JP - Cadet Leenaya Edrei & Cadet Lyara Alroyo - Come fly with me! [PART 3]
Lyara Alroyo
(( Timeskip - A beach in the San Francisco Bay ))
They must have fallen asleep for a bit, because when Leenaya opened her eyes, the sun was setting on the horizon. The orange-pink light was reverberating on the waves, making the sky endless and exploding in beautiful colours. She turned to her friend, still asleep on the sand, and she gently shook her shoulder.
Edrei: Hey, wake up and look at this.
The Bajoran woman sat up, rubbing her temple as she tried to open her eyes. She had promised to go easy on the springwine and then immediately broken it. She looked to her right and saw Leenaya next to her and smiled.
Lyara: ::Sarcastically:: What’s that honey?
She laughed for a moment then realized in her blurry vision that Lee was pointing to the coastline. Lyara rubbed her eyes and looked out to the horizon. The beautiful sight laid out before her on the coast took her breath away.
Lyara: Wow… that is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
Edrei: ::sighing:: Yeah, same.
Lyara stared forward at the sunset, maybe it was the alcohol talking but it was almost as nice as a Bajoran sunset.
Lyara: I can name more beautiful.
She giggled as she looked at Lee, her face practically glowing from the setting sun.
Edrei: Really? What?
Lyara: Wouldn’t you like to know.
She jokingly poked her with another giggle. Her cheeks turned red as the giggles turned to laughs.
Lee rolled her eyes but chuckled.
Edrei: I know you’ll tell me sooner or later anyway.
Lyara: Probably, I’m an open book around you.
Lee acknowledged her friend with a grin before getting up.
Edrei: Come on, let’s get the bonfire going before it gets too dark.
Lyara: Yes please! I’m so hungry and that hasperat I brought is calling my name.
The medical cadet walked toward the edge of the beach, where sand led to trees and started to gather some twigs that were on the ground, forming some sort of mound. She picked within it, until she felt a round and hard thing in it. A rock? She brought it more into the dusk light, only to realise it was an egg, and the twig mound a bird’s nest that had fallen off the tree.
oO Uh oh. Oo
She quickly put the egg back where it was, but it was too late. She heard the crow’s cry very close to where she was.
oO I. Am. Cooked. Oo
The bird swooped down on her and started picking at her hair to protect its nest. Lee tossed the twigs she had in her hands and protected her face as best as she could while running back to the beach, the crow following her.
Edrei: ::loudly:: Royo!! There’s a friggin’ crow attacking me!
Lyara saw a black mass of feathers peck at her friend as she screamed. She immediately ran up to help her friend, swatting at the bird as it cawed.
Lyara: Holy shit! It’s gonna get your eyes.
The crow lost interest in Lee as it turned its attention to Alroyo. Pecking at her and messing up her perfect bun she had spent so long styling.
Lyara: ::Screaming:: It’s messing up my hair! That rat bastard!
The Betazoid tried to make big gestures to scare the crow away, without much success.
Edrei: No, no, no!
Instinctively Lyara grabbed Lee and started running along the coast away from the nest. Once they had cleared the vicinity of the nest the crow stopped its assault and flew off. Lyara immediately turned to her friend and began to inspect her for any bruises or cuts.
Lyara: By the prophets… Are you ok Lee?
Edrei: Save for my ego, yeah.
She couldn’t help but let a smile creep onto her face, before starting to giggle at what happened.
Lyara looked at her friend, still holding onto her, and burst out laughing. They had both screamed like lost Borhyas from something as stupid as a bird. As Lyara laughed she leaned on her friend, relieved they were ok.
Usually it’d be Lee who played the doctor but it seemed it was Lyara’s turn tonight. With one last glance over her Betazoid companion, she gave her arm a pat and nodded.
Lyara: You check out. You’re still alive.
Edrei: “You’re still alive”. Wow. Awesome doctoring.
The Bajoran woman looked to the sky and noted it’d be the perfect time to set up that bonfire. With Lee still in embrace she took a step forward to lead her back. But, she found herself sinking no, falling to the ground. As she began to fall she tried to hold onto her friend for support but only brought the two down into her freefall. They landed on the sand with a thud, and once Lyara got her bearings she realized she had landed right on top of Lee.
Edrei: ::grinning:: You knocked me off my feet once again.
Lyara: I tend to do that.
Lee spotted in her friend’s hair a feather that the crow had lost in the fierce battle against the two cadets. She gently grabbed it and held it between their faces.
Edrei: ::seriously:: Your bun fought honorably. It shall be remembered in the great songs that will be written about this epic combat.
Lyara: ::Putting on a fake pout:: I just… I’m gonna miss it a lot.
She dropped the feather onto the sand and once again put her hand in Alroyo’s hair, her friend still on top of her. She undid her hair band which wasn’t holding much anymore. Her hair tumbled loose, its red colour gleaming as it caught the light of the setting sun. She gently brushed her fingertips through the strands, dislodging the sand that had gotten caught there during their fall.
Edrei: ::softly:: Much better.
Time seemed to still, except for Lee’s heart racing in her chest. Or was it Lyara’s? She couldn’t tell, still mesmerized by the softness of the Bajoran’s hair between her fingers and frozen in place by their proximity. She dared not move, fearing any motion on her part might break the spell of the moment.
Lyara: Yeah…
Lyara didn’t know what else to say as the moment felt so tense between them. A joke to break the ice felt too inappropriate but just a one-worded response didn’t work either. Not that she didn’t enjoy this moment with her, quite the opposite actually. She couldn’t help but stare at Lee, a blush formed on her face in the awkwardness of the moment. Her hand moved to meet her friends in her hair.
Edrei: ::softly:: What are you thinking about?
Another awkward silence played out between the two as Alroyo looked into her friend's deep black eyes. She’d looked into them plenty of times before, it was hard not to as she had always found the black irises cute. But this time there was a glimmer she had never seen before that compelled her to close the distance between the two.
Lyara: You have really beautiful eyes.
Leenaya felt her cheeks warm under Alroyo’s gaze. She hadn’t expected this answer.
Edrei: I do?
Without much fanfare they closed the gap and met in the middle for a kiss. Lyara’s heart which had been fluttering the whole time strangely calmed as they held it for what felt like a pleasant eternity. As they pulled away from each other's embrace Lyara’s face was redder than the hair Lee had taken a liking to. She quickly removed herself from off top of her and sat in the sand with a sheepish look. During that kiss she felt sparks. That hadn’t occurred before.
Lyara: That’s never happened before.
Still enthralled by the feeling of Lyara’s lips on hers, it took a second for Lee to register what she’d said and how far away she’d moved from her. She wrapped her arms around her knees, already missing Alroyo’s warmth.
Edrei: Mh? What do you mean? ::chuckling slightly:: it’s actually happened a lot, don’t act all timid now.
The two of them had started to see each other as more than friends around two years before. They weren’t quite girlfriends, but their friendship had definitely taken another meaning. No commitment involved, just fun. It’d definitely helped make Lee’s Academy years worth remembering.
Lyara: It felt… ::She thought for a moment:: More real.
Edrei: “More real” how?
She actually had a pretty good idea of what her friend was saying, but had trouble processing it at the moment. It never was a question they’d asked each other before, relishing in their comfortable relationship until now, so it kind of was coming as a shock to her.
Lyara: It felt real, like there could really be something there. Something more than what we already have you know?
The more the Betazoid could think about it, the more it appealed to her. She already had her at her side more days than not, and Lyara was one of the most important people in her life. She imagined having her in her bed every night (even though it already happened more days than not), and she found herself smiling at the thought.
Edrei: ::softly:: I totally get what you’re saying. I mean, nothing was supposed to happen between us.
She scooted closer to Lyara and took her hand in hers, gently stroking it with her thumb while trying to put her feelings into words. She lifted her head, meeting her gaze.
Edrei: Maybe we could forget about all that, just enjoy tonight, and see where it gets us? ::pause;: If you want to, of course.
Lyara sat for a moment and looked at who she thought was her friend’s hand as she thought about Lee’s proposal. Even if “nothing was supposed to happen” they were still really close as far as their relationship went. She couldn’t recall a single day Lee had left her side, they had even gone on multiple vacations together. Lee being by her side was a fact at this point, and Lyara would have been lying if she said she hadn’t wished for more for a while. She smiled then looked at Lee and spoke softly.
Lyara: Yeah, I’d really like that.
Lee fondly smiled at Alroyo, keeping the Bajoran’s hand in her.
She didn’t know what to do now they had addressed it as she looked at Lee. Did she hug her? Give her a high-five or fist bump for a relationship well done? Another kiss or would that be too clingy? Lyara noticed she had been staring at Lee for a good minute now and she had noticed too based off of the look on her face.
Edrei: Wanna get the food going? I’m so hungry.
Lyara nodded and stood up at Lee’s suggestion. She was starving too and the hasperat she brought was calling her name. With an outstretched hand she offered to help Lee up from the sandy ground of the beach.
Lyara: Let’s get some food in our system. I’ll cook up something real nice and we can enjoy the rest of our evening.
Lee took her hand as Alroyo helped her to her feet. Alroyo quickly moved to brush off any sand on her friend that was still remaining.
Edre: ::smirking:: You can’t get your hands off me can you?
A blush formed on the Bajoran woman’s face as she took Lee’s hand. As their fingers intertwined she couldn’t help but notice how natural it felt to hold it. It was as if the Prophets made her hands for Lee’s to hold. Their walk along the beach with the sunset in the distance felt perfect, like an omen for good things to come. Upon reaching the bonfire site they sat down on the towels they had left earlier and Lyara started to build a basic fire.
Lyara: Sadly I left my phaser at the dorms, so we’ll have to do it the old fashioned way.
Edrei: It’s okay, a phaser takes out all the fun anyway.
Lyara after stacking the logs in a “log cabin” formation she learned from her father, she then put kindling under it. With kindling in place she got out her candle lighter and activated the flame to light the kindling. Despite her efforts to light the fire, the kindling wouldn’t combust no matter how long she held it up.
Lee looked at her friend’s frustration growing while holding a laugh. Which was cheeky of her considering she didn’t do much to help Alroyo, but it was way funnier looking at the Bajoran trying to get the fire going.
Lyara: ::Letting out a sigh and placing the lighter down:: You don’t happen to be pyrokinetic do you?
Edrei: ::laughing:: I wish I were, but no.
Alroyo nodded as she reached for the lighter fluid she brought in her duffel bag.
Lyara: Thought as much. ::Presenting the lighter fluid:: Which is why I brought this!
With a furious shake she started dumping the fluid onto the kindling and logs. Once she had deemed there to be enough and the kindling looked sufficiently drenched she put the fluid down and picked up the lighter.
Edrei: Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?!
Lyara: It’s safe I promise.
She leaned in to light the unsafely drenched logs with her lighter.
TBC in part 4
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Leenaya Edrei
Medical Cadet
Starfleet Academy
C240107LE3
&
Lyara Alroyo
Operations/Navigation Cadet
Starfleet Academy
D240108LA4