Sharing Common Interests - Part I

Posted on Fri Apr 4th, 2025 @ 8:10pm by Commander Vincent 'Vin' Salvatore & Lieutenant JG Gianna De Luca

1,221 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: Counselor's Office
Timeline: After: Salvatore's Soiree

ON:

Vincent walked down the corridor, a hard plastic container under his arm, as he made his way to the Chief Counselor's Office. He kept to his pleasant smile as he greeted any officer he walked by. It was an odd feeling being the Executive Officer of the Hecate. He thought he would be stuck on the Mallard for most of the remainder of his career, especially after what he did to get there, but it was a choice that he would make again. As he approached the office door, the thought occurred to him. There was a chance Lieutenant De Luca would want to talk about it. In fact, there was a chance, he was going to have to talk about a lot of things. His home. His Family. The kidnapping from his home planet and his life in Starfleet. He as tapped the chime, he removed the container from under his arm, as he let out a deep sigh. At least they would have fresh baked cookies to eat as they talked.

Gia's head popped up at the sound of the chime ringing through; she'd been in full concentration mode with catching up on some personnel file reading and had zoned out to the rest of the world. She checked her schedule to see if there was an appointment she'd missed for someone but couldn't find anything for anyone.

"Come in!" She called out in a cheerful tone, still wondering who it could be.

He tapped the button by the door to open it before walking in. Vincent took a second to look around before called out. "Lieutenant De Luca? Commander Salvatore... Vin if you like. I don't know if you remember me from the get together?" He spoke with a smile as he held up the plastic container. "I thought it would be good to officially meet. I brought cookies. Baked them myself." As he opened the container, he continued. "There's Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, and Snickerdoodle. If you don't want them maybe you can leave them for anyone meeting you. I made plenty."

"I do remember you Commander, it's good to see you again and meet you officially," Gia stepped out from behind her desk to greet him with a genuine smile before motioning to the soft chairs and coffee table for them to sit at. "Please, call me Gia if we're off-duty. It's only my parents that call me Gianna. Chocolate chip is my favourite, by the way, these look amazing," she shifted slightly to get herself comfortable, "What can I do for you today?"

"Mine too." Vincent replied as he walked towards the chair and took a seat. He placed the container of cookies on the coffee table before leaning back in his chair. "Nothing important, just felt it was best get my name in your books now that I am on board as first officer. This can be an evaluation or a simple conversation, if you like." He crossed his leg slightly as he continued. "I'm sure, if you've had access to my file, there is a lot to unpack." He gave a slight chuckle.

She gave a light sigh and replied as she took one of the biscuits, "To be honest, I haven't looked through many crew files yet, but I do recall seeing your name pop up on the list and the file did look very detailed, so you're correct in saying there's definitely going to be a lot to unpack over a number of sessions."

Taking a chance to bite into the biscuit, Gia found it was quite delicious, "This is as good as it looks, you've done well with making these." After putting the back of her hand to her mouth to be polite while she swallowed it, Gia added with a laugh, "I'm only going to limit myself to one, maybe two of these, otherwise they'll all be gone.

Vincent let out a laugh. "Thank you. It's not often I get access to a kitchen to use. So, when I do get to use one, I tend to take advantage of it." He smiled a bit. "Sometimes, I get overwhelmed by all the technology, that some old fashion stuff makes me feel... I don't know... less homesick, I guess."

Gia nodded in understanding, "I understand the feeling of being homesick. I've gone from being surrounded by a massive family full of siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, you name it, to being on my own hundreds of thousands of miles away. As for technology though, it can be overwhelming at times, I agree."

"I miss some family members. My mom. My little brother, Niko. Even my older brother and father, from time to time, but not everyone." Vincent replied a bit, letting out a bit of a sigh. "You have to understand, for me, there was family and... family." He added, putting the second word family in air quotes. "Some were related and others weren't There were just there, and called themselves family, because my father was someone they respected and were afraid of. They would sooner let you hang in the wind then hold out their hand to help you if it meant they got something out of it." He said in a slightly Brooklyn style tone. "But, there were a few, who were really loyal. The ones who didn't ask for anything and would go out of their way to help you out. They I considered family. Those were the ones I trusted." He took a moment to himself before smiling again. "Anyway... were you born on Earth or another planet?"

"I am Earth born and raised, unfortunately, and only left it for the first time once I got out of the Academy." Gia smiled as she took note of his similar accent to her. She understood the family sentiment, the pressures, and everything that came along with it, "I too have a younger brother named Nico, funnily enough, multiple older siblings as well though. I understand the importance and difference between family and found family too."

"Small universe." He chuckled slightly. "Not including me, I have three siblings. There is my older brother, Carlo. My younger brother Niko. And my twin sister Valentina. I was, naturally, closer to my sister, but I cared for both my brothers just as much. Even with all the back and forth we used to get into. When it came down to it... I was always there when they needed me." Vincent smiled a bit, leaning against the cushion of the chair, letting out a sigh as he did so. "How about you? You and your siblings get into it often?"

"Yeah," Gia admitted, taking note of his sigh. "My sister and I never really got along growing up so we fought a lot, but my older brothers kind of took after our father and were extremely overprotective to the point even a potential partner wouldn't get to make it to a first date with me," She laughed at the thought of it, "But like you, I was always there for whatever they needed."


To be continued


===========

Commander Vincent 'Vin' Salvatore
Executive Officer/Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Gianna De Luca
Chief Counsellor
USS Hecate

 

RSS Feed