Second Date

Posted on Sat Apr 14, 2018 @ 1:00am by Lieutenant Liam Reynolds & Civilian Aleczandra Naqiis-Ryan

2,497 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Victory Conditions
Location: Promenade Deck 7/Bajoran flower gardens to Holodeck
Timeline: MD 2/1900

Teena had been avoiding life after the mortification of discovering her lover was attracted to her father and instead decided to throw herself into work. Tera had been very helpful and suggested the girls check out some Bajoran gardens for new flower scents for their perfume ideas. She came across one particularly beautiful rainbow coloured bloom and sighed. "Goddesses! It’s not fair. How could you send me someone so amazing, and then throw that surprise on me? Malifik, this is your doing, isn't it?" she demanded of the goddess of mischief.

“Who’s Malifik?” Aleczandra asked as she came up behind the beautiful Betazoid teen. She gave Teena an awkward, shy smile. “Been looking for you,” she said. “Have you been avoiding me? Was...that night so bad?”

Teena jumped, not expecting Zandra to suddenly appear. "No, it was amazing. The problem was the emotions that were flying around when your dad was telling us off." She stared at the rainbow haired girl, confused. "You have feelings for your father. I caught it. Liam did too. Big emotions flying around. It freaked me out. Exactly the work of Malifik, the goddess of mischief. Let me meet a nice girl and then find out she's got some issues."

Aleczandra paled a bit.

Busted! Juheni crowed.

“I...you’re...you shouldn’t be reading my mind like that!” Aleczandra stammered. “I don’t...I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Her eyes refused to meet Teena’s, looking away furtively. God damn it! You had to get involved with a Betazoid!

"I didn't read your mind. You had some fairly strong emotions going on, and because of what we had been doing we were emotionally synced anyway. Look, you clearly have some...stuff. I like you a lot. I would have loved to have hung out again, but if you can't be honest with both me or yourself, it's never going to work, is it?" Teena told her sadly.

“I don’t know. I’m personally not much of a fan of self-reflection,” Aleczandra said sardonically. She sighed and put her hand in her face. “I’m sorry. I don’t… Some things I can’t share. I wish I could.” She looked up, her blue eyes honest and vulnerable. “I would love to be able to tell you.” She worried her lip. Since Dr. Bennet had left, Zandra had no one else with whom to talk about this stuff.

“Okay. But not here. I… I was going to go riding,” she said. She was dressed in jeans and an old Steampunk Zombies t-shirt under a red and white flannel shirt. “If you want to come, you can, and we can...talk, maybe. But you have to swear that you won’t tell anyone! Not even your brother. He can’t find out!”

"Okay," Teena said after a moment weighing it up. She didn't have anything to loose, and, well...the alien was pretty difficult to resist. Despite everything, Zandy was still the cutest girl she had ever met.

"I've never been riding. You will have to teach me," she said softly. Biting her lip, she wondered if she was suitably attired for whatever the alien activity was in her mid length skirt and scoop neck top. "Let me pay for these." She indicated the basket of flowers she had set down next to her feet.

“Sure, no problem,” Aleczandra said. “You’re...probably going to want some pants.” Unfortunate, since that skirt looked really good on her. “I think we have a nice, docile nag programmed that you can ride. Or you can ride dad’s stallion, though he might be a bit frisky for you.”

"Pants?" Teena asked.

“Uh, yeah. Pants,” Aleczandra said, gesturing to her jeans.

"Oh, slang. Trousers." She smiled at the reference. "I'll go change then and meet you at the holodec."

Aleczandra smiled. “Sure,” she said. “Something sturdy,” she warned, “that won’t wear through. Holodeck Three.” Looking much more excited, Zandy impulsively stepped up to give Teena a kiss, then blushed and backed up, giving a little wave before turning and slipping back into the crowd.

Half an hour later, having replicated some trousers she now knew as jeans, similar to Zandy's, some boots, and a checked shirt which the computer informed her was riding attirem Teena arrived to meet Zandy at the holodec. She had tied her blond hair back in pigtails. Her eyes widened when she walked into the programme the other girl was already running and saw the animal they were going to be riding.

"I'm going to get on that?" she asked, walking slowly and nervously in the direction of both her and the animal. The beast was big.

The holodeck smelled of fresh hay and horse and manure, a real living, breathing environment. The large doors of the barn were open onto the paddock where Zandy was saddling the horse. Aleczandra looked up, drinking in Teena’s appearance. The awe and desire was clear in her thoughts.

“This is Samara Sunset,” Aleczandra said, stroking the coat of the paint affectionately. “Come over and introduce yourself.” She held a hand out to Teena. “Don’t worry. She won’t bite. Samara, this is Teena, my...special friend,” Zandra said.

The horse snorted, and Aleczandra brought Teena’s hand over and pressed it to the horse’s nose. It sniffed and snorted again, shaking its head.

“Why don’t you go to that barrel over there,” Zandra told Teena. “There are some apples. She’ll really like you if you bring her an apple.” She stroked the horse between the eyes and laughed.

Teena felt the horse's breath through her hand as it snorted. She was still nervous. However, she did as she was told and went for an apple. "I got you one too," she said cheekily.

Aleczandra chuckled. “Thanks. You’ll spoil her,” she teased, taking the apple from Teena. She let the Betazoid feed the animal first. Of course, they weren’t real apples any more than the horse was real, but the program was well designed.

“So do you want to ride with me, or do you want your own horse?” Zandra asked Teena, going down Samara Sunset’s body to firmly cinch up the saddle.

"I think I would like to ride with you," Teena said softly. She was still wary of the beast, be it holographic or not. And she would be able to hear Zandra better when they talked this way.

“Sure.” Aleczandra smiled. They would be closer, too. She’d used a larger saddle to allow them more room. “Come over here and let me help you up,” she told Teena, holding out your hand. “Put your left foot here.” She leaned down to hold the stirrup for Teena. “Then swing your right leg over.”

Teena did as instructed with grace. If Zandra asked, she would discover many years of dance and gymnastics on the Betazoid’s part. "He's very tall, isn't he?" she said nervously as the rainbow haired girl climbed on behind her. She felt her legs press into hers and didn't stop her wrapping a arm round her waist. She could sense the other girls feelings, and this time they were completely directed at her. Feelings she returned. It would be so easy to give in to them, but there needed to be truth first.

Teena's legs tightened round the horse as it suddenly started moving. "So you do this a lot?" she asked.

“If you think Samara is big, wait until you see Walker, my dad’s horse,” Aleczandra laughed. She held the reins in one hand, the other around Teena in front of her, pressing lightly against the Betazoid’s stomach, her modest breasts pressed against Teena’s back as they rode out into the paddock.

“Yeah, this is what I do when I need to relax and think,” Zandra said. “Remind me of home. This is a mock up of my grandparents’ ranch.” The rode to the gate. “Here, hold these.” She handed the reins to Teena and then leaned down with great flexibility to get the latch on the gate and nudge it open. Then they went through and Zandra repeated the process to secure the gate.

Samara pranced a bit more animatedly, sensing Teena at the reins, and Aleczandra had to grab a bit onto Teena to pull herself up before she fell off. “Sammy!” she scolded, taking the reins again. “You have to let her know who’s boss,” she explained to Teena. “We’ll get her listening to you before the end of the ride,” Zandra promised.

"Sure thing. So are we going to talk about...you know. I mean, I know you like me, but it's disconcerting when you have...had..." Teena said confused, "those other feelings."

Aleczandra grew silent. “I’m...not sure I can talk about it, Teena,” she said quietly, turning Samara down the path toward the creek. “I’m not sure it’s safe.” Teena could sense the trepidation in the teenage girl.

Teena replied after a moment, "My new mother is so powerful she can hurt people with her mind, and my new brother, there's things locked up inside him that steps were taken to keep him from knowing. Secrets are never safe. But if you cannot trust me, then our story has to end, which is a shame, as I'm going to be back and forth trading once my last semester of school is done. I was hoping to see more of you."

Aleczandra bit her lip and looked at Teena. “But why?” she asked. “Why can’t people just...keep their secrets?” She sighed. “You have to promise not to tell anyone, Teena,” she begged. “It could mean my life.”

Teena nodded. "I won't tell. I've just found the woman of my dreams. I don't want to lose you."

Aleczandra flushed. They rode along the creek in silence for a while before she finally spoke again.

“My mother was killed almost three years ago,” she said. “I was fourteen. Our shuttle was shot down by a Ferengi arms dealer my father had put in prison, but he’d gotten out. Lawyered up. Technicalities. I was fourteen. What did I care about that? We were on vacation on Risa.

“We crashed in the jungle, a long way from anywhere. I was knocked out. For days. My mother…” Aleczandra sniffed and swallowed, her voice thick. “My mother was Trill. Her last wish was what any Joined Trill would want. Save her symbiont. I was the only carrier available. It wasn’t like Dad could ask me. And...well, he thought he could get me out in time, and then they could take the symbiont out and return Naqiis to Trill.”

Aleczadra took several more steadying breaths as her voice quavered. “But Dad’s leg had gotten all mangled from shrapnel. He nearly lost it. It took him too long to get me out. By that time, the joining was permanent. So...I have my mother inside of me, Teena, and sometimes...well, she still loves my dad…”

Aleczandra’s arms tightened around Teena’s waist, her cheeks a bit flush with embarrassment. “I don’t mean to have those...feelings, but sometimes, when I see him…” She bit her lip, and Teena could sense a subtle shift, Aleczandra retreating slightly, and another thought pattern coming to the fore, with those feelings she had felt before. Zandra had only ever talked about these feelings with Noelle, and even then…

“I want him sometimes. Like before…”

"So you have another lifeform inside you, and memories from its previous incarnations?" Teena said after a while, trying to let all that sink in. "That must be so confusing. It’s okay. I understand now. And people don't know you’re having to live with this burden of a secret?"

“A few do,” Aleczandra said. “Dad knows, obviously. Dr. Bennett knew, but she’s not here anymore. Dr. Telemon knows. And now your brother knows, thanks to my dad,” she said a bit bitterly. “But...I haven’t told anyone about these...feelings.” Aleczandra blushed in embarrassment. “It...It isn’t just mom. You can thank Kinony for that wonderful night we had together,” Zandra said, her voice husky with desire, one hand slipping up to lightly brush over Teena’s breast. She brushed her lips against Teena’s neck, as well.

Teena's head sank back into Aleczandra's shoulder as she kissed her neck. She gasped. "Thank you, Kinony."

Aleczandra gave a husky chuckle, and Teena could sense a slight shift in the teen’s consciousness, just momentarily, something older, more mischievous and experienced.

"Will you tell me more about your different hosts? You know, so there’s no...surprises?" Teena asked after a moment.

Aleczandra shrugged. “I...guess,” she said. “You have to understand, Teena. If the Symbiosis Council ever found out, they could come and take Naqiis away. They only care about the symbionts, not so much about the hosts. That would mean a life that required constant, expensive, and rare medication, psychological damage, and possibly my death.”

Aleczandra turned the horse up a path away from the creek. They walked into a stand of cottonwoods where a small hunting and fishing cabin had been established.

“Are you hungry?” Aleczandra asked. “I packed us a bit of something, if you like.”

"Sounds good. I brought you a little something too." She grinned.

“Oh?” Aleczandra perked up. She helped Teena dismount before dismounting herself. She took the reins and tethered Samara Sunset to a tree before unpacking lunch from the saddlebags. “See? Riding a horse isn’t too bad,” she told her girlfriend. She gave Samara an apple.

"Hm, not convinced," Teena said before fishing around in her pocket. She handed her a small spritzer bottle. "Rainbow Bliss," she said with a grin. "Well, the prototype. It needs refining."

Aleczandra smiled. “It’s good?” she asked. She took the small bottle and spritzed a bit on her wrist to smell. “Not bad. You like it?” She added a bit to just under her jaw at her kissable pulse points, and then grinned, pulling open her shirt to spritz a bit into her cleavage.

"I wouldn't have got so upset about things if I didn't," Teena told her, clearly not talking about the perfume. "And I think it will be a best seller when I get it properly refined."

“I like it too.” Aleczandra slid up close to Teena and kissed the Betazoid girl, sliding her hands to Teena’s hips.

"Then I think we can officially make up," Teena said, embracing her new girlfriend happily.

Aleczandra grinned. “Great. Because I have a few more tricks from Kinony to use on you,” she said, a wicked glint in her eyes.

FIN

Aleczandra Ryan
Civilian
NPC Caleb Ryan

Teena Otrei
Civilian
NPC Liam Reynolds

 

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