Captain Olivia Dunham
Commander Peter Bishop, Chief Engineer and Third Officer
Olivia wandered through Engineering, nodding and stating "As you were" to the various crew members' attempts to leap to attention. She hadn't come down here with any particular destination in mind, but the covert glances toward an especially dark corner of the section drew her attention.
She rounded a bulkhead to see Commander Bishop and Ensign Okonkwo sitting next to a crude device. Liquid was bubbling from a large container through tubes and collecting in a glass beaker. She heard Peter say with satisfaction, "There we go."
At least it was his off-shift.
Ensign Okonkwo scrambled to his feet when he saw her, saluting hastily. She waved him away and he dashed off, leaving her with Peter.
Olivia looked over the mechanism curiously. "That's technically illegal, isn't it. Misuse of Starfleet equipment and so on."
"Yep."
"Hmm." Peter still hadn't stirred, maybe daring her to place an official reprimand in his file. She considered him for a moment, then pointed to the stack of shot glasses next to the still. "I can't properly determine the extent of the offense until I've thoroughly investigated."
Peter smirked and filled one of the glasses to the rim, handing it over to her. Olivia took a meditative sip, her nose wrinkling as the burn hit the back of her throat. "Peter, that's terrible." She threw the rest back and held out her glass. "Hit me again."
"Doesn't actually improve with familiarity, but you won't care," Peter told her. He refilled her glass and his own. "Not that you need a reason, but what's the occasion?"
Olivia took the ensign's abandoned seat, careful not to spill the liquid. It might eat through a bulkhead. "Has this stuff got a name?"
Peter raised an eyebrow at her deflection, but let it go. "Engine room hooch."
"Appropriate." Olivia took another taste. He was right; it didn't get any better. "But I know you have better stashed away, including at least a couple bottles of Romulan ale. So what's the point of this?"
"The doing of the thing. Because I can." He eyed her over his glass. "Until you say I can't."
"And then you'd find a way to do it anyway," she said, philosophically.
"Nah. When I go off the reservation, I want it to be for something meaningful." Peter grinned and saluted her, tossing back his drink and setting the glass upside-down. "This was just an interesting project. Nice to do something that doesn't involve plasma relays."
"And the corruption of junior officers, that's just a bonus?" Olivia finished the glass and handed it back, shaking her head against his offer of more.
Peter laughed, starting to switch off the still's mechanisms. "Keeps them out of worse trouble."
"So there's more than one collaborator in on your little operation?" Olivia stood and then blinked, swaying noticeably. "That's...potent."
Her chief engineer got up, not appreciably any more steady on his feet. "Happy to lend an arm, Captain."
Olivia straightened up, smirking. "It'd take more than that to put me down, Bishop." She turned and walked away, keeping a perfectly straight line, smiling at the sound of Peter's mixed curses and laughter behind her.