Cadet Ico Ena - The Suggestion of Hijinks

[Tahna Meru]

Some people leave you forever in awe of their ability to describe things, picking you up and dropping you on another planet while you read like it's as easy as requesting a beam up. @Alieth is one of those people. 

 

((Festival Grounds, Yarista, Palanon))

One of the most important parts of the Festival was over. The lanterns had been released, with their prayers and pleas to the Prophets. The Vedeks had blessed them, they had exchanged gifts and planned dinner for the next day. Now they moved on to another highlight of the evening... DINNER!

And luckily the Tyrellians and the Bajorans living in their territory had it all planned and near the wild meadow where the festival had been held a small village of stalls had sprung up, where food and drink from a thousand worlds were served at different booths, with kitchens and replicators singing their songs merrily along with the owners shouting the qualities of their delicacies. There was even Klingon food! Which didn't appeal at all to Ena, who made a face and grabbed Meru's hand to run a little further forward, to a circle of stands surrounding a small roundabout whose centre was occupied by a dozen crescent-shaped tables. Most of them were already occupied, groups of Tyrellians, Bajorans and other species eating together, diverse groups that seemed to have never met before sharing conversation and food. Ena even thought she could make out a Gorkon crew member there, but she wasn't quite sure, as she still found it difficult to recognise most of them out of uniform.

The smells there were much more intense, intermingling in a way that made the mouth water. Sweet, spicy, salty, toasty, there were so many options!

Ico: Ah, come on Ru, pick something or it'll be a dessert dinner!

Tahna: Okay, okay! 

Ico: ::poking her with a finger:: Hurry up!

Her friend looked around for a moment before covering her eyes and spinning around like a top for a few seconds while Ena laughed her head off until, finally, Meru stopped, pointing to a spot over the cadet's shoulder.

Tahna: That one! 

She turned to the stall. The queue discouraged her a little, but soon a smile appeared on her face again. It was part of the adventure, after all.

Ico: Let’s go!

Much sooner than Ena would have expected when she spotted the throngs of people milling around the stall, both had a bowl in their hands and headed toward the dinning area. The young cadet took a suspicious peek at the food in her hand as they approached the crescent moon-shaped tables. It smelled delicious, sure, with that blend of spices that seemed to be ingrained in every Bajoran's palate, but the look was...well. As colourful as the Tyrellians who had designed it. It was a sort of soup or cream, thick and creamy, with bits and pieces and leaves of various greens and vegetables floating around, served in an edible bowl made of some sort of local grain. The thing is, the vegetables were purple. And blue. And Ena could have sworn that she had a chunk of something minty with magenta polka dots floating on her bowl. Something that... well. It was weird to say the least.

However, she WANTED to try new things and, after all, many of her favourite desserts were blue, so... she had to try it. She was ravenous, too, and her stomach reminded her of it with a terrifying grumble when they finally found an open spot between a Tyrellian couple and a bustling group of middle-aged Bajorans and they could sit there to enjoy the dinner..

Tahna: So, you've been on board for a minute now. How is your Gorkon bingo going? 

Ico: Well I have looked at the Bingo list and .... little else. It all seems a bit risky, don't you think? And... well... WAY too much against the rules…

She made a pause and took a spoonful of the purple and blue soup. While the appearance was a little... strange, the taste was delicious and gave her a delighted expression as she rummaged through her bag. Soon her PADD was on the table and she closed several Yarista tourist pamphlets before she got to that ill-fated list. Ena stood up slightly, checking that there were no other Gorkon officers nearby, before she placed the Padd between her and Meru, out of sight of prying eyes.

Her friend, meanwhile, had not remained silent.

Tahna: That's the point! Bend the rules a little, have fun, get to know the ship!

Ico: ::With a mischievous grin::Like what you did with the Cardassian 101 professor? You're a troublemaker, you know that?

Tahna: Response

The young cadet almost let out a laugh with that retort, which she had to stifle by putting both hands over her mouth and tried desperately to keep the soup from spilling out of her nose. She was only partially successful.

Ico: :: Chokingly:: Well, ok ok! :: She glanced over the list once more and scrolled through it for a bit :: What do you think of this one, this one is not... all that bad.

She highlighted a line on the screen and tapped on the padd before looking at Meru. It was something simple, a turbolift duel. Just shout out two different decks at the same time and see which one won. It didn't look like it would get them into too much trouble. The worst that could happen was that Ena would be late to water the plants she was tending in hydroponics before her first rotation in Security...

Tahna: Response

Of course that wasn't going to be enough, of course if it wasn't scary it wasn't funny enough... what happened to people when they graduated from the academy, did they get a hypospray of permanent courage or something?

The young cadet pressed her lips together and looked at the list once more... tinting the warp core a colour other than blue seemed complicated, and she didn't want to get into trouble with the starship still in dry dock. A stampede on deck 8 seemed like a bad idea after... well, what had happened on deck 8. Call the Admiral ma'am? No way, that was the quickest way to get yeeted from the Gorkon without an EVA suit, Ryan had warned her STRONGLY against that movement. Ena's eyes flicked up and down the screen in search of something that wasn't dangerous, or inconsiderate, or that would put them on the verge of being court-martialed.

Ico: Okay, well, something more risky... ummm, which one haven't you done yet? Maybe we could do one together?

Sounded like a plan, didn't it? Besides, Meru was very clever at getting out of trouble, after all, she had already proved it several times. Ena still remembered what had happened in organic chemistry III. The lab hadn't been the same for three weeks, but NOBODY thought both Ena and Meru had been involved. Her friend really had a knack for words when she put herself into it.

Tahna: Response

Ico: WHAT?!?!?! NO NO, THAT'S A HELLUVA CRAZY! That's not knowing the crew and the ship, that is... character-building chaos or something like that.

Tahna: Response

 

 

Cadet Ico Ena

4th Year Cadet

USS Gorkon NCC-82293

E239702A10