=/\= Mess Hall =/\= Athena stood in the darkened mess hall and began to light the candelabras. She stood in the middle of the room a bit amazed at how the room could even look the slightest bit romantic. That thought had never occurred to her before as she looked or thought about the mess hall. She smiled to herself as she moved around the room self-consciously fixing the fake snow as she waited for others to arrive. Athena started the series of songs that Rangi and herself had picked ahead of time. She also perused the tables laden with food by Cookie. Everything seemed perfect and she took a deep breath as she went and waited by the door. Half way through the first song a couple of technicians showed up and she thanked them for coming in greeting. Another couple floated in followed by another all similarly greeted. Next, came Philip with Gina on one elbow and Tessa on the other. "Good evening, " Athena began, "thank you for coming." Tessa gave Athena a shy but genuine smile, while Gina glared at her and Philip leered slightly. Athena watched as the trio went and looked at the food and got something to drink. She continued to greet people at the door for a half hour. Then assuming that almost everyone was there, Athena remembered the request that Shane had made for her to make a general announcement. {I don't see why he couldn't be bothered to do this himself.} She shook her head and tried to forget about her displeasing thoughts and went to do Shane's bidding. As she stood middle stage the music came to an end. Athena smiled and then proceeded, "On behalf of The Commander I would like to welcome you all to the winter ball. Please, be sure to eat drink and be merry and of course have fun." Athena waited until the music started back up before she took a deep breath. {Its bad enough to know people are looking at you but its even worse to feel it.} She stood in the corner for a moment as she let the feeling of being watched slip away. It wasn't long before Philip approached her and asked her to dance. Although Athena did not like the look in the teenager's expression, she was polite agreed to one dance. Philip had a self-assured look; it almost seemed to be saying, "I'm better than you." Athena didn't know weather to be grateful or fearful when the next song turned out to be a slow romantic number. She appreciated the fact that Philip didn't step on her toes, but as the dance continued she hated how the teen's hand kept sliding down her back. Philip's hand slipped lower still and Athena bumped his hand back to the middle of her back. She was trying to be polite and patient but this arrogant boy was testing her limits. She secretly hoped someone would tap Philip on the shoulder and save her from having to finish the dance. She smiled blankly at the teen as she thought about ways to chop off his roving hand that had made it from the middle of her back down to her waist. Athena moved his hand up again and tried to think happy thoughts. =/\= End Log =/\= Lt. Athena Wellington Counselor USS Chimera