Yo Ho!
Posted on Thu Jan 22nd, 2026 @ 4:51am by Lieutenant Rufus Marocain & Lieutenant JG Callin Mastrel & Lieutenant Rozha Yarl & Karrun North
Mission:
Take My Hand
Location: USS Vesta, Lounge
825 words - 1.7 OF Standard Post Measure
Rufus entered the lounge tail swishing lightly with both anticipation and a touch of pirate-y swagger. It was appropriate to the day after all. He looked around, noting that everyone from Flight, save their new ACO and soon-to-be surprised guest of honor, was already here. As were a number of others both invited (you couldn't do the day right without Cap'n Jack) and those who had simply caught wind of the proceedings. He noticed the Doctor sitting unobtrusively toward the end of bar, face turned away from door, which made Rufus wonder if he'd done Jack Sparrow make-up again. With only a few exceptions (there was always someone who didn't pay attention and wore beaded dreadlocks) everyone had costumes concealed until the signal.
Setting a bag beneath a table, Rufus took position on a chair directly facing the doors. He tried to keep his tail steady and his lips closed - he'd been told more than once that an anticipatory smile with fangs showing was 'creepy', looking too much like a wolf waiting for the moment rush prey - as he waited for Callin to show up for dinner meeting.
Rozha had taken a place in the back, well out of sight of the main entrance. Even wearing a long coat, it was difficult to conceal her swamp pirate finery. She was as unobtrusively as she could polishing a newly forged knife.
As the door opened, Rufus' mouth opened in a big canid grin. "Over here, Lieutenant"
Callin took two steps through the door before he froze. The smile on his face faded slightly. Eyes narrowed. There was something intangible in the air. Expectation? Excitement? Almost he was tempted, but manners won out over curiosity and suspicion. He mentally waved off whatever it was, and took long strides with his big grin back in place, "Hi, sir!" It seemed that he had noticed the mood more than any hint of concealed costuming or knives, but slid into the seat without mentioning either.
Karrun appeared behind Rufus, setting a themed bottle of rum down on the table as the Kanian and his subordinate settled into the table, "Avast thee mateys!" She said with a laugh, "I noticed that your rum was gone and since I cant have you claiming its always gone decided to top you up."
While not overly dressed up for the event, Karrun had opted to be at least a bit in theme, with a flowly blouse, pants with a very pirate-y looking sash over her middle and topped off with a 3 point hat.
"Rum?" Callin asked, immediately looking from Karrun to Rufus for direction and permsision. It wasn't every day one was called in to a meeting with one's boss, and alcohol, or synthehol maybe, was being served.
A toothy canid broke briefly on Rufus face before he managed to straighten it to a serious look. "Lieutenant, how do you feel about pirates?"
"Uh..." Black eyes blinked, not picking up on any slip of Rufus' body language, and the young pilot quickly developed a frown. "We had a couple of run-ins with pirates on the Aries, out in the Kaleb Sector. Their bark, if you pardon the expression - I got this one from some humans on Earth, you see - their bark was worse than their bite. But I've heard other groups are more dangerous."
"True," Rufus laughed. "But I wasn't talkin' about threat assessment," he said reaching under the table, pulling out a tricorn pirate hat and seating it on his head. "I means bein' one. Grrrr ...er, Arr."
At that signal the rest of Flight, and most of the rest of the bar, donned their own piraty attire and began singing, "Yo-ho! Yo-ho!"
Callin sat stunned for a few seconds, eyes wide and unblinking as he looked around in confusion. The expression on his face was classically dumbfounded, earning him a lot of laughs over the reaction. Soon enough he understood though, and his face lit up in a big grin; he could enjoy a good-natured joke as well as anyone, and he knew his shock had been a good punchline for them in return. This wasn't a song the Betazoid knew, but soon he joined in on a round of, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!" as that refrain was repeated enough.
Rufus ended the chorus, throwing his head back and giving a deep throated Kainan howl. There was a brief break in other sounds, but old hands more used to Rufus' idea of singing and celebration - and others possibly encouraged by the 2XO throwing his head back in best attempt at a wolf-like 'Aroooo!' - added in with their own attempts at joining a Kainan group howl. Rufus lifted his glass with a huge grin. "That's how it's done, mateys! Lift your glasses and welcome, Lt. Mastrel, to the pack of pilots on Vesta!"
