Museum Date

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 3:25am by Lieutenant John Sandoval & Lieutenant JG Aeryn Jameson
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:53pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Holodeck 2
Timeline: Some time after “Til Death Do Us Part” and “Always a Bridesmaid”

ON:

John stood outside the entrance to holodeck 2, wearing a red button-down shirt and black pants, holding his cane as he leaned against the bulkhead. He had been looking forward to this for some time. He used up a few of his allotted holodeck timeslots to arrange this just right. The holodeck program was running. He was just waiting for his date.

Aeryn had spent a little while tossing outfits around wondering what to wear for her museum date with John. In the end she’d settled for a three quarter length, yellow and white off the shoulder strapless dress that complimented her figure. She only hoped it wasn’t over the top for a date in the holodeck. As she arrived she smiled the biggest smile yet as she greeted John. “So how do I look?” She grinned as she did a little twirl for him.

John returned her grin and leaned in close to give her a gentle peck on the lips. “You look fantastic,” he told her.

“Thank you” She smiled warmly. Just being in John’s presence made her feel special and now they had a bond it was all the more special as she could feel John with her whether he was actually there or not. That was the beauty of the bonding but it could also be a curse, especially if one of a partnership was hurt.

“Let me explain what I have here,” John began. “The program I’m running is called, quite simply, Random Museum. It has two settings. It will either replicate one random museum from its database, which one we’ll only know when we enter, or it will create and curate a museum with the artifacts from its database. This is the first. One museum, probably from Earth. Which? We’ll need to wait and see. Shall we then?”

“Let’s!” Aeryn took John’s arm as they stood ready to enter the holodeck. “This is going to be so much fun!!”

The door to the holodeck slid open to reveal the interior of the museum’s lobby. John didn’t recognize it at first, though after a moment of careful inspection he began to realize where they were and smiled. “My goodness. Aeryn, do you know where we are?”

Aeryn looked at John, she couldn't help but grin at his child like enthusiasm and excitement at where they were. "Actually....not really. I've haven't visited museums that much before."

“This is the Mauritshuis,” John replied, his Dutch pronunciation nowhere near correct. “It’s an art gallery in The Hague. I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of art museums, but I really like this one. It has a specific piece that we’ll see later. But for now, we wander, look at paintings. Be moved, I guess? But most importantly, spend time together.”

Aeryn nodded and smiled as she held onto John’s arm, she loved that they were out on a real date together and she was enjoying it immensely. “I’ve never been to an art museum before, in fact I’ve never bothered with art at all but I’m enjoying this!” She grinned.

Her hand holding his arm, the two walked up the stairs to the first gallery. A few other holographic patrons milled about, and while they were programmed to avoid real people and only respond if asked, John still decided that a bit of privacy was warranted. "Computer, remove holographic patrons. Leave one summonable expert per gallery, who will only respond if requested." Suddenly, all other people vanished, save one young woman, whom John assumed represented a graduate student, standing still in the corner.

“Just me and you besides our expert huh?” Aeryn smiled warmly. “I like that. It’s nice just to have some time alone to enjoy each other’s company.”

“That was my thinking,” John agreed. “Besides, if there’s no one else here, I won’t feel weird doing this.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, and then kissed her.

Aeryn returned his kiss letting it linger for a few moments before finally pulling back. “I wish you didn’t have to feel weird being seen with me. If it’s awkward around holographic characters then it’s obviously not going to be any less weird around the crew.” Her smile faded a little. “Perhaps we shouldn’t have got involved in the first place, all I know is that I love you with all my heart!” She gently stroked his cheek with her fingers. “I wish I wasn’t the woman on the side in this relationship but you’re married and that’s how it is.”

John was shocked by what she’d just said. It took him a moment to process before he realized how he’d been unclear. “Oh my goodness, no! You misunderstand! I just don’t care for public displays of affection. Our kiss in sickbay, after the murder on Paradise...I was overwhelmed by a need to make sure you were okay, and my usual filter dropped. But no, I don’t feel weird being seen with you. I feel weird kissing anyone in front of so many people. It makes others feel strange, too, and as a negotiator I’m trained to pick up on things that make other uncomfortable.”

Aeryn nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to sound so...terrible.” She sighed. “I just didn’t understand that’s all. I thought you just didn’t like being seen with me.”

John stood up straighter. “I’ll show you what I mean,” he said. “Computer, reactivate crowd. And make them cognizant of us and what we’re doing.” As the holograms re-appeared, John pulled Aeryn in close again and kissed her deeply and passionately. One arm was around her waist and the other hand gently holding her face. Various holo-persons stopped to gawk at the pair, some judging, some moved, some annoyed, some a bit flustered.

Aeryn couldn’t help but melt into his arms and into the kiss. To say John made her weak at the knees was an understatement. As their lips parted it took her a moment to open her closed eyes and look around at those around them. Seeing their reactions she could see why John was concerned. “I’m sorry John! I didn’t mean...” She shook her head annoyed at herself.

"Don't worry about it," John said. "Computer, undo previous command." The people returned to the nothingness from whence they came, permitting John and Aeryn to continue browsing the art. "Besides, isn't the quiet nice?"

"It is but for me it's never quiet." She tapped her head. "I always have voices in my head whether I want them there or not! The empathic input I can put aside but the telepathic input is never silent. One of the downsides of being Betazoid. But it is nice not to have other people with us.”

“I’ve never understood how that must feel,” John said as they walked to the next gallery. “Is it distracting? Does it ever confuse you?” He leaned in closer. “Do you hear other people when we’re making love? Or when other people are?”

Aeryn smiled. “To answer that...Yes, it can be very distracting depending on the intensity of telepathic input. Again, Yes it does confuse sometimes. As for making love, the only person I hear when making love with you is you...because that’s how I want it and I have sensed the others making love before but I do my best to block it out and ignore it.” She grinned. “Think of it as being in a room with people next door, you can hear them talking but it’s a jumble of voices and you have to really listen to understand what’s being said. As for the Empathic side of things, I can block that out to a point.”

John nodded as he listened. He couldn’t fathom what telepathy and empathy like hers would be like, but it was nice to hear it from her.

They approached a painting. “I like this one. I read about it last time I came here, back in grad school. What do you think of it?”

Aeryn studied the painting. “To be honest I’m not sure, I’m not an art critic and I know very little about any painters. I think you’re going to have to give me a crash course in art appreciation!”

“Well, truth be told, I’m not much of a critic either,” John said. “For me, I like something I recognize and something I understand. This piece is called ‘As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young,’ which is an old saying of the time period, which the artist is trying to depict. It’s about how children will emulate the bad behaviour of their parents and the other adults they see. The adults on the left are drinking and carousing, while the kids on the right are learning to smoke.” He looked away from the painting and at Aeryn. “There’s a lot of art that I don’t understand. If it’s too interpretive, I often don’t like it. But this...I get this.”

Aeryn nodded. “Unfortunately it’s all too true, children do copy the behaviour and habits of their peers. I guess I can see where you’re coming from in your understanding of the painting now.” She grinned. “Have you ever considered trying painting yourself? Maybe a live model might inspire some creativity?”

John grinned, knowing where she was going with the suggestion. “I’ll admit I can’t paint worth a damn. But...you never know until you try, right? It would be wrong not to see if a live model inspires.”

Aeryn smiled a wry smile. "Well you could show me how you'd like me to pose, finding the right position is always important."

“Very right,” John said as he leaned in close and pressed his lips against hers. “But first, there’s one last painting to see. The best one here. Let’s go upstairs. Besides, there might be somewhere to...pose...up there.”

“In that case...” Aeryn smiled as she trailed her fingers across his shirt. “Let’s go and see.”

They climbed the stairs to find the Vermeer room, wherein, in prominent display, sat one of his masterpieces. "When I was trying to find museums to visit back in grad school,” John said, “I only came to this one because the promotional material featured this painting, which I recognized."

“It’s called the Girl with a Pearl Earring and I can see why” Aeryn studied the painting. “Now this is more me, it’s simple yet nice to look at. I’m afraid I don’t know any technical art terms!” She grinned.

“I don’t know many either,” said John. “But I know what’s pretty and I know what’s well done. You can tell he worked hard on this.” He wrapped an arm around Aeryn’s waist and pulled her close to him. “I’m glad you shared this with me. Thank you.”

"I would share anything, and everything, with you John." Aeryn smiled warmly as she looked into his eyes. "Just spending time with you makes me happy."

"Computer," John said, "change program to Number Three-Oh-Two. Keep the painting." The image of the holodeck shimmered, which briefly made John a bit dizzy, but a moment later it settled into the image of a log cabin. A warm fire crackled in the fireplace. A sofa was in front of it, close enough for warmth but not too close. Two glasses of sparkling synthehol wine were on the table next to the sofa. The Girl With A Pearl Earring painting hung on the wall, in absurd contrast to the rest of it. Outside the window, it appeared to be snowing.

Aeryn looked around, the scene was beautiful and she was sharing it with the man of her dreams. “This is...beautiful John!” She walked over to the sofa holding out her hand for him to join her. “A romantic drink by the fire my love?”

“Please!” John replied, taking her hand and letting himself be guided to the sofa. He set his cane down and scooped up both drink flutes. He passed one to Aeryn and lifted his own. “To the happiness obtained by spending time with someone you care for.”

“To happiness!” Aeryn raised her glass before taking a sip. Putting her glass down afterwards she smiled. “So how’s about...” she smiled as she stepped forward taking John’s glass and placing it down before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him slowly and passionately.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him as he kissed her back. He slowly sat on the sofa. He wanted to pull her down with him, but wasn’t sure her dress could accommodate that. “If you want to join me here, you may need to do so with fewer layers.”

“Oh now that can be arranged” Aeryn smiled as she reached around and teasingly pulled down the zip on her dress before sliding it off and stepping out of it. Underneath she had come prepared with the sexiest lace bra and panties she could find. “How’s that?” She stood waiting for John’s reaction.

“Perfect,” John said, pulling her onto him and kissing her once again....