No Shame

Posted on Thu Nov 30th, 2023 @ 10:49am by Lieutenant Kevan Dash & Ensign Ziahli Lorel

Mission: Character Development
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: Pre-Mission
2188 words - 4.4 OF Standard Post Measure

"As far as traditions go, I think it's one that I can happily pass on. Besides, I don't think this counts. You got shot by a crewmate; I got burnt by a short-circuiting power relay, they're not exactly the same thing."

It was difficult to believe only a couple of days had passed. Zia blamed most of her distraction on the events surrounding the sudden application of her primary function and the fact that, for the first time in her short career, she was actually having to guard a prisoner. The fact that it was Nayisa was absolutely no guarantee of more relaxed standards, quite the opposite. If anyone was going to find a weakness in the current infrastructure, it was the disgruntled Intel officer. Even on the wrong side of incarceration, the other woman was good company, however, and it had been easy enough to pull the long shifts required as the department tried to get on the front-foot with recovery efforts. Getting patched up in Sickbay on return was practically a distant memory, which meant that certain exploration of personal nostalgia was even further back in the memory banks. Zia hadn't forgotten her promise to reciprocate and show her Trill companion something from her own list of favourite places, it had come down to finding time when both of them could actually slow down enough to enjoy it.

Currently, they were comparing war wounds en route.

"I'm sure with enough embellishment, you could adopt the role of unlikely hero but I don't think I can dress up losing a fight with a bunch of circuitry as anything other than pure carelessness. I am fine, by the way, thanks for asking." She jostled him.

"Heh. I was hardly worried. You've been shot at and blown up as many times as the rest of us have by now, and you're still going." Kevan grinned. "It's almost like you've nearly passed your Athena initiation. Nearly," he added with a wink.

"Barely scratched the surface, I have read at least some mission files by now." With a shake of her head, the Betazoid flicked a strand of dark hair over her shoulder and continued unperturbed. She was not, despite a gregarious nature, one to covet attention for the sake of it and certainly found more to be frustrated by than thankful for in excessive concern on her behalf. The fact that he seemed utterly unlikely to even remember she got hurt was oddly a point in Kevan's favour for once.

"Now," Zia continued, turning to face him as they finally arrived at the doors to the holodeck. "Before we go any further, one important question." She fixed him with dancing eyes. "Can you swim?"

"Academy swim team class of '92," he grinned. "Like a Denobulan Seasnake; their words, not mine." He paused. "You didn't say anything about a swimsuit..."

"You're right," Zia grinned, turning to step through the open doors of the holodeck backwards. "I didn't."

Beyond the threshold, the sound of a rolling surf became an instant match for the squelch of sun-bleached sand underfoot. Deposited midway down an expansive stretch of beach, the pair emerged beneath the shade of a looming palm tree and were swiftly relegated to the only observable living souls within eyeshot. "I went back and forth about where to bring you, tried to think of places that might interest you that still count as sentimental favourites. The Betazed coastline is probably a little cliché but then I realised I wasn't sure if you'd ever spent any time exploring it."

"Betazed?" Kevan echoed, staring around the vista. It was breathtaking in an entirely different way to the forest he had taken her to. The crystal of the ocean, the gentlest of coastal wind, and the glorious sun shining down on them. Back to nature, but in an entirely different locale. "Okay, not bad. What about drinks with umbr-" even before he'd finished making the suggestion he spotted the small beach picnic-style arrangement already waiting, complete with little glasses bearing umbrellas. He paused for several long seconds, desperately searching for something to pull her up on but failing. Instead he picked up one of the glasses. "It's pink and fruity. No ale?"

"Feel free to abstain."

Having already kicked off her shoes, Zia was perched on the edge of one of the deckchairs to scoot herself out of her long pants. Pulling them down over her feet first, she glanced upwards towards the relatively calm water and paused a moment. "There are much larger beaches," she pointed out, "Obviously those in the tourist areas are usually teeming with people. Those have their merits, we can always try that next time. This cove is below my grandmother's estate, though, completely secluded and only accessible through her property. There was a time I would have lived here if I could have." She glanced sideways up at him. "Technically tried to a few times. That's the problem with being surrounded by telepaths; sneaking out at night isn't quite as easy as you'd like most of the time."

"I always wondered about that," Kevan nodded. "Being a teenage Betazoid must be pretty horrific; all those hormones raging, and everyone around you knowing all about it. Especially that girl you like..." he added, giving her a sly grin.

"Which is why you don't find many of us bothering much with those kind of secrets." It was something of a generalisation, certainly a stereotype, but it served its purpose in the moment. "Honesty definitely leads to less headaches anyway, literally and metaphorically."

Having a clear, unfair advantage, Zia took very little time to strip down to a swimsuit and wasted no more in heading directly for the water's edge. In truth, she had selected this program as much for her own equilibrium as upholding her end of a bargain, finding it far easier to reconcile the necessity of being so far from home to pursue the career she wanted when she was able to bridge the distance, even artificially, from time to time. She waded out as far as her knees before turning back to shield her eyes and call out, "You know even a swimsuit is considered overdressed outside the tourist regions."

"One thing I definitely do know about Betazoid culture is that the bride at the wedding arrives naked," he called back. He extended his arms expectantly. "When in Rome, and all that..." he added with a grin, peeling off his shirt but leaving his lower half on for the moment.

Though it might have been a feat to get her to admit it, Zia hadn't orchestrated the holo-date as a thinly-veiled excuse for exploiting cultural preferences around dress-code. With so much going on recently, and her brig rapidly filling up with people who typically belonged on the other side of the forcefield giving her orders, the Betazoid had just not given a lot of thought to prior warning. This was her healing place, and it had at least occurred to her not to let slip how very unusual it was for her to bring anyone else into the simulated version of it. Someone's self-inflation didn't need any assistance.

Wading thigh-deep in a line parallel to the shore, fingertips grazing the surface to occasionally scoop up a handful of water, Zia lingered for a moment in uncommon introspection, at least in the presence of others. She turned eventually and stopped, watching the Trill's decision-making process with an air of quiet contemplation that certainly didn't count as a prominent personality trait most days. A slow smile dawned and she laughed to herself before lifting her voice so that it carried. "Just think of it as a bath without the discomfort of being poked in the back by a faucet."

He waded into the water, and, still looking at Zia, removed his pants under the water's surface. "Skinny-dipping in San Francisco Bay was practically par for the course as a first-year cadet," he grinned. "Will take more than that to make me flinch, Ms Lorel."

"I wasn't trying to make you flinch."

A spray of water sent his way via a cupped hand skimmed across the surface of the water was playful but the Betazoid's tone was actually reasonably sedate. The truth was, Zia wouldn't have invited him if she'd honestly thought he'd have a problem with being comfortable in his own skin, nor would she have entertained the idea of showing him something so reasonably personal if she didn't believe the Trill had some capacity to rise above carnal potential to simply exist in the moment. There was no thinly-veiled ulterior motive behind her invitation, though there was perhaps a little mischief in her decision to dress for the occasion.

"Fun fact about this stretch of coast," she diverted the conversation by wading back to stand beside him, facing out towards the deeper waters beyond the cove. "It's riddled with pockets of psionically null geology. Caves," she elaborated. "But more specifically caves where telepathic signals have a much harder time transmitting."

"Huh. So a place where Betazoids might go if they wanted actual peace and quiet." He glanced over the coastline. "A shame it's a holodeck and not the real thing. That is, if you were hoping for that."

"A lot of people took shelter here during the Occupation, and directly afterwards." Whilst not generally prone to pessimism, there was a level of subdued respect, at least, to Zia's tone. Turning her head to look at him, she squinted in the sun and offered a smile that dug a little deeper than her usual mischief. "And now it's a place of pilgrimage. Most of the estate had been vineyard before the war, now part of it has been turned into guest accommodation. Not quite the same as a forest of goliaths," she added, turning back towards the ocean, "But this place was one of the hardest things to leave behind."

He splashed gently forward in the calm waters. "It's pretty. I can see the appeal of a place like this - especially if you wanted to be alone with someone..." His suggestive words were coupled with his arms wrapping around her from behind. A hug, nothing more at this point; he knew that she was feeling philosophical about home, and he could understand that after their forest excursion. "You ever bring anyone else here?"

"This specific simulation?" Zia paused thoughtfully as she pulled his arms around her, accepting the physical affection for what it was. "I don't think so." Her narrowed eyes played into an exaggerated thoughtfulness before her expression veered towards a more circumspect playfulness. "Now, the actual place..." Her lips twitched. "Well, you tell me. Private cove, tucked away like this..."

"If we get some leave, maybe you could show me someday," he suggested softly. "Finally get you in a place you can't read my mind. Level the playing field for a while." He grinned. "Besides, the view is really good."

Zia craned her head to look up at him. "If it makes you feel any better, I could probably figure you out either way." The tug of her lips at one corner was a tease but the look in her eye was a little more searching, more akin to quiet determination.

"Oh yeah?" he grinned, leaning down slowly as though he was going for a kiss, only to suddenly haul her up and dump them both into the water, cackling with laughter as they fell.

"Low blow, Dash." Emerging from the water with her head tilted back slightly so that the movement pulled her hair away from her face, Zia shook droplets of water from her fingertips only to render it pointless by immediately scooping up a palmful to fling at him.

Flashing an amused grin, Kevan shielded himself from the light splash. "You mean you didn't see that coming? You must be losing your edge, Lorel."

"Anticipation has nothing to do with it." The Betazoid offered him an admittedly-exaggerated pout, which was instantly spoiled by the flash of mischief in her eyes. "I might expect betrayal but that doesn't mean I can't hope for better."

Still grinning, he put his arms around her again. This time he didn't dunk her under the waves, but rather just held her gaze in his own boyish smoulder. "Better? I challenge you to find any better than me, Zia..."

A single, arched eyebrow called him immediately to task. "And what would you do if I accepted?"

"Then I would go insane with jealousy and immediately hunt them down," he chuckled. His expression settled as he brushed some hair out of her face. "Besides, you've managed to get me totally naked and all to yourself. What could possibly be better?"

A sly curve twitched Zia's lips upwards on one side. Finally, as if there had been any other option other than to relent, she looped her arms around his waist and allowed her other eyebrow to join its mate.

"Do I really need to show you?"