A Dog Meets Dog World

Posted on Fri Mar 4th, 2011 @ 8:00pm by Lieutenant Xylia Lischka & Lieutenant Antoine Théroit
Edited on on Fri Mar 4th, 2011 @ 8:02pm

Mission: Shore Leave 1: Pacifica
Location: Pacifica

After arriving at the resort and getting herself settled in her room, Xylia changed her clothes into her mandatory bikini and pulled a pair of shorts on over it. She glanced at herself in the mirror and pulled her hair back in a ponytail, then turned her attention to the eleven month old English Bulldog waiting patiently at her feet.

"I know.. I know.. you want to get out there just as much as I do." She said, reaching for Apollo's leash. "There's no time like the present to get ourselves acquainted with the sand, now is there?"

Xylia clipped the leash on his collar, grabbed her bag and made sure she had her room key before stepping out into the hallway. She had absolutely no intentions of returning to the Arizona unless it was absolutely necessary, and she was sure that even the Captain himself would be putting on a pair of board shorts and hitting the beaches, seeing as he made it mandatory. That would certainly be a sight to see. One she would pay good money for. The old man deserved a chance to relax just as much, if not more so, than the rest of the crew. Surely he wouldn't break one of his own rules.

She stepped outside of the resort and made a beeline for the shore, occasionally glancing down at her canine companion to make sure he was alright. He looked as though he was enjoying himself just as much as she was. Xylia guided him onto the sand and picked the best spot possible to settle down and work on her tan.

[Meanwhile... Elsewhere]

Antoine Theroit had been at the tropical Pacifican resort for a couple of days. He was waiting for his new assignment orders from the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps. He was on loan on his last assignment to the Federation diplomatic mission on Romulus. He had assisted in sorting out the bureaucratic hell at several of the backwater consular offices on the Romulan homeworld. Apart of his assignment to Romulus he assisted in developing a framework for a future trade summit between several minor players in the Beta Quadrant and the Romulans themselves. The Federation had agreed to act as a mediator. He had received a report of the Arizona's arrival at Pacifica. He wondered if his "masters" back on Earth would make the Arizona his next assignment.

He sat down on washed up tree trunk laying on the beach. He watched his four year old Airedale Terrier Amelie run in and out of the water like a mad dog. She barked at him to join her. He shook his head with a laugh. Out of the corner of the eye he saw a dog and its owner approaching. Amelie's head cocked to the side and her ears tipped up as she spotted the British Bulldog. She barked ecstatically before running at full charge.

"Oh crap!" Antoine yelled. He jumped to his feet and ran after his dog with the leash in hand.

Xylia turned her head when she heard the bark of another dog, then blinked when she saw Apollo bolt in their direction. It didn't take long before she realized what was going on and taking off behind him. With the leash still attached to his collar, all she had to do was get close enough to grab it to avert disaster, but the prospect of meeting another canine had the Bulldog running faster than she had ever seen him run before, which meant she had to pick up the pace.

"Apollo... no!" In her agitated state, her German accent thickened a bit, which did nothing to deter the animal from his current task.

Antoine ran after Amelie. He wasn't able to catch up before she went down into the playful stance and barked from a foot away. He finally caught up to them and put the lead onto the Terrier's collar.

"Sorry about that," Antoine said in his somewhat rough Cajun French accent. "Amelie, sit." The dog obeyed her master's command and sat. He patted her on the head playfully.

Xylia slid to a halt in the sand to keep from knocking into the man in front of her. She bent down and grabbed Apollo's leash, but not before he started sniffing around the dog in front of him. She took notice of his stumpy little tail wagging fast enough to cause his whole back end to shake with the movements. Definitely a good sign.

"I apologize. Apollo here doesn't get the chance to interact with other canines as often as he should. I'm his only companion." She stated, crouching down to give his side a good scratch. "He's perfectly harmless."

Antoine unleashed Amelie. She barked at Apollo. She sniffed here and there and rolled on her back. She got back on her feet and wagged her tail fast enough you just saw a blur. Antoine shook his head while he watched their dogs get acquainted, "Dogs will be dogs." He looked to the woman and offered his hand, "Name is Antoine Theroit."

Xylia finally unhooked Apollo's leash and allowed him to join in the fun with his newly acquired friend. She stood upright and took Antoine's hand in hers. "Xylia Lischka. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Theroit."

Not too far away, Apollo barked at Amelie and rolled around in the sand. There was certainly no way he would be getting into bed with her after that.

"The pleasure is mine, Ms. Lischka." He released her hand and moved to stand side-by-side with Xylia as they watched their two best friends play off in the distance. "How are you enjoying Pacifica so far, Ms. Xylia?"

"I've only been here for a few hours, but so far it's fantastic." Xylia replied. "I really needed the down time. How about you? Are you enjoying yourself?"

"I'm glad you are enjoying yourself," Antoine continued, "I am also enjoying myself after a very well needed vacation."

Xylia looked up at him, still keeping sight of Apollo in her peripheral vision. "Your vacation is almost over?"

"I don't know yet, I'm between assignments."

"Well.. until you get your new assignment, you should enjoy the down time. I'm not sure how much time I've going to have, but I plan to enjoy every last second of it while I'm here." She gestured toward her waiting beach towel a little ways down the beach. "Would you care to join me?"

"Of course. I think Amelie and, Apollo was it? Agree." Amelie came running at them. She moved in and gave Xylia a few kisses on the nose before bulldozing into Antoine. He laughed shaking his head, "You silly pup."

Xylia smiled as she made her way back to her waiting things, then settled down on the towel, leaving plenty of room for him to join her. "I think they like each other. So.. do you have any idea what your next assignment might be?"

He sat down beside her after he threw a stick Apollo had brought him. He threw it of a good distance but not too far into a water so they could keep an eye on their troublemakers, "I have no idea. I'm a man of interstellar mystery, a spy." He wanted to wait for a facial expression on her face. He shook his head with a laugh, "No, I'm a Diplomatic Officer. I have no idea. Most likely the Arizona, just depends on what my "masters" back on Earth have to say."

Xylia grinned when he made mention of being a spy, but she made no mention of it. "The Arizona, you say? Interesting. Very interesting indeed."

Antoine chuckled when he caught the grin on Xylia's face. He nodded his head, "We will have to see where the Diplomatic Corps places me. Who knows."

"It would be interesting because I'm Lieutenant JG Xylia Lischka, Assistant Chief of Security/Tactical aboard the Arizona."

"I am glad that I may have a friendly face aboard to call a colleague and perhaps a friend in good course," he smiled at her before looking back on the ocean.

"Perhaps. One never knows." She returned his smile and looked out toward the ocean.

"The hard life of a spy, er, diplomat." He chuckled.

Xylia grinned again. This time, she wasn't going to let that go. "Mmhmm... you're a spy. You can't deny it now." She looks around to make sure no one is near them. "Who did Starfleet send you here to spy on? I promise I won't tell."

In his awful Sean Connery era James Bond impression Antoine said, "If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Har, har, har." He chuckled followed by a deeply amused sigh. He laid his back down on the towel that Xylia had laid out for them. He looked up into the sky. The sky sort of reminded him of back home in Louisiana.

"Now where's the fun in that?" She settled back herself and pulled her sunglasses over her eyes, intent to start working on her tan. It wasn't until Apollo made his way over to her and gave an exuberant shake, sending water flying all over the both of them. She let out a laugh and grabbed the dog.

He laughed while he wiped the water from around his eyes. He shook his head, "What a dog." Amelie curled up between them laying her head on Xylia's stomach. Her tail thudded against the towel covered sand. Antoine smiled, "She's taken a-liken to you." She moved her head off of her stomach and looked over at her owner and carried on with her voice.

Xylia smiled and gave Amelie a good scratch before doing the same with Apollo. "She is very sweet."

"Of course. She's a total sweetheart," he looked over to Apollo, "right, boy?"

After blowing some hair out of her face, Xylia sat up again. "I don't know about you, but I think it's time I hit the water."

He sat up and got up to his feet. He took off his shirt and offered his hand to help her up.

Xylia took his hands with a smile and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Once she was up, she pulled her shorts off and tossed them on top of her waiting bag, then headed toward the water. It appeared that she may have made a new friend, and if she didn't, Apollo did at the very least.

He ran into the water flipping around to face her and fell back into the water.