Joint Personal BACKLOG | LtJG Charlson & Noah Waterhouse | Walk softly, and carry a big fork.

Posted on Mon Feb 23rd, 2015 @ 5:31am by

2,599 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: A Spot To Kill
Location: USS Vindicator

Lily had been walking towards Security, when she realised she actually had the day off today. Which was a rare occasion for her. She decided she'd try to locate Noah, as he hadn't spoken to her since Christmas. She tapped a few buttons on the console nearest to her, and located Noah, in his quarters, on deck eight. She hopped into the turbolift, and sped off towards the deck. When she got there she walked out of the turbolift and headed down the corridor, until she came to the guest quarters of the ship. She pressed the chime next to the door and waited.

Inside Noah's guest quarters, there were art supplies everywhere. Oil and watercolor paints spread across the table, a selection of brushes arranged in cups and boxes — the ones from Lily still sitting in the box he'd received them in. Canvases sat leaning against a wall in a selection of sizes, not far from an easel. A couple rolls of fabric taking up space on the couch. A palette of pastels and a notebook of light blue paper occupied the coffee table. On the shelve near the replicator was a keg of rum, his formal pirate hat, and a little book with a red leatherette cover and a gold leaf picture of a ball of spaghetti and meatball with eyes.

"Come," he called, looking up from where he sat in the chair next to the couch, his holographic goggles turned on. A news feed ran across the lenses.

"Afternoon Noah! Keeping busy I see!" Lily said, looking around at all the art supplies.

"Lily," Noah said with a grin, pulling himself up from the chair and tapping at his leather wrist band. The lenses flashed off as he crossed the room. "I hate to admit it, but this mess..." he waved his hand at the room, "It's normal. How are you?"

"I am well, happy to finally have a day off! I'm amazed at some of the art around the room!" Lily said, looking around the room at the multiple pieces of art. There were bright paintings of flowers, drawings of starships, and lots of other art pieces of species, made by intermixed art techniques. "They're amazing!" Lily said, referring to the multiple paintings.

"There's just so much to paint on a ship this size, and the shipyards have always been a great inspiration. Some of those were done from the viewing port near my parents' quarters," he explained, indicating the ships in particular. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" He closed the space between them, considered taking her into a hug, but paused and thought he'd wait and see why she was here.

"Well I just haven't really seen you since Christmas, and I kinda missed you!" Lily said, taking a small step towards Noah. She really liked Noah, but wasn't sure how he felt about her, so waited for him to make the first move.

"You missed me?" Noah's grin grew three sizes and he caught her in a hug. "I'm glad." He glanced at the table where the paintbrushes from her sat. "I'm still trying to decide what to paint with the brushes you gave me."

"I told you to surprise me!" Lily said as she embraced Noah in a hug. "So what do you wanna do then?" Lily asked, looking around at the pictures, they'd entranced her completely.

"And I will surprise you," he insisted with a chuckle. "I was just skimming headlines in the trash rags when you showed up, it's interesting to watch how horribly wrong they get it talking about your Phoenix of a Captain. I'm up for anything though. Did you have anything in mind?"

"I was hoping you'd be able to suggest something!" Lily said, smiling at Noah. "What's the trash rags, I haven't heard of that before." She said, slightly confused.

"Well, there is an arboretum we could take a walk through," Noah observed, offering his arm to Lily as he did. "The rags that publish trashy news? You know, the tabloids... the newspapers, for some definition of the word, who hound celebrities and post stories about ridiculous things like Elvis going home to Mars, and Lock Ness Monster sightings."

"That'd explain why I don't know about it then....I'm more of a Fiction reader, I prefer stories to newspapers. My favourites gotta be Oliver Twist though, I need to read some more of Charles Dickens!" Lily said, as she took Noah's arm.

"The trash rags are just as much fiction, but not nearly so well written," he insisted with a grin, leading the way out the door.

"If you say so Noah, I tend to keep away from anything that even resembles a newspaper!" Lily said with a laugh and a wink.

"I can't say I'm surprised, you are a hard boiled security officer, and you'd be more interested in facts instead of fiction masquerading as such," he observed, a gentle tug to pull her closer to him as they walked down the corridor to the turbolift.

Lily moved closer to Noah, enjoying the warmth as they got closer, feeling each step. "Well I do occasionally look at newspapers....but only for the puzzles!" Lily said, giving Noah a smile.

"Puzzles huh? Which one's your favorite?" He glanced sideways at her, using the question as an excuse to enjoy the view. He grinned back at her, enjoying her smile, knowing it was just for him.

"I like Sudokus and Crosswords, and the occasional word search, they all help with my observation skills!" Lily replied, noticing Noah looking over at her, and secretly liking it.

"I'll bet they do," Noah returned as they reached the turbolift. He pressed the button to page the lift, and was rewarded with it opening right away. As he led them inside, he told the computer, "arboretum."

"So, i've never been down to the arboretum before...what is it?" Lily asked, giving Noah a sideway glance. She liked his tall, lean form, he was tall like her, and she liked how he was a quarter Klingon.

"It's basically a big indoor garden, mostly focused on trees but usually including the whole ecosystem to help keep them healthy and give your scientists more to study," Noah explained. "But someone in starfleet realized it was great for morale to open them to the crew on the ships to walk through, because it's pretty. Seems a good place to take a pretty lady."

Lily looked around. "Pretty lady? Where? I can't see one!" Lily said, with a small laugh, but blushing slightly.

"Only 'cause the fleet doesn't see fit to put mirrors in their lifts," he returned, leaning over to kiss her forehead.

"Stop it, your making me blush, and remember, the walls have ears!" Lily said with a wink.

"The walls always have ears, but I don't make it a policy to do anything they can do something about," he insisted. The turbolift stopped, and the doors slid open. "Do you have a favorite tree?"

"Well, my favourite is an Oak tree, nice and big, lots of shelter, and strong, bit like you really!" Lily said, with a feeble attempt at flirting.

"Then we'll find the oak tree first," he insisted, a grin a light year wide spreading on his face. He lead her out of the turbolift and down the corridor for the short walk to the aft entrance into the arboretum.

"So what about you? What's your favourite tree?" Lily asked Noah, interested.

"Eucalyptus, because that's where the drop bears live." There was an amused hint behind his voice, like he was up to something with his answer. As they entered the arboretum, he looked at the sign that sat at the fork in the path. "Most species of Oak hail from North America, so let's look in that section first?"

"Drop bears? What are they? And yeah, I'll follow you!" Lily said, waiting for Noah to lead the way.

"You haven't heard about drop bears? Oh dear," Noah said with a head shake, taking the left fork in the path. "They're a large, arboreal, predatory marsupial related to the koala. They come from Australia on Earth. We should be safe here because I don't think they're keeping animals beyond the koi." As he said that, he noticed a little orange toy bear sitting at the base of the tree they were walking past, holding a sign that said 'Beware the Drop Bears', and he stopped. "Maybe we should go back for forks and Vegemite."

Now Lily was even more confused. "Forks and Vegemite?" She asked while laughing, finding the two defenses funny. "Why Forks and Vegemite?" She asked.

"Well, the Vegemite goes behind your ears," he explained, reaching over to gently brush his fingers on the delicate skin that hid between her ears and her hair. "The smell keeps the drop bears at bay. And the fork... well, you wear that in your hair, prongs up, so that if they drop on you anyways, it'll poke them and stun them so you can get away."

"And ruin my lovely hair? Why would I do that?" Lily asked with a giggle. "And I'm sure they wouldn't attack me... I'm just too lovable to be attacked!" She said.

"I could artfully arrange your hair around the fork. Make it look like a fashion statement," Noah suggested as he stopped and turned to face her. His fingers found her hair, and gently gathered it at the nape of her neck.

"I'm sure you would find a way Noah!" Lily said as she turned to see Noah facing her, and feeling a shiver go down her spine as he played with her hair.

"Oh, I know I can," he insisted, leaning in to get closer. He twisted her hair gently, holding it up behind her head. Suddenly his eyes darted upwards and he pulled back. "What's that?!" His hands landed on her shoulders suddenly, at the same time he urgently asked his question.

"Ahhh!" Lily screamed slightly as she jumped foward towards Noah to get away from whatever was above her.

Noah chuckled, wrapping his arms protectively around her as she jumped forward. "Gotcha'," he whispered with a smirk, and a kiss on the top of her head.

Lily chuckled and wrapped her arms around Noah's back, pulling him closer to her. "Now who's got who?" She asked with a giggle.

"Whatever shall I do about a pretty lady holding me in her arms?" Noah laughed, wrapping his arms tighter around her.

Lily looked up at Noah, thinking about kissing him, thought better of it, and just stood there, enjoying the comfort of having Noah holding her. "So.....what do these drop bears look like?" She asked.

"They look very similar to a Koala, I wouldn't be surprised if they were related," he explained, turning to guide them down the path again. He kept an arm around her waist as they walked. "They're bigger than the Koala though, and their fur has a bit of an orange tint to it. The thing you have to watch out for though? They've got sharp nasty teeth, pretty wicked."

"If they bite me I'll bite them back, so it's their choice!" Lily laughed, looking across at Noah, still unsure whether to kiss him or not.

"Well, if you say that in an Aussie accent, they might listen," he teased as they approached a fork in the path; he started towards the left as he eyed the sign, and saw that they really wanted to go right, so he spun them both around nearly in a full circle before leading them towards the right fork.

"I thought you knew where you were going?" Lily asked as Noah spun them both around and they headed in the other direction. "So is there another way to combat these drop bears without using marmite and messing up my hair?" She asked, looking across at Noah.

"I haven't been in this arboretum before, so I don't know for sure how it's arranged," he dismissed. "And even though they tend to be laid out very similarly on fleet ships, the last time I was in one on a starship? I was 12, and had been playing hide and seek with Pond and a couple other kids, and slipped into the fish pond. Trashed my first pirate hat... but it was for the best in the end, it had been getting too small, and I wouldn't let Mum and Dad replace it for me. As for the drop bears? Marmite, forks in your hair, and an Aussie accent are pretty much the ticket to protecting yourself."

"A fish pond? I don't think you've told me that story!" Lily said, looking over at the fishpond she could see to the left of them.

"Pond and me, we were playing hide and seek with some friends, not long before Mum and Dad got their transfer orders to Utopia Planitia," he explained as they finally came to a stop in front of a tall oak tree. "I'm a bit rubbish at the game, but I was determined to win that day. So I did what Mum told me not to, I went under the bridge, where the rocks were slippery and there was mud. Luckily I didn't hit my head in the way down, so I just got a little wet."

"And did you ever manage to win the game?" Lily asked, trying to hide a smile.

"I think that was the last time I played, truth be told," he returned with a shrug. "And call it a hunch, but I suspect I'm at a bit of a disadvantage now. Especially if I was playing with Pond, since she's a genuine spy girl."

"I bet you'd beat me at it! I'm not much of a spy to be honest!" Lily said, pulling Noah to a stop and looking at him, before laughing.

"You'd still have the advantage, you're smaller than me," he insisted with a chuckle, drawing her close with his arms around her waist. "We've found your Oak tree," he added, nodding towards the tree they stood in front of.

"Sure, i'm smaller, but I can't stay still to save my life!" Lily said, looking up at Noah. "It's a very nice Oak tree!" Lily decided it was the right time and leaned foward to kiss Noah on the cheek.

"I'm sure you hide fine, when you fancy it," he insisted, catching Lily by the chin and laying a soft kiss on her lips.

Lily was taken by surprise by Noah, but decided she liked it anyway, and kissed him back. It sent a shiver down her spine, and made her heart race tenfold. She broke the kiss after a few seconds, and looked at Noah. "Well that was unexpected Mr Waterhouse!" Lily said, with a smile creeping across her lips.

"I suspect," Noah said softly, tucking a strand of Lily's hair behind her ear, "that it really wasn't that unexpected." His lips found her forehead to plant a kiss there. "Certainly not unwelcome, I hope?"

"Of course not!" Lily said, planting another quick peck on Noah's lips, before pulling him towards the Oak tree behind them.

"Good, good," he murmured with a grin as he followed her towards the oak tree.

"Come on, I have somewhere else we can go!" Lily said pulling Noah away to some unbeknownst part of the ship.

=/\= End Log =/\=

Lieutenant Junior Grade Lily Charlson
Security Officer
USS-Vindicator

Noah Waterhouse
Artist and Pastafarian Minister
The Pelican

 

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