Auld Lang Syne

Posted on Mon Jan 3, 2022 @ 1:55am by Captain Larisna Koralova & Lieutenant Rei Yamashi & Lieutenant Penny Mc Taggard & Lieutenant Jaro Antos

Mission: Interludes - These Are Our Voyages...
Location: Ship's Lounge "Hornet's Nest" - USS Hornet
Timeline: New Year's Eve 2394 / New Year's Day 2395

((OOC - This is going to be our post for New Year's celebrations - just a chance to get together and interact and have a little fun. It'll be our "holiday" post of sorts))

The lounge on the Hornet was decorated up with shiny and brightly colored decorations of various types, all bright and festive colors. Various food trays were set out, though per Captain's orders and tradition, one table was set up that a member of the senior staff had to select a dish of their choice as part of something called a "pot luck" - it was not required to have actually made the meal, but it had to be something that senior officer chose. The Captain followed her own orders and had set out her offering of baked filled buns that contained several fruit filling variations. A couple Earth fruits and a couple Trill ones. The placard with them identified them as something called "pirozhiki", they were small buns that allowed one to easily hold it in hand.

Drinks were of course available, and there was already a sense of community as junior officers gathered and mingled. Uniform wear was optional, casual attire in good taste was also considered acceptable. Larisna opted for her uniform, though, and stayed near the center display case full of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 memorabilia replicas while greeting those who came past with a smile and a little small talk.

The next one to enter the lounge was Rei. Sporting a casual attire of a simple black T-Shirt free of decoration or symbols, and casual shorts to match, the rabbitess carried a pair of trays stacked one on the other, wearing gloves to make sure she didn't burn herself. On the pot luck table, she placed her entry into the race, and while the name of the dish wasn't known, the contents were: a small ball of shrimp and various other shellfish steamed into a packet of dough. Earthlings would call it a dumpling, and they'd only be right because as a matter of universal coincidence... every species out there had a variant of the 'Food inside a dough container' template.

"A taste of home." the rabbitess engineer offered to Larisna, a soft smile on her features. "Good to know we're not the only people that celebrate the passing of a year."

"It's surprisingly common. The fine details differ, of course, but it is one that is generally celebrated Federation-wide." Larisna replied, "My father still loves pirozhiki, though I think we can see that's another universal truth based on our selections." She added with a smile.

Aiko and Antos entered shortly after Rei. Antos was carrying their dish contribution to the pot luck and his personal favourite- stir fry bregit lung served over perfectly steamed udon noodles. It was one of Aiko's famous dishes and one that blended her love of traditional Asian and Klingon cuisine.

Strange as it was as a concept, they actually paired very well, and Antos' growing waist line was a testament to that.

Antos was dressed in semi-formal wear, a simple black t-shirt was visible underneath a red v-neck sweater that was paired with deep blue jeans. Aiko was in an elegant black dress with a gold and red Japanese obi belt wrapped around her lower torso.

"This is almost as good as the Bajoran Festival of Gratitude," Antos said to Rei and Larisna as he set down the food next to hers. "Almost, being the operative word of course," he added with a grin.

"I've only had the chance to experience one." She made a thoughtful face for a moment, before blinking, "Well, I guess it would now be about 20 years ago. How time flies, I guess. No matter what DTI tells you."

Penny had done some research into traditional Hogmanay/New year wear. She wore a simple dark red plaid dress with of course. The McTaggard family kilt pattern fabric made into a sash she wore over one shoulder.

She also brought in a plate of her grandmothers famous mini ginger finger cakes. Known throughout Dundee as a noted dish for any celebration. She placed the tray on the table then after ordering an apple juice. She could pass as a scotch if needed. Penny started to mingle.

“ Hello. This is very jolly isn’t it?” Penny said

Rei gave a smirk, "It really is. I'm just glad there's finally a holiday that has a direct parallel I can understand without any odd references or looks. Okay, so there's Easter, which has rabbits for some reason and everyone looks at us." she giggled, "Then there's Christmas, where someone breaks into your house and leaves you toys as payment for eating your food. Never understood that one, though I hear it's supposed to be similar to the Emperor's Birthday." she paused, then let the matter relax, "But First Dawn, this is something I can get behind. Just a simple celebration of buying a new calendar and getting together with friends and food."

"Speaking of..." and she picked up a plate and started to mingle with the food trays. This looked good. This smelled good. This, she had no idea but she'd try it once.

"Yes, and that's just the Human celebrations, and the most commonly known variations. Trill has some strange ones too, especially the one where you let out your previous hosts for some fresh air. Like inviting a bunch of complete strangers into the home for a week. And Segen, my mother's symbiote, had some...interesting ones." Larisna chuckled.

Commander Malloy said she would stop by for dinner. She always made a point of standing with the crew it was part of her special nature, the food did look delicious and people seemed like they were having fun.

She helped herself. It looked like turkey....

Rei turned, plate stocked, to glance over at Larisna, "Okay, so on that note. The Trill." she took a chomp of sliced turkey before continuing. "I have to say they're the most interesting people I've encountered thus far on this side of the galactic divide. I think the Trill and the Dalacari would get along very well, mostly because they're opposites. Trill are two beings in one body, while a Dalacari is two bodies that are actually one being." another chomp of turkey. "I can only imagine how first contact with them went." she giggled.

"But this. First Dawn, or New Year, or whatever... this is something I can get behind. Also, because there's food." she smiled softly, "Any celebration where there's food, I'm in."

“Being From Scotland on Earth Hogmanay or New Year is always a bigger festival for us. My family are very traditional in that sense. Food , Drink and traditional Scottish dancing. That dated way back in history. All kilts and swords even in this day and age.” Penny explained.

Hi Penny, you're Scottish, do you drink scotch? Amanda asked.

Penny felt she had to be truthful here.

“ Please don’t tell my family this. But no. When I was accepted into the Academy I made a decision not to touch Alcohol in any form. But when I was a wee one. Oh yes especially on Hogmanay…..New years. We Scots go the extra mile at this time of year.” Penny confessed.

Antos listened in on the conversation amused by the differences and similarities that existed across cultures as much as he was always equally facilitated by how much Earth culture and history influenced multiple facets of the Federation.

The other part of his attention was concentrated on analyzing the growing feast that was in front of them, all of which looked appealing. He was currently nursing a glass of red wine but he fully intended to dive into the food shortly when he finished the wine.

"That's quite intriguing Lieutenant," Aiko stated, her gaze directed at Rei. "You'll forgive me but I am not that familiar with the Dalacari. What do you mean by two bodies in one being?"

"That I have to hear as well." Larisna said, before glancing over to Penny, "It's quite dizzying how many different variations of the same tradition there were on Earth, isn't it?"

Rei finished what she was chewing on first before she responded, "Well, simply that. Dalacari are binary lifeforms. A complete and healthy Dalacari has two bodies, linked together by a natural cloud empathy." she paused, "They evolved from this nasty little ambitious predator that forms a primitive group mind with the entirety of its pack. I've seen them in zoos and preserves, just a fog of teeth and fur moving from place to place. When one finds food, they all jump. When one gets attacked, they all swarm. It's eerie, but over the eons they got smarter, and as they did, the swarm got smaller and smaller."

"Now they're a swarm of two. The bond forms almost as soon as the brain does in utero, and they're born as a healthy pair of twins. They walk together, finish each others sandwiches... I mean, sentences, They're an absolutely fascinating people. Their entire society is focused on preserving life and eliminating risk, since if either of their bodies gets hurt they feel the pain equally. Next time we're out in the home sectors you should really look them up. Oh, wait, you call it the Delta quadrant." she corrected herself. "But yeah, two bodies, but one consciousness between them."

Another race found in the Delta quadrant came to Penny’s mind.

“ Like the Borg?” She asked aloud.

"Not really, but I see where you're drawing the connection. So, each complete Dalacari is a pair of physical bodies. They don't have a group mind with every other Dalacari on the planet. Ancestors no, we'd have called off the Three Dawns Accord at that point. For our own sanity." she giggled, "But no, each pair is a single being, and each being is unto themselves alone. So no real group hive collective there. Also, you can shake a Dalacari's hand and not become one of the Dalacari Group Collective."

"Though, the Dalacari *DO* use drones in everyday life. Computer controlled automatons, no free will or true sentience. Programmed to adapt, and built to serve."

"Fascinating," Aiko responded, momentarily casting a frown at Antos who was loading too much food onto his plate. "Forgive me if this is prying, but is this bond transferable or permanent?"

"Oh no no, please. We're all explorers. Questions are part of the trade." Rei offered, "And to answer your question, no it's quite permanent. They've tried for years to see if there's a substitute for it, but nothing seems to work. See, the bodies share experience with the central intellect. That sounds *really* weird when I say it out loud." she mused, "But, the greatest medical trauma that a Dalacari can suffer is the death of *one* of their bodies. It's a terrible condition that leaves the intellect shattered and the remaining body in a state of perpetual confusion, doubt, dementia, all the worst parts of a broken mind. Sometimes they even get violent. Othertimes, they're begging for a way out."

"They've tried foster connections, enlisted the aid of external species with telepathy, neural connection to a Thinking Engine. Nothing mends that broken link. So they try their best to stay as safe as possible, behind an army of drones programmed to protect them, and with a peace accord with us that's endured over two hundred years."

"I'd have loved to have gone to the Delta Quadrant. When the Graviton Catapult was still in operation, I'd hoped to convince Admiral Ramsay to let me take the Galaxy there. But he's so set in his ways, part of why I gave up my chance to command that ship." Larisna shrugged, "That does sound quite fascinating though, even if there are considerable risks. Trill hosts often have a risk that their personalities become altered by their symbiotes - and there's always the risk the symbiote ends up with a less than ideal host, which in turn passes those experiences on to other hosts. There are techniques for suppressing such things, but it's never a sure thing. Once in a while, a host gets a symbiote, turns out to be a complete nutjob, and the symbiote has to live with it, as do all of their subsequent hosts. Segen lucked out, but there have been cases where a symbiote got someone like a psychotic murderer. The screening process is stringent, but not always perfect."

"Typically, the symbiote is taken out of rotation and returned to the caves they came from on Trill. But they don't like that, it's isolation of an extreme sort - dumped in a dark cave's pool with no way to interact with others, not even the people who tend the pools." Larisna explained, "I asked my mother a lot of questions about the process when I wanted to be a host. But the committee doesn't like accepting hybrids - there's still too many variables in the medical side of things to know what will happen. The few times a symbiote was implanted into a non-Trill host, it's been fatal for both. Trill evolved with the capability, but for others, their immune systems attack the symbiote, and the nervous system can't handle the changes a symbiote brings."

Rei gave a nod, "I'm absolutely certain, if I could get a Dalacari with an ounce of a philosophy major on this ship, that they would talk to you for weeks." she affirmed, "The Dalacari are under the impression that they're the only binary instance lifeform in the galaxy, and with all the studies their doing on Coincidental Parallelism in the universe, meeting a race that has two aspects to it, like that, would do wonders towards getting them to check their math." she giggled. "Since coming into contact with the Federation they've learned about the Binars, but... it's not the same thing. That's something they do to themselves. The Dalacari are born with it." a pause, "Still, they do love to chat."

Antos had been half listening to the conversation while he finished his glass of red wine and had moved on to taking bite samplings from the large table of food. As a frequent guest to potlucks, he had perfected the science of maximizing his food intake and samplings. To be sure, it was more of an art than a science.

The trick really was to take bite sized samplings of each item to identify the dishes that were worth either loading up on or going back to for seconds or thirds. So far he had managed to sample various dishes so far and had to admit that it was going to be tough narrowing down his list, which was already as many as five.

His next sample dish was...he paused glancing at the little card placed underneath the dish..."Mini ginger finger cakes," he read out loud. He took a piece in his plate and took a bite and his taste buds were instantly invigorated by the flavour. He shook his head, equal parts in pleasure and disappointment. He would definitely be going back to the ginger finger cakes for seconds. However, his disappointment laid in the fact that his list of dishes to go back to second had now grown to six.

That was just unsustainable, he mused.

He caught Aiko's glance who looked at him sternly as her eyes inquired why he had to embarrass her in the company of their crewmates. Antos simply grinned, pointed to the ginger finger cakes while gesturing his approval.

Rei gave a smirk, "Looks like someone's in trouble." she offered while moving to stand by the ginger finger cakes. "I'm not an expert of the culinary arts, certainly not outside the home quadrant. I'll have to take your enthusiasm as a suggestion." and with that, the rabbitess put one of the aforementioned cakes on her plate, gave a nod to Aiko, and then gave the cake a dainty chomp. Then another. The cake didn't last long, "Sweet moons these *are* good."

E'Lor walked in, casually dressed and stopped short. It was beautiful.....all the decorations and different foods and well it was just amazing. Seeing a delicacy from home she wandered over and took a plate and helped herself. It was smooth and delicious just like her mother made them. Washing it down with a strange but nicely colored punch, she belched gently, 'that was excelent' she whispered.

Rei perked up a bit, about to reprimand for poor manners but this wasn't her house. These technically weren't even her people. Co-workers, yes. Friends, maybe. "E'lor, you have *GOT* to try these, what were they again? Ginger mini... no no, Mini Ginger Finger Cakes! Sweet moons they're great and, best of all, no actual fingers in them." she joked with a smirk. "And try the shangyoza I brought, unless your allergic to, what are they... oh Shrimp. Yeah if you're allergic to shrimp probably best to avoid them."

Penny smiled when she heard that someone liked her grandmothers recipe of mini ginger finger cakes.

“ I am glad you like them. Their made to my grandmothers exact recipe. Which is famous through out Dundee in Scotland on Earth. “She said

The rabbitess gave a smile. She found it easy to let go, to express herself among her coworkers, her... her friends. "Well they're about to be famous throughout the Yamashi province of planet Rei, daughter of Ts'usu." she took another one and added it to her plate, before summoning up the strength to pry herself away from the proximity of the delicious little cakes. "If I stay there, I'm going to eat them all." she took another chomp of one, then just seemed to stop. Troubled by a dark thought, or just trapped in an inopportune memory. Good food, good times, good friends... she pushed through and returned to the here and now. She offered Penny a smile. "I'd enjoy the recipe, if it's not a state secret."

“ Well of course I will. I am sure my grandmother won’t mind. She’s probably changed the recipe by now anyway. She always does once every two years.” Penny said.

Larisna smiled at the exchange. "As I've maintained, the best cultural exchange is food. That's why I required the potluck." She said, before glancing to E'Lor, "And while I appreciate the sentiment, Lieutenant, let's try to maintain a little decorum?"

For some reason Penny started to laugh. A stray memory of a by gone Hogmanay celebration came to her mind. Seeing some raised eyebrows around her Penny explained.

“ Sorry. It’s when you said decorum. I reminded me of something that happened when I was a wee bairn. Concerning my great uncle Hamish during a rather raucous Hogmanay celebration.” Penny explained

Amanda came to the party and brought a bottle of Andorian whiskey. The real thing, no synthehol.

"Anyone want to join me for a real drink?" The XO asked.

Rei turned her attention towards the XO, and the bottle. There wasn't even a hesitation. "No thanks." she declined. "I'm pleasant enough without." then turned back to Penny, "I'll have to give the recipe a shot, thanks. Universal cuisine, this should be interesting."

Penny also declined.

“ Not for me neither. But I won’t say no to another wee glass of apple juice please.” Penny said

Rei gave Penny a nod, "I think I'm going to get a tea refill myself. I've got you covered." and the rabbitess went to the nearest wall vendor to pick up her drinks. Handing the refill to Penny, she gave a soft smile. "I figure it'll help to have at least one person in control of their faculties in case the authorities arrive." she joked. Though it was comforting for her to not be the only one to turn down the offer.

"Fine" Amanda said pouring herself a drink.

Antos grabbed a glass and headed for Amanda. "I'll take some of that action Commander," he stated with a grin. In truth, he was more of a wine drinker, courtesy to his betrothed who fancied it a more refined and delicate drink that the brashness of hard liquor. But, this was meant to be a celebratory event and hopefully a way for him to get to know his crewmates, outside of work.

Once Penny had her drink, and Rei had her refill of peppermint tea, she turned to Amanda and Antos, "Actual alcohol disagrees with me, truth be told. It makes me sick, and I don't like the person I am when I have too much of it. I don't like, well, remembering. More than I have to. So don't take it as an insult, but I'd rather be a sober party pooper than the drunk who ruined the Emperor's Birthday." she paused, and set her tea down, considering her exits. Maybe she should go.

Antos smiled and nodded. "Understandable," he replied to Rei. "It's all about moderation in my opinion. A lesson I have come to learn over the years." He no longer looked at life through the limited worldview of an Academy brat that was permanently restrained to near-term thinking who also happened to have the benefit of a high metabolism.

For him, age and experience had naturally brought on more responsibility which necessitated a higher level of maturity and disciple. That logically meant thinking through the consequences of certain actions beyond the here and now moment. Now that he had a fiancée, an entire department of people he was leading, a Starfleet career and reputation to nurture, his choices in most things, including alcohol, were decidedly more conservative than they would have been a few years ago.

Antos stole a glance at Aiko who seemed enthralled in a conversation with a Vulcan Ensign. He smiled at the sight.

And honestly, who wanted to spend a full day trying to recover from a few hours of binge drinking?

Certainly not me, he mused. Nodding graciously to the Commander for the whiskey. He gingerly took a sip.

Rei gave a nod, and retrieved her tea. She'd stay.