Chapter 7: Reservation

While B.C. and Bart are walking off arm in arm the other pairings are also making their ways about the ship, in well, rather unique ways. Jura and Jukkai have stopped in Jura's room, and she is going off into her closet to show him the various styles of lingerie that she has.

" So Jukkai, what's your favorite color?" she smiles coyly while tilting her head looking at him in a rather odd way.

Jukkai on the other hand in still a little perplexed why they are here and why she's looking into outfits that cover much less of her body, but he takes the question in stride. " Umm… well… blue's nice…"

Jura smiles and jumps up a bit, " Great! I have a cute little blue outfit right here… I'll be right back…" Jura then goes off behind a changing screen and begins to place on the outfit… and nothing more. Jukkai on the other hand is watching Jura's silhouette and smiling like a moron, finding himself enjoying this quite a bit.

After slipping it on Jura peaks her head around and grins. " You ready to see Jukkai?" Almost as if it were an unconscious reaction Jukkai nods his head quickly with a stupid ecstatic look plastered on his face. Seeing his face Jura knows he's enjoying himself so she slowly walks out from behind the screen bending over looking into his eyes, her breasts are very nearly falling out of the top.

" You like what you see?" Jura smiles slyly while Jukkai's eyes widen and he starts to get a nosebleed and mutters, " Uh—umm—mmhmmm…" With those last few words he fall backwards nose still bleeding and now seemingly unconscious.

Jura looks down at him and huffs a bit, " Dammit! Where's Renz? I read that this type of outfit is supposed to turn a male on and make him WANT to make a baby. But no… of course not." With that she gets her usual outfit back on and leaves Jukkai on the floor in his babbling, unconscious, stupefied state… mumbling what sounds like ' boobies'.

Jura walks out of her room and looks around, " Now where's my Renzy wenzy?" She goes off to search in an almost fanatical way.

Meanwhile Renz and Meia were looking around his new room and Renz smirks. " Simplistic… but I like it." Goes into his pockets momentarily and pulls out a little cube like object. " Ya! I still have it… now, does it still work…" Renz kneels down and begins to tinker around with the small cube. During the tour around the room Meia realizes Renz kind of stopped and is no longer behind her. With this fact she turns and notices him doing something kneeling over, so general curiosity gains the upper hand and she peaks over his shoulder a little.

" Hey, what do you have there?" Renz looks up over his should seeing mostly her chest so he blinks a few times then looks back at the cube and decides to answer her while still working. " Oh this thing? It's a compact holovision." Meia still quite confused asks, " Umm… it's a what?"

Realizing women must not have these things on Mejere he stands up with the cube still in his hand and looks around the room. " Hey, were you gonna put anything on this dresser?" Meia looks in the direction he's referring to and shakes her head a little.

" No, I don't think so… but you know, a vase of flowers wouldn't hurt…or perhaps a few candles." Renz hearing that places an open palm to his forehead as he then smirks.

" Well that won't be necessary, assuming it works up here…" After the sentence he places the cube on the dresser, and pushes a small button on the side as he then takes a step back.

The once small cube now swells into a 30-inch wide monstrosity, filled with much static and what seems to be snow on the screen.

Meia tilts her head and gazes at it highly bewildered, " It snows inside the box? Or is it a film of snow?" Renz looks at her as if she's brain damaged and then at the holovision.

" I guess the distance is screwing with the signal… hold on a moment…" He then walks up to the box and gives it a few good smacks to the side and threatens it with the scrap heap once or twice.

So, after about 2 minutes of screaming and smacking, with Meia looking on in amazement, the snow suddenly disappears and turns into a weird moving picture of people in helmets and color coordinated shirts.

Before she can ask Renz quickly sweeps her up in a hug, and spins her around the room, overjoyed that he got it working. " Yes! All isn't lost, I get to watch my holovision!" Instantly Renz realizes he's holding Meia… very close. So he then slowly puts her back down and coughs a few times to regain his composure.

" Holovision is something myself and a friend of mine created a while ago. It basically picks up on old radio and satellite signals that kind of get lost in dead space and reassemble the pictures and commentary so we get to see what was seen in years long past." Meia's eyes widen completely enamored with the idea of viewing the past in such a way.

" So… what is this then? And what gave you the idea to create this?" Renz then looks at the picture and grins.

" Ahh… this is football. And old sport on Earth where the two teams try and score points by throwing, kicking and tackling the opponent. It's actually quite interesting, this game… seems to be a championship of sorts… Super Bowl 39 I do believe, my Roman numerals are a little rusty… but I think I'm right. Oh and see, the copyright disclaimer says that it took place in 2005, wow, but it's a good thing we can ignore the disclaimer, because the NFL hasn't existed for about 250 years. And if you're wondering, the green team is the Philadelphia Eagles and the other team is the New England Patriots… I haven't seen this one before." Meia nods her head and smirks. " But why did you and your friend invent it?"

" OH! That… well we read about all this stuff in old articles and magazines that were preserved since the days when people lived on Earth. And the programs and sports were all soo interesting. So… we let curiosity fuel our inventing. And well… unfortunately, my friend was sent out to fight in one of the Mejere and Taraak battles about 3 years ago… and he was killed. So out of respect I never tried to sell the idea." Meia lowers her head a little and sort of half smiles as she places her right hand on his left shoulder.

" That's very noble of you, but such an invention should be shared. Perhaps we can see how exactly it fairs with cohabitation. And if it's a success, then you can mass produce it, and become a highly decorated inventor." Renz smiles slightly as he then turns to address Meia's statement. Yet, as he rotates to look at her, his eyes lock onto hers and he gazes deep into her intoxicating green eyes and almost as if it were gravitational pull, his lips connect with Meia's for only seconds, but feels like much longer.

Following their moment they both look into each other's eyes once again and blink. " Umm, Renz, maybe we should continue with the tour… and come back here later to discuss your invention."

Renz smiles and nods, " Of course, a wonderful idea! Let us be off." He takes her hand gently in his and tugs her towards the door. " I need a tour guide… come on, pick up the pace woman." He grins playfully baiting a reaction out of her. But all she does is narrow her eyes slightly and smile at him very warmly. And just like that, they are headed out the door, towards wherever Meia decides to lead them.

So, off in the kitchen, with a much less romantic air about them we find Alexei and Barnette combing the cabinets looking for something to eat.

" What is all this stuff? Peanut butter, spaghetti, chicken... I mean… I don't see any pills." Barnette rolls her eyes and smacks him in the back of the head.

" I already told you, women don't eat like that. We cook our food, and serve it on platters." Alexei looks at her in a rather bewildered manner.

" What is a platter? Is it a type of animal? Perhaps it is a food serving machine?" Barnette quickly reaches into one of the cabinets and pulls out a plate.

" This would be a platter… it's a device used to carry the food until you are finished eating it." Alexei nods sharply and grins, " OH! I thought they were Frisbees…" Barnette now the one confused looks at him oddly, " What? What's a Frisbee?"

Alexei was zoning out a little as he takes in all the sites of a female 'kitchen', but is jarred out of his dream like state by her question and scratches the back of his head.

" Well there aren't many of them on Taraak… but it's an item that is light weight which flies through the air and it's shaped much like one of those plates there. And the point of one is to have it at one moment, and then throw to another person and go back and forth catching and throwing it. It's supposedly a recreational type of fun for some… but I always found it kind of pointless."

Barnette smiles and shrugs, " I don't know, but I agree, it does sound kind of dumb and pointless."

After the little conversation Barnette and Alexei continue to look around for something to eat, as Barnette finds something that Dita always said Hibiki enjoyed, so she'll try it on Alexei.

" Hey Alexei, come here… I'm going to make us something to eat, and I'd like it if you helped, or at least watched. Maybe that way, you'd understand it a little better, okay?" Alexei lets out a bit of a sigh but finds himself walking over within moments of her asking.

" Well… what are you cooking?" Alexei tilts his head trying to make out what's in front of him.

Barnette raises a brow and a rather mischievous look spreads across her face, " We mister. What are we cooking."

Alexei rolls his eyes and nods, " Yes, we, whatever… just what is this stuff?" Barnette walks over towards the oven to pick up the apron that happened to be lying there and puts it on as she then looks at Alexei and winks. " You'll find out, just listen to me and it will taste good." Alexei sighs and before he can say anything Barnette continues, " and if you don't like it… I'll have to kill you." Barnette smiles a bit, but it's a rather unsettling kind, the one in which you're not quite sure if she's serious or not. The only thing Alexei is sure of is that he should just shut up, listen and like it.

So with all these things going on around them Bart and B.C. seem blissfully unaware and uncaring. They are just very much involved in one another's stories and little secrets here and there that get revealed throughout the conversation.

" Really! You shaved your head because of the sick girl from that diseased planet we stopped at? And here I thought you gave up on your ideas of fitting in with long hair… so you tried to see if no hair would have helped." B.C. smiles a little, as Bart can't help but grin.

" Hey, it seemed to have worked, after I did that, I was getting stepped on a lot less." B.C. nods and adds, " That could also have to do with the fact that shortly after shaving your head you realized the ship had guns and could do more then just run." B.C.'s eyes narrow a little as Bart smiles.

" Well, I mean… come on… give me at least a little credit, please, just a sliver?" Bart's face then contorts to this sad little pitiful look, so pitiful that B.C. just laughs and smiles.

" Sure, maybe, just maybe, we started liking you a little more. But just maybe… and nothing more." Bart nearly jumps out of his seat. " Maybe I can live with! It's better then a no, or a shut up."

Just when it seems like everything is going wonderfully for the crew and the new recruits, suddenly a small blip appears on the radar and then disappears just as quickly.

" That's odd…" Duelo looks over at Parfait with a quirked brow. " What's wrong?"

" Well my portable scanner detected something within about 23 light years of the ship… which is right on the edge of this little things capabilities… but, it just vanished." Duelo taps his chin a little as he then places his left hand on Parfait's hip.

" Let's just finish the escape pod and leave the enemy reports to the bridge crew, sound good to you?" Parfait blushes at his hand placement, and the fact that Duelo was leaning over basically whispering it into her ear didn't help, as Parfait then whirls around and places her arms around Duelo's neck and the two begin to kiss each other with ravenous passion.

" Well… unexpected, but I guess the doctor's testing out his ideas on Parfait… well anyway… another one for the Pai-log" With that Paiway takes a picture and writes it in her book, " Gotcha"

To Be Continued….