Masquerade! - Part 2/5
Posted on 28 Feb 2015 @ 4:49am by Verity Thorne & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant JG Wakeham Paul Alasia Ph.D. & Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D. & Ensign Jaana Voutilainen & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Lieutenant JG Dorian West & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
3,548 words; about a 18 minute read
Mission:
Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: Starbase 84 - Holosuite
Timeline: MD 07 - 2030
ON:
Oliver Sylver's costume was all black, with leather. Some would call it light armour and he wore a sword at his side; although it wasn't real. At least not real enough to wound someone. He wore a black mask and a cloak with it...again, he looked more ready for a fight than anything else. But the leather was polished and the clothes clean. He had marked his eyes with some black kohl and he had stubble on his chin. The costume had been inspired by various fantasy holonovels he had enjoyed over the years. He looked over the people gathered, the costumes, the masks. He spotted the pirate standing there and a grin came to his face. The chin gave it away, as well as the body. He could recognise Verity easily by now. He walked over to him and touched his arm, leaning close. "I'm hunting outlaws and pirates...you are in my custody now," he teased, his blue eyes sparkling with easy warmth.
Verity jumped at the touch before turning to look at him, laughing warmly as he recognised Oliver. His blue eyes shone as he looked down over him with awe at his costume...or perhaps, the strong, athletic body in tight leather. He decided that Masquerade had been one of his better random ideas. "Oh no, how terrible..." he teased, leaning to kiss his cheek. "You look amazing....but then, you always do."
Oliver smiled as he leant to kiss his cheek in return. "Just like you do. I should ask for you always to be dressed like this..." he winked, his eyes warm. "This is an amazing gathering you have arranged...thank you."
Verity shook his head as he looked around with a warm smile, letting out a long breath. "I think it's what we needed," he admitted, meeting his eyes. "After everything that happened to us on the last mission, we needed something together, to heal what we had gone through and relax."
Oliver smiled as he nodded, watching him for a long moment. "Would you like to dance?" he asked softly, with warmth. "With me, I mean. Not just dancing alone, that is just...silly. But I'd love to dance with you."
Verity laughed softly at the stumbling question, reaching out to take his hand warmly, pulling close against him even as he walked them backwards onto the large, marble paving. "Definitely yes...pirates don't get the chance to dance all that often...."
Grayson strode in the room, his Spartan shield hiding the minimalistic costume underneath. His helmet gave only a small space in which to see his face or let any liquids in, his spots were carefully hidden under good quality, water resistant flesh coloured makeup. It was freeing to know that he could easily hide in the crowed, to almost be considered a hologram...it almost made him feel like he could get up to mischief...almost. Confidently he strode over to a wall, braced himself with his leg against it and watched as the party began to unfold, waiting for someone to come talk to him or for his prey to walk in.
Allyndra had landed and watched from one end of the room the rest arrive. She was curious about one costume or almost lack of it. A warrior of some sort and she made her way over. Making a curtsey she said, "Ah warrior, I am not familiar with your kind."
While not quite the prey he was looking for, Grayson relished in the chance for some playful banter. "This would be Spartan military. Bodies to show and not be afraid to do so," breaking character, he continued, "although a large spear usually goes with it. I thought best not to this time around. Although, good mythical creature, I do hope thou shall not put a spell on me."
Allyndra nodded. "A most intriguing outfit. The only spell I should cast is that you enjoy yourself here good warrior. Now I should be off and to greet others." She made a little curtsey and headed away. She was pretty sure she knew at least one other under the elaborate getups.
Dea entered the holosuite. For this ball she decided to dress as old Terran comic book character know as the Black Canary. It suited her well. From behind her mask she took a look around taking in various costumes and trying to figure out who was who. Walking across the room her first stop was to get something to drink.
Paul Alasia was already standing near the bar. He had had quiently meandered past the throng of his beautifully decked out cohorts and in a simple black tuxedo and a black oval mask that scarcely obscured his identity at all, he felt pathetically under-dressed. Paul teetotaled a cold fruit punch when he identified the purposeful stride of an officer in need of a drink.
The doors whooshed open and revealed a rotund figure in a dark outfit and cape flanked by two women. Because of all the layers of silk and lace, and the Venetian style masks they wore it they were unrecognisable to the other attendees of the ball. After touching her mask once more to check if it was still in its place, the woman in black leaned towards the woman in red. "Now what?"
"Lets get ourselves a drink," replied the woman in red, with her arm wrapped around the rotund figure between the two women for support. She was still unsure of the contraption underneath her dress, and still getting used to the glove on her left hand which controlled it. "First round is on me," she added, smiling at the other woman.
"First round what? Are there round glasses? My neighbor once invited me over to drink from a snifter, which is a stupid name for a glass, but it was round. And you're supposed to swirl it around and around like that to get the aroma of the liquor or something, except I just ended up spilling mine on the carpet. He got all upset, something about it being his great-great-great-great grandfather's Persian rug. Like I knew. I mean, if you don't want a Bolian to spill a drink on your carpet then don't hand him a round glass while he's standing on it, I'm just saying," the man rambled on between them, splitting his attention between running his mouth and giving extra care to supporting the woman in red.
"Lets... just see if they have any Bolian rum, okay?" said the woman in red, manipulating the fingers on her left hand in such a manner as to walk herself towards the direction of the bar.
Once inside the holodeck, T'Vanna looked around, taking in the decor and the wide variety of costumes. "People have gone through a lot of effort for this, haven't they. Look at all the great dresses and suits!"
Everyone looked amazing, Oren agreed completely, taking in the colours. "It really is something else. I always loved parties with themes like this. It's like being transported into another world."
"I have never been to a party like this period," T'Vanna replied as they walked around. "And doesn't the not knowing who you're talking to make it very exciting? Unless you know someone's voice of course...."
"Unfortunately, I know how to distinguish voices almost too well. The perks of being a listener," Oren explained, a small smile on his laced lips. "But don't worry, my lips are sealed. What happens at the masquerade stays there."
After getting to the bar and getting a drink Jaana whispered to her sister. "Go dance. That's why we're here after all." Seeing the unasked question in her sisters eyes she continued. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" asked Tuula, holding her drink in her right hand, careful not to accidentally manipulate the controls in her left and send her stumbling off in some random direction. She felt a bad about abandoning her sister and leaving her alone after all the work that Jaana had put in so that she could enjoy the ball -- designing dresses, creating a robotic contraption, covering up her tattoos so that no one would recognize her. "I don't want to leave you all alone here."
"Seriously, just go!" she turned to Mott, "Will you go dancing with her? Now!" she said, the last on a more strict tone then was normal for her.
"Okay," said Tuula, taking a moment to gulp down the rest of her drink before Mott approached.
"I should warn you," Mott said, taking up Tuula's hand as they walked to the dance floor, "that I'm quite the accomplished dancer. I've swept many a lady off her feet - queens, princesses, ambassadors. Uh, mostly in the holodeck, you know. But... Still. I'm pretty good at it. And I've been practicing. Would it be easier if you took lead?"
"I must admit, it's been a long time since I have been swept off my feet," replied Tuula as she put her arms around the black-clad Mott, careful to give her left hand enough freedom to manipulate the controls for her legs.
"How did it happen before? Was there a strong wind?" Olsam asked through the helmet, which somehow made him sound more ridiculous than usual. "Nothing has ever swept me off my feet before. I think I'm too firmly rooted. Or heavy. Maybe both."
Tuula just smiled. "Shut up and dance, Olsam," she said in an affectionate tone. "Or do you prefer Darth Mott?"
"Just Olsam," he said, grinning though it couldn't be seen. "How are you feeling? Is everything all right? Do you need any assistance? I can make some adjustments to the device if you'd like... I'm completely unqualified and these gauntlet things make it very difficult to make fine adjustments, but surely it's not that complicated, right? Oh, wait, I'm suppose to be shutting up and dancing. Right. Sorry."
Olsam fell silent, adjusted his grip on Tuula and then fell into rhythm with the slow waltz, demonstrating a surprising degree of technical prowess and gracefulness on the dance floor for a person of his size and general ineptitude.
Holding Olsam tightly, Tuula simply treasured the moment and tried to follow along.
The doors opened to admit another guest to the proceedings, revealing a tall, dark haired man in period costume. Dorian West had always loved the book The Three Musketeers and had taken the ball as a chance to sport a Musketeer outfit with heeled knee-high boots, white laced shirt, decorative sash and blue velvet tabard that showed the distinctive musketeer crest, sword at his side and a wide brimmed hat complete with feather and his blue velvet eyemask. Dorian moved straight for one of the tables, picking up a glass of sparkling Italian wine to sip with a sigh, turning to take in the room and watch the other rich colours and textures on display. The creativity and variety of costumes made it worth the trip, and that wasn't even counting the drinks....
Luke, taking the moment to catch his breath after having a mad rush to get dressed and arrive to the ball because of his fun filled day with Abbey stood outside of the door and checked himself over one last time.
Looking into the reflection of the mirror you wouldn't have immediately guessed it was him. Wearing a 17th century hooded, unbuttoned, blue tanned jacket, musketeer trouser and boots which fell just shy of his knees and a white long sleeved shirt. To add to the design he had two leather straps crossing his chest with pouches for Bullets or in this case his communicator covering his hands were once again musketeer styled brown leather braces.
The whole get up portrayed him as mysteriously dangerous and was easily placed in the 17th century French Revolution era. Finally nodding and placing over his face a small face mask to completely hide his identity he entered the room.
Dru stood back from the entry doors, watching as people walked by and smiled at the banter she overheard. She still wasn't quite certain that this was the right thing to do....Her invite had arrived soon after Holiday had left her, not leaving much time to arrange a costume. But at the same time...this was an offer she didn't want to turn down. She would be an unknown in the room, not just because the mask covered her eyes but because there would be crew there that hadn't met her before. It was an opportunity to be wild and free for just one night before she returned to herself. She could pretend to be someone not laiden down with fears and worries...she could be her old self
As Dru gathered the sides of her emerald dress in her gloves hands, she started to move forward. The cool night air brushed against her bare shoulders, only the faint sheer material of the shelves sitting below her shoulders offered any protection. The shoulders moved inwards to sit straight across her bust line, covering what she didn't want anyone to see. From above waist level, the dress fell straight down her body, hinting at the curves beneath with each step that she took. Small saint flat shoes could be seen when the helm line was lifted from the floor.
The one element that Dru was still trying to convince herself was ok was her hair. It had all been curled within a inch of it's life and piled in a messy mass ontop of her head. Only a few strands were allowed loose, brushing against her unmakeuped cheek and against her bare shoulder. The end of the strands piled on her hair also brushed against the nap of her neck, struggling to get free of their bound.
As her hazel brown eyes gazed out from under her half mask, Dru tried to convince herself that this was the right thing to do....There was no turning back now.
Making it across the room, towards the drinks table he picked up a glass and drank quickly. The bubbles tickling his throat as they went down. Placing the empty glass down Luke swapped it out with a full one and turned to the centre of the party beginning to wonder his place here.
Dru's eyes flickered around the room as she tried to hesitate a guess to who might anyone be. Her eyes were drawn to a man who stood out on his own whereas everyone else seemed to have been partnered up. Figuring that he was the best place to start, she moved over effortlessly and reached to pick up a glass of champagne at his side. "Quite the crush in here...."
Luke smiled from under his hooded jacket, "Indeed it is, sometimes it amazes me how many people can fit in a single room" he said chuckling Noticing the strange accent she carried. Lifting his glass to his lips he stopped an inch from his lips. "But it still looks like a good party"
Dru turned so her back was to the table and she could watch the floor of the people. Taking only a slight sip from her glass, she smiled at the strangers comment, "It'll be interesting once the alcohol takes effect."
Chuckling in agreement Luke turned and faced the mysterious woman "No Date?" he asked noticing that mostly everyone else at the ball had either partnered up in a dance or already came with a date which he thought wasn't really the point of a masquerade ball. Glancing over her dress with his eyes he like the emerald colour of her dress and the way it gave her a pleasant figure, showing her curves and complimenting the rest of her body.
Dru kept her eyes on the people, watching as they started to dance to the music being played by the orchestra. The different colours of the costumes seem to pulse under the lights as dance movements caused hips and feet to move. She carefully choose how to answer this question, the man obviously didn't know who she was but by saying she had just come onboard she might give it easily away at a later stage. "I had noticed that alright....I guess I haven't met anybody yet." Smiling she turned just her head at she looked at the man, "But I could ask you the same question. No date?"
He shook his head his hood ruffling his hair which had been previously damp from his rushed shower. "No, no date I guess I've been to busy to really enjoy the short shore leave." Sipping his drink once more he finished it and placed the empty glass on the table replacing it for another. "After last mission its a shame really but I'm just glad to have a moment where we're not being shot at or possessed or having perfection shoved down our wind pipes!" He went on, the drink obviously taking effect already.
Dru recognised the signs of alcohol intoxication. She couldn't see the man's face clearly through the hood but his cheeks seemed slightly flushed. Mind you, that could have been from the heat of the rooms and the clothes he wore. "What has kept you so busy?" The counselor kept the focus of the conversation away from the last mission in order to try maintain her identity.
Taking a moment to think of how to sum up his words for the woman Luke finally gathered his words and spoke "Well, I did manage to unwind with the commodore but since then, well its just been work and no play. I have a new ensign and she is certainly the busy bee" He noted "Besides that its just all paper work and my daughter is certainly a handful! Hence my late arrival to this fine ball" He said gesturing with his occupied hand around the room.
Dru looked back over the crowd as the man's first words resurected some old memories. Knowing Lirha as she did it could have meant several things by the unwinding comment. It also made her realise that the Commodore wasn't here....It wasn't like her to miss occasions such as these. The counselor realised that in a year and a half, perhaps her old flame had changed alot too.
"What age is your daughter?" Dru focused on the rest of the man's tale, pushing the rest out of her mind.
Luke's cogs in his brain began to twist and whirl as he calculated Abbey's age "She's twenty two now" He said proudly. "And you? Any small ones running about?" He asked curiously.
The man's question caught Dru unaware, drinking back her remaining alcohol in one go, she shook her head as her eyes hardened behind her mask. "I haven't been so lucky I'm afraid. Perhaps we should try mingle, otherwise it may seem like we are a couple ourselves."
Luke, halfway through drinking quickly replied "You make it sound like a bad thing!" Joking of course he smiled, though the interpretation could have been lost to the fact he was wearing a hood and mask and his face was well hidden.
Realising that she may have sounded harsh, she turned to the man with an apology in her eyes. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean it to sounds like I've a problem with you. I'm just a little on edge."
"On edge?" he enquired finding the apology amusing, he didn't feel like she was being harsh but only meant his response as a playful joke. "What could possibly have you on edge?" He asked again smiling this time.
Realising that she was backing herself into a corner, Dru pushed herself away from the table before holding out a hand, prepared to try to turn things back around to being in her favour, "Would you do me the honor of a dance stranger"
Watching as the man took her hand, Dru allowed herself to be lead to the floor as she tried to relax and just enjoy the music and the people who surrounded them.
So far Dea had been wandering her way through the ball talking with various people and just enjoying the entertainment. It was a nice change of pace from regular duty.
TBC:
PO1 Verity Thorne
Chaplain
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]
Staff Warrant Officer Oliver Sylver
Flight Control
USS Galileo
[PNPC Devin]
Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Galileo
LCmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo
LT CMDR Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo
LT JG Wakeham Paul Alasia
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo
ENS T'Vanna Murray
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo
Oren Idris, Ph.D.
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo
Ensign Jaana Voutilianen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo
Lieutenant (J.G.) Tuula Voutilainen, M.D.
Medical Officer
USS Galileo
LT Olsam Mott
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo
LT JG Dorian West
Counsellor
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]
LT JG Luke Wyatt
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo
Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Assistant Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo
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