Dream a Little Dream

[1st_starfighter]

Who: Alex Rogan and OTA
What: Thinking, being sociable, and generally being Alex.
Where: Ten Forward
When: Evening
Status: Ongoing
Rating: TBD

Alex Rory Rogan was humming to himself, and enjoying himself. He had been studying, of late, and trying his best to see how close he could come to Starfleet Engineer certified without actually taking the course. The PADD full of old Enterprise data and specs helped, a lot, as did what information was commercially and imperatively available in the Federation. Alex was also starting something new, trading a little bit of time as a speaker on certain forums for some credits, and in turn investing those in a few ideas he had. He knew that likely those would go nowhere, but he had to try.

In the meantime, today, he was not studying. His PADDs, several still active, lay scattered about his table. In the center, the finishing touches being applied by his steady hands, was a scaled-down model of the Enterprise D. It wasn't an exact duplicate of a standard model of the ship, instead incorporating some of what he had learned of the other Enterprise. That made it interesting to wonder what would work and what wouldn't

It rested on a dock which was charging it's batteries as he finished tightening some components. Then, after one more inspection, Alex lifted the control device and pressed the red start button. With a hum, the Enterprise rose from the dock, anti-gravity thrusters propelling it away and into the air.

As he had before with previous models, Alex sent the ship above the crowd of people's heads, well, most of them. He called an apology as he narrowly missed the head of a Edoan, who just grinned, now being used to this. The Enterprise slowly did a urn over his head as he checked the controls, then started forth along the length of the room. Flying stately just under the ceiling, Alex split his attention between watching it directly and watching the PADD screen which showed the views form two mounted cameras on the model. This allowed him to maneuver it as if he was in the cockpit.

He grinned. This was awesome!

Comments

[writes_with_digital_ink]

By the time Gaila settles herself for dinner, the little model ship is flying well. She can see the maker and controller of it, but she doesn't immediately rush over to talk to him.

Watching the little ship suits her while she eats.

(At least, for now.)

[1st_starfighter]

The ship banks around the room, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, and then starts moving lower. The shuttle bay doors open, and particular residents of the lounge will find small folded pieces of paper falling to their tables, missing their food, wrapped with string. Inside is a smiley-face, and the words 'Have a Nice Day!'.

Alex is having way too much fun with this.

[writes_with_digital_ink]

She's doing great, is Gaila. Very great, all things considered. It's not a bad day. But she's had bad days, and on those days, just a simple, have a nice day is the kind of thing one clings to.

So while she laughs, the piece of paper is being kept. Just for those future days.

And when she catches Alex's eye, she lifts her glass in his direction.

Thank you.

[1st_starfighter]

Alex grinned and lifted his own glass with one hand to salute her back, waving. And then the ship circled back around to her, and like a stately horse, bowed.

A tiny voice came from the ship, from concealed speakers. "Glad to see a smile. Hope the rest of your day is awesome." Alex was nothing if not a total nerd and loved to use his tech knowledge to make people smile, or protect them, or even both.

[writes_with_digital_ink]

Oh, clever. Now she grins, sharp with a geeky appreciation.

"I - hang on, does this thing have a microphone?"

[1st_starfighter]

"Yes, ma'am, it does. and a camera, so I can control if from the table without actually having to watch it from afar. Which also lets me maneuver it more as if I was actually on the ship." There was both longing and knowledge in those words. Alex had been a pilot for years, and the idea of piloting the Enterprise fascinated and called to him.

"I'm Alex Rogan, transplantee from 300 years in stasis, and a guest of this groovy ship."

[writes_with_digital_ink]

"Three hundred-"

She winces.

"I've seen you around, but I didn't know you were that far back." In stasis strikes her as somehow worse than just 'was winked into the future by Q'.

"Gaila betIlley, originally from a hundred years ago, currently serving as science liaison."

[1st_starfighter]

"Yes, ma'am. They haven't figured out yet whether Q moved my ship to their universe, or if this is still my universe. Either way, I'm just glad someone was here to find me."

The ship bobbed in mid-air again. "Nice to meet you, Gaila. And that's cool! I met someone else from that time awhile back, a Pavel Checkov." Pavel had provided the schematics of his Enterprise, which Alex had used to enhance this model, in fact. It was a debt Alex still owed him.

"Can I buy you a drink? Er, and that sounded totally like me hitting on you, which I was not, er, sorry? I mean... I meant..." Now you get to meet Alex, the flailing flailer, Gaila.

He cut himself off. "Er... yes. I mean, care to join me?" Over at his table, Alex's head thunked into his table.

[writes_with_digital_ink]

Her mouth twitches with amusement.

"I'll come over and join you. And a drink would be great, because to answer your other question, I have a night shift after this."

It's not that hard to pick up her bowl, utensils and glass of water, and make her way through the crowd. She's not a very small woman, but she knows how to pick her way through tables and milling people.

[diplomaticsolutions]

It wasn't as if the ship offered many places to travel to, although Padmé certainly wasn't complaining. She knew that they were uninvited guests, and that they simply hadn't been shooed in to quarters and left alone was a blessing. Yet, as such, Ten Forward was the place where Padmé did seem to spend much of her time, whether by herself or by finding someone to speak to.

She had just been to her shared quarters, going over some of the notes that she had made from the classes that she had been taking. Another blessing there, those classes, as they offered Padmé something to do, and she had never been one to sit idly by. As she arrived, she did notice several people looking upward, and her own gaze shifted, watching the device flying overhead. It took a few minutes to pinpoint what exactly was going on, but Padmé did figure out that it was being controlled.

With a smile she made her way over to where he was seated. "It is yours, I take it?"

[1st_starfighter]

Alex rose, smiling, sounding the recall to bring the ship back, then extending his hand to her. "Padme! It's good to see you! And yes, yes it is. Based on a model used by kids, modified a little, to add some things to it." He grinned, waving a hand at the chairs next to him or opposite him.

"Please, join me."

[diplomaticsolutions]

There was something about all that which reminded Padmé of Anakin, knowing that he had loved mechanical things. It had never been something that she had had a knack for. She was proficient at flying her own ships, but could never alter one thing to make it different than it's original function.

A smile came easily as her eyes danced across the desk before returning to his face. "Only if I'm not intruding or interrupting."

[1st_starfighter]

Alex bounced, grinning, and shook his head. "Not at all. It's good to see you again. How have you been?"

He liked her, and thought she was pretty smart, and well-put together when he spoke to her before. He was glad to see her, and see that she had not been whisked away, to whatever fate might belong to her now.

For him, he just wanted to hope she was well.

[diplomaticsolutions]

She flashed a smile, as it was hard not to given his infectious behaviour, before taking a seat. It had been some time, Padmé realized, since she had last spoken to him. Some time had been taken to herself, seeking to find her own footing again since her arrival here. There were still things she wished for, but she also knew that despite everything that this Q might do, she was grateful to have been brought here. Yoda had been able to tell her something about her children which was more than she could have had otherwise.

"Settling in. No doubt coming from a place where space travel is common place has made it easier, but this galaxy..." She offered a wry smile. "There's enough to learn, which is why I've also started taking some of the classes that they've offered. And you... From the looks of it you seem to be keeping yourself fairly busy as well."

[1st_starfighter]

"yes? Good!" He smiled, listening, to her tell about her settling. "Yes? I'm taking classes too, several, really, as well as continuing my own private studies." He waved a hand at the table.

"I want to know as much about modern tech, here, as I can learn, and so I've been working on learning, and building, as much as I can." He liked learning, but he also wanted to earn a spot in Starfleet with his dedication.

[diplomaticsolutions]

Mirth spread across her face, as it was fairly obvious that he was up to something, unless he was just trying to give the impression that he was busy. But from what Padmé had learned about him, she knew that wouldn't have been the case. There had been a genuine air about him that remained even now.

"Well if what I have seen is any indication, it seems you are learning quite well." Aside from how to use various pieces, Padmé hadn't moved to learn anything deeper about them. Her own interests had never gone in that direction. "Does that mean you have your own small fleet of creations somewhere?"

[1st_starfighter]

Her mirth made him grin, wider yet. "A small fleet, maybe." He chuckled. "I gave one away, already to a small Bolian child." Her blushed a little.

"I like building things. Some are models like this, but also models of tricorders, and tools that are commonly used in engineering, and even a model of the navigational controls, as much as are allowed to be known." He enthused about it.

[hatesgoodbyes]

She was looking for, hell a distraction she guessed; a bar always seemed to be a good place to find one.

And there he was, a brain geek. She could tell by the sheer glee on his face while buried in the screens around him. THere was a pang of memory that made her stop and grip the back of a chair.

A dark haired, stubbled man who spent all his time bent over a computer delighted at the newest upgrade. He waved off invitations to bed, when he did hear them, for just five more minutes to work on his project. She'd loved the dork, sometimes watching him when he was oblivious because he was so into his program.

Those weren't her memories, they were the foundation of what she became. The real Alison had married the real Church and she'd died. She knew those were just echoes of memory, and she knew the guy at the table wasn't Church, but she really wanted to fall into a comforting habit right about now.

The blond woman dropped into a chair opposite him and just watched, small smirk on her lips waiting to see how long before he recognized he wasn't alone.

[1st_starfighter]

The nearness of the woman was noted, and some part of Alex, kept trained by paranoia, and by daily workouts, kept senses trained on her as she settled opposite him. His muscles were coiled, even as he didn't move, and it didn't take long for him to bring the Enterprise around, to hover over the table.

His eyes lifted to hers, and he smiled. He was a bouncy and kind person, but he was also a warrior, a Starfighter whose life and death and that of an entire galaxy, had depended on him being the best he could be, or better. His smile to her was genuine and full of warmth. She seemed not to be a threat, at the moment, and he always liked saying hello to new people.

"Hi! I'm Alex." He nodded a bob of the head to her. "Enjoying your stay?"

[hatesgoodbyes]

"I'm Allison. And yeah I kinda am." She just watched him, it was like watching Leo when he got all wrapped up in his projects.

At the moment she wasn't a threat, but that was exactly what she was designed to be. When the time came for it she was a cold blooded killer, C.T. could confirm that. Well if she was still alive she could.

[1st_starfighter]

Alex smiled to her, extending a hand, which was oily, which he saw, yanked back, wiped clean with a vibrocloth, then extended again, blushing. "Er, sorry. But hi!" Alex bounced on his heels. She kind of reminded him of Kate, which made him grin more.

"How long have you been aboard the good ship Enterprise?"

[hatesgoodbyes]

"Hi, Alex." She had to laugh because, damn all engineer geeks were the same, weren't they? She shook his hand with a ...precise grip.

"A few months now, spent most of it trying to figure out how to get back to where I was, which was apparently a waste of time. So if I'm here it's time to get to know the natives I guess." She shrugged and gestured for a server. "And how about you Alex? Having fun here in deep space?"

[1st_starfighter]

He smiled. "Nice to meet you, Allison." He grinned wider.

"How do you like it, here? And yeah, a lot of us keep trying to figure things out, but so far nothing works." He rubbed his face. "We have time travelers and wizards and scientists, and... lots of people trying." He shook his head. "Someday, it'll work."

He grinned at her. "Hell, yes! I mean, I didn't really leave much behind. I'd left home long ago, and only visited once in a great long while. And I had recently retired from anything like a normal job, so... while I wish i hadn't been sleeping for 300 years, I kind of dig learning all the new things, and the new tech here."

[hatesgoodbyes]

"It's getting better." She smirked back at him, how could she not? She could practically bathe in the excitement radiating from him.

"I know that feeling, there wasn't anything left for me when I got pulled to this freaky castle place. And well looks like anything there isn't going to be brought here. Beginning to think that I have some kind of magnet for weird places." But this guy slept for 300 years? "You look well rested though." There was that grin again.

[1st_starfighter]

"Yeah? Cool! Places like this are... I mean, they have so many chances and things to do here." He nodded. "Between the tech, the holodeck, the access to information... it's all pretty cool." He grinned again.

"Maybe so. At least this weird place has some awesome people in it?" And he chuckled. "Yeah. I felt like I had just woken up from a nap. A bit of a shock, really, to find out how much later it was. I'm pretty sure most of the people I knew wont come here."

He tapped his p.a.d.d., then shook his head. "I like it here, though. The tech, the things to learn, and the people." He grinned at her, warm. "And you? What've you been doing to stay occupied?"