As close to home as it gets

Posted on Fri Jan 5th, 2024 @ 11:42pm by Lieutenant Commander Jason Elliot

2,014 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Holodeck 1
Timeline: ---

On:

Jason had programmed a rather special program, it wasn't the normal adventure or other types of programs, with all of the mayhem, drama and other things going on Jason felt the need for some quiet away from the chaos of shipboard life, Jason found that much needed reset. He'd programed a fairly detailed recreation of his house on earth. It wasn't much of a house, it had a lot of the amenities that you'd expect, full kitchen, decent bedrooms, Hot tub in the modest but well grown backyard. It was close to a small shopping district, restaurants, although the holographic version wasn't as accurate in that he hadn't finished painting when he returned to duty. He'd managed to make use of the time he had there, He found himself sitting on the couch reading a book, a familiar activity. He'd extended an invite to Paisley to join him when she was done for the day, in the meantime he was enjoying the quiet, the smell of a cup of coffee sitting on the table, the sun was coming in through the front windows only broken up by the old spruce tree in the front yard. He picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip, the warmth was strangely comforting as he set the book down.

Paisley entered, quietly, but excitedly. Contrary to what others might think, her life was only about 98 percent partying. The rest of the time, she was serious and did like to do things like read, and she spent the evenings that she wasn't with Jason tinkering around with old Earth radios, car engines, and things like that. She was currently re-reading 1984, as well. Today, she was dressed a bit understated, for her-tight jeans, but a plain blue sweater, and boots. A little bit of jewelry, and the single ridge on her nose, from her mother highlighted in blue to match the shirt, completed the look.
"Hi," she said, bending to kiss him before settling in. "This is nice. Where are we?" She asked. She stood up, and crossed to the replicator. A moment later, she returned, clutching a steaming mug of coffee.

"It's my house on earth, minus the finished paint, I guess I needed to check out and take a break so I came here, I guess having you show up makes it suddenly feel different and oh ... There's hot tub on the patio." Jason said with a sly smile.

She smiled. “It’s gorgeous,” she said. “We might have to check that out.” She cuddled closer to him. “When we lived on Earth, I was about eight, we lived in upstate New York. It was forested, and beautiful. I loved it. This reminds me of that,” she said. “What color are you going to paint it?” She asked. She understood about needing to unwind and get away; this mission was one of the tougher ones for their first.

Jason smiled "I was going to paint the walls a lighter blue instead of the weird grey that you see, the hot tub I added before I left, only used it once." he set his coffee down, "Next time we're on earth we can stay here, maybe visit the mountains, go hiking or skiing depending on the time of year."

She nodded. "That would be lovely," she said. "Did you build this before you were married?" She asked. She still didn't know much about his past, and she wanted to. "If you don't want to talk about it, it's ok. Sorry I asked, I just...I want to know you better," she said. "You know..." It was still difficult for her to open up-she liked to think she had an aura of mystery around her. Most days, she still felt like a little kid, playing adult games.

Jason smiled, "The house was actually built in earths' nineteen-fifties and systematically modernized of the years, it had been sitting empty for about the last five years when I took it over, I spent about a month painting and replacing stuff, I can't wait to show you the real thing some day maybe more." he leaned in to sneak a kiss.

She laughed. "I see," she said. She kissed him back. "I would LOVE to get my hands on some of the machines in there," she said. "Taking apart old Earth tech is fascinating," she said. "It's so...quaint!" She set her coffee down. "When we lived on Earth, we lived in a very modern house. Freshly built. BUT nearby were ruins leftover from the war, and...I found a TON of cool stuff. My first introduction to Engineering was actually taking apart something called a "boombox" and putting it back together," she said. She had been seven, and, per usual, left to her own devices one day when her father was away on "business."

"If this was actually home there's this antiques shop a short walk away, they're always getting some relic from the past and other gadgetry turning up." Jason paused "Until now I wasn't sure going back meant being alone." he rested his hand on hers.

Paisley smiled a little. "That sounds fun," she said. "And I could imagine why you wouldn't have wanted to before. I know we're not really super-serious yet, but...you do have me. So you don't have to be alone anymore," she said. God, that was sappy. What was HAPPENING to her? "Did you grow up in a house like this?" She asked. She gripped his hand lightly, and tucked her head against his shoulder.

"I grew up in a more modern house my dad was always off on research expeditions so he was never around, mom taught primary school mostly." Jason said.

She nodded. "I see," she said. "So both of us have daddy issues," she joked. "I am glad you at least had your mother," she said. "What about siblings? What is it like? I had a step-sister for a very short time. My father's second wife had a daughter a year younger than me, but as far as I know, I am my father's only legitimate child," she said. That didn't leave out the likely possibility that there were ILLegitmate kids running around, but she didn't know of them.

Jason kinda went somber, "My Older brother went missing about six years ago around the same time my mom did as well, I haven't spoken too my little sister since that time, Dad was killed in a shuttle crash just before I left for the academy, so I've been on my own outside of my shortlived marriage."

Paisley was quiet for a moment. "I am sorry," she said, "For your losses. I know first hand how difficult it is. Why don't you speak to your sister, though?" She asked.

Jason looked away, "There's a complicated dynamic with my family, my sister was openly opposed to me joining Starfleet, but never explained herself, Mom was even vocal about it too, but they wouldn't explain their reasoning so when mom and Steven both disappeared her opposition became to the point where I she stopped contacting me, I tried to reach out about three months ago but got nowhere with it, Mom's family is a complete mystery to me, I've only met one uncle and I can't recall the circumstances." He paused "There's a lot with my family I never understood, when I got married none of them showed up and I kind of took that as an indicator that I was an outsider in my family."

Paisley sqeezed his hand. "That's really too bad," she said. "I am sorry, but at least...you know. You know my relationship with my father is...complicated, but at least he tries sometimes, and that matters, I guess," she said. "I don't think you're an outsider," she said. "For what it's worth." She shrugged a little. "Happier things...is there room for horses? I've always been fascinated by those things," she said. "We don't have a similar animal on Cardassia, nor does Bajor," she said.

Jason laughed, "We'd actually be in a major city, well not a huge one, but there's horseback riding nearby along with hiking, lakes and even mountains to climb, oh and there's a hot springs that is amazing." Jason looked at her "There's even a haunted restaurant."

"A haunted restaurant? Now you're lying to me!" She laughed. "Ok, so no horses directly outside. But close. That works for me!! When do we go?!" She joked. They were a good million lightyears from the AQ, let alone Earth.

"Nope, the restaurant dates back too the early days of the city, it's called the Deane house, they say if your alone you hear a little boy making noises and you see him at the top of the stairs above the kitchen." Jason said smiling and taking her hand.

She nodded, interested. "Hmm," she said. "There's a rumor that one of the moons of Bajor is haunted," she said. "I don't know if I necessarily believe in "ghosts", she said. "But...It would be fun to see!" She said, her head still nestled on his shoulder. "Show me more!"

Jason motioned over to the sliding doors at the back of the house, "I rebuilt the patio just after moving in, I put the hot tub in, along with the gazebo cover, and a privacy screen." he said with a nudge "Did you want to take a look?"

She nodded. "Yes!! And then maybe we can check out that hot tub," she said, with a sly smile.

Jason smiled turning too look into her eyes, "Even though it's just the holodeck, we are alone right now." he said sliding his hands around her waist.

"Mmmhmm," she said, kissing him. "But first!! Show me!!" She laughed. "This is nice, though. What made you think of this? I like seeing your life. Maybe someday I'll show you Cardassia," she said. "And I'll tell you the story about how I painted my room pink and nearly brought dishonor on the family," she said.

Jason took her hand, as they walked through the kitchen too the sliding doors, he used his free hand to open the door, the simulated warm evening air combined with the slight humidity from the hot tub permeated the air, the darkened outline of the large trees made an irregular frame of the night sky the dim light from patio lanterns created a warm glow, the dim glow was offset around the hot tub with the pale blue glow radiating from the warm water. "It's not always like this at night, it does get a little cooler, but I usually heat lamps along with the fire pit lit if I had company." he turned too look at her again, "This feels oddly right." he wrapped his arm around her, he couldn't put a finger on the strange new feeling he had.

She nodded. "I see. Doesn't Earth have climate control now?" She asked. "But I suppose you can turn it on or off," she said. She moved a little closer to him. "It does...it doesn't make sense but it does feel right," she smiled a little. It had, for hear at least, since the first night...

"It does, it's not all bad." Jason's hand slid down below her waist "Cold night's, warm beds." as he gave her a playful squeeze.

She giggled. "Ooh, maybe we should check that out..." She said. "And maybe we should do that in reality," she said. Not that doing it in a holodeck wasn't a sexy idea, but the practicality left a lot to be considered.

He turned her to face one another, he decided to kiss her on the lips. He knew what he was feeling, it scared and excited him all at once and he didn't know what to do except live in the moment for now, "How about breakfast in the morning?"

"That would be lovely," she said.

End

Lt. Commander Paisley F'Rar
Chief Engineer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Jason Elliot
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Columbia

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