To Be Or Not . . . .

Posted on Tue Jul 16th, 2019 @ 1:12am by Commodore Jane Saulitis

Mission: For Whom The Bell Tolls
1158 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Bebe pushed the plate away. "I am so full." She complained. "Why did I eat that much?" Then without explaining her actions she stole a peperoni that was on the pizza plate and ate it. She grinned at Lhaes. "I was never one of those women who worried about what they ate in front of a date."

"I never understood why women act differently on a first date anyway," Lhaes commented, not.even bothering to suppress a grin. "Why act different than who you are?" He pushed his empty.plate away and reached for his water. "Would you like dessert?"

"Would I like it? Yes. Do I have room for it? No," She smiled. "How about that tour you promised to take me on? I could use a walk to let my food settle." She had to admit she had fantasies of getting him into some jefferies tube and having her way with him but that all depended on him of course.

Standing, Lhaes walked around the table to pull back her chair. "I did promise," he remembered with a smile, trying to make sense of her emotions without spending energy on actively prying into her feelings. "Where would you like to go first? Barring off limits areas of course."

"No," Bebe said. "This is your ship, you tell me where we are starting. I'll just hang onto your arm and follow where you lead." She did just that, taking his arm after she'd gotten up out of her chair. "That we we have extra time to talk."

"Then we'll head down to the arboretum first," Lhaes decided, "and we'll take a walk through there, then I'll take you through a brief tour of engineering, security offices, medical facilities and if time permits a quick peek at the bridge from the turbolift as I can't take you up there." He grinned. "And finally I'll show you the ship's pool, assuming you'll want to swim. Is that agreeable?"

"That sounds lovely, but I thought you didn't like being near water?" Bebe was feeling extremely lucky that she'd found someone to talk to on this ship. It kept her away from Alta and she wasn't bugging Jane as she did feel like a bit of a burden for her daughter. "We don't have to see the pool if you don't want to. Just a tour of the ship would be wonderful."

"With two girls who love water I have to be near it, but I am definitely not going in." He shivered at the very idea. "Arboretum first... Just be careful we do have animals roaming free. You're not afraid of rabbits or chickens are you?"

"No, I'm not afraid of any animals. There are chickens and rabbits in the arboretum?" Bebe looked completely taken aback. "And Jane allows this? On a starship? Her starship?" She was somewhat shocked. "Umm, how did they end up here?"

"I don't know who the rabbits belong to but the chickens belong to Crewman Stef. He keeps an eye on all the animals roaming there and he takes care of crew pets when they need medical attention. My own pets never leave my quarters, I have two cats." He continued to smile. "Do you have pets? Did the captain have pets as a little girl?"

"I have many wild animals that I enjoy viewing. None of them live in my home. No, I don't believe Jane ever had a pet. I always offered to let her have one of course. But she was never interested. Her head was always in the clouds. Not that she doesn't like animals, but she never wanted to keep one specifically. She was an odd child. Wise beyond her years, an old soul."

"I've always had animals, well...since I was adopted.." he led her into the arboretum, instinctively steering her clear from a small rabbit on the path. "My parents have a goat farm. So I grew up with them, I helped breed them. Still do when I am home." He led her towards the small pond where fish could be seen floating about. "I can't imagine not having pets."

"I've just never thought there was an animal that was called to me to be a pet. They come visit me in my garden and they go back to their families." Bebe shrugged. "But I would like to meet your two cats, if that's all right with you and your children." She looked at him expectantly.

"Of course it is." He looked out over the pond for a moment, then up at the ceiling. "We should go, I believe we are about to have..." Rain. Water came pouring down, as if there was a real bout of rain. He grabbed her hand and pulled her under the big tree. "This won't take long," he said, pressing his back against the big stem, pulling her under the low branches with him.

Bebe was surprised but it quickly faded when she realized how closely pressed to him she was. Without hesitation or a moment's thought she just acted on her attraction to him and leaned forward, pressing her lips softly to his at first, testing how he was going to respond to the kiss.

The response was instant, without hesitation as he pulled her closer in reflex, returning the kiss, feeling the warmth of her body against his though their wet clothes. He pulled back for a second to look her in the eyes, then wrapped one arm around her waist, the other hand tangled in her hair as he leaned in to kiss her again.

A flurry of thoughts whipped through her head when he broke the kiss for a second. It had surprised her, his response. Was he indeed as attracted to her as she was to him? He was much younger than her, that was certain. She dared not hope. It was much too soon. Bebe melted against him though he when he pulled her closer for a second kiss, all thoughts on the subject blissfully washed away with the rain.

Through the touch, the intimacy of the kiss, he was very aware of her emotions, it didn't even take that much effort to be aware of them because they were very loud to him. "Yes," he murmured around the kiss, "I do feel attraction towards you. I can't explain... it feels wrong and yet...not." He deepened the kiss, very aware of their public display of affection. Very aware of the rain seeping through the leaves, soaking him to the bone. Fear nagged at the edge of his consciousness, rain was still water, and the very idea of this much water sent a palpable shiver down his spine. "Let's get out of here..." HIs voice had turned into a hoarse whisper as he reluctantly broke away from her.

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Lieutenant Commander Lhaes Sommers
Chief of Tactical/Security

Beatrice Benjamin
Mother of the Bride
pnpc by Saulitis