Title: Star-Gazing
Author: Michmak
Rating: PG-13 – nothing graphic
Disclaimers: Wished I owned them. Don't. No money. Don't
sue.
Notes: A continuation of sorts on Bridge, Sato Voce, Strays and
Drowning – movement forward in the relationship. This will lead
into (hopefully) a larger story I am working on, and currently
losing sleep over…..
____________
Malcolm raised the telescope to his eye and looked up into the sky, trying
to locate Enterprise. Beside him, Hoshi eagerly waited her turn. They had been
told by the Xenla'dyt that the atmosphere surrounding
Bat'tar made celestial viewings especially colorful,
especially at night time.
The triple moons of Bat'tar just cresting over
the horizon proved that – the moons were tinged a variety of different
colors, ranging from a subtle pink to a vibrant orange.
Standing in the middle of the empty field several hundred meters to
the left of their lodgings, Malcolm had to admit the affect was
stunning. There was still enough light refracting from the west that
the colors the moons cast seemed to dance around them. Malcolm felt
almost as if he had stepped into a prism.
"Have you spotted the ship yet?" Hoshi bounced on her toes beside
him.
Malcolm frowned and tried to adjust the telescope, before admitting defeat.
"I hate these things," he grumbled as he handed it to Hoshi
and tried to ignore her suddenly wide grin. He knew what was coming.
"You come from a family of Navy Men and you can't use a telescope?"
She managed to make the words `Navy Men' sound grave and serious,
but her giggle gave her away.
Malcolm shrugged, "Not much use for one in space,
is there?"
Hoshi smiled again as she held the `scope to her eye, and carefully
started adjusting it. "Didn't your father ever teach you how to
use one?"
"Reed men don't need to be `taught' things like proper
telescope use. We're supposed to be born with genetic memory,"
Malcolm tried to keep the slight bitterness from creeping
into his tone. "My father had no patience to teach me things he
felt I should already have known."
Hoshi dropped her hands to her side, slid the telescope shut, and turned
to look at him. He tried to ignore the way the myriad of lights danced
in her eyes and on her skin, casting an ethereal glow around her. She
looked like she had walked through a rainbow, and parts of it were
still floating around her.
"Your father was an ass."
Malcolm smiled at her, "Yes, he was. Did you see Enterprise?"
Hoshi shook her head, "I can't figure out these damn things either."
Tossing the telescope to the ground she sank down beside it
and lay back in the grass, staring at the sky. "This is really
beautiful. You forget how pretty the moonlight can be when you're
on a space ship."
Casting a quick glance at Malcolm, she grinned at his trying-to-be casual
at-ease stance; knees slightly relaxed, hands clasped behind his back
loosely. "You're blocking out the sky. Quit looming over me
and sit down – the view is much better from here."
Malcolm wondered how to respond, before allowing himself to gingerly sit
down beside her. The ground felt surprisingly warm beneath him, and he
barely repressed a contented sigh as his fingers twined through the
thick grass-like vegetation surrounding him.
Hoshi, still on her back, nudged his leg with her foot, "Lean back
and look up – isn't this spectacular? Trip is going to be so jealous
when we tell him about this!"
Malcolm half-grinned at that, and slowly rested back on his elbows until
he was almost completely supine. "I don't remember the last time
I did something like this," he offered quietly. "Perhaps
when I was a lad, with the Eagle Scouts – when I was working on my
astronomy badge."
"I love star-gazing," Hoshi replied. "I still
do it at night sometimes, on the ship. Of course, it's not
the same when you're lying in a little bunk looking at stars
as they're streaking past you. I much prefer this – lying in the
middle of a field, with stationary stars twinkling overhead, and someone
to share the view with."
Smiling at Malcolm, she nudged him with her foot again. "Of course,
the stars look much better if you're lying flat on your back,"
she teased. "Relax Lieutenant; I'm sure no one's going to jump
you here."
"I'm not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed," Malcolm
replied dryly, before his brain could stop his mouth.
Hoshi giggled as the light of the moons did nothing to hide the sudden
color that stained his cheeks, and wondered if her own blush was just
as obvious. Her mind, already contemplating what it would be like to
watch the stars from her bunk with him, had merrily boarded the `jump Malcolm' train.
Trying to derail those thoughts wouldn't be easy, especially since
the air around them was suddenly thick with tension – all emanating
from the man next to her, awkwardly clearing his throat. "I apologize,
Ensign. I didn't mean that the way it sounded…"
Sensing that her armory officer was preparing to flee, Hoshi scooted her
body a little closer to his and quickly reached out, snagging his
elbow and pulling it towards her, making his back hit the ground with
a soft thump.
"Relax Malcolm, and look at the stars. Do you think the Xenla'dyt name their constellations? Perhaps
we should ask them tomorrow. I wonder if they have myths surrounding
their stars like we do. Those ones up there look a little like
Cassiopeia," she whispered, pointing above them and over to her
left, "don't you think?"
She could feel Malcolm relaxing again beside her, shifting his body into
a more comfortable position in the grass. "Which ones are you
pointing at?" His voice was soft, his accent a deep rumble, as his
gaze followed the length of her arm, trying to determine what she was
looking at.
Hoshi rolled to her side and propped herself up on one elbow, trying to
ignore the feel of Malcolm's arm and leg warming against her,
"Right over there – see? There's her upside down crown."
Malcolm turned his head towards her and felt her hair, which was just
sweeping the ground, catch slightly in the breeze and whisper across
his face. It smelled of ginger and sesame and the scent, along with
the light touch of her body along his side, was making his heart race.
He wondered idly if she could hear it, even as he contemplated turning
into her and burying his face in the luxurious strands. Shutting his
eyes to ward of temptation, he groaned softly as he felt Hoshi lean in
even closer.
"Malcolm, you can't see what I'm pointing at if you don't
open your eyes."
Cursing to himself silently, he turned his head more fully towards her
and slowly opened his eyes. He realized he didn't want to look at
any stars – at least not the celestial kind. He just wanted to look
at her. Hoshi-gazing. It could be his new past-time.
"You're so beautiful."
Hoshi looked at him, startled as much by what he said as she was with
the matter-of-fact way he had said it. "Wha…pardon
me?"
Malcolm wasn't sure if her shell-shocked expression boded good or ill
for him, and he smiled as he realized his little linguist was speechless.
Rolling to his side, he gently lifted his hand and ran his index
finger across her upper lip. `Damn the
torpedoes,' he thought to himself, `I'm going in!'
"I said, 'You're so beautiful.'"
"That's what I thought you said," Hoshi whispered.
Malcolm's hand had moved to cup her cheek, and she tilted her head
into his palm, reveling in the calluses she could feel, even as her
eyes drifted shut against the sudden emotion threatening to overwhelm
her. Neither said anything for a few seconds, but Hoshi took advantage
of the silence to press even closer into him. The heat of his body was
addictive.
"Hoshi," Malcolm groaned softly as he felt her arm drift up his
leg before wrapping loosely around his waist. His hand slid from her
cheek into her hair, his fingers tangling themselves in her silken strands
as he tugged her face closer to his. Her eyes were still closed.
"Look at me, Hoshi."
He had always loved her eyes. They were bottomless – eyes he could
live in for eternity. He wasn't sure if the longing he saw in them
was merely reflecting back at him from his own eyes, but he was willing
to find out.
"Malcolm," her voice was so soft it was barely discernible over
the fierce pounding in his veins. "Malcolm, please…."
He was lost. Her lips were softer than he would have believed; her mouth
impossibly warm. He could feel her one hand tighten around his waist,
her fingers clenching into the material of his uniform and scrapping
against his back, even as her other hand wrapped around the back of
his neck and threaded through his hair.
He tasted her sighs and swallowed her soft moans, reveling in the slightly
spicy taste of her mouth – remnants of the ceremonial drink the
Xenla'dyt had offered her upon completion of the
first day of successful trade negotiations. At the time, he hadn't
cared for the taste, but when mixed with Hoshi he realized
how potent it was. He would have to ask their hosts if they could
spare some for their return to Enterprise.
Rolling to his back to free the hand that wasn't trapped in her hair,
he pulled a willing Hoshi with him. Her slight weight against him,
coupled with the heat of her body, was almost unbearably pleasurable.
He could feel the tensile strength of her slim thighs on either side
of him, and rocked his hips into her as he wrapped his arm more
tightly around her.
He realized with the bit of rational mind he had left that things were
quickly getting out of hand. His Hoshi deserved better than this – a quick
fumbling in the dark on an alien planet, in the dirt. Sighing with
frustration and more than a little bit of regret, he untangled his
fingers from her hair and gently pulled away from her.
"Hoshi, love, we have to stop…" His hands were now on her shoulders,
pushing her up. He could feel the sudden tenseness in her, and wondered
if he would ever have the chance to hold her like this again. He
almost felt like pulling her back to him when he felt her sit up, but
was gratified when she stayed where she was, straddling his body.
She was a goddess. Her eyes were slumberous, yet sparking with passion,
her lips bruised from their kisses, her hair a nimbus around her head.
His hands drifted down from her shoulders to her waist, his thumbs
rubbing in circular motions against her hip bones. "Hoshi,
I…"
Words failed him. He had never been a communicator - had always been
a firm believer of actions speaking louder than words – yet, for the
first time ever, he wished this wasn't so. He wanted to give her the
words, because words were important to her. He just didn't have the
words he needed to describe all she made him feel.
"Hoshi, I…"
Smiling tenderly at him, Hoshi leaned forward and propped her elbows on
his chest, letting one hand run gently over his mouth. "I love
you, Malcolm."
He grabbed her hand, kissing it, feeling her words crashing against him,
breaking his silence. "You own my Lazarus heart, Hoshi."
And he smiled at her, her beautiful face framed by the darkness of the
Bat'tar night, the three moons and all the stars in
the universe fading into oblivion behind her. She was his
universe. He knew he would spend the rest of his life star-gazing.
_________
Author's Note: I heard this beautiful song the other day, one I hadn't
heard in years, and immediately thought of Malcolm and Hoshi.
The song is called "Lazarus Heart", and it's by Randy Stonehill.
Clinging to this telescope
Scanning the horizon
Stranded in my little boat
On the sea of dreams
Running out of time and hope
Searching for an island
Finding every cruel mirage
Is never what is seems
Then I sailed to the end of the world
And I saw your face
Your wonderful face
And that's when you
Called to my Lazarus heart
You rescued my Lazarus heart
Called to this Lazarus heart
Rise again
Rise again
Drifting through this veil of mist
Blinding an relentless
Trying to understand
The secret language of my soul
Forces in me turn and twist
Raging like a tempest
Doubt and fear wash over me
Like waves that rise and roll
But then I sailed to the edge of the world
And I saw your face
Your wonderful face
Suddenly the bells were ringing everywhere
And Angels filled the air
Like shooting stars across the sky
Then I knew forever who you are
And tears of joy fell from my eyes
You rescued my Lazarus heart
You called to my Lazarus heart
You rescued my Lazarus heart
Called to my Lazarus heart