=/\= Kinsi =/\= Athena left the holodeck in a rush. She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep. Now she only had time to meet the colonel. She had planned to eat a meal before meeting with Keylor. She was just barely going to be making it on time as she promised as it was. She rounded a corner and skidded to a stop as the Colonel was already waiting for her. Keylor sat patiently at the restaurant, at the same table he and Athena had parted company several hours before. He was munching on some greens and sipping on a coffee he had purchased form the restaurant. It had taken him most of the time to collect the necessary materials for their little art project. It turned out to be a little more difficult, seeing how the little art supply store seemed to not have any quality clay. But by a stroke of luck, Keylor had found an artisan nestled in a very small room off the promenade. There he found clay that was suitable for crafting. The one task he thought would be difficult, arranging a place to conduct this activity on the base, was relativity simple. After checking with the base commander, he was directed to base operations who informed him of a crew activities center that was capable of filling his request. After depositing the materials in the center, he went to the promenade for a quick bite and to meet Athena. Athena took a few steps she had left to walk to catch her breath. She took a last deep breath and said, "I hope I haven't kept you waiting." She smiled as the colonel turned to face her. {I can't believe I'm missing another meal. One to play tag and one because I fell asleep.} Keylor chewed his food as he looked up at Athena. She was out of breath and seemingly in a rush. He waved a hand and shook his head no as he cleared his mouth. "No, it is all right. I was just having a bit to eat," he pointed to a chair and then to his food, Care to eat something before we start on our little project? Athena looked down at the colonel's almost empty plate and shook her head, "Your almost done." She sat down and waited for Keylor to finish up which didn't take long. Keylor shrugged his shoulders. "Yes, I am but I would not want you to get involved in a crafting on an empty stomach." He grinned. "But if you are not interested in something, then we can proceed now, " he said wiping his mouth with a napkin and then tossing it upon the plate in front of him. He then stood up, taking one last gulp of his drink and started walking away form the table. He motioned for Athena to follow him, "This way," he mumbled. Athena fell into step with the colonel as he led them to where they would be creating masterpieces. {Hope my stomach doesn't start to stage a protest} she thought and then focused on what Keylor was saying. After a few minutes the unlikely pair had boarded a turbo lift and with in a minute were at the recreation center. It was a small place, barely large enough for 6 people to work on various activities simultaneously, but it was desolate and big enough for the two. Keylor immediately moved to a table in the center of the room where several items had been laid out. Looking over the table he took mental note of the items. {Clay pallets for working the object on, putty knives, stylists, knives for shaping the clay. Miscellaneous items for making unique patterns in the clay and glaze in red, blue, green and black.} he thought as he pointed to each of the items and made inventory. He then looked over to Athena. So ready to get started?" he asked. "Yes, Sir," she said as she looked over the materials and supplies laying on the table. She smiled at the colonel as she reached out for a hunk of clay. The clay was cool and smooth and a bit hard. Athena threw it down on the table. Thunk!! The noise was loud and satisfying and resonated through the small room. She quirked her eyebrow at the colonel when she caught him staring at her, but said nothing as she began to roll her lump of clay on the table. The clay was beginning to soften and Athena picked it up. She squeezed the clay hard and let the cool material ooze through her fingers. She gathered the clay together in a lump again and squeezed it again. A very satisfied smile crossed her face as the clay slithered between the crevices of her fingers. She gathered the clay into a lump and then separated it into small equal amounts. Keylor pulled off a hand full of the clay from the half covered pile in front of them. Glancing over at Athena briefly as she started to slap the clay around, Keylor gently messaged his portion, coaxing it in to shape. Using his palms and fingers he pressed the small blob in to a disk. Carefully he pinched, flattened and smudged the clay until he had a nice, even disk 2 centimeters thick and 16 centimeters in diameter. He then looked back to Athena. After several minutes Athena had several pieces that looked like snakes lay on the table. Each piece was the same in the width of its roundness or very similar. In length there were several pieces of one length and then several of another. She took one of the snake like pieces and coiled it tightly. She dipped her finger in a bowl of water to dampen it. She took her wet finger and placed it at the center of the coil and rubbed in a circular motion until the surface she was rubbing was flat and smooth. Keylor looked oddly at Athena, "Are we in competition to see who finishes first?" he smiled at her. He looked at her beginning of her creation and his simple disk that now sat squarely on a round clay pallet for working. She looked over at Keylor and responded, "Um, no." Its was odd she always jumped into things with great gusto, but never before had it been challenged, at least not in this fashion. Keylor smiled, "Well one thing I learned back on Bajor is that to make a good creation, you need to take your time. If you are hurrying about trying to force the clay to bend and shape, you won't be able to hear it tell you what it wants to be." He smiled in reply. She thought about what Keylor was saying as she worked. Athena had taken several of the snakes and repeated the process until it looked as though there was a twelve inch plate in front of her. She used one of the tool one the table and flipped the plate-like piece of clay over. She dampened her finger yet again and placed it in the center. Moving her finger in an ever increase circular pattern to the outer edges until she had a smooth surface again. Keylor finished propping his first coil of clay. He was matriculate in its preparation. It was 2 centimeters in diameter and little over 50 centimeters. He then gently picked it up and placed in on the edge of his clay disk. As he coiled it, the two ends met with seamless perfection, not leaving any need to add or subtract any clay form the rope. He then reached forward and wetted a finger on each hand. With careful and smooth motions, he smoothed the coil in to the clay disk. After two minutes he had joined the two pieces as fit they had never been apart. Athena's stomach began to tighten and cramp a bit at the lack of food that was there but she ignored it. She stretched her arms over the back of the chair she was sitting in, cause her top to tighten across her chest. As she brought her arms down she covered her mouth to hide a small yawn, which left a clay streak on her left cheek. By now Keylor had been engrossed in his work, shutting out the environment around him. His attention as soon grabbed form a dull gurgling from Athena. He stopped and looked over to her, trying to figure out what the gurgle was. He hesitated for a moment looking at the clay streak on Athena's face. He then noticed how her cloths seemed to be bunched up behind her, causing them to tighten on her body. {Does she try to entice people, or does this happen to her by random chance?} He thought as he shifted his glance form her to her work. Keylor then glanced back and forth between his and Athena's creation. Hers was twice as large as his. It did not bother him though; he knew everyone moved at their own pace, and was not as much as a perfectionist as he. But he still could not help to notice that her last coil on her item seemed to be inconsistent in the thickness. He pointed to her work and commented, "The more consistent you make the thickness of your clay, the more evenly it will bake and the less chance of cracking." He remarked as a matter of fact. Athena nodded at the colonels comments but didn't rethink her work, as she knew she would be doing some blending and wanted the extra clay there for that. "I'm saving it for a trick, " was what she said instead. As Athena continued to work she began to put a side on the plate like piece giving it a shallow bowl effect. Her nose itched a bit and she reached up and rubbed it leaving behind another streak of clay. She continued to keep what she was crafting barely damp as she smoothed out the rough spots and smoothed the snake like pieces together. Keylor smiled and nodded and returned to his work, pulling off lumps of clay and rolling them out to perfection. Slowly and steadily he labored until his creation started to tower over the table. Athena had pulled her hair back before she met Keylor but a few strands had come loose. A few strands of hair had fallen into her face and she took a hand and placed them back behind her ear putting a streak of clay under her right eye as she brushed her cheek in doing so. She looked over at the colonel and marveled at the work he was doing. In comparison her work was very plain compared to his. After several minutes had passed, Keylor's creation began to take shape. The base and what sides there were formed a symmetrical cup shape, gradually widening as it rose. The sides were smoothed and sleek, the clay seamless in its' joining. Now over 16 centimeters tall and 20 centimeters in diameter. He slowly turned the cup shaped item in a circle inspecting every inch. ===end part 1 === Col Bretam Keylor & LT Athena Wellington