Green. Very Green

Posted on Sun Dec 15th, 2024 @ 9:23pm by Ensign Noah Balsam & Lieutenant Irynya

Mission: Mean Green Queen
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: Mission Day 21 at 2000

[Holodeck]
[Day 21, 2000 Hours]

They were green, sleek and beautiful, a well-programmed example of the Orion physique. He glided up to and behind Irynya, his hands giving a moment's pause for consent before he began the warm application of Orion massage into her shoulder and neck muscles. His simulated breath caressed her neck, his presence behind. He was thin and pretty with that Orion tendency for athleticism- if also a slightly vacant expression. He was meant to be pretty, appealing and good with his hands. He wasn't programmed for in-depth philosophy.

Across the small frothy azure pool and under the white-blue sun of Orion sat Noah. An equally lovely Orion had already come around his hunched back and was working on his neck muscles. Noah was wincing an eye, trying to buy in to Timmoz's erotic sense of entertainment. Irynya had helped Noah be forward with touch, not that he was that shy to it in the first place, but Timmoz's idea of it seemed to be much more... loaded. He sat in the pool, resting his elbows on his knees while this handsome person began to apply thumbs into the myofascial points between his shoulder blades. He jerked some and the Orion chuckled.

"Ow," Noah chortled around. His dark eyes looked back to Irynya and her green-skinned companion, and then beyond their natural spring pool to the greater Orion architecture around them. It was a stately ruin, reminding Noah of the reddish-brown and painted architecture of Madras-region Moghul India. The mosaics and frescoes were erotic to say the least, like a running commentary on the Kamasutra. Noah blinked and looked through the telling story of demons of darkness and air and smoke engaging with Orions. "Is this supposed to be Orion or Timmoz's, uh, homeworld?" Noah asked with another eye-wince.

"I think it's Kolar," Irynya answered lazily. She, too, lounged in the pool though her shorter stature put her lower in the water than Noah. The brilliant blue foaming water lapped at the bottom of her breasts. Her arms were submerged halfway up between her shoulders and elbows. Her chin was tipped to her chest and she groaned slightly as the alluring verdant man behind her dipped his hands lower down her back below the water line.

"It is Kolar," the warm tenor of the Orion man behind her purred raising the hairs along the back of her neck.

She smiled, raising her head and giving the hologram an affectionate look. "Thank you Erolic," she said before turning warm and pleasantly relaxed eyes on Noah.

"Timmoz is from Botchok, but I gather pleasure houses like this could be found throughout the Orion empire," She eyed Noah as she spoke, a twinge of anxious curiosity zinging in her gut. She'd wanted to invite him to try this program for some time, but she knew exactly how overtly erotic it was and wanted Noah to be comfortable enough to enjoy the deeply relaxing elements. She was tempted to ask him if he was having fun, but bit back the temptation.

"They are all over Orion space. The other Orions have copied our ways, what we didn't gift them with our Empire from before," Erolic said proudly. He had beautiful features, akin to a refined man from Earth's Asian east, with richly olive green skin. He smiled at his companion that was working a grunt out of Noah's tight-muscles and bony back.

Noah nodded while his eyes were squinted. He left a "pop" near his upper left shoulder blade and then a release. He wasn't anywhere near aware as how tightly he held himself until just then. "They have, uh, good thumbs... I guess. At least." Noah said. His head drooped and the Orion behind him began to ply his thumbs along the young Engineer's cervical vertebrae.

The Risian couldn't help a smirk, recognizing the shift in tone that inevitably followed the discovery of a level of relaxation that had been previously hidden. For as comfortable as the two of them were with each other they'd only been nude in each other's company on a handful of occasions. The first entirely by accident and the second had caused a full on panic in her then relationship with Kennedy Ryan Walsh. Now she let herself appreciate the elegant curve of Noah's neck, his dark hair falling forward and obscuring what little of his face was still visible in this position. When she'd accidentally walked in on him so early in their friendship she had told him then that he was, objectively, attractive. It had been true then and was still now.

She felt a prickly sensation along the tips of her ears and shifted her eyes away, instead unwinding her legs which has been in lotus under the water and extending one toe until she found his foot and nudged it playfully. "Their thumbs aren't the only good thing," she teased with a chuckle.

Noah looked up at the prod at his long feet, and he smiled his too-wide smile. While he wasn't as luxuriously relaxed as his counterpart seemed to be, Noah thought this was... nice. Very, very Orion in its decadence and overt themes of sensuality, with hints of something stately, ruined, beyond it's heyday. "I haven't really looked yet, buh-but I w- ow." He winced an arch when the Orion behind him found a tender knot. Noah sharply breathed out with a chortle. "I will. When I'm done being tenderized."

The Orion that worked him leaned down and kissed his bare collarbones. "Whenever you wish, I will dance for you." He said in Noah's ear. Noah's thigh clapped their knees together as he fought that kid-like giggle of someone so close to his ear.

"I think my friend likes your companion, My Lady." Erolic said. "As deeply as I am drawn to you, I can't say."

Iry's eyebrows popped playfully at Noah's reaction to his attendant even as that same prickly sensation lit across her neck and ears. She almost missed Erolic's comment as she watched her friend, knowing just how... intense... the physical contact could be in this program when you weren't used to it.

She was a too late before she realized that Erolic hadn't continued, but was in fact waiting for a response. Over time he'd learned to stroke her ego as well as massage sore muscles, something that soothed the part of her that longed for some sort of romantic connection in addition to the physical. Not that she had even the remotest romantic feelings toward her holographic attendant. But it was never unpleasant to feel wanted.

"Yes," she said, almost absently watching as Noah's attendant shifted slightly, nose brushing every so lightly against the back of her friend's neck. "Umm... he does seem to."

"Your affection for your Risian paramour is the talk among the House, Erolic," the other Orion said, smiling with a hint of smirk into his cheek. "Lean forward beloved, you must sit in a chair most of the day. Your spine is like tritanium composite," the Orion added. Noah bid what he was told, leaning forward. Though he almost immediately jumped when his Orion attendant pressed thumbs under the water into what were called by artists, "The dimples of Venus." Noah coughed, turned a little pink and settled.

"Uh... sssooo... any word on Commander Cross getting our applications in?" Noah asked.

Irynya managed to stifle the laugh that bubbled up at Noah's jump and the telltale pink rising in his cheeks. She appreciated that about him -- his skin tone made it easy to see when he blushed. The topic of their applications for the bridge officer test, though, pulled her attention away from the flush of his cheeks. "When I spoke to her yesterday she said they'd be completed by the end of today."

"Great. Uh great." Noah replied.

A squiggle of nervousness twisted in Irynya's chest. The bridge officer's test felt like an enormous step. One that was almost as big as the promotion she had recently received to Chief. Some senior officers never took it as their roles didn't require them to be able to easily take command. The flight controllers, though, routinely did and Timmoz had already completed his own. For a moment she wished he was there to advise her. She'd wanted to reach out--send something to Pathfinder--but hadn't yet, worried that he might still be unconscious as they worked to address his wounds. The last thing she wanted to do was disrupt either Timmoz or Nico while her Quash recovered.

"Have-have you been to Debbie's in the last couple days? It's gone hardcore, uh, Christmas. I spent about a-a third of my shift changing the lighting and getting the trees right." He winced again as the Orion found a press point on his ilium. "And the snow... fake snow... I-I think I have to go back today and get the village train working." He smiled at her, his kind brown gaze lingering. "You look happy right now."

In truth Irynya's eyes had been closed while Noah described the holiday-ification of Debbie's. Erolic's thumbs were working on muscles deep in her lower back and she could feel, between the massaging and the warmth of the pool, the way her body seemed to be leeching tension out of every pore.

And she was sharing it with her best friend. And that somehow made it that much better.

A lazy smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth and she sighed as another knot released just in time for Noah's observation. She felt his eyes on her before she even opened her own, and something other than lazy relaxation squirmed its way in alongside the restful peace. For the umpteenth time she felt the back of her neck flush warm as she opened her eyes and met the warm brown of Noah's gaze.

"I am," she said with a tiny hint of surprise in her voice. She realized as she said it that she meant it. Not halfway, but legitimately and fully in that moment. "I like doing things like this with you."

Even through a wince of those brown eyes, Noah grimaced a chuckle. "S-same. I probably wouldn't do these without you anyway. I can't see Shelly doing this." He paused and tilted his head down again. It was still an odd thought as much as he felt Sheldon was the perfect choice: Lieutenant Junior Grade Parsons. It was a little strange to room with his superior officer. But again, Noah surmised, Sheldon had been the perfect choice. He was just having a harder time calling him Shelly.

Though there was much to say on the subject of Sheldon Parsons Irynya merely chuckled at Noah's mention, trying and failing rather spectacularly, to imagine Sheldon agreeing to and relaxing in a pool within an Orion Pleasure House. The best she could conjure was a great deal more wincing and wiggling than Noah, himself, was doing.

And a great deal more blushing. "Yeah," she said grinning, "that is hard to picture."

He looked up, smiled- and the winced with a lurch and an actual "Ow." Noah shifted. "OK, tha-that's good for now. He turned around and smiled at his Orion masseuse and supposed-paramour in this holo-program. He stood, nude as the day he was born. "I'm going to grab one of those funny things that looks like sashimi. Do you want one?" Noah indicated to the small ornate table that sat near the edge of their private pool.

At this point Irynya had seen Noah without clothing often enough that the sight should have been an almost non-event. He was, for all rights and purposes, made up of lean muscle layered over long limbs. Marteli would have said he had legs for days, a thought that made her smile shift to something more thoughtful. It struck her how easy he was around her in that moment and she wondered when his cultural tendency toward modesty had been replaced with this degree of comfort.

He was kind of pretty in an awkward way. Noah had a gentle androgyny- long limbs, narrow waisted, sloping shouldered. One could see hints of his spine and subtle hints of ribs in his back. He had a small cute birthmark, sort of like a lopsided pentagon- high on his left buttock. He wore some kind of necklace. He remained quite pale, pale enough that some could wonder about his health. And his long-limbedness pointed to a life in lighter than normal gravity.

His pale skin contrasted to very dark hair and body hair- which despite those who would tease him as twinkish, he did have.

"Yes please," she said meeting his eyes and then glancing over to the table in question. Plates of Orion delicacies were laid out with flutes of a bubbly Risian drink that Timmoz had once declared far too sweet for anyone with sense. The sashimi-like food was, indeed, a n Orion seafood though it was affixed to a cube of something resembling tofu rather than rice that had an almost malt-like flavor which gave the fish a savory sweet compliment.

Noah smiled and looked over his shoulder. "Uh, the green ones or the red ones?" Noah knew, from sampling, that the greens had a piney flavor or something, while the reds reminded him of some kind of curried vegetable. Again, no exact Earth- or Enceladan- analog. What Noah did sidestep was the thick smoothie-like drink, a rich brown with a tinge of green. It seemed rancid to his adequate for sensing nose. It was a legacy item of Timmoz and a supposed favorite of Orions. Their version of coffee or tea. Lo-something. Tat-something. Noah couldn't remember, but he didn't even want to look at it.

He heard the shift of water behind him and sensed the gradual approach of his masseuse. He felt the man press up against his back and backside with his own skin. Orions were weirdly warm, and felt feverish. "Do you need help deciding, my slender Human?" Arms came around Noah's small waist. Noah looked over hsi shoulder. He was BRIGHT. RED.

"Um. Wha-what flavors are these again?" He was trying- earnestly- to enjoy the program as Timmoz and Irynya had intended. It was a sensual culture. But it was still sort of surprising to be hugged so intimately by a hologram. And as thorough as the program was, Noah noticed an immediate fault. Timmoz had always had a strong body scent to him. To Noah it was like fallen oak leaves, sort of musky and musty. He'd heard people describe it was a post-coital scent. But the program didn't really have it. Noah was a little thankful for that.

"This is ba-hachusk..." the Orion pointed at the red one. "And kimauld. They're both.. how do you say in your language... love foods. They will release you from your inhibitions. Would you like me to feed you?"

Noah blushed again and chuckled, smiling into a cheek. "No.. uh, no. I can feed myself. I'm not really um, into playing Caligula." Noah picked up one of each and then wiggled a little when his holographic Orion companion kissed his shoulders. "Um. Let's go back to the pool?" He almost squeaked. His 'lets' had an almost pubescent crack to it. "You-uh-you should eat something too?" He said, looking over his shoulder.

The coyly smiled, "Are you on the menu?" He purred.

Noah's nose wrinkled- his blush was blotching down his chest now. "Uh.... I..." The Orion shut him up with a touch of their noses and a brush of a kiss. "Oh ok, you're teasing."

"Yes. Now that you've clenched everything I've undone, I will have to start again." The Orion gestured for Noah to go back to the pool. He did, swaying back into the water and presenting Irynya her choice of strange indulgences.

Though the murmured conversation between Noah and his attendant was, mostly, too quiet for her to listen to, she could imagine much of the back and forth. Noah redirecting attention to the food or some detail of their surroundings, perhaps politely responding to Jyrod's very obvious advances. Jyrod doing what Timmoz had intended for the holographic attendants... offering his services in the most direct and sensual way he could. Irynya chuckled quietly as she continued to watch the exchange through lowered lashes, trying not to stare outright, but also unable to resist the temptation to look. Both men -- real and holographic -- were kind on the eyes and she'd never been particularly shy about appreciating that kind of beauty.

"You're distracted, my beauty," Erolic whispered, suddenly and noticeably very close to her ear. "Jyrod's charge does provide a beautiful distraction. Perhaps we will all play to..."

Irynya cut him off, twisting to press a quick kiss against a verdant cheek. "I don't believe Noah would like to share," she said, falling into terms that the hologram's programming would understand. She couldn't so easily explain that she and Noah weren't involved in that way and that he might not even want to engage with Jyrod in that way if they were left entirely to a private environment.

The corner of the Orion masseuse's mouth twisted up into a teasing smirk. "With me or with Jyrod?" he asked, warm teasing and a not insignificant degree of implied suggestion in his tone.

Irynya pinned him with an affectionate, though put upon, look. "You're full of mischief today aren't you?" she asked before turning to find Noah approaching her, two Orion delicacies in hand.

"Thank you," she said, and raised her eyebrows, glancing pointedly just behind Noah's shoulder to where Jyrod trailed just barely providing personal space to his charge. She considered the options a moment. She liked both for vastly different reasons. The green was the sort of aphrodisiac that loosened the limbs, relaxing and heightening the responses of the nerve endings. The red was for what Timmoz had once described as "heating the blood". She quirked her lips ultimately pointing to the green in Noah's hand.

Green delights placed in Irynya's hand by Noah, who was ignorant of Timmoz's teachings of the food, the engineer then sat down where he'd been. Jyrod's body slipped in behind him, sort of like a warm green chair, and the Orion began re-loosening the systems specialist. Noah eyed the strange delicacy which really did resemble a slice of sashimi to him. "Um." He hesitated.

Jyrod was a clever enough hologram to understand. "With your fingers, lover," He smirked.

Noah nodded and ate it. It was like he had sort of been told, sort of tasted. It was not a Human flavor. The closest was something like a tingly and heating curry. Its texture was smooth and soft, like underdone scallop. Noah just swallowed it. His eyes blinked and his lips tightened. "How's, uh, how's yours?" Noah asked his friend.

Irynya had already popped the green delicacy in her mouth feeling the warm tingly sensation that typically accompanied the effectiveness of the treat in the pit of her stomach. She wiggled a bit where she sat, eager for the inbound heightened sensations that would take root in about fifteen minutes.

"Be still dear one," Erolic quipped a bit louder than necessary so that the demonstration would carry to the two across from them. "You know how readily I appreciate your form and there is still a knot that requires relieving."

This, Irynya thought, was more mischievous than usual for the hologram, but then she'd never brought a friend before outside of Timmoz himself and so perhaps teasing like this was normal for him. She turned her attention to Noah rather than to answering the teasing from Erolic.

"It's nice," she answered. "I like the way it warms the pit of my stomach." She watched Noah's expression for some kind of recognition of what that indicated and, when it wasn't immediately evident he knew, she added, "Did Jyrod explain these to you?"

"N-no?" Noah said with a glance up at the body pushing down on his shoulders. His view was a pec, a nipple and a bicep. He looked back. "He said it was an aphrodisiac."

"He should feel it soon." Jyrod smiled. Noah's eyes widened.

"Wuh-what's that supposed to m-" He paused. He blinked. His eyes narrowed and he blinked again. His head tilted. "Um." With a little splash, his hand came out of the water, holding up a finger. "Ok, why is my perineum tingling?" He blinked again. "And-and my nuts?" His nose wrinkled. "Ok that's weird..."

The sheer and unabashed amusement that lit the Risian's face was entirely unmissable though she tried her best to tamp it down. "Jyrod!" She chided, unable to help the edge of playful scolding in her tone. She turned her attention quickly back to Noah. "How many of those did you eat?" she asked, thinking it may have only been the one, but wanting to be sure.

Jyrod's smile was as bad as a cat caught with feather's in their mouth. He chuckled.

Risian and human biologies, while compatible, were still dramatically different and she wasn't entirely sure how quickly it might take full effect let alone how extreme the effect would be if he had eaten more than one. Timmoz had cautioned her to go slowly until she understood how they'd impact her when she'd first tried them. A tiny bit of guilt twisted in her gut as she realized she hadn't given Noah enough warning. "I should have warned you myself."

"Um." The warmth had spread into his belly and down into his loins. Noah watched Irynya chuckling at him and he was honestly not sure what to think. He was silent as the tingling gradually grew down his legs and up into his torso. He looked at his arms, noticing the veins in his arms were more noticeable. Things felt a little brighter and vibrant... a little more pungent. "Great. Ssso the red one is ba-basically an edible."

Erolic, who had been quiet thus far, piped up at the description. "What, beautiful one, is an edible?" he asked, directing the question to Irynya even though Noah had been the one to ask it. His fingers were now pressing deep into her lower back splaying out from her spine so that his hands were settled on the curve of her hips both to hold her in place and to enable the fanning press of his thumbs. The heat that had been in her belly had begun to spread and the lazy tone of Erolic's voice raised goosebumps where his breath ghosted against the back of her neck.

Heat flowed down her legs and ran out along her arms, waking up nerve endings as it went until she was nicely warm, but also much more responsive to simple sensations. The lapping of the water against her chest suddenly felt more like a soothing caress and the fanning of Erolic's thumbs like they were spreading her muscles like butter rather than working out a knot.

It took her a moment to actually focus in on the hologram's question and when she did she had to search her memory for the correct use of the term. "It's a drug," she asked Noah, "right?" She had a vague memory of trying something called an edible at an Academy party, but wasn't certain that it was the same thing.

Noah nodded tentatively. Jyrod had returned to the engineer's shoulders with fingers cooping low to Noah's collarbones. "Yeah." Noah answered.

"It's effects are brief. Enjoy the buzzing feeling." Jyrod instructed. "Ba-hachusk has a neurostimulator and vasodialator."

"That explains." Noah looked down at the water. "That explains a lot. How temporary?"

"A few minutes. I believe the Human word is... amuse bouche." Jyrod replied.

Noah was glad. "So... um... I know this sounds weird. Iry. But uh. With Sheldon-" He didn't say Shelly as usual- "Uh being a Lieutenant now. It's sort of weird living with someone whose my boss. I-I mean, he's a really good friend." Noah blinked. "I like Shel-Sheldon. Shelly? Sheldon I guess? Anyway I like him, he's my friend. But he's also completely my-my boss now."

"Why would that sound weird?" Irynya asked, turning her first response into a question. She knew of a couple different reasons, but also this wasn't the first time that Noah had roomed with one of his superior officers and so she was curious to hear directly from him. "I know Margarar was..." she pursed her lips as she sought the right word, "... well... honestly... terrible... but she was your superior officer too. Is this the same kind of weird or something different?"

Noah was silent for a moment. Why had he drawn that parallel so differently with Margarar and Sheldon? "I think... because before he was my boss he was my friend. And I'm not quite sure where to draw things. As much. I mean." Noah winced. "Even when we were both Ensigns he was still the superior Ensign... as much as us engineers really care about rank. Which. Isn't a lot. But... he ever since he got the new pip, its a-a layer of something I think about now."

Noah raised his knees from the water, planting his feet. He rested his elbows on their knobbiness. He made a mmm sound, his face plastic with uncertainty. "Its so... nebulous. I can't quite... put my finger on it. I mean. Can I still call him Shelly? When we're working together in... I don't know... nacelle control... can we still be us?"

For the briefest of moments Irynya wondered if Noah had held similar concerns when she was promoted two weeks prior. Had he discussed something like this with Sheldon as well? It didn't seem likely, though, and so she banished the thought as quickly as it arose. Nothing about sitting together entirely naked in an Orion Pleasure House program suggested anything other than comfort with how to engage with her.

"I think Sheldon would be uncomfortable if you didn't call him Shelly," she said, starting with the easiest part of his explanation first. "I mean, at least when it's just the two of you on duty. Certainly when you're off duty." She winced slightly as one of Erolic's thumbs pressed just a bit closer to her spine than felt comfortable. "But when it's a group situation or... like... when he's giving orders... yeah, probably Sheldon or his rank. Less because I think he will mind if you call him Shelly and more to support him as everyone else around him gets used to his new role."

Another twinge and this time she shied away from Erolic slightly, scooting forward and dipping her hands below the water so she could place them on top of his. The kimault was, perhaps, making her more sensitive to touch than she wanted in that moment.

Noah nodded slowly, his eyes distant. "I just don't want him to get accused of... I don't know... favoritism." He sighed and rolled his shoulders. Jyrod released them- briefly- to let him do so. "I'm overthinking. And we should be relaxing." His mouth tilted wryly. "Speaking of-of relaxing, how is living with Debbie?"

"You are overthinking," Iry agreed thoughtfully, ignoring Noah's change of topic for the moment, "but that doesn't mean it's not a real concern. Have you talked to Shelly about it?"

At that, Noah's mouth blossomed into its goofy grin, a nod of understanding coming soon after. "OK."

The question itself was more rhetorical than anything else. If Noah had talked to Sheldon then Iry knew he would have said so already. More than that she wanted him to be able to relax fully and if that meant listening to his worries she was more than happy to do it.

Noah shook his head, "N-no, we haven't had a lot of time since the shakeup. With Lieutenant F'Rar, you know, putting her stamp on Engineering. So..." His brows lifted and he led back to his question. "And, Deb?"

Irynya quirked an eyebrow back at Noah's inquisitive expression , lips pursed playfully as she held his gaze. It was a short lived playfulness, though, and she sighed. "It's... Kind of what you would do expect it to be. Like living with a quirky aunt. I'm still figuring out her routine. And our schedules haven't actually meant we've spent a whole lot of time around each other."

As she spoke Erolic gently guided her back the few inches she'd moved forward, gently running his fingertips over the skin of her back and shoulders rather than massaging. The sensation made her shiver involuntarily and she tilted her head slightly so that he could better access her neck.

"It feels strange to treat Deb like a peer, you know? She's just always looking out for all of us. But I don't feel like I know how I could look out for her?"

Another shiver and her lips quirked upward of their own accord setting an odd contrast with her tone. "Honestly... I spend more time in my room by myself than anything else. It's just... It's really different."

It was a lot to absorb. It raised questions that Noah had considered. Chiefly: how does one care for the carer. "We could have a party for her..." Noah murmured. It was around then that Noah noticed Jyrod had taken a break. He turned to look at the man, green skinned and bare at a table collecting some kind of an... ointment or oil or something?

His knees still raised and elbows planted, Noah looked back at Irynya and met with an understanding look. "Uh to-to be honest I have too. I keep trying to give Shelly and Dravor their alone time. And... its-its OK... just you know... doing my hobbies in my room. I still don't have a new roommate. Its weird having an empty half of a room I'm not really meant to move into."

"If you ever want company," Irynya replied without even a thought. She missed living with Noah. It was nice to yo just encounter him without needing to schedule time. To be able to flop down next to him on the couch and see how his day had been going. "I mean. Not that you have to. In some ways the quiet privacy is nice. But..." She shrugged and then shrugged again as Erolic's fingers drew more sensitive reactions. "That tickles " she murmured with a soft chuckle.

"Oh. I know. And. Same. I-I mean you can come visit Shelly, Dravor and I anytime." He smiled into a cheek, and chewed its inside. "You know, slum it a little with us." His nose wrinkled. His gaze shifted up to the Orion and he chuckled again when he'd somehow tickled the Risian. "How many times have you and Erolic had, uh you know." He tucked his lips and grinned, "Sessions?"

As if Erolic, himself, had been asked the question the hologram leaned into Irynya, pressing his front against her back and circling her with his arms. The Orion's chin settled against her shoulder.

Iry felt the warm flush of a blush rising on the back of her neck. "I'm not sure of the exact number," she said. She wasn't typically shy of sharing with Noah. Talking about past experiences, though, was different from current ones and she hoped he wouldn't be put off by the regularity of her visits.

Erolic, however, offered his own response before she could provide any further detail. 'Irynya is my most frequent visitor," the man said with more than a touch of pride. "She selected me above all others on her first visit and I have provided her with companionship 16 times since then."

"Uhhhmmmm," Irynya drawled feeling the blush pull forward into her cheeks. She shifted in the Orion's embrace. pulling slightly away so that Erolic was forced to reluctantly unwind his hold on her. "Would you get me one of the Risian beverages?" She cooed at Erolic waiting for him to move before widening her eyes at Noah.

Noah was nodding with a pouted bottom lip, "Sixteen, not too bad Iry." He said. The engineer watched Erolic extricate from the Risian to fetch the beverage. Noah shifted enough to take another pass at the strange, sort of decadent and stately ruin of the building they were in. It had no earthly parallel. Hint of Madras complexities here. Baroque grandeur. Roman epicureanism. Art Nouveau senses of lightness and movement. And yet something so inextricably dark... like this opulent den was run by spies and assassins.

Orions did have a peculiar complexity, a sort of tango between pleasure, death and gracious hosting. Noah pulled his knees together. He didn't think he would make a very good Orion.

"Sort of like a dark reflection of Risa... in a way..." he murmured.

Iry twisted so she could follow the direction of her friend's gaze shivering slightly at the sensation of the air hitting skin. She rose slightly, pulling her feet under her so that she was crouched rather than seated on the bottom of the pool so she could take in the scene anew. She hadn't, truthfully, paid it nearly as much mind after her first excursion with Timmoz. It simply felt deeply Orion to her.

"We do have a lot in common," she agreed, her gaze alighting on one of the couples on the far wall depicted in an almost acrobatic position, heads tilted back in a way that implied decadent extremes. The positioning of the two partners looked almost painful to Irynya. "But the Orions have often lived in shadow and secrecy. Risians... we've never had to do that."

"Tha-that's true." Noah said as there was a subtle beepingn ear him. "I-I didn't offend y-" He twisted at the beeping again. "One sec." Noah skittered out of the pool in his nudity and clamored past a set of erotically sculpted statues and pillars to the table where he'd discarded his work clothes. From it, he pulled one of his engineering PADDs. "Sorry, I'll be right...." He frowned and stared at the PADD, his fingers making the device squelch as he input his code. "Um, back. Iry?" He turned around to the trio of characters- one real- he'd left.

"47X 52Y, Z+71?" He read aloud, confusion etched on his face. His nose wrinkled. He shifted his weight to his other hip and rubbed the back of his neck.

Though Iry hadn't moved from her spot in the pool she had shifted forward as if she'd had half a mind to try to stop him before he could get out of the pool. Not that an interruption wasn't possible even when they were both off duty in the Holodeck, but because she knew full well that Noah often had work with him even when he was supposed to be relaxing. He had, she reminded herself, come from work though.

Her line of thinking was interrupted by the question in his tone of voice and the string of numbers and letters that followed. She frowned and got to her feet, water sluicing down her back from where her hair had gotten wet. "What is that?" she asked, picking her way across the pool and past the erotic statues before posting up at Noah's side and leaning in until no small amount of damp Risian skin was brushing him in order to get a good look at the PADD. She twisted her head to look up at him. "Is that supposed to be some kind of computer core coded message?"

Noah frowned with a shake of his head, "No, its not standard trinary syscode." Noah's mouth twisted. Irynya's wet hair brushing at his shoulder, Noah smiled and wrinkled his nose. It tickled. "It's... more like... okay this is weird. And. But if we take the existence of X, Y and Z in the formula, it might be referring to three dimensions?" He shrugged, "We don't do that really on starships. We use side, deck and section for three dimensions. And I guess in space we use degrees mark degrees for making a course... based on our current position being zero mark zero."

He frowned and half turned to the two virile male Orion holograms standing curious but idle as this didn't fit into Timmoz's program. "If we are 0X, 0Y and 0Z here.. but wait that might be assuming the sender knows where we are... so if these are internal coordinates, we have to figure out where 000 would be."

Irynya's frown matched the one on Noah's face as she considered the string. "Or it's an identifier. Like an ID number of some sort. If it was three coordinates then wouldn't the first two be separated? It's not written like a list." Her brain tumbled the idea and, not thinking much, she leaned into Noah's side, instinctively moving toward the nearest source of warmth now that the pool's water was drying on her skin, raising goosebumps in its wake. "Or maybe..." The crease in her brown deepened as she thought, creating a small skin fold through her ja'risia. "Could it be... both? Like... what if it tells us what something is and where to find it. So the first part is an identifier and the second is like... a series in a string or something like that. Row Z, column 71 type stuff."

"Maybe," Noah said softly, bobbing his head with a sense of uncertainty. His mouth opened to say something but then he shut it. His head tilted, eyes narrowing, "What... do you think it is. Cuz I'm.... um.... I'm, I've got this sudden theory. What if its a test? The first test I had to figure out. You know. Engineering. But if these are coordinates and you're..." His eyes shifted to her, "You're a pilot. I don't know. Am I overthinking this?"

It took the Risian a moment to place her friend's meaning. "You mean The Game?" she asked when her mind finally alighted on what she thought he was referring to.

"Right," Noah looked away, bit his lip, and looked back. "Its the only thing I could think of. Uh. It being." He grimaced, "I don't get that much mail, to be honest."

"I mean... it could be something like that. What did Deb call them? Bingoes? Like we have to do the thing and we don't want to mess it up." She vaguely remembered a semi ominous warning from the matron implying that failing one was a very bad thing. The idea was exciting, though, and she wanted it to be real, even if she was still a bit skeptical. They had seemed to find the Romulan Ale recipe by accident... not because someone wanted to test them specifically. Then again...

"Computer," she said to the air, straightening and sparing a glance for the two Orion attendants, "freeze program and show the Arch."

Around them a surreal stillness took over the Orion pleasure house. It wasn't as if any of their surroundings were real, but holodeck technology was so effective that it was almost eerie to lose the sound of water moving or even just the breathing of the two men that had been massaging them mere moments ago. The Arch appeared off to the side and Iry moved to it, keying in a quick commend to bring up her own message queue.

Sure enough, the same string of letters and numbers sat in an urgent message at the top of her list.

"Oh-kay," she said, drawing the word out slightly. "Getting the same message seems convincing enough. Maybe a deep dive through flight control next? Do we ask Index to look at the Sojo's flight equipment allocations? Known star charts with those coordinates?" Her brow creased again and she pulled her cheek between her teeth for a moment, chewing it. "Maybe all of the above?"

Noah had gone to start putting on his pants and was pulling his shirt over his head. He joined her at the arch and at Irynya's questions, Noah puffed up his cheeks and shrugged. He exhaled. "I-I guess. I mean. But, whatever or whoever is making this, its not like we-we can uh take the ship in a random direction. Not for a game. If it is a game. Wait what if it isn't a game?" Noah squinted.

Irynya stilled, once again chewing the inside of her cheek and looking up at Noah as she considered that question. "I... I don' t know..." she admitted slowly. "Deb seemed to have heard of it... or thought she recognized it and didn't suggest we not do it..." This she said slowly as if she were speaking her line of reasoning as it occurred in her head. "And if it is something we can't do or that would... you know... endanger the ship or something... we can stop. And tell the Captain. Or Commander t'Nai."

Hazel eyes searched dark brown ones, looking for some kind of confirmation or agreement from the lanky engineer. "Either way... we can't really make that call until we know what this," she gestured over to the message on the small console next to her, "is. And... if there's anyone I want to sort out a mystery with... I mean... you're it."

"Same... probably with Shelly. Or Dravor if we need a guy who can hit the broad side of a cargo freighter." He smiled into a dimple and glanced at her from the data. "I-I think I want to backtrack... I think we have to assume its the game. I mean we committed when we put our names in. Now here we are. Why else would we be getting unsolicited transmissions from an uh anonymous source." he pulled and pinched at his bottom lip. "Let's assume that its inside the ship. That they don't think we can change the ship's course. So if these are coordinates, they're for in the ship. So we're back to, where is 0 mark 0? Center of the ship? Our old quarters?"

Feminine fingers pinched at the bridge of Irynya's nose as she considered Noah's reasoning. It made sense, but also her brain was protesting the dramatic shift from relaxation to intense logical reasoning. "Or Opportunity... or Debbie's replicator..." she offered pointing out where they'd first found the game and where they'd agreed to play. She sighed, dropping her finger from her nose and turning away from the arch.

"It doesn't look like we're going to get to enjoy the rest of the program for today," she said, eying the frozen figures behind them with the tiniest bit of longing. She really had been looking forward to sharing the full experience with Noah. "And I doubt anyone is going to be pleased to find me traipsing about the ship like this." Here she gestured to her still fully nude form. Unlike Noah, she hadn't bothered with clothes yet. "Let me get dressed and then we can find someplace to map things out from each of those locations?"

Noah's features dropped some. His mouth became a line and he looked at his PADD. "S-sorry. Irynya. This could've waited until this... we'd finished." Noah tilted his mouth ruefully. "I don't know. Why I do that. There's a lot going on in Engineering and I thought it was... you know, important." Noah twitched his nose. "We should stay and uh finish our time. We still have thirty minutes before the next, uh, time slot." Noah shrugged. He dropped his PADD back where he'd found it.

"No," Iry said with hard insistence in her voice before sliding into the space between Noah and the table where her clothes and, now, his PADD sat. She wrapped her fingers around his arms just above his elbows and held him there, looking determinedly up at him. "The holodeck will be here another time," she continued, this time with a softer tone of voice.

Noah had taken a step back when Irynya had gone hard and insistent- it was again his conditioning. Ensigns and cadets listen, superior officers talk.

She sought out his eyes, determined to make sure he saw her sincerity. "We're in this to solve this Game mystery together, right?" she asked, eyebrows raised as if the question was making her point for her.

"Right," Noah said with a nod.

"Then that's what I want to do with my time. I..." she pressed her lips into a line, feeling a weird bundle of importance settling in her stomach and behind her words. "I just want to hang out with you. It doesn't have to be doing this. And... and... if it had been engineering... I mean... you're not wrong. Sometimes duty calls even when we're relaxing." She sighed, pressing the breath out in one big puff. "I get it."

"Okay," Noah nodded quietly. While he still felt the pang of ending their pleasant and relaxing evening, "Well, um, I guess we should pack up and try to track this down." He leaned past Irynya and waved, "Uh bye guys. See you next time."

Somewhere in the exchange Iry had released her grip on Noah's arms and, as she turned to pull her clothes back on, found she was unaccountably relieved that he had agreed that they were doing this together. There had never really been a question on that front, but the relief was there anyway. She dismissed it as quickly as it rose, though, mind already working as she pulled on undergarments and tugged a long tunic over her head.

"Oh, they'll remember," she said, smirking at Noah as she wobbled slightly on one foot, working to slide her other into a pair of leggings. Though she was now largely dry the lotions and oils that Erolic had used had been effective and the fabric seemed to want to cling to her calves rather than pulling smoothly up over her legs. She half stumbled as she switched, forcing the other foot through and shimmying to try to get the offending garment to cooperate as she straightened up. "Let's start in our quarters," she offered as she plucked at a few determinedly sticky spots. "I have a feeling I'm going to need a cup of coffee."

A Post By

Lieutenant Irynya
Chief Helmswoman

Ensign Noah Balsam
Systems Specialist