Third Date: Arrival

Posted on Monday, 27 July 2020 - 5:33pm by Crewman Leopold Eberhardt & Lieutenant JG Adrianna Eberhardt

Mission: Operation: Jabberwocky

Adrianna Baciami's eyes stung a little, stepping out onto Ba'Ku as they adjusted to real daylight. When her eyes came to, the looked around taking in their surroundings. It was beautiful. Just a quiet hum of people and an orchestra of nature. It just felt like the epitome of peace and tranquility. This was going to be an amazing opportunity to get out of her head, perhaps it would even silence her brain enough to sleep properly. The Italian looked to Leopold, "Leo, this is beautiful. I love it already."

"It really is," Leopold replied squeezing her hand with his own. The word paradise floated to the surface of his mind, but he did not want to be as brazen as to say it. Instead, he chose to say something similar. "This is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been since joining Starfleet" he added. He looked over to Adrianna and smiled. "There's nature everywhere. Look at it...all of it. Fields and valleys...small villages" he continued. Leopold was certainly happy with his choice in destination, but also with whom he was there with.

Adrianna smiled and took a deep breath of fresh air. Being on a starship was claustrophobic at times, but moments like this helped reduce the impact radically. "Thank you for choosing here," Adrianna looked instantly relaxed and at peace, "where to first?"

Leopold like a young child swept up in excitement grabbed Adrianna's wrist and tugged as he towed her off in a certain direction. "The day is young," he said with glee as he looked up at the sky. The sun from what he could tell was not past where it would be for midday, at least not to the best of his knowledge. "Ba'ku has almost 32 hours in a day. That means plenty of light, warmth, and sun to bask in and enjoy" he added. "Come on, let's go to the lake" he added as he pulled her along.

Adrianna smiled and followed suit with a giggle. This was going to be amazing. She took in her surroundings as they went, eager to see everything and sense everything.

They began to pass by a field of cone shape flowers of various shades of pinks and purples. Two birds with needle-thin beaks came out from the flowers, their wings beating a million miles a minute or so it appeared. Their long black beaks were coated in yellowish-green powdery substance; it was clearly pollen from the flowers. The birds were indigo in color and buzzed on by like will-o'-wisps from folklore. There were no birds like this on his homeworld, though Earth had something similar. "Those birds...they are beautiful and fast!" he said with excitement.

“I don't know the word in Standard,“ she replied, trying to think, “we have something similar on Earth. They are friendly.“ Adrianna reached out softly, to which one of the birds simply perched on her finger and stopped flapping its wings. The colours of its feathers were a plethora of hues, putting even rainbows to shame. She looked to Leopold, moving the bird closer to Leopold so he could see properly, "colibrì."

"You know the Ba'ku people here have so much land compared to the population of their people," he replied. "There is a lot of nature here, a lot of wilderness, and even they have not charted all of it in a traditional sense. When the Federation made first contact with them, they thought the Ba'ku people were primitive, only about six or seven hundred of them. There population has not grown much since then despite the longevity of their life span due to the unique properties of the planet...and here I am geeking out."

Adrianna chuckled, allowing the bird to fly from her hand. She kissed his cheek, "it's cute. Please, continue 'geeking out'. I shall just smile, listen and continue experiencing." The Italian ran her fingers through some tall flowers. The petals were like silk and seemed to have a calming effect on her very being.

"Oh not much you really want to hear," he added with a smile as he touched his cheek where she had kissed him. "There may be the potential of finding some Klingon artifacts actually" he noted with curiosity. "Sometime after the Ba'ku people settled here, the Klingons occupied the system in the mid 23rd century. Though I think they mostly left the Ba'ku people alone, I would not be surprised if an archeological team would find some Klingon artifacts from then."

"Well, you never know. You may find something," she replied, "Oh - if you do, I'll keep it a secret so you can keep it as a token of our trip." She looked round to him, her fingers still grazing the flowers. She smirked, "our secret."

Leopold looked like a kid in a candy store. "Awesome!" he replied. "Though I promise not to go out of my way to look for anything. Let's go dip our toes in the lake. I hope fish don't bother you? I heard the ones in the lake aren't all that skittish of people."

Adrianna looked confused, "as long as I won't be swallowed whole by a fish." Adrianna put down her bag and took off her shoes and socks, rolling up her trousers a little, "if it's warm enough, I've got swimwear." She started paddling. The water wasn't cold, it was refreshing though. The water was astonishingly clear. The woman watched the water around her feet, watching little minnow like fish feeling confident to get close. She smiled, "come on."

His eyes grew wide when felt a fish brush against his ankle. "Oh I hope there isn't anything that could eat us in the lake" he said nervously; however, he felt a bit at ease with her. "We should be safe...I don't think I read anything about monster fish."

Adrianna stepped close to him, a mischievous look in her eyes, "you scared?"

"Crewmen have died from stranger circumstances on alien planets" he replied countering her tease. "Don't think you have immunity from it" he teased. "Touch a flower and next thing you know it's vines are pulling you into a mouth of teeth."

"At least I would die from life experience and not stupidity," she chuckled, still close. She didn't leave his eye contact, even though she could feel fish at her ankles, "be grateful I am not my brothers. I would have pushed you into the water by now."

"I suspect your brothers are not as attractive as you are," replied Leopold shrugging. "I appreciate not being pushed into the water, but I think it is safe enough to swim in" he said lowering himself into the water. "It is not too cold either, perfect weather for a swim" he added.

She watched him a moment, before mentally agreeing. It didn't matter that they were in clothes and swimming, it was just good to feel the freedom. Adrianna took off her light jacket and tossed it onto the shore before joining him properly, "Last time I swam in a lake, I must have been a child."

Leopold stripped the soaked tee he had on off from his torso and tossed it ashore. He was not the most physically intimidating individual, but he was lean. "I don't do it very often back home, but when the opportunity presents itself...why not?" he replied.

Adrianna suddenly caught herself starring. She tore her eyes away, trying to mask that she was blushing, "we mostly went to the beach. There is one on the outskirts of the city. White sand, clear blue water - just serene."

"Sounds much nicer than the rivers and lakes that I am used to," Leopold replied. "Nothing like a good swim in murky water that may or may not have leaches in it" he added as he splashed her with water. "Home though. Like it or not."

She playfully screamed at what felt like freezing water on her face. Adrianna then splashed him back playfully. "Leaches, I heard have healing properties. Loads of Earth doctors used to use them." She teasingly said, as if mimicking his 'geeking out' from earlier.

Leopold chuckled "Delightful thought," he said shaking his head. He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "You're a little messed up, but the perfect sort of messed up for someone like me."

She looked confused a moment and then understood the expression. "Makes us a good pair, don't you think?" she asked, putting her arms around his neck.

"Yes, it does" he replied and with that, he reaches upwards and pushed down upon her head. He would make an attempt to dunk her under the water, something he knew there would be repercussions for, but suspected it would be something her brothers, had they been there, would have encouraged.

Adrianna got drenched, thankfully didn't feel like she was drowning as she'd has this done to her plenty. Upon surfacing she shook out her hair like a dog and pushed at Leopold in revenge, chuckling, "we were having a moment!"

"Preemptive strike," quipped Leopold. "I cannot read women. You had that look...it was either going to be a tender moment or I was going to get dunked. I didn't risk it." He smiled. "bellissima!" he shouted and made the gesture of a chef's kiss.

His candid response was both entertaining and strangely sweet. "Well, you're not wrong, though not right, but stop butchering my language." She splashed him playfully. "Let's try again," she said, getting close to him, putting her arms round his neck, as she had before, "the key to reading a woman is in her eyes. One looks says mischief," she demonstrated, "one says infatuation, and the other says 'for goodness sake take a hint'." She demonstrated all and then smiled, "which did I give you?"

"I don't know...I think it was the take a hint" he replied and he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her for a few moments. Then he retracted. "I think I was right" he said as he proceeded against and brushed the wet hair from her face. "Ba'ku is magical."

Adrianna simply smiled. He was right. "Very magical," she agreed.