Cats or Pegasi Part III
Posted on Mon Dec 16th, 2024 @ 5:30pm by Sergeant Audie Fitch & Lieutenant Jayak Zek
Edited on on Tue Dec 17th, 2024 @ 11:16pm
2,265 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Zulg's Holosuites - Central Core Deck 5 - Empok Nor
Timeline: MD001 1000 hrs
"Well, I can teach you some of these parlor tricks," Audie answered with a shrug, "or some old-school first aid stuff in case you ever run into an emergency but don't have all the pretty tech at hand." Technology was nice, but it wasn't always available or practical, so she'd learned to do without. Oh, and I could teach you to juggle!"
"I have always been a willing student," Zek replied with a smirk. "Just tell me what to do, where to be, and when, and I'm all yours."
"Sure, I'm always happy for a willing student!" Audie chuckled. "I've got some free time now, we can look into getting a holodeck for medical training, or we can just order some oranges and I can teach you to juggle, whatever floats your boat!"
"Usually water does that," Zek replied with a smart laugh. "I am the student here. I leave myself in the hands of a capable teacher." He then looked down in his lap at the sleeping cat and said, "Of course, I will be disappointing Buster. Could we live with ourselves for that?"
"Well, come on then!" They'd had a decent meal, so what better way to work it off than with a little CPR? "And 'floating your boat' is an expression...means whatever pleases you. C'mon, Buster!"
Audie glanced at Zek as they walked. "What sort of medical training have you had?"
"My medical training?" That was an odd question to ask. "Well, other than the basics from Starfleet or surviving the Occupation, not a lot. I mean, we have to study some the mind when we are going through school for my profession." He paused and decided to ask the non-verbalized question. "Why do you ask?"
"Just for a baseline." Audie shrugged. "Of course you have the basics, but if you'd gotten more training beyond that, we could go from there."
Mostly, she'd try to cover emergency trauma sort of things, to keep a patient alive until help could get there, or they could be transported to a proper medbay. "Hopefully, it will be things you never have to use."
"I would prefer that," Zek admitted. "Though, I would rather assist people than let them suffer in any way. I've seen more of that in a lifetime than anyone should."
"Well, besides addressing pain, sometimes the best you can do is give comfort." Sighing, Audie shrugged. "And sometimes that's assuring family that you're doing all you can, even when you know there's really nothing you can do. But you can't lie, that's not fair, but I guess you know that."
She had a repertoire of platitudes -- 'We're doing what we can'...'Your friend is in good hands'...'I don't know'...
"Of course, keeping them alive in the first place, but you're familiar with bleeding control, tourniquets, manual CPR..?"
"I've given more than enough comfort," Zek told Audie, his voice trailing off, remembering the Occupation. "And yes, I'm familiar with those basics."
"Well, then, maybe we can try something a little more elaborate? Child-birthing, extrication...? Or maybe we could just try juggling while hula dancing?" Audie grinned.
"You can do that? Hula and juggling? My, my, you are the talented one, aren't you?"
"Oh, you have no idea!" Audie laughed, then gyrated her hips a bit. "Just need the grass skirt and I'm all set!"
She stepped into the holodeck, then glanced at Zek. "So, what'll it be? Drama or hula?"
There was no question in his mind, after watching her gyrate. There was nothing more attractive than a woman dancing. Whoever her love interest was would likely be highly jealous of him witnessing what he desired. "Was that really a question, Audie? Must I verbalize my answer?"
Wiggling her eyebrows, Audie laughed. "All right then! Computer, give us a beach in Hawaii!" They were surrounded by a beach of sparkling white sand, shaded by palm trees that rustled in the gentle breeze. Before them, low waves washed up from the crystal ocean. "How's this?" Even better than the real thing, the holodeck-created Hawaii wasn't insanely humid!
"If you think that this is an appropriate place to hula, then I am more than satisfied. After all," he said with a secretive smirk. "You're the expert. I am nothing but a mere mortal compared to thyself." He gave Audie an exaggerated flourishing bow.
"Ah, yes!" Audie laughed and grabbed a grass skirt from chair and tied it on over her clothes. "Finally recognized as the goddess that I am!" Laughing, she twirled around, then handed him another skirt. "Here, now, these are requisite, and I'm sure you'll look amazing in horse feed!"
Zek gave Audie a skeptical glance and then looked at the hulu skirt. Well, he was not about to let the moment slip away, so he looked at the skirt and fumbled about trying to put it on, watching as it fell to the ground. "Seems I'm going to need a bit of help here, Goddess," he informed Audie with a small chuckle. "So, these always go over the clothing, then?"
"Well, I know they aren't worn 'commando'," Audie chuckled as she stepped in to tie the skirt around his waist, "but I think the tradition is in something more like a bikini for the ladies, and just shorts for men. Oh!"
She scurried back to the replicator and returned with strings of plumeria flowers. She put one around his neck, then giggled. "You've been lei-ed!"
Zek chucked and snorted loudly. "You've been reading from my play book, have you? Must be why you're a Goddess. You clearly know all in advance, is that not so?" He grinned at Audie broadly. "So, I've been skirted then leied. Now what?"
"We dance! Computer, music!" Traditional Pacific Island music started to play, and Audie did her best imitation of a dance, gracefully waving her arms to one side as her hips swayed, then shifted her arms to the other side. It actually looked little like any sort of Native dance, but she was having fun, and wasn't that the point?
Rather than dance, Zek watched Audie and her hips. He decided that whoever her crush was did not know how fortunate he was. Admiring her, he smiled, his eyes twinkling. "So that's how it is done?" he finally asked.
"That's how I do it! Can't say how it's really done!" Audie laughed, enjoying the chance to play a bit. "You ought to see me do a belly dance!"
"Ought I?" Zek asked. "Well, what are you waiting for? I'm here and you're offering...."
"Oh, well..." Audie felt her cheeks go red, an odd reaction for the tough Marine. "I don't have the outfit or anything...but I guess I could switch programs and get us both costumes...If you want to learn belly-dancing instead?" If she was going to do this, she'd drag him along!
The Counselor had to admit that Audie got even more cute when she blushed. He had to remind himself that she was interested in someone else, and he was not going to interfere. "I'm very curious of all the things that you have to teach me."
"I'm sure you have your talents?" Audie shrugged with a smile. Zek seemed intelligent and talented, but, like many, he might not know how to play, and that was one thing Audie excelled at!
"All right, then, belly dancing it is! Computer, give us belly dancing, with costumes." The grid in the room shimmered into an exotic indoor Arabian-style market, with colorful lamps, arched doorways and thick carpets.
"Go change and meet me back here," she suggested, darting to a small room at the corner of the holodeck. There, she changed into a proper belly dancing outfit, with puffy pants and mid-drift top, making her look like Jeannie.
Zek, if he was going to play along, would look more like Genie!
The Counselor took a look at his outfit with skepticism as he put it on himself. Something seemed off. Was Audie having fun at his expense? He was not certain. Either way, in for a penny, in for a pound.
He came out dressed as Audie had planned. Holding his fists against his sides, he asked, "So, do I meet your expectations?"
"That's perfect!" Grinning, Audie cued the music, then started to demonstrate the hip movements, keeping her arms out so he could see what she was doing. "Try this...it looks easy, but it's great exercise...and if you get good enough, maybe we can put on a show!"
Zek had heard of gyrating hips, but this seemed a bit absurd. How did one move one's belly at the same time as the hips? He watched Audie, then looked back at his stomach and then looked back at Audie and only succeeded in making his hips move in the same direction as the rest of his body. "I'd say you're putting on quite the show right now," Zek concluded as he stopped again to watch.
"Eh, not at all." Audie was a bit oblivious! "There's gals that can make a coin sort of 'crawl' up their belly from their belly button to their ribs! I'm not that good yet, but you're doing all right."
Grinning, she handed him a set of finger cymbals, then took her own and started adding that to the dance. "Making things a little more complicated!" She laughed.
"You say that I'm doing good but I do not see any basis for that statement." He took the finger cymbals and tested them. "Well, now, that is interesting...." A wicked thought crossed his mind. Acting on it, he danced over to Audie and playfully pinched her nose on either side with his cymbals.
"Oh!" The action startled Audie, mostly because she hadn't been sure that Zek was capable of such spontaneous antics! But she recovered quickly, laughing and grabbing at her nose. "It's gone! What did you do with it?" She laughed again. "How am I going to tell my fellow Marines if I can't smell them?"
"Do you really WANT to smell them?" Zek asked, playfully taunting Audie with the imaginary nose between his finger cymbals.
"Oh, I suppose you have a point!" Audie's nose wrinkled up as she shook her head. "I guess you can keep it, then! Just be careful, it has a tendency to run!"
Zek wrinkled his nose and said, "Eeew." He looked at the imaginary nose, then looked back at Audie, and back at the imaginary nose before making a decision. "I don't think that it has legs and while I think that it is cute, it probably looks better on you." With that statement concluded, he pressed the cymbals back on her real nose and "stuck" it back on her."
Twisting her face up, Audie reached to pat her nose, then shook her head. "'s cook-ed," she slurred, tapping her nose. "Fis it rite!"
Zek shook his head at Audie, smiled, and then laughed. She would be a lot of fun to take home. Shame her heart is set elsewhere. "You're something else." Zek took his fingers and shifted her nose in the other direction.
"Whew!" Patting her nose again, Audie nodded approval, then grabbed the finger cymbals from him. "You can't have these, you're too dangerous with them!" She laughed, then shrugged and started dancing again. "Keep up!"
Zek's eyes widened when she took the finger cymbals and he laughed when she playfully complained that he was too dangerous to have them. He did his best to keep up with Audie but after about ten minutes he bent over exhausted. "Woman, you have worn me out. I can't say that happens often."
"Mission accomplished!" Laughing, Audie called for the program to end, then patted Zek on the shoulder. "You did real well, almost enough to earn your Junior belly dancer merit badge!"
She laughed again, having a good time, finding that she was feeling relaxed. "And your therapy worked, too. I feel great!"
"See, I'm a counselor that you can go to," Zek replied confidently and with a wide smile. "Hopefully much more than this once."
"So long as it's not in a professional way, I'd be happy to spend time with you!" Buster was waiting outside the holodeck, and she scooped the cat up. "I'm glad we ran into each other, having friends on a new assignment makes it easier to adjust. Oh, and Buster likes you, that counts for a lot!" Audie laughed.
"I could get all professional if you want," Zek answered as he straightened his pose and playfully started to sound much more stiff in voice as he spoke. He relaxed his voice into his normal tone and chuckled slightly. "I hope he forgives my choice of notebook."
"Eh, he's not picky as long as he gets his nightly tuna treat." Grinning, Audie shrugged. "I might just impose on you to do that when I'm on assignment. He might demand a belly rub, but it will be easy."
"I will accept the imposition whenever you are so disposed."
A Joint Post By
Sergeant Audie Fitch
Corpsman Team 2, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Jayak Zek
Chief Counselor, Empok Nor
RSS Feed