Topic: Fleet Days:: What do you do when moon dust settles?

Mechanist Heart

Date: 2014-07-09 01:04 EST
(Missing something" If you haven't read Minesweeper you missed what all the fuss is about. Click HERE to find out!)

Fuming for days, Jack made her way out of the jefferies tubes. She had been doing her best to avoid her own lab in the mornings, the hot tub on what little off hours she had and keep her badge drifting in and out of location. Just enough to let them know she was alive, but never long enough for a lock. She was bound and determined not to be beamed at the admiral's will. All this had led up to a mounted engineering effort geared to flush her out. On the one hand it had been comical to see Horndog with a helmet on trying to crawl after her. It had only been when they staged an actual malfunction that only she could handle, did Horndog have himself beamed next to her hands held up in surrender.

"The admiral wants to see you for a debriefing and I filed a report on how things went on the moon, but I know it isn't as good as yours. I'm sorry." And with that he beamed right back out. It still took another two days for Jack to wrestle herself into going to the admiral. As much as she wanted to make him come to her and apologize that was just not going to happen.

Growling with her arms crossed she had death marched all the way there. People nearly plastered themselves to the walls as she stormed by. When she finally reached his door all she wanted to do was run. Standing outside his door, huffing Jack glared at it. Her eyes did glow so maybe they were lasers and could melt the door. Then again...Raking her hand through her hair, it quickly went everywhere. The finer hairs clung to her lips and grease stained cheeks. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him. That she hadn't missed him, but damn it! He put this ship a little beyond its paces. "Damn it!" Slamming her hand in the door frame only to set off the entrance chime. Head hanging in defeat there was no running now. Not even time to make a mad dash to the nearest jefferies tube. Shaking out what were going to be bruised knuckles she waited, hoping on the off chance that he wasn't here.

H.K.

Date: 2014-07-09 01:08 EST
Hunter looked up at the chime, he'd begun to wonder if Jack would ever show up. "Come in!" It was said loudly enough to be heard through the door. Maybe a little too loudly, but he was just as frustrated. The reasons were different of course, but it was still affecting him. Her clear avoidance of him soured his mood quickly and the fact that she was defiantly hiding on his ship! If it were not for his crew watching him he had thought long and hard about tearing through the tubes to find her. Taking a deep breath he did his best to not look like he was smoothing his uniform out when the door opened. She didn't need to see him rumpled though, or brooding. The Admiral certainly never did that. She had arrived for the debriefing despite being a week late.

That week had given him much needed time. In the dark when he should have been sleeping, Hunter had instead run through all the possible actions he could take and her reaction to them. In no way did he wish to drive her away, but he was not about to pretend nothing had happened either. He'd pulled out some snacks,and had the movie ready to go just in case she did decide to make their usual date after they talked. That is what they were right'

Jack paused for a minute at his voice. There was so much frustration in his tone, strangled anger and no outlet. The hours of crawling through tubes made her forget the magnetic lock was on her boots. Thudding into the room, she huffed trying to blow her hair out of her face and only making it worse. "Excuse me a moment." Bending over to try to disengage the controls they had other plans in mind. Tumbling out of her own boots and into a somersault there was no hope for saving her dignity now. Nose to nose with the table was not how she intended to keep her anger at him. He had messed up this ship! Days of work and experiments gone! He....he...Looking up at his face and into those blue eyes had her thoughts sputtering. "It appears I already took a seat." Trying to make a joke to break the tension that was between them, despite original intent in coming. Staying seated on the floor, arms crossed under her bust she was not going to let him take the upper hand even if he was taller.

Debriefing her wings!

Mechanist Heart

Date: 2014-07-09 01:10 EST
He couldn't help feeling relieved. She was putting up that tough front and all it did was make him happy to see her. All the fighting he was willing to do, all the plans he had made went out the door at the sight of her. The tumble had him moving, but too late to do anything about it. Hunter's lips twitched for a moment at her joke. He locked eyes with her and knelt down to be on her level cutting straight to the heart of the matter. "I'm sorry....I know I put more work on you than you wanted, but we had to make the best speed possible to get out of there. The Gorn ship was obliterated in the blast. Even then we couldn't bank on it, their defenses were far better than ours." Hunter laid a hand on her cheek, thumb working at a smudge mark. "I'm proud of you for being able to get the job done under duress." Hunter didn't even brace for what he felt was going to be a punch to his face in a moment. He didn't care. She was here with him and safe.

Her lips parted to let her anger spill out at him only to be quelled by sorry. It was hard not to flail at him. She had been angry at him for days! Days for gears sake! There were dents in panels to prove it and...and...his hand cupping her jaw, thumb tracing over her cheek had everything coming to a halt. "I know you had to do what you think is best." Choking down the but since he had said sorry first, but that didn't mean he was off the hook! Wings flickering caught between emotions candor took over. "I can handle stress, but a fracturing helmet is a new one, I have to say." she wasn't mad at him for what had happened to her down there. It was her job after all. What had her boiling was the brash, quick choice to take off as fast as they could regardless of the fact that they could be pulled a part in the process.

H.K.

Date: 2014-07-09 01:14 EST
Hunter nodded, his head tilting as he read the emotion in the cast of her wings. They were both dancing on a thin line at required one of them to give in, one of them to actually say what they were thinking, but that moment could lead to so much more than either of them might be ready for. "Let me ask you this then. Given a choice, whose helmet would you have preferred to take damage" Lacha, Flirt....Horndog?" He used her names for them because they had caught on with the crew. Even the people that had been given then were coming to like them.

He knew it was not about her helmet or the danger she had been in. This dance was not new to the admiral. "Or would you have been like me and known that you could keep your cool when the moon is exploding around you and you are faced with imminent danger of the vacuum of space?" He wasn't sure of what her answer would be, he knew what his was though. He didn't wait for her to answer and tumbled from his thin line. Hunter pushed his hand through her tangled hair and laid his forehead against hers. "I would do anything not to lose you, but I know I can trust you."

And there those wings were going again. "I still would rather it be my helmet." It was the easiest answer and quickest to what she was asking. She had gone to the moon knowing they could and or would be shot at. There was always the chance that someone could wire something wrong and the chance of one of them being left behind. No matter how much one prepares these were cards on the table that could not be avoided. Deep in her mind the intimate touch of his head to hers was startling. Instinct for Jack was to pull away. Put as much space as she could between them and sort out exactly what the good admiral was getting at. But she couldn't. The way he held her head to his with such tender care nearly made tears form on the edges of her lashes. "I trust you too, Hunter. No matter what this is between us. Game night friend, pain in the arse, close friend, I..." It sat like a lump in her throat. The urge to know and the struggle not to ask. "I am the civilian on this ship, the experimental engineer, your...Jack. Whatever it's worth." Her hand finding his forearm not wanting either of them to let go.

Mechanist Heart

Date: 2014-07-09 01:16 EST
It was worth everything to him, though he shouldn't feel that way. Knowing a thing and doing it would always be two different things. Hunter's eyes dropped for a moment to the space where she touched his arm. He'd had time to think. The mark of it clear in his sleeping chamber. Nestled in the space he never slept was the helmet, laying there like some fateful tale of things to could or would be. He knew he could have lost her on that mission. Knew it when he sent her, but there wasn't a better choice to send. He knew he could have felt a little better if he'd been the one in charge on the surface, but he trusted Lacha. Yes it was an important mission, but somehow he felt Lacha knew about is growing feelings towards the engineer with wings. Despite that it was true that he had been away too many times already. The Chair was his responsibility. He was Admiral Hunter K'lar. Hunter's body felt on edge, caught between the woman in front of him and the duty of his command. Ice blue eyes challenged the damaged helmet and the weight of the news it could have brought. This wasn't a split second decision of command, but more like calling out in the dark. In that moment your lips part was your choice and he had made his. Hunter shifted his head, dragging his nose down the length of hers. Breathing in every staggered breath of hers til his lips lightly claimed hers. The edge suddenly became a burning tingle that emanated from his lips. He wanted more, hungered for more, but that gave him no right to purse it without her. Pulling back just a touch the call in the dark came tumbling out. "You are My Jack. There doesn't need to be anymore question about that."

What should have been a joyous tender moment filled her body with panic and dread. Her eyes searching his face for the first signs of intoxication. Was there color in his cheeks or had that been there before" The worry and fear rising, Jack did the only thing she could think of....place her fingers over his lips. "I'm....I'm..." Am I hyperventilating" "Hunter, as much as we might want to we can't. I can't let you do something so risky. I'm sorry." Kissing the back of her own fingers before pulling them away. It was as close as she would dare let herself kiss him back.

H.K.

Date: 2014-07-09 01:20 EST
Jack tilted her head down, not out of shame for what had happened between them, but for what she was doing now. How many times had she wanted a moment like this only to have it ruined by stupid boys looking for their first drink. Jack could almost hear her mother. "Loving you, to any man is a curse. For you will never know if it is you or that kiss that they want so badly."

"Risky' I'm beginning to reevaluate things Jack. Risky is what I sent you to. Risky is that I haven't tried sooner and nearly lost you and any chance we might have. It may be a risk, but I am not going to miss out on anything anymore. Does that make sense?" Hunter was looking at her and trying to give her every assurance that he considered her worth the risk to his career. That he considered her worth everything to him. He reached for her chin to bring it back up so she could look him in the eye. "I've always been married to a ship Jack. Ships may protect me, give me a home, shelter, but it isn't you. It can't make me laugh the way you do." They were few and far between unless you knew how to read the man. He felt he could have carried on and told her all the ways she riled him up, bowled him over, but he hope she already knew.

Her breath caught between a gasp and chuckle,Jack looked up at him trying not to crumble into his arms and kiss him the way they should. "You are a risk, I am willing to take, but I won't have you diving in without knowing all the risks." Shaking her head and trying to stop him from repeating himself. Jack's heart felt as if it might burst. Wings so still the life support stirred the very tips of them. "You are making sense, but you don't know something vital. My species....we are given talents and one of mine is a risk to you if you fully kiss me. I've been told it is like diving head long for the bottom of the bottle without food for a cushion. One boy even said something like...pan galactic gargle something." Stopping herself from divulging to much of her past.

Mechanist Heart

Date: 2014-07-09 01:24 EST
Hunter narrowed his eyes at her slightly as if trying to wrap his mind around one of her complex equations. "So you're saying that I can't kiss you because you'll hurt me?" It nearly made him blush for the misunderstanding. He felt something rise in his cheeks, but he wasn't really embarrassed by his words. It was something he'd been wanting to say for days now. If he stopped to think about it probably even longer he might damn any risk to give her the sheer pleasure she had given him with her presence. "Is it just kisses on the lips or....more than that' A kiss on the cheek, or maybe the neck?" It was probably evident now that he'd been thinking about her. Would she pick up on that from what he said" Probably, she was Jack after all. For the second time in two minutes he was feeling the color rising in his cheeks and he hope that would be all she noticed rising.

Nodding her head glad he understood what she was saying without asking about her past or how others would so apply describe her kisses. Jack was ready to move and create some space for him to think about all that came with her gift, but Hunter threw her for a loop more so than any simulator. Flicker flicker.....Did he just......Her pale skin taking on a pink hue not unlike coming out of a hot shower, Jack was feeling baffled. He still wanted her" Even after the truth' "Just kisses to my lips as far as I know. Still might be best to take things slow for your safety." Okay she was not completely without experience, but that didn't mean she was willing to chance what little data she had on him.

Hunter saw the flicker of her wings, it was different than the frustration she'd entered with, or the playfulness he'd seen at other times. This looked more like uncertainty. "I can go slow Jack, for now anyway. We have time, right?" He wasn't one to waiver once he'd decided on a course of action. Hunter had decided that Jack was the direction he wanted to fly. "Perhaps we need to change our game night some then....Maybe include time for experimentation?" He gave her a piercing look with those too blue eyes.

H.K.

Date: 2014-07-09 01:26 EST
"So long as we don't blow up the ship, in theory we have all the time we can stand." Trying to calm her reeling mind back to a calculative state, but the hammering of her heart was running in the other direction. Part of her was trying not to scold for the joke that was clearly true, but poor in timing. "I say there is always time for experimentation provided we take into consideration what follows. I land myself enough in the medical bay. Let's not send let our attempts send you there too. Don't know if I could forgive myself." Or how they would explain it to Dr. Lang. Chuckling between gulped breaths, she extended her neck to rub her cheek to his. "I don't think fleet would forgive me for poisoning their star admiral." Turning her head softly to let her lips brush his cheek, leaving a shy kiss high on his prominent cheek bone. "I think we have been thoroughly debriefed now." The playful flutter starting to return to her wings and the nerves turning to more of her playful nature.

Hunter nuzzled her cheek, the kiss though shy was sweet. Hunter exhaled at the touch of her lips. Warm breath washing across the skin of her neck. He'd promised to take it slowly and so he would even though every part of him wanted to sweep her into his arms and not let go. It was strange to feel it that strongly for him. Not that the ice man didn't feel things and sometimes quite strongly. "Sometimes you test the very limits of my control Jack." He turned his lips to her cheek, eyes closing as he pressed them to her. "I don't think anyone has ever done that to me before." Not since he was a child anyway. That was a long time ago and a situation that few understood. Hunter brushed her wing with the tips of his fingers. Would he ever get used to how they felt?

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