Shoreleave Camping Trip

[Jaden Praxx 0]

They sat together at the edge of the river that ran through the plain that they had chosen for their campsite, having finally scared off the little rabid dingo creatures that B'Etor had decided to have for lunch. He was still a little unsettled by that but decided to just try and put it out of his mind and suddenly thought of the perfect way to do it. He got a big boyish smile on his face and got up to his feet quickly running over to the equipment pack they'd brought down. He reached inside and pulled out two cases bringing them back over and handing one to B'Etor before sitting back down. "Ever been fishing?" he asked her, a sense of joy and excitement in his tone that she didn't see from him very often.

 

She was over the fact that a bunch of satanic squirrels had tried to attack them. Didn't bother her in the slightest. She heard him get up and shifted her gaze to where he ran off to. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow, and then saw him come back. She heard the question and stared at him as if asking what it was. "I'm sorry? What is a fishing?" She saw the look on his face and couldn't help but smile, seeing a rare excitement in his eyes and his movements she had only seen once or twice before.

 

He sat beside her and hastily opened up the case pulling out the various pieces of the pole and assembling them quickly. He used the mini replicator in the case and created some bait which he attached to the hook on the end of the line and then took the pole by the handle at the end of it. "Watch." he said as he angled the pole back behind him and then cast the line out into the river. "The bait on the line attracts the fish and they come and bite it, getting stuck on the hook. Then you just reel them in and voila...dinner." he said smiling and slowly starting to play out the line letting the current drag it out a little and waiting for the tell tale tug that would tell him he had a bite.

 

She watched him, staring at what he did and was given a pole and looked at it, tilting her head. She then watched him, with an almost child like curiosity. Listening she nodded, seeing the line go out and nodded again. "Line.. pole.. attracts..dinner.." She looked up at him and nodded, shrugging. "How hard is this?" She copied him and waited. After a moment her Klingon impatience got the best of her and she pulled it back in, and held the pole like a spear and looked in the water and with a swift motion, speared the pole into the water, pulling out a fish on a stick. "Dinner..." She looked up at him with a blank expression, then smiled big. She beamed at him and wiggled her hips in excitement of her first catch.

 

He stared at her for a moment and then burst into uncontrolled laughter. After a moment he was lying on the ground nearly in the fetal position laughing so hard his chest began to hurt from the lack of breathing. He nearly lost his grip on the pole as he finally was able to gather himself enough to take a few deep breaths between chuckles. "That's not exactly the traditional method." he said still grinning, his face red from the laughing and his breathing heavy as he tried to catch his breath. He just shook his head and started to reel in his line. The sky overhead was starting to take on an orange-ish tint as the sun drew near the horizon. He finished reeling in the line and set the pole down on the ground, taking hers, with the now dead fish still stuck on the end of it and also set it down and then took her hand and started walking towards a ridge a few hundred meters away. "Come on." he said pulling her along.

 

She watched him laugh and her brow furrowed, wondering what was so funny as he rolled around on the ground. She looked at her catch and then him. "I don't get it... I caught the fish… isn't that the whole point??" Not getting an answer since he was laughing so hard, she watched him a moment. Watching him take her prized catch, then her hand, she looked up at him as he started tugging on her. "Where are we going now? Jaden..?" She walked with him, moving to the ridge with him.

 

"Come on." he said again still pulling her along. "I haven't sat and watched a sunset since I was a boy back on Earth. I'll be damned if I'm going to miss this chance." He seemed happier than she'd seen him in a long time. They got to the top of the ridge and he stopped, moving close to her and pulling her close to him putting his arm around her shoulder. The view was breath taking. There was a tall mountain chain several kilometers away silhouetted on the horizon and the river they'd been fishing on stretched out towards it, catching the red-orange-ish light of the sun as it approached the horizon line.

 

She went with him, not wanting to stop him from enjoying something he obviously missed. She stood with him and felt his arm go around her shoulders, smiling. She rested her body against his and looked up at him, seeing the look on his face. She rarely saw him this happy, but she was glad she was there to share it with him. She nuzzled her head to his chest, watching with him the sky changed colors ever so slowly. "Jaden..."

 

"Hmm?" he said in way of response still staring out at the horizon as the sun began to be slowly swallowed up by the horizon. He took a moment letting his eyes drift upward and gazed across the sky watching it change from a deep orange at the horizon, through shades of crimson and becoming a pinkish purple color directly overhead. He then traced the same line back down towards the horizon again and smiled at the sight.

 

She watched his expressions and saw the look in his eyes and she smiled, looking towards the sunset. A million things going through her mind as she paused after his semi-response to her. "Thank you..." She said it softly and her arm wrapped around his back, burrowing herself more into the crook of his arm.

 

He looked down at her smiling warmly as the sun dipped below the horizon leaving them in twilight. "Thank you for what?" he asked turning towards her.

 

She watched the jagged horizon turn deep shades of red and purple, not looking up at him as he turned to her. Seeing the horizon darken, her gaze shifted to him, a soft smile crossing her lips. "For… this moment, for allowing me to share that with you…for… everything." Her eyes met his and her black eyes got darker as the sun completely disappeared and the darkness of the forest surrounded them.

 

"Well I'm glad you're enjoying it," he said softly and then his face lit up and a big grin crossed his face. "Because now its time for my favorite part of camping!" he headed off back down the hill towards the fishing poles they'd left on the ground. He grabbed hers, the fish still hanging from the end of it and moved back over towards their campsite and setting the pole down near the equipment pack. "We need to find some twigs and branches." he called to her and started looking around, seeing a small wooded area a few hundred meters away on the other side of the river.

 

He walked back towards the bank and looked over. The river was a good 15 meters wide and probably almost that deep. There was still enough light left that he could see and he looked up and down both banks and saw some small rapids in the river a little ways upstream. He knew that meant that there were large rocks just under the water's surface and that he'd probably be able to cross there without having to swim. He made his way over towards them and took off his boots and socks, rolling his pant legs up.

 

She watched him, not sure what he was doing, but shook her head. She grabbed his arm and looked up at him. "Jaden, what the hell are you doing? You can't… twigs? There is an entire forest behind you, why do you have to go over there?!" She got a worried, concerned look on her face, the fear of him falling into water, evident in her eyes.

 

He looked at where she was indicating and saw the forest she mentioned, but he judged that it was at least a kilometer and a half distant. "Nah," he said, "this is much closer." he held his arms out straight to either side of him for balance and began making his way slowly across the rocks. They were pleasantly smooth and the water felt wonderful, but the rocks were also a little slippery and he nearly lost his footing a few times before he made it to the other side. He turned around and held his arm out towards her jerking his head indicating that he wanted her to cross with him.

 

She looked at him and shook her head, after watching him, she looked at the water, then back to him. She shook her head, knowing what he wanted to her do was ludicrous, and dangerous. She had watched him and figured she could do it too. Tossing aside any logic or reasonable thought, she started to cross. She looked to see where to step next, slowly making her way across. She was just a few meters from him and smiled, as if done. She looked towards him and went for the next rock, her look of satisfaction and her smile of accomplishment were replaced with shock as she felt her foot shift off the rock and her body fell quickly. She let out a cry and her body slammed into the water. Her cry was abruptly replaced with a loud splash as her body disappeared.

 

He watched her fall in and looked momentarily concerned before he saw her head pop up out of the water and then he couldn't help but chuckle at her a little. She glared up at him clearly annoyed at having fallen in and even more annoyed that he was laughing about it. He smiled down at her and then unzipped his uniform top dropping it on the grass at his feet and taking off the department yellow undershirt as well and dropping it next to it. Then he took his pants off leaving them in a heap and dove into the river to join her. For a moment she couldn't see where he'd gone, it having gotten dark enough that it was impossible to see below the surface of the water. Then he surfaced directly behind her and put his arms around her waist. "Boo." he said quietly kissing her cheek.

 

Her look of annoyance quickly changing to concern as he had jumped in, but not come up. She felt arms grab her from behind and she smiled hearing him. Turning in the water, she faced him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She got a content, mischievous look on her face and she pressed her lips to his softly. "Boo back..."

 

He returned her kiss and held it for a long moment before letting it go and looked at her smiling. "This water," he said taking a moment to look around him "is perfect!" He moved away from her and splashed a little up in her face before swimming quickly away.

 

She listened to him, wondering what he was going to say. Smiling at his remark, she nodded, then watched him. She shook her head, then flinched as water hit her face. "Hey!" She swam after him. "I have three lungs, you can't out-swim me!"

 

"No but I can try!" he said swimming faster enjoying this time that they had together to just relax and not have to worry about duty shifts and reports or anything else than just having fun.

 

She quickly caught up with him, and grabbed his leg, pulling her body next to him, dunking him under. After a second she came up and laughed, shaking her head. "Told you." She couldn't remember the last time she had been this relaxed. She looked to him, throwing her long wet mane of curls back out of her face. "Do we do this all night? Or is there more to this camping than just fishing, watching sunsets, and horseplay in the water?"

 

"Well," he said taking a moment to catch his breath. "I was planning to get some wood for the campfire and some marshmallow roasting when your clumsy ass fell in the river." he said laughing at her teasingly and starting to head for the riverbank.

 

"Clumsy!? I am a Klingon, I am far from clumsy!" Her mouth dropped in a look of mocked shock. She grabbed him, pulling him to her, pushing his head under water. She pulled him back up and held his shoulders. "Take that back before I take offense to that comment." She sounded hurt, but her subtle smirk told him she was playing.

 

"Alright, alright I'll take it back," he said wriggling his way out of her grip and swimming away quickly again headed for the bank. "I'll take it back when a klingon is elected Praetor!" he laughed and turned swimming full speed toward the bank and pushing himself up out of the water before she could catch him again.

 

"Thank y-" She looked at him and went after him. He got out of the water before she could get to him, but she got out right after him and quickly shed the uniform jacket that was soaked. "Why are you picking on my dreams!" She jumped on him, tackling him to the ground, pinning him.

 

He laughed out loud as he hit the ground and looked up at her. "You know, if you keep interrupting like this, we'll never get that damn fire made and you'll have to catch us another fish to eat for dinner because the first one will spoil."

 

She leaned her face close to his and smiled. "If you really think that one fish will feed us both, you have let this planets air get to your head." She got off of him and stood up, pulling the blue long sleeved shirt off, leaving her in the grey tank top and uniform pants. "God these absorb well.”

 

"Why do you think I took mine off before I got in the water" he said chuckling and getting to his feet. He made his way with her over to the wooded area and they started gathering up twigs and logs for the fire. Once they had enough he made his way back to the riverbank and the rock bridge they'd used to come across. "Try not to fall in this time hmm? Wet wood doesn't burn so well."

 

She looked at him and let a few fake chuckles. "Funny chuckles, just walk." She walked across with him, not repeating the same mistake. Getting back to their campsite, she dropped the wood, wondering what he was going to do. She had never seen a real fire before. She looked at him. "I am going to change." She shivered as the chilled air hit her wet body.

 

He set to work arranging the logs and twigs the way his father had taught him when he was a boy, and although he knew how to start a fire up "the old fashioned way" he was cold after getting out of the water and decided to go with a little more technological approach. He went to the equipment pack and pulled out a phaser and set it to a narrow beam on the lowest setting and fired it into the kindling starting up the fire that soon grew to a nice blaze.

 

"That's cheating." She watched him, having changed into one of the sweaters that was his. She swam in it and smiled to him, looking at the phaser. "Roughing it, eh?" She moved to him, arms crossing over her chest, lips pursed, a hint of mock disappointment in her eyes.

 

He chuckled as he put the phaser away and grabbed an odd looking device from the pack and picked up one of the longer twigs that he hadn't put into the fire. He activated the device and it proceeded to produce a marshmallow. He placed it on the end of the stick and handed it to B'Etor. He then repeated the process and took his own stick, holding the marshmallow out over the flames on the end of his stick. "Ever had roasted marshmallows? they're one of the best parts of camping." he said smiling at her.

 

"What? I have never done any of these things." She looked at it and shrugged sticking it in the fire. Sitting on the ground, pulling her knees to her chest she watched at the marshmallow burst into flames. She watched it burn and melt in liquid gooey chunks. She looked at him. "Was that the fun part?"

 

He laughed quietly shaking his head and handing her the gadget that made the marshmallows. "Try it again, you just want to brown it a little on the outsides, and the inside gets all warm and gooey, and then you pull it out and eat it." he pulled his own out of the fire, it having been roasted just perfect and pulled it off the stick with his teeth and chewing it a couple of times before swallowing it.

 

She watched him with a child-like intrigue. Obviously by the look on her face the idea of roasting marshmallows had escaped her. "Hmm.." She made another one and tried again, watching it brown. She looked at him, to see if she was doing it right.

 

He watched her and smiled seeing that she seemed to be getting the hang of it. he was curious to see what she'd think of the taste of it, never having heard of a romulan or a klingon eating a marshmallow before, he imagined it might prove to be an interesting experience. He took the gadget back from her and prepped another one sticking it in the fire.

 

She felt was "browned" enough and she sniffed it, making a repulsed face from the smell of the caramelized sugar in a circular shape. "Smells odd…" She licked it, looking as if she was gagging. She looked at him and let out a long breath, biting into it. She looked blank for a moment and swallowed, her face contorting as if she had eaten the most horrific food ever. "Very...sweet..." She licked her lips, smacking them a few times as if trying to rid of the taste.

 

He couldn't help but laugh a little figuring she might find it a little odd. Klingons certainly weren't known for their sweet tooth. It was a new experience for her though so he decided that was enough. He finished his off and yawned stretching his arms out. "How do you feel about...turning in?" he asked, winking teasingly at her.

 

She looked at him and looked around. She got a confused look on her face, turning around after standing. She looked back to him, shaking her head. "I don't see any shape-shifters." She looked around again, her guard going up.

 

He shook his head smiling and rubbing his brow with his thumb and forefinger. "It means, go to bed dear." he said with mock exasperation.

 

She blinked and nodded. She moved towards him and then crawled into the tent. She looked out at him. "I may have grown up with humans, but your metaphors, and meanings always escaped me." She climbed into the large sets of blankets he had set up, getting comfortable. She looked at him wriggling her ridged nose. "My nose is cold…"

 

"Awww." he said frowning dramatically. He crawled into the tent and pulled the flaps down zipping it shut and lying down next to her propping himself up on his elbow and running a finger down her cheek. He leaned over and kissed her feeling her cold nose pressing against his face...