Girls and Boys

Her back is beautiful. It was the first thing that came to mind when Bomber knocked on Nav's cabin door, only for the plywood to swing open under her knuckles. Nav was in the middle of changing, her overalls hanging low on her hips as she rummaged through her cupboard.

For a moment Bomber wondered why she would wear an emerald green bra under a white tee, but no sooner had the thought made itself known than she had the answer; it was just Nav. The shirt and overalls were thick enough to conceal the colour while dry and if she got wet? Well, the boys would be looking anyway, may as well give them something to stare at.

Unlike what Bomber's natural reaction would have been, Nav didn't whirl around at the sound of Bomber's gasped, "sorry ma'am". Instead she merely turned her head, carefully keeping her back facing the door. Her rosebud mouth curved into a smile when she saw Bomber, and she motioned for the chef to enter, waving away her apology, "It was my fault for not shutting the door properly."

Walking into the room and perching on the edge of the desk, Bomber couldn't tear her eyes away from the curves in front of her, and this confused her. While she had no issues admiring the female form, she'd never ogled another woman the way she was now.

If Nav felt or noticed the eyes on her, she didn't react, just pulled a shirt over her head and turned to face Bomber, pulling up the top half of her jumpsuit as she did so. The deep V of the overalls didn't quite meet the white cotton, and Bomber caught a glimpse of tanned skin before the snaps were closed.

She blinked, hard, and succeeded in banishing the totally inappropriate thoughts racing through her brain. What was wrong with her? Her intention had been to ask Nav a serious question, and instead she was fantasising about closing the door – making sure it was properly shut, and locked for good measure – and finding out if her skin tasted as good as it looked.

Bomber closed her eyes briefly once again, and when she reopened them Nav was smirking at her. "Nice perve?"

Her cheeks coloured instantly and she looked away, trying to sound nonchalant when she responded, "I wasn't, y'know, looking."

Nav nodded, "Uh huh. The same way I don't look when the X leaves the bathroom door open while she changes." Bomber gaped at her and she shrugged. "What's wrong with appreciating a good body? Kate has great abs." Seeing that the other woman was beyond uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going, Nav dropped the subject. "So I assume you wanted something other than a peek at my underwear, what's up?"

Astonished that Nav was so cavalier about all this, Bomber took a few seconds to remember why she had sought out the lieutenant. For her part, Nav simply leaned back on her elbows, enjoying her friend's discomfort.

Once again Bomber's eyes were drawn back to the navigator, this time the way her arms caused the grey fabric to pull away from her t-shirt. She'd seen her do it multiple times before, placing her hands on her hips and pushing her breasts out. Up until now Bomber had thought Nav had been doing it unintentionally. But today she saw the amusement in the blue-green eyes. Hellraising little sexpot indeed, she thought, raising a pointed finger. "Now you want me to look!"

"Well you're giving me a free show, I may as well return the favour." Nav winked and nodded at Bomber's similar position.

Red-faced again, Bomber immediately crossed her arms over her boobs and cleared her throat in an attempt to get the conversation back on track. "I wanted to ask your advice about the boys."

"What makes you think I have anything to teach you about boys?" Nav replied, her completely straight face making Bomber pause for a moment. But before long the facade cracked, and Bomber was treated to one of Nav's wide grins.

Her fingers itched to trace the depression of the dimple in Nav's cheek, nails causing white crescents in her palm with the effort of keeping her fists closed. Instead she returned the grin, complete with a cocked eyebrow.

"Sorry, you left it wide open!" Nav didn't look the least bit apologetic as she sat up and brought her legs up to sit cross-legged. "So the boys, that's exactly it, they're children, hate being told no. If there's something you'd rather not have spread all over the ship you have two choices; ignore it or come up with a humorous answer instead of the real one." She tilted her head to the side, appraising Bomber, who found it strange that she didn't feel at all uncomfortable under Nav's gaze.

She wasn't gay, had never even had the inclination to kiss another woman. And yet, the knowledge that Nav was looking at her as more than just another sailor caused a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"The ignoring thing has been working pretty well for you so far." There was no mistaking the sarcasm in Nav's voice and Bomber's eyes flew back to Nav's face the moment she started speaking.

Her neck was also gorgeous, and there was a chord on the side that Bomber wanted to taste. If she thought moving her eyes away would cause the impure thoughts to leave, she soon realised that raising her gaze to Nav's wasn't going to help. Turquoise eyes pierced hers, and electricity crackled between them as they spoke a thousand conversations without words.

Bomber hadn't even realised she had moved until a knock caused her to blink. The moment the eye contact was broken she felt the hard plastic of the desk against her hip, a second later her hormone-clouded brain caught up with her senses and she understood that she was now standing next to the desk. Nav moved past her, overalls almost brushing together, but at the last moment she stepped sideways, so that all Bomber felt was the rush of air.

She watched as Nav effortlessly switched her entire demeanour, from flirty to serious in an instant. Even as Bomber was struggling to remember the reason she'd come to the cabin in the first place, Nav threw one last mischievous look over her shoulder and opened the door.

Spider looked confused to see Bomber in the cabin, and with the door shut no less, but Nav quickly monopolised his attention, which allowed Bomber to reflect on what had just happened. Since when was she attracted to women? Okay, so she'd had a little girlcrush on Nav since she'd joined the Hammersley, but she didn't have those kinds of thoughts about her. Except that now she couldn't think about anything else.

That is, until she blinked and realised Nav was staring at Spider's arse as he walked away. She waited, open-mouthed, until the lieutenant turned back to face her.

Nav shrugged, "What? He has a cute butt."