Happy Ever After

Posted on Mon Aug 5th, 2019 @ 9:02am by

Mission: For Whom The Bell Tolls
Location: Holodeck 1
Timeline: MD 2 19:30 Hours
3159 words - 6.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Beata, dressed in her ball gown tapped the controls outside the holodeck. The program was ready and she had a smile on her face for the first time in days. She heard someone come up behind her and knew it was Stef from the way he reached out to stroke her hair. It was like old times. She found it funny that when she'd first met him he'd been rather shy but had certainly gotten over that when it came to her.

"Hi there," she said turning around. "Are you ready for this torture?"

Peering through his Venetian half-mask, Stef nodded. He adjusted his costume and smiled, offering her his arm. "I am," he said, "are you?" He gave her a once over, his smile softening. "You look gorgeous Bee, and I have to admit I am relieved you are mine. I would be very jealous if I were to see you with another." It might sound a little wrong but he was genuinely relieved.

"Now wait just a minute." Bee said putting her arms on her hips. "Who says I'm yours?" She was mildly teasing but she did still have some strong feelings about what had happened on Marga III and she had really wanted this night to be just about the two of them getting to know one another again. He had to go and put labels on things. She winked to let him know she was teasing, though she seemed to have lost a tiny bit of enthusiasm. She took a deep breath. "Thank you, you look very handsome as well."

"Bee..." Stef sighed softly. "I cannot apologize for what happened on Marga forever. How could I have known that after five years things would reverse? How could I have known that we had disappeared altogether?" He paused, reaching for her. "I am here now, and I have no intention of having this happen again. As Razmi can vouch for, I have never stopped thinking of you, but I could not assume the Majestic was coming back. Not after all that time, I had to accept it and make a life for myself. Even Svara had to accept that I still loved you, and always would." He held her hand between his. "I believe you are mine, yes....but equally, I will pledge myself to you. I am yours. I have always been yours."

Beata took a deep breath but it did no good, she just felt awful for making him feel bad. She knew he was not to blame and yet she was still having trouble letting go of these feelings. They had lessened yes, perhaps all she needed was time. Stef's words seemed to have healed a tiny bit of her wounds though. She leaned toward him, fighting back tears and rested her head against his shoulder where she fought hard not to cry. After a bit she was able to pull herself to together and she mumbled into him. "I'm sorry."

Embracing her, he held her tightly for a moment as the holodeck doors opened. Then he lifted her face up to him. "I am serious," he said, "about us. I will go, where you go. Right now, into this holodeck, but after...anywhere you travel I will be with you. Or you with me if you prefer. What do I need to do, to prove that I mean what I say? You have nothing to be sorry for, if the roles were reversed I would possibly feel the same even if I would expect you to move on."

"Oh Stef, I've always believed you. You would never lie to me. I just . . . it's hard. It's new and it's taken me some time to come to terms with it. I'm getting there," she assured him. Then she managed a small smile. "Distract me tonight."

"I will," he promised, leaning down to kiss her, then led her inside, where music was playing. "Care to dance?" he asked her, even though he wasn't that much of a dancer to begin with.

"Yes . . but wait." She looked around, something was missing from this program and she couldn't put her finger on what it was. "Computer, dim lighting by twenty percent around the dance floor and take out all other dancers." She looked back at Stef. "Aright my prince. Now."

"Oh...if I am a prince, are you my princess then?" Stef asked seriously, despite his grin. He took her hand and led her onto the dancefloor. "Computer, Vienna Waltz..." While he wasn't a good dancer, he had taken the effort as a teen to at least know a little more than the basics. "Ready?" He asked, before counting down.

"What human girl child didn't dream about being a princess at least once in her life?" Beata grinned at him knowing that he probably didn't know much about human girls. "Yes, I'm ready." She really didn't know Stef could dance, they had never done so before. She let Stef pull her close.

Listening intently to the music, the Vulcan did his best to lead her across the ballroom floor, trying even harder not to step onto her toes. "Is this what you were after?" he whispered in her ear, "or did you have something else in mind?"

Beata shook her head. "No, this is perfect. Any time spent close to you is perfect." She assured him. "I had no idea you could dance, where did you learn? The orphanage I grew up in gave dance lessons of all things. How outdated was that? I found it very funny at the time, but I'm glad I learned."

"My parents insisted I should learn, that it was a scientific experiment and would be good for my sense of rhythm just in case I might need it some day. I do not see how it is outdated..." He led her into a basic spin, before twirling her back towards the center of the room. He stopped when the song finished. "I will admit that a waltz is the only thing I do know."

She grinned. "Well when your girlfriend wants to have a ball, the waltz is pretty much the dance she's looking for so how lucky for you. I don't know, I just don't think people dance much like this anymore but maybe I'm wrong." Beata shrugged. "In this moment I'm glad I learned and hopefully all the boys who groaned about dancing with me back then have impressed their girlfriends and wives with their dance floor moves by now."

"Or they stopped altogether," Stef chuckled, "would you like another dance or would you like to take a rest?"

"That's a possibility too. I'm good, we don't have to keep dancing." She pulled away from him slightly. "Beautiful place though isn't it? Grand ballrooms were insane back then. People who had the money made them as extravagant as possible to show their wealth and power. Silly huh? And yet, I wanted to be in one, just once."

"Surely there are still places on Earth that have rooms like this?" He looked around with her, gawking at the high ceilings with intricate painting. "Perhaps we could visit them some day?"

"I'm not sure, I never looked into it. But sure . . . I guess we could. Do you think Alecx would mind?" She pulled him over close again and though there was no music she just kind of swayed with him on the dance floor. It felt good to be pressed up against him like this.

"He is two...if he does not want to walk, I am certain we can find a stroller for him. Would you mind it, if he did come along?" He stood very still, resting his arms across her shoulders, reveling in her proximity.

"It's not like we're leaving tomorrow. But no, I don't mind at all if he comes. I like Alecx, he's a complete sweetheart, just like his dad. Just wait until he's old enough to date. Women are going to be flocking to him."

"I have no doubt," Stef smiled, "I am glad you like him Bee. He is a very easy child, mostly, though sometimes he screams at night for no apparent reason and I do not understand why he does that." He leaned in, resting his cheek on top of her head. "What would you do, if he were your child? I feel at a loss."

Beata thought that was rather odd. "Is he frightened of something? A monster under the bed? Sometimes children have vivid imaginations and can make up all kinds of things that aren't there."

"Vulcans are not supposed to dream. I cannot recall dreaming as a child. I actually do not know if Mardrans dream, now that I think of it." He tilted his head in thought. "Do you think he misses his sister somehow? He never really met her, and I am not certain he has any recollection of her ever having been there... but as a twin myself, I feel my sister's loss very keenly. I was very close to her though I too have no memory of her before our first year."

"It's very possible, he's only half Vulcan. Who knows what abilities he has. Has he ever been tested for senses?" Beata was frowning now, she'd forgotten where they were and what they were doing.

Stef shook his head. "No. While on Marda it never really came to thought, and since our return we have been in such a rollercoaster I never actually considered it. Does cognitive memory not occur at about three years of age? In Humans that is... in Vulcans we recall things a lot earlier than that. Do you think I should have him tested?"

"Yes. It won't hurt him and then you'll know what sort of abilities he has and maybe be a bit closer to solving his problem. I realize that you sleeping in the same room with him is probably not ideal since you don't want him to get used to it, after all you need your own space. But . . . would I be allowed to sleep in his room once? Maybe I can find out what's wrong."

The Vulcan nodded slowly. "That might not be a bad idea," he agreed, "though as you know I often sleep in the arboretum. Often I do take him with me as he does seem to like it there. Should I stop taking him?"

"I don't know, does he only do it there?" Beata was amused that he was asking her for advice. She had very little experience with children, only she remembered being a small child and being afraid of monsters.

"He only does it at home," Stef clarified, "when he is in his bed in his room. There is absolutely nothing in his room that could possibly frighten him. As you know, I do not have an excess of furniture or ornaments."

"Hmm, well I'm not sure. Other than some sort of separation anxiety. Let me stay with him and let's see what happens." Beata then smiled warmly. "Weren't you supposed to be distracting me from my troubles?" She was only teasing, she didn't mind troubleshooting this with him.

"Am I not sufficiently distracting you?" he asked as he looked down at her. "There are so many things I would like to do..." But first he would simply re-wrap his arms around her, and kiss her intently.

When she came up for air an eternity later she laughed breathlessly and replied. "That will work," before kissing him again.

"Would you like to go swimming?" He asked, "it is getting very warm in this costume."

Beata laughed again. "Is that because I'm kissing you or because you were dancing?" Her eyes were twinkling as she searched his face for the answer.

"Perhaps a bit of both," Stef admitted. "Computer, change scene to a pool..."

"Right now you want to go swimming?" Beata said amused. "I'm not exactly dressed for the occasion." She eyed him warily. He'd thrown her in once, and it had not ended well. She'd warned him never to do it again. "I guess I could replicate a swimsuit and change. Or . . . were you thinking skinny dipping?"

She barely finished speaking as the scenery changed and the ballroom floor under their feet was suddenly exchanged for the shallow end of a pool. Not expecting the floor to disappear at all, Stef yelped as he was dunked under as his feet slipped the moment they touched bottom.

Beata fell into the water as well, she came back up coughing but frantically looking for Stef, she knew he was not the best swimmer and the shock of the water may have caught him off guard or even injured him. She had her hand around his waist almost immediately. "Are you alright?"

Stef nodded, reaching to take off the mask and wipe his hair from his eyes. "Thank you, I am," he replied as he regained his footing. "Are you alright? I did not expect the pool to appear under our feet."

"A little water down my lungs, but I'll be alright. Yeah, maybe not the best command to give." Beata grinned though. "We should add all the other dancers back and watch them fall into the pool." The thought made her laugh. "This is a pretty interesting date Stef."

"I doubt it will affect a holographic dancer," Stef chuckled, "do you want to get out and change, or are you comfortable just dressing down?" He tugged down his collar a little, starting to feel a little waterlogged in his layers of clothes.

"Just taking some layers off is fine." She wasn't sure she wanted to be completely naked in the water but stripping off her dress seemed like the thing to do. Couldn't quite reach though. "Can you unzip me please?" She turned around to give him access to the zipper.

"Of course." He fumbled with the wet fabric for a bit but finally managed to undo the zipper and started to push the heavy outer dress from her shoulders. "Just how many layers are you wearing?"

Beata giggled. "Just the dress and my underwear. Why?" She turned around toward him once the dress was off.

"It seems so heavy," he explained, "you looked absolutely gorgeous in it but it looked like it was an utter pain to wear." Still fully clothed, he gathered his arms around her. "I suppose I should shed a few layers too, hm?" he murmured, reluctantly releasing her to struggle out of his jacket.

"Well it wasn't all that heavy until it was wet. And how many times in her life is a girl going to get to wear a ballgown?" She grinned at him. "This is nice too though. Soaking wet, cuddled up next to you in the water. So . . . . on Marga III did you have much opportunity to practice your swimming?"

"As many times as she wants," Stef promised, "I did practice yes, but somehow I lost the...encouragement to keep doing it. It was never as fun to do as it is now with you. I did return to that beach as often as I could, because there I remembered our time together. Now that we are here again though, perhaps we can improve on my skills. I can swim now, I am just not very good at it." He was still struggling with his wet sleeves. "Help me?"

Beata pulled on his sleeves until his jacket was off. At least they were in the shallow end of the pool so their fleet touched bottom. "Practice makes perfect." She said. "Just how many layers do you plan on taking off?"

"As many as is needed to be comfortable in the water," the Vulcan replied vaguely, pulling his shirt up over his head and tossing it aside. Under water he tried to kick off his shoes, but socks were going to be an issue. "It seems...I have more on me than you do on you."

She grinned at this statement. "Well make yourself comfortable. I'll wait. You want me to take off your socks for you too?"

"Wait for what?" He smirked at her, forming a daring smile. "I could always order the computer to remove them...."

"To remove your socks?" Beata teased, "I had no idea you had a computer fetish. Would you like me to leave you and the computer alone for a while?" She nudged him and took off swimming across the pool assuming that in her underwear he'd probably like the sight.

Stef blinked as she swam off. "No Bee, I actually meant all clothes," he deadpanned as he shifted to pull off his sock.

"Come join me," she called treading water from the deeper end of the pool. "Once the computer has had her way with you of course." She couldn't help teasing him, sometimes he was just so cute. But he also surprised her. She had no idea that anyone would or could love her as much as he did.

"Has my way with me?" He arched an eyebrow at her. "Computer, remove clothing from both holodeck occupants," he said slowly, shivering as suddenly what remained of his wet attire disappeared altogether. "You were saying m'lady?" he teased as he treaded towards her.

"Well that's a little forward of you." Beata said, just a tad surprised that he would do such a thing. "Listen Stef, I don't mind this but . . . I don't want to get too physical yet. I'm not ready for that." There was a slight color to her cheeks. "I hope that's okay with you." She was nervous about what his answer might be.

Stef stayed where he was, idly trailing his fingers through the water's surface. This was something he didn't understand, they had been skinny dipping before, there was nothing they hadn't seen from each other before. Finally, he nodded. Anything to not drive her away. "You know me," he said softly, "I would never do anything you are not ready for..." Yet he seemed a little hurt she might think that of him. He had not seen the harm in both being naked in a pool.

"Oh I know you wouldn't. I just wanted to make things clear. I didn't mean you would try something. I thought you deserved to know what was going on in my mind."

"I appreciate that Bee, I really do." Slowly, he started to wade towards her. "Can I say that I do like to see you as you are?" He lifted his hand, which dripped with water, towards her. "Is that permitted?"

"Of course," Beata smiled, moving towards him and kissing him gently. Kissing him made her forget all her worries. Her mind floated along blissfully unaware of her surroundings and just living in the moment.

---

Ensign Beata Lauryl
Operations Officer
pnpc Jane

Crewman Apprentice Stef
Yeoman/Animal Caretaker
pnpc Lhaes