Surf's Up!

Posted on Wed Jul 12, 2017 @ 1:26pm by 2nd Lieutenant Gage Aravan & Piper Aravan

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Hawaii, Earth
Timeline: MD 13 || 1500 Hours

The friction of the atmosphere caused a faint glow around the shuttle as it entered Earth's atmosphere and headed for the western side of the heart of the Federation on a approved flight path. The pilot looked back at her three passengers with a smile. "Next stop, Hawai'i," she said with a smile as she brought the runabout around. "I bet the three of you are going to have a blast! Especially that adorable little boy you have."

Gage smiled as he held Liam in his arms. "That's the plan," he said. "Liam is probably a little too young to care, but he'll be getting plenty of attention. Right, Piper?"

"Absolutely... by you. Especially considering you're not going to let anyone else hold him," Piper pointed out with a grin as she looked to her husband with their son. "I've only gotten to hold him our entire trip to feed him."

"Oh, come on," Gage laughed. "I didn't hoard him that much," he said.

"Hoard being the right word," the pilot said with a light laugh as she winked at Piper.

Piper laughed. "It is the right word, but I can't hold it against him. Gage works insane hours and doesn't get to see us as often as he would like to. So, if me sacrificing a little time with our adorable little boy is what it takes to keep my husband happy, then that's what I'm going to do." With that, she leaned over to kiss him.

He returned the kiss. "The life of a Marine," he mock grunted. "Always being attacked from all sides. Still, I miss being with both of you and if it weren't for my big brother, I would resign from the Marines to be with you and Liam full time."

"Why does your brother have anything to do with it?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Because he's my brother and I've worked forever to get out from under his shadow," Gage said. "I have to make my own name instead of being known as Captain Aravan's brother."

"I don't think that was ever the case, but you've definitely made a name for yourself all on your own," Piper said, looking down at their sleeping son. "I'm so glad he looks more like his handsome Daddy."

"Hopefully he'll be as smart of his Mommy," he said with a smile. "As for me making a name for myself, I'm only a Master Sergeant. I'm a long way off from getting any higher rank."

"But you will," she said, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Heads up," the pilot called. "We'll be landing at the Napua Hotel in two minutes."

"I'll grab our things," Gage said as he handed her their son. "And you're right. For now, it's time to meet up with the rest of the family and enjoy our vacation."

Piper situated their son in her arms and lowered her head to kiss him. Being a mother was even better than she thought it would be, and the young woman loved every second of it. "You do realize when our parents meet Liam, we won't see him much, right. The same goes for Ava and Squirt (Little Mikey)."

He grabbed their bags as the shuttle landed and the door opened. "I do, but that means we can have a date night," he said.

"This is true. We haven't had one of those in a few months. I'm holding you to that now, you know," the young woman said as she got to her feet still holding their son.

"You can hold anything you want to me," Gage said with a leer and waggled his eyebrows before he stepped out of the shuttle with their bags.

She laughed. "You saying that doesn't surprise me even a little. Take me on a date... a nice one... then we'll see if you get lucky any other way. Sound like a fair deal?" Piper asked, stepping off of the shuttle.

"it does," he said. "And I'll do anything for you."

A native woman stepped up to them as they exited the shuttle with lei's for the two of them. "Welcome to Hawai'i," she said. "May the beauty of the islands lift your spirits and refresh you."

She moved to Piper and put one on her neck, then did the same for Gage. "My name is Anuhea and I'll be your concierge for the duration of your visit here," she said with a warm smile. "If you'll follow me, I'll get you settled into your suites."

"Thank you, Anuhea. Do you know of any Aravans or Scotts have checked in?" the young mother asked.

Anuhea activated a PADD she had hanging by her side and checked it. "They have," she said. "A message was left for you to meet them in their suites after you get settled in." She gave them the suite numbers and led them to the private turbolift that would take them to their suites.

"I got one from Michael earlier, but he was just checking to see how long we'd be," Gage told Piper.

"Spencer sent me one, too, saying they were in route. I'm so looking forward to this trip. We need a vacation after everything that happened," Piper said.

In the turbolift, the concierge took them up to their floor and when the door opened, she handed them the PADD she had. "This has the full schedule of our activities, services available to you, and maps of the local attractions. If you need anything, do not hesitate to contact me at any hour," Anuhea said.

"Any hour may not be that good," Gage said. "You need sleep, too."

She shook her head. "Actually, I sleep two hours a day total," she said. "The rest is spent in light meditation so I am just as rested and able to serve when I am called."

"Well, we'll still try not to over use your services," the young woman said. "And thank you again. This hotel is gorgeous, and I'm quite anxious to get to see what all it has to offer."

When the turbolift stopped, the concierge led them to their suites and gave Piper a gold keycard with the name of the hotel on it and Nappua Concierge. "This will allow you entrance to your suite and everything else that comes with it," she said. "Just present it whenever you need something and you'll go to the front of any queue."

"Fancy," Gage said. "But we didn't reserve something like this."

"A Commodore Aravan did," Anuhea said. "A relative?"

"Commodore...Aravan," Gage started and stopped. "Is my brother." He cast a look at Piper.

Piper smiled as she looked around. "That was incredibly sweet of him. This place is amazing!"

"It is," he said as he waited for Piper to open the door, but he was inwardly fuming. "Shall we check out our new digs?" he asked her.

Piper opened the door and walked inside, then turned to look at her husband. She knew him well, and knew how he felt about his brother doing things like this. "Okay... let's have it. Get it all out in the open so it doesn't fester and completely ruin your vacation."

"Commodore," Gage spat the word out. "He's thirty-three and a Commodore. I'm twenty-seven and at the bottom and still two ranks away from the lowest Marine officer rank. He couldn't even send me a message letting me know."

"Gage, honey... you can't let that eat at you. Maybe he was waiting to have everyone together to make the announcement," she offered softly as she settled their sleeping son into the portable crib supplied by the hotel. "If this bothers you so much, why don't we transfer? The Black Hole has amazing staff that can handle things for me, and my manager is top notch."

"Maybe I should just resign and come to work with you full time," he said as he set their bags down. "It would be safer and I'd get to see you and Liam all the time."

"Whatever you want to do, you know I'll support it a thousand percent," she said, moving over to him to smooth her hands along his chest. "I, for one, wouldn't mind having you around more, but I also know you love being a Marine... and your brother. Maybe you should talk to him?" And if he didn't, she planned to.

"I'm just letting off steam and Mike's been doing a solid job for the past couple years," Gage said. "He deserves it and I should be happy for him."

"But... you've been doing a solid job, too, and it's not fair that you don't get recognized for it," she said with a frown. "You're always the first one to jump to the front line."

"I know," he said. "I just get jealous at times. If I had gone to officer school instead of staying enlisted, I could be in command of my own unit by now instead of a grunt. I'll be okay, though."

Piper leaned in and kissed him. "So, go to officer school. It's not too late to do that."

"I'd have to stay on Earth and go to Quantico for Officer Candidate School," Gage said after he returned to Earth. "While I'd be doing that, you'd be off on the ship who knows where."

"No, I wouldn't. Liam and I would be wherever you were. Like I said, The Black Hole has an amazing manager that can handle things for me, so I wouldn't need to be there like I am now. If you want to do this, I support you, you know that."

"Are you sure that you'd want to leave Spencer and the kids to the gentle embrace of the ship without knowing what's going on?" he asked her.

Piper leaned in to kiss him. "I could still talk to her every single day, and even visit when time permitted. Spencer is a former officer, and I saw how she handled things when the ship went crazy. She's got this."

"For now, let's get our stuff put away, get showered and changed, then go meet the others," Gage said as he leaned over to give her a kiss.

"We have plenty of time to unpack. Let's go take a shower," she said, checking on the baby before making her way to the bathroom.

"That sounds like a great plan to me," he said before he swatted her butt. "Now get to movin' so we can get to groovin', sweetcheeks!"

Piper squealed and moved faster. "Yes, sir," she said, mock saluting him before she took off at a run.