03-14-2026, 04:33 AM
== Enter...one short girl at the bar... ==
As Kalli arrived to the gathering, she was a little more nervous than usual. Social gatherings were never really her thing, but as she had been gaining rank and responsibility, she understood that her attendance was no longer that of just a simple Engineer. On this last mission, she had officially been operating in the role of Acting Chief Engineer. She had often stepped up as the Assistant Engineering Officer when the mission required, but this time it had been the sort of title that was deliberate in that it tested you for the real position. You typically had to function in the Acting position for long enough and receiving appropriate reviews before you could be considered for the CEO spot in full measure. She had now been working hard in her probationary position and although this was off duty time, she knew there was never really off duty time when you were discussing positions of Department Head or higher on a ship.
This mission had been quite easy in some aspects, but hard in others. There had been no combat with the ship. No lives had been lost and no Damage Control situations where she had to risk life and limb to keep them on mission. Instead, there had been an entire ship of people with every single minor problem you could imagine. She had never really had to deal with the constant need for maintenance on quality of life items for families and civilians that were attached to the crew. The endless list of things people would constantly need someone to hold their hand for made her eyes roll. She had come dangerously close to stuffing a kid down a toilet after what they had pushed down there on one occasion, but she made it through and had a new Ensign deal with the child. Tonight she was away from all of that though. This was the official closure to the entire mission.
In celebration, she had dared to actually wear a dress. It wasn't too fancy, but it was black and came just below the knee. It showed off her shapely calves and had a special element to the fabric that when the light caught it just right, there was a faint gold iridescence that highlighted her curves in very subtle ways. The back was low enough that only about an inch of one of her scars on her back could be seen. Kalli could recall that not so long ago, she insisted on wearing long sleeves and high collars to hide herself. Her friends had managed to help her overcome that over the years.
Strolling up to the bar, she tapped a small design on her bracelet and the display in front of the bartender showed a very specific file for him to run for a replicated form of real alcohol. This was another very rare moment for her, as she was known to almost never drink alcohol in public. This was something special though. It was a distinct scan of a very rare kind of wine she had encountered. A friend had introduced her to it years ago. It was from the hillside of a special river in a Germanic part of Europe and she even knew the name of the hill it grew on in Bernkastel. It was a special kind of sweet wine called a Beerenauslese, made from Riesling grapes that had the good luck of a special kind of fungus develop on them. It took just the right kind of growing conditions for this process to happen correctly and she had even learned that it was known as noble rot. It caused a special kind of sweetness in the growing process that was used to create the unique favor. Kalli had found the story about the forming of the wine almost as good as the wine itself. The idea that something bad had to happen to the grapes to make them all the more perfect for the wine, it was like a secret story to her. The wine was fairly rare and rather expensive, but her friend had gotten her a bottle. It was said to be the sort of growing season that only comes around about once every hundred years and it had then been aging for the perfect 15 years before it came to her. She had to scan it and keep it forever.
The server placed the wine in front of her with an approving smile. The clear glass held a wine that almost looked to have the golden color of honey. Picking it up, she took a sniff and it smelled perfect. She took a tiny sip and let it sit there on her tongue. She loved that the slight warming feeling of the alcohol made it seem like it was soaking right into her body without ever swallowing it. She couldn't really explain it to people, but she loved that drink like no other.
Having now achieved her goal of holding her perfect drink, she turned and slowly took in who else was already there. She spotted a few friends, but knew that she had a way of almost disappearing into a crowd. She was often quiet and enjoyed being underestimated, but she was starting to grow out of that a little more with each mission. Kalli was no longer trying to hide and wondered what tonight might bring.
== Tag to all... ==
As Kalli arrived to the gathering, she was a little more nervous than usual. Social gatherings were never really her thing, but as she had been gaining rank and responsibility, she understood that her attendance was no longer that of just a simple Engineer. On this last mission, she had officially been operating in the role of Acting Chief Engineer. She had often stepped up as the Assistant Engineering Officer when the mission required, but this time it had been the sort of title that was deliberate in that it tested you for the real position. You typically had to function in the Acting position for long enough and receiving appropriate reviews before you could be considered for the CEO spot in full measure. She had now been working hard in her probationary position and although this was off duty time, she knew there was never really off duty time when you were discussing positions of Department Head or higher on a ship.
This mission had been quite easy in some aspects, but hard in others. There had been no combat with the ship. No lives had been lost and no Damage Control situations where she had to risk life and limb to keep them on mission. Instead, there had been an entire ship of people with every single minor problem you could imagine. She had never really had to deal with the constant need for maintenance on quality of life items for families and civilians that were attached to the crew. The endless list of things people would constantly need someone to hold their hand for made her eyes roll. She had come dangerously close to stuffing a kid down a toilet after what they had pushed down there on one occasion, but she made it through and had a new Ensign deal with the child. Tonight she was away from all of that though. This was the official closure to the entire mission.
In celebration, she had dared to actually wear a dress. It wasn't too fancy, but it was black and came just below the knee. It showed off her shapely calves and had a special element to the fabric that when the light caught it just right, there was a faint gold iridescence that highlighted her curves in very subtle ways. The back was low enough that only about an inch of one of her scars on her back could be seen. Kalli could recall that not so long ago, she insisted on wearing long sleeves and high collars to hide herself. Her friends had managed to help her overcome that over the years.
Strolling up to the bar, she tapped a small design on her bracelet and the display in front of the bartender showed a very specific file for him to run for a replicated form of real alcohol. This was another very rare moment for her, as she was known to almost never drink alcohol in public. This was something special though. It was a distinct scan of a very rare kind of wine she had encountered. A friend had introduced her to it years ago. It was from the hillside of a special river in a Germanic part of Europe and she even knew the name of the hill it grew on in Bernkastel. It was a special kind of sweet wine called a Beerenauslese, made from Riesling grapes that had the good luck of a special kind of fungus develop on them. It took just the right kind of growing conditions for this process to happen correctly and she had even learned that it was known as noble rot. It caused a special kind of sweetness in the growing process that was used to create the unique favor. Kalli had found the story about the forming of the wine almost as good as the wine itself. The idea that something bad had to happen to the grapes to make them all the more perfect for the wine, it was like a secret story to her. The wine was fairly rare and rather expensive, but her friend had gotten her a bottle. It was said to be the sort of growing season that only comes around about once every hundred years and it had then been aging for the perfect 15 years before it came to her. She had to scan it and keep it forever.
The server placed the wine in front of her with an approving smile. The clear glass held a wine that almost looked to have the golden color of honey. Picking it up, she took a sniff and it smelled perfect. She took a tiny sip and let it sit there on her tongue. She loved that the slight warming feeling of the alcohol made it seem like it was soaking right into her body without ever swallowing it. She couldn't really explain it to people, but she loved that drink like no other.
Having now achieved her goal of holding her perfect drink, she turned and slowly took in who else was already there. She spotted a few friends, but knew that she had a way of almost disappearing into a crowd. She was often quiet and enjoyed being underestimated, but she was starting to grow out of that a little more with each mission. Kalli was no longer trying to hide and wondered what tonight might bring.
== Tag to all... ==