Spooky Time
Posted on 01 Dec 2021 @ 7:11pm by Lieutenant Amelia Warner & Commander Kristiana Petrova & Lieutenant Callisi Veera & Ensign Kat Walker
2,289 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Home
Location: Lounge
Timeline: OOC: My apologies for the wildly late Halloween log! Hope y'all enjoy it anyway. :)
She did the reading, did the research, then did a little more research. Oh this was interesting. So they DID have a holiday similar to one back home... but what was with all the dressing up? And all the candy?
Well, she wasn't one to turn away candy. Well, maybe mostly turn it away, the dental care here probably never ever saw a Ts'usugi jaw. Though, still, to get into the spirit, to get morale up a bit... might as well indulge. So a little more research. Hmmm, no, no, no, certainly not. No, no.... okay, that could work. She didn't like how it drew attention to, oh wait, wait that might be perfect. Hide it in plain sight. Oh this was going to work out perfect. Replicating the costume pieces, and then the make up. Now, the final piece: The jargon. She practiced for at least a few days before even trying, and got a few weird looks from her department, but she passed it off as a cultural exchange. As the day got closer, she brought her ops team in on it, and the group agreed. A group costume! The time was now. The pieces were assembled, the lingo was true, it felt natural, and after an hour of assembly her new persona was complete.
The decks of the Odin were commandeered by pirates! The ops team dressed up in bandanas and 'minion pirate' attire. They playfully harassed the crew between the Ops office and the lounge, their 'Captain' behind them. A long coat, a low cut shirt, a necklace of sea shells that enticed the view down, tight pants (but regulation for swordfighting), and proper boots for a pirate lord. Red leather and gold trim really was her color. A wide tricorn hat rested atop her head, and earrings jangled from her lengthy ears as she took each step. A plastic cutlass hung on her hip with each step bringing the pirate crew closer and closer to their destination. The doors to the lounge swung open, well more of a swish, and the pirate crew made their way in. They looked hilarious, she looked fantastic, and the whole Ops team looked like they were having fun.
"Come about and raise a cheer to the devil of the seas, 'Captain Cutlass Callisi." proclaimed one of her Ops Pirates as she took the step into the lounge.
One of the people present in the lounge was Commander Kristiana Petrova, the unbroken, first of her name, the warrior, of Starfleet, second in command of the good ship Odin. She wasn't dressed up in costume whatsoever, simply wearing a freshly replicated uniform, nursing sore feet, enjoying a good drink in peace. Seeing the peace shattered by Ops making a scene she looked up and over and blinked. Then blinked again. Then burst out laughing. A good, hearty belly laugh, the kind borne from sheer amazement and amusement. The kind that speaks of approval of the highest order.
Sitting on the couch was a vampire.
Or Doctor Warner. Y'know, whatever.
She eating off a small plate full of finger foods from the buffet length table that had been set out for everyone. It felt really nice to unwind and a not-so-secret secret for the good doctor was her appreciation for costume parties, so she was hardly gonna turn down this chance. Adorned in a long black dress in the style of 1500s Earth. Of course, the yohoho'ing and the laughter drew her attention from her food and she saw the incoming crowd, prompting her own laughter with lighthearted appreciation. "Well done!" she called.
"Well well, there be lolligaggin landlubbers about." Callisi commented, her enthusiasm about the character really coming through. "You know the law, matees."
"Aye, cap'n, we do." one of her ops pirates replied. With that, Callisi started to walk towards Kristiana with something of a purpose in her stride. Mostly because out of everyone, Kris was the closest she had to a friend. "None shall walk upon these shores..." her words picked up a cadence. This wasn't just a speech, it was an omen. "To seek, or peek, or to explore..."
"Be ye soldier..."
"... or traveler..."
"... or sailor lost..."
She paused, giving the build up a moment to, well, build up. "... Into the sea, ye must be tossed." she held that serious posture for a moment, as though if there were a portal to the ocean right here in this very spot, the rabbitess would consider making good on her rhyme threat. But then the moment passed, and a ghost of a smile broke out over her features. "Happy Halloween, Kris." and then she took a seat on the stool next to her. "At ease, me mates. These lout know the sea as good as any four of ye." and the ops pirate band chuckled, and took seats about in the lounge.
Callisi gave Doctor Warner a tip of her pirate captain's hat. Gotta keep the bonesaw in good graces.
"... I'm way under-dressed, aren't I," Kris mused, downing the remainder of her drink and rising to her feet, rolling her shoulders and neck a bit. "I should find a costume as well. Make a modicum of effort to fit in, you know. Happy halloween, Captain Cutlass," she smirked, heading out.
As she did, the doors to the lounge opened in front of her and a bat fluttered in. Kris hesitated a moment, puzzled expression on Russian features as she watched it do a lazy circle of the venue, then find a convenient spot on the ceiling to hang down from. "... Huh. Majestic land flap flap."
Callisi watched the bat do its rounds before locating a spot to hang. Majestic Land Flap Flap? What an awkward name for a b... oh, nickname. Clever. She offered a smirk to Kris as she left, before turning towards Doctor Warner, "I very much enjoy your persona." she offered. "I've read that this holiday is about presenting a false face and acting in a ghostly manner. I think I might enjoy it. We have something similar back home... but we don't dress up."
"I like the costume part."
Warner turned away from the bat's appearance with a smile as looked at the pirate captain. "Oh?" she asked pleasantly. "What do you do with that holiday back home?"
"We'd pay respects to the deceased, remember those that we wished to remember fondly. Tell stories of their exploits and their lives." Callisi began, "Once it got dark, we'd start a bonfire and the entire community would come together to celebrate. We don't have traditional monsters like humans do. No vampires or werewolves. We have ghosts, though. Nothing scary like this, in our culture ghosts are the dead returning to ensure the living are keeping the family alive and acting with dignity. Visitors, rather then specters." she clarified.
"We have candy for the children, but that's every get together." she giggled, "Though, truth be told, I much prefer this version. The concept of pretending to be someone you're not isn't too well received back home, but this... This I could grow to love."
"It's a fascinating cultural difference," sounded Kat's voice, though with a slightly more coarse, almost croaky texture to it. The bat had made its way over and with a shimmer shifted to the form of the AI's chosen avatar, now dressed in a typical witches costume, with jagged black dress, a pointy hat flopped over to a side, various bottles and vials on her belt, a black cat sat on her shoulder looking around, an old style broom in hand and a magic tome lazily circling around her. Her nose was also elongated and downturned, like a hook nose. "The lack of established traditional monsters but great respect for the dead versus the rich human culture of monsters spawned from the dead, or related to death. And yet, these monsters are, in the case of Samhain at least, treated as something fun rather than to actually fear."
"The richness in culture is fascinating indeed," spoke the cat in a deep, resounding basso profondo.
"We buried all our monsters in the past." Callisi added, turning to address the construct incogneto. "But, you summarize it well enough. Thank you for your kind words." Kat did speak well of Callisi's culture. A rich heritage stretching millennia. Captain Cutlass Callisi, as it were, turned to regard the witch and her menagerie. "A fascinating persona you've chosen."
"Thank you," Kat smiled, twirling around once to show off her dress, the levitating tome leaving a trail of fading sparkles as it followed, the cat bracing on her shoulder. "I found that similar beings exist in several cultures across the Federation and decided to incorporate different elements from them. Culture fascinates me, having none of my own to fall back on."
"Every culture has it's stories. So many of them seem to line up. I've heard there's an Earth holiday where a rabbit goes around giving gifts of candy and chocolate, in baskets, to children. Another story tells of a Peter Cottontail, who seems to enjoy hopping down bunny trails." a pause, "And yet, we have absolutely no record of a splinter colony on Earth that would lead to such fantastic stories... and yet, Earth rabbits have an uncanny resemblance to the Children of Ts'usu."
"So, borrow all you want from whatever lines up with your ideals. Everyone does." Callisi gave a smirk, in a good mood. Well moreso than usual... perhaps because of the costume. "You're a culture of one." which might have been the nicest thing the rabbitess has said to the construct thus far.
"Every culture began somewhere, after all," Amelia chimed in with a friendly smile as she passed the pair on her way to refill her drink and plate of appetizers. "You can create your own history and trends."
"Thank you. Both of you," Kat admitted, nodding to both of them in turn. "That's very kind of you. Though honestly, it's quite overwhelming. But I have time."
At that a figure walked in to the lounge. Dressed entirely in black, with a dramatic long coat, black gloves, a beaked mask hiding the figure's face and a black hat on top. The figure carried a scepter, black in color, though with a copper winged hourglass topping it. The ominous figure paused in the doorway, looking around dramatically, before continuing inside.
"Huh, Commander Petrova," the cat on Kat's shoulder mused in a deep, rumbling bass voice. "Mm. Her heat signature gives her away. It's as unique as a fingerprint," Kat smiled.
"As is the persona she chose." Callisi commented out of her pirate'ish cadence, leaning in a little towards the now-identified Kris, "Tell us about this one. A spirit from old? A restless beast?"
The doctor in the room, however, recognized the costume instantly. "A plague doctor," she said with a smile that was both amused and vaguely disturbed, though not in any serious way. She just knew the history of the costume, she'd studied it in school. "An interesting choice, Commander."
Callisi gave the uniform of the plague doctor a look over. "I'm guessing a Plague Doctor is, given Terrans and their imagination, a form of spirit that haunts sites ravaged by disease? Or a mournful spirit of the doctors that tried to save their charges from an illness but were claimed by it?" she offered.
"Not a spirit," Sounded Kristiuana's slightly muffled voice from the figure. "Plague doctors were early doctors from around the dawn of modern medicine and the scientific method. The mask holds sweet smelling spices and the uniform keeps out the 'miasma' - " Kris made air quotes " - that the people of the time believed carried disease. Hygiene was not fully understood at the time, but plague doctors helped pave the way for better methods and deeper understanding."
"As well as being stylish," Amelia said with a smirk. "In their case, the name was fairly literal. They were looked on as doctors that treated persons with plague."
Callisi gave a nod of understanding, "We never had anything like... that, in our history. A doctor that treated the plague was instructed by their practice to wear blue gloves, and from that point on they'd only treat people suffering from that plague or disease. The general assumption at the earliest times was that if you treated the ill, you became ill." she paused, "In our earliest records, the warlords of old would have their own private physicians, to keep the number of medical assassinations to a minimum. With our exodus to the moons, the practice became vastly more respectable. As we learned more and more about the truth behind illness, the blue gloves stayed as a sign of the practice, an assurance of trust. That a doctor was willing to catch what you had, to ensure your recovery."
"It's the birthplace of the expression 'The Gloves are Off'. Doctors working on the front lines in our conflict with the Koldaran aren't supposed to wear their signature blue gloves since it's an easy target for the Koldaran snipers. So, in any situation where situations are at their worst often require the gloves to come off."
"That's fascinating," Kat agreed, listening to every word. "The idea of self sacrifice to serve a greater good is - " the AI trailed off for a moment, looking somewhat befuddled as she tried to find the words. "It's fascinating to me."
"It's something members of a pro... I mean." and Callisi cleared her throat, then switched back to her pirate cadence, "It be what a proper society do. Now, enough wabber jabber, let's get to the festives."