Ocean Vistas

Posted on Thu Mar 24th, 2011 @ 9:07am by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Ensign Jennifer Russo
Edited on on Mon Mar 28th, 2011 @ 8:04am

Mission: Shore Leave 1: Pacifica
Location: Secluded Beach, Western Sea, Pacifica
Timeline: Prior to 'Karma will be a bitch'

Jennifer had wandered out of the hotel wearing nothing but her bikini and a pair of sandals, she carried a bag with her towel and some other things. She had already placed her sunscreen on inside. She crossed the boardwalk and took her sandals off sticking them in the bag and quickly made it across the hot sand. She had dropped her bag as she neared the water just wear the sand was completely dry. She hadn't noticed the man sitting near by, and made her way toward the water, stopping just up to her ankles.

She looked out into the ocean, and along the beach taking in the scent of the air, and her beautiful surroundings. She finally continued into the water up to her knees and them jumped in swimming out further out to the water. After about 10 minutes or so she swam back out and stood up walking out onto the sand. She stretched as she got up onto the dry sand, and then bent down to her bag, she pulled out a large blanket and laid it out on the sand. She also pulled out a bottle of water and took a sip. It was going to be a good day...

Nathan, equipped with his dark sunglasses, had been watching the shoreline for some time after Three of Seven had so rudely brought work to his peaceful relaxation. He had just started to forget about the ship again when the figure of the Warrant Officer he'd recently met, albeit entirely by accident, came out of the water practically in front of his field of view. And what a view that was. By El-Aurian standards, she was a baby... indeed just about everyone save the Miran boy was technically way too young, however Nathan had learned a long time ago that numbers on a calendar didn't equate to emotional development. Jack was a prime example of that, he might have been a little over 400, but he still acted like the ten year old he resembled in a great many ways, bath toys in particular.

Regardless of that, the woman displayed herself rather boldly, the suit she wore leaving very little other than the most intimate details of her anatomy to be imagined. Thankfully, Nathan had seen enough scattered ass in 600 years to know exactly what it would look like and therefore didn't really have the desire to 'picture' it like most men would. That did not, however, mean he didn't appreciate it.

The old man rolled off the lounge chair and stood, stretching the cramps in his body before making the short walk over to where Ms. Russo was preparing her beach front relaxation area.

"Nice day for some sun, ain't it?" Nathan said, forcing the woman to turn fully around to see who had addressed her.

Jenn jumped when she heard someone speak to her, she recognized the voice. Though she didn't think it belonged to the person she thought it did, she turned around and jumped again. It was the Captain, she was a little embarrassed and looked at him for a second,her face turning red.

"Captain, Hello sir." She stammered a bit. "Having a good day on the beach sir?" she asked, trying to force herself to stop talking.

She did finally overcome herself and managed to shut up.

"Wonderful... so much scattered ass, so little time to stare at it all and wonder what I did with all my youth," Nathan said sarcastically, "What about you? I thought you'd be up to your eyeballs in work. Don't tell me the studious Warrant Officer had the need to let that hair down and pop the twins out the tunic for a bit."

Jenn was a little startled by the Captain's comments, "Well actually sir.. I did think it would be good to take a day or two off. Can't work all the time, besides a little break will make me refreshed and ready to take it all on. Sometimes taking a break is better for efficiency than continuous work," she said. Though she felt a little odd sharing her philosophy with him.

Jenn looked a little nervous, she hadn't seen anyone there, and hadn't expected to run into anyone. Though, it wouldn't have been catastrophic, this was just the one person she really did not expect to see. She also wondered what people would say if they saw the two of them together, would it be bad? She knew that there were rules about certain things, though the one thing she never did was read the rule book... especially on relationships.

She wondered if she should pick up and move on someplace alone, or if it would offend him. She almost asked but stopped herself not wanting to look like an idiot, besides... what could it really hurt? She didn't know he was there... and it was a public beach. If he was that bothered by her being there than he could find a new place to sit.

Nathan laughed, "A very good point, I reckon, and one I've argued with some of my more Vulcan of crew members a time or two in the past. Can't say I'm overly shocked hearing it, just wasn't expecting you to be the one to say it. You struck me as the workaholic type, a lot like my daughter. Good kid, just doesn't always have her priorities straight. I remember the last guy she got mixed up with... dumbest piece of shit I think I've seen in two hundred years."

At this point, Nathan began to ramble on about Lt. Marion's choice in men, "I've never in my life seen someone so retarded, and Liz swore up and down that she was in love. I mean the man had been an officer for eight years and had been passed over for Assistant positions every time he applied to them because of his substandard work. And then, of all things, I find out he has a temper and that temper took the form of him hitting Liz. Needless to say the first time I heard about it was the last time I heard about it..."

Nathan left out the details pertaining to that incident in favor of breaking off on a tangent, "What is it with women and abusive assholes? I mean shit, can't they go for a nice, successful, well mannered guy rather than the prick with no future and way too much balled up aggression? It's just aggravating to see such promising young women ruin their lives because they think they are in love with that stupid bastard with the bottle in one hand and the bat in the other. Must be why I only got married once..."

"Speaking of marriage, you have a man lined up or are you doing the smart thing and focusing on your career first and letting the men come to you when you're ready?" Nathan suddenly asked.

"Well," Jenn started. "I think I kind of went the path of all that stupid stuff, and that's why I'm here. In fact I would have ended up in jail if I didn't go to Starfleet, and that's another reason why I didn't apply to the academy. I got pretty messed up after my Mom died... but thankfully I got straightened out with my Dad's help. He's the one who has taught me most of my philosophy I used to think it was stupid... A lot changed in basic." Jenn answered, honestly.

"And as for men... I think that I could handle one as long as they understood the need for me to protect my future first. Though, I haven't had a boyfriend since I was still at home. He is how I almost ended up in jail..." Jenn said. She wasn't talking to her Captain anymore, in her mind. It was weird, he seemed to be interested beyond that, and treat her beyond that relationship and it made her a bit more comfortable. What she wouldn't tell him was that it seemed to be that he was the kind of man that she was attracted to... Smart, Accomplished, Stable... Exciting. And well... he was oddly attractive.

"Fuck him," Nathan declared bluntly, "Not worth your time or effort to even be pissed at him. The point is, you're here now, you've got a wide world open to you, and you've got ample looks to snag you any man you want. If I were two centuries younger, and looked the part, I might even chase after you, but I'm not on both fronts."

Nathan lazily sank to the ground and lounged out, leaning on his elbows as he faced the water, "Funny thing about getting old... After a while you realize that even though nothing really separates you between the younger people around you but some numbers, you still feel isolated because those numbers seem to matter to anyone that hasn't seen as many as you have. Weird when you think about it. Some of the most compatible people are separated only by the calendar, and that's just enough to keep them separated for life."

Nathan chuckled softly, "Who'd have figured I'd be having that conversation with someone... I really am getting old and senile..."

Jenn wanted to run away when he made the comment about his age and looks, she turned bright red. She wanted to say something, but couldn't... then she figured anything she had to say would make things worse. Then she arrived to the conclusion that Liz had told him about what she confided in her... And now he was torturing her. She was a little upset, but mostly stunned by what he had said, and amazingly embarrassed. Still bright red she started to stammer a little, before blurting out. "She told you didn't she!"

Nathan glanced up at the woman, "She who? What's going on? Did I miss a conversation I don't remember being apart of?"

"Your daughter!" She yelled, like he had done something wrong. "You know exactly what I'm talking about," she said, crossing her arms. She thought about it for a second her particular fire truck red shade of coloring remained, "I umm... don't you know what I'm talking about?" she said, quietly.

"Not a clue, kiddo. But by the looks of you, it's something embarrassing as all hell. So what is it, you're madly in love with me and you just can't reconcile the feelings? Think you're weird for liking someone that's older than your family line?" Nathan asked, then suddenly waved it off like it was irrelevant, "You like who you like, getting all worked up over infatuations leads to early grey hair, case in point."

Nathan pointed at his buzz-cut grey head, "Worrying about every little thing made me silver up top faster than most El-Aurians in twice my lifetime. Hell, standing next to my own Father, people still think I'm older!"

Nathan chuckled at the thought, "There's a person I haven't thought about in years. Haven't seen him in about as long either. Haven't got a clue where he or any of my family are, though I'm sure they're all doing what our family does best..."

"What's that?"

"Annoying the piss out of people," Nathan laughed.

Still red beyond belief she stood there, she wanted to cry a little... she just stared at him for a second. She looked down at the ground, and then around looking for a path of escape.... This wasn't going to end well, she knew it. What would he think if she started to run away... or if she cried. Suddenly she started laughing, bending over a little as she did. She looked up at him and started laughing harder, uncontrollably, she slowly sat down on the ground the laughter completely out of nerves.

"Yeah, that's what I'd do if I were that wrapped up in self-doubt too," Nathan said calmly. He may not be the best 'listener' among his people, but he did still care enough to let her be 'her' without judgements...

After a few moments she finally calmed down, but didn't stand back up, she looked up at him. Her color was now returning slowly to pink.. she felt hot, and she wanted a drink. "You're right," she said, finally. "I do have a lot of self doubt, I also think I'm weird... And do you really think my hair is going to turn grey early?" she asked, playing with a strand.

"If you don't let some of those pent up feelings out now and again, yes, you probably will," Nathan smirked.

Jenn looked at him for a moment, she did like his personality a lot and laughed a little, but managed to stop herself. "I'm sorry for laughing at you before... it happens when I'm nervous." She said, her pink deepening toward red again. "I hope you didn't think... I was actually laughing at what you said..."

"Kid, you're fine," Nathan reassured her, "You've got a lot of things to work out in your head. Take a deep breath, sort out your feelings, and get back to me. I'd love to hear a coherent thought on the subject."

Jenn laughed, "I always try to be coherent it just doesn't always work out. And, I'll get back to you..." she said, a little nervous with the last part. She was a little unsure of the whole situation, but she needed to really decide what to do before she said anything else on the matter. Perhaps she would take the rest of the shore leave to do some serious thinking.

"I'm thirsty," she said. "I have some raspberry tea over by my stuff, want some?" she asked.

"Yeah, why not? Haven't had a good tea in a while," Nathan said as he leaned back and eventually came to rest on his back, looking up at the crystal clear sky, "I'm starting to think this shore leave isn't going to be all that bad..."