The Reception

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 3:09am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant Commander Mindo & Lieutenant Ziara Rrareth & Lieutenant Riaan Rrareth & Lieutenant John Sandoval & Lieutenant Krysia Kaleri-Smith & Lieutenant Alexandra Alves MD & Lieutenant James Smith & Lieutenant JG Aeryn Jameson & Ensign Emmanuelle Larose & Emilie Temple & Ignatius & Raven Mattel & Veronica Kiley
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:48pm

Mission: Death in Paradise

Krysia and James were sitting at the top of a large reception table, the food was being served and Krysia smiled happily as she looked around all their crew mates and friends. It made it extra special having Owen there as the only member of her family to be present.

Lieutenant Mindo was one of the few crew missing from the festivities, as he was needed for repairs to the ship. He'd sent the happy couple a bottle of tranya, straight from one of the vineyards from his own province on Fesaria. It was the least he could do.

James watched as the crew members mingled among each other, unlike his new bride he had no family around any more. Nyx and his wife and daughter was the closet thing he had to family so being with them he felt everything was complete. Smith leaned over to give Krys a kiss, “I love you Mrs. Smith”

Krysia returned her husband's kiss. "I love you too Mr Smith!" She looked around. "I can't wait for us to have some time to ourselves not that I'm wishing our wedding reception over already!!"

Aeryn had enjoyed Krysia's wedding but it had gone a long way to making her feel sad that she would never be able to marry the man who'd come to mean everything to her. She still managed to muster a smile as she walked over to Krysia and James. "Congratulations!!" She offered Krys a hug. "You look so beautiful." She looked at John as he joined her. "Don't you think she looks beautiful?"

"Absolutely beautiful," John agreed. He gave his friend a warm hug. "Congratulations. Both of you." He then shook James's hand, a man he didn't know too well yet but hoped to get to know better.

Alexandra enjoyed the wedding, and was glad that Krysia asked her to be her bridesmaid. It still reminded her of her own wedding ceremony nine years ago, but despite that, she definitely liked the whole 'fuss'. On the reception, she picked up a glass of champagne and engaged in small talk with some of the other guests.

"Congratulations!" she approached Krysia and James with a huge smile. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

"Thank you Aexandra!" Krysia smiled warmly. "There's a little something back at your quarters for you as a thank you for being our bridesmaid." She looked at James then back at Alexandra. "It's not much, just a little something I thought you'd like."

"You really shouldn't have had to!" Alex smiled. "It was a pleasure by all means."

Meanwhile, Veronica stayed in the shadow of Mr. Sandoval, following him around. She felt somewhat bored, watching the grownups talking about meaningless stuff. Neverthless, she managed to get some snacks and a glass of cola, which made her participation worthwhile.

John smiled as he noticed Veronica following him. Poor thing must be so bored, he thought. He looked to Aeryn and gave her a wink before turning to the young girl. "Ensign, could you please help me find where I'm supposed to sit? The leg is bothering me and I'm done standing for a while."

"Aye, aye, sir." the girl nodded with great sense of duty, and started to wander around, looking for a suitable place. Meanwhile, she bumped into her mother, who was apparently occupied with boring grownup talk.

"You haven't told me you were promoted, Ensign." Alexandra folded her arms and looked at John with a conspiring smile.

John grinned widely. "You hadn't heard? She's an honorary ensign and serves as my Assistant Department Head. She's already proven herself a most useful officer to have on the team."

Aeryn smiled warmly as she watched Jonn. She was surprised he didn't have children as he seemed to be a natural with young people.

Ziara and Riaan for their part, sat at the back of the reception. They were there almost by accident and hadn't really even gotten to know the bride or groom at this point. However, it reminded them of their own wedding. Ziara for her part was in a blue dress that accentuated her figure, showing off that she was very definitely female. Riaan wore a flowing red dress that hid most of her scars. They wore matching bajoran earrings, unusual on a Caitian, but more expected on the Bajoran-Cardassian Hybrid. The two of them were mostly whispering to each other and sharing in jokes while they waited to greet the newlyweds.

After a few moments, they saw their opening and Ziara held Riaan's hand and led the much taller hybrid. Ziara grinned hugely as she introduced herself to the couple. "I'm Ziara Rrareth and this is my wife, Riaan Rrareth. I want to thank you for inviting us to your wedding despite us being such recently assigned here." Ziara said happily in the purr of a Caitian accent.

Riaan nodded quietly and blushed slightly. "It was beautiful." She added, speaking only loud enough to be heard over the rest of the reception.

"It's our pleasure and I'm glad you're enjoying being here." Krysia smiled warmly as she looked towards James.

James smiled as well, “I’m happy you were able to join us, please enjoy yourself.”

Owen looked across the table and was happy to the joy in Krys face, knowing that she was really happy on one of the most important days of her life, having married the man she wanted to be with. He smiled as everyone came up to the table to wish them both well and congratulate them, however once again the thought of missing his beloved weighed on his mind.

He made a mental note to send another message to SCIS about the whereabouts of Janet and Owen also remembered that he needed to speak to Cailus to see if his offer was still a serious one. He took another sip and at back to watch the happy couple enjoy their time in the spotlight.

Krysia saw her half brother looking in her direction, she made her excuses and walked over to Owen her wedding dress flowing behind her. "No word on Janet yet?" She offered an understanding smile. "If you need any help getting through red tape let me know. I might be able to find out something a different way, we Counsellors have our ways. Plus I'm married to an Intelligence officer now!" She grinned.

James watched as Krysia made her way over to Owen he didn’t have to guess what she was asking him about. He hadn’t received any news from Starfleet Intelligence he was going to try and help by making a few inquiries.

Returning to her husband Krysia smiled as she kissed him on the cheek, she'd seen Nyx depart the reception earlier. "Any sign of a Nyx yet?" She knew It would be important to James for Nyx to be there. He was the closest thing to family James had. "I hope everything is alright."

James looked toward the holodeck door he knew Nyx was going through a lot, and he hoped he could get through it. Shaking his head he said, “Not yet, but They know he’ll be here.”

In what could only be a fluke of good timing, Nyx hurriedly returned to the Holodeck at this moment, having been called away for his chat with Katya. He saw Emilie sitting on a lounge chair in the corner, Katrine was off on the dancing floor twirling her skirt around with playful abandon. Nyx settled down next to his wife and placed an arm around her.

Emilie turned to him and smiled, but then cocked her head slightly when she noticed his ashen expression, "Everything ok?"

"It's perfect." Nyx replied, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "Just had a great chat with Chief Katya. I feel like we actually achieved something at Paradise, despite everything that happened."

"Oh that's good." Emilie nodded. She knew first hand how the mission to the Indigo Sky and Paradise Outpost had effected her husband's sense of self. He had questioned his ability to captain the Pandora, and they had previously discussed returning to Earth as a result.

"It wasn't pretty, everything felt out of control for a while there, but we made a difference. We really did, Ems." Nyx continued, looking out to the distance with a faint smile. "And it may even have further blow-back onto the Alrakis Pact. If more places like Paradise find the strength to rebel against the likes of the Breen and Ravagers, who knows what it would mean for the Expanse? We could see total revolution."

Emilie gently placed her hand on his, "You want to stay, don't you?"

Nyx looked over to her, both surprised and completely unsurprised by her ability to see right through his words, and get to what he hadn't yet been able to say. He looked down at their hands and his fingers caressed hers.

"I do." He replied solemnly. "But my family still comes first. If it's best for us to return home, then that's what we'll do. I'm also sure now that Commander Nash and Lieutenant Griffin could continue the Pandora's mission with equal success. No doubt about it."

Emilie nodded, "I think I want to stay, too." She admitted with a smile. "But let's wait till we get back to Federation territory to decide completely, okay?"

"Sure." Nyx answered quickly, as he turned to look back at the room full of happy revellers. "No decisions yet."

She hated being late to a party, but Emmanuelle was honoured to be invited and wanted to look just right. Yellow hair in a lovely up-do and wearing a short black dress and black stilettos that for once made her not the shortest in the room, she snuck into the party as soon as she could and approached the happy couple. “Félicitations,” she said simply. She didn’t know either of them very well, though she’d been on away missions with both during the Paradise affair. Both seemed very nice, and Mr. Sandoval considered Krysia a good friend.

"Welcome Emmanuelle!" Krys smiled warmly. "I'm glad you came."

Smiling James said, “I’m so happy you could make it, please enjoy yourself.”

With a smile, Emmanuelle went to mingle and eventually found John and Aeryn.

“Goodness, Emmanuelle,” John said with a smile. “You look great. But where do you keep the holster?”

She could only grin back. “I think you know that I can take someone down without a phaser. Or do I need to show you again?” Both shared a quick laugh.

Aeryn couldn't help but grin at John's interaction with Emmanuelle. "Perhaps Emmanuelle and I should go shopping together sometime!" She grinned.

“You both have great taste,” John agreed, “I’d love to see what you both came back with.”

“And we can share stories about the good Lieutenant here!” Emmanuelle said to Aeryn.

John’s expression fell. “Now wait just a minute..."

Ignatius was clinging onto Raven with nervous anticipation as the two sauntered into the holodeck. He was wearing a simple tux with royal blue lapels and a matching collarless shirt. Raven was wearing a short white lace mini-dress, because she never let custom dictate her fashion. She didn’t see why only the bride should wear white, especially as it were after the ceremony.

“Raven.” Ignatius whispered as they attempted to mingle in with the crowd. “This is a mistake, we weren’t invited.”

“Nonsense.” She replied with high-spirited gaiety, “Clearly the Reception was an open invitation to the whole ship.”

Ignatius scowled a little, but he was trying to keep on his party face, lest his guilt give up the game. “But it’s mostly just officers here, Ms Mattel. I don’t recall either of us attending the Academy in the last forty-eight hours.”

At this, Raven gave a large sigh, “You’ve become a real stickler, Ignatius.” She declared. “Too much time away from New York has ruined your sense of fun.”

Ignatius was insulted by the comment but he couldn’t help but agree. He shook his head, “You’re just a bad influence.”

Raven let out a loud and haughty laugh, showing the depth of her real voice. “That I am, my friend. Now hurry up and grab that waitress before she disappears with the canapés.”

With the rest of the evening going by like wildfire, the reception was soon winding down. People slowly petered off before Krysia and James finally headed back to their quarters, Krys ecstaticly happy with fact that she was now Mrs Kaleri-Smith.

[OFF]