[USS Charon, Deck Six, Holodeck Two]
With the languid, elegant gait of a Vulcan at ease the young woman disappeared between the trees, only to emerge a short time later at the top of the cliff. She cast a brief glance at the children trying to coax Nohtho to join them in the water and once again there was the brief flicker of a smile on her face before she spread her arms and jumped.
The lithe figure impacted the pool with barely a splash, but it was several seconds before Sakarra's head broke the surface again. "Oh, goodness. I should have adjusted the water temperature as well."
Accompanied by cheerful applause from Nnoil, the young woman swam back towards the boulders lining the pool and made a dignified, but expedient beeline for the stack of towels.
Brent undressed as well, but caught himself watching Sakarra as she walked up to the top of the cliff. He found himself following after her and watching as she did a graceful dive down into the pool below. Brent knew he really had no chances of matching that kind of grace, it really just wasn't in him.
Making a massive splash while making a lot of noise? That on the other hand was definitely in Brent. When Sakarra had moved away he leaped down off of the cliff, tucking himself into a ball and immediately spinning as he descended down towards the cold water. A loud "OO RAH" was heard throughout the holodeck before Brent plunged into the icy waters, sending it scattering all over the place covering the children and Sakarra with the cold water.
Almost simultaneously, Sakarra and poor Nohtho jumped into the air as the children shrieked with delight, and as if being caught by the first cold shower had not been enough, the young woman was treated to a second as the Fvai shook out his fur with a rather hurt look in his eyes.
And still, when she turned around, water dripping off soaked, heavy curls that covered her to below surprisingly round hips and took a breath to explain that she disapproved of freezing, she met a happy glance out of blue eyes. Such blue, deeper than the Alarmante Sea and right now sparkling with merriment.
Shivering with cold, she stood on the soft grass - and laughed.
When Nveid's eyes snapped open with amazement and the twins joined in, splashing about and drenching Sakarra even further, her melodious, throaty laugh echoed off the cliff until she had to draw a deep breath and shook her head.
"Brent Warren, for this alone you owe me dinner tonight."
Brent surfaced up in the water just in time to hear the laughter and see the twins splashing Sakarra as he could no longer contain his own humor and laughed, trying his best to cover his laughter with his hand and snickering. He smiled as she told him that he now owed her a dinner tonight. "Gee, if that was all it takes to get dinner with you I would have drenched you with cold water a long time ago," he said before he stuck out his tongue at her. "My place then," he said. "Less other eyes," he said as Brent came out of the water and moved over to grab a towel and began to dry himself off.
"You almost did, once."
Sakarra had regained some small measure of her composure and claimed the two largest towels, wrapping one around herself and using the other to rub her hair dry. And still she could barely stop her teeth from chattering. Weighing the possible fallout of the children talking about their caretaker embracing a freezing woman versus catching a cold, she decided on the option she had longed for already. Well, not the talking, certainly not.
Before he could protest, she moved to press her cold skin against his, leaning her head against a warm, bare chest and marveled at how fast he had rebounded from the freezing water. Breathing deeply, the young Vulcan tried not to dwell too much on how good it was to rest against him like this, water still dripping off brown, tangled hair as he suddenly held very still.
"I believe it did as much to shock me back to consciousness when I heard you order that water as the pain before" she murmured, one hand carefully resting against a shoulder broad enough so she could hide behind it if she wanted to.
Even then, she had enjoyed his touch and had been surprised by her desire for more – carefully contained, and put aside, first when he had carried her out of sickbay and she had ascribed the strange feeling to understandable gratitude and later … later she had simply not allowed herself to dwell on the reasons.
"But I still wonder if the 'princess method' might not have worked much better."
Brent inhaled a breath as Sakarra came up and held herself to him. He held onto her for a few moments before he smiled at her and her remembering how he had threatened to wake her up. "That's right. I almost did try to bath you in one degree water didn't I?" he said with a rather evil looking grin. "I should have been bolder then hmm?" he said before winking at Sakarra. 'We should probably get dressed now. Unless you want to explain what might be to the Captain,' he said to her across their link.
'So we should' she agreed ruefully, and still had to almost tear herself away.
As fast as her dignity allowed, Sakarra slid into the silken undergarments and stockings before pulling the heavy, blessedly warm fabric of a dark blue dress over her head. She carefully placed the uniform at the bottom of the bag and twisted her still damp curls into a knot at the nape of her neck before motioning for the little ones to come over. Hardly surprising, Brent was already dressed by the time she was about to tighten the lacing of the high collared garment and demonstrated his ability to not only undo her clothing, but do the opposite as well.
It took quite a bit of effort to keep her face calm and composed when she felt him hover so close over her, completely absorbed by a decidedly innocent activity and yet the cool breath whispering across her neck was enough to nearly prompt a sigh. It almost came as a relief when the exhausted Nohtho suddenly broke into loud snores, eliciting giggles from Ael and Nnoil who were already fighting over one of the not soaked towels.
Having incurred no mud this time, the process was a swift one, and with the help of a quiet, but more relaxed than she had ever seen him Nveid, the twins were soon clean and dressed, munching happily on Vulcan pastries.
"And I agree with your … proposed location for dinner." Sakarra nodded in Brent's direction, a warm smile still lingering in her voice.
Brent watched the children for a few moments before he helped divide up the pastries amongst the three of them, even if Nveid seemed like he was about to run away in terror when Brent handed him the little pastry. "Sharing," he said to them before he stretched out a little bit flexing his arms for a moment before letting out deep breath. "That was invigorating," he said with that same infectious smile of his. "I'm glad you agree. As much as your friends in Eris Deck might be willing to serve us I should probably start having people over to my room. I think you will be the first one I've had over since I moved in really."
She studied his smile for long seconds, appreciating the perfection of this peaceful moment. Once more, Nveid seemed to look between the Vulcan and the Marine with an expression that held both caution and a vague sense of … not happiness, but the possibility of it.
"Well, one may hope that a new piece of gossip will emerge soon to occupy everyone's interest. It would be a shame to forego Miss Betty's skills – although I agree for the moment a higher level of discretion might be wise."
Sakarra had finished packing up their things and was deeply gratified to not only see Brent in better spirits, but the little ones deeply content and ready to find a bed. In fact, Ael was already tugging at the Marine's shirt with the age old look of a child wanting to be picked up and carried.
Smiling inwardly, the young Vulcan roused a mildly bewildered Nohtho from his sleep and gently placed the yawning Nnoil on the fvai's back. Nveid took the cue and held on to the smaller child so he would not slide to the ground, and as if the beast realized its precious cargo was about to doze off, it moved with exaggerated care.
"Shall we accompany you back to the Captain's Quarters?"
Brent looked down and chuckled slightly as he saw the look that Ael was giving him. He scooped her up into his arms as she lay her head against his shoulder. No more than a few moments later he felt the rhythmic breathing kick in like she was already threatening to go to sleep. With Nveid and Nnoil taken care of Brent looked over to Sakarra as he nodded with a smile. "I would love to have you there with me," he said.
[To be continued ... ]
Brevet 1st Lieutenant Brent Warren
Marine Commander
Lt Cmdr Sakarra Tyrax
Chief Helm
also starring:
Ael&Nnoil
Nveid
& Nohtho the Fvai
USS Charon
