snip

“I only drink the replicated stuff in dire emergencies. I had a coffee maker here before the baby but,” Jessica pursed her lips almost in an expression of a little kid confessing she had stolen a candy bar. There was no reason to lie. The man would see soon enough that the jokes about Jessica hooked up to a coffee IV wasn’t far off the mark. “Let’s just say you can work anything to death with enough usage and the CMO is one lady hell-bent on keeping her crew healthy even if you really do think her methods might kill you,” she shrugged it off. Paige was the best CMO Jessica had ever seen and one of the feistiest. “When the doc said to cut back on the coffee what she really meant was Jessica I am going to help you. Have the baby and in nine months you get it back.” The conversation might have been more imagination then reality Jessica would admit but the point was clear. Twelve to fifteen cups of coffee a day was way past what one should have when you were pregnant so the coffee machine had a sudden death and to this day Jessica never knew why or who.

Nikki made a dismissive gesture when the mention of the CMO came up. He’d not yet met her yet but forewarned is forearmed. And any simple coffee machine could be replicated, or, if need be, fixed. He took a moment to try to fathom what she said. Go off coffee? That’s a fate worse than a lot of things. Again, replicated coffee would not do any damage through that time. “Was it a dire emergency then te replicate coffee fer that time?” What did constitute an ‘emergency’ for her and coffee? It might be a good thing to know.

“No secret and you will find out in due time but I run on coffee. Between the pots, Evie, and replicators” Jessica shuddered a bit, “I am on roughly a 10-12 cup diet and no,” she held up a finger, “it doesn’t make me hyper. Bloodthirsty definitely when I don’t get it but never hyper. If you want something signed and me not know what it is really about, give it to me before my first cup of coffee,” she joked.

“It sounds like this place takes a lot of work,” he observed from her comments. “Understaffed? Undersupplied? Unions?” He refrained from saying ‘underskilled’. Fleet people were trained well and they knew their stuff but they had the business acumen of a tadpole which meant that things didn’t get done with an eye to improve. They ran on ‘duty’ these days as much as ‘caf’ but duty got the job done. It didn’t get the job better.
- Nikki, COO

“Yeah and running on synthecaf would only make it worse,” Jessica said sliding the cup of coffee over the desk towards him. Taking a deep sip she gave him a half-smirk, “So you wanna tell me something about yourself that I am not going to find in the official, flashy, Starfleet file that might redeem yourself after the coffee comment.” He could tell she was being friendly if not a bit playful. The Starfleet files were a joke to her at this point. It was always blah blah blah did this and blah blah blah did that. THe files never summed up an officer like a good old fashioned chat.

Lt. Commander Jessica Teller, XO

Nikki moved in and took the coffee. The mug was warm in his hand and he held it in both hands, dwarfing the cup. The lass was a playful sort. That and terribly passionate about her coffee. He made a mental note that her replicator needed to be serviced twice as regularly to ensure that there was no lack of coffee streaming from there to her veins. Something not in his file. Was wasn’t in his file that he necessarily wanting to tell. “I grew up in space and prefer space to a planet.” Planets were commodities. Something to barter over. He considered his next comment. She shocked him. He needed a tit for tat. “If ye are having trouble with someone and need a little help dealin, I can take care of that problem for ye.” She’d have pegged him as an Iotian by this time. ‘Hits’ were something he was familiar with. Mostly it was economic now but still there was room for the good old fashioned cement overshoes. He gave her a look that was hard to read .. serious or joking?
- Nikki, COO

“So you are a....resourceful man,” Jessica leaned back in her chair with a small smirk. The few years she was arm candy for missions in the intelligence field had taught her the art of creative conversations. Oh I am going to hate myself for liking you this much Jessica thought. Nothing about the man scared her but he did have a certain charm that piqued her interest. Biting her she let out a half laugh. “Word association time. Airlock,” she said and tried to hide the amusement on her face with the coffee cup. She had never met a Lotian before but knew of the race. They were smart, witty, and very loyal to those they valued as a friend. If you weren’t a friend and on their bad side she had heard it was best to sleep with one eye open during sleep overs and one hand on a phaser under your pillow.

Lt. Commander Jessica Teller XO

Resourceful. That was true, he knew. “I’m a fixer, lass,” he said. “I take care of .. problems.” He watched her lean back in her chair and knew she was thinking something. He could wait. Silence tended to bring things out of people. Whatever she was thinking she sure was enjoying it. Was she picturing him without his trousers? He took a sip of his coffee, then another. Black coffee brought on the full taste of it. Many considered it just bitter; many had not had rakdajino or Cardassian capuccino’s. They called it other things but they seemed to distill theirs into an oozing oily concoction. A pregnant pause between ‘time’ and ‘airlock’ had him wondering what it might be. His lips curled up into a smile. “Problem solved,” he replied a moment later. He admitted he was having fun, and however she took the answer it was a peek through the door of his past.
- Nikki

Jessica took a slow sip of her coffee and didn’t care if he saw the smirk on her face. Nikko was trouble and the fact he didn’t hide it made her think of her old friend Gunny. Gunny was more reserved but the hootspah was definitely there and not lurking under the surface. Her mind drifted to his file and tried to match it to the man before her. Nothing jumped out such as prison time or demotions yet this guy did not play on the straight and narrow. She also knew Nikko was the type that already knew as much about her as was available. It wasn’t hard with the tabloids but her gut said he had learned more that she liked to vacation at the beach and hosted a charity event every two weeks. “Aedan Teller,” she threw out the next word. His response would tell her a lot about Nikko.

Lt.Commander Jessica Teller XO