milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Grissom is in the bar, once again reading up on the rites of the summer solstice.

He is humming under his breath, a song he heard several times in the lab. If one listens closely, one would recognize it as "Somewhere Only We Know".

He is keeping a casual eye out for Jack, but is open for conversation.

[Summary: Grissom welcomes his dear friend Catherine to Milliways. They discuss the loss of Sara for the Vegas lab, and whether or not the Bar could manage to get weirder. (Answer: Definitely) Grissom also meets Lt. Naraht for the first time, prompting a discussion on the origins of forensic science. Asar-Suti rounds out the afternoon with a discussion on popular names.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Surprise!

"Gil?"

"Catherine? When did you get here?" He snaps his book shut and moves to her side.

"Just now--" Catherine reaches over to hug him warmly, delighted. "You know Sara's here, too? She's dating the Flash!"

He stiffens habitually, still not comfortable with physical contact. "Yes--Sara came here before I did. And I knew she was dating the Flash--I'm happy for her. She deserves happiness."

Catherine makes a rueful face to herself--woops, talk about a misstep. "I still can't believe this place. Have you seen the dragons yet?"

"No, but I met some dinosaurs the other night. Hatchlings, if I were to judge their ages. And the pterodactyl could speak." He smiles slightly. "Has this place given you a headache yet?"

"Dinosaurs. Can this place get any weirder?" Catherine shakes her head. "No, only a few drinks and a note from the Bar, who is apparently alive and a bit touchy about certain things..."

He chuckles a bit. "Yes, she is touchy and does not care for those who would insult her or not take her seriously."

"As for whether or not this place could be stranger, I believe the safest answer would be yes. Sara told me a few days ago that Vegas is starting to seem tame by comparison."

"How do you even begin to talk to a bar?" Catherine rubbed the back of her neck. "I wonder if it gets tiring for her, delivering drinks all the time..."

"Not the version of Vegas we see all the time, in the lab," she retorts with a wry grin. "Are you still doing your work here?"

"You simply speak, requesting whatever it is you need, and leaving money on top. The bar absorbs whatever currency it is." He shrugs slightly.

"I do what work I can, but I am periodically Bound here, meaning I cannot leave until I am let go. Each time I do leave, no time passes back in Vegas. It can be disorienting."

Catherine shrugged, resolving to try it some time. "How are you not able to go?" she asked curiously, one eyebrow raised.

"The Bar has the power to take away the door. Those I have spoken to here believe it is so a lesson can be learned--though what the lesson might be, I do not know."

Catherine looks at him thoughtfully. "When Sara was fired--" her voice catches over the words, "--did the bar Bind her here, too?"

His face softens at her tone. The relationship between Catherine and Sara had been tense at times, but they always respected each other.

"As far as I know, it did not. I believe she stays here by choice."

Catherine shook her head, biting her lip. "I found out... it's not fair. She's one of the best CSIs we have."

"Ecklie is a fool." His tone chills considerably. "Already the solve rates overall are dropping--not many can match her persistence and precision. His decision will come back to haunt him."

He is silent for a moment. "I do not believe she would return, though, even if given the opportunity. She was very close to burn out."

Catherine swallows a sudden lump in her throat. "If only there was some way to persuade her back--"

"I miss her too, Cath, but she has other reasons to want to remain," he says quietly, "that go beyond just what happened professionally. She has found love here, and a family of sorts. Things that she never had. I doubt she would want to give that up."

"However, I will see if she would consent to being a consultant for the lab. The director would accept that, and she could choose the cases she would work."

Catherine ducked her head, smiled shyly at her hands. "I never thought I'd miss her this much," she admits with a slight laugh.

He smiles gently. "I never doubted you cared for her, Catherine, even if it didn't seem like it at the time."

Naraht wanders by, mind full of rough schematics for the "Horta Hot Rod" he and Ray are designing. As he nibbles absently on a block of marble, a large gout of steam suddenly escapes from beneath his fringes.

Even silicon-based lifeforms have to belch now and then.

"Excuse me."

"Of course," he says absently, before looking up to see the individual he was addressing.

He glances down and gapes for a moment. "I don't believe we've met, Mr....?"

"Lt. Dahai Iohor Naraht of the Federation Starship Enterprise," he answered, waving a bit of fringe in greeting. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"Not a problem," he manages, still blinking a bit. "A pleasure, Lieutenant."

The Horta's body bobbed a bit. "Thank you, sir. And my I know whom I have the honor of addressing?"

"Dr. Gil Grissom. I am a forensic entomologist out of Las Vegas, Nevada. The year 2005."

That perks Naraht's interest. "Indeed! Did you by any chance work with Dr. Bill Bass? Lt. Chaer works forensics for our science department has telling me about the history of his profession. It was around your time that the first Body Farm was started, was it not?"

"I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with that particular specialist--I would have to see if he is from my time period. But yes, body farms were put into use during the latter part of the twentieth and the early twenty-first centuries."

Naraht doesn't have a head to nod, but you kind get the impression of one from his body language. "I'm simply amazed that the scientific investigation of events after death began so relatively late in your planet's history. Surely there was a need for the knowledge long before then."

He pauses to munch a little more of his marble. It produces some relatively loud grinding and hissing.

[ooc: *headdesk* Blame the mun and not the pup. And hey, the guy just fell in love. He's earned the right to be absent-minded. :P]

"Indeed there was, but for centuries people were taught not to question such events by various authority and religious figures. Once science became an accepted domain of thought, that began to change."

"Ahhhh, the twin barriers of dogma and superstition. Even in the Federation we occasionally run into them. Mostly from allies or our newer members."

Asar-Suti walks up to Grissom with a little smile, and says, "Hello, Gil Grissom."

"Hello, Asar-Suti. You can just call me Gil, or Grissom, if you prefer." He smiles.

"Grissom, I'm afraid - Gil means my own Gil to me," Asar-Suti says, a tad ruefully. Grissom, being Grissom, doesn't casually offer people to call him by his first name.

Asar-Suti, of course, doesn't know how far Grissom has already come from the stage where he used to lean on pillars and watch people ~~which AS's mun amusedly observed him do several times in the CSI episode she watched tonight.~~

Oh, he loves observing people in their native habitats. Watch what he does whenever they're in the lab. *snerk*

"That's fine--most call me Grissom."

Asar-Suti shrugs, a bit embarrassed.

"I'd rather call you by your first name, but that happens to be the same my lover has, so," he says.

"I understand. It can sometimes be confusing, since many first names are used frequently on my Earth. In the crime lab, I believe there are 12 individuals with the name 'John', alone."

"Oh, we have several Billies and Jacks and Charlies here, but also two Lokis, just imagine that!" Asar-Suti says. "I think there's more than one John, too. Why do people call their children such repetitious names? Where I come from, variations and themes were more popular; you'd get an Aislinn, and Aileen, and an Aidan in the same family. That sort of thing."

"The names themselves are popular. 'Gilbert' isn't as popular as some of the more contemporary names though."

"Good thing - two of them are quite enough in any place," Asar-Suti grins. "But I suppose that there are enough Gilberts about that the insulting fellow can't do my Gil and you at the same time when he comes to the 'G's?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only