Joint Duty Log - Lt Ebonheart & Cmn duPont - "It's Alright, It's Alright, The Moonlight"

Posted on Sun Nov 30th, 2014 @ 8:39am by Lieutenant Chloe Ebonheart

2,400 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: All Hallows’

Lurking in the shadows, twirling his mustache, was a dark and sinister figure. He held his cape in front of him as he stalked along the walls, his eyes looking for a particular person in the mass of the crew. When he first spotted her, she was talking with the Pasta pirate, the XO's little brother. Cecil still wasn't sure what to make of the man, but it was pretty obvious Noah was a flirt... and after the rumors he'd heard about the games Mikkal had played with Chloe before his attack on the Captain, well, Cecil was concerned about his friend. So he lurked in the shadows and watched.

When the tall pasta pirate disappeared in a rush, and Chloe seemed no worse for her conversation with him, Cecil sighed with relief. He swung past the food table to collect two goblets of the punch and hid them under his cape as he approached her silently from behind.

"Mwahaha! What do we have here?" he asked his his most sinister voice, having approached almost directly behind her as silently as he could.

Her tail went straight up and her hair stood on end as she jumped slightly with start before Cecil revealed himself. "Dammit Cecil you gave me a fright!" She gasped at him then smiled laughing slightly. Cecil was probably the only man to date that she felt she didn't read wrong. "What are you dressed as?" She asked with a smirk hands on her hips.

"It is I, Snidely Whiplash!" He insisted, his free hand twirling his mustache as he laughed evilly. He threw the cape off his arm, exposing the two goblets held in the one hand, and offered one out to Chloe. "A fine pirate you make. Perhaps if we find a Mountie, we can tie him to the railroad tracks together?" His wide grin was half hidden behind the cartoonish mustache and nose of his mask.

Chloe giggled, "I think you just missed one." She smirked slightly referring to Noah Waterhouse. She wasn't completely sure what to think of him, but so far she 'thought' he was harmless. but then she had thought Mikkal was harmless too.

"Pasta boy? He's absolutely the damsel in distress, though I'm sure if we found some railroad tracks, we could tie him to them," Cecil smirked as he insisted.

"Oh yes we could." Chloe gladly agreed. "So what do you think of this party?" She asked softly taking a sip of the wine he'd brought her.

"Waterhouse had no idea what she's doing, but I was able to fix that." He nodded as if to confirm his statement. "I don't know how her last party ran so well, perhaps because Ivanova was able to help with that one. I mean, she didn't even think to have people at the refreshments table! Her father's an Admiral, you'd think she'd know these things." He stepped closer and lowered his voice, then added, "I'll bet she wouldn't even know how to set a table properly. She'd probably put the salad fork in the wrong place."

"Oh stop it she can't be that bad." Chloe smirked at Cecil, shaking her head at him. "This is beautiful though." She admitted.

"She didn't even know that normally she and Ivanova would have had to stand at the door and greet everyone at a ball," Cecil insisted with a head shake. "When I told her, I'm surprised she didn't pass out in shock. Easily resolved with the herald instead, especially since most people here wouldn't even know the proper etiquette for a ball anyways." He finally paused, taking a drink from his own goblet as he looked upwards and around. "She did put together a very detailed program. Her mother makes good programing hacks for the holodeck."

"Programing hacks?" Chloe asked confused. She was seeing quite clearly that Cecil didn't really like Amelia Waterhouse and the feline found this just as confusing. "You don't like her very much do you?" Chloe asked out of curiosity. You know the old saying curiosity killed the cat.

"As far as I can tell, her mother's pretty good programming the holodeck, but she's designed all her programs to be modular and provided ways for those who are unskilled or lazy to make their own programs. Waterhouse just takes the pieces and smashes them together. It's a testament to her mother's work that it can produce something that looks this nice though," Cecil paused with a sigh. "I don't really dislike her, I just don't get it. She's around our age and she's already XO of the most powerful ship in the fleet. She wasn't on the ship very long before being named XO either... and she'd only done two other stints on starships before this. One of them wasn't even a month long before she transferred to Intel. Most of her service time has been undercover field work. She doesn't seem to have political pull — her father may be an Admiral, but he's one that keeps his head down and just does his job. He doesn't seem to play the games."

"Maybe she's managed to prove that she's a reliable officer in such a short time. I doubt that if there was any suspicion that she couldn't do the job then she wouldn't have it." Chloe said with a thoughtful frown not completely confident in her own assessments lately after Mikkal.

"She seems to get everything done, including things she shouldn't be able to," Cecil allowed. "I trust the Captain's judgment, I just don't get it. Collating data is kind of my thing, so it bothers me I can't figure this out." He shook his head. "I could talk your ears off about Waterhouse, let's focus on something else. Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes, but I do still get nervous in such large groups." She admitted with a sigh unsure how to sneak away from the party. "I don't mind listening to you talk it's nice having someone to talk to." Chloe smiled.

"There are areas a little quieter and less crowded, if you're interested. The view on the balcony was pretty nice before the sun went down, now I think it's snowing out there. There's also the upper galleries, but I think that's mostly filled with lovebirds," Cecil offered. "I do have to keep an eye out for the Captain, in case she needs anything, but that's easy enough..." He shrugged.

Chloe blushed slightly, "I wouldn't mind seeing the snow. I don't get to see it very often because well my father and mother only visited Earth once in a while so I could see my father's parents." She smiled softly. "We lived in warmer climates so there wasn't a lot of snow to see." She added.

"Snow's pretty, if you don't have to live in it," Cecil explained, holding his arm out for Chloe to take. "If you live in it, especially in a city, it gets dirty and loses it's charm, but here it should be lovely."

"I don't get to see it often so it should be fine." She grinned accepting his arm and letting him escort her to the balcony so they could watch the snow fall.

Cecil guided Chloe along the edge of the ballroom floor, and out through the large double doors that stood open. There weren't that many people out there, and the light from the candles just barely reached the railings that stood along the edges of the large balcony. The snow drifted gently, catching the soft light as it hit the marble and melted. "You should come back and check out this program with it set to daytime."

"This is prettier. I've always found that a light snowfall like this. you know I consider a perfect date to be one where you walk hand in hand at night light snowfall in the street lights." She smiled remembering reading something about that but never having been able to recreate it on the holodeck.

"With daylight, you can see into the valley below," Cecil pointed out. "If you listen careful, you can probably hear the waterfall going down the mountain below us." He stepped forward to lean against the railing. "The Captain requested the snow, but I've seen a full moon peek out between the clouds a couple of times when it's stopped on occasion."

Chloe smiled and listened closely for the waterfall below them. "I can hear it." She said excitedly preferring this to the party really. "Its so peaceful out here." She smiled at Cecil.

"It is," he agreed. "Even though I enjoy parties like this one, it's still nice to just cleanse the palate. All the people, all the noise, it can be a bit of a sensory overload after too long."

"I agree, but I'm not a big fan of parties, I'm not use to them." Chloe admitted looking out over the shroud in darkness watching the snow fall lightly.

"These sorts of parties can be overwhelming, my mother never cared for them either," he returned with a shrug. "I don't think she was prepared for the sort of life my father was sweeping her into when he swept her off her feet."

"If he swept her off her feet, I doubt very much she mind the life he swept her into as long as they shared their life together." She said softly smiling as she remembered her parents stories of how despite everything her father had fallen so hard and fast for her mother he never knew what hit him really. "My parents met on an archeology dig in the deserts of my mother's homeworld. My father came from Earth, Ireland I believe. and he'd heard of the rare find on Cait so he crashed the dig site just so he could learn more about it." Chloe said smiling softly as she remembered it. "My mother was the head archeologist and had the lead on the dig site. so she wasn't too thrilled at having an outsider crashing. they fought like cats and dogs literally." She giggled. "By the time they realized they were in love, it was far too late to stop that spiraling feeling of falling even if they wanted to which they didn't." Chloe smiled at Cecil.

"That sounds like a whirl wind built out of a shared passion. Must keep things interesting between them," Cecil observed with a laugh. "The way my mother tells it, my father was persistent. He encountered her at the café she worked in while his family was visiting Iceland for Christmas one year, and he went back to order pie and coffee from her every weekend for three months until she accepted his invitation for dinner and the theater down in Paris. She enjoys the arts, but all the customs and habits of the circles he moves in make no sense to her. So all his friends consider her eccentric and leave her at a polite distance, and she prefers their quiet vacations and taking in the arts together."

"They must love each other very much." She smiled softly, She hoped she wasn't just assuming but reading what he said correctly.

"Yeah, they do. Their 30th wedding anniversary is this coming new years day. I hope we'll be near Earth, I think they're holding a small party." He tipped his top hat back just a little as he leaned forward. His eyes had adjusted to the dark, and the clouds parted just enough to let the moon bathe the valley in its soft glow.

Chloe watched letting out a soft gasp at the sight of the valley bathe in that soft glow. "Oh its so beautiful Cecil." She said unable to tear her gaze from it. "I hope we make it back to earth as well for you to see your parents for their anniversary." She said softly finally looking to Cecil.

"I think it's better by moonlight than by daylight," he returned with a small nod, his hand catching the brim of his hat to keep it from falling from his head. "It really comes down to how long the repairs take on Vindicator, but they're looking like it's keeping to schedule. So I'm hopeful we'll make it back to Earth by Christmas."

"I'd like that. My parents will no doubt go to earth for Christmas especially since they know the Vindicator is heading there." Chloe grinned excited by the thought. "I can't wait to see them and my grandparents and my siblings. they should all be in Ireland by the time we get there." the Feline's eyes glowed with happiness and she almost purred she was so happy.

"I think the Captain's made noise about wanting to do something for the crew on Christmas Eve, but I'm also pretty sure Waterhouse will insist that the crew get leave on Christmas day at the very least. So, as long as nothing prevents Vindicator from making it back to Earth, you should be able to join them," Cecil explained with a grin, enjoying how happy his friend was at the news.

"This is great news! worthy of a drink, but I don't want to go back in there and spoil this moment." She giggled her tail moving slightly but not in annoyance. She was happy about this news and glad that Cecil told her. "I'll keep it on the down low." She grinned.

"I'm sure there will be an official announcement, soon enough, but I do appreciate you not spreading it, in case something has to change at the last minute." He looked over his shoulder towards the ballroom behind them. "I should probably make a circle of the main floor, just to make sure everything's okay. I can pick you up a refill and rejoin you after?"

"Sure, I'll be out here where it's not as closed in feeling." She smiled not a huge fan of crowds really. But wasn't completely against them either.

"Enjoy the view, and I'll be back," he said, plucking the goblet from her hand. Then with the whoosh of his cape, and the twirl of his mask's mustache, he disappeared inside again.

Chloe smiled softly glad that she had a friend like Cecil, turning back to the scene she sigh and enjoyed herself.

=/\= End Log =/\=

Lt Chloe Ebonheart
Security Officer
USS Vindicator

Crewman Cecil duPont
Captain's Yeoman
USS Vindicator

 

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