Posted by Civilian Yavia Crockett (Nurse - Sacred Heart Hospital) in The Care and Keeping of Love

Posted by Major General Charles Tenkiller (Vice Commandant, Colonial Customs and Defense Agency) in The Care and Keeping of Love

Posted by Civilian Yavia Crockett (Nurse - Sacred Heart Hospital) in The Care and Keeping of Love
Posted by… suppressed (31) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It was the first day that Sharah was gone. The green house was built and only the statuw of Hope was left to be assembled. TK had arrived home roughly 20 minutes earlier when their was a knock on the door. Yavia looked at the back door, perplexed, from where she was cutting vegetables at the counter. She set the knife down and wiped her hands on a kitchen towel before making her way over to open the door.

“Py’thik?”

The Cardassian driver grinned at her and handed her a hand written note. “Ms Crockett. I was instructed to leave this vehicle for you and the General and deliver this letter. Have a good evening.” He gave her the letter and then turned walking toward a slider waiting at the top of the drive. Left behind was a ground car…well not a car, a truck.

She closed the door looking at the letter. It was from Sharah. “TK! Sharah is up to something!” She called out heading in his direction.

Yavia

TK walked up the stairs separating the living areas from the sleeping areas. He had changed out of his uniform and was in jeans and a faded reddish t-shirt with big, white, interlocked ‘O’ and ‘U’ on the front. “What’s up? She didn’t get a pet, did she? I don’t wanna dog or cat or… whatever-the-hell she found.” he said with a grin.

Tenkiller

Yavia chuckled, “Well I don’t think it’s a pet, but we both know she’s gonna come home with something, eventually. No, Py’thik just dropped off a pick-up and this letter.” She waved the envelope and opened it, unfolding the hand written letter with a flourish. She began to read out loud.

Hello Luvs,

You do so much for me, and I’m afraid that sometimes I don’t tell you both how very much I love you, and how important you are to me. I don’t know how or why it happened, but I am thankful every day.

Since I’m gone, I want you to enjoy being your own brilliant, magnificent couple. All on your own to just be V and TK. So, I have arranged a date night for you. Very casual and easy. You have to be there by 1900. Dinner is provided. Directions have already been programmed into the vehicle. Enjoy each other.

Love,
Sharah

P.S. Charles, this is my treat, and I mean it, so it’s already been paid for. They won’t take your credits, not even for a tip.

Yavia looked up and grinned. “I guess we’re going out tonight.”

Yavia

TK stood behind her and put his arms around her waist. “Out? Dammit. I had so many ideas for what we could do here alone.” and he chuckled. He looked out the window at the truck and said “Ok… let’s go see what clues she left us.” and he ushered her out to the truck.

Tenkiller

Yavia leaned back against his chest, her hand resting on his arms and laughed. “Well, she said to enjoy each other. If we have different ideas I don’t think she would mind.” Yavia laughed, “But I am very curious.”

She followed him out to the truck and looked into the truck bed. There were two boxes. One was a larger rectangular cardboard like box, roughly a foot shorter than the truck bed was wide, but lighter than expected. The other was shorter but taller. Both were closed with twine and written across the tops was ‘No Peeking! -Until you get there.’

Sharah had raided their closets because inside the cab was a jacket for each of them. Also setting in the middle seat was a small portable camp heater.

“Ummm....she’s sending us into the wilderness?” Yavia looked dubiously at the heater and the then through the rear windshield at the boxes.

Yavia

“Fat chance of that. Not like we have ‘wilderness’ to send us into.” Tenkiller said with a chuckle. “But… it does look like we need to dress for roughing it a bit. C’mon. Let’s go change and see what she did.” It was obvious he was excited.

A few minutes later, TK emerged into the kitchen wearing jeans, dark brown square-toed boots, and a long sleeved button down western shirt over his t-shirt. He also had on a cowboy hat he wore when he worked outside: old and slightly battered with sweat stains around the brim, it still looked like it was the perfect fit to him.

Tenkiller

V came up the stairs wearing faded black jeans and a long sleeve light-weigh sweeter. She had a ball cap on with the logo for the Phenomenal Fireflies. Her baseball team. “Mmmm…you look good enough to go get lost with.” She kissed him, wrapping her arms around for a moment. “Ready?” Her eyes danced as she grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the truck.

When the truck started directions were displayed, but any attempt to find the name of destination was suspiciously not listed. Though they could see that they were going out past the edge of the old dome. There was very little traffic until suddenly there was. A line of ground and hover vehicles were lined up along the edge of a large wooden fence. The fence was white washed and 8’ tall. All around the outside were trees, still young, planted. The navigation took them past the line and around to the far side of the fence where there was a gate. Yavia was turned in the seat trying to figure out what it was. They turned in at the gate, “What in the world is this?”

A sign above the gate read, Pre-Paid Ticket Entrance. The man at the gate walked up holding a PaDD and waited for TK to lower the window. “Name?”

Yavia

“Tenkiller and Crockett?” he said more like a question than an answer. “And what is this? What’s going on?” he asked.

Tenkiller

The man grinned, “I have you right here. And this,” he waved toward the fenced drive that lead further in, “is Oed’s very own New Starlight Drive-in Theatre. Tonight is our grand opening. Good thing you reserved your tickets in advance. Follow the drive down and then follow the ushers and they will find you a place to park. Please be sure to turn off your engines and vehicle lights. Enjoy the show.” He waved them past the gate and moved on to the next car.

The drive was lined by the fence, to keep headlights from disrupting the show most likely. An usher stood at the end and waved them to the right, and it opened up into a huge paved parking lot, edged around by scraggly grass that would eventually be lush, a gigantic screen occupied one end and there were rows of cars already forming between the upright poles that held speaker boxes. The smell of fresh popcorn and short order cooking and deep fry oil filled the air.

Yavia looked around and grinned. “This…is fantastic.”

Yavia

Bump

TK looked around and smiled. “There is an old drive-in my hometown. Been there as long as anyone can remember. It was closed for… hell, decades. But a few of the folks got together, bought it, and rebuilt it and upgraded the projection equipment. Folks came from miles.” and he chuckled. “We used to sneak in hiding in the trunk of cars and trucks.” As the truck approached a spot, it turned and backed into the spot. TK grinned. “I’m guessing that we get in back and watch from there. You usually saved the truck cab for… non-cinematic activities.” and he laughed.

Tenkiller

Yavia chuckled, “Now that sounds like fun.” The truck stopped and she hopped out, reaching for one of the boxes. “Alright I’m done waiting. I wanna know what’s in the boxes.” She lifted the lid off the first box, her elegant brows rising and a grin crossed her face. The first thing she pulled out was a small cooler filled with their favorite beer and cocktails. The only other thing in her box was a large foam pad that would fit the length of the truck bed. Yavia laughed as it rolled out and she out the empty box in the cab. “Whatcha got, TK?”

The second box had pillows and a large blanket. A small insulated container with a note, ‘Incase Yavia wanders off’ filled with paw-paw slices.

Yavia

TK laughed and said “Looks like she thought of everything.” as he rummaged through the box and then came up with two pairs of oddly tinted glasses. He looked around and saw everyone had them, and then it dawned on him. “Oh wow… old 3D glasses! Back on Earth in the mid twentieth century, they had a way of filming that made the movie look like it was three dimensional. Gimmicky, but fun as hell.” and he tossed a pair to V.

Tenkiller

V snatched them out of the air and slipped them on. She tipped her chin down and slid the glasses down her nose to look over the top at him. “How do I look, daaarling?” She over exaggerated comically. Then she set her hands on the side of the bed and hoisted herself up and over. “Well now we know what the jackets and space heater are for.”

A young woman, a teen by the looks, came up, high pony tail, jeans and a purple t-shirt that read “New Starlight Drive-in,” and roller-skates. “Evening folks. I’m Gemna your server. General Tenkiller, Ms Crockett welcome to New Starlight.” She handed them a PaDD. “Our full menu, you can order from there and we will bring it out to you. There is also a comm button on there as well.” She turned behind her and pulled a 5x3 box off a pole. “Here is your speaker box for the movie.”

Yavia grinned, “Thank you Gemna. I know I am going to want popcorn, pretzles and oh…too many choices. Could I start with a Barzian Citrus?”

Gemna nodded, “Of course.” She looked at Tenkiller, “For you, sir?”

Yavia

“Three Terran hotdogs with mustard and relish. Pretzel with cheese sauce. Nachos. Annnnd… oh holy crap. Y’all got Big Red?! Hell yes. Biggest one ya got, and one for the lady, too.” TK said with a grin and handed the PaDD back. “Thanks, Gemna. Oh, do you sell those shirts?” he asked and pointed at her t-shirt.

Tenkiller

“We do. Sell cups and movie posters too.” Gemna input his order, then pulled up the various souvenir items and handed the PaDD back.

Yavia purused some more, “Hickory bacon burger, all the way, a Terran hotdogs with chili and onions, popcorn, cinnamon sugar pretzel bites with icing, and Nestle Crunch.” Yavia passed her PaDD back as well.

“Would you like me to hold the snacks until the movie starts or go ahead and bring them?”

V glanced at TK and back, “Go ahead and bring it.”

Yavia

As Gemna left to get the food, TK looked at V and smiled. “Well? Let’s get settled.” He climbed into the bed of the truck and laid out the pad, smiling when he saw it was heated. “That woman thought of everything, didn’t she?” he said with a chuckle. It took a few minutes to get everything just right; but soon he and V were settled in, laying back propped up against pillows and with the blanket stretched out over them. He kissed V and then said “I don’t even care what the movie is… this is already a great night.”

Tenkiller

Yavia grinned as she fluffed and then tossed pillows against the back of the cab, “Did you really think she would forget anything?” Yavia slide the cooler nearby, and then settled in against his side. “This is a very great night.” Her hand settled on his leg and she kissed him again. “We’re really lucky to have her.”

“We really are.” TK agreed.

Cars were still coming in and filling up the empty spots. The speaker played a variety of music and some pretty cheesy adds for the concession stand. Servers on skates raced back and forth around the cars, and the general noise grew as people parked and got settled. Yavia watched the people, talking to temporary neighbors, kids playing in the dirt, parents trying to keep them corralled, teenagers loafing around trying to look bored.

“I’m really glad I’m here with you.” It was getting darker and the lights on the screen came on. Mostly advertisements for snacks and the souvenirs. Rules for the facility, where to find restrooms, contact servers, and whatnot. But it worked to get the attention of people, and they all started settling in to their places.

“I’m glad I’m here with you as well.” TK said with a grin. “Although it is certainly more crowded than most of our dates have been.” and he laughed.

Yavia chuckled, “Well we can either enjoy the evening and let the fact it is quite crowded build the anticipation, or we can always get in the cab and fog up the windows.”

“Mmmm… close call, V.... close call.” TK said with a grin.

Yavia gave him a wicked grin, her hand lacing with his, and a warm spark traveled from her hand to his and across his skin. “Hmmm, both have such intriguing possibilities, TK. Which ever we don’t pick tonight, we’ll have to come back and test out the other option.”

Gemna rolled up with a large tray, covered in food. “Here we go. If you need a refill on popcorn, drinks, or morefood, just enter it on the PaDD and I’ll bring it out. I’ll have your shirts at intermission. We are a bit slammed with food orders at the moment.”

Yavia

“Take your time, we are in no rush.” Tenkiller said with a friendly smile. He sat forward and dropped the legs on the tray and set it over their laps. He leaned back and handed her a large cup. “This is Big Red. It’s an drink from around my home. Think of it like… a cinnamon candy made into a drink.” and he grinned as he grabbed his own cup and took a sip. He closed his eyes and smiled. “Yeah… thats the stuff right there.” and he laughed.

Tenkiller

Yavia paused with the straw touching her lips and laughed. “That must be what I look like when I get paw-paw juice.” She sipped from the straw, and made a face. It was a weird flavor. She tried it again and nodded. “I like it. Cinnamon sparks against the taste buds and then added to the fizz it’s a very playful sensation. We will have to get some of this to keep at home.” She picked up her hot dog and took a bite and moaned. “Tha ib booo good,” she mumbled around the bite.

Yavia

TK laughed at her and shook his head. “Seriously… how can you be so hot and such a goof-ball simultaneously? Is it like your super power or something? The ability to be ridiculous and ridiculously hot at the same time?” and he laughed.

Tenkiller

Yavia playfully slapped a hand over his mouth and looked at him wide eyed. “Shh…” she hissed, “I thought you could keep a secret. Don’t say that where people can hear.” She slowly lifted her hand and dropped her voice. “I mean can you imagine the trouble I’d be in if people knew?” She picked up her drink and took a sip, “Of course, I’m all for trouble with you.” She leaned in and kissed him, it was hot and playfully short. The screen flashed, “Oh, movie’s starting. Shhh.” She settled back with a grin and slipped on the 3D glasses as prompted.

Yavia

TK grinned and mumbled “Tell me to shhh… like I haven’t watched vids with you and had to stop every three minutes for the running commentary.” and he chuckled as he settled back and put in his glasses.

Tenkiller

Yavia winked at him. She took a sip of her Big Red and then mixed zipping her mouth shut. She slipped her glasses on and settled in beside him. She found the first movie truly entertaining in 3D: How To Train Your Dragon. From the cheers, shouts, and comments from the children that were about, they were enjoying the movie. Yavia was enthralled by the animation and effects. She took the glasses off a couple of times, and murmered, “It’s like a low tech holodeck.” And of course she gasped and groaned, and cheered in all the right places.

Yavia

TK spent more time watching V than he spent watching the movie, but had just as much fun as the children did. When it was over, he leaned in and whispered “So… know how to train a dragon now?” and he chuckled.

Tenkiller

Yavia nodded solemnly. “Mmmhmm. Just like this.” She held her hand out to his face and pointedly did not look at him, mimicking Hiccup. She laughed after a second though. “I know a better way to tame you.” She cupped his face in both
her hands, warm sparks racing between them. Then she kissed him.

Yavia

He grinned while they kissed and then said “You know ‘taming’ means to calm down. That does not calm me down, lady.” and he laughed. Gemna returned and said “Hey guys! Hope you liked the first film. You need anything for intermission? We’ll get slammed in a few minutes, so if you want it soon I’d order quick.’ TK laughed and said “Yeah, please. Some more nachos, two more dogs, two more Big Reds, and three salted pretzels with mustard. Oh, and some Red Vines. ” He looked at V and said “I’m gonna show you the greatest concoction in theatre food ever.” Gemna looked at V and said “Anything else, hun?”

Tenkiller

Yavia chuckled. “I don’t want you calmed down. I like you wild.” Yavia almost groaned as Gemna returned but she smiled. “It was excellent. I enjoyed it. My inner child was fascinated.” Yavia listened as he rambled off another order and laughed. “Mmmm Junior Mints and Sapphires if you have them.” They were a Deltan candy that created a very unique sensation on the tongue. The flavor was sweet but crisp with a citrus like after flavor that carried on the popping sensation. They were a delight.

Yavia

Bump

“You got it. Be right back.” Gemna said and skated off. TK looked at V and smiled. “So I got a question for you. That first date we had… when that guy came up to us and started to cause a scene. Honestly… what was the first thing that came to your head as far as what I was gonna do?”

Tenkiller

Yavia set down her drink and turned leaning against the cab of the truck. “Honestly? I thought you were going to rough him up a bit, frisk him, scare the tar outta him, and arrest him. He reeked of Myst, so it was a good bet he had his stash on his person. What you did was so much better, and probably a whole lot more effective too. He’s been arrested enough times I don’t think it phases him anymore.”

Yavia

Tenkiller laughed softly. “I don’t have the jurisdiction to arrest civilians planet-side unless they pose a threat to the colony. And besides… if our first date was going to involve handcuffs and restraints, I sure as hell wasn’t gonna waste ‘em on that guy.” and winked at her.

Tenkiller

Yavia laughed. It was a pleasant, happy and sensuous sound that attracted longing glances for her and envious ones for TK. “Oh you are a deliciously wicked man, TK. You were so determined not to.” She leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Oh the things we will do together.” She laughed softly again. “I can say without a doubt that was the best first date I have ever been on. It is also my very last first date.”

“You say that now…” and he laughed.

Gemma arrived with their food on a large tray. In quick order she swapped out the trash with the fresh food and took off to the next vehicle.

“Alright so question for you. What were you expecting on a date with a Deltan?”

Yavia

TK shrugged. “Honestly, your species didn’t really come to mind. I mean, I thought about it after our date. But I didn’t expect nothin’ ‘cause you’re Deltan. I just wanted to go on a date with you.”

Tenkiller