tampered | Everyone raise your glasses!

Entry tags:

Everyone raise your glasses!

When; Evening of Tuesday, August 13th
Rating; PG-13, at best. Angela's on her best behavior tonight.
Characters; It's Ginny's birthday party and everybody Ginny knows was invited. Let's handwave that and just show up. BTW, IT'S BLACK TIE. PUT ON YOUR SUITS, BOYS.
Summary; There's no legal drinking age in the City, but who says we can't party like there was one anyway?
Log;

This party was four years coming. The restaurant has set aside a large room just for this event and on short notice too. The food is plentiful and of various cuisines, with even a large selection of vegetarian options for those who prefer that. But of course, there is more alcohol than one has ever seen because Angela knows the people she invited and knows quite a few of them have liquor in their veins instead of blood. Rule of thumb: more liquid than solids every time.

Everything's set and ready for the birthday girl to make her appearance, so for the time being, Angela's flitting around the place dressed in more subdued colors than usual, choosing black because no one gets to stand out more than Ginny tonight, and socializing with the few guests that have shown up already.

Sadly, there are no strippers. Ginny nixed that one hard.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes. I think our conversations since then have helped both of us come to terms with our lives here.

[ and parts of their lives from before here. he trusts her. that's what really constitutes a good friend. ]

[At least nobody had to do anything that would horribly traumatise the other. Spock is very much alone in that corner.]

Have you been encountering difficulties, in the City?

[ oh but there was that one time chakotay and kathryn argued about the borg, legitimately argued to the point of nearly breaking their friendship. that totally counts as trauma. ]

Not particularly. It's been rather uneventful so far. [ more or less. ] What of yourself?

Likewise, save for a few relics.

[It's neutral and calm, but Spock has Very Strong Feelings about Khan and there's a hint of menace to the way he says relics. Anyone overhearing would just assume he was talking about the pirate curse.]

Are they still dormant or have they showed signs of being more than what they seem?

[ he can keep up the analogy like it's a real thing. time to find out if spock can keep pace. ]

Dormant, for now. The City has a way with... surprises that many of us did not expect.

[He can keep pace all right.]

After all, we recently became pirates.

Good. Let's hope they stay that way. If you need any help... deciphering them, I'd be happy to help.

[ meaning he's armed if it comes to it. ]

Very true. Maybe that will be an occurrence few and far between.

[There was a day when Spock would have protested. He is a pacifist, through and through, but Vulcan were a warrior race, once, and the anger and pain from Jim's death is still there, swirling viciously, in a whirlpool. The water there is never truly calm, only waiting for an outlet. He promised Jim he wouldn't engage with Khan by himself. He promised nothing of requesting assistance from the crew of Voyager. They too are aware of the threat, perhaps in a less visceral way, but they are aware nonetheless.]

[So he nods, as acknowledgement, and drops the subject.]

The "curses" here are a frequent occurrence, and to my knowledge, that one has... some popularity with the being or beings who inflict them.

[ chakotay is a bit of a pacifist himself. under normal circumstances, he would prefer to ask questions first, shoot later. but considering their current situation, khan is a different sort altogether. chakotay knows what khan is capable of and would much rather use that knowledge to protect others than be caught in diplomacy with a killer. ]

Then I'll have to hope I won't be caught in a recurrence. I seem to have avoided the important ones so far. How have you fared with them?

[Spock's greatly relieved he hasn't been directly asked how he feels with regard to the curses. Not that he'd admit to being so. Jim has a way of piercing his armour, McCoy has a way of strengthening it with the constant jabs. Janeway, he doesn't have quite a good read of but she seems more like him than the other two. Chakotay is almost a complete unknown.]

I have not been incapacitated.

[One would, at first glance, think this was an understated reaction, but at least they're all familiar with Vulcans and their stoicism.]

[ no, chakotay has grown used to having vulcans on board. if it weren't for tuvok's betrayal, he might actually learn to like and appreciate them. but he doesn't know ensign vorik well enough and tuvok will forever have the stain of deceit on him. which is ironic given that he's a vulcan.

vulcans. ]

Good to know. Neither have I. It seems we have both been lucky.

[ he's expecting a quip about luck being irrelevant here. ]

[Join McCoy in that corner and remember that Vulcans have excellent hearing.]

Luck appears to be quite relevant in these matters.

[Because Spock can't spot any pattern and that's just wrong, okay.]

[ oh he knows. he's well aware of how often tuvok overhears things. this is why he's chief of security. well, one reason. ]

You're admitting to luck.

[ a vulcan admits luck is a thing. well, color him surprised. ]

Every time I think I understand you [ "you" as in "vulcans," not "you" as in "spock." ] something happens and changes my mind.

[ granted, he's never really spent a lot of time around vulcans. their time in the delta quadrant seems to be the longest and that's mostly spent in tuvok's company, which of course paints a brilliant picture on the rest of the species. ]

I serve under Captain Kirk.

[As if that explains everything weird in the universe. (It doesn't, but it hedges on that maybe 85% of the time and truthfully? You don't spend that long under Jim Kirk and not admit to things like luck.)]

[At the next statement, however, his brow furrows, deep in thought, and his expression becomes slightly colder.]

Please, qualify. You are having difficulties with Vulcan culture?

That's a very good point.

[ kirk is luck. that's very true. command classes at the academy tend to focus on his immeasurable ability to come out on top of nearly any situation, even when he definitely shouldn't. ]

No. [ he makes a slight face at that and lowers his voice even further, aware that spock will be able to hear him anyway. ] I haven't had many opportunities to get to know Vulcans outside of talks of logic or business. Every time I think I'll get a logical response, they surprise me.

[It baffles Spock, but then after a while he just gave up trying to understand it, and accepted it as part of the man. All things considered, he really wouldn't enjoy being another's XO this much.]

[Not that he'd admit to enjoyment, either.]

May I ask how many serve aboard your ship?

[He expects there to be more Vulcans in Starfleet, during Janeway's era. The business part is just. A formality. Most Vulcans don't get so close to humans.]

[Most Vulcans also aren't Spock.]

[ one day spock should ask kathryn about tuvok. chakotay suspects that might endear her even more to the vulcan. ]

Not many. One works in Engineering and the other is in security.

[ he doesn't want to go into too many specifics or there might be questions. and besides, as much as he dislikes tuvok, that particular person is extremely close to his captain. she would be the better person to ask than he. ]

Ask Kathryn if you'd like to know more.

[Two.]

[Not what he'd expected, upon hearing not many. He'd thought much more than that. A dozen. In his timeline it made less sense for them to be exploring space, as they'd still be focusing on rebuilding their civilisation and the population to its (former) height. The collective trauma of losing a planet would linger on for a long, long time, and Spock isn't sure whether he's unhappy that the pain is bringing them together, or angry that it exists at all.]

[But Vulcan survives, in the other timeline. Thrives.]

[He doesn't particularly want to know, as curious (as hopeful) as hopeful as he is, and that thought joins the dead end he's reached, with Chakotay. The man is much easier to read (according to Spock) than Jim or McCoy. He's less emotional, and subtleties are Spock's language as much as logic is.]

I intend to.

[Humans don't endear themselves, to Spock. It took Jim a year, saving his life, and breaking the Prime Directive. It took Nyota several weeks, to appeal to his mind, and they've beaten the path for Kathryn Janeway. She laughed at his jokes, when most people weren't even aware he was making them.]

I was under the impression the crew would be more varied, in the future.

[Another thing people don't expect from Spock. Casual remarks. Sure, Jim and McCoy talk constantly and say a lot with it, but it's rare that Spock shares that with them. His words always have purpose.]

It is. [ and far more now that the maquis crew has integrated with the starfleet one. ] We have a great deal of people from various places and backgrounds, some even enemies turned allies. [ and allies turned enemies who are no longer on the ship. ] Our crew make-up might not be the best basis for an assumption about the future.

[ things change, reality alters, the universe and its occupants change daily. organizations rise and fall in the blink of an eye. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Everyone raise your glasses!

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