Posted by Lieutenant Bennie Royce (Chief Medical Officer) in Holodeck - Down Time

Posted by Commander Jason Harn (Executive Officer) in Holodeck - Down Time

Posted by Lieutenant Bennie Royce (Chief Medical Officer) in Holodeck - Down Time
Bennie had the entire day off and had booked a couple of hours on the holodeck to do one of her favorite things—shop!!! She had a program she’d been fine tuning for years, of a large department store. It had everything in it she had an ongoing interest in, and even though she was aware she couldn’t actually take things out of the holodeck and into the ship proper, it always gave her ideas that could be replicated by the industrial machine governed by the quarter master.

Today, she had two categories in mind. She’d weeded out her wardrobe before reporting to the Olinski, and hadn’t replaced any of the pieces yet, so she was going to spend her allotted time looking at evening wear and jewelry.

When the doors parted to reveal the yellow and black grid, Bennie smiled and and spoke aloud. =/\=Computer, run program Royce 125QVC (LOL).=/\= Immediately, the bare room was filled with thousands of items neatly displayed in pertinent groupings. She felt a small thrill of excitement as she looked out over the falsely, large store. Dressed in a short, knit skirt and matching striped shirts, she stepped into the smorgasbord of items and gave one further order. =/\=Do not lock the doors. Someone else might want to waste a couple of hours here.=/\=

—Royce, CMO

When Jason arrived at the holodeck, he noticed someone was running a program without the privacy protocol activated. That meant it was okay to enter. Bennie Royce was running the program and that was fine with Jason for he had come down here looking for her in the first place. The last time he had tried to show her a little bit of his world; now he would be seeing some of hers.

As the doors opened he straightened the short black jacket he wore over his matching shirt. Civilian fashion had been a mystery to him ever since he found himself in this century, but serving in Starfleet had allowed him to avoid that issue for almost fifteen years. He glanced down at his black pants and boots and snorted. All he needed was a pair of sunglasses and he would look like the main heavy from a movie. He had come this close to wearing his dress whites that he had instinctively chosen clothes in the opposite color, but now he looked like an undertaker’s hired henchman. He took his eyes off his foot ware and took in his surroundings. He was in… a store, belay that, an entire shopping mall! Jason didn’t know why he was so surprised. Back in his time it was a cliché that women loved to shop but he hadn’t expected the old stereotype to persist into the present age. Could it be that with the invention of the holodeck women had found a way to shop without bringing home more junk they didn’t need? Truly, this was an enlightened era.

The doctor was holding a gold, beaded, gown up next to her body and imagining how it would fit.

It was then that Jason noticed Bennie. With years of experience, he was able to pull his eyes up from her short skirt to her lovely features with practiced casualness. “Hi, Bennie. Doing a little window shopping?”

Jason Harn, XO

She looked up with big, blue eyes and saw Harn. “Oh, hi!” The dress went back on the rack. “Yes, window shopping. I came to the Olinski with very little wardrobe, so I thought I’d come in here and get some ideas for replication.” Her right hand trailed along the dresses as she moved a step closer to him. “What brings you to my endless store?”

—Royce, CMO

“I haven’t been able to keep up with civilian fashion ever since I join Starfleet,” Jason smiled with a shrug. “I also thought that I’d make up for things by asking you out a real date. You know, a DATE date. Our trip to Draylax got pretty crowded.” Jason’s face reddened slightly at the memory. He didn’t care to invite those who were unfamiliar with his past to simulations of the 22nd century. It was a private part of him that was only shared with someone special.

Jason Harn, XO

Bennie bit her lower lip as she looked up at the tall officer. Their track record for having private time together hadn’t gone very well. She was a little hesitant to say ‘yes’ because she didn’t want to be disappointed again. However, he was trying to make up for it now and the invasion on the holodeck hadn’t really been his fault.

She looked from Harn to the dress on the rack she was still touching. “Alright. I only have one request…” Now she focused on the first officer. “Make sure no one can crash into our time together?” Her face had been serious as she spoke about privacy, but now it broke into a smile that lit her eyes. “I’m kidding, Jason. Of course I’d love to spend some time with you.”

—Royce, CMO

“Thanks,” Jason blushed as he tried not to reveal how much he had taken her seriously. “I know I’ve awfully secretive with everyone so for you I’d thought I’d take you back to my old prom night. Both of my parents were in the Space Corps when I was growing up so we moved around a lot and I ended up on Proxima Colony in the Alpha Centauri system in my senior year. Don’t worry; it wasn’t some high school gym room or anything like that. Formal dress is the way to go. But should we dress in today’s fashions or what they were wearing back in 2146?”

Jason Harn, XO, making big plans as usual

Because not all traditions had been lost over the years, Bennie knew what ‘Prom Night’ represented. It had stayed pretty much the same century after century. A big party usually hosted by the school, in a slightly romantic setting, for high school students.

“You want us to go rub shoulders with 17 and 18 year old kids at a sponsored dance?” One of her shapely brows was raised in question. One thing that made Harn interesting was that he had a unique way of looking at things. Perhaps there were more details to his invitation that weren’t obvious, which would make it more to her liking, but Bennie wasn’t going to suggest them yet.

—Royce, CMO

“Oh HELL no!” Jason exclaimed obnoxiously. “I’m already the oldest person on this ship; I don’t need that on my time off. No, I was thinking of taking you to a theme park and show you what they were like before people invented holosuites. We’d have the whole place to ourselves. Maybe we’d add a few park goers to keep it from seeming too empty. The prom angle was just so we could wear formal dress and put a more romantic spin on things… you know something to make it more ‘grown-up’,” he added, not wanting to admit that adding simulations of his old classmates was way to personal and not something he was willing to do without a licensed therapist in the room.

Jason Harn, XO

Blue eyes traveled back to the dress she’d been holding when Jason appeared. “Okay, I’m still not sure I understand. We are going to dress up in formal wear and go to a theme park? A park? Like—outside with grass and fountains and…things?” She really didn’t mean to seem dim about what he was suggesting, but Bennie didn’t know what a theme park was really.

Just to ease any frustration he might be feeling with her, she reached out and touched his arm. “The answer is yes, Jason. I’d love to spend an evening with you. I just don’t understand what we’d be doing. But you just tell me what to wear and what time to arrive, and I’ll be there.”

—Royce, CMO

“Sure, Bennie. It’ll be fine,” Jason assured her. “Unless you’ve got a program you’d like to share with me?” he added, realizing that he might have been being too controlling.

Jason Harn, XO

“No, its fine, Jason. We’ll do whatever you have in mind this time, and the next time I’ll plan something for us. Does that sound alright?” Most of her programs contained a multitude of ‘others’ as Bennie never chose to spend much time alone. There were a few she could share with the XO, but they’d need little tweaks before she introduced him into them.

OOC: You can start another thread for their date whenever you’re ready. Just let me know how to dress and where to go.

—Royce, CMO

OOC: Fortunately, fashions have changed so much that Bennie has a lot of leeway on what constitutes formal evening wear. Jason is expecting a prom dress or something equivalent, but who knows what the fashionable 24th century woman is wearing these days? By my calculations, it’s the 2390’s freeing you from even examples set in TNG, DS9, or VOY.

Jason Harn, XO