Meeting the Diplomat -- again (part 1)

Posted on Sat Sep 10th, 2011 @ 8:25pm by Lieutenant Commander Jonathon Bastin PhD & Lieutenant Mignon Melia
Edited on on Thu Dec 22nd, 2011 @ 9:33am

Mission: The Pak'Leth Problem
Location: CDO's Office

ON

Mignon had a lot to adjust to on the starbase, not least of which was the size.

In an effort not to get too hopelessly lost, she took some time every day to either review the deck listing or to take a walk.

Today she found herself near the Chief Diplomat's office, so decided to stop by and see if Commander Bastin was available.

Lieutenant Commander Jonathon A. Bastin had found himself in dire need of a lay in, which meant basically that he hadn't bothered to get up as early as he normally did. A great deal of that came under the auspice of being a Lieutenant Commander and a department head; he had the privilege of setting his own schedule and enough clout to basically get away with it. Because of this, the diplomat found the Counselor lurking outside his office before she saw him.

The devious side of him wondered if he should take advantage of the fact that she wouldn't be able to sense him coming and process to scare the wits out of her. The gentleman in him thought it might be a bit harsh to play pranks on her so soon after she had arrived. It was a hard internal debate of... all of about a second before the devil in him won out.

Coming up behind her as silently as death, Jon reached out and grabbed her suddenly by the sides and yelled, "What are you doing?!"

As he'd planned, Mignon jumped and let out a yelp as she spun around. Without thinking she slapped him on the arm. "What I'm doing should be obvious, even to you," she replied, her tone teasing.

"It looks to me like you're slinking around my office like a spy. Are you trying to steal some Federation secrets, my dear? Perhaps you are looking to get some phoney legal documents drafted up so you can make a profit off of some unsuspecting passing merchant who has taken a shine to you... Either that or you just stopped by to say hello and didn't expect that I would be later than most normal department heads and just got caught off guard when you didn't hear me coming. Either way, the shriek was rather attractive, I wonder if you yelp like that for all the men or if I'm just special," Jon said with a grin on his face that would have told even a blind man that he was joking.

Mignon couldn't help laughing. "I think you're delusional and need to see a good shrink. Fortunately, I just might know someone foolish enough to take on the task." The mischievous twinkle in her eye spoke volumes. "I just hope you have something spectacular enough to make it worth her while." The last was in reference to his comment about the view in the observation lounge.

"Well, I just so happen to have a living room that's overlooking the planet below, which is rather breathtaking considering you don't even have to get off the couch to enjoy a nice sunrise or sunset. Always a bonus when you're having to sit through a long dissertation about a person's rather droll and mundane life," the diplomat chuckled as he led the woman into his office where he took a seat behind his desk, "Can I replicate you anything?"

"Apricot juice, please," she said as she took the seat across from his desk. "Have you ever worried that someone would be more interested in your view than you?"

Jon rolled over to the replicator and requested the appropriate drink before wheeling back and handing the drink off, "It's happened several times before, actually. So I can honestly say I wouldn't really care."

That was sad, actually. She took the drink with a smile of thanks. "As long as the focus ends up on you..." She let the words trail off. She was probably crossing a few lines of propriety, but the diplomat was outrageous and she found herself following suit. "What made you decide to become a diplomat?"

"Wouldn't really upset me if the focus never found it's way on me. That's something people might find odd about a diplomat, but not all of us like being the center of attention. Hell, there are more times than not I like to just fade into the background and silently puppeteer events. Makes things more interesting when people don't know you did something at times," the man chuckled before letting out a sigh, "I don't really know why I got into this job... probably just started as an extension of my gregarious nature. I like talking to people. I've always liked learning about other people's cultures, traditions, things of that nature. Granted, I've also had an interest in the laws that make societies function, which might be why I'm a lawyer as well as a diplomat."

"Makes sense to me. But then, I studied history, archaeology and psychology. Some people think that's a little odd. I see the connection between them -- cultures, traditions, behaviors, architecture." She gave him a broad grin. "So if you're looking for someone to come in here and tell you you're nuts, I'm the wrong person."

"I don't recall looking for you in the first place. You showed up at my front door. Either you're confused about the timeline or you were the one with ulterior motives. Regardless," the diplomat said as he leaned back in his chair, "I really don't think anyone is overly qualified to tell me whether I'm nuts or not. No offense."

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Jonathon Bastin PhD
Chief Diplomatic Officer
Starbase 322

Lieutenant Mignon Mejia
Chief Counselor
Starbase 322