Ja'risia

Posted on Sun Sep 12th, 2021 @ 1:18am by Lieutenant JG Irynya & Ensign Noah Balsam

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: Mission Day 20 at 1600

[Deck 5, Crew Quarters; Holodeck]
[Day 20; 1600 Hours]

The door to Noah and Kennedy's bedroom was nearly identical to the one next to it marking the entrance to where Irynya and Parsons slept. As doors went they were functional, but not particularly exciting.

Irynya had been staring at this particular door for the last few minutes from the edge of the couch where she was sitting cross legged, a long floral skirt draped over her knees.

She had already checked the duty roster for the day so knew that Noah was off duty and home. She also knew that their other roommates were away, so if he decided to say no to her suggestion at least the two of them wouldn't have to worry about an audience. Still, she was nervous.

For a moment it looked like she would get up--leaning forward slightly, her hands pressed to the couch cushions to lever her off the edge. But instead, she sat back, hands returning to her knees. She blew a breath out of the side of her mouth, stirring a motion of small loose hairs that had left the confines of her ponytail. Taking a breath back in she moved again, this time rising and moving to the doorway of the room, letting the chime announce her.

The haptic vibe of his earbuds took Noah Balsam from his zone. With a small paintbrush in hand, music had taken over him. He fake-dodged a curved punch and rolled his arms, tumbling over and over. He sang, "Didn't even notice, no punches left to roll with. You got to keep me focused; you want it? Say so..."

Noah pulled his earbuds out, "Computer pause playback." With a soft clatter, earbuds were set on his desk, as well as his paintbrush. He rose, stretching hypermobile arms up and back. "C-come in?" He said, doing a few waist twists to try and loosen up from his half-hour of hunching.

The comm piped Noah's voice through to the other side, doors swishing open as it did. Irynya stuck her head through, leaning against the door jam with her shoulder. Her skirts brushed her ankles making the set of anklets she wore tinkle lightly.

"Busy?" She asked, peering past Noah to his desk where paints and a brush lay next to some sort of figure she didn't recognize.

Noah shook his head with a pleased smile, "No not very." He picked up the figurine he was painting. Whatever it was it crudely looked humanoid, like a humanoid was made out of shuttle parts. Its dominant color was white and Noah hadn't finished it. "Something for Kennedy." Noah said while he tapped one of his wall panels above his desk. It opened and he set it inside.

Noah turned around and sat on his desk. "What's um, what's up?

She made a slight face, twisting her mouth to the side and wrinkling her nose. "I was curious if you might like to come with me on a holodeck adventure," she began. "I mean... it's not like the one you let me tag along for. This one is, sort of, for you." She stumbled a bit explaining herself. She didn't quite want to assume he would be ok with something like this, but she'd put in quite a bit of thought since he had shown her the TARDIS and settled on an experience to share.

Irynya was quite different than Noah- she seemed so focused on fashion and details. She tinkled with bells he couldn't see under a festive red and gold dress. Meanwhile, Noah was a creature of the soft, Hobbitish comforts: a light sweatshirt with its sleeves pushed up to his elbows, roomy pants. "Sh-should I change?" He asked, well aware of the dichotomy of their clothing. His sweatshirt had a couple of dried blobs of paint on it.

She nodded, "Only if you want to, but if you do I can give you the details for the right attire." She gestured broadly at her own get up. "This is not everyday wear... It..." she trailed off... "Do you want details first or would you prefer to be shown what I have in mind?"

Again Noah looked at the vast, chasm-like difference of their dress, "I-I um, I think you might need to. You look like you're going to a party." He smiled toothily, pushing hands into his pants pockets.

She grinned back, nodding her head away from the door jamb into the common room where the replicator was. "I have it pulled up on my PADD."

She left the doorway looking back over her shoulder once before hurrying to the table where her PADD sat. She pinched the image, tossing it outward. A two dimensional image appeared between them--a young Risian man clad in a deep red linen tunic and pants edged in gold cuffs. A matching line of gold buttons ran down the front, each held in place by a loop of intricate gold braid.

"This is, uh, a traditional Risian outfit," she remarked. Deft fingers threw two more images next to the other. The first a pair of sandals which included a loop of leather around the ankle. From the loop hung a set of shells, each held to the band by a small hook that allowed them to swing, tinkling against each other. the other was clearly an undergarment, red like the outfit and fitted. They loosely resembled bike shorts both in the way they clearly clung to the wearer and in the form of small shorts. She turned to gauge his reaction with a shy smile.

Noah's dark eyes settled on the garment. It looked very fancy to him- rich gold, spherical buttons from neck to groin. Embroidered and beaded décor along the front. The collar looked quite similar to their uniform, though Noah's eyes suspected it was supposed to be more open-chested. His eyes fell on the undergarments and he grinned into a cheek. "W-well at least its... it's got boxer briefs. Can't forget those I guess." Noah studied it, arms across his chest, fingers up and tugging at his lower lip. It was probably the fanciest thing he'd ever wear, even counting the dress uniform. "What do the shells mean?" He asked, pointing.

She grinned, pulling at the edge of her skirt to reveal a set of the sandals that matched the hologram. Immediately above it was another ring of shells on a matching anklet. "They're percussive," she remarked, arching her foot so that the heel was in the air before rapidly lowering it. The corresponding slap of the leather against the floor and clacking of the shells made a distinctive sound. She repeated the action in a slow syncopation to demonstrate. "But you won't have to worry about that. Unless you want to try it," she said with a grin.

She dropped the edge of the skirt then and twirled, the sound of her foot hitting the ground and the tinkling shells speeding up as her skirt billowed outward. Her arms rose above her head and fingers snapped. "I have the percussion managed," she said, eyes flashing with a touch of exhilaration as she came to a stop.

"Oh," Noah nodded. At first he seemed to not quite understand, as his brow furrowed at his aquiline nose. His brows rose. His bottom lip pursed. "Um, o-okay. That's fine with me. I mean... I-I'm not really good dancer. But I like music." He studied the garment again, "S-so if you're percussion, what am I?"

She chewed the inside of her cheek a second, trying to figure out the best way to explain without sending him running. "So..." she began, "you let me come with you to do something that you loved, right?" She paused to confirm he was following. "And before that when you saved me from the shower I mentioned that you're allowed to take up space." She frowned then worried her bottom lip a moment. "I thought a lot about that. I mean, about how much I appreciated it. You didn't, like, completely avoid me after that. People have a lot of poorly informed conceptions about Risians and sometimes that means I get kept at arms length."

Her frown deepened, "A lot of times, actually." She shook her head. "Anyway, that meant a lot and I wanted to share something with you that means a lot to me."

She faced the holo image, gesturing to it as she did. "This is what you'd wear to a ja'risia ceremony on Risa. So... you'd be... the person receiving their ja'risia."

She trailed off then, waiting for him to change his mind. "I mean... if you want to."

Noah was a person of questions, or curiosity. They burbled out of him with spring water- albeit about as clumsily. While he studied the clothing he was to don, he listened- that filled him with the questions. He didn't understand why people would avoid Irynya or Risians. Risians were supposed to be fun. So his lips pursed with the questions he was holding in against his nature, his arms crossing his skinny chest. What was a ja'risia? He could ask or he could find out. His cautious side wanted to ask. But it seemed like Irynya wasn't telling him specifically.

"Well I trust you on it..." He commented. "I don't know what a ja'risia is but I'm-I'm okay with finding out. "So... do.. do we replicate this?" He asked at the dress again.

Her face lit up with a grin, "We do. I didn't want to assume so I haven't already replicated it, though. But you should change before we go."

"OK," Noah agreed. "Index," he said. The androgyne, bald figure appeared. "Replicate this garment to my proportions."

The material shimmered into reality on the replicator a moment later, a small pile of red and gold topped with the sandals and shorts. Irynya stepped lightly across the room picking up the bundle and returning to hand it to Noah. "I'll wait here?" she said, the statement sounded like a question though she didn't mean it as one.

"Wh-whoops," it was far slinkier and slick than he'd imagined and it easily pooled out of his naïve arms. Noah nabbed a sleeve before it was all gone, then stooped to pick up the sandals and finally the shorts. "Be right back."

She waited until he had retreated to the bathroom to retrieve a small satchel from the couch, tipping open the flap of the bag to double check that all of the right tools were included. Satisfied, she settled the bag over her head, the strap crossing her chest to leave the bag resting on her hip.

Noah emerged a little more than a minute later, dressed in the reds and the golds that laid with relaxed limpness over his frame. Somehow the ja'risia robes accentuated his height and, with even a few steps, it swept enough to show his rail thinness. Still, he held out lanky long arms, "OK. How-how's this?"

Her eyes widened slightly, a more than slightly proud of herself smile forming. "They're perfect," she remarked, eyes twinkling. "You wear that well."

She made her way over to him and looped an arm through his, directing him to the door. "I'm technically your escort right now," she said with a chuckle, nodding down to where she'd linked their arms before pulling him out the door of their quarters.

"I-I need escorting?" He asked with newly piqued curiosity.

Her eyes crinkled at the corners. "For this, you do."

The trip to the holodeck was, as all things on a Rhode Island class vessel, quick, but wandering about the corridors in bright red and gold ritual attire was bound to attract some attention. An ensign exiting the turbolift while they waited for its arrival did a double-take before scurrying past. Others dropped silent as they passed, before picking up in whispers immediately after.

Dropping Noah's arm at the entry to the holodeck she quickly tapped a series of commands into the console before speaking. "Computer, program Risa Delta 2 with modifications for Lieutenant Junior Grade, Irynya," she instructed. The computer beeped before intoning "Program ready," in its neutral computer voice.

The doors of the holodeck parted to display a scene pulled directly from Risa. Ahead of them was a lit path, lanterns running along its length into a densely wooded space. The light was low--sun already down--and a warm breeze wafted from the space bringing with it the scent of saltwater and tropical flowers. A low drumbeat could be heard beyond the trees tapping out a syncopated tattoo--the type which would be difficult to setting ones' steps to when walking.

"Ready?" she asked with a grin.

Noah smiled his bowed, broad smile that showed the fronts of his teeth. "Yes, I think so," he said, casting a look about the simulation. He picked up drums, and the resonance of a beat that was arrhythmic to a normal gait. Noah shielded his eyes from the fake sun while it filtered through tropical treetops. Like the real Risa, it was an alien place to Noah who had grown up under ice and in an abyssal, methanated ocean. Still, trees drew on an instinctual level to the primitive nostalgias of his Human brain. In trees was safety.

He watched for people, knowing they had to be somewhere. Drums didn't usually just play themselves.

The door to the holodeck disappeared behind them as they stepped into the scene, the beach warmth of Risa washing over them as it did. She steered him over to the beginning of the path and then stopped them, turning to face him as she did, taking a moment to look him up and down and then flicking fingers across his right shoulder, removing dust or hair or some other minute detail.

"Ok," she said, "A few things you need to know first, then the rest I'll lead you through."

Noah smiled at her, and brushed his wavy bangs out of his eyes as if to help her right his appearance. "OK," he affirmed.

"First, this is a ja'risia." She lifted her hand placing her pointer finger immediately below the gold disk shape on her forehead. The tip of her finger tapped lightly just between her eyebrows. "Most Risians receive them somewhere between the ages of 14 and 20. It varies by person, but it's a rite of passage."

"Ja'risia," he repeated, his eyes on her mark. "Oh. I-I thought that was like a Horg'ahn." His hand wavered to show uncertainty, "Horg'ahnish, I-I mean. Sorry I'm- I'm listening..." His lips tucked into each other as unblinking eyes waited for more.

Her eyes flicked up the path then back to Noah as she spoke, "You have an escort. Usually the person getting the ja'risia picks theirs, but..." she shrugged apologetically, "we're adlibbing a little bit, so you get me." She gestured broadly with her hands in a sort of ta da motion.

Noah nodded an okay, seemingly fine with that.

"At the end of the path there's a clearing and a small raised platform where we sit." She frowned then for just a moment. "I had to take a few liberties on the program. I'm not nearly as skilled in this as you are, but normally this is a ceremony where your family and friends come to celebrate you. I... didn't want to be weird so the people in the program are just the pre-set options for Risa. Thankfully lots of people like to visit Risa on the holodeck, so there were plenty to choose from."

"OK," Noah affirmed again, with a nod. He glanced up the path and back. In a way, he wished his parents and brother were here. Even his Grandfather, the Sr. with his name. But he could always tell them about it in his next subspace message. With the crunchy squelch of gravel under his sandals, Noah turned toward the path through the trees.

Irynya snagged his arm again starting down the path slowly, "Last detail... Some of this ceremony involves... Less... Clothing than we're wearing." She shot Noah a sidelong glance trying to gauge his reaction as she continued. "This ceremony is about celebrating a person fully. And we believe that involves three main things. Your heart. Your body. Your mind." She paused only slightly before adding, "You can imagine that each one plays a role."

Noah's brown eyes rounded in realization. "Um. How-how much less? All of it?"

Irynya chuckled lightly, "No, you keep the sandals and the shorts. I keep my sandals, shorts, and a wrap," she remarked. "I've seen you with far less on. Trust me, you'll be fine." She shot another glance at him out of the corner of her eye, trying again to gauge. "If you don't want to," she said, "we can skip that part." She chewed her lip a moment in thought. "But it is part of the fun. Your decision, though."

While Noah's gaze had a pensiveness, a searching quality, he nodded his head with a slow bob. "I've... I've done worse for fun. I mean. I-I went to a nude beach in France once. Well not all that long ago. Um, actually." He grinned sheepishly, "I-I guess if you're invited to a Betazoid wedding you go naked. On, um, Armus IX, men wear feathers. So... shorts and sandals is. Um. Tame."

The drum beat from beyond the edge was starting to work its way down into the soles of Irynya's feet. She turned to face Noah, stopping him short about halfway down the path. She was grinning, "Thanks for not thinking this is silly," she said and then she tipped up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, dropping back down and turning before he had a chance to reply and pulling him ahead into the beat of the drum.

Noah's cheek bent into the crease of his dimple when he realized Irynya was kissing his cheek. "Oh. Ri-Risians kiss too?"

She grinned as they walked, the look taking on a mischievous edge. "Among many many other things," she remarked wryly, shooting him a wink.

The end of the path opened out into a clearing as Irynya had described. Tall tropical-looking trees ringed a sandy space that was flat near the top, but sloped down to water which lapped gently at the sand. Still within the shade of the trees was a circular wooden platform, nearly a foot off of the sand on which there sat two low-slung chairs, a small table, and wooden rack of the sort you might set clothes on to dry. The lanterns that had lined the path were now up into the trees, circling the whole space and hanging from four posts driven into the sand casting a low magical lighting. The sun out beyond the trees was clearly causing the trees to throw long cool shadows across the space.

As Irynya led him into the space it became evident where the drums were coming from. A line of drummers, similar to those Irynya had worked with for the luau before their departure from Risa, were settled on the ground to their right. A small crowd of people ringed the rest of the space. Whoops, cheers, and ululations were called out as they walked ahead, some of the holographic attendees shouting Noah's name enthusiastically.

Noah looked a little nervous, a little cowed, by the people shouting his name. He was blushing, his eyes watching the gravel with occasional glance ups at a shouter to smile.

As they reached the platform Irynya released his arm, stepping up and then indicating he should sit on one of the two chairs. Both chairs faced each other and as Noah sat she unslung the bag she had been carrying, removing its contents to set them on the small table.

Noah hesitated out of ignorance, whispering, "Do I sit down? Do I take my-my clothes off and then sit?" He asked naively. His eyes followed Irynya's hands to her bag and what was pulled out of them. He smelled a woody incense mingling with the heavy ozone of bonfire, and salty sea air.

She shot him an encouraging smile, "Not yet," she said. "I'll let you know when."

Noah swayed his butt down into the seat with a silent, 'okay,' mouthed. He pushed his curls behind his ears and watched some of the holographic people around them. "W-where do I look? At you?"

She nodded, first uncapping a small bottle. "The ceremony itself is just performed between you and I. The rest of them are witnesses." She had settled into the chair across from him, feet crossed at the ankles and skirt draped carefully over her knees. She had pulled her chair forward until her knees were tucked next to his, her skirt tickling across the top of his feet.

Her hand reached forward to grab hold of the top gold button before she paused, "May I?"

Noah's eyes dropped to the soft tan of the fingers at one of the spherical gold buttons. He flashed a quick smile and bobbed his head. "Y-yes." Noah rolled and squared his shoulders to stick out his chest.

Irynya eyed Noah for only a moment, a soft smile crossing her features when he squared his shoulders. Deft fingers freed good buttons from their full braid loops and Irynya carefully worked her way down until stopping just below his pectorals. Reaching back up she gently resituated his collar making it easier to see his chest where the buttons had been undone.

Noah watched patiently- but not without a reaction. He blushed, which splotched in soft pinks down onto what was a virtually hairless chest. Already known for being quite fair-skinned, Noah didn't have much in the way of color under his collar either.

She reviewed her work quickly then nodded, picking up the small container and pressing it's top to against her pointer and index fingers. A waft of the woody incense followed as she tipped it upside down, righting it quickly.

Very carefully she reached between them, tracing the light oil in a small pattern on the left side of his chest. "All important things originate from the heart," she said quietly as she worked. "When someone receives their ja'risia the first requirement is openness--not just to new ideas, but to people and to relationships. New friendships, family members, romances... all of these require an openness that we have to be more deliberate about cultivating as we get older. The ja'risia reminds us how important that openness is."

Noah grinned with a wrinkle to his nose before his brow's knit. He listened, but part of him was distracted by a strange, simple reality: maybe it was usual for some people, and some species... touch. Noah was struggling to remember the last time someone touched his chest like that. A flash of nostalgia quirked his broad mouth and pushed into a creased dimple. His eyes blinked at the brief flash of memory. It'd... been a while.

The skinny one refocused his eyes on the woman across from him. He nodded on the tail end of what she was saying. He swallowed an undulation of his long throat. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to say something or... agree? So he just stayed still.

Irynya paused, meeting Noah's eyes for a moment. "Next thing requires more buttons. Is that ok?"

Again Noah nodded. "Yeah. I'm-I'm fine." He grinned widely. "I'm trying to remind myself they're just holograms."

She smirked slightly, echoing her sentiment from their encounter in the showers. "You've got nothing to be ashamed of." As she spoke her fingers were already working, swiftly freeing the trail of good buttons in quick calculated movements. When she neared the point where his tunic hit his hips she looked up again. "Sit forward?"

"N-not ashamed, just... you know..." He grinned ruefully, "Come from a bunch of... of modest people," Noah nodded his head once, his spine swaying him forward. When that felt strange, he shifted his seat to the front of the chair he sat on. "Like this?"

There was a shuffle of legs and feet between them as Noah shifted forward. She was careful of where her knees were with the two of them tucked so close together.

"Almost," she answered the tiniest touch of mischief in her expression. "I think you're either going to need to hike your tunic up a bit or I am going to be finishing these buttons with my hands in your lap. Your choice."

Again Noah grinned with a fresh paint of rose over his cheeks. "Um. Oh-okay..." With a chomp of his bottom lip, Noah set to problem solving. Noah's modesty had found it's tested limit and rather than arch to give his Risian ally access to- as she said- his lap- Noah hooked fingers into the slinky fabric and he lifted the still buttoned portion of his tunic to his navel. The light, easy-flowing fabric fell off his shoulders and puddled around his elbows.

"Thanks," she said with a grin, picking up where she had left off now that she could reach the buttons without a bit more space. Another moment more and the remaining buttons were loosed of their clasps. "Are you ticklish?" She asked, resuming the small bottle and repeating the earlier motion to empty a small amount of the oil onto her fingers.

Noah hesitated to answer that, the glance he shot her a cacophony of nervous, amused, suspicious. "Ye-um... why? Yes, but.... doh-don't. I hate being tickled." He admitted. "M-most around my ribs. Everything else is... is OK." Noah's slender chest swelled as he remembered to take a breath. The viscous jacket had further lost purchase as his elbows and were hiding his wrists.

She giggled then, unable to help herself. "I just need to know if you're about to kick me or something. This doesn't involve your ribs. You should be fine."

At that, Noah firmly planted both his feet.

With the hand that wasn't bearing the oil she took one of his hands, pulling the shirt off his wrists and over his hand using her thumb and pinky. She released his right and moved to his left, leaving the tunic to drop, settling on the seat behind him.

"This one is the, uh, most..." She quirked her lips. ".. intimate. But it's not sexual. Just... Most people aren't used to having someone touch them this way. Do you want me to explain what I am going to do or just go for it?"

A niggling bit of worry had worked it's way into the back of her head. Of all the elements of the ja'risia ceremony this one was the most easily misunderstood by an outsider. She took in a breath, watching his face as she tried to gauge his reaction.

Noah's brows naturally creased about his nose bridge at that. His eyes darted to the holographic crowd and back. Context might relax him, Noah thought. But did they explain what they were doing in a normal ja'risia Ceremony, too? If one was to have a genuine experience, explanations seemed to pull away from it. "I... I consent to whatever. Umm. Above the waist."

She giggled again, this time the sound a bit more nervous, but her eyes determined. Gently her fingers met the skin just above his naval, moving in the same pattern as she applied the oil to him again. "Our bodies are the tools we use to experience our worlds. They are sacred in that they are ours uniquely, granting us the means to take in and fully participate in all things. They are the beginning of Jamaharon in all of its forms, a gateway to discovering not just others, but also ourselves. The ja'risia reminds us to be fully present in our moments. To take them in with all of the senses available to us, and to treat them kindly and with care."

Her fingers had ceased their motion a few moments before her words. She grinned at him.

Noah's core, soft but firm behind with his skinny abs, flexed and squirmed. He chuckled, "S-sorry, I-I guess I am slightly ticklish." He replanted his feet, having succeeded in not knocking her out with a knee-shot. Noah stared down the length of his body and at the sheen of oils that were on his chest and now near his navel.

Her eyes danced with amusement. "Lucky for you I am done with your abdomen."

The bottle tipped oil onto her fingers the last time, this time she sat up straight, eyes meeting his. Very carefully she pressed some of his curls back before reaching up to the place on his forehead just above his eyes.

"This part takes the longest," she remarked, "Let me know if you need to stop."

"I'm good," Noah said behind a chuckled breath. He blinked as he sensed her hands coming toward his face.

Gently she applied the oil a last time to his forehead. "Our minds are where our heart and body meet to create meaning. With our minds we explore, acknowledging that exploration may be as simple as examining a moment or as complex as exploring the universe. We acknowledge that there is a whole universe within every person--an unending opportunity for discovery. The ja'risia is placed on our forehead as an outward signal of our inward knowledge. It reminds us that curiosity and open-mindedness are the keys to truly experiencing life."

She released his gaze then, reaching back to the smaller table to wipe her hands on a cloth, removing any lingering oil from her fingers. Gently she lifted the cloth to dab at the spot she had marked, removing any excess before selecting a small paintbrush and dipping it into a pot that roughly resembled an inkwell. The end of the brush came away glistening, gold paint clinging to the fine bristles.

Gently she applied the brush to his forehead, using one hand to steady herself and to keep his hair out of the wet paint. After a moment a gold disc could be made out. Holding the brush away from him she leaned forward blowing on the spot to help the paint dry.

Noah cooperated by trying to turn his face into the holographic sun. The paint gleamed on his fairness in its rays.

She sat back then, giving the disc a moment to dry. After a minute she dabbed the spot with her pinky, twisting her wrist back to confirm that none of the paint had come away at her touch.

Noah could feel a tight stickiness on his skin where the paint sat just above his long, broad nose.

The first brush had been returned to the gold pot and another, much finer, brush retrieved. Hands moving quickly she traced a small figure on the disc, black lines mirroring the one on her own forehead.

Finally satisfied with her work she sat back, an enormous grin crossing her features. "Here," she said, pulling a small hand mirror from her bag. "Take a look."

Noah smiled broadly at the reflection of himself. he turned his head and brushed at his dark locks, looking at the strange yet familiar symbol on his forehead. He'd seen most of the natives- or what he'd assumed up until then to be natives- bearing them. "The-the last time someone drew on my face, we w-were at a local, um, celebration," his Betazoid-like eyes kept her gaze, "Off-campus. It was in Japan. Um, outside Osaka? For the Penis Festival."

He gestured at his forehead, "At-at least this time I don't have a big phallus on my head."

His comment caught her off guard and she let out a loud laugh, eyes crinkling at the corners. "No, not a phallus," she remarked, laughter turning to giggles. "Although you did suggest you thought it might be a horga'hn earlier which wouldn't have been much better to many."

Amiably the youth smiled at that, a tick up at the corner of his mouth was almost... wolfish?

Carefully, she unthreaded her legs from his, nudging her chair backward with the backs of her legs as she stood up. Back arching in a stretch, the fabric around her middle pulled slightly taut where the material crisscrossed over her hips. "That particular symbol belongs to my family. And to people we adopt as our own. So..." her expression quickly turned shy, "...consider yourself adopted." She offered him her hand, helping to pull him to his feet.

Noah watched her rise, a pensive, reverent single nod coming from his wavy-haired head. His smiled a nibbled at, humble smile. "Oh... well... thank you. That's very... that's," he grinned, "G-groovy." The stick bug of a cadet shuffled to his feet, eyeing the jacket still on the seat. He wanted to, of course, cross his arms over his chest. It was default comfortable.

As he stood the crowd, which had been largely quiet to that moment, burst into cheers, the whoops and ululations of earlier returning with redoubled strength. Drums kicked up behind them, setting a new and festive tempo.

"Now," she said, lips pursing against her smile, "we celebrate." As she spoke she reached up behind her neck, releasing a clasp that was holding the top of her outfit in place. The fabric slid away quickly, but she caught it with a swift hand, draping it over the small wooden stand behind them before retrieving his tunic to lay next to it. Tan skin met the light, a brilliant band of red wrapped around her chest, the only coverage from her skirt upward.

She wrinkled her nose at him, a teasing laugh escaping her. "Your turn," she remarked, nodding to his pants. "Heart, body, and mind, right?"

"Oh," Noah looked down at his pants that had gone unattended. And for a moment he'd considered, somewhere in his mind, that he'd gotten away with minimal exposure. "Uh... OK..." his fingers hooked on his waistband and he clumsily undid them just below his navel. They dropped around his ankles and he stepped out of them. Compared to Irynya. he was anything but tan. "Um..." he uttered over the ululations and sounds. He put his hands on his hips after a pair of aborted impulses to cover his front.

Following along with Noah's motion she tugged the skirt down around her ankles, stepping out delicately and causing the shells on her anklets to tinkle together as she did. Her undergarments matched Noah's, a slightly shorter pair of shorts revealed at the loss of the skirt.

Swiftly she retrieved both garments, placing them over the first and then, catching him trying to figure out what to do with his hands, she held her own out to him. "It's easier if you don't think about what your hands are doing," she said, her voice pitching so he could hear it over the noise of the crowd and the increased sound of drumming.

"I'll try!" Noah called back over the cacophony.

Several of the people out on the sand had begun to move now, some tapping feet while others swayed lightly. It was as if they were all on the edge of something and just barely holding themselves in place.

Noah took the first moment to actually try and look at the sweeps and curves drawn on his chest and stomach. "S-so do we... uhhh... do we just stand and look or..." He did a tentative shoulder shake like he was holding a pair of maracas.

The drumbeat was becoming infectious. No she mouthed at him with a laugh, snagging his hands from his hips and pulling to whirl him in a circle. She turned, anchoring them with one foot while the other completed the toe to heel movement she had shown him back in their quarters. "Now, we dance," she called over to him, pulling him to a halt.

It seemed their motion had been the signal the crowd was waiting for. A blur of movement mixed with laughter and periodic hoots and shouts of excitement took over the crowd around them. A holographic young man, not much older than Noah, came up and tapped him on the shoulder, extending a hand with a flourish.

Irynya winked at him, dropping his hands and accepting the hand of another person in the crowd, whirling away in a flourish and leaving Noah to be swept up into the crowd.

It was many long minutes before the crowd spat them both back out at the center of the space again. Iry's cheeks were flushed, eyes alight from the movement and overwhelming sense of abandon the simulated crowd of Risians created. Her eyes crinkled as she watched one last Risian woman pull Noah into an awkward twirl before releasing him.

Noah, flushed and flustered, shook out one of his slender hands whilst he eyed the crowd and then Irynya. He'd been passed around in a whirlwind of holograms, most of them believably realistic for a Holo-Deck. he'd managed to stumble through iterations and improvisations of steps and moves that he didn't know- though he was reasonably sure that if this level of Hologram sophistication had feelings, some may have felt pain in their toes. When he was released, he slid his fingers up his tricep.

He was twirled one last time by the Flight Controller, eyes squinting with a chuckle- patiently. But he quickly fell to his comfortable default- a broad smile, attentive eyes, while he watched and listened to the crowd among. There was nothing like it on Enceladus. Noah idly scratched above his nipple with a thumbnail rake, a rosy disc that was almost quarter-sized. "N-nice festival. S-so Risians do this... h-how often?"

Irynya let out a breath, her hair was coming undone from it's typical ponytail, and she absently smoothed loose strands back from her face as she released him, carefully she sat on the edge of the platform, reaching up to tug on Noah's hand so he'd sit down next to her.

"We all have one ceremony," she said, once he sat, "I mean, so I guess as many times as you have people who matter to you who have ceremonies. A couple times a year at most?" She pulled her knees up in front of her, resting her arms on them so that her forearms and wrists dangled out beyond where her feet were digging into the sand. "It's kind of like weddings and babies. It goes in waves. We dance a lot, though. Like... a lot." She shrugged, chuckling and then, not bothering to check whether he would mind, leaned her head over onto his shoulder.

"These celebrations are some of the happiest memories I have of home. You shared something you loved with me. Now I've shared something I love with you."

Noah bobbed his head as he looked on. "Well. Th-thanks. It's different than Doctor Who but... more grounded in reality too." He flashed a quick smile as he looked on, then back to her, and back again, "Thanks. It was. It was exciting." Noah ruefully grinned and scratched his neck, "So I can uh, I can put my clothes back on now?"

She chuckled, head popping back up before she nudged him with her shoulder. "Yeah. We've probably only got a few minutes left before our time's up anyway," she remarked. "And it would be unfortunate for anyone to walk in on the two of us in so little clothing. People have a way of jumping to conclusions."

She leaned forward then, standing in one smooth movement before scurrying up onto the platform. Skirt and wrapped top were quickly reapplied and the supplies hurriedly stuffed into her bag before throwing it around her shoulders.

"Uh..." she said, head tilting with a question once she was dressed. "Do you want me to take it off before we go?" She pointed to her own ja'risia by way of explanation. "I mean yours, not mine."

Noah blinked his eyes widely, slow in processing with the alien word and connecting it to the symbol on his head, "Huh? N-no it can stay. It's OK." He said while he pulled on the safety of the buttoned tunic. He did several up and then pushed skinny legs into the pants. When he felt reasonably dressed and covered and slow walked and said, "Arch." With a phasing hum, a rounded square arch appeared along with a door. "Ready?"

Irynya took one last look around the space that looked so intensely familiar to her before turning back to him. Nodding, she offered him a small smile before slipping her arm back through his, the same way she had when they had left their quarters. "Ready," she said.

=/\= A mission post by =/\=

Midshipman Noah Balsam
Computer Systems Specialist
Guest of Honor

and

Lieutenant JG Irynya
Acting Chief Flight Controller
Ja'risia Ceremony Escort