Girls Night Out I: The Gathering

Posted on Sat Apr 14th, 2018 @ 12:55pm by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Commander Fiona McCray & Commander Yuna Raza & Lieutenant Commander Selune
Edited on on Sat Apr 14th, 2018 @ 1:29pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Operation: Risa!
Location: Above and on Risa
Timeline: 2265

Female Bonding : From Fedepedia, the Federation encyclopedia

Female bonding is the formation of a close personal relationship between women. Female bonding is a term that is used in ethology, social science, and in general usage to describe patterns of friendship, attachment, and cooperation in women; or in the case of ethology, associations between females of various species. The exact meaning of the term differs across contexts.


In point of fact, Lieutenant Commander Charybdis was not in the least bit familiar with the activities that constituted the mythology of 'female bonding'... at least, not personally. Her Academy days had contained exactly one night out with the girls which had gone disastrously wrong for her, and after that point time spent in clubs and bars and pubs around the world with other women had just reinforced the concept of feminine competition to her.

An exotic Vulcan appearance combined with a remarkably endowed curvaceous figure that she was not the least bit shy about flaunting, apparently gave her a considerable edge in feminine competition, when combined with her enthusiastic and expressive outlook. She had ceased noticing after a certain point, on the clear assumption that if so many were competing with her, then obviously she had won by default.

Aboard the USS Antares, she had been one of two women onboard. The other, one Warrant Officer Pabul, was somewhat her antithesis- burly, masculine and humorless, and somehow she did not seem to particularly care for the slinky and seductive scientist. Thus she stayed out of her roommate's way as best she could and never tried to 'bond' with her.

But on the USS Bonne Chance, with her crew compliment of 430, Charybdis had worked to make friends amongst the senior staff, and she was determined to discover just how this bonding phenomenon worked. She had researched, watching old Earth vids, reading literature by the esteemed Earth author Candace Bushnell and studying the definitions and tropes as best she could research with the resources available in the ship's libraries. While she was not certain if one pair of traveling pants would fit them all, she was willing to give it a shot if it meant some sisterhood.

Confident she was that she grasped the phenomenon, and that her three companions would enjoy themselves. And in that enjoyment would come mutually shared positive experiences, which in turn would generate lasting bonds of friendship, thus yielding close relationships. Scientifically speaking, this experiment had high probability of success. A luxury penthouse suite was awaiting them to use as a base within one of the grandest hotels in one of the most beautiful arcologies- the Empress hotel was reputed by her advertising to be practically decadent, even to the point of having a private turbolift to said penthouse. And according to the photos it came equipped with a view that had to be seen to be believed of the nighttime arcology of Rome.

On a personal level Charybdis was extremely excited... resort planet, good friends, a healthy budget and no one watching over their shoulders.

What could possibly go wrong?


Meanwhile Lieutenant Yuna Celes was packing her daypack in her quarters, mulling over the very limited amount of clothing she had to her name since she'd been plonked on this ship. To be honest, she had the uniforms standard to her jobs, a set of casual slacks and a matching top, a day dress she'd borrowed from one of the other women and that was it. At least her Federation credits came with her when she was officially transferred to the Bonnie... too bad about all of her personal belongings. She sighed, and wondered where the hell she was gonna get a killer frock from.

Frustrated and a little upset that she nothing to party in, Yuna opened a com channel to Lt McCray.

"Fi... you there?" she asked, hoping the good-natured engineer would be around her com unit.

Fiona was putting the last touches on her packing when the chirp came. A soft curse escaped her and Fi shut down her tech manual "McCray here! and Char I swear... I am practically ON the planet!" her tone rang cheerfully in Yuna's ears "Keep yer knickers on!"

"Chill!" Yuna giggled, knowing exactly where Fiona was. "I need a favor, you got anything... you know... nice to wear that I could borrow? I literally don't have anything to wear off-duty." The laughter dropped out of the Trill's tone as she spoke, revealing her dilemma to her friend.

"I swear... she's commed me 10 times! You ready? You here yet? You are coming? You aren't going to spend all of your time with a tech manual..." Fiona chuckled then sighed. "Well, sure... I actually do own a few frocks for... necessities sake. Come one duin and root through me stuff - I'm still unpacking. Or ye can troost me tae throw a couple in my case."

"Considering she's gonna be roastin' both our asses if we don't get down there, I trust you. Just toss one in for me and we'll both hope for the best," Yuna replied, double checking her available credits to make sure she had enough moolah for a REALLY good time.

"Sure you troost me?" Fiona's laugh was positively evil, then she said, "Na worries Dottie, I have ye covered. I have a couple of lovely noombers I picked oop a while back nivver been worn. Like I go oot and dress oop. Pfft" Yuna could almost hear the redhead shrug "I'll bring em along... I'll toss in some fripperies to match with them... see you on tha dirt!"

True to her word, the engineer was already fishing several possible dresses out of her collection of unworn finery. She folded them carefully and then added some more bits and pieces to her jewelry case, threw in a couple of scarves and called it done.

-Later that day -


Fiona had been standing in the customs line for what seemed like half of forever. She shifted from foot to foot and tugged at the brief skirt of her standard day uniform... well, the Fleet's standard, not hers. The skirts were not a welcome replacement for the practical trousers and tunic combo that she'd adapted for the engine rooms, but they were regulation. It wouldn't do to look less than properly StarFleet in front of the natives.

Her PDD chirped twice, and since the line was being held up by a rotund man with a basket full of trilling fluff balls, she dropped her duffle on the floor at her feet and pulled out the device. A smile curved her lips upward and she used her free hand to push her unruly mane of auburn curls back behind her ears as she keyed the receive button. Her brother Wallace's face filled the screen. She flicked the switch over to silent with subtitles so that she could have privacy for the recorded message from home. While she watched and read, she nudged the duffle along with her foot as the line advanced. She didn't seem to mind that it was a prerecorded missive, she chuckled out loud and muttered answers along as she read. When she got to the head of the line, she was almost startled.

"Nae... nothing to declare" she went through the standard routine. "On holiday... yes, the Bonne Chance..." She gave all the proper responses, and was soon on the main concourse, dragging her case along behind her as she headed for the shuttle area marked for Rome.

Waiting up near the shuttles was Yuna, who had very little in her pack and thus hadn't been caught up in the queues. Somehow a camera and a credit transfer device had little implications for anything at all ready. She'd been waved through with little more than a passing glance.

"Fi!" You made it!" she called as the Engineer approached.

The engineer waved happily "Aye... twas a near thing. I always get caught in the slow line... it's fate!" she complained good-naturedly. "I packed three extra frocks plus two so we're covered... OH, and I threw in an extra swimsuit too!" the redhead levered her heavy bag up onto the counter. "When does tha train leave for this mecca Char has lined oop for us?"

"Soon, I think," Yuna looked up at the travel timetable. "Look, thanks for bringing the extra clothes, I really appreciate it," she admitted, hating to have to ask for help

"No worries!" Fi smiled back at her and stretched the kinks out that standing in line had caused. The announcements came over the loud speakers and were repeated in several languages, and Fiona grabbed her case " That's us!" she headed for the monorail doors as soon as they opened.

"Let's go" Yuna shouldered her light pack and headed towards the transport the message had indicated. Inside she was a little nervous -she'd never let her hair down in front of these girls before...would they be accepting of a Trill who had a little history and a little grog under her belt?

Fiona was pushed around like a small pinball by the crowd boarding the transport, but she elbowed her way to a pair of seats and growled at people until Yuna came back into view "Here!!" she waved. "Have ye seen Selune?"




"Nonono nooo," Selune cried as the monorail slowly rapidly picked up speed, "Just one last quick inspection he says," she growled to herself, "Just fly it down, transporters will be backed up anyway he says. Customs? You won't get delayed at customs he says, they never delay shuttle pilots," she slowly sank to the ground with more than a hint of dejection and gave a small huff. "I don't remember him saying anything about being late for the train."

Sitting for a few moments to wallow in self-pity, Selune pushed herself up and stalked back towards her shuttle. Trains are boring anyway, she grumbled to herself, firmly making up her mind. She noticed an admin of some kind moving to intercept her, so she simply leveled a glare his way until he paused, and kept striding back the way she had came. Maybe this is why shuttles are falling out of fashion she mused, more paperwork and it's easier to end up late. The view be damned.

Throwing her bags into the co-pilot seat and plopping herself down, she began a quick flight path outline, forwarded it to the local air traffic control with a request for clearance, and used the wait to send a second request to the hotel asking for a landing pad to be booked. Typically the hotel replied first, asking who would be paying. She rattled off the details Charybdis had given her - pausing to wonder if she would mind about the extra bill - and was met with near instant confirmation as well as a polite inquiry about whether she would like the hotel to speak with the ATC for her.

Deciding it was probably better to let the locals work out the specifics she agreed, and within a minute of sending her reply, her flight path was authorized along with several recommendations for scenery or speed depending on her preference. Apparently whoever Chary had booked them in with had connections, she mused as she finished her preflight checks.

Several seconds later she was in the air and determinedly chasing down a certain monorail. If nothing else she didn't want to be late... again.



The man in gray slipped into a seat behind the two starfleet women and pulled out a news sheet. He kept an eye on them from behind the holo rag as the train pulled out of the station headed for Rome.

Yuna regarded the man who had slipped in behind then out of the corner of her eye. There was something about him. Someone to be watched, no doubt.

"So do you have any idea what Char has planned for us?" she asked. At that, Fiona's PDD chirped with check-in information for the penthouse suite at the Empress hotel within the Roma archology. Apparently Charybdis was already there, checked in and had sent the reservations to her friends as a way of leaving them the next step in what promised to be an over-planned excursion.

Fi held up one finger and checked her PDD. "Ah... well noow... evidently it includes a penthouse view," she whistled and passed Yuna the PDD. "All we hae tae do is check in," she grinned. "Shuid I com and poot her oot oov her misery?"

"Misery? I don't think there's gonna be much misery goin on when we get there" Yuna couldn't help but giggle. She had brought a bottle of the 'good stuff' as she'd called it, no doubt it would go down later in the evening. "Nah, let her sweat a little."

Fiona laughed "Thet's joost mean" she cocked her head as the conductor announced that they were going to be making a brief unscheduled stop. "Oi... let me call her. Or send her a note," she switched over to the seat next to Yuna and grabbed her PDD back long enough to snap a photo of the two of them together obviously on a Risa monorail. She tapped in a quick note and sent it to Char. "On our way, haven't seen Selune. Transport making an unscheduled stop - Fi"

"There, now she won't be frettin"


Charybdis paced back and forth across the plush carpeting, fretting.

Running over the arrangements and the itinerary for the twenty-second time, she looked for problems or potential disasters. This was very important to her... these women were the first real friends that she had made since... well, since childhood pretty much, and this weekend was something that she had tried to insure would be perfect. Travel arrangements, rooms, amenities... she had covered every detail that she could think of, but now she was left to just wonder where they were.

The little voice in her head told her to calm down and relax, but every time she tried she wondered where they were and what was taking so long. She sat down, her rounded rear sinking into one of the overstuffed chairs as she tried to enjoy the view. The image came back on the PDD of Yuna and Fi on some sort of transport with an accompanying note... but where was Selune?

Fretting, she got up to pace some more.

 

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