Keeping Up Appearances I

Posted on Sun Oct 16th, 2022 @ 5:32am by Ensign Ilan Ocara & Lieutenant JG Karen Lamont & Ensign Gretchen Rosen

Mission: In-Between (S1:E3-S1:E4)
Location: Anorra
Timeline: Mission Day 17 at 2100
3117 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

It was another lovely day at the resort. Dr. Karen Lamont had not been seen out and about much the first few days of her leave, but tonight she was at the bar with her friend and colleague, Dr. Gretchen Rosen. Karen was dressed in the archetypal little black dress of Terran tradition and Gretchen in a white version. Both women were sipping local drinks but it was Gretchen who seemed to be doing most of the talking. Karen was half-listening. "...I'm not saying it's a good holoprogram. I'm just saying it's a fun holoprogram. Everything doesn't have to be a thinker. It can just be a nice beach."

"We're at a real beach," Karen pointed out.

"You wanted to come," Gretchen insisted. "I could just spend a week in the holodeck. Nice little cabin."

"Other people might want a turn," Karen said dryly. "We only have so many." Then she gave a little smile and sipped her drink, glancing around the bar area casually.

"No, no. No more, boys. Sorry. Look, I told you I had to meet my friends." The woman laughed, though it was strained as she backed away from two men walking after her. Her hands were up and she looked around quickly. Seeing Gretchen and Karen at a table, she pointed to them. "Ah, see, there they are okay bye." Without giving the men a chance to react, Ilan skittered over to the table they were at, her back to the men so she could face the other two women easily.

"Sorry, sorry. Just... let me sit here until they leave?" She asked the two Terran women with a small smile. Ilan was wearing a short bright pink and yellow dress that certainly fit the tropical theme, the keyhole in the halter top exposing quite a window to her breasts, but nothing completely tasteless.

"You're fine," Gretchen said, frowning a little and looking past her at the two men.

"You're welcome to join us, Ilan," Karen offered. One of the advantages to being in medical was that there really were no strangers. Everyone was in that system. "Having a good leave?"

The men were leaning on the bar looking more than a little disgruntled and staring at Ilan, though both of them did passively look to Karen and Gretchen as well. Though they watched, they didn't seem inclined to make any sort of move on the group.

"Ah?" Ilan blinked her large green eyes and blushed a bit. While she was familiar with most of the medical staff in some passing way, she hadn't actually anticipated anyone remembering her name. She licked her lips and looked to Karen with a small smile on her lips. "I... yes, I am, outside small blips like this. What about you, doctors?" She asked, looking between Gretchen and Karen, her smile growing more friendly.

"It's been..." Karen seemed to struggle for a moment before answering, "...good to have some time to myself." It wasn't even really a lie. Her week would have been much worse if she had to go to work every day. See Mika.

"Good to mostly relax," Gretchen agreed. "Although you can't really turn your back here."

When one was a labeled alien working among Terrans, one had to be quite perceptive and reactive to their moods. While many might have missed it, Ilan immediately caught the struggle that Karen seemed to have in answering. She didn't point it out, but it was noticed; her eyes lingered on Karen for a moment and then moved to Gretchen.

"No, you really can't. Especially around these Vidiians." She started to glance over her shoulder and thought better of it. "They're very... touchy."

"Poor hospitality," Gretchen agreed. "You'd think they'd know enough of Terrans by now to be cautious."

Karen frowned and looked down at her drink. "Maybe we shouldn't have trusted their hospitality."

Gretchen offered what she thought was a reassuring smile. "Nothing so far we can't deal with. Just stick with us awhile, Ilan."

"Thank you, that's kind of you... doctor." Ilan smiled, not using their names since they hadn't offered. It was fine for her, she was quite used to it. "To be fair, their attention hasn't been strictly on Terran women... I think they just walk around horny all the time." She shrugged and ordered a drink when the waiter came up to the table. Even when she left, she could take it with her.

"So have you two been up to anything fun?"

"Please, we're off duty. It's Gretchen," Gretchen offered, as she would have for any NCO. "And this is Karen."

Karen smiled. "We've mostly been relaxing." That was one way to put it. "We transferred down some entertainment programs after about the third romantic drama about learning to love someone dying of Phage."

"I've been trying to get Karen to do something she couldn't do on the ship," Gretchen said, leaning over and speaking in a low voice to Ilan, almost conspiratorial.

"Oh those programs are terrible." Ilan agreed with a sigh, though as Gretchen leaned in her eyes went wide and she leaned closer to Gretchen in return.

"Tell me." She prompted with a genuinely curious note in her voice, though her eyes were still on Karen.

"Oh, nothing in particular," Gretchen said. "But she seems under the illusion that eating inferior food in a slightly larger room and watching the entertainment screen is a vacation, so I want her to do something she couldn't do in her quarters. Anything." She glanced at the Viidians. "Well, almost anything."

Gretchen was not truly whispering and Karen rolled her eyes.

"Wellllll....." Ilan began and swung back around to Karen, resting her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. She looked up to Karen's pleasant brown eyes and quirked a brow. "The accusation has been made, what do you have to say to that, Karen?" She smiled then, obviously amused and teasing.

"It's not true," Karen insisted playfully. "I have eaten a great deal of terrible Viidian food. I certainly wouldn't have done that on the ship."

"Girl knows how to party," Gretchen teased.

"Wow, teach me your ways." Ilan said dryly then immediately giggled. She extended her hand and poked one of Karen's fingers. "Come on now, Karen, who knows when we are going to be in a place this beautiful again for this long. Have you even tried swimming yet? The water is really nice."

"But with such culinary delighters," Karen said. "It's not like a starship would just pick up an alien chef and let him make weird food everyone hates for decades."

"Very unlikely," Gretchen agreed. "But we could also go swimming."

Karen sighed. "Okay. Okay. Swimming."

"Gods wouldn't that just be ridiculous though?" Ilan laughed and picked up her drink to take a sip after it was brought to her. "Swimming is good. It is a start. Then we can move on to bigger and better things, no?" She grinned and looked between the two women, seeming perfectly at ease with them.

"What's bigger than the ocean?" Karen said forgettfully.

"It's not actually the ocean," Gretchen reminded her.

"Right," Karen said, looking at her drink again. "Swimming. Swimming and alcohol. What could go wrong?"

"And the bigger things don't necessarily need to involve swimming." Ilan offered with a devilish grin, taking another sip of her drink. She turned her attention to Gretchen since Karen seemed a bit preoccupied. "You know, I'm kind of sad we aren't here when there's a night time. I bet this place is beautiful at night too. Maybe even more so."

"A modification to make to the inevitable holodeck version?" Gretchen suggested. "Night is a better time for...bigger things."

Ilan smirked then, putting her chin in her hand and looking into Gretchen's eyes. "I like the way you are thinking, Gretchen." She gave the other woman a wink, though didn't linger and sat back in her chair. "Well then, ladies, shall we go for a swim?"

"Well, you should. I'm brilliant," Gretchen said, mostly jokingly. Mostly. No one ever accused Terrans of being humble.

"Swimming," Karen agreed, standing up. "We should change first."

"If we do that, are you actually going to come back or are you going to disappear and never be seen again?" Ilan asked with a note of amusement in her voice as she looked at Karen.

"I'll make sure she comes back," Gretchen promised, even if she was the junior officer. "Should we all go together? Just because..." She looked back in the direction of the men who had originally been chasing Ilan.

While the men were nowhere in immediate sight, it did little to comfort Ilan as she finally looked over her shoulder. Her face soured just briefly, but she brightened again when she looked back to Karen and Gretchen. "Probably not a bad idea. When we are done do you two want to meet here and walk down?"

"That sounds as good a plan as any," Gretchen agreed.

"Alright then." Ilan smiled and nodded, waiting for them and then began walking back to the hotel proper.

The walk was uneventful, and twenty minutes later as they had agreed, Ilan was waiting back at the bar as they had agreed and sipping on another drink. She had opted for a simple, modest navy blue bikini. She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself, but a little wouldn't hurt. Over the bikini she wore a white and blue flecked wrap. A towel and sunglasses sat on the table. She watched the people mill about while she waited for Gretchen and Karen, curious to see if Gretchen would actually be able to keep Karen in line for her promise of joining them for swimming.

It seems Gretchen was telling the truth. Gretchen was in a black one piece and Karen in a green bikini Both wore flip flops and Gretchen wore a white t-shirt while Karen wore a green wrap that matched her swimsuit. Both also wore shades and each carried a towel over her shoulder. Gretchen smiled at Ilan as she walked back over. "Are you ready?"

"Absolutely." Ilan replied with a warm smile as she slid out of her chair, finished her drink, and then picked up her own towel. She looked Gretchen up and down without reservation and did the same to Karen, giving them both a nod. "You both look very nice in those suits. Shall we?" She waited a beat for them and then began leading the way down toward the beach proper, but not directly into the most populated area.

"So, Karen, do you not usually enjoy letting your hair down?" She asked quite directly and glanced over her shoulder to Karen.

"You look lovely yourself," Gretchen said, smiling at Ilan.

"Why are you asking me that?" Karen asked. "My swimsuit's sexier than Gretchen's is." She laughed, though maybe it sounded a little forced, and shook her hips side to side.

"Oh it is, and you do look lovely." Ilan said and took a pause, her green eyes moving over Karen's body in an unashamed way - much in the same fashion Karen would have been used to seeing from another person in her life up until a couple weeks ago. Ilan grinned then and shrugged. "You just seem a little... I don't know. Uptight? Forced?"

That comparison didn't strike Karen immediately. Perhaps it was that those looks, at least, had been sincere enough. A bodily appreciation. The damnable man had also known how to look into her eyes like he meant it, like he could drown in there, and that was much harder to forgive. Or perhaps, more vainly, Karen did not yet find such looks hard to come by in a bikini. Or maybe she was simply less used to them from women. She might even have briefly thought Ilan was sizing up the competition before she hit the beach. Whatever the reason, that look did not trigger further reflections on a certain someone but merely an appreciative smile. She seemed to relax a little and look over her two companions in trun. "Just a few things on my mind," Karen said. "But I'm looking to forget them tonight."

Gretchen grinned. "Then let's do exactly that."

“You know,” Ilan began in an almost pensive way, “when people have things on their mind that are killing their enjoyment of something wonderful, I’m of the opinion that they usually aren’t worth the time of that person and they should tell whatever is bothering them that much to fuck off. A lot of things in life aren’t worth paying your joy for.” Shrugging then, she stepped between and behind both Gretchen and Karen and put her hands on each of their upper backs.

“Let’s go, ladies. There’s fun to be had!” She grinned as she nudged them both forward.

Karen turned to her. "Sometimes..." She paused, as if changing what she'd originally been doing to say. "Sometimes that's easier said than done."

"But let's give it a try," Gretchen said positively as both women let Ilan propel them forward with her hand on each lower back. Gretchen giggled a little as they headed for the beach.

The trio made it down to the water and found a few chairs to leave their towels and shoes. There wasn't really a big worry about thieves on the beach, but in the end even if things did go missing, it wasn't like they were particularly valuable. Soon enough, they found themselves standing in the water, small waves lapping it up onto their feet.

"Its so warm." Ilan sighed out happily, scrunching her toes in the sand and looking to Gretchen and Karen. She gave them both a grin and without hesitation started to move into the water. "Time to get a little wet, ladies."

Gretchen gave a slightly lopsided grin and raised a brow at the wording as both doctors went deeper into the water. It didn't take long before Gretchen dived forward and pulled herself a meter or two in front of the other women breast stroke. She surfaced again and grinned. "The water's great here!"

"It feels like it should be night," Karen said. "I think the always day resort sounded better than it really is."

"It feels like day to me now," Gretchen said, "but I was surprised coming out of the bar. I'd totally forgotten!" She laughed. "It's not really good for the sleep cycle!"

“Yeah, I’m not really a fan of always day, but if it is a choice between that or being stuck on the ship, always day it is for a while.” Ilan agreed and moved down into the water, stopping as it covered her chest but she kept her shoulders out of the water. “It definitely won’t help sleep cycles, no. I didn’t even think about that.” She frowned for a moment then shrugged. “Oh well, what’s done is done. Do you swim a lot, Gretchen? You move like you were born to the water.” Ilan smiled, a touch flirtatious.

"When is there time?" Gretchen groused playfully. "But I swam a lot growing up on Terra. How about you?" Gretchen swam closer, grinning up at the other two. "The water feels better once you're just all in." Then she looked at Karen, grinned, winked at Ilan, and then submerged completely.

Laughing as Gretchen disappeared, Ilan looked down into the water for a moment and then turned to look at Karen. "Well, she's not wrong, you know." She extended her hand out to Karen then and gave a warm smile, inviting her down into the water at the very least, but also leaving the invitation to come closer if she wished. "Come join us."

Karen took her hand and walked in deeper. She stepped a little closer and laughed. Then she looked around. "Where did Gretchen go?"

Ilan gave just a gentle tug to Karen's hand to get her to come closer. She then moved her hand to rest on Karen's back - it was gentle, not pressing, but Ilan wanted to see how she would react. "Oh I'm sure she'll pop up soon. She wanted to get really wet." She gave a teasing grin.

Karen let herself press closer for a moment and hummed something old. Then she laughed as she embraced Ilan for a second. "I'm sure she di..." And then Gretchen popped back up and pulled Karen down with her, laughing wildly.

Ilan burst out laughing as Karen was pulled away by Gretchen and down into the water. She allowed herself to sink down under as well, opening her eyes and looking around for the other two women with a smile still on her face. It may not have ended up being the most informative encounter, but at the very least she could still have fun.

Gretchen reached for Ilan too when she saw her come down, pulling her into the squirming pile. Her eyes were shining with amusement. Eventually, she surfaces. Likely first, as she'd been down the longest. She was laughing and her eyes were shining. Karen was laughing too when she surfaced. "You are both too young for me!" But she was smiling when she said it.

Ilan popped up after Gretchen and Karen, laughing and pushing her dark hair out of her face. "Nonsense! Its all about the heart being young." She said and poked Karen a few times in her side. "You can keep up just fine."

Karen laughed as Ilan poked her bare, wet flank. "Yeah, but then you'll be on my lawn and..." She just laughed. She wasn't even sure the joke made sense but she laughed.

"Well," Ilan began and wrapped her arm around Karen's waist, pulling her closer. "Little old ladies can be very cute too, you know." She offered up with just a hint of suggestion in her voice, then looked at Gretchen. "What do you think, Gretchen?"

Karen laughed as she leaned in a little closer. Gretchen smiled. "Very cute"

"See?" Ilan asked and reached out for Gretchen with her other arm, pulling Gretchen up against her other side and looking into her eyes. "Gretchen gets it too." She leaned in then, still holding Gretchen's gaze while bringing her lips closer, but not pressing forward.

Gretchen brought her lips the rest of the way, pressing them gently against Ilan's and sliding an arm around her. "I get it..." she said softly, again kissing the other woman. Then she looked up at the sky and shook her head. "This should definitely be happening at night time"


TBC