Going All Out

Posted on 26 Jun 2016 @ 10:55pm by Ensign Quinn Mackie & Ensign Kelly Khan

5,202 words; about a 26 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Recreation
Timeline: MD 2 || 1700 hours

Clothes flew from the small wardrobe as the hyper cadet known as Kelly Khan tried to find an outfit which would stun, amaze and discombobulate people. She had already changed her hair to a temporary rainbow of color and had a pair of rainbow toesocks on. Her fingernails had a musical score with glittery silver tips on them and she wore a treble clef necklace around her neck.

Finally, she picked out a outfit of shorts, a skull shirt and spiked black heels, grabbed a PADD and her combadge and headed for Talon's after leaving a message for Quinn to meet her there when he got off duty.

There, she ordered a mug of coffee and scones and waited to see if Quinn would show up. While she waited, she looked through the PADD and began to play a happy song she hadn't listened to yet from an artist she liked.

Quinn, covered in grime and grease, entered his quarters after a long shift in Operations. Like Commander Bast, he was grateful to have extra help at last. When he first started with Bast, Quinn had planned to jump on the first possible transfer back to Engineering once the man had enough help. Now that said help was here, Quinn couldn't bring himself to send in that request. He was learning so much about plasma relays, bioneural gel packs, and so much more. It had even given him several ideas for making improvements to warp technology and he'd begun to draft a holosimulation to experiment with.

He was about to hop in the sonic shower, but he first checked his messages since it had been all day since he'd been near a terminal. Usually he had nothing, but today a message from Kelly greeted him, inviting him to join her in talons. Smiling, Quinn immediately discarded his uniform, showered, and dressed in a blue t-shirt and jeans. Before leaving, he grabbed his combadge, affixing it to his shirt as he left the room.

The young cadet arrived in Talons a few minutes later. The lounge had already started to fill from other crewmembers, but it was impossible to miss the rainbow-haired girl sitting alone at a table. In fact, other crewmembers had taken notice. Quinn took note of how she was dressed and could only smile. In their short time together, he knew she possessed not a care for what others thought of her. But, he did have a bit of pride knowing that she was his girlfriend. Were he a cocky man, he might suggest to others to back off, but his usual level of confidence was not high enough to do so. Instead, he kept his smile as he approached her table. "Hey, Kelly!" he said, sitting in the chair beside her.

Kelly spun when she heard his voice and lit up even brighter, if that were even possible. She threw her arms around Quinn and gave him a huge hug, then leaned in to give him a kiss. "Hey, Tiger," she said with a smile. "I hope you had a great day, because it's going to be a great night." She reached for one of the scones on a saucer of its own and handed it to him. "I didn't know what to order for you, so I've just been sitting here having a coffee and something light while I waited on the most handsome man on board."

Quinn was not ashamed to return her kiss. "Why am I not surprised you've got something planned for tonight?" he asked, taking another look at her lowcut shirt and short shorts. He accepted the scone and took a bite. "And energizing yourself for the evening." Quinn chuckled, looking at her radiant face and taking in a close look at her musical accents. "Let me guess. A concert perhaps?"

"We could do a concert if you wanted," she said as she settled back in her chair. "Ever day I get to spend with you is a great day, Quinn. It doesn't matter if we're just studying together, hanging out here, or the recreation rooms or in the holodeck. You make the day better and I'm glad that I was able to get your attention."

Quinn frowned. He knew he hadn't been able to see much of Kelly since being transferred to Operations. Until yesterday, it had just been him and the Trill Commander in the department. Now that there were extra hands, hopefully this would mean they'd have more time.

But that wasn't the first thing on his mind thanks to her suggestions. "Oh... studies..." he said with a moan. "I think I'm a week or two behind." He shook his head. "No, no. I can't open a book tonight." He smiled, trying to put his sudden disappointment behind him. "Let's start with dinner."

"Dinner is good," Kelly agreed. "And we are not going to study tonight, period. I have a Risan holodeck program that I've had since I was a freshman cadet and it's always been a favorite. It's at Suraya Bay where the Lohlunat is held. I also have a nice little turquoise bikini that I've been wanting to wear there for a certain special someone." She really hoped the mention of a Risan anything wouldn't make him think of Yolvanda II because she no longer associated the planet with New Risa or anything to do with paradise other than the time she spent with him there.

"Lohlunat?" Quinn asked, getting the attention of a waiter. The Denobulan arrived quickly. Quinn was about to order a pasta dish, but that was when his ears finally heard what Kelly had in store. Deciding that pasta was too heavy, the cadet settled on a turkey panini and chips.

"Festival of the Moons," Kelly explained. "There's music, dancing and celebrating to your hearts content." She paused to look at the waiter and glanced at the menu. "I'll have the Philly Cheesesteak, please."

Quinn smiled as the waiter nodded and left. "Oh, an Andorian ale!" he called after him. To Kelly, he said, "Sounds like a perfect evening." He leaned in to give her a kiss. "Man, I've missed you!"

She returned the kiss with a show of appreciation via a liberal dose of tongue before she pulled back. "I've missed you, too, Tiger. I haven't seen you much, but I have some really good news."

"What's that?" he asked, smiling from the incredible kiss. The waiter arrived only a moment later with Quinn's ale and placed it on the table.

"I've been the one piloting the Black Hawk for the past two days during Alpha Shift," Kelly said happily. "Real time experience taking her out at warp, entering the navigation and plotting the course. It's been amazing."

"That is incredible!" Quinn exclaimed. The smile on his face remained, this time as an expression of how proud he was of her. "Is it everything you dreamed of? I mean, it's no experimental ship, but hey."

"She's a fine ship," she said. "I know when I set myself on my course that I wouldn't start with the newest ships of the line and I accepted that. I just love the fact that I went from holding orbit on Gamma to piloting her on Alpha with the other bridge officers. It's a positive mark in my file and I plan to get every hour I can at the helm. Also, Commander Walsh has been teaching me how to pilot Valkyries in the holodeck! Can you believe that?"

"You better be careful," Quinn added with a chuckle. "You learn how to fly a Valkyrie, and Commander Walsh will have you transferred the first chance he gets. I hear the Black Knights are the best of the best in the Gamma Quadrant."

"The Deputy Squadron Commander, Lieutenant Kilmartin taught at the Academy before we went there," Kelly said. "I got to speak to him, but he really didn't seem like the Sunbeam of legend. Still, he gave me the time of day and said he'd be my wingman if I learned to fly one. Honestly, for me, it's the joy of flying anything. Enough about me, though. What's been keeping you busy, Tiger?"

"Nothing as exciting as flying the Black Hawk," Quinn confessed. "Though I will say I've been learning a lot. Between firmware upgrades on EPS relays and coordinating upgrades on the dorsal phaser array, I never really knew how complex ship's systems were. It's amazing what you learn just by studying the details."

"Here I thought you were an Engineer," Kelly teased him. "Here I am in Flight with a secondary in Engineering and I understood everything you just said. Still, I could use some time getting my hands dirty, but I'll settle for seeing if you have any grease that'll rub off on me later."

"The sonic shower never gets it all," Quinn said with a smile. Gesturing towards the PADD that was still playing, he asked, "Who's that you got there?"

"Her name is Lily Allen," Kelly said as she turned the PADD so he could see. "She was an English singer, songwriter, actress, and television presenter. Her lyrics are a bit...lewd in some of her songs, but I like how she sounds. Do you have any musical tastes in particular?"

"It's been... a while," Quinn replied, sampling the Andorian ale. "We can't listen to anything while on duty, and when I study, I find that words break my concentration. I generally stick with composers."

"I like a little of everything unless it has a bad beat, then I'll turn my ears away from that artist and try not to alienate the entire genre. One person does not make a genre and one song isn't enough to turn me away," she said and took a sip of her coffee.

"Same here," Quinn replied. "I just haven't been very adventurous with music in the last few years. I've taken a liking lately to early 21st century movie scores actually. There's just something that those composers can do to manipulate you emotionally, even without seeing the movie."

"Yeah, but it's nothing like seeing it attached to the scene, either," Kelly pointed out. "You have have a gripping piece of music, but if it's attached to something like a horse and carriage thundering down a back mountain road with werewolves chasing you....it's even better." She shivered and took a bite of her scone.

Quinn took another small drink. There was little point in quickly downing a full glass, especially if he was heading to a holographic celebration. "Skulls, werewolves, vampires, rainbows," he said with a smile. "I learn more about you all the time."

"It's a beautiful thing," she giggled. "An active imagination is encouraged and leads to new ways of looking at things in reality. People like Captain Picard and all the other great Captains weren't without imagination, after all and look at their places in history."

"Don't forget the engineers behind them," Quinn warned with a smile. "Were it not for the technical innovators of the 21st and 22nd Centuries, we'd never have portable music files or warp drive."

"Always back to engineers," Kelly rolled her eyes with a grin. "Without pilots, those engineers wouldn't have gotten around to a lot of places and yes, I know engineers were required so pilots could fly." She poked her tongue out at him.

He laughed. "Not unless you were the Wright Brothers or Howard Hughes. Though I guess flying was a lot more simple back then, and didn't involve antimatter."

"Okay, enough about work," she laughed as their food arrived. "What do you feel like doing since we have free time now?"

"After eating?" Quinn asked, picking up a couple of the chips. "That Lohlunat is a good idea. After that, I'm open to anything. Just as long as it's with you."

"Oh. Right," Kelly said. "I stuffed so much in my head at Academy that I sometimes forget what I just said. Once, I forgot what an orange was. The Lohlunat it is!"

"It's round," Quinn said with a smile, and demonstrating with his hands. "And it matches this color here," he said, pointing to a small orange section of her hair. "Maybe we need to upgrade you to an espresso."

"I'll be okay in a minute," she said before her eyes closed and her head tilted forward, her arms going limp to her sides.

Quinn froze, not quite sure how to react. "Kelly?" he asked, his voice a bit timid as he leaned forward to shake her by the shoulder. "Kelly?" he said, a bit worried. A glance up told him that they'd caught the attention of the nearby tables. One of them talked about calling a medic.

Kelly looked up with a sly grin a second later, shook her shoulders and head, her rainbow hair flying around her and a wild look in her eyes. "System reboot complete. Kelly Two point Oh is now online and ready for action. Coffee subroutine loading." She grinned like a maniac and drained her cup.

He shrugged to the onlookers, who stared for a moment before returning to their own business. "The android side of you certainly makes a lot of sense," Quinn suggested, leaning back and grabbing his panini.

She laughed and looked around at the others and his expression before she picked her Philly Cheesesteak up and took a bite. "It pays to keep them wondering," she told him after she chewed and swallowed it.

The engineer shook his head with a chuckle. "It amazes me how much you really don't care about what people think," he said before taking a bit of his meal.

"It's not that I don't care," Kelly said. "It's that they care enough to allow others to distract them and I can't be held responsible for that. If they allow surface actions to deter them from getting to know me, that's on them. One day, I'll be the person they'll be reporting to and wondering why I'm not the one reporting to them."

Quinn continued to eat his panini. After swallowing a bite, he said, "Save me a seat for that show."

"That spot's already guaranteed for you, Tiger," she said as she winked at him before taking another bite of her cheesesteak.

"Good," Quinn said, smiling as he finished the panini and washed it down with a drink of the ale. Just a few chips remained and he was ready to take a trip to a sick-free Risa.

Kelly finished her cheesesteaks and patted her stomach. "Well...I don't know about you, but I'm ready to change and head to paradise. Do you want to replicate swim trunks there or bring your own?"

"Which are you doing?" Quinn asked, thinking the fastest course of action would be to replicate a pair there. He did have an extra set of clothing rations that he needed to use soon.

"We could get stuff to wear there, but you would have to wait another time to see my bikini," Kelly said.

This was twice she'd mentioned the bikini. It'd be rude of him to suggest a different type of clothing. "Changing before we go it is," he confirmed.

She laughed and got up to take her stuff to the recycler. "You must really want to see that bikini," she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"And what if I do?" Quinn replied jokingly, following her to the recycler. "Only because you make it sound like I'm missing out if I don't. I'm rather enjoying your current look at the moment."

"You are?" Kelly asked, a bit surprised. "Then we'll save the bikini for another time. We can get something while we're there and it'll save time." She realized she sounded like she was flip-flopping back and forth, but his comment threw her off a bit and she was pleased that he enjoyed her look of tailored madness.

He enjoyed those two words: another time. Together, that combination meant that this night would not be their last. Unless he did something absolutely stupid, which he was perfectly capable of doing. "Then, shall we?" he asked, gesturing towards the exit.

"We shall!" she said and took his hand in hers since he hadn't made the move to take hers. She gave him a happy smile that was seeded with mischief which reached her eyes and headed out of Talon's. "You know, now that I think about it, we could have eaten at the festival. They have a boat which is a floating restaurant that people wade out to to get their meals."

"Perhaps a late night snack would be in order," Quinn suggested, walking in near-perfect step beside her, wondering if that mischievous look on her face was about to tempt Kelly into transitioning into a skip along the corridor. "But it sounds like there's so much to do that slipping out onto the water would make us miss quite a bit."

"Well, it's my program and we can go back to it anytime we have holodeck hours saved up," Kelly said as she did a double-step to see if he would match it after seeing that he was walking in time with her. The playful side of her wanted to twirl around and do a lot more to see if he would go along with it and a laugh escaped her lips as she imagined him twirling.

He chuckled, wondering if a bit of that hair dye had gone to Kelly's head. Quinn could tell by her smile that Kelly had something more up her sleeve. Unsure of what she was thinking, Quinn did a double-step of his own to restore order to their unified stride.

His double-step sealed it for her and she released his hand and spun around in the corridor, her rainbow hair going in a swirl around her and she gave him a challenging look. "Are you up to a challenge, Tiger?" she purred as she began to walk backwards down the corridor.

"Walking backwards?" he asked jokingly, seriously considering not even taking this challenge. "How will you know where you're going? Or risk backing into the Captain?"

"No," Kelly laughed. "You were walking in step with me and even did the double-step. I wanted to see if you'd twirl, too." She walked back toward him and took his hands in hers. "Live a little, Tiger. It's been proven that a minute of laughter is healthier for you than an hour of being serious."

"And it's an ancient proverb," Quinn confirmed with a chuckle, recalling the saying. "You are good with breaking the socially awkward out of their shells, aren't you?"

"I am, I admit it," she said. "My girlfriend at the Academy was really shy and socially awkward when I first met her. I had to work like a mad fiend just to get her to sing in concert with me without wearing sunglasses. Every step was like navigating The Badlands without sensors, but it was worth it to see a vibrant, shining woman afterwards."

"Girlfriend?" Quinn asked, wondering if Kelly had mentioned her before. He thought she might have when they were kayaking on New Risa, but his memory was nonetheless fuzzy.

"Uh huh," Kelly said nonchalantly as she turned and took one of his hands again and started to walk down the corridor again. "We went our separate ways by mutual agreement before we got our cadet cruise assignments. She's gone into Intelligence."

"Ah," Quinn said, almost feeling bad he asked. "The kind where you have to analyze mounds of reports and data or the kind that has to kill you if you learn to much?"

"Analysis work," Kelly said. "It was what she wanted to do with her career. She never tried to talk me out of being a pilot and I supported her in her choices. Would you have done the same, Tiger?"

"I don't think there's anything I could do to talk you out of anything," Quinn replied, his tone quite serious. "I believe we all have a purpose in life, and who are we to defy that purpose, much less talk others out of theirs, no matter how much you love them."

She hesitated, unsure if he felt that way about her or if he was stating that kind of love in general. Finally, she decided to wait until the time came and see if he would say those words and mean her. "I agree, and I can be talked out of some things. In fact, I probably should be talked out of some of the ideas that I've came up with."

Quinn smiled, having learned this already by her deciding not to change into her proffered bikini before going to the holodeck. "Name one bad idea you had that you should have been talked out of."

"Drinking Romulan Ale and dancing naked at the Academy when I made Nova Squad," Kelly responded immediately.

He nodded. "That's probably a good one. But, if you didn't, what code name would you have earned? Rainbow?"

Kelly laughed. "Probably Chocoholic," she said. "I ate so much chocolate at the Academy that I'm surprised I didn't gain three hundred pounds. We went shopping once and I bought so much that I had to store three quarters of it at my cousin's place."

Quinn put his hand up to his mouth and squawked like a twentieth century radio. "Tower, Chocoholic. Requesting permission for takeoff." Smiling, he lowered his hand and said with a shrug, "I guess it could work."

She laughed again. "I'm serious. I even had my first counselor trained to bring chocolate to our counseling sessions," she told him. "He would hand me candy bars instead of a usual greeting when I went to meet him."

"Why am I not surprised?" Quinn asked, making a note to bring chocolate the next time he saw her. In fact, he even wondered if food on the bridge was permissible. Perhaps he could bring a report to Commander Bast on the bridge one day and just leave a bar or a couple nuggets at the helm. He'd need a uniform with pockets for that. "Just about every cadet has had Romulan Ale, so the real avoidance should have been the drink itself. But, I don't think someone can just be talked out of ale. So, you're going to have to pick a different bad idea."

"Hmm," Kelly mused for a moment. "How about doing flybys on the Flight Control towers right at the moment the Flight Instructor walks out with his hands full and spills hot coffee all over himself? I despised my instructor at the Academy so much that I referred to him privately as Commander Butthole." She shivered. "That man was so arrogant that he said in order for me to be the best, he'd have to be dead."

"How is that a bad decision?" Quinn asked, thinking of the temporal mechanics class he'd once taken to fulfill a science elective. "I take it the punishment didn't fit the crime?"

"If I had done it, I wouldn't be here today," she said. "And I wouldn't have met you, Tiger."

He smiled, spotting the holodeck door they were quickly approaching. "They'd probably have you behind the helm of some garbage scow or tug. Though, I can imagine you taking that bulky vessel through some tight turns and maneuvers."

Kelly laughed again and stopped at the holodeck and loaded the Risan program she had carried and used for the past four years. "I don't know about all that, but I'd try. Honestly, bad decisions...I try not to make the same ones twice. The worst bad decision that I ever made was blaming my Papa for bringing another woman into our lives when I was eight. I drove her away at first, then I realized how lonely he was and managed to convince her to come back. I call her Mom now."

"At least you talked yourself out of it," Quinn remarked, keeping an eye on the loading screen while speaking to Kelly. "I can't say I've ever done anything like that."

The computer announced that the program was ready and the doors opened to reveal a beach lit by the twin moons of Risa, filled with species from almost every planet in the Federation. The wind was warm and filled with the scents of flowers, exotic foods and the sounds of many people having fun. A boat which was anchored just off shore was well lit and groups of people waded to and from it with plates laden with food.

"Welcome to Risa, Tiger," she said as she walked to the arch and replicator. "Computer, black two piece bikini, back strap, size four." She waited until it was created, then she took it and stepped aside. "Your turn."

Quinn smiled, "Computer, tan board shorts with Hawaiian print, size 32." The article of clothing materialized and he stepped away. The arch dematerialized a moment later. Then, after a moment of hesitation, Quinn stepped behind an unoccupied bar and began to change.

While he went behind the bar to change, Kelly simply stripped out of her clothes where she was and put the bikini on, then set her clothes on the bar. "Afraid I'll see something there, Tiger?" she asked as she peeked over it.

"Not you," he said, nodding his towards the holographic participants. "Oh..." He said remembering where they were. "That's, um, a little embarrassing."

She laughed. "That's because you were thinking about me, right?" she asked him with a smile.

"No, no," he said honestly. He was about to say it was the crowd of people he thought for a moment was actually real. But, when he looked up to meet her gaze, he could see enough of her upper torso and that wonderful sight alone was enough to make any man forget what he was about to say. "Wow," he said at last, almost stammering. "I have a feeling that bikini gives your turquoise a run for its latinum."

"You'll have to wait until another time to learn if you're right, Tiger," Kelly said, thinking it was totally cute how he reacted. "Until then, there's swimming and everything else to get into here. What do you want to do first?"

"Well, they say we need to wait half an hour after eating before swimming," he said, coming out from behind the bar only to get greeted by the full view of Kelly and her swimsuit. If his smile could grow any larger, he'd swear his face would break. "I say we go explore."

She saw him checking her out and turned to give her hips a swish before she turned back around. "You like this, Tiger?" she asked him as she took his hand and started walking towards the beach.

"Like is not an appropriate word," he said, managing to collect himself as he struggled to get back into step beside her. "I enjoy many things that are beautiful, especially when one combines the rainbow with such an amazing outfit."

"Are you calling me beautiful?" Kelly asked him as she looked over at him.

Quinn slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "That I am," he said before giving her a kiss.

She melted against him and returned the kiss. "You are an amazing man, Quinn," she said as she looked up into his eyes. "And a very handsome one."

He only smiled in response, fighting a bit of embarrassment once more until he again remembered that those surrounding him were holograms. Taking her hand, he led her to the beach where the ocean waves gently broke against the sand, churning the fine grain underneath. "You know, this makes me wish we'd actually gotten chance to visit a beach on Yolvanda."

"Me, too," Kelly said as she walked side by side with him. "But I really enjoyed the time that we spent together there and really thank you for teaching me how to kayak. I'd love to you give more more lessons on vectorboarding, too, but even the holodeck can't keep up with the speeds they go and we'd smash into a wall and go splat, which really wouldn't be cool."

"I wouldn't trade it for anything," Quinn replied, hoping he wasn't misunderstood about doing more with Kelly back then. "We should try white water rafting sometime," he said. "I have a great program that I haven't used in a while."

"I like the sound of that," she said before she brought her free hand up to her mouth as she suddenly burst into laughter. "Oh! I forgot to tell you! I was leaving recreation earlier and wasn't watching where I was gone...and face planted between Lieutenant Corwin's chest. Instead of backing up right away, I brought my hands up and inadvertently copped a feel...and she didn't throw me in the brig!"

"Corwin..." Quinn said, trying to place the name. He'd been buried so deep in Operations work that he hadn't met the newest shipmates. Recalling what she'd said earlier about a girlfriend, his eyes suddenly widened. "I don't have competition now, do I?"

"No, you don't," Kelly said, "Corwin, as in Lieutenant Joey Corwin, Chief K-9 Handler in Security. I wasn't looking where I was going. She was okay with it, though. I even took her on a small tour of the ship."

He nodded, still unable to place the name. He'd have to at least look up this Corwin. "That's good," he said, arriving at the water's edge. "You know, I've always wanted to do this with someone." He looked up at the dark sky above them and the bright moons. "I don't think I'm the romantic type, but there's something about walking the beach after dark that's just... special."

Kelly smiled and turned to face him as she held his hand. "That's because you are special, Quinn," she told him before she leaned in to give him a soft kiss. "Very special and I'll happily spend as much time as we have allotted holodeck time. I want to experience everything with you and open you to new experiences as well."

He returned the kiss, if not more passionate than her display in Talons when they were reunited. Taking a breath, he pulled away to look deep into her hazel eyes and smiled. "Kelly, my dear, I look forward to it all."

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