JP - Lt. Ceciri Ariadust & Tri’lea Doyoxo Polgonz (Part 1)
Lt. JG Kivik
((Lighthouse Restaurant – 3 hours and 30 minutes until midnight))
Ceciri had decided to attend the party, although she had already done her traditional end of year celebrations in one of the shared-religious spaces. When in Rome, and all that. She was dressed conservatively for her, but still in an interesting style for her. Her deep violet dress was actually cut to expose a good deal of her chest, but not a lot of it, as it was a diagonal cut from her right shoulder to her left upper chest, and was considered in style for some of the betazoids, and if it wasnt’ for the tail cut she had to do in the dress - carefully - and her cat like ears, she could have probably have bled into the small but growing crowd in some of the diplomatic and civil circles.
.oO One day I’ll understand fashion. Oo. Ceciri snorted, finding that unlikely. She was too busy working on her doctorate - she found Planetary Terraforming fascinating -, being a Starfleet Offficer, and honestly, she liked her life. A life that was somewhat disrupted at the moment. Still..
.oO Standing and falling backwards never solved anything Oo.
Ceciri nodded to herself, and was waiting for her “date” here.
Across the room, leaning against the bar, stood Tri’lea. She wore her poise much like she wore her dress, with much practice but little comfort. The glass in her hand held a simple, yet perfect martini - a half ounce of dry vermouth and 2 ounces of gin balanced with the sweet intensity of a lemon twist. Strong, bitter, and just a little sweet. She smiled at the thought that it somewhat reflected herself and wondered what sort of cocktail Ceciri k’Ariadust would be…
oO Some sort of ritual wine.. Oo she mused. It felt as if she were compelled to drink, whether she liked to or not, as the result of some unfair tradition and the comparison seemed apt enough to amuse her.
She watched her quarry from across the room and took a sip from the martini. Tri’lea’s plus one - her attaché, Rei - was already mingling with the crowd as she’d been instructed. Her role tonight would be to meet some of the station’s senior staff, learn names, make connections. Tri’lea only cared about one connection that evening.
Already she found herself assessing what she saw before her. The picture she had been provided of Ariadust was clearly outdated. In fact, the woman before her in the violet dress was hardly recognisable to her - a disappointment. She was far less.. delicate.. than Tri’lea had been expecting. Perhaps Starfleet had toughened her up, though somehow the Betazoid noble doubted it. According to what little she knew of the woman, she had grown up working on merchant vessels following her mother’s exile. Tri’lea couldn’t imagine that life had been any easier.
She slipped away from the bar and made her way across the crowded room, keeping her eyes locked on Ceciri. She felt a little silly, like some sort of shark honing in on her prey. It wouldn’t do to spring the news on the poor girl without making some sort of introduction first - but for whatever reason Tri’lea felt compelled not to show herself immediately, not to walk up. It just wasn’t her way.
Instead, she walked elegantly behind the woman through the party, watching her movements, wondering at her imperceptible thoughts, until at last she could take it no longer.
Polgonz: Ceciri k’Ariadust?
Ceciri internally stiffened, but with some effort - some well learnt effort - kept it from more than a few micro movements, turning around to face the other woman - Betazoid, if she was any judge. Some interesting hints in bearing. Not enough for her to judge, but honestly, if she was asked now, she’d say that she was talking to a Betazed Noble. If anything, she had used the honorific in her name, the one that Ceciri had intentionally dropped years ago when she joined Starfleet.
Ariadust: That would be me. I don’t.. recall meeting you, but have we met and I just forgot?
Depressingly likely, given how many places Ceciri had been in her youth.
When she had first laid eyes on Ariadust, Tri’lea had attributed her inability to sense the Cygnian’s thoughts and feelings to the liveliness of the party around them. As she had grown closer, she began to realize that the woman’s thoughts weren’t being drowned out - they were concealed. A fact that she found both intriguing and disconcerting. Nonetheless, she would have to rely on Ariadust’s body language to tell her how she felt; She seemed tense.
Polgonz: My name is Tri’lea Doyoxo Polgonz… We won’t have met before - but I do know you in a way.
That tiny alarm bell was joined by an entire chorus. Most people who knew indirectly of her would have done so through her family, and with a very dead mother.. Well, Ceciri rather hoped it was for her papers and work on New Galway. Besides, her date had already wandered off anyway.
Ariadust: Oh?
Polgonz: Yes. My mother and your Great Aunt were acquainted through business.
Ceciri’s alarm bells were instantly upgraded to red alert sirens. But still, she smiled a bit. She didn’t, for a second, believe this wasn’t also aimed at her, but she sipped her martini with a thought and turned to fully face Tri’lea.
Ariadust: Ah, I see. ::Ceciri knew a bit to know that her Great Aunt did very limited direct business, leaving that in the hands of her many daughters. Mental tick up on noble, that.:: Pleased to meet you then. You must be a Daughter of a House?
Polgonz: ::Tri’leas smile wavered, for an instant:: Daughter Ascendant. My mother, Idrustix Doyoxo Polgonz, was a Daughter of the Twentieth House of Betazed. I’d not be surprised, nor insulted, to hear that you weren’t aware of us. There are many, even on Betazed, who know or care little about the House of Travelers.
oO For now. Oo She sipped her martini again and looked across the room to the other end of the party.
Ceciri did, actually. She had even worked for one very briefly when her aunt was the lead of a convoy to a Betazed colony world. Still, the Daughter Ascendant?
Ariadust: I’ve worked with your House before. Colony world of Shining Compassion, I think. ::Ceciri was a bit too direct there, since that was just a Cygnian thing to name their colony worlds after phrases, and a Betazed thing to name them after .. actually, if someone ever explained it to her, she’d understand then.:: I’m not surprised you would be out here.. :: Ceciri smiles a bit at the nebula, before turning back to Tri’lea.:: It would be a good thing to expand out here where far fewer species are arguing in the Assembly about colonies, and.. Well, if the Federation wants to have an actual foothold..
Tri’lea smirked. An enigmatic smile. oO At least she is not aloof. Oo Used to communicating with other Betazoids, she actually found it quaint and relaxing to converse with someone who could not read her own mind. Given her upbringing, Tri’lea had no interest in lying to Ceciri - but she also knew that it could ease the news she was bringing to conceal the details until they had gotten to know one another a little more. Or at least she hoped so. There was no need for any unnecessary unpleasantness.
Polgonz: You’re not wrong. I’m visiting for a few reasons, all to do with family priorities. We are called both to attend Betazed and people the stars. I also wanted to meet you.
.oo We. Oo. Ceciri was very unsurprised at that. After all, if this was just yet another ‘please meet our noble daughter, oh unmarried prospect of the Ariadust clan’, it would be in the thousands. However.. Amity Outpost was months away. You don’t idly go that far without some motive, and she also noted that Tri’lea was being far too indirect.
.oO Goddesses above and below, I hope this isn’t what I think it is. Oo.
Lt. Ceciri Ariadust
Helm Officer
Amity Outpost
C239112CA0
and
Tri'lea Doyoxo Polgonz
Daughter Ascendant,
Twentieth House of Betazed
V239806K11
==
PNPC Tri'lea Doyoxo Polgonz (she/her)
Daughter Ascendant,
Twentieth House of Betazed
V239806K11