Unplanned Journey

[slippedhalo]

"Where do you live? Here?" Lia asked, unsure if the dragon even understood the things it was mimicking. But, to her surprise, it rose up onto it's legs again, turning slowly in the space which was rather a tight fit for its body, and it slowly walked into the darkened cave it had been sleeping in. It turned in a circle over a large reed bed then swept a clawed hand to show a display of what looked to be bones from giant rodents and large birds arranged by type of bone. Beyond it, on the wall, Lia recognized patterns in dark brown (dried blood?) on the glistening white-grey wall...pictures. "Pictures!" She exclaimed, entering the cave without even realizing she'd been following the creature. She checked over her shoulder, seeing that her colleagues were still with her, guns also drawn, they looked disapproving and cautious but said nothing and let her continue.

"May I look at your pictures?" She asked.

The dragon repeated, "Look...ur ituurs..." Then, added, "Hi." Which Lia took as its limited way of trying to express an affirmative reaction.

She smiled, then moved toward the wall, turning her torch on to see, careful not to disturb its bone collection. "It's a drawing of a set of five dragons atop a high mountain looking down on...Oh my goodness! Looking down on what looks like a village and a jungle. The jungle has various animals depicted. I don't recognize all the shapes. But, those...those are human, or human-like people! They seem unaware of the dragons looking at them. The dragons are observing from on high...except of the three small ones only one is lighter coloured, and it is looking down with wide eyes and a smile...It's this dragon, I think...and here...the next panel shows only four dragons on the mountain. They look down with unhappy expressions...at the lighter one from the previous panel...It's playing with the humans. Children are climbing on its back, even one has climbed into it's face, playfully exploring its snout while it grins indulgently...In the next panel the other dragons...they're attacking the village. There's dead people, broken bodies, destroyed houses and crushed buildings...The largest dragon looks angry as it points toward the horizon and the lighter one bows its head in admonishment and looks sad....In the last panel it depicts itself flying through the air alone, over the sea, toward a cane shaped land...this island."

They entered the cave and read this strip together. The dragon watched them read his story. Lucy turned and regarded him. "You're alone. Exiled for...Exiled from your kind? Or are you only temporarily being punished?"

The dragon looked sadly down at a claw shaped scar over its breast. Then pointed at the condemning dragon in the picture. "-ziled....is all time. No mans, no babe-mans, no, no...No more, no go home. Ggwiyf bad. Ggwiyf no go home or...papa kill all mans."

Lia turned and regarded the dragon during its first independent speech using its smattering of accumulated vocabulary in a limited attempt to explain itself. She asked, "You like humans? You don't like to hurt them?"

"Mans no hurt Ggwiyf. Ggwiyf joy-joy mans. Learn. Papa no ffyg Ggwiyf joy-joy. Papa ss no Zxyrrt learn mans. No Zxyrrt joy-joy mans. Zxyrrt must watch. Zxyrrt must ooover all lifes. Zxyrrt no learn, no joy-joy. Watch. Eat. Overbe. Ggwiyf see mans learning learns...Ggwiyf no eat mans, learning mans, learn mans...Papa ss no."

Lucy was astounded. She felt shame at having wanted to kill this gentle giant minutes ago. It was exiled for not wanting to simply rule over humans and occasionally eat them. It had learned from them, taught them...and it had suffered seeing its friends killed for his efforts and had been exiled for being kind. She attempted to copy the guttural sounding word, "Ggwiyf, is that your name?" She asked.

It pointed to itself, "Ggwiyf."

She pointed to herself, "Lucy..." Then, proceeded to let it hear each of their names. "Ggwiyf, you will not eat us? "No eat mans"?"

Ggwiyf shook his head sadly and solemnly answered, "Mans, no owie Ggwiyf. Ggwiyf no eat mans." He replied.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Well then that was that then Jason thought as he lowered his rifle and slung it across his back, they had officially become a party of 6. A stranger party of 6 he had never seen. 2 male an 2 female humans, 1 Android PAB unit and now a Dragon. With this they were to survive on this planet and last until they were either rescued by a party from the Space Dept, or flourish and thrive here by becoming the start of a new race.

He was thinking it was probably going to have to be the latter of the two and that would mean he and Lucy would be pairing up. Actually it made more sense if both Mako and himself got both women pregnant and increased the gene pool but he guessed the living arrangements would be Mako and Lia together. Then again nothing said that he and Lucy had to live together.

He looked over at her and realized he wouldn't be able to leave her on her own if she became pregnant, She was a beautiful woman and he was not mad at her he was mad at the situation. In fact he quite liked the idea of getting together with the cute Captain.

 

[slippedhalo]

With permission from Ggwiyf, they brought much of their gear into the first cave and began setting up camp. They had an unusual next door neighbor who didn't mind sharing the spring in his backyard nor the rest of the island in the front. The extra tents were unzipped and connected together, then tied to nearby tall stalagmites, using them as poles. This would hopefully keep their common area free from drips of cave ceiling moisture. Then, Lia and Lucy set up their tents on the one side with the doorways just beneath the lip of the common tent roof. The guys put theirs on the opposite side. Pab stationed his tent to be a sort of protective wall, sideways, partially blocking the opening of the cave with a nine foot long waterfall curtained "porch" on the left of his tent, a space of about three feet between the doorway of his tent and the stalagtite holding up one corner of the common area space, Lucy's front door was facing the common area just on the other side of the rock. This left the back end of their camp open to the winding caverns, facing the chamber with the spring and the tunnel they shared with the dragon who lived in the cave beyond it. This would also leave space where he could perhaps join them during gatherings at camp. He'd have to exit the caves on his cave' s side, though, lest he destroy their set up. This was explained to him when they had set it up and he didn't seem to mind. He was pleased they'd made room on his side to include him.

Unpacking, inventory, organization and discussing the coming day's plans was tedious but done next. Pab helped them to make a schedule based on their biorhythms and keeping in mind a full day on this world was twenty-six hours adding an extra hour to both daytime and night. The year was 379 days as opposed to earth' s 365. Lucy proposed keeping the months named and continued to be counted as they had been used to using their old Roman calendar but just add a new title to those "extra" fourteen days and counting them as a new "month" added on to the longest season which it seemed would be between what they would have considered August and September. Lia laughed but agreed that would be least likely to mess with their minds. She suggested calling it the "Fortnight". They had a chuckle at the New calendar; January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, Fortnight, September, October, November, December.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

PAB was delighted with the way things were going. Not only had everyone settled in very well but they had adapted to their new environment with relative ease. He was a little worried because of the difference in the atmosphere but it appeared that the slight difference was not going to be a problem. Of course he would have to keep an eye on them to make sure it didn't have any long term effects on them but he would keep it to himself for now.

He would also have to keep an eye on them while they adjusted to the new time structure. It would take their bodies awhile to adapt but soon their natural body clocks would adjust and they would feel better because of it. He would monitor their vital signs and suggest dietary needs as they did.

He suggested that they use him to test all food that they found to make sure it was compatible with their systems and maybe they could ask Ggwiyf to show them a few things that might be good for them that were around the cave.

Jason listened to PAB and was impressed. He had obviously thought a lot about this and it showed.His ideas were good and showed a lot of sense. In fact if they worked it would give him a lot more time to get to work on making this cave habital. He would have to change his plans now that they had another member. In fact if he followed the basic design of how they had the tents now it would be perfect. A house with a main living area, two wings and maybe a huge back porch area to accommodate Ggwiyf. He would be able to use the tools in the ship to easily cut down some trees in the area which would also have the benefit of clearing some land for Lia to plant some crops. He could also adapt the tools to cut timber and he would soon have building materials. He would scavenge metal from the ship for the framework and there were machines to help with other building materials like stone and cement and things.

Of course they would have to clear a path to the ship first, but they should be able to do that within a couple of days. "Hey Mako I'm going to need your help for the next few days. We need to cut a path to the ship so we can bring more supplies up here easier and so we can access things we need. I will need things to build us a place to live and then you are going to have to set up the lights and electricity in it."

 

[slippedhalo]

The first week was filled with gruelling physical labour and much work to create a home which would sustain them indefinitely. Lia got busy planting a garden for foods and medicines first. The men told her the plants that secreted the concrete like substance may not be needed for a while yet and all realized food and medicines would be most important since they already had shelter, however rudimentary. Her planting was started on land cleared for the trees and tilled for her gardening by Jason, not far from the base of the falls and close to the river. It was within shouting range of the cave mouth where camp was set up so she felt reasonably safe even with much jungle life behind her and sometimes strange creatures peering at her from the trees.

Mako and Jason were clearing paths, making wood for various uses, scavenging the ship for materials as well, beginning to strengthen and expand upon the camp to create a home from it. In free time during mid day when it got too hot to work, they'd have their main meal and a siesta as suggested by Pab and before returning to work Lia would show and explain the gardening she was working on to an interested Miko and they'd all worked with Ggwiyf on teaching him their language.

Ggwiyf offered to give them some of his kills and as he usually ate two large birds for every one it took all four of them to consume, the deal was a godsend for them but hardly a hardship for him. Not having to hunt so much was making it easier for the group to work on other things.

Lucy alternated between assisting Lia, the guys, and mapping the space, making a log of the day to day activities, getting to know Ggwiyf, and had also begun working on making a net for fishing. It was during week three, while she worked on her net by campfirelight as the group was finishing evening meal clean up and chatting quietly with each other and their neighbor that it became clearer what had happened to the other colony of humans. Lucy had made a murmuring about what a shame it was that the humans where Ggwiyf came from we're dead.

Ggwiyf shook his head, "Mans livings. Many killed by papa, yes. Papa no would all mans kill. My kind use mans to raise much animals for foodses. More mans means less work to hunt. And, old, or sicktoosick mans come to them regular, offer lives as tribute to end their pain."

Pab explained, "My sensor readings were recent. There are five-hundred-forty humans there as of three weeks ago. Ggwiyf, how long have you been here on this island?"

Ggwiyf snorted, "Five or six moonshifts. Ggwiyf thinks."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Mako looked at Ggwiyf. So there were more humans living close by, well relatively close by. On the other hand there were also 4 dragons that kept those humans as cattle to be used as they saw fit. It seemed they had set themselves up as either Kings or Gods to these people and they ruled them with with an iron fist or claw as the case may be.

If they wanted to make contact with these people they would first have to get established here, learn how to travel safely over to this other island and how to defeat not one, but 4 dragons. They would need to find out a lot of things from Ggwiyf if they were to defeat his family and it may be hard for the Dragon when he learned of their plan. If that was indeed what they were going to do. He thought it would be a good idea, after all it would improve their chances of survival and improve their gene pool.

For now though they needed to get their own little village in order. Already it was looking a lot better. Lia had started planting and her garden was looking good. He and Jason had been working hard on building the house and they had the main portion built and both wing structures frameworks up. He guessed they would only need a few more days to finish those off.

He was impressed with the way Jason had been able to design an indoor plumbing system using the ships old one and it's pipes and adapting them. He had even cannibalized a couple of the toilets and had spent a day digging a sewage pit far away from camp and connecting the pipes to it. He had been working on a small solar and wind power station on top of the cave and was even thinking of a water power one as well using the waterfall as the power source. He had also done some basic wiring throughout the house so they would have lights, heating and a few power points to run some essential equipment, as well as a simple cooker and a cool room.

All in all the place was looking good.

 

[slippedhalo]

The business of keeping busy and trying to make life easier for each other kept them occupied for several weeks until Lia found herself bored enough to attempt the creation of her own kind of moonshine based from fermented fruits they'd named banapinels, a fleshy palm sized, white fruit which tasted like a mixture of pineapple and banana. They were full of good vitamins and grew plentifully on trees all over the island. Her first successful batch filled a barrel. She decided that after dinner that evening she'd offer up glasses to all interested along with dessert.

With electricity running they played music often, each taking turns with deejaying by selecting the evening's background music. Pab seemed to prefer upbeat, party tunes. He was tonight's deejay.

The alcohol was a very welcome distraction for the group. Perhaps, too much so. They'd ended up each at varying stages of tipsy and were beginning a spirited game of "Truth or Dare".

As Ggwiyf finished his dare of an attempt to stand on his head resulting in a fall that rattled the whole house and knocked a few pots and pans from their hanging pegs on the wall, Lia realized it was her turn again. "Ok...I choose...truth."

Miko looked as if he had an idea for a question to get an honest answer from the slightly inebriated scientist.

Lucy took another sip of the delicious concoction in her cup and leaned on Jason's arm as he sat beside her. She reached out and playfully shoved Miko, "Go on, ask her something." She said softly, finding Jason had lifted his arm to receive her against him as she leaned on him this time. It felt kind of nice to sit in his embrace that way and Lucy was dizzy so she didn't mind one bit.

Lia pushed her long, honey curls out of her face and sat back on her hands, waiting for Miko' s coming "Truth or Dare" question.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Mako had been drinking a little more than he usually did and was pleasantly happy. He had been having a good time playing the game, mostly answering truthful questions about himself but every now and again throwing out a dare just to keep things interesting. So far he had busted a large nut, very much like a coconut only the size of a watermelon, in half with his head and chopped up some of the banapinels with one of the machete's as fast as he could on the bench and in the air.

Now though with the courage Lia's fabulous drink had given him and the opportunity of her asking for a truth question he was finally going to do it. He looked across at the other two but they just gave him a nod and Ggwiyf seemed happy just to wait until someone told him to have a go, so he opened his mouth.

"Lia I have admired you for many months now and it has really grown from a mild curiosity to where I was going to ask you out on a date. Unfortunately those plans were put on hold because of our present situation, but lately I have come to realize I can't let that stop me. So my question to you Lia is would you like to be my Girlfriend? It may sound strange considering our circumstances but I would really like you to consider it and I hope you say yes.


Jason was sitting on the opposite side of the circle on the back 'Porch' they had built to allow Ggwiyf to visit when they had these sorts of parties or whenever he needed something or just wanted to talk. He had made a nice humped up area for him and then used a lot of the insulation and seat padding to make it soft for him. He had said it was a joy to have a place to rest his feet and head, so he had made him one for his cave as well.

As Lucy leaned on him he had at first been a little uncomfortable, but after a while he had decided to take it for what it was, a friend relaxing with another friend when she was a little drunk. Jason did not usually drink and after one he had stopped and was now drinking water. He had played along and laughed at everything revealed and all the silly antics everybody including himself got up to. So far it had been pretty tame, but he knew with the amount of alcohol flowing that could change quickly.

When he saw Lia ask for a truth question and Mako's eyes light up he was pretty sure he knew what was going to happen. What he wasn't prepared for was Lucy snuggling under his arm when he raised it to give his friend the high five sign to go ahead. Still she did feel nice there and she had already snuggled up. He guessed he could leave her there then. He hugged her with one hand sort of loosely and listened to Lia's response.

 

[slippedhalo]

Lia sat there in wide eyed silence for a full minute. The tension in the air was thick and it felt as if the whole world was paused just waiting for her response. "...I....I think before this I would've said yes without hesitation. I'm only a little nervous now because...I mean, if we dated for a while, found ourselves not right for each other...we'd still have to see each other everyday and work together all the time...yet...I like you...a lot...a lot." She sighed, "I guess as long as we're on this island we're all married to each other somehow...not like, sexually, more like...we're family because, like it or not, we're stuck together and must try to get along...wait, what was I talking about again?"

Lucy chuckled, "Lia, Miko asked you out." She reminded her.

Lia laughed at herself. "Mmmmiko...He's really cute. I like him a lot."

Lucy was dying laughing, "Then, don't tell me. Tell him!"

Lia's laugh ended in a hiccup and she regarded Miko again with sparkling eyes, "I like you a lot, Miko. And, I'm troubled to admit it's been waaaay too long since I've...you know...I'll be your girlfriend if you promise not to let me...you know...sleep alone too often."

This brought nervous laughter to the whole group. Lucy was blushing at the "sleep" comment of Lia's. Yeah, she also could commiserate on that point. Lucy drew her body away from Jason's warmth, hugging her knees as she counted the months to herself. How long had it been? Very long!

To change the subject, Lucy shouted out, "I love this song!" She really did love the song currently playing in the background and she got up, pulling Lia with her, to dance to it.

Pab reminded the group, "Lucille' s turn is next."

Lucy called out, "Dare!" in the middle of dancing.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Mako looked at Jason and smiled. He had seen the way his friend had been looking at Lucy and the way she had been looking at him. It was the same way he had looked at Lia when he had first started to love her. He sort of knew why they were avoiding each other but he decided he would do something about it.

"Alright Lucy I have one for you. I know I just took one so I guess I should ask if anyone has any objections."

Jason just shook his head and motioned for him to continue, wondering what he had in mind and curious to find out.

The two girls were having too much fun dancing and Lia didn't answer him so he guessed she was out.

PAB's eyes whirled for a few seconds then he looked over at Mako. "I do believe I know what you have planned Mako and I approve. I will forgo any right I have and allow you to proceed."

Mako smiled. Trust PAB to work it out. "Very well Lucy," he began as PAB lowered the music's level so she could hear. "I dare you to kiss Jason, on the lips and properly, for a minute."

 

[slippedhalo]

Lucy had been enjoying herself but then the dare stopped her cold. She stood still so suddenly that Lia bumped into her in that second before realizing Lucy was suddenly done dancing. Closest in proximity, Lia saw the change in Lucy's face and admonished, "Mako, no..."

Lucy countered, "Three seconds..."

But, Pab reminded her the original conditions of Truth or Dare they'd established before was they'd have to complete each dare according to directions, no alterations.

Lucy knelt before Mako and shook her head as she countered, "I'm glad you're happy to have gotten Lia...but your pairing up doesn't automatically mean we also have to now. " Lucy shook her head, this made her drunk head dizzy. "I can't. Sorry, Jason, no offense...I just...I'm...out." She finally said feeling deflated and thinking she needed to get away from the group before the tears would come. She felt the sting of them starting already and her ears burned red hot...Without another word, she ran to her tent in her not quite finished bedroom and threw herself down on her cot to cry tears she could barely comprehend.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason looked over at Mako and shook his head. "Nice idea buddy, wrong time. You have to understand that we just want to be friends and leave it at that. We may become something more further down the track but I can guarantee you right now I am not thinking that way and neither is Lucy."

He stood up and started to walk towards where Lucy had her tent set up. "I am happy for you and Lia Mako, but don't try to push Lucy and I together just so we can all play happy couples. Some of us might be happy just being single."

He walked out and made his way towards the tents but as he got closer he could hear the sounds of crying coming from Lucy's. He did want to go and comfort her but decided that was not the best thing to do in this situation. He sighed deeply and then turned around and walked out the front door and took a stroll to sit near the waterfall. There was a nice clump of rocks that formed natural chairs right at the edge of the large pool at the bottom of it and he sighed as he sat back and gazed up at the stars.

 

[slippedhalo]

Ggwiyf whined, "Aww! Party over?"

Lia and Pab began clearing up bowls of fruits and nuts and empty glasses. Pab offered to do the dishes. Lia nodded to Ggwiyf, "Sorry, friend. I think it's nearly time to turn in."

Ggwiyf whined again, "Bed?"

Lia nodded, "Bed." She confirmed, kissing the young dragon on the cheek as he prepared to trek back to his own cave and go to bed as told.

Once the dragon had left and Pab was busy washing up, Lia and Mako were alone. She moved to hug him and saw the look of worry on his face. "Let it be for now, dear. She is also kind of drunk. Maybe she's moodier than usual when intoxicated. Apologies or explanations, or whatever, would be better done after she's slept it off. And, Jason, too. Let it be for now...besides, you've got other matters to attend to..." she alluded with a sexy smile, touching her nose to his.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Mako smiled as he slipped his arms around her and gently pulled her in for a gentle kiss. "Why yes I do, I believe I promised you something about never sleeping alone again unless it was totally unavoidable."

Mako swept Lia up into his arms and began to carry her off to his tent. The small man may have looked weak but he was actually quite strong because of all his martial arts training and now working on the house and in the jungle. He kissed her again as they walked and he put her down at the entrance to the tent. "I would carry you inside my dear but I don't want to risk dropping you. Perhaps when we have finished the rooms I will do it properly."

They made their way inside then looked at the single cot. Mako laughed and shook his head. "This will not work now will it." He thought about it for a second and then brightened. "Hang on a second Lia I think I have a solution." He left the tent and snuck into hers trying not to disturb Lucy. He pulled the mattress from her cot and then returned to his tent and threw it on the floor and then grabbed his own and threw it beside hers. There wasn't much room so he pulled out the cot and placed it outside. Grinning at her he waved at the bigger bed and bowed. "You bed awaits My lady."

He became a bit shy but moved in close and started to kiss her again and gradually they became hotter and hotter. His hands began to wander her body and finally they made there way to her breasts. They finally broke apart and he gazed at her with lust in his eyes. "So shall we get undressed now, or do you want to keep going as we are now?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Lia simply giggled, her mouth finding his, hungrily tasting him and learning his mouth with her own. She made haste to get him undressed and enjoyed his lingering as he tried not to rush, yet she knew his urgency to also undress her. It was a little bit goofy, their kissing and fondling and massaging, attempting to be unhurried and discrete but kisses grew hotter and travelled...Soon their desire for one another grew too strong to hold off any longer...

Pab had finished washing dishes and putting items away. He had a data tablet in his personal gear which he pulled from his beautiful sky blue backpack he now always wore and he noted but dutifully ignored the soft sighs and moans coming from Mako' s tent on his way to his own. He was too eager to continue the copy of the book he was currently reading on his tablet. He'd started it this morning after having finished the novelette which was first in the series, 'Northwind After The Fall' by someone named Veneziano. The capitol 'T' in "The" had irked him a bit at first but upon reading had seemed an interesting choice of clue...Another cry from Mako' s tent diverted Pab' s attention from his ebook only momentarily. The medical training in him made him first identify screams and moans with slight alarm. These are sounds of pain in the medical world...But, Pab was no fool. He had been around humans for ninety years and had since learned the fine line separating pain from pleasure could bring many of the same sounds from humans. Given Lia's earlier proposition, Mako was simply honouring their new agreement to couple. So, Pab smiled to himself and went back to reading the new book by this little known author, soon too caught up in the fiction in his hand to pay any more mind to the soft sounds of sex nearby.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason had settled into his spot. He had found it one day while swimming and it was almost as if it had been built for him. A hollow had been carved out of the rocks by wind and rain and smoothed out over time. He had been looking for a place to lie out in the sun after swimming and had climbed the rock pile to find the hollow. Sliding his body into it he had been delighted to find it had almost been a perfect fit and he had lain there and allowed the heated rocks to warm and dry his body.

Now he again slipped his body into it's soft contours and leaned back gazing at the stars. He wondered how Lucy felt about the whole thing but judging from her sobs he gathered she wasn't really in favor of Mako trying to set them up either. Of course it was not because he did not like Lucy, in fact he found her very beautiful and amazingly good to be with. The problem was it seemed that they were almost being thrown together and he didn't like that. He liked to be in control of his life and it felt like the universe was conspiring to push them together and he did not like it.

If there were more than just the two of them he was sure they might already be eying each other off and He would definitely be making plans to ask her out. He loved the way she knew how to take charge, but at the same time still appear so vulnerable and cute. He loved the way the sun sparkled in her hair and eyes and the way her rare smiles made her whole face light up. The way her laugh sent tingles up his spine.

He shook his head and sighed up into the night sky. Oh no he really hadn't noticed anything about Lucy at all or had a thing for her. He knew he was only kidding himself though. He was falling in love with her and eventually he was going to have to tell her and see what she said, but if she rejected him there wasn't going to be a lot of places to hide. Smiling grimly to himself he laid back and looked up at the new starry sky and slowly drifted off to sleep.

 

[slippedhalo]

Lia awoke before Mako. She dressed and quietly padded into the kitchen to get two cups of coffee, one for Mako, made just the way he liked it, and one for her. Pab said good morning to her and she whispered the same back to him but made haste to return to her lover's tent. She wanted to be there when he awoke. Enjoying watching him sleep, Lia sipped at her coffee beside Mako.

Lucy had a headache when she awoke and recalled the events leading up to slumber with a moan. "Oh, yeah...That." She thought to herself. She reached for her spare clothes, washcloth, soap, and towel. She needed a shower.

Occasionally the plumbing is a bit erratic since it was recycled from old ship's systems and rigged for island use. Up until now everyone had had at least one instance of the shower running too cold, or not enough water pressure in the pipes...everyone except Lucy...until today. She waited quite a while, shivering in the cold bathroom as the shower only dripped when she'd turned the knob to full blast...With an annoyed sigh, she wrapped her towel around her body, grabbed her stuff and headed to the occasional alternative for them all, the river at the base of the falls. Pab was told about the problem and told her he would see to getting it fixed right after breakfast.

Meanwhile, Lucy took advantage of the next best running water source they had. (She had no idea as she swam in the water, washing her hair and body with thorough leisure, that someone else was very nearby, an accidental witness to a peep show she had no idea she was giving.).

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason awoke as the sun crawled over the treetops and started to warm up the rocks surrounding him again and get into his eyes. He sat up blinking and stared around himself groggily wondering for a second just where he was. Then he saw the waterfall and the memories of last night came flooding back. He must have fallen asleep out here while staring at the stars. The nights were still warm enough that it hadn't been a problem and he was one of those people that could sleep anywhere.

Sitting up he began to stretch his complaining muscles a little when he heard splashing in the pool. Freezing he flipped over onto his stomach and crept to the edge to take a look. It could be that some wild animal had decided to venture close to camp early to drink, thinking that Ggwiyf was still asleep. He pulled the small pistol he always carried with him out of it's holster and peeped over. What he saw made him freeze and his mouth open in an O of surprise.

Lucy was in the pool below, swimming naked towards the waterfall. "It must be the plumbing acting up again," thought the rational part of his brain. The other major part was battling between "Look, Don't look." His voyeuristic side won out for now, but he rationalized it by telling himself he was just watching over her to make sure no beasts came to disturb her. He watched as she swam up to the falls and gradually walked up and out of the water towards what was affectionately known as , The showers. A small part of the falls glided off about halfway up and instead of crashing down, glided down a few switchbacks then cascaded over a small ledge about eight feet up before rejoining the pool. It made for a pleasant, if not chilly shower when the one inside was not working.

As she stepped out Jason was treated to the stunning view of her tight, pert ass and legs as she walked towards the small alcove. Then she placed her small case of soap on a small rock ledge along with a few containers, probably shampoo he figured and then moved into the stream of water. By her quick cry he guessed it was cold and when she turned around and her saw her pert breasts and magnificent body he almost gave a cry himself. He gazed at her with longing for a few more minutes, watching her bathe herself before his sense of decency finally kicked back in.

He had to sneak away before she saw him or she would know he had been spying on her and after last night that would not be good. He crept back to where he had spent the night and then looked for a way down. The easiest way of course was the way he had just come from, but any attempt at going that way and she would spot him straight away.He looked behind the pile, but it was over 15 feet high with sharp rocks at the bottom. Not a good idea. The sides were the same. One perilous and one easier but of course the easier one meant he could be spotted by Lucy. Damn it seemed like he was going to have to either get comfortable or make a big show of waking up and look towards the cave a lot first to give her a chance to hide. Damn where were the other three when you needed them.

Mako woke up to the sweet smell of fresh coffee and as he opened his eyes the even sweeter sight of his girlfriend Lia. He licked his lips remembering her sweet taste and grinned. "Good morning my love. I hope you slept well because I know I got the best nights sleep of my life. Must have something to do with the company I had." He reached up and pulled her down for a quick kiss that turned into a longer kiss than planned. "MMM Coffee and a kiss like that. I think I can get used to waking up like this every morning." He moved over and invited her to snuggle up beside him. "Any signs of our intrepid Captain or Jason this morning? I wanted to apologize to them both about last night," he asked her as he sipped his coffee.

 

[slippedhalo]

Lia shrugged, "I don't know. To be honest, I just woke up a little while ago myself. I only saw Pab. Maybe the others are still sleeping. I suggest we have our coffee and maybe a little wake up fun...There's plenty of time for apologies over breakfast." She said, climbing playfully onto Mako' s prone form.


...



Lucy was freezing! The water was incredibly cold. As she swam back to the ledge where her towel and clothes waited Lucy mentally decided the next time the shower was on the fritz she'd just wear a ponytail and do without for a day until she could fix the damn thing. A strange sound behind her made her stop moving to listen...Lucy hoped she hadn't been followed by some wild animal. It seemed in her rush to get clean she'd left her pistol inside her tent. Now she mentally cursed her folly. Afraid to move too quickly and be attacked, Lucy (At this point in everything but her uniform tunic, her pink bra clinging to her damp skin...) turned ever so slowly, to see if she could spot anything nearby which might have caused the sound.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason had waited until he was sure Lucy would would be dressed and had then stood up and started stretching and yawning while kicking a small rock off the top and looking back towards the cave. He heard it bounce a few times of the rocks below then plunge into the pool. He did a few exercises to limber up and then casually turned around to view the waterfall and the pool hoping by this time that he had given Lucy enough time to see him and duck out of sight or if she was fully clothed to be there to greet him. he turned and glanced over the pool not sure what he was going to see.


Mako smiled up at Lia and began to run his hands up her sides, all thoughts of coffee fleeing from his mind. "Well I guess a little morning fun is a good way to start the day," he smiled. His hands worked their way beneath her top and found her breasts, massaging them as he leaned up and kissed her. Quickly he flipped her over and smiled at her as he quickly stripped them both naked and was soon showing her that last night was just not a once off affair. The sounds of their pleasure were soon echoing in the small cave.

 

[slippedhalo]

Lucy looked all around but saw no animals or anything threatening nearby. She finished dressing, gathered her things, and started back toward the trail up to the cave. It was a few minutes into the trek upward that she looked down and saw Jason, looking like he was barely awake, stretching, just near the outcrop in the rocks where she'd been "showering". Alarm gripped her at first. "Had he seen me?" She wondered, blushing at the thought. But, he genuinely looked as if he was just waking up. If this was the case, he'd missed a good show by a few minutes. A relief for her. She chuckled as she thought of the disappointment most men would feel if they found out how close they'd been to seeing a naked woman yet missed it. Oh well, what Jason didn't know wouldn't hurt him, Lucy mused.

At the entrance to the cave she waited for Jason to catch up to her. "You spent the night out there?" She asked, hoping he would take her light tone to mean the heaviness of last night was over and she hoped they were still ok with one another, no weirdness...

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason hoped by her tone that she hadn't seen him and that she was going to ignore last night and just try to get on with things. Well he could do that. Smiling he glanced sheepishly up at the rock, "Yeah, I came out here to do a bit of star gazing last night and I guess I must have fallen asleep. There is a nice little hollow up there that fits my body and it retains the suns heat. Guess it just got to me."

He looked at her a saw the towel in her hands and pointed to it. "I see the shower is out again. Looks like I know my first job for the day then. I don't know what the problem is. It is always in a different area and never the same type of problem. First it was a pressure flow problem, then a heating problem, then we had some leaks, then something PAB tried to explain to me about water mineral content but I just let him solve that one. Wonder what it is going to be this time?"

He led her towards the entrance to the house. "You know next time you can just find me instead of going for a cold shower. That waterfall is freezing, I know I have washed there a few times myself. It never takes me more than an hour to fix this thing so if you can stand waiting that long at least you won't freeze your nipples off," he said smiling, "Ahhh I mean...well that is...sorry", he blushed in embarrassment at his crude humor.

As they walked inside he waved to her and headed of towards the utility room. "Tell the others I should have the showers up and running real soon. Sorry you had to have a cold one and I will make it up to you somehow, you think of a suitable punishment for that and my language," he laughed as he jogged off.

 

[slippedhalo]

Lucy blushed visibly at the, "freeze your nipples off", comment and it got her wondering once more exactly how much of her waterfall shower had Jason actually slept through... As he headed into the utility room to work on their current plumbing problem Pab was found sitting with Ggwiyf in the patio area apparently in the midst of explaining how often the sounds of humans mating can be mistaken for sounds of distress. With the other two not yet having joined them and a moan came from Mako' s room, Lucy was able to put two and two together and understand why Ggwiyf had needed the explanation."Based on that last sound I'd estimate they're nearing completion." Pab said. "Perhaps, then they'll join us for breakfast."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Mako cuddled up to Lia and kissed her tenderly on the side of her face. Now that was one hell of a way to be woken up. If that was how it was going to be from now on he was going to have to go to bed a lot earlier just so he would have energy to wake up in the mornings. He smiled knowing this would not be the case but it was nice to dream. He lay with his arms around her for a few more minutes, soaking in her warmth and loving the way she felt in his arms.

Finally he sighed and kissing her again he began to get up. "I suppose it is time we got up and joined the others. Perhaps I should apologize to Lucy this morning or do you think I should just leave it alone," he asked her as he began to get dressed. He sat on the edge of the mattresses as he put on his socks and shoes and enjoyed the sight of Lia getting up and stretching in all her naked glory. "MMMM you keep doing that and perhaps I might just drag you back to bed and we won't go out today at all," he chuckled.

Jason had made it to the utility room and was examining the set up yet again. As far as he could tell the heater was working fine. The water system going in and out was working as it should, and the pressure was good. So everything in here was fine. To make sure he turned on the taps he had put in for just this purpose. The one on the intake flowed fine and was almost icy cold having come from the pool outside. He placed a bucket under the outflow one and turned it on and the water came out hot. He turned it off quickly and moved the bucket back to it's corner. So he had been right. The problem wasn't here. Looks like he was going for a walk in the ceiling.

First off he checked the kitchen and strangely it had hot water. Okay so it was flowing, so maybe there was a blockage somewhere. Climbing into the roof was simple. He hadn't finished any of it yet as a roof in a cave was not that important and it made it easier to put all his cabling and plumbing through the ceiling instead of trying to dig up the ground even with the laser's they had. It was better if they saved them for something else.
He followed the piping to the junction box to the kitchen then followed it to the bathroom, tapping as he went. It sounded like the water was flowing and as it headed back down into the bath room he was pretty sure everything was fine. Well it looked like he was going to have to take some panels apart. Sighing he crawled back and then walked over as the roof may not be in place but the ceilings were and climbed down into the utility room again. Turning off the water he grabbed his tools and walked into the bathroom and began to take the shower apart. First all the knobs and the shower head came off, then he removed the wall panel to expose the piping. Looking at it he could not see anything that would indicate a problem. No obvious signs of leaks, no bulging in the pipes and no cracks.He had been hoping this was going to be easy. Now he grabbed a stiff piece of wire and began feeding it through the shower head hole. He got over four feet of wire in and had hit nothing so he pulled it back out and it was spotless. Next he tried the hot water pipe. He got about 30cm in and hit something. He pulled out the wire and found a strange sticky substance. He worked it back in and after ten minutes of straining and jiggling it suddenly moved and lukewarm water rushed out all over him. He grimaced and picked up the offending substance. It looked organic but he had no idea what it was. Looked like he would have to put some finer filters on the intake pipe.

He put everything back together and then squelched his way back to the utility room. Putting the tools away he took off his shirt wiping himself off with it and turned the water back on. He then walked back to the shower and turned it on and waited as the hot water gradually came on and the room filled with steam. Turning it off he smiled and walked out straight into Lucy.
"Ahhh sorry.." he apologized then realizing he was standing before her in soaking wet pants clinging to his body, shirtless and slightly wet, he blushed furiously. "The shower is fixed, but I really need to go and get changed. If you will excuse me."
He quickly backed away and almost ran to his tent. Why did he feel so awkward around her all of a sudden. He shouldn't be getting so flustered , he should have just laughed it off and got on with things. He quickly changed and decided he better join the others so it didn't appear like he was trying to avoid her. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down before walking out towards the living area.

 

[slippedhalo]

"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed softly as on her way to the w.c. she slammed into a wall of dripping wet man...Looking Jason up and down she gathered his work on the plumbing hadn't been quite the easy job he'd anticipated. She'd fished with him once and had seen him with his shirt off before but...This time seemed different. He definitely had a nice body...And she definitely shouldn't be staring...So she cleared her throat and looked down at the ground. As he excused himself and ran off she was left wondering what the hell was wrong with her.

Lia grinned but then shook her head, "Mako, I love this but I also think we need to check in with the others. And, I'm hungry, aren't you?" She asked, taking his hand and pulling him to come with her.