Girls Night Out XV: The Velvet Rope

Posted on Sun May 27th, 2018 @ 4:58am by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Commander Fiona McCray & Commander Yuna Raza & Lieutenant Commander Selune
Edited on on Sun May 27th, 2018 @ 4:59am

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Operation: Risa!
Location: Risa, Rome arcology, the seedy section, Bacchanalia
Timeline: 2265

Bacchanalia: From Fedepedia, the Federation encyclopedia

Bacchanalia were wild and mystic festivals of the Greco-Roman god Bacchus (or Dionysus), the wine god. The term has since come to describe and been extended to refer to any drunken revelry. The bacchanalia were rites originally held in ancient Greece as the Dionysia. The most famous of the Greek Dionysia were in Attica and included a festal procession, a drinking feast and dramatic performances in the theatre of Dionysus.

The rites spread to Rome from the Greek colonies in Southern Italy; here they were secret and only attended by women. The festivals occurred in the grove of Simila near the Aventine Hill on March 16 and March 17. Later, admission to the rites was extended to men, and celebrations took place five times a month. According to Livy, the extension happened in an era when the leader of the Bacchus cult was Paculla Annia - though it is now believed that some men had participated before that.


There were universal concepts that apparently applied to clubs across the universe, no matter how near or far one traveled. The first was that a large mass of barely sentient muscle would be parked at the doorway of such establishments, who determined who got in and when. It seemed universally accepted that every such individual irregardless of where they might be found would be in possession of as little neck as possible through some sort of cosmic agreement.

In this case, as the quartet of USS Bonne Chance senior staff officers approached, the local governing body who controlled such matters had decided that canon would be adhered to as closely as possible, and the gentleman in question's head literally sat upon his shoulders with no discernible difference between where the head ended and the shoulders began. It was difficult to tell if he was alien, if he was a mutant or if his rather prodigious shoulders had simply swallowed the first few vertebrae that connected his thick skull to the rest of his body.

The second universal constant in play, which plays an integral point in this particular drama, was the line. Perhaps forty people were lined up, of varying levels of youth, attractiveness and style, but all of them were waiting patiently (some not so patiently) to be allowed admittance to the club. Etiquette would indicate that one should move to the back of the line in order to wait one's turn to be considered for admittance to the club. After all, there was the third universal constant at play, which interacted with the other two and acted as a mitigating force on both.

The velvet rope.

Those waiting in line waited for the moment when the velvet rope would be unhooked and the mass of muscle who seldom appeared to have very little ability in regards to rebounding or to move quickly away from a surface after hitting it, yet was still referred to as a 'bouncer' would magnanimously allow them to pass into the club beyond, to begin enjoying their evening. Though it seemed ill-equipped to do more than provide a minor hindrance, the velvet rope was as impassable as the strongest starship shields, and it could not be breached without appealing to the 'bouncer' appropriately by impressing upon him that the supplicant who approached would enhance the experience of the other clubgoers, as well as improving the reputation of the club by virtue of their beauty, poise, fashion sense and presence.

As the foursome arrived at the club, Char ignored the line and made her way sinuously to the bouncer, a sly smile in place on her face as she reached him. She struck a commanding pose, lifted her chin in some sort of accepted challenge and flicked her gaze behind her, where her cohorts stood... Fiona, a bundle of adorable energy, Yuna, calm and regal, Selune, cooly detached yet fidgeting with nervous excitement.

Her gaze returned to the bouncer, looking out from under those sharp brows, and she smiled smugly, her gauntlet thrown. This was her world, these were her people, and she knew exactly how this game was played.

"You got a problem lady?" The bouncer retorted, giving an exaggerated look towards the line he was responsible for.

"Reeeeally?" Charybdis replied, gesturing to her friends with a look that proclaimed unmistakably You'd pass up all this?.

He looked her up and down. "End of the line, lady," he said simply, and returned to his duty manning the door.

The Vulcan vixen was crushed... apparently this was a first for her, and she genuinely did not know how to react. Yuna took pity on Char and approached the bouncer.

"Excuse me... is there a reason for the line?" she asked innocently.

"Sure is, club's full, no one goes in until more leave," he said simply, brushing off her inquiry completely.

"And what is considered capacity?" Yuna asked, using every single iota of charm she possessed.

"Less than what's in there already," The Bouncer sighed and tried to calm the rowdy line. That was exactly what Yuna wanted to hear.

"Then you're over capacity, as a Federation planet member you're obligated to adhere to all occupational health and safety legislation. Being an officer on one of the Federation's flagships, I'm ordering you to let me investigate the manner of this overcrowding, if only to help you from getting hauled over the coals should this get back to your government" Yuna batted her eyelids. The bouncer seemed to consider her request, then he smiled. It was a disquieting expression.

"Less you can show me a badge from health and safety in that outfit, I'm afraid I can't take your word for it that you're anybody at all, lady." He resumed his vigil at the door, resettling himself.

Selune looked at her friends in vague confusion as she tried to piece together what was happening before simply turning to the bouncer, tilting her head slightly and asking, "Can you let us in please?"

The Sphinx of Egypt had nothing on this fellow as he studiously ignored the request.

Fiona put on her best wide eyed innocent look. In all truth it was pretty darned impressive. "She said please" her husky alto was a pleasing purr the accent colored it just so. "We got all dressed up..."

The neckless wonder sighed heavily, then spread his hands... each of which was approximately the size of Fiona's head. "Ladies... look. You're all very pretty. I would love to let you into the club. I would. But. I. Can't. I was serious... we're at capacity. Now I know how you think this works, but really, I will let you in as soon as I can, and if you're patient that'll probably be very soon. So how about don't get your feelings hurt, don't get mad, and don't threaten the big man who throws people into walls for a living and just go... to the back... of the line... and be patient?"



"Why can't I threaten the big man who throws people into walls for a living? I do the same thing" Yuna retorted as they trudged their way to the back of the line " I bet I could have him body slammed before he could even lift a finger."

Patting her friend on the shoulder as she shuffled along, Char sighed. "Yeah... you coulda taken him, Yuna. That wouldn't have kept us in the club for very long. But you coulda taken him..."

"Did I miss something?" Selune inquired blissfully unaware of the subtleties of the velvet rope.

"Joost us gettin mortifyingly shot down, kitteh," Fiona replied. "I'm guessin this place is worth standin in line for, eh greenie?"

"It's supposed to be..." Char replied as they found the end of the line, which was wrapped around the corner, leading to even more alleyways. Suddenly she looked up, her ears twitching slightly. "Selune? You hear that?"

Her ears twitched a little as she glanced a little indignantly at Chary, "It sounds like someone's fighting... they've been arguing since a little after we got here you know. I stopped paying attention and didn't hear it change to fighting though..."

The pointy-eared minx was impressed... apparently the Caitan's hearing was not just better, but far superior to her own. She looked at the line... of which they were the only ones around the corner... then looked to the darkened alley. A fight meant violence, and somehow she doubted by the level of professional who was the guardian of the portal to the club. Yuna never had a long fuse to start with, and now she'd be irritated and needing to hit someone or something, and Char was in no mood to be her punching bag right now.

"Say Yuna... I think there's a fight going on down there..." she indicated the other end of the alley, then cracked her knuckles. "Wanna work off some steam? I doubt we'll lose our place in line..."

Yuna looked down at her frock and the material as it clung to her body. Not the best outfit to be whupping ass in, and she didn't want to get asswhipped herself. For once, she second guessed herself.

"I dunno, maybe we should just let them sort their own scuffles out..."

"Really? A minute ago you were willing to slug the bouncer, now some back alley idiots are available for rage release and you want to just walk away?" Charybdis shook her head, " I swear, Yuna, you're going to give me an ulcer..."

"But she looks all beautiful! We don't want her mussed!" Fiona had visions of her handiwork getting rumpled.

"What if something happens... you know... I don't wanna damage Fi's frock after all," Yuna shrugged her shoulders "Besides, the line's getting shorter."

"It's your frock Dotty... it says it loves you and wants to follow you home," Fi insisted

"But the line's moving," Selune mumbled.

"Oh..." the amazonian officer turned and noticed... sure enough, the line was indeed moving. "Well, I guess we'll just go dancing instead," she said with a seismic shrug.

"Dancing!!! Yes! Much better than thumping people in alleyways!" The engineer was already bouncing towards the door, her mop of red curls and flirty skirt swinging in time to the beat muffled by the building walls.

Sure enough, the line passed quickly enough and before long they were assaulted by the loud music and flashing lights within the club. "See? Toldya," the bouncer said with a smile as they passed him by.

Fi blew him a kiss and scampered in before he could change his mind.

 

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