Eat, Drink And Be Merry - For Tomorrow It Begins!

Posted on Mon Jul 8th, 2019 @ 7:36pm by Captain Abigail Laurens & Ashe Zachariah & Commander Ichiko Gail & Lieutenant Commander William Rogers & Lieutenant Alanah Matashi & Lieutenant Commander William Gunnison & Lieutenant Alexis Aenera & Lieutenant Aleksander Voroshilov & Master Chief Petty Officer Hans-Peter König & Lieutenant Commander Calvin Morgan

Mission: Getting To Know You
Location: The Raging Deity - Ships Lounge

It was official, the ship had left Starbase, and if the mood in the lounge was anything to go by, everyone was excited. Ashe resisted the urge to grimace as the doors opened again with a fresh surge of faces walking in. It was moments like this that were great for business, she reminded herself as she hauled another crate of bottles from the storage room at the back and set it behind the bar. Many more nights like these and she was going to have to consider bringing someone else on to help keep up with demand, but regardless, for right now it was great to see the crew settling in to their new homes and having a bit of fun.

One of the faces in through the door had a pair of ears to go along with it. The resident Daughter of Ts'usu entered with a ghost of a smile to her features. It felt good to mingle, felt good to just be a part of the crowd.

She made her way to the bar, and gave Ashe a nod. "I like your hair." she complimented. "Let's start light. Black tea, dash of cinnamon. We'll see where the night goes from there."

Hans entered the lounge once he was certain everything was ok in engineering. The first few hours in warp after a refit always made him a tad nervous. Now that he had seen the engines and his engineers in action he felt a lot more comfortable, in fact he felt so comfortable he turned the engine room over to the ACEO for the evening.

Stepping up to the bar Hans placed his first order a cup of oolong rooibos tea hot with honey, he didn't want to have to many drinks the first 48 hours out of dock, in case anything happened, though Hans did plan on having a celebratory glass of wine later this evening.

Finishing the last swig of his drink, he got up from the corner booth of the lounge and walked across the room. He began seeing familiar faces, having had the pleasure of meeting the entire crew, albeit briefly, through their physicals. He had decided to dress up for the occasion and actually wore his uniform jacket, which had the clean look of an article of clothing rarely worn. Getting up to the bar, he ordered a whiskey neat after Hans placed his order and gave him a smile.

Aleksander had no desire to arrive first, every desire to fade into the crowd, at least until something interesting was happening. Approaching the bar he smiled at Ashe, ordering a a tumbler of the vodka they had shared earlier. Raising the glass to her he moved to join the crowd, happy to watch and drink in relative peace.

Will walked into the Astraea's lounge (which someone had named "The Raging Deity"), which already had a good number of individuals already inside. He headed over to the bar and the woman standing behind it, who had rather colorful hair. "Grapefruit juice, chilled," he said, and after the expected quizzical look, said, "Long story." The bartender simply nodded, and returned a moment later with the ordered drink.

Will picked up the glass and took a sip. He avoided alcohol (even synthehol), just because he'd never cared for the effects; while serving on a starship, any of a variety of emergencies could arise quickly that would not allow time to have sickbay get you sobered up, and even in a situation like this (when off-duty while the ship was docked at a starbase), it was just better to avoid the temptation altogether.

Alexis had slipped in with a couple others, though they'd taken no notice of her at all. True, she'd arrived the day before, true, she didn't know anyone on board, but she was slightly disappointed nonetheless, given what she wore. The rules for this get-together weren't formal, in fact she figured she could have gotten away with something that completely didn't look like a uniform, but she'd still taken a middle ground. Okay, less than middle ground: It was an off-the shoulder dress, though in black with the blue highlighting of the Sciences and two pips just about where they would have been on the collar if she had been wearing one, her commbadge right underneath them. The dress was form-fitting and slit up to mid-thigh and her heels added two inches to her small-er height. She made her way around the side of the room to the bar and after a moment, "Cola, cherry vanilla?" She asked the bartender who went off with a nod, then glanced over at the man, Will, though she didn't know his name yet, a couple feet away, "Having fun yet?" She asked with a slight smile.

"Trying to," Will said. "It's been a while since I've attended one of these."

Chief König seriously considered skipping out on the festivities for the night. He had found a holoprogram in the Starbase's database of the organs of the Ulmer Münster. Since everyone was probably going to enjoy libations, he figured he could steal a slot on the holodeck's schedule and unwind with Widor's 6th Symphony. He'd never really mastered it but he never wanted to learn the organ well enough to perform. He did it for himself.

The Chief got the distinct impression, however, that the Skipper was going to expect him to be sociable. He had been an NCO for far too long for his personality to go against the wishes of the Skipper. Even, what seemed to him, to be the trivial wishes. Besides, if the barkeep didn't have any decent beer in stock, now was the time to find out before they got too far away from civilization.

The Chief headed to the bar, tapping his cane along the deck without putting any weight on it. Addressing the bartender, "Beer. Bock if you've got it. If you don't then give me something that's not piss in a glass."

Ashe raised an eyebrow slightly as she cast a glance over König. "Rest assured, piss in a glass is definitely not on the menu here, but I can recommend a place or two on Starbase if you change your mind and decide that's what you want," she said with a wink, setting his beer on the bar in front of him. "Enjoy darlin'.

König sniffed at the dark liquid then took a sip. Looking back at the bartender, he grunted, "good enough," and worked his way through about half of it while he sized up the lounge. His eyes fell on Lieutenant Aenera and a devilish smile spread across his lips and he sidled over to her. "Good evening, Lieutenant."

"Good evening..." Alexis's eyes glanced over his uniform and alighted on the rank insignia, "Chief? But please, Alexis, this isn't really a formal affair, I don't think?" She smiled at him, "In any case, I know I'm officially off duty, so I'm quite good with my first name, besides... With enough Lieutenants around here, it's easier to know who you're talking to."

"Thank you, I'll try to keep that in mind. I've been in Starfleet over half my life so I apologize in advance if I slip," the Chief leaned his cane against the bar and extended a hand to Alexis, giving her a warm smile, "I'm Hans-Peter König. Believe it or not, my friends call me König. Besides, I think there's another Hans running around here somewhere. What brings you to the good ship Astraea?"

She accepted the hand graciously and bent her knees with a slight bow of the head in a graceful micro-curtsey given her gown, "Well, König, if I can presume to consider you a friend, orders bring me here. With my current thesis completed, the Academy decided I should be sent out to the stars for a while at least rather than teaching the incoming cadets, besides all of the interesting things happen out here, typically. What about yourself?"

"I've been stuck on Earth for the last three years myself. Got a little itchy, had to get back into space." König drew a sip from his tumbler, "So, you taught at the Academy? Which subject?"

"Ohhh, I did a bit of the basic Science courses, which was mostly lecture, but also Applied Astrophyics as well as Advanced Stellar Mechanics and the sort." Alexis shrugged, "All while working on my second Doctorate, the one in Temporal Physics and Anomalies. An academic, I am."

König polished off the rest of the bock, set the empty glass on the bar, and waved to the bartender for a second one, "Well, even as an academic I'm sure that as an instructor you taught your cadets that a Starfleet officer is, first and foremost, a leader: someone that the enlisted and more junior officers of the ship should be able to look to and emulate in order to be successful. Out here, if you can't instill that degree of trust you could get our people killed."

König pointed to Alexis' dress, "And you very well might have found the fastest way I've seen to undermine that trust. That mockery of the Starfleet uniform would barely be acceptable in porn and it is obscenely unbecoming of an officer of your pedigree. You should have more respect for yourself." At this point, Ashe had returned with the Chief's second glass of bock. He accepted it from the bartender, thanking her, before addressing Alexis again, "Have a good evening, Lieutenant." Without another word, König picked up his cane and made his way into the room.

Lexi's hands tightened around her drink as the Chief critiqued her outfit and bit back the urge to reply, or rage at him. Then she was speechless until he'd walked away and stared at her cola for a moment before raising a finger to the bartender, "On second thought, can we add a shot of Teriven's Reserve to this?" She requested the Betazoid brand of whiskey and smiled her thanks.

Ichiko glanced over at Hans from her spot at the bar, and gave him a nod and the beginning of a smile. "Finding everything alright and in order, Lieutenant?" she asked. The pips, the colors, she didn't want to assume Engineering, but there weren't too many alternatives.

"I am, thank you," Hans replied as watched different members of the crew arrive and converse. "Just enjoying a bit of peace, Engineering has been a busy place the last 36 hours, doing the final pre-launch engine inspections on the warp core, and containment fields. I'm just glad to sit and have a moment," Hans said with a smile. "By the way I'm Hans, the Chief Engineer," he said as he extended his hand.

She accepted his hand, "Ichiko Gail. A pleasure to meet you." she gave a soft smile, "I'm the Ship Second, though I think the term the Federation uses is the XO." she took a sip of her tea, "When engineering is at peace, the ship is at peace. Let myself or the captain know if you need anything."

Halfway through the glass of champagne and getting board, Aleksi approached the XO. She had intellect behind her, definitely more than he had which suited him just fine. He tapped his glass against her tea cup, "How does the evening find you ma'am?"

She responded with a raise of her glass after the clink. "Thus far, agreeable. We have most of the senior crew all in one place and most of them have their backs to one another." She giggled. "And yourself? Things to your liking thus far?"

"From my experience, which is always a dangerous thing to say, the biggest fear that people seem to have is social interaction," Sipping his drink he smiled, "Even more so than snakes surprisingly. As for me, I think this ship is suiting me just fine. It's not Monaco, but it will do."

"A universal constant. Back home, some people would risk shame and embarrassment before standing before a crowd." she gave her tea a sip, "Rather to be embarrassed alone than in front of a crowd. The shame you can ... forget." she smirked. "I always hated that phrase."

"Though, I am glad to hear things are suiting you well. We'll make the Astraea your home yet." she threatened, but in the way that left it clear that it wasn't actually a threat.

"I always found that line of thinking ridiculous, but also understandable," He smiled, thinking about how limited his career would have been if he had the same fear. He certainly wouldn't have been there, "And please ma'am, don't threaten me with a good time," He downed the rest of his glass, "Or I may just take you up on it."

To that, she gave him a wink and a smirk, "I'd never dream of threats." she took another sip of her tea, "Though, don't let that stop you from enjoying the time you're here."

"I don't think that will," Looking at his empty glass he debated on a refill. Deciding against it, at least until the XO's glass was empty, he pressed on with the conversation, "Any amusing stories you have stowed away?"

"A warlord in the ages of Ts'usu history defeated an army twenty times his own by misdirection. Lit bonfires, left the gates open, invited the enemy army in. His reputation for deception preceded him, and the enemy retreated." she recounted with a smirk, "Or, did you mean more recent stories? Everything is fresh for me, you understand." she teased, then finished her tea.

"Not quite what I had in mind, but better than I could have asked. Reputations are powerful tools," Aleksi smiled, eyes going to her empty glass, "Would like a refill? I have a lovely bottle of Henri Giraud behind the counter."

"That they are. They can besmirch a friendship before it even begins, or they can hide a red flag." she gave him a smirk, "I do like the way you think. I think I'd enjoy a refill, though perhaps in a more appropriate glass."

"That's the fun part," Taking the empty glasses Aleksi approached the bar, eyes scanning the room. Under his facade of pleasantness he couldn't really ignore that creeping sense of paranoia that usually comes from being in a crowd. Watching Ashe as she did her work, he allowed himself to linger just a little wondering how much trouble he'd cause her if he just served himself. Figuring begging for forgiveness later, he still had several jars of beluga stashed away, he reached behind the counter and grabbed another glass and his bottle. Topping off each glass he returned to the Ichiko, handing her a flute, "Salut!"

"Kampai!" she said with a smirk, matching his gesture and tone.

König had found himself a quiet corner of the bar where he could finish his beer in peace. Looking out over the crew, his eyes fell upon an unmistakable face. König watched the target a moment, perplexed, then straightened up and drew in a sharp breath. He began searching the crowd finding what he was looking for over by the bar talking to Commander Gail. König set his glass on the nearest table and pushed through the crowd to get to the bar. He tapped Lt Voroshilov on the shoulder, "Lieutenant, a word please."

"Apologies ma'am, it seems mother would like a word with me," Clinking his glass against hers, Aleksi followed the SNCO to a quieter corner of the room.

"Tell mother I send my regards." she teased, and taking a sip of the champagne. Not bad.

When Aleksi had stepped aside with König looked across the compartment at that unmistakable face, "Lieutenant, why the fuck is Doctor R'Mular onboard?"

"My dear König, this is no place for shop talk," placing his arm across the Chief of Boat's shoulder, Aleksi's voice dropped to a whisper, "That is a question I've yet to find an answer to. From what he's told me there are some collection experiments he wants to run," Aleksi's tone indicated he was not entirely trusting of that story.

"I'm sure he does," König snorted, "I find it a little disturbing that your fan club isn't even trying to be subtle. I am here to have a nice relaxing cruise before I retire. Don't tell me that Astraea is about to get sucked into some smoke-and-mirrors shit."

"Well my friend, if it's any consolation I think he's here to make sure I don't misbehave too much. Call it a constant reminder of my sins," Aleksi chuckled, "And your chances of making it to retirement are mostly secure."

"You're damn right I'm making it to retirement but I'm not interested in killing my way there," König dug the knob of his cane into one of Aleksi's sciatic nerves, forcing the Lieutenant to stumble away far enough so he couldn't keep his arm around the Chief. Sure, a punch to the stomach could have worked but when it comes to the use of force there are rare occasions when less is more. The Chief squared off against Alexi, "You killed a very popular and very unscrupulous man, Lieutenant. Do you really think his friends are much better? R'Mular might be a harmless egghead but the cabal that sent him aren't. Watch yourself."

König had had enough of this party and he was feeling the call of the Ulmer Münster so he hoisted his cane and excused himself from the Raging Deity.

Having gotten his drink refilled, Calvin looked around the room, deciding against going back to his corner. He was supposed to be social, which isn't something he normally did with such large crowds. Instead of stepping into a conversation he may not enjoy, he took a sip of his drink and leaned against the bar, waiting to see who would come back up and maybe strike a conversation with them.

Abigail smiled as she walked into the lounge, relieved to finally have left her office. It was nice to see the lounge so full of crew who were clearly getting along. Ordering a glass of spring wine, she took it as Ashe handed it over and glanced around, trying to work out what names she could put to faces.

Alanah made her not so grand entrance she had just showered after doing a PT with some of her officers. She was not much for these types of gatherings but she also thought it might look bad if she didn't attend. After grabbing a ginger ale she made her way to the corner of the room out of habit and started to people watch.

Bert arrived just a hair on the side of late with a crooked grin for everyone and a generally jovial mood. He had a wave for the few who those who made eye contact, a nod or two for the shy grins, and a big grin for the bartender. "May I please have a rootbeer?"

"Slow down, Bert." Bill joked, giving the counsellor a friendly clap on the shoulder. "The night is still young."

Alexis had found a wall to put her back to that had a table in front of her and nursed her now doctored cola, leaning back in the chair and just people-watched. After the Chief, she wasn't going to go find someone to talk to, but wasn't going to go out of her way to avoid people, just not get sneaked up on.

Moving away from the bar, which was getting old for him standing next to, he slid over next to Alexis, who he noticed was standing off to the side. Calvin sipped his drink, before saying in a quiet but friendly tone, "People watching is where it's at." He left it at that, giving them both someone to "socialize" with, without having to talk if either didn't want to. He took another sip, repositioning himself on the wall until he got comfortable.

"Indeed." Lexi said softly, "If this is a party? I'd say it's one of the most... Underwhelming I've been at." She shrugged sighed as she glanced over at Calvin, seeing the slightly pointed ears hinting at a not-quite-fully human genetic background and the visor that said something else entirely, eye damage? replacements? Who knew? "You can learn a lot about people just from watching them for a while, but I've never really gotten that technique figured out yet."

Satisfied that everyone was getting along, Abigail finished her wine and set the empty glass down before heading back out into the corridor. There was still plenty that needed her attention, especially now.