Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in Jörmungandr Lounge - All crew welcome

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Jörmungandr Lounge - All crew welcome

Posted by Lieutenant Fey Kastil (Chief Medical Officer) in Jörmungandr Lounge - All crew welcome

OOC: I’m going to reproduce here my initial description of the Jörmungandr, just to help you all visualise your surroundings:

The frigid off-white walls had been painted a deep, azure blue and decorated with nautical-themed paraphernalia - an old, rusted anchor, a shelf holding lanterns of all shapes and sizes, a decorative fishing net. Along the left and right walls were a series of booths, with nautical-striped couches and sturdy wooden tables, each one illuminated by a holographic candle in a hurricane-lamp style holder. Additional seating was scattered randomly about the remaining available space, taking the form of comfortable sofas and smaller, round tables with stools.

The bar itself ran almost the full length of the back wall. Fashioned from the same light wooden panels as the tables, the counter top had a transparent aluminium surface, beneath which sat a beach collage of sand and colored shells. Floor to ceiling shelving behind the bar held a dazzling array of multi-colored bottles and decanters, although Zachariah suspected that most still contained synthehol. But he’d be willing to donate a few key items from his personal collection to enhance such wonderful surroundings.

But the true centerpiece of the Jörmungandr was a huge, cylindrical vessel that reached from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. To an engineer like Cobb, it was instantly recognizable as a magnetic constriction segment from an old M/ARA reaction assembly, except here it had been repurposed into an aquarium, alive with brightly colored, real, tropical fish. The illumination cast by the column radiated waves of shimmering blue across the entire space, making one feel as if they were indeed submerged underwater.

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IC: It had been a difficult couple of weeks. Gods, was that all the time that had passed? To Cobb it had felt like several lifetimes already! And while, as Captain of this vessel, he was as acutely aware as anyone else onboard, of the vast preparation still required before they reached the Paulson nebula, he was also aware that all work and no play oft made Jack a very dull boy.

And so, at around noontime that day, every crewmember would have received a personal message from their captain that read:
=^= Crew, I realise that the past two weeks have been chaotic and that our premature departure has added much to your already significant workloads. I can not thank each one of you enough for the skill and the dedication with which you have helped to get this ship up to scratch. I anticipate another two days before we reach our destination. Just enough time, I reckon, to reward you all for your continued, and highly valued, service.
So I would be honoured if you would present yourself to the Jörmungandr lounge, at twenty-hundred hours this evening, for a chance to relax, to enjoy some good food, good wine and the best company in the Federation. The occasion will be informal so please, dress as dazzling or as casual as pleases you.
I look forward to seeing you all there.
Your Captain, Zachariah Cobb =^=

As guests arrived, they would find the lounge lit by countless holographic candles and ‘fairy lights’, an upbeat jazz melody emanating from the central computer. On the bar lay a dazzling array of foods, all replicated of course, representing as many different cultures and races as Zachariah had been able to recall in the two hours it took him to prepare (he had also considered donating a jar of his treasured cookies but had changed his mind at the last).

Behind the bar, the shelves were filled with an array of different drinks and liquors, some of them synthetic, others the genuine article. All available for the guests to simply help themselves.

And leaning against the aquarium, in dark navy trousers and a rainbow hawaiian shirt, was Captain Zachariah Cobb, his long hair and beard neatly combed and plaited, in a manner reminiscent of Terran vikings of old. Were one to scrutinise the man too closely then they might wonder if he was nervous about the upcoming festivities. But the large bottle of mead in his hands would hopefully take care of that soon enough.

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Casela had seriously contemplated not going to this event. But Zachariah had made it very clear to her that he expected her to be in “top form.” That meant that she had to show up to this gathering of his. Of course she’d encouraged him to have this gathering. She supposed she’d better not show up in uniform. That wouldn’t exactly show support for the good captain. Casela opted for what she called gypsie pants. They tied in the back and wrapped around to tie again in the front. The pants legs over lapped but there seam was open. She choose them because the appeared casual but they were easy to move and fight in. Her shirt was a long hemmed capped sleeve blouse, her hair in its usual bun.

She entered the lounge several minutes before 2000 hours. She glanced around, not having been there before and took in the nautical theme. She made her way over to Cobb and inhaled the honey scent of the mead. “Mead?” she asked as she approached him. The smell made her homesick for her time with Admiral T’Jal. The woman had a strong love for her Irish heritage and though mead wasn’t historically Irish, her family had brewed it for generations. Seeing Zachariah’s Nordic braids reminded her of Jake Smith, T’Jal’s husband. He strongly identified with his Nordic heritage and seeing Cobb wearing the braids and then the smell of the mead made the Lounge feel like the last place she had called home. It will sneak up on ya when ye least expect it, this new home yer looking for. ‘Shut up’ she told her memories. She wished that she hadn’t given the RTF team the night off. They’d train tomorrow before they were deployed to the Einstein. They’d worked hard and deserved to enjoy themselves as well. She’d sneak out early and put in some of her own practice. She’d make it up to the captain later. Large social functions were not her idea of relaxation. “You’ve out done yourself, Zachariah.”

Casela Synthi-er

“Aye, it’s surprising the motivation I can conjure up when there’s eating and drinking involved,” Cobb laughed. Clearly he was very much ‘off duty’ tonight, which became even more evident as he cast a glance over the Counselor’s outfit before adding with a wink, “You scrub up well, lass”. Were Casela particularly perceptive in that moment, as the captain made his way towards the bar, she might even have caught a mumbled comment of “Nice boosters.”

But he slipped surprisingly smoothly into his master-of-ceremonies role as, with a gestured flourish towards the rows and rows of brightly-coloured liquids he declared, “Well now, we have a drink selection that spans from one end of the quadrant to the other and every habitable rock inbetween. So, what’ll it be? What’s your poison?”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Casela was NOT amused. She followed Cobb over to the bar, and whispered as she stepped passed him, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, otherwise I’d have to defend my own honor, and that won’t be pleasent.” Since no one was there yet Cobb could be relatively safe in assuming she was half joking.

“My poison of choice? Iocane: odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and is one of the deadlier poisons known to man. But to drink, I’ll have water.”
Lt Synthi-er, CNS

Cobb knew this game. He’d played it with his own father. And also with his son. And while the moment saw him possessed of neither the strength nor the will to recall those occasions fully, still he could not resist replying with a wink and “All right. Where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun!”

Casela actually smiled. “It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right and who is dead.”

Then, turning to the bottles, he scanned them for what felt like an age. “Where is the poison?” he muttered again to himself as he disappeared behind the bar and began rummaging loudly. About two minutes and a couple of smashed bottled later and Zachariah finally resurfaced, his hair slightly more disheveled, and placed on the counter top a bottle of Altairian water, a bottle of Bolian tonic water and a bottle of Terran mineral water, along with a glass filled with ice and a slice of fresh lime.

Casela took the Terran mineral water and poured it into the glass and then squeezed the lime juice into it and dropped the lime in. “Thank you Zachariah.”

The doctor was glad to be invited to a social that she didn’t have to wear a uniform for. In uniform, she always looked strange due to her shape, there was no way around that. Out of uniform, however, she could alter her wardrobe to better suit her shape and look significantly less strange if oddly dated. Her outfit of choice, the 1940s Zoot Suit in dark purple with silver and gold accents. The sharp angles and exaggerated shape allowed the doctor to hide her own unusual disproportionality making her look almost normal. Her hands still stand out though with regular size palms that have abnormally long fingers, makes the 20th-century business suit a great Halloween costume used to compare her to a certain faceless horror. The thought made her smirk, she would have to see if the Captain planned a Halloween party.

On her way to the lounge, a positively appropriate place for her attire, she turned quite a few curious heads caught off guard by the extreme appearance of her outfit. The doors to the Jörmungandr slid open to reveal the tall woman with her black hair tied back in a long French braid, which is the most let down she’s been seen with given her hair is usually tied up under a surgical headcover. To go with the ridiculous suit is an equally ridiculous hat and peacock feather. The doctor strides over to the Captain at the bar in time to hear Casela’s Iocane quote and chuckled before making one herself. “My name is Fey Kastil, you ate my cookies, prepare to die.” Even though the raspy voice, a hint of Spanish accent could be heard.

Ah, so the Doctor was playing too, although for a moment Cobb was so lost in absorbing her appearance that he almost forgot to respond. But eventually he grinned at her and mischievously murmured, “That does put a damper on our relationship, dear Doctor.”

The Doctor laughs, a sound that would make anyone cringe, unfortunately. “I wouldn’t worry about that Captain.”

Casela moved off to let Fey and Zachariah talk. A few people had arrived and it was her job after all…she would be back for cake though. Who didn’t like cake?

“Speaking of, I hope you don’t mind, I brought a cake.” The Doctor snapped and pointed at the door in time for one of the nurses to wheel in a cart with a stasis box on it. Having timed it so well, the Doctor turns to the pair with a wide smile.

• Doctor Fey Kastil

“Cake?” the Captain exclaimed, all but clapping his hands together at the sight of the stasis box.

Elsewhere in the lounge, however, the other party-goers did not seem so enamored and some of them could be heard whispering nervously on the appearance of both the doctor and her grizzly equipment.

Casela made a slow pass, and stopped conversationally, “Did you know that the good doctor’s sister is a quadrent renowned chef? That’s one of her cakes in that box over there. Isn’t it nice that the doctor is sharing that bakery perfection with the whole crew?” She actually had no idea if Fey’s sister had made it, but she knew from Fey’s file who her sister was. She looked pointedly at the crew members, shaming them for their behavior.

Doctor Fey walked over to the large stasis box and deactivated it so she could open it. The smell of cream cheese frosting hits the lounge as the stasis walls are taken away. In the shape of the galaxy, this chocolate cake was covered with appropriate colored icing to mimic the Milky Way Galaxy and was quite reasonably sized. “There should be enough for everyone to have three or four pieces, I expect much of it will find it’s way to your ready room.”

But at the far-left of the room, curled into a booth with his hands wrapped around a steaming mug of tea, shipyard engineer Copper turned to his companion, Clark, and muttered, “Is it just me or does it feel like the environmental controls are busted in here? I’m absolutely freezing!”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Casela heard Copper and Clark and feeling rather irritated at having to be at the party to begin with decided to make an example out of them. She strode over, Copper and Clark couldn’t miss her. And of course her reputation went before her. She leaned her hands against the table and for several minutes simply stared at them, one to the other, with a single brow raised. After their eyes had dilated sufficiently and they’d both gulped, Casela spoke. “Do you know what is colder? The vacuum of space. It’s plenty warm in here. Do I make myself clear?” After several nods each, Casela walked away. Of course they were talking about her now, but she was used to it. Better her than the good doctor.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

The Doctor turned back to the Captain and asked for water herself. The drawback of the Zoot Suit was that it was very warm to wear and she was already sweating.

• Doctor Fey Kastil