Girls' Night

Posted on Mon Feb 2nd, 2026 @ 3:39am by Lieutenant JG Rala & Lieutenant Rebecca McMillen & Lieutenant JG Kally Kellerman & Lieutenant JG Jenna Jade & Lieutenant JG Katie Kellerman & Petty Officer 2nd Class Sakura Tanikawa & Petty Officer 3rd Class Fulvia Benvenuto & Crewman Apprentice T’Vel & Tessa di'Orion
Edited on on Tue Feb 3rd, 2026 @ 8:04am

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Kally's Quarters
Timeline: Shortly after rescuing the Eureka Maru.

Two blonde heads bobbed as they pushed a large cargo AG cart down the corridor. One was walking somewhat unsteadily, the other was practically bouncing with glee.

"We're finally doing a proper girls' night!" Katie said, half skipping down the corridor. "I am so excited!"

"I can tell," Kally said, grinning. "You're bouncing around like we're in zero-g training."

"Well excuse me for being a bit excited to have our friend groups blending," Katie said, skipping along.

"I'm amazed you have the energy to be this bouncy," Kally said, grinning.

"Well, Jadizon kinda focused more on you today, let's admit," Katie said, though there was no jealousy, nor resentment in her voice. They'd learned to share things long ago, and she knew Jadizon's heart. Those two things helped give her confidence in their arrangement. "You think he's going to be fine on his own tonight?"

"Given the smile on his face when we left him lying there?" Kally said, grinning. "Yes, I think he'll be all right. He's a grown man, Kat, you don't need to worry about him. He can replicate his own dinner."

"I know," Katie said, shrugging. "I just like the way he smiles at me when I set the table."

"You're such a wife," Kally teased as they steered the cart into Kally's quarters, Katie grinning proudly.

"Okay, everything but the couch," Katie said. They dove in, clearing Kally's living room of all the knickknacks and furniture—save for her couch, moving everything either to her bedroom or shelves or into far corners. Katie began pulling pieces of what looked like choir risers off of the cart and setting them up in a general circular pattern in her living room, creating a raised dais including her couch.

The two of them then began pulling out a large, folded mat with a small box on one side that fit into a space in the newly established retaining wall around the dais. Katie flicked a switch on the box and a small motor kicked in, rapidly inflating the mat, creating an cloud-like base for the dais that was just firm yet cushy. The two girls then opened up the several containers stacked onto the gurney and pulled out pillow after pillow after pillow, some king sized, some body pillows, some large for resting on.

By the time they were done, there was a large, comfy, cozy, snuggle zone, big enough for at least a half dozen people to relax and enjoy themselves.

Katie opened one last box and pulled out a small, raised dais, similar to the full-sized one, with small pillows and a tray and cupholder for small snacks. She attached it on a pole to a section of the dais near the couch side and smiled at Kally.

"I'm sure she'll be very appreciative," Kally said, grinning.

Invites had already gone out the day before when Kally had talked to Tessa about it, so all they had to do now was begin replicating snacks and pulling out the good booze they'd been saving. Kally set up a small bar on the shelf behind the couch and set out bowls of snacks nearby. "Okay! Pajama time!" Katie said once they were set up. They both dashed to the bedroom, clothes flying as they ran.

Tessa was truly excited about things and since Kally had given her the day off and she’d finished the project she’d been working on, she’d put on a set of her pajamas before setting out early for Kally’s quarters. The red PJ’s she’d replicated had the new emblem centered on her sternum, the phoenix with wings stretched up to form the rough shape of a heart, and as always she went barefoot. So she ended up about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, which was only proper for one of her station, and hit the chime to see if they’d let her in that much earlier.

"Come in!" Kally called from her bedroom. As the doors opened, she came out in a long, robins-egg-blue t-shirt that hung off a shoulder and loosely around her front. "Tessa!" she said, happy, rushing over to hug her.

Tessa wrapped her own arms around her mentor in response, but it was a bit hesitant because well... Mentor. She pulled back after a moment and pointed at her chest, "What do you think? This was what I was working on today, at least a replicated part of it."

"I love it," Kally said, grinning. "Betting Henry does too," she winked, pulling Tessa inside. "Jump in the pillow fort and get comfy," she said.

Katie came out of Kally's bedroom in a pink spaghetti-strap shirt and purple shorts. She grinned at Tessa and waved. "Hey!"

“Katie!” Tessa waved at the twin of Kally, having met her several times. Much different than her sister, but sometimes they were able confuse her if she didn’t notice them each first, then turned her attention back to Kally, “And he doesn’t know about it, yet, just finished the design about an hour ago!”

Rala was similarly early, for the simple reason that she was quietly excited for the night and hadn’t been paying particularly close attention to the time once she’d started working on the contents of the small containers she carried. She checked the indicator on the surface of the smaller container as she approached the door. Still going, but not ready yet. Basically as expected. Satisfied, she pressed the door chime.

"C'mon in!" Kally said. As the doors opened, Katie grinned. "Hey Rala!" she said, rushing over to hug her. "I love that style top!" she gushed, admiring Rala's outfit.

Rala was wearing a pale green shirt, feminine fitted cut but slightly oversized, a single mid-length flared sleeve for both arms on each side, and a neckline just low and wide enough that it tended to slip off one shoulder; over an unpadded black bra and a pair of athletic shorts that don't quite redefine the term but certainly lived up to it.

“Well met, ladies,” Rala greeted them, smiling broadly and returning the hug a little awkwardly as she juggled the two containers she was carrying. “And thanks; I haven’t worn this since I was at the Academy. I brought presents, for later,” she said, finding some place to set down the squarish container under one arm and the large cylinder slung over the other shoulder by a built-in handle. “And yes, enough for everyone.”

"Excellent," Kally said, helping find the containers a home on the shelf behind the couch. She gave Rala a quick hug as well. "Get comfortable!"

Rala returned Kally’s hug and had just vaulted into the pillow pit when the next guest arrived.

"Wait wait wait hold the door!" squeaked a familiar voice from below. Rebecca was making good time trying to catch up to Rala and the door for the Pajama Jam, currently the diminutive officer was dressed in what would normally be considered 'compromising attire' if she were caught, and at a more easily visible scale. She was sporting an oversized shirt, like what seemed to be the fashion at the get together thus far, that was sporting a picture of a cartoon mouse with a block of swiss. The shirt had a word balloon that said, "Cheesed To Meet You" on it... and you wouldn't know it without looking but there were sports shorts under that shirt.

Katie heard her friend's plea and stepped out into the corridor, immediately closing the distance. She bent down and scooped up Becca, giving her a safely pressured hug. "Hey you," she said.

"Hey hey!" Rebecca responded, giving her own hug back as best she could. "I was debating the Dollhouse but, who wants to attend a party via proxy? Nah, I'd much rather attend in person," she offered. The truth was, sometimes attending through a proxy felt all the most distant, and being in the room could feel miles away. "Besides, the hallways aren't that long. Gotta get my steps in to keep in shape, right?" she teased.

"True, but don't worry about those last few steps, I have you covered," Katie said, tucking her friend safely in her cleavage and bringing her into the room. She took her over to the dais and fished her out, then deposited her gently in her own private lounge section, keeping her at head level with the others. "How's that?" she said, grinning.

Rebecca bounced with each step Katie took, and then was unceremoniously removed from her bounce castle and placed upon an alter dedicated to her self. Soft, cushy, and perfectly scaled. "I mean, it's nice and soft and plush and comfy. Not too bouncy though, so it's got that..." a tease, and a wink. "It's perfect, thank you so much."

"Maybe another bounce later, if you're good," Katie giggled winking back.

“Becca!” Rala smiled at the tiny newcomer. “Please tell me you were coming from the other direction, and I didn’t pass you in the corridor without noticing you.”

"Trust me, Rala, if you didn't notice me, I'd certainly notice you." she teased. "But no, I had to come from a different deck, so we probably just missed each other. You're in the clear."

Tessa peeked out from the squishy pillows that had all but enveloped her as she’d munched on the snacks she’d stolen from the plates still coming out by the twins, “Hiya Rala!” She waved at the Draakri, then Rebecca piqued her interest and she effectively swam through the cushions over towards the smaller woman, “I think we’ve only met in passing, I’m Tessa, Kally’s new umm… Trainee? Mentee? The person who’s studying under her?”

"Well technically you're listed as an orderly, but 'mentee' works. Protege, Student of Perfection," Kally said as Katie rolled her eyes.

"Rebecca McMillen. It's a pleasure to meet you." the diminutive officer offered. "Don't feel bad about not introducing early, I really should have made a point to meet everyone. I mean, it's super important for folks to know that I'm a tripping hazard to everyone on this ship." she giggled.

“There you are, young one,” Rala said, scooting over to give the Tialan a hug. “I can’t remember if I’ve said it directly to you, but I’m glad you came with us.”

"I mean, the more the merrier, right?" Rebecca added to the enthusiasm.

Tessa returned the hug with enthusiasm, broad smile on her face, “I’m glad to be here as well, out in the galaxy once more, with Henry and my friends. We’ll have to find things to do together, besides swimming. I’ll get the hang of it eventually, I’m sure, but there are other things!”

"You are getting the hang of it, as I recall," Rala said. "Any time you want more swimming lessons, just ask."

“And if you get the hankerin’ for it, Rala can always show you a thing or two about repairin’ things, Ah’ll bet?” Jenna finally had shown up in a set of flannel pajamas that covered everything from neck to wrists to ankles, combined with fuzzy slippers in the shape of bunnies, “Or you could always come by Engineerin’ and Ah’ll show you a thing or two. Ah’m Jenna Jade by the way, and you must be Tessa?”

“I am!” Tessa bounced over and awkwardly tried to hug Jenna, who very awkwardly returned it in her style, just the shoulder blades and upper body versus the whole body hug Tessa preferred, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Milady, Jenna, I mean, I was told this was informal.”

“A thing or two, yeah, probably,” Rala said, smiling and waving at Jenna but not getting up.

Katie perked up at Jenna's voice and rushed over, putting her plate of paczki down with the rest of the food and throwing herself at Jenna, hugging her. "I'm so glad you came!"

Jenna hugged Katie back tightly, swinging her back and forth, "Ah wouldn't miss somethin' like this! Even though Ah'm clearly the most dressed of everyone here, at least Ah know Ah won't freeze to death if life support malfunctions or the sort!"

"I mean, or you could swing by Science Division. We're the ones that figure out how to bend the laws of physics so Engineering can work their miracles." she paused. "I mean, that HAS to be how the Warp Drive was invented. Two drunk engineers and a drunk scientist got together, and one of them said that light speed was the limit, and then the classic Earth invocation of 'hold my beer', and then boom. Warp drive." Rebecca giggled.

"I'd love to do that, Rebecca, I've never really understood the workings of Skull, but I'm more than eager to learn! Especially since I'll be with you all for quite a while." Tessa was excited, even so far it was more exciting than the other visits she'd had back on Tial.

"I wonder where the others are?" Kally said.

"Sakura's going to be late for her own funeral," Katie sighed. "And if I had to guess, Fulvia and T'vel are taking advantage of that." She giggled. A moment later, the door chime sounded. Katie opened it and grinned, wondering if their ears had been burning. "Hey, sweetie!" she said to Sakura.

“I hope we aren’t late.” Sakura Tanikawa was next through the door, carrying a case the size of a toolbox, dressed in fuzzy pink leopard print pants and a pink long sleeve pajama top.

Fulvia Benvenuto was right behind her. “Doll, you haven’t been on time a day in your life.” She looked to the others and smiled. “But this time it’s on me. We don’t do these back home. Security risk. Sakura explained it all to me though, and helped me pick an outfit.” She was wearing an oversized navy blue shirt and socks. “I didn’t know what to bring.”

“Where can I put this?” Sakura asked, gesturing to her case.

"Over here," Katie said to her work bestie, pointing to a relatively empty corner near the coffee table, leaning in and giving Sakura a kiss hello as she passed. "What exactly is it?"

Sakura set it down where she was instructed and opened the top, grinning. A number of small shelves extended to display row after row of brightly coloured nail polish bottles, along with the necessary accoutrements for mani-pedis, should they decide to do that specific slumber party activity. “Plenty for everyone. None of it replicated. All homemade by one of our resident chemists.”

Rala waved at the two newcomers, craning her neck to see what was in the case. “Ooh, I haven’t had my claws painted in ages,” she said, grinning.

"Oh awesome!" Katie said. "And when we're done, we can light candles and pull out a ouija board!"

"Oh eff that," Kally said, vetoing immediately. "No demon-summoning tonight." She walked over to Fulvia, giving her a deep kiss and a hug. "Glad you could make it, dollface," she said, grinning.

“Wouldn’t miss it, Angelface,” Fulvia replied, squeezing her back.

Seeing the kiss, Rala felt her eyebrows climb a centimeter or so. She started to comment, but thought better of it, instead going with, “I think we’re just missing one now, right?”

The door chimed again, and when it opened, T’Vel stepped in, wearing a green nightshirt that extended midway down her thigh. “Thank you for the invitation,” she said to Kally and Katie, nodding to each in turn. The newest arrival to the ship’s crew, she had not met everyone, but she understood from her research that she would get to know them all over the course of the evening.

“Come on in, Ears,” Fulvia said, reaching an arm to drag her friend further into the room. “So what’s the plan ladies?”

Kally gave T'Vel a similar greeting to Fulvia and as went over to lock her front door once again. "The plan is to get comfy, grab some food and drink and relax." She put an arm around Fulvia and leaned in. "And we'll try to behave; we have newbies tonight," she whispered into her friend's ear.

Kally then hopped into the pillow pile, sitting back against one and stretching, patting the spots next to her for the other girls to join.

Tessa let herself fall back into the pillows where she'd been before and perked up, "What do you all do during one of these? I didn't get much of a chance back at home and well, girl's nights with Cass were always full of just stories of fights she's been in or training that she wants to do with me and all that. Never just had friends around."

Witnessing the second kiss, Rala’s cheeks and the sides of her snout darkened slightly. She cleared her throat and indicated the trio with a finger. “You three are all, uhm...” She trailed off awkwardly.

"Adorable as hell in our t-shirts? Yes, I agree," Kally said, diplomatically as Fulvia and T'vel made themselves comfortable.

"Didn't even coordinate either!" Fulvia said cheerily.

"I do not normally sleep in such clothing," T'Vel admitted. "But Kally informed me this would be appropriate."

"Likewise," Kally said. "But I figured we should keep up appearances." She spied Katie and Sakura still whispering over the setup and gave a theatrical "psssst!" Katie waved her off and Kally rolled her eyes. "I will eat every one of those piczki if you two aren't going to join us," she threatened.

Katie turned and stuck her tongue out, then took Sakura's hand and they climbed in as well, making themselves comfortable and snuggling up together with Jenna. Katie reached over to the couch and picked one of the stuffed doughnuts and took a defiant bite, making a face at her sister.

"Alright! Now that we are all here, and while we are still sober, may I say, thank you all for coming," Kally said. "I thought we should all get together after recent events, let off some steam, and celebrate our newest addition to our family." She'd placed herself near the bar and immediately grabbed a bottle of red liquid and poured glasses, passing them around. "To Tessa di'Orion, our next medical marvel!" she said, raising her glass once everyone had a share.

Rala helped pass the glasses around and kept one for herself, raising it for the toast. “Hear, hear!”

"Glad to have you on board, toots!" Fulvia said, raising her own glass toward Tessa.

"Prost!" Katie said, holding up her glass, along with Sakura and Jenna.

Tessa flushed a slight red as she was called out for special recognition by Kally, taking a sip of the liquid and finding that it tasted… Interesting. “Thank you, I just hope I won’t disappoint anyone.. But, I want to say thank you to all of you, for accepting me into your lives and becoming my friends!” She raised her own glass in salute to everyone, those she knew well and those she was just meeting for nearly the first time.

Rala put an arm around Tessa. “I mean, how could we not?”

Tessa reached out and snagged the small plate with a variety of the munchies that she’d gathered, before leaning back into Rala’s arm again with a small laugh, “Because then I couldn’t pick my most valued and trusted advisors for my lands?” She semi-asked, “After all, a Baroness needs an inner circle, doesn’t she?”

Rala shifted to look more directly at Tessa, blinking. “Wait, Baroness?”

The look Tessa gave wasn’t smug, but she nodded and plucked the front of her shirt to show off the Phoenix with heart curled wings, “Heart’s Forge is an island off the coast of Lights End, and currently uninhabited.”

"So now we haven't just absconded with a warlord's daughter, but rather we're hosting a visiting noble," Kally said, gathering her own munchies as she started passing food and plates around. "Far less of a stressful situation for Cally."

"Baroness is a good title," Fulvia said, relaxing into the pillow pile. "Some power, not much responsibility."

"And it's fun to say," Sakura added, giggling. "Ba-Ro-Ness."

"How much did you already drink?" Katie whispered, looking in Sakura's glass before pouring herself a glass of ice cold vodka.

"This is her 'normal'," T'Vel observed dryly. "Could I try some please?" she asked Katie, gesturing to the vodka.

“Me too, please!” Tessa had drained the rest of what was in her glass and held it out towards Katie, smiling at Fulvia, “I’m not sure where you’re from, Milady, but on Tial a Baroness is responsible for the lives and well-being of every person in their domain! My mother is literally the direct ruler of about a hundred and twenty thousand people, if you count Light’s End’s military forces. She holds the power of High and Low Justice and arbitrates problems that two parties can’t resolve. She, in turn, answers to the Council of Lights, which is our planetary ‘government’ and to the Light of the Eastern Watch, my father, who is the effective ruler of the entirety of the Eastern Watch, some thirteen million of my people.”

“‘Baroness of Heart’s Forge’,” Rala repeated thoughtfully. She looked around at the other women gathered before turning back to Tessa. “I don't know about the rest of you, ladies, but for someone who bucked tradition and left home to be with someone she loves? I don't think there could be a more fitting title.” She gave Tessa another gentle squeeze before snapping her fingers and starting to clamber out of the pillow pit. “And,” she said, moving to retrieve the smaller squarish container she'd brought, “I think it's a perfect excuse to open this early."

Katie filled both Tessa and T'vel's glasses with the clear liquid and topped herself and Sakura off as well. She watched Rala pull out the container and her eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Whatcha got, Rala?"

Keeping her back to the group and using the shelf as a workspace, Rala fiddled with the container and its contents for a moment before bringing the now-lidless container back over to the group. Without climbing back into the pillow pit, she speared something within the container with a clawtip and withdrew a small not-quite-cube of something dark brown, and held it out to Tessa. “First piece goes to our new Baroness,” she said with a smile and a mildly exaggerated bow.

Tessa reached out to the claw that Rala presented and carefully took the piece of whatever it was that was on it. She took a tentative nibble on it and a moment later covered her mouth as her eyes opened wide, “Oh my gods.. Rala, if you want to share that with everyone else, you need to take it away before I take the whole thing!”

"So, clearly a dessert," Kally teased, craning her neck. "What is it?"

Rala looked up at Kally, still smiling. “Fudge,” she said. “Or, as Róisín calls it, her ‘Wicked Double-Chocolate Fudge of Doom’.” She began circling the pit, letting each guest snag a piece. “She made it once while we were at the Academy,” Rala said as she attempted to use a claw to carve off a piece of suitable size for Rebecca; what she managed to get was the equivalent of a sizeable slice of cake for the tiny scientist. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever have it again, but since we picked her up the other day, I was able to get the recipe from her.”

"And you need to share that recipe with the rest of us, or be expected to make it for me all the time!" Tessa was trying to ration out the cube of fudge that she'd been given, but wasn't having a lot of luck in the process. Undecided, she finally popped the last piece of her cube in her mouth and savored it, "Ashbolutely awshome." She got out around it.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever had fudge this good!” Fulvia said after taking her piece. “Seriously I could make an empire smuggling this on Iotia.”

The twins nodded in agreement. "Our mother needs this recipe!" they declared in unison. They both gave Rala a thumbs up. "Thank you very much for this!" Katie said.

Kally poured another glass for herself and snuggled down against Fulvia, chewing the last of her piece. "What is it about a good dessert that just makes me all warm and fuzzy?"

“The company?” Fulvia offered, content in the snuggle.

"That definitely helps." Kally said.

“I expect you are not looking for a technical answer,” T’Vel observed. “Especially since you among us are the likeliest to know that answer.”

“Dessert is happiness and joy bundled into bite sized pieces!” said Sakura, grinning as she took another small bite of the fudge, savouring every morsel.

"Hear hear," Katie said, having stuffed hers in her mouth and was now munching on another piczki. "All of the above. Good food, good friends, fun games. They all make each other better."

“I’ll be sure to thank her for you all, and ask if she’s willing to share the recipe,” Rala said, pleased amusement evident in her voice as she carefully vaulted back into her spot next to Tessa and set the container down among the other foodstuffs. “Apparently it’s been in her family for something like four hundred years.”

Katie nodded. "Our mother has a few recipes like that. Papa says it's one of the reasons he married her."

"The other being he was madly in love with her," Kally snickered, already feeling a buzz. "Though I'm pretty sure Tetya Sasha dared him to propose."

“So what happens next at gatherings such as this?” T’Vel asked.

“I don’t know about slumber parties,” Fulvia tried to answer, “but on Iotia we had this game called 'Confession Or Commission', where you’re given the choice of answering an interrogation or being asked to do a silly thing like a petty crime.”

"Yes!" Katie said, just as Kally groaned, "oh c'mon, Truth or Dare? Are we fucking twelve?"

Katie immediately launched a pillow at her sister. "Stop being a killjoy! This is happening!"

Kally held her glass safely out of the line of fire and sat up sticking her tongue out at her sister. "All right, all right. What poor soul goes first?"

“Our guest of honour?” Sakura suggested. “Or should she go last, to see how it’s done?” Chomp. “If your friend doesn’t give us the fudge recipe, Rala, we’re going to steal it from her.”

“Atta girl,” Fulvia said, raising her glass.

“I’ll pass along the ultimatum,” Rala said, draining her glass of wine.

"Okay, I'll go first," Katie said, then pointed at Kally. "Not from you."

Kally shrugged and reached for another Pirozhki, stretching over T'Vel and sneaking a kiss as she did so. "Suit yourself, coward," she teased.

"All raighty," Jenna stated, leaning forward with a grin, "Ah suppose then Ah'll ask the question we all want to know, Katie: Truth or Dare?"

Katie looked at Jenna and her eyes narrowed. "Dare," she said, trying to sound brave.

Jenna smiled brightly, then changed that to a look that could be devious, tapping her arm in thought for a few seconds, "Ah dare you to... Go give Tessa a kiss, since, after all, she's the newest member of our little crew and a newly promoted Baroness. Maybe a little cuddle, too for the sake of things."

Katie snorted a laugh and shrugged. "Easy peasy," she said, giving Sakura a kiss goodbye and shimmying over across the dais to sit next to Tessa. She threw her arms around the girl and gave her a huge hug and a good peck on the lips before snuggling up with her on the pillows.

Tessa laughed as she accepted the kiss from Katie and wrapped an arm around her when she snuggled up with her. It was all in good fun, she knew and harmless. She took another drink from her glass and found it nearly empty already, and the night had just started.

"All right," Katie said, rubbing her hands briskly. She looked around the group and grinned. "Hey Becca? Truth or dare?"

The diminutive officer rolled her eyes from her custom lounge throne of sorts, "Oh all right, fine, Dare." she announced, already regretting it but no one wanted to hear a Truth from her, is all.

Katie picked up a handful of caramel corn and munched deliberately, looking as if she were thinking hard. Finally, she held up the last, round, golden puff and said. "You have to carry this piece of popcorn to the center of the platform."

"What's the catch? Blindfolded? Hopping on one foot?" Becca wasn't convinced it was just that simple

Katie gave a wicked grin and, with a flick of her wrist, sent the kernel sailing through the air and right down the front of Kally's shirt. "Good luck!"

Kally sat up with a squeak of shock and looked at Katie, surprised. She was about to fish it out but Katie held up a hand and said "Nuh uh! No helping! She plays it where it lands!"

Kally wasn’t the only one surprised, as Rala let out a snort of shocked laughter before reaching out to snag a pirozhki.

Given where it had landed, Kally was worried Becca would blush too hard. She shifted so her shoulder was by Rebecca's platform and stuck her tongue out at Katie. "All right, fine. It's on my stomach if she dares."

"You got this Becca!" Katie said. "Go boldly!"

"Where so many have gone before," Fulvia said, laughing at Kally's glare.

Rala had just started to swallow the first bit of pirozhki—which was quite good—when Fulvia’s comment made her laugh again. She doubled over coughing, the pirozhki lodged at her windpipe.

Katie quickly reached over and banged on Rala's back, trying to help dislodge the offending bit of food. "Careful there," she said. "You okay, Rala?"

On the fourth or fifth thump, the offending bit of food came loose. Rala twisted away from Katie, holding up a hand and nodding that she was okay. She sat back up and swallowed again, carefully directing the pirozhki toward her stomach this time. She’d been coughing hard enough to bring tears to her eyes, which she blinked away as she looked at Katie. “Thanks. I don’t think I was quite prepared for the, uh...amount of innuendo...that it seems will be the norm tonight.”

"Yeah, hi. Lemme introduce you to my sister and her friends," Katie said, dryly.

"Pot/Kettle, missy!" Kally said.

“I’d say ‘we’ve met, to varying degrees’,” Rala said, wiping the the last of the tears from her coughing out of her eyes and looking between the trio in question, “But apparently ‘all together, off-duty, in a particularly casual environment’ is another matter.” She smiled again, popped the other half of the pirozhki into her mouth, and continued, “Carry on; I just need to be more careful with my food and drink tonight, it seems.”

Rebecca has a blush on her features as she watched that popcorn chunk land and vanish. Of course. "Alright, well I'll be a bubble blowing baby forever if I don't...." and she climbed off of her perch onto Kally's shoulder. "I guess, be right back." and the diminutive officer scooted down of the shoulder into the swell of Kally's breast before sliding down the curve and into the valley. Gone from view.

Kally jumped a bit as Becca wound up in the 'cave' feeling her move down her ribs.

"It's kinda roomy in here.."

"Hush you," Kally said, looking down her own shirt.

"It's around here somewhere...."

Kally was red-faced not only from the situation but from the stress of trying not to laugh. "No tickling!" she finally said, shaking, trying not to squirm.

Rebecca's decent was trading and tantalizing as she continued lower.. lower.. lower.. "Oh there it is!" she declared in triumph, "Now can someone rescue me?" she teased again.

Katie laughed. "All right, let her out."

Kally paused. "I um...one complication."

T'Vel studied Kally, narrowing her eyes as she reached a conclusion. "You feel you are missing something under your nightshirt."

Kally looked at her and blushed hard. "I didn't think they were necessary at the time."

An eyebrow went up. "You did not tell me they were part of the outfit at all," T'Vel replied, a light green blush overcoming her cheeks.

Fulvia grinned and started walking her hand up the outside of Kally's thigh until it disappeared beyond the hem of her nightshirt. "Take my hand when you can reach it, micro-doll. I'll guide you out."

Kally looked at Katie who was covering her mouth with both hands, shoulders shaking. "Not. One. Word."

“Suddenly I feel overdressed,” Rala said, voice not quite as smooth as she’d been trying for. It had taken her a second or two to realize what they were talking about, at which point a number of thoughts collided in her head; she’d elected to voice that one in the hopes of keeping the others from showing, but she still felt her face beginning to flush again and busied herself with refilling her wine.

With the guidance and assistance of Fulvia, Rebecca was rescued with the caramel corn in hand. "Sunlight! Fresh air!" She teased as Kally flipped her off.

“Overdressed, Rala?” Jenna half-asked as she gestured to her own pajamas. “Ah just happen to know the depravity that most of these young ladies get up to and planned accordingly. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of them suggested strip poker and ah was determined to survive more than one or maybe two losses without being undignified!”

"Eh, now there's an idea!" Fulvia said, raising her glass to Jenna. "I like this broad."

“Strip poker?” Rala’s eyebrows climbed toward the ceiling. “I feel like that would be unfair, both in terms of, uh, betting power—” she glanced between Jenna on one side of the pillow pit and Kally and T’Vel on the other, “—and in terms of experience,” she finished, glancing at Tessa.

"Oh I'm out. No offense but I'm atrocious at poker." Rebecca commented.

"That's either reverse psychology, in which case we should definitely play, or it's entirely honest, in which case we should definitely play," Katie said, giggling hard.

Tessa gave everyone a curious look as she listened in on the conversation, then understanding finally lit in her eyes, “Oh, you mean that Kally’s not wearing any underwear?” she asked T’Vel, Kally and she supposed the rest “Why would anyone wear it in any case? I mean, except maybe with some armor, that can chafe a fair bit.”

Kally looked at the others and raised an eyebrow. "Um..."

Rala sipped her wine and cleared her throat. “There are a number of factors. For one, it seems that many humanoid cultures have a nudity taboo, and wearing underwear means that, should one be forced to lose a layer, one is still at least somewhat covered. There can also be practicality reasons, as you said—preventing chafing, providing support for certain parts of one’s body to be more comfortable, and so on. And, of course, some people do so simply because they prefer the feel; or the look, even if it’s not generally visible to anyone...or because they’re expecting to have an, um, intimate encounter with someone and think they’ll like the way it looks.”

She took another sip of wine. “Draakri don’t generally bother, but I’ve become accustomed to doing so after living in the Federation for the better part of a decade.” She indicated the bra strap visible where her shirt had slipped off one shoulder. “Well...” she added as an afterthought, “usually.”

“Oh, and here I thought for most humanoids it was only worn for their menstruation cycle.” Tessa leaned forward, “Which is one reason I’m grateful I don’t have to wear them for! We Tialans don’t have periods at all.”

"The fuck?" Kally said, the alcohol now completely loosening her tongue. "You don't? How do you...I mean if you and Henry are having sex, how are you going to know when you can get pregnant?"

“Well for one, we aren’t having sex, yet.” Tessa didn’t know it, but the alcohol she’d been drinking was starting to affect her too, “But the timing is irrelevant, because according to researchers, ovulation is dependent on hormonal expression caused by the act of sex itself, so procreation for us is relatively easy.”

As Rala listened to Tessa’s explanation, an unfocused thoughtful expression took over her face. “Interesting,” she said. “From a purely technical standpoint, there’s a bit of similarity to Draakri reproduction.” She refocused on the young Tialan. “Of course, my understanding is that the practical aspects are vastly different.”

"Wait, wait, wait," Kally said, holding up a hand to Rala and looking at Tessa. "You two aren't having sex??" Kally said, shocked, looking at Tessa. "You can't be serious."

Tessa shook her head with more emphasis than she normally had, "No, we haven't, you have my word!"

"C'mon, you've been practically living together the whole week you've been back!" Kally said, still shocked.

"We haven't been living together!" Tessa argued, "I mean, I had to unpack and I shower in my quarters, usually, get dressed there some of the time, and I haven't had meals with him all the time, just most of the time."

"Still, Tessa, you can't mean you two have never—"

"Oh knock it off, Kally," Katie said. "Not all of us have been classified by three empires as a Friendly Port."

Rala gave a snort of laughter, and was glad she had only been about to take another sip of wine.

Kally launched a pillow at her sister and sat back. "For the record? I think it's sweet. Fucking unbelievable, but very sweet."

"Thank you, Kally, Katie, I'm trying to be good for him, because he's been so nice for me." Tessa smiled broadly, "I think he just wants our first time to be special, so I have to do that for him."

"And it should be," Katie said. "Now...I believe it's Becca's turn to pick a victim."

"First off,” Rebecca said, “is it so rough to think that folks aren't having never-ending sex? I mean, look, my sexual calendar is pretty clear these days so..." a pause, "I mean... anyway... You know what, consider this revenge for being able to give Aunt Flo the finger. Tessa, Truth or Dare?"

"Aunt Flow?" Katie mouthed at Kally who shrugged in response.

Tessa giggled as she leaned forward in the couch with a wide grin, “Dare, of course, what else would I choose?”

"The dare is..... tell us three things about you, but one of them has to be a lie." Rebecca proclaimed.

Katie made a buzzing sound, putting her finger on her nose. "Weak dare and game-jumping. Double violation! That's two drinks to you, Becca!" she said.

"Please, whatever." Rebecca *phawed* it off, but took her two drinks. "And here I thought the point was to make folks do what they didn't want to do." it wasn't her fault she sucked at this game.

"Hey I don't make the rules," Katie said, holding up her hands in innocence. "Bottoms up!" She grinned at Becca and then sat back next to Tessa. "Still gotta answer her, though."

Eyebrows raised, Tessa thought for several seconds. Clearly she was supposed to make all three at least sound like the truth, or… What if she did the opposite? She smiled beatifically, “All right, try to guess which one is the lie. Before I came aboard I never kissed anyone else in a non-familial manner; I have never killed anyone intentionally; and I have never climbed the Skyfire Mountains without Mother’s permission.” She glanced around, “Which one is the lie?”

"I vote mountain," Fulvia guessed. "Climbing it without permission seems like the right kind of rebellion for you. Plus you're taking it slow with Henry and you had the bodyguard for a long time. No kissing, truth. No intentional killing, truth. No mountain climbing without permission, lie."

Rala had just snagged another piece of fudge for herself and taken a bite, eyes fluttering in chocolatey bliss, as Fulvia voiced her guess. “Mmm. Mm-hmm,” she mumbled around her snack, pointing a finger at Fulvia in agreement.

Tessa smiled lightly, glancing around at the rest of the girls, “Anyone else, or do you all agree?”

"Oh one hundred percent the mountain thing," Katie said.

"Unanimous," Kally said, nodding with T'Vel.

“You’re right, I’ve never kissed anyone with intent before Henry, BUT,” Tessa’s smiled widened, “Mother didn’t want me to climb the mountain, and do you know how much trouble I would have been in if I disobeyed her? I’d have been grounded for a week, MINIMUM, pulling extra duties like night guard watches and extra training sessions. No way I was going to do that!”

Rala swallowed her fudge. “So...that means you have...” She trailed off, ears drooping. Alien culture or no, the thought of someone so young deliberately ending the life of another was somewhat distressing.

“There’s a reason I always had a bodyguard. As the daughter of the Light and a Baroness, I was a target as well. There were several kidnapping attempts and a couple of outright attempts to kill me, too.” Tessa looked at the back of her hand. “Sure, it was self defense, but I wasn’t going to leave someone alive who had already killed one of my escorts and Cass had her hands full at the time. The total number is three, by the way, only one really close in though, the other two with a bow.”

“Ah, close but no cigar,” Fulvia said, wincing. “Oh well. Can’t win 'em all.”

"Loser drinks," Kally said, filling Fulvia's cup.

“But, since you were the first to be brave and to speak up, Fulvia, you’re up next!” Tessa tried to lighten the mood, “Truth or dare?”

“Dare, obviously!” Fulvia cheered. “Hit me with one, doll.”

Tessa had to think for a moment, “I dare you to comm Lady Skyie and loudly sing her Happy Birthday, with raunchy lyrics, and then hang up on her with no explanation.”

Fulvia sighed and sat up from her comfy position with Kally. “All right I think I remember this song. Raunchy lyrics though? I guess I can do that.” She considered how best to reframe the lyrics. It just needed the rhythm and theme right. And probably the rhyming scheme. This is doable. “Hold my drink please, Angelface,” she said, passing off her glass. “Sakura, mind setting up a comm line real quick?”

Sakura got up and retrieved a PADD from outside the fort. “Mind if I use this?”

"Of course. My PADD is your PADD. Moy dom — eto i vash dom. Moya krovat' — eto i vasha krovat'," Kally said, waving her glass at Sakura.

The comms expert quickly got a channel ready that would be difficult to trace back. She handed the PADD with the activation button to her roommate.

“All right here it goes,” Fulvia said. She opened the channel.

“They say it’s your birthday
I think we should play
I’ll make sure you’re feeling good
You’ll be screaming my name.”

"What the?" Cally's voice came over the comm, "Who is this?"

Fulvia grinned and but kept her composure. She had one more verse in her.

“It’s your birthday I’m told
You look like a centerfold
You’ll pant and you’ll mo-oan
With my tongue in your folds.”

She quickly closed the comm line and burst out laughing.

Tessa joined in the laughter, more a snigger than anything, then raised her glass in salute to the Iotian and took a deep drink of whatever it was in her glass, "Bravo!"

Katie was red in the face from trying to repress her laughter, tears streaming down her face. When the comm channel finally closed, she held onto Tessa, laughing so hard she couldn't breathe.

Kally was in a similar state, hugging Fulvia tightly. She looked at T'Vel and kissed her cheek. "It was expertly executed, take my word for it."

“We can only hope that the Captain does not recognize Fulvia’s voice,” T’Vel said. “Still. It was…amusing.”

"How about that? She's practically gushing," Kally stage-whispered to Fulvia, then giggled.

Rala had once again mistimed taking a sip of her beverage, and had been forced to clamp three hands around her snout and hold her breath for the duration of the call to avoid spewing wine everywhere. Some of the wine had made it into her sinuses, making the experience even more trying. By the time the call ended, most of her face had darkened noticeably, and the only way to tell she wasn’t having a seizure was the fact that she’d managed to keep her glass upright despite her convulsions of barely-contained breathless laughter. With the call finally over, she’d been unable to avoid letting out the breath she’d been holding and wound up making a mess of her hands.

Katie, seeing Rala's distress immediately moved to the bar area and grabbed some wet towels for Rala to clean up with. Kally moved over next to Rala and slapped her back, bending her forward to help her passages clear. "Easy, easy," she said. She rubbed Rala's back carefully as she and Katie helped Rala clean up. "Okay...new rule...no more drinking during a dare," Kally said, still chuckling.

Rala started to halfheartedly wave Kally back since she wasn’t actually choking this time, but leaning forward did help keep the remainder of the wine in her sinuses from draining into her throat. “I’m okay! I’m okay,” she said, accepting the towels; blowing her nose into one and generally wiping herself off with another before leaning into the backrub. “Mmm,” she said, “stars, I haven’t had a good backrub in years; keep that up.”

Kally did as requested, getting comfortable next to Rala as Katie moved back towards Sakura, snuggling up with her.

“All right then,” Fulvia said as she got control over herself, her ribs sore from the laughter. “Rala. Truth or dare, as they say.”

Rala was just balling up her dirty towels, dirtiest in the middle, when Fulvia called on her. She glanced at the Iotian, then off into empty space as she thought. “Everyone’s gone with ‘dare’ so far; let’s change it up. Truth.”

“Truth, eh?” Fulvia considered a good question. Something spicy. “Describe your hottest bedroom fantasy. In all its details and intricacies. What goes through your head when those four hands start roaming across your skin?”

Kally choked on her drink and raised an eyebrow at Fulvia, then at Rala. Katie sat up, curious as well, crossing her legs and grinning.

Rala blinked at Fulvia, then glanced away as she felt her cheeks and snout flush darker again. “Um...that’s...personal, and private. Moreso than I’m willing to discuss right now.”

A chorus of "oh please?" and "awww really?" rose up from the group, with Kally offering, "I'll tell you Katie's!" as a trade before taking a pillow to the face.

“No,” Rala said insistently. “There are more people in this room right now than there are people in the galaxy who I’d share that with. Please. Ask me something else.”

“Yeah ok, fair enough,” Fulvia said, nodding. This was meant to be in good fun. Something she could ask that’s spicy without escalating too quickly. “What are you looking for in a potential romantic or sex partner?”

Rala shifted on her pillows slightly as she pondered her answer. “To be honest, I’ve never really thought about it before—for either one. ‘Romance’ is usually a bit different for us.” She shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong, the kind of courtship that seems to come to mind for the rest of you when you hear the word ‘romance’ isn’t exactly unheard of for Draakri, but it’s the exception rather than the rule.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “Which, I suppose, does lend it a bit of allure, come to think of it.”

She shook her head, trying to jostle her thoughts back into line. “As for me?” She chewed on the thought a bit more. “’Romantically’, to whatever extent the term may apply...I’d be looking at people who I trust, implicitly; who’d be there for me when I need help; who I enjoy being around, even if we’re not directly interacting; and who I don’t feel awkward about when it comes to casual physical touch. And,” she continued, tilting her head again briefly, “presumably, who feel the same way about me. There were a few people back on Draakrona who fit the bill, but I don’t know how far any of those would have gotten since I left to join Starfleet. And, in the spirit of Truth—” her eyes involuntarily glanced at the PADD that had been used for the prank call to Calypso, and then at Kally for a split second before she swept her gaze around the room, gesturing with one hand to indicate the ship as a whole, “there are a few more here on the Chimera.”

Sakura listened and nodded along. “I like that,” she said as she mulled over the ideas, a particular person in mind.

“Okay but what about sex?” Fulvia asked bluntly. “I said romantic or sex partner. That’s part of it!”

"Yeah," Rala objected, jabbing a finger at her, a smirk on her face, "you said 'or', as in 'one or the other'. You got the one. Take it or leave it."

T’Vel nodded, the slightest smirk forming on her face. “She’s right. That is what you said.”

Kally gave Fulvia a sympathetic smile and after giving Rala's shoulders one final squeeze, she crawled back across the dais to Fulvia and tackled her, kissing her and giggling. "You'll have to forgive her," she told everyone when they disentangled and sat up. "She has trouble telling the difference between 'one or another', especially when the things can be so similar." She giggled madly, her alcohol soaked brain finding her joke far funnier than the others probably did, but she knew Fulvia would get her teasing.

Rala watched with a soft sigh as Kally left to—enthusiastically, apparently—rejoin Fulvia. She felt her face darken slightly once more at the display, and busied herself trying to get comfortable again.

Fulvia for her part was giggling as she was tackled down and kissed. She gave Rala a thumbs-up. All was well and understood.

"Kal," Katie said. "Switch it up."

"I'm fine, Kat!" Kally whined, pouting.

"Three rounds," Katie said.

"One," Kally countered.

"Two," Katie said.

Kally grumbled and reached behind her for a new glass, filling it with water and taking a sip.

“That’s actually a good idea for everyone,” Rala said, draining the last of her second glass of wine and climbing out of the pit. She retrieved two glasses and filled them with water, holding one out in front of Tessa. “You especially, little one, need to pace yourself and stay hydrated.” She looked around the group. “Anyone else want to do the smart thing and have some water while I’m up?”

Tessa accepted the glass of water and sipped from it, "Thanks, Rala, appreciate it."

"Ehh, gotta represent the science division and be smart. Water please." Rebecca requested.

“Right, I suppose I’m up,” Rala said, exaggeratedly scratching the underside of her jaw in thought. “Hmmm...let’s see...Jenna.” She pointed a finger at the flannel-clad engineer. “Truth or Dare?”

Jenna breathed a sigh of relief, giving Katie a tongue sticking out because she wasn’t going to get Kally to do it, “Ah think that Ah can trust you enough to go with a dare, Rala. Unlike what certain people would be tempted to do, that is.” Her eyes went over to the twins.

Rala sat for a moment, thinking. A few ideas came and went, dismissed for various reasons before she felt a nudge from beside her. She looked over to see Katie gesturing for her to lean closer. She did so, and Katie mirrored her, cupping her hands around her mouth to whisper something in Rala’s ear without anyone else catching it. Rala pondered for a few seconds, gently rocking her head back and forth, before whispering back to Katie, one hand making a vague gesture of reduction. Katie thought for only a second or two before whispering to Rala once more, to which Rala merely nodded agreement.

“Jenna,” she said, looking back to the engineer, a faint smirk on her face. “I dare you to swap outfits with one of the other people present.”

Kally immediately began wrestling with her top before Fulvia pulled her arms down. "You gotta let her decide who to swap with, angelface," Fulvia reminded her.

"Wait, what?" Jenna said, eyes opened wide, then remembered that Rala had shaken her head in a negative gesture to not do what Katie had suggested, "What did you talk Katie out of suggestin', Rala?"

“That would be telling,” Rala said, smirking, before continuing with an amused tone to her voice, “but I will say that for just an instant I wasn’t sure which Kellerman was whispering in my ear.”

Katie stuck her tongue out. "I just thought you'd have a little fun if you danced a bit while you did it," she giggled, blowing Jenna a kiss.

The engineer shot the engineer Kellerman a dirty look before looking around at everyone else's pajamas. Rebecca was right out, as was Rala, they just wouldn't fit at all, either of them. Of the rest of them, most were wearing just oversized t-shirts and she couldn't see under them at all, which put her at risk of not having anything else but the shirt and maybe underwear. That left Sakura, Katie and Tessa, so she eyed each of them up and down. Sakura's would have been best, but the Asian woman was smaller than Jenna by a fair margin and Katie? No. Those shorts were skin-tight. "All right, come on Tessa, you and Ah are gonna go into the other room to switch."

Tessa shrugged and rose to her feet after a squeeze of Katie's shoulder, "Fine by me, I suppose!"

"Oh come on! That's no fair!" Katie and Kally both protested over each other. "C'mon we've all seen a naked girl before," Kally said. "Specifically and in general."

Jenna scowled at everyone else, but sighed in defeat, "Faine, here Ah guess." She began to unbutton the flannel shirt, angling herself so that the fewest people would see her in sports bra and panties.

Katie gave her boss a teasing wolf whistle and grinned lovingly at Jenna's scowl. "We're harlots but we're fun harlots," she teased in a loud whisper.

For her part, Tessa didn't hesitate, pulling her shirt over her head before shimmying out of the fairly loose shorts she also wore and ending up as naked as when she was born while she waited for Jenna to be ready to swap.

Rala had been about to take a sip of her water, but remembered her prior troubles with food and beverages during Dares so far tonight, and paused. She was glad she did. While the result probably wouldn’t have been as severe as the previous instances that evening, Tessa’s remarkably casual display of nudity was certainly unexpected.

Kally's eyebrows went far up seeing her protege and she gave her a wry grin. "No wonder Henry's been smiling so much," she teased.

"Damn, you dolls have been hiding out on us!" Fulvia called out.

Jenna heard the catcalls and turned her head to look at the Tialan and blushed heavily red, quickly finishing the buttons and reaching out behind her to hand the shirt to Tessa before stepping out of the flannel pants and holding her hand out for Tessa's outfit, quickly putting them on.

The engineer waited for a few seconds before turning around and sitting back down where she'd been before.

Katie slipped over to Jenna and gave her a huge hug. "I'm so proud of you," she said, kissing Jenna's cheek.

"All right, now that THAT'S out of the way," She scowled at Rala and Katie, "T'Vel, you can trust me either way, truth or dare?"

T'Vel knew her turn would be up sooner or later. She did indeed trust that Jenna would be fair. But a part of her—the part that responded so well to Kally's overtures in sickbay; the part that had her shifting her legs every so often in this group of gorgeous friends of hers—wondered what it would be like to be asked by someone more adventurous. Perhaps a subsequent round. "Truth."

"Truth? Seriously?" Fulvia asked.

"She has the choice," Sakura reminded her. "And Truth can sometimes lead to something more fun than Dare."

Jenna pondered for a few seconds as she tried to think of something that she could ask that would be in the spirit of the moment, "What is the wildest fantasy that you have had about someone that's in this room?"

T'Vel considered the question a moment, sipping her drink to buy herself a few more seconds.

"I am in her bed," T'Vel begins. "On my back. I am holding onto the bars of her headboard. She's instructed me to do this. She says if I let go, she'll stop."

"Kinky," Fulvia interjects.

"She's relentless," T'Vel continued, ignoring the comment. "Her fingers, her lips, her tongue... they've found each and every sensitive space." She absentmindedly closed her eyes. "She hovers her lips just above mine, just out of reach, taunting me to let go of the headboard so I can pull her close...but I resist. I don't let go. She smiles, gives me a gentle, loving kiss, calls me a good girl, and lets me come again. And again. And again."

She opened her eyes, she'd found that she'd been squeezing Kally's hand, while her other hand had been on her abdomen, sliding up toward her chest.

Kally squeezed her hand back and leaned in. "So, next Tuesday, then?" she whispered, low enough for T'Vel to hear her.

T'Vel bit her lip as even more colour came to her cheeks.

Kally's other hand went to Fulvia and squeezed her thigh, looking over and giving her a conspiratorial wink.

Jenna squirmed where she was as T’Vel had slowly but in exquisite detail answered her question for truth. While she wasn’t all that into other girls, this had sparked something within her. She tried to cover up the warmth she felt on her face and in her gut by settling deeper into the pillows, “Ah, um, Ah think that does it, T-T’Vel.” She said.

Rala had a similar reaction, although for her it was less unfamiliar; she’d always been more attracted to femininity. What did catch her off-guard was the intensity of her reaction. She did her best to hide it by taking another slow sip of her water, but she couldn’t help squirming in her seat slightly, and suddenly wished she had another layer of clothing covering her nether-regions.

Two people had not been asked yet. It was up to T'Vel to select either Sakura or Kally. Both were among her best friends. Both had been her lovers.

"Kally," she decided. "Truth or dare?"

Kally looked around the group. They all had a look on their faces like they knew what she'd pick. So, she had a choice: Dare, and confirm their assumptions, or Truth, and completely throw them off. Then again, there was a second layer to that. What truth could they ask of her that she hasn't already volunteered? It wasn't like she was shy. And what dare could they come up with that would in any way intimidate her?

Might as well lean into it. "Dare," she said, looking at T'Vel and smiling sweetly.

A very small smile crept up the corner of T'Vel's lips. An idea came into her head that might—might—give Kally pause. "I dare you to take a photo of yourself in the nude—"

A collective scoff and eye roll arose. "Like she doesn't have a dozen at the ready," Katie sassed.

"I don't, Jadizon does," Kally said, sticking her tongue out at Katie.

"—and," T'Vel continued, "send it to Commander Espersen. It can be cropped and sent anonymously if you prefer."

That got Kally's attention. The wheels in her head were turning fast and she looked at Katie who was giving her a warning look. "We already—"

"Yeah, we," Katie countered.

"So we double," Kally said.

"Can't, it's all you," Katie said.

"How would he know?" Kally said, then grinned as an idea came to her. "Go get your holocamera," she said, then crawled over Fulvia, kissing her along the way, jumping out of the dais to the floor and walked over to the replicator.

Katie looked unsure but also jumped out of the group bed and hurried out of Kally's quarters and ran down the corridor back to her own.

Kally said a few quiet words to the replicator and came back with a large, red cylinder.

"What are you up to out there?" Fulvia called out. "Good dare, by the way. Didn't know you had it in ya."

"Nor I," T'Vel admitted. "It appears something has inspired me."

"Whatever could it have been..." Sakura added, smirking.

"It's a logical dare from a logical Vulcan," Kally said, grinning. She quickly shucked her nightshirt and unfurled the cylinder into a long, red ribbon. "You did say nude, but you didn't say undecorated," she said, grinning. She quickly and expertly wrapped the ribbon around her hips, barely concealing anything, but tying it into a bow in front of her. As the doors to her quarters opened and Katie returned with her holocamera, Kally stepped back against the wall and tilted her head, putting on a 'cute' expression and making her eyes look larger and more innocent, adopting a look Katie had done many times. She clasped her hands demurely in front of her, accenting her bust, and smiled sweetly at the camera. "Ready," she said.

Katie sighed and aimed her camera, taking the picture. Kally came around to look at it and grinned. "Oh, stellar," she said with an evil giggle. "All right, we need to make sure he doesn't know which of us sent it."

"Leave that to me," Katie said, transferring the picture to the computer. She accessed the ship's messaging system and began creating enough dummy accounts and false trails that not even Jenna could have tracked where it came from. "Are we sending a message?" Katie said.

Kally nodded and typed quickly. Katie read it and shook her head. "Playing with fire."

"But we're covered either way," Kally said.

She hit the button and sent the picture. Grinning, she turned back, pulling the bow apart and dropping the ribbon from her hips before reaching over to grab her nightshirt and throwing it back on. She jumped back into the pile and snuggled up with Fulvia.

"What was your message?" T'Vel asked.

"Oh I sent a very logical message," Kally said. "'If you can guess who this is, you win the prize.'"

T'Vel raised an eyebrow. "And if he guesses? What then?"

"Well, if he guesses wrong, then that's that. Game over. If he guesses' right....well, he'll never admit he's right and he won't bother with the prize, so either way, I get the joy of torturing him." She grinned wickedly.

"You do torture him so well," Fulvia said, kissing Kally's cheek. She toed a line at the beach but this was all good fun.

Rala watched the exchange wordlessly, trying and failing not to squirm in her seat even more, and becoming rather glad she was unlikely to need to get up again any time soon. That thought caused her to frown slightly, wondering why she was having the reactions she was. She’d seen Kally naked before, along with Katie—and Calypso, for that matter—and even been the test-target for the teasing they’d ultimately directed at Espersen, and none of that had caused anything like this. She thought about it for a moment, realizing as she did that her thoughts were getting sluggish and slippery. ...Oh, she thought, realizing where those thoughts were leading, and decided to chalk up her reaction to the amount of wine she’d consumed.

"Now," Kally said, theatrically, sitting up with a look like a lion sizing up its next meal. "Sakura, my little gyoza, it is finally your turn. Truth, or Dare?"

“Hmmm…” Sakura said, considering. “Dare sounds fun. Dare!”

Tessa snuggled into the pillows within her new outfit and marveled at how warm they were. They'd probably get hot in most cases, but for now she was comfortable in the full coverage, aside from hands, head and feet. She finished the glass in her hand with a face of disappointment, then glanced around to see if someone had something else close. "Oh, Rala, it looks like you spilled your drink." She started to get up from the pillows, "I'll grab you a napkin or something."

“Oh, sweet girl,” said Fulvia, smiling at Tessa. “It’s—”

“Leave her be, Fulvia,” T’Vel said, quietly but firmly. “Tessa, could you…could you get me some too please?”

Rala glanced at Tessa, confused. “No I di—” She glanced down and stopped before quickly looking back up, her entire face darkening by several shades. Despite her efforts to surreptitiously hide it with her posture, her groin had become visibly damp. Not quite enough for the liquid’s viscosity or color to be apparent, but enough for its presence to be noticeable to anyone who happened to look there. “Um...” she said, glancing at Tessa, her face still burning, “yes, a napkin or two, please.”

"Or three", Kally said, giggling, causing Rala’s blush to deepen a touch further.

Tessa walked over to where there were several linen napkins and grabbed a few, bringing them over to T'Vel and Rala, even as she also acquired another drink for herself, it looked like some sort of punch and tasted rather fruity.

Rala took one of the napkins and started dabbing at her nether regions, to very limited effect. She sighed, mumbling “Might have to replace these,” under her breath before shifting to get more comfortable and frustratedly letting the half-crumpled linen napkin fall into her lap.

T'Vel for her part used one napkin to dab at the sweat on her forehead, and the other against her inner thighs. Not that the problem wasn't likely to return, but it at least helped her feel comfortable in the moment.

Katie grinned and winked at Rala. "Well, at least we know you're having a good time, hm?"

Rala glanced back at Katie, giving her a flat, unamused look before one corner of her mouth twitched upward into a wry smile and she halfheartedly flung the smallest loose pillow within reach at Katie’s face. “Not so much because of that, she said, “but yes, I am.”

Katie batted the pillow aside and grinned at Rala, winking.

Kally waited for the others to settle down while she thought, trying to get her booze-soaked brain to behave. "All right," she said to Sakura, sitting back. "Contact that hung, handsome khimik of yours—"

"You know she's getting drunk when she starts alliterating," Katie whispered to Jenna, snickering.

Kally shot her a look. "—and when he responds, you have five minutes to get him to say who he would want to join you two for a night, without outright letting him know that's what you're after."

Sakura grinned. “I can do this. But on a condition.”

“Which is?“ Kally said.

”Bradley is special to me,” Sakura insisted. “I won’t do something to endanger that. This dare is to have fun with me, but not at his expense. So none of you says anything. And none of you ever tells him about this.”

Rala made a show of clamping one hand around her muzzle.

“We love ya, doll,” Fulvia assured her. “No one will ruin this for you.”

”You have my word,” T’Vel added.

"Orkízomai aftá ston Día, ton Apóllona kai ti Dímitra, kai makári na écho pollá kalá prágmata an orkistó kalá, allá katastrofí gia ména kai tin oikogéneiá mou an orkistó athémita," the twins said solemnly, holding their left hands up and their right hands over their hearts.

Tessa looked at the twins and made a gesture towards them, “Whatever they said, and let me add that I swear on The Heart of Urd and Lind’s jiggling tits, Milady.” She giggled at what she said.

Rala, still with her hand clamping her mouth shut, shifted it to cover the snort of laughter at the young Tialan’s choice of words.

Jenna made a crossing gesture across her chest, “Ah wouldn’t breathe a word, Sakura, ‘twouldn’t be right and Ah could only imagine the horror.” Unlike most of the girls here, she glanced around, maybe all, she hadn’t had anything alcoholic at all.

The room collectively agreeing to her request, Sakura knew how to get the task done.

She had a plan.

Katie snapped her fingers at Kally for something to eat so her mouth would be too full to talk and stuffed it quickly.

Everyone quiet, she opened a comm channel. “Tanikawa to Sharpe.”

His voice came out of the speakers. ”Hey, Sakura. Don’t you have that girls night tonight?”

”I took a break to get some things from my room,” she replied. “I know you’re working tonight but I thought I’d call you while I was out.” She grinned. “Maybe mess with you a bit. Are you alone?”

There was a short pause. They heard the sound of a door lock. “Yeah. Why? What’s gotten into you?”

”Oh you know how these things go…” Sakura answered. “Truth or dare. Gets pretty wild. Gets pretty hot. It got me thinking of you. Of what I wanted to do with you when I next see you. You’re sure you’re alone?”

”Sakura, you can’t join me here,” Bradley insisted.

”Oh, no, of course not,” she assured him. Then her voice turned sultry. “Besides, the girls would miss me if I were gone too long. But that won’t stop me from teasing you over comms. Imagine.” She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “You’ve had a long shift and just got home. Your light doesn’t come on. When the door closes, the room is dark.”

Another deep breath. “You feel my hands on your shoulders. My touch is familiar. Comforting. My lips press against yours, softly. Just for a second. You can feel the heat from me as I fall to my knees.”

Over the comm line, they all heard a moan. He was getting into it.

“I open your uniform pants. You’re ready for me. Ready for my touch. Ready for my kiss.” Sakura makes an obscene sound as she sucks on her fingertips.

“Another tongue joins mine. What’s going on, do you think?”

”Huh?”

”It’s a fantasy, babe,” Sakura reinforces. “No judgment. It won’t change anything between us. Just a bit of fun. So…who joins me on my knees in front of you?”

There was a pause, and another moan, before a name was whispered. ”T’Vel…”

Fulvia’s eyes shot open and she grinned maniacally. It was too good to be true! She’d never leak a whisper of it, but it was as unexpected as it was hilarious!

T’Vel, for her part, remained stoic and calm. Outwardly at least. Inside her, things continued to heat up. In truth she was not interested in her roommate that way. But the idea that she played into someone’s fantasy was…titillating.

“That’s right,” Sakura said to him. “She has the most talented tongue, Bradley. I thought you should try it too.” She let out a sweet giggle. “I need to get back in with the others now, but keep that thought in mind. And come find me when your overnight shift ends. Bye, sweetie!”

The comm signal cut off and she let out a long sigh. “Well. Now we know, I guess.”

Rala listened to the conversation, the burning in her face and her issue downstairs both lessening but neither ceasing entirely. She glanced at T’Vel as the Vulcan was named, looking for some reaction. Had one of her eyebrows twitched? If so, it was subtle enough that Rala couldn’t be sure, and while she suspected T’Vel’s scent was contributing to the pheromonal mélange of aroused femininity that had begun permeating the room several minutes prior, she couldn’t be sure of that either. She carefully reached for her water and took another sip, wary of a potential repeat from earlier.

”I figured it would be Erika!” Fulvia said, finally letting herself laugh.

"Erika? Little Miss 'Quick Look Busy'?" Kally snickered.

“What he and Erika have is special,” T’Vel explained. “A friendship like tempered steel. One immune from sexualization.”

"Never heard of it," Kally quipped, sipping her drink.

“And you and he never…?” Fulvia asked.

T’Vel shook her head.

Kally whispered in T'Vel's ear until the Vulcan's skin turned a deeper green, then looked at Sakura. "You are far more wicked than I ever gave you credit for," she said, grinning. "And you are officially banned from any sleepover tonight. You are going to run to that darling man and not leave his quarters until he proposes."

Katie was looking at Sakura, mouth open in shock. Kally's gal pal or not, she didn't think the girl had it in her. Then again, don't dare a communications specialist to get someone to communicate something.

“You heard though,” Sakura said to Kally. “He’s busy alllllll night. Can’t get out of the work shift. Unless…” She turned to Rebecca and gave her the sweetest, most pathetic puppy-dog eyes she could muster.

Rebecca seemed to feign like she didn't know what was going on. "Hmmmm, well, someone said my Dare was lame. I don't know if I'm in the mood for generosity..... oh who am I kidding, I'm a big softie. I'll adjust the schedule." She offered with a smile.

"Eeeeee!" Sakura cheered, clapping excitedly. "Arigatō, Rebecca-chan!" She leaned down and kissed Rebecca on the cheek.

A few moments of PADD work later, Bradley was sent an alert stating that his shift would pre-emptively end in an hour.

Next she alternated between Katie and Kally. "Thank you both for hosting this." To Katie and to Jenna: "See you tomorrow."

She kissed Kally on the lips and then turned to T'Vel. "Can you unlock your quarters for me?"

T'Vel let out a sigh and verbally commanded the room to unlock for Sakura. "Please do not ruin any of the furniture."

"I can't promise I'll try," Sakura replied. "But I'll try to try." She kissed T'Vel and then sauntered out of Kally's quarters. Eager to get ready for her beau's return home.

Rala watched the exchange, still sipping her water. “You are all...much more liberal with gestures of affection than I’ve grown accustomed to since leaving Draakrona,” she said.

"Welcome to the Chimera, Rala." Jenna muttered, "Ship of the liberal affections." She took another sip of her very non-alcoholic drink.

Kally sat back and sighed. "I hope I'm a bridesmaid," she said, grinning at Fulvia.

“Why do you call Erika that?” Fulvia asked Kally.

"What? Little Miss 'Quick Look Busy'?" Kally repeated. "She's always working on something. I don't know what it is, because fuck knows we don't have enough crew to warrant nonstop paperwork for her. Once 1500 comes and goes, she's got literally nothing to do. I usually have her assist Henry. But whenever I walk by, she's typing away like she's writing a novel. When I've peeked it's always some kind of report she's working on."

“You know she’s writing about you, right?” Fulvia said, smirking. “She’s got a whole collection of short stories.”

“They are quite compelling,” T’Vel added, still flustered and now made to think of those stories…

Kally choked on her drink. "She's what? She's writing short stories? About...me?"

"Ohhh boy...." Katie said, giggling hard, her mind racing.

"They better be about the super cool doctor who swash-buckles her way through the galaxy, and not the evil boss she's constantly solving the murder of," Kally said. "Gonna have to put that girl over my knee, and not in a good way."

“Yeah, they’re not about that,” Fulvia said, stifling a laugh. “It’s almost all erotica, about different crewmembers. Either her closest friends, or her superiors. Anyone she knows would be fine with it, or at the very least punching up." She took a sip her drink. "I feature a bit. The Captain features a lot. But the longest ongoing story of hers is you and Espersen.”

Both twins immediately did a spit take, soaking their pajamas and choking on their drinks. As Jenna pounded on Katie's back, T'Vel attended to Kally. "Are you," Kally gasped, "kidding me?"

Fulvia took the PADD that she’d been allowed to use earlier, retrieved one of the stories, and showed it to Kally. “Like Ears here said, it’s pretty good stuff. Mister E knows it exists but as far as I can tell hasn’t read it.”

Katie jumped off the bed and went to Kally's bedroom to steal a clean shirt while Kally read through the padd. "Wow......holy shit....." She raised an eyebrow. "She has a very accurate impression of his equipment, not to mention my stamina," Kally said, continuing to read, her knees subconsciously rubbing together. "She's....a good writer," she said.

Katie came out and jumped back into the pillows, giving a brief apology. "Good writer?" she said, parroting the piece she'd overheard.

Kally tossed Katie the padd and also jumped out of the pile and onto the floor, shucking her nightshirt as she headed for her room.

"Wow......holy shit....." Katie echoed. She nestled down further into the pillows, her legs moving like a cricket as she kept reading.

Kally reemerged a moment later in a long green shirt like T'Vel's and reclaimed her spot, kissing T'Vel on the cheek, and pinching Fulvia on the ass. "Could've gone the rest of my life not knowing that," she said.

Fulvia squealed at the pinch. "I think it's fun. And remember that thing I did with my pinky last week? The one that made your eyes roll up into your skull? That came from a story."

"And she has respected others' wishes," T'Vel added. "She told me she questioned whether Nurse Taylor would be okay if she could include him in a story. So she asked, he declined, and she never pursued it further."

"Besides, Angelface, you can use this," Fulvia joked. "Espersen knows these stories exist. He hasn't put a stop to them. I could get him to actually read one. Imagine what would happen if you said to him some of the dialogue. It'd blow his mind!"

"More than his mind," T'Vel quipped.

Kally snickered and her grin returned. "You make a point," she said, squeezing T'Vel's thigh. She looked over at Katie and held out a hand. "Okay, let me see that padd."

Katie kept reading, biting her lower lip, her eyes moving rapidly.

"Kat," Kally said, sharply, trying to get her attention. "C'mon, hand it over."

"Hang on...couple more paragraphs...." Katie said, a bit breathlessly. "It's just getting good."

"Katie!" Kally said. "Hand it over!"

"Hang on!" Katie said. "Some of your dialogue here is good stuff! We should try this with Jadizon."

Kally jumped over T'Vel, launching herself at her sister. "Gimme!" she said, reaching for the padd.

"Wait your turn!" Katie said, holding it out of her sister's reach, a difficult endeavor, since they had the same arm span. Her only advantage was that Kally hadn't quite climbed all the way over to her. Over the course of 26 years, their sibling-rivalry wrestling matches were rare, but Katie had usually held her own in keeping what was in her hands. This time, however, Kally was fighting to win as they rolled back and forth between Jenna and T'Vel.

"Give!"

"No!"

"Hand it over, Katarina!"

"I'm not done with it, Kalliope!"

Kally froze mid grab, straddling Katie's hips and her hand on the PADD. "Ty ser'yezno, Katarina?" she said, now sounding genuinely upset. "Malo togo, chto ty rasskazala eto Dzhadizonu, tak yeshche i vsya gruppa dolzhna byla eto uslyshat'?"

Katie looked defiant, then confused. "Wovon redest du? Ich habe Jadizon nie deinen vollständigen Namen verraten!"

Kally frowned, then grabbed the padd and hopped out of the pile, walking to her bedroom and placing it safely hidden inside. She came back out and sat back down in her spot, face red and scowling at her sister.

Rala had started to rise from her seat to try to break up the squabble—or at least make sure Rebecca was out of harm’s way—a sharp “Girls!” forming in her throat, when the shouted name caused the two to stop. Rala froze as well, half-standing, glancing between them as they exchanged a string of untranslated words, then settled back down uneasily as Kally all but stormed off to her bedroom.

When Kally had returned, Rala looked between them again, noting the tension and Kally’s expression. “Um...” she began, cautiously, “...is...everything okay?”

"Everything's fine," Kally said, while Katie said, "Evidently not."

“Listen, Dolls,” Fulvia said, trying to contribute to de-escalation. “This obviously seems to be a sticky point for you two. But we love ya. And if Sakura could trust us all not to mess with her about Bradley, you can trust us not to mess with you about this.” How much of their exchange did she understand? Kally probably knew that she had an implanted UT (Ferengi did good business on Iotia!), but Katie probably didn’t. It didn’t matter. A gangster was only as good as her word.

"It's complicated, not sticky," Kally said, "it's just...the issue is..."

"She hates her name," Katie said, exasperated.

Kally shot her a look. "I don't hate my name," she said. "I hate people knowing my name." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "It sounds so stupid when I say it like that." She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, looking at Katie.

"Same," Katie said.

Rebecca thought that both the names were rather lovely. Certainly more exotic than 'Rebecca', though she did go to study a rare and deadly phenomenon specifically so that everyone would know her name. A redemption for such a simple, background name.

Rala looked at Kally, tilting her head in a combination of mild confusion and concern. “I...want to ask why, but it’s clearly something personal and I don’t want to pry.”

Kally shook her head and gave Rala an apologetic grin. "It's okay, you're fine to ask. It's this stupid childhood thing. There was an ancient calliope that would play in town parades and as soon as our classmates learned what it was called, suddenly I'm equated with it. They'd start making musical sounds when I tried to talk. The Terrans who moved there would make comments about a 'circus' and...yeah it bugged me. So I started going by Kally, and got annoyed when anyone called me 'Kalliope' in public, because I didn't want the bullshit to start again. As we all got older and the pridurki moved away, it became less of an issue, but I just...kind of got used to being 'Kally.' That's me, if that makes sense."

Rala felt her heart crumble a bit, and even as Kally was finishing speaking, the Draakri was making her way across the pillow pit, gesturing for T’Vel to scoot aside. She settled down next to Kally and wrapped her in a four-armed hug. “Now hear this,” she said softly, “I'm confident that I can speak for every soul in this room when I say that none of us think that name is anything to make fun of, nor would we dream of doing so.”

Kally hugged Rala back tightly. "Thanks, Rala," she said. "I appreciate it."

"We certainly wouldn't do it in public—" Katie started, then cut off quick as Rala’s pupils narrowed slightly and she gave Katie a glare that very clearly said ‘not now, shut up’ at the same time Jenna reached out and smacked her on the arm to disrupt her.

"Don't even." Jenna hissed in her ear, "Or else." The look in her eyes didn't even tempt defiance of the usually gentle engineer.

“Personally,” Rala continued, “I think it's pretty, and it suits you. But if you want to keep it secret, then secret it shall stay, because it's not our secret to tell.” She relaxed the hug and pulled back enough to look Kally in the face. “And should, somehow, that name fall into the ears of anyone who would misuse it, you know you've got a whole crew of friends—” she gestured around the room with one arm, “—who are perfectly willing to make them regret doing so.”

Kally gave Rala a smile. "Thanks," she said, warmly. She looked at Fulvia. "And I do trust you, all of you," she said, looking around at each of them. "Just...got a bit irrational there. It's probably the alcohol." She turned behind Rala, grabbing a bottle and poured herself another water.

"I agree with Rala; 'Kalliope' fits you," Katie said. "It means 'beautiful voice' and when you sing that describes you perfectly. Definitely more fitting than my name."

Kally smiled. "Yeah well, that's mostly my fault."

"You do know that the Captain's middle name is Calliope, don'tcha?" Jenna asked in amusement, "Ah'm sure that you and she make beautiful music together, am Ah right?"

Kally eyed Jenna and leaned back between Fulvia and Rala. "Oh, most assuredly we have," she said. "If our relationship gets any more formal, I'll have to renounce my status as a 'harlot'." She gave Jenna a pointed look.

Katie blushed hard and scowled at Kally. "You said you thought it was funny!"

"Oh, hysterical," Kally said, dryly, then stuck her tongue out at both of them.

"You and the Captain?" Jenna said, "An item? Ah dare say Ah couldn't imagine her settlin' down with any one person!"

“Wait,” Rala said, glancing with from Jenna to Kally with a look of mixed confusion and surprise. “You and...” she trailed off, her gaze shifting to nothing in particular and her eyes unfocusing as facts snapped together like puzzle pieces. Her current and growing friendship with both Kally and Calypso, the feelings for both of them that she’d only just realized the true extent of, and the new knowledge that they were apparently in a fairly serious relationship with each other...the thoughts prompted by that combination definitely warranted further examination, but that would have to wait for another time.

It was only at that point that Rala realized that she was now sitting next to one of those two women she had...call them what they were, crushes on, two arms still gently wrapped around her, and that she’d moved across the circle to comfort Kally having effectively forgotten all about that crush until just then. “...huh. Interesting,” she said lamely, trying to hide just how much she was actually interested in the news and trying to appear relaxed, although she couldn’t be sure how successful she was.

Tessa looked up from her drink and gave Kally a look, "What's a harlot?" She asked, then looked over to Katie, "And what do YOU mean that her name is more fitting than yours?"

"One who bonds for the fun of it," Kally said. "And 'Katarina' means 'pure.' Not a word that describes either of us. Well, maybe Katie's heart at least." She gave her sister a smile.

Katie blew her a kiss, then elbowed Jenna. "Believe me, it's a shock for either of them to even think about settling down." She adopted a stage whisper and pretended to speak privately into Jenna's ear. "Compared to how she started, she's practically become a nun!"

Kally rolled her eyes and grabbed something to eat to help sober herself up.

"Bonding for the fun of it?" Tessa asked, glancing around the rest of the girls, "You do that? It's not just for procreation?" Her face turned thoughtful at the thought.

“Henry is in soooo much trouble,” Kally whispered to Rala.

Rala’s ear twitched. She started to glance at Kally for an instant before shifting the glance to Tessa, suppressing a chuckle, one arm reflexively giving Kally a slight squeeze without consciously intending to.

“Oh, sweetie,” Fulvia said to Tessa. “Almost all ‘bonding’—wait, why are we calling it that?—almost all fucking isn’t for procreation. We do it for a lot of reasons!”

"I was attempting to be gentle with the uninitiated," Kally muttered under her breath to Fulvia.

“Intimacy and love with a partner,” T’Vel said. “Or simply for physical gratification.”

“Also, Tessa, we’ve been talking a lot about sex between two women,” Fulvia reminded her. “Kally and the Captain. Kally and me—"

"Kally and I, Kally and T'Vel, Kally and Sakura—," Katie muttered, dodging a pillow Kally threw at her.

"Not to suggest a theme, doll, sorry,” Fulvia quickly said to the woman next to her. “Plus T’Vel’s fantasy involved someone in the room. These aren’t procreative acts, sweets. It’s all about feelin’ good, pure and simple.”

“It is more than that,” T’Vel insisted. “But that is a significant part of it, yes.”

“Ooh, talk dirty to me,” Fulvia teased, moving around Kally and Rala to sit next to T'Vel and put her hand on her thigh, getting a snort of laughter from Kally.

"Well, yes, but between two women happens so that no child is conceived by accident." Tessa objected.

"I told Cally there was a reason," Kally quipped.

"Bonding is between those of the opposite sex," Tessa finished.

"Not in my experience," Fulvia said under her breath.

"I'll admit, I've never had any experience with anyone." Tessa took another drink of this one, "Read about it, yes, but never in person myself."

“Reading about it can be most stimulating,” T’Vel agreed.

"Christ, we're back on that," Kally muttered.

“But it is not the same thing," T'Vel continued, shooting Kally a look. "Be conscious of that when experiencing it for the first time. Whatever you read, it will be different. It may feel euphoric, or it may feel awkward and strange, at least until you two figure out how best to pleasure yourselves and each other. It will be unique. But importantly it will be yours.”

"Fortunately, you've got yourself a boyfriend who is nothing if not detail-oriented," Kally said. "So when that first time finally happens, I'm sure he'll be gentle and patient." She took a long drink of her water. "Assuming you don't just tear his clothes off and tackle him." She gave Tessa a grin.

"The important part is WHEN you do it, you do it for the right reasons. I know I'm literally in the minority here but sex for the wrong reason could ruin the moment, and could even put you off your game forever." Rebecca added.

“Well, none of you have the need to provide an heir for a barony, do you?” Tessa asked with a flip of a hand, “Normally I would have been kept on planet until such time as I bore one, but since the place still needs to be built, and Mother helped me get off planet, I can explore out here while I do it!”

"Well you're definitely on the right ship for exploration," Kally said, raising her glass. "Lord knows, Henry probably can't wait to set sail," she snorted and giggled.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Well we don't need to provide an heir to a barony, no, but Kally and I definitely have parents who want to be grandparents. So there's that."

“Grandchild Production is my big brother’s job!” Fulvia said. “Me and my sister both went into Starfleet and show no evidence of pairing up with an opposite-sex partner for marriage and babies.”

T’Vel put her head onto Fulvia's shoulder. “Children will one day be expected of me. But not for a long time.”

"Not much we can do to help with that," Katie said.

"Not without a miracle," Kally added, then looked at T'Vel. "How long until it's....'time'?"

“I am due for a Pon Farr next year,” T’Vel admitted. “But that’s not it. I’m the eldest daughter. One day it will be expected that I continue the line as a matriarch. But I have been…permitted to serve in Starfleet for however long as is appropriate until I will be ordered to Vulcan to marry and procreate.”

Picking up a hint of distress from the Vulcan, Rala lifted one of her free arms and placed it gently around T’Vel’s shoulders.

T'Vel responded by placing one hand over Rala's and squeezing it gently.

Rala scratched the side of her snout in thought. “I hadn’t really thought much about it being different for other species until now, but procreation, or the avoidance of it, isn’t really something Draakri consider when choosing partners. Any of us can theoretically bear the eggs of any other, we don’t generally consider lineage to be terribly important, and contraception is a simple matter; so for us it really just comes down to who and what one likes, and finding another who reciprocates.”

She frowned, and continued, “If I may be blunt for a moment without causing offense...” she waved her one free hand vaguely, “...this talk of being expected by family and society to reproduce...I’d probably never say so in more formal—or sober—company, but it just feels wrong to me. Whether or not one chooses to do so, and with whom, should be no one’s business but their own.”

"I'll drink to that!" Fulvia cheered, raising her glass to Rala. "No one's taking Ears away from us without her consent. Even if I have to marry her myself to make sure of it!"

"Besides," Kally said, "whatever husband she chooses, we can drag his ass out here with us! Lord knows he'd enjoy himself!" She clinked glasses with Fulvia. "And I happen to make a fantastic Aunt with little ones around." She pointed at T'Vel. "So there you have it: you can matriarch right here with us."

T'Vel was looking away from Fulvia, but those sitting across from her would have first seen her eyebrow shoot up, followed by a small smile coming to her lips and another flush of green coming to her cheeks.

She gave Rala's hand another squeeze before gently nudging her away, so she could lie down with her head on Fulvia's thigh.

The Iotian absentmindedly started stroking T'Vel's hair. "Hey should we break out Sakura's mani-pedi kit? I've got the perfect shade in mind for Jenna."

Rala merely returned Fulvia’s toast with a nod and a smile, having left her water out of reach, giving T’Vel one last comforting pat on the shoulder as she withdrew her arm. “Yes, probably best get into that now, before we lose all our hand-eye coordination,” she replied. “We still haven’t even touched the booze I brought, which will probably make precision work nigh-impossible.”

Jenna stretched and somehow reached the kit that Sakura hadn’t taken with her when she’d departed all giddily, “And what color, pray tell, are you thinkin’ of, Fulvia? Ah ain’t wearing’ neon green!” She laughed at the thought of it.

Fulvia laughed. “No, doll, there’s a shade that matches the warp core perfectly. It’s Sakura’s second favourite, after the electric pink.” She held T’Vel’s hand and deftly played with her fingers. “Ears here gets the green. But it’s a deep forest green, nothin’ too bright.”

T’Vel looked up at Rala. “You mentioned the drink you brought. May I ask what it is?”

“Rrathka,” Rala replied, the rolled R’s having a slight growl-like quality. She pointed to the cylindrical container still sitting where she’d put it when she arrived. “One of my favorite alcoholic beverages from home. Apparently tastes like ‘French toast’; high enough alcohol content to knock you on your tail if you’re not careful. Can be replicated, but it’s never quite as good. Folks back home gave me three of those when I left Draakrona. By the end of my first year at the Academy, I was down to two. The second one lasted until graduation. I’ve been trying to save the third for particularly special occasions. I cracked it open for the first time at that Halloween party last year; the twins had some and, as I recall, quite enjoyed it.” She gave Kally a slight squeeze, glancing first at her and then across the circle at Katie.

Kally's eyes lit up. "Oh hell yes! That stuff?" She looked at Tessa. "Someone hold the girl back; she'll chug the bottle." She snickered.

"I will not!" Tessa blurted out as Kally teased her, "But I would definitely be interested in trying some of it out! If, that is, Lady Rala is willing to let me?"

"How much is left?" Katie said.

“Yes, little one, you can have some,” Rala said to Tessa, “but we’re not breaking that open just yet, and when we do we’re starting you with no more than half a glass.” She looked back at Katie. “There’s about two-thirds of that cylinder left,” Rala continued. “I figured tonight would be the perfect night to break it out.”

"Prost!" Katie said, while Kally raised her glass. "Za!" she shouted.

Jenna raised her glass as well, though she had no intention of trying it, or at least not more than a tiny amount, "Hear, hear!" She added to the cacophony.

Rebecca raised her little glass, "Hip hip!"

"Hooray!" Katie finished, giggling.

“Dif-tor” T’Vel said.

“Cheers, all!” Fulvia added with a cheer, taking a bottle of deep red nail polish, as well as a forest green. She wiggled her toes. “Alright, now that the kit is out, can someone do me, while I do Ears here?”

"Happy to!" Kally said, moving over next to Fulvia, then looked at Katie. "What did that Terran from our Federation History class call that? A Bermuda-something?"

"Bermuda Triangle," Katie said. "But I'm 60% sure Fulvia's talking about her nails."

"Only 60%?" Kally said, helping Fulvia set up the materials.

"Who the hell can tell with you three?" Katie said, sticking her tongue out and snuggling up with Jenna.

“I was talking about the nails,” Fulvia clarified, “but the night is young.”

"Patience, dear," Kally said, kissing Fulvia's cheek.

T’Vel tried in vain to hide the colour of her cheeks. “I can paint someone’s nails if they like.”

Jenna had one arm wrapped around Katie and decided that she'd be patient and get her nails done later, but Tessa bounced up and smiled at T'Vel. "I'll volunteer for you to experiment on!" she told the Vulcan. "I was thinking something blue would look good on me?"

"Something to match her eyes," Kally suggested.

Rala managed not to frown as Kally moved away again. “I’ve never had my claws painted before,” She started, before correcting herself, “...well, not by anyone who knew what they were doing. I let one of the younglings in my villa—one of the younger younglings; I was still getting called that myself—have a go at them once; she chose the most atrocious shade of yellow and made an absolute mess of them, but she had fun. I removed it as soon as I got home. Thankfully I didn’t see her again for the better part of a month, or I’d have had to explain why it was gone already.”

Kally snickered. "Remember when we did Papa's nails?" she said, looking at Katie.

Katie let out a laugh. "Oh yeah! We were, what? Five? Six?"

"Six," Kally confirmed. "And it was atrocious."

"Bubblegum pink if I recall," Katie said. "And we couldn't stay on the nail, so half his fingers were pink." She let out a long giggle at the memory.

Rala gave a giggle of her own. “Yeah, that’s about what happened to me, just with an even less flattering color.”

“My sister and I did something similar to our Old Man,” Fulvia said as she started painting T’Vel’s toes. “He took it like a champ. Showed up to a Family meeting the next day with bright purple fingernails. One schmuck snickered and Pa got in his face. ‘Oh you think this is funny, do ya? Do I amuse you? Hey Tony, what do these mean?’ And you know what Tony said?”

“I expect you’ll tell us,” said T’Vel as she painted Jenna’s toenails a green the same shade as her eyes.

“Tony says, ‘it means you’re the richest man here, Sammy’. Isn’t that sweet?”

"That really is!" Tessa agreed from her spot in the pillows, "Not something that I'd ever have heard on Tial from my own father." She smiled fondly, "Though he always spoiled me, I think something like this would have been more fun."

"Our papa spoiled us as well," Kally said, carefully turning Fulvia's nails a deep, lustrous red. "He built our bedroom in the attic himself, made it our own little world to hide in, and was constantly making toys for us when we were little. Mama would scold him sometimes for being too soft when we'd say 'pleeeeeeeeeease' and he'd just give this big sigh and smile at us and acquiesce to whatever perfectly reasonable childish demand we had." She shared a glance with Katie. "It's a wonder we didn't break him asking for horse rides after he was done in the fields."

"Ach du lieber Himmel!" Katie said. "Papa has the strength of an ox, to put up with us like that," she sighed, her head drooping on Jenna's shoulder.

“Oooh, that’s a pretty color,” Rala said, looking at where Kally was working on Fulvia’s hands. She gestured for the kit to be passed to her and looked through it, finding a bottle that fairly closely matched the natural dark purple color of her own claws. “Alright, who wants to do mine?” she asked, then held up the bottle she’d found and continued, “And who wants to look a bit like me?”

"I'll do it!" Katie said, sitting up and somewhat lurching towards Rala. "Okay...purple on purple?"

Rala lifted her two of her unoccupied hands toward Katie, concerned for the other woman’s stability. “Easy there. I think Kally might not be the only one who could use a short break from the booze.”

"I do not need a booze from the break, much you very thank," Katie said, then grinned and giggled. "Just kidding. I'm all good. Takes a bit more than this to get me incapacitated."

"I think that the purple may be for me?" Tessa asked, leaning forward out of her own set of pillows, "But I'll let you paint Rala's claws! That way I don't mess those up!"

"Oh so you'll put the pressure on me? Thanks so much," Katie said.

Jenna laughed at the trio of them, shifting towards T'Vel to give her better access to finishing her toes, and now that her hands were free, those as well.

“Alright, little one,” Rala said, looking across T’Vel, Fulvia, and Kally to smile at the young Baroness, “climb over here where I can reach you,” said, scooting a bit to make room. “Katie?” She turned back to the other twin and presenting her with the kit. “Pick something you think will look good on me. No yellows.”

"Well, there go my first and third choices," Katie said, looking through the kit. "Ah! Here we are." She pulled out a bottle and gave it a shake. "Copper should pop nicely."

Tessa extricated herself from her current spot in the pillows to unsteadily take the few steps over to Rala and letting herself fall next to her, bringing her legs on the rebound over onto the Draakri's lap to give access to her toes and proffering her hands elegantly, "Something else I've never had done, too 'gaudy' I was always told!" She said with a giggle.

“Gaudy?” Rala asked incredulously, rolling the bottle of nail polish between her upper two hands as she held the lower-right out to Katie. She took Tessa’s left hand in her lower-left, and opened the bottle, wiping the excess off inside the rim and carefully covering the young girl’s thumbnail with a coat of deep purple. “Have they not discovered how the right shade of claw—er, nail color can perfectly accent nearly any outfit?”

"You should've seen Tessa's bodyguard when she caught me putting lipstick on Tessa," Kally said. "I thought she was going to have a heart-attack at first."

“Back home, and rest assuredly I’m not there, appearances are to be maintained at all times, and a lack of embellishment is the norm.” Tessa was patient as she observed what was going on. “To draw attention to one’s self is to make yourself a potential target for snide remarks. Armor is one thing, it can be used to designate authority even if not a priest of Bey who have chevron tattoos under their eyes, as well as to show guards, ‘Hey, I’m here to be protected’, but glamour?” She glanced around briefly, “I’m not supposed to be aware of the umm… ‘People of Opportunity’ that have establishments that are completely nondescript for those who indulge in other pleasures, but those individuals tend to have ways of being identified, such as…” She waved the two fingers Rala had completed, “Painted nails in bright colors, attention-catching makeup, brightly colored swatches of hair. You know, and never out in the center of the town, only in those areas away from main thoroughfares. Always Sentar, but not solely catering to them.”

The twins looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Not always Sentar, Kally thought, but held her tongue.

"Well, good news," Katie said. "You could have a career there after all," she said, smiling at Kally as she began decorating Rala's claws with a spiral design around them.

"Idi na khuy," Kally said, sweetly, back at her sister. "But good to know some things truly are a universal constant."

“I’ve always liked the bright swatches of hair,” Fulvia said as she put the finishing touches on T’Vel’s toes. “There’s something about a hint of pink under a dark tress that makes a girl’s heart skip a beat. You’d look great with a neon green stripe, Ears.”

She kissed the bottom of T’Vel’s right foot. “There, all done. Just keep ‘em elevated for a bit. Want help with that?”

T’Vel shot her a look, but also didn’t say no. Instead she just said “Thank you.” She continued on Jenna. “Almost done. This colour looks rather nice.”

"It does!" Jenna agreed, wiggling the toes of the one foot that was already done and drying, "Ah'm gonna have to come back to you whenever Ah need them done again, T'Vel, you do a great job with these."

Rala finished with Tessa’s left hand and started working on her right. “Okay, give that a few minutes to set, and be careful not to let anything touch it in the meantime, or you’ll mess it up—at least, if this is anything like the claw paint my people have.”

Tessa looked at the wet polish on her fingertips and then remembered she couldn't compare it to her skin tone with the flannel pajamas on and grinned, "This really does look good, I think I like it! An won't Henry be surprised when I show him?"

“I’m glad you like it,” Rala said with a smile, giving the girl’s knee a gentle squeeze. “And yeah, I bet he will.” She glanced to her other side to see Katie finishing up with the hand she’d been working on. “Ooh, copper spirals? I love it, thank you.”

Katie beamed. "You're welcome. Swap places and I'll get the other two?"

“Hold on, let me finish up with Tessa first.” Rala returned her attention to the young girl briefly, painting the last two fingers’ nails. “There we go,” she said, closing the bottle and holding up her own unpainted claws for comparison. “Not an exact match, but fairly close. And look!” She brought over her other hands, showing off Katie’s work. “Katie did a good job, don’t you think?”

"I think you're right!" Tessa said with glee, admiring first Rala's claws and then her own fingers again, "This is just amazing!"

Rala smiled before turning back to Katie and standing up. “Okay, swap time.”

Katie rolled around her and sat on her other side. She gave the bottle a quick shake again and then took Rala's other hands, carefully making similar swirl patterns on each one. "Our mother taught us how to do small designs on our nails when we were young," she said. "And then Kally and I would paint them on each other's nails."

"Papa hoped we'd choose different looks so they could tell us apart," Kally snickered. "Rarely happened."

"Not a problem we have back at home," Tessa said after she'd switched sides from Katie on Rala, "Twins happen oh... Once a decade at the most? Every fifteen-twenty years? Always an omen or something involved, but never identical, except that one time."

"They're not exactly common for Humans either," Kally said. "But it does run in our family."

“Twins are rare on Iotia but not ‘every fifteen years’ rare,” Fulvia said, stretching her body out on the pillowed floor. “We have an old folk tale of a Boss whose wife gave birth to identical twin boys. He decided to try something big and crazy. He told the world he had only one son and for most of their lives no one but he and his wife saw both at the same time. One would be involved in a major move against an enemy while the other was doing something public. A perfect alibi. ‘I know it was your boy!’ the target would cry, but a third party would step in to say ‘What are you on about, Enzo? He was having dinner with my daughter at Pastanini’s on Third.’ It worked for years…until it didn’t, of course.”

"Professor Espersen has some similar theories about us," Penny said, looking pointedly at Kally as they finished Rala's nails.

Kally ignored the stare and cleared her throat for attention. "Ladies, I am getting dangerously close to being blind, stinking sober." She looked at Rala. "I think it's time we break out the good stuff."

Rala jabbed a finger at Kally. “When you’re right, you’re right.” She stood up, careful not to smudge her freshly-painted claws, and climbed out of the circle. Stepping over to where she’d left her keg of rrathka, she picked it up and pressed a release switch, allowing four telescoping legs to deploy. Then she found some clean glasses and poured a moderate amount of the dark brown beverage into three of them.

Turning back to the circle, she handed a glass to each of the twins, and the third to Tessa. She held her grip on the latter for a second, giving the young Baroness a serious look. “Remember, take it slow with this stuff, it will affect you more strongly and quickly than you expect.” Then she released the glass and turned back to the keg to start serving whoever else wanted some.

"Yeah, Tessa. Careful, careful, dear," Kally teased, taking a good-sized chug. "Oh...that is heaven," she said, taking another sip and sitting back with Katie.

"Agreed," Katie said, clinking her glass with Kally's and then downing her share in two gulps before going back for more.

Rala poured a glass for herself and set it aside, then turned to see Katie holding out her glass for a refill. “Stars, Katie,” she said, taking the glass and pouring a smaller amount before handing it back with a smirk. “Give everyone else a chance to get some first.”

"Giving everyone a chance is for vodka and wine. This is every girl for herself!" She took another long drink and smiled happily.

Tessa rolled her eyes at Kally as she took a sip of the drink and her eyes opened wide at the taste. There was absolutely no alcoholic taste and a quick glance at Rala made her really wonder if it truly had any in there. It was sweet and smooth and she took two quick but large swallows from her glass before she just started to swirl it in there to make it look like she had more left than she actually had, "Mmm..."

“That smells quite nice,” T’Vel observed as she sniffed the drink that Rala had given her.

“Tastes even better,” Fulvia said after having a sip. “You and this drink are match made in heaven, Ears. Give it a try. I’d say ‘bottoms up’ but Rala said to take it slow. Besides, that’s later.”

Kally reached over and clinked her glass with Fulvia's grinning.

T’Vel raised an eyebrow but brought the glass to her lips. The flavour profile was indeed quite pleasant! “I am curious about the warning though. I’m having trouble detecting any alcohol at all.”

"That's what makes it so insidious," Kally said. "You think you're fine and then wham!" She sat up quickly, getting a squeal of shock from Katie who had been leaning on her and suddenly fell back. However, being the professional she was, Katie managed to avoid spilling a drop. "Plus, the way Vulcans react to sucrose? That glass alone is going to curl your hair." She reached over and patted T'Vel's knee. "But don't you worry, sweetie. You and Fulvia can stay here tonight. You know...for safety."

“Oh of course,” Fulvia said, mock-serious. “Safety first, that’s what T’Vel and I are always saying, right Ears?”

T’Vel swallowed, nodded, and took another sip.

"Ooooooo, just a little for me please. I might have to drive folks home." Rebecca giggled at the joke, the ancient concept of the designated driver. Truth be told, she arrived here in someone's cleavage, she'd probably be leaving in a similar fashion. All that bouncing would not do well on a temperamental tummy. Best to play it safe.

Katie, now having recovered her sitting position and having given Kally an elbow to the ribs, raised her glass at Rebecca. "Don't worry, I have you covered," she said. "Besides, either way you're going to jostle all the way home." She jumped a bit, making her chest bounce and snickered, the first glass putting her in giggle mode.

Rala retrieved one of the miniature cups sized for Rebecca, and carefully measured a few drops of rrathka into it. “Please be careful; I’m even less sure how this will interact with your...unique situation,” she said, passing it to the tiny science officer.

Rebecca accepted the cup carefully, "Well thank you. I'll keep you appraised as to the side effects." and at Katie's gesture, hop, and jiggle... Rebecca gave a giggle. "Covered, right~"

Fulvia leaned in close to T’Vel when she caught the Vulcan’s eyeline. She spoke at a low volume. “Enjoying the show?”

“I—” T’Vel started to stammer.

“It’s alright, it’s a good show,” Fulvia agreed, still speaking so only T’Vel could hear. “And who doesn’t love sexy twins?”

“It is my understanding,” T’Vel said back, keeping the same low voice, “that twins are a common feature in fantasies.”

Fulvia smirked and wrapped her arm around T’Vel’s shoulder. “Imagine what it must be like for that Jadizon guy.”

“Fulvia…” T’Vel said in a whisper. “This is all getting to be a bit much…” She bit her lower lip, trying to maintain composure.

“Good things come to those who wait,” Fulvia assured her. “And I don’t think you’ll need to wait long…”

"We can hear you, you know," the twins said in unison both taking a drink, but both smiling at T'Vel.

Fulvia chuckled and rubbed T’Vel’s back. “I, ah, guess Rala’s drink made us thought we were quieter than we were. But that’s okay. Loud can be good.”

As some went for a hefty second round (and in Katie's case a third) Kally was enjoying the warm feeling spreading through her as the alcohol kicked in. She looked around at her friends and gave a sappy smile, then saw Tessa who was staring at....something....with a lopsided grin. "Tessa, sweetie? Doing okay over there?"

Between enjoying her own glass of rrathka, serving everyone else, and the picture her imagination conjured up when she overheard Fulvia and T’Vel’s conversation—which was even more difficult than usual to dismiss in her inebriated state—Rala had failed to notice Tessa claiming Jenna’s unfinished drink.

Tessa had relieved Jenna of her cup of the rrathka when the human decided it was too cloyingly sweet for her after draining her own and done a fair job of imitating a fish as she'd downed this one rather quickly as well. Now she was basically staring off into space. "'m fine," she slurred slightly, overcorrecting her look over to Kally and looking at Katie instead. "Thash a pretty unc-unc-uncicorn over there!" She pointed at a stuffed animal that was absolutely not a unicorn.

Fulvia followed with her eyes to where Tessa was pointing. “Unicorn?”

"An imaginary Earth animal," Kally said. "I think Henry was talking about them at one point."

Rala swept her gaze around the circle, trying to focus on counting glasses. She had to start over twice before finally realizing there was none by Jenna and two empty glasses near Tessa. “Oh...oh no.”

"'Light 'Parkle!" Tessa said with a rather goofy grin on her face, "'nd 'Arit'! Pretty unic-c-cocorns!"

"And that settles it," Kally said, snickering at Tessa's reaction. "Time of Death for her sobriety: 2348 hours." She looked at the others. "We should pop her over to her boyfriend's so he can keep an eye on her. Any volunteers?"

"Dibs not it!!" Rebecca called up.

“I’ll take her,” Rala said. “But first...” She stepped over to the replicator to retrieve a glass of water and brought it over to Tessa. “Tessa, kin’tra,” she said, unthinkingly using the Draakri term of endearment, “drink this. You’re going to need it.”

Tessa muttered something that sounded like assent and carefully took the glass. She started to drink a bit too quickly, a few drops of water dribbling down the side of her chin, then adjusted her pace and gradually downed the rest of it.

"Good thing she's dating a medical professional," Katie said, giggling.

"Mmm. Might be best to leave her in his tender care," Kally said. "And you two need to stay in mine," she said to Fulvia and T'Vel, sliding back next to them. "Clearly I should be monitoring you both until we sober up."

"Yes, clearly," Katie giggled, taking another sip.

"You hear that, Ears," Fulvia said to T'Vel. "We gotta stay the night. Doctor's orders."

T'Vel just nodded quietly.

Once Tessa had finished her water, Rala gently took the empty glass from her and set it aside. “Alright, young one,” she said, helping the young Baroness to her feet and out of the pillow fort, “come on. As fun as this has been, it’s getting late and you’ve had too much too fast. You’re going to need to sleep this off, so I’m going to take you to see Henry.”

Tessa smiled groggily at Henry’s name. “’Enry’s good,” she mumbled, taking a slightly unsteady step toward the door. “I’m go see ‘enry.” Rala tried to steady the girl as she took another step, only for Tessa to shrug her off. She made it another few steps, getting progressively more off-kilter, before she stumbled and might have fallen had Rala not caught her. "Gon' give 'im a surprise!" Tessa giggled drunkenly.

Rala chuckled. “Allow me, your grace,” she said, without a hint of irony in her voice, as she bent down and picked the young Baroness up, two arms each under her legs and back, and strode carefully but steadily toward the door.

"Give him a kiss for us!" Kally called after them.

Katie giggled hard at Tessa as they left and scooted over to Rebecca. "Any time you wanna bounce, lemme know," she said, kissing her fingertip and pressing it to Becca's cheek.

"Awwww...." Rebecca gave a smile. "Now did you mean bounce, or bounce? You know what, don't answer that." She stood and 'dusted herself off' "How about I just get ready, and when you're ready to go, we can just leave?~" the diminutive officer teased.

"I'm good whenever," Katie said, shrugging and smiling. "I'll just have to walk carefully since I don't have a bra on." She looked down as if judging the journey. "Don't want you falling halfway home."

Rebecca rolled her eyes slightly, but was more than fine with folks taking her safety into account. "I mean, you can tuck your shirt in to at least keep me from falling ALL the way down."

As Katie stood up, albeit slightly wobbly at first, Kally rolled onto her feet as well. "I have an idea!" She moved to her bedroom quickly and came out with long pearl necklace. She walked over to Katie and clasped it around her neck, positioning it so it rested evenly across her chest. "Okay, there we go. Now she has a nice, secure place to sit and hold on." She smiled at Becca. "That work for you?"

"I mean, it works." the diminutive officer smirked. She didn't want to make a comment. "My own personal swing~"

Kally grinned and turned to give Katie a kiss. "Walk slowly and safely. Stay in well lit areas. Call if you get lost. Remember to look for landmarks and acre signs."

"Oh shut up," Katie said, laughing and giving Kally a kiss back. "I'll get there and back just fine." She walked over to Becca on steady-enough-legs and held out a hand. "Ready for transport," she said, grinning.

Rebecca gave a nod, "Ready."

Katie passed her pocket pal to her perch and blew a kiss to the others before bouncing out of the room.

Kally turned to the last departee and smiled, walking over and pulling her into a tight, chaste, but loving hug. "You're welcome to stay," she whispered in Jenna's ear, her voice a mixture of teasing, yet enticing, knowing full well what her answer would be.

Jenna was the most sober of everyone, having only taken one or two sips of anything, but returned the hug in kind, "Ah'll be fine, just gonna get some sleep before tomorrow's work."

Kally smiled at her. "All right. Just know that I'm always a comm away if you need anything."

Jenna gave a smile back, but glanced down at the floor as well, "Of course. Thank you Kally."

Kally watched Jenna leave then turned to Fulvia and T'Vel. "Well, I suppose the logical and responsible thing while Katie's gone would be to clean up the living room."

"If you pick a single thing up from the ground," Fulvia warned, "T'Vel here's gonna pick you up and carry you to the bedroom herself."

"She is not joking," T'Vel added, staring intently at Kally.

Kally grinned. "All right then. In that case, last one in doesn't get pinned to the headboard." She turned and rushed for her bedroom.

"Hey, wait!" Fulvia said she suddenly found herself alone and holding on to T'Vel's nightshirt. The Vulcan had discarded it and raced into the bedroom, stopping just short of tackling Kally to the bed. "Whatever happened to Vulcan self control?" Fulvia mused as she took her time disrobing and joined them.

A few minutes later, Kally’s door chime sounded once more.

There was a slight delay as the sound of the chime reached its target, but a moment later a rushed, “c’mon in!” came through the comm system and the doors opened.

The door opened to reveal Rala. “Our inebriated young baroness has been successfully delivered to her adoring partner, who has been informed of the situation and promised to take care of her,” she reported, smiling as she stepped inside. She looked around the room, finding it surprisingly empty of people.

The door to Kally’s bedroom stood open. “Everyone left?” Rala asked, taking a slow step toward it. “I figured the festivities would keep going for a while longer.”

There was the sound of a squeal, a rustle of fabric and the shift of a mattress. Kally appeared in the doorway a moment later, hair somewhat disheveled, tugging her nightshirt back down over her hips. “Um…hi,” she said, grinning. “Hadn’t expected you back. The party broke up rather fast after you took Tessa home.”

“Ah,” Rala said. “That’s a shame, I was hoping for more; it was a lot of fun.” She took a breath, trying not to let her disappointment show. “Well, I may as well at least collect my things while I’m here,” she said, stepping toward the collection of refreshments to retrieve the rrathka keg.

Kally helped her round up her things but paused at the sound of a giggle from her bedroom. She and Rala locked eyes and she gave a shrug. “Bit of an after party,” she said, then got her usual wicked smile. “If you want to stay around….” she left it in the air, not pressuring.

Rala noticed the not-quite-cubic container she’d brought the fudge in still had several pieces remaining in it as Kally handed it to her. Between mild surprise that there was any left and the alcohol still muddying her thoughts, it took her a second or two to process the doctor’s words. She looked at Kally again, actually noticing her slightly unkempt appearance, and slowly slotted that puzzle piece together with her words and the sounds coming from the bedroom. Her eyebrows climbed by a couple of centimeters as it all came together. “Uhm…I…uh…” she stammered, having trouble forming words of her own as her heart thudded in her chest and her entire face turned several shades darker. She swallowed, and tried again. “Um…thanks, but…but no. A-another time, maybe.” She hastily grabbed the lid for the fudge container and awkwardly slapped it on before scurrying for the exit, her face burning and her breathing a bit heavier than usual.

Kally felt a bit bad, but shrugged as the doors closed and skipped back to her bedroom.

Rala took three steps down the corridor before stopping, leaning her shoulder against the wall as she tried to collect herself. She faced the wall and banged her head on it once, then turned around to put her back to it. Her one free hand came up to rub at her face. “Idiot,” she muttered to herself, barely audible. “Why run away from that?” Her attempt to think through the decision was interrupted by the approach of another figure.

A happy hum came around the corridor before Katie appeared, bouncing along in her pajamas. “Hey, Rala,” she said, grinning, then noticing the look on Rala’s face. “You okay?”

Rala looked up and for a split second the alcohol in her brain told her she was looking at Kally again. She blinked and reality reasserted itself. “Um…yeah,” she said, almost dropping the lid to the fudge container as she tried to properly secure it with an unsteady hand. “Stopped back by ‘cause I figured the party would still be going, but it isn’t, so I was grabbing my stuff and Kally…um…kinda vaguely offered for me to stick around for an ‘after party’ with her and, I’m guessing, Fulvia and T’vel. It…uh…kind of caught me off-guard.” She could feel her face burning again, and knew that it was still darker than normal.

Katie gave her a sympathetic smile. “Aw, I’m sorry,” she said, walking up and squeezing Rala’s arm affectionately. “She doesn’t think sometimes before she speaks. I’ll give her a good talking to.” She gave Rala a grin and walked to Kally’s door. “Have a good night, Rala!” she said as she walked inside.

Rala’s free hand grabbed Katie’s and returned the squeeze of its own accord, even as her mind spent several seconds shifting gears enough to process Katie’s words. She started to reply, to clarify that the offer wasn’t unwelcome, but Katie was already disappearing into her sister’s quarters. She shook her head, attempting to knock her thoughts into some semblance of order, paused as her vision cleared again; then took a steadying breath and moved off toward the turbolift, and ultimately her quarters, her thoughts still a jumbled mess.

[End]