Midnight at the Bar & Grill (Part 1)

Posted on Thu Nov 27th, 2025 @ 9:01am by Captain Kagami Izumi & Hatsune Izumi & Lieutenant Commander (Soghla') Thorillo Son of Drej & Lieutenant William Neil & Lieutenant "Joliet" Jane Cooke & Lieutenant Maki Nishikino 'Bones' & Lieutenant Marina Kelea & Lieutenant Joseph Frost & Tadao Yoshikawa
Edited on on Thu Nov 27th, 2025 @ 9:02am

1,688 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Midnight
Location: Final Frontier's Bar & Grill

It was yet another sleepless night for the crew of Starbase Frontier. For some reason the Sonno emitted some form of pheromone that blocked other species from falling asleep. It was baffling not only the science officers but also the medical officers. There was also no way of defending against it, from what came out of the medical results they just had 'to get on with it'. Luckily the Sonno were due to leave in the morning, to return to their homeworld with the new trading contracts.

[Kagami's quarters]

Kagami had put Hatsune to bed, not that she was sleeping. She could hear her daughter tossing and turning in the next room. Kagami slumped on the couch in her pajamas staring at the viewscreen. It was then thatva message popped up, a civilian announcement.

Good Evening Starbase Frontier! Don't suffer these sleepless nights alone! The Final Frontiers Bar & Grill is open all night! We have yummy food, unlimited coffee and games to play! Come on down and make something of the night! You can come in your pajamas too!

[Final Frontier Bar & Grill]

"God, what was I thinking..." Tadao sighed to himself as he looked over the... desultory assortment of (mostly finger) foods that his sleep-deprived staff had hastily whipped together for their impromptu "late-night promotion." Admittedly, this wasn't even supposed to be a thing, but after yesterday's shit-show forced them to lock down the premises for the second time in two months, the staff members cracked open some synth beers and got to talking as they waited for the shelter-in-place order to be lifted. One of his chefs happened to mention that his culinary school used to host an "after hours party"
in the wee hours of the morning, when most of the students and faculty had retired for the night. Given that it wasn't officially sanctioned by the school, you only really learned of its existence through word of mouth, but who did (and were subsequently brave enough to venture out in the dead of night) were pleasantly entertained with food, games, and the typical hijinks that one got up to when they were college-age.

One thing slowly led to another, and Tadao got it in his head that hey, that might not actually be a bad idea (In retrospect, it was horrible), and because he was too tired to actually stop and think this through, the next thing he knew was that he was putting out ads promoting this event on the Civillian forums. Of course, it was only when that happened that Tadao realized he had given his staff a somewhat unreasonable amount of time (only about a day) to plan and whip up a presentable buffet selection for God knows how many people that were actually going to bother to show up, and the ensuing scramble to actually make enough food to serve the number of guests they would be anticipating meant that their usual upscale fare had to take a backseat. Couple that with the fact that the deep fryer self-destructed in spectacular fashion- and at the worst possible time- Tadao finally threw in the towel and announced that they were just going to replicate the rest of the food and hope that no one noticed.

That, of course, was a bit optimistic.

"This wouldn't even be acceptable at a block party," he lamented, evidently beyond displeased with the final result. "I think I'm just going to have to owe up to my mistake and offer our guests a consolation discount tomorrow-!"

"I think we'll get people coming and going throughout the night..." Aaron replied from behind the bar. "Plus, with people in pajamas, its kind of like a pajama party."

"I agree with him." A voice said from the doorway. "You got anything to keep this one amused? Its not like she's sleeping..."

Tadao glanced up; standing in there in the entrance was none other than the woman herself: Kagami Izumi. She was dressed in lavendar pajamas that were slightly cropped revealing her midriff and navel. Her hair was down, gone were her usual twintails and now her long hair just flowed down her back. Holding her hand was Hatsune, who rubbed her eyes with her other hand and was also dressed in pajamas of light green.

"I heard you had unlimited coffee on tap?" Kagami said. "And I believe that someone requested... what was it again?" She asked looking down at her daughter.

"Chocolate milk..." Hatsune said quietly.

"Chocolate milk." Kagami also said. "So, I take it you're open?"

Well, there was no turning back at this point; Tadao had made his bed, and now he was going to have to lay in it. Perhaps it wasn't going to be the most extravagant thing he'd ever hosted, but if it was Kagami and Hatsune, then he was hard-pressed to turn them away. Years from now, they'd probably look back on this night and have a good chuckle, and if that, in his mind, was the worst that could happen, then he could afford to make an ass of himself for just one night.

"I guess we are now," Tadao smiled as he motioned them inside. "Come in, have a seat, and we'll see about getting you something to drink?"

Kagami guided Hatsune over to one of the semi-cirular booths and guided her in.

"Right, then," Tadao began once the two of them were situated. "So that'll be a chocolate milk for Hatsune, and... how do you like your coffee, Kagami?"

"Strong. Tell you what, just bring the pot, jug of cream and sugar cubes and I'll take it from there." She said giving him a smile. At that moment a very tired crewman approached the table and held out a small stack of PADD's.

"Here's the PADD's you requested Captain." He said. Kagami thanked the crewman and then dismissed him. She flicked through one and handed one to Hatsune.

"I might as well get some work done." She smiled. "And if I get bored of that... which I probably will... I'll just go and bother the restaurateur for attention."

Tadao chuckled. At times like these, he needed to laugh, no matter how stupid the circumstance. "Right, one pot of coffee, strong, jug of cream, and some sugar cubes," he repeated as he jotted the order down. "Okay, so I'll be right back with your drinks, it'll probably only take about... 2, 3 minutes for me to whip up? In the meantime, the food's self-serve tonight, so feel free to eat as much or as little as you like."

"Thanks Tadao." Kagami replied as she began to tap on her PADD. There was a small grumbling sound that emanated from Hatsune. Kagami looked down at her daughter. "Go on, go fill that tummy."

Hatsune let out a little giggle and slid off the booth seats skipping across the restaurant towards the food buffet that had been set up.

A sleepy eyed Marina appeared at the door, she wasn't getting much sleep just minor cat naps before getting woken again. Now she was hungry so she decided to see what she fancied from the bar and grill.

William slowly walked into the bar and grill and blinked twice before walking over to a seat. Now he understood why everyone had been so cranky when he'd first arrived. At least now they had a cause and the solution would be coming soon.

"Any way I can get something that will both take the edge off and wake me up?" William said with a sigh.

"Whatever it is, make it two orders:" A pronounced Chicagoland accent spoke up from behind him.

It was Jane, who had followed William in after receiving the ad over the civilian forums. The base's new security chief looked less than dignified standing there in her pajamas, but now that she too was getting a real time understanding on why everyone was so cranky when she arrived, she couldn't really care less.

Jane's pajamas were a rather odd composition: Her top consisted of a 3/4 sleeve baseball shirt a couple sizes too big for her, emblazoned with the text 'Kagami Izumi is my hero." While her bottoms consisted of red, white, and blue flannel pajama pants emblazoned with the logo of a historical baseball team: The Chicago Cubs.

The bartender furrowed his brow. "Umm... not sure how much it's gonna help, but we can replicate a few cans of Monster if you'd like?"

"Sure, but you got any food to go with it?" Jane asked. "Like some cheese curds, maybe? Hell, I'll even take chicken."

"Unless you'd prefer having it replicated, our deep fryer is out of commission," the bartender replied. "We do have a buffet tonight, but most of what we've got is finger foods."

He proceeded to direct their attention over to the buffet and it's somewhat disappointing selection.

"Then replicate it: I don't care." Jane said. "You want me to revoke your vendor's permit? I'd be more than happy to say I spotted some roaches in your kitchen if you keep testing me like this."

The bartender shot Jane a dirty look, but nonetheless obliged as he quietly disappeared into the kitchen to prepare her food.

"Guess that was the ticket, huh?" Jane remarked.

"Sorry for the delay, Kagami," Tadao apologized as he returned sporting a tray of drinks. "Right, so we've got one pot of coffee- strong as you requested- one jug of cream, a bowl of sugar cubes, and a chocolate milk for Hatsune."

"Thats alright Tadao. For once, we have all night." She chuckled. Meanwhile Hatsune was already chugging down on the chocolate milk and in the process getting it all around her mouth and cheeks.

"Slow down Hatsune. You don't want to be sick..." Kagami sighed.

"No need to rush, Sweetheart, we've got plenty more where that came from," Tadao chuckled as he retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to wipe off Hatsune's muff.

To be continued...

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