Andromeda: To Boldly Go... (SciFi Char RP|IC, Open)

[Bingellia]

Violann of Mihal

---

"Oh, Major, its you." Vandath could tell by the way she was carrying herself, and the look on her face, that she wasn't here to spoil the party, but she wasn't necessarily committed to joining it, either. "Is everything ok?" he asked.

Violann sighed as she turned to face Vandath. "I'm fine," She began to speak, but she quickly found herself cut off by the more lively members of the party as they quickly barraged her.

"Major! Welcome!" Lanel, who seemed to be flitting about the place like a green butterfly, reacted quickly to Violann's presence, passing her a beaker of some mystery substance before flitting off again to see who else needed topping up. She had, for a moment been concerned that Violann was there to chew them out, though she'd appeared with the abrasively drunk Irish one so she assumed that that probably wasn't the case...

"Thank you," Violann mumbled out as Lanel placed a beaker in her hand. She looked down at the piece of lab equipment with a look of unease as she brought it up to her nose. Her nose crinkled quickly in disgust as the stench of strong liquor overpowered the smell of what botanical were infused within the elixir. For anyone who caught it, it made it quite clear that the Major was not a drinker by habit as she lowered the beaker without drinking the contents.

"Hello, Major," Rommel greeted the Kiel officer as she made her awkward entrance alongside the perpetually drunken Irish redhead that served as... what was she again? He could barely remember at this point, but it was probably something with the explosives and armory. Armory manager? Or was that someone else?

Quietly, she offered Rommel a nod and raised her glace as a silent recognition of his greeting, yet once again she did not drink.

"I am sorry," Violann returned her attention to the chaplain, "I do not go to these kinds of... informal functions very often. It is just a little overwhelming."

[Demencia]

Aoibheann Mac Thréinfhir

Aoibheann noticed how people gravitated towards Violann but stayed mostly away from her. "What am I, chopped liver?" she asked. "It's like wains with a new toy, I swear." She noticed Vio's less-than-smooth interaction with the drink that was handed to her and the redhead rolled her eyes. Mac approached and grabbed the beaker out of the kiel's hand, knowing she wouldn't resist getting rid of it. "Cheers lass, mine was dry." she said with a cheeky wink.

"Not bad for something made up in a bathtub, but," she began, holding up the beaker and then pulling out her hip flask. "It's got nothin' on a drop of the pure." She tucked the flask back away into her boiler suit. "But anything that gets you off your tits is better than nothing, hi." She raised the glass again and took a long drink of it.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Aula Cartia

...
"Miserable bastard. Free alcohol and he's sitting in the corner." Amena nudged Aula's shoulder and motioned in Polaski's direction; the pilot ignored the party for the most party. Instead the Martian pilot was massaging his temples. An expression of discomfort similar to the the one he wore through Eulli's hug on his face.

"Do you think something is wrong or is he like this all the time?" Aula asked, frowning in Polaski's direction, "Maybe he just needs a drink to loosen up."

Though she had already called Julian over and any plans to foist alcohol on Polaski were abandoned at the approach of the scientist. She had called him over so he was due her attention.

Hearing his name and catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Julian choked at the last moment as he craned to ID the speaker. Turning away and covering his face with a sleeve he coughed, feeling dribble leaking down his face. "Fuck..." He managed between two long coughs, dabbing at his chin. "Sorry." He croaked, taking a moment to clear his throat, suppressing another cough as he did. "That's me..." Still hoarse, he held up a finger, turning away and letting loose another, far more forceful series of coughs.

Catching his breath he straightened himself, his eye darting anxiously between the two women: realizing as he did that that Salazar had disappeared and that while the two seemed to know him, he actually didn't have the foggiest notion of either's name, or what they did. He'd spent most of the expedition in the bush. Aboard ship during the trip back he'd either been in medbay or locked inside the old broom closet that had been converted into his office down in one of the underbelly's of engineering.

It occurred to him then that between making an idiot of himself in front of the major and half the ship's company, his spectacular failure to contact the ship, and his subsequent catastrophic shower injuries: people he'd never met might know his name.

Hiding his consternation behind a tight lipped smile he looked from Emily then back to Aula. "Hi."

Julian's apparent discomfort didn't seem to discourage Aula in the slightest. She pulled herself up onto the edge of the lab bench, for want of somewhere to sit, "Not sure who I am are you?" she asked, teasingly, leaving it for a moment before waving her hand to show there wasn't any actual perceived slight, "I'm Aula Cartia, one of the Marines and this is Amena Malik, who works with the shuttles. We're the ones who got taken hostage by those funny dudes down on the surface and managed to pull of a film-worthy daring escape. I know who you are because Lanel talks a bit about the other scientists; we occasionally have a drink after our shifts. She's good for a laugh."

She paused for a moment before asking, "So what is it that you do in the labs... and remember I'm good at shooting blasters at people and kicking them in the face so some of the science talk might go over my head."

---

Lanel Orquoz

Aoibheann Mac Thréinfhir

...

"Not bad for something made up in a bathtub, but," she began, holding up the beaker and then pulling out her hip flask. "It's got nothin' on a drop of the pure." She tucked the flask back away into her boiler suit. "But anything that gets you off your tits is better than nothing, hi." She raised the glass again and took a long drink of it.

"Bathtub?" Aoibheann have got the attention of the one responsible for making the drinks, "No, I made it all in the lab!" she declared, before darting a sideways glance at the other scientists and the Major, "In my own time, of course."

"If you'd prefer the pure alcohol, I'm sure we have some of that around actually, though I thought it didn't do good things for humans?" she didn't wait for a response, dropping to her haunches to go rummaging through a cupboard, emerging a few moments later with a bottle of 'Ethanol 96% v/v'. It probably wouldn't kill you (depending upon how much you drank) but definitely wasn't going to taste nice.

---

Darko Novak

Ensign Eliza Paige
...

It took Eliza a brief second to realize that the captain was addressing her directly. It took a few more to realize the captain's intentions.

"S-S-Sir!!!" She managed to stammer out, shocked as she straightened in her chair and killed the testing program. She was halfway through calling up the ship's directory when the captain's full intentions struck her. Eliza stiffened that the captain was considering going over and dragging her with him. Perhaps the smallest officer on the ship with probably the least combat training. Insubordinate thoughts came to mind.

Then memories of her short-lived VR sabotage came to mind and Eliza gave a strained groan in defeat as she called up the squadron leader. The message went to voicemail and Eliza tried to speak slowly; trying to avoid a nervous stutter.

"Flight Lieutenant Salazar, this Ensign Paige. The captain wants a SAR shuttle prepped and a pilot on stand-by...... Preferably one who isn't smashed yet." She whispered the last part, shooting a nervous glance at the captain before turning back to her console.

'Hope the scans are negative.'

Eliza's hopes were shattered when a few moments later someone reported in that there were life signs consistent with two warm blooded creatures in the bridge section. Novak stood up, trying to suppress a slight smile. Adventures in space. This was what he had dreamed of for years and now, "Aquila, you have control of the bridge while I am away. Please do not notify Major Violann unless it is a matter of the utmost urgency. She is not, after all, on duty."

He turned to Paige, "I will take Winston back to my quarters. Please meet me down at the shuttle bay," he paused. He could tell she was nervous, which was unfortunate. Perhaps he was a little overly enthusiastic about going off-book and getting off the bridge, "Ensign, one day, if everything goes well, you will have command of your own star-ship. I hope that when you do, that you will look back on this little excursion positively. There are people out there who need our help, and we can do some good. Relax... but keep a blaster at your hip."

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Gabriel Polaski and Amena Malik

"Hey, Gabe," Rommel approached Polaski and sat beside him, drinking a sip from a strange beaker that he wasn't sure what the contents were. "You know, the Bridge just called. They need a pilot to get a search and rescue shuttle into a nearby shipwreck, and seeing as you haven't had the fortune of drinking enough of this stuff as of yet..."

Rommel smirked. "Or not, I could always tell them to get Helmswoman Calhoun to do it. So? What say you?"

Polaski stifled a grimace at the fume of the alcohol and rubbed his temples harder.

"With all due respect sir. I just got off a ten hour ready-five bird. I'm only here as a favor to..... a friend." Polaski might have a glared a bit at the section of the lab Malik was in. " I'll fly it if you need me to; but you might be better off pulling a fresh pilot.

Amena for her part had been about to discuss the plan to get Polaski drunk when Julian had approached. Aula had turned to converse with the scientist she invited over so Amena followed suit.

"I'm Aula Cartia, one of the Marines and this is Amena Malik, who works with the shuttles. We're the ones who got taken hostage by those funny dudes down on the surface and managed to pull of a film-worthy daring escape. I know who you are because Lanel talks a bit about the other scientists; we occasionally have a drink after our shifts. She's good for a laugh."

Amena snorted as she sipped from a beaker with a red film covering a greenish liquid.

"Work on shuttles; I pretty much run the damn things. The pilots just get to rent them out."

She said it as a joke; not expecting anyone to engage. Especially not the nerdy looking scientist with the odd looking tie and a tray of cookies. Speaking of which....

Amena leaned over and grabbed a handful; popping one in her mouth.

"Bit crumbly. Take it baking is a speciality." She didn't bother to finish chewing as she spoke.


Ensign Eliza Paige

"Aquila, you have control of the bridge while I am away. Please do not notify Major Violann unless it is a matter of the utmost urgency. She is not, after all, on duty."

He turned to Paige, "I will take Winston back to my quarters. Please meet me down at the shuttle bay," he paused. He could tell she was nervous, which was unfortunate. Perhaps he was a little overly enthusiastic about going off-book and getting off the bridge, "Ensign, one day, if everything goes well, you will have command of your own star-ship. I hope that when you do, that you will look back on this little excursion positively. There are people out there who need our help, and we can do some good. Relax... but keep a blaster at your hip."

Nervousness turned to fear as Eliza stood and gave shakily, sloppy salute to captain.

"Sir" She wasn't sure if her voiced quavered as the Captain left the bridge with his dog in tow. Eliza stood there for a moment before she began plodding her way to the shuttle bays; trying not to make contact with any of the other bridge crew as she exited.

' This wasn't what I was promised. He said safe bridge duty instead of jail. Not Zero-gee search and rescue.' Those thoughts and similar lines of thinking bounced through Eliza's head the entire way to the aft located shuttle bays. She barely even noticed her arrival into the shuttle bay before a hand plopped down on her shoulder.

'Where in the sam hell do ya-" The tall broad shouldered individual wore a flight suit and a tool belt. Enlisted markings sat on his chest and a squadron patch of a star and some claw dominated a shoulder. The man also wore a look of realization as he caught sight of her name and rank attached to her uniform. "Ah, Ensign Paige. We've been expected you. Your shuttle is over there."

The mechanic motioned towards one of the shuttles being swarmed by personnel and machines as they....reattached the wings.

"Why did they take the wings off?" Her voice sounded flat to her ears as the mechanic laughed and placed a hand in the small of her back to push her forward.

"Gotta get the right tools for the job. SAR birds have different wings. Engines are the same but the wings are lighter; more maneuvering nozzles too. Not too durable but very easy to move. Fast too." The mechanic talked with the speed of enthusiasm for his craft and only stopped when they reached the open tail ramp. "Quartermaster issued you a EV suit and a blaster. You can put the suit on in the head. The blaster's stowed in the arms locker"

The mechanic motioned towards a hardcase that sat towards the front of the empty shuttle's passenger bay. The arms locker stood next to the case; a tall sturdy looking cabinet that was filled with weapons as denoted by the name. Then the mechanic left Eliza alone to go help with the conversion of the shuttle into its SAR platform. The ensign stood lost for a second before hesitantly making her way into the bay and the promised case.

' You used to do this all the time. How hard could it be'

Eliza stumbled out of the head fifteen minutes later; mostly clad in her EV suit but still struggling to secure the suit properly to her body. Not helped by the fact the suit was a size too big for the one and half meter ensign.

[Tesserach]

Julian "The Party Animal" Warwick

---

While Rommel and Aula were discussing Dhasath spiritualism, Julian excused himself briefly to go hunt down another round of drinks nearly bumping into a number of people, the major included, as he did so. Given the general tenor of the party so far one might have been forgiven for thinking Julian was getting drunk but the truth was Julian actually handled his liquor pretty well and had just never been graceful at the best of times; it didn't help that he caught himself involuntarily glancing back at Aula and grinning like an idiot as he did.

For efficiency's sake he returned with a rack of beakers in one hand while sipping out of one. There'd been enough alcohol consumed he was starting to space water between drinks as he sauntered back into the conversation.

"Oh you will?" she answered, giving him a bright, innocent smile, "Because I was going to suggest that we ditch this party and head down to the showers. Could be a tight squeeze with three people in the cubicle, but that's all part of the fun."

She let that hang in the air for a few moments, letting it mature in awkwardness, hopefully long enough for one of the pair to flush beet red or stammer something silly, before, unable to contain herself anymore, bursting out laughing.

"I uh..." Julian paused mid-stride, clearly caught out by the suggestion, his face went through a series of transformations from confusion, to embarrassment, to then glancing suspiciously to Aula as she watched both him and Rommel expectantly. "Oh! Everyone's been so uptight and stressed, really what I think this ship needs is a good old fashioned orgy. Rather should have led with that as a team building exercise now that I think of it. That's brilliant really. Don't know why no one thought of it before."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not selling myself short, I just have a realistic appreciation of my role on this ship," Aula assured Julian with a bright smile. She had originally started flirting with him for a laugh, but she was beginning to find she enjoyed his company. He was very, very different from the marines she usually associated herself with... "This whole scenario is like that 20th century movie, 'the Bodyguard'... except you're Whitney Houston. And I hope I don't need to take a slow motion dive and get shot because I imagine that would hurt." Inwardly she congratulated herself for (hopefully) remembering one of the people who had starred in that.

"Oh, and I'd be like 'Oh my hero!' and swoon over you then we'd have an uncommonly well rehearsed kiss that's so good you'd forget you'd just been shot. I mean, probably I should make sure you get proper medical care before exacerbating your injuries trying to make out with you for saving my life, but let's be honest here: the second installment of the Aula Cartia trilogy was kind of a rushed job by the studio after the surprise success of the first flick, so we rather have to save the movie commercially by at least giving the audiences what they want.

"Though seriously, if someone is about to shoot me and you have time to slow-motion full-body throw yourself into the path of the bullet um... rather than that maybe just... I don't know... shoot them first maybe? I may not be a trained, or a marine, or know anything about fighting... but I feel that's just a better strategy all around."

The comment drew a laugh from Aula. She tossed her head back, giving Julian a sideways glance from behind loose strands of dark tousled hair, "Down on one knee? I know I'm a good catch but don't you think it's a bit early for a proposal?" she joked, "You could at least buy me a drink first! Or, you know, just pass me another beaker since we're not in a paying establishment and probably won't be for months!"

Julian jolted upright, remembering the beaker rack full of drinks he was holding. "Oh! Drinks I can do! You have your choice of mystery fluids in red, green, blue and... I'm going to say, Mauve maybe? I also brought two with laboratory grade distilled water if anyone wants to stay hydrated. Personally I hate hangovers." Julian paused and made an abortive effort to meet Aula's sideways glance as he offered the tray. He bit his lip as he seemed to anxiously mull over what he was about to say before he leaned towards her a little and continued in a slightly lower more conspiratorial tone. "Although, now that I think about it - not that these are bad - but I may have a secret bottle of what some might call 'The Good Stuff' safely tucked away somewhere. My original plan involved drinking it alone, in the dark, while looking at images of exotic animals. Which, saying it out loud sounds weird, but that was genuinely my plan."

"Anyway um..." There was a moment of nervous hesitation, and for a moment it seemed like he might actually back off whatever he'd been intending to say. "... perhaps if I found someone of discerning taste..." Julian shrugged and wrung his hands together anxiously. Beneath a brow of eyebrows, arched hopefully, above a were suppressing a smile, Julian forced himself to actually meet Aula's dark and gleaming eyes through her loose strands of tousled hair, and for a moment he forgot what he'd been about to say. " ... perhaps we might share a glass together?" Then, again feeling self conscious, Julian's serious expression softened a little as he broke into a wry smile. "Or I could just try and woo you with my pretty amazing collection of benthic invertebrates. I rather imagine no one's ever made that offer before."

This time Julian was watching Aula's expression to see what sort of reaction that last bit drew.

[Europa Undivided]

Rommel Salazar
The Lab Party

Polaski stifled a grimace at the fume of the alcohol and rubbed his temples harder.

"With all due respect sir. I just got off a ten hour ready-five bird. I'm only here as a favor to..... a friend." Polaski might have a glared a bit at the section of the lab Malik was in. " I'll fly it if you need me to; but you might be better off pulling a fresh pilot.

Rommel simply shrugged in response, taking another sip into the beaker. He seemed to taste something sour in there, as his face contorted somewhat in response to whatever he just drank. At any rate, he was still kind of sober, and was very much capable of coherent thought. "Okay then," he nodded his head, patting Polaski at the shoulder just like any friendly commanding officer would. "I understand. Now that I look at you, it looks like you got a headache. Which means..."

The Flight Lieutenant raised the comms on his wrist unit, directing his call to the Ensign that radioed him earlier regarding the search for a pilot that could go drive a search and rescue shuttle to the local shipwreck, sighing as he went. "Hello, hello, this is Flight Lieutenant Salazar. Just get Cole Carter or Solfia Calhoun to drive the shuttle. As far as I know, neither of them are in this here lab, which means they aren't smashed."

Rommel paused. "Oh, and tell me what happens in there. I like new friends."

It was easy to pinpoint - from the way his smile evaporated from his face - the exact moment Julian remembered he was speaking to an adult marine and military shuttle mechanic respectively.

Not knowing what else to do, in a panic Julian shoved the entire plenaria into his mouth.

"You're a funny one..." Rommel chuckled, gently slapping the intern at the back. The Dhasath-Human hybrid from Mars took another swig at his beaker, and pulled his hair back as some of it just fell over his eyes. "How long have you been... uh, interning?" Rommel asked Julian while putting one eye at Polaski, watching him if he decided to go to medbay to deal with whatever was giving his head pain. "You uh... remind me of that cousin that I have. Biggest nerd that I have witnessed, very funny too."

Funny.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Julian "The Party Animal" Warwick
...

And from blank and pleading, Julian's eyes suddenly went quite wide with recognition, looking suddenly over at Malik. "Oh, I actually do know both your names!" He laughed, feeling awkward about the whole exchange. "I have to apologize though, I am properly terrible at putting names to faces. Good to actually meet you both though!"

"Hey we're famous!" Aula gave Malik a bright smile, "I tell you, we should be looking at the movie rights to that story. Damn, I'd love to see someone famous playing me in a movie. I'm sure they'd get it all wrong, but that would be part of the fun!"

"Well, ah... I mean, it is very complicated but uh... my official job title is field technologist, 'intern' I guess you'd call it." He said then intern part as though he really didn't think of himself as one. "So uh... I don't actually work in the labs per se. Planetside mostly. Up here I... basically sit in my office. If you want to call it an office. Actually I'm pretty sure it's a broom closet they just put a child sized desk in.

"Um... anyway yeah, I look at stuff we find and I describe and file it. That's it really. Actually, it's super interesting work." Realizing that was a lie he immediately added. "Actually that is a lie, the work is actually rubbish."

"You're an intern?" Aula's eyebrows shut up, "Damn! I hope you're getting paid because this is a dangerous mission. You don't get marines on a run-of-the-mill science cruise," she paused, pursed her lips then shook her head with a slight laugh, "Damn I hope you're getting paid," she repeated, "The best part of these long missions is there's basically nothing to spend your money on so when you get back you can throw a truly epic party! I'm already planning one for when I get back to Mars."

"They are a touch crumbly it turns out yes." He grudgingly admitted while inspecting the tray of assorted animal shaped cookie monsters. "But um... I did 3D print them from models I made of new species we collected on Yuzhongzhi. So that's fun right?"

Picking one up he held up a little worm-like cookie with googly looking eyes etched in turning it to Malik and Aula in turn. "'Look at me, I'm a plenaria-morph and an example of convergent evolution!'" He said in a voice usually reserved for children's puppet shows.

It was easy to pinpoint - from the way his smile evaporated from his face - the exact moment Julian remembered he was speaking to an adult marine and military shuttle mechanic respectively.

Not knowing what else to do, in a panic Julian shoved the entire plenaria into his mouth.

Aula laughed. Genuinely laughed, then laughed even more when Julian shovelled the whole cookie into his mouth, "You are one strange dude!" she declared, "But I think I like you. Here -" the handed him another mystery beaker, "-wash it down with some of this."

---

Darko Novak

Ensign Eliza Paige

' You used to do this all the time. How hard could it be'

Eliza stumbled out of the head fifteen minutes later; mostly clad in her EV suit but still struggling to secure the suit properly to her body. Not helped by the fact the suit was a size too big for the one and half meter ensign.

Novak wasn't far behind. He was followed shortly after by four medics wheeling a couple of large sealed pods - zero atmosphere stretcher units, just in case they needed to move injured people without their own EV suits across the void of space.

"Do we have a pilot?" Novak asked distractedly. He had his head buried in a tablet, "We're about 600 metres from the wrecked ship, following the same trajectory. It will just be a short hop. We think there's an intact docking point just before the bridge section but we're not sure if there's atmosphere on the far side or if there's an interior blast door keeping the front section sealed off. If there is, we'll need to do a bit of quick sealing to make sure we don't vent all the atmosphere and kill the occupants when we open the door. I just about guarantee there won't be artificial gravity so make sure you keep your boots magnetised."

He looked up from the tablet, glancing between the assembled people, "Anyone got any questions?"

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Crew Chief Amena Malik and PO Gabriel Polaski

"'Look at me, I'm a plenaria-morph and an example of convergent evolution!'" He said in a voice usually reserved for children's puppet shows.

It was easy to pinpoint - from the way his smile evaporated from his face - the exact moment Julian remembered he was speaking to an adult marine and military shuttle mechanic respectively.

Not knowing what else to do, in a panic Julian shoved the entire plenaria into his mouth.

Amena might have shot the intern a partial frown before she took another pull of her beaker. The display was off-putting in the fact that that Julian didn't mean anything by it. This was just his default setting. Though Aula didn't seem to mind.

Aula laughed. Genuinely laughed, then laughed even more when Julian shovelled the whole cookie into his mouth, "You are one strange dude!" she declared, "But I think I like you. Here -" the handed him another mystery beaker, "-wash it down with some of this."

What could Amena say but Aula's cheer was infectious? So Amena's frown turned into a smirk as she shook her head.

"That act work on all the ladies?" Amena teased. She didn't seem to care too much about the answer as she drained the last of her beaker and perused the array of glassware for a new drink. Though she stopped her perusal as Rommel walked up to the group. Informal settings or not, Amena preferred to keep her distance from her squadron commander. So she quietly slipped away from the group with a whispered excuse to Aula her only sign of leaving.

She glanced over the small gatherings of officers scattered throughout the lab and decided to slip int othe one with the loud drunken Earth woman. She seemed like good company right now.

"How's it going?" Amena tried to keep her voice controlled upon realizing the loud redheaded Irish woman was hanging around the marine Major.

Gabriel for his part just sat in his corner and watched the various gatherings. He would bow out once Amena left or became so intoxicated that she wouldn't notice. Though he would probably drag her back to her bunk in that case anyways. He was too damn loyal like that.

So he nursed his headache as the rest of the party nursed their drinks.

Ensign Eliza Paige

"Do we have a pilot?" Novak asked distractedly. He had his head buried in a tablet, "We're about 600 metres from the wrecked ship, following the same trajectory. It will just be a short hop. We think there's an intact docking point just before the bridge section but we're not sure if there's atmosphere on the far side or if there's an interior blast door keeping the front section sealed off. If there is, we'll need to do a bit of quick sealing to make sure we don't vent all the atmosphere and kill the occupants when we open the door. I just about guarantee there won't be artificial gravity so make sure you keep your boots magnetised."

He looked up from the tablet, glancing between the assembled people, "Anyone got any questions?"

Eliza might have been panicking slightly as she turned from her attempts to fasten her suit.

"I...I...I contacted Flight Officer Salazar.... and ...and I told him to get a pilot. He....He called me back and told me to get the pilots. He gave me a few names and I sent them both a message. Calhoun and Carter...but...but.... I don't know if they got them." Nerves from both the Captain's presence and Eliza's anxiety led to her stammer. She could feel the flush of embarrassment on her cheeks as the SAR crew members looked on with varying looks of curiosity and pit. She balled her fists and studied the decks underneath her boots with new interest.

'I'm just a programmer. This was supposed to be a desk job!!!'

[Tesserach]

Julian "The Party Animal" Warwick

---

Finding himself suddenly the center of so much attention as people started erupting in laughter, Julian felt some pins and needles creeping up the back of his neck and along the sides of his cheeks as he choked down the cookie.

"That act work on all the ladies?" Amena teased. She didn't seem to care too much about the answer as she drained the last of her beaker and perused the array of glassware for a new drink. Though she stopped her perusal as Rommel walked up to the group. Informal settings or not, Amena preferred to keep her distance from her squadron commander. So she quietly slipped away from the group with a whispered excuse to Aula her only sign of leaving.

The temperature in the room had to be set to at least 30 degree celsius, Julian figured trying to finish chewing. "I'll have you know that act killed with the girls while I was working at the natural history museum." He took a moment to belatedly swallow the remnants of the cookie. Only half faking a cough as some of the crumbs went down the wrong pipe, he added under his breath. "Granted they were mostly twelve year olds."

"You're a funny one..." Rommel chuckled, gently slapping the intern at the back. The Dhasath-Human hybrid from Mars took another swig at his beaker, and pulled his hair back as some of it just fell over his eyes. "How long have you been... uh, interning?" Rommel asked Julian while putting one eye at Polaski, watching him if he decided to go to medbay to deal with whatever was giving his head pain. "You uh... remind me of that cousin that I have. Biggest nerd that I have witnessed, very funny too."

Julian took the slap on the back with a stiff smile, trying to play along while fighting the gnawing sense this was one of those situations people were laughing at him rather than with him. Even so he was a little glad to be offered the out talking about the job.

"Just for the voyage. I needed a field position to advance my own work." He explained.

"You're an intern?" Aula's eyebrows shut up, "Damn! I hope you're getting paid because this is a dangerous mission. You don't get marines on a run-of-the-mill science cruise," she paused, pursed her lips then shook her head with a slight laugh, "Damn I hope you're getting paid," she repeated, "The best part of these long missions is there's basically nothing to spend your money on so when you get back you can throw a truly epic party! I'm already planning one for when I get back to Mars."

"Paid... yes... sort of. I have grant funding. That's like being paid." He said. "I did mostly blow it on equipment and things to bring with me though. So unclear how much epic partying will be in my future."

Aula laughed. Genuinely laughed, then laughed even more when Julian shovelled the whole cookie into his mouth, "You are one strange dude!" she declared, "But I think I like you. Here -" the handed him another mystery beaker, "-wash it down with some of this."

"Thank you!" Julian said, accepting the glass and taking a deep breath and feeling like, somewhere, along the way this whole interaction had started feeling... better. "You should try the cookies. All of you. I brought them for everyone."

He tested the beaker Aula had handed him, for the first time since he'd arrived a smile creased his lips that he didn't have to force.

Maybe this party wouldn't be such a disaster.

Then a random voice was heard over the crowd, the speaker having obviously been fighting off laughter to speak. "Jesus Warwick, was that a dick you just shoved in your mouth!?"

By the time Julian recovered enough to turn around whoever it was was already exiting the lab with a trio of cackling marines.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Aula Cartia

Julian "The Party Animal" Warwick

---

...
The temperature in the room had to be set to at least 30 degree celsius, Julian figured trying to finish chewing. "I'll have you know that act killed with the girls while I was working at the natural history museum." He took a moment to belatedly swallow the remnants of the cookie. Only half faking a cough as some of the crumbs went down the wrong pipe, he added under his breath. "Granted they were mostly twelve year olds."

Aula burst out laughing, just about slipping off her perch on the edge of the bench, "You were trying to pick up twelve year old girls with cookies?" she chortled, "Though I do know what you mean. I didn't think you were trying to make yourself the Academic world's answer to Babylas Mattityahu... or who was that 21st century singer..." she snapped her fingers a couple of times, "Garry Glitter. What a name!"

It was perhaps a little mean, though she was wearing a bright smile that suggested it was all in jest... something which the next comment didn't seem to be.

Maybe this party wouldn't be such a disaster.

Then a random voice was heard over the crowd, the speaker having obviously been fighting off laughter to speak. "Jesus Warwick, was that a dick you just shoved in your mouth!?"

By the time Julian recovered enough to turn around whoever it was was already exiting the lab with a trio of cackling marines.

"Hey!" Aula called out angrily, "What do you think this is, high school?"

As he turned she reached over, grabbing him by the collar and turning him back to her. She was stronger than she looked, which probably wasn't a surprise given the woman's choice of profession, "Ignore them, they're just jealous you're monopolising the good looking girls," she said, draping her arms around his neck in a manner that was much more familiar than she ought to be, "Though if you want to take it back to high school, I could go and punch one of them. That would definitely get me into trouble, unless someone distracts the Major, but might be worth it for the humour value. Or I could kiss you. Right now. In front of everyone. That would boost your approval ratings with the jocks."

She gave him a big grin, wondering what shade of red his face would turn at that suggestion.

[Arengin Union]

Pilot Officer Cole J. Carter

---

Things have been rather quiet for the most part, Cole has found himself in a daily routine of making use of the flight simulator as to avoid getting rusty in his piloting skills, providing mechanical attention to the fighters and shuttle and reading in his spare time. Today he found himself in the midst of the latter activity as he sat upon his bed comfily with a book at his hands, he had it upwards against his stomach while his eyes were focused downwards and followed through each lettering in detail. He had always found himself drawn to fiction novels of the past century, mostly because he felt fascinated as how much of society they wanted to predict or rather imagine.

"High Impact Collider Engines. Somewhat got that I guess..." Cole would say to himself as he turned to the next page and his focus was once more invested into the world of the literature with little care for anything else around him.

He knew of the party down at the lab but he had opted to stray away from that kind of stuff, he knew his father wouldn't approve and even then he had never been that much of a drinker. Still the lingering thought of others having a fun time drove his mind away from his book and into thoughts of simply heading down and taking part of the fun, but he hadn't quite felt at ease with much of the crew and especially when Aula was involved whatsoever. Something about Aula rubbed him the wrong way, he couldn't quite put it but every time she was around he felt as if she was so vibrant with confidence and was so outgoing and carefree that it was almost a complete mirror image of himself, Cole always wanted to show himself as callous and stern yet he knew it most likely came across as snobbish and anxious like he had something to prove and everyone was judging, few people would figure out that that was exactly his concern.

Before he could notice that he was already complely at loss of what the page he was meant to be reading was even about Cole heard the rooms PA system active as he was called upon by Salazar to head directly to the docking bay for an emergency assignment. To say that Salazar was directly calling for Cole would be disingenuous as he was actually requesting any available pilot to make their way to the deck, in this case Cole was perhaps the quickest to get their gear together and rapidly head to the bay. Something about having such an impromptu call made him feel an adrenaline rush as Cole headed down the stairs and to the docking bay, all the fighters and shuttles still at the hanger as he took a hold of one of the helmets from the utility rack. Stepping deeper into the docking bay Cole looked around him puzzled, hoping to find someone who could tell him what the emergency call was about, every step he took was a shake of his geared up bulky flight suit as he hoped to finally get out of the day to day monotony for once.

[Tesserach]

Aula burst out laughing, just about slipping off her perch on the edge of the bench, "You were trying to pick up twelve year old girls with cookies?" she chortled, "Though I do know what you mean. I didn't think you were trying to make yourself the Academic world's answer to Babylas Mattityahu... or who was that 21st century singer..." she snapped her fingers a couple of times, "Garry Glitter. What a name!"

Julian started trying to cut in to defend himself once he saw where Aula was going. "Now hold on a moment! First… I actually haven't the foggiest who these people are. But. BUT!” Julian said holding up a finger - though he was smiling - before Aula could issue forth any more vicious slander. “Let me correct the record here! This was not me just malingering within the halls of Earth’s 3rd most prestigious National History Museum soliciting random minors. There were no cookies here. We had um… like little rubbery animals… like mannequins but animals… I don’t want to say dolls…” He trailed off a moment trying to find the word that was not related to children’s toys before anyone else had a chance to pile on this bandwagon.

“MODELS!” He blurted finally. Suddenly seeming more confident, he made a show of straightening his tie and glasses. “We had models of various animals to help us illustrate differing evolutionary mechanisms and pathways for youth.” He said in a voice that made him sound like the sort of person who might say such things at a museum or academic conference. “It was a summer job.” It was at this point, as Julian was seemingly satisfied with his defence against unwarranted claims of child abuse, that the 'other' accusation got shouted across the room.

"Hey!" Aula called out angrily, "What do you think this is, high school?"

As he turned she reached over, grabbing him by the collar and turning him back to her. She was stronger than she looked, which probably wasn't a surprise given the woman's choice of profession

Julian had been surprised by the comment. Shocked even. But he’d recovered after a fashion and been preparing a suitably cutting retort. Something like: ‘You’re so stupid you can’t even tell the difference between an alien plenaria-morph and human genitalia.’ Julian thought that a fine retort. But given present company, he considered it might be necessary to rework it. Perhaps something involving size?

Aula yelling right next him made Julian jump. And that had surprised him too. Watching her, he’d started considering making a comment to her. Something like: “The man’s dick’s so small, he couldn’t tell the difference between it and an alien plenaria-morph.” He surprised himself a little with that one, even as he realized he probably couldn’t bring himself to actually say it out loud.

But not nearly so surprised as when Aula grabbed him by the collar and spun-him around like a little top.

“Uh…” He began.

Then collar-tied him and started pulling him down until they were face to face, her arms suddenly wrapped around him.

What… is… happening…!?

Ignore them, they're just jealous you're monopolising the good looking girls," she said, draping her arms around his neck in a manner that was much more familiar than she ought to be, "Though if you want to take it back to high school, I could go and punch one of them. That would definitely get me into trouble, unless someone distracts the Major, but might be worth it for the humour value. Or I could kiss you. Right now. In front of everyone. That would boost your approval ratings with the jocks."

She gave him a big grin, wondering what shade of red his face would turn at that suggestion.

The answer to Aula’s unspoken question was: yes.

Julian's eyes were saucers behind his glasses, which were now half-twisted sideways and had nearly fallen entirely off his nose. Wrapped around him as she was, there was no way Aula could miss that Julian's entire body was tensed like a coiled spring – primed for fight or flight – but since he didn’t have much chance of either it seemed like he had just entered some sort of dormant state, remaining perfectly still, as though waiting for a predator to pass him by, or lose interest: or just rip out his jugular.

Twice his mouth opened, like words were forming; the only sign that wheels were spinning somewhere inside his head. Both times it closed again without any sound having been uttered. There was no acknowledgement of what Aula had just said beyond the fact that he had hit virtually every shade of red along the visual spectrum, and likely well into the infra-red.

And then just when it seemed Aula had broken him, whatever buffering process had been going on in his head seemed to finally resolve and the tension abruptly went out of Julian like he were a deflating balloon held in Aula’s arms.

“Oh my word Aula!” Julian declared, releasing a long breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding, clutching at his chest with one hand while the fell on Aula’s shoulder like he were using her as a brace for support; which it turned out wasn't actually that far from the truth. “Oh my…” He exclaimed taking another long breath. “I swear, for a moment I thought you were really going for it. I thought for sure I was about to wake up in an alien cocoon back on Yunzhongzhi. You really had me doubting the fundamental nature of our reality there!"

[Europa Undivided]

Rommel Salazar

“Oh my word Aula!” Julian declared, releasing a long breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding, clutching at his chest with one hand while the fell on Aula’s shoulder like he were using her as a brace for support; which it turned out wasn't actually that far from the truth. “Oh my…” He exclaimed taking another long breath. “I swear, for a moment I thought you were really going for it. I thought for sure I was about to wake up in an alien cocoon back on Yunzhongzhi. You really had me doubting the fundamental nature of our reality there!"

Rommel had been watching the whole commotion between the intern and the marine with a barely contained chuckle in that face of his. Not only was he somewhat intoxicated by the alcohol by this point, but he genuinely found Julian and Aula's conversation hilarious to gaze and listen to. Kissing? Julian thinking that he was being accused of weird practices, much to Aula's slight confusion? And the mere fact that they were just this close to each other, in a party filled with alcohol and probably drugs? Too funny.

"Hey, what is this?" Rommel said, walking up to the side of the two. "Are you... are you two a thing? Why did no one tell me? I would have prepared a... a... uh .. What was that again..."

The Flight Lieutenant fuzzed over his memory, trying to remember what he was going to say, but to no avail. "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure you'll be... uh, responsible. I ship it, though. You remind me of my mom and dad but who cares..."

[Dyelli Beybi]

Darko Novak

...
Eliza might have been panicking slightly as she turned from her attempts to fasten her suit.

"I...I...I contacted Flight Officer Salazar.... and ...and I told him to get a pilot. He....He called me back and told me to get the pilots. He gave me a few names and I sent them both a message. Calhoun and Carter...but...but.... I don't know if they got them." Nerves from both the Captain's presence and Eliza's anxiety led to her stammer. She could feel the flush of embarrassment on her cheeks as the SAR crew members looked on with varying looks of curiosity and pit. She balled her fists and studied the decks underneath her boots with new interest.

'I'm just a programmer. This was supposed to be a desk job!!!'

"Ensign, please try to relax," Novak replied, "This is a simple mission. There is nothing to worry about." He was trying his best to be friendly and supportive, though he was beginning to feel somewhat exasperated. Maybe he should leave her behind...

Pilot Officer Cole J. Carter

---

...
Before he could notice that he was already complely at loss of what the page he was meant to be reading was even about Cole heard the rooms PA system active as he was called upon by Salazar to head directly to the docking bay for an emergency assignment. To say that Salazar was directly calling for Cole would be disingenuous as he was actually requesting any available pilot to make their way to the deck, in this case Cole was perhaps the quickest to get their gear together and rapidly head to the bay. Something about having such an impromptu call made him feel an adrenaline rush as Cole headed down the stairs and to the docking bay, all the fighters and shuttles still at the hanger as he took a hold of one of the helmets from the utility rack. Stepping deeper into the docking bay Cole looked around him puzzled, hoping to find someone who could tell him what the emergency call was about, every step he took was a shake of his geared up bulky flight suit as he hoped to finally get out of the day to day monotony for once.

Though before he had a chance to suggest that course of action Carter "Ah! You must be our pilot. Carter isn't it?" he asked. He didn't make any reference to the family history. Such things were not necessarily welcome, "I'm not sure if you have been briefed. We are near the wreckage of an alien vessel. We believe a section has survivors in it. We need a shuttle across so we can investigate and bring any survivors we might encounter to the medical bay to receive proper treatment. You will stay in the shuttle then ferry us back with any survivors we might find, once the ship has been properly explored. Do you have any questions? If not... time waits for no man."

---

Aula Cartia

...
And then just when it seemed Aula had broken him, whatever buffering process had been going on in his head seemed to finally resolve and the tension abruptly went out of Julian like he were a deflating balloon held in Aula’s arms.

“Oh my word Aula!” Julian declared, releasing a long breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding, clutching at his chest with one hand while the fell on Aula’s shoulder like he were using her as a brace for support; which it turned out wasn't actually that far from the truth. “Oh my…” He exclaimed taking another long breath. “I swear, for a moment I thought you were really going for it. I thought for sure I was about to wake up in an alien cocoon back on Yunzhongzhi. You really had me doubting the fundamental nature of our reality there!"

"Julian," Aula laughed, gave him a quick hug, then pushed him back, just a little so she could look him in the eye. She was smirking slightly, her dark eyes gleaming with suppressed humour, "I never say anything I'm not willing to go ahead with. I don't know what you mean by 'doubting the fundamental nature of our reality'... but I'm not that smart. I'm just on this mission to stop people like you and Lanel, the ones who actually matter, from getting swallowed by giant sand worms!"

...

"Hey, what is this?" Rommel said, walking up to the side of the two. "Are you... are you two a thing? Why did no one tell me? I would have prepared a... a... uh .. What was that again..."

The Flight Lieutenant fuzzed over his memory, trying to remember what he was going to say, but to no avail. "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure you'll be... uh, responsible. I ship it, though. You remind me of my mom and dad but who cares..."

"Salazar," Aula switched her attention to the newcomer, "While I always love being compared to someone's mother -" she apparently had pretty good hearing, "- I'm not sure what is going on with our friend from the science team yet. I only properly met him today! I don't know about the way you do things, but I'm currently engaging in a bit of, hopefully harmless, flirtation and banter."

"Though if you want to take me out to dinner some time -" she turned her attention back to Julian, favouring him with a roguish grin, "- I hear this ship has a great mess hall! There's a set menu but the quality is usually fairly decent and the price is excellent! Great value for money!"

[Arengin Union]

Pilot Officer Cole J. Carter

---

Though before he had a chance to suggest that course of action Carter "Ah! You must be our pilot. Carter isn't it?" he asked. He didn't make any reference to the family history. Such things were not necessarily welcome, "I'm not sure if you have been briefed. We are near the wreckage of an alien vessel. We believe a section has survivors in it. We need a shuttle across so we can investigate and bring any survivors we might encounter to the medical bay to receive proper treatment. You will stay in the shuttle then ferry us back with any survivors we might find, once the ship has been properly explored. Do you have any questions? If not... time waits for no man."

Cole had barely any time to properly salute and introduce himself before the tall and imposing figure of Captain Novak approached him and gave him a basic TL;DR on what they needed him for. Cole struggled to keep up with the man's fast paced speaking as he merely nodded without much thought and straightened himself to best meet the Captain's tall statute to little effect. Novak had always frightened him a bit, perhaps it was due to his disposition or that his overall demeanor always telegraphed that he was a man shaped by time and by experience, something Cole had little about and a such he knew the Croatian was undeniably his superior both in rank and life, the man that Cole's own father wanted him to become. As Novak finished off his impromptu debriefing and asked his Cole had any question the flight officer merely shook his head staggery, like a child about to go in an adventure.

"No questions sir, I'm at the ready for anything sir!" Cole said eagerly as he felt a sudden shake in his neck and down his spine, he gulped as the Captain merely went onwards with the rest of the crew leaving Cole dumbstruck and suddenly realizing he had to get into the shuttle pronto. Holding onto his helmet with one hand he hastily sprinted towards the docked MSV shuttle, he was first in as he hurried to the cockpit and took a seat. Without any stalling the flight officer got to work, immediately testing out the thrusters, configurating the nav computer, readying the engine and wings.

"All looks good Captain, we're ready to go at your word," Cole said as he set his helmet on, the orange tinted visor covering his gaze as the HUD connected to reveal all matters of information for the pilot, from weight down to fuel capacity.

[Europa Undivided]

Rommel Salazar
The Laboratory Party

"Salazar," Aula switched her attention to the newcomer, "While I always love being compared to someone's mother -" she apparently had pretty good hearing, "- I'm not sure what is going on with our friend from the science team yet. I only properly met him today! I don't know about the way you do things, but I'm currently engaging in a bit of, hopefully harmless, flirtation and banter."

"I was thinking of... my father, actually," Rommel answered with a heartfelt tone, like the one that would used by someone who's making a very deep confession. "Cause, you know, I'm a hybrid, and my mum is human and my dad a dhasath so... it's kind of reversed here. Of you, um, know what I mean. They met in a party like this too, by the way. Though it was in a bar in Mariner Valley on Mars rather than a deep space exploration cruiser's laboratory. And definitely less coke and stuff..."

Rommel remembered how the humans on his mother's side pretty much disowned him for being a hybrid abomination, while his paternal alien side of the family were quite ecstatic to have a new addition. Truth be told, he often enjoyed the company of fellow aliens more, such as those crack addled Berdikons. He was taught to be nice to everyone regardless of species or subspecies, though, so even when humans call him names, he would just shrug it off. Some are bad, some are good, some are simply grey. And others are... adorable?

"Whatever next step you do," Rommel said, the drunken stupor quite obvious in his body language, "I will... wholeheartedly support you."

[Tesserach]

[accidentally edited over - post lost]

[Dyelli Beybi]

Aula Cartia

Rommel Salazar
The Laboratory Party

...

"I was thinking of... my father, actually," Rommel answered with a heartfelt tone, like the one that would used by someone who's making a very deep confession. "Cause, you know, I'm a hybrid, and my mum is human and my dad a dhasath so... it's kind of reversed here. Of you, um, know what I mean. They met in a party like this too, by the way. Though it was in a bar in Mariner Valley on Mars rather than a deep space exploration cruiser's laboratory. And definitely less coke and stuff..."

"Wait, you're on what?" Aula looked surprised and amused, "Damn you fly boys take things to the next level!"

"But seriously Rommel," she added, "I don't think of people like you as 'hybrids', you are people with a choice, to be human or dhasath. Being dhasath is as much about what's going on up here -" she tapped her head "-and in here -" she tapped her chest. "We are a chosen people," she added, which was probably quite baffling for anyone who wasn't familiar with dhasath spirituality or the way they tended to rationalise their place in the universe.

"Whatever next step you do," Rommel said, the drunken stupor quite obvious in his body language, "I will... wholeheartedly support you."

"Oh you will?" she answered, giving him a bright, innocent smile, "Because I was going to suggest that we ditch this party and head down to the showers. Could be a tight squeeze with three people in the cubicle, but that's all part of the fun."

She let that hang in the air for a few moments, letting it mature in awkwardness, hopefully long enough for one of the pair to flush beet red or stammer something silly, before, unable to contain herself anymore, bursting out laughing.

Julian "The Party Animal" Warwick
"What!?" A moment ago everything had been good - this whole party seeming like a rollercoaster and Julian felt like he he had no straps and was barely hanging on. "I mean, don't... don't sell yourself short like that Aula. And me saying weird stuff isn't a 'smart' thing. More a 'spent basically your entire adult life locked up like a hermit reading weird things' thong."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not selling myself short, I just have a realistic appreciation of my role on this ship," Aula assured Julian with a bright smile. She had originally started flirting with him for a laugh, but she was beginning to find she enjoyed his company. He was very, very different from the marines she usually associated herself with... "This whole scenario is like that 20th century movie, 'the Bodyguard'... except you're Whitney Houston. And I hope I don't need to take a slow motion dive and get shot because I imagine that would hurt." Inwardly she congratulated herself for (hopefully) remembering one of the people who had starred in that.

...

"Do I need to get down on a knee?"

He hoped that was going to be enough, suppressing a laugh at his own awkwardness.

No helping it now Julian, just keep your head down, ever forward; hope to god you come through as awkwardly charming

The comment drew a laugh from Aula. She tossed her head back, giving Julian a sideways glance from behind loose strands of dark tousled hair, "Down on one knee? I know I'm a good catch but don't you think it's a bit early for a proposal?" she joked, "You could at least buy me a drink first! Or, you know, just pass me another beaker since we're not in a paying establishment and probably won't be for months!"

---

Darko Novak

Pilot Officer Cole J. Carter

---

...

"All looks good Captain, we're ready to go at your word," Cole said as he set his helmet on, the orange tinted visor covering his gaze as the HUD connected to reveal all matters of information for the pilot, from weight down to fuel capacity.

"Take us out," Novak said, shuffling through the shuttle so he could stand in the entry to the cockpit. He had his spacesuit helmet on already, "Put us in as close as you can to the wreckage of the bridge section. We'll know more about what we need to do to get these people off once we get there."

As they closed on the wreckage floating in space, it would become abundantly clear, even to anyone who had sleep-walked through the earlier meeting, that they were looking at a ship that had been shot to pieces by something. There were scorch marks on floating debris and the bridge section seemed to have been completely sheared off, rotating slowly, some distance away from what was left of the rest of the hull. The shuttle was able to pull up relatively close, at which point Novak insisted he conduct a space walk along with a couple of the medics. The man seemed determined to expose himself to unnecessary risk...

After a couple of minutes his voice travelled back through the comms, "We have good news, there appear to be two intact blast doors which will function as an airlock so we don't need to worry about venting the occupants into space. The bad news is that we don't have any way to communicate with the survivors to tell them we're coming aboard so I can't say what the reaction to our presence will be... oh and there's no artificial gravity, so for anyone coming across to join the mission, make sure you have your magnetic boots engaged."

[Bingellia]

Violann of Mihal and Aoibheann Mac Thréinfhir
Cowritten by Bingellia and Demencia

---

To say Violann was a lightweight would be an understatement, as the wide grin and the bright red flush of her cheeks both seemed impossible to wipe away not long after she sipped down the beaker's worth of liquor once she grew more comfortable. Even while, drunk she had felt it right to intervene in a few incidents, particularly involving Aula and a few other marines, but ultimately decided against it. Revelry was something that would be rare for this crew once they crossed into Andromeda, and she, unknowingly like Darko, decided to turn a blind eye so long as they avoided drawing blood in the lab.

Resigning herself to inaction did not stop herself from trying to whistle in support of what appeared to be another budding romance in the crew, but her unending soft chain of giggles and her difficulty staying upright in her chair certainly did. "Mac," Violann cooed as swayed her head around as she tried to find the quartermaster among the crowd for her chair. "Mac, could you please come here!"

Mac heard her name being called over the noise of the crowd, in the familiar tone of Violann's voice. She looked around, and spotted the kiel barely sitting upright in a chair in a distant corner, clearly intoxicated. So much for refusing to drink, eh? Can't blame this one on me. she thought as she wormed her way through the throng of people over towards the major. "So, you decided to drink after all?" the redhead asked. "Look at you, right pissed! I'm impressed." She placed a hand on Vio's shoulder to steady her, as clearly one of them was drunker than the other despite Mac being a significant number of drinks farther along. "Enjoying the party, hi?"

"My face is numb, Mac," she poorly attempted to whisper, "And hot. Very... hot."
Violann's cheeks seemed to glow against her usually pale features as she felt Mac's hand on her shoulder. She seemed to pause for a moment as she scanned the room, and her face contorted in as much thought as she was capable of. "But it's a -a," Violann tried to stammer out between giggles. "Gods, what's the word your people use for a good time? It's a... craegh?"

"Craic, it's a craic." Mac corrected. "Because you've had a lock of that stuff they mixed up in the tub and now you're feeling lethal." She took out her flask and waved it in front of the inebriated kiel. "Oi, Vio, how's about coming with me on a little dooter, maybe somewhere without all the noise and riffraff around, hi? Lord knows you could probably use it."

"Craic," Violann slowly repeated as she focused on Mac's lips. "It's a craic." There was an attempt at a devious smile before she pulled herself up, using Mac as both support and a guide. "You, " Violann tried to muffle laughter as she rested her head against Mac's. "You're a hell of a craic, " With a flourish, she threw herself back into her chair as she finally burst out in unrestrained laughter.

[Europa Undivided]

Rommel Salazar
Laboratory Party

The comment drew a laugh from Aula. She tossed her head back, giving Julian a sideways glance from behind loose strands of dark tousled hair, "Down on one knee? I know I'm a good catch but don't you think it's a bit early for a proposal?" she joked, "You could at least buy me a drink first! Or, you know, just pass me another beaker since we're not in a paying establishment and probably won't be for months!"

By this point, it was slowly dawning upon Rommel that he was being an absolute third wheel in whatever Julian and Aula were on. That mattered little, though, as he simply liked teasing the nervous, awkward intern, especially after that little stint with putting antennas all over the perimeter of Yunzhongzhi base.

Scratch that, he was a real big teaser to anyone he somewhat liked, so this isn't the first nor the last time he had gone and pushed for the shipping of two other crew members. Last time were those two flirting gremlins amongst the pilots of his squadron...

He had, of course, heard about the notion that the Dhasath were a chosen people, mostly from his paternal grandparents, who were all about the eventual dominion of the Dhasath over the universe. Strange thing to say for a race that was almost eaten to extinction, but that's a coping mechanism. Probably.

"Look at that..." Rommel chuckled as the Major's great laughter sounded throughout the lab. "The Major is laughing? What was on this drink? Hallucigenics? That's impossible... she never laughs!"

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Ensign Eliza Paige
Derelict Rescue Party

As they closed on the wreckage floating in space, it would become abundantly clear, even to anyone who had sleep-walked through the earlier meeting, that they were looking at a ship that had been shot to pieces by something. There were scorch marks on floating debris and the bridge section seemed to have been completely sheared off, rotating slowly, some distance away from what was left of the rest of the hull. The shuttle was able to pull up relatively close, at which point Novak insisted he conduct a space walk along with a couple of the medics. The man seemed determined to expose himself to unnecessary risk...

After a couple of minutes his voice travelled back through the comms, "We have good news, there appear to be two intact blast doors which will function as an airlock so we don't need to worry about venting the occupants into space. The bad news is that we don't have any way to communicate with the survivors to tell them we're coming aboard so I can't say what the reaction to our presence will be... oh and there's no artificial gravity, so for anyone coming across to join the mission, make sure you have your magnetic boots engaged."

In the depressurized hold of the shuttle; Eliza vibrated in her seat between the other pair of medics. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing here; given that the other medics didn't appear to be making any movements at the moment. The pair simply sat in their seats, conserving energy while occasionally glancing at her. She didn't register the scrutiny instead letting her nerves take over as she dialed open a general comm line.

"Um.... Am I supposed to be doing something......anything?????"

The the concerted look on the captain's face before their launch was still fresh in her mind. And she wondered if the captain would have her do something just out of spite.


PO Gabriel Polaski and CC Amena Malik
Laboratory Moonshine Party

"You must have been a blast at other parties." Polaski removed the hand covering his eyes and glanced up at the now familiar half smirk of his crew chief. Two clear beakers were in her hand and her cheeks appeared flush. The effects of the many samples were obvious on the crew chief. Not that it stopped her from taking a swig of mystery chemicals.

"How much have you had?" Polaski's brow was furrowed as he watched the obvious sway of his crew chief.

"Not enough; because you haven't joined in." Another swig. The pilot sighed and was about to make a comment about headaches and drinking when Malik dropped onto the chair next to him. "Why is that again? Can't be a Read-Five shift; that just makes you hotshots thristier. Something about your sister's boyfriend?"

Polaski leveled a glare at her. She responded by tilting her head like a curious dog; brown, pleading eyes along with that damn smirk. He was about to give a speech about privacy, one's own business and officer-enlisted respect when Malik cut off his answer again.

"You owe me." The words were above a whisper barely and Polaski could feel the guilt come back. Then the frustration and finally the eventual defeat he always got whenever Malik asked something. He sighed and snagged Malik's untouched second beaker. He swallowed a few fingers worth of the mystery liquid and suppressed the cough. It was like samogon but sweeter and dryer by a hair. He bit back a second cough and started.

"I took shore leave to see my sister-

The station hosted numerous haunts and bars for its visitors and staff. They catered all from the top crust, political elite to the grungy smugglers; so there was an array of choices. So Gabriel knew Anya had been making decent money designing growable crops for colonization efforts. It was some big name civilian corporation that seemed to have plenty of money and projects no matter the economy.

Which left the pilot stumped as to why Anya had messaged him this location. It was a pilot's bar. As in its clientele consisted of either military aviation or those trying to pick them up. One came here for the camaraderie, tradition and two for one drinks. Not family reunions between deployments.

'Maybe she's trying to make me comfortable?' Gabriel tried to make sense of the location as he sidestepped a pair of pilots staggering out in their utilities. The pair were drunk, loud and laughing as the stumbled into the crowd to find either a ride home or a place to continue drinking. Gabriel suppressed a grin at the familiar sight as he entered the bar.

The sign over the main bar proudly proclaimed its name; The Mavericks' Roost. Memorabilia and stills of various units dotted the walls. The place was slightly packed with uniformed pilots and mechanics spread out evenly among the bartop and tables, civilians in regular clothing were sprinkled among them with the occasional pilot in off duty wear visible. Not that Gabriel cared as he searched for-

A mass hurtled into him from his right. Gabriel steadied himself and turned to confront the drunk. Heavily tan skin, borderline non-regulation black curls, dark eyes and a slim frame wearing a Martian flight suit. The man's face had Filipino features that was split into an all too familiar massive grin.

"MARTINEZ!!!!" Gabriel turned fully and grabbed his friend's arm; returning the chest bump as his face split into a similar grin. "Come to get more flight lessons?"

"You wish Gabriel." Martinez's smile widened as he stepped back and he motioned at the bar. "Meeting someone. They're late though. So how about a round for our valiant conquistador."

Gabriel bit bark a laugh as he threw an arm around his friend and led them to the bar.

*******
"-so there I am. Flying that UN butchered monstrosity that was a Scarab. Through the middle of a lightning storm with no sensors. I'm bouncing all over the place and I'm homing in on the Major." Gabriel paused in his store as to finish off his beer. Setting the empty container amidst the others he and Martinez had been steadily polishing off. Martinez for his part was waiting in giddy excitement only alcohol could provide. " So I get there and none of the bastards have their IFF on!!!! The Major only turned her's on!!!! Then after she has the unit turn them on she decided to shoot up an honest to god flare!!!!"

Martinez had started giggling; they had turned into coughing laughter as he banged a fist on the table. Gabriel found it infectious and joined in. The laughter eventually died down and Martinez took a swig of beer with a chuckle.

"Jarheads man" Martinez shook his head and Gabriel laughed in agreement.

"Marti!!!" A feminine squeal of excitement sounded just before a dirty blonde in a professional looking jumpsuit hugged the other pilot from behind. Martinez's grin turned a dopey smile as he returned the gesture. Gabriel however had stilled at the voice. The blonde left the embrace and turned to Gabriel but stopped. The Pole had stopped as well as he took in the familiar sight of Anya with a ring on her hand. A quick glance showed a matching band on Martinez's hand.

Gabriel wished he could remember why he did what happened next. He had alway been protective of his sister; much to her chagrin. Martinez had also been a playboy throughout Flight School; Gabriel had cleaned up enough of his messes to know that. That combined with the alcohol and perhaps a bit of anger of the events of Yunzhongzi didn't make for a good combination.

All he remembered was Martinez's face growing confused and Anya's turning worried. Then his best friend was stumbling back; blood gushing from his nose, Gabriel's hand hurting and Anya's cry of outrage. The ensuring beat down from the five squadron members of Martinez present in the bar was a confusing blur of punches, kicking and improvised weapons. Then the fight had apparently spread as the bar patrons had fled or got roped in.

Then he woke up in a holding cell with three other bruised and hungover pilots waiting to be collected.
********

"- didn't press any charges. No one pointed me out as the cause. So I got flagged for taking part; docked some pay for damages and sent on my way." Polaski drained the last of the beaker and sighed as he started to feel slightly tipsy. "Anya hasn't responded back yet."

"So you punched your best friend and pissed off your sister because?"

"I.....I don't know." Malik snorted at that and regarded him with a cocked head again. Her eyes searching before she gave a visible shrug of her shoulder and set down her beaker.

"Well this won't help. But I know what will." She popped onto her feet and grabbed one of his arms. "Come on sir."

"What is it?" Polaski remained sitting despite Malik's increasingly forceful tugs.

"Its a surprise and its not here." Polaski mulled over that information before he gazed over the party. The intern, Julian, was mingling with Cartia and Salazar. The redheaded engineer and the Major were doing something in a corner that probably came close to fraternization. Not that it mattered at a technically illegal party. But they all looked like they were enjoying themselves. So he stood with a sigh.

"Where is it?" Malik's grin turned smug as she towed Polaski out of the lab. Offering a wave at Aula as the pair left the lab.


********

"This is my bunk." Gabriel's voice was flat and slightly confused as he regarded Amena. The crew chief stood next to him with the smug grin.

"So it is." She keyed the door open and went inside, with a visible sway from the alcohol. Gabriel followed and was about the open his mouth when the sound of zipper echoed in the space. He paused for a few seconds before he stiffened.

"No." Amena turned with an exaggerated look of confusion and a cocked head. The front of her flight suit was partially unzipped but still in place.

"No?" Amena echoed. Gabriel took a step forward which Amena mirrored.

"Your drunk."

"So are you." Gabriel grimaced as he felt the mute buzz he had in the lab start to grow. Amena took that as a sign and she closed the distance.

"Consider this stress relief. No strings attached. " Gabriel tried to think up arguments. Fraternization regs, professional boundaries, the all seeing AI that could report them- "You owe me."

"Are you really doing this?" His voice was incredulous and Amena for her part offered a shrug.

" I didn't get a chance last shore leave. Right now I'm drunk and happy........And it was either you, Salazar or the nerd."

Gabriel wasn't sure how he felt about that last statement. But he couldn't deny that it was an attractive proposition. His sigh filled the space as he reached up to undo his flight suit.

"Last time." Amena's smile broadened.

"Then we're even. Promise"

[Dyelli Beybi]

Dark Novak

Ensign Eliza Paige
Derelict Rescue Party

In the depressurized hold of the shuttle; Eliza vibrated in her seat between the other pair of medics. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing here; given that the other medics didn't appear to be making any movements at the moment. The pair simply sat in their seats, conserving energy while occasionally glancing at her. She didn't register the scrutiny instead letting her nerves take over as she dialed open a general comm line.

"Um.... Am I supposed to be doing something......anything?????"

The the concerted look on the captain's face before their launch was still fresh in her mind. And she wondered if the captain would have her do something just out of spite.

"Ensign," Novak replied levelly, "I would like you to engage your magnetic boots and provide cover for the medical team when we breach the door. Hold your fire unless it is absolutely necessary to shoot. We are here to rescue people, not finish them off, but we don't know how they will react."

In retrospect he should have left the Ensign on the bridge, he decided belatedly. This small mission offered an opportunity for adventure and advancement which he would have eagerly seized as a junior officer. Paige, however, just seemed terrified and he worried she might shoot an unarmed civilian in a fit of panic, though he needed the backup and couldn't very well ask Carter across since he was flying the shuttle.

He waited for Eliza to come across. He was situated down a shattered corridor in front of a large metal blast door. There was no light save for the lights on the helmets of the Destiny's crew and a the dim glow of a green light on a wall panel that flickered fitfully as if it were on it's last legs. He paused for a moment, "Everyone ready?" he asked, "Let's go."

He hit the button and the door half slid open. Enough that you could squeeze yourself through, though not to it's full extent. There was a whoosh of escaping air which Novak pushed against as he drew his blaster then dragged himself through, "Let's hope that we can close that again," he commented. He waited for everyone to draw themselves through the blast door before hitting a better repaired looking button on a panel on other side. The door seemed to close easily enough, even if it didn't want to open fully.

"Okay... the room appears to be repressurising. That's good, though we've used up some of their air supply," he commented, reading information from the HUD in his helmet, "Nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. We can breathe it if we need to."

They were in another corridor, perhaps twenty yards long, at the end of which was another blast door. Novak waited until the pressure was no longer rising in their section before engaging the button by that door. This time there was no whoosh of escaping air and this time the door opened without issue.

There needn't have been any concern about the aliens. There were three of them, but they looked about as aggressive as a trio of sheep, huddled in the corner, three fingered hands raised defensively, large bulbous eyes staring out from grey, vaguely fish-like heads. They were small creatures, probably no more than four feet tall, with skinny bodies and long limbs, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" one pleaded, "We didn't mean any harm!"

"We're just traders!" a second one bleated.

Novak took a step forward, holstering his gun, then let the visor up on his helmet, "Calm down, we are here to get you out of here." His appearance only seemed to send them into further panic though.

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Ensign Eliza Paige
Rescue Party

"Okay..... I mean.. Yes Sir!!!" Eliza scrambled to undo her restraints and bounded out of her seat..... forgetting to engage her boots first. She found herself floating for a brief, embarrassing few seconds before she gently bumped in the shuttle bay's ceiling. She felt her face burn with indignation as the two medics who were undoing their restraints, shook with laughter, their helmet comms cut to silence the laughter. She tried to ignore them for the short leap to the wreck; a short burst from her maneuvering harness corrected her out of practice moments. She joined the captain and the medics outside the hatch; unholstering her blaster with some trepidation as she pointed it at the door.

'Did I turn off the safety? Is there a safety on this? Who thought a week was a long enough course for blasters?'

The muzzle shook slightly even in zero gee as the captain unlocked the door to a thankfully empty airlock. Eliza lowered the blaster with an audible sigh of relief before tentatively following the rescue party inside. Squeezing through the door was perhaps the easiest for her and she might have felt a but cocky at her small victory before the captain led the party deeper into the dimly lit wreck; and her misgivings returned in full force. She wasn't sure how she ended up right behind the captain; but that where was. She was practically Novak's shadow as they entered the next ro-

Motion caused Eliza to raise her blaster, red laser dancing on the new figures as her fingers pulled on the trigger to avail. Then Eliza registered the emptied hands and the cowering nature of the wreck's crew. She felt horror and embarrassment well up inside her as she inspected the blaster; its safety on and clearly visible now. She didn't even register the conversation the captain was having as she stared glumly at the pistol and though over her barely avoided mistake.

[Tesserach]

Julian "The Party Animal" Warwick

---

While Rommel and Aula were discussing Dhasath spiritualism, Julian excused himself briefly to go hunt down another round of drinks nearly bumping into a number of people, the major included, as he did so. Given the general tenor of the party so far one might have been forgiven for thinking Julian was getting drunk but the truth was Julian actually handled his liquor pretty well and had just never been graceful at the best of times; it didn't help that he caught himself involuntarily glancing back at Aula and grinning like an idiot as he did.

For efficiency's sake he returned with a rack of beakers in one hand while sipping out of one. There'd been enough alcohol consumed he was starting to space water between drinks as he sauntered back into the conversation.

"Oh you will?" she answered, giving him a bright, innocent smile, "Because I was going to suggest that we ditch this party and head down to the showers. Could be a tight squeeze with three people in the cubicle, but that's all part of the fun."

She let that hang in the air for a few moments, letting it mature in awkwardness, hopefully long enough for one of the pair to flush beet red or stammer something silly, before, unable to contain herself anymore, bursting out laughing.

"I uh..." Julian paused mid-stride, clearly caught out by the suggestion, his face went through a series of transformations from confusion, to embarrassment, to then glancing suspiciously to Aula as she watched both him and Rommel expectantly. "Oh! Everyone's been so uptight and stressed, really what I think this ship needs is a good old fashioned orgy. Rather should have led with that as a team building exercise now that I think of it. That's brilliant really. Don't know why no one thought of it before."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not selling myself short, I just have a realistic appreciation of my role on this ship," Aula assured Julian with a bright smile. She had originally started flirting with him for a laugh, but she was beginning to find she enjoyed his company. He was very, very different from the marines she usually associated herself with... "This whole scenario is like that 20th century movie, 'the Bodyguard'... except you're Whitney Houston. And I hope I don't need to take a slow motion dive and get shot because I imagine that would hurt." Inwardly she congratulated herself for (hopefully) remembering one of the people who had starred in that.

"Oh, and I'd be like 'Oh my hero!' and swoon over you then we'd have an uncommonly well rehearsed kiss that's so good you'd forget you'd just been shot. I mean, probably I should make sure you get proper medical care before exacerbating your injuries trying to make out with you for saving my life, but let's be honest here: the second installment of the Aula Cartia trilogy was kind of a rushed job by the studio after the surprise success of the first flick, so we rather have to save the movie commercially by at least giving the audiences what they want.

"Though seriously, if someone is about to shoot me and you have time to slow-motion full-body throw yourself into the path of the bullet um... rather than that maybe just... I don't know... shoot them first maybe? I may not be a trained, or a marine, or know anything about fighting... but I feel that's just a better strategy all around."

The comment drew a laugh from Aula. She tossed her head back, giving Julian a sideways glance from behind loose strands of dark tousled hair, "Down on one knee? I know I'm a good catch but don't you think it's a bit early for a proposal?" she joked, "You could at least buy me a drink first! Or, you know, just pass me another beaker since we're not in a paying establishment and probably won't be for months!"

Julian jolted upright, remembering the beaker rack full of drinks he was holding. "Oh! Drinks I can do! You have your choice of mystery fluids in red, green, blue and... I'm going to say, Mauve maybe? I also brought two with laboratory grade distilled water if anyone wants to stay hydrated. Personally I hate hangovers." Julian paused and made an abortive effort to meet Aula's sideways glance as he offered the tray. He bit his lip as he seemed to anxiously mull over what he was about to say before he leaned towards her a little and continued in a slightly lower more conspiratorial tone. "Although, now that I think about it - not that these are bad - but I may have a secret bottle of what some might call 'The Good Stuff' safely tucked away somewhere. My original plan involved drinking it alone, in the dark, while looking at images of exotic animals. Which, saying it out loud sounds weird, but that was genuinely my plan."

"Anyway um..." There was a moment of nervous hesitation, and for a moment it seemed like he might actually back off whatever he'd been intending to say. "... perhaps if I found someone of discerning taste..." Julian shrugged and wrung his hands together anxiously. Beneath a brow of eyebrows, arched hopefully, above a were suppressing a smile, Julian forced himself to actually meet Aula's dark and gleaming eyes through her loose strands of tousled hair, and for a moment he forgot what he'd been about to say. " ... perhaps we might share a glass together?" Then, again feeling self conscious, Julian's serious expression softened a little as he broke into a wry smile. "Or I could just try and woo you with my pretty amazing collection of benthic invertebrates. I rather imagine no one's ever made that offer before."

This time Julian was watching Aula's expression to see what sort of reaction that last bit drew.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Dark Novak

Ensign Eliza Paige
Rescue Party...

Motion caused Eliza to raise her blaster, red laser dancing on the new figures as her fingers pulled on the trigger to avail. Then Eliza registered the emptied hands and the cowering nature of the wreck's crew. She felt horror and embarrassment well up inside her as she inspected the blaster; its safety on and clearly visible now. She didn't even register the conversation the captain was having as she stared glumly at the pistol and though over her barely avoided mistake.

The aliens still seemed to be terrified and it took Novak a few moments to eventually turn back to the medics. He peered through the helmets, locating a berdikon, "Do you want to speak to them?" he suggested.

You couldn't necessarily tell kiel and human apart with helmets on and gorialax looked pretty similar anyway, not to mention dhasath. That was confusing at the best of times. Berdikons, however, were an obviously different species.

That seemed to work and the aliens calmed down enough at that point to start telling their story. They had been hailed by a warship of a group calling itself the NDR, which had, after asking a few terse questions, without any ostensible provocation, opened fire. They had no weapons. Their ship had been destroyed. The Captain (and indeed most of the crew) looked a lot like the person they had spoken to on the ship that had attacked them.

"New Doona'tay Republic," Novak confirmed when the message was relayed back to them, "I didn't know if that entity still existed. Kiellar Command set them up as a buffer state after the Ragon War. The person they were talking to was probably Dhasath... funny, I'd imagined that State would have collapsed." The Universe never ceased to surprise him. He signalled for the medics to wrap the operation up, "Move these people back to our ship as quickly as you can. We're running out of oxygen here," he paused, then flicked on his comms, "Carter, if you are reading me, be ready to double time it back to the ship as soon as we are onboard and be prepared to take evasive manoeuvres. There are potential hostiles in the system."

---

Aula Cartia

Julian "The Party Animal" Warwick

"I uh..." Julian paused mid-stride, clearly caught out by the suggestion, his face went through a series of transformations from confusion, to embarrassment, to then glancing suspiciously to Aula as she watched both him and Rommel expectantly. "Oh! Everyone's been so uptight and stressed, really what I think this ship needs is a good old fashioned orgy. Rather should have led with that as a team building exercise now that I think of it. That's brilliant really. Don't know why no one thought of it before."

Aula laughed, genuinely amused, her eyes widening slightly in surprise as Julian joined in with the banter. She'd thought he was more of the blushing sort. She liked this other side to him though...

Julian jolted upright, remembering the beaker rack full of drinks he was holding. "Oh! Drinks I can do! You have your choice of mystery fluids in red, green, blue and... I'm going to say, Mauve maybe? I also brought two with laboratory grade distilled water if anyone wants to stay hydrated. Personally I hate hangovers." Julian paused and made an abortive effort to meet Aula's sideways glance as he offered the tray. He bit his lip as he seemed to anxiously mull over what he was about to say before he leaned towards her a little and continued in a slightly lower more conspiratorial tone. "Although, now that I think about it - not that these are bad - but I may have a secret bottle of what some might call 'The Good Stuff' safely tucked away somewhere. My original plan involved drinking it alone, in the dark, while looking at images of exotic animals. Which, saying it out loud sounds weird, but that was genuinely my plan."

"Anyway um..." There was a moment of nervous hesitation, and for a moment it seemed like he might actually back off whatever he'd been intending to say. "... perhaps if I found someone of discerning taste..." Julian shrugged and wrung his hands together anxiously. Beneath a brow of eyebrows, arched hopefully, above a were suppressing a smile, Julian forced himself to actually meet Aula's dark and gleaming eyes through her loose strands of tousled hair, and for a moment he forgot what he'd been about to say. " ... perhaps we might share a glass together?" Then, again feeling self conscious, Julian's serious expression softened a little as he broke into a wry smile. "Or I could just try and woo you with my pretty amazing collection of benthic invertebrates. I rather imagine no one's ever made that offer before."

This time Julian was watching Aula's expression to see what sort of reaction that last bit drew.

Aula paused for a moment, then replied, quite earnestly and without any levity, "I'd like that, though you might need to explain to me what 'benthic' means when you do." It felt like Julian genuinely wanted to share something of himself with her. It made her feel special, which wasn't something she was used to, "And yes, looking at pictures of 'exotic animals' in the dark does sound a bit strange," she added with a sly smirk, "Though I'm guessing you mean strange alien lifeforms, rather than a line of cats in stockings and frilly dresses doing the can-can, though I'm sure nobody could accuse you of any weirdness if you had some company... and by that I do mean me."

She slipped down from the edge of the lab bench she had been sitting on, picking a red drink. She had no idea what any of them were but red was her favourite colour. Lanel had said they weren't poisonous, but there was no guarantee that meant they tasted nice... Aula carefully set the drink she had selected on the bench, then reached for the tray Julian was carrying, "Pick one for yourself," she said, with an encouraging smile, "Then, if you feel like it, maybe you can sit with me and tell me more about benthic arthropods and whatever that thing was you made the cookies in the shape of."