First Contact Day Party, Part 1
Posted on Tue Apr 9th, 2024 @ 1:26pm by Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant Commander Nash Winters & Lieutenant Jules Mundy & Lieutenant Eirly Andersen & Commander Maxun Spello & Lieutenant JG Thivi & Lieutenant JG Ta'Feel Anith Usskik
1,806 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
The Menagerie: side stories & mischief making
Location: Paddy's Lounge (Ten-Forward)
Timeline: MD Zeta
The music was louder than normal in Paddy's Loft, as a live band played old rock & roll music from Earth on one side of the bar. On the other an old fashioned slide show projector projected images of Zefram Cochrane, the first ship to achieve warp drive, and the Vulcan ship that landed on Earth initiating contact with humans.
When Charlotte and Malcolm and a few other medical officers arrived directly from their shift at Sickbay the party was already hopping, with people having fun on the dance floor and enjoying cake and drinks throughout the bar.
Thivi too had come with a gaggle of her staff. She on the other hand had opted to first go back to her quarters and change out of uniform; instead she had chosen to come in traditional Kelpien garb, being ornately simple grey cloth garments that fitted loosely on her gangly frame. She joined the others in sampling the variety of dishes available - Kelpiens did have pretty big appetites after all.
Malcolm walked up to the bar and waited to catch someone's attention before listing off drink orders for himself and the staff that had come with him.
Samuel nodded to Malcolm, after he received the drink order. He then moved with expert grace behind his bar, as he put on a show, tossing and flipping bottles, then mixing the various cocktails, before pouring everything out into the correctly-shaped glasses used for each beverage.
As Bob Segar's Old Time Rock & Roll roll came to a close an exhausted and thirsty Sara pulled Nash off the dance floor. "I need to get something to drink," she said leading him to a punch bowl that sat on a table next to a large cake.
Nash grabbed a nearby napkin and wiped his perspiration-soaked neck and forehead.
“Great turnout, huh? It’s good to see the crew come together like this. Forgetting our troubles for at least a couple of hours.” He looked down at the large glass punchbowl in front of him. “What is this…. stuff supposed to be? Probably doesn’t matter anyway, I could use some refreshment, too.”
"I haven't danced like that since Jake and Miranda's wedding," Sara laughed taking a long swig of the punch.
Nash was catching his breath as he filled his glass with the punch. He took a sip and said, “I remember….we both danced our asses off. If you could call what I was doing dancing.”
He laughed along with Sara. “It was fun. I also remember how much fun we had after the wedding.” Nash teased as he kissed Sara’s cheek and neck.
Dani had snagged S'Niri to be her party. When they walked in the band was just starting to play an ACDC song. "Oh this music is fun, we're going straight to the dance floor!"
"You bet! Where's that cute boyfriend of yours, the chief engineer? Or chief of operations? One of the two." S'Niri had decided to appeal to her roots just this once for the night - she wore traditional Ferasan noble's garb, with a tank top-like garment with golden tassels at the hem, a skirt of sorts and golden bands circling her biceps and ankles. The one time she'd worn this her father had been trying to show her off to the council of clan elders, that she was as capable and strong as they were - an attempt that fell flat. For tonight, though, she'd decided to make an exception. She looped an arm through Dani's and dragged her to the packed dance floor - not that she would've resisted, probably. "See him?" She gestured to the crowd around them.
Jules saw Dani and her friend on the dance floor. He finished his drink, gathered his courage, and walked out on the floor, went to Dani and S'Niri and said to Dani, "May I have this dance?"
Dani rolled her eyes playfully at Jules. "You've got the first slow song, I promise. Join us. We're having fun"
Jules walked away without saying anything. "What the..." Dani said as he walked away. "He knew I was coming with you, why is he being so dumb."
"Maybe he's jealous. Human men tend to be that way." S'Niri quipped as she watched him go. "Or maybe he's not comfortable around strangers, who knows."
Shelly, Lori and Andrea entered the ten forward and all three of them raised their eyebrows and almost laughed at everyone on the dance floor. Instead, they just let out a slight giggle and thought to each other, "Silly people. C'mon, let's goto the bar and drink up and just watch them silly people dance it out for our amusement." Then, they went to the bar and ordered their favorite beer. Then, the watching began. They were clearly having a good time watching.
Eirly stepped out of the turbo lift and made her way to the Ten Forward as well. She wasn't used to there being so many get togethers or parties, but she understood the significance of this one so she dressed appropriately: a long, dark blue dress that hugged her figure and had a split up the leg on the right hand side, heels and matching accessories including her long pendant necklace. Her hair was straightened with a curl at the ends, her makeup complimentary to the entire outfit.
She skirted around the edge of the dance floor, made it to the bar and waited to get the attention of the bartenders so she could get a drink before she started watching how everyone was interacting and having fun. She only knew a couple of people so far.
Seeing the attractive young blonde trying to gain the attention of him or his staff, Samuel moved down to the end of the bar and gave her a friendly smile. "Welcome to Paddy's Loft, young lady, My name is Samuel, and this is my bar. What can I get for you?"
Eirly swung back around on the stool and smiled, probably a bit too enthusiastically because of the quick service, and then blushed, "Hi Samuel, mind if I call you Sam? I'm Eirly. If you've got something fruity that will give me a good buzz, I'll have one of those please!"
The El-Aurian grinned and nodded. "Sure," he replied to her first question. Then he gave her a friendly wink as he started putting together a fruity cocktail for her. "One fruity buzz maker coming up." He puts on another show, juggling various bottles, then pouring out a little here, a bit more there. When he had everything in the shaker that he wanted, he put the bottles back, then puts the lid on the shaker. As he starts shaking the mixer, he grabs an appropriately-sized and shaped glass and put it up on the bar, on a napkin that had already been put on the bar surface. He then pops off the top of the shaker and starts to pour the orange-colored liquid into the glass. Once done, he grabbed a few cherries from the side bar and gently plopped them into the glass. Once done, he slid the glass closer to Eirly and said, "Voila! One sex on the beach."
"Oh wow, that's amazing!" She tasted the drink and the explosion of flavour was overwhelmingly good. And it was also the first time she'd had one of these drinks too. "This is exactly what I wanted, thank you."
Charlotte saw someone around her age sitting at the bar by herself and walked up to introduce herself. "Hey, I'm Charlie, nurse," she said giving a quick laugh to her blue uniform. "I don't think I've seen you around yet."
Eirly got jolted back into reality from the bliss of the drink and turned to who spoke to her, "Oh hey, I'm Eirly, tactical. I've only been here a few days, so I'm still getting used to everything on the ship and meeting everyone."
"Nice to meet you. We're all still fairly new, actually. But it doesn't seem to take long to get to know one another out here," Charlotte responded. "Looks like someone is coming your way," Charlotte took a drink of her wine.
Jules Mundy walked up to Andersen. "Excuse me, lieutenant. Jules Mundy. Care to dance?"
"By all means, of course. I'm Eirly," She slipped off the stool and turned to Charlie, "I'll be back, watch my drink?" Then she followed Jules onto the dance floor for that dance.
He took her by the hand and walked her out to the dance floor. The music had slowed to a slow pace, so Jules put his hand on her hip and held her left hand in his. "I haven't seen you before. You just transfer in?"
Eirly fell into step as she danced with him, not once stepping on his feet as she let him take the lead. She felt more at ease to be doing something loved and didn't care who it was with. "Yeah I did, as Assistant Chief Tactical. I've only been here like two days now."
"I'm the Operations Chief, and I can guarantee that you will fit in just fine here." He moved her across the dance floor.
"I hope so," They moved around the dancefloor with grace and ease.
When a slow song came on, Dani went to look for Jules, but was having trouble finding him. Then she realized he had slipped onto the dance floor with Lieutenant Andersen. She stood frozen for a moment, then went to find S'Niri.
Dani tapped her friend on the shoulder, "I'm sorry, but I'm leaving, I'll catch you later."
"Wh- Dani? What's wrong?" A quick glance out at the crowd told her everything she needed to know. "Come with me. I'll go deal with him." She snarled, watching Dani's supposed boyfriend dancing with someone else.
Dani stood in front of S'Niri. "No, leave him be. Did you know he has a brother on board? Me either until I met him a few weeks ago. I'll deal with him later. It's not worth it."
"Whatever. If you're going I'm going with you. I can't stay here knowing that someone close to you hurt you - I'll scratch him and my boss eventually and we both know that's not healthy." She made a sound that was more akin to a feline hiss as she led Dani to the exit. "Let's go."
Dani laughed at S'Niri's comment. She wasn't serious, was she? "Let's go grab a drink somewhere else," Dani suggested as the two were leaving.
"There's another bar a few doors down that's also running a celebration like this one. Don't worry. We can drink to our hearts' delight all we want there." S'Niri looped her arm round her shoulders as they exited together.
> > To Part Two > >