Pacing back and forth he didn’t know what to expect. Was this a date, was this simply two friends, was he expected to pay, was he expecting a night cap? He hadn’t dated in years, and we all know how ‘gay-dates’ go.

He took his phaser and fired it off hitting the bullseye.

The computer beeped.

“Shut up.”

“Good shooting today, kid. Really got your aim nailed in.”

The praise from the big armoury officer made Elias smile, just a little. Commander Tarras was the one to beat when it came to range scores, so he hadn’t expected an invitation to team up. And, to his satisfaction, he’d fared well against the commander even though he was sure the guy had been born with a rifle in his hands.

“Thanks, sir. I appreciate the time.”

“Pffft,” Tarras shook his head. “No sir, we’re off duty now. And we’re all equal on the range. You know that. Now… you were meeting someone?”

“I am.” Elias smiled slightly and nodded toward one of the open ranges. Nico was already here, which cause him a moment of panic as he checked the time. No, he was good. Still five minutes to go. “That’s my guy there.”

Tarras’s pale gaze cut across the ranges and he nodded. “I’ll leave you to it then. Check your rifle back in at the desk when you’re done.”

“Of course.” Elias nodded, turning toward the range and taking a breath as the commander walked off. Okay, he could do this. Reaching the lane Nico was firing on, he leaned one shoulder against the divider.

“Hey.”

“Hey Barrington, how are you?” Nico paused, waiting for an answer, looking on how he was leaning. The computer buzzed for attention and he shot again in a random direction, it made a negative tone.

“I’m good, thanks. You?” Elias smiled. “You know you’re supposed to look down the range when you fire?” he added, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“I know, I hit it before.” Nico said. Turning his attention to the firing range, “Care to join?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” Changing the settings on the lane for two shooters, Elias stepped up next to Nico. Rifle tight into his shoulder, he aimed and fired smoothly at the targets the lane set for them.

“So how long have you been in Starfleet?” Nico asked as he took aim with his type two phaser, and shot his shot.

”Around thirty years. Feels like forever sometimes,” Elias admitted, timing each shot with Nico’s so they could talk. “How about you?”

“It was about 20 years, entered in Intel, and well here I am.” Nico said taking his shot and quickly ducking as he had heard the target appear behind him.

Elias twisted smoothly and took out the target behind them. “Intel is a bit of a way from Comms,” he commented. “Why’d you switch departments?”

“For a man…” he paused and shot his target that popped up, “biggest mistake of my life, I miss it. He wanted to settle down, and have a planetary life. I wanted to stay in space, and be a cowboy… long story short, we settled on a Starbase and I would have to switch careers. Low and behold 20 years later he left me and took everything that wasn’t bolted down.” the computer beeped, wow the session was done… “Who won?”

Elias nodded. Sounded like Nico had had a rough go of it, and he could understand grieving for a career you’d had to leave behind.

He pursed his lips as he checked the scores. “Looks like a tie to me,” he said, quickly clearing the lane scores for the sessions. “So we owe each other a drink.”

Nico smiled back, “Looks like it.”