The party was going pretty well.
A bit of a celebration for the rescue of the Poking Stick's crew. It had been a couple of days since we picked them up, but we wanted to wait, give them time to acclimatize a bit and unwind.
Being stuck on a little ship like that for years must have been a nightmare. I'm surprised they didn't kill each other.
Then again, they all had private quarters and could get away from the rest when they wanted to.
I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than the last timeone for several reasons. While it was dress uniform, it was also held in my largest holodeck. Which meant I could use a holographic avatar to get around the worst annoyance with high heels.
I still hadwore them of course, I just didn't need to use my actual avatar which made it less uncomfortable, as I could change the center of balance and adjust the legs on the fly on a hologram.
All in all, it was a lot nicer. Besides, despite the fact that there was a requirement for dress uniforms, it was a lot less formal than normal as there was no stuffy diplomats around.
Also, as it was in my holodeck, no bloody bombs!
The environment I picked for the occasion was a french castle. Lots of marble all around and a large garden.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The party was basically drop in. The entire crew was invited. Only requirements was dress uniform for starfleet personel and formal wear for the civilians.
Okay, quite a lot of people had decided not to show or to hold their own events. There was a large barbecue going on in my park for example.
I couldn't quite suppress a small smirk as I watched Captain Mason sitting by one of the tables close to the buffet table, conversing with Captain Daniels.
They seemed to be getting along.
It just so happened that Captain Daniels guest room turned out to be the one closest to Captain Masons. Just a couple of corridors away. Pure chance of course.
I would strongly deny anything else. And it just made sense all three got a seat at the Captains Table. Pure chance Daniels ended up seated right next to Captain Mason.
Or at least that's what I would say if anybody asked.
Smiling to myself, I headed out of the main room onto the balcony overlooking the garden to T'Ro where she was leaning against the railing, looking out over it.
Moving up to her, I leaned against the railing as well, "Enjoying yourself?"
"Indeed." she agreed, "Quite enjoyable."
"Not really my thing either." I said with a grin, "But for a formal event, not too bad." Before I changed the sky of the holodeck to match our current position with a wave with my hand, filtering out the entire 'star streak' effect to remove the feeling of moving.
That made the moon disappear though and it got darker so I put it back in the sky, increasing the size by twenty percent.
There. That's better.
"Nice." T'Ro said and shifted a bit closer to me.
"It is." I agreed, taking her hand softly and she gave mine a squeeze in turn as I glanced at her with a smile, "You know... I control the holodeck, it would be rather easy to..."
"No."
I grinned at that. Oh well, worth a try. There was always later.
T'Ro gave me a look, "You are as bad as Shran sometimes." she said softly before looking thoughtful, "Where is Shran anyway?"
I shrugged one shoulder, "Left maybe twenty minutes ago. He said something about playing poker. He and a couple of others, Rachel among them joined him at his quarters."
He had been here more than long enough to be polite to duck out.
"Wanna get out of here?" I asked her, "I mean, 'I' should stay, but my avatar is already back home."
"...What do you have planned?"
"Oh nothing..."
"Star..."
I sighed, "Fine. Just a small dinner and such. I'm glad you didn't have too much here."
Her lips twitched in a small smile, "That sound nice."
Blushing softly I shrugged, "I rather like cooking for you. Replicated ingredients or not."
"I'll see you there then." T'Ro said and gave my hand a squeeze before she walked towards the entrance.
I glanced after her with a smile before leaning against the railing again and I couldn't help but do a happy roll.
Perfect evening.
At least for us. How many died today in the war? The next update from Starfleet was scheduled for a couple of days from now. We would find out then.
How many of my friends didn't make to tonight? Is Data still alive? Geordi? Admiral Picard?
Defiant?
Great, that's my good mood ruined. Shaking my head, I turned and walked back into the party. There was nothing I could do about it anyway. Right now I was just thankful my crew was safe.
...Let's keep it like that, shall we?
I kept my active scans going.
AN// Big thanks too Kyceraza for betaing this section.