All Hallows Eve

Posted on Sun Dec 31st, 2023 @ 7:17pm by Lieutenant Commander Alexander Espersen & Petty Officer 3rd Class Fulvia Benvenuto & Captain Calypso Skyie & Lieutenant Mark Valleroy & Lieutenant Rebecca McMillen & Captain Natalya Markova & Lieutenant JG Raven Windancer & Ensign Rene Rouen & Lieutenant F'Arra MD & Lieutenant JG Jenna Jade & Ensign Minerva Delacroix & Gunnery Sergeant Reishi Hijani & Michelle Erilin & Cass'e'Indira & Tessa di'Orion
Edited on on Mon Jan 15th, 2024 @ 10:21pm

Mission: Lower Decks

The Hydra Lounge was all decked out in a cheesy Halloween getup with pumpkins carved by several of the crew and the children of the ship, orange and purple lights and decorations set up on the bulkheads and most of the center of the lounge cleared of tables, which had a luxurious banquet of themed snacks and drinks laid out. The lights were dim, but everyt4hing was clearly visible with plenty of lighting to go around. In the corner was a throne, one lit with red backlighting and where someTHING sat.

It was a woman with long pink hair, a pair of red horns sitting on her head adding an inch and a half to her already formidable height, but if anything her outfit was far worse and scandalous. It was skin-tight, what there was of it, with ample cutouts that bared her centerline from throat to waist while revealing nothing, a black choker ringing her delicate neck. Thigh-high red boots with three inch heels followed by bare thighs to a very tight set of shorts, all in a bright crimson. A 'tail' was draped across her lap, ending in an arrow-headed tip and she stroked it as she waited for everyone to arrive.

René entered clad in his Musketeers garb complete with black tagboard. His rapier was peace bound into the scabbard and he was glad to be attending the party with the most beautiful woman, in his eyes, on the ship. He wondered what had been planned for this party. He waved at Cally as he and Jenna entered.

Raven pulled an intricately carved box out of the back of her closet, and gently opened it.

Inside was her graduation gowned, and folded up under it, was Raven's old racing uniform...then one from her Race family.

Ten minutes later, Raven took a deep breath, and walked into the Hydra Lounge.

"Well Captain, Ah happen to think that you look um..." Jenna tried to come up with words other than 'like a slut' or 'seductress', "Ravishin'?" She herself was dressed in an outfit that matched Rene's own, a young maiden under the protection of her cavalier.

"Why thank you, Jenna." Cally's eyes brightened with the apparent compliment.

The entrance of Raven caught Jenna's eye and she pulled away from him as she turned to the (thankful) distraction from Calypso's semi-clothed state, "Why Raven, Ah think you look absolutely amazin'! Makes me wish you had something to drive around in right now!"

"Thanks, Jenna! You're right, that would be awesome! Wowzers, Captain! You look...um...interesting?" Raven was glad that at that exact moment, her helmet's vizor fell over her face.

"Drat! Better get that fixed!" Raven chuckled as she pushed it back up.

It would be a moment before the door swished open again, seemingly on its own. Uninformed plebs might mistake this for a door malfunction, but those who knew... knew. A light jog took Rebecca across the threshold of the doorway and into the room proper, safe against the wall from harm and accidental accidents. This was why she wore the MOUS frame.

Though, this was a holiday of disguise and costume. So she wore a purple jumper over the rather tight frame. To the end of the costume at around waist level she had attached a fabric stuffed tail to emulate a mouse tail. To her hair she had fabricated a hairband that held up two fake mouse ears. On her hip, she wore a few mock up tools from ages past: A wrench and a hammer among them. Prop tools, but important for the look. Between the false ears, atop her blonde hair, sat a pair of goggles that from the looks of it, really didn't do much more than look like a pair of goggles on her head. They did complete the look though.

She started to cross the vastness of the lounge, sticking to areas of low foot traffic out of courtesy and safety.

For Lieutenant Commander Alexander Espersen, it had already been an incredibly long Halloween. Upon his lap had been foisted the duty of entertaining the children. Not exactly his forte. But now it was night. The children were in bed, likely wired and excited but most importantly out of his sight, and he could enjoy his time with the adults.

His costume was perhaps a niche reference, but it fit the bill properly. A brown trenchcoat over a yellow shirt. Black pants. A brown leather pack strapped across one shoulder and his waist. Long black hair. Pale skin. Perhaps most defining, the bright red eyes with yellow iris and feline pupil, and long canine fangs.

As he looked himself in the mirror, he though the character of Beckett had never looked so good.

The man had to clear his throat and almost turned around when he saw his Captain, but he powered through it -- the face lightening makeup hiding his blush.

As he approached though, he stopped himself from tripping over Rebecca.

"Pardon me, Ms. McMillen. Or should I say Gadget," he added with a smirk. The best engineers would recognize her instantly.

Rebecca giggled, recognition was half the fun. "And I searched far and wide for short characters to dress up as. It was either her, or Tinkerbell. But the wings got in the way of, well, everything." a smile upwards. "Sorry if I'm in the way. Think you can give me a lift to the food table?"

“Certainly,” the XO said, letting her climb into his hand and gently carrying her to the food table, the pair people-watching on the way.

Mark came in, his own outfit not quite as...direct as some out there? Certainly not when compared to the captain's, who was immediately identifiable in her demoness outfit (which came as a surprise to absolutely no one there, Mark was sure). There was certainly a variety to be found, coming from a variety of cultures, some Mark could easily identify (Ensign Windancer's racing outfit or Ensign Rouen's Musketeer), some not so much (was that pale fellow with the long hair Cmdr. Espersen?). This was going to be an interesting get-together.

Minerva arrived in her black cat costume. A skin tight back top with very generous cleavage of her ample assets, a frillymini skirt that only reached mid thigh and skimpy lace thong underneath, black leggings and black flats. She stepped up to Cally and grinned. "Good evening Captain. You look absolutely gorgeous in that outfit."

"Why thank you, Minerva." Calypso gave her a rather toothy grin, one that showed the prosthetic she'd put in to make her teeth look like they'd been filed, "I do believe that you look rather fun to play with as well right meow." She winked at the Science officer.

Minerva spotted Jenna and made her way towards her oldest and best friend. Something was different about her, something that was making her smile more than even her friend's normal cheerfulness. "Somebody is especially happy tonight. Your positively beaming with joy. What could possibly make you so hap...," she looked Jenna from head to toe and caught sight of it on the way back up. She grasped Jenna's left hand and raised it, her mouth wide open in awe. "Oh my God!!!" She looked Jenna in her twinkling eyes. "He asked you!?"

With a twitch of a hand, Jenna made to hide the ring on that particular finger with her other hand, though she couldn't hide the smile on her face, "Well, yes, and Ah was gonna tell you already, but you were on duty or Ah was on duty and Ah didn't want any distractions and then we had this party and!" She squeezed Rene's arm tightly, "And of course Ah said yes."

Rebecca managed to catch a glimpse of Minerva. Wow.

Alexander’s eyes also noticed Minerva. He tried to look away but then found himself looking at the Captain. He decided to just allow himself the glance and chuckle to himself. “I forgot how good Halloween could be,” he said, to himself more than to Rebecca. Setting his erstwhile passenger down at the food table, he politely excused himself and went to the Captain.

“You owe me for earlier,” he said to the demoness who was his superior officer.

"Of course I do!" Cally leaned the pitchfork up against the wall and stood up to stretch languidly, "But someone had to do it and it was either you, me or Mark and Mark had to handle his kids and get them ready for the party, I was really busy with other things, so that just left you." She theatrically placed a hand on his shoulder, making another gesture with her other one, a signal of some sort.

Raven was just meandering around the room...not quite lighting anywhere, yet wanting to stop somewhere...but not sure where or why she couldn't settle.

"Oh, hiya Gadget!" Raven chuckled as she spotted her small friend at the food table.

The mousey scientist gave a smile upward and a wave-wave, "Golly." she at least studied the character enough to know a catch phrase, "Hi. Oh wow, love the outfit. That's a racing uniform right?" she inquired.

"Eyup! This is from my racing family. The ones who got me into Starfleet as a matter of fact," Raven smiled at the memory, feeling a warm fuzzy feeling well up inside of her.

From the bar, Michelle came out and around with four shots of alcohol on a small tray. She too had dressed for the party occasion, a tight-fitting grey tanktop with very short khaki shorts, her hair up in a ponytail and tan boots that came halfway up her shins, white socks peeking over the top of them. A pair of 'pistols' were in holsters on each thigh, but a good look at them made it obvious that they were toys. She bustled her way with the tray over to Calypso and Alexander, "Jack Daniels Special Reserve, 2352, neat." She offered the tray to the two senior officers.

"2352?" Alexander said as he took two of the shots. "That's older than our good Captain," he said with a smirk as he handed Cally one of the shots. "I insist that you enjoy it with us, Miss Croft," he added to Michelle.

Michelle laughed slightly but shook her head, “What sort of adventurer would I be if I got drunk? Besides,” She patted the ‘gin’ on her right hip, “I need to keep everyone from acting like true idiots and for that I need a clear head.”

Calypso accepted the shot glass with grace and lifted it towards Alex, “Cheers!” She grinned at Alex, “She’s kinda got you there, doesn’t she?”

“Fair enough,” Alexander said, lifting his glass both to Cally and Michelle before bringing the glass to his lips.

The doors to the lounge hissed open. Halloween was just not so without at least one black cat. The outfit was velvet - black, of course - and seemed to have been all but painted on. A black ruff around the neck, a black hairband with cat ears, and whiskers added with makeup. A long tail that attached to the area of the coccyx seemed to twitch on its own accord. A series of servos, or something one of the Engineers had said. It certainly did the trick of seeming to be alive.

Natalya Markova surveyed the room, and all but sauntered into the party before her.

"Natalya!" Calypso crowed as she grabbed the last two shots from the tray before Alex could make a move for them and slid between two others on her way over to the cat-woman and offered her one of the small glasses of whiskey, "My, oh my aren't you looking devilishly nice tonight!"

Nat accepted the compliment with a positively wicked grin. "Why thank you, Cally!" She admired the woman's outfit. "And so do you!" She did hold a hand up at the shot glass. "Please..., no." It was a hard thing to say, but she said it. "You got anything soft around here?"

Cally shrugged and tossed one of the shots down her throat and held onto the other, holding one hand up to wave over at Michelle who came over almost immediately, "Something non-boozy for the kitty-cat please."

Michelle smiled and nodded, "I'll be back in just a minute, Nat." She winked at the cat flirtatiously, having cocked her hip in approved adventurer fashion as she'd stopped by.

“I love Halloween,” Alexander murmured to himself after watching the Succubus walk to the cat. He moved among the crowd and found another colleague.

Cormac arrived a tad late but he tacked that up to having to find an outfit that would fit him these days. His bulky size meant that he had to adjust the costume he usually wore year after year, a World War three pilot, in this case, he just added a few inches to the flight suit. He looked about the room, taking everything in. Being the 'fresh meat' meant that he would be the usual man standing in the corner with egg nog. This, he was okay with. His 'life of the party' days would have to be earned at a later date.

“I’m afraid I don’t recognize the specifics of your costume, Mr. MacArthur,” Alexander said as he approached. “Pilot, yes, but the time period and nation elude me.”

"Ahhh, hello sir. This would be the uniform of Her Majesty's Royal Air Force circa 2027. Used to fit better but then so did I." Cormac said with a nervous chuckle. "And yours, I can't seem to place quite off the top of my head." He said thinking as he stared at Alexander's duds.

“It’s a character called Beckett, from a holo game I play sometimes,” Alexander explained. “He’s an archaeologist, but also a vampire with the rare ability to turn into a wolf. Not a werewolf, mind you. His Clan is one that embraces their animal nature.”

The XO caught Michelle’s eye when she next looked his way, the universal signal of ‘when you’re able, please come see me, but no need to rush’.

Michelle had just dropped off a glass of cola to Natalya and caught the signal even as she continued to scan the room for anyone else needing something, giving a surreptitious gesture acknowledging his request without even thinking about it. Seeing no one else trying for her attention, she made her way over, "What can I do for you?"

“I don’t suppose one of those kegs at the bar contains that Weihenstephaner?” he asked.

"Back at the Starbase, I could confidently tell you that we did, but we have a rather limited selection here on board Chimera, presuming you're looking for genuine." Michelle gave an apologetic smile, "We've got a better selection of the harder stuff, but it's a lot easier to stock that rather than kegs. We've got Guinness and a couple kegs of Köstritzer Schwarzbier, but genuine beers are a bit.. Scarce unless we find something local."

Cormac raised a finger, "Any Baileys, perchance?" asking as polite as he could. It was something of a guilty pleasure, the Irish cream for the Scotsman. "Or any cream liquor?"

"What sort of place would we be without Baileys?" Michelle asked with a shocked look on her face, "How would you like it?"

"Oh thank God. Might I have it on the rocks and a double, please? Was going to go with rum and nog but I prefer this for the holiday season." Cormac said less tense than he was before.

"What I'm hearing is that our incredible hostess has a need," Alexander said, "one which will be treated by command staff as a matter of priority. But until then, I'll have what Cormac here is having." He had only been half joking. As XO, he was responsible for crew well being, and authentic food and drink was an important component of that. Next time they were at a major port, he would see what he could do.

"Of course." Michelle gave her smile and sauntered off in true Lara Croft fashion, once she cleared the crowd stopped and in a rather competent (but slow in comparison to real security officers and marines) quickdraw shot one of the targets set up on the wall, the sucker tip sticking a few inches under the bullseye and to the left. She hmphed and reloaded the expended dart before sidling behind the bar and beginning to make the drinks.

Through it all, the diminutive science officer giggled, watching folks bounce around (some more literally than others) from here to there. Gathering drinks, gathering people, laughing and having a great time. The mousey-dressed-as-a-mouse was, after all, standing on the food table. Might as well grab something to eat.

She tore off a chunk of a cracker, and ripped off a piece of fine cheese to have herself a snack (Or rather, two handfuls of a snack) while she people watched. So many awesome people. She cast a glance back up at Raven with a smile, "Hey? Wanna go mingle? Just, ummm. take me with you?" she offered, both as a way out and a way of getting to join the party.

"Careful," Mark warned the diminutive science chief as he walked over, "our chief conn officer is a bit of a speed demon. Have her show you one of her racing programs involving fantasy creatures some time if you don't believe me." He flashed a quick grin at the two ladies. "While I've gotten the opportunity to interact with Ensign Windancer on occasion, I regret that I haven't had a chance to meet you yet, Lt. McMillen. Mark Valleroy, Security Chief."

"Sure thing...oh, hi ya, Lt. Valleroy! Rebecca and I've been on a trip or two together before," Raven grinned and retracted her hand as she'd been about to pick Rebecca up, switching it to offer a handshake to the Lt..

"Rebecca McMillen, Science Chief, at your service." the diminutive officer offered with a smile. "And well, I've been carried before by folks in a rush. As long as they're gentle and careful it's not too bad. It's really like rafting, you know, where you're not really in total control of the trip." she offered. "Racing programs and fantasy creatures? Consider my curiosity piqued. Though, questions for a later time."

"Will do, Rebecca! It's really cool, and it's as close as I can get to the real thing sometimes!" Raven smiled sheepishly as she swirled her foot carefully...she didn't want to wear it out. Having the original outfit was her only link to the happiest part of her past...and she didn't want to loose it.

"I'll have to give it a shot, though it's going to look adorable lemme warn you. Me in a racing skiff, zooming around the streets of a city or through an obstacle course and you just standing there, watching the little speedy skiff zip about around your feet." she giggled. "But honestly, the outfit looks fantastic. In a nostalgic sense, I mean." hiding her face in a nibble of foodstuffs. "I mean, my choice of costume is pretty limited. Engineer Mouse, Pixie, Doll Princess." she giggled. "All in good fun, though."

“There are other options as well.” Calypso seemed to sneak up on the group in her scandal-waiting-to-happen, “Some of them just aren’t safe for umm… Polite company.” She grinned wickedly, “I’m sure we could come up with all sorts of choices if we put our thoughts to it.”

Rebecca gave a squeak of an EEP! How did someone THAT NAKED sneak up so quietly?

Raven didn't even try to hide her yelp of surprise as she jumped like TEN feet straight up in the air!

"CAPTAIN! SHEESH! I have half a mind to put a bell around your neck!" Raven finally sputtered, taking a deep draft of her Papaya Spinner.

"Yep, you do have to be on your toes around our esteemed captain," Mark said quite calmly (but with an obvious smirk on his face) not having been startled at all by the captain's "sudden" appearance at their location. "Captain, I do trust you're having a good time?"

Raven chuckled nervously as she calmed down enough to lean back against the table and enjoy the crazy.

Meanwhile, Rebecca recovered from her little episode of Suddenly Captain and smiled upwards, "So, that's a nice costume. Held on by magnets, I guess?" she teased.

"Glue." Calypso shrugged, "Water soluble, or so I'm reliably informed. If not, it's gonna hurt coming off." She waved her hand, "Oh Lara! We need some more drinks over here!" She waved at Michelle, busy pre-making several that she put on the tray, including a tiny one for the mousey one.

"On my way, lemme avoid the traps and boulders that you set up." She edged past Minerva, Rene and Jenna still chattering away and slid herself in among everyone, "Here you all go."

Rebecca claimed her tiny little glass. "You know, that makes an excellent point. Besides, I'm sure it'll wash right off." she mentioned, "Or scrub off, whichever." she shrugged, holding her glass, "So, what are we drinking to?"

"To the continued adventure?" Alexander suggested as he sidled into the growing circle of senior officers, tall and small, clothed and not.

"To friends and family." A new voice sounded from the side of the room and Sailor Mars stood up with her only half-drunk beer, but the way she stood and slurred her words a bit, which meant she was at least half-sloshed. Her hair was done up just like on the cartoon and even though the white gloves and red heels were done right, they really didn't feel right to her. Rei swayed on the heels a bit, but raised her glass anyways.

"And to our fellow crewmates," Mark added, raising his own glass of root beer. Glancing around, he noted that there were probably going to be more than a few visits to sickbay right before the start of Alpha Shift the following day for hangover meds, as well as quite a few requests from the food replicators for various over-caffeinated beverages. He himself was probably going to have to seize the treat bags from his nephews (assuming that there was anything left to seize at this point) and regulate the distribution of the contents of said bags, or run the risk of having to deal with two "tweens" with major sugar rushes.

Rebecca giggled, and raised her glass, "To new friends, new family, and our crewmates."

"To the illustrious USS Chimera! May her name always strike fear into the hearts of her enemies!" Raven raised her glass of Scropella.