Playtime

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 12:32am by Cailus Griffin & Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:19pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Gym/Holodeck
Timeline: Current

A Mission Post by Lieutenant Kalin 'Shae' Brennan-Griffin PhD & Lieutenant Cailus Griffin
Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Gym/Holodeck
Timeline: Current
Sun Oct 28th, 2018 @ 6:26am

Daily workout routine completed, the computer reported smoothly. Would you like to continue an advanced regimen?

Hopping off the treadmill, Cailus rolled his shoulders, grunting in relief at the stretch. Clad in efficient exercise gear, a simple vest and shorts, he wasn’t sweating as much as usual, and he glanced at Shae questioningly. She had been a few minutes late, so their routines were out of sync.

“How much have you got left?” he asked as she ran. In public as they were (although the gym was actually deserted, he noted), Cailus pointedly didn’t ogle her as he might in private.

“Just another mile,” Shae replied, winded but focused as she picked up her pace for the last stretch. It felt so good to run! In the Bubble, many of the crew had taken to doing laps in the corridors to stay in shape, but it wasn’t always safe with the temporal distortions, plus for the safety of others walking the halls, they often had to hold back their pace, so it felt good to really let loose!

Shae finished her last mile and slowed the treadmill to a walking pace to help her cool down. “You finished quite fast today,” she remarked, then grabbed a bottle of water to take a sip. “Are you trying to beat your record?” she asked.

Caius smiled faintly, shaking his head. “No, not today. I haven’t beat that record since I was in my 20s.” He glanced around the gymnasium and gestured vaguely at the more complex equipment, which focused on more outright core strength. “I do have the ship record for most of that gear, from before we were living together. That’s easier to keep up with age. It’s also the only part of this gym that I can actually beat you in.”

To prove his point, he added off-handedly, “Computer, state the all-time record for human chin-ups onboard the Pandora.”

The current record of 184 consecutive chin-ups is held by Crewman Idris Murdock.

And so Cailus’ mouth dropped, his eyes growing wide. “What?” he said in disbelief. “Murdock? Damn it, that smarmy bastard!”

“Oh, strange, I thought your name was ‘Cailus Griffin’, not ‘Idris Murdock’. And since when did you get a demotion to Crewman?” Shae said playfully as her treadmill finally came to a stop and she hopped off.

Cailus retaliated with a disgruntled scowl. “Laugh it up, Shae. I’m getting that record back. Can’t have Murdock keep it for too long. The kid is too cocky as it is.” And so, without any hesitation, he promptly walked over to the chin-up bar, scowling in irritation the entire time. The bar was every bit as uncomplicated as it needed to be, unlike some of the more high-tech equipment that Starfleet furnished its gyms with; it was literally just a frame and a bar with an adjustable height. After taking a preparatory swig of water, Cailus took hold of the bar with his hands and pulled his chin up and over it, the movement looking deceptively easy.

“Sorry Shae,” he grumbled before doing a second chin-up in short order, then a third. “Some things have to be done. No matter…hmpf...the cost.”

While Cailus may have refrained from ogling Shae, Shae had no qualms about drinking in the sight of him as he began his workout. The sight of sweat beading up over his rippling muscles was quite the delectable sight, and they were alone, after all…

“Mmmm, yes, please do…” Shae replied with a nibble at her lip as she watched him, up and down, up and down… Another sip of her water and she approached another bar. “Computer, what’s the record for hanging crunches?” she asked, then set her water aside and began to tie her hair back.

The current record of hanging crunches is 86.

86? Oh, she could beat that easily! Shae hopped up to grab a bar and hooked her legs around it to let herself hang, then crossed her arms over her chest to begin rolling up to work her core muscles.

Initially bemused at why she’d ask, Cailus found himself chuckling as Shae got started. “I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you,” he teased, grunting with each pull up. However Shae’s exercises were, he quickly realised, quite distracting; it was taking considerable concentration to maintain his own pace rather than peek at Shae’s own fluid movements. She was graceful as ever, her powerful thighs clinging to her bar with ease, while every time Shae completed a set, her shirt was bunching up under her breasts, exposing her toned stomach. Cailus was no stranger to that sight, of course, but his fiance’s movements emphasised her musculature in a very impressive and unique manner.

Very damned distracting indeed.

To focus himself, Cailus asked “Have you…hmpf...picked out a dress yet?”

“Not yet,” Shae said without breaking her pace. “Down to two, can’t decide…” she continued in between crunches. “You? Tux or dress whites?”

“Got to be a tux,” Cailus grunted inbetween chin-ups. That was thirty; just a hundred fifty to go. “I’ve done the dress whites before and…hmpf...I want to try something different this time.” Having exhausted that particular conversational topic sooner than he’d liked, Cailus frowned as he worked. “Have you heard from your brothers lately?”

“Yeah, talked to Sean,” Shae replied. “Since we’re… stuck here… he’s going to… link our holodecks… for the ceremony… Tested it, he gave me a hug.” This much talking while crunching was making her core burn! “I think I want… the wedding in Wicklow… Feels right, you know?”

“If we can work out the technical…hmpf...parts, then sure,” Cailus grunted. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of…hmpf...a wedding by subspace.” He glanced at Shae and immediately regretted it; out of breath and sweating profusely, she was even more distracting now. Worse, however, she showed no sign of slowing down to Cailus’ growing irritation. He sure as hell didn’t want to lose another record, even if it was to her.

“Damn, Shae. You aren’t actually trying to…hmpf...beat that record, are you?” Cailus’ own muscles were starting to burn now, the lactic acid firing painfully through his arms and chest.

“Just now noticing, are ye?” she said with a grin. Shae stopped, letting herself just hang as she stretched her arms towards the ground. “You are too much fun to tease, and I don’t get these opportunities nearly enough.”

Rolling his eyes at his upside-down fiancé, Cailus grunted his way through another chin-up. “You know that I’ll get…hmpf...payback,” he retorted. “I always do.”

“I’m so scared,” Shae said mockingly, then let go of the bar, yet somehow in the short distance to the floor she managed to complete a full rotation of her body to land safely on her dainty paws. Then she approached her soon to be husband, her mate, her beloved… Ooooh, she wanted to play today! She didn’t know what had her in such a playful mood, but she wanted to drag him to the holodeck and let the wild out! Must have been the fertility treatments... Instead of dragging him to the holodeck, she ran her long fingers over his back, moving with him as he went up and down, up and down. Then while he was down in between chin-ups, she put her arms around him and held tight as he hoisted himself back up, and up she went with him.

“Not...FAIR!” Cailus gasped as he just barely got his chin above the bar, growling loudly at the added exertion. His arms and chest were on the verge of outright revolt at the sudden added weight. Only four more to go, and of course Shae chose that exact moment to sabotage him. Barely hanging onto the bar with Shae’s entire weight atop his back, his arms quivering, Cailus’ furious growl continued as he tilted his head back.

“I am really going to get you for this,” Cailus grumbled, and indeed, it was now taking all his willpower to simply hang on, never mind attempt the last three punishing chin-ups. “Are you really prepared for the consequences of hanging on?”

“Hm? I’m sorry, did you say something?” Shae replied with a grin. “If you don’t pull up soon, the computer isn’t going to count anymore towards your record.”

And Cailus knew it. With primal fury, he unleashed a war cry as he pulled himself up once more, heedless of Shae’s thighs around his waist or her arms around his chest. He reached the bar through sheer determination, his teeth bared in anger, his arms quivering at the strain, but there was only so much his arms could take. Finally, as he lowered himself back down, his arms utterly failed, sending both Cailus and Shae to the floor in a sprawling heap.

“Oh, you are going to pay for that,” Cailus panted as he lay face down on the deck. He forced his tingling arms into one last push, shifting onto his back as he tried to catch his breath. “You’re lucky that you’re my fiance…”

With a mischievous snicker, Shae crawled over him to straddle his torso, her weight on his ribcage forcing him to slow and regulate his breathing. “You know, I’m hearing a lot of words, but not seeing much action,” she retorted as she began to massage the sore muscles in his arms; she may have liked teasing him, but she wasn’t cruel!

Rolling his eyes, Cailus wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand before glancing at the door. “You know,” he said in a dangerously calm tone as his breathing slowed, “if anyone walks in right now, they’re going to make unseemly assumptions. Will you let me up? Or will I have to make you?”

“Oh, what kind of assumptions? That two consenting and engaged adults are doing adult manner of fun things? Please, if you’re trying to get me embarrassed, it’s not going to work right now, and I think you know that,” Shae pointed out, but she removed herself from him anyway, sitting off to the side to grab her bottle of water and tossing his bottle to him as well.

“I suppose I do,” Cailus said with bemusement as he caught the bottle before taking a much-needed drink of water. Sighing at the relief of hydration, he stretched his weary arms while taking a not-so-subtle look at Shae’s form. The hard exertion had somewhat eroded his usual proper etiquette, and damn if she didn’t look good after a long, draining workout. Plus he genuinely was a little irritated with her for the sabotage.

“Holodeck,” he said in a low, deep voice. “Owen and Fick can play pool without us today.”

“Yes they can,” Shae answered with a playful grin, her tail swishing and twitching in anticipation as she rose to her paws. She offered Cailus a hand to help him up. She suspected she was going to pay dearly for what she did, but she also suspected that she was going to enjoy that punishment very much!

Accepting her help, Cailus was nevertheless quite wrathful (albeit with a more playful undertone) as she helped him up. It took only a moment to clean up then dispose of their towels and water bottles before, with a smouldering look in his blue eyes, Cailus wordlessly took Shae’s hand and led her out of the gym.

A few minutes later, the couple arrived at the holodeck, still clad in their sweat-soaked exercise attire. Cailus raised a hand to select the program before pausing, glancing at Shae darkly. “The victim may choose her form of punishment,” he said with a rather villainous look.

“Wicklow, dusk,” Shae replied. “And I have a new game I’d rather like to try; I run into the forest to separate us, then we hunt each other,” she suggested. “If I bring you down, I get to have my way with you, but if you catch me first, then, well…” She paused, nibbling on her lip as she blushed. Truly, she didn’t mind who caught who, with a game like this, even the loser would win in the end!

“Agreed,” Cailus said brusquely, his arms crossed. The computer accepted Shae’s verbal command and opened the door, leading Shae and Cailus into a vibrant, thick forest. Trees grew relatively close, their broad thick roots threatening to trip any unwary hikers, while the leaves of autumn formed a natural carpet atop the soil. The holodeck doors closed behind them, leaving Shae and Cailus in the darkened Irish forest. Enough light remained from the setting sun for them to see, but not easily.

And so Cailus looked at Shae, his bare muscled arms still crossed, his eyebrow raised. He didn’t say a word now, not willing to break the preternatural silence that permeated the woodland around them, and instead simply waited with a predator’s hungry smile.

The autumn air was so crisp, the chill a welcomed change from the stuffy gym, although the gooseflesh on her arms could have just as easily come from his steely gaze as it did from the cold. Before the arch had a chance to disappear, Shae locked the holodeck doors, and then she was off, bounding through the trees she knew and loved so much.

As Shae ran, she relished the freedom, but also lamented that they hadn’t done this sooner. A hundred years stuck in the Bubble, all she wanted to see was open sky again, and yet when she had woken up from the dream, she contented herself with the arboretum, and she had to remind herself that she didn’t have to ‘settle’ for anything, in the holodeck she could go where she pleased, she was not confined to three decks anymore!

Watching with a smile as Shae ran gaily through the forest, Cailus nevertheless sobered as he considered the task ahead. It was only a game, to be sure, and he was most definitely looking forward to the prize, regardless of who claimed it. Indeed, Cailus had found his blood quickening just at the sight of Shae in her shirt and shorts, at the sheen of sweat upon her skin and the raw vulpine beauty of her, from her vibrant eyes to the soft pout of her lips. But even so, Cailus was quite determined to win this particular game.

He considered the trees for barely a moment before discarding that option. He hadn’t climbed a tree in his life, having grown up on the deserts of Mars, and while it would certainly surprise Shae, he was much more likely to simply faceplant into the ground. Stealth was, he mused, also irrelevant. Dusk was the perfect time to compromise Shae’s sight and hearing, but even so, she’d always be able to see, hear or smell him long before he detected her.

So Cailus decided to be direct. His arms were aching at the earlier punishment, but he spent a few moments finding a fallen branch, eventually finding one that was long but still had serious weight to it. Like so, still just wearing a white vest, shorts and gym-tailored trainers, he set off, but with a careful pace. Humans didn’t have the supersensory capabilities of Chameloids but they nevertheless had other gifts, such as a subconscious gut instinct born from millennia spent hunting prey on Earth. In the near-total silence of the forest, as all the wildlife settled in for the night, it was that instinct that Cailus relied on, his breathing carefully moderated as he prowled. With deliberate movements, he went from tree to tree, his eyes and ears alert for any anomalies, even if it was merely an owl setting off for its nightly hunt.

Eventually, Shae came to a stop, standing in stillness as she opened her senses to the forest; she wasn’t ready to hunt just yet, though she had no doubt in her mind that Cailus had already started. She would let him move through the forest for a while, let him get his bearings and prepare while she became one with the wild. She was finding it easier to tap into her instincts than it had been before the Bubble, like something had changed within her. In truth, Section 31 had fractured her, left a rift in her being that she was always at odds with, and her break in the Bubble had completed that fracture, leaving her two halves of a whole, but when Cailus brought her back, she had finally been at a point where she could heal and leave the past where it belonged, and in the decades following Cailus’ death, she had the time to come to terms with this other side of herself, mending in ways she hadn’t been capable of before; she was the Scientist and the Hunter, the Mother and the Assassin, the Lover, the Survivor, but no single element defined her anymore, she was all of these things now, and she was at peace with that.

The rustling of leaves caught her attention and her ears swiveled to follow this sound; just a squirrel running home for the night, not her prey. But she would being her hunt soon, very soon…

Meanwhile, Cailus was simply moving between the trees, hyper-alert as he kept covering his corners, his eyes tracking his left, his right, above, behind. It was, for him, a simple, enjoyable experience, knowing that the only cost of failure would be Shae having her way with him...which was, he mused, hardly a punishment. Indeed, with the exhilaration of the hunt mixed in with the erotic excitement of knowing who was lurking in the shadows, Cailus was smiling hungrily as he moved, still holding the thick branch in his hands..

Finally, Cailus found what he’d been looking for. The forest wasn’t even and flat but had various small hills and valleys, and it was on one of those hills that Cailus approached, assessing the butte tactically. It had a steep slope on three sides, while the butte was wide enough for an entire house to fit atop it. Some trees grew on the butte, providing a means of cover, although Cailus noted that they also provided a potential route for Shae to strike from above if she was nimble enough to leap from tree to tree. Even so, he reflected that it was his best option, an easily defensible location that severely limited Shae’s options to attack. Even Shae would struggle to climb those steep slopes, while if she came the direct route up the more shallow slope, he’d be able to see her even in the low light.

His plan set, Cailus crouched down next to one of the trees atop the butte. With the branch in one hand and his hand on the tree bark, he waited.

There were many things that marked a great hunter. Knowing one’s terrain was important, but equally as important was the ability to adapt and improvise as Cailus had just done. Patience was also vital, and they both had that in spades. But just as important was to know one’s prey, or more specifically, how to lure out one’s prey. As Shae finally began moving through the trees at a relaxed pace, this was what she considered. Her prey was a brilliant tactician, she knew he would be clever about this hunt, so how best to draw him out and put her in a more advantageous position? First she would have to find him and see what he was up to. She was getting close to him, she could smell him, but as she neared the butte where he was hiding, she was dismayed to find that she could not locate his tracks or a scent trail. But he was nearby, of that much she was certain! Slowly, she backed away from the butte; if she could not find him, then she would have to draw him out…

A few minutes later…
“Okay, you win that round,” Cailus said breathlessly, looking up at the night sky. The sun had set, yet he and Shae had been so enthralled with each other’s antics that they hadn’t even noticed. They were lying on the forest floor now, both too exhausted to move but also in companionable bliss.

“Yay,” Shae said in a faint tone, her body still buzzing too much from their play for her to care who won or lost. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw the stars coming out to play; hello, old friends… “That’s… going… on my list… of reasons why I love you,” she said in between heavy breaths. “Definitely have to do that again sometime,” she added with a lazy grin.

“Agreed,” Cailus responded with a chuckle. He glanced at Shae, watching her as she explored the stars with her eyes. “So these stars were your first love, hm?”

“There was this hill,” Shae started softly, her breath still heavy, but gradually calming. “Dad and I used to hike out there and set up my telescope. We’d even bring tents and sleep through the day and stay up all night charting the stars. I spent so much time in the Bubble, I was starting to forget what they looked like…”

“They look different on Mars,” Cailus said, following her gaze out into the star-sprinkled sky. “Which are your favourites?”

“I don’t know if I have a favorite,” Shae replied, but she did give it some thought. “I don’t know, maybe Orion, the hunter pursuing Lepus.” She smiled slightly. “Speaking of Lepus, smells like our Lepus is done,” she said, glancing over to her little campfire.

Cailus glanced over in surprise, having forgotten all about the hare that Shae had started cooking while they’d been hunting each other. “You’re going to be one hell of a wife,” he said softly, rolling over to give Shae’s cheek a kiss. With that he stood up and moved to the campfire, removing the spit. After a moment’s thought, he left the fire burning merrily, reasoning that it was hardly logical to worry about forest fires in a holodeck. The crackling of the little fire, not to mention the light and heat, was rather pleasant in the cool Irish night.

Returning to where Shae lay, Cailus offered her the hare as he lay alongside her. “Are you okay?” he asked gently as he watched the introspective look on Shae’s face. “I know that look. It typically means that something is churning under the surface.”

“Aside from the fact that I need a bath, I’m okay,” Shae said, and with that she pulled herself upright to try to wash up a little before eating. “I’ve been thinking about the Bubble a lot lately,” she said as she waded back into the creek. “Sometimes it’s hard to think of anything except the Bubble… It’s weird, I’ve heard some people and how things are fading for them, but it’s not fading for me. I still remember it all like it was yesterday, and yet I also remember playing pool with Owen and Janet just before we began the study of the Indigo Sky, that’s fresh in my mind too,” she tried to explain as she washed up.

Having sat up when Shae went to wash, Cailus watched and listened as he tore off a small part of the hare, his knee elevated to prop up his tired right arm. “You know that’ll change with time,” he said with complete seriousness. “Just like any other part of our lives.”

“I’m not sure I want it to change,” Shae said as she walked back out, wringing the water from her tail before rejoining Cailus on the soft moss. She picked a piece of meat from the cooked hare and nibbled on it in thought. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of horrible things I’d like to forget, but we had seven good years together before everything fell apart, I don’t want that to disappear. And… I don’t know, as agonizingly lonely as it was at the end, the years gave me perspective, thinking about my past doesn’t hurt the way it used to, and what if that feeling of peace goes away as the memories fade?”

“Then so be it,” Cailus said quietly, before taking a small bite out of his own bit of hare. “You know better than I what ‘what ifs’ are like. They’re a damned nuisance. But I hear you.”

“I know, I shouldn’t dwell on the ‘what if’s, but I feel like a different person now, I can feel who I was and who I became overlapping, and I don’t want to go back to the person I was, always afraid, always looking over my shoulder. The Bubble was awful, but from that pain I grew, I don’t want to be afraid anymore.”

Considering Shae for a moment, Cailus asked simply, “Are you afraid now? Really afraid?”

Shae shook her head as she nibbled on some meat. “Only a little anxious that my old paranoia will come back,” she said with a shrug.

“I don’t think it will,” Cailus said meditatively as he ate another small part of the hare. “I think I know you well enough to judge that. That peace, or growth, or whatever you want to call it...I think you were on your way there even before the Bubble. That kind of thing doesn’t just revert on a whim anymore than I can regrow my old hand.” He nudged her arm gently. “Besides, if you do feel it coming back, then so be it. You’ve got family and friends to rely on, not just me. You’re safe, Shae. Safer than ever before.”

“I know,” Shae replied with a smile, then leaned in to nuzzle his cheek; he always knew just what to say to put her mind at ease. “And have you noticed…” she said, her breath tickling her cheek, “how much more at ease I am like this? With my primal side, I mean… It took a long time, but we finally made peace.”

Stroking Shae’s back, Cailus raised his eyebrows, smiling as he moved his head to look at her. “That’s good,” he said with a sultry tone. “I’ve been hoping for that for a while, ever since I first saw you hunt. You really don’t know how beautiful you look like this.”

“I know it now, in your eyes, in the way you look at me,” Shae said, purring as he stroked her back. “And all it took was a psychotic break and a hundred years of Hell in the Bubble,” she said in jest, chuckling slightly to show that she wasn’t bitter about this, or at least she wasn’t bitter anymore.

“Uh huh,” Cailus replied noncommittally as he cuddled with Shae, continuing to stroke her back and tail. Holographic or not, it was an extraordinary place that Shae had chosen for their play. The crackling fire with its natural warmth, the relaxing noises of the forest around them as the nocturnal wildlife went about their nightly business, the damp, earthy feeling of the grass.

“A century of Hell,” he murmured contemplatively, glancing at Shae again with an enigmatic smile. “I think we can do better with our next century, don’t you think?”

Shae smiled. “I look forward to it!” she said happily, leaning in to nuzzle his cheek once again. But soon, she was seeking out his lips, ready to reignite their passion with a gentle kiss. She adored their games, the competitiveness, always trying to outdo each other, but she equally adored the loving tender moments that often followed; the kisses, the tender touching when they fell asleep in each others arms, it gave her a contentment that she could find nowhere else. Although now, as she removed the spit with the hare from his hand and tossed it aside, she definitely didn’t have sleep on the brain.

Knowing full well what was on Shae’s mind, Cailus indulged in the kiss, his tongue dancing with Shae’s. “I love you, Kalin Brennan,” he said with a loving smile after pulling back an inch. “And get used to hearing those words. I’ll be saying them for a long time to come.”

“Oh, not for too much longer, I should think,” Shae said with a pout. “After all, soon I will be Kalin Griffin,” she added, her pout transforming into a warm smile. Kalin Griffin, she did like the sound of that… Pulling him down for another kiss, she silences any chance for a rebuttal with her lips and tongue against his.

Kalin Griffin. Aoife Griffin? Well, he did promise! And maybe one day, another Griffin would join them? The future was looking so bright, it was almost blinding to the Chameloid woman.