Lt Cmdr Robin Hopper: Swimwear? Swim here.
Robin Hopper
((Hopper’s Office, Level 12, S.R.C. – Amity Outpost))
Robin set her PADD down and clasped her hands atop her desk as the glass doors parted, and the gold-clad Ensign stepped through. To her surprise, it was a new face – a young Trill woman, with short-cropped sandy blonde hair. She had expected that the dispatcher would send one of the Ensigns to take care of this particular issue (all the more senior officers would likely be tied up with more legitima– no, that was ungenerous – with more critical matters… But it appeared that this poor soul had shown up on Amity at just the wrong time.
Robin tried to offer her a welcoming and kindly smile in a sort of preemptive act of condolence. She stood, taking a second to straighten the front of her blue-and-black skant uniform as she spoke.
Hopper: ::Smiling:: Hiya, come on in. Take a seat, if you want. I won’t keep you too long… oO I hope. Oo …Would you like a drink?
She was prepared with a mini-fridge stocked with various bottles of classic-style earth sodas, which sat just beside her desk, but – since those were not everyone’s tastes – there was also a replicator built into the wall behind her, amongst the hanging plants and vintage B-Movie posters.
Ylvor: Response
After taking care of the Ensign’s request, Robin fetched herself a glass bottle of cola, swiftly removed the cap, and slid a blue-and-white striped paper straw into the top. As she set it down on her desk, she introduced herself, with an offered handshake.
Hopper: ::Smizing warmly:: Lieutenant Commander Robin Hopper, Chief Science Officer and Second Officer.
Ylvor: Response
Hopper: Oh, please, just pick any one of “Robin” or “Hopper” or “Commander,” if you really want to keep it formal. ::Taking her seat, chuckling:: Anything but “ma’am”. Gives me the willies… May I call you Torvi?
Ylvor: Response?
Robin nodded, then passed the PADD she’d been looking over towards the young Ensign to look over. On the PADD, Hopper knew, Ylvor would find a meticulous report/complaint written by none other than her least favouri– no, that’s ungenerous – most challenging staff member: Crewman Furahl Ygrix – the Edosian computer scientist who was dead set on avoiding any sort of interaction with any other member of the crew. (Or at least, that was how it felt, at times).
Hopper: You can read the details in your own time… Maybe get a coffee first – ::smirking to herself:: – or a cocktail. The short version is that Furahl there is one of our computer scientists and he’s convinced that after I permitted him to complete seventy-five percent of his duty shifts working remotely from his quarters, that someone has been… ::sighing:: sabotaging his experiments when he’s out of the lab. According to him, he keeps coming back to find unexpected errors and damaged equipment.
She sipped at her drink as Ylvor responded, nodding slowly as she listened.
Ylvor: Response
Hopper: I promised to look into the matter personally, but that didn’t satisfy him. Someone from your department was therefore needed… ::Leaning forward, furrowed brow:: I won’t lie, this won’t be a very interesting or fun assignment – which I suspect is why dispatch saddled you with it.
Ylvor: Response?
((OOC – Happy to continue backsimming this introductory scene here, so please feel free to add additional tags for yourself and for me!))
Robin shook her head, and laughed genuinely, if a little beleaguered.
Hopper: Look, I do want to take this seriously. But – ::leaning forward, cupping hand by mouth:: – between you and me, this is not the highest-priority task. Read the report later, seriously consider that cocktail ‘cause it might help, then figure out where you’d like to start your investigation and get back to me tomorrow. Right now – I’ve got plans… ::Pause, curious eyebrow raised:: Has anyone told you about the party?
((Sub-Tropical Biome, Peace Park))
“Work hard, play hard” – those were the words that Robin Hopper had opted to live by since she first stepped foot on the flagstones of UC Berkeley’s campus and decided that things were going to be different for her going forwards. It was, perhaps, no surprise then that she had gone into the office prepared that day, already wearing her beach party get up underneath her uniform. As soon as she and Ensign Ylvor had parted ways, she’d tossed her skant into the replicator, thrown on a translucent blue plastic overcoat, and made her way to the train station.
Arriving at Peace Park, she was pleased to see that the party had already kicked off. She scanned the crowd for familiar faces. Wil, as always, had taken up his place behind the grill, gleefully poking and prodding an array of sausages. Rivi and her family were there as well; Robin did her best not to let her gaze linger too long on Tidrid Vataix in his swimsuit, turning her gaze elsewhere before any stray thoughts got her in trouble. She smiled as a gaggle of junior officers struggled to get a volleyball net set up in the loose sand that lined the lakeside.
Finally, her eyes settled on the person she was hoping to find, and she made her way towards the table where he’d begun setting down his things. She allowed herself the indulgence of staring at him as she approached, watching as Nate removed his tank top… It was times like this she almost thought it was a shame that Amity didn’t embrace its leadership’s Betazoid heritage more openly. But then, the flipside would be that she’d have fewer excuses to pull fun vintage pieces from her wardrobe. In this case, beneath her plastic jacket, which she began to remove, she wore light high-waisted linen shorts patterned in gold florals overtop of a blue sporty bikini (in case she decided to join that game of pick-up volleyball that was finally getting started).
She tossed her jacket on the table, where Nate had left his things, and followed him towards the water.
Hopper: Excuse me – pool boy? Can you help me apply my suntan lotion?
She put her hands on her hips, in an attempt to look as serious and bossy as possible. But the moment he turned around and laid eyes on her, the most adorably handsome grin spread across his face and she couldn’t help but laugh.
Hopper: ::Chuckling:: Where’s your hot dog? I can’t imagine you’re planning on missing out on the grilled meat… or does Wil only have veggie-dogs left?
Richards: I felt like taking a dip before joining in on the ::glancing over:: stimulating conversation happening over there. Care to join me?
Hopper: ::Thinking for a moment, then nodding:: Well, mama always did say I should swim before eating. I wouldn’t want to disappoint her… Just a sec.
Robin turned back to the table as Nate kicked at the water. She slid the shorts off and left them with his tank top, to stay dry out of the water, then leaned against the table for a moment as she examined the seal around the middle of her left thigh. While her cybernetic leg was, itself, water-tight, if the seal that bound the prosthesis to her skin wasn’t perfect, water could get between her skin and the sensors in the leg, messing with her range of motion. It had happened once before, ages ago, swimming at the reservoir. If it hadn't been for the lifeguard on duty… Well, needless to say, it was a situation she had been diligent to avoid repeating.
She looked up just in time to see him dramatically throw himself into the water with a big splash. He let himself drift under the surface for a moment before he resurfaced and shook his head back and forth sending a cascade of droplets in every direction.
Richards: Come on in, the water is fine!
She crossed her arms and shook her head, but began walking down the sand towards him.
Hopper: ::Grinning, despite herself:: Alright, alright, I’m coming… Hold your seahorses.
As the warm water crept up her right calf, Robin paused – noting a couple other figures nearby who seemed a little out of place. She held up a finger to indicate she’d be just a moment, then walked over to them.
Hopper: Well, hello again, Ensign. Glad to see you made it!
Ylvor: Response
She then turned to the other young officer who seemed to know precisely where she was, but still struck Robin as oddly un-festive; though that may have been a simple matter of her heritage. Robin recognized the half-Vulcan / half-Romulan woman as Ensign Esma, one of Nate’s newer Engineers who had joined the crew in the second half of last year.
Hopper: Hiya, Esma! Having fun yet? ::Wink::
Esma: Response
Richards: Response
TBC
