No Peeking

Posted on Fri Mar 26th, 2021 @ 12:36pm by Lieutenant JG Shaille Levine & Warrant Officer Koh Ottasu

Mission: Pathstone to History
Location: Holodeck 2

Koh had lead Shaille by the hand for the last few feet, her eyes closed at his request. She could easily hear the holodeck doors opening, as they were quite distinctive. On the other side of the doors she'd smell fresh, cool air. Crisp, but nothing cold. A few steps in, the atmosphere changed and was no longer the cold and clinical feel of a starship. It felt more, casual. More welcoming. A simple yet constant sound in the background... Rain. A gentle, constant, light rain.

A few more steps, and Koh stopped. "Okay, open your eyes."

The sight was a simple structure, wooden supports and a wooden roof, slanted to let the rain run off. There were no walls, just gentle curtains in some placed to allow for privacy if needed, but otherwise it was open to the world. And then there was the world.

Grass, fields of grass rolling over hills, giving way to larger hills in the distance. Stormclouds overhead supplied the rain, with the gentle tease of thunder miles away, soft but present. Inside the rest house, lanterns kept the entire area well lit, while a stove in the middle of the square structure warmed the entire place. It wasn't very big, but it wasn't cramped either. Cozy, would be a phenomenal word for it. Pillows and mats, low tables, a small icebox, a curtained off area that seemed warmer than the rest of the cozy pagoda.

"Just a little something from home. I'm not allowed to show the sky, so there's a gentle storm, but this is the kind of private outdoor lounge that you'd find in all the well to do regions of Ts'usu. Villages have a communal lounge, but I don't feel like sharing." the rabbit teased. "Food, drink, a radio for music. I cheated and put a video screen on a stand in case you wanted to watch something from home." a pause, "My home. I burned almost every buoy ration I have this month on archived television programs and radio plays. Had this little piece of home cleared with the various departments of information security. Been waiting for a month for this."

"This is our place." he said softly. "Yours and mine..... surprise."

Her hand tightened around his as she turned side to side, taking a step this way then that, a look of awe and amazement on her face. "I love it," she said softly. "I absolutely love it."

She turned back into him, still holding his hand tightly, her free hand reaching up to trail lightly from the tip of his ear down so her palm was resting on the side of his face.

"But no where near as much as I love you." She smiled as she looked up at him. "Did you really do all this for me?"

He leaned into her touch, a soft smile on his features as she reached his face. "I did this for us." he said softly, pausing for a moment before he continued, "My people, they're very secret on what they will share with the rest of the universe, but what they will share, what I want to share with you, is the richness of my heritage. I want you to be a part of my world, as much as you already are a part of my... oh, that sounded a lot less crowded in my head." he snickered.

"I want to share Ts'usu with you, but I'm not allowed to. So I'll share as much as I can. The gentle rains, the wide open grasslands, the hills that go on for miles. If you know where to look, there are untouched regions of Ts'usu that just take your breath away. The colors, the scents... even the glow of a tattletale patch." he chuckled. "I want to share my home with you. I want to share everything with you."

"So, what do we do first?" Shaille asked as she looked around. "What would you normally do here?" She turned, her back toward him, pulling his arm around her so his hand rested just below her ribs. "The rain, the landscape, it's beautiful," she said softly, inhaling deeply. "It smells like flowers on the breeze."

He gave a smile, moving closer to rest against her, "Soak in the tub, then dry off by the stove with a cup of tea and some food, listening to the rain or the radio." he offered. "As a kid, oh I'd go playing around in the rain, then I'd have to wash up and dry off. I wasn't allowed in the tub since kids weren't allowed in them. Too hot." he clarified.

"Most of the food stuff we have on Ts'usu is fish. Actual beef beef is actually a bit of a delicacy, or even a treat. So, you'll understand why I tend to order so much of it when we go out." he smirked. "Fabricators fix most of that, but still, natural meats are usually fish. Hence the icebox." he motioned with his free hand. "Or, we could cheat and call up a fabricator, or whatever you call them." he smiled.

Shaille slid off her boots, kicking them aside easily, looking up at him, a wicked grin on her face. "I haven't played in the rain for a long time," she said with a smile as she pulled her sweater up over her head. "How about we start there? Then we can warm up in the tub and enjoy the fish."

Koh gave a smirk, kneeling down to remove his own shoes before taking off his uniform jacket. "It's just one more thing I love about you. Always an adventure." he snickered.

"Well, it seems the most likely progression of events," Shaille said with a grin as she shimmied out of her jeans. "Rain, then warm tub, then we can curl up in front of the heater thingy and relax."

His leggings were already on the floor, and he was well on his way to being bare in the fluff, as it were. "Trillions of miles separate our two worlds, and we're still both of the same mind." he stood, bare as day his fur came in, and offered her a hand to cross the breach into the gentle rain together. "Soak it in. Damp fur isn't very complimentary." his humility surfaced, to be more fair Koh was in very good shape. Solid, defined... well as defined as a being covered in soft fur *could* be, but he was very much in shape. Turns out Ts'usugi didn't become hulking muscle monsters, they just became more and more solidly built. Koh was a block of wood, carved into the form of a fighter pilot, and then dunked into fluff.

"Together?"

Her hand slid into his. Together. She liked that. Together. She smiled at him, squeezing his hand gently.

"Always."