New Year Resolutions (Closed)

[Kali Reyes]

[Holodeck 2]

It was date night. She took extra precautions. They weren't on a barbaric planet, they weren't flying through biblical holodecks, and they weren't stuck dealing with exes or pseudo-exes. It was just her in a bikini, a gigantic hammock filled to burst with plush pillows, a large moon rising over the simulated Risian beach, a hoverbike not too far off, and a companion to set the mood.

Kali turned her head and let the warm ocean breeze run up her cheek as she grinned at Mahak. "You remember when I asked you a very important question? If you were stranded on a tropical planet, what three things would you bring to pass the time?" She pointed at the bike. "Yamada hoverbike." Then the case of Kahlua tucked underneath the plush pillows. "Chocolate liquor." And then she playfully tapped him on the forehead. "Vulcan cabana boy."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

If Mahak had been more inclined to feeling moved by his environment he would have been so now. Reyes had programmed a stunning beach backdrop. He did feel, however, that it was just the thing that they needed after their last outing.

What they had found on the Marquil homeworld still did not sit right with him. It wasn't an emotion, per se, but more like an unsettling physical ache in his stomach. If he had to put a name to it Mahak would have called it his sense of right and wrong. What was going on there was most definitely wrong. But they had done the best they possibly could to fix it, even if it had been initiated from the wrong place by Al'era.

Mahak ordered himself to focus on the here and now. Reyes had been gone the extra mile to make him feel welcome and to help him relax. They both sorely needed it. Accordingly, the Vulcan had dressed for the occasion. He wore a pair of fluorescent aqua and orange swimming trunks, a matching pair of sandals, and nothing else.

They were alone for the first time in what felt like forever. Mahak also resolved to behave as such.

When she playfully tapped him on the forehead he put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. It quickly became a full length of bodies touching hug.

"This program is agreeable," He said, ever the romantic.

[Kali Reyes]

[Holodeck 2]

He pulled her in and she enthusiastically let him, her cheek pressed against his collarbone, but her fingers stiff on his bare stomach. Mahak seemed tense and it was contagious. Kali tapped her fingers while cluing in on why.

Distraction was key. "On Risa, you had to travel all the way up north to avoid the beaches. Sand and water as far as the eye can see. Practically lived on the southeast one for two years. Day and night just sand and partying." Her cheek slid up to face him, her gaze open and a bit sheepish. "Ever had a beach nearby in Harmony?"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

Mahak slowly melted into a puddle of cuddly ooze when Reyes returned his affection. With the gentle night breeze smelling of salt and cooking seafood rustling the trees and their bodies, along with the ever present wash of the surf against the beach he felt himself relax. Usually, a bikini-clad Reyes holding herself against him would have a more stimulating effect, but perhaps he had been too tense for that to happen. He was glad she was having a tranquilizing effect on him.

"There are lakes on Harmony, however, the water is too brackish to drink and it not good for much else than watering crops." Mahak said. "And very little grows on Harmony as a whole. It's mostly livestock farms."

Harmony was a hardscrabble world, all mountains and scrub. It did not even have a respectable desert like on Vulcan. But perhaps its bleakness was its beauty.

"I was not aware that you had lived on Risa, Kali." The Vulcan stated.

[Kali Reyes]

It sounded like Tellar II - Harmony at least. Kali shoved that idea aside and started tapping his stomach in tune to a beat no one but her could hear.

"I wasn't a citizen, nah," Kali told him. "Kind of a semi-permanent squatter - which was pretty much ninety percent of the population. Went there when I was 17." Her gaze was dreamy. "My first off-world planet. The party planet. It was a great first impression for first time travelers."

Her smile turned a bit lazy. "I told you before I was kind of the problem child. Had an argument with dad and I can't even remember what for. Maybe I blew up something while tinkering, I don't know. I just remember going 'I'm old enough not to take his crap anymore'. So I booked a one-way trip on a freighter with nothing but a bag of clothes."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

Mahak had never heard of anything half so impulsive and illogical in all his life. But it was also the most "Kali" thing he could think to do. She would hop a freighter to a party planet at 17, ill-prepared, and learn from the experience. He had never done anything of the sort, and told her so. He went on:

"My upbringing was not very traditional, perhaps because the lifestyle on Harmony was not. When I was a youth, because my emotions were so close to the surface, undergoing the Kolinhar ritual was discussed." Mahak said, didactically. "However, it was judged that I could never complete it, so the more punitive Nath-Pal-Nahr ritual was undertaken instead. It is for Vulcan youths who are unrepentant with their emotions. It worked, as you can tell."

[Kali Reyes]

Her tapping stilled so she could lay her palm flat and slide up and brush the stubble on Mahak's jaw. The Vulcan words stirred something familiar in her blood, but little else. The meaning of them were still lost in translation.

"How much do you think that worked?" she teased. A thought made her idly lick her bottom lip and sit up to lightly kiss him. "Because you're very unrepentant in other places, Mahak. I'd start asking for a refund."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

Mahak luxuriated in her touch, unconsciously wriggling over to be closer to her, though they were practically crawling into one another already. He raised his leg and slid it between hers, intertwining them.

"When I was younger I hastened to punish myself for being so emotional," the Vulcan told her. "That is when my parents weren't doing so for me. However, I am largely without conveying my emotions and what little I do is a result of my upbringing and lifestyle. I do not feel the need to alter it."

[Kali Reyes]

[Holodeck 2]

"I kind of see it," Kali murmured. "You guys are very-" Violent. Dangerous. "Passionate. You like restricting yourself like that?" It wasn't a push for him to challenge himself, not really. She had never put a cork on her emotions and it made her curious.

What would Mahak be like unrestricted? She couldn't help but grin excitedly at that.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

That line of thinking had never occurred to him. He had always lived his life according to the tenets set down by Surak, and by his parents. He did not see it as depriving himself.

"One cannot deprive themselves of something they do not experience," He said, logically. "Would you say you deprive yourself of the benefits of emotional discipline?"

It was a fair question, but like most things Mahak said it came across bluntly, like a declaration of war. If he wasn't so handy with a spanner and a phaser Mahak would have made an excellent debater.

[Kali Reyes]

Kali snorted and climbed over him for a drink, though she made sure he felt every inch of her when she did it. "Ignorance is bliss, right?"

She settled back down against him and placed a bottle of Vulcan whiskey on his belly while she worked the cap off her own sugary bottle. "I mean, sometimes I think 'wow, would it have killed dad to give me some kind of Vulcan tutor?' I didn't have the ears, so the kids on the playground thought I was just a mentally disturbed human kid. Kind of a blow to my self-confidence."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

Mahak was not aware of her wait when she climbed over him, only the lush curves of her body being teasingly rubbed against him, all the familiar sights and smells and sensations that were Kali Reyes.

When he had recovered a bit from sensory overload he thanked her for the bottle of whiskey but set it aside. Mahak felt that he was too keen to lose control around Reyes as it was, even without the night moon and alcohol.

"I cannot see you as being more Vulcan," Mahak told her. He made sure that their bodies had returned to their original, comfortable position: his leg between hers, right arm around her shoulders and his left fondly touching her shoulder, arm, and hips.

[Kali Reyes]

"Don't think I can do it," she agreed and took a drink. The sucrose was already taking effect and she hummed pleasantly at the buzz in her chest. She gestured at their entwined bodies. "Think I can unmake all this? As Father Granger once said: the Lord maketh-"

Kali lifted up an old, tarnished cross from around her throat. She had never gone without it. "-so you must celebrateth. I think."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

Mahak was familiar with earth religions, they had always been of interest to him. So he recognized that she was quoting the Bible.

"I believe the quote you are looking for is, 'The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.'" Mahak ventured. "I enlisted myself for extra classes in Earth religions on the Starbase Columbus. However, in the context that are speaking in, no, I do not believe you can unmake yourself. And I would not ask you to."

"It would be illogical to ask a partner to change anything about themselves." With the salt in the air and her pressing against him Mahak had turned into a contemplative, philosophical mood. "No matter how different two people may be, there is a reason for initial attraction. This occurs before they realize there are differences and things they do not like about one another."

[Kali Reyes]

Kali's grin blew up into a full on smile. "You're a better Catholic than me. I dunno what to think about that!" She laughed anyways and then moved her hips around to get the hammock to sway.

Another curious thought hit her. "So uh... I only know Sha Ka Ree. Do Vulcans have modern religion or did it go away with the emotional purging?"