say anything. Opening his eyes, before finally just responding with "Yeah, fair enough then, Lady Long Legs. Try not to lose your Bachelors Degree on the way." Recipricating her namecalling, he left it at one final tease, before walking out and leaving her to her work.
[Maple Leaf Coffee and Pastries, Deck 10]
Josef was now sat at the Cafe, having freshened up (washing his hands and even the face), dressed in his Sunday best--the exact same clothes as before.
Not that he had any other--or that it was Sunday.
Normally by now, he'd have started smoking. But having been informed that it was "bad' and "dangerous to his health and his surroundings" he had been asked to AT LEAST not smoke in a public setting such as this. Though he was very tempted to at the moment.
Not being left much choice he just went on to observe his surroundings. So many people... it bothered him. He didn't know why--but it did. He looked down at his watch before realizing the batteries had ran out 300 years ago.
When Tenzi arrived, the café was humming in the most Starfleet way imaginable: civilized and quiet. Most of the tables were occupied as she scanned the room--a Bolian ensign in teal laughed loudly at a joke being told by his companions, two officers in command red were arguing about duty assignments like it was life and death, which, to them, it probably was.
She spotted Josef sitting in the middle of it all like a misplaced artifact. It almost appeared as though time had moved on without him.
"Hey, Version One-Point-Oh."
Tenzi was still in uniform with her sleeves rolled to her elbows. Her antennae angled forward the moment she sidled up to his table.
"There you are," she said, sliding into the chair across from him without invitation. "I was starting to think you got lost between Deck 28 and reality."
"Well lookie here, its the jolly blue Giant. Almost did, still better than walking out an airlock on accident--the corridors do look extremely similar though, you have to at least admit that," he joked, smiling as she approached, like having flipped a switch.
"So, take it you're finished swapping out the sparkplugs."
Tenzi smirked. "Yeah, sparkplugs are swapped-out. I also took the liberty of changing the oil in the shuttle."
She looked around and found a small button built into their table. Upon pressing it, a holo-projection of the café's menu appeared in the space between her and Josef. A selection of fine coffees, smoothies, and other beverages in a long line.
"Don't be alarmed, Josef--it's a holographic projection of a menu."
"And I thought it was a Deathray," he played it off, but when the hologram suddenly appeared, he did seem to tense up just a moment out of surprise, before perusing the options. Not used to not seeing a price tag next to things. "Hrm, quite the list. The hell's a Rakta-jino, Ragtaschino?" he played with the pronunciation. Unsure how to say it.
Tenzi's antennae went loose for an instant and then recoiled slowly as she thought how she might explain the drink to Josef.
"Well," she began, pursing her lips. "Are you aware of Klingons?"
What Tenzi seemed to show with her antennas, Josef displayed with his brows, eyes and lips--but most importantly his leg. Whipping it slightly as he furrowed a brow. "Klingon. Wait, Give me a second. I heard that ONE before." He held out his finger like a grade schooler needing more time to answer a math quiz. "They got those ridges, but not like the ones who wear the earrings. Big too. Saw one of them eat... uh, worms."
Tenzi leaned back in her chair a little.
"Yeah, that's them. They also drink things that could strip paint off hull plating." She tapped the floating menu once, and the projection shifted--sliding through options intuitively.
"The raktajino is basically..." she paused, searching for a comparison that wouldn't immediately get her shouted at by a nutritionist. "It's Klingon coffee. Some time ago, an intrepid Klingon decided to grow Earth coffee beans on their homeworld. I'm not sure exactly how it's brewed, but it's strong."
"Alien coffee. Eh, sure. Why not. I could use it," he nodded along while flipping through options. "Been a while since I had real coffee--or pastries for that matter. Even the replicator coffee tastes better than that powder shit they issued us." He explained, gesticulating with his right hand as the other leaned on the table. Talking as if they had shared the experience. Something which he seemed to only now realize, as he followed it up with a question. "What do you usually get anyway? You strike me as one of those American-bagel-in-the-morning-girls-or, just black coffee."
Her gaze narrowed at him, as if his guess missed the mark by a mile while he antennae rigidly pointed in Josef's direction.
"Some men have an annoying habit of trying to peg women," she mused, the smile completely vanished. "Don't be that kind of man, Sergeant Yesteryear." She flipped through the holo-menu quickly, before it settled on an image of Andorian spice bread.
"Here we are," she said with a satisfied lilt to her voice. "It'll be replicated, but the recipe should suffice."
Josef put up his hands a littl, clearly not having wished to upset her-or at least thinking that he did so. "Hey, didn't mean it like that. Just wanted to ask what you like to eat or drink."
(Optional Tag for Tenzi, just wanted to put a response here.)
Tenzi noticed a young human woman making her way to the table.
"Hey guys, what can I get for you?" Aislinn held the inviting smile on her face as she stood poised and ready to take some orders. She hadn't met either of them yet but judging from the Sergeant Yesteryear comment from the Andorian and what Ryan had told her, the man was named something like Joseph or Johann or whatever, and he was rather infamous at the moment.
"If you're stuck on making a choice, I can make a couple of rather good recommendations." She suggested.
Tenzi's antennae relaxed at the sight and sound of the young woman serving them. Her soft green eyes sparkled in the midday lighting of the cafe and not for the first time did Tenzi wonder how humans were lucky to have such a gamut of eye colours.
"My friend here is rather new to the ship," the Andorian engineer said. "Maybe you could steer the poor guy to something that he might like instead of jumping into an exotic dish."
Ensign Tenzi Sh'reyva
Engineering Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of JB Dorsainvil)
Josef Forstinger
Civillian
USS Astrea
Aislinn Finnegan
Cafe Worker
USS Astrea
(NPC of Eirly Andersen)
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