[HALLOWEEN PARTY!] -- [Open to ALL PLAYERS!] -- [IC Event!]

[kirktastic]

It had gone out as an announcement over a month ago, sent to every padd and station by one very excited Captain. A Halloween party! Must come in costume, must have fun!

Despite the hell that had been going on for the last few days, Kirk was determined that it still would happen. After a long discussion with the ship's quartermaster, along with a small army of crewmen who wanted to help, the largest rec room was decorated.

A huge buffet table had been prepared by the galley and sat spread out, all in Halloween theme. Green punch with floating eyeballs, cake decorated to look like a gravestone, a huge bowl of candy, a holographic severed hand that was scurrying around on the table top. There was even a bar set up with quite an expanse of liquor that had been secured on Risa.

There was a small seating area off to one corner, a huge dance floor, tables spread out for a real meal, and a small corner set up for music.

(OOC: Just like the thread with Risa... this is a party that's 'open' from now until Sunday night at midnight! Go nuts! This IS supposed to be IC, like the Risa party, so keep that in mind!)

Comments

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"It was an accident," Tina confirmed. "And he... Well, I won't say that he felt as bad about as I did, because I was sick for half a day which is pretty bad, but he was concerned and apologetic."

She leaned into Jim, steadied by his arm around her. "He assumed that I wouldn't want to be his friend anymore," she added, more quietly. "Which, after seeing those memories, which are just a fraction of what he's experienced in the life he's lived... It's very sad."

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

There was such a thing as being too sympathetic, Jim thought, if it did one harm. And Tina being ill from the images certainly triggered his protective instincts not only as a man but as a captain, even if he wasn't hers.

And then she spoke again, and he stiffened slightly, though he didn't let go. It was more the stillness of surprise.

"Friend?" he repeated. "He--and you--used that word?"

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

Tina blinked. "Yes. I'm pretty sure that I said it first, but he has, too. Am I missing something?"

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

He forced himself to relax.

"No," he said, breathing out. "No, I don't... I wouldn't discourage it." He frowned slightly, in thought. "In fact, it might be incredibly useful, and I say that personally, not as a matter of tactics. I very much doubt if he's ever had anything like a friend. Certainly not one like you. And I've been hoping against hope the two of them might find something in this universe that they consider worthwhile. Just be careful, Tina. I've seen some of their world, too, and I'm uncomfortably aware of what they're both capable of. If you've gotten through to him, I can only congratulate you."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"McCoy seemed to be pretty sure that he was going to kill me later that night," she said, with one of her wry smiles. "But he's had more than enough opportunity to hurt me somehow, and he hasn't done it. I'm not sure that anyone has ever just trusted him not to, before."

[canadianbill.livejournal.com]

Bill noticed that Jim now seemed to be deep in conversation with Tina. He smiled. Maybe they were arranging their briefing now.

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Jim was liking Tina more and more as the moments passed. His protective nature wasn't enough to quell the kinship he found with others who held to their convictions--especially when they dovetailed with his own. Though he could understand McCoy's concern. He nodded.

"He's not a foolish man--neither is Pike. Whatever their background, they know where they are now. And I've been trusting that they'll realize that not only should their responses be different, but they don't have to be the same men they have to be in their world." He shrugged. "It's a gamble. But I've always thought that you can't gain anyone's trust without giving some of your own."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"I agree," Tina said. She shook her head a little, bemusedly. "I hope I'm not bringing down the tone of your evening with all of this. I'm not exactly managing carefree frivolity, am I?"

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Jim chuckled gently. "Maybe not," he said. "But you've already promised to raise it pretty significantly later on, so I'll give you a pass." He touched Tina's hand. "There's no rule about what people need to unwind. And I'm not so easily discouraged."

He smiled widely, to put some levity back into the conversation.

"That said, it's a shame for you to waste that pretty dress on morbid speculation. You should be making all the boys and girls jealous."

His eyes suggested he could help with that.

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"Oh I should, should I? Is there a method for this other than just standing around and looking wonderful?"

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

"There are many," Jim nodded. "That's the aloof, 'you're never getting this' method. Then there's being an outright flirt, like my friend Bill over there who thinks he's amazingly clever. That works, but it's fairly exhausting. Then there's the two-for-one, where anyone watching has the choice of being jealous of, or for, you."

His smile deepened into a smirk, leaving no doubt that he might be the other half of that equation.

"Then again, you have to deal with rumor, speculation, and the privacy of your carefully constructed assignations becomes seriously in doubt."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

Tina laughed. "We live on a sentient ship full of dedicated gossips. Privacy is an illusion, even before overzealous friends with medical override codes come into the equation. Tell me more about this 'two-for-one' method."

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

"Well," Jim drew out the word, "it involves a deliberate sexual display between two attractive people, such that the viewer has the choice of wishing to be either party or in between them."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"Hmm," Tina said. "The only hitch in that plan at the moment is that half the room still thinks you're Bill. And while I'm sure you don't mind exposing his reputation to gossip after what he's done to yours all evening, I feel a little hesitant."

She smiled. "But we could try that another time, maybe. For tonight, let's keep it a little quieter, perhaps? Do you know where my quarters are?"

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

Jim shrugged.

"There is that," he agreed. "Your double standard is showing, but I brought it on myself. I do." His captainly instincts were still intact, and that involved a knowledge of his crew--which, here, meant nearly anyone he'd been in contact with. "I'll come by, after." He raised his eyebrows. "I'll probably have to, to avoid the throngs that will likely be arranged outside my own door."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"I'm glad I got to you first, then." Tina touched the side of his face and leaned in, quickly, to give him a tiny kiss, no more than a brush of her lips against his. "I'll see you later."

[original-fine.livejournal.com]

The smile that bloomed in the wake of that kiss was somehow both friendly and far more. Jim nodded.

"You will. Now, go wow the poor saps."