[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

[mirroredspock.livejournal.com]

Spock tensed. He would brook no insult to his captain.

"He is circulating. As Caesar."

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

"And you came as Brutus?"

Bones' face was exaggeratedly curious. "That seems an interesting choice, if your Roman history is the same as ours."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

Tina grabbed the nearest clothed part of Spock that she could reach, hoping he'd understand that it was a plea for silence. Squeezing his - oh, just perfect - thigh in warning, she quickly said, "Spock has an odd sense of humor."

And now what? Yank her hand back and draw attention to what she'd just been doing? Leave it there?

Wish that a hole would open up beneath her feet and swallow her, saving her from all of this?

[mirroredspock.livejournal.com]

His eyes actually widened at Tina's hand high on his thigh. He slanted a sly look through his lashes at her.

"My captain and I both found it amusing, actually."

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

Nyota tensed at the mention of Pike, though she kept a polite smile plastered on her face. The only sign of her discomfort was the way her fingers tightened around her glass, knuckles whitening.

"Ironic." she commented. "Romans were a huge fan of irony. I'm glad you have a sense of humor, Spock."

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

"Apparently," Bones agreed, sipping his drink. "Anyway, its good to see you both out and mingling amongst the crew."

Standing, Bones nodded at both the ladies. "And if you will excuse me, I see someone I need to talk to," as he began walking toward the party.

[mirroredspock.livejournal.com]

It was amazing to see the doctor turn his back on them. Such a foolish maneuver.

"He is very accomplished at walking away, from what I have witnessed."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

Tina removed her hand from his leg and raised an eyebrow at him. "You've got a pretty small sample set there, Spock."

She sipped at her drink again. "But he is, it's true."

[mirroredspock.livejournal.com]

"Tina, Nyota. I am aware there are things Tina wishes to discuss. If you will excuse me?"

He bent a bit further at the waist - almost a bow. His universe was very formal indeed.

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"Go have fun," Tina said, making little shooing gestures with her hands. When he was out of earshot - probably - she turned to Nyota and made an exaggerated face of embarrassment.

"That wasn't weird at all, huh?"

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

Nyota wasn't surprised that Bones left, and gave him a small wave. Neither was she surprised when Spock followed soon after, though she could only hope they wouldn't run into one another again.

"Well at least they were polite," she offered with a shrug of her shoulders, though she couldn't help but shake her head at the awkwardness of the situation. "It could have been worse. Not sure how, but it could have been."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it could have been so much worse," Tina said, taking another fortifying sip of her drink. "The reason I got all grabby-hands when the costume came up is that he didn't show up intending to be Brutus. He was carrying a lyre."

Now that she knew that Nyota had a working knowledge of ancient historical figures, she figured her friend could connect the dots on her own.

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

Turning briefly to the bar, she motioned for George to pour her another cocktail. If they were going to have this discussion, she needed a drink and not just water.

"Nero." Nyota sighed. "That would have gone over so well. It's like he wants to be thrown out of the airlock."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"He's like a teenager - all spite and certainty that no one is as intelligent as him, and no impulse control." Tina sighed. "You can't ever let him know I said this, but to be honest I think it was a clever costume. Just completely inappropriate. But he didn't get that, even after I yelled. I think he only dropped the idea because he didn't want me to be upset, not because he understood why it was too hurtful to be worth the joke."

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

"It is clever," Nyota conceded, though she loathed to. Perhaps if Nero hadn't caused so much destruction, hadn't ruined so many lives, she would have been able to see the humor in it too. "Completely inappropriate, but I don't think he's discovered the proper boundaries of this world. Or he has, and he's deliberately being facetious to piss everyone off. I wouldn't put it past him, but I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

Tina shrugged. "He's been gentle and sweet with me, for the most part. I think because I've given him the opportunity, if that makes any sense. Most people who've met him react to him the way McCoy does. And his response to that is to be sure that they have a reason to hate him."

She paused. "It is childish behavior, really. But I don't think he's indulging himself so much as that he really isn't that emotionally mature. Or even self-aware."

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

As she waited for her drink, Nyota pulled off her gloves and gave her fingers a flex with a sigh of relief. She dropped them onto the bartop and picked up the cool glass, holding it between her palms.

"I know the situation is different," she said, pausing for a moment to take a sip of her drink. "But he's still a Spock, and sometimes they can be like children, struggling to find the rules of a world they don't really understand. I think it's good for him, to have someone else other than--" She couldn't bring herself to say his name, not wanting to call him Pike. It seemed like an insult to the man she respected. "And he hasn't known any different. Must be confusing."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"Yes, that's what I think." Tina finished her drink in one last, long swallow. "He loves him. He'll never use that word, but he does. And I just can't even imagine being so alone that I could learn to love a man like that."

Tina wasn't using names either, but it was obvious who she meant.

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

"Even in their world, he's cruel," Nyota all but spat out. Listening to Tina, watching how the other Spock responded so well to her kindness brought to mind an abused child. It repulsed her.

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"I don't want to judge him. I want to give him the same openness and readiness to trust that I gave Spock, and Spock himself wants me to like him so much. But everything I know about him... I don't know if I could ever accept him as a friend."

Tina laughed without humor.

"Then again, I've apparently invited an untamed monster into my life, according to some people. So what do I know?"

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

Nyota was so torn between her strong belief that they were people in their own right, not to be judged for having lived in a different world, and her own personal feelings towards Pike.

"Well after what he did, I don't trust him." Nyota muttered, sipping her drink again. "And honestly I don't understand how Spock can claim what he feels for him is love."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"He hasn't made that claim," Tina said. "But they're bonded, and it's clear that he feels deeply, even if he doesn't say it."

She sighed, and leaned forward to drop her head to her friend's shoulder. "Nyota," she murmured. "There has got to be something we can talk about that doesn't involve Spocks or McCoys. Or Kirks. I think we're getting a little pathetic, here."

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

Nyota tilted her head to rest against hers, idle fingers coming up to play with the ends of her hair - carefully, so she didn't ruin the full effect.

"Believe me I know," she sighed, wondering when the hell her life had become so centered around these men. She supposed that it wasn't entirely unreasonable; two of them happened to be her superior officers. "But I suspect you don't want to hear what leaps and bounds I'm making in my study of Risian."

[rn-chapel.livejournal.com]

"Don't be so sure," Tina said, smiling against Nyota's skin. "If you find it exciting, I'm sure you can tell me about it in a way that will make it interesting for me, too. What else have you been doing lately, anyway?"

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

That brought a smile to her face, though Nyota knew better than to bore her friends with detailed nuances of whatever language had her interest that week. Even the polite ones that genuinely wanted to listen like Tina got the glazed eye look when she geeked out.

"Aside from an insane amount of paperwork? I have to be up stupidly early tomorrow. Starfleet are requesting a conference. It might have something to do with the communications network. They were discussing some upgrades a few months ago."