Krovill Kruises - Charismatic Megafauna Watching Tours in Aesthetically Pleasing Rau-Nol [Open]

[t_vau]

Greetings and Welcome to Sha'Kwai. The Rau-Nol Visitors' Bureau lists Krovill Kruises as "Rau-Nol's Premiere Marine Life Watching Tour Operator." We would be pleased to have you join us on one of our all-day tours to view the indigenous pelagic species of Shi'Masu Bay and the Pla-Kur Sea.

Comments

[sehlatbear]

Jim had been reluctant - and in truth Spock was also unsure about this water-based recreation. All of this planet was... disconcerting. The warmth was pleasant, a reminder of home, but the humidity was higher. And there was so much water. The opportunity to survey the unique fauna of the planet was irresistable.

"Jim, if you did not wish to accompany me, I am certain I would have been quite adequate on my own." But Jim's presence eased him, Spock wouldn't lie about that. He would simply not mention it.

[original_fine]

"I'm sure you would have been," Jim agreed, going to the railing and leaning out. It wasn't a ship, exactly. But it was a boat. The sea was hard for him to pass up.

"What I want to know," he said, turning around, "is why they chose a planet full of water to colonize."

He smiled, genuinely glad to have this outing despite his words. The sun on his face, even too hot as it was, and he and Spock freed of responsibilities. And allowed to spend this time together. Shore leave was going to be so much better, when they got back.

[sehlatbear]

Spock stayed a little further back from the railing, less willing to approach the water so closely if it were not necessary. "I have not yet pursued that line of inquiry."

Further down the line of the railing, a young Vulcan woman and... Ah. James Kirk. And a human woman who was not familiar.

[original_fine]

"No, I guess they thought about it first."

Jim followed Spock's line of sight and sighed. What was he doing here? And... T'Vau? As he looked, the man glanced up, stared at him a moment, and then offered a smile Jim recognized as deliberately fake, a little wave with it.

Bastard.

It was almost worse that Jim could read him. It meant there was something to recognize.

[sehlatbear]

His mate's displeasure was evident through the bond. "Jim?"

Spock eased closer to the railing, close enough to reach out fingers.

[original_fine]

Jim met them automatically, but the reassurance and reminder he felt recalled him to himself. James wasn't going to ruin this, and he, in turn, wouldn't let him. He turned back to Spock.

"I don't have to like him," he intoned softly. "But I'm not going to get involved in fisticuffs or anything. It's fine."

[sehlatbear]

Spock considered. "It would not be entirely unpleasing from an aesthetic perspective if you were to engage in physical combat with him." He stroked their fingers together, hidden between their bodies, aware that - on this planet at least - the significance of the gesture would not be unknown to viewers. "The rate of occurrence for your shirt to be torn off in such encounters is quite high." His voice was as dry as it ever was but his mind was almost mirthful.

[original_fine]

"Is that my fault, or Starfleet's?" Jim asked airily. "I guess I'm just too sexy for it. But speaking of which, I'd much rather engage in physical combat with Bill. Because that would probably end in nude wrestling, which would end in conspicuous sex. Better for everyone around."

[sehlatbear]

Spock's eyebrows were vaguely interested, as was the rest of him. "That would be visually compelling."

They had no other obligations for the rest of the day. Perhaps it would have been wiser to simply remain in their rooms with his mates for the empty hours, devising mutually satisfactory ways to pass the time. That would have been logical.

[original_fine]

Jim's smile implied he was fully aware of the tenor of Spock's thoughts. But he turned and looked out over the sea, the water rushing by not as fast as he would have liked but the journey was what counted.

"We should do this," he said suddenly. Then he realized he made no sense. "I mean, vacations. When we get back. We're going to take shore leaves together, in exciting new places, or exciting familiar ones. We're going to leave our cares behind and just be us."

[sehlatbear]

"Are you otherwise, Jim, on a typical shore leave?" Spock had not taken shore leave in... not since the last time Jim had forced it on him. He had preferred to remain in the peace of the near-empty ship as a general rule. But Risa had been quite pleasant.

Quite stimulating, in fact.

"It would be quite interesting to see the Iowa of your childhood. I have not spent much time on Earth."

[original_fine]

"No, no, I'm me, but..." He paused, grasping for the sense of what he was saying. "I never wanted the anonymous hedonistic thing. It's not that it's not me at all, but it's what I had to do, to make up for the rest of the time, for the things I couldn't allow myself. It's all me, but there are trade-offs. I'd rather have you and Bones."

He savored the wind in his hair, closing his eyes.

"I'd like to show it to you," he said quietly.

[sehlatbear]

If they were among humans, Spock would join Jim at the railing, close enough that their bodies touched, perhaps with an arm around his mate - and for his own comfort in proximity to such a body of water. But Spock felt his Vulcan restraint reasserting itself. Would it matter to his mates? It was a concern. They were quite tactile humans.

"You undoubtedly have us, Jim. Though I believe we shall also be required to visit Leonard's home in Georgia." The man had spoken of it so often that Spock had once looked up holovids of the area. It seemed, in summer, that it would be pleasantly warm though perhaps quite moist.

[original_fine]

Jim didn't mind. In fact, it was his own tactile nature he was worried about controlling once they got back. It wouldn't do for him to simply molest either of them on duty. Or off it, in public.

"Required?" he echoed. "You do know what Georgia means, don't you? Homemade peach pie. All we have in Iowa is... corn."

[sehlatbear]

"I have only tried the cherry pie available on the Enterprise. It is, however, quite satisfactory." He would try the peach pie - it would please Leonard.

"It must be said, Jim, that corn is both delicious and possessed of certain nutrient properties that are quite valuable."

No one seemed to have spotted any unicorn sharks yet. Spock resolved to look more closely.

[original_fine]

"That's true," Jim said. "I have nothing against corn at all. But peaches are so much more suggestive."

In the popular imagination, anyway, he mused. Corn didn't have quite the same reputation.