Star Trek: Starbase 777 - volleyball-court

The sound of bass-boosted music came from the direction of the campfire that wasn't too far away. The volleyball court was set up and ready to go with boundaries drawn out in the sand and poles holding up a net. An Aquan vendor stood nearby to hand out water bottles and towels, and there was an Aurelian dressed in a referee outfit ready to observe and even get a birds-eye view of the competition should people decide to get real sporty with it.

Holding a can of soda and digging out a hair tie from one of his many shorts pockets, Edgar tied up his hair with his free hand before stepping onto the sandy court, making sure to keep moving and to keep his blood pumping. He really had missed this, the beach, and the sports that came with it, but also had a newfound glimmer of excitement at the prospect of teaching Vida how to play. She never struck him as a sports person, so this could be something they had in common.

“Heck yeah! Volleyball! Love this game!” Klaa shouted as she came up to the court. She cracked her neck and began stretching. ‘It was game time.’

Eiheu noticed the volleyball court from a distance away, and walked over to take a closer look. She didn't recognise the setup, but she hoped that the few other people who were there could give her a few pointers. "What's going on here? Is this a game? How do we play?" She asked.

He looked up at the two who joined, shooting them both smiles. “We’re gonna do volleyball!” He explained, “Basically, you gotta hit the ball with your hands over the net, and make the other team miss it so it hits the ground.”

Vida wandered about before spotting Ed by a big net. This must be the ball game she heard about. She called out to him. "Yo, Eddie!" She jogged up to greet him with an arm on the shoulder. "Ready to hear all about this Earth game!"

“Oh, hey! You made it!” He cheered, elbowing her with a chuckle, “Good timing, too, with you we’ve got an even amount of people.” He moved to grab the ball, giving it a preemptive toss up in the air before catching it as he walked. “I was just explaining, actually. The whole point of the game is to get it to hit the ground on the other team’s side— that’s how you score— and you just gotta volley it with your hands when you hit it. There’s more to it, but that’s… mostly the basics, I think.” He fidgeted with the ball as he talked, spinning and tossing it in his grasp.

“Since we have two newbs I’ll take wetsuits over there and you can have blue earth,” Klaa announced to Edgar. Grabbing Eiheu forcefully by the arm and dragged her to one side of the the court and began showing her the basics.

Vida squinted at Eiheu, who was also on the court. "Oh! You're here." She leaned over to Ed, whispering, "That's that stuck up girl who's always acting like she's better than me. Do you know her name? Also the hell is she wearing?"

“Ohh… yeah, you’re better off on my team, then.” He grimaced, stepping back, nodding along, “I don’t know her name. But you can kick her ass in volleyball, which is something.”

"Sweet." She whispered. She looked at him, only now noticing his ponytail. "Oh, I like your hair, it's so cute."

“Thanks! It keeps it out of the way.” He chuckled, his hand moving to brush a few strands out of his face, “I like yours, too. It’s really pretty when it’s short. And long, too, but— you know what I mean.” (edited)

“Are you guys done flirting?” Klaa rolled her eyes.

“Yep!” Ed turned away before he turned a bright red at being called out, “All good here. You both ready?”

Fortunately for Vida, Eiheu didn't notice her arrival at all; she was too busy staring at the volleyball setup, and pre-emptively attempting to devise a perfect strategy for a game that she couldn't even play yet. Eiheu then allowed herself to get dragged away by Klaa, and paid very close attention to her as she showed her how to play. "Oh okay, I think I get it now!" Eiheu smiled. "Can I be on your team? You seem like you know what you're doing!" (edited)

“I used to play all the time back at the academy! By the way, the names Klaa. I didn’t catch yours.” She gave her signature grin. “You ready?” She asked her new student.

Vida turned to Ed, leaning forward. "Alright, so just uh, hit over the net, right? Shouldn't be too hard."

“Pretty much. Don’t let it touch the ground, try to pass to me as well, and yeah.” He nodded, before moving to hold his hands at his sides, and shooting her a wide grin, “And have some fun with it, it’s just beach volleyball.”

1

"Huh? My name...?" Eiheu hesitated, as she realised that she didn't even introduce herself to her new teammate. "My name is... Motherfucker-!" Eiheu was just about to say her name, until out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a very recognisable blue somebody who had joined the game, and reacted accordingly. "What the hell is she doing here?! Oh I am going to kick her ass! Do you have any idea how dishonourable she is-?!" Unfortunately, Eiheu was so distracted by her own rage at Vida's presence, that she forgot to clarify to Klaa that "motherfucker" was not, in fact, her name.

3

“Um… that’s an interesting name. Also, who?” Klaa was taken aback by ‘Motherfuckers’ reaction.

Eiheu leaned in towards Klaa as she began to share, in a whispered tone, exactly what she believed about Vida. "You see her over there...? That blue Orion-? Yeah, she is literally the worst person on this whole entire station-! The moment I got here, she immediately insulted me, and I got in trouble for it! That's why I must kick her ass! And you should kick her ass too-! Uh, preemptively!"

“Well I don’t have any personal beef with her but don’t worry, I always play to win. Klingon’s honor.” She replied. She made sure to stay out of others fights. To intervene would be disrespectful but all competitions should be played to one’s fullest ability.

That reasoning was good enough for Eiheu. She smiled in agreement, then turned towards the opposing team again. "Are you ready to play? I mean, are you ready to lose?" She grinned evilly.

“Oh, you’re going DOWN!!” Ed pumped his fists, eyes lighting up with a competitive spirit, “Both of you!”

"You're on!" Vida hollered, arms clenched. "I'm ready!"

"Hold on, wait-!" Eiheu suddenly ran around the volleyball net and approached Edgar, who, to her recollection, was the last to be in possession of the ball. "The best team usually goes first, right? That would be my team, of course, so hand over the ball!" She said, with a cheery tone. (edited)

Klaa laughed heartily. “Whoa there! Don’t get ahead of yourself. One’s skills will determine who the best will be. We haven’t even seen what they have to offer. A true warrior never judges their opponents before the battle has even started.” She scolded MF. “Eddie what here first so he can choose who goes first. The winner of this round goes first next.” Her teammate was full of energy, now to channel that into the game.

“We’ll give you this one, as a head start.” He nodded, “And… again, beach game, so let’s not kill each other. Light maiming at the maximum.”

Eiheu looked visibly disappointed when Edgar told her no killing. Figuring that she probably couldn't negotiate with him on this matter, Eiheu took the ball and ran back to Klaa, giving her the ball like a good teammate.

She nodded at MF and took the ball. “Let’s get this party started!” She shouted, serving the ball with a loud smack.

Vida kept her eyes on Klaa and as she served, Vida shot forward, lunging with a fist outstretched. "I got it!" She hollered as she punted it straight up in the air, over her and Ed's side, giving their team a chance to hit it over the net. Her hand was immediately struck with a searing pain. She clutched her hand, hissing with the ache throughout her joints. Shouldn't hit the ball with your fingers, folks.

“Oof, you okay?” Ed grimaced, hopping forwards to take a glance at her wrist, “Take a second if you need… and make sure to use your arms for this.”

Eiheu kept her eyes on the ball, and when it came within range, she headbutted it and launched it up in the air again. She then looked at Vida as she noticed that she was in pain, and grimaced slightly in commiseration... But it was not like she cared or anything, certainly not... Probably...

“Whoop—“ Ed’s eyes darted back to the ball, rushing to jump up to volley it back, hitting it over the net but not much else in a somewhat unspectacular play. “If you need a sec, I can take over.” He told Vida, “Or we can pause. Up to you.” (edited)

"Nah, I got it!" She hollered, returning to position next to Edgar, though she still gripped her knuckles.

Eiheu quickly ran over and hit the ball back to the other side again. Unfortunately, she was so busy concentrating on the ball that she stopped concentrating on her own balance, and once she hit the ball over, she immediately tripped over herself and fell over, face-first into the sand.

Vida cackled at the sight of the Romulan in the awkward suit flopping over. Serves her right! Oh shit, right, the game. Vida whipped her head up just as the ball was coming down. She whacked at it with both hands, sending it back and over the net.

"Hey-! What are you laughing at-?!" Eiheu suddenly shouted at Vida, while desperately attempting to brush all the sand out of her face. "If you laugh at me, you'll be next!"

“You newbs good?” Klaa asked, jumping over MF to get to the incoming ball. Bumping it over the net.

"Yeah!" Eiheu stood up quickly, and pretended as though she never even fell in the first place. "Hey, I have an idea!" She approached Klaa quickly, whispering to her once again. "If the goal of the game is to make the other team miss the ball, what if I sneak over to the other side of the net and apprehend the other team so they won't be able to catch the ball? It's a good technique, right?"

“What?! No! That’s against the rules! Remember? Not to mention extremely dishonorable!” Klaa was aghast at the mention of cheating. “I’m not sure how you Romulans do things but a true Klingon always respects the rule of all forms of competition.” She huffed. Now completely distracted.

"Wait, hold on-! Hear me out, though-!" Eiheu interjected. "Of course I respect the rules of competition, I would never do anything as dishonourable as cheating!" She said quickly. As someone who was raised on Qo'noS, honour was important to her to. However, she had an... Interesting interpretation of what honour was, at times. "But consider this; everybody has to agree to the rules before they come into effect, right? For example, the biggest rule is that the teams score when their opponents miss the ball! But that's only a rule because both us and the enemy team all collectively agreed to it! But we haven't all collectively agreed that apprehending the enemy team is against the rules. Therefore, it's not against the rules! See?" Eiheu smiled triumphantly.

“baQa'” Klaa said under her breath, palming her face. “What part of ‘stay on your side of the court’ did you not understand. I get that you’re new to this game but there are pre-established rules already. We all agree on them when we started. So unless a change was vocalizing before then we stick to the basics.” She tried her best to be patient but this MF was really trying her. “Just… let’s just play and I will let you know if you forget anything.” Klaa was completely unaware of MF’s background. Klaa would lose her mind if she found out that such nonsense came from a warrior of Qo’noS.

“Hoookay. Okay. Listen to Klaa.” Ed added, trying to stop laughter from bubbling up in his throat at the utter disarray, “Vida, let’s switch sides, I can take the right, so you two can duke out whatever you have going on.”

"Thanks!" She whispered to Ed as she moved to the left, shaking her hands.

Klaa’s eyes met Edgar’s and gave him a shrug. “Alright, let’s just count that as a warm up.” She said picking up the abandoned ball. “A recap of the rule for the newbies. The goal of the game is to keep the ball from hitting the ground on your ‘designated’ side of the court. If the ball lands outside the court, it’s out of bounds. No touching the ball more than one in a row, no catching and now throwing. And most importantly Players can't interfere with opponents' movements.” Klaa loudly repeated the rule so both sides could hear. “Everyone on the same page now?” She asked. If MF wanted to fight her on this she would strangle her.

"I got it!" Vida called. "I'm sure Wetsuit knows what she's doing, too, right?" She prodded at the other side.

"Okay okay, I got it!" Eiheu agreed, although somewhat reluctantly. "I'll stick to the rules..." She said, even though she soooooo badly wanted to cheat. No matter. If she can't apprehend her opponents, then she'd just have to find another way... "Wait, I got it!" Eiheu quickly ran over to Klaa again. "What if we find a phaser, and just shoot our enemies? On the stun setting, of course! That way, they'll be so stunned that they'll miss the ball! And it's not cheating because we are not interfering with them, the phaser is!"

3

“Fuck’s sakes, no phasers, please!” Edgar snickered, “Can we just continue?”

"Alright fine, no phasers..." Eiheu walked over and picked up the ball, intending to start the game again, until... "Wait! What about disruptor pistols? Can we use those?"

Klaa’s rage was about to boil over. “Dor-sho-gha! What the hell is wrong with you!” Klaa growled, resisting the urge to reach up and strangle (this) MF.

"What? I'm just trying to figure out how to win! Playing games is all about winning, right?" Eiheu answered lightheartedly. Even though she saw that Klaa was probably getting ready to kick her ass, Eiheu didn't see Klaa as any kind of threat at all, since Klaa was significantly shorter that Eiheu was.

“You-! I… AGGRG!!” she stuttered trying to not scream. “Are you looking for a fight?! This is F-ing Volleyball! Not a battle! Do you have brain damage or something!!” Her fists balled up tight ready to throw a gut punch.

"What do you mean it's not a battle? Of course it's a battle! Everything's a battle, just with different rules sometimes! And even then, rules are made to be broken, right?" Eiheu replied, while still not taking Klaa as seriously as she probably should be.

“ITS JUST A GAME!! You qoH! Where did you get this nonsense from!” Klaa was starting to feel pity for MF. Even a Klingon knew how to relax and engage in ‘friendly’ (non-deadly) competition.

"What?! It's not nonsense-!" Eiheu attempted to defend herself. "... And if you must know, I actually got it from Qo'noS!"

Klaa paused. Did she say Qo’noS? That can’t be right. “And from who on Qo’noS might I ask?” How dare this MF accuse her home world of spewing such garbage.

Eiheu paused for a second. There were so many people around Eiheu as she grew up on Qo'noS, how could she attribute her mindset to one particular person? "... Like... Everyone...? I guess...? Everyone there who I know, at least... Which is a lot of people-!"

Vida raised her eyebrows. She leaned over to whisper in Ed's ear, "Real nutcase, right? This is DEFINITELY going in my gossip book."

Rage had now been replaced by confusion. Subterfuge was seen as dishonorable by most on her home planet now of days. Sure not everyone abides by the same code. But this? “Where? Where are this people you speak of?” Her voice lower with an eire calmness.

"Well... Uh..." Eiheu wanted to answer, but once again, given that there were very many people that they were talking about, she couldn't give a definite answer. She'd have to narrow them down. "Well, I guess the most recent person would be my previous senior officer, the one who served under the KDF. I learnt a lot from her, actually!"

“Be nice.” He huffed, elbowing her playfully, although he seemed just as surprised as she did, “And you have a gossip book…?”

“The KDF!! Seriously!? You?! Who was your Supervisor?! Who is this Coward you speak of!?” Klaa spat.

"Hey-! She's not a coward-!" Eiheu was quick to defend her previous officer. "Besides, you probably wouldn't know her anyway-! I mean... Actually, you might know her... She's pretty well known, at least in diplomacy circles..."

The huge Klingon approached soon recognizing Edgar among the players. There was that ensign too, from one of her away missions. The other two, an Orion and a Romulan, she did not know. Weirdly enough, they didn’t seem to be having much fun, in fact it almost seemed like the ensign was about to jump on the Romulan girl. “Heeeey!” She approached with her arms crossed. “What happened? Someone threw a ball at someone’s face or somethin’? And before I forget, hey Ed.” She made a small addendum for the engineer.

"Oh hey look wow it's a new player-!" Eiheu quickly turned to Marze, hoping to distract Klaa and change the subject. "You! You're coming on our team!" Judging that Marze would be an excellent addition to her team, given how tall she was, Eiheu grabbed Marze by the arm and attempted to drag her over to her side.

As expected, the woman did not budge as the stranger caught her arm. “Hey! What the fuck are you on about?” She used that same arm to push Eiheu back, not enough to get her prone on the ground but enough strength to be taken as a warning. “No uneven teams! What is even going on here?!” She looked at the others expecting someone to provide explanations.

Eiheu suddenly stumbled back as Marze pushed her away, and for a second, it seemed as though she was going to fall over despite Marze's restraint... But luckily, Eiheu found her footing at the last second."But how can we not have uneven teams-? There's only..." Eiheu took a few seconds to count how many people were playing, including Marze now. "There's only five of us-! And we can't chop you in half, so we have no choice but to be uneven!"

"Hey!" She hollered at Eiheu. "What's holding you up so much? Just serve the ball!"

“I’m… gonna get a drink or something, anyway.” Ed exhaled through his teeth, “Marze, you can go ahead and jump in if you’d like, this is less casual than I expected.”

"Well... guess that makes me part of the other team. Hey yo Orion girl!" She called Vida. "Are you okay with switching partners? And I still don't know what is going on..." The now very confused woman approached the net waiting for Vida's answer before crossing to her side.

Vida looked around dumbfounded. "Wh- Aww... Where ya going?" She looked disappointedly after Ed. "Bye, Ed. Talk to you soon." She sighed, turning to Marze. "I guess... as long as I'm not forced to work with that Romulan in the wetsuit. Let's get 'em!"

“Find me at the bar when you’re done!” He called from behind him, booking it out of there and away from the beef that he knew he would get dragged into.

“Come on!” she wined. “You scared Eddie away.” She blamed MF. “You know what? I think your just to afraid of not being good enough. So, are you just going to be a weakling who cheats and blames others for your inability or are you got to play fairly and show me your real skills?” She asked mockingly. Throwing the ball hard at MF. “Go on, show me what you’ve got Motherfucker!”

"What-? Hey, that's not true-!" Eiheu's face suddenly blushed green with embarassment. .Once Klaa threw the ball at her, Eiheu caught the ball and hugged it, as if trying to comfort herself after Klaa's sudden, and frighteningly accurate, psychoanalysis. "Whatever, fine-! I'll just play-! I'll be really good anyway without cheating, you'll see-!" Eiheu then jumped up and served the ball over the net, aiming it somewhere in between Marze and Vida.

The ball was served just as Marze had gotten to the other side. “THE FU-“ She had not been expecting the game to re-start, usually there was a time for the teams to organize and to the players to place themselves. But, well, from what she had observed the other team seemed to be having a small problem with following the sports rules. She was quick enough to intercept thanks to her experience with sports, though it was not a perfect save. The ball was raised and she fell on her side on the soft sand. “GET IT BLUEY!”

“Sorry about her!” She shouted at Marze. Bumping the ball back over the net. “MF is new to this.”

"Ack-!" Vida rushed to Marze's side as she fell, panicked. She was distracted as the game started and behind as Marze bounced back the serve. She stumbled forward just before the net and jumped into the air, swatting the ball forward, in an attempt to send it downward.

"I might be new but I still kick ass!!" Eiheu shouted as she jumped up to hit the ball. Her aim was a little off though, and instead of hitting her hand, the ball hit her face instead, causing Eiheu to hit the ground ass-first. Luckily, the ball still managed to go over the net... Just about...

She was quick to get back on her feet, but not quick enough to counter the ball coming over again. It was a weak throw, or rather head-but, but Marze failed to correctly raise it and the trajectory ended up taking it out of the court. Point to the other two. “Alright, this one was yours.” She counted it while jogging after the ball. Once it was back in her hands, she addressed her teammate. “Yo, bluey, nice one. Pity it was blocked. What’s your name by the way?”

Vida crossed her arms, sneering in irritation at the Romulan across from her. She stepped back as they lost the point. She turned to Marze when she addressed her. "Oh, thank you, dear," Vida said. She ignored her anger at the name 'bluey'. "Vida. I'm the crew chef."

”Marze. I’m with security.” The Klingon pointed at her on chest before offering the ball. “Wanna serve?”

Vida grinned. She could vibe with this Marze lady. She picked up the ball, recalling the instructions Ed gave her. With a breath, she tossed it in the air, managing to lob it right over Klaa.

Klaa watched as the ball flew over her head. She hoped MF would be able to get to it without eating sand this time. “Get it Motherfucker!” She shouted.

"I got it, I got it-!" Eiheu attempted to scramble up and run for the ball again. As she stood up though, she managed to step on her own hair, which was inconveniently long and not suitable for sporting activities anyway, and fell right back down again like a sack of idiotic Romulan potatoes. The ball flew right past her and landed squarely in the middle of the court, landing the other team a point.

Vida couldn't help but let out a cackle, seeing the flailing Romulan on the ground. She leaned forward, hands on her knees, watching her. "Everything okay, wetsuit?" She teased.

"I'm fine, shut up-!" Eiheu yelled back as she gathered up all her hair and stood up again, bejng careful to not step on her own hair this time. "I did that on purpose-! It was... A calculated decision-! Yeah! I felt so sorry for you that I decided to miss the ball on purpose!"

”HA! That’s how its done! Let’s go!” Already forgetting the tense vibes she had first witnessed, Marze could feel excitement build up. This is why she liked sports, one could only have so much fun by themselves at the gym. This, this was much more interesting and victories were best when shared among allies! Eiheu’s comment didn’t even register as she positioned herself for the new set.

“It was a good attempt. The more you play the better your skills will get.” Klaa tried encouraging MF as she sent the ball back over the net. MF was quite the curiosity. She would have to remember to look into her history later. Luckily with a name like hers it should be easy to find. “There is no shame in failure, only in giving up.” She added.

"I got this one!" Vida called out. She ran forward to double-fist lob the ball back over the net, but she hit it backwards, sending it flying overhead. "Oh, shoot! Marze, get it!"

”AH SHIT!” Marze threw herself as fast as she could, however the balls trajectory was too wide for her to manage a hit. It went flying past their side court of the court. Another point to the other team. “Shit, I’m sorry bluey, should have been ready for that.” Mental note: more volleyball practices in the future. It had been a while since she had had the opportunity to play. Marze went to recover the ball again and easily passed it to the other side with a light touch. “You’ guys turn to serve!”

Eiheu smiled at Klaa and nodded, seemingly showing gratitude that Klaa decided to encourage her rather than dunk on her, especially because dunking on her would have been the easiest choice, given how fantastically bad her failure was. Eiheu caught the ball without any problems, then jumped up and served the ball forcefully, sending it flying up into the air at a considerable height. Eiheu aimed the ball more towards Vida than Marze, since she had already mentally calculated that Marze was much better at volleyball than Vida was, therefore aiming the ball away from Marze was an optimal technique.

Vida crouched, prepared for the ball. Odd that the Romulan girl aimed at her instead of off to the side. No matter! Vida was tough, she could whack it right back! She dug her feet into the ground, and pressed her fists together. She flung her arms up, determined to show that loser what for. She clemched her eyes shut, only to open them to find the ball go over the line, out of bounds on the other side. Damn it, too strong.

Eiheu laughed out loud as the ball flew out of bounds, her laughter clearly aimed towards Vida. "Yeah! We win, we win!" She cheered. "That'll be, uhhhh... Eight points for us, and just one point for you!" She said, not-so-sneakily adding in a few extra points for her team. Eiheu then ran over to retrieve the ball and served it over the net, aiming at Vida once again. It seemed like her cunning technique was working!

”Clearly someone needs to learn how to count!” The same trick twice? Not while Marze was around. The half Klingon realized where Eiheu was aiming way before the ball left the other’s hand and ran to intercept it, which she did perfectly raising the ball high enough for her herself to prepare the counter offensive in time. Quite a difficult move. Must have quite a sight, the movements of someone who had clearly acquired years of sports prowess. She jumped, aimed and hit the ball with such strength it came down fast enough to send sand flying. “Thats 2 versus 3 actually, wetsuit! And only for so long!”

"Huh?! What the shit- How did you do that?!" Eiheu gasped as Marze perfectly countered her cunning technique, which seemed to be perfect until now. Whatever. If Marze can adapt to Eiheu, then Eiheu would have to adapt to Marze adapting. Eiheu ran for the ball again and served it; she pretended to aim at Vida at first, but turned around and hit it over to Marze's side at the last second, hoping to trick her into running over to the wrong side.

"Hey!" Vida was stanced up and ready for attack, only for the damn Romulan to divert and go after Marze. Not on her watch! Vida went after the ball, ignoring which side it was on, and managed to smack it back over, midair.

She had not been expecting their little opponent to just serve again. She should have learned by now to expect her to not follow the rules. She awkwardly tried to turn, the sand making her trip lightly. Thankfully Vida seemed to be able to save it. No matter, it was a null set. “HEY! WETSUIT! The ball was ours this time!”

Klaa shrugged her shoulders at Marze. She had finally given up on directing MF. Some fights were not worth winning, especially when your opponent is unfairly disadvantaged. (That being in common sense.) “Well I’m not even sure if trying to keep track of the score is even worth it at this point.” She spoke to the other side.

Eiheu looked at Marze in confusion. "Huh-? What? Why is it yours?" She asked her, as she completely ignored the ball and allowed it to hit the sand.

”We’re taking turns!” She then looked back at Klaa. “So game is over then? No match without a score!” She gestured with her arm. Frustration was building up again. It was easy to ignore while playing, getting into that match mindset was distracting enough. But now? Nothing to take her mind to another mental space. “The fuck’ we even doing here?” (edited)

"Hey, I've got an idea-!" Eiheu spoke up as she sensed Marze's frustration. "Why don't we make things a little more interesting? Like, for example... Turning volleyball into a contact sport?" She suggested, smiling suspiciously.

”Oh so you’re askin’ for an ass whooping?” Marze laughed and took two steps forward. Still she did not cross under the net to the other side. “Cause ball or no ball I would love to beat some sense into ya empty head. Someone ought to.”

Eiheu hesitated for a second - but only a second - when Marze stepped forward. "Yes-! I-I mean, uh... A friendly ass whooping, between comrades-!" She clarified quickly. "Also, I would like to be the one would would be doing most of the ass whooping-!"

”You’d like?” Marze raised one of her already angular brows. “You think your opponent is supposed to care what you’d like? If ya wanna beat me up prove you can do it like an adult!”

"No no no- wait- hold on a second-" Eiheu quickly began to backtrack, as she sensed that the conversation was going in a different direction to what she wanted. "When I said I wanted to whoop ass, I didn't mean that I wanted to whoop your ass in particular-!" She clarified once again.

She rolled her eyes. “My ass, our ass, what difference does it make? Are you a child for me to have to let you win? To cater to your wants?” And depending on the age of the child, such would be dishonorable. Her mother had properly begun to train her at 6 and from then on no more leniency was allowed to interfere with their sessions.

Vida smugly watched the altercation. She knew better than to get involved in a fight between two people who both had feet in Romulan and Klingon shoes. She remained a decent distance behind, not wishing to be hit by any flying punches, but she smirked knowing there was no way this squirrely little coward would be able to save face. New thing to lord over her later.

The palm of her hand met the ridges of her forehead with a smack. “Oh boy, you really have a talent for creating fights. Don’t you MF?” A giggle escaped as she shook her head in disbelief. “Maybe we should start a sand wrestling competition instead.” She suggested earnestly.

”Fine by me…” Marze wanted to expend the build up energy. Sports was the pacifist way to do it. A fight would serve just as well, but Eiheu would not leave unscathed. She crossed her arms, the movement emphasized the size of her biceps. “What do you say, wetsuit? Ready to face a real warrior?”

Eiheu, mirroring Marze, crossed her arms too. Her eyes scanned over Marze once again, but this time, she judged her on her potential as an opponent. Marze was much stronger than Eiheu; that fact was immediately obvious. Judging by how she played in the volleyball game, Marze was fast too, both on her feet and in her reaction time. As for combat experience... Didn't she mention that she worked in Security? That meant that she was good enough at fighting to get hired. Crap. Eiheu also noticed, quite a while ago actually, that Marze was not only Klingon, but very clearly half Romulan too. Eiheu, the Romulan who was definitely not biased or anything, believed that being half Romulan would just make Marze better at everything. Eiheu's verdict: she would be lucky to come out of this scrap alive. And yet, Eiheu still wanted to fight her. Despite knowing she'll lose, Eiheu still wanted to fight... Why? Because it wasn't about the fight. The actual outcome didn't matter to Eiheu at all; all that mattered is that she wanted to fight. Because it proved that her warrior's spirit was still alive and strong inside of her; that same spirit that allowed her to survive when most Romulans would have bled out and died long ago. That spirit needed to feed on battle, outcome irrelevant. Significance irrelevant. divider

10:22

Eiheu looked backwards towards Klaa. Just a few minutes ago, Klaa had a go at Eiheu for talking the volleyball game too seriously. Eiheu didn't really care about the volleyball game either, though; despite what Klaa probably thought about her, Eiheu did understand that a game was just a game. But, once again, it wasn't about the game. It was about Eiheu's need to prove that she still had enough determination to play so seriously. Deep down, Eiheu was afraid of that determination dying out. She knew it wouldn't happen in one day, but she knew that it would happen if she didn't stay determined. If she started to say no. If she started to say she didn't care. She knew that a volleyball game was just silliness, and it didn't matter, but once one silly little thing didn't matter, how long until another silly little thing didn't matter? Or another, slightly less silly thing, didn't matter? Or another, actually quite serious thing, but something so difficult that Eiheu suddenly didn't have the strength for it anymore, didn't matter? Eiheu couldn't tell. She would rather not risk it. Everything mattered. She had to fight, all the time. There was another thing that Klaa said. "You're just too afraid of not being good enough". Klaa was right about that, although she missed out on one detail; what was "good enough"? For Eiheu, it meant good enough to keep fighting, no matter what. That's why she needed to fight the losing fight; just to prove that she could. Eiheu looked at Marze again. "Whatever." She shrugged. "Wouldn't be my first time." She replied, her tone cool enough to give the impression that the fight would be light work for her, and yet with just enough sass to, hopefully, encourage the fight more.

”Whatever?” Marze’s hands automatically went to her hips. Every time she thought she was building up an opinion of the other, she did something that completely sidetracked her train of thought. At first she had just seemed dumb, and dumb Marze could deal with. Then, she realized Eiheu would do things out of malice, yes, to pick up on others and cheat her way to winning, and not just on simple ignorance. That did strike a nerve. Dishonesty always struck a nerve. At the same time though… it also seemed she didn’t think through what she said or did and had to backtrack multiple times after her baits got fish larger than she could pull. And now, suddenly, she acted as if the fish in the pond didn’t even matter. Almost killed the half Klingon’s own wish to fight. Al least one thing Marze could be certain, it would definitely not be the first time Eiheu got her ass handled to her, so there was truth to that last statement. “Come at me then.” She said while moving to an open area of sand. “If you got any spirit at all that is. Try not to make me sleep, will ya?”

"I don't know, I bet I could make you go to sleep... Then wake up in a hospital!" Eiheu grinned and followed Marze to the open area, raising her hands up in a defensive position, and waiting for Marze to make her first move.

Vida leaned over to Klaa, whispering, "I'm betting on Marze." Vida grinned toothily, flicking up her sunglasses and crossing her arms.

leaning back over to Vida she whispered back. “Same, but I also don’t want to underestimate Motherfucker.” She smiled. “Either way I’m looking forward to seeing her get beat up.” “Woo, get her! I want to fight the winner next!” She shouted. Knowing Marze was most definitely going to win, she couldn’t help having a soft spot for the scrappy underdog.

"Oh don't threaten me with a good time." So she was letting Marze go first? The Klingon was aware that was the mark of those with high dexterity, they preferred to dodge and sneak around, getting opportunity strikes here and there. But this was wrestling, all she had to do was get a good grip and Eiheu would end up with her face on the sand. She moved forward, hand stretched to grab the other's arm, testing to see just how fast Eiheu would be able to move away.

Eiheu had her gaze fixed on Marze's shoulders. It was an old trick she learnt in the KDF; when an opponent was about to make a grab, their shoulders were the first to move, so reacting based on shoulder movement yielded faster result than reactions based on arm or hand movement. That trick yielded good results today, for the moment that Marze moved to grab Eiheu, Eiheu moved backwards immediately, out of reach again. She did move a little too far back, though... Suspicious...

And as suspected the little Romulan mouse was fast. Marze knew it might take her a while to properly get a grip, but she was not impatient. In fact, this was more interesting than that frustrating game. "I'm gonna forgive you for breaking the rules this time, I know your little brain probably doesn't know any of them..." Oh, Eiheu was not the only one who could bait and Marze had a sense if she played the words right the other would crack. "You're not supposed to run this far! The fighting area must be delimited... but I didn't expect much from such a dishonorable oponent!" She went after her again, though this time her objective was the other's legs with her own, trying to make her loose balance.

"Well, it's too late! If you wanted to restrict the fighting area, you should've done that before we started fighting! Don't tell me you're the kind of person who changes the rules when you start to lose?" Eiheu laughed as she kept watching Marze carefully, and hoped that she could do that and shit-talk at the same time. Eiheu was a little surprised as Marze began to target her legs, but not surprised enough to fall over. It was a close call, but Eiheu managed to move back once again.

"Oh you really are that dumb, I SEE!" Since legs didn't work, she needed a good distraction. And what better distraction than the ambient around them? "Since you don't care about the rules!" Why should she? Marze grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at the other's direction. She did not target her head, mouth or eyes, she simply wished to shock her enough. With the momentary stun provided by her unexpected move, Marze reached foward again, this time getting Eiheu's forearm. Bringing her closer, she used her other hand to push Eiheu's shoulder down and then the Romulan quickly found herself prone on the sand, arm still in the half Klingon's hold, a heavy knee on her back. There was no getting out of that grapple, the combination of the sting on her arm if she tried to move and Marze's height. "Yield!"

The distraction worked; Eiheu, believing that Marze actually wanted to throw sand in her eyes, immediately moved to protect her face. "Hah, you missed!" Eiheu laughed as the sand landed absolutely nowhere near her; but the same arm that protected her face was the one that Marze grabbed onto, spelling out Eiheu's doom. Eiheu thrashed about as Marze pinned her down onto the sand, like a large carp that had just been yanked out of the water. Even though there was no practical way of getting out of this position, Eiheu still tried her best to move around as much as possible, in vain hope that Marze's grip on her could slip. "No-! I'll never give up-!" She shouted, exhaustion already seeping into her voice as she expended all her energy on meaninglessly squirming around. "I'll never surrender-! I'm still gonna win, you just watch-!"

"I can keep you like this for as long as the program runs, maybe even after if they don't kick everyone out the room." The squirming did absolutely nothing and her shouts only hurt Marze's half Romulan ears a bit. "But I'd really like to at least grab a drink to celebrate before its over... well your choice. We can stay here or enjoy whatever is left from the party."

Eiheu wiggled around for a few more seconds, then finally gave up at the mention of grabbing drinks. "... Fine... You win this time... We could go celebrate while the holodeck is still open..."

Vida laughed. "Nice! Way to go!" She approached the two and leaned down to look at Eiheu. "Aw, got tired?" She asked.

"Alright!" She quickly let go of Eiheu on the sand and stood up. "Drinking time! And I'll have to give the ocean a go to before leaving for good. Tag along whoever is with me!"

Eiheu kept laying on the sand for a few seconds after Marze let her go, as if taking the time to recover. She then looked up at Vida and glared at her. Of course Vida was going to gloat over her now. "... Bold words for someone who's within biting distance..." She said. Luckily, Eiheu didn't feel like following up on her words, choosing to follow Marze to the ocean instead.