State Dinner

Posted on Fri Mar 6th, 2020 @ 10:27am by Commodore Jane Saulitis & Lieutenant Commander Angus Murphy

Mission: Cruel Meridian
Location: Grand Hall
Timeline: MD03, 1900
1111 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Although not required to wear clothes because one couldn't see anything under all Min's feathers. Min had chosen to wear a pretty dress to the dinner, because she thought it might be fun. If was fairly comfortable, a sun dress of a light weight cotton and it was bright pink. No one on the ship could possibly miss her walking down the corridor with her Pappa Murphy and her Uncle Paddy.

Cassie approached the Grand Hall from another direction entirely, having chosen a green floor length dress, and matching accessories, for the occasion. As she turned the corner, she caught a glance of the Creoli child with her two guardians. She smiled; the girl looked adorable in her bright pink sundress. Daughter of ambassadors, indeed.

"Commander Murphy, Mr. O'Malley, hello," she greeted. "Is this the famous Min?" she asked.

"Hello Miss LeBlanc," Patrick greeted brightly, "famous indeed huh. Yes this is Min." He nudged the chest-height bird forward a little, casting her an encouraging smile.

Commander Murphy dipped his head in greeting to the diplomat and smiled politely. He was glad Patrick had the social graces to handle the introductions. He watched Min, but didn't really expect her to have any shyness. She seemed quite open and curious so far.

Cassie crouched down to the child's level so they could see each other eye to eye. "It's very nice to meet you, Min. I'm Cassie," she introduced herself.

"Hello," Min said very seriously, offering one of her hands. "A pleasure." There was no doubt she was super excited about this dinner. She looked Cassie up and down. "You're beautiful. I love your dress."

"Why, thank you! I have to say, I really like your dress too. Did you pick it out yourself?"

"Yes," Min twirled about. "I don't have anything like this at home. Papa Murphy said I could keep it."

"Did he? That's so sweet of him."

Murph smiled even broader at the exchange and Min's flattery. "See? A first-class diplomat in the making," he said quietly, amusedly to Patrick at he nudged his partner's arm.

"Must be her father's genes then," Patrick mused with a smile. "She's doing quite well so far, isn't she?"

"What do we do now?" Min whispered to her guardians.

"Now you talk to Miss Cassandra," Patrick suggested, "perhaps you could inquire after her interests or her work?"

Min turned back to Cassie with a very serious expression on her face. "You are the diplomatic officer. Do you find that a hard job?"

"Hmm, that's an excellent question," Cassie replied, pausing for dramatic effect. "I did find it difficult at first, because everything was so new. And sometimes, I still do. I'm sometimes thrown into an unfamiliar situation, or I might have to speak with someone I don't like, or who doesn't like me, and we still have to be polite to each other. That can be sometimes be hard to deal with." She smiled at Min, who seemed pensive. "But it's like any other job. As you learn and gain more experience, you get better and you gain confidence in your abilities to do good work."

Min nodded, her mind forming more things to ask as she pondered what Cassie had said.

She stood back up. Kneeling while wearing pumps did a job on her knees. "If you want, tomorrow I can show you around the office. You'd meet the amazing people I work with on the daily, and I'm sure they'd be happy to answer all your questions." She glanced at the Chief Engineer. "If that's okay with Papa Murphy, of course."

"That would be . . ." Min almost said fun but then changed her mind. "Nice." It sounded more grown up. She reached back and squeezed her Papa Murphy's hand. "Do we sit down now? Isn't there supposed to be a princess here?" Min looked around again.

"If you'd enjoy it, then why not," Murphy answered of the question about her coming to meet the diplomatic office. "And I... I don't know. If the princess is coming, we should probably wait to be seated," Murph answered with a questioning glance to Cassandra. Formal dinner protocols were not his forte. "I'm sure the captain is coming though, she promised me. Perhaps they're coming together. Seems improper to start without her." Having Min squeeze his hand was about as awkward a feeling as could be, but he tried to make it seem normal.

As if on cue, Jane and the princess walked in together. Jane had opted for something out of uniform, a rarity for her. It was a simple black evening dress that hugged her curves since she almost never showed them off. "Evening gentlemen, ladies."

In contrast, the princess was wearing an elegant cream coloured dress which didn't quite hug her curves. Her long pale green hair was done up in some intricate artwork. Her eyes scanned the room, as she worked to keep her face impassive to the point of looking bored. "Sit," she told them, "there's no need to keep standing... I'm sure we don't want the food to get cold."

"Yes, let's." Jane replied, not one to turn down scrubbing ceremony.

"That's the princess?" Min whispered rather loudly. "I love the color of her hair. And her skin. Why couldn't I have had that color feathers? Black is boring." She complained mildly.

Cassie was just about to place one foot behind the other to curtsy when the princess instructed them to sit, but managed to stop before ending up in an awkward position. With a sidestep, she reached the seat she was assigned to. When everyone was seated, she leaned over to Min. "Want to know a secret? I think black is the best color," she whispered gently, careful to not be overheard. "It goes well with all the others: the green of the princess' hair, the color of her skin..." she trailed off, admiring the intricacies of Princess Leyana's hairdo. Surely it would be rude to ask her stylist how it was done?

Min seemed to perk up when she heard this, her feathers ruffled a bit and her wings quivered but they were safely tucked away and somewhat inhibited by her dress.

"Thank you all for coming." Jane said. "This is just a semi formal dinner to welcome both of our guests. Miss Min and Princess Leyana. Enjoy the meal." She looked to each one with a smile on her face. Hopefully this mission would go smoothly. Perhaps she should have knocked on wood.

---

Captain Jane Saulitis
Commanding Officer

Min
Mini Creoli Ambassador

Patrick O'Malley
Chef
pnpc Lhaes

Princess Leyana
Alien Royalty
npc Lhaes

Cassandra Leblanc-Reed
Chief Diplomat