Work Text:
"What's your costume?"
"Ha! Like you'll ever see it!"
"Are you dressing up as the emperors new clothes?"
"You will be so absorbed in the other costumes the other officers are wearing---" Then Beckett waved her hand. "the weird ones."
"Is yours going to be weird?"
"No."
"I'm dressing up as Lieutenant Spock, from Pike's era." Boimler replied. "The v-necks with the starfleet emblem imprinted on the shoulders."
"The zip up dress like Uhura or the ugly zip up shirt?"
"Zip up shirt--and it's not ugly! You got no sense for style!"
"Having your sleeves up is a fine sense of style."
"Just remember, Lieutenant Kirk wore that uniform every day until the zippers moved to the shoulder."
"Whatever." Beckett turned over on the bunk then fell asleep.
Two days after being asked about her costume, Beckett came to the engineering bay to check up on the development of the costume, right at the time that her friend was working on it during his free time. Parts of the costume were scattered on the table and Tendi, recently promoted Lieutenant Junior Grade officer, was tending to the arm. It was a fine specimen of science making sure it were operating without glitches in the background.
"How's my costume, Rutherford?" Beckett asked.
"Your costume's heating fans are proving to be tricky." Rutherford said.
"You're saying it's hard to do." Beckett looked toward him then back toward the costume. "This will make me lose if it isn't done by Halloween!"
"No, only difficult." Rutherford amended his status report. "It'll be done before that date."
"Reaaaally difficult?" Beckett raised her brows leaning against the table. "For a engineer."
"The software that has to go inside of the suit has to be different from Starfleet property, if it as much works it'll become a new space suit, or they could use it for the environmental protection agency's space rangers, the laser addition was already patented and created by some like minded Buzz Lightyear of Star Command fan two hundred years ago."
"Didn't they already do that one year during Kirk's era?" Beckett asked.
"But it was similar, not identical." Rutherford said. "The helmets are very different compared to Starfleet--hey, are you and Boimler doing Space Rangers?"
"What? No."
"You do everything together. Almost everything!"
"He's my emotional support ensign. It's platonic."
"I once had something like that as a kid according to my personal logs. I think it were. . . it was some kind of feline."
"You'll remember one day what it were." Beckett placed her hand on Rutherford's shoulder. "Tell me afterwards!"
"Definetly." Rutherford squeezed her hand then withdrew his hand. "I get where you're coming from."
"And when do you believe the fan will be done?"
"Tomorrow, at the latest."
"You're the best!"
Beckett hugged Rutherford with a big grin.
Days passed with the finishing touches of the costume all applied and the party for the crew of the USS Cerritos were set to go underway. Beckett changed in a supply closet, her uniform neatly set aside, temporary, her comn badge applied back on to the costume then twirled with a laugh. It was a costume that was worth working on and high key when it came to parties. She strolled down the corridor heading toward the room where the Halloween party was set to unfold.
"Hey, Oborum, nice early 2260's Cadet Uhura costume! You got their uniform hand made well!"
"There's something telling me something's wrong!"
"You got it on backwards. The zipper for the dress is up front."
"Damn it!"
"Rudolph, nice Gary Mitchelle costume! You got the 'turning into a god' vibe well!"
"SUCK IT, Tuh'Kavaugh!"
Beckett strolled into the room to find it were decorated in head to toe in halloween decoration and holographic projections swinging overhead. The acting captain, Jack Ransom, was dressed in a 2360's uniform with the captain's pips and beside him was his little buddy, Stevens, who was in a identical uniform as him holding a empty cup pretending to be drinking a cup of earl gray. It was obvious that the acting captain was coping in his best way until things rolled over with her mother and things returned right, her promoted or her back aboard the ship. Either way, not being in the brig was preferable.
Beckett observed the crew in various costumes echoing through the entertainment database that was held by the ship's computers, Rutherford donned a lobster as a costume and Tendi was a fisherman with fake blood on her, fake wounds, with visible signs of mutation that had been so artistically crafted on to her costume. It was a testament to the young Orion's determination to be memorable. In truth, it was going to be remembered for life by one of the members with a Trill Host.
Barnes and Voris were in cooperative costumes, one was barney and the other was a triceratops. Volis, the androgynous member that she were familiar to, they had been quite excited about stitching it the entire week. Compared to Bingston Jr, he was quite not as excited as the rest for having chosen a character with a blanket from Charlie Brown. The list went on, except for that one balding officer with curly hair in what looked like a onesie (but really wasn't) that had vibrant green, orange, and yellow uniform with a long v-neck.
"Mariner, who told you what I was dressing up as?"
"Your--" Beckett turned toward her companion then paused, surprised. "Why did you paint chin hair on your chin?"
"It was that or using prosthetic hair." Jennifer said then eyed at her. "Who told you?"
"Your daddy."
"Why did he tell you?" Jennifer asked, her eyes big.
"No, I mean, that was a joke." Beckett said, defensively. "And you," she admired the andorian's costume. "Look kind of hot."
"Warp Darkmatter was the perfect subject," she walked around Beckett then smirked, her fingers laying on the frame of the chest plating. "You picked Buzz Lightyear," her fingers traced along the buttons on the frame. "how coincidental."
"Who told YOU that I were being a space ranger for the party?"
"No one, wasn't even thinking about you." Jennifer said. "If you beat me, then we have no choice but to arm wrestle over the award."
"Yeah and you think you can do that?" Beckett asked.
"I won my last arm wrestle with Ensign Barnes." Jennifer tapped on the helmet that covered Beckett's head. "Similar to human." She shifted her gaze from Beckett as Boimler walked on past during a power walk, his hips swaying back and forth, going on to join the cadets. "So, Boimler does do the power walk as Buddy said."
"What gave you the idea to dress up as Warp Darkmatter?" Beckett prodded drawing the andorian's attention back.
"He is a bad guy." Jennifer said. "Some bad guys make the best good guys when needed."
"Alright, everyone, we're going to do the costume judging next!" Jack Ransom announced from the center of the room. "And after you had your turn, have a piece of pumpkin cake!"
Ransom motioned toward a large pumpkin that had been cut and the slice had yet to be removed. He lowered his hand then blended into the crowd as Beckett pinned Jennifer against the table.
"Are you a bad girl?"
"Who do you think made the showers cold yesterday?"
"THAT was you?"
"Who do you think it were?" Jennifer asked, confused.
"A temperature malfunction." Then Beckett beamed, proudly, yet very turned on by Jennifer's claim. "That's genius!"
Beckett pressed a button on Jennifer's chassis then the helmet withdrew and she leaned forward placing a kiss on to the fellow ensign's lips for a long moment as the judging went on in the background. Jennifer reciprocated, clenching on to the side of Beckett's hips keeping her in place with one hand and the other hand, quite cold, set on to the side of her face cradling it. It was Jennifer who withdrew out of the very seductive kiss that erupted a thousand fireworks within her very being.
"And a friend of mine helped make my costume, it took her weeks to get it operational."
"Not bad for your friend's effort." Beckett moved her girlfriend aside. "You, right now," she shook Jennifer by the shoulders. "show off your attractive costume!" then turned Jennifer away from Beckett toward the crowd. "Move, move, move Jennifer!"
Beckett shoved Jennifer forward without as much as conferring with her directly into two ensigns dressed as a maroon dinosaur and a yellow tricatops toppling down like a domino effect the entire crew except for Ransom and Stevens who were making out. Beckett paused, her mouth agape, her mind flipping back to the Naked Time simulation, so, she was correct, as was the personal information, then a smirk replaced it and she shifted her attention toward the groaning crowd of ensigns.
"Mariner!" Jack called. "To the brig, NOW!"
"But, I didn't--"
"BRIG!"
"This sucks!"
"You suck!"
"Officers, move her to the brig and no cake for her!" Jack pointed straight at the ensign, his nerves shot, anger rising through him, his first important holiday that stirred crew morale and it had been nearly turned rotten to the core with her inconvenient tendencies.
"DUCK FACE!"
The door shut then Jack calmed.
"Right, who was showing off?" Jack rubbed the back of his head.
"Ensign Roddenberry, sir." Stevens said then set his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Not all lost."
"Not all lost." Jack agreed with a small smile squeezing Stevens's hand.
Jennifer silently sneaked out of the Halloween party for a short twenty-five minute recess in the same brig, allowed in by security, at least, to satisfy a urge, during Halloween, that had been stirred awake by Beckett. Rutherford and Tendi spent the rest of the party after Jennifer's return with Beckett as Boimler remained trying to be on the acting captain's good graces.