PO2 Peter Dannenberg
[Starbase Columbus - Puzzles Bar]
Peter shook the old ladie's hand and with her being a retired judge, it made sense to be called 'Your honor'. Or so he made himself believe. It was still weird.
"Oh, yes, I've met Judy Eastman once before today. A pleasant person to be with and she's amazing with children."
When the conversation then briefly turned to that Hawke guy, Peter listened as Felicity and her mother Antoinette were talking about him. So he was invited, chances were good Peter could take a look at the man. Antoinette seemed to like him and was mentioning that Hawke was fond of Felicity. He didn't have a reason to but he now already didn't like the guy.
As Estelle spoke up again Peter faltered when she casually used that word in that sense of the meaning. Raising his eyebrows he suppressed an amused chuckle at the old lady's bluntness.
Since the question was directed at Felicity, Peter pointedly turned to look expectantly towards her, waiting for what her answer would be. When she looked back at him he held her gaze, confident enough to look right back into her eyes, a soft smile touching his mouth.
'Friends'. Well, there was nothing wrong about that. He really didn't expect her to go into the complicated parts of their relationship.
"Yes, we're friends", Peter confirmed, turning back to Estelle and Antoinette. "Are we making a different impression?", he asked teasingly.
[Puzzles]
The mass of people was disorienting, much more than any Tribble situation or crawling around in the ships vents. Fells simply hated being amongst too many people. So he stayed focused and was glad when Lea spotted him and greeted him.
With a kiss he replied. "I'm changing one disturbing situation for the next." He was only being honest. "Your mom is spoiling Ari to no end and is trying to give me advice on kids....I had to get out of there."
Together they made their way into the sea of people, where the Petty Officer spotted some familiar and many unfamiliar face. Then he passed a guy talking to Flick. He was young, good looking, friendly...possibly a good match for her. So Fells took it upon himself to greet Leas best friend with a friendly hug, which he usually wouldn't do, and then overheard him saying something nice about Judy, which only made him mutter.
"Yeah, so pleasant..."
[Felicity Ellis - Puzzles]Neither Estelle nor Antoinette seemed to be buying it, and she couldn't really say she blamed them. But at Peter's almost amused demeanor and his teasing tone, she turned on him with some surprise. Was he actually
enjoying this? There she was, cheeks flaming, struggling under the intense scrutiny of two very intense women, and Peter was as cool as a bloody cucumber.
She was kind of impressed. And she too was wondering what impression exactly they seemed to be making. Was there something apparent or obvious? Or did people just start wagging their tongues as soon as she stood next to a man?
"Having fun?" She asked him innocently, her brow arched and her expression curious. Felicity, in response to Estelle's annexing of her mother, threw back the rest of her whiskey in one generous swallow.
It was then that Fells appeared, and greeted her with a friendly hug. She wasn't sure they'd ever actually hugged before, but the surprise of the move was mild in comparison to the madness that had been flung at her so far that evening, and if it was a show of support, she'd definitely happily take it.
"Fells, hey! You're here!" She said when she pulled back, then smiled at Lea as she arrived next to him.
"This is Peter by the way," she told him, gesturing to her
'friend'.
"Peter, this is Fells, Lea's boyfriend. He's in Sec/Tac here on SBC."Belatedly, she wondered if 'boyfriend' was an acceptable term for the pair, and hoped she hadn't offended anyone. This whole relationship term thing was a minefield.
~~~
[NPC - The Hon. Judge Estelle Roth (Ret.) - Puzzles]
"The pleasure is mine," Estelle answered Antoinette - Felicity's mother, perhaps?
And then came the younger Ellis with a very disappointing answer. Estelle had a hard time believing the duo was just friends - it didn't check out.
"If you're just friends, then I'm a fucking lobster," she asserted. "We can leave you two friends to your friendship, can't we?"
Pivoting slightly away from the two, she addressed Antoinette personally.
"She's a peculiar one, isn't she?" she asked. "Daughter, sister, niece?"
The middle option in that question was included mostly as flattery. Estelle could play the game when she cared to, as infrequently as that was.
[Dr. Antoinette Ellis - Puzzles]"Daughter," Antoinette responded with a well-practiced put-upon sigh.
"She was never quite so coy as a child." Antoinette gave her shoulders an elegant shrug, as though she'd long since given up trying to understand her daughter.
"So tell me, Your Honor, what is all this about Commander Hawke and Felicity during the summer? And future versions of themselves? It sounds quite bizarre, you're quite right, but perhaps it could be useful."***
[Brooke & Lucas Reynolds - Puzzles]
Brooke couldn't help but grin at Greg's comment, knowing she wouldn't be able to play innocent as he knew her far to well for her to deny it. However when it came to being near her Dad and the way, both of the important men in her life, seemed to get on well, made newly dyed Brunette, very happy. Although there was no better feeling than having Greg's arms around her, as Lucas looked at the pair, before answering his son in law.
" Please call me Lucas, Greg, we're family now and as for my daughter, I knew that she could sing but its been some time, since she sang like that and I've got a feeling that its all down to you".
Brooke smiled and again couldn't deny it, because her Dad had a knack for being right, okay sometimes he wasn't despite convincing himself, but on this occasion, he was. Blushing slightly, she then admitted it, " You're right Dad, it is and the confidence, he's given me to push myself out of my comfort zone".
[Professor Emeritus Judith Eastman-Williams & Max Williams - Puzzles]
[...]
"You know you can't escape us, Greg, so why try?" Judy asked jokingly, announcing their arrival. "Care for a nice, strong drink? It would've helped you more earlier, but better late than never."
Neither of them had any intent of supplementing the wait staff, but here they were.
Max, in turn, addressed the others.
"Congratulations, Brooke. You look gorgeous," he said. Then, he offered a handshake to the other gentleman.
"I don't think we've met before. I'm Max Williams, and that's my wife Judy. We're friends of both sides."
The fact that Judy felt no need to interject with her double-barreled last name, or any title, gave Max a measure of joy.
[Gregory Ellis - Puzzles]"Sorry, sir - Lucas," Greg chuckled at his own apparent inability to call Brooke's father by anything other than a title,
"It's a habit of a career, unfortunately." When the two of them started giving him way too much credit for Brooke's performance that evening, he shook his head, very keen to lay responsibility at his fiance's feet.
"That's all you, soet. But if my hanging around encourages more of it, then I'm happy to be here." His eyes crinkled in the corners as he grinned down at her, and then up at Judy at their arrival.
"I wouldn't dream of it!" He responded with a twinkle in his eye when Judy proclaimed that he couldn't escape.
At her offer of a strong drink, he would of course accept.
"I'll take whatever I can get. So far, this has been quite an interesting evening." He nodded over toward his mother and Estelle.
"I see your grandmother has been networking."