Dinner at the Telvans'

Posted on Mon Jun 5th, 2017 @ 8:53pm by Captain Enalia Telvan & Maica III 47 & Aewia Larani & Warrant Officer Cato West & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi

Mission: Death is in the Details
Location: Captain's Private Mess
Timeline: The night before the Timejump

Enalia and Aewia were off at a holographic gazebo enjoying ice cream smoothies in wine glasses and giggling about nonsensical things in Starfleet as Maica III guided the holographic kitchen staff in their setup of the dinner table for their guests. The setting today was a small mountain villa at sunset overlooking the valley of golan heights - a breathtaking view to be sure. Maica III had even ensured that Aewia enjoyed herself during a fitting of a beautiful sequined blue and lavender dress befitting the scenery and setting. Maica III herself was in a similar purple dress and Enalia was in a straight crimson dress with ruffles in back.

"I remember him now! Mister Gruffy!" Aewia exclaimed as Enalia play acted one of the instructors from the academy, prompting more giggles from both of them. "He was always so serious."

Nexi smiled at the sound of Aewia's laughter; despite her own discomfort of wearing a dress, it was good to hear Aewia laughing. While Maica III prepared the meal, Nexi helped set the table and bring food out as it was finished. Though she had almost opted out the bet to wear the dresses, at the last minute Nexi decided to just wear the damned dress that Enalia was providing. Cato had wanted side boob and heavy eye make up, but she seemed to be doing the exact opposite tonight; she wore a beautiful Greek inspired dress with a plunging neckline, made of a light and airy white Tholian silk, and she had used only minimal makeup to complement the simple elegance of the dress, though she did allow Maica to braid her, creating a messy yet romantic style that completed the whole look. In the grand scheme of things, this had to be the most comfortable dress she had ever worn, but she was still felt so out of her element without her heavy boots, baggy pants or her leather jacket. And no weapons! Aewia had put her foot down, Nexi was to be completely unarmed and she felt naked without the comforting weight of her weapons.

Little known to Nexi, or anyone else for that matter; Cato always had a trick up his sleeve. Adaptive Holographic Clothing, mostly used by the MACO's during infiltration or surveillance operations. However, tonight it would be used for his personal amusement. He was going to uphold his end of the arrangement, just not all night. He had plans, plans to take advantage of Nexi all dressed up and sexy. The 'base' was similar to compression wear, except with holographic emitters all over it. A battery pack was built into the very fabric of the base layer itself. Controlled by a watch, similar to that of a 21st century Apple iWatch.

An off white linen suit was worn, no tie. or at least, it was programmed as the first setting. Stepping into the Captain's Mess, Cato took the setting into view. But that's not where his eyes went, they fell on Nexi and gods did she look stunning.

"That does not look like a dress," Nexi remarked right away, momentarily oblivious to his staring. Although, he did look nice in that suit... She gave him a good once over with her eyes, an approving grin on her face. "Yeah, still doesn't look like a dress."

"That doesn't look like side boob and black eye makeup." he grinned "I guess we're making compromises already." he bit his bottom lip. "Although, you look amazing." he smiled like a kid who just got surprised with something they had always wanted on Christmas morning.

"Not a dress! Not a dress!" Aewia sang as she set her glass aside. "Even the kitchen staff are in dresses and you couldn't show up in a dress? Dishonor upon you. Dishonor upon your house. Dishonor upon your cow..." She then broke down into giggles, unable to keep a straight face any more.

"Hey, I only promised a dress, no side boob or the eye makeup; if I were to comply with your demands, then in fairness you should be wearing some leather and lace," Nexi stated firmly, chuckling as Aewia continued to giggle. "Hey, take it easy over there, kiddo, if you laugh too hard your head will float away."

Cato moved closer to Nexi, his hand sliding across her bare flesh exposed by the dress, moving to rest at the curve right above her waist. Pulling her body up against his before whispering into her right ear. "You look gorgeous, and I wouldn't change a thing about you." he kissed her softly on her cheek. "I'll wear the dress in a bit. Don't worry." he winked. "Drink time." he headed off to wherever the alcohol was.

"You know, my wife can help you with a dress if you need help," Enalia said to Cato as she offered a glass and a bottle of Romulan ale from the open bar along the back of the room. "Having a private captain's mess has more privileges than just a bar and a holographic view, you know. There's a changing room and a shower as well."

"I think we should let Aewia pick out a dress; she's going through a purple phase and I think he would look alright in purple," Nexi said with a snicker.

Taking the glass and bottle from Enalia, Cato grinned looking back at Nexi. Placing the bottle and glass down atop a table, he held that grin on his face "No, I've got it covered." a single finger swiped across the watch like device on his wrist. Cato held his arms out straight to from each side as a blue ribbon of energy ran over his form. Shifting his clothing from that perfectly tailored suit to a... fucking dress... He had to hold up his end of the bet. After all, you only had two things in this universe; your word and your balls. When the projection was finished changing, he was left wearing a black dress that resembled more of a v-neck shirt and kilt, but it was in fact a dress.

"Nope, try again," Nexi said dryly, grabbing him by the arm and started playing with the watch controls. "Already told you, a kilt doesn't co- Why in the fucking hells do you even have this stored in here?!" Snickering like a maniac, she activated a pattern she found in the watch, the pattern for a shimmery gold dress, backless and with an under boob window. She had seen dresses like this on Dabo girls, it was a really popular design, for a Dabo girl but why the hell did he have it in his watch?

"Fucker..." Cato replied with a smile. "This was for later... But now you've ruined your surprise..." he sighed. "Figured you'd get a laugh out of this!" he pointed to the underboob window. "Fuckin' hilarious." He picked that bottle of Romulan Ale back up, poured himself a glass and pounded it back like water. "If I have to stay in this thing, I'm getting piss drunk."

"Not too drunk, I hope." Maica III slyly commented conspiratorially as she rang the dinner bell and dismissed the kitchen crew. "Enalia has a bit of an announcement to make before dinner."

"Yes. Yes, I do." Enalia set her glass aside and pulled a pair of small black boxes out from behind the bar. "Normally we'd do this in a more formal setting, but I felt that under the circumstances this was formal enough."

Opening the first box, she addressed Cato, handing him the box with a crisp salute. "Chief Cato West, you are hereby promoted to Warrant Officer, effective immediately."

Taken back, Cato accepted the box. "Thank you Ma'am." he returned the salute crisply. Eyes wandered over to Nexi and a smile crossed his lips when she was given entrance into Starfleet. Standing silent, Cato watched what came next.

Enalia then moved in front of Nexi and opened the other box. "Nexi, you have come a long way. You didn't have to stick around. I'm glad you did though. I'm glad you did though. I'm hopeful that within Starfleet you can find a home where you can become the best you that you can be and while you still have a lot to learn and much to study, by the authority granted me by the Federation and Starfleet Command, I grant you the rank of Staff Warrant Officer, effective immediately." She then handed Nexi the box with the rank pips while crisply saluting.

Nexi stared at the box in stunned amazement. Forgetting any sense of protocol, she took the little box and opened it to look at the little pip framed by a little chevron on each side. She had really done it! Then she grinned. "Suck it, I outrank you!" she said to Cato.

Cato gave Nexi a nod and replied "Congratulations." before swiping his watch again, this time putting him back into the suit he arrived in. "If you'll excuse me, I need a minute." Cato said, making a quick beeline for the door. Stepping out into the hallway, Cato put his back up against the bulkhead and slid down to the floor. Taking a deep breath, his mind started to turn about how much more complicated life just got.

Nexi looked at Enalia with confusion. "Is this one of those moments where I'm so out of touch with social norms I've done something stupid?" she asked. She couldn't be expected to remember everything about stupid hu-mon culture!

"I may have thrown his whole world upside down..." Enalia mused as she retrieved her drink and headed towards the dinner table to sneak a peek at the covered dishes.

Maica III headed towards the door with a small bottle of Enalia's more prized homemade moonshines. "Excuse me, I'll only be a moment."

Out in the hall, Maica III didn't take long to locate Cato and latch onto his arm, offering the 180 proof blackberry-maple brandy. "Here, this might help. And if you want to talk..." She smiled up at him in a way that could melt duranium, her dimpled face tilted perfectly to give him the best view possible of her cavernous cleavage. Yeah, she was married. Yeah he was seeing someone. If her origins as a sex hologram could help him focus his thoughts though, she'd use it.

Well, titties like that would grab anyones attention. He took the small bottle of the blackberry-concoction and took a swig. "It helps." He smiled back at Macia III, "Well, the woman I'm seeing just becoming my superior officer, so that happened. Conflict of everything much?" he paused "FUCK!" he banged the back of his head against the wall of the corridor. "Why can't life ever be un-complicated?..." his voice trailed before he took another swig.

Maica III nodded a moment and thought it over before replying. "I may not be in Starfleet, but as warrant officers doesn't that make it just a bit easier? Protocol governing those ranks is a lot more lenient and relaxed. In fact, if I understand them correctly, unless you're on an assignment specifically, right now you both have the same responsibilities, mission, orders, and everything, don't you? Does it really matter who's on top?"

"No, you're one-hundred percent correct." He paused "The issue comes down when we're over the wire." he closed his eyes and took a deep breath "Maybe I'm just over thinking it. Having flashbacks to being at this point in my career almost ten years ago, because it's a hop-skip and to getting a commission. Which is not something I thought would be in the cards for me ever again." another deep breath coupled with a sigh.

"Ah, a proper commission," That actually threw Maica III off a little. She expected couple trouble, but not career woes as well. She could offer support there as well though. "If that's the path you want to take, then you should go for it. You have a lot of potential in you and I think you'd make a great officer." Smiling up at him, she gave him her most honest smile.

He smirked "Thank you for that, but I had a commission once before. It didn't end well for me. Some of us are just cut out to be pipe-hitters who do the hitting, not the ordering." he stood up. "Thank you for coming out and setting me straight." He finished the small bottle off "Not to mention the liquid courage, I appreciate it. I'm better when I'm getting shot at, not so great at the social end of things." Cato returned her honest smile, with a warm one. "Shall we?" he offered her his left arm.

"To each their own then," Maica III replied as she accepted the now empty bottle and the arm. "Oh and forgove me but I had to take the liberty of hacking your outfit thingy." As they re-entered, she waved her hand and Cato's outfit shimmered and was replaced by a very gothic black and blue 'dress' with a flared collar, sleeves, and shoulders. It even had it's own silk cape and made him look more like an evil sorcerer there to get someone to eat a poisoned apple than a guest. Maica III just grinned innocently. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself."

"Oh for fucks sake..." he face-palmed and chuckled after. "I need to get security installed on this thing." he smirked. "Let's get on with this, so I can go back to wearing normal clothes." he chuckled, walking over to Nexi; Sliding an arm around her waist.

Nexi was just swatting Aewia's hand away from the deserts Maica had made, when she felt a bigger, more muscular arm encircle her waist. She turned to welcome Cato back, but then she saw him and all she could do was laugh. "Oh fucking hell, now that's a dress!" she said as she laughed, laughing so hard she started having trouble breathing.

Enalia had to hide her own laughter but soon composed herself and motioned towards the main table. "Shall we? I'm told my wife has outdone herself in planning tonight's meal."

As everyone was seated and the kitchen staff returned to fill the wine glasses with prearranged drinks from the bar, Maica III began to explain tonight's menu. "Indeed. Since we're a group of sentients with wildly varied tastes and preferences, I took the liberty of doing something rather different. Rather than creating a series of dishes that a few may enjoy, I've given us a base dish that I know we can all enjoy the very basics of and lined our plates with things we can add to it to make it more to our liking."

As the servers pulled the rather large domes off the meal platters and the steam cleared, the meals before them were revealed to be something resembling an unassembled soft shelled taco salad with over a dozen ingredients arrayed around the edge of the plate, some of them unidentifiable and others easily recognized from Earth, Trill, Bajor, or Bolia. The main dish itself though, even though it looked bland, still looked magnificent, having several types of meat and legumes in a sort of rosary of green, red, and white tortilla bowl shaped edible.

Everything looked so fancy, and even all the different options were a bit much for her. She could understand what Maica was trying to achieve, but Nexi just wanted simple. "Looks good," Nexi said simply, taking a seat at the table and digging in to the main dish without bothering to dress it up, and in her opinion it was pretty damned good as it was, but then again she had grown up on grubs... And then Aewia was taking something something and adding it to Nexi's plate, like she knew that Nexi was going to wuss out on trying something new.

"Oi! Mess with your own plate- oh hey, that actually looks good," Nexi started to complain, only to have the wind taken out of her sails when Aewia succeeded in putting together a combination Nexi found delightfully palatable without being busy or overwhelming.

"Creams and pate'. Don't worry, they're bland yet flavorful," Aewia replied, unexpectedly regal in her demeanor. "Mother insisted on this particular combination specifically at functions when Duchess Kunninum visited. It was her favorite side with almost every main dish even though father protested about it's vile lack of texture while planning the meal. At least he and I agreed on the need for the peperoncini salsa imported from Earth that our hostesses this evening have so graciously included in the meal."

"You know you freak me out every time you do that," Nexi remarked over Aewia's moment of clarity and refinement.

Having finished preparing the small display on Nexi's plate, Aewia resumed preparing her own and went about eating the dish like proper royalty, though with the entirety of her portion of hasperat sauce and everything else that even remotely looked spicy all over her plate.

'Aaaaaand there goes the refinement,' Nexi thought with a chuckle as she watch Aewia scarf down her spicy abomination.

Maica III was taking the forkful and dip approach to her dinner, hers of course being holographic.

Enalia on the other hand, had built a bit of a mountain and was trying to get tiny bits of everything into every bite.

Cato had taken his seat at the table; However, being the jarhead that he was he mixed the entire plate together. Creating a cluster of everything together, he took a bite. He enjoyed the interesting flavor of everything scrambled together. Cato wasn't a picky eater, after all he probably had ingested more weird meals than anyone else on the ship at this point. Cato had kept quiet, thus far during the meal. He focused on the experience the flavor of the food provided.

Nexi was still working through her rather bland meal when she looked to Aewia and then to Cato, and then finally to Enalia; Nexi didn't know what it was like to have a family, but she hoped it was a lot like this. Her sister, a friend who was more than just a friend, and a guy she didn't really know what was between them but it was good. Everything, she decided, was good...