<USS Atlantis> "The Changing of the Tides"
- From: "Brad Ruder" <groundzero@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ussatlantis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:21:01 -0700
“The Change of the Tide”
by Lieutenant Major Adam Drake
& Lieutenant JG Nicole WeisNikki finished up her afternoon shift in sickbay. Feeling a bit energized, Nicole decided that she would visit one of the holodecks and dance, the way she had planned to when she had run into Jack Leirone. Smiling and with a small blush on her face at that memory, she grabbed a PADD with some work on it and headed out the doors.
Adam almost wasn't paying attention when his prospect came blazing out of sickbay and barreled down the corridor. Taking off after her he suddenly found himself tied up in his own thoughts and words, "Uh, Doctor Weis!" He waited for her to turn on her heel and was surprised when it didn't accompany skid marks or the smell of burnt rubber. In his hands he held a dozen white roses and he offered them to her. "These, doctor, are for you."
With surprise written all over her face, Nicole looked from the flowers to the face of the man holding them. Raising one delicate eyebrow, she reached forward and took the flowers, bringing them to her nose and breathing in their scent. “Um, thank you Mr. Drake. But why are you giving me flowers?” she asked, truly confused at the situation.
Take it slow, Adam, one word after the other to form sentences. "Well, you did save my life a while ago and I realized that a simple 'thank you' wouldn't be sufficient for the debt that I owe you. And, before you give me the 'just doing my job' routine, just realize that I owe you one."
See, that wasn't so hard. Adam motioned down the corridor in which Nikki was initially heading.
Smiling at the interesting man before her, Nicole turned and began to walk down the hall, at a much slower pace. “Well, seeing as I guess I can’t refuse them because that would be rude, I’ll take them and thank you for your thoughtfulness. Though I am still very surprised, I was pretty sure I had scared everyone away from Sickbay permanently by sun-burning their butts and other areas.” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “Of course, you do seem to have ended up with a nice tan instead.”
He smiled and nodded, "I was surprised I wasn't fried - I was pretty tanned before. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate what you did and what you and your teams were able to accomplish. It's no small feat being able to save an entire ship's populace from a ravaging disease.” There was an unhealthy pause, “So, where you off to in such a hurry - if you don't mind me asking?"
“Well, I just got off my shift, so I was thinking of changing and going to the holodeck for a little fun and relaxation.” Nikki had the decency to at least blush when Adam brought up how fast she was going. “I don’t normally move that fast, I was just so happy to be off,” Nicole shrugged, “I’m sure you understand what I mean. So, where were you going to head to?”
"I'm off for a while, thought I'd pass the time by standing outside of sickbay with a dozen roses waiting for you to get off. It's amazing how people who don't even know you will pass judgment and give you odd looks because you're a wallflower - no pun intended." Adam put his hands behind his back, as was his custom when walking and talking, "mind if I join you in the holodeck?"
Nikki laughed at Adam’s little joke. It was one of those bad puns parents make and she loved it. “I don’t mind if you do in the least. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do in the holodeck; I had thought about practicing my ballet but I don’t think you want to be stuck with a girl doing ballet. What do you like to do in the holodeck?” As they were walking down the hall Nicole reached up and pulled her hair out of its ponytail, the blonde mass of curls fell loose down around her shoulders and down her back. She sighed as she used her hands and fingers to comb out some of the tangles and release the tension that had built up.
"Exercise, mainly. I run, play sports of all kinds, and just sit around and veg out. I surf on occasion given my mood." Adam smiled, albeit awkwardly, "I never really plan anything really. It's all spur of the moment when I least expect it to. Just an urge that says 'go sailing' or 'go run'. I don't know how quite to explain it." And he didn't honestly, it was just one of those personality traits that there was no changing. He was all about spontaneity.
With a nod of her head, Nicole smiled over at him. “Sounds good to me. I didn’t know you surfed though, that’s cool. My one brother is currently seeing a girl from California on Earth and she surfs. I personally have never done it before though, I was always dancing or painting or something like that. Though a good swim or run does sound wonderful right now.” The idea of either cutting through the water with her body or else stretching her legs and eating up the ground sounded perfect, she just couldn’t decide which sounded better.
"Run or swim?" He inquired as he tapped the console and waited for the turbolift to arrive at their location. "The choices in and of themselves are endless. My repertoire of holodeck programs is remarkable if I could indulge myself with some praise."
“Oh please, by all means indulge, we could all use a little bit of praise now and then.” Adam Drake was turning out to be a pretty cool guy. Even while he was sick and dying, he had still made a good impression on her. “I’m sure once I’m settled in more, I’ll be making tons of holodeck programs personalized for myself but I have only been aboard for a short amount of time, I haven’t fully settled into life here yet.”
"You create holodeck programs too?" Adam wasn't really surprised, but then again he'd not met that many people who had found it as such a passion for creativity that he had when he was a young man. "And don't worry about the settling in, sometimes I feel after all the time I've been on board that I've still not settled in." It was true for the most part, there were times where he'd walk down the corridor and feel out of place as if he didn't belong there.
Nikki nodded at him. “Yup, I create holodeck programs. One of my other brothers, that is what he does for a living, a lot of those preprogrammed training programs or workout programs my brother has done them and he taught me how to do it once. It’s fun to do, so much imagination can go into it and some of the coolest places in the world can be recreated and visited. I enjoy holodecks a lot if you can’t tell.”
Adam smiled as they stepped out of the turbolift and onto the deck with the holodeck, "That's a good thing, you know, to have a hobby. Then again, you still didn't answer my question on whether you'd rather run or swim. Or play volleyball in the sand. Or play baseball." He grinned and winked at her.
Cocking an eyebrow up at him in question, Nicole wondered how he knew that she liked to play beach volleyball. “Um, why don’t you decide? I’m too indecisive for my own good and if I had my way, we would be doing all those things today.” She giggled slightly and smiled up at him as they stood in front of the doors to the holodeck.
"I could teach you how to surf."
“All right, sounds fun to me,” Nicole said, suddenly wondering though, where she was supposed to get a swimsuit and where she was going to change. “Um, I don’t have the proper swim wear on my person at the moment.”
He waved a hand to shrug off the predicament and tapped the console to the holodeck. Accessing his program he turned it on and they parted through the doors onto a sandy beach with crystalline waters and golden sand. "There is a cabana over there and it's got an array of swimming suits, all set to your size. I'll grab you a board and change and meet you down by the water." With that he trudged off to another cabana to change.
Nicole headed off to the cabana, muttering under her breath about how untrustworthy holographed swimsuits were, “all anyone has to do is end the program and I’ll be left standing in my there with nothing to hide my bare ass but my arms.” Shaking her head, she walked in and looked at the swimsuits that had been programmed there. She quickly chose a dark blue two-piece that brought out the color of her eyes and also helped to accent the slender, curvy body.
Changing out of her uniform and into the bikini, Nicole stopped to check herself out in the mirror before walking out of her cabana. She wasn’t pay attention where she was going while she pulled her hair up into a ponytail and ended up walking right into Adam. “Oh gosh Adam, I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to…” she stopped in mid sentence was she got a good view of Adam in his swimsuit and heat flooded her cheeks. “Um, sorry,” she mumbled, quickly looking away.
Smiling, Adam shrugged it off. "That's entirely all right. You look even more beautiful in that." Adam found himself smiling at himself at how he could program such wonderful clothing for her and yet all he made for himself were some black swimming trunks had the typical Hawaii flower print down the sides. He discarded his shirt and felt the simulated warmth on his bare chest, "Shall we?"
With a smile of genuine joy on her face, Nicole nodded and started walking towards the water. “We shall. I’ve missed the beach so much since leaving home, it’ll be great to be back in the water, even if it is fake.” The sand had been warm against the bottom of her feet and the water was cool as it lapped up against her ankles as she stood at the water’s edge. “In case I forget to do it later, thank you for teaching me.”
"It's going to take longer than just one session; we'll have to meet regularly if it's OK with you. I know those crystal things have dampened people's spirits, but that shouldn't hinder the way we do things." Adam pulled a board from the sand and handed it to her and grabbed his own. "We'll start small, paddling out and then getting onto your board steadily. If I go too fast, just let me know, I'd rather take extra long than speed through it."
“Okay!” Nicole said excitedly. She took her board and followed Adam into the water, her hair bouncing happily behind her head. “I’m fine with meeting regularly, it will give me more to do.” After she had gone so far in the water she stopped and looked at him expectantly. “So, now what?”
Laughing slightly Adam put his board on the surface of the water and crawled onto it and began paddling out. "Even strokes like you were swimming, but just pretend that you're on a log. It's quite easy when you think about it. Just put your belly on the board."
Nicole slid up onto her board, pressing her belly against the smooth surface. Taking a few moments, she found her balance and stretched herself out fully on the long board. “Okay girl, easy strokes, like your swimming,” she mumbled to herself. Cupping her hands the way she does when she swims, she began to move her arms, dipping one arm in the water and pushing the exact way she would do it if she were swimming without the surfboard beneath her body. “This isn’t too hard,” she called up to Adam, who was paddling out in front of her.
Adam sat up on his board, his legs disappearing below the surface of the water, "Unfortunately, that's only half the work - getting out here. Now, you have to get onto your feet without plunging into the water and maintain your balance through the wave. We'll take it one step at a time, all right? Now, leap up." Adam followed the final two words with demonstrating the procedure. Getting to his feet after pushing off the board Adam's weight pushed the board under the water giving the illusion he was walking on top of the surface.
Feeling confident that she could do that, Nicole pushed off the board, mimicking Adam's movements. But unlike Adam, Nicole didn't end up on her feet standing on the board; instead she ended up butt down in the water. Coming up sputtering, she looked at Adam and back at her surfboard. Again she got up on it and tried to stand but unfortunately she lost her balance and fell.
"Take your time." Adam scratched his chest and stared down at her, but he couldn't keep a smile off his face. "Don't think about anything except the board, the water, and the movement of getting up onto your feet."
"Easy for you to say," she muttered as she climbed back up, "your not the one falling into the water." Moving more slowly this time, Nicole raised herself to her hands and knees, equally distributing her body weight for the perfect balance. Slowly, she brought one leg up and placed her foot on the surfboard before bringing the other foot up and her knees off. Fixing her balance so that one foot was a little bit in front of the other, she stood up, glad for those millions of ballet and gymnastic classes she took. With a huge smile on her face, she looked over at Adam. "I guess my balance is pretty good."
"It's about time." Adam laughed. "Now, you have to be able to maintain that stance during the remainder of the ride. A wave, in about two minutes, will spike up from the depth and you'll have to ride the wave. Keep your center of gravity low on your board and your arms out to further your balance. And, again, please avoid falling into the water." He winked at her as he stood on his board.
Mumbling under her breath, Nicole worked on maintain her balance. It was actually easier then she thought; those years of learning to stand on her toes and to do tricks on a balance beam truly helped her stand on the surfboard as she waited for the wave to come.
It started to rise, slowly at first, but it eventually rose to about six feet - a standard wave for training. Adam hunkered down and the back of his board rose up and he watched as it took hold of Nikki's board as well. "Here we go, keep your focus and stay dry!" He took off towards the beach and before he knew it his board was out ahead of him and his feet were submerged in wet sand. He turned and looked for Nikki.
For a while, Nicole was right behind him, a laugh of pure joy bubbling up from inside her. Before she had ridden too far, Nicole lost her balance and fell into the water again. She had a slight bit more trouble getting back up to the surface, since the wave had caused everything to be moving around, but soon enough her head popped out of the water and she took a deep breath in and climbed up to sit on her board again.
"That's enough for today, Nikki. We'll try again sometime next week." Adam walked up on the beach and tossed his board on the sand and grabbed a towel. Wiping off the excess water from his chest, Adam looked at the woman sitting on her board. "Wounded pride?"
With a pout on her face, she stuck her tongue out at him and followed Adam up onto the beach. Placing her board down next to his, Nicole picked up her towel and began to dry the salt water from her body as much as she could.
"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually." He reached around and dried off his back the best he could and ran the towel through his hair. "You may want to change before we quit the program, the suits go away." With a wink he sat down on the board that was lying on the sand.
Nicole's face flamed up at his comment. "Oh yes, that would be good." Quickly, she moved to her cabana from before and dried herself off more thoroughly before putting her clothes back on. Once finally dressed, Nikki emerged and headed back towards Adam. She felt like she needed a shower and was feeling sleepy, she only hoped he wouldn't take offense to it if she left to go shower and eat then hopefully take a nap.
"Adam, I had so much fun today, thank you." Nicole said to him, smiling. "But I fear it is time for me to make my departure. I now feel like I badly need a shower and I'm having some trouble keeping my eyes open. I hope you won't be offended if I leave you."
"Not at all." He shooed her away. "I've got more time on my hands, I'm going to go back out there." Adam stood to his feet and gave her a hug, some of the water that he missed on his bare chest going to her uniform. "Have a good day, Nikki," Adam picked up his board again and threw the board onto the wave, dived onto the board, and paddled out into the setting sun.
"Have fun Adam!" Nicole called as she watched him run back out into the ocean. With a happy smile on her face, she turned to leave the holodeck, thinking of playing a joke on Adam but deciding against it. He didn't need to be harassed, not yet at least. With a wicked smile that only a little sister thinking of an evil plan could conger on her face, Nicole walked out of the holodeck and headed for her quarters, the wheels in her mind working over time.
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