[Backsim] [JP] Lt. Commanders Marshall and Reynolds - A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (Part II)
Quinn Reynolds
::It was almost comical how wide Erin's eyes went, her jaw falling slack at the question, the blush of colour from her delight draining away in favour of shocked paleness. It took her a moment to respond, and when she did, she could barely form words.::
E. Reynolds: M-- moving in? Together?
Marshall: Me and you, yes. ::She tilted her head to the side, chuckling at Erin's expression.:: You look like I've just told you I'm half Vulcan.
E. Reynolds: It's just... I've never lived with anyone before. ::She frowned, and the corners of her mouth echoed the downward turn.:: Ever. That seems kind of sad, now I think about it.
Marshall: Me neither, except for roommates, but cuddling them on the sofa isn't as pleasant. ::Smiling at her own joke, she looped both arms around her partner's waist and swayed them both from side to side.:: I'm pretty sure it requires shouting "what" at one another from different rooms and claiming the bedroom as the Neutral Zone.
::Erin smiled absently, her fingers interlaced and resting lightly on the nape of Jo's neck, her thumb absently brushing up and down against the soft skin just above her collar. Indecision was writ large on her freckled features, the cogs clearing turning inside her mind.::
E. Reynolds: Can I think about it?
Marshall: Of course. I’m not going anywhere. Apart from a few floors up.
E. Reynolds: I want to. ::She smiled, a lopsided little expression.:: I'm just... I know I can be antisocial at times. I go a little crazy if I'm completely deprived of my alone time. Just ask anyone from the-- from my Triumphant.
::Sensations flared in Jo’s skin from the gentle ministrations on her neck, making her smile, if a little crooked. Her hands flattened at the small of Erin’s back, running her fingertips slowly over the dip of her spine. It prompted a slow, deep inhale from the scientist, and a faint rush of colour to her normally pale cheeks.::
Marshall: You can come and go whenever you like. ::She chewed the corner of her lips for a moment, voice tentative.:: When we were in that… dream… I remember watching you sleep. I have this memory of thinking that… ::She exhaled the words.:: ...that I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
::A deeper blush caught hold of Erin's cheeks, her gaze dipping downward. She was quiet again for a while, a silent procession of micro-expressions marching across her face. A strand of blonde hair caught on her much darker eyelashes, and she dropped her hand to sweep it away, returning it to Jo's shoulders a moment later.::
E. Reynolds: I... ::her voice was a low murmur,:: ...remember something similar.
::It was like the memory of a feeling; a hazy mix of what Jo knew was a dream and what she couldn't decisively align to either. The one constant in both was Erin and there were no obscure emotions about that. She knew how she felt - it'd just taken two years and a walk in another lifetime to realise it fully.::
Marshall: Waking up... it's all I've been thinking about. It's like a garden path, coming to one conclusion. ::Her heart hammered and when she spoke, it was with an apprehension rarely felt by the young woman, and a fear she didn't think she had.:: I'm in love with you, and I have been for a while.
::The confession prompted a sharp inhale and a breathy exhale from Erin, her eyes darting back up to meet the clear blue of Jo's. A delighted, cautious smile wavered around the edges of her lips for a few, fluttering heartbeats, and then she rose up on her tiptoes to steal a kiss, one hand sliding away from her partner's shoulder to trace along the lines of her face.::
E. Reynolds: Me too. ::She whispered it, as though afraid to say it too loud.:: I'm in love with you, too.
::Cracking through the soft expression on Jo's features, a smile started and spread, refusing to quell the rapid beating inside her chest. Hazel eyes she could lose herself in drowned out everything else as the words resounded in her heart. One of her hands covered Erin’s on her face as her eyes closed, forehead dropping to her partner’s gently, simply breathing in the quiet surrounding them.
::A few moments passed before Jo pulled Erin closer, stealing a tender kiss, feeling the familiar tingle that accompanied the touch of her skin winding through her nerves.::
Marshall: ::Quietly,:: Stay with me tonight.
::Erin tried to speak, but her voice cracked and failed behind a brilliant smile. So instead she nodded, a breath of a laugh escaping her throat, and pressed another kiss to her lover's lips. The sweet and soft moment amplified the dizzying aspects of the delicate siege on Jo's senses.
::A breadth of an inch barely between them, Jo's voice was soft and sincere, if stumbling over itself and perhaps a little breathless when she asked the question she had years ago, after following a budding botanist into a tea garden.::
Marshall: Are you hungry?
::The question prompted a quiet little laugh from Erin, and she nodded.::
E. Reynolds: Food would be good.
Marshall: Good. I’m starving.
::Before some canny riposte about her ceaseless tirade in pursuit of food came, Jo slid her hands down to the back of Erin’s thighs and picked her up, eliciting a quiet squeak of delight from the other woman. Sinking a kiss on the underside of Erin’s jaw, she hummed into her pulse.::
Marshall: How does whatever Tyrellian we find in the replicator to eat in bed sound?
E. Reynolds: It sounds perfect. ::She smiled back.:: I know a few dishes that shouldn't leave us fighting with crumbs in the sheets.
Marshall: My hero, as always.
::Her declaration was punctuated by a quick squeeze of Erin’s backside and falling into the bedroom together in a fit of laughter.::
fin
--
Lt. Commander Jo Marshall
First Officer
USS Gorkon
G239304JM0
&
Chief Science Officer
USS Gorkon
simmed by
Commanding Officer
USS Gorkon
T238401QR0