Exploring A Whole New Environment

Posted on Fri Sep 4th, 2026 @ 10:23am by Master Chief Petty Officer Chuck Finley [Reece] & Lieutenant J'airesh Mora-Heath

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Teeves' planet (gotta look up the actual details!) tbc
Timeline: Current
1394 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Lt J'Airesh Mora-Heath and her fiance Master Chief Petty Officer (aka the most attractive man in the Universe! as J'Air insisted on calling him) Chuck Finlay, were exploring, having at last managed to get a coinciding couple of off-duty days.

J'Air was excited. It was so good to get "proper" time off like this and she had linked her arm into Chuck's, so proud to be on his arm that she was almost glowing with pleasure and a wide, daft grin on her happy face. "I'm so happy to be here with you" she cooed, entwining her fingers with his and leaning in towards him as they walked. "Did I ever tell you that I ADORE you?" she teased, knowing full well that she never stopped telling him.

As the couple walked through the bazaar, Chuck would stop by a vendor here and there, to get a pretty bauble or two for J'airesh. "Umm...maybe once or twice, I think." He grinned at her as they continued to walk together through the beautiful day.

J'Air laughed, it was so nice when they could banter back and forth like this. As they had spent a fair amount of time just browsing, they came to a rather unusual stall selling pets. J'Air frowned at first, unable to imagine how the stall holder could possibly be taking proper care of creatures that were either chained to perches or rails, contained in vastly inadequately sized cages or in terrariums with completely inappropriate lighting, humidity or temperature. Her grip on Chuck's arm tightened subconsciously.

"Oh those poor creatures!" she gasped, horrified. "Is there anything we can do?" she asked Chuck in a hiss that shouldn't be audible to the passing crowd. The closer they got the more aware she became of each creature and its situation and tears began to well into her eyes.

Chuck's heart hurt for the miserable creatures. However, he knew that there was only so much that they could do. "Sweetheart, I'd love to take all of them home. However, we have neither the room or the funds to do so." He put his arm around her shoulders as they moved past the stall. "Also, as members of Starfleet, we took an oath to protect the sovereign rights and laws of nor only Federation worlds, but also to not impose our will upon other civilizations, no matter how much we disagree with how they choose to do things."

J'Air's head lolled forward in resignation. ~Chuck was right but it did feel awful~ "Yes, of course, I'm sorry to have asked but it seems so horrible. Let's find some other, nicer stalls to look at where they might raise our spirits?" she tried to smile and be positive.

Moving on they came to a pretty stall covered with the most delightful hand crafted jewelry. "Ooooh! This looks much nicer..." she sighed, moving closer, tugging softly on Chuck's arm to bring him with her to take a closer look.

Chuck smiled softly, allowing his beautiful fiancé to drag him around. When they saw the pieces, he smiled again. "The craftsmanship is amazing," he said as he perused the selection of fine jewelry. Looking over at J'airesh, he asked, "Anything calling out to you?'

"Only you and those beautiful eyes of yours." she quipped, smiling adoringly at him. "oh, you meant on the stall?" she pretended not to have known what he had been saying but the mischief in her eyes sparkled that this was just a ruse to get another of those handsome smiles out of him so she could feel her knees go weak again, the way they always did when his face lit up with humour and affection.

Chuck chuckled and shook his head slightly. "You, my dear, are addicted." He chuckled softly, then saw a necklace on one of the displays. He asked the clerk, "How much for this one?"

"That is five thousand Drullas, sir," the elderly stall owner replied with a gentle voice.

"Ummm..." Chuck frowned slightly, as he thought for a second. "We don't have any of your currency....." he then has an idea. Pushing up his right shirt sleeve, he removed the platinum bracelet that he picked up during one of his adventures...or was it a misadventure...to Risa. "This comes from our galaxy, so you'd be the only one to have it." He handed the bracelet over.

The older woman took the bracelet and looked over, then took out a tool and scanned it. The results made her eyes grow very large. "There is more platinum in this than I have ever heard of anyone ever finding!" She quickly packaged everything she had, carefully putting each piece of jewelry in its own box, then carefully put each filled box into a medium-sized crate. Once she was done, she pushed the crate to Chuck. "This is all I can offer, and its still not worth even half of this!"

Chuck was surprised by the action. "Really? Platinum is very common where we come from." He considered the trade, then said, as he put his hand on the crate, "If you are sure, then this will be plenty. Keep the change."

The old woman almost fainted, but she kept her feet under her. "Thank you, Sir!!" She leaned closer and kissed Chuck on his right cheek, then his left. "Thank you!! This will support my family for generations to come!" She then hugged him, then hugged J'airesh, before she put the bracelet in her bra and hurried away.

"Aww, that was so sweet of you!" JAir sighed, going back to the look of adoration from earlier. "She was thrilled with that exchange, wasn't she. Now you have all this lovely jewellery to dispose of amongst your many relatives and lady friends - I'm sure I saw some forming a queue at the previous corner" she teased, giving him a wink and sparkling a mischievous flutter of her eyelashes at him, looking innocent.

Chuck grinned softly as he looked at J'airesh. "Oh? I must have missed them." He looked in the direction she had indicated. "I suppose I should go give them some of my loving attention then." He started towards the area.

J'Air let out a protest and grabbed Chuck's arm firmly so he couldn't progress far. "Oh no you don't Mister!" she laughed and nestled into his arm. "I sent them packing" she continued the joking scenario of the non-existent lovers and wanna-be admirers all in a queue. "I'm not letting you out of my sight!" she teased. "You're a marked man now, and one with a lot of new responsibilities, if you're prepared to take them on. Although, seriously, I would understand if you didn't, especially seeing as this wasn't planned or discussed nor even in either of our sights..........." she stopped walking and tugged softly on his arm to stop him alongside her.

"I have no idea when the right time would be to bring this up so I'm just going to come out with it. I'm sorry it will be such a shock and I promise i didn't make it happen on purpose. I truly mean what I said about not having any expectations of you considering that you had no opportunity to decline the idea......." she dried up talking and looked up into his gorgeous eyes, her own becoming moist as she began to tremble at the thought that he might be so horrified that he would end their relationship. She genuinely believed he would have the right to do that, although her heart was breaking into pieces at the thought that he might. It was a lot to land on a person like Chuck and she hated herself for letting this happen in this way, even though she 100% adored the whole concept now that it was upon her.

"Did you even think you might want to become a father sometime?" she asked, her voice now trembling almost as much as the rest of her.

Chuck looked down into her eyes, and smiled warmly, pulling her to him. "With you? Anytime, baby." They then kissed and the rest of the world continued to move around them.

A short while later, they returned to the ship, their discussion on the next chapter of their lives together.

~END~