Posted by Lieutenant Commander Stark Nightstalker (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Lounge- Late Night

Posted by Fleet Captain Ghubari Koraia (Captain) in Lounge- Late Night

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Va’rek (Engineer) in Lounge- Late Night
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(snip)

He strode on resolutely and when he reached Marishka his arm went around her waist, he pulled her in just a little and planted a soft, tender kiss on her cheek, just at the corner of her lips, acting as if this was the most normal thing to do. But of course, as each single time he touched her or inhaled her delicious addictive scent, his heart rate picked up a few paces.

“I’ve missed you.” he said into her ear and then smiled at the others. Finally his eyes landed on Ghubari’s, unapologetically. “Can’t miss a soiree in the lounge, I hope there’ll be cocktails with it.”

“I don’t know that you can call this a party. I just came for some musical distraction,” Koraia replied.

“Oh yes”, Stark said a little too quickly for his liking, “absolutely no hidden agendas and subterfuge here”. He flicked out a claw and looked at it intently.
Stark Nightstalker CIO

Julien’s eyes veered to Stark and his grin made the corners of his eyes wrinkle. “I don’t know about you, but I absolutely have a hidden agenda.” he said and winked at Marishka with a cheeky grin.

• Julien Smith

Marishka had a feeling Julien, at least, could hear her heart skip a beat. It was good to have him back in whatever fashion the evening lead to.

Turning slightly, she smiled and her silver eyes met his, “I believe I can find whatever you desire but, I think I’d rather stay right here and ask the staff to do it for me.” she said with a touch of imperiousness.

• Marishka

Stark tilted his head back and gave a short cough, the Caitian equivalent of a barking laugh. “No matter how much combat I experience, the war of words is still the art of champions” he intoned and bowed slightly, “I’m in the presence of greatness.”

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Having sat quietly for a few moments, the Vulcan saw an opportunity to make a witty comment and decided to see if his theory about comedic timing was accurate… He glanced over at Nightstalker and raised an eyebrow. “I believe the age-old expression is: The Pen is Mightier than the Sword.”

-Va’rek

Stark chuckled, “Well I do know seventeen ways to kill you with a pen so I guess that could be true,” pausing for a moment he continued “Actually eighteen, but several of them aren’t sure kills, you might survive…”

Stark Nightstalker CIO

For her part, Ghubari was still sitting beside Va’rek at the piano. “Now, now, everyone, I thought the rule was that we weren’t supposed to go out of our way to scare junior officers,” she said with a cheeky little grin. “Besides, I always did prefer the enigmatic pathway. It suits me better,” she said, glancing at Va’rek for a moment and wondering what he was making of all of this. He was the only one of the group of them that wasn’t in on the plan, but she hoped no one was careless enough to give anything away.

Fl. Captain Koraia, CO

Stark bowed slightly and his dark eyes twinkled, “My apologies, sometimes statements of fact can be scary for some, I forget that sometimes. Try to remember that ability doesn’t necessarily mean intent…”

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Marishka glanced around and let a look of confusion show on her face. Inwardly she knew everybody was up to something, that’s just the way it was with everyone on this ship. Outwardly, she was the bar tender. Perhaps she knew nothing.

• Marishka

Julien just chuckled at Stark. “You need a pen for that, pfft.” he said but winked at Stark. “YOu are quite right my dear.” he said to Markishka “You’ve deserved a break. Let me mix a cocktail for you for a change?” he asked and looked at the rest “all of you? I quite enjoy the chemistry of it. I myself think I will go for a simple purple Pernod on ice.”

• Julien

Marishka was intrigued. Of course this man knew exactly what she liked but was curious to see exactly what he would do in front of the others.

“I accept.”

• Marishka

The Vulcan had managed to keep himself from looking too confused, but he’d lost the thread of conversation and was now totally unsure of what social interaction protocols demanded of him. He glanced at the Captain from the corner of his eye, and rested his long fingers on the keys once more.

-Va’rek

Ghubari caught his gaze and gave Va’rek and subtle wink before she too rested her hands on the keys. Then she set off into a more classical styled piece but it was still based on a blues scale which gave it an entirely different mood than anything they had played so far.

Fl. Captain Koraia, CO

Stark declined to comment on anything that had transpired. He found himself talking far too much lately, it always put him at a disadvantage.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

The Vulcan followed along the scale, in a relative major key, changing the pentatonic scale major as he did so. He almost smiled, remembering the person who’d taught him the trick… Subtly, he made every third note a couplet moving flat to natural, giving the progression a certain swing without changing the rhythm. It made the new progression feel almost like a boogie-woogie rock n roll song. As he played, he contemplated Nightstalker, wondering how the man turned up almost everywhere he went…

-Va’rek