The Concert: Part V

Posted on Mon Apr 1st, 2019 @ 11:02pm by Cadet Freshman Grade Benjamin Hall & Cadet Freshman Grade Jesse Grant & Mackenzie Bergman & Commander Jacob Bannerman & Cadet Freshman Grade Catherine Wells & Cadet Freshman Grade R'Maia & Cadet Freshman Grade Gwen Morgan & Cadet Freshman Grade Damian Blake & Denak Brel
Edited on on Mon Apr 1st, 2019 @ 11:12pm

Mission: Ready For The Weekend!
Location: The Subspace Cafe
Timeline: 2388/08/30 2200 (Sat. Aug. 30 2388 10:00pm)

Mack rose to her feet when intermission was called. She wanted to find Kelly and Gwen... give them both great big hugs and let them know just how proud of them she was. Of course, with so many people around vying for their attention, it was unlikely she'd have that chance. Thankfully, she was a little fiery ball of determination and had every intention of plowing her way through the sea of people to get where she needed to be, and that's exactly what she did... heading in the last direction she saw the two young women head to. Sadly... she couldn't really see over anyone, so she had to go with her gut.

Instinct paid off! As she made her way to the edge of people moving around, she spotted the two young girls. "Kelly! Gwen!" She waved at them as she made her way forward.

Kelly had just turned away from Mister Raziel and was about to make her way to get a drink when she saw the redheaded spitfire that was her tiny cousin materialize from the edge of the crowd. "Mack!" Kelly shouted excitedly. "They like us!" She darted around a rather tall cadet and gave her cousin a hug. "They like us!"

"Of course they do!" Mack said with a bright smile as she leaned in to return her cousin's hug. "I'm so proud of both of you. Congratulations!"

Gwen smiled happy and quietly beaming, only a little nervous. "Thank you." She said politely, a little overwhelmed at all the attention but still pleased everyone seems to be enjoying it.

"You two were amazing! Words can't express just how proud I am of you both!" The redhead said, hugging each one of them once more. "I know there's likely going to be a ton of people wanting to get their time with you, but I had to be first. You two enjoy yourselves, and relish in your moment." She was beaming from ear to ear, grateful that she was there to witness it. And though, no one had seen her doing it, she'd recorded the whole thing via PADD so she could send it back to family on earth.

"Thank you so much, Mack," Kelly said. "I never in a million years it would be like this. The feeling is insane! Oh! Mister Raziel offered me and Gwen every Friday and Saturday night here, too!"

"Really!? That's amazing!" Mack said, hugging both of the girls again, only this time she got them both at the same time. "I am so proud of you both."

Gwen smiled, she normally wasn't one for hugging but something about Mack reminded her of an older sister. She drew again after a moment, "Thanks it's really Kelly who pushed this through, I was just talking but well you know how she is..." Gwen grinned at Kelly then back at Mac.

They were great. And the gathering crowd was evidence of that. Kyle wanted to do his part in congratulating them, but their fans were too thick at this point. So he decided to wait for a better time to approach them and to do it sitting at the bar. He only had one more drink left and he might as well get it down. "If you'll excuse me," he said holding up his glass, "I'm empty and I need a refill."

Barim came up to the bar and it looked like the young Betazoid was floating on a cloud of euphoria. "It's amazing," he said as if he were half asleep, his eyes hooded. "The emotions are flowing like fine wine...."

Ben was right behind him and his brow furrowed a bit as he heard what Barim said. "Are you telepathic?"

"Yes," Barim said. "I'm also empathic. I'm a Betazoid. I thought you knew."

Shaking his head, Ben replied, "No. So, empathic.." suddenly recalling Barim saying in Philosophy Class that he was Betazoid, and remembering what he had learned about Saxon McKinney, a Betazoid hybrid who had been a passenger with him on the Armstrong when they were traveling to the DQ, "You feel the emotions of others."

"Yes," Barim said. "I'm telepathic and empathic. Although I need more training in keeping the thoughts of others out of my head."

Ben's raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you've been reading our thoughts tonight?" he asked, not liking the idea, "or having a hard time not doing so?"

"I'm trying really hard not to," Barim said. "With so many people here, I'd end up in medical if I let my shields down for a second."

"I understand," Ben nodded, and then wondered, "This training you need, can you get it here at the Academy?"

"Yes," Barim said. "It'll definitely help."

Ben nodded again, filing the information away.


Over at the DJ booth, Dorm Officer Max leaned in a bit sideways beside Ailyssa. A few shiny strands of hair stuck to his forehead, his temples glistening, and his blue eyes sparkled as he was clearly exhilarated by the energy of the place. He started looking over the controls as he waited for her to notice him.

Ailyssa aka DJ Phantom looked up when she noticed someone getting close to the controls. "Don't touch....oh! Max" She laughed. "For a moment, I thought another Operations cadet wanted to check out the system. Are you enjoying the concert?"

He smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek before answering, "Yeah! Those girls are great! This place is great...but then they have you, so..."

"They're the ones that make the show," Ailyssa said. "But thank you for thinking that it's because of me."

He continued to smile at her, "You're welcome...always. I'm going to get me something to drink, would you like something?"

"Sure," Ailyssa said. "Something fruity with no caffeine in it. I need to hydrate and anything else would dehydrate me. Thanks, Max."

Max continued to smile and stared at her affectionately. "I'll be right back." He gave her another kiss on the cheek and started heading away.

"Thanks, Max," Ailyssa said before she turned her attention back to the board she had been studying before he showed up.

One sub-level up, in the club's mezzanine that looked over the dance floor, Jesse and R'Maia were sitting in one of the semi-private booths. They had been the only ones there as they watched the last performance on a private screen, but now others were starting to come up there.

Swallowing the last of his drink, Jesse looked over to the shy Caitian that sat nearly a foot away from him. "So what do you think of the performance?" he smiled.

"It wassss good." R'Maia replied, "I think that I am finally getting ussssed to Terrrrran music." she gave him a toothy smile, "Caitian musssic is verrry differrrent."

"I don't think I've ever heard Caitian music," Jesse responded. "I think I'd like to. If you're not busy tomorrow, maybe we could get together."

Her fur ruffled a little at the suggestion. A Caitian version of a blush as she nodded and said "I'd like that...I have quite the collection of albumsss." She smiled timidly at him.

She was cute, there was no denying it, Jesse had thought to himself and he smiled back, "That's great. Well then, it's a date..." Then he realized how she might take that, "Oh...I mean," he nearly blushed too, "that is, in a manner of speaking," and lifted his glass, indicating he wanted to clink hers.

"Of courrrssse." she raised her glass to his then drank deeply from it to hide the ongoing awkwardness that she felt and she asked herself for what must have been the millionth time, why did she have to be so shy?

Kyle had spent a few minutes sitting at the bar, sipping his third, and final, drink of the evening. The crowd had gotten somewhat thinner, but not by much. He realized that if he were going to get to say anything he had better do it. He left the unfinished drink on the bar and went over to where the two maestros of music were, weaving his way through the crowd. He passed by a redhead he didn't recognize. He smiled and nodded, continuing to where he remembered the two girls standing. "Hey!" he called out, reaching the edge of the crowd. Kyle held up a hand and called again. He dodged a Cadet as he got up to them. "You two were terrific! I don't think I've ever seen anything like what you just did accompanying your music. Definitely Maestros of Music. Oh, uh, I'm Kyle by the way. Sorry 'bout that." He chuckled a bit as he had forgotten to introduce himself. Magellan Campus was huge after all and there were lots of Cadets everywhere. He didn't expect everyone to know his name.

Kelly stepped forward to the young man and smiled. "Hi, Kyle! That means a lot to us to hear that. We have a few more songs to go, but I'm really glad you like it. We'll be playing here every Friday and Saturday night, too!"

"Time permitting." Gwen said trying to keep some perspective as she greeted people she'd never even met before. It was hard not to hide behind Kelly and let her cut the path but if Gwen was to be a Starfleet Officer she couldn't hide behind others forever.

“Well I guess I’ll have to stay around for your next set,” said Kyle. “No need to leave before it’s all over.” So every Friday and Saturday night, huh? Nice. I’ll know where to come if I need some good, live music.” He paused a moment, trying to remember if Barim had given him their names. Either he hadn’t or he had already forgotten. Giving up on it, he pointed to Kelly and said, “Gwen?”

"Oh!" Kelly squeaked and blushed. "I'm sorry. I'm Kelly and my singing partner is Gwen."

"Pleased to meet you." She said politely with a small but genuine smile. Her voice softer than Kelly's but still carrying because its singers tonality.

Kyle laughed when she made that little sound and blushed. “Don’t worry about. Nothing to be sorry for, Kelly. I knew I’d mess it up, anyway. Too many Cadets around this place to keep track of.” He looked at the two girls. “So, Kelly, Gwen, I look forward to hearing what you have planned next. And anything else I get to hear on a weekend. Keep it up.” A couple of others brushed by him. “Things are getting a bit crowded over here. It seems like you two have a lot of fans.”

"It's wonderful," Kelly said as a few cadets came up to get pictures of her and Gwen, others clamoring questions and making inquiries about future shows. "Thank you, Kyle!" She turns to answer questions while subtly making sure that Gwen doesn't get mobbed.

Gwen was grateful for the barrier even as she smiled at their fans, answering questions and trying to breath slowly. She'd never been so sought after and really didn't quite know how to handle it but the acceptance felt really good. Even as she fought with the odd combo of it both tiring her and being a source of great energy.

“You’re welcome, Kelly!” Kyle pushed his way back through the crowd to the bar and took a stool. His drink was gone, as he expected it to be, but that was fine with him. He’d had enough, even they weren’t tracking them. He began tapping his fingers on the bar to the beat of the background music.


Devin came up and bowed to the two cadets. "That was a spectacular performance, young ladies. I'm looking forward to hearing more from you."

"Thank you, Professor McCall," Kelly said. "We'll be here every Friday and Saturday night as our schedules permit."

Gwen hadn't smiled so long and at so many people before but it was getting a little easier, especially as this was her mentor in the intel program. "Don't worry our studies won't suffer..." She rushed to re-assure.

Devin held up a hand. "Relax, Miss Morgan. I know you will. Have fun tonight."

"Yes Sir..." She said, somewhat missing the point but no less earnest for all that.


Damian, who had been there for the entire concert, made his way toward Kelly and wrapped his big arms around her from behind. He planted a firm kiss to her cheek and smiled bright. "You were great, Kel-Belle!" He looked to Gwen and gave her a smile. "You, too, Gwen. You're both going to be famous! When that happens, don't forget us little peons."

Kelly gave a surprised squeak when the big arms went around her and felt a kiss to her cheek, then she smiled when she heard her Minion's voice. She turned and gave him a big hug in return. "Thank you, Damian! I'm going to keep you with me. I'll need a good Executive Minion one day."

Gwen had moved a bit more to one side to greet some friendly people from one of her study groups, so was a little further away but still nearby in the press of bodies. She glanced over surprised but smiled politely as someone redirected her attention for an autograph.

Kyle had been sitting at the bar long enough. He'd had his limit for drinks, well, mostly, and decided it was time to get up and mingle. Who knew who he might bump into. Quite literally as a matter of fact; the place was crowded. He started making his way through the crowd when he turned to miss someone and bumped someone else.

"Aw man, I'm sorry. I tried to miss that guy and..." Kyle paused. He was five feet, eleven inches but this guy was taller. "Well, maybe I should've run into the other guy. He was shorter. I could've taken him, if I'd needed to." He chuckled a bit, hoping the lightheartedness would work.

Damian laughed as he draped his arm over Kelly's shoulders, then looked toward the person who bumped into him. "Hey... no worries, man. I would have chosen to bump into me, too." He was grinning from ear to ear. Clearly, he was being pretty lighthearted about the whole situation. He extended his free hand in Kyle's direction. "Damian Blake, Intel cadet and Minion Extraordinaire to our very own violin playing firecracker here." He gave Kel a gentle squeeze.

Kyle started laughing and gave his hand a firm shake. “Nice to meet you Damian. Kyle Roberts, Security cadet and, well, just that right now. I haven’t reached minion status with anyone, yet. Though it sounds like a cool job.” He looked at Kelly and back to Damian. “We met few minutes ago. And yeah, that’s a great description…violin playing firecracker. I can see that. So what classes do you have to take to become a minion?” He grinned widely.

"Well... I suppose that's a question for our resident firecracker to answer. What are the requirements, Kel? General awesomeness for one." Damian said with a grin.

"You have to know the secret code," Kelly said conspiratorially with a wink. "And know what a poppet is."

“Okay,” said Kyle, “I’ve got the general awesomeness down, but I think I’m out of the running for the other two. So, Minion Third Class will have to wait until I do some digging.” Then he looked at Damian. “But I guess I’d better watch my back, what with Mr. Intel knowing I’m going to be digging into his minion job description. I don’t want to wake up some morning with a missing eyebrow or worse, a bald head. Don’t touch the hair, man, just don’t.” Kyle ran his hand through his locks and laughed.

Damian laughed. "Make sure when you're digging that you don't pick the wrong Poppet. It definitely isn't your general definition." He pressed a kiss to Kel's temple and smiled at Kyle. "Anyway... I think the second the ladies are done here, we should grab some of the cadets and go hang out. What do you guys say?"

Gwen quietly envied the easy way Kel and her friend were, so she blamed the vague unease on an introverts dislike of casual touch. Every hug or photo was met with a minor internal tenseness even as she basked in their acceptance. It was almost too much, she'd never been the center of so much and it almost made one dizzy. "I'd like to see if I survive the last set first, I can't think beyond that..." Gwen said honestly even as others continued to press for her attention.

Mackenzie turned away from one of the adults she'd just been talking to about something business related. "Kel.. I'm going to settle back down. If I don't get to see you again when this is over, just know I'm so very proud of you and I'll see you tomorrow for sure. I love you." She smiled and pressed a kiss to her cousin's cheek, then offered Damian, Gwen and Kyle a smile before she excused herself.

"Okay, Mack," Kelly said as she gave her cousin a hug. "I'll see you later." She looked at Kyle. "Minion Second Class for the time being, and a fingernail clipping will do nicely."

"Bye Mack!" Gwen called a genuine smile on her face as she waved.

“Okay, I can deal with that,” said Kyle. “Especially since I apparently don’t need to go find someone to be a minion for. But a fingernail clipping?” he said. “Uh, okay. But I don’t have any clippers on me, though. Do you?”

"I was kidding about the fingernail clipping," Kelly said. "Besides, I don't know voodoo yet. As for being someone else's minion, you could try to find someone, but I doubt they'd be like me and my little band."

Gwen opened her month to inform Kyle about the VooDoo practices she knew because her parents were archeologists but then closed it remembering this maybe wasn't the time or place. Who said she didn't learn new tricks?

“Nice. When you learn, though, teach me some things, huh? Never know when it’ll come in handy.” Kyle said. “I’ll go ahead and be your Minion Second Class, then. I have a feeling I’m going to like your little band.”

"Will do," Kelly said. "You're in charge of collecting hair and fingernail clippings."

"Well okay, then," said Kyle. "I guess I have to start somewhere. Hair and fingernail clippings it is. Now all I need to do is get a pair of clippers and small scissors and I'll be all set." He grinned as he started enjoying himself a little more. Meeting they guys had been fun.

Amazed at Kelly's ability to acquire these 'minions' at a warp rate, she just smiled at least she was fairly sure he knew she was kidding so she didn't need to warn him. She glanced at Kelly, "You couldn't ask for latimum? What are you going to do with toe tail clippings?" She asked lightly joking but also vaguely concerned like if anyone could find a weird use for toe nail clippings it'd be Kelly.

"Ancient voodoo secret," Kelly said with a laugh.

"Voodoo," said Kyle. "I never would've guessed. Maybe I have a lot more to learn about being a minion than I thought."

Damian couldn't seem to help himself, and somehow managed to be as discreet as possible about it. His eyes drifted toward Mack's backside as she walked away. He was a whole foot taller than she was, and had to have at least a hundred pounds on her, but DAMN!... she was smoking hot. He suddenly found himself thanking his lucky stars he was legal... you know... just in case. There were a ton of rumors flying around that Starfleet just didn't do ugly, and he was beginning to see that as truth.

Kelly looked back just in time to see Damian watching Mack walk away. "Is that how a Minion is supposed to act?" she asked him. "Maybe Kyle would make a better Minion First Class." Of course, she hadn't actually caught him looking at Mack's butt, but he was a guy and given the fact that she liked males and females, she had a very distinct feeling that's where his eyes had been a second before.

Gwen had seen, her situational awareness in this whole situation on overdrive since she stepped on stage, he was what her Gran would of called a 'Hound Dog' or her Gramps as 'A guy with a pulse...' and who then would get promptly but gently thumped by his wife.

Catherine Wells had come forward, "Hey some unusual melodies, there. Really liking how you blended them though." Gwen thanked her and Catherine waved to Kelly before bounding off into the crowd.

"Aww, don't be like that, Poppet. You know I've only got eyes for you." He said with one of his most charming smiles.

Kelly looked up into Damian's ice blue eyes. "Hmm...if they were properly frozen, they'd look excellent on my nightstand. I can just imagine waking up and gazing into them."

Gwen stifled a laugh at Kelly's reply as she focused on trying to greet all their new fans evenly, especially as Kelly seemed distracted with Damian.

Damian grinned. "Only way that's happening is if they're still attached to me. I'm sure we can work something out there in that regard."

At that point, Lance Parker came up to them. "Your cousin Mackenzie was right, Miss Khan. You are phenomenal."

Kelly smiled, grateful for the praise and for a chance to escape Damian for a minute. "Does it get me a free massage?"

"You mean she charges you?" Lance asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No, but I thought I'd try to see where your loyalties lie," Kelly laughed.

"With The White Lotus and my boss," he said. "Anyway, I'll be here for the rest of the show. I'll let the others get back to mobbing you."

"See you later, Mister Parker!" Kelly called before she turned to answer questions from another cadet about the dubstep she incorporated in her music.

Kyle had listened to and watched the whole exchange in silence. This group was great and he was looking forward to hanging out after the ladies were done. But as far as what Kelly had said to Damian and his response, Kyle had figured out that Damian had been checking someone out. But he had no idea who and, honestly, didn’t care. For him, there was a lot more to a woman than what was on the outside. Sure, that played a part, but there was more to it than that.

Damian looked toward Gwen. Somehow, he needed to find a way to get her on board the Damian Express. He and Kelly were friends, so why couldn't they be as well? He moved over to her and slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulling Kelly in with him, too. He was completely harmless. Just a flirt and friendly kind of guy. "Well, ladies, I've enjoyed the concert thus far, and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of it. I'll see you guys soon." He looked toward Kyle. "It was nice meeting you, man. Looking forward to hanging out afterward."

Gwen tensed a bit at the unexpected hug but tolerated it, as she was learning to do, since it seemed to be his way and harmless it and of itself.

"See you later, Damian," Kelly said. "We'll be going back on stage in a few."

"Hey, nice meeting you too, Damian," called Kyle. "I'll see you afterwards."

Damian smiled at the small group, then took his leave. Instead of finding a place to settle down, he slipped out the exit to go for a walk.

The lights started to flicker and go down again and the club music songs that were playing started to fade.

"That's our cue that break's over, Gwen," Kelly said. "We'll be available after the show, folks! Love you all!" She gave Gwen's arm a tap and headed for the stage.

Gwen followed giving a wave and a beaming smile with all the beauty of a full moon. It was a weird combination of emotions but she was definitely riding high at the moment.

As Mack sat herself down at the table near to Jake, he gestured towards the male cadet by Kelly and growled "You enjoy having little kids checking you out?"

Mack looked over at Jake and blinked. "What... are you talking about?" She asked softly as to not draw too much attention to the two of them.

"That kid over there." Jake flicked a finger so that only she could see the direction he was pointing, "He virtually drooled when you walked back over here."

The redhead turned her attention toward Kelly and the others. "I'm sure it was perfectly harmless, Jake, and aside from that, this is Kelly and Gwen's big moment. I'm not going to ruin it for them. If you want to talk, we can talk afterward."

"I'm not ruining it." Jake put his hands up, "I was just pointing out that a baby in a pushchair was checking you out is all."

"The same thing happened to you not that long ago, but it went a lot farther. I'm sure you remember that." Mack said softly.

"I remember." Jake replied, the mirth suddenly extinguished from his eyes as he downed the rest of his drink and stood up, "Have a great rest of the evening." he smiled at her sadly before stalking off to the bar.

Mack watched him walk away out the corner of her eye and gave a little shake of her head. She felt a little bad for saying what she did, but why did he feel he had to bring up something so innocent and make a bit deal out of it when he lived in a glass house? It just wasn't at all fair.

Reaching the bar, Jake leaned over it and started to root around behind the counter. "Uh...what are you doing Sir?" the barman asked awkwardly.

"Looking for the good stuff." Jake grumbled as he rummaged around for any hidden bottles.

"Only synthehol being served here tonight Commander." the young barkeep replied as he placed a hand on Jake's shoulder.

"Yeah...for them. But surely there's a supply here somewhere for the grown ups?" Jake stood up and looked the youngster in the eye.

"No Sir. Sorry."

"Seriously?" Jake snorted and shook his head, "Guess I'm gonna have to raid my own supplies tonight then don't I Sparky?" he pushed off the bar and headed for the door, casting a final look in Mack's direction before leaving the crowded club.

The head barkeep and cafe manager, Denek Brel, walked on over to that side of the bar, seriously keeping his eyes on Jake as he walked away. "Any idea who that is?" he asked the younger barkeep.

"Commander Bannerman. He teaches flight...rumour has it he's an asshole. There's this whole rumour flying around campus that some student seduced him." he shrugged as he continued to polish glasses.

"Well if he returns," Brel said as he turned back to him, "I want to know."

"I'll let you know the minute he turns up." the young barkeep replied with a nod.

Brel turned back to him, "Okay", and gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking away.

To Be Continued