Stomping in Mud Puddles [away mission; Bones, Paula]

[lt_paula]

[ooc: nothing elaborate, just a little drama for the holiday weekend. if you’d like to join in, feel free! ♥]Their orders were simple: a routine survey mission on a recently-discovered M class planet. Calibria, as it was named, was sparsely populated, with the majority of its inhabitants living in the coastal regions. Paula had skimmed through the

Comments

[dctr_mccoy]

It should have been warmer, the ambient temperature being what it was on the planet, but the canopy of trees managed to somehow keep it cool on the ground. Leonard still wasn't sure what it was he was supposed to be doing here, babysitting Spock's science team. But Jim said the more eyes on the ground, the better, so here he was.

At least he was with Paula's team, so there was someone he could talk to, when she wasn't busy scouring the dirt for microbes or other shit like that. "I miss it more than you know," he told her, wishing he could take off his boots and get his toes dirty. "So, tell me again what you are looking for?"

[lt_paula]

She watched a couple of the others scout ahead on the trail, their red and blue shirts bright in the light filtering through the trees. Paula glanced over at him with a smile. "There's not much we aren't looking for right now," she said as they fell in step on the trail. It was easy going here, the tree branches arching high over their heads so leafy and tightly-woven that they prevented much in the way of undergrowth.

"There's probably plenty of bacteria and fungi, not to mention the potential medicinal uses for some of the plants." She paused to inspect a vine snaking its way around an enormous tree trunk. "The soil quality's likely too poor right here to support much more than the trees. The jungle, though..." She shrugged as they resumed their hike. "That's where we'll find the interesting stuff."

[dctr_mccoy]

"Following you, ma'am," Leonard said playfully, watching as her eyes lit up with every glance at their surroundings. He appreciated the zealousness of the scientists, wanting to use every opportunity they had to gather new information. Geniuses, all of them, he mused, watching as something small and lizard-like ran past them.

"Bet Jim's enjoying this," he chuckled, remembering the look on his face when they landed here. Like a kid in a candy shop, Jim loved this stuff, meeting new people, new civilizations, exploring the land. "His group isn't nearly as pretty as my group, though," he added. "By the way, he loved the pralines. Thanks again for that."

[lt_paula]

Her face lit up. "You're welcome. I was happy to share. Mama sent me off with so many, I think she was trying to keep me stocked for the whole five years." She glanced over at him after a minute. "Everything turn out okay there?" Paula knew Leonard had been worrying over things, and she hoped he and Jim had talked it all out.

The trail began leading them uphill, winding back and forth as the incline grew steeper. It was very still in this part of the forest, aside from the occasional small, bright creature crawling past or a call from what sounded like some type of bird. It was strange and yet not, the background noises almost reminding her of home until she caught sight of something that reminded her just where she was. "So you're just along for the ride, then? Keeping us out of trouble?" She climbed up on an enormous tree root stretching across the path, shooting a teasing glance at him as she sat there for a moment, then looked ahead. A red shirt was just visible around the next bend.