Dinner for Two...

Posted on Mon Jan 17th, 2022 @ 10:55am by Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*)

Mission: Mission 14: Holoworld
Location: SS Mary Rose, Anderson family quarters
Timeline: MD 5 / 1845 hours
5412 words - 10.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Johnathan knew that Cassie had had a very busy day, going over the holoship computer files. So, he decided to do something nice for her, for them. When his shift was over, he cleaned their quarters top to bottom, not that it was dirty to begin with. Then, after cleaning himself up and putting on one of the suits that she had picked out for him, while they were dating, he got to work prepairing one of her favorite meals. He had just finished setting the table when she entered their home.

The woman yawned as she finally came in and stopped as she took in the table and the man wearing a clean top where she wore her jumpsuit wrapped around her waist with a black vest top. “Well aren’t I under dressed.” She mused.

The pilot smiled warmly to his wife. "I th-th-thought you'd like a warm m-m-meal for d-d-d-dinner." He took a breath and then continued. "Why d-d-d-don't you go get cl-cl-cleaned up. We can h-h-h-have a quiet night tog-g-g-gether."

“Would be nice after today and finding the people on the other ship.” Cassie said with a nod as she disappeared into their bedroom to have a quick shower and change of clothing. She was not dirty really but she had been up since 6am going through the logs due to her quicker ability to go through the facts.

While Cassie got cleaned up, Johnathan finished getting everything ready. He even opened a bottle of her favorite wine, which he had traded two days worth of replicator rations to Eva for. Nothing was too good or too expensive for the woman he loved. He had put out the food and was pouring the wine, when she joined him at the table.

"P-please, allow m-m-me," he quickly moved over and pulled out her chair for her.

The woman was surprised at the wine and the chair being pulled out but nodded allowing him to do it. She was normally an independent woman but she wanted to let him know she appreciated things. “This looks wonderful.” She said raising an eyebrow at him. “What is the occasion?” She questioned crossing her legs under the table.

Her husband smiled softly as he shook his head slightly. "Nothing sp-sp-special, sweetheart. J-j-just wanted to d-d-do something nice for-for-for the woman I l-l-l-love." He took a breath and tried to calm his insides. While the stuttering was slowly getting less, it still got bad when his emotions, good or bad, were high.

The woman waited patiently for him to calm down and nodded. “Well she appreciates it.” The woman assured quietly. It was nice to have something different at the end of the day.

Johnathan smiled warmly. "I'm glad," he replied quietly. They then began to eat dinner.

A few quiet moments later, he asked, "How was your day, sweetheart?" He had only been to the holoship a couple times thus far and had not encountered any of the odd occurrences that others had.

Cassie shrugged. She had wandered through many simulations and they were all very different but unique. "It would be a fun trip if it was not for the weird feeling I get from the ship.” Even after they had found the woman on the ship it was strange.

A look of concern crossed his face after he put his drink down. "W-w-what kind of w-w-w-weird feeling?"

“Just how odd it is over there. Holograms were not overly a thing in 2246 so it’s a new concept for me. The dungeon and dragon game was fun and I was in a group but when I am by myself it is odd.” She admitted taking a sip of her wine.

Thinking about it briefly, he reached out and gently took hold of her right hand. "If you w-w-want, we could g-g-go and try one of-of-of the holodecks t-t-t-together?"

Cassie brightened at the question and nodded. She would love that. Maybe they could look at places they had know back with they had been stuck in the transporter. “I would really like that.”

Seeing Cassie smile like she did made Johnathan feel like an angel had smiled upon him. He smiled happily in reply. "O-o-okay then! Once-once-once we finish d-d-d," he took a breath, "supper, we will head over and-and-and see what's available."

“Will be perfect.” Cassie nodded. It sounded like a really good plan to her. Maybe they would see more clues to what had happened to the ship especially when no one knew still.

Johnathan smiled again and nodded in agreement. They then finished dinner, talking about this and that, doing the necessary work to fully restore their bond and love for each other.

After the table was cleared away, they both changed into comfortable clothing that they would normally wear when out and about. They then made their way to the holoship.

"Do y-y-you have a pr-pr-program in mind, sweetheart?" He asked as they started to cross between the two ships.

The evacuation corridor walk had been perfect and it was a nice new memory after the last time she had run along it when the Sons of Cheron had decided to steal the Temperance from underneath them quite literally. "Not a clue. You can pick." She said with a shrug. She wanted to give him the choice.

He thought about it for a few long moments. Then, he looked over at his wife and said, "We always t-t-talked about spending some t-t-time in Bora Bora." He grinned, imagining how sexy she would look in a bikini.

"A very long time ago." Cassie conceded with a nod. It had been a discussion about what they would get up to once the Ishimura docked at Earth. Obviously, they had never made it and those plans had been long forgotten by the vulcan. But not by her husband it seemed. She could see the devilish look in his eyes about something.

"So? L-l-l-let's go now!" He grinned, a bit impishly, but happily. "We c-c-c-could use this as a w-w-w-walkthrough of when we see the r-r-r-real thing."

“Lead the way.” She promoted. They had over a hundred compartments to choose from so it would be easy enough to achieve.

Johnathan smiled again, pausing their movement long enough to pull Cassie to him, into an embrace, spin her into a dip and as he gazed down into her hypnotic eyes, said, "I love you Cassie Anderson." He then kissed her, passionately but gently. It was the first such kiss they had had since he was returned to her side.

The woman let out a surprised gasp as she was pulled in closer and then dipped. There had been no contact like that between them for a very long time. The woman offered a smile to him and nodded. "I love you too." She whispered kissing him back. It was easy to fall back into kissing him especially when he acted like his old self.

Slowly, while still kissing his wife, Johnathan brought her back up to her feet. He breathed deeply through his nostrils as he kept his mouth locked on hers. It had been so long, so painfully long, since they had kissed like this. A tear started to fall down his cheek as he finally broke contact and gently pressed his forehead to hers. In a quiet voice that was full of both regret and longing, he said, "I have m-m-missed you, Beloved! I am s-so sorry for the p-p-pain I caused you!"

"I know you are but we are working on it." Cassie reminded breathlessly. The communication was getting better in her opinion and she was slowly trying to get less angsty about it all. It would take time and she knew she had a lot more of it than most people.

He nodded happily. This woman was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He wanted to remain in her life until the end of his days. Kissing her again, he then continued to lead her to one of the nearest holosuites.

After inputting the desired simulation, he activated the program and opened the doors. "After you, my beloved."

As soon as Cassie stepped through the door she closed her eyes and savoured the heat. If she was closed her eyes she could pretend for a moment she was on Vulcan and not on Earth. It was tropical instead of dry but it was lovely.

After Johnathan entered, the doors closed and he requested no interruptions for the next several hours. Then, he moved up behind Cassie and gently wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. "The artificial UV feels good, doesn't it?" He whispered as he softly nuzzled the right side of her neck.

“Yeah. For a moment I fooled myself it was Vulcan.” She admitted as she relaxed back against him. Maybe she should see if they had a Vulcan program that she could use by herself to meditate. If she was doing Vulcan she would need to visit Scotland as well. It was only fair to both sides of her heritage.

As if reading her mind, but actually only knew his wife as well as he did, the young Human offered, "If you wanted, we could change the sim to Vulcan, or, if you want to see your other home, Scotland?"

“I can do that another time. We are here.” She said stepping forward out of his arms to start walking along the beach.

Suddenly, a table materialized next to Cassie, along with a dressing curtain to go behind. On the dresser were three different bathing suits. One was a very sexy string bikini, green in color, the second was an attractive two-piece bikini, with a black bottom and red top, and the third, a high-waist, low-cut one piece, saphire blue in color.

From behind her, Johnathan grinned. He may have added a few flourishes to the program. He knew that his wife would look absolutely stunning in any of the three choices.

He gave her a cheeky grin when she looked back at him. "I may-may have m-m-made a few choices for you."

"I can see. Someone has been thinking about this a lot." She murmured trying to make a choice. Each had its merit but she chose the two-piece. It was the most in keeping with her style of clothing and modesty.

Johnathan smiled to himself but said nothing. While all three would have looked perfect on his beautiful wife, the second choice was the one that he knew she would pick, and thus, he had incorporated her favorite colors into. It was also the one that he would have picked for her, had she asked him to pick one type of suit. "Ok, s-sweetheart. You get ch-changed, and I'll do the same." Another curtain formed by him. He started to turn, then paused. Turning back, he smiled softly and said, "Actually, it's only fair if you get a chance to pick suits for me too." He gave her a loving wink as he spoke.

Cassie shrugged. It was not something that bothered her. She felt at the moment he needed to make choices for himself when he had not made them for a long time. "That is up to you. I like you in anything." She assured disappearing behind the curtain.

For a moment, Johnathan simply stood there, silent and grinning slightly. For the briefest of moments, he was tempted to order up something totally ridiculous and silly, just to see her reaction. However, he decided that now wasn't the time for that kind of humor. He had promised her a lovely experience. And that is what he would deliver.

So, after he stepped behind the curtain, he ordered up a pair of trucks that would look good on his frame. He made sure that they ended just above his knees and were a perfect split between skin-tight racing trucks and super baggy board shorts. He made sure they had the inner mesh lining so, once they were wet, they would cling to him, without being too revealing of his body. For their color, he remembered that Cassie always liked him in dark blue, so that's what he picked. Once the shorts materialized, he quickly undressed and slid them on, ensuring they fit correctly in all of his bits.

Once dressed, he stepped back out from the corner and froze, his eyes locked onto his stunning wife. "Wow!" He gasped as his eyes moved from hers, down to her perfectly manicured toes, and back up, moving over every single curve of her perfect body and face. "You are...beyond stunning, Cass!"

The woman was quick in changing out of the dress to the two-piece. It was tight and supporting in all the right ways that she considered she might get the replicator to make something like that for when she went swimming on the ship. "Thank you." She said slowly taking the compliment like she had been trying to. "Not bad yourself." She assured back.

Smiling softly, he moved right up to her, his eyes locked on hers as he did so. His eyes were full of love and devotion and hunger for her. Sliding his arms around her waist, he pulled her to him as he leaned in and kissed her passionately.

Cassie froze for a moment before she melted into the kiss. "Let's go for a swim." She murmured shyly.

Relaxing his hold on his beautiful wife, Johnathan nodded and smiled. Reaching down to hold her right hand in his left, the young pilot walked with his Vulcan hybrid mate towards the gently crashing shoreline. Moments later, they were enjoying themselves in the clear water.

"What is it about water that m-makes a beautiful woman look even sexier?" He mused softly as he gazed upon her. Moving closer, he reached out and held onto her hips. "I am a very l-l-lucky man, my love."

The woman blushed just a little as she shrugged. She had no idea it was not something she often got to do with being a more desert species. “I am lucky too.” She assured softly.

Smiling at Cassie, as he gazed into those mesmerizing eyes of hers, eyes that always stayed with him, no matter where he was, he spoke softly. "I vow to you now, never again will I leave you. Never again will I put others before you. I will remain by your side, until the day when I leave this existence. I love you, Cassie Anderson."

Cassie sighed. “I do not want vows Johnathan.” Cassie said with a smile. “Just want you to stay here and be with me.” She said simply. It was that logical to her. Vows could be broken, she wanted actions.

At first, Johnathan was confused. As he had never lied to her, ever, he thought that his word was good. However, if his wife required action instead of just his word, then he would give it to her. "Okay," he started to say. "I'll show..." his reply was cut off by a sudden large wave rising up and crashing over them both. He held tight to her while they tumbled underwater.

A few meters from where they went under, they surfaced. Only, it wasn't into the idyllic setting they had been in. Instead, they were in the middle of a massive storm.

"Computer!" Johnathan screamed over the howling wind and rain. "End program!!"

Nothing happened. The couple was still being tossed about on the angry waves. Slowly, they were being taken further out into the water.

"Cassie!!" He shouted over the storm. "Swim to shore, now!!" He started to swim side stroke, pulling his wife along with him. If need be, he would pull her in. He had been a lifeguard for every summer from when he turned thirteen, until he joined Starfleet. He still trained to keep his certifications, though.

Cassie spluttered as the current of the waves started to drag her under. She might have been landlocked in Scotland and vulcan was dry but she had survived Starfleet survival school and started to kick her legs hard to get herself to shore.

As Cassie started to swim stronger on her own, Johnathan let go of her arm and kept swimming next to her.

After nearly a minute of fighting the rip currents, he got his feet underneath him and moved over to his wife, helping her get out of the surf. Once they were on the beach again, he held her close to his left side, trying to protect her as best he could. After another failed attempt to end the program, he put his lips close to her ear, so he wouldn't have to shout over the screaming wind. "We gotta find some shelter!"

Cassie nodded as she lent over catching her breath. “I am really not starting to like holodecks.” She murmured wishing she had more clothing.

Johnathan nodded in agreement. As he guided her from the water, he saw what looked like a cave up behind the treeline. "There!" He pointed it out to her. The opening was about fifty meters from where they were. "We should find some shelter in there from the storm!"

The woman nodded slipping into the gap between it all and frowned as she sat down. "First when we were playing DnD it made my ears ring..." It had not hurt but for a vulcoid even half it had been discomfortable for her. "and now this. What is going on?"

Moving through the cave, Johnathan started looking for anything to start a fire with, even if it was only holographic. Surprisingly, he found everything he needed, dry kindling and sticks, flint and iron-rich rocks with which to make sparks.

After bringing his gathered supplies over, he responded as he started to get a fire going. "You play DnD? I didn't know that!" He got the sticks piled up and the kindling underneath. He started to strike the flint and iron rocks together, causing several sparks to fly down into the pile. Once smoke started to rise, he leaned down and gently blew on the smoldering kindling. After a few breaths, the fire finally caught. He quickly and carefully laid the sticks closer to the growing fire.

Once it was finally going, he felt there was warmth coming from it. "C'mere, baby," he moved to allowed Cassie to get closer to the fire. He knew she got colder than he did, due to her Vulcan heritage. He could take colder temps better than she could.

Cassie moved closer to the fire and crouched down the shivering stopping for a moment. "I have played for years. What I and Ryder used to do on Fridays." She reminded. "And now me, burnie, Nollel and Jinx." She had found her people on the ship.

Cuddling up behind her, Johnathan helped warm them both up. Holding her against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and grinned. "How is this the first time I am hearing this? Hehe...You are brilliant, funny, strong, super sexy, and you enjoy playing rpgs?? I haven't played any since I left home for the Academy."

"Should talk to Jinx." She was not sure if there was room at the table with the games but maybe they could work it out. "I have no idea. I am surprised you have not seen the costume in the wardrobe." She murmured trying to make conversation instead of what she really wanted to say about what was happening to them. Why was the computer not freeing them?

"Haven't used the wardrobe much since I've been back," he chuckled softly as he started to rub Cassie's arms and as far down her legs as he could reach, to try to warm her cold skin. "Is that helping, honey?"

“A little.” She lied. She was not sure much would help other than getting dry.

"I wonder what the hell is going on with the holodeck?" He then groaned. "Shit, my communicator is with my clothes! Who knows where they will be now. Which also means that we can't call for help."

“Nope. Mine was in my satchel which is with our clothes too.” Cassie was trying to formulate a plan but she was coming up short. It was technology that she had not had much experience in at all.

Still holding his wife close to him, Johnathan asked, "Are you warming up, honey?"

Cassie shook her head. "I will eventually but right this moment no." She admitted moving away to crouch by the fire hoping being closer might offer some assistance in at least warming her enough for her skin to dry. She was sure her hair would not dry at all.

At first, Johnathan was surprised by how quickly his wife moved away from him. "D-did I do something wrong, Cas?"

Cassie turned to look up at him and raised an eyebrow. “No. Your body heat is not helping as you are wet yourself. We dry and then we can combine our body heat.” She pointed out as she turned to look at there mouth of the cave. The wind was really picking up out there from what she could hear. “How much wood do we have?”

Johnathan was relieved to hear Cassie's answer. He followed her gaze towards the opening of the cave. "Well, clearly whatever is out there will be useless." He turned his eyes to the deeper area of the cave. "Stay here and warm up, sweetheart. I'll go see if I find anything more."

The rain was picking up. Cassie shook her head at the suggestion. "I would say it is too wet. Nothing would be worth it as it would be wet." She said thoughtfully.

He considered her words. As she was better with science than he was, he knew that she would be right, even with a holographic cave, if the rest of the program was running accurately, deeper in the cave could very well be wet. So, he sighed softly and moved back to the fire, his skin had already mostly dried, due to his body heat, so he cuddled back up against Cassie's back, his legs spread around her hips as she sat in front of the fire. He wrapped his arms back around her, and this time, he could feel their skin warming up wherever they touched. "Hopefully, the program will run its course and release us at the end. Unless, of course, we are locked away in here on a simulated tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

Cassie stayed quiet for a long moment before she sighed. She moved herself from kneeling to sitting on the floor. “We just have to hope that the bridge realises that something is not right or that there is some unique drain on the ship or that we miss shifts in the morning.” There were many ways they could realise but it was a long time until then when you were cold and in nothing more than swimming costume.

Nodding as he continued to hold and gently rub his wife. He could feel that her skin was drying out, leaving her hair, and the holographic suit being wet. "Well," he offered with a soft kiss on her right shoulder, then the side of her neck, just under her ear, where he knew she liked it. "There is a way to raise our body heat and make time go by in a much more enjoyable way..." he gave her a cheeky, lop-sided grin as he finished speaking.

Cassie blushed. "We have not really discussed that side of things." She said staring at the fire.

Hugging her gently, Johnathan craned his head around to try and see her face. "Now is as good a time as any to discuss it, my love." His voice was not rushed or impatient in any way. "I miss you, Cassie. I miss being with you. You are the only woman who I have ever been with, and you are the only woman that I ever want to be with." She continued staring at the fire. "Look at me, sweetheart."

Cassie turned a little to look at him. "Well, we do have nothing but time until someone figures out that we are missing or that the holodeck is malfuctioning." She mused with a shrug.

Reaching up, he gently moved his fingers through her hair, his fingertips lightly gazing her scalp as he did so. He found a few of the nerve points that help to stimulate sensuality in female Vulcans, just like Cassie had taught him. He even started to use the correct pressure as well. "Come back to me, my love. Let us rebuild what was damaged. For the first time since we wed, let us start to truly live as husband and wife."

“I am back but it’s not as simple as that. I’m not on contraceptives, I stopped when we were apart. I was not sleeping with anyone so it seemed pointless.” His touch was a distraction to say the least. He was remembering more and more about their old life.

He continued to massage her as she taught him. He only wanted to make her feel good and help her to be happy in their marriage again. He had done a lot of damage, most of it unintentionally, but damage nonetheless. He would do whatever was required to fully earn Cassie's love and trust again.

When he heard that she had stopped taking the contraceptives, he shrugged slightly as he continued to rub her. "We talked about having children before. Is it still something you would want with me?" He hoped she said yes, silently praying she didn't say no. Of course, if she did say no, it would answer many worries that he had started to have since they started living together again.

The woman looked back at the fire, her head lolling to the side as he touched a pressure point that was hard to resist. “Yes but not now. Not on this ship, we get into too much trouble.” She sighed a little. She was not even sure they were compatible, her mind going back to her issues with fertility with Tevir. “Plus I might not even be able to provide that. I could not with Tevir naturally.” She reminded having Brent honking more and more about the children he had created from their embryos after they had been declared killed in action.

Johnathan smiled softly as he watched the reaction his touch was having on his beautiful wife. She truly was way above him, he knew that. He also counted his blessings every day, that she had chosen him. "Well, I would love the opportunity to find our. But, you're right. The Rosie isn't really a place for children. But, maybe we could make it so? I mean, even in our original time, there were entire families on deep space freighters. I knew a few Boomers back at the Academy. They said that, while there was danger, it was still home to them." He leaned in and started to gently kiss her neck as he whispered, "All I ask is that we both think about it." He then continued to plant soft, loving kisses on her neck and shoulders.

“Reuben has said no children,” Cassie revealed. “Not with where we are going joining the Fenris Rangers.” The woman pointed out wondering if he had been spoken to about that. Cassie was all for it. Maybe she could find her place better in the universe with their mission to help people who could not help themselves. It was the values from Starfleet of her time. What she wanted to believe in desperately.

"Well then, I guess the decision for our lives is made then, isn't it?" He replied softly, feeling a little heart broken that she didn't even wish to discuss it, between themselves, as wife and husband. However, he swore to her that he would stand by her, no matter what. His love for her would not be tested by this chapter. If she didn't want children, then he would respect her wishes and not bring up the subject again.

"Forgive me if my idea brought you any discomfort, Cass. It was not my intention." He continued to massage her, but there was a slight difference to his attentions. They were still loving, to be sure. Just, ever so slightly less outgoing than they had before.

"It is not something I have thought on since Tevir." She explained, not revealing that it had been something shifting inside of her since the talk with Cami about her children and grandchildren. It was something that had been stirring in her head at her own failings and what she wanted to do with her life, she was content where she was at that moment. "I need to find purpose in the universe again." She still felt lost in the world.

Johnathan nodded. "Okay. We both figure out how we fit into this new world, though, to be fair, you've got about a year headstart on me." He tried to make a joke, but suddenly worried that it was too soon.

Cassie frowned at the joke as she did not feel like she had done much with the last year and shrugged a little. “Say six months. A year is stretching it.” She mused wishing she could sound as cool as she had before.

Johnathan grinned. "Listen to you with the jokes!" He hugged her tightly to him. Then, as his grip loosened some, all joking was gone from his demeanor. He looked at Cassie's lips, licked his own, then raised his eyes to hers. There was fire in his eyes suddenly. A desire for only this woman. He leaned in and started to kiss her. Gently, at first, but soon, his passion started to increase.

Cassie kissed him back for a moment before she pushed him back. "We just spoke about this." She told him gently. She was not wiling to take anything further until she had checked her contraception.

Though her words and tone were gentle, Johnathan still couldn't help feel rejected. "I-I know," he stammered slightly, trying not to let the hurt show. "I d-didn't mean that we c-couldn't do other stuff. I-I'm s-sorry." He gently pulled away from her, releasing his hold and standing up. He moved over towards the cave opening, watching tha storm raging outside. It was matched by the turmoil he was feeling inside. He crossed his arms tightly across his chest as he stood there.

Cassie did not say anything. She was not going to back down when it was her body. Yes they could do other stuff but there was always a risk. He was still healing and she had no contraceptions. She wanted it to be on her terms when she had another child. “Nat….” she stopped as she heard a strange sound like rumbling in the distance. “What is that?” She demanded standing from the fire place to listen better.

Johnathan knew that, as Cassie would be carrying the baby, if they ever had one, that the if and when of its conception would be solely her call. That, he had no problem with. It was her body, afterall. What he did find troublesome, and hurtful, is that she clearly didn't trust him to know his own limits, not trust him to stop if she felt they were going too far. He wasn't a brute! This woman had been the love of his life for over one hundred-fifty years. Aside from his choosing to help Micheal when asked, he had always considered her feelings, her needs, before his own. He loved her more than he could ever put into words. Even after he found out that she was marrying another man, he never stopped loving her.

Maybe the year he was lost changed more than he knew.

He heard the rumbling too. "Sounds almost like thunder..." he started to say. Then, he noticed something as he moved closer to the cave entrance. The water, at the shoreline, was pulling away rapidly. His eyes followed the receeding water, to see a sudden dark smudge on the horizon. It took his brain a few beats to compute what he was seeing. Then it clicked. "Oh shit!"

Tsunami…