Work Text:
Title: Patterns in the Sand
Author: Poodle
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A simple vignette set the day after, "The Naked Now." Tasha Yar seeks the solitude of a beach at sunset to escape her memories, but an unexpected visitor disrupts her plans.
Patterns In The Sand
By Poodle~
Tasha Yar gazed out across the liquid gold waves of a rolling ocean. The sun dipped low, the sky a tangerine blaze reflected in the water. The waves lapped the shore where she walked; bringing with it a sultry breeze that left the pungent taste of salt on her lips. She sighed, breathing deeply the acrid air, and closed her eyes as the roar of the waves thundered through her mind. The waves slapped the shore, straining across the white sands to grasp her bare feet, and she wiggled her toes, relishing the moment. The echo of gulls drifted over the rumbling ocean, catching her attention. Shielding her eyes with a hand, she gazed into the sky and watched their silver streak as they faded into a lost horizon.
Alone on the holodeck. If only the moment would take her. If only she could fill her mind with *this* reality, rather than yesterday's humiliating...tantalizing? reality. She squeezed her eyes shut.
"Yar, you're a fool!"
How could she have allowed herself to seduce a fellow member of the bridge crew? No, it wasn't simply that, she chastised, opening her eyes and looking out across the water. It was the reality of who - and what - that crew member was.
"Oh, God." Her skin reddened at the memory. "If anyone finds out, I'll die." She stole a glance over her shoulder, though she knew the holodeck was vacant, and heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe no one knew about yesterday's little misadventure; they had been similarly occupied themselves. Still, such juicy tidbits had a way of coming back to haunt you. She cringed.
"Nonsense, you weren't yourself. It's ridiculous to think you had control of your desires. It wasn't as if you planned it! That damned virus," she grumbled, looking toward the soothing waves as they caressed the shore. Then her own words drifted back to her. *But I got undressed for you, Data,* and she knew she was only kidding herself. She angrily kicked a shell, stubbing her toe in the process, and snarled. "You *planned* to seduce him." Sure the intoxicant facilitated the process, but she knew the android was on his way to her cabin, and she knew, as well, her fantasies had flirted with such thoughts since they met. Even more so when she discovered he was capable of intimacy.
"You conniving wench."
Why did she feel so...dirty? No, maybe the proper word was immoral. Data was so innocent, so gullible, it was almost as if she'd set out to seduce a child.
She groaned softly and wandered inland several feet to avoid the rising tide. Sitting on the sand in the lengthening shade of a palm, she doodled absently with her toe in the moist sand.
*There was nothing of the child in his lovemaking.* The thought gave her a jolt, and she gasped. A smile slowly crossed her lips. No. There was absolutely nothing childlike in the android's touch.
A languid breeze tousled her boyish-cut hair, bringing a hint of ocean salt to the air, and she closed her eyes, allowing it to stroke her skin. Her mind drifted to yesterday's rendezvous and another silken touch, the peaks of ecstasy it drove her to. Her heart began to thump. She could see the golden beacon of his eyes as they washed over her, could feel the melodic stroke of his hands, the searching, feverish caress of his lips as they traced the hills and valleys of her form, her neck, her breasts, lower... She shuddered, opening her eyes, and felt the flush of her skin as it tingled. Humidity glistened across her flesh. Unfastening the first few buttons of her blouse, she mopped the moisture from the base of her neck, then slowly from her chest. She drew a trembling breath.
The sun was a smoldering semicircle slipping into the undulating water. The ocean fought to pull it down into a watery grave. They struggled in a vibrant blaze that echoed the battle raging within her, the battle to forget...or to remember.
The memories triumphed.
Shadows stretched upon the beach, as the heavens began to deepen. In her mind's eye she could picture bodies bathed in sweat twisted in ecstasy on the white sands. What an ideal local for making love, this tropical paradise. She could see the sun's reflected glow glistening along the muscular contours of a body bronzed in gold, and she trembled. The memory of slipping her hands along the smooth texture of such skin burned into her mind. Its taste, its smell, seemed so alive, so...Human. A moan escaped her lips, starling her, and she sat up straight, wrapping her arms across her chest. The beating of her heart pulsed though her veins...
The tropical beach had been a poor selection. Perhaps she should leave and reprogram the environment? She gave herself a shake.
The waves crashed against the shore, leaving swirls of patterned foam etched into the stand, and a sprinkling of coral-pink shells. The computer thought of everything. Technology at its finest - or was it? Surely Data was man's most triumphant achievement: the perfect blend of man and machine, the stimulating harmony of rhythm in his movements, the mastery of his caress...
She flung the image from her mind, trembling. If she remained much longer-
"Lieutenant?"
She froze.
Tasha did not need to turn to know the origin of the smooth, masculine voice. "This isn't happening," she pleaded.
"Forgive my intrusion." Data moved across the sand to her side. "I came to inquire if you would terminate the program and vacate this holodeck."
"Vacate?" She turned, her response fading when she caught his chiseled profile in the sun's waning light.
"I regret you selected this holodeck; there exists a malfunction in the system I have been endeavoring to correct. Holodeck three is currently unoccupied and available for your use."
The velvety resonance of his voice strummed her overly sensitized nerves, causing her to stiffen. Her eyes left his face, and she gazed toward the gently rolling water. "Is it serious?"
"I believe you Humans would deem it to be merely a -nuisance.' The life-support systems are in no danger of shut down. It is possible a crew member tampered with it during the Tsiolkovsky..." His breath caught.
Tension rose around them like a crescendo of waves hitting the shore.
"I am sorry," he said hesitantly. "It would seem I am the victim of...poor timing."
She chuckled at his latest attempt to master Human slang, and his inquisitive voice reached her ears again.
"I used the phrase correctly, did I not?"
"Yes, although you might say *I'm* the victim of poor timing."
"I see." He paused, then continued softly. "The work can wait. I shall leave you to your recreation."
He turned and retreated up the beach.
She allowed herself the luxury of glancing toward his receding silhouette. There was an almost forlorn quality to his words, a quiet resignation to the slightly mechanical gait that caused her suddenly to question, could an android feel loneliness?
"Data!" Her call echoed.
He paused and turned.
"Do you like the ocean?" she heard herself ask.
"Like?" His head cocked in curiosity.
"Yes, do you *like* the ocean?"
"I have seen many such oceans, the waters of Pacifica, the Maroon Cascades of Rigel Six." He retraced his steps, pausing where she sat. "The waters represented by this simulation are a deep turquoise before the sunset--"
"Data! Do you like it?"
His brow furrowed, and his eyes met hers; turmoil swirled in the depths of his eyes. "I do not know." There was a desperate quality to his words. "I am sorry if this displeases you."
"It's okay, Data," she soothed, and his brow unfurrowed. "I'm not displeased. Have a seat." She patted the ground beside her.
He looked uncertain.
"Please."
He sat stiffly, looking slightly out of place. Was it possible for an android to feel uncomfortable?
"Haven't you ever sat on the beach before?" She drew her knees to her chin, lazily draping her arms over them.
"No," he admitted. "I have not. I note you are not wearing your uniform." His eyes passed over the billowing blouse she had partially undone only moments before.
She felt her skin grow warm.
"Is my attire inappropriate?" he asked.
"No." She looked away, feeling awkward under his undisguised stare. "Unless, of course, you'd like to remove your boots."
"My boots?" He seemed confused. "They are unsuitable for beach wear?"
"It's up to the individual, but I enjoy the feel of sand beneath my feet." She scrunched her toes playfully in the tickling granules, knowing it would encourage his inquisitive nature.
His eyes lit. "Then I shall try it as well," he announced, removing the boots. He closely scrutinized the idle manner in which she traced abstract patterns in the sand with her toe, and attempted to emulate. "This art form is intriguing, but alas, most ephemeral."
"Many of life's simple pleasures are."
He wiggled his toes in an amusing imitation of her antics, and she laughed at the poignant innocence his actions conveyed. There was nothing even remotely machinelike in the contours of his feet, the smooth textured skin with its functioning pores; in fact, there was little that appeared mechanical about any of his external construction. She should know. Her face grew flushed, and she looked away, feeling a flutter in her chest.
"I have observed Humans reposed in such a manner before. They often cluster together at the beach in small groups, but these groups are usually engaged in various physical activities, some of which are unfamiliar to me."
"Haven't you ever gone to the beach with a group of friends and just fooled around?" She avoided meeting his gaze.
He thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I have no group of friends."
His words held a tinge of regret that pricked her heart. "You have Geordi," she said softly, *and me,* she longed to add, but didn't.
"Yes." He brightened. "Geordi is my friend, but he does not constitute a group."
She laughed.
"When Humans are at the beach, they are often quite active. It is when they separate into pairs they appear most inclined to simply sit."
"People enjoy witnessing sunsets," she commented, watching the sun's final crescent slip beneath the waves. "We find it emotionally stimulating."
"I suppose this is so." His tone sounded speculative. "Although I am uncertain as to whether I am performing the ritual in the appropriate manner."
"Ritual?" She turned.
"The Humans I observed were sitting..." He floundered, seeming at a loss for words. Then before she could protest, he seized her shoulders and swooped her effortlessly into his lap.
"Data!"
"In this manner," he finished proudly.
Tasha lost her breath. The last thing she expected was to end up on a tropical beach with the one man she'd been hoping to avoid. Her heart began to race. The warmth of his breath against her cheek caused her to tremble. "Data," she choked his name but nothing more.
"Of course, I noted several other positions at the time, but they offered little opportunity for both participates to view the sunset equally." He appeared quite pleased with himself for having mastered the custom.
"Put me down!"
He blinked in surprise. "I...I meant no offense."
She slid from his lap, attempting in vain to calm the tremors coursing though her.
"I am sorry," he said, clearly distressed.
"It's all right." Her voice quivered. Could he truly be oblivious to the effect his touch produced? She looked away as a barrage of remembered sensations surged over her. She longed to pull away and draw into herself to suppress the memory of the android's touch, but a separate part desired to remember even more.
"Lieutenant, I have interrupted your computer simulation. Forgive me, I shall leave."
He started to rise, but she stopped him with a hand.
"Look, Data, I know I seem a bit jumpy--"
"I have observed no such actions on your part. You appeared quite languid when I arrived."
"I mean nervous. It's not you, personally...I mean, it *is* you, but it isn't."
The android looked confused. His perplexed expression made him appear even more endearing in the fading light. "As Geordi might say, -you have lost me.'"
She felt an overwhelming urge to kiss him, but suppressed the impulse. *He's a machine, for God's sake, what's the matter with you?* And, yet, the eyes, burning with curiosity, seemed so utterly alive.
"I'm just nervous," she blurted out, "because of yesterday. Is that so difficult for you to understand?"
The golden eyes fell away from her face. "Many things are difficult for me to understand."
She was sorry for the burst of anger. Surely he was no more to blame for the incident than she, actually less so. "I'm not upset with you, Data."
"My faculties were impaired by the Tsiolkovasky intoxicant in a manner unfamiliar to me."
"You do remember," she cleared her throat. "You do remember what happened, don't you?"
Indeed, the ship was in grave peril of being destroyed by--"
"Between us!"
He drew a deep breath, then responded softly. "Yes."
Silence wrapped around them. The gentle murmur of the ocean rose to calm the hush. She looked toward the darkening water.
"Inquiry. Did the incident displease you?"
In her mind's eye, she could see their bodies intertwined in the sand, silver-tipped waves touching the shore beneath a rising moon. "Not hardly," she breathed.
"Yet, you wish to forget the encounter. Is this correct?"
"Yes." She pulled herself upright. "This is definitely correct." It was time to put this fantasy to rest. Data was a machine. A sophisticated machine to be sure, but a machine, nonetheless. To entertain such an illusion was preposterous. The very idea that Data, too, could experience an equal interest in such a relationship was ridiculous, and to engage in anything less would be immoral. Encouraging a physical relationship with someone who was incapable of sharing-
"Lieutenant." He interrupted her thoughts, hesitantly. "Would it distress you if I did not wish to forget our intimacy?"
She gasped, turning to face him. He *wanted* to remember! "Why?"
"I am uncertain. I thought, perhaps, you would understand."
The rising moon bathed his face in silver light and Tasha longed to pull him close in a lingering embrace.
"Only you can say," she replied softly. "The answer lies within you."
His head tilted in perplexity. "I can only conclude that the incident was special, that you were...special."
The ghost of a smile passed over her lips. The android looked so irresistible, gazing into her eyes with golden orbs of questing light. She reached to pull him into an embrace, then catching herself, sprang to her feet.
"Exit!"
To remain another second would crumble her resolve. She drew a quivering breath as the arch appeared.
"Thank God." She stepped toward it. "You need to continue your work on--"
The arch vanished.
"The malfunction I was telling you about." The masculine voice was next to her ear.
"Exit!" Her voice trembled as she felt the warmth of his breath against her neck.
Nothing.
"Exit!"
The moon washed over the ocean.
~*End