Under the stars

Posted on 09 Sep 2019 @ 1:39am by Captain Jonathan Reynolds & Lieutenant Commander True Keading

Mission: Mission 1 - In the pale moonlight ...
Location: Holodeck 2
Timeline: MD8 21:00
1409 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

The night sky was a clear black tranquility, peppered with bright stars cutting through its velvetiness. The moon provided a stunning central focal point illuminating the mountains opposite resurrection bay. Jon lay down the blanket on a patch of the beach allowing them this spectacular view and started setting up a bonfire. Then he remembered he was in the holodec. "Computer one small bonfire a metre from where I am standing,"

It materialised, the orange and reds adding more colour and depth into their surroundings. Jon sat down and pierced a large marshmallow with a stick and handed it to True.

"So thats mount Alice right?" he asked indicating the peak opposite the bay.

True blushed ever so slightly. "That's a good question, I have no idea. You'd think I'd have a good understanding of the mountain ranges but I was always looking farther up, or down at the ground," True said thinking of all the things she'd pulled from tidepools over the years. "Thanks," she replied when handed a stick with a marshmallow on the end. "Did you do a lot of camping on Betazed?" She asked curiously.

"More on Earth but on occasion on Betazed. When my dad got his way. There was more social and official obligations once we moved back to Betazed. My grandmother was aging and got ill so she urged my mother to step up and take on more House responsibility. And that involved by extension her children of course. We were very lucky in that the years on Earth we were shielded from a lot of it," he answered honestly.

He stabbed his own marshmallow drapped it over the fire and sat back contentedly. "After dad died Liam and I still went from time to time. It became a "thing" between my brother and I. Not just to honour dads memory but when we were anywhere near to each other and one had a problem, we would go camping and just mull it all out. What about you?"

"Oh that's nice. You obviously must be close, you haven't killed each other on any of these trips. Never been camping with my brothers, course they're quite a bit older than me, I was a surprise. But they don't get along that well. I'm kind of the mediary in my family, a bridge between Vern and Will. But I like to go for walks and hikes when I can in wilderness. I'd love to see more of it, including going back to Betazed someday."

"Well thats good. That you can mediate between them and that you like the idea of going back to Betazed. Getting involved with me, well I still have to on occasion go back for family responsibilities. And I know I would love to take you there," he said pulling his stick back and blowing on the marshmallow. "Be nice to take you camping too," he suggested. "Hey maybe I can bond with your brothers on a camping trip."

True had just blown out her marshmallow that had caught on fire. It was the way she liked them. She let out a laugh, "I almost want to say yes, but I'm afraid at the same time. Let's try meeting them first before I throw you in the wilderness with them. I'll get ahold of Vern, maybe the Europa can meet up with us somewhere along the way and you two can talk." It felt funny to be saying all this. It was almost like they were determined to be together forever. She should be scared but she really wasn't. She'd felt drawn to Jon immediately, but still. She didn't want to rush things.

"You never know, your brother might need the Andromeda's help saving the universe or visa versa," Jon mused. "Who knows what we are going to find out here." He bit into his marshmallow and dreamily looked up to the stars.

"True," she winked at the use of her name as a pun. "Do you have a middle name?" She asked curiously, bringing the conversation back to them rather than the whole universe.

"Yeah," Jon said softly. "Its Graham. Its Anglo Saxon for "from the farm home". Mother had us at my grandmothers farm you see. So they named me after grandad - Jonathan and Graham as I was born in a farm home. Liam got Owen - which means little fighter. He came second and mum was having complications at one point, so thats where that came from. What about yourself?"

"I'm sorry to hear that." True said, in regards to the complications. "Elizabeth, my mother was a Jane Austen fan and I guess after giving me an unusual first name she thought the middle name should be traditional. I like my name to be honest, it's been good to me." She shivered slightly and moved closer to him for the warmth.

Jon moved his arm round her and pulled her into his chest noticing the shivering. "I like your name too. Okay I know I probably should know but …. Jane Austen?"

"Oh, early 19th century author who wrote intelligent, clever, bossy, independent women in a time where women were expected to marry and have children and be totally dependent on men. I was named after Elizabeth Bennett, you'll have to read the book someday, see if that fits me at all."

"Hmmm," Jon said softly. "I'll add it to my list. Might even be a good present for mother," he mused. "What did all the men do?" he asked.

True couldn't help but grin at him. "The usual stuff men do. Make fools of themselves when beautiful women are around."

"Some say we are genetically programmed, but they wouldn't have known that in the 19th Century," Jon mused. "So are we saying none of the 19th century females made fools of themselves if handsome men were around?"

"Nope, unfortunately she had a couple of younger sisters who were complete idiots and did exactly that. I just couldn't resist teasing you." And then True did something unexpected. She reached up and turned Jon's face toward her, pressing her lips to his. It made her heart lurch into the bottom of her throat and crash back down into her stomach again.

"Well," Jon said coming up for breath while his pulse seemed to have doubled in speed, "If I can expect that every time time, tease away," he said seriously. He tenderly moved a strand of her hair and leaned in close for another kiss.

True absolutely savored the touch on her hair. Her eyes were a little wide but she was looking right into his in the moment. Was it possible she was falling in love with him? Jon was exciting and he made her feel beautiful in a way she'd never experienced before. When he kissed her again she whole heartedly returned it before her brain could catch up. "No," she smiled when they broke apart again. "It just seemed like the right thing to do."

"Glad to hear it," He said softly. "I enjoyed it. Very much. Hopefully we will get to do that plenty more." His PADD alarm went off making his jackets puffed up pocket buzz, just as he deciding to chance another kiss from this amazing woman.

"Unfortunately not this evening I guess. I have to go pick Eddie up," he said disappointment at having to end the evening evident.

"It's all right." she smiled at him. "We have plenty of time on this ship together."

He pulled her up and kept hold of her hands. "When can I see you again True?" He was looking forward to it before even this date had ended.

"Whenever you like. It's not as if my date book is full," she chuckled. "You can let me know. And I guess it's your turn to figure out what we're doing."

"Oh I was thinking I'd take you on a picnic on top of a mountain," Jon said. "Computer end programme," he said out loud the beauty of Alaska crumbling from view.

"As long as we can breathe." True said taking his hand as they walked toward the door. She would drop it just outisde the holodeck but for now they didn't have to pretend.

OFF:

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●● Lieutenant True Keading
Chief Counselor
USS Andromeda


●●● Commander Jonathan Reynolds
Commanding Officer
USS Andromeda