Star Trek: Starbase 777 - ┃ballroom-floor

The ballroom floor, much like the main entrance, contained falling holo-snow, though it vanished before it hit the ground. In the middle, there was a glacier-like stage for performances and karaoke.

Maggie was on the ballroom floor with her dress on as she played on her PADD with a small laugh, completely engrossed in her own game on the PADD as she played, completely unaware to the jolly partying.

Ressa was twirling around with her blue waterfall dress. Unfortunately, she wasn’t looking where she was going, and she bumped into Maggie! “Sorry! Are you okay?”

Maggie gasped out as she was bumped into and quickly scramble to her feet, only to see if she had lost her game of Upset Fish. “Oh I’m okay! Wow! You look great, uh…..hi!”

“Hi! Thank you, you look great too. I’m Ressa, from the Rapture. You work on the Starbase, or somewhere else?” She righted herself and stayed still, just having fun listening to the music.

Maggie smiled at the compliment as she lightly adjusted her dress after the fall. “Oh I’m Maggie! I work here in science, mainly with space and what not! Welcome aboard! Are you liking your time here so far?”

“I’m training to be a surgeon. It’s hard work but definitely rewarding! I love it here, it’s absolutely beautiful!” She spoke the truth. This must’ve taken a lot of work. She appreciated the effort so much.

Jack made his way to the dancefloor and began dancing to himself, but he didn't seem to care as he spun around om his heel and even waltzed around with an invisible partner!

4

Maggie gave an awkward rub of the back of her head and a small smile. looking around the ballroom. “Yeah! It’s really nice uh, would you want to dance? I’m totally fine if you don’t!”

“Sure, I’ll dance. Fair warning, I suck at dancing and I got no moves.” She laughed. She repositioned the violet flower clip in her hair. There was another flower, same color but bigger, pinned on her dress. She looked like a Prom Queen but just a bit older and perhaps even more feral than when she would have been going to prom had she grown up in the USA.

Maggie giggled as she led her onto the dance floor, putting the PADD into a pocket in her sleeves as she lightly bowed to the other woman with a giggle, her sliver hair shining in the light. “May I have this dance?”

“Yes, you may.” She said, putting on a fake posh accent. She let herself be led onto the dance floor and gave a bow of her own.

“Oh thank you Madame! Truly, I am blessed to be in your presence.” She said with a giggle as she moved into a small ballroom dance in her own posh accent. She very clearly was not quite good at it, but was very much having fun.

“As am I!” She giggled and followed Maggie’s lead. Neither were very good, but it was okay. “So, what do you like to do when you’re not dancing your heart out?”

Maggie hummed as she danced around the ballroom with the other woman, a smile on her face even if their dance moves were a bit shit. “Oh I love doing work with wormholes. I am the crazy hole lady and I will not have my status revoked.”

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1

She giggled. Ressa was the feral med student. She had the energy of an opossum. One with a scalpel and the knowledge of anatomy, of course. “I love drawing and musicals. Back in the Academy, I was in the cast of the plays at the drama club. I think I peaked when I got to play Eliza when we did Hamilton.” Hands-down, best thing she ever did. Well, she hadn’t had much time to do great things yet. She’d get there someday, for certain.

Maggie gasped out loudly as she danced with her and did a small little spin, when she nearly fell over but caught herself in a twister pose. “Oh! Hamilton is like cocaine to me! And I’ve done actual cocaine!”

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“I’ve never done drugs, and I don’t think I ever will.” She twirled Maggie, which must have looked funny considering Ressa was like 4’10. How was this woman even holding Maggie’s hand?

Maggie laughed slightly as she picked up and spun the much smaller woman. “Oh don’t worry, I hated cocaine! My real drug is wormhole fanfiction.” She paused. “Just kidding, I’m the only person who writes that.”

“I wrote Hamilton fanfiction in the Academy. It was absolutely shitty, looking back on it.” She laughed. 18 year old Ressa was pretty cringy. She was still cringy though.

Maggie laughed as she spun around before leaning in for a small lean, their faces close. “Mhm, write me like one of your French girls.” She said with a giggle, clearly meaning it as a joke rather then a flirt.

She laughed. Maggie was pretty funny. Though Ressa didn’t write anymore. She had gotten burnt out from it and nobody liked her writing much anyway. “What about I draw you? I’m much better at drawing”

Maggie giggled as she spun her up and around in a strange pirouette. “Oh sure! Oui oui as my French Canadian friends might say!”

“Wow, I’m dizzy now. This has been so fun, I’m sad that I’ll have to go soon! Promise to shoot me a PADD message when the Rapture takes off again?” Ressa was sad all her newfound friends wouldn’t be able to fly away with her. She wanted to hang out with them forever.

Maggie smiled as she ended the dance and spun away. “I will do just that! Sounds good.” She said with a roll of her shoulders. “We can be friends for as long as you like.”

Ressa bowed to Maggie. “I’d love that. Friends forever, really. Sad that we won’t be able to hang out in person, though.”

Maggie giggled lightly as she returned the bow. “Mhm! We can meet up sometime I’m sure, anyway! I better head out to continue going around the party! See you around!”

Ressa waved and danced away.

Renakir's next stop was the ballroom floor. Everyone was dancing so nicely to the slow music but of course Renakir wanted to shake some ass. This was not the place for that though so he decided just to try doing some normal dancing with a little bit of ass shaking. He was in his own little corner away from others. He did a little spin, swooshing his long red coat around as he did so but to his surprise he ended up smacking some poor dude who was walking past him.

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"I'm walkin' here!" A broad shouldered man spoke in what could only be described as the Romulan Brooklyn accent. The stranger grimaced and shot Renakir the hardest angry look before scurrying away.

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After getting the evil look from the dude, Renakir decided maybe ballroom dancing was not the way so he headed off to go find his friends.

4

Kraxtaayaal walked to the ballroom first as it seemed like that was where the majority of people were going. They looked around and saw a dance floor with people dancing from side to side. Ballroom dancing. They were vaguely familiar with it, but to be honest they were not too interested in slow dancing.

Renakir was trying not to be perceived here, already embarrassed by accidentally getting in some random dude's way. He was heading towards the exit when he spotted a stranger with... Beautiful greenish-grey skin and purple hair! And black fingernails! They must be Reman, he thought. Wow! "Jolan tru, I like your nails and uhh, whoa," Renakir paused when he noticed with each breath the stranger took, their spines flexed. "Damn, two spines, cool," He gave them a thumbs up before slipping away out to go find friends.

2

[D] After the very awkward run-in with Sakkath's uncle, the Morvars made their escape through the ballroom floor, weaving through the dancing pairs until finding an empty spot by the side of the large dancing space - one where they could stand in, without interrupting anyone swaying or circling around, and recollect themselves. Well, it was Saren who was doing the most recollecting - he leaned against the wall with a tired sigh, using his index fingers to rub circles into his temples with a quiet, exasperated groan. "This is why I hate meeting Romulans..." he whispered half-jokingly, casting a glance towards the towering figure to his left - one that was still staring into the general direction of the lounge, as if expecting Hanaj to suddenly pop up. Sy had... an interesting reaction to the whole ordeal. One that Saren, an older brother himself, immediately recognized - but never expected to be on the receiving end of someone's overprotectiveness. It was... sweet? Overwhelming? Kinda scary?

"Fucking whatever," the helmsman scoffed, shaking his head and turning it to look at Saren. "Also, if I hear you apologizing for whatever shit someone decides to blame you again, I'm turning the Rapture around and warping to this station exclusively just to smack their skull in and to yell at you. Got it? The fucking audacity, I swear!" He could rant on and on, honestly. "Did I hear it right? He even called you the wrong name? You're not fucking," he gestured at Saren aggressively, trying to come up with an appropriate word, "old!? I'm gifting Hanaj glasses out of fucking spite on New Year's, I swear--"

3

Jack was STILL dancing away, not in the mood for sitting down and not in the mood for standing still either. Lots of energy to spare and lots of dances to go through! Completely oblivious to everything except the paths of people dancing so he could avoid them.

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[D] After an interesting conversation in the bar, Dion arrived on the scene intending to dance, but two very interesting faces, both familiar in different ways. He waved at Jack, who seemed like he was having a baller time, and approached the two with a flourish of a ta'al. "Saren. And... A very impassioned family member, is it? Hello! This is Allan!" He gestured to the redhead next to him. The engineer, not the scientist.

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[D] After an interesting conversation and probably trying about 6-8 other drinks with Alan, he followed Dion over to the floor, also intending to dance but wow, Jack was doing so well out here! Damn! And then - ah, so this was Saren! He ended up giving them a ta'al which actually he changed into a quirky little peace sign after like, a millisecond for no reason other than that's what his brain decided he'd do. "Yeah! That's me! Allan, not to be confused with Alan, who's over at the bar," he grinned. He still wasn't over meeting another Alan.

"Old?" he snickered, amusement over Syrax's rant quickly winning over the hollow feeling that he was left with during that interaction. They shared the same frustrations - only Saren internalized his, while Sy spoke of them freely. Like... he was also hurt, for him. Huh... Before Saren could get all sentimental over that sappy ass realization, he heard a very familiar voice - and the Romulan turned towards it, motion quick: "Eshen-- hello," he greeted in return, giving the redheaded man next to him a slight nod. Huh, another human with vibrant red on their head. Saren sensed a theme. "We finally meet, then." He felt, rather than saw, the figure behind him put his elbow on Saren's shoulder and lean in like some curious animal, taking a good look at the newcomers, and the urge to roll his eyes was never stronger. Instead Saren just pointed at him: "Yeah, you're right. He's my cousin."

"'ello," he grinned, ta'aling back at Eshen and Allan. "Syrax, Rapture's helmsman, pleasure's all mine. Can easily call me just Sy, it's the preferred way anyways." Okay, yeah, these two were probably passing the vibe check - if anything, the way Saren reacted to them was a good sign (Sy also made a mental note to pester the shit out of him later, over some smaller, peculiar details he managed to notice while Saren was turning away from him). His posture relaxed even further. "Oh, by the way, love the matching outfits! King and King of the ball," the hand that was resting on Saren's shoulders gave them an approving thumbs up. "Does the station host events like these often?"

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"Thanks! I'm Eshen, but I'm going by Dion today," Eshen said, privately noting that Saren's good looks ran in the family. Apart from Irok, who was an ugly fucknasty old bitch. "We like to dazzle together whenever we come to events like these." Dion put his arm around Allan's waist. "We have them every couple of months, I would say. There's a Winter Ball every year, though this is my first, there's going to be a New Years Celebration after this, and in July me and Allan had the best joint birthday party."

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[D] After shaking some hands with random NPCs, Mephis decided he was going to find Allan and then after that maybe leave, depending on how low his social battery was. He was mostly here because the other redhead has convinced him to be, after all. He stood up straight and waved at the assortment of people. "Hey. Redhead Central in 'ere, innit? Or it would be, if I hadn't dyed my hair black." With his general pointiness and paleness, he really felt like a kindred spirit with Saren right now.

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Off screen Renakir had been hanging out with Kianarix who had returned to the station specifically to see him. It was a bit awkward trying to teach the silly kelp-haired man how to ballroom dance, but luckily Kianarix did not seem to want to dance for more than ten minutes. Renakir sent him on his way so he could inhale some marshmallows or something. Returning to the dance floor, Renakir was happy to see-- oh look his dinam...s, and Eshen and Allan-- and the station commander too. Wow his friends really were all here, how nice. "Hey dinams, hi Eshen-- oh Dion I mean, and Allan too, hi-- and Captain, uhh you guys all here to dance?"

Seeing all the cool people meeting up, Jack stopped dancing and rapidly tidied himself up before skittering over to them and waving at them all with a grin. He was so happy to be at a dance, but he was even happier to see his friends and all the cool fellas! How nice! "Hey, guys! So glad to see y'all here, it's been so long since we've all been in one place!" He spoke up, adjusting the carved out tourmaline flower on his lapel.

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'We finally meet, then'? What kind of ominous phrasing was that? Luckily for him, Allan was too happy right now to have his brain hyperanalyse that or anything else. He simply noted that, yeah, this Saren guy was definitely hot (as if he hadn't looked him up previously, but it was always hotter to see someone in person, really). Oh, and his cousin. "Thank you! It's a pleasure to meet you both," he said with a little swish of his cape, because it was simply super fun to swish it around. When Dion said there was a Winter Ball every year, his eyes lit up as he turned to look at him, putting an arm around his waist too. "Really!? Holy shit, I'm so ready," for the New Years Celebration, and also next years' Winter Ball. "We did, and I wouldn't be opposed to making that an annual thing as well," he smirked, there was absolutely nothing about that joint birthday party he hadn't loved. Oh, speaking of, Mephistopheles entered the room, too! And Renakir!? The engineer's eyes widened as he looked from Mephistopheles, to Renakir, and then back to Mephistopheles again - simply blown away, really, by how good the other two looked. "H-hey, guys, what the fuck?" He laughed, definitely blushing. "Sorry, you guys just - look really amazing, the both of you," in all honesty, he wanted to kiss the both of them right now, as if it was a traditional greeting he'd have to lie and say it was a Boston thing or something, but he did not, for obvious reasons. And then of course, Jack walked up, and he waved to him as well. "Hey! You were really tearing it up out there, yeah?" A positive thing.

"Yeah true, been forever. Last time I saw you, you had rabies," Renakir laughed, looking right at Jack with a smile on his face. He did miss the eccentric rock-man. He wondered if Bright had anymore edible rocks, he wanted to munch. Maybe later though, Tiravurik actually stocked the buffet with some rocks for everyone to enjoy. Renakir watched as Allan swished his cape, admiring his friend's cool ass outfit. He also looked equally badass with his red cloak and (fake) sword. If only it were real, but anyway. "You look good too, like.. Really good. All of you guys look amazing. Oh and have you seen my brother? He should be around here somewhere, he's bread."

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Jack couldn't help but to chuckle loudly while he crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at Renakir's comment on his (in)famous stunt he had pulled in th past. "Who says i don't have it still?" With a wink at Renakir, he whipped around and turned to Allan, grinning widely and clasping his hands. "Tearing it up?! Oh, you've seen nothing! And god fucking damn, Allan! You went all out with your outfit, holy shit! It looks amazing!!" He happily spoke up, barely able to contain himself as he waved at all the others. "Captain, Dion, Saren and... Saren 2?- Do i know you?" Jack turned to Syrax, narrowing his eyes and humming softly while he placed a hand over his chin. "Dare i say, you look.... Like Saren but much bigger. Oh wow."

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1

"Oh! I think I saw him earlier; handsome and tall fellow, with another handsome white-haired fellow," Dion said to Rennie. "And hey, Jack! Love your look right now, especially the prosthesis and the glasses!" Very fashionable asisstive devices. "I still have that comb you gave me! I use it every day." And he really did! Especially since his hair had grown again. "By the way, Mo, Saren, Syrax - you guys kind of match in style, sort of goth and goth-adjacent styles. It looks cool, like you did it on purpose!" And then, finally, he turned to Renakir. "And Renakir, I didn't know you could look this good in red. Totally dynamic. Love the peek of tummy, too." And the whole time he spoke his hand was doing various things to Allan - resting on his waist, his cape's shoulder, holding his hand, like that hand had some extra brain in it dedicated to giving attention to Allan even when his primary brain was trying to balance social interactions with others. (edited)

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Rai with a white haired guy? Renakir briefly wondered if his brother was actually getting dates or if he was just hanging with a friend. He concluded that his paranoid brother was probably just with a friend, well, at least he was making friends. He blushed at the compliment from Eshen and instinctually covered his stomach. "Yes, uh thanks. It's a vent so I don't overheat in the long sleeves and tight ass trousers," Renakir said, putting his hands on his hips (don't let Ik'ala see) and standing proud. "Yeah you guys all look like you're ready for the same party, "Renakir commented on the goth-adjacent styles. He really stuck out in the red, but maybe it was a good thing they weren't all dressed in the same style or colours. Made things interesting. "I don't want to dance with anyone, but when I see Rai, I wanna twek in front of him if anyone would like to join."

Blink, and suddenly there was... there were a lot of people. All the people he knew, which was a blessing and it did make the situation a bit better, but some part of him still grew restless, worried, as Saren straightened out, eyes mostly downcast, greeting people with curt little nods, a murmur of "Captain", to Mo, feeling pressure... wait, pressure? The light squeeze around his shoulders was a sudden, but not an unwelcome, sensation. Saren soon recognized it as Syrax's arm, thrown around his shoulders as the man now was giving him a side-hug, Saren's right side pressed flush against him.

"Hello, hi, hi!" meanwhile this Romulan was as comfortable as ever, unbothered by the amounts of chatter and people. With his younger cousin, who had gone all stiff and quiet in a way Sy saw one of his old shipmate's do, he tucked him under his wing (or, well. arm), and turned his attention to Jack: "You do now! If we go chronologically, I'm actually Saren 1. But usually people call me Sy. I'm his cousin! That's why we kinda look alike."

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"I don't know why the fuck he's so tall, though," Saren decided to speak up, the sudden social paralysis easing it's grip on him. One hand was thrown across Sy's back, while the other fidgeted with one of the tiny, metal bird skulls on his collar, proving to be a nice distraction. "I'm as baffled as you are, Bright." His gaze lingered on Dion, ending in a squint: "I can't help but appreciate the darker colors. Thank you, ull-- dear friend."

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"We can do that too," Rai said as he walked into the ballroom only to be met with... A lot of people. All chatting. He didn't recognise any of them except for his brother and Syrax. What a crew, but at least they all looked friendly? He felt really out of place wearing his dress uniform whilst everyone looked dressed to the nines. The goth-adjacent styles mixed with all the cool accessories, ah, it was clear Rai was not very creative with fashion.

Renakir was happily in the little circle of friends, admiring everyone's outfits and chatting when he noticed-- "Rai!" He said before bolting over to his brother. He saw the white haired guy too, they were linking arms? Scandalous, but he needed to establish dominance so he grabbed Rai's hand that was not on the arm entwined with Zero's and bit down. Not hard enough to draw blood, but he had been waiting ages for this.

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"Thanks, Allan, and E - Dion," Said Mephis. "I like the darker colours too." Kind of fitting that he matched with the Morvars, Saren especially. The Vulture Culture Friendship lived on. Although... Honestly, there were a lot of people over here. Nope, looked like he was definitely leaving after this; his social battery was on its last dregs, his own social paralysis rearing its head. It didn't help that almost everyone, or possibly literally everyone here, was so fucking tall. Seriously, was there anyone under six feet? Allan by one inch, maybe Jack?

"I've seen nothing!? Then show me, please, what I haven't seen," he chuckled as he smiled at Jack, who had given him the necklace of red labradorite he was wearing, props for giving him so useful, really - waving his other hand as he talked. You know, the hand that wasn't holding Dion's hand, resting on his waist, or mindlessly running through Dion's hair. "Thank you, though," he said, turning back to Renakir and nodding. "Ugh, literally, it's so good, Renakir, I-" he had definitely already done so to both Mephistopheles and Renakir, but he looked Renakir down and up again, and was he biting his lip? Maybe, shit. He'd have to ask Renakir where he got this outfit for real. "Oh, you know I'm always down for some twerking, please." He laughed. And then watched as Renakir bit Rai's hand, what the fuck, this was - something. Okay, okay. He turned back to Mephistopheles with the most obvious blush on his face, which was saying something for him, usually it was hard to notice, looking down at the heels the other was wearing and then back up. "Is it just me or did you get taller? Are you going to be taller than me by morning, is that how this works? Love the gold, by the way." He said, wearing mostly silver. Maybe if they exchanged earrings.. nah.

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"Thank you so much, Dion! I take pride in my various assortment of glasses.... And arms!" Jack laughed and waved his prosthetic hand around, though he couldn't help but to blush when the other told him he still used his carved out comb. "I'm glad it serves you well! If it ever breaks don't be afraid to call me, I'll get you another one in a jiffy!" He gave Dion a very happy thumbs up, always glad to help. Turning to Syrax, he laughed and shook his head before speaking up, "Well, nice to meet ya, Saren 1! I'm Jack Bright, Saren's roommate and his paralysis demon." Jack made a proud little pose and grinned, winking. And oh hell no, Jack was standing proud at 6'2 and a few millimeters! Seeing that Allan was wearing the necklace he made, Jack put both his hands over his chest and smiled widely. "Sure will, just you wait!!"

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"SOLAIT!" Rai suddenly exclaimed when he was bit. He unlinked his arm with Zero so he could pull his hand away from Renakir's mouth, wrap his strong arms around his brother to.. Give him a hug. He was so happy to see his brother, the Torre'vnau boys! Both of them with the same light silver eyes, even if that was about the only thing they had in common. Rai and Renakir were both smiling, bright as ever.

"Dinam, you gotta meet my friends. But first," Renakir drew his sword and pretended to cut Rai's neck. The sword was fake, it was just plastic, but it was quite a dramatic scene. "You killed my mother, prepare to die," He said in the most serious tone he could muster before bursting out laughing. Little did he know what he said was actually true, but Rai nor Renakir knew that. "Come meet my friends, your friend can join too," Renakir said, looking over Rai's shoulder at Zero and waving to him. "Nice dress by the way, also I love the hair," He complimented the former borg officer, really the guy was handsome. He kinda hoped him and Rai were here on a date together, but then again his brother wouldn't know a date if he looked at a calendar. Anyway. He headed back over to his circle of friends, putting his sword away too.

And that reference made Jack burst into a fit of laughter, once he hunched over and wheezed his heart out before whipping back up and speaking with a really thick accent, "My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father, prepare to die!"

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The feeling that washed over Allan when he saw Renakir hold the fake sword to Rai's neck was unreal, and Dion probably noticed him squeeze his hand a little tighter. That could be him! Everyone in this room was just too hot! Although maybe it was a family thing. In which case it couldn't be him. So he just laughed, especially when Bright carried on that reference.

1

"Is it just me or are you blushin'?" Mo retorted. And right after Rennie bit his brother's hand? Allan was into that, he supposed. Also, wow, he literally wasn't even going to bother trying to talk to Rai. Not that he disliked him, but he was not going to crane his neck that much. Would it be weird if he just asked Allan if he could sit on his shoulders? Probably. "Thanks. S'the Ferengi in me; can't resist a valuable metal." (edited)

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Zero, looking faintly amused at Rai and Renakir's shenanigans, walked over in his long, metallic dress and bismuth earrings. "Thanks, Rai's brother! Forgot your name already, sorry! Hi, folks! Nice to see some of you again! You all look good! How's the station been!"

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Zadki, who had been mostly disinterested in everything going on, perked up when they saw Allan, a Cool Adult they might have played some fortcraft sessions with online offscreen. "Hi, Allan. Fiiinally, someone un-cringe."

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"My name is Renakir Solait, yeah either name is fine. We both got double names, it's the Torre'vnau way," He let out a soft chuckle, showing off his very white sharp teeth. He felt so free, like a Free Reman! He was meaning to ask Rai what he did in the lakes and ponds area, but maybe not in front of all their friends. He had a feeling it was something real emnbarrassing.

"Yes umm... Thank you," Rai walked over to the little circle of friends. He saw so many new faces it was a bit overwhelming, but he remembered his brother's friends wanted to meet him. "Umm.... Allan? and ... Dion? "Rai looked around the circle at everyone's faces, unable to pinpoint who was who. "I think they wanted to meet me?" Rai stared at Mo who was... Much shorter than him. In fact he was taller than everyone here, awkward so he did a little sideways split with his legs so he was as tall as Renakir now.

"Um, yeah, and? Who wouldn't?" He looked down at Mephistopheles, who he would not consider it weird at all if he asked to sit on his shoulders, but others may have. Just not Allan. "Makes sense. It's a real pretty one, too." Also, noted. Mephistopheles's birthday and Christmas were coming up soon, and he wasn't going to not give the other a present. "Zero, hey! You look great! Station's been.. honestly, aside from the attempted breakout a while back, also great!" He waved and smiled at Zadki, waving them over. They had absolutely had some fortcraft sessions offscreen. "Aww, I'm un-cringe? I'm honored, really, thank you," he did a little curtsy. "How have you been?"

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Dion gave Saren a wink, squeezed Allan's hand back, more or less having the same thoughts about how hot Renakir looked (the Klingon in him enjoying the use of the weapon especially) and how hot bloody well everyone here was, but maintaining a little more composure about it. "You know, I nearly wore a dress today, but I like the way trousers show off my legs," he said to nobody in particular. "Rai - nice to meet you at last! I've heard a little about you, but you're even more handsome in real life. Love your makeup! And you and your... Date? Have matching freckles, too, how cute!" (edited)

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"Yes, date, I'm pretty sure!" Zero said, then turned to Allan. "Oh, you've been designated un-cringe by my grandson! Cherish this privilege."

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"Yeah! You can lose it real easy. I'll be watching for cringe behaviour from everyone!" Apparently Zadki was a bit more social if they got to insult everyone. (edited)

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Zero shook their head in exasperation. "They mean that in jest, I swear. I've been alright - fixed up some people during an incident, standard doctor things." They held an arm out to Rai. "You want to link arms again?" They'd understand if he didn't want to; a lot of people were watching.

"Thank you! I... Yes you are handsome too, very pretty? I love the outfit and your hair. Also I do spend a lot of time on my make up," Rai blushed at the compliment he got from Dion and then looked over at Zero. "Yes, my ... Fruit native to the middle east of earth," Rai was clearly having some UT struggles, but he was trying here.

"Hey hey, am I uncringe? Bright seemed to get my act," Renakir shot finger guns to Jack, happy that he seemed to catch on. When doing so he did not realise he was in fact being very cringe. "Oh oh, I wanna twerk for you guys," Renakir was not going to end this party without shaking some ass. He fully knew he was going to scandalise his poor brother, but he really wanted to show off his moves.

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"Thanks! If you're ever in this area of space again, let me know if you want a second date." Just something casual and fun, though, mainly because he was interested in a more political arrangement with this guy one day, which he intended to be very honest about. Consensual gold-digging. (edited)

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Zadki laughed, which was a very good sign from them! "Sorry man, you're cringe. It's okay, though, your cringe has its charm."

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Zero hadn't understood the reference at all, but at this point they'd already forgotten about it. Seeing as Rai hadn't taken their arm, it dropped to the side. "What's twerking?"

"Cringe the likes of which we've not yet seen."

"Oh!" Zero blinked. "...That doesn't answer my question at all. I think you can go ahead, though."

"...Allan, uh, hey, what is twerking?" Asked Mo, moving closer to Allan subconsciously. "And Bright, what was the reference earlier?"

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"Oh umm.. Maybe. You are hot, but I may conspire more with Zero before engaging in more fruits from the middle east with others," *Ah yes the UT was doing him dirty, but Rai was completely unaware. He looked at Zero, about to take his arm but oh no, his attention was taken when his brother mentioned uhh.. What was this? Twerking?"

"Totally fair! Good luck conspiring with your fruit!" Dion said. Zero, of course, was the fruit, in many ways. Saren hadn't spoken in a while, and nor had Sy, so he looked their way to see what they were up to.

4

Allan laughed, although he frowned slightly when Zadki mentioned he could lose the un-cringe status very easily and then said twerking was intensely cringe. "Whaat, really?" He asked, laughing, and then realizing that Zero and Mephistopheles and Rai all did not know what twerking was. Oh, shit. He was about to lose his un-cringe status, wasn't he? "It's, um, shaking ass, basically," he said, looking at Mephistopheles but talking to them all and then gestured to Renakir. "He'll show ya. I twerked with him in the brig once, he's pretty good, I'll warn ya now. Especially in a fit like that, he's about to absolutely nail it." And maybe afterwards he'd ask if he could - nah. Renakir really was good at it, though! He would know after spending all that time twerking with him in the brig.

3

1

2

"Oh yeah, I'll show you guys. These trousers are kinda tight though, but I'll do my best," Renakir said as he got into optimal twerking position with his legs bent in a side split and began to shake his ass up and down. He was being so very cringe here, but he didn't care!

2

"Thank you, I enjoy conspiring with Zero," Rai said as he moved a little closer to his date as he watched whatever was about to unfold in front of him. He stared at his brother as he shook his ass for a good few seconds before looking at Allan, and then Bright, and literally everyone until he finally settled his gaze on Zero with a look of horror on his face. "...... Don't tell me this is what they teach in Starfleet?!"

4

Wait, so hot men were about to start shaking ass? Oh boy. This was already A Lot, he didn't know if he could deal with that too - oh, Renakir was already going for it. He folded his arms a little too tightly and looked anywhere but there. He could deal with professional social situations, but this was far from professional. And then Rai said that. He was the Station Commander, so he had to defend Starfleet's honour here. "Uh, no, this is not a Starfleet-endorsed dance routine, just people blowin' off steam and havin' fun at a party." (edited)

4

"Yeah, sorry to break it to you, but this isn't Starfleet cringe - just your brother's own personal brand of cringe," Zadki said, laughing a little at Renakir and taking the opportunity to tease this random guy about his brother... Which was a little hard, actually, because they were just about shorter than Mo, so looking at Rai was like looking up at the empire state building.

2

"..... I think the Republic has been researching the wrong types of weapons to fight off our enemies," Rai said, completely serious too. He looked back at his brother who seemed to have quite a bit of energy. It was very awkward watching his brother shake his ass, but it seemed like everyone was amused by it? Rai felt bad talking to all these short people so he lowered his little split more so that he was only a few inches above Mo, showing off his great flexibility.

Allan was too busy hyping Renakir up while he was twerking, just general 'yasss let's go's and shit, but he couldn't help but laugh as Rai questioned it being a Starfleet thing. "Yeah, pretty unofficial and just for fun, just like the uniform shorts," he then watched as Rai... holy shit, he was low to the ground now. "Are you about to join him, or..? Getting pretty low, might have to start playing some Flo Rida in here," he chuckled, obviously they would not be since this was a formal winter ball, but. Still was funny to consider. When he looked back away from Rai, he looked at Mephistopheles, attempting to catch a look from the other man as he looked away from Renakir. "He's actually only a few inches taller than you now, check that out. Pretty impressive."

3

"I was told this was called 'manner legs'. That is what Solait said and he knows all about terran slang. I do not know who this F'lo Rida is, but he sounds like a smart fellow. It is important to understand the tactical advantage of getting low," Rai said like a true Romulan commander. He kept a straight face through all of this too, somehow. "I will not shake my body in that way, my uniform is too tight for that and we do not need two Torre'vnaus umm.. Twerking."

5

6

"A very important cultural figurehead where I'm from. And I think the more Torre'vnaus twerking, the better, but.." He shrugged. Could even get Kianarix to join, he was a Torre'vnau too in spirit, right? Right. Unsure what 'manner legs' meant though, but just like 'sauce aged legs' he would eventually figure it out.

4

"Looking good, Renakir! I might come join you in a second!" Damn. Rai was that flexible? Zero was a lucky guy. Anyway - "Flo Rida is an old Earth composer. Very sophisticated. Peak class."

6

5

Mephis was mostly looking at Allan and Rai, so Allan probably did catch a look, but he didn't seem as amused as everyone else. He didn't think Rai meant it this way, but the Stance he was doing felt more patronising than polite. Clearly he didn't take How To Talk To Short People 101. "Really? I thought it was a state."

2

"Maybe they named a state after him!" Zero said, kind of secretly wishing Rai would twerk a little, let loose a bit. "Although, speaking of dancing, Rai, I would actually like to go do that."

Rai looked towards Zero, then Dion, then Allan, lastly to his brother. "...... I will... attempt," Rai was still feeling a bit scandalised, however Renakir was still going and clearly having a lot of fun. He looked at Zero once for approval before hopping up to stand straight and walking over to his brother. Rai tried his best to copy his brother but.. It was terrible and awkward. He looked like a fish out of water just flopping about, peak cringe , but oddly freeing.

Allan laughed and shook his head. "No, no, the state is Florida, said like 'florda', Flo Rida is said very differently, but I see how you could get confused." He smiled genuinely at Mephistopheles, "I think Flo Rida was from Florida, though, so it's spelled the same, pronounced differently. There's a word for that, Dion told me once."

"Well, there's homophones, which are words that sound the same but differ in spelling; homographs, words that are spelled the same but are different in meaning or pronunciation; and finally, there's homonyms, which is probably the word you're thinking of, and an umbrella term for both. However, Flo Rida and Florida are neither spelt nor sound the same, because Flo Rida is two different words each capitalised and Florida is one word capitalised, and they're pronounced Flow-Rider and Floor-Ridduh respectively, so they don't technically qualify as any of the homos," Dion said. (edited)

3

"That was mega cringe."

Dion laughed. "Ah, was it? Sorry."

Zero, who had been smiling as they watched Rai dance badly but have fun doing it, gave Zadki a stern look. "It was not cringe. Let the man express his knowledge!"

2

"Earnest expression of yer passions is never cringe. Life lesson, kid."

1

"Okay, I get it. Sorry, Captain Cringe."

4

5

"That's my favourite breakfast cereal!" Apparently they didn't know shit about the state of Florida but they knew enough about old earth breakfast cereals to make a dad pun.

2

"...Allan, uh, hey, what is twerking?" Asked Mo, moving closer to Allan subconsciously. "And Bright, what was the reference earlier?"

@Captain Mephistopheles Mo | CMD (@Mo┊Eshen┊Men) - jump Jack slowly bent down a little and whispered to the captain, not wanting to interrupt the conversation between the others. "It's from a uhhhhh... Classical movie called 'The Princess Bride', Captain."

1

"We are cringe, BUT WE ARE FREE!! Hashtag Free Remans," Renakir said, still twerking, never tiring. He laughed at Rai who was attempting to copy him, wow who would have guessed, two Torre'vnaus twerking on the dance floor. He would have to tell their parents (all of them) about this glorious collaboration. "And Dion is super knowledgable, a polyglot," He said, always here to compliment his friends even if he was twerking.

3

1

As Dion went on about homophones, homographs, homonyms, and other things about words, Allan thought it was quite the opposite of cringe, as always. He couldn't help but look at him with his green eyes absolutely captivated in interest and most importantly, love as his boyfriend went on about it. "Yes! Homographs, but... hm," Dion was right, Flo Rida did have that pesky space in between that made them technically different spellings. "The letters are the same, though. That's gotta count for something." A small pause when Zadki called Dion cringe, frowning and simply pointing in agreement as both Zero and Mephistopheles pointed out that no, this was Not Cringe, thank you. After all, listing off the recipes in fortcraft was not cringe! Neither was talking about words, then. "Thank you, my love," said 'mi amor' into the UT, as he was the homo here in this situation, leaning forwards which was rather easy because his arm was already around Dion's shoulder right now and kissing his cheek. "Exactly! Gotta love the guy. Always teaching me something. Like all about the homos," he chuckled, also to what Renakir had said and at how he was still twerking, my God was the other amazing at this.

3

Dion smiling, practically glowing, when Allan kissed him on the cheek. He hadn't shown it but he had been a bit put out when his rambling had apparently been embarrassing, but Allan's enthusiasm made it all better, as well as Renakir's support. In return, he kissed Allan on the cheek, too. "Thanks, you guys. I suppose if we play loosey-goosey with the rules, you could consider them homographs."

3

2

Feeling a bit better now that the green giant wasn't doing the splits next to him, Mo replied to Bright, "Ah, thanks. Haven't seen it. I don't watch earth movies that aren't about dinosaurs."

2

At some point during all this, Zero had gone off next to Rai and begun twerking next to him. There was now a row of three twerking men on the ballroom floor, like a conga, or something you'd get in a not safe for work version of the song 'twelve days of christmas'.

4

Zadki pretended to throw up at the sight of the above.

4

Jack chuckled softly and raised an eyebrow, "You should try watching a couple more earth movies! I know a few that you'd absolutely love, captain."

Rai looked over his shoulder at Zero twerking and was so inspired that he tried putting more energy into his weird wiggling that he thought was twerking. He had thighs that could crush planets, making it a little difficult to get a good rhythm. He also didn't know what to do with his hands, Renakir had his hands behind his head but that was a little to much for Rai. So he extended his arms to the ceiling and wiggled them too as if that would make his twerking look better. Instead he looked like a Tak-tak more than a cool twerking Romulan because he totally did not look cool.

3

"You know I love playing loosey-goosey with the rules," Allan smirked, watching as Zero went to go twerk with the men as well. Okay, now he was seriously considering joining them, but he did also feel a bit bad that Zadki was also Right Here. He tuned into Jack and Mephistopheles's conversation and got the general gist of... Earth movies and dinosaurs? "Oh, Earth movies? Yes, absolutely! We should have a movie night, they're very chill," he said, looking over at Zadki. "Zadki! Do you have any favorite Earth movies?"

2

Redheaded movie night real? "I mean, I was exaggeratin' a bit, but if you lot send me these suggestions on yer PADDs, I'll give 'em a look and maybe we can organise somethin'. What were you guys thinkin' of?" Mo said, finally giving up on not looking at the hot guys twerking and realising... This wasn't that bad. Actually, they were pretty funny. Could it be? Was he enjoying group socialisation?

4

"My grand-dad says I shouldn't watch too much Earth stuff, and I prefer games and holosims anyway, but I like the ones with dragons in them." You could say they didn't watch earth movies unless they had dragons in them. They almost had something in common with Captain Cringe!

Yesss, redheaded movie night Real. "Ah, not too much Earth stuff? But like, you've seen Shrek, right? And the sequel? I think they pulled it out of some records like, two centuries ago, but it's a classic. And it has a dragon! Although, maybe you might like uhh... fuck, what's that really old one with the hot elf guy, um.." he looked at Jack in case the other redhead happened to know. "Like, it's the one where they're like, obsessing over that ring? It's got a dragon in a lot of that series. As far as general movie reccs, I'd have to think about that one. Look through my drives and all." Yes, he kept movies on his drives because that was legal these days. Especially with older films.

"Lord of the Rings! I know that one! I've been in some holosim LARPs based on the world of that series, actually!" Of course that was exactly the kind of book he'd be into. Plus, like, he was the hot elf guy if you really thought about it. Brown space elf Legolas.

4

"Shrek 2 is the pinnacle of Earth cinema."

Huh. This kid was apparently the kind of twelve year old who knew words like pinnacle. Very smart. "I'll, uh, put the Shreks on my list, I guess?"

"No. Just Shrek 2. Only Shrek 2."

"Ooooh! The Lord of the Rings! A true Classic, i love it so much. Have you guys heard of the one with the guy who sorta looks like me, with the round glasses and the beautiful princess with a crystal necklace? I love that one so much but i forgot the name!" He groaned and gently facepalmed, looking at El-Zadki and chuckling. "Shrek 2 is just that good, huh?"

3

Allan laughed. "It is... it is worth seeing the first one, but the second is the best, yeah," he nodded and snapped his fingers. "Lord of the Rings! That's it. Kinda interested in that holosim LARP, did you romance the hot elf g- waiiit, you are the hot..." It was all coming into place now, but he was distracted by trying to figure out what movie Jack meant. "Iiii don't quite know that one, was it also animated? Ooh, another favorite of mine from around that time though is Treasure Planet, I know it's a little crazy buuut I always liked it a lot as a kid."

"Yes, I was the hot elf guy. I've always found it fascinating how humans interpreted sightings of Vulcans. I mean, there's loads of old earth media about mysterious pointy-eared outsiders, so clearly at least some of it must have been influenced by us, right?" Dion said. He also was put off from watching treasure planet for the petty reason that the main character's hairstyle looked too much like his when it's cut short.

1

"Okay, so, Shrek 1 & 2..."

3

"But not 3 onwards! Just the first two. Also, Spirited Away has a cool dragon in it, sorta."

"I think it came around the same time as Treasure Planet, but i might be mistaken. I adored that movie too." Jack grinned, crossing his arms. "And that book series was actually WAAAYYY before the first contact with Vulcans! So were the movies, actually! Unless the Vulcans-- Or Romulans, visited the Earth in Tolkien's time!" He hummed in thought. Microwave time.

"I think we did, is the thing. But that's just a theory. Maybe wishful thinking. I like the idea that Vulcans aren't so alien after all to the planet I was raised on." His pointy ears perked up a bit when Zadki mentioned Spirited Away. "Ghibli movies are all very good! I love the way they paint natural scenery in those movies; very inspiring."

1

Mo was writing on his PADD. "Jiggly movies..."

4

Zero continued to twerk ever onward.

2

Several other random people had joined the twerk conga line at this point.

3

6

Wheatley was wondering if he should join it, staring in absolute wonder. What the hell Wheatley.

"Hayao Miyazaki was a god, so were all the animators of the Ghibli Studios." Jack nodded his head in respect and gave a tiny salute.

Join the twerk conga line, coward.

Y'know what, fuck it. Out he went to join the twerk conga line because YOLO.

2

Zadki pretended to puke ever onward.

1

"Oh my God, you're probably right!" He grinned as Dion put forth that theory of early Vulcan sightings, "That's actually really cool to think about, and totally plausible, too. I mean, UFOs and shit were being spotted around the same time, it's not too far off." He leaned over just a bit (assuming they were still close) to see Mephistopheles's PADD, pretty stacked list so far. "Jiggly- wait, is it jiggly or jibbly? I think it's Gibbly, actually, Captain," he said as he looked towards the twerking line that was growing by the second, now, it seemed. "And, actually, I'm so sorry you're going to have to witness this, but," he said to Mephistopheles, and also to Zadki, poor kid maybe needed to get a nice Shirley Temple at the bar or something, and then turned to Dion, holding out his hand that'd been around the other's waist, apparently, "shall we twerk?"

Jack, who had taken a drink off a replicator when nobody was looking and was now drinking it, spat it out a bit when he heard Allan's fully serious 'shall we twerk?' comment. God help him because he's gonna choke with laughter.

4

Dion took Allan's hand, pulled him towards himself and dipped him. "My dear, my love: we shall twerk indeed." And so he and Allan twerked in the line with the others, though his twerking was still as graceful and classy as he was, somehow.

2

Oh boy. Allan twerking? Yeah, that might just be the final straw for him. Not that he was distressed, but he could feel that it was probably a good time to check out. "You guys have fun. I think I'm gonna leave now."

2

"Yeah, me too, I don't wanna see a conga line of cringe."

1

Rai's hips began to tire and he stood up again, done with the twerking and it seemed like Renakir was also done. Rai look at his date and then at Allan and Dion dancing. It looked... Fun. "Zero.... Should we dance now? For real? Uhh, I think my waist can't take more of the wiggling," Now that a lot of the excitement of twerking was starting to wear off, the paranoia was returning. So many people-- but at least his brother was there? And all their friends, who would certainly not try to stab him, right?

Zero, who had been timing their twerks and other movements with Rai and even joined in on the arm-wiggling thing he was doing, stopped more or less as soon as he did, but the twerk conga line continued without them, now its own untameable beast. "I'm honestly pretty tired, and... Well, in a way, we did dance together, didn't we? Could we maybe go to the lounge and rest?" This way their roleplayer could also rest. "Maybe we could dance later, or slow dance in your quarters together sometime."

4

Rai's face turned bright green at the offer of... Slow dancing in his quarters. What sort of dancing was this? It sounded like an invitation for... Murder. But Zero wasn't that type of guy, at least, he hoped not. Rai's shoulders tensed up a little showing a bit of his paranoia that had slowly been creeping back. "Lounge.. Yes, sure, let's go. I.. Would.. Hold your hand?" Rai said, offering a hand to Zero. How NSFV but he wanted to show Zero that he trusted him and that the tenseness he was feeling was not in any way caused by his lovely date.

4

Wow! Rai sure was taking some big steps today! "Sure! Thank you for trusting me, Rai." Zero took Rai's hand and led him to the lounge, where Zero discovered that marshmallows were white and fluffy, just like sheep and his hair!

2

Mephis, upon request of Zero, escorted Zadki to the airlock and then went to his room to feed his cat, answer some emails and get some work done, and then flop onto his bed and fall asleep smiling.

2