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 (11) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

At the sound of his voice Ria looked up at Achilleas. It was only then that she realised that the way she was sitting revealed a bit more of her legs than she was comfortable with. Blushing, she quickly and gracefully shifted her position before reaching for his outstretched hand with one hand, while holding her skirt in place with the other. While letting herself get helped to her feet, she uttered a soft thank you. Yet after the initial moment when she’d looked up at him, she kept her gaze bashful fixed to the ground.

Achilleas noticed the predicament right after Ria blushed and wisely chose to avert his eyes. He only looked back after he felt her hand grasped his.He needed to make sure she was assisted correctly after all.

Gaze flickered ever so briefly up as Ria said, “Of course. It’s a beautiful place. But we might want to just alter the program instead of walking there all the way. It’s a bit further away than it appears. Walking there would take us a good 40 minutes, which would leave us little to no time to actually spend on the shore.” Looking at the remainders of their picnic she added, “And I should pack up everything I brought and take it with us.”

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas grinned and nodded in head, “That’s a very good point. Let me help you pack up and then you can move us closer. Just leave a little distance to it alright? Still need to get a little exercise in.”

CSO Petrakos

“Of course,” Ria replied with a nod. Her eyes still not meeting his again.

It didn’t take long till everything was pack up again and after giving the computer a few instructions the scenery around them changed. They were now standing in the middle of a meadow a little less than a kilometre away from the river bank. The grass and wildflowers around them were so long and tall that most of them brushed against her thighs. It tickled where they touched her bare skin. But she didn’t seem to mind.

After glancing briefly up at Achilleas, Ria started to lead the way towards the river. Over her left arm she was carrying the basket while she let the fingers of her right hand trail over flowers and blades of grass.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Before Achilleas followed behind Ria, he first removed his shoes and rolled up his pant legs. He hurried to catch up while he held his shoes over his shoulder. “Have you spent much time at this river? Greece has 21 rivers but they were nowhere close to where we lived. Any swimming we did was in the sea.”

CSO Petrakos

“I have,” Ria replied a little wistfully. “Sometimes with my family, sometimes on my own. I’ve always found it soothing and inspiring to be here.”

As they neared the river bank, the grass and wildflowers became shorter and grew less thickly together. There started to be more and more stones and small rocks in the ground, till eventually it was mostly rocks and stones with just a few sturdy plants picking up between them. At this point the river was fairly shallow, forming a ford. At least when it hadn’t rained a lot.

After putting the basket down and slipping her sandals off, Ria walked with light, quick steps towards the water and then took a couple of steps into the river without hesitation. The water was cold and goosebumps were rising on her legs, but she didn’t seemed mind. All the while a soft, if once again slightly sad smile played across her face.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas dropped his shoes near the basket before he waded out next to Ria in the river. “Oh this is cold!” he said and laughed.

CSO Petrakos

“I’m sorry, I should have warned you,” Ria apologised, her expression sheepish. “The water flows too fast to ever really warm up, even in the middle of summer.” Sighing softly, she tilted her head backwards and looked towards the sun. “I love the peacefulness of this place;” she whispered.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

“No, it’s fine. It was just a shock at first.” Achilleas said as he moved to sit on the river side while still keeping his feet in the water. “It is very peaceful. I love water though, so this drew my attention right off. Right before leaving for my posting on the Ogawa I took a sailing trip around the Mediterranean, just myself and the water. It was a fun time but a bit bittersweet when I had to go back.”

CSO Petrakos

“Yes, water has a special … allure to it,” Ria mused. The cold water was helping her stay focused, yet she was still struggling to figure out and sort through everything that was going on inside her. Her thoughts and emotions were still all over the place and didn’t know what to do about it. If her mother or father or Mijiam were here maybe she could talk to them. Maybe that would help. Yet she didn’t even know where she’d begin. And how would one talk about something, if one didn’t even know how to put into words what one was thinking. All the while she kept slowly wading through the shallow water, not really paying attention to where she was putting her feet. Which - as anyone who knew her - would have been able to guess, ultimately led to her slipping on a slippery rock and losing her balance. She tried to catcher herself, but with nothing to hold onto she landed rather roughly on her behind.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas hurriedly got up and waded out quickly to where Ria was plopped down. He crouched down to check that she was alright. “Are you okay?”

CSO Petrakos

Ria nodded and then quickly averted her gaze; her whole face had turned scarlet. How embarrassing! Why did those things always have to happen to her? Part of her just wanted to get up and run away, but that would be rude. So instead, she scrambled back to her feet. “I’m sorry, I-” she started, not really knowing where she was going with her apology, but she felt the need to apologise anyway.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas reached out and pulled her into his embrace a bit impulsively. “Please don’t be sorry. You did nothing wrong. I’m just worried is all. Are you sure you’re fine? You don’t need to go to medical?”

CSO Petrakos

For the briefest moment Ria stiffened, but she then put her arms lightly around his waist. “I’m fine,” she mumbled into his shoulder. “I’m getting you all wet. I’m sorry,” she continued, yet didn’t try and move out of his embrace. She really felt bad about that. Yet at the same time it felt nice to be held like that. Why though? And was it okay that it felt nice? Why did everything have to be so complicated all the time?

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

Achilleas chuckled, “I’m not worried about getting wet at all. If this river led to a lake nearby I’d just jump in and go swimming. Now you are for more soaked than I. I can’t really help you dry your clothes but I can help you with this…” With that said he proceeded to grasp one of her braids and wring the water from it. He was very careful to not really tug on her hair in a hurtful manner but she would probably still feel it being tugged on. After he finished with the one he started on the other, all while she was still in his arms.

CSO Petrakos

All the while Ria just stood there, to perplex to say or do anything other then blinking in reaction to Achilleas wringing out her hair. She could feel the slight pull, but it wasn’t nearly enough that it would be painful. Once she found her voice again, she whispered, “Thank you.” And without making the conscious decision to do so, she found herself turning her head and then resting her cheek against his chest.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist