Posted by Ensign Kastarak (Doctor) in Main SIM: On the planet’s (Risa) surface

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Alexander Blaze (Engineer / Programmer) in Main SIM: On the planet’s (Risa) surface

Posted by Ensign Kastarak (Doctor) in Main SIM: On the planet’s (Risa) surface
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(Snip + location update)

Will turned a corner and saw a group of officers conversing. He had finally won the internal argument that a place like Risa was not a place where one wore their uniform at all times so he wore some clothes from home, some wrangler jeans and a simple brown farming shirt. He held a physical book under his arm as he walked around the corner. He gave the captain a slow nod and continued his walk around the alien terrain.

CSO, 2O

“You’re missing the point, Ari…” Isaac groaned and plopped onto her bed, “you’re on shoreleave. You should be lounging on the beach on your second Risian Mai-Tai or windsurfing in Suraya Bay, not going to some conference. Those things are killers, you know.”

“I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing,” T’Aria eyed his holographic reflection as she ran a fine-toothed comb through her hair, “but this ‘killer’ conference is an opportunity to reconnect. I had not realised how much I… missed medicine. But I suppose even that won’t stop you from proposing I embark on some remarkable advanture that will likely result in a premature trip to sickbay?”

“Nope!” Isaac trilled, a wild grin forming in place of the popped ‘p’. “Have you heard of Galartha?”

T’Aria wrinkled her eyebrows at the name and swivelled to face him. Where had she heard that before? The cliff pervaded many late-night conversations in the weeks leading up to shore leave. She recalled how Ensigns Atillos and Kiran, who she regarded as models of youthful impulsivity, were humbled by Galartha. Yasmine scaled the treacherous, every-changing cliffside as a dare during Spring Break, but the stunt left them not with glory but with a fractured pelvis and immeasurable guilt. Atillos spoke grimly of his encounter, but something told T’Aria that his guilt was not an uncommon symptom of visiting the cliffside.

Naturally, she expected the peril of Galartha to evoke apprehension or dread but was instead bombarded with a prickling sensation that forced her to ball her fists so her fingers wouldn’t tap wildly against the chair. It was dangerous and ill-advised, yet she felt compelled to try. Why? T’Aria knew she was neither sleep-deprived nor suffering the effects of her recent encounter with the flu. She scoured her thoughts for reasons that might preserve her hold on logic, but she eventually surmised it was nothing more than excitement. Then, she did what she hadn’t before… she took in a breath, accepted it and let it go.

“I doubt Command would approve of my threatening my life for a few cc’s of adrenaline,” T’Aria deadpanned and set the comb on the table. “They’ve seen enough of Chernov’s antics, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, yeah. I should’ve assumed that wouldn’t be your cup of tea.” Isaac leaned against his palms, a contemplative look touching his once mischievous gaze. “What about something less… physically dangerous?”

T’Aria tilted her head, “what did you have in mind?”

Having been in the lobby for a while, Kastarak decided to venture out to the beach. The sun shone warmly – it reminded him of Vulcan and how the sun would always bring out a certain particular radiating heat when spring would come. It felt safe to Kastarak. He felt relief that no triggering memories came from this realization now.

He sat himself down on the beach, and began meditating. Somehow, it seemed like the most appropriate use of this time and moment. Everything was at peace, he could capture this moment and meditate on it.

– Kastarak

Blaze was taking a break from tech and was relaxing on the Beach. That is when a very Beautiful part Vulcan women approached him and started to talk with him.

Lt. Alexander Blaze

At that point, Kastarak’s meditation was interrupted. Perhaps it was a bird shrieking, he thought to himself. He did not think it was the part-Vulcan women walking by, talking to his colleague Blaze.

In any case, women did not interest him the sense it interested Blaze, he thought, and decided to try out swimming instead. He quickly changed to the swimming trunks that he had procured earlier. It was a strange sensation wearing them, he felt exposed, naked. Well, he practically was, except for the parts covering his private parts. But hundreds of other men on the beach were dressed exactly the same, and it did not seem to confuse him the least to see other men like that, but for him, a Vulcan, to be that exposed and “naked” in public was uncomfortable.

He decided to cast those emotions away – logic would help. Why were Vulcans so prudish if there was no logical reason for it? It makes sense to wear very little (if at all) when going in the water, so you can dry up quick when you come back up and avoid hyperthermia. And, there is less friction against the water with the skin.

A slight breeze touched his torso, and it gave him a ticklish feeling. He had never, as far as he could remember, exposed this much skin to the open air before. Was it liberating or was it just the exhilaration of doing something different? Is exhilaration an emotion? Kastarak settled on it, and decided to purge that emotion, however nice it was.

His bare feet moved across the beach toward the water. At first, his feet noticed the coarse hard yet soft and silky sand, and how his feet sank into the sound, and as if forming a sieve, straining the fine sand between them. It was medidating for Kastarak to notice these motions. Later, as he came closer to the water, the sand had become a bit more moist, and he could see, if turning back, that his feet have left foot imprints in the moist sand. The sand was colder, and harder, but still quite soft to touch with his feet, and soon he felt the temperate water – for each wave – washing up against, first, his toes, then the rest of his foot, up to his ankles, and now, to his knees.

He waded further out, until the water came up to his belly button. For some reason, Kastarak thought that would be a good mark for the water for him to let go of the ground below and let the water carry him.

He swam up and down the waves. It was as if the sea was rocking him. He certainly saw the meditative qualities of this exercise.

– Ens/Dr Kastarak

A little over an hour elapsed before T’Aria emerged from the hotel lobby, nearly unrecognisable. She shed her regulation golds for a loose-fitting dress crafted from fabrics dyed crimson and bronze. To match, she unbraided her hair and wove it into a traditional style that she secured with delicate, mineral-encrusted pins (…given by her grandmother for a bonding she ultimately challenged). She tied it together with kohl and eyeshadow of muted red. For many, her attire was little more than an expression of the wearer. For T’Aria… it was something new.

T’Aria wavered at the pathway separating the city from the beach. Try something new, she heard Isaac’s nagging voice in her head, put yourself out there. Tugging at her robes, T’Aria scanned the beach spotting Blaze and several crew amid a sea of unfamilair faces. Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed a small drink shack serving up something that smelled (at least from her distance of several meters) fruity? T’Aria leaned into her curiosity and stepped onto the sand, briefly relishing its warmth. The closer she got the shack, the more the pungent odor of the ocean filled her senses, reminidng her of the Voroth Sea. But the smell faded as approached and eventually settled on one of the shack’s many palm-woven chairs.

— T’Aria, XO
(OOC: Leaving this open, in case anyone wants to join!)