// EVENT: STATION-WARMING PARTY

[aqdidit]

It's like a long, long blink, and then, pop - the uncomfortable feeling of squeezing the very last stubborn little bit of toothpaste out of the tube, but you're the toothpaste.

And then you're sitting in a chair in a strange bar, with several people you've never seen before in your life. The light is low, the sort of comfortable level reserved for comradely conversations around some nachos and beers. The architecture of the bar itself looks industrial - someone might be forgiven for thinking it's located in a reclaimed warehouse or something of the like.

It's not. (Not unless you want to call a repurposed mining space station a warehouse.)

There's food on the tables, and drinks - much of it looks like staple bar food (is that deep-fried mac and cheese???), but some of it is a little unfamiliar (is that a bowl of worms? are they moving???????????).

After you have a moment to look around in sheer bewilderment, a man in what seems to be a uniform stands on the dais in front of a stained-glass mural and raises a glass. "A toast. To the new crew of Deep Space Nine. By which I mean, of course, all of you!" He chuckles. "You hardly look like a crew, though. Why, you're all out of uniform!" He snaps, and you suddenly find yourself wearing a uniform like his. "Where are my manners. You don't even have your marching orders." A handheld tablet appears on the table in front of you, between a glass of something blue and what's definitely a basket of loaded potato skins. And it's definitely yours, because it has your name on it. "There! Now you all have your PADDs. Read them at your leisure."

He takes a sip of what's in his glass and makes a face. "Ugh! Kanar. Terrible stuff, don't know how the Cardassians drink it." There's a small flash of light, and it's replaced with something bright teal. "Much better. Now, the Romulans, they know how to make a spirit."

Then he sits down in the chair up on the dais and leans back so it's only on two legs, looking down his nose at everyone. "Now. I imagine that all of you have some questions for me. So to avoid any blah-blah boring repetition, I am Q, and this is Federation Starbase Deep Space Nine - your home for the foreseeable future. Don't ask me any boring questions like 'ohhh why am I here ohhh', you can find most of what you need to know on your PADD. You're here because the station needed a crew and I thought you'd be a good fit."¹ Q twirls his wrist and a pocketwatch appears in his hand. "Yes, I can dilly-dally long enough to answer some questions. At my discretion." He snaps it shut, an oddly final sound.

Once Q is done holding court, he grins. "Oh, you're going to have such fun, mes amis," he says, and vanishes in a flash of light, leaving everyone to mix and mingle. The bar is unattended if anyone is interested in trying some amateur mixology, and Q has thoughtfully taped up instructions on how to use the replicators.

THIS IS NOT MY SLEEP NUMBER
When the party is starting to wind down, information for your quarters flashes on your PADD - including the location in the Habitat Ring and how to get there. They're spartan and lacking creature comforts, but your original clothes are there, neatly folded on the bed, along with anything else you may have had with you upon arrival. The PADD periodically chimes with information that you need to know, like how to work the sonic shower, or that the station runs on the 26-hour Bajoran day. It's almost like the PADD knows what's going on...? Eh, it's about as creepily invasive as Alexa, anyway. And speaking of Alexa, the PADD also provides a crash course in how to interact with the station's computer! Which is essentially plain-language audio querying. Ask Ms. Majel Barret Roddenberry the computer anything you like and she will help you.

A message appears from Q later on everyone's PADDs, unable to be replied to:

It'll take about a week before they finally figure out how to get transmissions through the chroniton field.

You've got that much time to get a handle on things.

:)

-Q

---

¹ This is a lie. He picked you just for shits and giggles.

Comments

[toughbutsticky]

"Wait, what? No way! You're from Queens too?" His mood seems to brighten a bit, by a bit - it's actually a lot - a grin coming over his face, "Ever have sandwiches from Delmars'? Or are you more of a fan of-" His words then started to go a mile a minute, "A lot of people like that place, you always hear about it online and it's good and all, but they use too much bread? It's good but not nearly as good. I can't believe someone else here is from Queens too."

Then he turns a slight shade of pink and settles down just as quickly and then quickly goes, "There are some good places in Brooklyn too. What's the name of the one you like? I wonder if I've had it. I mean, I might have. I kind of end up going nearly everywhere at one point or another and Brooklyn has a lot of good pizza places."

[flashedglass]

Clarissa enjoys it when other people smile, especially when she has been a part of it. She listens, continuing to snack at the pizza as he goes on and on about his favorite places in Queens. She has heard of several of them, eaten at most. For someone who had been so deprived of pizza and sandwiches most of her life she had made eating at restaurants and exploring food one of her hobbies.

She laughs when he settled down, his cheeks tinged with pink. "I like Giuseppina's, there's just something about a brick oven fired pizza that makes me sooooo happy."

[toughbutsticky]

"Oh!" Peter's eyes light up at the name and he grins. His voice grows steadily more excited as he goes on, "Oh, I know that place! The guy who runs it is really nice. He's given me some free slices before when it's late and they are closing up. The crust is amazing."

It was true. He had stopped a robbery or two nearby around closing time. The owner had always been unapologetically pro-spiderman and Peter had started to frequent the area after a while out of his suit. Being broke and hungry and being short a few quarters for a slice of pizza was how the next part of his story happened. Though, he has the feeling that he would always like the place a lot more than most without the experiences he had.

Then he looks a bit sheepish and then adds, "And, um, he kind of gave me a part-time job delivering pizzas too. I have a couple of jobs back home but I can come in and do it at any time I need to. So I'm kinda partial to them when it comes to places over there... oh, by the way, I totally recommend putting a little hot sauce on the plain cheese pizzas there."

[flashedglass]

Apparently it was the right answer, not that there was any other answer in her opinion, she wasn't about to lie about pizza. She nods, it sounds about right for the owner, though, if Peter were there that frequently, wouldn't she recognize him?

Perhaps he was from another time period. No, that didn't make sense. Life wasn't like those weird romance novels where two people from different time periods fall in love. Not that this was 'love', just friendship, but...maybe am alternate or parallel universe to her own. Interesting concept for sure.

"Oh! Hot sauce? Oh that sounds amazing, I'll definitely have to try that when I get home."

If they got home.

"Or, once I perfect my wood fired pizza from a machine, we can try it here!"

There, that's a better way to phrase it.