Beach Party - Part 1 of 2

Posted on 14 May 2025 @ 6:41pm by Lieutenant Commander Raviran Dattek-Winters & Lieutenant JG Benjamen Kensington MD & Captain Bane Plase & Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast & Lieutenant T'Lara Ahmad & Lieutenant JG Cajag Lagnas & Ensign Khalest T. & Lieutenant JG Ziyi Zhao & Lieutenant JG Katja Becker & Lieutenant JG Thalla zh'Ennev MD & Ensign Veenak & Chief Warrant Officer Rommie Rath RN

1,557 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Festival of Unity
Location: Planetside
Timeline: Current

The beach was dark, sunsets having both happened an hour and half an hour earlier, respectively. There were log burners all along the shoreline and lanterns on every breakwater. The scene was set up to resemble an ancient time, long ago, with very well constructed and camouflaged little boats, appearing to have been wrecked by time, tide or misfortune, littering the beach, the front and the sand dunes beyond.

These wrecks were all shapes, types and sizes and were kitted out with cushions, rugs, sturdy life-bouys - just in case - and tattered remains of sails to embellish the effect. There was also plenty of plied up sand and even pebbles, to add to the ambience and effect.

Bane Plase strolled up to the large gathering, seeing familiar faces everywhere he looked. It felt wonderful to see so many smiling faces, people laughing, enjoying the evening with a star-speckled sky above, and the waves crashing gently. The sand between his bare feet felt amazing, as did the warm breeze on his bare legs and arms. He nodded downwards to people that locked eyes with him and smiled, a Bajoran gesture that meant trust, friendship and acceptance.

At the top of this particular cove there had been several open cooking fires and grills set up with corresponding bars next to or down a little from each, serving food and drinks, sufficient for an army. Some of the locals were taking on the role of 'hosts' and there were many stalls set up at random along the long sweeping beech, offering old-world crafts such as shell bracelets and Luau and straw hats and woven wraps in silken materials. It was magical. Or so that was Ravi's reaction to it at least.

The CMO had arrived with Ben Kensington, her colleague and friend, and they were both looking around them with eyes wide with delight.

There was music, which was both beautiful, hypnotically relaxing and even a little 'eerie' at one end of the beach and raucous, fun-filled, rhythmic and exciting at the far end, with a live band setting up right in the centre, on the main sea front jetty, presumably about to play later in the evening.

"This is fantastic!" Ben told Ravi, taking it all in, or trying to, all at once.
"Oh look, there's Chen - you know Ensign Morrow don't you?"

"Yes I do" Ravi smiled almost maternally. "She's very lovely! Why don't you pop over and join her, Ben?" she gave him the lightest push the back of his shoulder, encouraging him. "You don't have to be surgically attached to the old chief, just because you were nice enough to accompany me here" she laughed as he first looked horrified for a second and then blushing, laughed as well. "Busted!" he chuckled.

"100%" she grinned. "Have fun, lovely friend" she turned away, leaving him to hurry, with not enough subtlety for his rank and age but it still warmed Ravi's heart.

Khalest T. enjoyed the feeling of the sand beneath her bare feet as she looked upon the unfortunate amount of wrecked watercraft. Time and nature were both cruel, she thought as she turned away to make her way to one of the busy island bars. She thought she would get something sweet and cold to drink before she rejoined the rest of her crew. This was shore leave, after all, proven by her lack of a uniform, replaced with a pair of army green shorts and a black tank top. Her onyx hair blew in the slight breeze as it wouldn't stay tied back, being a bit too short at that moment. This was a welcomed break, but she felt uneasy. She hadn't had a real moment to relax and not do anything, since before medical school...eight years ago? She sighed. She really must take better care of her mind.

Cajan, having done his due diligence and researched Earth customs in relation to 'beach parties.' Arrived, bedecked appropriate attire. He wore a pair of flip flops, a gregarious Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda Shorts and a straw hat, finished off with mirror shades. His Trill spots could be clearly seen from head to toe. He had replicated himself a cocktail, which he held in a half coconut shell with multi-coloured umbrellas in it.

T'Lara had chosen to walk down the beach towards the mandatory gathering scheduled for tonight. She pulled at her dark shawl to adjust it to keep the 'chill' of the evening breeze at bay. Although T'Lara never had the opportunity to live on Vulcan, she was a desert-borne creature. This locale--although aesthetically intriguing--was far too wet and 'cool' for her personal satisfaction. Her ongoing recovery was limiting her ability to adapt to the environment as effectively as she had been used to. Her clothing choice was therefore not quite resort-ready. Swathed in a shade of purple so dark it almost appeared black, the leggings, long-sleeved wrap dress, and shawl made her appear like a wraith gliding amongst them. Stopping in front of one of the large fires, T'Lara considered this to be an acceptable place to sit. Adjusting her clothing after sitting on a driftwood log, she closed her eyes to bask in the fire's warmth for a moment.

Caj took a sip through his straw and headed into the crowd to mingle.

Khalest T. had ordered a blue and white layered drink that reminded her of the ocean they were so near to at that moment. With tall, curved glass in hand, she made her way to the gathering of the other crew members.

Temerant Bast walked the crowd with a drink of.... something in his hand. The drink filled what very closely resembled a coconut shell, and had flavors highly reminiscent of rum - or at least the Elysian equivalent of it. He approached the live band, and after a minute of listening to their music, felt compelled to join in the dance the Elysian locals were doing. Lamora would have identified the type of music, or at least the closest corresponding Trill rhythms, but Temerant was at a loss. Still, Lamora's memories were enough for him to get the essentials, and the rest was superfluous. He started dancing to the music, and joined in with the assembled Elysians, hoping some of the Cygnus crew would join them. The dance was simple, but also exhilarating... and just fun.

Ravi was at one of the many bars spread around the inlet, serving synthetic alcohol and what looked like intoxicating alcohol from what she could guess from the labels, there was also a plethera of juices of all colours of the universe and all mixes of soft drinks, carbonated, heliated, oxidised and other means of making them fix and bubble enticingly. She chose something with "berry" in its name and a beautiful hue of yellowy bronze with emerald streaks that fascinated her but were none of any type of berry that she had ever experienced before. ~It's a party, we should always be polite and try things at parties, right?~ she thought as she took a sip through the mandatory colourful straw.

Looking around her eyes were immediately caught by Caj, not just because he was her newest friend and had been so supportive when she had been upset recently and ::she blushed as she thought of it:: broken down in public, but also because no-one with functioning eyes of any species, shape or type, could possibly miss him in that gaudy shirt, straw hat and whatever that shell thing was, with (from a distance) looked like antennae but turned out (on closer examination) to be straws and tiny umbrellas sticking out of it.
It fascinated her almost as much as he did - and those beautiful spots all over his skin. Ravi had seen Trills before, many times, but there was something about Caj that she couldn't actually understand yet.

Ravi wasn't familiar with coconut shells, hollowed out but she had to smile as she approached him. She couldn't yet work out if the warm feeling was it was a good alternative to more crying on his shoulder. ~I wonder if he's in costume?~ she suddenly thought. ~Was there a memo that I missed?~

Blinking at the odd sensation of seeing herself mirrored in his glasses where his eyes ought to be. Ravi took in the unusual sandals he was wearing and smiled at him in greeting. Her face took on a life of it's own and a huge grin appeared where the smile she thought she had programmed should have happened. Not realising this traitorous betrayal, saved her from blushing.

"Hi!" she said, offering a welcoming mini-hug. "Its great to see you here." she took a sip of her drink and hesitated, thinking about how to say this or if she shouldn't speak about it - no-one else seemed to have got the memo about the costumes either so perhaps he mightn't want to be asked about his?

"That's a novel kind of drinking-thing.....is it a real coconut shell?" it was a start at the hundred things she could have said.

Caj gave a big cheesy grin "I accessed the stations historical database for suggestions on attire and drinks. This is something called a Mai Tai.....Not my favourite cocktail. But it is certainly doing the job."

tbc .....

 

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