Flowers for Akira

Posted on Fri Jun 9th, 2017 @ 2:26pm by Chief Warrant Officer Daytona Ral & Akira Zhuri

Mission: Death is in the Details
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: Prior to the Slingshot

Daytona didn't really have an official shift. In theory he had work to complete. Clio had asked him to review some intelligence reports and give her his thoughts on them and help her decide what was worth bringing to Enalia and Mal's attention. He'd gone over everything, prepared a report for Clio, and spent some time giving her the highlights, then signed off for the day.

What he was doing was really silly and he knew it. He was going for a walk with Akira in the Arboretum, where they would see many trees, plants, and flowers. First, however, after stopping at his quarters to clean up and change into civilian clothes, he went to the Arboretum to pick up something.

"You were right, Mister Ral," the botanist on duty in the Arboretum said. "Almost every planet with flowers has a flower analogous to a terran rose. Some of them are down right scary, too. Anyway, I was able to get what you wanted: three bolian roses, three trill roses, three terran roses, and, for the orion roses I chose a three roses from Rigel VII..."

"...the current home of the tattered Orion 'Empire' to use the term loosely," Daytona said. "I grew up in the Rigel System, remember. Good choice. They look great. Thanks again Ensign."

"No problem, Mister Ral," the young ensign said. "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Daytona replied. He took the flowers and headed over to Akira's quarters. It had occurred to him, when he changed into a loose pair of khaki-like pants, sandals, and a loose shortsleeved shirt with a collar that buttoned up the front, that Akira might just keep her uniform on. He might actually be the first person that ever asked her out socially and she might not think about wearing something casual. He didn't worry about it, though. He was just happy the tiny attractive blue woman with the sexy spots on her neck was willing to spend more time with him. Everything else would work itself out...he hoped. When he arrived at Akira's door, he put the hand holding the flowers behind his back and rang the chime.

Akira was just sitting on the couch waiting for Dayton. Most girls would be getting dressed and making themselves pretty, but she had no way of know that she was supposed to be primping for her date. So there she was, just sitting in her uniform until she heard the chime. She stepped up and opened the door, looking at Dayton with confusion. "I am not appropriately dressed," she remarked factually.

Daytona chuckled.

"I think I just won a bet with myself," he said. "I was just thinking that you were going to be wearing your uniform. Don't worry about it. Change, don't change, I'm fine either way. And before I miss my chance, these..."

Dayton brought the flowers out and presented them to Akira.

"...are for you!" he said.

Now I give her a second or two and if she's still standing there looking clueless, I offer to put them in water for her. That smile turns me into an obedient servant.

"Why did you cut the flowers?" Akira asked with a bemused glance at the flowers. "I think flowers are much prettier and much happier when you leave them to grow."

Daytona chuckled.

"Of course you do," he said. "In many cultures it is customary to give flowers as an expression of affection, gratitude, contrition, condolence. These are an expression of affection, contrition, and gratitude. I like you, hence affection. I am very sorry that I offended you yesterday, hence contrition, and I am very grateful to you because you've chosen to spend more time with me, hence gratitude. The number of flowers given varies from culture to culture and occasion to occasion, but terrans usually give a dozen. You are part terran, so I chose a dozen. You are part terran, part trill, part bolian, and part orion. I have selected a three terran roses, three trill roses, three bolian roses, and three roses from Rigel VII, currently ruled by the Orions."

Daytona indicated each different kind of flower as he mentioned them.

"Now," he said. "If you'll let me, I should put these in water so they stay alive as long as possible. May I come in?"

"Yes," Akira replied simply with a nod, stepping away so he could enter, allowing him to tend to the flowers since he seemed to know what he was doing. Her quarters were sparse, barely even used. The only sign that anyone even lived here at all was a shelf on the wall with a collection of books she had already read, real books, most notably various philosophical topics relating to one's existence from various sources across the galaxy.

Daytona replicated a vase and unwrapped the flowers. He carefully arranged them and filled vase with water. When he was done, he set the vase in the middle of a table, clearly unused for anything. Satisfied, he walked past her bookshelf and scanned some of the titles and authors.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one that ponders his place in the grand scheme of things," he said. "Academician Ganik's book here got to be a bit much for me to swallow...by that I mean to accept, I didn't try eating it, though that might have made things easier, but I found Master Selok's book interesting. Do you have a favorite?"

"I think I may favor the ideals of of Earth Buddhism," Akira replied. "But in terms of favoring one book over another, I do not yet have a favorite. Do you want me to change my appearance so that I am not wearing my uniform?" she asked without bothering with any segue in topic.

If you expect to have any chance at all with her, DO NOT SAY IT!

"Well," Daytona said. "You are very attractive so yes, of course I would like to see you without your uniform on, but I think you're asking if I want you to change the appearance of your clothing, in which case...I want you to take whatever appearance makes you comfortable. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing what civilian outfit you come up with if you want to change your clothes."

His words brought on a faint blush to her blue cheeks, but why she could not quite figure out. "I have not yet developed any preferences in regards to my appearance, and if you really wish to see unclothed, I can oblige, but ship regulations would not permit us to go very far," Akira replied, so factual and innocent at the same time.

Daytona recovered quickly. A gentle smile formed on his face.

"You may not understand how truly painful it is for me to say this, BUT," he said. "While a lesser man would just take the opportunity to gawk at your naked body, I'm going to ask you to make me that offer after we've gotten to know each other better, by which time I hope you'll be taking off your clothes in my presence because you want to, and not just because I want you to."

Did I just pass up the only chance I'm ever going to have of making love with this lovely lady? I hope not. That would be a tragedy.

Akira simply shrugged, not really understanding anything about modesty or why she would want to take her clothes off for him. Akira understood what sex was, she had an encyclopedic database she inherited from Maica's matrix just full of information she thought she had no use for; unlike Maica, Akira was not designed for the purpose of sex, it was not her primary function, and since she was also not capable of procreation, Akira didn't really see the point.

Deciding that since Daytona was dressed down for this walk to the Arboretum, Akira would dress down as well; she looked down at herself, at her uniform, and then her form shimmered, and when she came back into focus she was wearing a simple creamed colored dress.

"Is this better?" she asked.

Wow.

"You look...lovely," Daytona said. "Truly lovely. Shall we go?"

Daytona considered offering Akira his arm, but thought better of it. She might not understand, and then he'd have to explain, and then other things she didn't understand might come up, and by the time all of the explanations were complete the evening would be over. For now he just wanted to go for a walk in the park with a pretty girl...this pretty girl, to be specific.

"Thank you," Akira replied, blushing softly. She said nothing as she began walking, not really knowing what to talk about, or even that they were supposed to be conversing.

They walked in silence for a bit. Daytona didn't mind the silence. You got used to periods of no real conversation in his line of work. After a time, though, he decided to break the silence.

"So," he said. "Tell me about your day...the parts I wasn't there for."

He added the last part for Akira's benefit, hopefully to prevent confusion. He was still working out how much she understood about interaction between sentient beings and how that interaction might be different if she was interacting with someone who was interested in her romantically. This was going to take time, but Daytona was willing to do the work. If nothing else, he'd make an interesting friend, but he was hoping for more. Frankly, it was no different than starting a relationship with any other species 'alien' to him, so he committed himself to being himself and just seeing what happened.

"Oh, it was quite interesting! I got to climb through the Jefferies tubes to make some repairs and then I spent the better part of the afternoon logging supplies! And before I logged out for the evening, I got a head start on some of the work for tomorrow; a lot needs to be done, the first of which was making sure that the holo-emitters would survive the power surge and subsequent drain that the slingshot would cause. I had to write custom subroutine to shunt me to the holodeck in case of ship emitter failure. And then I set up a custom command display for my station on the Bridge so that I can monitor everything during the slingshot; I have been told that this maneuver can cause organics to lose consciousness, so the ship will need me to be attentive to ensure we reach the correct destination," Akira rattled off with unrestrained enthusiasm.

Daytona grinned.

"Sounds like you enjoy your job quite a bit," he said. "So, is the holodeck on a separate power source? Is that why you wrote the program to shunt yourself there in case of a power outage?"

"Yes, Holodecks have their own power source and processors so that they do not cause strain on critical ship systems," Akira informed him, clearly very interested, not so much about holo-technology, but rather any technology in general. "Originally ships weren't designed with that kind of strain in mind and later when holodeck technology had advanced to the point that holodecks were being installed fleetwide, independent processors and power sources were necessary. Later, they became more integrated with ship systems for newer model ships, but the decision was made to keep the independent systems to maintain overall ship efficiency."

"I see," Daytona said. "Ah, we've arrived."

They entered the arboretum.

"I really love it here," Daytona said. "I grew up on a farm and I learned to love the outdoors as a child. Later, in the army, I was often on patrol in the colder regions of the planet, on the boarders of the areas still largely controlled by the Kaylar tribes to this day. I still loved it. It was different than I was used to. Sparse, stark, but beautiful in its own way."

He was raised on a farm, and she was a computer program who had never been outside before, they couldn't be more unalike! "I've seen beautiful places in the holodeck, but I'd like to be able to see some of these places for real. I was given plans for a mobile emitter, and I'm working on building it, but it is very complex; still, I have hope that one day I'll be able to leave the ship and see a real sky, feel a real breeze... At least as a consolation, the Hera has a lovely garden," Akira said, running a hand over some vibrant fern fronds.

"I would love to escort you to see a few real skies, Akira," Daytona said. "If you want the company, that is. I've seen skies that would take your breath away...figuratively speaking. Until then, do you see this flower here?"

Daytona pointed out a tall flower. It had multicolored petals and shimmered slightly. He gently pulled it towards him and lightly blew air from his mouth into it and then leaned back. The center began to glow and a moment later a light burst of pollen burst into the air and fell shimmering around them.

"It has something to do with exposure to a certain level of carbon dioxide as I recall," he said. "It was bred to monitor air quality. Both beautiful, and practical."

Akira smiled with excitement, leaning in to blow on another one of these flowers. Her matrix was capable of simulating breath, and the leaves and petals rustled in response, but it did not glow. Akira looked at the flower in confusion, touching her fingers to her lips to feel the breath she created. "Oh, right..." she said, saddened when she remembered that her breath was not real.

Daytona's heart went out to Akira. Her sadness was his sadness. How could he make this better?

"I'm sorry," he said. "I should have realized...wait a moment."

Daytona pulled his commbadge from his pocket and activated it.

"Ral to Ensign Verde," he said. "Polegar, are you still in the arboretum?"

"Verde to Ral," came the reply. "Yes, I'm still here. What can I do for you?"

"When I was here earlier you were telling me about a new edition your collection here," Daytona said. "Without saying what they are, do you remember this?"

"Yep," Polegar said. "I think I know where you're going with this. Do you have a PaDD with you?"

"A small one," Daytona replied. "Hang on."

Daytona pulled a small PaDD out of his pocket.

"Go ahead," he said.

"Sending you the map with their location now."

"Got it," Daytona said. "Thanks. I owe you one."

"No problem," Polegar said. "Verde out."

Daytona turned to Akira and held out his hand.

"Come with me," he said. "I think I've found something perfect for you."

"Okay," Akira replied. She still looked so upset, but curiosity was urging her on to follow Daytona to see what had him so excited.

They walked for a bit hand in hand, which Daytona liked. He wasn't really sure how Akira felt about it, but she had taken his hand and was holding his hand and was not complaining. Daytona took these facts to mean that if she wasn't actually getting anything out of holding his hand, at least it wasn't bothering her. They walked through the arboretum, taking in the scenery as they walked. Finally, they arrived at their destination. Nearby, there were several person-sized statues (well, short-people-sized statues) in an area off the path. The statues were liberally covered in vines. On the vines were what appeared to be flowers that had not yet blossomed.

"Now," Daytona said, stopping before entering the semi-circle of statues. "Stay here a moment."

Akira nodded mute, standing right where he left her to watch what he did.

Daytona walked into the semi-circle and stood there a moment. Absolutely nothing happened. Daytona was grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

"As you can see," he said. "The vines didn't react to me at all. Now, come stand with me."

Daytona held out his hand to Akira again and when she took it, he led her until she was standing in front of him. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Wait for it..." he said. "There! Look!"

The flowers on the vines began to bloom, surrounding them in vibrant colors and sweet smells. The flowers had clearly reacted to something about Akira!

"That's amazing!" Akira replied with excitement. "How are they doing that?" she asked.

Success! No effort is too great when that smile is the reward!

"Two thousand years ago," Daytona said. "The people of Gambek II began experiencing what they called 'hauntings'. Feelings that something was present, something alive but unseen. Then there were sightings out of the corners of the eye. Shimmering images, but nothing solid enough to identify. Whatever these were, they became a part of the society's culture. Eventually, as their science advanced to the point that their scientists began trying to explain these hauntings. It took time, but it was eventually discovered that the 'hauntings' were actually visits from photonic lifeforms whose 'physical forms' for lack of a better word, were usually outside of the visible spectrum of the inhabitants of the planet. These weren't truly sentient beings, more like friendly, playful, and intelligent animals, but animals nonetheless. While investigating these creatures, the one of the scientists realized that these vines reacted to the presence of the creatures. Soon every household was trying to grow the vines around their property. It proved helpful in developing a friendly relationship between the creatures and the populace. One of the issues was that people couldn't see the creatures unless they wavered into the visible spectrum and by that time they were already, for lack of a better phrase, creeped out. The vines meant that there was some warning when one or more of the creatures were near. It has been theorized that the creatures are not native to Gambek II, but that they migrated there from somewhere else, but the people of Gambek II have come to not only accept them as part of their everyday lives, but to enjoy their company as well."

"Oh, that's so..." Akira trailed off, not having any series of words she could string together that could amply describe how she felt about this. With a big smile, she watched as the vines continued to blossom before her.

The sounds of joy in Akira's voice were music to Daytona's ears.

"It really is," he said, also feeling at a loss for words. He decided to let her bask in her feelings and in the vision of loveliness before her. There was a small pool in front of Akira, reflecting an image of the look of wonder and joy on her face. This image touched him beyond words. Combined with the 'magic' happening before them, the look on Akira's face made Daytona feel light and happy and at peace. He hadn't a care in the world. In this moment all seemed right with the world.

Whatever happens from here on out, I will remember and cherish this moment.

Daytona's hands were still resting gently on Akira's shoulders. Intellectually, Daytona knew that she was a photonic lifeform, a being made of light. But under his hands she felt soft and warm. Heat, very close to body heat, radiated off of her and warmed Daytona. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered how that worked. Generating light tended to generate heat. Akira's 'physical' form was made up of light generated from the holoprojectors all around the room. Could that be where the heat is coming from? Or did she purposely generate the heat to simulate body heat? Dayton decided that it didn't really matter. It felt good to be standing close to her. He refocused on the image of her face in the pool. She really was beautiful when she smiled like that.

Completely taken in by these plants, Akira lowered herself to the grass so she could study one of the flowers. She sat there for a long while and with such innocence she reached out and touched some of the tiny unopened buds. They opened like magic and she felt the softness of the petals and teased the pollen stalks, watching with amazement as the pollen dusted the air. It was truly incredible to see these plants react to her in the same way those other flowers had reacted to Daytona!

Daytona was content to let Akira have as much time with the vines and their flowers as she wanted. A wild thought struck him. He wondered if he could get the botany folks to get some of these vines set up in Akira's quarters. That way, they could greet her every time she entered her quarters. Of course, once he'd thought about it for a second more, he realized that he had no idea how often, if ever, Akira used her quarters. If he had not suggested that he pick her up there, would she have even manifested there at all this evening? Or would she have just dematerialized for the night?

More to discover. I could always put the vines in my quarters and give her an excuse to come by...

Daytona knew that he was being silly, but as usual, he really didn't care. He was having fun and Akira was having fun, so no harm done. Daytona looked at Akira with a contented smile on his face. The way the light struck her made her seem almost nymph-like. Daytona had seen actual Pomtoli nymphs up close so he would know.

Akira remained enraptured by these vines so long that she had nearly forgotten that Daytona was there! After a while though, she remembered that she wasn't alone and she offered him the biggest and brightest smile with bit of a sheepish wave.

"Hello," Daytona said, waving back. He was sure that others might call the grin on his face a bit goofy, but again, he really didn't care. "You look like you're having fun."

"I am, thank you!" Akira replied, blushing slightly. "Although... I wonder how much fun you could be having; it certainly cannot be all that entertaining watching me play with the flowers."

"You could not be more wrong, Akira," he said. "You are a pleasure to watch. Your joy is infectious. Men have fought wars, conquered far off lands, built palaces made out of the finest materials, and created great works of art, poetry, music, and theatre, inspired by smiles such as the one on your face right now, the one that's been on your face since you first witnessed the vines' response to you."

Some would say that the tall rigelian was behaving the fool, but once again, Daytona really didn't care.

"I have no interest in any of those things, except maybe the music," Akira admitted as she ran her fingers along the vines. "But I wouldn't want music written about me, I would want something... something that... makes you feel like you are flying," she continued with a thoughtful tilt of her head. "I do not know precisely what that means; it's from one of my father's memories, listening to something that made his heart race and- and made his arms all bumpy with the hair standing up. I would like to feel that, at least once."

"That settles it," Daytona said. "I'll have to study music! I'll start right away! I shall compose for you the greatest song ever written! I'll...alright, I'm kidding. I've never put serious thought into learning music. Listening to it, learning its origins, that I've done, and I've enjoyed it. Have you listened to much music?"

Akira giggled at his profession to learn about music so he could compose something for her. "I've listened to quite a bit," Akira admitted with a small smile. "When I'm reading, I like to listen to... well... they are these bowls? You can ring them like bells, or make them hum! They are very-" She paused as she tried to find the right word to describe the feeling she got. "Soothing, they make me feel very peaceful, they calm my thoughts. My mothers were both musicians, and Mother Maica made a violin for me and Mother Andy has been teaching me over subspace to play it. But I'm also interested in learning the flute; there's a wonderful airy quality to smaller wooden flutes that I find is so delightful; concert flutes sound wonderful as well, but there's just so much character to older wooden styles."

"These bowls," Daytona said. "They are played by an order of monks, no? From somewhere on Earth? Chibet, Gibbet...no, I think that's some kind of organ meat...or maybe a method of punishment...I've got it! Tibet, right? I agree with you. The sounds they make are very relaxing."

Daytona took a seat next to Akira on the ground, sitting cross-legged.

"I admire you for tackling the violin. That is not an easy instrument to learn, but when it's played well it sounds lovely. When I've seen violinists performing, they always look like they are pouring their hearts and souls into their music, like they are really 'letting it all hang out' as the terran phrase goes. I've dabbled in bass string instruments, mostly for fun, mainly because in my travels and my work I was eventually exposed to things like Andorian Blues, Earth Jazz, Blues, Funk, Jazz Fusion, and their cousins from some other cultures, all styles which make good use of bass strings. I don't think I'll be taking the galaxy by storm with my musical talents, but I enjoy myself."

Again he had her giggling. "There are bowls played like this all over the galaxy, but the ones I've been listening to have been from Earth, Tibet as you say. I discovered them when I was exploring Buddhist philosophy," Akira said. She drew her legs close to her body and draped her arms around her knees casually, leaning towards Daytona slightly as they talked. "And I think all music has the potential to be emotive for the artist; it's just up to the artist how much they want to expose their soul to their listeners."

Daytona felt a little thrill when Akira leaned in towards him, allowing him to feel the warmth of her physical presence once more. Once again, all was right in the universe. He leaned in a little towards her in as well when he responded.

"Hmmm..." he said. "What is it about Buddhist philosophy that attracts your interest? Believe it or not, in four centuries I've never really explored it."

"It's hard to say, exactly..." Akira replied, pausing to really give this matter some thought. "Many philosophies or religions focus so much on what comes after life, 'do this to get into' whatever passes for an afterlife, and I don't even know if I have a soul to endure past this existence. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is Nirvana, which is peace of mind and a cessation of the cycle of rebirth, again something I don't know if it will even apply to me, but the principles that guide the individual during life are... appealing. There is no shame in not having the peace of mind or discipline to be a monk in this life, every person, every being whatever their form, has a purpose, even down to the tiniest insect, and one should strive to find peace with their form, their purpose."

"I can appreciate that philosophy," Daytona said. "At least as far every being having their purpose in life, though I think, in my case, my purpose has changed as I've grown and matured. That or I'm still searching for my purpose in life. I used to think my purpose in life had to do with what I chose to do with my life, what I did everyday, my profession. My parents were physicians and set good examples for me. But I was never really attracted to medicine as a profession. I tried what you might call religion, but, frankly, numerology baffles me. I took up soldiering, then spying, then policing. All in a similar theme. Then something bad happened, something that caused me to walk away from everything I knew and wander for almost a century. Then, one day, I just stopped running. I joined Starfleet. In exchange for an agreed upon period of service, they offered me full Federation citizenship. It wasn't long after that I became a spy yet again. After a time it finally occurred to me, and, frankly I'm rather irritated with myself that it took me several hundred years to figure this out, but I realized along the way that my 'purpose' in life had less to do with the broad strokes of my life and more to do with the fine details. Something simple, for example, like putting a smile on a young lady's face and making her laugh."

Daytona flashed a grin at Akira and gave her a wink.

"I'm not saying you wouldn't have laughed today if we'd never met," he said. "But this interaction, with all that it brings, wouldn't have happened if I didn't exist. So perhaps, if I may be so bold, making you laugh and smile this evening has been part of my purpose in life. And maybe, again I will be bold, maybe you putting a smile on my face, reminding me what it is like to look at the world with young, or at least younger, eyes, and generally making me feel as though all is right in the universe has been part of your purpose today. Or maybe not. Maybe it's all just random. Either way, I'm glad I bumped into you in that corridor."

Akira giggled at his rambling. She liked the sound of his voice, it had a very nice, rich quality to it, and she found it to be most pleasing! "Of course you are glad you bumped into me, you got to put your hand on my bottom!" she said with great amusement. "But to have lived through so much, I bet you've seen some amazing things!" she said once her giggles had calmed. "Will you tell me about some of the things you've seen?" she asked.

"And a very nice bottom it is," Daytona said.

His face took on a somber look for a moment, then his smile slowly returned. He was unable to remain somber in little Akira's presence.

"I was going to say something ominous," he said, finally. "Something like 'I have seen many things, not all of them good...' but I realized that's true for just about everyone. There are beautiful sights and sounds and smells and tastes to be found in my system. Someday, if I don't do something horribly insensitive and drive you away, I'd like to take you there...you know, when you have sorted out your mobile emitter. Anyway, I left my planet near my one hundred and eighty-eighth birthday and would not see it again for almost fifty years. I had been a failed monk, a decorated soldier, an intrepid spy, even a police detective. I knew how to fight so I hired myself out as a mercenary and spent half a century banging about the quadrant, going from job to job. Some were boring, some were a little too exciting. But the places I visited! I visited a planet whose vast deserts make Vulcan look like a child's sandbox. It was terrible when the wind was howling, blowing sand and grit that got into everything and cut any exposed skin, but on a night where the wind was soft and the moons and the stars were high in the sky, it was just...peaceful and mostly quiet. The silence was interrupted only by our beasts of burden and the sound of the breeze blowing across the surface sand...a shimmering sort of sound. The moons were brightly colored and the light reflecting off of them lit up the night sky. It was nice, especially when no one was shooting at me. I've seen forests with trees so tall they reach into the clouds. I've seen animals as beautiful as a they are deadly. I was once attacked by the most beautiful creatures I'd ever seen, present company excluded. I was dazzled by the creature's appearance and let it get too close. It must have weighed around seven hundred kilos. It's coat was black edged with an almost electric purple. It could function as a predator because the flora in which in hunted had a similar color scheme. I came out of into a clearing in the jungle and there was this thing, this beautiful creature. It looked at me. I looked at it. It started moving towards me but I was dumbstruck. When it got close it suddenly bared its fangs and roared at me. I raised my weapon, but I hesitated and it struck me. It sent me flying over two hundred meters. Only my vulcanoid genes...strong bones and muscle...kept me from being seriously injured. It would have had me for sure but my squad caught up to me and drove it off. They didn't kill it, for the which I was grateful. After all, it had just been minding its own business when I came out of nowhere and disturbed it."

Daytona looked at Akira a moment. He brushed a lock of hair out of her face, then caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers.

"There are many, many sites to see and adventures to have," he said. "But I have learned to avoid being so focused on what's out there, that I neglect what is right in front of me."

Akira was dazzled by his words, and when he brushed that lock of hair out of her face, she shivered and then blushed as his fingers continued down her cheek. Why had she done that? she wasn't affected by the cold, and the temperature in this section was fine...

"Am I pleasing to look upon?" she asked suddenly. "I- I don't know, I have trouble with aesthetics; there's so many cultures and they each have different definitions of beauty... and I've been trying to modify my appearance so I'm not so... without form. I was nothing when I was created, and I've based so much on my Father, but I want to be more than just a copy, it's so hard to decide, and I have no idea if my appearance is acceptable."

Daytona reached out and held Akira's small hand in his. He kissed her hand and smiled at her lovingly. It always amazed him that a woman could not know how beautiful she is, how a glance from her could command a man's soul. But Akira really had no frame of reference.

"You are very pleasing to look upon," Daytona said, grinning. "And I should know. I've been 'looking upon you' all night. You are very beautiful, especially when you smile. Your eyes sparkle and your whole face lights up."

Akira's blush deepened. "May I show you something?" she asked softly. "I have been working on a new appearance, but... I'm not sure if it's ready. I would value your input, if you would be so kind." With a shimmer, her whole appearance changed. She was more or less the same build and stature, but there were subtle changes to her face, most notably the shape of her eyes which were now more of an almond shape, but remained the same blue, and her complexion was no longer blue or spotted but a nice peachy tan. Her hair, once very dark with an almost blue sheen was now a rich brown with some soft, loose curls. In some ways she looked so different yet the same, and for all the changes she was still the same innocent young soul looking back at him. "There is no 'Akira' in the Bolian or Trill language, so I wondered why Father named me Akira, but I found it in a number of Earth Asian languages, so... I wanted to try something that was not my Mothers' or Father's, I came up with this."

Those eyes! That look! Daytona didn't know if Akira realized the effect she had on him. If she figured out what she did to him, he was done, over. He would be putty in her hands. Oh, who was he kidding. He was already putty in her hands.

"Well, let's get a look at you," Daytona said. He stood up and gently pulled Akira to her feet. He took both his hands in his and held her out in front of him. He looked at her. He smiled broadly. On a whim, he let go of one of her hands and used the other to give a spin so he could take in the whole package...for scientific purposes of course. Akira hesitated at first but figured out what he wanted her to do after a second. "Again, stunning. You've made yourself unique while keeping your best qualities. I thought I might miss the blue skin, but no, this is perfect. Most importantly, your smile and the sparkle in your eyes hasn't changed. I'd call the new look a success, but what do you think? Do you feel any different?"

"How do I feel? Oh, I don't know..." Akira looked down at herself. "I still feel like me, I guess, though I do think I may miss the spots... Is that odd? I don't know why I miss the spots, but not all the blue. I do like blue, and it was such a hard choice between blue and green, since Mother was modeled after the Orion; I think that's why I chose something that was neither, it was easier, but there's is something about the spots I miss." With another shimmer, she brought the spots back, though she did the full length of spots, even around the hairline framing her face, though they were faded compared to a full Trill's spots. "Is this alright?"

Oh Prime Number help me I would love to kiss every one of those spots...

Daytona stopped himself before he went too far into that particular fantasy.

"I like the spots," he said. "They look great on you. And no, it's not odd that you would miss one and not the other. You're learning about your likes and dislikes, and all of the areas in between. Like liking the color blue, but not wanting it as your skin color. And the longer you are alive, the more your likes and dislikes may change. Mine have. There are things I have never liked and things that I have always liked, but there are many things that fall between those two extremes. Things I liked at one time and dislike now, and vice versa."

"Oh, well thank you," she said, grateful for his input. "So, does it look finished? I kept fretting about little details, worrying it was not right, and I've been so apprehensive about showing anyone. Should I keep it?"

It was Daytona's turn to look sheepish.

"Sorry," he said. "That was rather pedantic. I hope you didn't feel like I was talking down to you. Anyway, if the decision were mine, I'd say keep the new look. It looks good on you."

"No no, it's fine; your response was... informative, it made me feel better about my choice," Akira assured him with a sweet smile. But then with another shimmer, she returned to a blue skin tone, although the reshaping of her features and the alterations to her hair remained unchanged. "I think I will stay this way for a while; I have been blue since I was created and started serving in Operations, I wouldn't want to confuse my staff with such a sudden change."

There's that smile again...

Daytona chuckled.

"Well," he said. "It might look just as strange if you slowly fade from bolian blue to terran Asian complexion. At some point you'd be a sickly shade of green. Would you like to walk some more? At some point I am going to have to bid you farewell for the night and get some sleep..."

After I hit the gym and work out until I've burned off all of this energy...sex or other extreme physical exertion: the only thing keeping we rigelians from going off the deep end.

"...but until then, I'm really enjoying this evening with you."

Daytona was still holding Akira's small hands in his large ones. Again, physical contact with her felt nice, regardless of the fact that her physical form was made up of photons projected from the arboretum's holoprojectors. He wondered about that, but didn't let that get in the way of his enjoying it. He looked at the backs of her hands a moment, memorizing them, caressing them with his thumbs for a moment, then running his thumbs along the knuckles. These, too, were unique to her. Beautifully imperfect in their perfection. Even so, Akira's hands were not as generic as she feared her physical form might be. They were unique to her...delicate in appearance, but supple and strong in reality...terms which described the woman herself as well. Realizing he had gotten distracted, even if only for a moment, he brought his gaze back up to Akira's eyes, which he narrowly avoided drowning in.

"So...uhm...shall we walk some more?" he said, knowing it was silly to repeat himself, but not really caring. Shame was not a feeling he often experienced. The emotion wasn't entirely absent from Rigelian culture, but it was rarely experienced on the whole. Rigelians simply were who they were, did what they did, said what they said, and that was the long and the short of it.

"I suppose you're right," Akira replied with a soft sigh. "Maybe I should just make the full change now, but I just feel so reserved about doing it. After all, it is a big change!" Walking with him, hand in hand, felt so nice, and she decided right then that she wanted to do this more often, with him specifically. She really enjoyed Daytona's company, and it made visiting the Arboretum all the more enjoyable.

"No pressure," Daytona said. "It's your body. It's yours to control, even more so in your case. If you ask me, you should only do what makes you feel comfortable...most of the time. Sometimes it's good to get out of your comfort zone. Still, that's for you to decide. Bolian/Trill Hybrid blue, Asian Earth-Girl with sexy Trill spots, you wear both of these forms well. It's really up to you when or even if you want to change."

Daytona brought her hand to his lips and kissed it again before lowering it again so that their clasped hands swung lazily between them as they walked. He intertwined his fingers with Akira's, enjoying feeling even just a little physically closer to her than he had a moment before.

Akira blushed when he kissed her hand; why did she keep doing that? "Why do you do that?" she asked curiously. "You've kissed my hand twice now; why?"

Daytona smiled, but he was almost afraid to answer. He wasn't ashamed of how he felt, just concerned that either he was reading her wrong and she didn't enjoy his affections, or that if they discussed this more openly she'd turn him away.

Akira was the daughter of a sex hologram. Daytona was fairly certain that intellectually she understood what the humans sometimes called 'the birds and the bees'. That said, at four months old, Daytona was relatively certain she'd never experienced the idea in actual practice.

"Because..." he said. "I'm very attracted to you. I like you. I enjoy your company. I find you both emotionally and physically attractive. That makes me want to show you affection physically. Kissing your hand is one way for me to do that. So is holding your hand. When I brushed the hair away from your face and gently caressed your cheek with the backs of my fingers, that, too, was because I am feeling a desire to be physically affectionate with you, to be closer to you. Physical affection doesn't always have to mean attraction, it might just be that a person is just a physically affectionate person. Parents are often physically affectionate with their children in ways that differ in either form or intent from some of the kinds of physical affection I might show you. In this case, however, I'm being physically affectionate with you because I am very attracted to you."

Daytona kept walking beside Akira, letting her take in and digest his answer. He wondered what her reaction would be. It certainly seemed as though she liked the attention he paid to her, but he couldn't be absolutely sure. Who could, besides an empath or telepath? Would she stay and walk with him, or would she retreat, uncertain of what to make of his feelings now that they were in the open? He hoped she'd stay. He thought about really kissing her. Should he? He wondered a moment at why he hadn't when she asked him why he kissed her hand. He came to the conclusion that the reason he hadn't kissed her was the matter of fact way that she'd asked the question: Why did you do that? Her intellectual aspect was engaged. She was curious, wondering, learning, reconciling whatever information she had about interactions between people in general and specifically between people in a romantic situation with what she was experiencing in actual practice. In this instance, his honest, forthright answer would probably have more impact than an awkward, forced kiss.

Akira thought about this for a moment. "Oh, okay," she finally replied with fascination. Then she looked up at him with a smile. "Thank you," she said cheerfully. Though once those words left her lips, it suddenly occurred to her that perhaps that was not the response he had been looking for? Not that she thought he was angling for a kiss, but a simple 'thank you' wasn't on the same level as one of his blush-inducing gestures. Decided to throw caution to the wind, she leaned closer and drew up on her toes so she could plant a kiss on his cheek, renewing the blush dusting her face. Huh, fascinating, this warmth in her cheeks happened with any contact with him, regardless of who initiated the contact. This would require further experimentation!

Daytona felt like jumping over the nearest moon! The nearest three moons! In one bound! He hadn't felt this way...in a very, very long time. He'd almost forgotten what it had felt like to have his heart filled nearly to bursting by a simple kiss on the cheek. His face also flushed at her kiss, though from excitement, not shyness. His pulse was quick and his blood sang in his veins. He grinned broadly.

"You have no idea how happy you just made me, Akira Zhuri," Daytona said. He turned and picked her up by the waist and spun around before setting her down again. He looked into her beautiful eyes and this time he let himself drown in them. He took her face in his hands and let one thumb trace over her lips with a feather-light touch. Then it was his turn to throw caution to the wind. He leaned in and kissed her, lingering just a moment before pulling back. Then he let go of her face and placed his hands back on her waist.

"I hope that wasn't too much," he said. "But I've been wanting to kiss you all evening."

"That was very nice," Akira said ever so softly. Her face was now a lovely shade of violet from all the blushing, but she couldn't be bothered to care. "If you wanted to kiss me all evening, why did you wait so long?" she asked curiously.

"I agree," Daytona said. "That was nice. We should do more of that."

To prove his point, he kissed Akira again, both on the lips and then on the tip of her nose.

"As for why I waited..." Daytona said. "My people are an off-shoot of the Vulcans and related to the Romulans and the Debrune. The Vulcans learned to control their turbulent passions with logic. The Romulans channel their turbulent passions into martial pursuits. My people, we make love and exercise a lot. No, seriously, it's our thing. We believe, and this has been proven out at least to us, that regular exercise and copious amounts of regular sexual activity help us to control our powerful emotions. To not engage in sexual activity regularly is considered both unhealthy and unnatural, and when we can't be with someone, we wear ourselves our with exercise. Lovemaking is like a cure-all to my people. Feeling sad? Make love, you'll feel better. Feeling angry? Make love, you'll get over it quicker. With this in mind, you'd think our dating rituals involve skipping to what Earth people call 'the Goodnight Kiss' or the kiss at the end of the evening, the kiss that tells them whether or not they want to see the other person again. And I won't lie to you, sometimes two Rigelians acknowledge that they just want to make love and be close and not make a big deal out of it. But every now and again, I meet someone very special, someone whose opinion matters to me, someone who makes my heart race when they smile or laugh, someone whose eyes I drown in when they look my way. Someone who makes me feel nervous, cautious, who makes me want to do everything at the right time. I feel that way about you. I didn't want to rush things and frighten you off or make you think that all I wanted was to bed you. I wanted you to see me, to like me, to want me to kiss you. I wanted to see you for who you are and for you to know that I see you, Akira Zhuri. So I waited until I felt that you would be receptive to a kiss. I've wanted to kiss you all evening, but I wasn't in a hurry to do it. I didn't want to rush. So I kissed when I finally felt like it was the right time."

Great you idiot, now she'll think you're a depraved sex maniac! Oh well. It was going to come out sometime. Might as well get it out of the way now...

"That's fascinating!" Akira said with wide-eyed wonder. "So for your kind, intimacy isn't solely about procreation? That's... that's very interesting... I must admit, I wondered why Mother Maica was created, you cannot procreate with a hologram, but to learn that this can be used as recreation is very interesting indeed!" This was definitely giving her cause to reconsider her earlier thoughts about this sort of thing. "And I think you were very wise to wait for the right time to kiss me; I think if you had tried that when we first met, I would not have been so inclined to reciprocate such a gesture."

Daytona laughed softly.

"No," he said. "I think you would have gotten horribly confused and probably called security. And yes, physical intimacy can be about more than procreation, for many races, not just mine. It can be casual, as I said, but also deeply personal, between two people who care for each other a great deal, perhaps even love each other. There is a saying 'love deepens sex and sex deepens love', basically saying that sex...lovemaking is an important aspect of a loving, romantic relationship. In the right circumstances, it can bring people closer together. I've always chosen partners that I wanted to feel closer to, even in a casual affair. Not everyone feels that way and some people only 'have sex' rather than 'make love' which seems an empty existence to me. But I learned quickly that some people just want the physical thrill, the release. I can't say that I've never felt that way, but it's not the norm for me. In societies that are not as open and honest about sex, young single people who are suddenly out from under the control of their parents will engage in quite a bit of meaningless sex. It can be fun, but it gets old for some people, for those who want to spend the night in someone's arms, being held, being cherished. Also, for people who have to worry about getting old, at some point they just can't perform sexually as well as they could when they were younger. The sex becomes less interesting and if that's all they have to offer and they've never sought anything more meaningful, they find themselves alone in the twilight years of their lives."

"I cannot be certain, but some of that sounds awfully lonely," Akira said with a hint of sadness. "But I am to assume that with such a youthful visage despite your many years that you are still functional in this capacity? I am, if you were at all curious; I didn't understand why before today, but... I think I am beginning to understand," she said candidly, not as any sort of open-ended invitation, but merely as a statement of fact.

Daytona grinned.

"I am fully functional in this 'capacity', I assure you," he said. "Even more so when properly motivated. And I hope you won't take this wrong, but I'm glad to hear that you are, too."

Daytona pulled Akira a bit closer and kissed her on the forehead.

"It feels very nice, holding you like this," he said. He leaned in and kissed her again, again lingering a moment before pulling away. He grinned sheepishly at her. "You did say that you wanted us to do more of that. I, your humble servant, am here to oblige you."

Akira giggled, smiling brightly. "But I do not want a servant!" she said. That wasn't to say that she knew what she wanted, but a servant, humble or not, was not currently on that list. "But I agree, this is nice."

"It's just a figure of speech, my dear," he said. "Don't worry. You're spending time with a fully formed, independent adult who can speak up for himself if need be. We are equals, neither one lower or higher than the other."

Daytona yawned.

"Oh," he said. "I'm sorry. I've had a lovely time, really. Spending this time with you, I've felt things I haven't felt for some time. I've really enjoyed myself and I hope you have as well. I'm not sure if you need to sleep at all, but I do. May I walk you back to your quarters before I head back to mine?"

"I think I would like that," Akira replied with a sweet smile, then took his hand in hers and moved in close to rest her head against his shoulder as they began walking.