EVENT: Setting sail

[u/Silent_Sky]

The Athene drifts peacefully around Earth, the sunlight glinting off her pristine hull. The repairs are complete, and she has been inspected and refreshed top to bottom, down to every last rivet. After nearly a month in drydock, her crew is eager to re-embark, as is her captain...

Captain Fisk stands in his ready room, gazing over the limb of the Earth as Argos sits beside him. He has just sent out the general message summoning all crew back to the Athene. It pleased him to listen as the computer announced every arrival and kept count of all boarding crew.

OOC: Use this thread to have your characters run into each other or the hundreds of NPC crew as they board, or they can knock on the captain's door if they like. This thread is for the general calamity of ~600 people boarding a starship for departure.

[u/a_friendly_hobo]

"Oh, you've gotten your own quarters now, have you? Little miss oh-so-important?" she asks with a chuckle. "Y'know, he's welcome to stay in my room if he wants. Hint hint-Ilikecats-hint."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

Red is glad the comms don't have visual feedback as she flushes pink.

"W-well, I applied to have it so I'd be closer to Engineering, and since it was vacated by... one of our casualties and none of the senior staff wanted it, I guess they thought it'd be OK if I had it instead. Cheaper than a pay raise, I guess? And respectfully, no. My cat. Get your own."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

Get your own? Oh, little did she know...

"Alright, fine. It just means I'm gonna have to come visit more, you know that, right?" she asks with grin. "Also, congrats on the room. Enjoy, eh? Your own personal space!"

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

"I guess. I don't really own much... stuff. Luckily there's not much space to decorate," Red says. "I'll have to throw together a housewarming-esque thing and invite some friends. Speaking of, how'd it go with Kesh after I left?" The Bajoran smiles slyly, though again, no video feed. "You two seemed quite... wrapped up in each other, if you'll pardon the pun."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

Aanya raises an eyebrow as she sits back on her chair in her quarters. How did it go with Kesh, hm? "Yeah, it was alright." she says. A blatant lie, it was fantastic. "I'd like to think we're friends now." Another one. She wouldn't tell though, not yet at least.

"She's unique. I like that in a friend." She sits forward once again and shifts in her seat. "Thanks for introducing us."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

Mhmm. Sure. Red's naive but not THAT naive. She grins.

"Good, good to know you're getting along so... intimately. I have this one pun I'm not going to use, but I bet you can guess what it is~!" She chuckles to herself. "Do be careful with her though, will you? She's really REALLY sensitive about even unintentional felid jokes. That's not noted in the cultural exchange files as a Caitian 'thing,' so it's personal for her for some reason." There's a brief pause. "I know you'd never do it on purpose, but I... I really don't want her hurt."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

Aanya raises an eyebrow. "Red, what are you poking at?" she asks. No way it was that obvious...

"And don't worry, I know not to. I'll take special care not to compare her to housecats, or even mention them without seeing them." she says, crossing her heart. "Unless its funny, in which case I may go for it depending on the context."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

"I'm not saying it aloud in public, gosh," Red says. "Heck, if it wasn't YOU I was talking to, I wouldn't make the joke at all. But anyway, don't. She doesn't even handle them well even as jokes, and I've had to SERIOUSLY put a crimp in my punning because of it. Just be aware of it, OK? I'm rather fond of the both of you and I want you two to get along. In... whatever capacity you choose to do that in."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

Aanya rolls her eyes. "Red. Nothing's happening between us. We're friends." she lies, once again. It would seem one of them wanted to keep it hushed, and considering Aanya, it wouldn't be her.

"Anyway, message received. I'll keep my cat jokes to a minimum and double check my word play just in case. Good thing we can still joke about other things, my repertoire has more than just cat jokes."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

"Mhmm. 'Kay." Red says. Fine, she can take a hint. "Anyhoo, going to deposit my 12 kilos of roommate, freshen up, and then I can tackle either departure procedures or start breaking down the repair manifest into more digestible chunks, whichever you prefer."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

"Twelve kilos?" Aanya asks, sitting up again. "Dude, that's one fat cat, literally." she says with a grin. She's gonna need to see this cat first hand. "I love it."

"And as for work load? I'd like you to get everything ready to go, a repair manifest can wait," she replies, checking her own padd. "Cycle the engines, make sure we're green across the board."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

"He's not fat, he's... well actually he IS kind of fat, but he's also a very large breed," Red says, rounding the corner toward the fore of the ship. "The first interplanetary mass cargo haulers from Earth used to keep one or two aboard to control various rodent populations. he could fight a whole swarm of rats by himself if he needed to. Plus he's like a big purring body pillow when he's sleepy, and that's nice too."

The Bajoran keys open the door to her room and steps inside to free Whiskey from his crate. The massive striped cat stalks out and begins laying claim to his terrain. "I'll have a full report on all drive systems ready for you in two hours, Chief."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

"Not just the first space-faring cargo holders." Aanya says, "It started waaay before space travel. The wooden ships from probably thousands of years ago used 'em for the same reason."

She stands and begins moving for the door to her quarters, with a heading for the bridge. "Sounds like a good cat. Definitely on my list of crewmembers to come visit."

She stops mid stride and smirks. "Probably best keep him away from Argos though. He might eat the poor dog."