Mud Mates

Posted on Wed Jul 7th, 2021 @ 2:09pm by Senior Chief Petty Officer Mason Malone & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Character Development
Location: Holodeck 2
3225 words - 6.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Nothing like an early morning run, Finn thought as she threw on her running clothes. It had been a while since she had engaged a running program on the holodeck, but she felt like she could use a change of scenery from the typical gym room. With a sense of excitement, she put on her running shoes and jogged out the door. Maybe no one else will be there and I can load that mud course program that dad and I used to do, she thought. But as the doors to the holodeck opened, that idea was discarded. She wasn't the first to arrive at the running platform this morning.

"Hi, Mason. I haven't seen you in a while," Finn said to the senior chief that had arrived before her.

"Lieutenant," Mason greeted formally as he secured the laces to his boots. Behind him loomed an obstacle course, and it was clear the scene had been set to be muddy and wet. "Out for a run?" he asked, gesturing towards her running shoes. "You're welcome to use the track, I'm heading out for the obstacle course."

"Actually, I was kind of hoping for an obstacle run. Though, clearly, I didn't think of it until I had already left my quarters," she motioned towards her running shoes that obviously weren't meant for mud. "But if you don't mind some company, I'll replicate a pair of boots and join you. I used to run an obstacle course with my dad. Way more fun than running around a boring old track." She chuckled.

"I did with the Corps, and it's a really good workout, not to mention a way to learn and trust your teammates. I rather learned that the hard way, I'll admit." He blushed a little, then chuckled. "And a good way to make friends. I'll wait for you at the start and don't worry, I haven't put up the toughest course, this one's doable on your own really, but two's more fun!" He grinned as he started towards the starting line.

Finn replicated a pair of boots and quickly laced them up before joining Mason at the line. "I didn't know you were in the Corps," she said as she did a couple of quick stretches.

"It's not common knowledge on this ship," Mason pointed out, "and it's only been a few months since I was re-assigned here. I just needed to get away from my old ship... Too many memories and I couldn't take the pitiful looks of my mates after I got divorced." He shrugged. "I'm security now and I'm learning new things along the way, it's all good."

Divorced? Finn wondered what the story was but chose not to ask. "Fair enough. I think we're all more than happy to have you on the Athena anyways," she gave him a smile before looking back at the muddy course in front of them. "Are you ready to get started?"

"Oh definitely," Mason said, planting one of his boots firmly in the dirt, crouching down a little. "Holodeck will give the signal to go, and remember, while it's a race it's also teamwork...." He grinned. "This is going to be so much more fun with company!" he pointed. "Especially that lug over there... did that bit with Kevan a while ago, I still have hope of getting him out here again some time."

Finn followed suit, digging her feet in to ensure a good push-off. Her heart was already beating a little faster, excited for the competition. Then the computer signaled the start. She tore from the line, gaining speed quickly and only slowing down slightly as she approached the high logs. Leaping up, Finn wrapped her arms around the structure and positioned her top half flat across the bar as she swung her feet over. She repeated the motion over the next three logs, moving swiftly and without hesitation through each, making it apparent that this wasn't her first time through an obstacle course.

Mason was slightly taken aback by the woman's speed, but quickly followed suit and was over the logs in no time as well. He grabbed the rope and hauled himself up on the ramp though he paused at the top to see how Finn was doing. When he saw she was alright, he leapt over and splashed into a puddle of mud. So much for being clean, the former marine chuckled to himself as he ploughed on and over the next obstacle.

Finn kept on his heels, determined to keep up, or even better, win. She followed him up and over the ramp to the next obstacle. Mason had already started on the cargo net when she arrived, but she excelled at climbing nets. Finn jumped up and grabbed a portion of the rope next to where Mason's boot was and then climbed with startling speed. It had always been her favorite obstacle. She smirked as she passed him and threw herself over the top. Once over, Finn monkeyed her way down using only her arms, leaving her feet off of the squared ropes and making her time down even shorter than the climb up.

Her feet clapped through the mud as she ran towards the next challenge. The teamwork wall. Although possible to do it on your own, it would require a very tall jump just to catch your fingertips at the top of the tall wooden structure. Finn went into a baseball slide as she neared it. It seemed like a quicker and more stylish way to get into a position to help out her obstacle buddy. She stopped a foot from the wall, one knee down, and interlaced her fingers to hold Mason's boot.

"I'll give you a boost up to the top and then you can give me a hand up," Finn stated as Mason arrived.

Taking a short leap, mason put a muddy boot into her folded hands and vaulted up the wall. He pulled himself up, twisted across then leaned down to reach towards her with his left arm. "At least it isn't a warped wall," he smiled as he braced himself.

"That's true, but we do have the inverted wall which is almost just as bad," Finn chuckled as she backed up to get a running start. She looked at the wall with determination, took a couple of large steps, and jumped up, grabbing Mason's hand with her right and the wall with her left. As he helped to pull her up, Finn suddenly wondered why she hadn't hung out with Mason before. She liked him. He was fun, enjoyed getting muddy as much as she did, and they seemingly worked well together. Plus he was one of the few that hadn't hit on her. Though based on just this short interaction, Finn kind of wished that he had.

Mason grimaced as his arm took the brief jolt of her weight, starting to pull just as she grabbed the wall. Not expecting the sudden shift in weight, he lost his balance and toppled backwards down the wall, into the mud with a loud splash. Stunned, he lay there for a second before crawling back up to his feet. Next was a rotating log they had to get across, and then a set of ropes they had to swing between. He rotated his left shoulder a few times as he picked up speed, his feet slipping in his now soaked boots.

Finn grimaced as he toppled off the top of the wall. She scurried over to try to catch up to him, dropping into the mud right as he crawled up. After regaining her footing, she returned to a jog, joining Mason by his side. "Are you ok?" She asked, a small look of concern on her face as he rotated his shoulder.

"Old baseball injury," Mason confessed, "just hurts if I strain it too much. I'll have doc take a look later, I promise." He nodded ahead. "Ready for the rotating log? There's two in a row there."

"I can't say we had this obstacle on our program back home, but sure," Finn shrugged before crouching into a ready stance. Biting her bottom lip in concentration, she then tore off in a run and jumped quickly onto the log. With muddy boots and a rotating platform under her feet, she only got halfway before slipping. However, determined to not fail the obstacle, Finn grasped the log with her arm as she fell and brought her legs up to wrap around as well. She then shimmied the rest of the way across the log to the platform. "Maybe not the most graceful way to have handled it, but it worked," Finn chuckled as she stood up.

"Oh this program is not necessarily a marine course, it's a mix of everything," Mason chuckled as he took a short sprint and leapt across the first half of the log, he was nearly there when he too slipped and clambered up the ramp on the end. "Every time you start this program, it changes the order of the course too, as well as the obstacles. It's set to randomize them." He flexed his fingers as he got to his feet and rotated his arm again. "Right, up the ropes ma'am...let's see how far we'll get being all wet and muddy."

Finn nodded and jumped up on the rope. Her muddy fingers wanted to slip down the material, but she held on as she looped the rope around her boot as a foothold. She inched upward, just enough to where she could swing to the next dangling rope. It was a motion she was only able to repeat twice more before the line slipped from her grip. "Slippery hands don't agree with rope swings," she said as she pulled herself out of the mud pit.

"Nope," Mason laughed as he didn't even make it to the second rope, making a very inelegant dive into the mud below. Despite being utterly uncomfortable in dirty and wet clothes, with mud really getting everywhere now, the look on his face showed he was having a blast.

They rounded a turn in the running course together to face the next obstacle, the weaver. A series of wood panels that formed an almost ladder shape. Every other slat of wood was painted red or blue with the intention being that each runner had to weave themselves under the reds and over the blues without touching the ground. Finn made no hesitation and slid under the first rung, wrapping her arms and legs around the wood. She then let one leg and arm go, reaching for the upper part of the blue slat and pulling herself up sideways and then back down under the next rung painted in red.

Mason blinked at the obstacle, wondering how he was going to pull that off being all slick and wet. He watched her for a moment in awed approval, before following suit. He grimaced as his left shoulder was starting to protest, making him miss the third slat, falling flat onto the ground. "Ow," he murmured to himself before simply crawling underneath all the slates. He was definitely in for a visit to sickbay, and he realized he should've secured his shoulder beforehand, have someone tape it in, but then he hadn't expected company either and this was certainly a bonus. "You're good ma'am," he praised as he crawled out from under the last wooden plate, trying to wipe mud from his eyes with equally muddy hands.

"I learned from the best," Finn chuckled. "What do you say we take a break and clean up? I have a fun program we can swap to and get this mud off. Besides, it looks like your shoulder could use a break." Finn motioned towards the shoulder that seemed to bother him.

Idly, he rubbed his left shoulder, his attention once more drawn to it. "Yeah, seems I'm a little out of practice here, but I do miss my old teammates here." He perked up at the mention of a different program. "What kind of fun?" he asked as he started to peel off his uniform jacket. "uhm... natural shower over there, or something a little more private?" he queried, pointing to the curtains and the bags of water that were strung up above them. It was almost like going camping and needing a big bag of water and a hose to get clean.

"Trust me?" Finn queried, still leaving the details a mystery and hoping he'd just go along with it.

"Yes," the young security officer answered, giving her a quick nod. "You've not given me any reason not to. Why?"

"Computer, load program 'Keating Obstacle Recovery One'," Finn commanded. Suddenly the scene changed to a tropical oasis. Through the palm fronds, one could see a waterfall emptying into a beautiful crystal clear lagoon with a waterslide carved out of the rock to the right. On the left side of the lagoon sat a steaming spa, perfect for relaxing tired muscles.

"So yea, we could just take showers. Or, we could slide into that lagoon and wash off under the waterfall and then soak our sore muscles in the hot tub. Which do you prefer?" Finn asked with a smirk.

"That sounds like a far better idea but uhm..." His cheeks coloured a little. "We don't have any swimming gear...." Then again, he'd gone skinny dipping with Alex before, and since he had no interest in women, there was no harm was there? He grimaced as he pulled off his shirt. "Race you to the water?" he asked, as he started to pull his muddy boots off.

"Oh, you're on!" Finn replied as she tore off her boots as well, followed by the shorts and shirt she was wearing. She sprinted towards the water as soon as she was free from everything but her undergarments. As she reached the edge, Finn leaped into the air and came crashing back into the lagoon as a cannonball. She laughed as she resurfaced, the refreshing water lightening her spirit after a good obstacle run.

"Oooh this is cold!" Mason cried out, resurfacing after cannonballing in after her. He too had stripped down to his briefs, leaving his muddy clothes behind in a soppy and dirty pile. He could feel his skin react to the cool water, but he got used to it soon enough. "Perhaps move a bit more to the shallows where it's warmer," he suggested, starting towards the shore in awkward strokes as his left shoulder refused to provide the muscle power needed for strong strokes.

"I think I've got most of the mud off now. You look pretty clean too. Why don't we hop in the hot tub instead? Might help your shoulder some too," Finn suggested in return with a nod towards his clearly struggling arm.

Mason nodded slowly as he finally made it onto shore. "And I think a trip to sickbay after this," he commented, "I may have torn a muscle again, or just overstretched. It just hurts like hell and I feel like there's no strength there now." He looked around, then chuckled at his muddy feet. "Right... where's that tub?"

Finn pointed next to the rocks where the steam was coming up and led them over. As she sank into the warm water, her eyes closed and she let out a deep sigh. The warm water serving as the perfect relaxant and stress reliever. "Man, I needed this. I had a lot of fun doing those obstacles, it's been a while. Thanks for letting me crash your run." She smiled at Mason.

A sigh of relief escaped him as he lowered himself in the hot water. "It was fun," Mason agreed, closing his eyes as he leaned back and rubbed his shoulder. "It was great to have an opponent too, you're welcome to crash in any time. We're going to be quite sore tomorrow, I reckon." He opened his eyes to look at her. "Don't you?"

Finn shrugged. "Yea, probably." She then tilted her head to ask a question. She had really enjoyed Mason's company and wanted to learn more about him. "You know, I can't say I know much about you. Other than the fact that you like muddy obstacle courses and you're divorced. So, where are you from?"

"I was born in Ireland and raised by my oldest sister after dad died when I was just five years old. I'm the youngest of five, and the only son. I enlisted to the marine corps when I was sixteen. I got married six years ago and divorced just before my assignment here. My ex has custody of our adopted teenage daughter Angelique. I currently have no real significant other. What about you?"

"Ahh so that's where the accent comes from. It's a very attractive accent by the way," Finn not so subtly commented with a smile as she mentally noted that he was currently single. "I was born in California but grew up on various starships. My dad was a Marine combat engineer so moving came with the territory. As for relationships...I've only ever had one really serious relationship, but I'm single now too." She paused for just a moment before speaking up once more. "Can I ask what you're doing for dinner tonight after our shifts?" Finn was nothing if not efficient and a straight shooter, even when it came to potential interests. Mason was her type and she wanted to see more. Dinner would provide a suitable venue for her to feel out whether or not Mason was relationship material.

Mason blushed a little at the compliment, idly twirling his hands through the warm water. "Alex was my only real relationship," he admitted, "though I did have a severe crush on a Gorn, when I was just sixteen. That really didn't end well." The faint scars on his chest were testament to that. "As for dinner, I got no plans just yet." Linguist though he might be, he was clearly clueless at the moment as towards her possible intentions. "Do you want to meet up in the lounge?"

"Sure, 1800 in the lounge. It's a date," she added purposefully with a wide grin on her face. "For now though, our shifts start soon. I need a change of uniform and I think you were still planning to stop by sick bay."

"Yes sickbay..." Mason rose from the warm water, brushing the excess of water off. "Computer, dry uniform, accessories and a large towel," he ordered as he clambered out.

Finn ordered the same and quickly followed suit, drying off and throwing on the newly replicated engineering uniform. She ordered the computer to display a mirror and ensured her hair was appropriately tied up and that her uniform was spotless. Once satisfied with her appearance, she turned to Mason. "I had a really great time this morning. I'll see you later tonight for dinner and in the meantime, I hope your shoulder feels better."

"I'm going to sickbay," Mason said, "and then see if I got stuff to do in security. I'm sure Kev- I mean Lieutenant Dash has something waiting for me." He grinned, almost playfully as he checked himself over. "Computer, end program."