Art Appreciation, and some stuff in a gallery

Posted on 23 Aug 2017 @ 10:39pm by Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant & Lieutenant JG Gideon Nicols PhD & Nesh Saalm

2,677 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - San Francisco, The Legion of Honor
Timeline: MD 16 - 2020 hours

Previously, on Star Trek: Galileo, “Crass and Culture”…

Oh thank the dear spirits, Lirha rejoiced in her head. Her master plan had quickly come to fruition. The older Saalm then smiled up at the tall man with appreciative eyes. "She would be delighted to have your guidance, and you will have my many thanks. Mister...?" she waited for him to introduce himself.

"Gideon Nicols," Gideon replied. "But please, call me Gideon." He again looked between the two Orion women. He certainly didn't want to leave the younger woman to be left out of the discussion. "That is if it's okay with you miss?" He didn't mind to be taking this on, he had come to an art gallery to look at art, so discussing it just seemed natural to do.

Nesh looked him up and down, and developed an expression that would normally seen on a cat who had realised the canary cage was open. "Nesh." She could feel her pheromones starting to ramp up just contemplating the solid side of beefcake in front of her. "It is an absolute pleasure to meet someone this place isn't wasted on."

Gideon didn't know how to take that, it certainly was a compliment to him, but a slight to Lihra. "Well, don't give me too much credit, I can appreciate the art, but frankly I don't know too much about the artists who are presented here."

"You know more than me, and that's all that counts," Lirha chimed in with a light laugh. "Well...off you two go. It's nice to meet you, Gideon. I'll see you both back her in a half hour?”

And now the continuation…


[ON]

At her older sister's dismissal, Nesh took the (deliciously firm) arm of the beef cake they had discovered in the gallery, and lead him towards the final room of the exhibition, featuring small installations and abstract two dimensional pieces that shared the general theme of fear of other, and how art was used to both build it, and dismantle it in the early years of the Federation.

"So, do you really know much about art? or are you just humouring my sister?"

"Both," Gideon replied simply at first. "I may not know all the newer artists or what the latest trends are in the art community but I can appreciate art probably much better than your sister can." He looked at Nesh. "I figured you would rather have someone you can discuss the art with as opposed to just pulling the person along with you." He looked over his shoulder to see the Andorian ensign speaking with Lihra. The other Orion female seemed much more happy to be away from looking at the art.

"Yes, well she's a hypocrite. I got nothing but grief when I quit Starfleet, which I never wanted to join in the first place, except she pulled strings, and she can't take an hour in a gallery learning stuff. Though I suspect I'm going to be a little distracted now."

"Oh?" Gideon asked simply. Did Nesh mean she was going to be distracted by the art now that she didn't have to about her sister? "Distracted by what, exactly?" he asked.

Nesh gave him a predatory look. "Have you ever considered life modelling?"

Gideon's left eyebrow raised ever so slightly. He could see that Nesh's features changed, and the soft look changed to something he couldn't really recognize. "Modeling? For?" His brow furrowed slightly and then it dawned on him, at least he thought so. "Do you mean what I think you mean?"

"Being drawn naked by an artist." Nesh said, nodding. "You would be an absolute pleasure to add to my anatomical sketch book."

Gideon felt his cheeks grow hot as he heard confirmed what he thought. "Oh, I don't know about that," he said, his tone soft and almost shy like now. "I suppose I never thought of it before, I mean not that I'm ashamed of my body or anything..." He trailed off as he looked off into the distance. "I have a bunch of tattoos." He chuckled lightly. "And I have no idea why I just said that."

Nesh raised an eyebrow. "I hope I can persuade you to show me sometime."

"Hmm maybe," Gideon replied. "Though, your sister may have other thoughts on that." He didn't know who Lihra really was, but from what he knew of Orions, they were fiercely protective of their own. He also didn't want to give any false impressions to the young woman who had her arm entwined with his own. "I may consider it ONLY for artistic purposes."

Nesh gave him a look so wide eyed and ingenuous it went straight through innocent and came out on the far side, full of wicked charm. "What else would an artist use their model for, if not art?"

There certainly was a part of him that was flattered to be asked, but he was still uncertain. "I'll think about it, but it might be an interesting venture," Gideon replied.

"Lots of people do it," Nesh replied. "Most artists prefer the real thing to a holographic model. But if your uncomfortable..." she trailed off, frustrated she hadn't pursuaded this gorgeous chunk of flesh to get naked for her. Maybe he needed a different incentive, and a lot of men were competitive, "We can get you a partner! someone to be embarrased with, like...." she scanned the room and jackpot!

Where this one was fair and muscled, her permanently man seeking eyes had found someone lithe and darkhaired, quite the pretty boy to gideon's more masculine physique. What a contrast. Delicious. Drawing those two naked... Nesh fanned herself, was it getting hot in here?

On the north wall, there was a tall and narrow frame of canvas that had been painted with the simplistic bust of a humanoid figure. The painted head and shoulders were relatively featureless, except for a complicated tattoo, stylized after the vessel markings of an old fashioned Romulan Bird-of-Prey. Standing precisely two meters back from the painting, one Lake ir-Llantrisant was Nesh's pretty boy, and he appeared to be mesmerized by this work of art, and this work of art only.

With his dark hair closely cropped to the scalp, his own Romulan markings —pointed ears and brow ridges— were the first features that were noticeable about him. The nerhu jacket he wore was dull in colour, as it was of blatantly Vulcan design, with a swath of asymmetrical buttons across the front. Lake was, perhaps, too solidly built for the Vulcan fashion — the material of the jacket flowed loosely down the front, but was stretching to fit around his upper arms. Lake raised his arms with his thumbs and forefingers outstretched into the shape of a rectangle, placing it directly in front of his line of sight. He closed one eye, and then he switched to close the other. After a moment, it was clear he was attempting to re-frame the image, looking for another orientation that may create a greater emotional impact on him.

"..him?" Nesh asked, pointing at the dark haired man in the nehru jacket.

Gideon's first thought was he wasn't sure what difference it would make if there was another with him or not. He wasn't a competitive person, especially when it came to other men. His gaze then followed Nesh's and he saw what she had seen. "Oh..." he responded simply. The man standing there was certainly handsome, more than handsome, in fact, he was one of the most gorgeous men he had ever seen.

Nesh noticed her companions quiet response. Not into group nudity. Human's weren't, as a rule. "Lets go ask." Hopefully tall blonde and muscley would be so nervous of another man, he'd say yes on the spot. She started to steer towards the new target. He'd either say yes to the drawing, or yes to drawing with both of them. Either way she won. She liked that idea.

"Ah, no, no, no..." Gideon said softly, as he tried to hold Nesh back. However, he knew that was going to be a futile attempt. "We really shouldn't bother him, most people don't like to be approached and asked if they would pose nude." All of a sudden a man who never got nervous was nervous. The idea of posing nude with this other man was a bit of a thrilling experience, but it was something he doubt would happen.

He didn't put quite enough strength into it, so Nesh was close enough to the other man that with his superior hearing, Lake could quite clearly hear her say, "So you'll do it by yourself? You don't want his help?"

Sweeping his head to the left, Lake loosened the top two buttons of his jacket while he angled his eyes on Gideon and Nesh. Lake made no effort to hide it: his attention lingered on Gideon's smokey blue eyes and that jawline. That jawline looked like it could cut open Lake's carotid artery, and leave Lake begging for more.

"If I have a voice in this," Lake said, and he unbuttoned his jacket further down, "it would be my pleasure to offer assistance." He opened his jacket down the entire front, revealing only skin beneath. Clearly, his superior hearing had picked up on much of their conversation about nude posing. Clearly. "Have you prepared a stage or a wrestling ring?" he asked, "Or even a little plinth on which we can flex face-to-face?"

Nesh's jaw just dropped open, though whether it was the beautiful body or the sheer excitement of having a gorgeous man wanting to pose, even wrestle with another for her benefit, even she couldn't tell.

Gideon watched as the man continued to nimbly unbutton the buttons of the jacket, revealing a chiseled chest. He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. He tried to find his voice, however, his words got stuck somewhere between his brain, groin, and larynx. "I uh..." he looked to Nesh... for what? Some type of advice, or direction? But, she seemed just as enamored. "Your choice, yes, whatever you decide..." He looked back to the man and offered a half-smile/half grin.

Nesh realised from Gideon's stuttering non-invitation that she was going to have to take charge of this if she was going to get a look in. "What he means is yes, there is somewhere, but its not here." No way she was going to share these two works of art with the public. "I don't think the gallery will enjoy the competition for its collection." She had to swallow to make sure she wasn't drooling. And it was definitely getting hot in here.

Sharply, Lake sucked in a shallow breath before he said, "Pardon me," to apologize for having reached a mistaken assumption. His head pivoted side to side, looking from Nesh to Gideon, from Gideon to Nesh. "You don't work for the gallery?" he asked. Despite his new doubts, Lake put his hands on his hips. He made no efforts to cover up. There was nothing proud about his exposure; if you squinted at him at just the right angle, you could see the farm boy ease in the way he carried himself.

Nesh gave him a glittering smile, full of lascvious glamour. "I don't work for the Gallery. I'm just an artist hoping to improve her skills. And life studies are the best way to do that. One model is good. Two are better. Have you modelled before, Mr...?"

Completing Nesh's sentence, he said, "ir-Llantrisant." He took care to elongate the vowels and over-enunciate the pronunciation. Then, he undercut all of that precision, by quickly adding, "I'm called Lake. I wouldn't say I've ever modeled before, aside from a Llaekh-ae'rl exhibition in my youth." --He nodded in Gideon's direction-- "Your friend here, I'm sure I saw those shoulders on a Starfleet brochure at one time or another..."

"Her friend's name is Gideon," Gideon said, this time he allowed a bit of a smile. "And no, never on a brochure, at least I don't think I've ever been on one." That left him to take pause, he wondered why this other man would comment on something like that. Unless it was meant as a compliment? "However, I am in Starfleet." His smile broadened as he felt himself relax.

"Starfleet," Lake echoed. There was something in the way he elongated his vowels when he said it; some combination of what are the chances? mixed with I should have known. He summed it up with, "It takes one to know one."

Lake shifted his footing to regard both Nesh and Gideon comfortably. (And there was plenty to regard when it came to Gideon; Lake wasn't accustomed to feeling short and petite.) Raising a hand to the side of his head, Lake touched his fingertips to this temple the same way he'd seen a number of Betazoids do. "Let me guess," he said, "Morale officer," and pointed to Nesh, and then, "Tactical officer," and pointed to Gideon.

"Not me," Nesh grinned, "I got out before it was too late, I'm a civilian." She turned to Gideon with a hungry look, "But yes, you definitely look like someone who'd look good in gold."

Gideon found himself smirking at the two. It was not uncommon for him to hear that people assumed he was in tactical or security. His sheer size put him in that stereotype. The stereotype was further embraced by his muscular frame, broad chest, and even broader shoulders. "Actually, sorry to disappoint but I wear the teal of a scientist, specifically a geophysicist."

Pursing his lips, Lake shook his head emphatically, but kept his dark eyes locked on Gideon. "Strangers can never disappoint," he said, "that's what family is for." Rolling his shoulders back, Lake shrugged off his jacket and folded it over his left arm. "Am I to understand," he asked, without missing a beat, "You've spent your entire career learning to make the earth move?"

Those dark eyes bore into him, and Gideon knew he couldn't look away even if he wanted to. "I'm glad I don't disappoint," he said, his tone now quite low. He watched as the other man shrugged off the jacket, watching the different muscles of the man's chest, arms, and shoulders tighten and loosen. "As for your question, I have and I'm damn good at it."

Nesh's draw dropped open at the sight before her. Then she shut it again with a click, and swallowed to be sure she wasn't drooling. She had to get these two adonises...adonii? - What ever the word was humans used for god-like men who needed to have their abs sculpted in marble - out of here because she had no intention of sharing that heavenly vision with anyone else. "The gallery takes its earthquake prevention very seriously, maybe we should adjorn to somewhere we can all work on our...disciplines... in private?"

Lake rocked on his feet as he heard Nesh's suggestion and took it in. Then, he waved down the nearest server and took the first glass he could reach on the server's tray. At a glance, he thought it looked like an Old Fashioned. After considering the glass, he considered the peculiar pair before him with an appraising look across his eyes. "My mother always taught me to never follow strangers..." he said, "while sober."

Gideon chuckled. "I suppose, we won't be strangers for very long," he said as he gave the other man an appreciative once over. He looked between Nesh and Lake. "Let's go."


[OFF]

Let's Go Indeed. To Be Continued



Lake ir-Llantrisant
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Gideon Nicols, PhD
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Nesh Saalm
Civilian artist
USS Galileo
(NPC played by Miraj)

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