Christmas On The Atlantis

Posted on Fri Dec 11th, 2020 @ 4:17am by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Major Samuel King & Lieutenant Aurelius Davis & Lieutenant Samantha Leyton & Lieutenant JG Mattias Constantine & Lieutenant Avira zh'Kenarh M.D. & Ensign Elegy Nascimento
Edited on on Fri Dec 11th, 2020 @ 6:06am

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: Deck C - Rec Room
Timeline: Day 151 Year 0 Time 20:00
2500 words - 5 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth looked around the mess and smiled at everyone that was there. It was meant to be an officer’s party but as of yet, not everyone has arrived. It was not traditional at all to hold something like this on Christmas Eve but she wanted the Crew party to be on actual Christmas day and boost the bigger group of people onboard morale. It had been decided by all the senior officers without a moment doubt when they worked out Christmas was so close. There were homemade decorations and Engineering had made random things out of decorations from scraps. It was so abstract it was perfect. Beth turned as the door opened.

Aurelius snuck in, or thought he was doing so. Samantha had said she would meet him there and he didn't want to stand around in the corridor and wait for her. "Captain," he smiled, resisting using her first name for some reason.

The redhead looked at him and nodded. He took every opportunity to remind her that she had finally taken the pip to become Captain of the vessel. It would never change again unless they got home to Starfleet but it was the step she had finally been able to change thanks to Sloan. "Lieutenant." She replied just as formally. She opened her mouth to say more but the door opened.

A minute later, Samantha entered, wearing a plain crimson sweater and black slack and casual shoes. She didn't have much in the way of clothes, especially off duty clothes. She came to the party to hopefully take her mind off of everything. She was missing Christmas back home. Her family would gather together every year and she smiled as she recalled her father and grandfather compared service stories to the dismay of all the women in the family and if it snowed, there would have been snowball fights and building a snowman. She shook herself from the memory and looked about the room when her eyes came to Aurelius talking to the Captain. She felt guilty for not having spent much time with him the past few weeks. She walked up from behind. "Hey you," she greeted, placing a hand gently on his shoulder.

He turned at the touch and smiled. "You made it." One arm instinctively went around behind her back, the other hand patted his pocked that held her christmas present but he wasn't sure he wanted to give it to her here in front of everyone.

"Excuse me," Beth commented with a forced smile as she walked off with a nod as she noticed more people coming into the room.

Aurelius frowned. He hadn't gotten out more than a hello, how are you before Beth had gone off. He wondered if he'd done something she didn't approve of. Looking at Sam he asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

Samantha watched Beth walk away and shook her head. "No idea, save for she may be jealous," she shrugged.

"Jealous?" Aurelius answered her even more confused. "Of what?" He could think of no reason for her to be jealous of him, unless. . .

Samantha sighed. Men she thought. "I believe the Captain is jealous of us...me more likely. She does seem to like being around you, though."

"Uh . . . would you be mad if I told you I sorta tried to start things with her and I felt like she brushed me off?" He was somewhat bracing to be hit, not that he thought Samantha a violent woman. But women did tend to do things like that when very angry.

"Is that right?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sounds like I'm interfering then. I won't stop you if you want to talk to her."

"Of course not, I've always liked you. I just never thought you'd be interested in me. I mean you are younger and being that we were both pilots I kinda assumed you'd look at me as a mentor not something else. I didn't want to creep you out by being anything other than professional. And then I just decided well if you didn't like it you'd probably hit me and that would be the end of it. But then you kept not hitting me when I touched you . . . . and I'm rambling."

Samantha watched Aurelius for a moment before shrugging. "One, you're only about four years older, two I haven't hit you yet, and three, yes you are rambling," she teased him with a grin. "Come on, let's go an enjoy the party."

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and looked up at the ceiling for a moment thanking someone that it had not gone any further than that. He liked being honest though and he hoped Samantha appreciated that as he followed after her.

Avira strolled into the mess hall, two padds in hand, reading a third one, not really noticing something was up until she almost walked into one of the casually dressed people standing around there. She herself was still in her lab coat and uniform, clearly fully engulfed in her work, "Oh, I apologise," When she looked up from her work she immediately realised that she was stepping into something. She remembered the other Senior officers talking about some sort of end of year celebration, but all she had done was look over at her Vulcan colleague who hadn't seemed too interested in sharing her silent confusion on the subject, "I'll just grab some food and be out of your hair." She needed to refuel for the more thorough study of the human body that she had been working on. She felt so hopelessly underprepared whenever one of them came in with a symptom she didn't recognise and had no clue what to do with.

A man in a red suit declared, "Ho ho ho," in the jolliest manner. Crossing the mess compartment on long strides, he positioned himself in between Avira and her greatest desire: the exit. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked Avira. From the timbre of the voice, it was clearly Elegy Nascimento. Clearly. Otherwise, one might think he was Santa Claus in the flesh.

Elegy was wearing an oversized flight suit, stuffed with clothes to thicken his stature. The flight suit had been dyed fire-engine red and someone's fur coat had been sacrificed to sew white trimmings into his costume from top to bottom. Elegy had also repurposed the white fur to make himself a fake flowing beard to cover his darker facial hair, and finished it off with a lining on the red toque he wore atop his head. Balling his fists on his hips, Elegy said, "If you ditch the party now, you'll end up on Captain's naughty list, most definitely."

Utterly confused about the costume that Elegy was wearing, Avira stammered a bit before finally coming to a, "I don't want to impose," she wondered why he would dress himself up like this, if he was being coerced, but it seemed like he was revelling in his role, just to be sure she leaned in and whispered, "You know that hazing and peer pressure tactics are strictly prohibited in Starfleet don't you?"

That question gave Elegy pause. What little of his face could be seen behind the beard scrunched up in a puzzled expression across his brow. That Santa twinkle in his eye faded, but it was replaced by amused curiosity soon enough. "Do you think someone... did this to me?" Elegy asked, surprised and yet charmed by her concern. "...Or are you accusing me of hazing you?"

"A good old fashioned holiday hazing?" Another voice joined in the fray. "I wish you could've seen holidays around the Constantine house. This would have been relatively mild to what my siblings and I cooked up for each other. But seeing how you're technically my boss today, Elegy, I guess I'd better fall in line, huh?" The juxtaposition of the nearly two meter tall chief of communications wearing a fleece onesie adorned with graphics representing an elf outfit was quite stark by itself, but the red and white hat with "Santa's little helper" scribbled hastily on an affixed piece of paper really set the look apart. "Back to work making toys, yeah, yeah - I got it, boss," Constantine grinned.

Although he held Constantine's gaze amid a bemused grin, Elegy waggled a white-gloved finger at the large elf in an expression of warning. "If you don't built toys for every good being among this crew," Elegy insisted, "I'll loose the Krampus to give you a stern spanking."

"Every good being?" Mattias shook his head, sending the pompom on the end of his hat flying around. "Well, that's easy enough. All I have to do do is build toys for Finn and maybe like three of the MACOs. The rest of you sinners need to start walking the straight and narrow, or else Santa here is going to start breaking out the lumps of coal!"

Avira frowned a bit, antennae twitching, going between the several parties that were starting to surround her in their merriment, "I should get out of your way, I have no need for a lump of coal."

Beth approached the small group and burst into laughter at the pair before she put her hand on her heart struck by the gesture that the men had made. "Constantine and Nascimento I am struck by your Christmas spirit." She admitted wishing there was more than she could have planned and prepared for but Christmas had snuck up on her.

Cocking his head to the side, Elegy Nascimento said, "Christmas may... look and... feel different this year." --He had started the sentence with an intention to spread good cheer, but he hesitated whenever he felt a lump in his throat quite acutely-- "But that only give us the opportunity to make new traditions."

Beth loved the idea of new traditions being created for there community. It would help the bonding and release some tension. “I like new opportunities.” Beth mused.

"And I like the look of that mulled wine, I'll be back with some cups. Does anyone else want some?" Mattias offered and he started backing towards the table with the refreshments. With the resequencers working in some capacity, some of the crew had come together to make the most of what the technology could make using the algae as the starting point. The finger foods and appetizers laid out on the table were unlikely to win any Michelin stars, but that didn't dampen the spirits of the assembled crew.

"Yes, of course," Elegy replied with anticipated gratitude; "This Santa doesn't drink milk and cookies. A cup of mulled wine would hit the spot."

As Mattias was moving away from the group Avira saw an opportunity to pass by the finger foods, she still needed something to eat if she were to have any chance of getting through her work tonight. Grabbing a nearby plate she walked past the buffet table. She saw some dark brown blocks, neatly cut in even squares, the small sign next to it said double chocolate chip brownies. She was not familiar with them but knew chocolate, and had appreciated the flavour. That would make a good dessert she felt. She added a deviled egg and a small potato salad on the plate and grabbed a fork before wanting to head out the door again.

TAG any

Ellie wasn't really in the mood, but she'd decided to show her face for the first half an hour of the party, as she had other plans that evening. She hadn't taken long to settle on wearing her usual going out attire, which consisted of a t-shirt, open buttoned shirt, denim shorts and tights, however Ellie had decided against doing anything with her hair. After taking a brief look around to see who'd arrived, Ellie started moving around the room to admire the decorations.

Finally making his entrance into the room, Chris Harper looked around as he stood in his dirty uniform in which he didn't really have time to change. There were few things he didn't want to miss, and this was one of them. Growing up on a cargo ship with his family, Christmas was one of those holidays that he truly enjoyed. It didn't always matter if they had a lot going for them, there was nothing that stopped them from celebrating this holiday. This was one holiday that to this day, he was always celebrate it no matter where he was at or who he was with. It was as though there was an extra spark of excitement that those all around tried to enjoy.

"Where are the punch and cookies?" Harper asked as he walked up to whomever was near him. "I'm starving and need a sugar high!"

"Punch is served," Constantine appeared from thin air, leaving a cup of bright red liquid in his hands. "I can't help you with the cookies, but someone used some chocolate and made some brownies. But you'd better be quick, Chris - they're almost all gone."

"Someone say punch?" Sam asked as he entered the room a little late. He was in his civilian clothes, taking the chance to get our of fatigues and heavy boots. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a leather jacket covering it, jeans and a lighter pair of boots than he usually wears. It was nice to see the Christmas decoration and the spirit on the ship had definitely lifted somewhat. Sam couldn't help but feel a little pang in his chest as he thought about his children back home celebrating their first without him. However, he was soon back in the present as he collected a glass and joined the party.

Maddison entered, wearing her standard duty uniform. Personally, I'd rather have some whiskey she thought, hearing Sam's question as she watched him make his way to the punch. "Anyone touch those brownies will have to deal with me," she said offering a smile as she made her way to the refreshment table.

As he took his punch, Chris smirked as he looked over at the arrival and raised his shin looking for these brownies. But as he watched her for a moment, he finally smirked and spoke out as he started in the general direction. "You trying to say that they are special brownies? Should we know about some special butter in it?"

Upon hearing the words "punch" and "brownies", Ellie made her way over to where they were located. Feeling greedy, she helped herself to two of the brownies before picking up a glass of punch and moving out of the way so others could help themselves too. After taking a bite out of her first brownie, Ellie knew straight away it had been a good call to get herself a couple while she could. She thought the punch tasted pretty good, too.