A Walk in the (Artificial) Moonlight - Part 5

Posted on 10 Mar 2017 @ 1:47am by Lieutenant Commander Alexei Joran & Chief Petty Officer Bianca Donati
Edited on on 10 Mar 2017 @ 1:51am

1,537 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: Gardens
Timeline: Current - ED 5 - Evening - Immediately after A Walk in the (Artificial) Moonlight (Part 4)

ON:

OLD:
"Sounds good to me." he said as they started down the path once again. "I've always wanted to kiss a beautiful woman while in the midst of a tropical rain forest anyway..."

"You and your kissing" she laughed softly "I hear this is something that affects males more..."

"I've never studied any statistics on it--if there are any--but you could be right," Alexei said. "All I know is it pleases me greatly. Especially when I kissed you just a short while ago. Did you not find it pleasant as well?"

"It was." she grinned at him as they continued to walk towards the tropical barrier.

NEW:
"Then I guess that means we have some common ground," Joran said as they approached the rain forest area. "So what do you know about tropical plants? I have to confess I know very little about them as we did not have tropical jungles where I grew up nor in the Russia of my ancestors."

"I just like them, so much natural variation in the plants. I find that exploring like this offers me the opportunity to learn, and I enjoy that."

"That's a good reason. Learning is always a good thing. As I said, I don't know much about tropical plants," Alexei said. "I grew up near water so I've always been more of a water person than anything else. You know--boating, skiing, surfing...things like that. So anything you can tell me about tropical plants would be furthering my education," he added with a grin.

Bianca slapped his shoulder at his clever words "You sir, are incorrigible."

"Normally I keep my incorrigibility stowed in a locker behind a force field in engineering..." Alexei said with a grin. "But sometimes when I'm in the presence of a beautiful woman it tends to escape..."

"Best round it up then, if it escaped."

"Oh it never goes very far," he said. "Like my ego, it usually stays within arm's reach."

Bianca snorted in response to that shaking her head. They stepped through the barrier and the heaviness of the air made Bianca smile.

When they entered the tropical area, the force of the humidity was clearly evident. It was almost like stepping into a rain shower. "So what can you tell me about a tropical rain forest?" he asked.

"The humidity is delightful isn't it?" she asked, deliberately avoiding his question.

"It's...different..." Alexei said. "It's nice and cool, although I'm not sure I'd want to live in an environment like this. Breathing this much moisture for any great length of time can't be healthy for your lungs I would think."

"It's not good for Vulcans, for certain. They tend to develop aspiration pneumonia"

"Well seeing how hot and arid Vulcan is I can see why. There's an old saying 'Hotter than the Plains of Gol' and if you've ever been there you'd understand the reference." He looked at Bianca for a moment. "Have you ever been to Vulcan?"

"I have. We did our hot weather training there."

"Really?" Alexei said, looking at her with a bit of newfound respect for her endurance. If she had survived endurance training on Vulcan then she would definitely be a force to be reckoned with if it ever became necessary.

"I was at Gol once..." he said. "Took a tourist shuttle out there. Temp was about 150 degrees at the time. I felt like I was dying after about a half hour. I don't see how in hell you survived endurance training out there."

"I'm a marine" she answered with a twinkle in her eyes.

He considered asking her if she knew, centuries ago, what the US Navy said Marine stood for, but since he was interested in building a relationship with her, he thought that subject would be best left alone. So he simply nodded slightly. "I guess that would explain a lot..."

"You manage what you have to manage because you never know where you might be sent. I didn't like cold weather training on Andoria either, but I managed that too. That is the purpose of training"

"So you're fully combat-trained?" he asked, his respect and admiration for her accomplishments growing by the second. "In that case, remind me to never piss you off in a dark alley..." he said with a grin to show her that he was in no way serious. "Or a lighted street either, for that matter."

"Of course. Need I repeat that I am a marine- I may be a 'desk jockey' by choice but I have not forgotten what my service means." her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. His smile was back, and she blinked a few times "You...are mocking me." it was a statement.

"Not at all," he said quickly. "In fact, I am in awe of you. I would never mock you. I simply meant that I would never want to anger you at any place or any time because it is obvious that you could handle yourself quite well."

"Do I have your pledge on that?" she asked with a smirk of amusement.

"On my word as a gentleman..." Alexei said, raising his right hand in a solemn pledge. "And I would never do anything to intentionally harm you." He then added with a slight smirk of his own "I think I'm beginning to realize something. Being that you were also raised on Betazed as I was, do you know any more than I do about tropical rain forests?"

"Raised on betazed or in Russia?". She challenged good naturedly. Her wry shake of the head answered him. "The tropical rainforest on earth was once the center of biodiversity there. Many new animals and plants emerged due to evolution and its high rate of growth."

"I was raised on Betazed but did spend some time with my grandparents' farm in Russia," Alexei said. "And as their farm was in the northern part of the country near Siberia, I saw no evidence of rain forests, tropical or otherwise. The climate there - especially in winter - was much too cold." He nodded slowly at her. "So it appears that you DO know considerably more about tropical forests than I do."

Bianca could only shake her head in response to his surprise. "Not considerably, but I do enjoy the warmth so I made an effort to find out a few things.

"Well you know how engineers are," Alexei said with a grin. "We get our heads stuck in a piece of machinery or a technical journal and we don't notice much else. Although I have to admit that here lately I have begun to notice things outside of engineering..."
He didn't come right out and say it, but it was obvious that he was referring to her.

An expression crossed her face that he couldn't quite read, but even she wasn't unskilled enough with interactions to miss the blatant reference to her in that statement. "Gods above and below- if I sleep with you is your blatant sexual innuendo going to get better or worse?"

"I suppose that's something that we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" he asked. "In the meantime, is there anything else you can tell me about this particular environment?"

Her eyes narrowed in intense irritation and she began to briefly contemplate if she wanted the ridiculousness of his continued flirting to impinge on her free time. There were better things she could do with her time, even if he was pleasing on the eyes. Honestly could he not understand that she was not a 'prize' that he could win with pretty words? "They can receive up to 160 inches of rainfall per year, hence the name rainforest. It's a daily phenomenon."

"That's a lot of rain..." he said after a moment. "More than we ever got on our part of Betazed anyway. Do very many people actually live in rain forest areas?"

"That I do not know."

"I suppose that means more research is needed in that area as well," he said. "So is there anything else you'd like to see before we go?" Alexei asked her.

"I do not believe so." she said making a note to come back and sit by the waterfall if there was one later on. It would do well to calm her.

"In that case, would you care to join me for a drink in my quarters?" he asked. "I have some vintage Saurian Brandy -- 2370 I believe..." He reached for her hand once again. "If I remember correctly, we had discussed having drinks earlier," he said slowly. "And we also discussed a kiss in the tropical rain forest--which if I'm not mistaken, I still have not collected..."

"We had." Her eyes rose to his and she sighed softly "I would not mind the drink, but the kiss I am holding onto at the moment. I have not decided yet if I wish to give you another. I think the drink and your behavior will let me know one way or the other." her voice was calm,cool and not at all angry anymore.

OFF:

LtCommander Alexei Joran
Chief Engineer
USS Redemption

CPO Bianca Donati
Marine/Diplomatic Officer
USS Redemption

 

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