New Year Resolutions (Closed)

[Kali Reyes]

"Oooh, I smell hesitance." Like a shark to blood, Kali shifted up until she lorded over him in all of her glory. Her dark eyes flashed in amusement. "Do they even know their son's been putting his hands on another alien?" She tapped at her temple and purred, "In more ways than one."

And boy, could Kali still feel him. She was practically hoarding it like a dragon coveting treasure. It kept her sane. She wasn't gonna let that be a one-time deal either; parents notwithstanding.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

"It is not that." He said firmly. "Merely that our traditions are very different. A meeting between a mate and parents is a highly formal, highly ritualized occasion."

What he wasn't saying was that he had had a vision of Reyes swilling margaritas by the pint and trying to teach his father how to do the macarena. While he might find the margaritas a bit sweet but pleasing, Mahak was utterly sure his father could not dance.

[Kali Reyes]

Kali tilted her head like a confused pup. "Ritualized?" She imagined stifling robes and elaborately done hair while a Vulcan lute played in a background.

And there would be Kali all stiff-backed and trying to school a neutral expression while everyone meditated away their impulses. For some reason they were sitting on a tatami mat like they were in rural Japan. That was pretty much the extent of her imagination about it.

"I can do that," she decided with aplomb. "Ceremony, an old fashioned interrogation, shotguns, bring it." Any other guy would have made Kali run for the hills at the mere mention of parents.

Not Mahak. He was important enough for this.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

Mahak studied her reaction and raised an eyebrow perhaps a fraction more than usual. It was surprising that Reyes would accept this. For just a moment, he felt the urge to tell her how much he appreciated her willingness to participate in his culture. It meant a great deal to him.

"If you are going to be meeting my family there is much to do." With a great deal of reluctance, Mahak untangled his limbs and body from her's. "We must make preparation to travel to Harmony."

[Kali Reyes]

Kali whined the moment Mahak shifted to reacquire all of his limbs. Instead of getting up to follow, she belly flopped on the other side of the hammock and watched him flex those muscles back into working order.

She almost didn't realize his intention. That was how distracted she was. "Wha- we're gonna go meet your parents now?" She wasn't backing out - Kali never backed out of a challenge - but there he was already jumping into it headfirst.

Maybe he took a hell of a lot more of her with him on the way out of their psychic showdown. Not that she was complaining.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

"That depends," Mahak said, his back to her. He slung his lean upper body into a shirt and began to button it. "If you are serious with moving our relationship forward. We are mates, but this is the next step to eventually formalizing that relationship."

He turned back to her. "Please understand, I do not intend to propose marriage. But for us to move past what humans call 'the dating phase' we should meet one another's parents."

"I was warned repeatedly against romantic entanglements with humans," He went on, almost to himself. "That they do not take them seriously and would only use me for my body, or my mind, or anything else they wanted. So I understand if this is too large of a step for you."

[Kali Reyes]

She opened her mouth, then closed it and the repeated it a couple more times, but Mahak seemed on a roll, almost impulsive.

Then she flinched a bit from his last few words, a bit stung. Because he may be talking semantics or just stating a fact, but she was still mostly human. A lot of it she directed back at herself and reacted accordingly.

Kali sat up, a bit put out. "You don't think I take you seriously?"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

Mahak turned to her and his expression was about as readable as it ever got. His face was softer, his lustrous dark eyes big.

"I did not mean to imply that, Kali." He said smoothly. "Perhaps my own misgivings were speaking there."

To take the sting out of his prior words he leaned down to her and tenderly kisses the top of her head, that thick black hair that he so enjoyed.

"You have some misgivings of your own, I think." Mahak said. "About meeting my parents."

[Kali Reyes]

"A little," she trilled softly when he kissed her hair. Emboldened, Kali wound her arms around his middle tightly. He was right, though. Human relationships can be a petty gamble, but she was trying her hardest to make sure he cashed out some kind of jackpot out of her.

Insecurity was a fickle mistress.

Kali hummed comfortingly into his shirt. "Okay, I'm a little spooked," she admitted. "Never met someone's parents before. Not exactly anticipating the moment when you've got to choose between me and your parents if they don't like me. The odds are pretty stacked, you know." What parent would want their perfect Starfleet bound son with a party-hungry, alcohol-swindling, loudmouthed spitfire without an ounce of decorum? She certainly wouldn't.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

He leaned in to her hug and rubbed his face more onto the top of her head. Her hair smelled like the beach, and earthy, not full of chemicals like so many other human women.

"I have not been home for many years." Mahak told her. He kneeled down, the better to wrap his arms around her shoulders and look into her eyes. "A human and Vulcan coupling is not unheard of. My parents may act shocked but with Starfleet mostly staffed by humans they can hardly be surprised."

He wouldn't say it to her, but if his parents did not approve of Reyes he would be forced to make the very decision she had just brought up. It was not one Mahak relished in making.

[Kali Reyes]

"If you're trying to make me feel super, you're succeeding, big guy," Kali said fondly and then patted him hard on the side. "I mean, I know I'm the catchiest thing you can ever catch. Don't wanna blow your parents away and all." She could do this. Why? Because she did care about Mahak. It wasn't marriage, it wasn't binding, but it was pretty close. He was in every sense of the word, her mate. She still couldn't wrap her mind around that, but hell if it wasn't a freaking amazing feeling.

With a wry smile, Kali kissed him so fast it was meant to be a tease. "I got this," she reassured him. "And you got this. We'll tag team. I got the offense, no offence. Bad cop, good cop. I get to be bad cop." Then she paused thoughtfully. "On second thought, forget the cop part. I'll just be bad." Her eyebrows wiggled up and down for him suggestively.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Holodeck 2]

Her capering did not have its usual effect on him. It didn't make him think, or make him realize that Reyes was very different than him and that opposites attract. It disquieted him.

"Kali," Mahak said slowly. "Harmony is a Vulcan world. It is a hard planet full of rawboned Vulcan ranchers, but it is still our world. To behave as you usually do..."

He left that one hanging, thankfully. It didn't feel right saying it. How could he ask a grown woman to behave? He did not want to. It was one of the many things he liked about her, her irreverence that stood in such a stark contrast to him.

[Kali Reyes]

Her lips pursed as her hopefulness dwindled into a pout. "Alright," she decided soberly. "I'll be the good cop." How hard was it to play the well-mannered kind of Vulcan lady? She'll have to start pulling up her sleeves and dig into a bit of research on the way over.

The last thing she wanted was to cause trouble, but it wasn't for the hee-haw cowboy Vulcans. It was for this handsome Vulcan bastard in front of her and they way he looked at her.

She grabbed a shirt draped over the end of the hammock and shucked it on. "So okay! You do the planning. I'm gonna -" Kali thumbed over her shoulder to the hoverbike. "I got a lot of energy to expend before we touchdown. Like a lot."

Flying something at a hundred and twenty miles an hour did wonders for her nerves.