JPL ~ MCPO Caine & Noah Waterhouse ~ "Heard It Through The Grapevine" Part II of III

Posted on Thu Feb 19th, 2015 @ 5:11am by Master Chief Petty Officer Rik Caine

1,881 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: A Spot To Kill

=/\= Continued from Part I =/\=

"Of course he read your jacket," Noah returned, a sly smile tugging at the corner of his lips instead of a trademark grin. "He trusts Pond can take care of herself, but she's still his little girl. He takes an interest, y'see." His eyes skimmed the bottom of his lenses again, and he snorted. "Though, it's really Mum you should be worried about. Dad can meddle with your career, but Mum... well; she's the one who taught Pond how to be the deadly creature she is."

Rik swallowed uncomfortably, he was behind the eight ball and shifted awkwardly in his seat. "From... from what I could tell in that painting of yours... equally scary and damn impressive" he said after a moment trying to get his thoughts out. "And your mother knows her 20's Earth hooch, I'm impressed" he paused again "it's a mighty fine hat" he took it off to admire it once more before picking up the white lip-stained card and tucking it into the band "from the sweetest and most beautiful dame I've had the pleasure to lay my peepers on" he finished forgetting who he was talking to momentarily lost in the thought of Amelia.

Noah chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "He really is dizzy for the dame," he said, almost as if he was talking to someone.

Rik cocked his head sideways like a child listening outside a door they weren't supposed to. Too many inconsistencies, private moments shared with no one visible in the room. Off the cuff comments not related to the narrative of their conversation. Like the cogs in a watch ticking away Rik's investigatory mind kicked into gear. His brow lowered slightly in concentration as he tried to hear the muffled sound of an audio device. Nothing. He glanced over the pirate sat before him before landing on his face. Eyes up and down like a yo-yo in a school yard. Goggles. Like having a light switch pulled on Rik allowed a small smile to creep across his face as the puzzle finally fell into place. "I sure hope you can tell the folks that I'm no tomcat foolin' around - I suspect they're making their own minds up literally as we chin huh?" he said inclining his head and raising his glass by way of a greeting in case that thing had a camera built in.

"I was wondering when you'd catch on," Noah returned with a chuckle, his eyes dropping to the bottom of the lenses again. "Mum says thank you, she's getting dinner at Valanna's next time she and Dad are on Earth. Dad thought you'd take longer to catch on... but either your service record doesn't give you enough credit, or he was giving me too much."

Rik took a sip from his glass and set it back down on the desk. "What can I say; Starfleet jackets are often littered with nonsense and diatribe. Wanna test the mettle of a joe? Watch him go to town on a hood and elbow him into the slammer after twelve hours solid in an interview room" he commented taking another swig of the smooth whiskey he had been so graciously provided. Rik chuckled at the Valanna's comment. He knew of it, but had never been himself. "I hear it's good - happy to oblige" he quipped raising his glass to the goggles again.

"Dad's translated a few service records for me, he's usually good at sorting out the reality behind the fleet bull," Noah insisted with a shrug. "Though maybe it's just parlor tricks because he knows the people in question." His eyes dropped to the bottom of his lenses again, and he smirked. "Mum says that made Dad squirm. Do you suppose I was near to the mark?"

Rik chuckled "Well I would imagine he'd need a special brand of universal translator for that one bo". Letting the smile play over his lips a little longer he reached for the glass and took another sip of the nectar contained within. Like a bee to pollen Rik was hooked on the hooch. "He should consider himself a lucky joe - you could be stepping him into a dive in Tenderloin for gagh so bad it'll make ya heave a full sundown later. He's got it lucky, classy joint is Valanna's from what I hear". He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as he shook his head slightly and take another swig draining the glass of its contents. Here he was, sat with a pirate in front of him having a third party conversation with the parents of the dame who'd driven him dizzy.
"Actually, they might go more if it was somewhere like the Tenderloin, Mum just loves putting muggers in their place," Noah returned with a chuckle. "And Dad likes watching her in action. Though if the gagh is shit, she wouldn't want to go."

Rik couldn't help but let a laugh escape at that comment as he mulled over the unusual situation he was in. Meeting Amelia's parents without even being able to see them. His inquisitive mind couldn't help but wonder what they thought of the ol' gum-shoe. "Well I can see where Amelia gets her fire" he paused and smiled to himself softly "If you do head out that way, Ask for Gra'ak; tell him Jim Gordon sends his regards and he may crack open the good hooch. As for the gagh, it's as rough as sandpaper with the flavour of death itself. That dive is full of bindle stiffs, chippys and molls looking for an easy time, underhand business and to forget their woes rather than have a decent bite. Hell, its one raid away from being classed as a low down creep joint" he concluded with a devilish grin and a twinkling in his icy blues remembering his time undercover and spending a lot of time getting into just enough trouble to be convincing.

Noah laughed as his eyes were pulled to the bottom of his lenses again. "Mum wants to know what the name of this dive is? She's curious what quality hooch name dropping will get her, and she's so terribly bored since settling back in at Utopia."

Rik couldn't help but let another charming but devilish grin play across his lips. "It's a little joint called the Grey Targ round the back of Ada Court, look for the grey door that has no place being there and knock four times. They keep themselves to themselves and ... Maybe leave the fleet uniform at home, Starfleet ain't exactly a welcome sight" he explained.

"Considering Mum takes any excuse to ditch her uniform, even if she's on duty — especially if she can get away with it on duty, I don't think that'll be a problem." He shook his head with an amused grin.

Rik chuckled and shook his head understanding more about Amelia as the conversation went on. "Well fair play; if you need a change of pace and don't mind roughing it where quality is concerned, head on down to that dive; you'll get hooch by the barrel and some good music to boot from an impressive canary with a solid set of pipes" he added.

He poured himself another measure of the Templeton Rye. "Sure I can't tempt you with a short, bo?" Rik asked his pirate guest before pausing and adding "and I forgot to mention when you sidled into the joint; you're a talented artist".

"She's let you up for air long enough to notice the artwork, huh?" Noah asked with a smirk. "Have you seen the new painting in her office, or just the two in her quarters?" He considered the bottle of whiskey for a long moment. His sister had raided her personal stash to spoil this man who'd made such an impression on her, and this particular bottle had come to her by way of Uncle Spiegel — there was no doubt about the quality of it. "Okay, I'll give it a try."

Rik cocked his head and raised and lowered both eyebrows quickly, saying nothing. "Well I might-a missed that bat'leth hanging on the wall" he admitted. "Only seen the ones in her joint, yet to visit her office" he said wishfully his mind wandering briefly before snapping back to the room and remembering who it was he was talking to once again. He cleared his throat. "Good call bo, it's mighty fine" he said pulling another tumbler from his drawer. He poured out a measure and slid the glass down the desk and accidently clipped a PADD onto the floor by Noah's chair. "Well that was supposed to be a whole lot more class than it was" Rik said with a wince.

"You missed the bat'leth?" Noah shook his head slowly as he collected the PADD from the floor and the glass from the top of the desk. The PADD lit up, and his eyes dropped to it automatically — like most people who read regularly, words drew him like a moth to flame. "Batman, huh?"

"I missed the bat'leth... I was... distracted" Rik admitted to the pirate across the desk for whom he was thankful hadn't called him on the less than impressive glass slide. "As for the joe in the costume... I have an affinity with the character; cut from the same cloth I suppose. I guess in a way those stories saved me from becoming a snowbird and a low down hood". He paused for a moment not sure how Amelia's parents would take to that part of his life; or even how much of it they already knew. "You know of the Dark Knight?" he asked eventually breaking the silence.

"Snowb-" Noah started to repeat the word, a confused tilt to his head, as his eyes were drawn to the bottom of his lenses again. A simple 'oh' silently passed his lips, and he read for a second more. "Dad said to relay his condolences about your parents." His eyes dropped to the PADD again. "A lot of my early drawing used Pond's comics as reference. She's got some batman in there, though she favors the turtles and Wonder Woman."

Rik lowered his head slightly and took an intake of breath. He wasn't used to people discussing his past let alone offering sympathy. "Thank you" he said simply not knowing how else to respond. He let the silence linger a moment before continuing "Wonder Woman is an interesting dame; the turtles I didn't recognise; Amelia chinned to me about the painting hanging in her joint; how I learned them" Rik admitted before pausing. "Say bo, you may be able to help; I've never been able to get the batsuit to update in that software the way I want it, a lot of the source material has been lost. Don't suppose I could trouble ya for some artwork to plug into the program?" he asked hopeful that Amelia's brother could assist. "Only if it's no trouble you understand, happy to pass along some dough for it" he added.

=/\= Continued in Part III =/\=

Master Chief Petty Officer Rik Caine
Security Investigator/Chief of the Boat
USS Vindicator, NCC-78213-E

Noah Waterhouse
Artist and Pastafarian Minister
The Pelican

 

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