Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: On the Holodeck again - Bajor

Posted by Ensign Iyun Riani (Scientist) in Side Sim: On the Holodeck again - Bajor

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: On the Holodeck again - Bajor
Posted by… suppressed (13) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It had been almost a fortnight since she and Achilleas had been on the holodeck together. And more than once since then had Riani found her mind wandering back to that hour. Some times it made her feel mortified, other times it brought a timid smile to her face. Always depending on what part of their outing she happened to think of at the moment. And it was now her turn to be the cook and host during this outing.She had meant to arrive a few minutes early and set everything up. And in a way she had. The program was running and she was standing in front of the doors; dressed in knee-long denim skirt, black sandals and simple, lilac coloured t-shirt, a basket on her arm. She was feeling like a complete fool. If only she could bring herself to enter the holodeck!

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achillas turned a bend and the holodeck was in sight. Curiously enough Ria was still standing right outside the door and hadn’t gone in. Was there a problem? Having slowed his steps, he quietly arrived next to her and studied the entryway. Everything looked to be in working order.

“Hey, is everything alright?” he spoke with some concern.

CSO Petrakos

Ria was lost in her own mind and hadn’t heard Achilleas approach. So when he suddenly talked to her, she jumped ever so slightly and a soft yelp escaped her lips. Clapping her free hand to her chest, her cheeks pink, she looked sheepishly up at him. “No, it’s … working fine,” she admitted and then continued even more hesitantly, “I just … I don’t know … couldn’t walk inside.” She dropped her gaze and looked down at her feet, feeling silly and embarrassed.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas had a hardly contained amused grin on his face. He held out a hand to Ria and said, “Come on. Let’s go in together.”

CSO Petrakos

Reaching with her free hand for Achilleas’, Riani took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a brief moment before taking a step forward so that sensor would detect her and opened the doors.

On the other side lay a lush, hilly landscape, with green fields and pastures, trees and bushes. (OOC: think Lancashire) In the distance and towards their left, a river was visible. On their right and only a few metres way, stood beautiful wooden cottage. It was two stories high and the two side that were visible to them were almost complete covered in something that looked a bit like ivy; apart from the windows and the front door of course. A wooden bench stood next to the front door. And there was a large tree with with draping branches, like a weeping willow, in front of the house. The branches were covered in small, oval shaped leaves that were of a pale green colour on top, and of a more whitish, silvery colour on the bottom. The tree was currently in full bloom and and had purple blossoms the size of cherry blossoms. From what was visible from their current position there were several flower beds and window boxes full of flowers of various shapes, sizes and colours. The air was warm and carried a slight lilacy smell.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas took that step forward with Ria and stopped when she did. With her hand still in his, he gently rubbed along it with his thumb before taking another step and started leading them towards the house.

“Where is this?” He asked quietly, wanting to take in the sights and sounds but still wanting to fulfill his curiosity.

CSO Petrakos

Ria smiled ever so softly as she felt his finger rub the back of her hand. Letting her gaze wander across the familiar hills, she said, “We’re in the Kendra Province. My great-grandfather build this house and we moved her when we left Deep Space Nine when I was sixteen.” Turning towards the house she continued, “I’ve only lived here for two years, much shorter than anywhere else, not counting this Starbase, and yet it has always felt like home.” It only then struck her how strange it was to basically take him home and her cheeks turned rather pink once again. At the same time, part of her expected any member of her family to walk out the door or around the house at any moment, despite the fact that she was fully aware that this was only a holodeck program and that her mother hadn’t programmed any people.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas took a deep breath and was pleasantly surprised by the lilac scent. The rolling green hills with trees and bushes plus a river were so similar to Greece but stark in its contrast as well. He’d seen similar landscapes before but the coziness of this one struck him with a sense of wonder. The house fit into the environment as if it was meant to be there.

“I can see why you’d miss this.” He said in a hushed voice, trying his hardest to not break the spell the view had him under.

CSO Petrakos

Riani simply nodded and for a moment just stood there, taking everything in. Eventually she said, “I should probably get into the kitchen and prepare the food. Or we’ll have to leave again before we finished eating.” A soft laugh bubbled up from her chest at the memory of that rather abrupt end to their last outing. “You can stay here, if you like. Or have look around the garden.” It was only then that she’d let go of his hand.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

“I’ll relax on the porch then if you don’t need me to help with anything. That wood bench looks like it has a great view.” Achilleas responded while moving to the bench and took a seat. He propped his elbows on his legs, held his head in his cupped hands, and just took in the scenery.

CSO Petrakos

“No, I don’t,” Ria replied and without another word she disappeared into the house. In the kitchen she turned the oven on and then unpacked the basket, putting everything in the order in which she’d need the ingredients. She then started to cut, mix, stir and otherwise prep the different dishes for their dinner. All the while she hummed softly and a gentle smile played across her face.

Once everything was ready, she stood in the middle of the kitchen for a moment, thinking. Riani had initially planned to sit at the table in the backyard, yet Achilleas seemed to really enjoy the vista from the front yard. So with light, quick steps, she hurried upstairs and grabbed a blanket from the linen cabinet. She then put everything carefully back into the basket and added two plates and glasses to it.

She had been gone for maybe 15 minutes, when she stepped outside again. Looking a little timidly at Achilleas, Ria suggested, “I thought it might be nice to eat here. Unless you’d rather sit at a table?”

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas shook his head with a wide grin, “That sounds like a fantastic idea! I’m all for a picnic with a terrific view.”

He then stood up and moved closer to Ria, he made to reach for the blanket, “Let me help you set up.”

“Thank you,” Riani smiled and moved her arm slightly, so that he could take the blanket more easily.

He took the blanket and unfolded it before he then shook it out onto the grass and straightened up the edges.

CSO Petrakos

After placing the basket on the ground, Ria knelt down on the blanket and started to unpack. There was hasperat, and what looked liked rolls/biscuits, fruit sticks and a few different vegetables, a small plate with very sticky looking ivory coloured squares and a bottle with a dark purple liquid in it. While placing everything between them, she named everything and explained what it was. Just as last time, she then bowed her head for a short moment and silently said grace.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas respectfully waited for Ria to finish her prayer before he reached for a roll and took a decent sized bite.

“Mmm, that’s nice and flaky. Family recipe?”

CSO Petrakos

“Yes,” Riani replied with a nod as she reached for some hasperat. “Everything I made that required more than peeling and cutting is a family recipe.” It was good being here and it put her a little at rest being somewhere where she felt safe and comfortable. Yet it also felt strange that it looked like she was home, but her family wasn’t there. It made her feel happy and very sad at the same time. She just hoped she wouldn’t start crying again and so she fell silent and took a bite of hasperat.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas looked thoughtful as he sampled what Ria was eating, “This kind of reminds me of a time when my Grandfather took the boys and Grandmother out to sea fishing. The girls were busy helping momma, so it was up to us to bring in dinner for the next few days. We could’ve bought or replicated ourselves some food but my grandparents insisted we get the fish ourselves. During a particularly calm moment on the sea with no fish biting, Grandma rolled out a big blanket on the deck and called us all to supper. Even Grandpa left the wheelhouse to join the sup. There were all sorts of foods she prepared very early that morning and a jar of olives a person,”

Riani listened in silence, the hint of a soft, if slightly sad smile tugging at the corners of her eyes and lips.

He stopped a moment to look wistfully for a moment before he reached into a pocket and pulled out a jar of olives. “I’m not sure if these will go well with the food you made but I was saving these for a special occasion and this is special to me. My Grandma canned this jar a little over a year ago.”

He then popped the jar open and ate an olive before offering the jar to Ria.

CSO Petrakos

“That’s the good thing about these,” Ria said softly, gesturing at the food between them, “Pretty much everything goes with it. At least as far as I have tried.” That said, she reached for an olive herself and popped it into her mouth. Falling silent once again, her gaze became slightly unfocused as she looked towards the house.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist