[JP] Lt. Sienelis & PO1 Johns - Here I Go Again (Part II)
Quinn Reynolds
((Sienelis’ Personal Quarters, USS Gorkon))
Neither of them said anything for a little while, content to live in each moment as it ticked past. She leaned her forehead against his again, hand tracing down to alight on his chest. Fingers flexed and splayed, she felt the thump of his heart against her palm, the sedate pace of that rhythm serving to help slow her thrumming pulse. She nudged his feet with her own, running the inside of her foot along his ankle and down to his toes.
Sienelis: When I came back from— ::She didn't want to say it, and she knew he'd be able to complete the sentence.:: Did it take a little while to sort it all out in your head?
Johns: A little. ::He returned the touch with an arched foot across the bridge of hers and a small smile.:: I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, and there you were, lying obnoxiously in Sickbay, like saving your life still wasn’t reason enough to be there.
Sienelis: I do have a reputation to maintain. ::A corner of her mouth lifted up in a crooked, wry smile before it fell away again, a twist behind her ribs.:: You're here but... I can still feel it. That you were gone.
The young Russian’s heart thumped beneath Valesha’s hand, the sentiment all too real. At any moment, he’d expected her to slip away while he waited beside her in Sickbay, each minute stretched and tense, and in those cold hours, he hadn’t had to watch her die. Warmth eventually flooded into pale olive skin, poison fought against, and their future a little more certain. Never an easy thing to talk about, they managed it somehow as lovers did; finding their way with confessions, trust and understanding.
Johns: It’ll go, in time. ::He cupped her cheek in his hand as he tried to inject that with as much confidence as possible.:: Until then, you’re here, and I’m here, and it’s just us, ::a teasing grin lit up his face, one he tried and failed to suppress,:: and your quarters smell like coffee and that spicy tea you like.
They really did, now that he mentioned it, and somewhat stale at that. The comment dropped into the forefront of her mind, rippling out into a memory of those first moments when she'd found herself back in her quarters. She'd barely noticed it at the time, but—
Sienelis: I dropped the mugs. ::It seemed so impossibly mundane a thing, given recent events. She glanced toward the end of the bed, lifting a leg to inspect the damage.:: I think I cut my foot.
Dried green blood flaked at the edges of the slice and his eyebrow quirked as she lifted it, pushing himself up enough to capture her foot in his hand and examine the wound. As his fingers ran over it, it felt real enough, the tear there and the residue somewhere in bed with them.
Johns: Self-healing hasn’t touched it, ::he glanced back up to her with a twitch of his lips and ran his hand up to the back of her calf with a playful squeeze,:: so we were out when you got it.
Sienelis: Yeah. ::She flexed her foot back and forth, small slivers of pain running at the stretch of injured skin, and echoed his smile with a hesitant one of her own.:: Mind your feet by the door.
A brief glimmer of mischief flashed in his hazel eyes as Chris leaned back beside her on his elbow. He tilted his head toward Valesha with mock seriousness on his stubbled features, the twitch of his lips holding back his smile.
Johns: Are you kicking me out already?
The return to familiar teasing chased away some of the ghosts still haunting the shadowed halls of her heart. A cautious smile solidified, relief and amusement pooling into a more certain expression of warmth. She shook her head, extending a finger to prod him gently in the chest.
Sienelis: You don't get out of putting up with me that easily.
He grinned and, ever the performer, feigned a phaser wound at the dig of her extremity into his sternum. To see her smile again lifted him up in ways nothing else ever could and he leaned closer, if only to nudge her chin up with his nose and press his lips to her throat. It drew a soft sigh from the Romulan, shivers tumbling down to the base of her spine.
Johns: Who ever said I'd want to?
Sienelis: Common sense?
Johns: Never heard of it.
Sienelis: Must be why we get on so well.
Johns: Must be. ::He grinned against her skin and dropped his kiss to her shoulder.:: And here I thought you only wanted me for my stimulating conversation skills.
She grinned as well, breathing out a chuckle while pressing her own kiss to the side of his head. The buzz of his hair was soft under her fingers, running her fingers over his scalp and down to the back of his neck.
Sienelis: And the way you look on tip-toes.
Johns: It does accentuate the assets nicely.
Terrible pun notwithstanding, Chris smiled into the crook of Valesha’s neck and shoulder as his hand found her waist beneath their tangled web of sheets. This was how he remembered their morning before the chaos of their Maquis life had invaded; wrapped up in her as the rest of the universe fell away. He nudged his nose at the tip of her ear, the Romulan heritage contoured to a point, and whispered words as though what he was about to say was a secret he only wanted Valesha to hear.
Johns: ::Quietly,:: I love you.
He'd said it before, but it still sent shivers racing down her spine and sparked the burst of fireworks behind her ribs. She smiled, her cheek against his, leaning into the whispered words, draping her arms across his shoulders.
Sienelis: I know. ::She spoke softly, her heart giving a gentle thud at the wonder she was able to say it again.:: I love you, too.
The young Russian lifted up to look at her as flutters skipped across his back beneath her fingers, to find emerald eyes under the shining light of the stars outside her window above their heads. The playful instant given way to intimate tenderness and the ever-present gentle hum of the starship engines. It wasn’t perfect; familiar thoughts began to creep in slowly, of a future she told him not expect, but it verged so near it made his ribs ache.
Running his hand up her side, Chris tucked short strands of Valesha’s hair behind her ear and, as though his lips were brand new, he bowed his head to steal a slow kiss from the Romulan. Her arms wound around him, holding him close, the moment soft and warm and gentle. It caught her unawares as they parted; a barbed thorn of a memory, an intimacy begun in a meadow, blissfully nescient that it would be the only night they'd ever share in that phantasmal life.
Sienelis: ::Quietly,:: Tell me again?
The request drew a smile from him, on the cusp of a grin, the susurrus of bedsheets in the shards of starlight. Words recalled during an evening spent on the ice rivers of his home, he spoke in a soft tenor made all the more tender by the thrum of his heart, a gentle look between hazel eyes and emerald.
Johns: Jol-ao au. Au dvær.
She answered by lifting her head from the pillow for another languid kiss; a heartfelt reminder of life after brushing far too close against death. All the pain, all the inflicted hurts of that other existence had faded, but Valesha was all too aware of the inevitability still lurked in her future, a fin above water, patterns waiting to be inked.
In the dark, he could picture the markings of grief Valesha had painted onto her skin, exploring and tracing them with a light touch, and wondered if she'd have done the same for him in this life, if he hadn't... come back. The persistent flutter of concern — that this would only spur on her decision to end the thread between them, before she grew too attached to the human who wouldn't live long enough to see her in her twilight years — pushed to the back of his mind. Those worries began to melt away under the soft press of their embrace, a conversation for another time and place.
He exhaled a laugh as the memory of her inked skin enlivened another. While his heart ached at the time, and was still somewhat fresh, his fingers prodded into her sides and danced across her skin to find those spots that made her laugh. He was rewarded with a sharp inhale and a look of amused indignation in jade eyes, outraged laughter following the shivers of sensitive nerves.
Johns: I can't believe, ::he spoke softly, through kisses, a smile on his features,:: you ditched me the morning after.
She breathed a light-hearted groan at the mention of that event, knowing it was a tease but feeling it needle her heart all the same. But it was a sound that turned into hoot as she wrigged away from tormenting fingers, goosebumps surging along her skin. He grinned, his assault continued undeterred.
Sienelis: Didn't take me long to regret that life choice.
Johns: I hope you realise this means war.
Sienelis: Oh, I see. ::She snorted a chuckle and squirmed away, careful as ever not to resist too robustly lest she damage her delicate human.:: Just because my people lost the last one, you think you've got a chance.
Johns: A most excellent chance. ::His grin didn’t diminish as he pulled her closer for another strike.:: I know the terrain and the weak points far too well.
Sienelis: Maybe— ::another burst of laughter as she twitched and flinched,:: —maybe it's all been a ruse so that I can learn yours. ::Her hands slipped from his back, devilment dancing in her eyes.:: Just... here, isn't it?
Johns: Don't you—
Hazel eyes flashed as her fingers lit his ribs in tingles, the shiver enough to make him twist and try to escape through peels of laughter. Valesha grinned, pressing her offensive, the sound far too delightful for her to stop. With an air of light, casual superiority, marred only by her continued snickering, she offered terms.
Sienelis: Surrender is always an option, love.
He wriggled under the counterattack, laughing, breathless, sides aching, and dug his knees into their mattress for stability. Retaliation came thick and fast as Chris sought out those prodding Romulan digits and slipped his hands into hers in a tangle of fingers, his heart racing, his grin wide and roguish.
Johns: Never.
Sienelis: Ever?
Johns: Maybe just this once.
Sienelis: Old defeats avenged, mnhei'sahe restored. ::She laughed, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.:: At least until next time.
The touch of her lips to his skin elicited quake and quiver through shoulder muscle, his fingers squeezed hers gently as their hands stretched out on the bed. He pressed a kiss of his own to her cheek, the scent of soap on her olive skin still recent, despite the last time he'd done so, she’d had the faintest tang of Skarbek rust clinging to her.
Johns: I'll claim you ensnared me with your Romulan wiles, battered down my defences with your emerald eyes, and seduced me into submission.
She grinned at the characterisation, a flush creeping over her skin, suddenly aware of the sensation of his warmth and weight against her skin. Palms pressed together, she brushed her thumbs along the side of his hands, lost in soft hazel eyes that made entire constellations burst in colours behind her ribs.
Sienelis: What is a poor Russian boy to do, in the face of all that?
His teeth gripped the corner of his bottom lip as he moved their joined hands up, pressing them into the pillow, leaning into her. Rising warmth touched his flesh in pink and he bowed his head to kiss her, each provoking a sensation of heavy heat in his stomach, his heart helical in motion, and a teasing grin on his lips.
Johns: Surrender.
fin
--
Science Officer
USS Gorkon
T238401QR0
&
PO First-Class Christopher Johns
Operations Officer
USS Gorkon
G239304JM0