Star Trek: Starbase 777

Every table, seating about five, was circular; a glittering black tablecloth covered each, every setting complete with gilded silverware and a cloth napkin that had been lovingly folded into a black swan. Lights flickered in small cups to mimic candlelight, circling the centerpiece— a golden vase with an elegant bouquet of white flowers. The buffet tables themselves— long with black tablecloths as well— had a series of hors d'oeuvres from various cultures, all clearly labeled by name and ingredients to account for any dietary restrictions.

Shears had made himself right at home in the dance, gouging out the platters of gagh and peanut butter, making quick work of it all. They leaned over a table, gripping the food in their mandibles and throwing their head back to gulp it down. Thank God someone had told them how to suff a napkin in their collar, or their freshly replicated dress would be ruined.

Holding a glass of juice that he hoped to be non-carbonated, M’Rish spotted his friend nearby and hurried over. “I— Shears, you look great.” He grinned, “I’m happy to see you.”

Shears turned their head around with a flick. They abruptly swallowed, still spilling crumbs on themselves. "Hello, Nurse." they greeted their friend, moving their jewelry in place. It seemed proper to compliment their friend back. "You look pronounced." Their head pivoted towards his braid. "I see you still have the braid I did for you." She said, referring to the braid M'Rish did for himself.

The first and most important part of being happy? Eating a nice tasty meal. She walked along the buffet table with a hm. “What to get, what to get.”

"I feel pronounced, thank you. I've tried to keep the braid intact since you helped me with it." He chirped, his smile wide enough to cause him to squint slightly, "What, uh, what did you get at the buffet?"

"Hm," Allan hummed as he stepped right up to Maggie, glancing behind him just briefly - it had been forever since he'd worn a dress with a bit of a train. After he looked back at the buffet table, he carefully took off one of his long gloves to put a little dessert onto Maggie's plate for her. It almost looked like a little tiramisu square, but... a little different? The label from where it was from claimed it was made with Raktajino somehow. "Try this." And then he actually turned his face towards her to give her a warm smile.

“Allan!” She said with a smile as she was delivered a tasty treat.* “You look utterly gorgeous bt dubbs.” She said with a smile. “Soooooo, the lights was you right?” She didn’t wanna talk about anything serious that he of course knew about, so, fun stuff!.

Shears pushed aside his plate of half-eaten nut-covered worms and stood up, looking down at M'Rish as they usually did. "Unimportant. I'm confused by the process of this gathering." They said awkwardly. "How is a 'dance' structured?"

"As do you, 'bt dubbs'," Allan said with a small laugh to Maggie as he looked her outfit over, "and yeah, I mean - me and Garcia, she's another engineer, super cool. You should come on one of the little scheduled fly-outs on the Eventide we have for 'em, if you want. See 'em up close and all that. And there's more food."

Maggie smiled as she looked at him and took a bite of her treat. “Mmmm, nice. I’ll come on the next one.” She said with a tilt of her head. “Food is such a good bribe.” She said with a giggle. “Sooooo, any holiday plans?”

"Oh, wow. Lots to cover." He blinked, seeing the plate be abandoned but choosing to say nothing of it, "Well, it's... mostly something for social interaction. People chat, hang out, eat and drink. They also move around to music, because moving around makes people feel happy. It's really fun! Although I don't really, uh, know how to dance."

"The usual," Allan shrugged, "visiting home, and other than that... well, whatever comes my way, I guess, right? What about you?"

"Well, I know how to dance, so it seems I am suitably prepared." Shears said satisfactorily, ignorant of the art of dancing themselves. "Are we to exchange meals or weaken our sense of reason with alcohol?"

“Auntie Dorothea, Cousins Mystic and Magic are having a Christmas thing at their place in Toronto so I’m going there. Figured it makes sense to come home and spend a week or so on Earth.” She said with a sigh. “They’re holding her there.” She muttered before shaking her head. “Never mind, tonight isn’t about her.”

Allan almost seemed surprised at perhaps what was a joke about Auntie Dorothea being held in Toronto for some reason, but then it clicked in his head, and he nodded. "Mhmm. The dessert good?"

“I’m happy to grab something to eat before we, uh— yeah. I just don’t really drink.” He stated, before correcting himself and holding up the fruity drink he held, “Alcohol. I don’t drink alcohol. This is, y’know— juice. I think it’s mango or something.”

Maggie hummed. “Yeah! It’s good shit!” She said with a smile.

“Okay, Sakchai. Food first is fine, just don’t get any stains on your jacket.” Xal could be heard as the pair entered the buffet area Sakchai still on his arm. “Let’s see what they have and find a table, dear.”

"Good because I'm starving," When was Sakchai not hungry. He was tall and large, he needed a lot of food to fuel such a man! Even though his job was mostly sitting, he had a big appetite. "And I know how to eat, veruul," He jokingly said with a little growl and then a laugh. "I hope they have those little.... oh the elements and the force be a fence," Sakchai suddenly forgot every word in Rihannsu ever. "The... really long potatoes."

"Mm, good," Allan had said in reply to Maggie, and then upon hearing the word 'starving' said by a.. familiar voice, he turned his head to look in Sakchai's direction. "Well, hey, actually - do you like tiramisu, Sakchai? I know it's not long potatoes, but.."

See the red carpet for the outfit. That long of a description is not ideal for the fingers to type again. But, Shinji had managed to wrap the fur stole a couple times around each elbow, so it wouldn’t drag on the floor as he went to grab some food. Where.. he did in fact come across.. hey, was that the guy from the Pride party a while back? Shinji had forgotten their name.. still, he waved hello to Xal as he got in line behind them for food.

"Tear..... Tear... Tiered miso, yeah sure I'll have that," Sakchai said, completely mishearing the word. His UT was programmed from Cardassian, his first language, and sometimes the foreign names of foods or people got jumbled. Usually he could infer what it was based on context but he was not familiar with the food Allan was talking about.

Xal’s brows furrowed briefly. “They’re not going to have street food at a ball, Sakchai. What about-” He turned when Allan spoke. “Mm, Jolan Tru, Allan.” They raised their free hand and wiggled a few fingers in greeting. “Tiramisu… isn’t that a dessert?”

Shears nodded to the buffet table. "Let us collect a plate."

He complied, moving to grab an empty plate from the pile before holding it with two hands. “Where to first?”

"I've eaten already, you should eat." Shears told him. "I know that I, myself, cannot do anything until I've eaten." They said that but they secretly hoped the Nurse put kraut on his plate so they could steal it from him.

“Alright, that’s fair.” He strode towards the buffet, moving to grab something he recognized, excited to find a snack from Cait. Alongside that, he took a couple of skewers, which looked like vegetables and some kind of poultry.

Shears peered over M'Rish's head, tall enough to see over him, even if he suddenly hit a second growth spurt somehow. "What is that?" She reached over his shoulder to point at his traditional Caitian snack.

“Oh, it’s like this roll thing, with meat and berries inside. Sort of like a stuffed bun, but with really distinct spices.” He looked up at them, taking another, and holding it up to them, “Here, give it a try.”

"Hey, doesn't hurt to ask. I knew one little guy who liked to ask if places had laser swords," Sakchai said with a loud laugh. "Oh a dessert? I kinda want something savoury first. Maybe... sushi? A bagel? Cardassian lox?"

Sometimes Xal had no idea what Sakchai was talking about. He blinked, looking back at Sakchai briefly before peering at the buffet table full of food. “There are quite a few dishes to choose from, that is for certain. Lox sounds the best, though.” He untangled his arm from Sakchai’s and took a step forward, grabbing two plates and handing one to Sakchai.

Shears look it and practically immediately swallowed the snack. "Tastes like.. fish." They said with a click. Shears turned around and grabbed a few more, just holding them in their hands.

“Yeah, it— it kinda does. That’s the spices, I think.” He shrugged, “Reminds be of being a kid again, which is awesome.”

Having gotten his food, Shinji once again found himself over by Xal, still trying to keep from tripping over his own accessories. Not too many free seats around, which was unfortunate given Shinji would really like to sit somewhere, but he could deal for a little bit. Such was life at crowded events. He.. he really liked Xal’s dress. It was fitted so well, and he loved the color. Shinji wasn’t attracted per se, he was ace, but he appreciated fine craftsmanship. “Ah.. I really like your dress.” He said a little sheepishly.

"Oh fvadt," Sakchai grabbed the plate with his five-fingered hand and held up his two-fingered one. He always struggled with buffets for this reason. He liked to believe he was skilled with his smaller hand, but he couldn't wield tongs. "Yeaaahhh can you help me? Coz like.. the situation," He opened and closed his little two-fingered hand and laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to let you starve." They smiled mischieviously and looked from his hand, to his face, then just, him, up and down. "Oh? Thank you, dear, what is your name?" They said, hearing Shinji's compliment and turning their head to him. What an elegantly dressed young man.

He smiled, adjusting his hat a little. Tonight’s fit deviated from his usual style by a mile, he was more Victorian than 30’s, usually, but he liked to think he pulled it off. He loved the full glam makeup though, he usually couldn’t do it with his outfits because it wouldn’t look right. Getting dolled up for events was Shinj’s favorite part. The actual event could be hit or miss, but Shinji would go knowing he looked good. “I’m Shinji Futaba! Engineering cadet!” He said, with a little head bow because he didn’t know what else to do. Everyone had plates in their hands, so no handshakes, plus he didn’t know if that was the thing to do anyway. Head bow always worked.

"Xal," Allan greeted back with his own little wave, with his hand that still had its glove on. "Yeah, it's a dessert, they have a version with Raktajino, is what I was having Maggie here try," he gestured to said friend's plate, and then the actual dessert on the table. "Cardassian lox..?" He seemed to not be familiar with the food.

Sakchai laughed and nodded then looked towards the cadet. "hey Shinji, wow S name too, I'm Sakchai. Space Traffic controller."

"Jolan tru, Shinji." They said to the cadet before them. So that's why he looked...youthful. "Engineering cadet. So you must know Allan, then?" Xal's eyes glanced briefly from Shinji to Allan, then to Maggie as Allan spoke up too now. Unsurprising. If someone told Xal that Allan had met every single person on the station, they might believe them. "Ah, you're a fan of strong coffee, then, dear?" They raised a curious eyebrow and made a tsking noise. "Caffeine in the evening... You'll be up all night, surely." They shook their head playfully and turned back to the buffet, grabbing Cardassian Lox with some tongs and placing it on Sakchai's plate. It was a surprisingly large serving. "What else do you want?"

"Me? Eh, it's more Maggie's thing than mine," Allan said in reply to the coffee thing. He watched as they grabbed the lox. "Oh, it's - fish?"

"Hm? I was addressing your friend." He giggled. "I'd like to think I know your tastes better than that, Allan." He smiled knowingly and turned back to the buffet, looking for something else savory, maybe for Sakchai if he wanted it, but also for himself. "Ooh, herby mushrooms." They muttered, grabbing a few of those and placing them on their plate now. "Do you want some, Sakchai?" Their eyes darted from the tall Cardassian back to Allan for a moment. "Yes it's a smoked fish. It has a very strong flavor."

“Yeah, I know Allan! He showed me around inside the fusion reactor after it was shut off, it was cool in there! He’s awesome.” He said, with a little wave to Allan after noticing his presence. Shinji wasn’t even trying to suck up to anyone, it was just his opinion. And it was the truth, Allan was awesome.

Shears burned through another two of the rolls absentmindedly. Burn was an accurate verb to use, since they just sort of soaked up whatever they held as soon as they held it in their hands. They scanned M'Rish's plate. "You seem very focused on the meat and vegetables. Is the event not celebrating sugar?"

“Oh, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth— and I just… don’t really know what to try.” He admitted with a quiet chuckle, “A lot of food I had on Cait wasn’t really sweet, we’re more— um— traditionally omnivorous.”

Shears' antennae twitched. "Oh, wait you are a nurse. They do not each sugary food, do they? I am sorry for my oversight."

“No, no, it’s fine!” He laughed, “It’s not all nurses, just me. I’ve met a few who love sugar, it’s— it’s whatever.” He took a grilled mushroom off of one of the skewers, popping it into his mouth before putting the stick back on his plate.

Shears returned to their seat, popping another Caitian meal in their mouth. They walked around him to look at all the food before they sit down.

“Once we’re done, you still wanna dance, right?” He asked, taking another bite of one of the skewers.

"Oh, yes. I will preface our dance by saying not to be embarrassed if I outclass you on the dance floor." Shears proclaimed. After all, if dancing was moving, they would be quite good at it

He couldn’t quite hold back a giggle at that, nodding as he finished off his plate. “I’d accept defeat, don’t worry.”

Shears stole a mushroom from M'Rish's plate, their mandibles dissecting it. "It is strange to see dance treated as an activity. I've seen it used as a ritual first and foremost."

“Oh, yeah? You don’t really dance for fun?” He asked, “I mean, I’m not really a dancer either, but I’ve seen enough people do basic slow dancing that it kind of makes sense.”

A little absorbed in getting some of this 'Cardassian lox' onto his own plate to overhear everything Shinji was saying, he simply gave the well-dressed cadet a small wave in return before turning his attention back to the plate, then the 'herby mushrooms', then... "Hold on, I think I'm gonna get a bit of..." And then he took his plate and set it down on the buffet table for half a second to step on his tiptoes as much he could and hold Xal's upper arm with a gloved hand to give him some leverage as he gave them a small kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back, yeah?" And then the man zoomed off to da #bar-tables ! Well, zoom as much as one could in a fancy dress with a train. It was more like a graceful stride.

...where she proceeded to stack her plate with a bit of literally everything except desserts (because honestly, mixing dessert in with mains is probably a food crime) and stuff her face. Unsurprisingly. No one said she had to eat modestly, not when everybody else's plate was stacked too! So there.

"What is the methodology?" Shears asked M'Rish. They began to feel they should have brought their PADD, in order to take notes on the skills. They would have to learn pizza and french fry technique all over again.

“It’s, like— I guess moving to the rhythm of the music, making sure to move in sync. It’s easier when you’re doing less, if that makes any sense.” He explained.

“Of course, of course. He is-” Xal had been about to agree with Shinji when a hand - Allan’s hand wrapped around their arm. They stiffened - so he wouldn’t fall, hopefully providing a stable support. A smile broke out on their lips at the kiss and when he pulled back they smiled at him. “Enjoy, dear.” They didn’t wave, due to having tongs and a plate in their hands, but watched briefly as he dashed off to the bar. “What were you saying, dear?” They asked Shinji, looking back at him for a moment and then grabbing a few other things off the buffet for themself and Sakchai to enjoy. “If you’d like to join us, we’re going to sit at a table just over there.”

Shears' brain ran a series of calculations trying to quantify the trajectory of the night if they aimed for the optimum outcome factoring in their void of skill. They may have though too hard and given themselves a migraine. "No worry. I am certain I will be an expert." Shears popped a final roll into her mouth before she stood up.

“Sounds like you know what you’re doing, then.” He laughed, “Do you— do you want to try out those skills? Or do you wanna wait?”

"Yeah, come join us," Sakchai said as he pointed to a couple of other things at the buffet that he wanted Xal to help him get. "Hmm... okay so those biscuits, and then another serving of lox," He began. "Wait-- there's bakkwa, can we get lots of those? I love a good chewy meat," He wiggled his eyebrows and laughed. He saw a Jem'hadar? It looked like, getting tons of stuff on her plate and was impressed! It seemed like he was not the only one who had a big appetite. "Annnnnd anything you want. Shinji, is there something you think I should try?"

Having just watched that exchange between Xal and Allan, it made Shinji forget about what he was going to say. Not that it was particularly scandalous, he’d just not been expecting it. His expression cleared up a moment afterwards, and he nodded when Xal offered for him to join them and Sakchai. “Ah.. sure! I’ll join you guys!” And with that, and a plate loaded high up with pastries and other desserts, because Shinji’s sweet tooth was in fact infamous, he followed them. “Uhm.. you should get the strawberry cream puff, from the dessert area. It looks really good. I might be biased though.. I love strawberries.”

"What do you mean try out?" Shears asked curiously, with a tilt of his head.

Speaking of desserts, Jara'kani was presently sipping from two mugs of hot chocolate at once. How does one achieve that, you ask? With two straws, a table and some willingness to look dumb as heck while doing it, of course. Was it healthy for her? Absolutely the heck not, but who comes to a Christmas ball to eat healthy anyway?

"Is there an advantage to drinking with two mugs at the same time?" T'Evoryn commented as the ensign continued to drink the chocolate, having seemingly appearing out of nowhere. She raised an eyebrow for a moment, though not intending to judge. Sometimes, silly actions are good for the soul. Though she was curious on the thoughts behind any action, really.

“I— mean dance.” He stumbled over his words a bit, “Should we, um, dance?”

"Yes. More hot chocolate." Jara replied. She had no idea where the older woman had come from or why she was talking to her specifically (like, is drinking from two mugs of frothy, delicious hot chocolate at once that weird to people?), but at least she wasn't commenting on the other aspects of her existence as some others did at first blush.

"I do apologize for just, 'popping up', I was merely curious. Is... chocolate that enjoyable?" Perhaps it was a bit of a stupid question. Surely 'past T'Evoryn' must've tried it at some point, but considering she herself hadn't since she regained consciousness and the lack of knowledge she had concerning beverages, all she knew about chocolate was that it could make some people drunk.

Xal's hand flitted across the table, grabbing everything Sakchai said he wanted and loading it up onto his plate. They even put some of the things he wanted on their plate, though it wasn't entirely obvious if they were doing it for him or for themself. They did include the strawberry cream puffs Shinji mentioned, grabbing two of those as well, and finally stopped. "We can always come back for more, Sakchai. Let's go sit." And they nudged him in the direction of the tables with their shoulder, before starting to walk away.

"Oh!" Shears moved their head about the room. "I supposed all arrangements are in order, if you feel healthy for it."

“I’m plenty healthy, if you are.” He laughed, ears flicking at a volume change in the room’s music, holding out a hand for them to take, “Uh— Shall we?”

Shears gave the paw a quick, friendly slap. "Shall." They nodded.

Shinji trailed after them to the table, in a fashion reminiscent of a lost puppy. Which was apt, as Shinji had come before his friends and was on his own for now. Though, Xal and Sakchai seemed nice, so he was fine chatting with them. What were parties for, if not for meeting new people? Once they sat down, he rested his cane against one of the arms of his chair so it wouldn’t be on the floor, thankful for a chance to be off his feet for a bit. “Ah, it’s so nice to sit down for a change..” He sighed. “But anyway! I’m so glad the holidays are coming up- Christmas is my favorite holiday. Maybe that’s because I like presents though. And my birthday is coming up soon too, so I get a bunch of presents in short succession.”

Reply to: @Lt. Cdr. T'Evoryn | TAC (@Amie) "I do apologize for just, 'popping up', I was merely curious. Is... chocolate that enjoyable?" *Perhaps it was a bit of a stupid...

"To me? Yes, it is. And I think I'm going for a third cup when I'm done with these two." Jara grinned - not before taking the straws out of her mouth and swallowing, of course. Wouldn't want to spray droplets of hot chocolate everywhere - or perhaps not-so-hot chocolate now. "You want some?" She asked, gesturing at the serving line where mugs of hot chocolate were currently being handed out. She had no idea if this pointy-eared lady was Vulcan or not (you know, since for whatever reason there are about a billion Vulcanoids in existence, somehow), but, you know, it felt polite to offer anyway. "It's to die for..."

Minded to go in search of food, Vara'l eventually ended up at the buffet. Partly guided by his nose and informed by a stomach that had started to rumble a distraction for the slight appearance related anxiety that hummed in him, Vara'l entered the buffet area and rapidly acquired a empty plate. With the plate in hand, Vara'l then started to fill it with what he wanted. Did so as he also acquired several napkins in what Telim called a 'Dad minded move' as he noticed some things Telim liked and resolved to wrap some up to take back to quarters later. "Hmm, food." He'd mumbled to himself as he'd idly attempted to convince his stomach to wait until he sat down before it rumbled again.

, Wesley could count the number of days he's been here on his fingers and toes.. and still have leftover. If it hadn't been for losing a bet Wesley wouldn't be attending this ball. 50% of him wanted to interact with people but 75% of him wanted to be invisible. The new ensign decided that a good way to calm his nerves would be comfort food. He peeked over the offerings, before he picked up a bit of the spice pudding that had been popular among some of Starfleet's other stations. It was his comfort. -# "oh sweet, this one has extra creme.." Right now the goal was to calm his nerves just enough to let himself stick to the wall in the ballroom or bar area.

A new face noticed, not one from his department but all the same, Vara'l finished loading up his plate and ambled over toward the new person. Remembering how things had been at the first Winter ball he'd attended for him, anxiety wise and such, Vara'l affected a slight smile as he approached. "Jolan tru." The Romulan initially said as he greeted the other then. "Good choice of pudding." Before he noted the pudding they'd selected and commented as he did. "Well liked by a good few people I know, that."

, Wesley's thumb gently traced against a potion of the plate's rim, still somewhat glancing at the offerings from the end of the table when he heard a voice beside him. It took him a split second to remember what culture the greeting belonged to, but that second felt like forever inside his head. But how to respond back? Culture with culture? But Wesley had nothing to respond with that had as much of a meaning as the common greeting. He would play it safe and mirror. "Jolan'tru.. it almost feels cliché to pick the popular pudding.. but I suppose it's popular for a reason!" The ensign grinned for a brief moment before he pressed his lips together for an even briefer moment. "I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you before?" Then again, Wesley still had the engineers from the other shifts that he hadn't met yet. It was a reply that might work for about a year. (edited)

"Nothing wrong with finding something nice that's also popular." The Romulan xB mused as he attempted to make his response as warm as possible, as the other grinned for a brief moment. "And you're very right there, at least in my personal opinion." When the other asked that, Vara'l's smile turned somewhat apologetic. "Ah, yes." He stated initially "We indeed haven't." Vara'l then offered a metal ribbed hand for a handshake. "Lieutenant Commander Vara'l tr'Hara, Chief Tactical Officer, it's very good to meet you."

, The ensign looked down at the ribbed hand, his lips pulling into another smile as he shook Vara'l's hand. "Ensign Rodríguez, engineering. I arrived about a week or so ago. I look forward to settling in to my post here on 777.." "I tried to read more about the starbase, but I didn't see anything about a winter ball. This happens every year? Is there a Halloween event too?"

Vida strolled through the party, taking in the sights and sounds. She figured it was quite time to assemble a meal. She began by taking a gander at the selection of hot drinks. At the station, there was already a Jem'Hadar selecting something.

Jara glanced over at Vida and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing of it. Honestly, she'd seen her fair share of weird-looking people already; a blue-skinned person who looked like she belonged on a runway with those elegant features was hardly the weirdest. Really. But for now, she was more than content to sip from both mugs of hot chocolate at once.

Vida passed through to the table. She tapped the Jem'hadar on the shoulder. "Excuse me, may I get through to the cups?"

Right up till then, Jara had been more than happy to simply drink and enjoy herself. Then someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around to find that blue-skinned supermodel lady she'd seen in the crowd earlier. God, had she really crossed all the way behind her in the time she'd been watching the crowd? "Mrrr. S'ry. Please." She mumbled, stepping out of the way to let her pass into the serving line. "The hot chocolate is wonderful, by the way..."

"Hm?" Vida turned, confused the woman had spoken to her. "Oh," she said. "Thanks, but I'm feeling more like tea right now." She thought the officer's dress looked nice, though it was at such a color that if she spilt her hot chocolate on it, it would be ruined.

"Good to meet you, Ensign." The xB responded then before he then added. "And welcome to the station." As he affected another smile. "I remember my own first week here, it quite the thing." That wasn't elaborated on as, with the other question, he idly picked his drink back up from where he'd placed it to offer the handshake and sipped it briefly. "This does aye." At the question about the Halloween event, Vara'l looked very briefly distant as he remembered the last one and confirmed. "There tends to be one, yes." As his jaw worked briefly before he elaborated. "..It can be quite a memorable one too.."

, The smiled and responses were comforting to Wesley, even if he didn't realize it at first. He hoped that things would go smoothly. Honestly? Anything compared to Frontier Day was smooth. If Wesley survived that, maybe he would be fine here. "I look forward to the next one then if I'm lucky enough to still be here." The ensign glanced over at the lieutenant commander's drink, before looking back over the table he previously perused. "I'm assuming there's a bar for the drinks then?"

Honestly, Jara wasn't too concerned about the dress. It did feel good on her, but it was practically only going to be worn once. Hot chocolate stains? Meh. It was going to turn back into replicator feedstock anyway. "Plenty of teas if you want them. I personally rather have something sweet." She replied. "Name's Jara'kani."

Vida wasn't expecting to be properly introduced to the officer. She whirled her head around. "Oh- Vida." She nodded. "Should I call you your full name, or..?"

"Jara. Just Jara. It is nice to meet you... Vida." Jara'kani said with a toothy grin. "I suppose we'll be meeting a bit more often now. Around the starbase, I mean, because she is only so big."

After drinking, and rapidly disposing of said drink, it was only natural that a good, second serving of food should follow. Amber, as a preeminent thinker of such philosophies, sauntered by the buffet from the bar, scooping up a plate as she went. She noted the officers peppered about, and the fact that the most obvious stacking of cups was currently blocked off by conversation. Oh well, she'd just have to get more ale later, poor her. Stopping at the buffet tables, she placed her free hand on her hip, silently judging her options.

After discarding her cape in a table somewhere – its not like she expected it to be stolen in this event – Marze moved around debating between alcohol or food. Food won, but it was a very close win. She had to guarantee her protein intake. As she approached the tables she saw someone she thought she recognized. “Hey, roommate!” That calling was immediately followed by a friendly slap on the back. “Fancy seeing you here, I’ll just have to keep away from water tonight it seems!” The half Klingon, half Romulan, laughed.

Amber heard someone approaching from behind, but given the number of other party-goers around, she didn't immediately catch that the address of "roommate" was directed at her. Given a few seconds of rational thought, perhaps it would be an forgivable sin that night for one to mistake her for her sister, especially given her relatively put together - and girly, even - appearance. There would be no seconds, however, where Amber was involved, between the smack against her back and her swinging around to face her daring assailant. "Get yer hands off me, the fuck?" she said as she moved, having to angle her neck upwards after the fact to meet the other's eyes with her own, furrowed brows, pissed off gaze and all. Oh. Shit. She continued a moment after without another beat skipped, dispensing of any fluster the woman's frame may have effected well enough. "Ya lost, fella? Fuck's water gotta do with anythin'?"

"Hm. Well, nobody gets to know everyone as well as a cook." Vida proclaimed, with a hand over her heart. "I'm the cook, by the way."

”Heya! Ember it’s….” Marze had taken her hand off immediately of course and stopped mid sentence. That stance, that intonation and that facial expression. This was not Ember. It was her time to furrow her brows. “Who the fuck are you?!” Was all that Marze could so eloquently ask while being as confused and, to be honest, a little spooked as she was.

This was why, dear Ember Ruthven, we tell each other when someone new comes into the picture! Amber raged silently at her own sister for a moment, finally clicking for her why this woman was bothering her. Apparently, though, Ember hadn’t brought Amber up to her roommate, either - at least she got that part right. Oh well, Marze had picked the wrong redhead for deescalation. “Who the fuck am I? Who the fuck are you?!” she pointed her flimsy plate threateningly towards the woman.

”Well, I am Marze fucking G’khar, very nice to meet you, care to explain why the fuck you are wearing my roommate’s face?” The plate did not seem to have any effects on the huge woman.

"I'm sure you still will be." The CTO commented then before nodding a bit. "There is one yes, I believe there's also a chocolate fountain as well, somewhere." He angled the cup. "While I'd consider this a drink, this is apparently soup, its still quite good though." The Romulan lapsed into a moment of silence as he sipped his drink or well soup. Looked thoughtful then before saying. "From what I've overheard, it's got a good selection of alchoholic and non-alchoholic drinks."

, Instinctively, Wesley almost leaned up on his toes to see what kind of soup they were talking about, but he stopped himself from committing such an action. "Well, if it's soup then how did it get in a cup? I guess it depends on perspective.. When you put milk in cereal, is it considered a broth, sauce, or a beverage?" The ensign flashed a stupid grin across that full freckled face of his. Surely, he was gently messing with a man who outranked him; he was being a little shit, but in a social way. The sound of the bar interested him a bit; Wesley craved an orange soda.

Having gone to the dining tables and eaten some food with Sakchai for some time, Xal was back at the buffet for seconds. Or was it thirds? And just in time to see some short red headed woman and a giant woman who looked like she could break said redhead over her knee like a twig shouting at each other. They simply raised an eyebrow and watched from an appreciable distance. This could be good. Was there popcorn on the buffet table? (edited)

Not of a mind that he wanted to deal with such things at present, Vara'l remained focused on the ensign. While he was so focused though, Vara'l still decided in what amounted to an attempted joke. Decided on it as he pushed a bowl of popcorn along the table closer to Xal with his hand that held the soup cup While he did so, Vara'l smiled a bit at the ensign, did so as the other launched into their questions. They were actually quite amusing, he reckoned, this ensign. Elements, he reckoned they'd likely fit in well with some in engineering and that was no bad thing, not at all. The world needed more people who grinned like that. Who happened to be willing to mess with people who outranked them, when it happened to be appropriate to do so. "I've met a few people who like their soup in cups, from their perspective it remains so within a cup but... you do raise a interesting point." He responded as he chuckled a bit. "Used to struggle with the whole thing about the difference between soups and broths." The Lieutenant commander then admitted. "Was a interesting thing to wrap ones head around, when re-learning about eating."

Shinji, over by Xal, also raised an eyebrow. He got some popcorn for himself.. this could be interesting. It would be impolite to stick himself into other people’s business.. so he’d just watch. That was the only reason! Certainly not because he liked to just watch things go down.

Sakchai was still here, lost in the sauce of aribiatta pasta with truffles. He loved the blend of spicy and luxury and had snuck in some Yamok sauce in the pocket of his suit and was now pouring it on the pasta.

Jara raised an eyebrow. "So all this is your work, then?" She gestured at the entire buffet table, with all its myriad of dishes. "Or at least made with your involvement? Because all of it is excellent. I have sampled a little of everything. I think I will go back for a few rounds more."

"Anyone want some yamok sauce?" Sakchai heard another voice at the buffet area and turned towards the Jem'hadar. He held up the sauce in question!

“Save some for me, veruul.” Xal called from over his shoulder, still entranced with whatever was happening with the shouting ladies. He did in fact take some popcorn that had been so graciously been passed his way, and popped a few pieces into his mouth.

Jara holds up a hand to the offer of Cardassian yamok sauce. She'd had one spoonful just once before and chucked up her lunch. Nasty. She was, sadly, not one of those who appreciated the condiment, suffice to say.

, If movement was audible, Wesley slowly leaning to notice the drama would have sounded like the creak of a wooden floorboard. Once he located the source of the potential danger, the ensign refocused on his outranking crewmember.. and blinked multiple times before pointing gently at the popcorn bucket that was being pushed towards Xal. He pressed his lips into a thin line for a moment, and decided not to question it. Wesley simply assumed that the liberated Borg had a hand implant that has suddenly replicated a bucket of popcorn. The real question was whether it had extra butter. "I think the real difficulty comes from soup versus stew.. or jelly versus jam versus preserves versus marmalade versus chutney.." Without even thinking, Wesley's mind overrode itself, and he quietly but casually picked up his little pudding bowl and nearly took down half the pudding in the first silent sip. It wasn't his fault that the bowl was shaped like those paper condiment cups at Burger King, it resembled a little shot glass! The ensign thought none the wiser as the pudding bowl was set back down on the still-empty plate. (edited)

"Oh!" Vida nodded as the stranger offered Jara a spoon. She returned to answer Jara's inquiry. "Oh, no, not all of it, Lady no. I would kill the captain if I had to cook all this." She let out a snicker even though she was 100% dead serious. "I mostly cooked the vegetables, eggs, meat and rice."

Paco casually strolled in to the buffet. He did not know much context of what was happening or what was going on right now, but all that needed to be known, was that Paco gave the situation a side eye, criminal, bombastic side eye, as got a plate and started to indulge himself. Dinner and a show, now this was a very merry Christmas. Within the innards his orange handbag sack, sat alongside the sweet dried fruit snacks, were a couple tupperwares stacked. A quiet little secret Pacs packed away tight, For post-party leftovers later that night.

"Wearin' yer-" Amber snorted and grumbled something completely incoherent, taking a step back and turning to her side as she did so, as though whatever curse she was reciting was too horrible for mortal ears. As far as Amber was concerned, Ember was the one wearing her face - those twelve minutes counted for something. She recovered quickly, all things considered, swinging back around to face Marze in a spinning maneuvre that made the velvet around her swish like liquid. The surprise of being smacked had worn off, but now she wanted to press a few buttons before she gave it a rest. "Won it in bloody battle, didn't I?" she said, serious and threatening, "best ya back off- or I'll wear yers next."

Marze’s face assumed the best example of her “are you fucking serious?” expression, not impresses by the threat. The smaller human had claws though, that she could appreciate. Plus, she could feel herself warming up with the excitement of the prospect of a fight, and Marze was not one to back down from any kind of challenge. “Ha! I would like to see you try, reddie…”

If Paco were a ferengi, cared about money, or enjoyed watching fights and heated arguments as much as his cousin Maya did, he would probably start socilitating bets on who would win between the two of them. Klingon or Ginger, who would win??? Minimum bet's half a strip of latinum. Paco's money would be on Amber. Paco happily perused the buffet as he ate and considered which of these dishes would he be taking home in a tupperware tonight. (edited)

"Reddie?" She rolled her eyes, muttering coherently this time, "fuck off..." "Place 'n time. Ya pick, I'll show," Amber said readily, refusing to step down, either. She shrugged. "I'd prefer a gym, maybe, but ya won't find me fussed." Okay, maybe she backed down a little with that raincheck, but she didn't want to sit in a brig all night in a ruined dress. "Till then, if yer done sizin' me up," she straightened herself and stepped closer to Marze, then properly offered the plate she was harbouring all this while. Just a friendly little power-play. "I'd really, really, really like t' give the shrimp a go without bein' smacked again. Think ya can 'andle that?"

Xal's eyebrow raised briefly as he popped a few more pieces of popcorn into his mouth. "Oh, dear," he muttered under his breath. Maybe it was time to involve a Starfleet officer. One with rank. And seeing as Xal didn't know Vara'l was the CTO, but he did happen to have a friendship with the ACEO, he simply threw one last glance at the women who were, well, still kind of shouting at each other, and scurried off to retrieve Allan from the tables across the room.

”Don’t like the nickname? No worries, I can go with shortie too, not a lot to size up there. And if that one is a problem also I can be very creative.” The woman crossed her very big arms and smiled. There was nothing friendly about that smile. “I’m on alpha. Anytime after or before is good. Let’s say… a week from now? Gives you enough time to back off if you have cold feet. One of the fitness suits shall do it.” Then as if the situation was not dire enough, the Klingon extended her hand and took one of said shrimps directly from the plate Amber held. “Yeah, I heard the food is good, don’t worry I’ll save any moves for next week, so enjoy it… Ah!” The shrimp was quickly vanished into the woman’s mouth. “The name is Marze, by the way. I’ll see ya, maybe.” She shrugged, still smiling as if she was ready to tear into Amber like she tore into that poor shrimp.

Allan was intrigued by what Xal was saying - and perhaps slightly concerned - but when he saw what Xal was probably talking about, he actually laughed a little. "Oh, they -" he looked at Xal, and shook his head, though he did turn back to look at the two women, "no, they're just... like this. I know them pretty well, don't worry," he explained, his eyes drifting to someone... drinking a bowl of pudding? Sure.

"You are absolutely sure she's not going to break her in half?" Xal could be heard asking Allan in an exaggeratedly incredulous tone as they approached the buffet again.

Vara'l, as he chuckled a bit at what they looked at, stated simply. "Was rather well hidden, but in the pudding section." The xB stated simply before he turned his focus briefly to the question that had been posed. "I agree with you there, still something I occasionally muse upon, though initially it was a tad more of a case of understanding that such was more than just a vector of intake for nutrients." Vara'l then turned to look at Marze and Amber then, fixed both of them with Grey eyes. "Jolan tru." He then proceeded to say as he mustered a smile, analysed the duo having heard what he'd ended up hearing. "I couldn't help but overhear some of what's been being said but, is something amiss?" "Potentially something that could be solved with the aid of Rumblr elsewhere?" The Romulan inquired then as he watched the duo he'd called to and proceeded to sip his soup some more. "Hmm, I do realise that things seem to have come to a conclusion?" He'd mustered another smile then. "But well, Rumblr's a interesting app if you're of a mind to find a sparring partner, though I don't personally use it at present."

"Shortie?!" Amber fumed, unintentionally but very unfortunately getting up on her tip-toes for a brief second in annoyance. Dress, brig, Amber, catch yourself. "It's fuckin' on." Then she stepped back, only then noticing for the first time that they had attracted a bit of attention. Not that she cared, one way or the other, she was more interested in getting more shrimp for herself. It was her turn to give Vara'l a very restrained - by her standards - 'what the fuck' look at the suggestion posed. That would've drawn a reaction, if and only if the man wasn't her direct superior. "Amber," she fired back at Marze with finality, "ya know how t' find me."

She immediately looked at the other, but her face was blank as she took him in. Romulan, she presumed… and wondered if he could spot her ancestry, or if even to him there was doubt of which vulcanoid species she shared DNA with. “Don’t worry, mister Romulan, we already have time and place for solving it. Not that it was any of anyone’s business but mine and Amber alone.” Rumblr… so the appwas popular, like Allan had said. “Uhn, and I actually don’t know how to find you, but I’ll take a guess and ask Ember.” She concluded as the other woman now was focused on the food. She would not disturb her again, so she turned once more to the Romulan that had approached.

, As his superior officer was addressing the duo, Wesley took this moment to correctly eat his pudding using the little spoon.. and then silently grew annoyed when the spoon was curved in such a way that he couldn't get the last few bites in the curved sides of the cup. It was a small cup, so he took a moment to sneak a few licks. When that was that, he quickly wiped his mouth and took this opportunity to dispose of the empty pudding cup in the replicator. As long as he was back before his new acquaintance could notice. Though, the interaction with Vara'l was enough to calm the ensign. It was enough to make him comfortable inside the ball— comfortable enough to realize he was actually hungry. Except now, he was hungry for soup. Dammit.

"Yeah, pretty sure," Allan said to Xal, nodding as he continued to watch Amber and Marze talk. Yeah, he was sure. As he watched Vara'l step in, he pre-emptively grimaced just a little, expecting.... well, expecting something like Marze had said. Though the 'mister Romulan' was a bit shocking to him, and so he sort of stepped up to Vara'l, putting a hand on his arm to catch the older man's attention. "Vara'l, hey!" He said, putting on a grin as he looked his outfit over, "you look amazing, by the way."

Vara'l returned the lieutenant's gaze in response with a grey-steel eyed gaze then. Give him a what the fuck look? Well that were certainly something that happened to be within their rights to do. But he was the CTO, their superior officer. He'd hoped they'd take the hint but they appeared to have not done so! He would have proceeded to say more but well, the other person approached. So he turned to look to them. Fixed them with his Grey hued gaze. "I'm afraid I'd have to disagree, Lieutenant Ruthven is a officer in my department, I'm Mister Lieutenant Commander tr'Hara, the CTO." Before more could be uttered, the hand on his arm caused him to tense briefly before he spotted who it was and smiled. Naturally smiled, no construction affected for social reasons, a natural reason. "Jolan tru Allan, thank you, I decided I may as well take a stab at trying to work my implants into the outfit instead of concealing them."

"Well, you did an incredible job," he said, looking the CTO over once again before his gaze finally rested on his face. He also hadn't let go of his arm, just yet at least. "Like, really."

Of course. She was bound to meeting higher ups and was well aware of the fact. Just her luck it was not only a Lieutenant Commander but a senior, and of a division that worked so closely to her own. She sighed internally, but again, thats a risk she had consciously taken, plus this was an off-duty party so she had no obligation of knowing anyone’s rank. Marze had been in enough situations like these, worse even, to know how to deal with it. Or at least she thought so. “Right, beg you a pardon there, Mister Lieutenant Commander tr’Hara, sir.” She said with her tone now flat. “I understand now why getting involved…” She crossed her arms again, much more relaxed this time. “…but again, Amber and I had it figured out already so you should have not troubled yourself, after all if we wanted to pick a fight off-duty, and might I add that is quite an important part of my culture specially at parties…” A small smirk there. “…honestly I see that as our problem, sir.” She noticed Allan then, trying to calm everything down as always. Well he shouldn’t have to worry, this was not SFA and she was not about to pic a fight with a senior. “Hey Allan, you look hot!”

"Given the situation and the language used along with the volume." The CTO responded then as he watched the hybrid levely. "And given the response of the Lieutenant, it seemed intercession was needed." He responded simply then before simply just lapsed into silence and considered her for a time. "This is not an appropriate place for sparring, keep it off duty and in a appropriate place." The xB responded then as he watched her levelly, calmly, locked her face in his memory. "Hence the Rumblr suggestion." The Romulan then looked to Allan and considered him as he stated. "..Firstly, thank you for the compliment, though I still hold I've got the dress sense of a brick sometimes." Vara'l commenced, secondly. "...I'd agree with the observation made, you look very good also, I assume that's what 'Hot' means.."

Allan actually laughed when Marze exclaimed that he looked hot, looking in her direction and then said right back, "you too, Marze!" It was a genuine statement, and then he looked back at Vara'l, too, shaking his head. "Thank you, but - are you kidding me, a brick? This-" much like he had half a year earlier in the birdhouses, he reached up to gently touch the CTO's implant by his ear, lightly, and then traced it back along the vines through his hair, leaning and turning just enough to look at them closer, admiring the work. "This is impressive, okay? Seriously."

, Wesley's eyes glanced between the two's interactions. The compliments, the gentle caresses, someone shouting 'youre hot'.. he assumed that these two men were a couple — and that nobody made a fuss of it. That soothed the ensign deep down, whether he knew it or not. However! The longer Wesley watched these two, the more aware he became of the rumblies in his tummy. The ensign stepped to the side, deciding to peruse the tables once more.. and immediately grabbed a hasperat. He wasn't going to go hungry, but he was going to be gone for about a minute to grab soup in a mug. Wesley could probably be spotted off in a corner, taking a bite of the hasperat before unravelling it to mix into the soup before stuffing the tortilla into his mouth like the mexican chipmunk he was. (edited)

Amber was sure that she'd be hibernating for a month with how utterly demolished her social battery would be by the end of the night. Alas, she hadn't yet had enough. So with a restocked plate of shrimp, she went about stalking the periphery of the buffet tables, avoiding the group, not unlike a wounded animal, where Marze stood - even if Allan were there, and even if she did pass the occasional glance in their direction. At some point, she passed where Wesley was hiding, giving the man one glance, and then a incredulous double take to confirm how quickly he was shovelling food into his mouth. She stopped, so suddenly that it took her gown another second to settle. "What're ya, lookin' fer a chokin', fella?"

”Thanks dude.” She eyed the CTO again. She knew the type, he probably stored her face already. Though… Allan seemed to like him. Okay, that might not be the best parameter since Allan liked a lot of people and was much more social, but still she decided to let the water go under the bridge. “Don’t worry, sir. The first thing Allan did when I arrived here was help me create a profile. I’m Marze G’khar by the way, umm… Lt. JG. Security.” No point in not fully introducing herself with rank and division. He could easily look it up if he wanted to.

Xal had just been standing there, arm around Allan's shoulders, as the scene continued to unfold. The verbal sparring, the revelation that the man that had materialized popcorn for the show had been the CTO, Allan touching his face, and the face of a very young, apparently intrigued young man staring in Allan and Vara'ls direction. He couldn't help but let out a laugh, leaning just slightly to grab something else tasty from the buffet to snack on with one hand while the other remained on Allan's shoulder. After he finished his bite, he looked back to Allan, and then up at Vara'l now too. "He's serious, you know, Commander." Allan, he meant. "He's got good taste... And you look delectable tonight." And Xal threw Vara'l a bright smile and a wink.

, If Wesley was looking for a choking, at least it would have been a tasty death. He quickly mixed the hasperat's fillings into the soup— making it thicker and more flavorful than it already was. He didn't even notice Miss Fire Crown coming his way until he had the tortilla halfway down his throat. Thankfully, the only thing he'll choke on tonight is this tortilla. The ensign suddenly looked away and cleared his throat, giving off a little cough before the tortilla promptly disappeared from existence. Where did it go? Did it ever exist? Not anymore. No witnesses. "No, no! I just wanted to hurry back to the lieutenant commander before he noticed I was missing from our conversation." The ensign sheepishly grinned, covering his mouth with a fist as he gently cleared his throat.

"It is good to meet you, Lieutenant Junior Grade Marze G'khar." The Lieutenant Commander had stated then before he added. "That's good to hear, Allan's quite the person and I hear Rumblr's always a good app for sparring use, though I've someone I tend to spar with so.. don't use the app." He considered them for a moment then, moved to speak before Allan proceeded to speak again. Then...Vara'ls grey eyes departed from partial focus on the Klingon-Romulan hybrid then as he turned to focus on Allan. Turned and didn't move away as the hand touched the implant by his ear, moved so close to somewhere he'd struggled once to let anywhere near, his neck. Near to where those two scars were, had been, those two scars that had heralded so much pain. The two he'd refused to let anyone remove. Scars that had been worked away in the name of necessity as he'd battled for life on a ship during a journey way from a cube he'd passed the time on unconscious. "That is my personal assessment of my fashion sense, yes." The Romulan had softly confirmed then. When the other traced the vines through his hair, looked at the work and issued that compliment, Vara'l smiled. Smiled a smile that warmed the usual impassivity of his face and betrayed smile lines only Telim or Elohae tended to see much of. "Thank you, for the compliment, Allan." He murmured then before he added. "..I've been told sometimes I'm too much of a 'harsh critic' toward my metalwork, though I hope to one day improve on it." Then Xal spoke and for some reason the room heated up somewhat. Nothing to do with his face even though the heat rushed to there.. "I.." He managed initially before he added. "..Thank you." Vara'l then managed then as his mind whirled a bit and he noted the fact he happened to be in the proximity of a number of men who happened to look quite good.

She had noticed the other person in the picture of course. With massive heels and so pink it looked like his outfit was spitted by a fucking unicorn. Marze had, however, chosen to keep her attention at the CTO. And Allan had Allan privileges. Seeing the whole lot of possible gay activity in the area – and having to hold herself from commenting on it directly and explicitly, to Allan’s luck at the moment – she faced the ACEO. “Let me know if you want a tie on the door, A+.” Yes, this was her non-direct, non-explicit, way to say it. She took the opportunity to get another shrimp from the table.

Xal watched as Allan continued to treat this man so very tenderly, smiling all the while. At least until the darling Klingon-Romulan woman’s joke. He continued to smile, though his eyes narrowed very slightly and he turned his gaze to her. “That’s very kind of you to offer, dear. But we won’t need your tie. We’ll have his.” And Xal’s eyes flitted back to Vara’l, and his free hand came up to just barely grasp Vara’l’s tie between two manicured fingers, and adjust it ever so slightly.

For some reason, Vara'l's face heated a good bit more than it had previously as Xal approached and did what they did. Blushed as he forced muscles that briefly tensed ready to act to un-tense as he watched Xal approached and let them do whatever they intended to do.. When they grabbed his tie like that. Elements alive, they reminded him of people from his past, of a person from his past now. "Elements alive." He managed initially then before he added. "Has the room gotten hot for some reason?" As he mustered a distinctly flustered chuckle now.

”Ah… your arm candy is not a very good judge of character, right Allan?” Marze looked directly at Xal for the first time. “As much as Allan might wish I did, I have no interest in people of your gender, sweetie.” She then winked at Allan and laughed.

"Elements, if my ex boyfriend from..oh elements quite some time ago was around he'd love this." Vara'l mused then as he considered everyone present then added as he actually chuckled a bit at and mumbled. "He'd also probably tell some of our mutual friends about how...hot the room is getting for some reason."

He nodded when Marze said he helped her create a profile, though when Xal made a comment towards the CTO as well, but he nodded in agreement regardless, a little 'mhm' as well thrown in. And when Vara'l finally spoke, that was... the intended reaction he expected from Vara'l, in all honesty, if their previous interactions were anything to go off of. "Mm, well, I could give you a bit more accurate of a... 'personal assessment', if you'd like," he laughed a little, "your metalwork's amazing. Take it from an engineer, okay?" When Marze gave him her comment, he was glad he didn't have a drink in hand, or he may have spilled it. "I-" he laughed some more, shaking his head, and was about to say something else when Xal reached up and - held Vara'l's tie. So here Allan was, with one hand on Vara'l's arm and the other in his hair, and Xal's hand on Allan's shoulder and their other hand on Vara'l's tie... Vara'l's reaction made more than enough sense. "Marze, it's- okay," he breathed out, trying to diffuse... whatever she may have been upset about, but a little too distracted by the CTO's next words, and he brought his hand down from his hair to rest at his collar, a little too close to Xal's hand, maybe. "Okay," he said to Vara'l then, "but the question is, do you love this?"

"Oh darling Marze, you thought that meant I was interested... in you?" He said, barely taking his eyes off Vara'l long enough to meet hers, before letting his head fall back in a cackle.

It'd now be rather apparent, given how Vara'l reacted, to anyone who didn't know before that Romulan when flustered enough that they blush, happened to blush very green. Just as green as Vara'l happened to continued to blush even as his grey hued gaze turned to Allan once more. Fixed upon them at their words. "Hmm." He managed initially before he admitted. "I am being rather flustered by two people who look very good and my brain is mush." The CTO stated before he added. "Perhaps if it wasn't I'd word this better but, while there's a part of me that'll never change in how it looks or so I suspect, forged by.." His jaw worked. "Other hands, to see what I do as...inefficient." The xB stated. "...The rest of me deeply appreciates that, Allan." When Allan stated that, Vara'l seemed to consider things for a moment before he stated. "Honestly." Paused then added. "Yes." Before his eyes flicked to Xal and then to the Klingon Romulan Hybrid then. Looked to them as training kicked in and he angled slightly to keep both in view. "I do." Vara'l then reached up to his implants then before he admitted. "Honestly had wondered." Declined to say more about that, though perhaps his face betrayed it. Betrayed how he'd wondered how far the Borg had changed him. He'd been Bi, but then well. He'd been Borg.

Marze looked at Allan and Vara’l a little more serious. “Hey, I was joking but I can do you that old friend favor…” She was then interrupted by Xal making the dumbest remark of the century. “No. I am stating that Allan here once tried his shot before he knew better. I bet you hope I was offering myself though.” She smiled cockily. “Not because you have interest, I am actually a good judge of that kind of character and I can spot a gay a mile away.” She shook her head. “Because it’s good for ego, right Regina? You need to compensate somehow… aside from the heel size.” Xal maybe would not understand, but Allan would not miss what that particular name referenced, and that’s why all of that was directed at Xal, but said as she stared right at Allan, a smirk on her face.

, Wesley, who had managed to escape from Amber (for now), headed back towards Vara'l's direction. The ensign's freckled face began to show yet another dumbass grin as he saw that the Romulan was as green as a head of lettuce. "I see things are going pleasant already." The ensign remarked as he approached the front of the group to re-enter the conversation; except, now he had soup in a mug too! He jokingly took a small sip of it, though kept the spoon in there since it was technically a stew now. Even if nobody here was from his department, at least there was a potential friendship during off-shift hours.. especially if they weren't senior staff: because that would be a little scary to socialize with outside of this ball. He always found it slightly adorable to see how other species blushed. Red, blue, green — Wesley's was more of a georgia peach color, but that was yet to be seen.

He did chuckle at what Marze said, and the newcomer that made another comment, but - he was a bit distracted by, well, the man right in front of him. That green blush the other had was plainly obvious now, and it would be a lie to say there wasn't an obvious smirk on Allan's face as he continued to meet those grey eyes. When Vara'l gave him that answer, his smirk only got worse, and his eyes broke from his for a second to watch as ... Vara'l reached up to touch his own implants. Hm. "Good," he said plainly, and then made a slight move of his hand, a bit of a daring one, but he moved his hand to hold Vara'l's. "That shade of green looks great on you, by the way." And he wasn't talking about the jacket!

Xal let out another short laugh, his eyes rolling almost as soon as Marze began speaking again. A more appropriate favor she could do for Allan, he thought, was to buzz off and let him have his moment. But, he kept that to himself. It wasn't really worth saying. And to her comment about offering herself, his lips broke into a devious smile. His eyes did flit to her, looking her from head to toe very slowly, before bringing his eyes back up to her face. "While you are a very handsome woman, you're not exactly my type, dear. Do you happen to have a brother?" He let out a decidedly amused giggle at her final insult. He had no idea who Regina George was, and didn't care. And perhaps that comment about compensating had a little more truth to it than he cared to acknowledge. He simply let it flow past him, visually unbothered. He bit his bottom lip coyly and smiled at her again. "Me, compensating? And what has all this been from you, just now, dear? Blustering and beating your chest at two people now? What are you compensating for, hm?"

”No, I don’t have a brother, sorry. My mother thought one of me was enough and she was damn right.” The Klingon laughed. Part of it was true, she did believe Valkris did not have energy for mothering more children after her. Marze was not blind though. That was the whole point of it actually, and she knew when to admit defeat. Not to Xal though, who was he even! To Vara’l, or rather to the attention the CTO commanded from Allan, the only person she was actually interested in when it came to this whole theater. If Allan was too distracted to properly play around with her, something more serious was going on. She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. She stared back at the cardassian, who she noticed only now seemed to have some vulcanoid heritage himself. “The truth pinkie? I was looking to compensate for about 5 years of long distance friendship, but I’ll have to be more patient as it seems. I hope he has fun though. Now, I will probably compensate for the lack of alcohol by getting myself some bloodwine.” She seemed truly nonchalant now. Xal had never been her target after all. (edited)

Xal made a soft clicking noise with his tongue and fashioned his expression into a mock pout. "A pity." Truly, if she'd had a brother, this could have gone in a better direction, though this direction wasn't actually so bad. It had been quite amusing, for the duration. "Pinkie?" He laughed again, the rest of the words falling on his attentive ears. He could understand, he thought, what it meant to be away from friends for so long. Though, he wasn't in the habit of having deep thoughts like that in public. "Well, Marze. It's been such a pleasure making your acquaintance tonight. I'm a linguist aboard. I speak five languages and I would love to teach you some more colorful insults. I'll have Allan give you my comms code, and we can chat. Don't end up in the brig!" And he waggled his gloved fingers at her, if she began to walk away.

"In other words, most of the things on offer." Jara made a two-fingered salute Vida's way. "Respect. Don't donwplay it. It's a herculean job."

”Oh please…” It was Marze’s turn to roll her eyes. She did not take her leave yet, not before making herself a proper plate. “If I had meant to insult you, truly, I know better ways. Playtime is over.” She weighted her options as she spoke and quickly the plate she selected had been filled with enough food for the moment. The mention of the brig was almost funny. “I’ll be there eventually… but never for long. My job and all… doesn’t matter today though. I’ll find me some proper wine and maybe proper company.” Some girl pretty enough might make the rest of the party worth it. “Try to be less punchable, you might meet someone not as nice or controlled as me.” At that she laughed and started to walk away carrying her plate to the bar’s direction.

"Oh, well, thank you, dear. That's so kind of you." Vida pointed her cheeks up in a thin smile. "If you want to know what I made, it's that scampi there." Vida said, pointing to the scampi she did not make, and, in fact, had already eaten a whole plate of.

One Tavek tr’Lliehn, entering the buffet. There were certainly a lot of people here, he thought. He was less interested in the food and more interested in the vibes, so he decided to head over to where Wesley was, just to sort of take in what was going on. Tavek was a rare sight to see outside of Engineering these days- and honestly, a rare sight to see outside of his little hole in the repairs bay, but an engineer probably would’ve at least heard of him, if not seen him.

As Allan's hand closed on his, that green blush expanded quite a bit then. Did so as grey eyes continued to look into Allans. "Oh?" He managed softly then as his smile once again turned quite warm. "Thank you..." The Romulan added then before he warmly stated. "Been a long while since anyone's seen it." With that said he then softly added. "I'm not at all one to know what to say when, that is unless it's something to do with a Tactical matter and even then." A soft chuckle followed that. "..But, you're an amazing person, Allan." The Romulan stated softly to him. "You look good but... also just, no matter where you go you light up rooms and you're a damned fine officer too." As his jaw worked a bit and he discovered he was rather flustered and that words had dissolved into mush into his mind. "Elements, words are escaping me."

Well, since she'd arrived less than two hours ago and knew nothing about everyone, all Jara could do was take what was said at face value! For now. She smiled toothily at the Orion in response. "Oh, really! It's to die for. I think I will be eating much more of it. Do you think you could teach me how to make more of it?" She asked. If Vida had an escape plan, this was definitely the time to deploy it - or maybe she'd just let the embarrassment sink in. Who knows?

, Wesley quietly watched the situation unfold, and started to get the idea that these two weren't a gay couple already — but rather one being created. He lifted up a small spoonful of hasperat 'soup' to his mouth and quietly ate. It wasn't popcorn, but it was something. The ensign glanced to the arrival of Tavek near his side, quietly lifting his spoon with a small wave. He was silently saying 'hi' to the rumored engineer without disturbing the love festival happening in front of them. Or was it Allan just trying to see how green he could turn Vara'l? It was a cheesy novel playing out.

Allan had, unfortunately for Marze and Xal, really, drowned the world around him out at this point. He was in fact too distracted as Marze had thought, because Vara'l... was, well, thoroughly the subject of his attention at this point. He was now holding his hand, still looking into those grey eyes with his green that just about matched the man's face right now, and yet... he hadn't expected those words from the older man. The words that extended a bit farther past a basic compliment. There was a small moment of silence, as Allan tried to figure out his own words - it was clear that Vara'l had now managed to fluster him just a little too, but eventually some at least came to mind. "Thank you," he whispered, since they were so close right now, "but at this point, Vara'l, you should know I'm terribly bad with words, too. So usually, I just..." Don't use them, he meant, as he in fact didn't use any words to press his lips against the other man's. It was a brief thing, really, and he'd soon enough pulled back, bringing their hands down back to Vara'l's side as he did. "Usually do that."

While his ears had started to green earlier, just slightly as he was flustered a bit, Vara'l's ears proceeded to become quite clearly so as he watched them and listened. "I'd not agree, you convinced me to take another look at how I look at my-" Listened before he was then kissed, the kiss most certainly not resisted then as those storm grey eyes that sometimes looked much older than they should watched the other. Watched them as he was kissed, looked at them, mask dropped entirely as that ridged xB control slipped away. Not cause he was overwhelmed but because he happened to feel...well, safe enough to allow himself to be freely beheld in a way he usually declined to allow to be seen by anyone who wasn't his sons or Elohae his childhood friend. "Oh." Was what he managed then before he added. "Elements, I'm honoured every day to know you."

, Wesley glanced up at the ceiling to make sure no one taped mistletoe around the event. He quietly looked away after staring tooo long at his senior officers making out like no one else existed. He almost stared at Tavek but then looked off into the distance beside him, sometimes looking to see if Amber had spotted him after his earlier escape. Maybe not. Maybe it was safe to skedaddle to another area of the event — not the dance floor, he'd save that for next year when he could dance normally. Cue the awkward, but silent, sip of his soup that is too thick to sip like a drink.

Xal simply laughed, not finding it necessary to dignify any of Marze’s words with a real response. It wasn’t really worth his time - he’d extended an offer to her and she’d refused. The moment had passed and he knew he wasn’t everyone’s favorite candy. She’d have a better time finding something, or someone, else to taste, it was true. When she walked off, his gaze returned to Allan, who had apparently just planted a very sweet kiss on the very flushed man’s lips. He laughed again, not interrupting or averting his eyes, simply just watching the exchange with an amused curiosity. He was considering saying something to the older man, considering goading a deeper green into his cheeks, but waited first, just to see how the rest of the conversation would pan out. (edited)

Allan smiled up at Vara'l - a genuine, warm smile at that. "Likewise," he said, then let go of his arm, but kept holding his hand as the world came to focus back around him. Okay, so Marze was - oh, Marze was... somewhere else, now, Xal still here, Paco... and there was a Jem'Hadar chugging two hot chocolates(?) at once, and another person staring right in his direction, before they looked off and were also sipping a mug of something. And Amber, nearby, and... a brief thought crossed his mind if she'd seen what had just happened, but he decided to turn his attention to the person who'd been looking right at him. "Is that.. hot chocolate, or..?"

, Wesley was just about to sip at the soup that was finally reaching his lips, until Allan spoke towards him. He abandoned his quest. "Oh, it's just soup like the lieutenant commander had, except I gutted a hasperat and mixed it in." He used the spoon to take a small bite, hiding his mouth with his hand until he swallowed. "So, when's the weeedding~?" The ensign smiled like a dipshit. He knew that this event was going to be the only chance to make fun or humor with those who vastly outranked him.

It seems the Ginger from earlier may have lost, this was not profitable and Paco is sad. Welp, back to normal holiday eating content. Being an anthropologist, Paco was just happy to quietly be eating just and observe the conversations that were happening nearby as he slipped a coupl packs of dried mango snacks into the dessert table. The holidays were about being in the presence of those you love and hold dear to yourself. It was fun seeing the Christmas special of how green Allan can make the Vara'l blush, both of whom he knew from the scary Tal Shiar thing and the scary Borg Cube thing respectively. Paco would strike up a conversation with them, but awkward he decided to stand next to Wesley instead due since Paco felt awkward and offered him some dried mango slices. For a brief moment, Paco also glanced up for a moment to the ceiling before he spoke. "Merri Krimas. Mari Chrysler." time for social interactions...awful (edited)

Looking around Allan might have spotted Tarsek again, as the Vulcan seemed to approach the buffet table. It had been enough hours for him to feel hunger. As he passed them – and very much unaware of what was taking place – he did stop as to not be impolite with the group, noticing a vast number strangers and Vara’l, whom he had not talked to yet. “Good evening to all, live long and prosper. I had not seen you yet, Lt. Cdr tr’Hara…” He intended to finish his brief greeting and continue in the tables direction, however those short moments he had stopped and distracted himself were enough for him to not realize someone approached from behind.

Vanik, another honestly ridiculously tall Vulcan, had also approached the buffet table. He had been in a bit of a hurry, rather hungry after his shift and ready to fill his stomach to a reasonable extent. He had stayed mostly off to the side of the buffet, trying to get things he could reach more easily since there was a large crowd formed off to one side. But he needed that vegan dish that was in the middle, near the crowd. Which he did maneuver through to collect. And when he’d finally grabbed enough food and loaded up his plate, he began to walk away, though his foot caught on a beautiful Vulcan gown. And he tripped, right into the back of an even ridiculously taller Vulcan. His free hand shot up and grabbed the man’s robe reflexively, but his hand with his plate tipped forward and began to smush into him with all the food. He let out an uncharacteristic yelp, and anticipated winding up on the floor.

"Soup? In the mug?" Allan asked, less judgmental and more intrigued. "What kind of soup, though..? I was thinking getting some hot chocolate, but I wanna bring a good soup over to the Captain at some point.." he definitely wouldn't put hasperat in, though. Mephistopheles could not handle spice at all. The younger man made that latter comment, and he laughed. "Wh- no, no, I... no, sorry, it's... not like that, but... sorry, I don't think we've met...? I'm Allan." When he saw Tarsek come up to him, though, his smile faded just some, and he let go of Vara'l's hand, though he still stayed close to him as Tarsek greeted him. And then Vanik had fallen, and - "Shit, Vanik, you good..?"

Tarsek felt the heavy bunk of something, of someone, collide against him before he could even react to the pull on his gown. As his body went forward, he instinctively shifted his footing and pressed back, turning and realizing it was indeed a person. And the person was still falling. His own hand went to try and help the other, offering some counterbalance on his chest as he felt his vest be gripped. Well, Tarsek was strong enough to be able to avoid the unknown assailant’s hard fall on the ground, but that did not stop the plate from colliding with his own stomach. Ironic, really. That was the wrong side. With bits of the vegan plate then smeared all over his front he stared finally at the other. “Did you injure yourself?” (edited)

Vanik’s previously calm demeanor was gone, replaced by very wide blue eyes, pointed eyebrows high up on his forehead, and the barest tinge of dark green in his cheeks. He lost control of the plate, and it went clattering to the floor and that hand was now gripping Tarsek’s shirt too. He did in fact have two fistfuls of his second most senior officer’s robes, in public, in front of everyone at the buffet, including other senior staff. Had he walked into an impromptu staff meeting? He’d never been this surrounded by senior staff before. A number of other thoughts started to explode in his mind, but Allan’s familiar voice pulled him back. “I am… less acceptable than I was moments ago.” His eyes darted from Allan’s familiar face to the Commander’s. The commander who he was still clinging to, who also had a hand on his chest now, and he abruptly steadied straightened his back and fixed his footing and- “My sincerest apologies, commander.”

, Wesley was about to introduce himself when he heard the tussle behind him. He grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. The ensign could feel that embarrassed.. before the sight of the mango slices caught the edge of his vision. Wes looked up at Paco, smiling wide. "Ahh.. thanks. ¡Felices fiestas!" He gently took the offered mango slice. "Have you tried dried apricots? They're pretty good too." Wesley glanced every now and then between the happenings, beginning to side step to another side to continue talking to Paco without getting in anyone's way.

He took his hand off from the other’s chest. No need to counterbalance now that he… Vanik, Allan had called him, had regained his footing. “Your apology is accepted. Did you injury yourself?” The question, that had remained unanswered, was repeated. Tarsek’s face impassive and icy blue eyes analyzing the person in front of him.

“No sir,” Vanik replied, his voice very quiet. “I am unharmed, physically. I cannot say the same for you or your clothing, however.” And he actually made a very slight grimace, for about a second, until he forced his features back into a stoic impassivity. He was not fooling anyone. “Did I harm you?”

”You did not.” He looked down at himself with a raised eyebrow before echoing. “Though the same cannot be said for my clothing.” Tarsek was unaware this might not be the time to display one of his rare moments of ironic humor. Without a doubt he would, however, find about these mistakes later once he meditated on the events of the evening. And then, probably, it would be damage control time. For now, that was what he had to offer. Pure Vulcan social brilliancy.

The Company Christmas Party. For millennia, this annual social tradition that not only represents camaraderie among colleagues and celebrate past years triumps, but also a time when the most shenn of shennanigans occurs. Although its origins stem back to Earth in centuries past, this annual celebration has persisted and evolved up to the era of Starfleet. In this instance, buffet may be a place for eating food, but as seen from watching Vanik, there also still persist fun moments where people, to be blunt, ate shi- OH FUCK! CONVERSATION! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- "Ah... n-no problem. Maligayang Pasko!" Paco greeted with a nod and a soft smile as Wesley took a mango slice before he took a bite off his hasperat and glanced up again and back at him. "Uh...Yeah, dried apricot tastes nice. Been a while since I had it though," *The scientist answered. *"I'm Paco... why do you have hasperat in a mug?"

, Wesley grinned, before he also seemed to grow a little nervous at the question.. because he'd never answered Allan! He took a step back and motioned between the both of them to answer both their questions. "I'm Wesley, I was just assigned to engineering about a week ago. This is roasted tomato soup, but I gutted a hasperat because the spicy flavor matches well with the sweet notes of the tomato." "I figured since I like hasperat.. and I had a craving for soup.. they ought to taste real well together."

Seeing Vanik was (relatively) alright, he let him and the other Vulcan converse as he turned his attention back to Wesley. "Oh! Engineering, hey, awesome - uhm..." he searched his brain, he usually checked the newcomers on the roster once a week, so... "R... Rodrigo? Rodríguez?" He guessed. "Roasted tomato and hasperat- shit, that does sound good-" he looked at Paco then, and smiled, "you might like it if you added... hm, some mango wouldn't be bad."

Vara'l smiled warmly back at Allan as the other responded as they did. Did so before he turned to look at the ensign again then. "Oh hello again Ensign." He'd started before, at the comment his smile actually proceeded to grow a bit. "Hah hahhh." The Romulan responded then before he looked at his reflection in the glass and idly mumbled. "Hrm, broccoli, okay that makes sense now." With the arrival of another voice he recognised, Vara'l turned slightly and looked to Paco! "Jolan tru, merry Christmas!" Any further comment something snapped off before it was uttered as he heard Tarsek. Heard them and instinctively moved closer to an at attention stance and hopped he wasn't too flustered looking as he turned to look at them. "Jolan tru, Commander I-" Then the collision happened. "Ah." Was what he'd then managed before he'd moved back a bit and allowed the conversation that had followed to go ahead. When he glanced then and noted the others talking, Vara'l considered things for a moment and eyed a potential escape route. He happened to be torn, as he considered things between another mug of soup or something from the bar, admittedly..

Xal had waited long enough. His hand was still on Allan's shoulder, and he was still in the same spot oh so close to that handsome, blushing Romulan man. The handsome blushing Romulan man who looked liked he been thoroughly overwhelmed, and like he was planning a sneaky escape. Unfortunately for him, Xal hadn't averted his eyes and Vara'l would not be able to get away without one last interaction, at least. He fixed a coy smile on the man until his grey eyes met Xal's greens and then spoke. "So, Mister Lieutenant Commander tr'Hara, was it?"

Though he'd started to move for a way out of the room past where the soup in mugs happened to be, Vara'l happened to be just a bit too slow. Just slow enough that that escape attempt failed as grey eyes met greens and someone who reminded him of someone Elohae had described proceeded to speak to him. "That rather depends on who I'm talking too." He'd responded with a sliiight and very much awkward in his eyes, chuckle that he mentally kicked himself for. Why were there so many handsome people here, elements alive! "But yes, that'd be me, Lieutenant Commander Vara'l tr'Hara, though here I'm off duty so it's just Vara'l."

, He nodded towards Allen. "Yes, Rodríguez. I wouldn't have fussed though if you guessed Rodrigo, it's a common enough name too, like Ramirez." There are a lot of surnames that end in -ez. "I haven't met everyone yet. I only know the names of some of my superior officers but I haven't been able to put faces behind most of them yet. I plan to take another look at more of the files after tonight."

"Well, you've got a face behind mine now, then," he said with a smile to Wesley, he'd already said his name was Allan after all. "It's nice to meet ya! Meeting people is... honestly, one of my favorite parts of the job. If you need any help with anything, I got you, yeah?"

“Well, since you’re off duty, just Vara’l,” and Xal took his hand off Allan’s shoulder now and brought it back up to Vara’ls tie, which he straightened just a bit. “and since this is, a ball, how would you like to get away from the buffet with me and go for a dance? I’ll even let you hold my hand, if it’ll keep you blushing like that.” His face was a beautiful picture of a smug smirk. “And you can call me Xal.” (edited)

“That is.. good, Commander. Th-That I did not harm you, I mean.” He stammered. And then he awkwardly picked up the dish off the floor and held it gingerly with one hand. “May I retrieve you a towel or some napkins? Would that be beneficial?” His eyes were still a bit wide as he looked up at Tarsek.

”The vest can be easily clean later. I would appreciate some napkins. There are some on the tables.” To his luck, if he believed in the concept, most of the damage was concentrated on the vest itself, his robes practically untainted. And that was why he started to strip from the piece of clothing, releasing the belt and then taking the vest off. Underneath it, the robe shone blue with gold accents.

"Sounds agreeable." That blush returned with a vengeance when Xal approached like that. Did so as they straightened his tie as they did and he watched them, initially curious about what his intentions initially were. That was until the other asked about a dance. Grey eyes watched the man for a moment before he smiled once more and nodded a bit. "I like the sound of a dance." He started then as he continued to blush somewhat. "Xal." Nodded then in the direction of the ballroom. "Shall we walk and talk?" He asked then before he added. "I believe you met a friend of mine, Elohae."

Reply to: @Ens. Jara'kani | ENG (@Sam) *Well, since she'd arrived less than two hours ago and knew nothing about everyone, all Jara could do was take what was said at ...

Vida kept the same half lidded smiling expression. She set an egg roll or two on her plate. "In due time." She quickly brushed aside some macaroni she'd made that had still gone untouched. "So, if I'm the cook, then what are you, dear?" She held out the palm of a gloved hand, beckoning Jara to provide more details to divert the subject.

"Me? I fix things. Things that do things without anyone telling them to." Jara replied with a grin. People didn't want titles and corporate responsibilities at parties like this. They wanted summaries, quick and dirty explanations that didn't remind them of their jobs. That much she'd learned over her time at Starfleet Academy. "My last project was a mental health bot I built with a friend. It's in a display case somewhere on campus now, probably." She added. "No idea if they'll ever take it out. Maybe never. Who knows."

Xal's eyes flitted from Vara'l's, to his lips, and back up again. He finished straightening Vara'l's tie, but did not let go of it until after a very long pause. And when he let go, he held out an arm for Vara'l to take. "I thought you might." He smiled, that smug smirk still on his lips, and nodded at that final comment. "Oh, you know Elohae? He's such a charming man. Perhaps we can all get together sometime, but only after tonight... I'd like to learn a bit more about you first." And, if Vara'l took Xal's arm in his, he would begin to guide him toward the #dance-floor.

, "Thank you, I promise not to cause as much trouble as I did on ESD." The ensign smirked and did not elaborate further on that. That was lore for another day. "I am confused on one thing, I'm trying to find who I talk to about living arrangements. I was supposed to get a roommate, but I have yet to see someone occupying the other half." His head turned just a bit to watch Xal steal Allan's work-and-probably-life husband. It was something that Wesley did not expect. "Though if you're looking for a good soup.. broccoli cheddar and a chunk french baguette is always a good choice.. always tastes pretty good. One of the best ways to eat it is you slice the bread into smaller chunks, you can basically use the bread as a spoon and just get a nice big amount of soup and just shovel it in."

"Understood, Commander." And if it was still Starfleet custom to salute to your superior officers, Vanik would have done it before he turned on his heel to retrieve some napkins. Which he found quickly, and brought back. He had to stifle the urge to wipe Tarsek off himself, as that was very inappropriate and far too informal. Both for a ball and for interacting with your superior officer. Who was very calm. Vanik blinked and handed him the napkins and made a very slight bow. "My sincerest apologies again, Commander. I hope I have not ruined your time this evening. I.. must excuse myself, now." And he left it there, not wanting to make up an actual lie to get him out of the conversation, and simply walked away with very big strides.

"Well, isn't that interesting, now?" Vida remarked. "What academy did you go to? We could have shared a class." Vida leaned over, perching her chin atop the back of her wrists with a raised brow. She took a bite of the egg roll she'd selected.

Allan smiled as he watched Xal take Vara'l to dance, and then his eyes glanced over at Tarsek - was the XO fucking stripping?! Okay, whatever, he was looking Away From That. He looked back at Wesley, who he was having an actually fine and normal introduction to. Excellent. "On ESD? Oh, please, if - if you don't cause as much trouble as I did to get here, you'll be okay." He laughed, some, though he wasn't sure whether Wesley would remember his name or not from Academy classes. It didn't quite matter, it was the thought that counted. "Brocolli cheddar and baguette is divine, thank you. I've got a friend over in OPS, Renakir - the man loves a good French baguette. Speaking of soups and shit, though, someone was like, actually drinking two hot chocolates at once, I've gotta..." Talk to them, he meant, as he looked around for her and - finally, he did see her, next to another person, but felt it wouldn't hurt to move a little closer to them and ask, "So, is the - is the hot chocolate really good, or something..?"

"Earth. I don't think we shared a class, I'd remember someone with your looks." Jara replied with a half smile. No, really. If there'd been anyone remotely close to Vida sitting in her classes, she'd have noticed. People with skin that color who look like they belong on a catwalk at a fashion show tend to stand out, to her at least. Then she turned to the redhead human who she was almost sure she'd seen kissing that Vulcanoid over in the corner (since there are about a billion different Vulcanoids out there or something, it's probably better she not assume) out of the corner of her eye. "It is good, yes. Better with marshmallows." She said, holding up her remaining glass of frothy brown liquid with the remnants of toasted marshmallow floating on top. "Don't tell me you don't have your own strange habits when it comes to food."

"Oh, a newcomer." Vida said, lifting her nose a bit by the greeting of Allan. "You know this gentleman?" She asked Jara.

, Wesley looked down at the remainder of his soup as Allan spoke to another about the hot coco. He was.. happy to be here, and a little regretful that he didn't come at the start of the event — it was something that he couldn't change now, but rather remember the next time there was an event. For now though, he turned his gaze towards the dance floor. His green eyes watched each pair intently, but he focused on their feet. Wesley was focusing on footwork, the count. The tip of his dress shoe gently tapped against the ground in a steady, metronome. Most of the dances seemed professional, calm — sometimes he saw no passion between the dancers. It was the platonic way to dance. Wesley saw dances that comprised of the rise and fall, gliding steps, and close holds. Most didn't move much, just stayed within a few feet of where they started — made sense, no one wants to galavant into another dancing couple. (edited)

"Verrry much agree on the marshmallows," Allan grinned, looking at the glass as she held it up. "I'll probably have to get some. Might flip a coin to see if I had some cheese to it or not, but..." he shrugged, then smiled at Vida when she also noticed him. "My name's Allan. Allen," he added, though audibly, the names did not sound very different when he said them, and more like he was repeating them if someone wasn't familiar with his name.

"Oh. Vida, Vida." She replied in suit, holding out her hand in a dainty manner for him to take in friendly acknowledgement.

"Your name is... the same word, repeated twice." Jara seemed stunned as she drank from the last of her hot chocolate. "Let me guess. A different spelling for each of them. Maybe an extra dot or line somewhere in the middle." God, humans. Was this pretty boy human? Honestly, at this point she'd given up trying to suss out who was human, who was alien and who was just human with eccentric fashion tastes till they told her. Jesus. And she hadn't even addressed the horror that was hot chocolate with marshmallows and cheese yet. God. (edited)

Allan looked at her hand for a second, as if he was confused, before he in fact took it briefly to shake. "Vida, nice to meet you, and - yeah, it's... A-L-L-A-N the first time, and then instead of a second A, it's an E in the last name. Kinda silly, I guess, but.." he shrugged. It sure stuck in the names of newscasters in 2404, that was for sure.

"Mh. Mhm." Vida nodded. She slowly slipped her hand back and resumed her eating. She felt she got the gist. Whether or not it made sense to her was another thing. Back to striking up a conversation. "What's a strapping lad like yourself doing standing around by yourself. Unless you were about to..." She gave an exaggerated look between Jara and Allan. "Oh, I apologize if I'm interrupting anything." Vida took one step back, hands clasped behind her back. (edited)

"No, no, nothing like that. I was just listening to this 'strapping young lad' explain the intricacies of his name." Jara added. Seriously, how weird did his parents need to be to name him something like... that? Not that she was complaining one bit - it was still better than a jumble of letters and numbers which she'd been given.

"Hm? Oh, no, I don't think I've stood around by myself the entire night, I... love surrounding myself with people, honestly." That much was very true, and could be confirmed by... well, anyone who'd seen him around tonight. The only times he'd been alone had been en route to someone else. "What, do you have any ... intricacies to your name I should know about? I don't think I got your name, actually."

"Jara'kani. Or Jara. Whichever you prefer." Jara flashed a toothy smile. "It's... well, let's just say it's borrowed." From the culture that accepted her and held her hand from the moment she left Naix's lab to the moment she departed on that freighter bound for Earth, with her own flair. She was proud of it. Really, she was. "So tell me about yourself. Since we will be seeing each other more often after tonight." She added.

"What do you prefer?" Allan smiled back at her, he was always a guy who would defer to calling someone whatever they wanted to be called. He was a bit surprised by her assumption that they'd be seeing eachother more often, but he supposed the statistics were probably in favor of that. "Well, I'm.. an engineer, first off, I've been here forrrr... almost 4 years, come this next May, shit... what about you?"

After making idle small talk with a few of his fellow staff, some engineers, and an ensign who seemed to have been misled into thinking this whole ball was somehow work-related, he had retreated for a while to recharge his social battery and now reappeared at the buffet, hoping to finger some foods or whatever. Spotting Allan and those he was with, he approached: "Havin' fun?"

It was almost immediate, the way Allan's arm found its place around the shorter man when he approached. "Yeah, actually - was just about to bring you some soup, some options, actually, ah - Wesley here," he gestured to wherever the ensign was, "gave some good ideas. One of them involves hasperat, though, sooo.. that one might be a bit much, but would you want to at least try it..?"

, Wesley was still deconstructing the entirity of the ballroom dances he was seeing, stuck deep in the rabbit hole of thoughts until he heard his name roll off the lieutenant's tongue. He looked over and gently waved using his spoon, before noticing tHE fUcKiNg cApTaIn had now spawned into existence. Oh SHIT. It was one thing to tease his senior officer but he probably couldn't tease the captain and get away with it!

He picked up a spoon and waved to Wesley with it, as though that was a necessary part of the greeting. "Sure, but let's save that for last in case I get the curse." That meant either spicy food hiccups that would prevent him from eating anything else, or just in general being put off from eating because he'd experiences too strong a taste and his sensory issues and delicate gut microbiome decided all food was now poisonous.

"Mm, alright, well - first recommendation was some brocolli and cheddar soup, with a nice baguette to dip in it - isn't that right, Wesley?" He grinned, clearly seeing the younger man's expression but grabbing a bowl with his free hand to put the soup in if Mephistopheles said he'd like it either way.

"Sounds good to me," he said, taking the bowl (unless Allan insisted on pouring the soup for him) and glancing at Wesley again. He felt as though there was some story here he was missing - people were always getting up to things with baguettes.

, The ensign grinned wide at how things were going, but he felt a nagging inside him that needed to be taken care of. "I'll let you enjoy your soup, I think I'm going to go snag a hot chocolate before they wrap up in a few hours. If I'm not back, then Merry Christmas." *And he promptly dipped his head and started backpedaling.

Tickled by the interaction going on in front of her, Jara retreats to the buffet table to fill her plate with food one last time.

"You should try some cheese in it," Allan half-joked to Wesley when he mentioned having hot chocolate. It was a Colombian thing, but a damn good thing, in his opinion. He did not insist on pouring Mo the soup, but primarily because while he could pour it with one hand by setting the bowl down on the table, it was easier to let Mo do it. He did, however, take that opportunity to get the baguette. "I haven't tried it yet, but the combination sounds good enough. I'm sure Rennie'd like it, too." He was half-surprised that even saying the word baguette hadn't summoned the guy yet.

"Yeah, I'm sure baguette boy would love it." He sipped the soup straight from the bowl. Delicious! Soup with soul. He broke off a bit of baguette and dipped it into the soup, crunching away. "Did you harass people with your cheesy hot chocolate, then?" He said that as though he hadn't tried it and enjoyed it himself.

"Whaaat? No, I like... just mentioned it." He smiled, then stole just a little piece of the baguette to dip in the soup also. "It's surprisingly good, okay? Even with marshmallows, too."

"Don't disagree. I don't know if 'guy with weird eating habits' is the best person to back up your claim, though." He wondered briefly if they had that hazelnut hot chocolate he really liked, but he didn't want to fill up on too many hot liquids before he'd had his soup. "Talked to anyone interesting today?" He secretly hoped to be introduced to more people, because socialising when you were the captain could be a bit awkward without someone to break the ice and assure people that whatever party activities they got up to would not be part of their end of year performance review.

Allan laughed, then nodded as he ate his stolen baguette piece before he spoke. "Mhmm. Plenty. I mean - you know, this starbase is literally just... it's got tons of interesting people. Super to talk to someone who isn't interesting, actually," he shrugged, "and a bit more than talk, occasionally." Which he had done, just a few minutes ago. "There was someone I talked to, though - Jilla, I believe? Who said she ran a casino..." (edited)

"A casino? I'm intrigued... Ain't been in one of those since before I was in the Fleet." Or in the Federation at all; they weren't exactly popular in a cashless society. The closest thing there was to casinos were retro-style arcade experiences that gave you little tokens, of which he had many holosims.

As if summoned by the use of her name, Jilla shuffled by and left a business card on the buffet table in front of them. Again, rudely intruding on conversations is bad marketing!