Tropico Mini-Golf, Terra Incognito, New Latin System...
Even from the sheltered entrance to the park, it was apparent to Erika that it would be hard and possibly impossible to not have fun. The whole park sprawled over the same space that would be required for an eighteen hole course of regular golf. There were actually several different courses, all of which started just behind a gaily colored club house that sat just inside the entrance. Each had it's own theme, and according to the giant map that was picked out in colored cobblestone across the square, they all wound around and through each other until finishing up on the far side of the space.
"Fun-pires beware!" she grinned, turning to her golf partner, "Shall we?"
Demi nodded agreement and headed for the club house. For a few seconds Erika waited while she walked ahead, and then hurried to catch up. The dusky-skinned woman was wearing a crisp white sundress decorated with a textured tropical flower on one side. The various petals and leaves of the flower were made of some sheer material and this left a good portion of her back visible.
"Were you checking out my butt?" Demi asked as Erika drew even again.
"Not specifically," Erika blushed, though Demi was laughing merrily.
"Next time try doing it specifically then!"
There was a short line, but it only took a couple minutes and while they waited the pair looked around the park and chatted, picking out their chosen path and what other attractions they would like to visit. It seemed that every hole had something going on, with either a concession stand offering snacks of some kind, a miniature theme park ride, or some other distracting entertainment. There was even some larger rides where one could, if they were inclined, ride a roller-coaster or log flume from one particular course to a similar spot on another.
A selection of clubs were on offer, and for a moment Erika looked them over with an engineer's eye before looking over at Demi. The younger woman looked at her expectantly, and Erika made a snap decision. The course would have been easy for her; It was all vectors, acceleration, friction, and other physics problems that she could easily work out in her electronic head. But that wouldn't be very fun for Demi. Her hand went to the worst looking club. Dinged, cracked, and with a grip that was fading and tattered, it would offer a degree of randomness that would make the contest more interesting.
----
"So why did you chose to adopt?" Demi asked as Erika leaned over her ball.
The first few holes had gone by quickly but now they were up in the par seven range, with each hole having some kind of gimmick like a second hole or moving section of track. The whole course was built to resemble an old Earth city known as 'San Fransisco', with various landmarks being re-created in miniature and events from the city's history being incorporated into the holes. The current hole had the aforementioned moving section, which would simulate a famous earthquake. Timing her stroke as the green, painted and decorated like a city street, bounced around was a question of good timing and avoiding the streetlights that ran down the middle.
"Well, I wanted a family."
A good strong swing and the ball shot through and was suddenly lifted as the street shook, lofting it up onto a further section where it rolled to a gentle stop near a hole made to look like a manhole.
"And I was at a point where I was running Silaco Electronics full-time as well as learning the ropes as Secretary-General. When I wasn't at a board meeting, I was in a classroom learning military theory."
"Why would you want to add a kid to that?"
Demi moved up and bent over to place her ball on the tee and Erika, doing as suggested, stepped back to admire her posterior. It was a fine example of a human female backside, slim and muscled with a healthy percentage of body fat.
"Hey!" Her partner straightened in mock outrage, "I said specifically... I didn't say obviously!"
----
"Katryna was thirteen," Erika answered Demi's previous question before taking a long lick of the ice cream cone she had been presented with.
The pair were taking a break from the course and an easy way to fill time had been an ice cream stand. There had been a myriad of flavors to chose from and Demi had proposed they chose for the other. Thus Erika had a scoop of blueberry cheesecake balanced above another that had been impregnated with scores of smaller hard ice cream pellets in a dozen flavors and colors.
"There was the normal parenting work, but... Well, I guess it was normal. Raising a daughter in the offices of various government agencies and aboard a warship..." As well as in the depths of several secret installations, many of which were still secret, "I guess that's not as normal. She took to it well enough."
"She's a lovely young woman," Demi nodded. "Everyone says they see a lot of you in her. And that she's rubbing off on you too."
That was especially true. Katryna's core was literally a tiny sliver of Erika's own, cultured to sentience through massive exposure to stimulus, and transplanted into the chassis of an attractive young Asian woman. Where she had picked up her love of the physical side of relationships was a question that Erika still didn't have an answer to.
"How is she rubbing off on me?"
Demi dropped her ball and knelt to pick up her ball and Erika's eyes followed as she did and for a second, as the woman knelt, she could see straight down the hanging front of her dress to where her chest was mostly exposed. After a moment, the younger woman stood up and dropped her ball casually on the course. "Would you like me to pick that up again?"
"Uhm," Erika flushed but for a moment she was tempted to say 'yes'. So she did. "Yes?"
Demi smiled and laughed, but again she knelt, this time making a bit more of a show of it and making sure the blonde woman got a complete eye full before standing.
"Yeah, she's rubbing off on you. When I started work, you barely smiled and there's no way you'd ever check out someone's tits. Now you smile a lot, and you give a good hug, and you've got the wave down pat."
"I practiced the wave," Erika admitted.
----
"What about you?" Erika asked.
Now it was Demi's turn to ogle as the Secretary-General bent over to adjust the tee. The previous four-some had left it mangled and tilted but her strong fingers straightened it out and she placed her ball on it with a careful touch.
"Where do you want to be in a year?"
"Oh, a job interview?" Demi smiled. "Or is this your version of the 'casual relationship' question?"
Erika couldn't quite put together a good answer so Demi did instead.
"I don't know if I want to settle down long-term with anyone just yet. There's a lot of fun and excitement to be had in the world of interstellar diplomacy. You never know when you'll get the call to head to some new-found civilization, or talk down an aggressive hate-monger. Could I be happy in a relationship where it's the occasional late-night call to let off some steam?"
She paused and looked the Secretary-General up and down, "Hell yeah. But I can't say that will be true in six months. Not for six months at least."
----
"So..."
"So..."
There were two choices. The last hole had been played, the score tallied, and now there were were two choices ahead. A large square, identical to the one they had entered at, held a large electronic scoreboard that showed the highest score for each of the routes for that day and, more importantly, all time. Erika had done well, even with the ancient club, and she sat comfortably in the middle of the daily scoreboard. Demi was a little further down but she had proclaimed herself happy with her score and let it go at that.
On the left of the booth where they would return their clubs and balls was the entrance to the Dragon, a twirling roller-coaster that would take them back to the entrance to the park and over the heads of the various groups and lone players down below. It was clearly the best view and was designed to tempt those riding it to pay up again and work the park one more time.
The ride to the right of the booth was another kind of temptation. A heart-shaped entrance festooned with X's and O's as well as a pair of puckered lips proclaimed it as the entrance to the Tunnel of Love. A slow line of heart-shaped cars trundled past at a slow walk before pausing to receive any riders and then disappearing one-by-one into the red lit tunnel that quickly faded to darkness. True, not all the riders were the amorous sort. Many were simply parents with young children who, exhausted from the day's activities, were clearly in need of a nap.
Demi, on the other hand, didn't need a nap. She sidestepped so that she was right up next to Erika and slid a hand down her back and into the back pocket of her jeans. Both Katryna and Fidelo's works came back to her as she considered her choices but in the end she let Demi guide her onto one of the heart-shaped cars, suitably separated by another car from the previous riders. The car trundled forward and as soon as it cleared the entrance Demi swung out of her seat and up onto Erika's lap.
"Nervous?" She asked, looking down at the blonde woman.
Erika had to nod.
"Don't be. I've done this before..." Leaning down, she nudged Erika's forehead until she raised her lips. Planting a soft kiss on them, she pulled her head up again and tossed her hair to one side, "I'll show you what to do..."
