Jarhead Jaunt I

Posted on Thu Oct 19th, 2023 @ 8:08pm by Private 1st Class Cedrik Feng & Ensign Mika Petrova

Mission: In-Between (S1:E5-S1:E6)
Location: After 11, Holodeck
Timeline: Date 2371-08-24 at 2230
4835 words - 9.7 OF Standard Post Measure

It had been four days since they had rescued Lyra from the clutches of the Numiri renegades.
That was the same day that she and Cedrik had gone to the holodeck to ride horses. Since then, Lyra had been recovering in Sickbay, and Mika had been considering whether it had been a date or not. She had waited for some communication from him eagerly, but when nothing came, started to despair that either it hadn’t been a date or he didn’t enjoy himself, nearly as much as he seemed to.

Most evenings, following her shift in Sickbay, she spent her time in quiet pursuits alone in her room, or doing something for her health and well-being in public. Either way, she really didn’t get out much or socialize. She hadn’t managed to make friends among the crew and her family members were all quite busy dealing with the situation on Banea or commanding the fleet. She was starting to become quite lonely and more than a bit stir crazy. Finally, she decided to do what she typically never would have, and go down to the lounge by herself. It would be nice just to sit around other people and enjoy their presence, even if they weren’t talking to her.

Following a workout and a shower, she pulled on an olive green sleeveless turtleneck dress which stopped just below her knee. It was an expensive garment and fit her perfectly. She also put on a necklace made of silver and set with diamonds and emerald and stepped into a pair of brown high heeled shoes. After pulling her pair into a bun and spraying herself with a sweet cologne, she headed out the door and down to deck 11.

After 11 has been relatively empty for the past couple days, owing to everyone’s frequent visits to the planet below. However, as the novelty wore off, it had filled up again. She walked through the double doors, and into the dark room, stylish, and live with activity as people in and out of uniform mingled, conversed, drank, and flirted. she did the word for a bit, standing at the door, and didn’t notice the eyes of nearly every man in the room dark toward her. None of them would speak to her, she was sure, besides, some very friendly greetings and small talk, because none of them wanted to risk the possibility of Andrei minding in the least. Sometimes she hated that.

After waving to several people who had noticed her and initiated it, she moved gracefully to a table in the corner by the window in order to wait for a slave.

A loud chorus of laughter crashed out from one of the tables near the center of the room that was occupied by a group of nine young men and women. They were out of uniform, but it was still quite easy to guess that they were a group of young marines. A few of them had looked over to Mika but mostly they seemed occupied with whatever they were doing. Among them sat Cedrik Feng looking quite relaxed with a bright smile on his handsome face. He was wearing a white t-shirt underneath an unbuttoned navy long sleeve shirt paired with jeans, dressed down and casual as the rest of his friends. They all seemed to be looking at one person intently, and then they laughed again.

Without any reason, Cedrik’s turned his head and just looked around the room and his eyes fell on Mika. Immediately he sat up a bit straighter, gaze lingering a moment then he looked away. He thought about going over to say hello, but he was sure she was likely with someone. He’d been thinking of her quite a bit the past couple days, she seemed like a very sweet young woman and of course she was quite beautiful. He wanted to meet with her again but he hadn’t wanted to come off as pushy.

Though the room was far from quiet, Mika noticed the rise in laughter from the group of marines. She looked in their direction, at first not recognizing them. Marines had their own doctors and tended to prefer consulting them over coming to Sickbay. She did notice, however, once face amongst the crowd she recognized. She looked Cedrik over, taking in his appearance, but soon forced herself to look away, lest she be caught staring.

It was about five minutes later that the group began to move and get up, they were still chatting and laughing and most of them began to move to the exit. Cedrik however hung back and grabbed one of his friends by the arm. They exchanged a few words, and the other marine walked off while Cedrik remained. He cleared his throat, straightened his shirt, and rolled his shoulders, then he finally turned and walked over toward where Mika was sitting.

“Hey, Mika.” He greeted with a smile. “I know you’re probably meeting someone, but I didn’t want to not come say hello.”

Mika had been looking anywhere except for in his direction, so she was a bit surprised when he walked up. She looked up at him, an infection and gorgeous smile appearing on her face. She sat in her chair with one toned leg over the other with the bottom of her black dress, draped modestly over the knee.

“Oh, Cedrik. Hi.” She said, waving her hand at him with a quick and feminine flutter of her fingers. “I’m glad you came over. It’s good to see you. Are you well?”

The quiet shyness she often displayed was indicated by a subtle demurring and lowering of her head. Though she sat up like the woman of noble birth she was, she softened her gaze and avoided direct eye contact for more than a few seconds at a time. Her questions, however, had been quiet and genuine.

Cedrik’s eyes remained on her face and his smile grew in return on seeing hers. His gaze was steady and warm, projecting a quiet confidence. “Yeah, yeah I’ve been doing alright. What about you? The chief still have you slaving away in the store rooms?”

She was so beautiful.

“I’m really glad to hear that.” She said, her smile brightening at the small news that things were going well for him. “And yes, I have been. It’s a big project, but I’m slowly making a dent! I’ll have it all reorganized by the time we leave the system, I think. Then it’ll be on to some other tedious project.”

“Well, I hope he frees you after you finish. I know a lot of people would enjoy having a friendly face treating them in sickbay.” He remained standing near her, his body language relaxed and easy though still projecting a certain steadiness and presence. He was young but he had the confidence of his upbringing.

“So are you meeting someone tonight?”

Mika noticed him lingering, and her smile brightened at the fact he was doing so. Many men lingered around her, but she tended to be dismissive of the knee she didn’t like. She knew how to deflect and give the cold shoulder when it was needed.

“I’m just here to people-watch and see where the night goes.” She said quietly. “My quarters were getting a bit confining.”

“Yeah, I can understand that.” He nodded, thought a moment, then continued, “Listen, my friends and I were heading to the holodeck just to walk and talk in one of the programs there. If you’d like to join us you’d be more than welcome to… or if you’d like some company here I could stay.”

“Hanging out with a bunch of marines?” She asked, seeming hesitant about the idea. She thought things over in her mind for a few seconds, however, and then eventually decided to push herself out of her comfort zone a bit. “Well, okay, if you’ll be there..”

She gave a nervous smile and scooted her chair back to stand up.

“Are you sure your friends won’t mind?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He reached out and offered his hand to help her stand up, a casual but gentlemanly gesture. “They can be a bit loud and obnoxious sometimes, but they are good, kind people. Kind of a rarity for marines I know, but we make it work.”

He was quite happy she agreed to do something with him, but he was also trying to play it cool.

“Yeah, I was warned you marines were a bunch of bad boys.” She said with a smile as she stepped around the table and stood beside him. “And you seemed to fit in so well sitting with them at the table.”

“I won’t say that’s not true for more than there should be.” Cedrik chuckled, feeling a little thrill go through him when she took his hand; once she was up however, he released her. “But this group is pretty tame. I wouldn’t bring you around people I don’t think you’d enjoy.” He gestured toward the exit where the group had gone and then began walking by her side.

“So have you been up to anything interesting outside of work?”

“Reading, working out, and avoiding people.” She said as she walked at his side, her eyes turning back and forth between the path ahead of him and his eyes. He was quite handsome. “My passtimes since the Academy.”

“Mm… is there a reason why you tend to avoid people?” He asked, finding it a bit hard to believe but at the same time not. He was vaguely aware of the eyes that were following them as they exited the lounge and headed down the corridor toward the turbolift, but he didn’t pay them much mind.

“I’m not big on attention, really. I find it embarrassing in almost every form. I try to avoid places where people might notice me.” She gave a modest shrug. “I’ve been this way since I was a little girl. And I’m quiet, so people normally don’t take the time to get to know me.”

Cedrik didn’t particularly understand the sentiment she was sharing. He had never shared something similar and neither had his sisters. Their culture raised demure women, but not to the point where they actively avoided attention. Still, he smiled and gave a slight nod. “Well, if you feel that strongly about it we really don’t need to go meet with the others. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

It might be good for her to push herself, but he was in absolutely no position or relationship to even remotely encourage that right now.

“Careful, you don’t want to feed that monster.” She said with a soft laugh. “Or I’ll be in sweatpants curled up with a warm book. It’s good for me to force myself to get out a bit every now and then. Let’s just say you’re helping me.”

“Alright then.” He agreed and stepped onto the turbolift with her. “I’m actually not sure where they decided to go, so I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

As he stood there, he found himself wondering if there was more to her shyness. He imagined living in a family like the Petrovs for a girl of her particular disposition may not have been that easy and perhaps that contributed to it.

“Oh, how is Lieutenant Cassiel doing?”

“The Lieutenant is strong, but the Numiri’s experiments took their toll. I have confidence she’ll be alright.” Mika said with a pleased smile. She knew Lyra was heavily involved in Shadow Squad in some way, though she wasn’t sure how. “I can’t really say more. Doctor-Patient confidentiality can be frustrating that way.”

“No, I understand. I still have to hold to that policy even as a medic.” He assured her, glancing at her. Since she wasn’t looking directly at him, his eyes did what any twenty year old man’s eyes would do and briefly went down, though he had the good sense to catch himself and look up and ahead of them before he was caught.

“It was rough down there and it was hard to tell what kind of shape she was in.”

“I can’t imagine what you might have found down there.” Mika said, looking concerned as the turbolift doors opened. “You must be so brave to charge into danger like that to save her.”

“Ah, well,” Cedrik began, reaching up and rubbing the back of his head. The unexpected compliment on his bravery had left him pleasantly flustered and he lacked the experience for a smooth recovery from it. “It’s my job but yeah, you have to be brave to do it I guess. Thanks.”

“Have you talked with her at all? She’s with your brother right?”

“Yes, they’re together. And she’s been very kind to me as well.” She answered. “I’ve stuck my head in several times to check on her and to speak with her a bit, but I’ve been pretty busy in the storeroom. You seem very curious about Lyra.”

Her comment was subtle, but there was a quiet and subtle question in it born perhaps from jealousy or maybe just out of curiosity.

Cedrik gave a bit of a shrug at her observation. “She’s my superior now and I don’t know much about her. I’ve never found it to be a disadvantage to get to know one’s boss and what others think about them.”

His questions truly seemed innocent and he didn’t seem interested in the way most men were interested in Lyra. They finally arrived outside of the holodeck and he paused at the door. He turned, an easy smile on his face. “Ready, then?”

She nodded, the pangs of those rare selfish feelings subsiding for now. She was unfamiliar with the feeling, for the most part, but she had a few crushes in her life, and it revealed to her a part of herself she really didn’t like. Lyra was so beautiful and, like most girls, she fought with feelings of inferiority compared to other women. She kept all of this to herself as best she could.

“I’m ready.” She said, offering a half smile.

Cedrik tapped the panel to open the door and immediately revealed the image of Central Park during the fall at sunset. The golds, oranges, and reds were beautifully vibrant and the colors of the sunset only served to enhance the scene. The door opened to one of the pedestrian paths by the river and they could see ahead Cedrik’s friends meandering slowly on their walk while they talked and laughed with each other. Cedrik took a step forward then paused and turned slightly toward Mika, offering his arm to her.

Mika smiled at the scene before her, feeling the crisp autumn breeze as it billowed onto her cheeks. She grabbed his arm and squeezed it, pulling herself close enough to feel the warmth of his body without being suggestive.

“You have a habit of taking me to beautiful places, Cedrik.” She said, looking at him with sparkling eyes. She studied his handsome features.

He chuckled at that and walked with her toward the group of young men and women who weren’t in a hurry - neither was he to get to them. He found he enjoyed the feeling of her arm in his and the closeness of her body. There was of course the naturally sexual enjoyment of a man having a woman close to him in such a way, but it went beyond that.

“I enjoy beautiful places, especially with good company.”

“I don’t normally think of myself as good company.” Mika responded as her heels met the roughness of the pavement and the arch disappeared behind them, transporting them seventy thousand light years away.

“Really? Why?” He asked, looking down at her. Even with her in heels, there was still enough of a height difference that he had to look down into her eyes.

“I don’t know, I’ve never really fit in with the crowd. Men have been nice enough, generally, and I have a few guy friends, but women have always been very dismissive of me for some reason. I had a Tomboy phase because of it. Mother hated that.”

“Mm…” He considered what she said as he looked out over the water. “I think that tends to be relatively normal for young women from my experience, but I think perhaps as women age and settle into life, they become slightly less…”

Hesitating, he tried to choose the correct words, “worried about other women being competition? I don’t know. All of my sisters are younger than me and they have trouble making female friends as well. My mother, however, has quite a number.”

“Competition for what?” She asked, looking at him with a pleasant and naive curiosity. “I admit to being very competitive when it came to my grades, but school is over with. Sure, I’m a type-A person, I like to have things work the way they’re supposed to, but I’ve known plenty of girls who were like that and had no trouble making girlfriends.”

“I um, well, I mean I guess I meant-” Cedrik stumbled over the words, flustered.

“Cedrik!” One of the marines mercifully called out to him and he immediately looked relieved. He watched his friend approach.

“Ezra, hey.” Cedrik greeted.


“Glad you caught up.” Ezra smiled and eased into a slower walk as he approached. He was a reasonably attractive young man with a marine cut head of strawberry blonde hair. As he finally registered who was at Cedrik’s side, his steps hesitated and he looked Mika over first as any man would, and then a bit more guarded.

“Mika, this is my friend Ezra Davidson.” He introduced the pair without seeming to notice anything was amiss.

“Ezra, nice to meet you.” Mika said with a practiced and calm greeting which managed to somehow be bubbly and reserved at the same time. She offered him her hand femininely.

“Uh.. yeah nice to meet you too.” Ezra replied and took Mika’s hand awkwardly as if he weren’t quite sure what to do with it and gave it a very gentle squeeze as a shake. He let go immediately. “Mika, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. I work in Sickbay and you’ve probably never come in. You get all of your medical attention from guys like Cedrik here.”

“Yeah we don’t mix with fleeties a lot.” Especially not the daughter of the Captain. He shifted a bit and crossed his arms, seeming to weigh his options and then shrugged mostly to himself. “But hey there’s an occasion for everything.”

Cedrik shook his head with a slight chuckle. “Alright alright keep walking.”

“Oh, come on. Us fleeties aren’t so bad once you get to know us.” Mika said jokingly, though she didn’t show any particularly interest in the man staying.

“Ezra! Leave Ced and his girlfriend alone!” One of the marine women called from the group who had now paused and were watching the lagging trio. “Come on!”

“Ah fuck off!” Ezra barked back and then turned to Mika and Cedrik. “I’m sure you aren’t but uh…”

His eyes ran over her and he could tell she was just being polite and didn’t particularly want him there. “I will leave you be. If you two want to come up though you’re welcome though I can’t promise the topics of conversation will be appropriate for a high society lady.”

His warning was unapologetic, a take it or leave it offer.

“Oh.” She said, not quite sure what to make of the offer. She blinked, looking at Cedrik with a confused and demure expression. “What do you want to do?”

Cedrik briefly glanced down at Mika to reassure her and then looked to Ezra. “We’ll keep walking. If we catch up we’ll catch up.”

It was noncommittal on the surface, but he was simply being considerate to Mika since this seemed to be something new and uncomfortable for her. They didn’t need to rush into it.

With a shrug, Ezra gave a nod and turned to jog back to the rest of the group.

“So,” Cedrik began once Ezra was gone, “I showed you one of my favorite places to ride, but it occurred to me I never asked if you had a favorite place to ride.”

Mika kept pace next to him, content to let him decide what they did.

“We have a range in a small town around Moscow. It was flat and green. It was my absolute favorite place to ride horses.” She said, remembering it with a grin. “I’d go out there every Saturday in the summers and ride until I couldn’t feel my legs anymore.”

“That sounds nice. Did you have anywhere outside of Russia that you enjoyed riding? Or were you someone who stayed at home more often than not?” He asked, keeping the pace leisurely and he was mindful of his longer gait.

“My mother used to take me and Andrei on some of her trips after my father left.” she said, her choice of words not descriptive of the context surrounding Ivan’s departure from Terran space. She was mercifully left as the Regent in Russia seeing as Papa might one day return. We never brought our horses along, though. Brazil, China, and South Africa were the common destinations.”

She stopped suddenly and tugged on his arm, moving in the direction of a bush with white Gardenia flowers growing on it. She knelt down on her knees close to it and started picking them one at a time.

“Sorry, I love flowers.” she said, regret in her voice mixed with excitement. “I know I can’t keep them, but it's still nice to experience something that feels so natural and real.”

Cedrik hadn’t resisted her tug in the slightest and allowed her to lead him to where she was wanting to go. He didn’t worry that it wasn’t very ladylike, in fact he had been more curious about what had caused the shift in her attention. When they moved to the flower bush and she knelt down onto her knees, he watched her starting to pick them with a slight smile on his face. She was very innocent, it was endearing and struck that protective instinct in him.

“Nothing to be sorry for. We had flowers all over at home. Do you have a favorite?”

“My mother planted hundreds of royal azalea bushes in our palace gardens. They’ve always been my favorite since I was a little girl.” She said as she picked up several of the picked white flowers and started twisting the stems before the shadow of the bush. She quickly finished and placed a well-balanced cluster in her hair above her ear. Standing, she smiled widely at him, coy and more than a bit flirtatious. “What do you think?”

Cedrik looked at her and couldn’t help himself; he reached behind her head and caught in his fingers a few strands of her hair which he brought over her shoulder on the side where she had perched the flowers in her ear. His smile was warm and easy, and he looked into her eyes as he spoke. “Beautiful.”

She fluttered her eyelashes then and grabbed his arm as she had before, waiting for him to lead them back into the walk again.

“I can hear my mother’s chastisement in the back of my mind right now. ‘Mika, it isn’t ladylike to kneel on the road’.” She said with a grin like she had done something bad and gotten away with it. “She had some choice words about whose job it was to do that.”

She looked at him as they walked along, her full, glossy lips pursing a bit as if she were thinking.

“You told me about your mother. What about your father?”

“What would you like to know about him?” Cedrik asked. He kept the pace easy, his eyes moving around the scene and sometimes to Mika by his side. He didn’t seem in a hurry to catch up to his friends.

“What’s your relationship like?” She asked curiously. “Are you close?”

“I like to think we are. That may depend on one’s definition of ‘close’ of course.” He shrugged slightly. “My father is a busy man, but in our culture - not to mention Terran culture in general - family is very important so he makes sure to take time for family. As his firstborn son and heir apparent, he of course took a special interest in me as is natural, but he loves all of his children.”

“Well, you used to ride horses with your mother,” Mika began, “Did the two of you have anything special you used to do together, or was he just a busy but loving figure in your life?”

“We would take walks in our gardens a few times a week. They were mostly educational but it was time spent together. He taught me about politics, business, and how to be a gentleman among other things.” Cedrik frowned slightly, pensive. “I miss those walks.”

“Maybe you’ll get to walk with him in the gardens again some day soon.” Mika said, seeing the sudden sadness in his expression and running her hand comfortingly up and down his arm. She noticed again how strong he was and bit her lip gently. She smiled at him, trying to get his attention as much as she tried to make him smile in return.

As she rubbed his toned, taut arm with her small, feminine hand, Cedrik did look down at her and smiled. He wasn’t weepy or anything of the like, but he was clearly a young man who had great respect for his father and the guidance the man had offered him. “Yeah maybe so. I hope so.”

He looked up toward the trees they were walking under. “We have hundreds of Hong Kong orchid trees in our gardens. It is very beautiful when they are all in bloom. I think you’d like it.”

“I’d love to see them.” Mika said with a dreamy frown. “Too bad we’re on the other side of the galaxy. Though, honestly, your residence is probably a public registry in the holodeck database. If you look, you might find it. I’m sure the smaller details would probably be wrong like with my home, but you could fix it pretty easily.”

“I hadn’t thought about it but you’re right. I’ll give it some thought - I’m not sure I will want to though. It wouldn’t quite be the same, you know?” He looked down at her with a smile. “But I appreciate the suggestion.”

“Of course. I was just trying to help.” She said, walking with him peacefully, her eyes going back and forth between the scenery and his friends further up the trail. “You know, the rumor mill around the ship is pretty active. I have a feeling they’re going to be talking about us very soon.”

“Why is that?” Cedrik asked. Though he was an intelligent young man, he was still young and at times a bit naive himself. He glanced down at her, his brows raising slightly.

“Because it looks like we’re dating, Cedrik.” She said, looking at him, a bit worried. “Which means my brother will probably be knocking at your door soon. Maybe I should tell him ahead of time before he hears it from some of his less..tactful friends.”

He frowned slightly at that, his brow lowering in thought. He hadn’t considered that and realized how foolish he had been to not do so. He slowed their walk to a pause, thought, and then looked into her eyes again. “Well… do you hate the idea of that?”

She paused with him and studied his suddenly serious features, returning a confused expression of her own.

“Do I hate the idea of what? My brother hunting you down?”

“No. Us dating, or well, people thinking we are.” He clarified. It didn’t particularly bother him of course, though unconsciously he was worried it may have bothered her.

“Well, I don’t know. You’d have to ask me to date you.” She said, not making things too easy, but still smiling in a way that was definitely flirtatious.

TBC