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Beverly brushed her damp fringe out of her face and sighed. “Who’s bright idea was it to come down to catalogue the plants? Oh, that’s right. Mine. Idiot.” She grumbled. Beverly contemplated ripping off her sleeves, but in the intense heat of the sun, she knew she would burn instantly. She suddenly wished for the old hot weather uniforms before Starfleet had replaced all the speciality uniforms with the all-purpose all-weather jumpsuit. She took a sip from her water flask and continued walking.
The Enterprise was having shore leave on the planet after the initial away team had discovered no sentient life on the planet, just lush green jungles yielding to sandy beaches....but it was incredibly humid. Beverly had issued instructions to everyone beaming down to make sure they stayed hydrated and to return to the ship if they at all started to feel light headed. She had even convinced Jean-Luc to beam down, though he wouldn’t be down for hours and he had promised her he would bring a picnic for their dinner.
While there were plenty of people exploring the sandy beaches and the rainforestlike jungle, Beverly had chosen to catalogue the plant life and see if any had medicinal purposes. She knew she was safe from harm as the planet had detected no harmful life, and she wasn’t going to eat any of the plants without testing. In fact, she had warned the rest of the crew against eating any of the fruit or vegetables while on the planet unless they checked them with a tricorder. Her walk had brought her to the outskirts of the jungle. She knew she didn’t have to worry about Jean-Luc finding her, he would just have the transporter chief find her badge signal and beam him near her.
Beverly soon had her small bag full and overflowing with plant samples and cuttings. It would be a lot of work, but it would be worth it...and if some of the plants turned out to be helpful and they could grow them, even better. She also took detailed scans of the plants she didn’t take samples of to gain a full picture of the flora of the planet. She was always a doctor first and foremost, but she loved her lab and loved studying new things. Besides, sometimes, Sickbay was positively empty and she had little to do as her staff was competent to handle most minor injuries, which left her with plenty of time for research.
She was hot again. Her water bottle was nearly empty, and she hoped Jean-Luc remembered to bring something to drink with their picnic dinner when she came into a clearing with a clear pool of water. The water looked cool and inviting, so Beverly quickly took a sample and scanned it. The water was free from any parasite that would be harmful to humans and she was alone. She had walked at least ten kilometres away from the original beam down point and she was sure she wouldn’t find any other officers or crew in the area. Beverly glanced at the time on her tricorder and saw she still had several hours before Jean-Luc would be able to beam down and she decided she would make a much better picnic companion if she didn’t reek of sweat.
She removed her uniform and rinsed it off in the water before laying it out on a rock to dry. Her bra, socks, and underwear were next and she waded into the cool water naked. She knew it wasn’t very deep, only about two meters in the middle and she swam a few laps across the center to cool off.
###
Will Riker pressed the chime outside the Ready Room and waited to be granted entry.
“Come! Ah, Number One. I didn’t think it was that late.”
“It’s not, Sir, but I thought you might like to beam down early.” Jean-Luc looked up and grinned.
“I take it this is Counsellor Troi’s idea?” Will floundered.
“Ah....” Jean-Luc held up his hand.
“Never mind. And thank you. I was meeting Beverly with a picnic dinner. I’ll check and see if it’s ready for me to pick up.” Will Riker grinned.
“Already taken care of, Sir. Your picnic for two is waiting in the transporter room for you to pick up.” Jean-Luc struggled not to roll his eyes. Why did he get the feeling he and Beverly were being set up? He rose from his desk and deposited his tea into the reclimator.
“Well, then I suppose you have the Bridge. You know where I’ll be.”
Jean-Luc eyed the picnic basket that was waiting for him. It suspiciously looked like it contained a bottle of wine from his vineyard. Not that he wouldn’t have brought wine to share with Beverly, he just would have liked for it to have been his own idea. He nodded to Miles O’Brien.
“Afternoon, Chief. Thought you would have been down there with your lovely family.”
“Yeh. Well...Keiko wasn’t sure about taking Molly down there. I know Doc Crusher said that there was nothing that could injure or cause illness, but you know mothers. I mean...ah...” Miles rubbed his neck. “Sorry, Sir.” Jean-Luc gave his chief transport operator a rare smile.
“It’s fine, Mister O’Brien. Can you find Doctor Crusher’s location? I’m supposed to meet her with dinner.” Miles pressed a few buttons on his console and nodded.
“Yes, Sir. She’s about ten kilometres away from the beam down point. Do you want me to send you there?”
“Please.” Jean-Luc stepped onto the transporter pad with the heaving basket in his hand and he nodded at Miles. “Energize.”
Jean-Luc looked around the clearing he had been set down in. It was absolutely picturesque and perfect. The edge of the jungle was on one side, and a clear pool of water was in front of him. He squinted, but he didn’t see Beverly and he wondered if the Chief had been wrong and set him down at the wrong point, but then he saw a figure swimming in the water. He started walking towards the pool.
“Beverly?” Beverly let out a gasp and crouched down to her neck in the shallow water.
“Jean-Luc! I wasn’t expecting you for several hours...” He grinned.
“I know. It seems our counsellor and Number One conspired to get me down here earlier. Care to share your pool with me?”
“The water is lovely,” Beverly called back. Jean-Luc set the basket down and spotted Beverly’s clothing on a nearby rock and grinned when he saw her underwear was there, too. He discarded his clothing and slowly waded into the water, shivering slightly from the chill of the water. He waded out closer to Beverly and discovered the water was about waist high where she had submerged herself.
“Hi,” Beverly said, flushing as she realised they were both now naked and skinny dipping like a pair of teenagers.
“Hi, yourself.” Beverly studied Jean-Luc and smiled wickedly at him before she punched at the water, sending a splash of cold water over his dry chest. An amused smile played at the corner of Jean-Luc’s lips. “It’s like that, is it?” Beverly swam away from him but he grabbed her ankle as she swum by and pulled her under. She came up sputtering.
“That was rude!” Jean-Luc grinned.
“Cold?”
“What? I..oh!” Beverly quickly crossed her arms over her chest.
“Too late. I already saw them. And I must say, Beverly,” Jean-Luc pushed some of her wet hair behind her shoulder and gently cupped her face. “You are beautiful.” He glanced at her eyes and he decided to risk it. He leaned in and touched his lips to hers gently. She responded in kind and moved her arms to his neck. He slid his hands to her waist while they kissed and she wrapped her legs around him. When they broke off the kiss, Beverly rested her forehead against his.
“Wow.”
“Wow, indeed.” He leaned in and kissed her again. Beverly sucked on his lower lip and moved a hand down his chest.
“Jean-Luc,” she whispered, “Make love to me. Here. Now. No thinking. Just do it.” Jean-Luc opened his mouth to say something and she kissed him again. “I said no thinking.” She reached between his legs and guided him into her.
They made their way to the shore and Jean-Luc eyed the basket. “I hope there’s a blanket in there.”
“Mm, me too. I’m not ready to put my uniform back on yet but if we’re exposed to the sun, we’ll burn.” Jean-Luc leaned over and gently sucked on her neck.
“Are we still not thinking?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s see if we have a blanket in that basket.”