Never Have I Ever... Part I

Posted on Thu Aug 4th, 2022 @ 2:58am by Ensign Sheila Mulhern & Lieutenant JG Sheldon Parsons & Ensign Noah Balsam & Andrew Munro & Lieutenant Irynya & Lieutenant JG Kestrel & Ensign Tamblem Dravor

Mission: Echoes and Effigies
Location: Junior Crew Quarters - Deck 4
Timeline: Mission Day 3 at 1930

[Crew Quarters]
[MD 3: 1930 Hours]

The lights in the room were low, though there was plenty of illumination for all to see. Although the shared junior officers' quarters was ample enough for four, it felt positively cozy with seven making the space feel warm and close with bodies. A not insignificant cache of real alcohol had been unearthed and placed on the table in the common area along with red plastic cups that the humans of the group had sworn were part of the whole experience. Irynya hadn’t argued and had simply added snacks to the mix knowing full well the events of the evening would require draining one if not several more than one of the bottles on the table.

Everyone had been giving clear instructions. No uniforms. Comfortable clothes only. Pajamas preferred. Sheldon’s absolutely delightful light-up unicorn slippers were on full display at his Risian roommate’s request. Irynya wore her standard bedtime uniform – a fitted t-shirt and cloth shorts. She sat cross-legged on the floor with Sheldon on the couch to her right and Noah slouched on the floor next to her. At Sheldon’s request she had downed an entire drink before the game even began… a bid to… at least theoretically… level the playing field.

“Ok,” Irynya said, seemingly completely unaffected by the drink she had rapidly consumed in front of everyone as proof that she had done so. “I’ll go first. Never have I ever had sex in a sonic shower…” The Risian's lips curled in a wicked grin as she watched everyone's faces, waiting to see who was going to have to drink.

"W-wow, someone is starting off aggressive," Noah side-glanced at the Risian to his side. He drew his linear-slender bare legs up against his chest and lashed his arms in a pretzel atop them. He eyed the red cup. Surely replicated. Irynya must have been doing research into this Ancient Earth game. Noah touched the edge of his cup, along its white rim. His fingers snagged the lip of the brew but he didn't drink. Instead, he peered at the liquor within. Noah was, strictly speaking, not an alcohol drinker. It just tasted like sour or burning. But he'd agreed to the game.

Noah set his drink down without drinking. He'd not done that before. The lanky stick bug rested his chin on his arms.

Irynya glanced back at her friend, raising her eyebrows at his assertion. Her lips quirked slightly as he set his cup down before she pressed them together. "What? Would you have rather I picked something tame... like... never have I ever owned a pair of light-up unicorn slippers?" She gave the cadet a surreptitious wink as she said it even as Sheldon's slippers lit up as he adjusted in his seat.

Noah lazily turned his gaze to Sheldon and then back. "Mmmhmm." He said agreeably bobbing his head, chin as a fulcrum on his arm.

Sheldon looked suddenly alarmed. "Wait? Is that one real?" he asked, referring to the bit about the slippers. He hadn't had sex in a sonic shower and thus hadn't drank but he lifted the cup to his lips at the latter. When Iry smirked and shook her head, the young man visibly relaxed. "OK, whew," he said, blowing out a breath that lifted his bangs.

Sheila, on the other hand, reached out, grabbed her cup, and took not one but two sips. The alcohol burned going down but she smiled anyway, being very good at both consuming and holding her liquor. When she got strange looks for drinking twice, she shrugged. "What? I've done it twice, so I drank twice. Or is this not how the game works?" Her voice was husky thanks in part to her natural tone but also the roughness of the alcohol in her throat.

Kestrel knew most of the group only in passing, but when Sheila had invited her to come along she was glad for the opportunity to get to know more of her fellow crew mates. She eyed the group, a warm chuckle emanating from her at Shelia's comment before bringing the cup to her lips and drinking herself. When Sheila fixed her with a look of surprise she merely shrugged.

The Risian of the group had been watching as Kestrel drank and grinned before turning back to Sheila. "Just once if you've done it, but nothing's stopping you from your version." Her eyes crinkled merrily before her gaze turned to the remaining two men of the group, eyes moving pointedly back and forth between Tamblem and Andrew. "Well?" She asked

Andrew grinned and held up his hands. "Sorry, haven't gotten around to that one yet."

The Trill's almost always present smirk seemed even more prominent as he lounged. Entirely relaxed in his white workout shorts, which barely had an inseam of 10 cm, and an azure square SOJO tank top. Sometimes he was forced to admit that Human fashions could be considerably more practical. His cup rested comfortably in his hand propped up on his right knee, which had been drawn to his chest. "You think that's aggressive?" Tamblem asked cocksure as he drank from the cup.

Irynya grinned at Tamblem's question, eyes darting over to Noah who had made the original accusation. "You're up," she told Noah, bumping him with her knee for emphasis. Her eyes danced as she waited, curious what thing Noah might come up with to try to get the rest of the party to drink.

Andrew caught himself staring at Noah and diverted his gaze as casually as he could. He'd met the introverted engineer at a few social gatherings now, but aside from having a good taste in music, he didn't know much about him. Oddly, he was finding the choice of topic more exciting than whether everyone had done it or not. Now that the pressure was on, he was desperate to find out what Noah would pick.

The introvert engineer, with eyes suddenly on him, tapped the bow of his lips. He didn't want to follow in Irynya's wake with another question about intimate encounters. Was making people drink, or not drink, the goal of the game, he wondered? His black eyes snapped from person to person as the creep of seconds started to feel too long. An "Um," escaped his throat. "OK." "Never have I ever owned, um," he grinned after looking at Sheldon. "Never have I ever worn clothes were-were made in the shape of- or had the image of- a fantasy a-animal."

Noah picked up his red cup and drank from it.

Sheldon looked at Noah with alarm in his eyes. "You know I'm a lightweight," the young engineer said to the other, a mockingly-dark look flaring on his face. "Just wait. When it's my turn, we're going to Cheesestick Town," he said, then stuck his tongue out in good fun. It was then that he brought his cup up to his lips and took the prescribed drink. "Real alcohol, ugh," he said with a cough, rolling his eyes for effect as the burning liquid coursed down his throat and continued burning thereafter. As if on cue, the twinkling lights in the cheeks of his unicorn-faced slippers went off, winking on and off in a happy pattern. Looking up from them, he thought he caught Dravor looking his way but the man's eyes must have shifted?

Sheila, meanwhile, shook her head. "No imaginary animals for me. At least, not as an adult. It's possible my mom dressed me in something that might count, though. Oh what the hell," she shrugged and then took another long sip from her cup. "We're going to get real drunk, real fast if this keeps up," Sheila chortled, reaching the back of a hand up to scratch an itch on her nose.

"It counts," Noah said to Sheila as his throat undulated at the displeasure of alcohol going down it. Noah's apple cheeks flushed even while he smiled at Sheldon. After all, he had to drink with the Ensign. Then he put a slender fist to his mouth and coughed. His brows flexed a furrow at his nose. "Wuh-what the hell is this stuff Iry?" He coughed in his throat again and peered at it. "It burns. Somewhere b-between antimatter and, um, cayenne pepper."

Andrew took his first sip of the game and so made it a large one. It did seem vaguely familiar but the thought was interrupted by an involuntary cough that showed he hadn’t had something that strong in some time. “Yeah, what is that?”

"What?" Irynya asked them as she looked around the room, casually bringing her drink to her mouth and taking a long swig of it seeming entirely unbothered by the intense burning that rolled down her throat. Risian mythical creatures all had to do with the weather--but they were popular guardian type figures in children's stories. She'd always been partial to the water dragon type creature that helped wayward strangers through the roiling storms that preceded the weather control devices on Risa. Come to think of it she might still have the shirt somewhere, turned into a pillow by her mother.

"It's Tellarite Moonshine," she informed them, peering down into the murky brownish orange liquid in her cup. The soft flutter of butterfly wings stirred her hair and Mood, who had been loose in the room for the gathering, settled on her head. Grinning, she lifted her hand and the holographic butterfly clambered onto her finger, his soft yellow glow echoing the amusement she felt. "And you're not supposed to pick things that make you have to drink," she informed Noah with a laugh. "The point is to get everyone else drunk."

Noah made a face at Irynya.

“Tellarite?” Andrew exclaimed, eyeing his glass suspiciously. “It’s probably made from some kind of coolant!” A mischievous grin developed on his face. “…with some ground trotter trimmings.”

Noah coughed again, blinking like his eyes were watering. "They should sell it, um, for-for de-carbonizing ramscoop filters. Does anyone else feel like their mouth has a coating of musk?" Noah licked at the inside of his mouth with a nose wrinkle. His eyes settled on the newest to him person in the group: Dravor. And then Kestrel. "So no fantasy creatures for you two?"

"I'm afraid not," grinned Tamblem in response, "plenty of fantasies, just none involving imaginary creatures printed on clothing." He swirled the drink around in his cup a bit as it dangled from his fingertips, "I think Humans call this hooch, bottom shelf. It's not bad." Glancing Sheldon's way again, he queried, "I wonder what an intoxicated Ensign Parsons is like?"

The Risian shot a grin in the Trill's direction that made it entirely clear that she was more than happy to help answer that question. "Suppose we'll have to keep playing and see..." she commented looking at Sheldon with a teasing grin even as she addressed her comment to Tamblem.

Mood, it seemed, felt that moment was most appropriate for a resettlement and departed Irynya's finger in favor of Dravor's knee. The yellow softened slightly, and the tiniest bit of pink shaded the very edges of the hologram's wings a fact that Irynya noticed even if it was subtle enough for most everyone else to miss. She grinned wider. "No fantasy animal attire for you Kestrel?" she asked then, drawing attention back to the game.

The Argelian shrugged. "Painted plenty of fantasy creatures, but can't say I've worn any. We're not much for depictions on our clothing on Argelius." Her finger traced the white plastic rim of the cup, a stand in for the itch to draw. The scene was so collegial that she found herself wishing she could capture it somehow and she wondered if it would be counted rude to pull out a sketch book mid-game.

So Dravor had been looking, deliberating -- no doubt -- before vocalizing his question. Sheldon blushed ever so slightly but pushed past it with an acerbic, though friendly-intentioned, retort: "Drunken Parsons rarely makes appearances. And when he does, he doesn't sign autographs," the young man stuck out his tongue briefly at the Trill. "But with this stuff," Sheldon held up his glass, "I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up tonight. Really Iry," his voice was like hands-on-his-hips as he turned to her, "you sure know how to pick the poison. Oof," he shivered, reliving the memory of the drink he'd taken.

"OK," Sheldon said then, sitting up straighter and counting everyone in the room with his fingers. "I think everyone has answered. Which means it's my turn. I was going to get revenge on Noah for his question: Never have I ever eaten cheese sticks in the computer core," he smirked haughtily, eyes narrowing at the stick-bug of a human. "But where's the fun if only he drinks? So let's go with...this one," Sheldon beamed, having just thought of a delightful entry for the game. "Never have I ever had my combadge go off during an intimate moment."

"Define intimate," Sheila piped up, laughing. "We talking heavy petting or the whole shebang?" she asked, her voice husky and full of mirth. She readjusted her sitting position on the floor then to bring some feeling back into her legs.

"The whole kitten caboodle," Sheldon replied, not realizing the term had, in actuality, nothing to do with cats. "We're talking deep in the throes of passionate lovemaking--"

"Lovemaking? I'm off the hook, then," Sheila chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"One night stands count too, girl," Sheldon crossed his arms. "Now let me finish. Ok," he returned to beaming at the room, "so as I was saying, deep in the act of getting busy with another person...or yourself, just to clarify." There was a steely glance on his face as the reality that this included self-pleasure manifested. "Now drink," he said, flashing a smile even as he raised his own cup to his lips, downing another mouthful of the moonshine.

Sheila drank, too, and quite deeply. When her cup lowered, she just shrugged. "What? I met this girl at a bar on Andor once. I was in the process of uh...warming her up when the ship called from orbit. I don't even remember why they called but she was mortified that I wanted to keep going during the call," she laughed.

Irynya eyed the circle and then, with a shrug, tipped her cup back and in one long chug of the liquor, emptied it. "What?" She said to those around her before adding, "You guys have to stop picking things that you have to drink to! Or we'll all be drunk in another round or two." Her eyes crinkled around the corners with mirth as the warmth of the moonshine curled up in her belly.

Surreptitious fingers, skinny and agile, snagged Noah's red cup and he took a drink. His gaze stayed clear of Irynya and Sheldon, aimed down at the rim of his cup. He swallowed down the awful Tellarite brew and it burned.

"Nooooaaahhhh..." Irynya said singsong, already enjoying the effects of chugging an entire cup of the god-awful drink. She nudged him with her shoulder, grinning wickedly. "Look at you."

The skinny one swayed his body at Irynya's nudge. He smiled and shrugged but said nothing more. "A-anyone else?"

Andrew circled the rim of his glass with his index finger as he considered the question. Not being an officer, he was rarely summoned. “Is it specifically my commbadge …. or just any in the room?”

Iry gave Noah a quick look that indicated that while she was not going to press him for details in that moment she was also not going to forget his answer to this one. "If you have to ask that then I feel fairly confident you have to drink," Iry said, giggling. "Unless Sheldon disagrees..." She turned her head pointedly to her roommate waiting for him to render judgment.

Sheldon looked at Andrew and smiled primly, sensing that he was about to draw the man into a drink. "Let's just say a combadge going off. Doesn't have to be yours," he smirked. "I imagine dating the captain makes for some awkwardly interrupted moments?" he asked overly-sweetly.

Tamblem's arm extended towards Iry, cup in hand. Sans contents, its emptiness indicated the Trill had taken a drink or several, "Oh, I don't know, Sheldon. The Captain can just alter his appearance, take the call, and change back. No fumbling around the room for hastily discarded pants." Winking at the young engineer, he waggled his empty cup at Iry, "Might I have some more?" While waiting, the Trill set his eyes on Noah, "So, mister computer specialist, spill it, give us the deets."

"I-I-I'd need a lot more alcohol than two sips," Noah said with a head shake. He was flushed with mild embarrassment and drew his knee against his chest. "To answer that."

"This is Captain Kodak to all hands," came the Chameloid's voice over the comm system suddenly. "We've encountered a medical threat that necessitates locking down the crew and sheltering in place until it's safe to come out. Wherever you are, stay put. If you're currently on your way somewhere, find the closest place to shelter for the time being. Once conditions are once again safe, we will communicate a lift to the lockdown. This is not a drill. Kodak out."

"What the hell?" Sheldon asked.

Confused faces and murmurs abounded.


=/\= A joint post by... =/\=

Ensign Sheila Mulhern
Engineering Officer

and

Ensign Sheldon Parsons
Engineering Officer

and

Midshipman Noah Balsam
Computer Specialist

and

Doctor Andrew Munro
Civilian Biologist

and

Lieutenant JG Irynya
Secondary Flight Controller

and

Lieutenant JG Kestrel
Security Officer

and

Ensign Tamblem Dravor
Security Officer