With a small but bright smile, Zhouth held up one hand and performed a rapid wrist-only wave at the admiral when he was introduced. It was a bit of an understated gesture by his standards while being energetic by anyone else's. Faux pas (and random bystander impalement) potential was also avoided by his apparent presence of mind enough to not use the hand that was still holding his knife, which returned to the table in the meantime!
This message was last edited by the player at 10:18, Thu 19 Jan 2023.

"Given interstellar distances, I suppose they are as well as can be expected," the Admiral replies. "They... got left behind when the Navy and I parted ways. Regrets, yes. Some bridges just need burned."

"I don't have much to do with trade these days, but if there's anything I can do for you, just ask. Old acquaintances are few and far between."

"Thank you very much sir. Old acquaintances and friends are hard to find sir, sorry about your family situation, I would help if I could."

"Sir." Rayjay says nearly snapping to attention and saluting before catching himself and making a bit of a show of it as he crosses the arm across his chest and bows respectfully instead.

Ingrid smiled up at the Admiral. "A pleasure to meet you sir." She giggled when Teddy mentioned he had to pay for the new wife. "Well, we probably can't have a big wedding under the circumstances but I'm still going to get a nice dress"

She didn't outwardly react to the Admiral mentioning he had parted from his family, but inwardly she was shocked. The Sword Worlds was very family focused; even criminals tended to value their kin.

"The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Ingrid," the Admiral replies, using the neutral form of address.

"I'll let you get back to your celebration."

He nods at Rayjaynul and Zhouth, gives Ghent an appraising glance, and then turns and walks back to his table.

Ghent nods politely as the admiral scrutinizes him, and waits for him to be out of earshot before speaking up again: “I don’t think the Admiral knows that Silverhand is dead, yet. Interesting.”

In reply to Ghent Bel-Andis (msg # 50):

"I don't think anyone knows it yet, she did hide pretty damn good!"

"Then we are even more fortunate today." Rayjay said taking another sip of his drink in turn.

"One more thing to celebrate, right?" Zhouth held up his glass in a salute toward Theodore and Ingrid.

Ghent raised his glass in a salute to Ingrid and Theo, smiling good-naturedly. “Don’t know about you all, but I’m ready for dessert! Aren’t you two happy that we’ve managed to underline the grand event though?” He placed his wine glass down in front of him and considered the holo-menu for the dessert options. “Oooh, spicy chocolate mousse served with fresh berries and goat cheese… sounds very interesting…”

“I wonder how the others are doing…” Ghent said out loud.

"I'm certain they're having a grand time of their own." Rayjay said enjoying the last of his champaign.

In reply to Rayjaynul Brown (msg # 56):

"I know we're doing good, a vertable feast, good times and good company! Let us drink to success and pray for Varca and his group to get the job done!"

Zhouth heaved a heavy sigh and swiped his free hand sideways as if tossing some unseen item aside. "Well okay, but could we please stop talking about business during our relaxation time?"

Ingrid giggled "It does look like a great dessert selection, but that's not what is exciting about this event for me."

"May the Emperors Past grant them success" Ingrid prayed in response to Theodore.

Zhouth snapped his fingers and set down his glass, setting forth a different question as he returned his attention to the food. "Never mind emperors, even current ones. Unless they relate to this question, anyway: what's the honeymoon plan?"

Rayjay chokes on his drink as Zhouth asks such a personal question. "Zhouth, I do believe that may be an intimately personal question you just asked." Rayjay said before catching his breath with a throaty chuckle.

Zhouth shot a startled glance toward Rayjaynul, coupled with an incredulous, "It is?" One hand then thumb-hooked toward an unseen point which, if anyone cared to work it out, would be in roughly the direction of the Domain of Deneb. "Everyone I dealt with in the Imperium was all eager to talk about the vacations they'd booked for them? I mean, I know that we can't really just drop someone off for a couple of weeks and then pick them up later without disrupting everything, but I'd have thought there'd be something similar planned with this, you know?"

Ghent had a sudden far away glimmer in his eyes when Zhouth brought up the possibility of dropping off someone in a secluded spot for a few weeks. He mentally went down a list of names of people he wouldn’t miss for a few weeks, assuming they were ever picked up again. “Alternative is a quick trip in a hotel that has a spa and where we can leave the love birds alone for the rest of the day,” Ghent chimed in. “And it’s not so much about inquiring about the location of the honeymoon, Zhouth, versus asking them candidly what their plans might be.”

Zhouth still appeared quite taken aback, though perhaps not so startled, as he looked over at Ghent. "That's how they always seemed to phrase it?" There was a momentary pause, then he waved his left hand in a small arc. "So, what are the plans?" Then he waved his right hand in an arc. "Oh, we've booked two weeks at an underwater resort on Saarinen!"

The hands arced back together again, thankfully in a light tap rather than an attention-getting clap. "You know, that sort of thing!" He paused again, and a distressed quizzicality blended into his look of befuddlement as his voice dropped halfway to a hush. "Is that an unusual custom? I didn't realize that it would be interpreted differently here!"

“I believe most are mortified when mating habits are discussed or even hinted at, though I’ve always found this taboo to be immature and infantile. Mating is natural, but some find discussing it… uncomfortable. There’s no getting around it, unfortunately.”

"I never asked anything about mating habits!" Zhouth protested, now at an emphatic and near to frantic whisper. "I asked what the plans were, which everywhere I've been is about the touristy part!"

"Uhhhhh, . . . . yeah. . . . . I just asked her to marry me Zhouth. We haven't set a date for that yet, unless Ingrid wants to get married here. ASAP."

It wasn't clear whether Zhouth was now more or less surprised as he looked at Theodore and blinked, but at least his oncoming panic subsided. "Oh." Followed a moment later by a confused, "I thought you'd be doing that, yes."

He paused to glance slowly around the room as if expecting to see something somewhere, then shrugged and sighed and turned back to the table. "Oh well. My mistake."