Unexpected Company

Posted on Mon Mar 1st, 2021 @ 5:58am by Petty Officer 3rd Class Sam Saghir & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII & Lieutenant Kevan Dash & Senior Chief Petty Officer Mason Malone

Mission: Character Development
Location: Risa
1756 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Finnley let out a long stretch, waking up as the sun rose on Risa, her vacation spot of choice. Having been there once before, she knew the beaches would provide exactly what she felt she needed to wind down from the hectic mission they had just returned from.

A smile crept across her face as she hopped out of bed and walked onto the balcony of her room. She then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and embraced the salty fresh air coming off of the ocean. It would be another perfect day in paradise, she thought, before moving back inside to start her day. She stood over her suitcase, chin in hand, deciding on what to do first. Breakfast by the pool followed by some surfing to start the day out I think? She nodded to no one as she confirmed her plan mentally and grabbed the appropriate clothes out of her bag.

Her favorite Hawaiian print board shorts fit like a glove and brought back memories of home as she slipped them on. Followed by a bikini top and a hoodie shortly after. Hoodies were perfect for the crisp oceanside mornings, she thought as she cozied into it, grabbed her beach bag and sunglasses, and headed for the pool.

It was relaxing, almost to the point of spiritual, the feel of leaving warm water and entering cold morning air on Sam's skin. He'd never been to Risa before, and so far it was entirely living up to it's reputation. He took a few steps towards a Risian man holding a tray of towels; he reached for one but stopped dead.

Something caught his eye.

Someone.

"Oh my..." escaped the words from Sam's mouth as his living nightmare came true. Here he was, stood on Risa, in swimming trunks, in the chill of the morning and there SHE was.

"Uhhhhmmmm" he groaned, reaching out for a towel and finding the assistant had moved on. Darting a few steps to the outdoors bar; a freestanding wooden booth with a thatched roof of palm leaves, he fumbled awkwardly and quickly as Finnley approached. She'd seen him. "Ohh...." his eyes desperately darted around for anything, feeling very exposed, "crap" he said as he settled on the only towel like object within sight. Grabbing it, he wheeled around and placed the tiny glasscloth across his trunks. Trying to wrap it into a knot across his waist like a towel, he quickly gave up when he realised it didn't even go all the way around him. Aware that Finnley had closed the gap between them during his awkward fumbling, he remained fixed on her feet not daring to look up. Perhaps they were still in the nightmare space. Perhaps he was in hell. He only hoped.

"Sam?" The figure awkwardly reaching for a towel looked familiar to Finnley. Could it be that the adorably attractive petty officer from the Athena had also chosen to vacation on Risa? His face became clearer as she neared him. Or at least, what she could see of his face considering he was looking straight down.

"It is you!" Finnley exclaimed, happy to see someone familiar. "You're up early for being on shore leave," she chuckled. "Can I interest you in joining me for breakfast?" It was clear that he had just come from the pool so perhaps he had already eaten, but she hoped he would join her anyways. Breakfast was always better with company.

"I uhhhh" Sam mumbled, looking up at Finnley and feeling more exposed than ever, his trunks barely covered with the glasscloth. "Wet" he said. "Wet I mean...unmmm. Swimming. I. Am. Up. Early. For swimming" he managed to consciously piece together, with great care. The pool attendant, seemingly noticing his distress at holding a small glasscloth to his groin came over to Sam with a robe and opened it out for him to place his arms into.

"Sir" the attendant nodded, as he went on his way.

Sam mouthed 'thank you' to the attendant's back, realising as he did so that his gratitude wouldn't be seen. "Uhmm yes, breakfast you said. Yes. Great...." he finished, anxiety filling his stomach.

Finnley laughed as she finally figured out what was going on, but chose not to mention it specifically. Instead, she quickly waved towards a table and they took a seat. A poolside waiter appeared only a moment later and asked for their order.

"I'll have the bacon, eggs, and toast with one of those Risan Sunrise drinks please," Finnley spoke up first, following which the waiter turned his attention to Sam.

"S. S...uhh. The same. Please. Thank you." Sam practically whispered before offering a meek smile to the waiter. He had absolutely no idea what a Risan Sunrise was, but he daren't order anything else. Hopefully it wasn't alcoholic he mused.

The waiter acknowledged his order and then swiftly disappeared. Their meals and drinks materialized on the table a second later and Finnley went for the drink first. Maybe it was a little early to start drinking, but she was on vacation and didn't care.

"So how have you been?" She asked her unexpected breakfast companion. The last she had seen him, he had made the mistake of trash-talking his boss not realizing that the Vulcan was right behind him. Truth be told, Finnley thought it was possible that P'rel had killed him and that was why he hadn't graced her with his awkward, but adorable, presence.

Sam picked up his drink and took a large mouthful of the - 'this isn't juice' he scolded himself inwardly - and tried to supress a cough as the alcohol hit the back of his throat. It was no good, and a cough mixed in with a splutter, topped off with a gasp for air simultaneously leaped from his throat and took most of his drink along for the ride. Rapidly trying to mop up the expelled drink, he confirmed to himself that he was still in the nightmare space. "F fine...fine. Yes. You?, he managed, involuntarily squeaking the final word.

Finnley chuckled as Sam received a rude awakening on the alcoholic disposition of his drink. "I'm fine, minus that one run-in with your boss. She really is a cold-hearted ass. I hope you didn't get in too much trouble for your outburst did you?" She asked in between bites of the delicious breakfast she had ordered.

"Oh um..." Sam became even more bashful, the embarrassment of that particular memory screaming back into his head. "Yeah...I'm amazed I haven't been disappeared...." a small smile escaped Sam, as he recalled the moment. Looking back on it, it was quite funny really. The pair pleasantly exchanged anecdotes about the mission, and Sam started to relax a little in her company. Truly, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and what she was wearing did very little to discourage his interest. "Shall we.... um..." he fumbled again for his words, his confidence slowly slipping with each passing moment. "Well...I mean, if you want to do something today..." he looked towards the glass fronted building a little ways across the gardens from the pools, he was sure that there would be some kind of activity schedule or map of the complex or something.

As they rose, Sam refastened his loosened robe and he became very much aware that, aside from an alarmingly small pair of swimming trunks which he'd worn for speed in the water - not planning on meeting anyone he knew - he was wearing only the pool robe. "Actually, I think I need to go back to my room and change. You're welcome to join me..." he bashfully said; before - as if the Bajoran wormhole itself had burst open inside his stomach - the wave of dread washed over him, realising what he had said. "I...uhh... oh my god. I didn't mean...." he hoped for some kind of malfunction in the weather system, and that perhaps a well aimed lighting bolt would consume him. "Clothes" he squeaked; "clothes. For dressing. In. Being fully dressed"; he could sense his eyes were wide with fear and he involuntarily glanced upwards, as if looking for that wished-for lighting bolt.

"I knew what you meant," she reassured him, "and yes, dry clothes are probably a good idea. Lead the way!"

Finnley followed Sam towards the resort entrance, trying to make conversation which was mostly met with awkward disjointed responses. Fortunately, three familiar faces emerged as they entered the lobby of the resort. "Oh hey, it looks like Kevan, Mason, and Xavier decided to vacation here too. Why don't you go change and we'll meet back here? I'll go and say hi to the others. Maybe we can all do something together." Finnley stated more than asked, with the hope that the additional company might ease the tension.

With a mixture of relief and loss, he half heartedly smiled and waved at the other three; at least the unexpected intensity of being alone with Finnley would be eased a little, but then again he wouldn’t actually be alone with Finnley any more. “Sure” he shrugged, trying to convey a nonchalant disposition and surely failing. Sam walked over to the transport kiosk and tapped in the personal room code, stepping into the booth he disappeared from the communal area and materialised in his room.

- - -

"So you guys decided to vacation on Risa too then?" Finnley announced her presence with the question as she approached her crewmates.

"Of course!" Mason exclaimed, turning to face her. "This is a resort planet after all.. what better place than to be spoiled while on holiday?"

"That was my thought too," Finnley chuckled. "Sam and I were just about to go for a walk. He should be back down in a minute. Would you guys care to join?"

Kevan offered a grin in return. "Sure. We weren't really doing anything anyway, just walking and talking."

"Great!" She responded with a smile.

Just a moment later, Sam reappeared in the lobby and rejoined the group. "All ready to go?" Finnley asked. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited everyone to join us. I thought it would be fun to have some extra company."

Returning the group somewhat more appropriately dressed, Sam returned Finnley's smile and nodded. "Let's go" he said, trying to convey some enthusiasm but also disappointed at the intrusion into his unplanned time with the beautiful engineer.