Posted by Fleet Captain Garrett Michael O’Connor (Commanding Officer) in Side Sim Eden Prime Resort First one doing the walk of shame from the Captain’s room wins

Posted by Lieutenant Anastasia Adelaide Halsey (Supply Officer) in Side Sim Eden Prime Resort First one doing the walk of shame from the Captain’s room wins

Posted by Fleet Captain Garrett Michael O’Connor (Commanding Officer) in Side Sim Eden Prime Resort First one doing the walk of shame from the Captain’s room wins
Posted by… suppressed (11) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Elizabeth Montgomery sat at the bar taking in the landscape but she was not looking at the palm trees or ferns. She was not even looking at the pristine ocean rolling in both at the insane pool that doubled as an inland lake or the actual ocean beyond the barrier. She was looking at a man that probably looked far better with his shirt off than currently on. She watched him sitting there casually sipping his drink and pretending not to be interested in anything but the book he was holding. Maybe because he seemed so not interested in meeting people at the moment made Elizabeth more interested in saying hello. Whoever this guy was, he was not going to be alone for long and Eloise planned for it to be her and not some leggy blonde who couldn’t see her feet without bending over.

Moving off her barstool she grabbed her purse and walked across the patio the clack-clack of her flip-flops sounded her approach like a cadence. “Is this seat taken,” she asked before letting out a laugh. Looking up O’Connor would see a woman that had to be six foot and about one hundred and forty pounds. The effect of her physique and height completely explained why her friend’s nicked named her Betty Spaghetti because she did have the body of a long thing noodle. Her fire-engine red hair was long and came down over her shoulders to almost her waist.

Not caring about his reply she sat down as he spoke. “You here on vacation or do you work here,” she asked signaling for the waiter to bring her a drink.

Elizabeth “Betty” Montgomery

Garrett looked up at Elizabeth and smiled a warm smile. The man looked like he fell out of a Starfleet recruiting poster. Chiseled features, broad shoulders, sandy brown hair and sea blue eyes, the man was clearly an officer… a pilot likely by the gold wings on the black ball cap on the table next to his desk.

“On leave… actually. If you’d like to join me, the seat’s free” His voice was relaxed and warm like the sand on the beach.

Garrett

“Betty,” a voice yelled out walking over to O’Connor and the woman. She was in sharp contrast to the woman sitting at the table who looked like she was about to go to lunch and shopping with her girl friends. This woman was wearing a pair of cut-off jeans and a thin spaghetti strap tank top. Her hair was a light brown and pulled back in a slightly messy ponytail with a pair of dark sunglasses perched on her nose. A few strands were tucked behind her ears indicating she hadn’t fussed with putting it up and didn’t spend too long in the mirror before she left from wherever she came. The closer she got the more details Garret could make out. She appeared to be about 5‘4” but with legs that seemed to take up almost half that height. Her body was the basic althetic muscular and tanned but spoke neither to someone who weight lifted or sat hours in the sun. Over one shoulder a back pack hung by one strap. “What are you doing,” she half ignored Garrett sitting at the table. “It’s one o’clock. Why are you dressed for shopping . We’s gots to go,” the woman tapped her watch laughing before looking over at Garrett. “Whose’s your friend,” the woman said taking the large fruity drink before the waiter could set it before Betty and took a long sip before setting it back down on the table.

Garrett couldn’t help but let his eyes shift, ever so slightly, to the new comer. To say she was attractive was an understatement, though her attitude was definitely more… trouble… than her friend. His eyes graced her legs for one last pass as she approached before moving back to the article he was reading. When he heard the reference to himself, he lowered the magazine to reply but Betty beat him to it.

“This is Garret,” Betty extended a hand to the man across from her and then flipped it back towards the woman next to her. “Garret this is my best friend and roommate. We call her Hot Mess,” she laughed leaning back. It was clear the two woman were friends although completely opposite. One had a nerdy charm about her. The other was far more outgoing and looked like she would be ready for anything.

Hot was right, the veteran pilot thought to himself. He had only taken cursory glances as she had approached but now that she was closer… she clearly had the man’s attention.

“Hot mess extraordinaire,” the woman shot back happily extending her hand. “Get it right,” she pulled her sun glasses back on her head and gave the man a wink before turning her attention back to Betty. “So vamanous,” she clapped her hands rapidly at Betty. “They are only holding the reservation until 2.”

He couldn’t help the chuckle. “Reservations…” Garrett said, flashing the newcomer a smoldering smile. “… you girls realize the point of a place like this is the lack of schedules, right?”

“Um,” Betty gave him a look of agreement but pointed to her roommate.

“Dude a vacation is all about schedules,” she rolled her eyes picking up the drink again and taking another long draw of the fruity concoction. “God that is good,” she replied before continuing. “I mean really who spends hundreds of thousands of credits to go somewhere you have never been and do nothing.”

“Normal people,” Betty replied with a smirk.

“Pffft,” she waved her hand dismissing the thought as if it a gas in the air. “The point of a vacation is to come back with stories and not that you sat on a beach with a beer for seven days. You can totally do that shiii....stuff on a holodeck,” she avoided cussing in front of the pair. “Don’t you agree,” she pointed to Garret and then interrupted him with a pre-supplied answer. “See even he agrees and we don’t even know him.”

Betty leaned back in her seat and looked at her friend. “And I told you last night and at breakfast the day before I am not base jumping with you. Nope. Nada. Not happening.” The woman shook her head as if making sure her best friend got all the visuals associated with her answer to drive the point home. “Besides I really don’t think you know what base jumping is?”

Now they definitely had his attention. “Base jumping, you say?” It was more of a half question as he imagined the wind whipping the newcomers hair as she let out a hoot of joy.

“Base jumping I say,” she grinned at him rocking back and forth on her heels. “They take you to,” she began to pull her back pack around to find the brochure she had before Betty again pointed out that she wasn’t so sure Addie completely understood what the adventure was.

“Of course I do,” the woman stood up. “You jump off stuff…kinda like bungee jumping only with a lot less jerking,” she looked back down at her watch. “Betty come on. Dude it is gonna be fun, When I have I steered you wrong,” the woman knelt down almost pleading at her side.

Garrett snorted softly. How many times Devri told him crap like that to break him out of his shell. At least this new girl knew how to really have fun.

“Bajor, Risa, the moon of Gandor, that time in Kansas,” Betty began to rattle off a list as she took another sip of her drink.

“Why you want to bring in Gandor. That wasn’t my fault,” she drew back slightly shocked with a confused but sorry look on her face.

As her friend rattled off extraneous details about the the Gandor trip, Betty looked at the man across from her. He was so easy on the eyes but those eyes seemed to be finding some interest in her friend and their conversation. If this man thought activities like base jumping or running with Palookan spiders was his cup of tea, then Betty was definitely ordering coffee. “Let him take my place,” she nodded over at Garrett. If he survived his afternoon with her roommate, and enjoyed it, he definitely wasn’t the type she was looking for. If he ran screaming for the hills and barred her bestie from being in the same room after the escapade, then Betty would reconsider. Eden Prime was a gold mine for men so it was not like she would stay lonely for long.

“Huh?” Garrett asked, surprised that Betty had volunteered him for an afternoon of basejumping with her incredibly hot roommate.

“Him,” the roommate stood up giving Garrett the once over. The man was definitely athletic.

“Sure why not,” Belly laughed already agreeing for Garrett. “If he survives we can meet up for dinner later. If he doesn’t I will help you bury the body.” Betty smiled at Garrett not sure if she should wish him lucky or give him condolences.

“Well I mean I guess,” her roommate countered adjusting her backpack. After taking in a long survey of the man the roommate smiled. “Okay either way I gotta go and one of you are coming so hop to it,” she stated with a smile.

Roommate “Gotta come up with a name” of Betty

Raising an eyebrow

Garrett smiled. “Well… wouldn’t wanna disappoint.” With that, he tossed his mag in his own backpack and rose from his chair. The well worn Denver Broncos dark blue tee hugged his form, below, a pair of stonewashed Levi’s accentuated his height. Slipping on the wings of gold cap, the man slid broad shoulders into a Starfleet Aerospace Command brown leather bomber jacket… the gold Master Pilot wings patch bore the name: Garrett “Cannon” O’Connor

As his bag slid on his shoulder, Garrett looked down at the newcomer. As he moved closer, he smelled of leather and pine. “So… ready to go?” He asked, his smoldering smile returning.

Garrett

Addie looked at Garret as he stood up. He was far taller than he appeared sitting down a moment ago. She let her eyes trail over him. stopping at the coat. There were some things one noticed immediately in life that needed no explanation. A wedding dress, a tuxedo, and a flight jacket. Reaching forward she opened up one of the flapps and studied the stitching and zipper like she was a gemologist. Closing it she patted it back smooth not unable to notice the rock hard abs behind the leather. “Nice abs…I mean workmanship,” she stopped stunned with a deer in the headlights look. Of course you noticed the abs. I mean how the hell can you not Adeliade, her inner voice chastised her. He is all muscly and ripply and even though you were interested in if the coat was real leather or not how could you not pause to take in that body.

“Thanks sweetie…” Garrett returned his own smirk as he adjusted his pack strap. It appeared that the pilot had missed her little slip of the tongue until. “… the abs came with the shirt.” He winked and then nodded nonchalantly toward the Shuttle Lot, a quizzical look on his slightly scruffy face.

Addie’s cheeks instantly flushed red and she opened her mouth with a smile of good-natured embarrassment pulling the corners back as if it were forced. It was the type of smile that said oh yeah you caught me so I am going to pretend I weren’t doing or thinking what you knew I was doing smile. “I was admiring your stitching…of your coat…the time and effort to do that… it’s amazing....the stitching,” she fumbled over her words laughing and only giving Garrett a half side glance to see if he was buying anything she was selling.

“Uh huh…” Garrett smirked once more. “… well, it damn well better be. 2,500 credits… plus patches… the leather is from a huge ranch in Western Texas. It was custom made to my dimensions the year I pinned.”

“Of course you were admiring at the six-pack....of his abs…and the time in the gym…’cause they are amazing…the abs,” Betty translated Addie. It was clear Elizbeth “Betty” Montgomery was thoroughly enjoying the moment. There was no anger or jealousy in her tone but pure mirth at poking fun of her roommate in this situation. “However, that jacket is nice too,” she gave Garrett a huge smile.

“The jacket is on the abs,” Addie completely ignored Garrett as she dug the hole deeper trying to get out. “It’s like not noticing his eyes are an incredibly sexy blue,” she could barely contain laughing as she spoke. Her roommate was no fool. Garrett O’Connor was exactly Addie Halsey’s type no matter how much she was pretending it wasn’t.

The man chuckled. “You two practice this act or are ya just great at improv?” Nodding toward Betty, Garrett smiled down at Addie. “With friends like her, who needs enemies… right hun? Considering she totally just sold your little cute ass out!” He chuckled once more.

“Huh your right,” Betty looked at Garrett and broke out laughing. And so, somewhere on the shore of a distant planet the rare phenomena of woman’s locker talk was shown between the two roommates and in front of the man, their tongues would be wagging about later that night.

Addie shook her head trying to silence the voice in her head and her roommate’s real comments. “Okay…we should go,” she turned around and immediately started to walk towards the shuttle area. Her pace was quick but not rapid. It was clear she was slightly embarrassed at her comment. If it wasn’t, the fact she grabbed two beers off a passing waiters tray and handed one to Garrett the second he caught up to her showed she needed a minute to gather her thoughts. “So you are a fly boy O’Connor,” she said taking a sip of her drink. “Does that mean you are an adrenaline junkie or calm and collected,” she asked as they waited in line.

Addie Halsey

O’Connor sipped his beer, he always had liked German style brews more than the North American brewhouses. “I haven’t been called a flyboy since the Academy, hun. But yes… I fly. Hell… I fly just about everything one can fly!” He chuckled as they inched forward in line.

“Yeah, that is the problem with you pilots. Put two huge honkin’ nacelles in your face and any conversation you have with them turns into that gibberish from the old Peanut cartoons in their ears. You know that whah whah wonk whah,” Addie imitated the strange lingo used by the creators of the show to indicate how kids heard adult voices. Addie leaned back on the rail and popped up sitting on it as they waited for the next shuttle to start to load. She lifted her beer and took a long swig waiting for Garrett to continue talking.

Garrett turned to say something and paused every so slightly as his eyes landed on Addies legs, now very close to his own waist. It was slight but if the girl was paying attention, she’d catch the meant stutter. “Trust me, Addie… if you want me to bore you to tears, getting me talking about planes ain’t it. Unlike most pilots, who take Military Sciences for their degree… I specialized in Advanced Theoretical Physics. Specifically, the development of Star Drive systems like Slipstream technology. Building starships is impressive… no doubt… but without the math, their first flight could be their last.” He smiled, his eyes taking in hers.

“Ma’am please do not sit on the rail,” a voice from a PA echoed over the crowd causing Addie to roll her eyes. Looking at Garrett, Addie sized him up and grabbed his jacket moving him between her and the man in the booth controlling the loading and unloading of the shuttle. “Ma’am I still see you....behind your boyfriend....the tall guy with the dark hair....leather coat....I mean come on,” the voice of the announcer was starting to show how close he was to the end of his shift. All these tourists thought they were so clever.

“Really…you know making assumptions,” she started to protest before seeing the look on the guy’s face and the sign indicating any rule-breaking would be cause for line ejection stopped her from going further. “Okay okay,” she replied slipping down from the rail to stand back next to Garrett with her feet firmly on the ground. “If you had two more inches I would have been golden,” Addie gave him a lop-sided grin as she whispered conspiratorily closer to his ear. “So you were saying,” she leaned back on the rail.

“Well…” Garrett sniffed playfully, whispering in her ear… his lips lightly brushing her earlobe “… thats a first. Never had an inches complaint before.” He then stood back up straight and continued his train of thought.

Addie’s eyes met his with a naughty twinkle behind them. “My nacelles usually are the things distracting the pilot causing the whah wonk speech and not a physics of flight conversation. Garret was turning out to be far more than a pretty face. He was smart, witty, charming, and could make her grin far easier than he should be able to after less than an hour meeting him. She thought about asking him where he was currently stationed but decided against it. Why ruin the afternoon with knowing whatever fun they would be up to in a week would be over as Starfleet sent them back to their respective ships. Even though the entire crew of the Odin was on Eden Prime the resort was like a huge city with hundreds of other people also vacationing there.

“As for adrenaline junkie… I think that only really kicks in with air breathers, when atmosphere and gravity can still kill ya.” Garrett took another sip then looked down with a wolfish smile. “Really… I like anything that makes my heart race. That way… I have to work harder at staying calm and collected… to get the most out of the… experience.” Without another word, he looked back ahead and went back to his beer.

Garrett

As he raised his beer to his lips, Addie reached out and pulled it from him mid-swallow. Rolling her backpack forward off her shoulder, she stuffed his half drank beer and hers securely in her backpack. Fishing in another pocket she opened her palm to show him two rubber stoppers. “Blue or Orange,” she asked.

“Blue… of course.” He smiled as he motioned to the blue one. “Why?”

Taking the color he picked, she placed it on the top of his beverage and capped hers. “Beer savers,” she said as she worked. “I found them on IFEA and even though Intergalactic Ferengi Exports and Acquisitions gets a reputation for cheap products these work like a champ when you come upon,” she pointed a finger in the direction of a huge sign that said NO FOOD OR BEVERAGES ALLOWED ON SHUTTLES. “Who wants to waste a good beer? I know that Teller guy said this was an all inclusive resort but since we are going off resort I am not going to pay twenty credits for a beer when I have a perfectly good one right here,” she patted the bag. “You can thank me later.”

As the pair took their seats on the shuttle, Addie suddenly turned to him with a surprised look on her face as if she had forgotten something important. “Oh and you owe me a hundred and twenty-nine credits for your base jumping ticket. Stupid number I know. Why they can’t make it an even number like thirty is just a marketing ploy to make you think you are not paying as much. I had no idea this little activity cost until I reserved it. You can pay me later when we get back to the resort,” she said offhand as if they had known each other for years and not barely for under an hour.

“I think we can work out an arrangement…” He gave a flirty smile. “… spend your life in starships, you have lots of cash to vacation with when you take Leave.”

His comment told Addie a huge piece of much-needed information. Garrett O’Connor, the handsome pilot with the body that definitely needed a closer inspection, was single. Men that had money did not have a wife or girlfriend. Men that had leave also did not have a wife or girlfriend because they were typically the ones covering the shifts from their buddies who were spending their money and leave-taking the significant other on the trip they had been hinting about for weeks or months. “Good because I would hate to have Benny and Guido have to show up in your hangar reminding you that you owe me money.” She bit her lip and raised her eyebrows in a waggling motion.

Watching the lunch landscape pass by them Addie let her eyes drift to the huge mountain peak they were headed for. The closer they got, the more activities they could see dotting its side. Hang gliding, zip lining, some weird course that looked like it had hamster balls rolling down it and of course the pop of small silken parachutes indicating it was the jump point for the base jump area. “So what is the absolute worst place you were ever stationed,” she asked the man beside her starting idly chit chat as she watched everyone doing what she was about to.

Addie Halsey

“Easy… Fallon, Nevada.... not a damn thing for miles and miles.” Garrett shrugged. “Going to TOPGUN was cool but my god! There wasn’t a thing to do that didn’t involve a shuttle or a Teleporter!”

Garrett O’Connor

“Beta Centauri V,” she immediately countered holding up her fingers. “It was next to an IFEA distribution facility. No one ever wanted to hear the specs on the items until they fell apart and wanted me to help them with supply and procurement of replacements.” As soon as she finished her sentence the shuttle began to slow down indicating they had reached their destination. Addie followed Garrett out single file like the rest of the shuttle’s occupants. She was glad she had taken the inside seat and that the shuttle was crowded. It prevented him from being all gentlemanly and letting her go first. It allowed her to check out the back forty without trying to be obvious.

Exiting the shuttle Addie took a long look around and wore a perplexed expression on her face. Her eyes drifted to the clouds that seemed to be level with them instead of above them. “Garrett.... you ever do this before,” she asked him taking in what she thought she was about to do and when it appeared she was about to do.

Watching the group on the ledge that were ready to jump, Addie looked at Garrett. “Okay so where are the little ropes that you wear in that harness thing,” she mimed with her hands more of a repelling harness than parachute pack.”

Addie Halsey

Garrett couldn’t held but chuckle, which was a bit harder in the thin air. Pointing to the altitude indicator on the platform by the jump point, he smiled. “29,500 feet… Sweetie, this ain’t no ordinary Base Jump.” He grabbed a pair of chutes and smiled, making a point to check the load tags on both. “How much do you weigh?” He paused and laughed. “Not trying to be nosey… just want to make sure you have the right chute. Too light… no problem. Too heavy…” He made a slow whistling sound then smacked his hands suddenly together. “… splat!”

“One hundred and thirty,” she let out a weak laugh as she saw Garrett moving about as if he owned the place. Her eyes watched as he moved towards the people running the site and chatted for a few seconds before being handed two backpack like objects and what looked like a flight suit. The spring in his step and the smile on his face told Addie he was in heaven right now.

“OK… good. This will work nicely.” He said with a confident nod. “I’ve done more HAHO jumps than I care to count. I always double my weight on the load just to be safe.”
Garrett motioned for the jumpsuit changing rooms as he handed her her chute. “Shall we? Oh, wait till you get back for the chute… these resort folks don’t know what the frack they’re doing.”

“Then let’s call me an even two hundred,” she quipped as he piled all her equipment in her arms. “Ummm Garrett,” she piled everything back into his hands. “I think we are at the wrong place. Pulling out her personal communicator she brought up the reservation and turned it to him. “I booked hay low not Ha hoe,” she said. “Not exactly sure what the difference was but,” she let her voice trail off slightly as she kept the screen in front of his nose so he could read it.

Garrett leaned over a glanced at her screen before tapping a note line. “Nah… you got the right place. You didn’t complete the certification of 5 previous HALO jumps.” The man gave her a wink and a smirk.

“Wait wait wait,” Addie paused her newest friend. “You have to do this five times before they let you do it once.” Pulling her comm towards her she opened up the fine print finding it said almost verbatim what Garret had just informed her. “I am pretty sure they should have a skull and crossbones by the ad if this fun and exhilarating activity has the chance to kill you,” she blended her comment with the description of the activity.

“Look… any jump can kill you. A HALO jump can just do it faster. Both leave from this platform but your clearance means your auto chute should deploy at 15K… that way, even if there’s an issue, they could lock on and beam you out… in theory. I never trusted beam out in free fall.” Garrett seemed to grimace a moment before continuing. “HAHO means High Altitude High Opening… meaning you jump, enjoy about 10 to 15 seconds of free fall then pop your chute and enjoy a gentle 15 minute flight back. Why more flight time in HAHO than HALO… which, if something goes wrong… you got about 15 seconds to pull your back up and/or make your piece with God.” It took all he had not to chuckle as he watched the color drain from her face with that last bit. “HAHO is the tourist thing… a few seconds of excitement and intensity then a gentle flight down.”

“Oh only 29,000 feet,” she laughed it off with a slightly nervous quality to her tone. “KInda feel like that should have been in bigger print huh.”

As Garrettt handed her back everything she had handed him she put on a slightly forced smile. “It’s why we go on vacation right? To have a story about how vacation tried to kill us and how work is so much more relaxing.” Place a hand on her stuff she spun around to face the dressing room. This was not the adventure she had planned but it was something she had never done. Eden Prime’s slogan was Once in a Lifetime Chances. No Regrets. Addie took a deep breath and entered one of the dressing rooms.

“I should take you up tomorrow in a real plane…” He smiled widely. “… I think you’d like it.”

“Am I going to need a parachute,” she laughed in almost a nervous twitter.

“I’m not that bad of a pilot, hun” Garrett laughed as he gave her a wink.

After changing and dropping off his backpack and clothes at the hotel check stand, Garrett waited for Addie. He wasn’t in a standard jumpsuit. His suit hugged his form and was clearly his Fleet issued flight suit. His chute hung from one shoulder as he watched Addie walk toward him. The first thing on the suit itself that stood out to Addie was the rank insignia. The single hollow pip and four golds of a Fleet Captain. Garrett didn’t look more than 30 years old… maybe it was a costume? Who knew. He waved and smiled charmingly as she approached.

Garrett

Addie came out of the dressing room with all the grace and finesse of a plebe on the first day at the academy. The suit Garrett had given her fit perfectly. What was fumbling Addie was trying to carry the parachute, backpack, and uncork the orance-capped half beer only using two hands. After several steps, she finally gave up hiking everything towards her mouth as she bit the plug and pulled it out. Spitting it to the side, Addie shifted everything to her left hip as she chugged her once half beer dry.

Staring at Garrett, Addie noticed he only had half the things she was fumbling with. “We can take that ma’am,” a resort worker came up and took Addie’s clothes, shoes, and backpack.

“Yeah yeah one second,” Addie said fishing in the backpack for the second beer she had squirreled away. Popping off the blue cap she chugged it not caring it had once been Garrett’s. When the bottle only letting her suck air she stuffed it and the beer saver cork back in the bad. “Those things are handy,” she said finally turning her attention toward Garrett.

Her eyes moved over his suit and she looked at him confused. “You travel with your flight suit. You know most people carry a wallet or sweatshirt,” she let out a laugh wondering what else he had in the bag he had brought with them. “You do look snazzy,” she complimented him letting her eyes drift over the rank and insignia. When her eyes hit the captain rank she let out a laugh. “Captain huh,” she looked at him slightly wary. This was not the first time she had ever gone out with a guy who had done something to try and impress her. He had made the comment about being bored to death at the TOP GUN school which made her lean towards him being an instructor or base commander there instead of his time as a pilot. His age however made her question it. Most captains were far older. Yes, there were a few on the younger side but they were few and far between. “Well if you are a captain that means I can’t die doing this right? Never leave a man behind?” Addie would ask him about the ship or post later. Right now she was about to lose her nerve and there was no way she was going to let this chance pass.

“Well…” He shrugged slightly. “… I honestly never know when I’ll get a chance to fly and the harsh soap some flight and jump places use is rough on my skin. My thought is… hell, they issued it, why shouldn’t I have one with me?!” Garrett then paused and with a smirk, added. “That’s Fleet Captain… Lieutenant.” He motioned to the two gold pip patch on Addie’s backpack. “And no… I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you. I’m far from a Jumpmaster but I do know what I’m doing.”

Setting her parachute down she stepped into it and pulled it up and over her shoulders. “I think mine is broken,” she began to pull at random cords not sure which one would cinche it up tight to her body. “None of these things are working.” Addie clearly didn’t have a clue as to what she was about to do in real life. “It is never this hard in a holodeck.”

O’Connor chuckled noticeably as he stepped forward, slipped the chute from her shoulders and stepped back in front of her. “Well… that’s because…” He made a slight show of turning it over in front of her. “You had it on upside down. Here…” He sat it on the ground in front of her and motioned for her to step forward. “… one leg in here…” Garrett raised a shoulder to her for balance as his hand guided one calf then the other through the correct harness. “… the other here” His grip on her calves were firm yet controlled. He clearly had strong hands but made a point to gently aid her in getting ready.

Little higher. Little higher, she bit her lip and held her breath as his hands moved from her calf to the area between her knees and thighs. There was nothing intimate about how he was touching her but her mind was making it far more intimate imagining what would be happening if they weren’t smack dab in public on a hill top.

Garrett could have sworn Addie’s thigh muscles flexed for just a moment before he removed his hands. He was worried he might have tickled her by accident. Oh well he thought.

Standing, Garrett helped her lift her chute and position the buckle points. He paused as he cinched it on her waist and the slightest bit of pink colored his cheeks as he realized his hands had been on her waist just a moment too long. The pilot then clipped the back up in place and locked the shoulder straps. Patting her shoulder, Garrett smiled, pink still brushing his cheeks. “Good to go”

Addie could not help but poke a little fun at the extremely self-confident man getting a little red as he touched her waist and problem solved how to affix the strap across her chest. “Are you sure ‘cause I feel like its still a bit loose?” There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way Garrett had prepped her shoot. The mischievous grin on her face confirmed that she was just teasing him.

With that, Garrett stepped back, and in about a fourth of the time he took with her… quickly locked into his rig like he could have done it in his sleep.

Moving to the edge of the platform, Addie could feel the wind strong and hard. They were far enough back to watch the participants before them cannon ball it with a loud yell of excitement. When the resort workers motioned Addie and Garrett forward, she decided to pause for a second. “Soo should we get dinner after,” she asked not moving forward. “I mean we probably should have eaten before we got up here. I’m hungry. Are you hungry,” she asked as nonchalantly as possible.

Addie Halsey

“Wherever you want hun… my treat.” Garrett said and then gave a roughish grin. “… yeah know, since I am your boyfriend and all.” With that, Garrett gave Addie a quick, playful kiss… took three steps back and with the fourth step… out into oblivion.. gave a two finger salute and a wink.

Garrett

Addie stood there blinking taking in the fog that was filling her mind. The kiss was actually more of a peck but the fact he did it brought a lop-sided grin to his face. “You are trouble,” she yelled after him as he took off. For about the next three seconds, Addie debated how she was going to up the ante with Garrett when they got to the bottom of the mountain. It was like a sexual chess match where checkmate was the goal but the process of becoming the winner was a long and drawn-out game of logic. Garrett was far more fun than she anticipated and at least for her, she had six more days to see what kind of trouble they could get up to.

“Miss....you need to jump,” the resort worker said wondering why she had not taken a running leap like her partner had..

Looking over the edge, Addie decided Garrett could easily be the story instead of trying to kill herself by jumping off a platform this vacation. “Oh, there is no way I can jump. I would need a push,” she laughed seeing Garrett’s form as a smaller and smaller dot. Before she could react, however, a hand between the back of her shoulder blades made Addie’s decision.

Her arms pinwheeled for a second before she felt her feet leave the platform. It was in that second Addie understood what the brochure said about a heart racing adventure. It was also the moment she realized some things might best be left on actual holodecks. As she fell, Addie imagined she was actualling picking up speed instead of reaching that magic physics number where all things fell at the same rate. This perception only increased as she saw Garrett edging closer and then passed him like a shot out of an old fashioned gun. The sound of her only word echoed like some Saturday morning cartoon as the word started before she reached him and ended after she passed him. “Garrrrrrrr.....rrrreeeeeeeet”.

Addie Halsey

Garrett laid back, spreading his body to slow his decent… he wanted to make sure Addie popped her chute first. But… she didn’t He angled himself so, in theory, she wouldn’t plow into him as she blew by.

Something’s wrong O’Connor thought, pulling his drag chute to slow him down… he watched as Addie passed the point where her she should have popped her chute. Then she passed him. In an instant, Garrett pulled the release pins on his drag chute and zoomed after her. By the time he caught up to her, they were approaching 20,000 feet. Garrett’s arm slipped around her waist to level her and then he asked over the whipping wind. “Why haven’t you popped your chute?!” His fingers were tight against her waist as they fell, clear that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Garrett O’Connor

“Nothings working. Nothings working,” Addie yelled over and over pulling not only the ring that was supposed to deploy the chute but every clasp and strap she could find on her chest. Addie could feel his hands on her waist but what would have been more comforting would have been land under her feet. He was close, really close but Addie was not in a mind set to worry about personal space or caring if he took an elbow to the neck or nose as she frantically kept pulling things on her body. Her hands were almost slapping away anytime Garrett tried to reach for her chute release in her frantic state. It was not intentional but more slipping from the controlled logic people used in an emergency to the hysteria when they realized nothing was happening as it was supposed to. She could feel his hands trying to touch parts of her body but that just made Addie reach for it faster assuming whatever he was trying to touch was something she should also be touching.

“Garrett, nothing is working.” Her voice took on a panicked tone as something in the back of her mind reminded her she had a shoot on her back. This was not going to help Addie at all but at least it gave Garrett a chance to troubleshoot why they were plummeting to the ground with no way to break.

Addie Halsey