<div class="im">=.\= Ten Forward =.\=<br>
<br>
Vilqa sat quietly at her table as the soft murmur of conversation droned<br>
soothingly through Ten Forward. She had her eyes closed and enjoyed the<br>
peaceful calm as the vessel glided toward home; where ever that would be<br>
within the Fourteenth Fleet's jurisdiction. It wasn't decided yet where the<br>
crew would pause for R&R but she would figure that out within the next day<br>
or two. A couple tables away was a game of Tri-dimensional chess and near<br>
the bar a pair of officers were playing kadis-kot. It seemed as though the<br>
crew; the captain included were all doing their part to try and let go<br>
knowing that they did their deed and now the gauntlet was passed on.<br>
<br>
Dressed in civilian clothes and carrying a box and what looks like a piece<br>
of wood, Toby slipped into Ten Forward and looked around as he sought out a<br>
place to sit, finally settling not far from K`ylana and set the box and what<br>
he's working on down on the table, the place was too busy for him to risk<br>
working on his latest project. Instead he ordered a cup of coffee and<br>
something to eat.<br>
<br>
Justin came in with Melissa from Sciences. They were discussing early 21st<br>
century space station construction, and laughing at the lack of tech that<br>
they used to create the strange looking space stations.<br>
<br>
Jason walked in, dressed in civilian clothing. He sometimes didnt like<br>
wearing civilian clothes, but figured he would for the sake of the occasion.<br>
<br>
He walked in and sat with the group, and ordered a Aldebaran whiskey<br>
<br>
Kylee walked in, wearing a tank top and shorts, her hair braided down her<br>
back, though the clothing had several cuts along the abdomen and back area.<br>
Her appearance showed she'd spent some time in the holosuite. She ordered a<br>
glass of water then went over to an empty seat in the corner, plopping down<br>
and turning her gaze to stare out the window to watch the stars pass by.<br>
<br>
Cait entered the lounge holding the hand of little Rose. The child stopped,<br>
hiding shyly behind her mother as she checked out all the people in the<br>
room. Then her gaze fell on Toby and an excited Dada! rings out. Rose<br>
proceeded to drag Cait over to her daddy.<br>
<br>
Lowering his fork with a chuckle, Toby looked towards Rose and Cait and<br>
smiled leaning back in his chair. "Well hello ladies."<br>
<br>
Rose let go of Cait's hand and all but threw herself at her father, secure<br>
in the knowledge he would catch her and never let her fall. "Me has<br>
eyesceams, Dada! Eyesceams!"<br>
<br>
Wincing as her daughter took the leap of faith, Cait moved over a bit more<br>
sedately and kissed Toby's cheek. "Hello to you too and to you as well,<br>
K`y." She grinned at Toby. "Guess what our little Princess did to earn her<br>
treat?"<br>
<br>
Kat walked into ten forward slowly, her green eyes scanning the room<br>
spotting an empty table near the corner. She didn't exactly feel like being<br>
around people at the moment. Her body fatigued from the mission or was there<br>
more to the doctor's mood. She'd at least had the chance to change from her<br>
uniform looking strikingly gorgeous as usual in the same red dress she'd<br>
worn before while seated in the arboretum reading a book. 'where is he?' she<br>
muttered knowing it better be something pretty important to keep Nick away.<br>
She spotted at leas one face she'd not recognize that being of the new<br>
security chief or so she'd heard there was one. She moved slowly towards<br>
that corner table and sat down.<br>
<br>
Vilqa turned her head toward Cait, "Hello Doc. How are you holding up? Did<br>
you finally get some good rest?" Leaning back in her chair she balanced the<br>
weight on the back legs in a manner which as a student one would get<br>
reprimanded for doing so and reached for her gin and tonic that Sutton had<br>
gotten her hooked onto all those years ago.<br>
<br>
<br>
"I'm holding up just fine and as for rest, well, that's relative with a<br>
certain bundle of energy sparking through our quarters." Cait smiled down at<br>
her daughter, her whole face softening. "Course, I wouldn't trade that for<br>
anything in the universe. I did have something I wanted to ask you though."<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Not one to let his little girl down, Toby caught her quite deftly and<br>
settled her in his lap. "Let me see, she cleaned the crayon off the walls by<br>
yelling it them?" He grinned then leaned in to whisper to his daughter, "Not<br>
so loud while inside, it makes people's ears hurt." Then he kissed the top<br>
of her head.<br>
<br>
<br>
"Don't give her ideas, Dear...No, she read the first page of Green Eggs and<br></div>
Ham all by herself." Cait replied. Rose tilted her head up and said in a much<div><span id="q_1272d3abd595f95f_2" class="h4">- Hide quoted text -</span></div><br>
softer voice. "I do not wike gween eggs an' ham."<br>
<br>
Marcus headed briskly through the doors that led to Ten Forward. In a moment<br>
his eyes had locked onto all who were present and he was gingerly making his<br>
way through the tables and officers towards his friend K'ylana. As he did so<br>
he saw Cait and Toby close in and so gave a warm smile to each of them.<br>
"Mind if I join you?" His query directed to the three of them, rather more<br>
formally than what he felt, the Ten Forward location giving a simmering<br>
familiarity to his feelings that he had not quite learned to voice in the<br>
context of such a large company.<br>
<br>
K`ylana smiled seeing Marcus and nodded as Vilqa's table and the Blake's<br>
table were next to each other, "Certainly Marcus. Relax a bit and offer your<br>
thoughts on who you believe will win the strategic games at play in the<br>
lounge." Music started to play in the corner as one of the officers decided<br>
to give an impromptu performance on his guitar. She continued to balance on<br>
the back feet of her chair, the ice in her gin and tonic tinkling against<br>
the smooth edge of the glass as she shifted the vessel in circles as she<br>
took note as to who had all gathered so far. Then turned toward Cait once<br>
more, "What's that Doc?"