JL | Dani Atara and Lt. Evan Merlin | Secret Identities, Pt 1

Posted on Tue Feb 13th, 2018 @ 10:11am by Danielle Atarah & Commander Evan Merlin

Mission: The Round Table
Location: Cold Station Theta

One of the 'Goblin King's favorite games during the ball, he soon discovered, was trying to guess who was who, under those masks. It wasn't easy, especially with the Vindicator crowd making up a large part of the dancers. But he was fairly certain that the woman on the cloud, representing the element of Air, was the Admiral he had encountered a few days ago. She was talking with an elf who also seemed familiar… maybe Valeese? Two other Elemental creatures, Ice and Fire, were unknown, though there was something in the movements of the latter which hinted at the Element of Air. Possibly a relative? That would make her one of the Vindicator people, then.

He had spotted his CO and XO for certain. Now, maybe a brief chat with the elf would be sufficient to establish her identity. He drifted over in her direction, in no particular hurry to arrive. The night was still young.

From the corner of his eye, the Goblin King saw a flash of red and blue, and he grinned. A few days ago he'd sent a Supergirl costume, spandex and cape and all, to the woman he'd been exploring with last week. He wondered whether or not she'd show up. An evening like this, with lots of mystery and good drinks, sounded right up her alley. He changed course and made his way over to where he'd seen that red-and-blue flash disappear.

When she received the package with the costume, she knew exactly who sent it, and she knew she was going to wear it. But she also knew that she wasn't just going to wear this costume -- she was going to make it a Dani costume. She spent the day building, crafting, and preparing, and then calling Zett for the tenth time that day, to show it off and test. The Trill was far from thrilled that Dani was not already on her way back, but acquiesced when Dani showed off the resulting costume; the level of excitement was hard to ignore.

And now, she floated, her hair tinted blonde, the cape flapping behind her like the flag it represented, her face glowing with satisfaction, her eyes searching the costumed crowds for familiar faces... and food. There must be food somewhere around here.

The Goblin King looked around, failed to spot that what he was sure he'd seen before, finally looked up. And saw the woman in the Supergirl costume actually zooming around above the crowd. Under his mask he began to grin, utterly delighted. She was obviously looking around for someone or something. Suddenly, she veered off to the side moved into the direction where he knew were tables with piles of food and drinks.

Still grinning, he produced a glass ball from one of his many hidden pockets and made his way to those tables as well, the ball doing its hypnotising dance across his hands and arms. She had seen him practice with it before, and he was sure that she'd remember that detail.

And she did. She turned, twisting her maglev suit and adjusting its power to land as gracefully as a hovering body can, next to the orb-bearing Goblin King and stood, hands firmly on her waist, mimicking the iconic Supergirl stance with a grin that was unmistakably hers. "I expected a different outfit, Mr. Kent, then again, that would've been way too obvious, wouldn't it?" She threw her head back slightly, intentionally rippling her hair, gesturing to her cape with a quick nod. "Thanks for the gift. I upgraded it, I hope you don't mind."

The Goblin King, aka Clark Kent, aka Weirdo, Talks-to-Turbolifts or Evan Merlin bowed. The glass ball used the occasion to roll over his back from one arm to the other. "Of course it would've been too obvious," he said, straightening. "So this would be the disguise to hide the other disguise." He smiled under his mask. "As for the upgrades…" once again the smile became a grin, "I wouldn't have expected anything else. Supergirl, you look more radiant than ever."

"How sneaky of you," Dani smirked, and bobbed in the air, flailing her arms slightly to not lose her balance. "I must say, though, for a disguise, it's," she gestured from top to bottom, smirking, "not bad. I approve of the reference. Not many remember the good ol' movie references, so it's good to find a true... historian." She snorted to herself and shook her head, then flailed slightly again to avoid bobbing in the air too much.

"Would it be easier if I just tie you with a string and hold it?" he remarked innocently, eyeing her flapping, spinning arms. "That way, you just have to float… In addition, I'm sure we'd win a price for the most original costume *then*."

"Oh you don't have to do that, let me show you." Dani grinned and reached for a hidden pocket on her golden belt, extracting a pair of reading glasses. Her grin expanded and she put the glasses on, pressing a small button at their top. The costume transformed, seemingly using a combination of mechanics and holographic projects. The bright red cape tightened, folded over her shoulders and its colors faded, the bright red turning sandy brown, rolling off her shoulders like a small jacket. Her spandex and shirt continued the process, their colors fading and the fabric loosening slightly, until they she was no longer wearing a body-tight spandex suit, but rather than loosely fitted garb of a cheap 20th century business suit. Finally, the maglev boots shut down, dropping her feet back, firmly, onto the ground. She was standing now with the nerdy glasses and journalist suit from the updated Supergirl comics. She looked at her transformation with the wide grin of a mad scientist whose experiment just accidentally succeeded, and opened her arms in victory, "Yess! It all worked!"

All through the process, the Goblin King watched with a critical eye. He applauded when she landed. "It worked indeed," he said. "Better than the standard holographic emitters, they always leave this tiny blur if you know what to look for. Though, then again, nobody else ever picked it up…" He tilted his head slightly. "You would, of course, with your eyes."

A sliver of shadow passes through Dani's smile, but only for a brief second, not quite managing to touch it fully, as she catches herself and nods, expanding the grin again. "I could spot those even before the eyes, but they definitely make it easier." She shrugs, as if it's nothing, as if having a piece of technology permanently stuck in your head is the most obvious casual thing that could happen to anyone... and then shakes her head and gestures behind him, flapping the rims of her newly bunched jacket. "Ooh! Food. I was looking for the food. Care to join, Mr-Kent-In-Hiding?"

"Well, they *are* beautiful," he said, sincerely. "But yes, food sounds like an excellent idea." He turned around and together they made their way to the buffet. He neatly stepped around an impossibly tall black crow-like figure, looked up and waved before he reached the food-laden tables. "Oooh, lots of stuff," he said, looking around. "Choices, choices… What strikes your fancy?"

"Thanks, yeah," Dani shrugged, saying it almost automatically, and shifted her eyes to the large figure, tilting her head up to absorb the entire effect with a crooked impressed smile, before turning her attention to the food on the table. "Wow, people really did take this costume ball seriously. Ooh, nachos!" she picked some up, twisting them to make sure she gets a piece with extra guacamole, "I only picky with my food when I'm in Sol system," she smiled with her mouth full, chewing. "Got a couple of restaurants there; once you eat at those, your definition of 'food' changes forever. You should let me know if you're ever in the area, I'll get you the VIP treatment. You might even get away with jumping the weeks long waiting lists," she winked, and reached for another serving.

"Seems like I'm not the only one harboring a secret identity or two," he said, the grin forming again under his mask. He, too, took a few nachos and munched on them. Face-fitting masks were a great invention. "From a humble Starfleet Engineer to restaurant holder. Interesting career switch." And he was sure that from the way she said it, and from the way she held herself, this was just one of her post-Starfleet activities, and a side-one at that. He had no idea what gave him that clue, but then again, he rarely did. It was generally his intuition telling him things, and following that intuition had rarely been wrong.

Dani snorted, swallowing. "You have no idea, Kent. Come by the good ol' Solar System once, and I'll show you. Remember that," she smirked, wiping her mouth with a small napkin, and turned her attention to examine the other pieces of food on the table, searching for a good snack, "besides, I've been a Starfleet Engineer, but my friend," she grinned, picking a cheese cracker and waving it at him before throwing it into her mouth, "I've never been humble."

The Goblin King laughed out loud. "That much is true," he said. His intuition prompted him to add: "Mysterious, yes, and you wear your masks well, but not humble." He selected a small grey cube and murmured: "Mini Borg cube," before eating it. "And what's this?" he picked up a glass which contained a violent green glowing concoction. "'Warp Core Special'. Hmm. That certainly sounds interesting."

"Your station may need some Engineering T.L.C, but your snack titles certainly aren't lacking," Dani chuckled, testing a few of the snacks, sniffing them first before taking tentative bites to decide if she's ready for more. "Well, this party isn't too shabby for a Starfleet-run affair. I can't even immediately spot the Admirals," she smirked. It was half true; spotting them was not a problem even with masks on, but she made it a point to scan the room in general as a first thing as she arrived. Still, the atmosphere was definitely not what Starfleet was usually known for, and whether that was because of the nature of the Admirals and Captains around or because of the ball itself didn't matter; it was a breath of fresh air, so to speak, as much as one could be found in a closed starbase in space. "When does the official part starts?" That would be her signal to sneak to the shadows, perhaps run a quick call to Zett through the Bristol's encrypted channels.

"I've spotted at least one," the Goblin King said. "Haven't asked her to dance yet, though." He grinned, wondering if said Admiral would accept such an invitation or not. He tasted the Warp Core Special. "Hmmm. They should do this one with real alcohol, it'd be a smash. After midnight, so I've heard." The glass ball made a reappearance, dancing over his free hand and arm as he talked, seemingly with a will of its own. "The official part, I mean. Not spiking this drink with alcohol."

-- End pt. 1 --