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Pre sim - Guess who's coming to dinner...

Posted May 31, 2020, 4:55 p.m. by Lieutenant Commander Gravel Mardusk (Chief of Security) (James Sinclair)

Posted by Lieutenant Auleraine Brison (Engineering Officer) in Pre sim - Guess who’s coming to dinner…

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Gravel Mardusk (Chief of Security) in Pre sim - Guess who’s coming to dinner…

Posted by Lieutenant Auleraine Brison (Engineering Officer) in Pre sim - Guess who’s coming to dinner…

SNIP
As they approached the Holodeck, Mardusk stepped ahead. “Onnne sec…” and he tapped in a code.

As the doors opened, they faced a desert. Hot wind blew and the sand had wave-like patters across it. He took her hand and led her in. As the doors closed, there was an oasis in front of them. A pool of beautiful, clear water sat surrounded by palm trees and flowering jasmine and honeysuckle bushes. A large tent sat near the edge of the water, looking out over it. The sun was starting to set, and two torches burned on either side of the open tent flap. Mardusk led her inside. It was cool, and there was a single, large room. In it were pillows and rugs, and plates of food sat around a small fire over which turned kabobs of vegetables and meats.

Mardusk looked at her and said “I wanted us to get away for a bit. And the motif matched the menu, so…” and he looked down at her. “Yes? No? Maybe? I can swap everything out but the food. That’s actually real.” and he laughed a self-conscious laugh.

Mardusk

“MAARRR…” She gasped and let him lead her to the oasis. It was amazing and the brightness in her face was proof. Her hand glanced lightly over a bush as they passed it and she ran her hand down the flap of the tent.

Looking around, she shook her head. “It’s amazing! Honest…” she looked at him and smiled. “And at sunset. I love it.” She couldn’t exactly leap into his arms, so she got as close to him as she could. One hand rose to rest on his chest and the other crooked a finger to coax him to bend down. “Come here…” If he bent down, he’d be met with a gentle kiss from her.

Lera

He smiled and said “I’m glad you like it.” and he did, indeed, bend down. He kissed her, but a grin broke the contact. “Sorry… just glad you like it. Here!” and he quickly arraigned some of the big pillows and rugs so she could sit comfortably. He piled a larger group up for himself.

Mardusk

“I do, very much.” As they settled into the pillows, she looked at the choice of food. “Wow… this is amazing. I’m glad you didn’t leave it up to me. It wouldn’t have been anywhere near this nice. And the program is perfect.” She looked out the tent to a perfect view of the sunset.

Looking back at Mar, the was nothing but smile and happiness on her face. “So tell me what we have for dinner.”

Lera

He sat and leaned back. “Beef, chicken, and lamb kabobs. Grilled onions, tomatoes, peppers. All of that on a skewer because meat on’a stick is the best food ever. Under the lid there at the side is saffron rice. Other tray are dates, nuts, raisins, carrots, celery, radishes, and hummus. And to drink we have…” and he flipped back a rig to reveal the only modern looking thing in the area: a cooler. “Beer and Iced tea. Will that work? Or do we chuck it and go get reubens?”

Mardusk

She laughed as the list kept going. “I’m glad we’ve got two hours.” She nodded to a beer and smiled. “Good choice,” and held her hand out for one. “I can’t recall the last time I had meat on a stick. Back on Earth, I guess.” She reached for one and took a tentative bite.

Laughing, she covered her mouth. “Oh my god… that’s good.”

Lera

“Glad you like it.” and picked up a beer and handed it to her. “Mike hooked me up. I dont know how, even now, but that guy refuses to serve anything but real booze. How he gets it is beyond me. That’s one of the things he fought Fleet when they approached him about moving his bar onto the ship. They wanted synthetic, and told him so.” and he laughed heartily. “He looked at the Admiral in charge of Morale, Welfare, and Recreation for the entire fleet and said ‘If you want your crew served piss, then stick your di… er, um ‘thing’ in the keg, not mine.’ and walked out. I laughed my ass off.” He opened both beers and then took a skewer.

Mardusk

Lera had taken a sip and then almost spit out her beer, laughing. “Oh gods! I can see him doing that.” She wiped her face on a small towel nearby, guessing it was there for their hands.

Shaking her head, she shifted sideways till she could lean on him as she ate, now able to see out of the tent as the holo program ran the beautiful sunset almost more perfectly than mother nature could have.

After a couple more bites she sighed. “Save this program, Mar. Please?” She glanced up at him smiling. “Even without food, I like this.”

She sat and nibbled on her skewer.

Lera

He shifted and gave his chest and hip for her reclining comfort and said “Already did. Just load ‘Lera’s Oasis’, and you’ll be right here…” and he ate a bit. He then said “I’m really glad you like it. I was stuck trying to come up with something for a while…”

Mardusk

She smiled. “Good… and you did amazing, hun. Honest.” After finishing her kabob, she reached for a bowl and got some rice. “You know, Mike’s opening is tomorrow night.” She was sitting up fixing her bowl, sliding a skewer worth of toppings on her rice.

Lera

Mardusk had polished off three skewers, but sat back and grabbed some dates. “Uh huh… and?” he asked, smiling.

Mardusk

She finally leaned back against him, but didn’t look up. “You know he’s expecting us to go together? Are you all right with that? Jessica made it seem… well I guess, I mean I don’t want your job affected because of us.” She closed her eyes, failing miserably at saying what she wanted. She wanted him to be sure he wanted more than just a short walk in the halls to the holo decks. She certainly wanted more…

Raye

Gravel inhaled a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Lera… we talked about this. My job, your job… that isnt what this is.” and he waved back and forth between them. “You and I… well… dating?… doesnt mean I cant do my job, or you do yours. And if anyone on this ship thinks me being with you makes me somehow… what… I dunno… softer, maybe… is too damn stupid to be on this ship. Period. So I dont mind showing up at Mike’s tomorrow with you on my arm. Hell, I’ll plant a kiss on you as we come in, just to drive the point home.” and he looked down at her. “But if you have reservations, I wanna talk about it. But that’s where I stand.”

Mardusk, CoS

The rice bowl forgotten, she turned and rose on her knees. “NO!” she shook her head and snapped out the word harder than she meant to. “No, I don’t. Not at all. You can put me on your shoulder and announce it to the ship for all I care of other folks’ thinking.” She stood up and moved to stand as close to him as she could with his legs in the way. “I care about you, Mar. I don’t think I can say love yet, but only because I am not familiar enough with the word to know.” She lifted her hand to caress his face. “I do know I don’t want to look around for anyone else to spend my time with. I don’t want to think of anyone else’s lips on mine. And sitting on your arm in the Arboretum is, so far, besides this,” she smiled, “one of my most favorite moments on this ship so far.”

She smiled and tilted her head slightly. “Kiss me walking into Mike’s or don’t. It doesn’t matter to me. So long as it’s you at my back when we go thru that door, that’s all that matters to me.”

Lera

He moved his legs so she could step up to him. He looked at her and put two big but gentle hands on her waist and said “There aren’t enough Jem’Hadar in the galaxy to stop me. Then it’s settled? You and I are… together? And we dont give a targ’s left cheek who knows… right?”

Mardusk

That was it. The shift she had felt in his kiss, just last night, had fallen to click into place. “Together.” Meal momentarily forgotten, she leaned into him and kissed him gently, her lips parting wide in invitation.

Lera

Mardusk pulled her close and accepted the invite. He held the kiss for several minutes, then broke it of slowly. Looking past her, he said “Sweet, didn’t miss it. Look.”

The sun was setting, and the desert was on fire. Reds and oranges filled the sand and the sky, and the sun’s top most edge was barely visible. But then…

As if connected, as the sun finally dipped away the leading edge of a full moon began to rise, it’s lights turning the reds and oranges in to purples and blues.

Mardusk, CoS

Lera watched, her body leaning back against his, her head on his chest. She exhaled in awe and smiled. “Gods, Mar… it’s amazing.” As the moon crested and the desert slipped into night mode, she turned and faced him once more. “You do know your ‘big bad guy’ image is forever spoiled with me?” She laughed and stroked his chest. Something told her she would never see him the same. He may still sneak up and surprise her occasionally, but no more or less than a human who did the same.

Deep down, she wanted to thank the faction that took her. Because if Orions hadn’t saved her and the crew, she wouldn’t have been so determined to not be intimidated by the huge Security Chief. “And you realize you are stuck with me now. I’ll be damned if another woman is getting this part of you, ever again.” She laughed and watched his reaction.

Lera
Eng

He shrugged and leaned back, watching the scene unfold before them. “Well, hell… guess I should thought through. Oh well… what’s done is done. Guess I’ll just be stuck.” and he smiled.

Mardusk

She laughed and slugged his chest. “Poor thing.” She rested back against him and slid down to sit on one of his legs to remain close as she reached for her rice bowl. “Guess since it’s my turn next, I can’t use this program?” She smiled hopeful and looked up at him.

Lera

He looked down at her and said “Use whatever you want. I’m flexible.” and he chuckled. “But you will lose points for originality.” He held her close, and relaxed into the pillows. “I could totally stay here for the next week. You think anyone would miss us?”

Mardusk

Finishing her rice, she set her bowl aside and turned to lay on her stomach on his his. “Probably… noone would question your absense, I am sure. But I still have a stack of special requests to finish this week.” She sighed and laughed. “Think Mike would notice if we didn’t show up tomorrow night?” She laughed at the idea. “He’d either be having nefarious thoughts, or be concerned I’d hurt you so bad you couldn’t even come get a drink.”

Lera

Mardusk laughed out loud. “We should skip and tell him that you just broke me. Can’t stand, talk, nothing. You used me up and threw me away…” and he laughed again. “Of course, knowing Mike, he’d probably kill you… then me for messing with him. Actually, let’s just go. That guy scares me a bit.” and he grinned.

Mardusk

She had thumped his chest with her small fist as he suggested skipping and then letting Mike think the worst. “MAR! Don’t you dare!” And when he relented and mentioned going, she smiled. “He scares me a bit to.” She rested her head back on his chest with a sigh. “We’ll go. Maybe we’ll just cause a secondary scandal when we leave early… together, as well.” She laughed at the idea and closed her eyes.

“It’s so peaceful here…” She sighed, wishing they had more than two hours.

Lera

“I think that of everywhere we’ve gone together, actually.” he said softly. He was quiet as the night spread across the desert, enveloping the oasis. “You know… if you want to go somewhere after this, I would be up for it.” he stated with a bit of hope.

Mardusk

She didn’t look up but her cheek nuzzled his chest. “Do you mind your quarters?” The moon had risen enough now the whole oasis was lit up. She sat up slowly and looked at him. “Take a walk with me?”

Lera

He smiled and simply stood up. He led her out of the tent, and the sounds of the oasis enveloped them. Frogs, insects, and some kind of nocturnal bird led an orchestra of night sounds. He held out his hand to her and smiled.

Mardusk

She set her smaller hand in his larger one. The juxtaposition making her smile once more. “I’ll have to be careful,” she laughed. “On a bad day, I may wanna just walk that direction and not stop.” She smiled and walked towards the water’s edge.

Lera

“Well, if you do… just let me know. I’ll walk with you.” he said and followed her to the edge of the water. He looked at her and said “What are you thinking about right now?”

Mardusk

She laughed. “It’s strange. But I’ve never been in a holo program with water. I mean… in the Academy, the programs were for engineer training. And after that, I only ever did training holos and..” She shook her head, “Doesn’t matter.. I just haven’t seen water. It is incredible how realistic it looks.” She was smiling and almost mesmerized by it. Her mind fighting back at something that made her shiver then she was fine again. “I love it… honest.”

Lera

He chuckled and said “It is real… well, as long as the simulation runs, anyway. Go ahead… put a foot in. Trust me, it’ll feel fantastic.”

Mardusk

She laughed and moved her bare feet to the edge. As the softly rippling water hit her feet, she laughed. It was unfettered and rang out in the strange echo that the small closed space gave off. “Oh it’s actually cooling like it would in the desert. You can almost feel the heat under the surface.” She glanced back and looked like a kid who had seen seen the birthing day gift pile and realized they were all hers. “Join me?” She crossed her arms and slid off her shirt. Tossing it aside, she turned away from him and shrugged out of her bra as well. She slipped off her leggings and moved towards the water.

She inhaled and laughed as the cold water walked up her body as she moved towards the center of the pool. She didn’t know how deep it was, and didn’t care. She could swim enough not to drown and a single phrase would disappear it anyway. Her back was to him, arms rising as if trying to remain dry and warm.

Lera

Mardusk watched her, and he averted his eyes as her clothes came off, a darkening of his green skin being the only blush visible in the night’s low light. As he heard the first splash, he looked back, and saw her bare back entering the pool. “Well… um… ok, then. Glad I locked the door.” and he kicked off his shoes and pulled his shirt off. “Don’t turn around, dammit.” and he dropped his pants to the sand and then waded into the water with nothing on. Why didn’t I reserve four hours? he asked himself as the water went up over his waist.

Mardusk

Her hands wiped at her face, trying to cover it as pushing her hair up and out of the way and redoing her ponytail as she felt him move up behind her. “I guess I won’t look, then.” She dropped her torso into the water, hissing at the cold and giving a powerful stroke to drive herself closer to the center of the pool. when she got there, she stopped and realized she couldn’t touch the bottom. It was deep enough for her to swim in. She hovered in place treading water. She was laughing again.

Lera

Mardusk made his way out to the center with her, his toes touching bottom but just barely. He looked at her and smiled. He hadn’t heard her laugh so… unencumbered… before. “If you do, I do. That’s just fair.” he said. He splashed a little water at her and grinned.

Mardusk, CoS

She laughed again and splashed back. If he looked, for just this moment, there wasn’t even a hint of shadows in her eyes. She was happy, and he had done it. “HEY!” She said as she plashed him. “This is .... wow.” She laughed again. “I can’t even have imagined it was real. I figured it was just a projection.” She stopped stroking and let herself duck below the surface, coming back up, almost chin first, to let her set hair stick back on her head and not on her face. Wiping her eyes off, she smiled at him. “I love this…” She swam closer to him and looked up. “Don’t startle, I’m going to kiss you,” her voice was like his had been that first date in his quarters. She grabbed a hold of his shoulder and pulled herself out of the water enough to get part way to his lips. She broke into a bigger smile. “Ok, kiss me, damn it.”

Lera

He smiled and pulled her close, and kissed her. He relaxed with her with him, to the point they started floating. He broke the kiss and looked at her. “I’m really glad you are here. And me. You know… both of us. Together.”

Mardusk

She kissed him back and laughed when she realized she was laying on his floating body. “Now ‘this’ is the way to spend a date.” She laughed and settled her head on this chest.

They spent the remainder of the time floating and talking till the timer sounded the fifteen minute warning. Sighing, she looked at him. “Guess we need to head out. I have really enjoyed this Mar… thank you so much.” She was still lit up like she didn’t have a care in the world.

Lera
(mood killer extraordinaire)

He looked at her and smiled… then rolled his body, dunking her into the water. Finding purchase on the ground, he moved to the shore and then stopped when the water was a little above his waist. He turned and said “You first. I’ll cover my eyes.” and a big green hand left the water and covered the top third of his face.

Mardusk

She squealed before going under, giving a hard kick to the water and coming up beside him laughing. “No fair,” she sputtered and wiped water off her face while treading water.

When they got to shore, she smiled and kissed his elbow. “As you wish.” She moved to the shore and kept her back to him. He would look, or at least she hoped he would. She rung out her hair the best she could and used her hand to slosh off most the water before replacing her bra and shirt. She was bending over pulling up her pants as she started absently humming.

Lera

Whether or not she looked, she wouldn’t have known with her back turned. But as she started humming, he said “You ready yet? The sim will end I don’t want to be standing here in my birthday suit.” and he chuckled.

Mardusk


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