People Watching
Posted on Sun Aug 24th, 2025 @ 4:21pm by Lieutenant Commander Tarian Aloria
Edited on on Tue Aug 26th, 2025 @ 9:13pm
599 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission:
In The Nick Of Time
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: MD001, 2130hrs
Tarian was sitting in a corner of the Mess Hall, PADD in hand. The Mess Hall wasn't crowded, especially since it was getting close to midnight and most of the Alpha Shift crew were probably in bed by this point. However, Tarian had shown the Captain some unusual readings and were now waiting on the Away Team to get back to the ship.
Sitting in front of Tarian was a half eaten bowl of something that the replicator called "Beef Stew." Tarian had eaten beef stew before and whatever the replicator gave him was nowhere near like the real thing. It satisfied a hunger that he had, since he was starving when he came into the Mess Hall. But, it wasn't quite the same thing as the real stuff. The stuff that chefs and restaurants back on Earth would make from scratch, using real ingredients.
Instead of eating the rest of the bowl of the stew, Tarian was doing something that some of his Human friends back on Earth called "people watching." He was just watching as people were coming and going, listening to the general hum of the Mess Hall and the conversations that were happening all over the place.
Conversations about which holodeck program to try out next for their sports routine, or what holonovel just came out and that the other people in the group absolutely needed to try out. During his years with the DTI, it never ceased to amaze Tarian how connected people could become over just about anything. Even people like the Vulcans or former Borg, who said that they weren't emotional, could find ways to connect with one another on such deep and amazing levels over something as simple as science or mathematics.
However, sometimes it was gossip that people thrived on in personal spaces too and that was something Tarian found to be quite useful whenever he was working with time. That was why, every so often, Tarian found himself in a place like the Mess Hall. Not to be nosey, but just to listen. Listen to how people interacted and how a crew worked together, both in times of stress and free time.
Tarian was looking over the top of his PADD and listening to a group of junior officers discuss their most recent poker game and how one of them had run into a lucky streak. They had won approximately 8 or 9 out of the 10 games that they played in a singular night. Tarian thought about it and thought about it truly was a lucky streak to have won so many rounds of poker. But, then again, Commander Data did win all of that money in a poker game when he was thrown back in time to the late 19th century Earth. So, Tarian just shrugged it off and went about with more people watching.
Before too long, Tarian finished up the rest of the food that was sitting in front of him, even though it was a bit cooler than it was when he first ordered it. Taking it back over to the replicator after he was done, Tarian ordered the replicator to recycle it up for him. Before leaving the Mess Hall, Tarian looked back once more and saw the chatter and life that was happening around him. He smiled and headed out and back to his own quarters to hopefully get a restful night sleep.
A Post By
Lieutenant Commander Tarian Aloria
Chief Temporal Operations Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
RSS Feed