Ice, Ice Party - Part IV

Posted on Mon Aug 7th, 2023 @ 6:14pm by Thren ch'Yalorn & Lieutenant Commander Johanna Lyngstad
Edited on on Mon Aug 7th, 2023 @ 6:20pm

1,056 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Deck 10 Ice, USS Columbia
Timeline: Following Part III

=/\= On =/\=

"Enjoy", Eveza called out to Lissa. She was enjoying meeting all of these new, diverse people. This was the furthest away from Andoria she had ever been. Eveza winked to Shanir before he turned, leaning her antennae forward to flirtatiously reveal their pink openings to him and smirked.

The server didn't want the other women to hear her flirting with Shan, so took a quieter approach.

Shan looked uncomfortably toward the floor, his antennae subtly manuevering to the opposite corners of the room so as to not miss any new arrivals or sudden movements. "So where are you from?" he asked quietly.

She giggled, "I thought you would be joining your friends". Eveza turned to the side and pretended to load clean, empty glasses into a replicator to hide the teal blush which crept along her cheeks. She pressed the control to re-convert the glasses into matter, their shapes disappearing in a flash.

"I'm from Deshna. Have you ever been?" Eveza began speaking quickly, talking again before he could respond. "I grew up not far from Lake Emarni. Did you say you were from the Capital?" She turned back to him, short, silver hair bouncing above her shoulders as she did so.

"Indeed," Shan confirmed. "Did your parents arrange a bond group for you when you were younger?" Shan asked, focusing his attention on the counter. Unfortunately Andorian antennae were sensitive to pheromone fluctuations, and he was picking up on her attraction. She was attractive, to which he realized he might have already been giving her the wrong message. He quickly added, "My parents arranged one for me, around eight years ago. The Captain's daughter happens to be one of the, uh... members. I don't know that you want to get involved with that," he admitted, feeling incredibly uncomfortable, and even somewhat embarrassed.

"They tried to", Eveza said with a smirk. "That's why I'm here. My family tried to plot out my entire life. This restaurant thing is only temporary". She shook her short bangs from her eyes, ends of her hair curling upwards just above her shoulders.

"But an arranged bonding to the Captain's daughter sounds heavy", Eveza said. "Have you heard much about her, or seen her?"

Thren could be seen serving a tray of chilled creamy deserts to nearby guests.

"Not for a while. We were 15 or 16 maybe. I never met the Captain before this assignment. And really, I haven't talked to him much at all. Just orders on the Bridge and stuff like that." Shan shrugged. "But we're all getting of age." Shan looked away not wanting to say what he was thinking, but Andorian antennae pick up on a lot, she could sense his apprehension.

Eveza didn't need her antennae to sense the tension within him. "The Commander sure seems big on Andorian culture. He helped work out an agreement with the Starfleet liaison to bring Ice here. That's still pretty wild that he'd choose a future in-law for his bridge staff."

Eveza's cheeks lifted as she restrained a smile. "Is she back on Andoria?"

"Oh, I don't think that had anything to do with it. The Chief just has me on a rotation with some other junior officers. Like I said, I've barely talked to the Captain," Shan shrugged. "I'm not really sure what she's up to right now. As far as I know, none of us have really stayed in touch." Shan scratched his head behind his left antennae. "I don't know, maybe we are all wondering the same thing."

Eveza offered a look of reassurance. Her antennae fell sympathetically. "Don't worry. She's light years away on Andoria. In this day and age, arranged bond groups split all the time. Especially when one joins Starfleet."

"Maybe you just need a friend, with no monikers", she said in a playful tone. "Just two Andorians hanging out amongst the stars", she said with a giggle.

Shan smiled weakly, turning to look at her again for the first time since the Orion nurse had left the bar. He propped his head up on his fist, "Maybe you're right. I've been over-thinking this a lot. I certainly didn't come here to bring yours, or anyone else's mood down about it," he commented in an attempt at an apology.

"You didn't bring me down", Eveza chirped. "This is what I do, ice-honey. I listen." The turquoise blush returned within her cheeks.

Johanna had just finished dinner and walked into Ice. She had been wondering what it was and saw Paisley there. She smiled and waved as she walked over. Johanna was still in uniform.

Paisley spotted Johanna as she walked in. The Engineer gave a friendly wave and a smile. "HEY!" She hollered above the din, but didn't leave the group yet. She was entranced by the Andorians. She might have to change her preferences-but they had weird, complicated dating and mating rituals. She'd been promised herself to a different person on Cardassia but luckily, that had fizzled out once she'd joined StarFleet and told her father it wasn't going to happen. PLUS, Moxe Karran was into boys. Whoops.

Johanna made her way over to Paisley. The place was definitely correctly named. It felt like Boras (her home town in Sweden) on a November night. Years away from home had increased her sensitivity to cold. As a young girl, this was still t-shirt and shorts weather. "Cold for enough for you, Paisley?" She smiled at her new friend.

Paisley laughed. "Yeah, my lizard half hates it," she said. "The Bajoran half doesn't mind, though," she said, with a shrug. Cardassia Prime was always kept at a sweltering temperature-this was, to her, akin to one of the Klingon ice prison planets or something! "How about you?" She asked. "The Andorians are in their element, but us cold-blooded killers need a heater!"

"This is a lot like home back on Earth. I come from one of the colder livable places on Earth. It's called Sweden. This is fairly typical for a night late in the year. It's tolerable, but I would prefer a warm drink. Maybe some hot chocolate with extra milk."

Lieutenant Paisley F’Rar
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Johanna Lyngstad
Chief Science Officer
USS Columbia

Ensign Shanir Th’kaasnik
Operations Officer
USS Columbia

Thren & Eveza
Ice - Owner/Staff
USS Columbia

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