Posted by Lieutenant Dagen Thor (CE) in XO Welcome Party - ALL Invited

Posted by Ensign Reia Shandy (CIO) in XO Welcome Party - ALL Invited

Posted by Lieutenant Dagen Thor (CE) in XO Welcome Party - ALL Invited
Posted by… suppressed (14) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Magnus lined up some clear shots “Truth be told I have never been to Risa, although I have had a few oppertunities I’ve always prefered proper weather over advanced control.” He said handing Dekker a shot “He then grabbed two more, hadning one to Dagen “I’m afraid that the lie was I dind’t fail temporal mechanics, I was maybe not the greatest Academic of my time but I didn’t fail a single class, although I came close a few times” He raised his glass “Don’t fear this, it’s proper name is Brennivín or ‘burning wine’ and it’s an unsweetened spiced schnapps.” He explained “And don’t owrry about the ridiculous amount on my so called bounty, it’s raised every year and every year no one claims it, in fact I’m certain most scoundrels aren’t even aware of it.” He explained nonchalantly.

XO

Dagen was intrigued. He had developed a taste for Glamorgan while on OP42 and had tasted others while in his darker days of seeking his sister Deela. He looked at it. While at times he had suggested pickling Thor or at least seeing what a tipsy symbiot would be like, he had not gotten there. “Revali,” he said to the Commander in a toast before tipping his head back and drinking up. Unsweetened it had a flat taste to him but for the spices that took a few moments to manifest. The combination was nice, then came the ‘burn’. He choked once on it, then held up the empty glass. Wasn’t totally unlike his own favorite but the spices were potent.

He looked at Reia. “That’ll put hair on your toes,” he said with a smile, then shrugged. “A saying my grandfather had. He used it for almost anything that had a bite to it, be it food or drink.”

“For the right price.” Ben smirked at the new XO.

Park

“How did you manage to get into that much trouble” Tigeress growled. She quickly saw a potential threat witch bothered her that no one else seemed bothered by it. Her ears lay back against her head and she stepped away from been. Her tail wiped back and forth.
Ensign Tigeress

“I second that question. As an intelligence officer I must know these things.” Reia said playfully not making a move towards the drink.

• Reia

Magnus chuckled and scratched his chin “I may or may not have grievously injured and insulted a former member of a prominent illegitimate organization” Magnus chose his words carefully “Long story short I was momentarily involved with someone I later learned was this individuals spouse, they took offense with that and with me. The glove was dropped, all I did was pick it up” He said with a half smile “A few holonovel worthy adventures later I had a bounty on my head that no one wanted to touch that was raised on the regular. Someday I’ll head there and collect the bounty myself but I’m in no hurry” Magnus explained. Although there was no way to be certain if he was in fact telling the truth he seemed genuine in his storytelling.

XO

“You should put those adventures to a holo novel, sir,” he said. Glancing over at Tigress who had a bee up her bonnet over this. What was she so concerned about? The bounty? True, if anyone harbored a grudge on any posting they could just let out a tip. The XO seemed rather cavalier about it; his own intersections with the seedier side of society would suggest that one be a bit less so.

“ you are a danger to the ship” Tigeress growled. She then hisssed at the XO and bared her teeth. Light bounced off her claws as she fenced her hand and feet revealing them. Was she over reacting possibly. However this was Tigeress and a response like this was never simple and straight forward. Wail she was in many ways highly intelligent and humanoid she also have very strongly rutted instincts. Right not it was her instinctive reaction to protect her home and family filing her response. The reaction was defensive how the XO reasoned would ether help him earn her trust or make it near impossible for him to earn her trust.
Ensign Tigeress

Down kitty, Dagen thought to himself. “Easy there Ensign,” Dagen said quietly. Not a good time to get riled up. One should pick your fights and this was not the time to do it. “He’s only a danger to himself.” True, the ‘mob’ so to speak would target him and not others. The last thing they wanted was to bring attention to themselves to an organization that could do them damage. If they were going to deal with the commander they would do it outside the ship, like Risa, if he ever visited there.
- Dagen, CE

Tigress cast a glare and hissed at Dagen.

Magnus simply smiled before downing another shot “About as much of a danger to this ship as a neutered tribble” He said softly “I taught at Starfleet Academy for two years, two years a stationary target, easy grab for anyone willing to work for it” He said calmly “Starfleet intelligence is well aware of this bounty, as is Starfleet Security. The only reason the respective chiefs here haven’t been informed of it is delay’s in paperwork. This did happen almost fifteen years ago” He pushed a shotglass towards the Scientist “Do you think I would be assigned any position if there was a real risk?” He asked her.

XO

“ star fleet superiors have made dumber decisions” she said. She looked at the glass. She then relaxed but made no move to take the drink. “ I’m sorry Commander but I can’t drink that I can smell the alcohol in it from her though Ben might be interested in trying it” she said. She calmed it seamed the XO was on the right track to gaining the ensigns trust.

Ensign Tigeress

Reia shook her head at the whole ridiculous situation. For now she chose to believe that their new XO was basically on the up and up. If he warranted looking into, she could do it later. And as for Tigress, this was certainly no time for her to be making such a show of herself.

• Reia, CIO

Magnus, with his past, was a known quantity as far as security risks went though Tom suspected that Magnus meant bars rather than bricks. He didn’t put exaggeration past the man.

Tigress had shown little ability or desire to control her hostility and seemed overly suspicious of those she didn’t consider her closest friends. Tom felt that it wouldn’t take much, from an outside source, to push her into a physical confrontation. The suspicion wasn’t his concern, she could be an asset in intel work if she could reign in the violent tendencies.

• Tom

OOC: that’s a pretty good observation Tom. Perhaps you should talk to Tigeress about it that would be an entertaining conversation.
Christina

Riley had been sure of his answer, but the opportunity to try a new drink managed to soothe any disgruntlement he felt at loosing the trivia. He;d eyed the shot for a moment before deciding there was little benefit to nursing it and he threw it back. The burn in his gut was followed by a pleasant warming in his head and he lived in that for a moment longer than wise as an Ensign sought to challenge a Commander in his own quarters. Usually quicker to intervene, Riley was late to the scene and Tigress seemed moderately assuaged and Magnus still in good order. Riley looked at Thor and gave him an appreciative wink. He hadn’t heard what the man said to Tigress, but it had apparently kept things in check.

Riley moved next to Magnus and cleared his throat, pitching his voice for the room at large, “Thank you, Commander, for giving us a little insight into just who we’ve let aboard our ship. As for the rest of you lot. Eat up, drink up, and get out at a decent enough hour so I can get some sleep.”

Dekker, CNS

In a way he was glad he had stopped at only the one shot. He would have had issues with too many and dancing a Trill jig on Dekker’s table was not likely going to look good on his record. Nabbing a plate he shoveled some food on it then moved over toward Reia. There was something about her that made him want to hang out. “Didn’t do so well on that one,” he commented with a shrug. It was a game. It didn’t matter. What did was that the XO was a sport about it. “He took it well, and if we need to retire we know where we can get some quick latinum.” He grinned around a cherry tomato.
- Dagen,CE

Reia nodded and smiled realizing she was a bit hungry herself.

“True. You never know when a little latinum would come in handy. Just never trust a Ferengi financial adviser.” she said with a laugh.

She found Dagen’s company quite pleasant in a way that made her not want to put up her guard quite as quickly.

• Reia

10 bricks. That was a lot of latinum. One could do almost anything with that. His mind roamed over to the search for his sister and how that could easily fund a renewal of that and then some. It was tempting. He had loyalty to Starfleet, not to any man. He imagined the look of his parents when he told them that he had found Deela. That would be the highlight of his life. All he needed was … he sighed, taking another bite. As if he would do that. As if he was capable of that. Shaking that thought he returned to Reia, though in the back of his mind he still had that thought that if he had a good solid lead .. he could be.

“Might depend on how much of a cut he gets.” He chuckled. “Would need a second accountant to check on his dealings though. ” He said that somewhat deadpan as though it were a matter of fact. Then, turning to her, he grinned. “Nyah, too much trouble all this latinum stuff. Could just replicate what we need.” It was funny, though, the hangups that people still had about replicating things. It left a footprint. A history like the old ‘internet’ of old. “But then one could buy things off the grid with latinum and not leave a trail with it.” He knew he was being tongue in cheek, though when he was on OP42 buying things with credits and latinum or barter had a feeling of .. extreme naughtiness to it, that he was doing something wrong even though it was eminently legal. “I didn’t have wholesale access to replicated anything growing up beyond staples at school. It was kinda fun to just go shopping. What about you, Reia?” he asked.
- Dagen, CE

Reia had retrieved the small plate of nibbles as she pondered everything that came into her mind. Even if Bricks were a myth and it was just a lot of bars, that might bribe a guard, sway a Doctor, or get access to medical records.

Her far away look vanished and she returned to the conversation.

“Some things just can’t be replicated.” she said softly, “I mean like good fruits and vegetables. A real Van Gogh painting in the frame. Pearls. You know, things like that. Replication is definitely something that levels the playing field but we should go shopping together sometime.” she said with a mischievous smile.

• Reia

“Mom made the greatest ril pie,” Dagen said, musing. “Ril is like a cross between a Terran cherry and strawberry. There are recipes in the replicator but nothing like moms. Even if you put in the recipe to the programming. Doesn’t fit.” He enjoyed that pie. Fresh. Warm. He missed it. Biting into the food he knew it was replicated and it was pretty good. For half his life he had lived almost solely on replicated foods. But then everyone had it through many of the technological ages. ‘frozen dinners’ were like that, or ‘heat and serve’ dishes. He’d seen them in holos and museums. The ‘microwave oven’ was close to a replicator, only not as instant.

“Van Gogh. Pearls.” He said, catching her smile. “You have expensive tastes. Perhaps we’ll stay away from the art auction galleries.” He winked when saying that. Since leaving OP42 and rejoining the Fleet proper again he had ceased to employ private firms that had sucked almost everything he had from him. Oh he still had his shuttle and some small things. He had been more of a hermit these past few years and at last his accounts were looking less like something on life support. “We can go in my shuttle,” Dagen said. “Hit a market for some food and do a picnic first. Can’t shop on an empty stomach after all.” In his mind he was mentally kicking himself. He would have to ‘clean’ the shuttle. He was, if nothing else, a ‘messy’ when it came to his space.
- Dagen, CE

Had he just offered to take her shopping? Everything just came so easy when Reia was speaking with Dagen. Still, she needed to calm that voice in her head, the one that warned her not to let people too close or to second guess their motives for wanting to be close int he first place.

“Actually that sounds like a lot of fun and my tastes are usually much simpler at the time. I suppose those were extreme examples. Your Ril sounds like something my grandfather would have tried to farm. He wasn’t really much of a farmer though. A few apple trees, some tomatoes, but a very nice herb garden.”

Reia paused and finished her water.

“I guess that’s where I get my love for fruits and vegetables. It’s silly I know, but it’s like you can almost taste the sunshine.”

Reia stopped, a bit embarrassed with herself.

• Reia

“You and Burle would have gotten along famously,” he said between bites. “Burle was my grandfather and, apart from his love for theatre and music, he loved nature as well. In the summer when we went out for trips to the mountains we would come back with a pack full of Ril and Gorma-nuts. He had plants all over his place and the basement full of his hobbies. But he couldn’t grow a garden for the life of him.” He chuckled behind a drink, recalling the visits to his house and the small ‘dog’ that he had as a pet named Mitz. Dagen felt that it was less a matter of his grandfather’s skills as much as Mitz finding a willing and easy area to dig. “He breathed in nature and when I looked at him out there on a hike it was like he was a part of it.”

Dagen looked at her. She seemed to drink whenever she felt she said something that could be taken wrong, or too personal. Good think that’s not vodka, he thought to himself. She was somewhat intoxicating, he knew. Still he had his reservations. A picnic would be fun. It would be fun to get out. It had been a long time since he’d had that and it was high time he got off a ship or spacedock and felt ground under him again for more than a business trip. Holodecks were nice but that didn’t cut it. Idly he wondered if Reia skied. Every relationship he had had had in some way failed and, all but one he attributed to his own fault. No, he had not had much luck there. If anything was to happen it would grow up. He wasn’t going to push it. Though he did recognize that, social as he was as an individual, he did need a friend. He did chuckle at her use of the word ‘usually’ when speaking of her tastes. At least she was honest. “Something for our next port of call then,” he said. Was there a tinge of being too eager in his tone there? “You’re an outdoors kinda girl then?” he asked.
- Dagen, CE

Magnus continued small talk where he had been standing but not without paying close attention to the group dynamics. The Captain and his wife, Dekker entertaining the crowd, Ben Park and Tigress very interesting reactions to events and of course Thor and Shandy. The final pair was the only one that seemed to actually consider what they would use the bounty on Perfect He thought to himself as he poured three more shots and passed them out, taking one himself. He was going to have to kick a lot of trees to burn this off.

XO

Reia set her empty plate aside.

“I think it kind of goes with the territory. I grew up and the Australian coast mostly. Parts of Earth are technological marvels yes, but Australia is still pretty wild. Beaches, bon fires, forrests. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good city too but, I guess I am an outdoors girl, yeah.” she finished with a smile.

Dagen could easily move about in both. He grew up in the city but had spent time outdoors. He had tracked a lot of kilometers in the mountain passes training for the biathlon. Maybe as he thought of it he had taken too many ‘looks’ about rather than head down and going for it with more focus. “I’ve never seen Australia,” he confessed. “My tenure at Earth was principally the Academy. I did get to the Alps and Rocky Mountains to ski but didn’t have much time to get around.” He smiled easily. “I’m sure you know about that and just how much free time we had there. Not.” He had managed a couple of trips down to the Johnson Range on Mars to ski, though those trips were very few and very far between. “Your life sounds like the small slices that I had when I was young. Do you kayak?” He asked. It was something that he had taken up on the holodeck at the Mars shipyards while the Genny was being built. It was relaxing, though not quite the sporting ‘pace’ he was used to.

Reia was glad she’d come this evening. Setting her usual reservations aside and deciding to be just part of the crew for once. She knew she would definitely enjoy spending more time with Dagen but if she didn’t take things very slowly, Reia might end up ruining something before it had a chance to grow.

• Reia

Things were quieter. Dagen looked around and saw the people mixing in groups and talking. Typical party of ‘adults’, he thought. No real antics. Feed and chat. But each had their place. He looked at the food table. He’d certainly had enough, but did he want more? There was always something that called to him for that little bit more to top off the dinner. Then again, he was trying to get in shape and not be a ‘round’ shape. Feeling the alcohol that he had had, it was compelling him for more of something. Meeting that compulsion half way he snapped up what he had been educated by a roomate at the Academy as a ‘nanaimo bar’. “Sweet tooth,” he said with a guilty look. Indeed, Reia could see that Dagen’s emotions were easy to read.
- Dagen, CE

Reia smiled at Dagen’s sweet tooth comment. She was quite done with eating and drinking tonight but wasn’t really in the mood to go back to her quarters and look at half a dozen unfinished projects.

“I’ve always wanted to learn to kayak actually. Skiing can be quite fun if you can stay out of the snow long enough. During my first year class at the Academy I, and some class mates, managed to squirrel away enough time to go on a ski trip. I think I fell half a dozen times before deciding I was going to stay by the fire in the lodge.”

She paused and laughed at the memory.

“I have improved quite a bit since then.”

• Reia

Dagen nodded. “I can still be like that on downhill. My forte was always cross country. I had been competitive in that in my younger days.” He frowned. That comment made him sound old which, sometimes he did feel. “I have a number of holo simulations of various mountains in the Federation that are both downhill and cross country. ” He chuckled suddenly. “Falling is a part of adventure of skiing. It comes with the two sticks you strap to your feet. And,” he added, holding up a finger that had melted chocolate on it from the nanaimo. “And, it makes the fire at the lodges all the more welcoming after. That and hot tubs.” Suddenly noticing the chocolate he quickly popped his finger between his lips and sucked it off quickly, an expression of ‘oops’ on his face. “Not sure I saw the outside of the Academy buildings all first year,” he said. He’d been on ‘probation’ and had to hustle his intellectual buns all through the first year.

“As for kayaking, I would be a poor teacher. I’m still getting the hang of it myself. But it is very relaxing and you get to see all sorts of sights from angles that one normally wouldn’t.” The smell of the water, the breeze with scents of trees and, in the spring, blossoms, the faint bobbing in the waves. All that energized him and relaxed him. He felt alive then, as alive as he felt when he was elbow deep in a fusion generator fixing it. Different kinds of ‘living’. He had felt it at other times, but those two were the most prevalent areas. Setting down the plate he kept the glass in hand, leaning lightly against the table beside him.
- Dagen, CE

Reia watched and listened as Dagen spoke. Reading people was her Job and she tried to keep her job and her personal life separate but, usually, she didn’t have a personal life, so she would just try not to be obvious about it.

“Yes, I saw lots of walls when I was in the academy. Walls of my quarters, walls of the classrooms, endless walls upon walls. So I fought for every chance I could just to get out into the sun. We should go skiing sometime.” Reia said surprising herself.

-Reia

For Dagen it was not a surprising thing for someone to suggest an outing. His teenage years was full of that. His early Starfleet years were very social, well, but for the Academy. It had dwindled yes, but all the same, even in the underbelly of OP42 before its renovations he had been ‘around the campfire’ as it were. Still, it was a pleasant thing when others suggested things too. Lifting up his glass in a salute he drained it and set it down. “Deal,” he said. Now one thing he did know was that when one offered that that ‘sometime’ often never materialized. “Holodeck or real? Downhill or cross country?” He asked her. “I’ve got a number of programs. If real, well, we’ll have to just commandeer this tub and set sail for Risa or somewhere with a good hill.” He grinned. “There’s some good areas in Western North America where they have skiing and some good hot springs nearby for after. I can scan the holos for a good one.” Someone wanting to ski with him? Usually they shied away when they heard that he had been an Olympic hopeful on that. But then that was all it was - a hopeful, and a great many years ago.
- Dagen,

Reia didn’t want to back out. Dagen was nice and fairly charming and she knew she would really enjoy time spent with him. Her counselor, in the academy, had told her, on several occasions, that she just needed to get out of her own way.

“Well cross country in the holodeck would be sooner. Risa and Earth are fun of course, but that’ll most likely be problematic soon enough. So yes, holodeck, cross country. And the hot springs sound nice too.”

-Reia