"It's the Ocean!" Part 3: I Love The Water! (Backpost)

Posted on Mon Sep 22nd, 2025 @ 8:01pm by Lieutenant Commander Alexander Espersen & Lieutenant Mark Valleroy & Lieutenant JG Raven Windancer & Corey Valleroy & Connor Valleroy
Edited on on Mon Sep 22nd, 2025 @ 8:01pm

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Unnamed Class O Planet

[Ocean Side, Clothing Required Beach]

Raven landed on the clothing side of the beach...for now...she wasn't quite ready to go over there...but perhaps later. Raven wore a Sapphire blue, one piece suit with a cute skirt.

"Whistle! This place is beautiful!" Raven whistled, breathing deeply of the salty air as she felt the sun kiss her skin. Something stirred deep within her, but she wasn't sure what it could be.

Mark and the boys beamed down a short time before. Mark had considered staying on board with altogether and maybe hanging out with the holodeck crowd at the party Marine Captain Markova was reportedly throwing, but Corey and Connor really wanted to go planet-side, pointing out how long it had been since they'd really had a chance to go down to a planet, and Mark had had to concede that it had been down to a planet himself for anything other than away missions (and away missions that always seemed to end disastrously at that). So Mark (after briefly returning to the ship after going down earlier with Cmdr. Esperson) had made arrangements to head back down, after having assurance from Lt. T'Pinga that she would keep an eye on things along with those senior officers still remaining on board (as Markova would be on board as well, and rumor had it the new chief engineer might be remaining behind as well). Mark had nodded, since there was little reason to feel anything worse than sickbay having to deal with a few cases of sunburn when all was said and done.

Of course, the clothing required beach had been the one choice under the circumstances for the three to go to. The two boys bounced around in the sand as Mark followed along behind. Several other crewmembers were already there getting things set up, and the three Valleroys quickly spotted one familiar face among them.

"Lt. Windancer," Mark said. "Good to see you around again. I trust you're here to have a good time?"

"Mark, Corey, Connor! So far I am. How are you three?" Raven chirped, not bothering with rank as she happily waved at the trio.

"Certainly better now that we're down here, especially when surrounded by friends," Mark said. "I see you're ready to get into the swing of things down here."

"Giggle Eyup! I love the water!" Raven giggled at the beach joke.

Down the beach came Alexander, carrying a large plastic cooler. He set it down with a thud into the sand. "Raven, Mark. Corey and Connor. I come bearing the gift of cold snacks."

He opened the cooler to reveal a galaxy of multicoloured iced treats, of all different shapes and sizes. "I'm partial to the orange ones with vanilla ice cream inside," he said, taking a creamsicle for himself. "There's a bag here for garbage, but otherwise, help yourselves."

"Yumarific! Thank you, Alexander!" Raven chirped, grabbing a bomb pop.

"Of course," Alexander said. "I'll leave these here. Have fun, everyone." And off he went, to check on everyone else.

Raven opened her bomb pop and started happily licking it, relishing in the memories it brought back.

Corey and Connor, after a momentary glance at Mark and receiving an assuring nod, charged in and began rummaging through the cooler before making their selections (wisely sticking to one item each at the moment), with Corey grabbing an orange and Connor grabbing a cherry. Mark selected a chocolate and moved out of the way as others casually came over to make their own selections.

"So," he asked Raven, "what's a particular favorite of yours in beach activities go? Or do you even have one particular favorite among all activities?"

"Racing for sure, collecting shells, sleeping, and lazy swimming. What about you guys?" Raven finished applying her sunscreen, and rolled onto her back to soak up some sun.

Mark glanced over ant Corey and Connor, who were racing around on the beach, having already finished their pops. "A certain amount of racing, obviously," he said a bit of a wry grin. "Sun swim, and sand, though not necessarily in that order. Maybe the real treat is just getting off of the ship for a while. Things like holodecks can be fascinating, but in some ways they can only go so far. In the back of our minds, we always know that what we're dealing with is nothing more than an illusion. A complex one, true, but an illusion none the less."

"Ain't that the truth!? Racing definitely feels better planet side!" Raven smiled as she watched the boys running around.

"*Yawn* As much as I wanna join the boy, I'm gonna refresh my sun-screen and take a cat nap." Raven yawned as she readjusted her position on the blanket.

"Well, have fun," Mark said. "Try not to get too well-done. I may be off dealing with those two," jerking his head in the direction of Corey and Connor.

"Thank you. You too...hehe, they'll run you ragged for sure!" Raven chuckled before closing her eyes.


To be continued...