Sprinkles and Shenanigans (Open)

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[SB Columbus - Promenade]

Adeyemi walked hand in hand with the child. Lately, Analyn had been spending more and more time with him. The captain was not pleased, and in fact thought the entire situation was ludicrous. The Station had a school. Several of them, in fact, with experts who had been trained to deal with children. Adeyemi loved his nieces and nephews, but none of them were so attached as this little one.

This little one was choosing to manifest herself more and more these days. Though she was only a hologram, Adeyemi could not deny that she was an adorable one. A pug nose, rosebud lips, mischievous hazel eyes, long dark hair. She always wore a tiny little pink Starfleet uniform, with the rank of captain. It wasn't exactly standard operating procedure, but the crew and civilians loved it just the same.

"Analyn! Macaroni and cheese?!" A vendor called out, cupping his web fingered hand over his mouth.

The little girl broke free from Adeyemi's hand, causing him to curse under his breath, and ran for the stall.

"Macca cheese!"

"Whaddya say?" The alien asked, ladling steaming, saucy noodles into a bowl.

"Pwwwwwweeeaaaaseeeee?!" Analyn said, blowing the word out from her mouth while she kept her lips nearly closed. She did that a lot.

"Here you go, you little bhumba mouse," The alien said happily, handling the little girl the bowl.

She promptly dug in with all of the gusto of a voracious 4 year old who didn't know anything about carbohydrates, calories, and everything else adults obsessed with.

"Like a bowl, captain?" The alien asked.

"No." Adeyemi said, watching Analyn stuff noodles into her mouth, cheese oozing onto her face, uniform, and onto the deck. "Thank you for offering them to her."

The alien either chose to ignore his tone or couldn't read when a human was being sarcastic. He saluted with his ladle.

"Analyn, neater, please. You must eat neater." Adeyemi swabbed at the little girl's face awkwardly with a cloth napkin.

"You must eat neater. You must eat neater. You must--" The little girl singsonged in the captain's Nigerian English accent. She was a talented mimic.

"Stop that!" Adeyemi said, frustrated. "Come on, the bowl is done. Let us continue our walk."

Without preamble Analyn put the bowl back onto the vendor's counter-top and ran off. The alien chuckled.

"She reminds me of my daughter at that age." The fellow said in a jolly tone.

"Soon as the Shran docks you're out on your ass, mister." Adeyemi said coldly. "Present yourself to one of her officers and see if there's a place on her galley for you. Get off of my Station."

"But captain, my vendor's license---"

"Its just been revoked." Adeyemi replied. His eyes searched for the little girl. He spotted her and had to take off at a speed walk.

"Analyn! Put that down!"

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[ Promenade]

Ardyn set down the squirming little raptor as she got out of the turbolift. Finally a chance to stretch her legs while the Shran was getting restocked and repaired from the last little encounter they had on the station. Making her way to the Promenade, she began looking up on her PADD where the shop of a certain Ferengi who was known to have some "back room" parts she could use to upgrade her flyer some more. Finally finding the shop she was looking for on the far end of the Promenade, she began to make her way to it. "Come on Buddy, let's go..." she looked where the little dinosaur was standing. He was gone. Looking around the Promenade, she tried to look over the crowd that was beginning to fill the food court for lunch. No sign of Steve anywhere. Oh crap. Did you wander off on me? she thought as she peered across the deck, calling his name.

[Meanwhile]
[As Steve]

The little raptor reveled in all the sights and smells of the Promenade, his big, brown, eyes taking everything in. So many shiny things and people. Walking off, he began smelling something rather delicious and began following the scent. Squeaking in excitement, the little raptor began racing towards the scent, his toenails clicking on the polished floor. A food vendor was nearby, suddenly, he saw a cute little girl. Squeaking happily, all thoughts of food forgotten, he came up to her and thumped his tail. Maybe she would play with him!

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Promenade]

The little girl loved animals. Her's was a realm of puppies, kitties, even the occasional foray into barnyard territory. Analyn often practiced her animal sounds to herself and to others, had a tendency of doing so late into the night and this interfered with others sleep. She didn't care. They were gwumpyfaces.

But the little lizard before her was unlike anything Analyn had ever seen. It was furry, but not like a puppy or a kitty, it wasn't winged like a bird. It wasn't even pink like a pig or black and white like a cow. The little girl cocked her head, and made a low, excited noise.

"Whooooooooo."

Adeyemi finally caught up to her. How could one travel so far on little legs? Then he saw the creature.

"Ensign," The captain said to a passing security officer. The young Andorian turned, immediately saw what was transpiring, and put his hand on his phaser he kept at his belt.

"A pet?" The young man asked in a tight, concise tone. An operational voice. Adeyemi was glad the Andorian was a pro.

"Don't know. Stick close by." He ordered. "Analyn. Come to me."

"But I wanna pway!"

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Promenade]
Ardyn saw the twitch of a tail underneath one of the tables. More specifically, Steve's tail. Bolting after him, she saw him nearby, cocking his little head curiously at a little girl. Dodging the throngs of people she arrived to where the little raptor stood, scooping him up into her arms. "Sorry about that, Sir. This little guy decided to run away from me. Steve's a therapy Holographic Velociraptor. He's perfectly harmless. More puppy than Raptor ." She knelt down by the little girl in the pink Starfleet uniform. "Hey, you want to pet him?"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Promenade]

Analyn was skipping from side to side and making an excited cooing noise. Adeyemi noted that it was her reaction whenever she wanted something very badly but didn't want to misbehave and get it.

"Malcolm, Mal, Colm, Mally, Mally, Mally--"

"Yes, yes," The captain said. Nodding to the little girl, he urged her forward.

She shot forward and hugged the fluffy little dinosaur and cooed. Her words came out in a rush.

"My name is Analyn! You're a dinosaur!"

"He knows he's a dinosaur," Adeyemi said inanely. He shook his head at the female officer. "I apologize. It's been a trying morning. I'm Captain Malcolm Adeyemi."

[Ardyn Jaeger]

"No problem, Sir.  Pleased to meet you. I'm Lieutenant Ardyn Jaeger. Flight officer on the Shran." She said, keeping an eye on Steve. She smiled as she saw Steve in his element. "Yup, he loves kids. And there's not many of them on the Shran, so he gets really stoked when he sees any kids. Probably a bit too much for his own good"

[as Steve ]

His tail thumped happily as the little girl gave him a hug. Purring loudly, he licked her face. There was a little bit of sauce on her, so he licked some more. Yay! I like this little person! he thought excitedly, still licking off the sauce from Analyn's little nose.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Promenade]

Analyn was still hugging the fluffy little dino. Her hazel eyes were alight with mischief. When Steve had licked her clean, the little girl began dancing about on her tiptoes in a circle, all the while chanting a litany of, "Yo ho ho a-yo ho ho, yo ho ho a-yo ho ho, yo ho ho a-yo ho ho, I'm OK! Yo ho ho a-yo ho ho, yo ho ho a-yo ho ho, yo ho ho a-yo ho ho, I'm OK!"

Adeyemi studied the little girl with a tired, defeated expression. The captain was only 50 years old, young for a human. He was still fit, still topped the scales at over 200 lbs of mostly muscle, exercised a half dozen times a week. He'd made first contact with a dozen species, fought in more engagements both with his boots on the ground and his butt in the captain's chair than he cared to count. He'd stood toe to toe with Romulan commanders, the Son'a, the Dominion. And he was losing to a little holographic toddler. The thought depressed him.

"Welcome to the Station, lieutenant," He said distantly to Jaeger. "I am glad that you are your...dinosaur here are aboard."

Without warning, the little girl vaulted onto Steve's back, hugged him around his neck and cried out, "Ride 'em, cowgirl!

"Analyn, get down from there!" Adeyemi protested weakly, hoping the raptor wouldn't indulge her and take off running.