<USS Avalon> Brown Eyed Girl - Kyle Fenner, Susanna Jameson

Brown Eyed Girl
By Ensign Kyle Fenner and Junior Lieutenant Susanna
Jameson

The stage was simulating an Everclear concert when
Kyle walked into Ten-Forward.  As he stood on his toes
looking for his friends, he decided he liked the
music.  It was doing a good job countering the mood he
developed while being interviewed an hour earlier.

Muttering apologies, he eased his way through the
dance floor, wondering what kind of genius puts a
dance floor next to a main entrance.  Once through the
dancers, he saw Sara and Tracy at a table, attacking
what looked like a blooming onion.  Tracy had her hair
down.  It looked nice.

Sara beamed Kyle a smile when she saw him reach the
table.  Tracy started to turn around saying , ?About
time with that beer,? when a leaning Kyle kissed her.

Kyle broke the kiss.  ?Sorry, no beer.?

Tracy made room on her end of the booth.  ?You?re just
as good.?

?Just as good as this?? Der?kur asked.  ?This beer is
the real thing, brewed in Ireland shipped here on a
transport.?

?Of course,? Kyle grinned.  ?And this quality man
needs some quality beer.?  Laughing, Der?kur poured
him the first mug.  After a quick swallow, Kyle stood
up.  ?I?ll be right back, I?ve got a craving for
mushrooms.?

It only took Kyle a minute to make his way to the bar
the smells were wafting from.  The mushrooms were
replicated, but they were fried right there in
Ten-Forward.  And they were good. Moments after
arriving, Kyle had a large basket stacked with giant
deep-fried mushrooms.  He was turning to head back to
the table when he spotted Susanna Jameson.

Anna glared at the crowds of people as she pushed
through them to get to an empty table up the back. 
She was so distracted that she practically tripped
over Kyle.
 
 "Hey, God, I'm sorry."  Sighing, she pushed a hand
through her hair.  "Too many people, didn't see you."

Kyle laughed lightly.  ?You looked like you?ve gone
two or three rounds with a JAG officer.?

"Damn vultures!" she said, her voice so loud that a
few heads turned their way.  "Sorry.  They get you
too?"

?Yeah, I butted heads with Warrant Idiot Gibson.? 
Kyle gestured towards his table, ?Come over and join
us.  Always room for one more.?

Glancing warily at the group of friends, Anna
shrugged.  "I'm not really all that talkative."  But
she followed Kyle back to the table anyway, not
entirely sure as to why.

Kyle cleared his throat by the edge of the table. 
?Hey, this is Susanna Jameson.  She works with me in
Covert Ops.?  He slid into the bench as everyone made
room and gave greetings.  ?We both got a grilling
today by the JAG investigators.?

Tracy patted Kyle?s arm.  ?They didn?t go too hard on
you, I hope.?

?Pfft.  Gibson?s an idiot.  I put him in his place,
though.?

"Both of them are idiots.  That girl wouldn't know how
to ask a decent question to save her life.  Who did
they think they were interviewing?  A group of silly
cadets with no interrogation training whatsoever?" 
Anna looked around at Kyle's friends and blushed. 
"Sorry, I'm just a little miffed about it at the
moment."  I'll just shut up now and pray the ground
will swallow me whole!  Anna curled deeper into her
seat and began to wish she'd gotten a drink.  At least
it would have given her something to do with her
hands.

Kyle cut in, ?Don?t worry about it, I was pissed til I
heard the music playing in here.  You?re right about
those two.  Gibson is snide little punk, and the girl
is afraid of her own shadow.?  He lifted his mug. 
?But enough of that, I believe I hear the first notes
to Brown-eyed Girl.?

Doing a very good impression of a scared rabbit caught
in landing lights, Anna swore she'd scream if they all
expected her to dance.  "It's a good song.  Bouncy. 
The old ones are the best," she said with increasing
confidence.  The music was getting to her, making her
feel more relaxed and yet happy all at the same time.

Der?kur leaned his head back ?Sha
la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la la la.?  Putting an arm
around Sara, he continued singing.  Sara joined in,
followed by Tracy and Kyle.  

Sara poured Susanna a beer.  ?Have some fun, Susanna!?

?Yeah,? Kyle added, ?It?s the price of that beer.?

Anna took a long, deep draught of the stout.  Feeling
its warming effects on her already, she observed in
mild curiosity as the two couples chatted and sang
merrily with each other.  It was nice to see a group
of people who were so close.  Just a little bit
jealous, Anna continued to drink her pint in small
sips.  "You lot meet up often?"

?Every day for breakfast,? said Tracy.  

?But you don?t want to be there for that.  You?d be
forced to watch Kyle ruin his food,? joked Der?kur. 
Kyle just snorted.

"Ruin his food?" Anna said with a giggle.

Kyle took a bit bite of mushroom before answering
rather dead-pan, ?I have no idea what he?s going on
about.?
?Yes he does,? Sara assured her.  ?Kyle thinks a
breakfast isn?t a breakfast, unless it?s a breakfast
casserole.?

?It?s called a Mess,? snapped Kyle, playfully.

"Casserole?" Anna pulled a face, wrinkling her nose. 
"Who eats casserole at breakfast?

?I told you, it?s not a casserole? It?s a Mess.?

?Yeah,? agreed Tracy.  ?It?s one big ugly mess!?

?Seriously guys.  I just mix everything up together a
little earlier than they would normally,? defended
Kyle.

Der?kur shook his head.  ?How was it you put it?  Oh,
oh, I remember.?  In monotone he droned, ?We are the
egg.  Resistance is futile.?

Anna's laugh barked out as she settled back into the
pleasant, accepting company.  "Not big on eggs first
thing in the morning, but I can see the logic in
mixing it all up together.  Tell me, do you include
the stomach's digestive acids in your recipe as well?"

?Nah, gotta leave something for the teeth to do.? 
Kyle reached into the basket, then frowned.  ?Where
did all the mushrooms go?  Don?t tell me I ate them
all, already??

"For such a little man, you eat an awful lot.  I've
never seen anyone shovel food into their mouths in
quite the way you do."  Suddenly, Anna flushed and
took another drought of her beer.  Said too much, gone
too far, oh god.  She searched her mind for a reason
to leave, knowing that she just wasn't capable of
keeping this level of social interaction up.  I'm
bound to have ticked them off by now.

?Wait til you see me this weekend at the barbeque. 
I?m putting away a side of beef by myself.?

Der?kur patted his own belly affectionately, ?And I?m
eating the other side.?

?Forget the food,? Said Tracy, ?I?m looking forward to
that beach.?  She turned to Anna.  ?You wanna help us
burn some holodeck time??

"Er..."  Were they being serious?  She desperately
wanted to drown her deeply held suspision, but it had
served her well over the last few years.  "That is... 
I'd love to, really I would, it's just that, well, I'm
not all that good company most of the time.  Dull,
actually, dull as ditch water.  Not interesting at
all."

Sara cringed.  ?Ditch water is dull?  Ever fall into
one?  Der?kur had new rashes named after him.? 
Der?kur subconsciously scratched at his chest, and
then quickly pulled his hand away, to the amusement of
everyone that saw it.

?What she means,? Said Tracy, with a smile, ?Is that
you?re more than welcome to come.  Bring a friend,
too, if you like.?

"I'd love to come, only I don't really have anyone to
bring with me.  I'm still kind of new here."  She
thought briefly of Mac, but was fairly certain that he
wouldn't be interested in spending any time with her
whatsoever.

Tracy leaned across the table and whispered something
to Sara, who giggled and whispered something back. 
Der?kur and Kyle both shuddered.

Sara smiled mischievously at Anna.  ?Just show up
Saturday morning, we?ll take care of the rest.?

"Um, okay," she said dubiously.  Checking her
chronometer, Anna slipped out of the booth.  "Sorry
mates, I gotta go.  Got a shift in eight hours, don't
wanna smell of Guinness for it.  I'll see you on
Saturday then."

There was a chorus of ?Oh yeah, work,? and ?Boo,
hiss!? as everyone regretfully got up to leave the
table.

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