Pairing: John/Kelly
Title: R & R
A/N: This is my first attempt at a M rated story, so please be kind.
John woke to lips pressed against his. He returned the kiss, hands moving to her sides and pulling her toward him. When they finally broke apart John opened his eyes. "Is that your new thing now? Waking me with a kiss?"
Kelly smiled down at him. "I have four years of affection to catch up on, John." Her fingers rang gently over his cheek. "You have a meeting to go to," Kelly informed him.
John wanted to tell her he wasn't going, just hug her close and go back to sleep, but he knew that wasn't acceptable. Their duty had to come first, though right now John couldn't care less about his duty. "Do I need a uniform?" John wasn't sure where any of his gear was. Maybe they'd just want him to be in his armor as the only other clothing he had was what he'd worn the day before.
"Yeah, I retrieved it from your room for you." Kelly placed a quick kiss on his cheek. "It probably won't be a long meeting and I have to go to one anyway. When we're done we can spend the day together."
John nodded, a bit reluctant. "Promise?" Kelly only let out a laugh and moved away. Kelly moved to a closet and pulled out a pair of uniforms. She lay them down on the bed and John knew the black dress uniform was for him. He made a quick trip to the bathroom before going to get dressed. He stopped in the doorway as he saw Kelly in her uniform.
"If I were you I wouldn't delay. You're going to be meeting with some of the highest ranked officers and they won't like being kept waiting, even if you are the mighty Master Chief," Kelly advised. She finished buttoning up her shirt and moved over to a mirror and checked her uniform.
"You got pants," John observed as he moved over to the bed and started to get dressed. "Do you think you could get a skirt?" Kelly looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. John stripped off his dirty undershirt and slipped on the clean one that Kelly had laid out for him. "You look good in that uniform," John explained as he slipped on the shirt of his uniform and started to button it up. "Skirt would be even better."
Kelly smile and moved over to stand before him. She fixes his collar carefully. "I'll see what I can do." Kelly gave him a quick kiss before moving toward the door. "There's an MP outside who will lead you to the meeting. Ignore his ranting, I'm letting him escort you as a favor." John opened his mouth to voice his opposition but she stopped him. "A favor can be a useful thing, and he is friends with the head of requisition. I could have him get me one of the standard issue skirt."
John considered it for a moment and decided he was willing to put up with the annoyance of a fan to get Kelly in a skirt. "I'll try not to be annoyed," John said as he followed her out the door.
From there john's day went down. The MP wasn't just a bit chatty he was excessively talkative and walked slowly. It got to the point where John just had to keep reminding himself of what he might get out of the favor. The meeting wasn't much better. He officers asked about Requiem, the Didact, and the Cartographer. Mostly they talked amongst themselves. John was physically rested but he still felt tired mentally. He found it hard to focus on their conversations. His mind went to the information the Librarian had given him, on Reach and the old training days, and planning out how he wanted to spend the rest of the day with Kelly.
"Master chief," the gruff voice snapped John back to the conversation. "Do you have anything to add."
John tried to piece together what they had been talking about but it was pointless. He didn't know what to say or even what topic they were on. "No, sir."
The admiral started continue bit a Captain spoke up. "For God's sake, Williams, let the man leave. He just got back yesterday, he must be exhausted after what he's done." John was grateful for the Captain speaking up. He was tired and he wanted nothing more than to leave.
"Very well, you're dismissed, Master Chief," the Admiral ordered.
John stood and left the room. He thought of heading back to Kelly's quarters but realized he didn't know which way it was. John moved over to a terminal and contacted the AI Kelly had mentioned to him. "Gabriel," the white angel avatar appeared. "Is Kelly finished with her meeting?"
"Not yet. She is meeting with Captain Lasky and Commander Palmer to discuss troop deployment to Requiem," Gabriel explained.
"Can you give me directions?" John asked.
"To your left, second right, third door on the right," Gabriel directed. "I don't think they'll mind you popping in."
John moved off down the hallway and found the room. When the door opened he found Palmer, Lasky, and Kelly standing around a holotank with a projection of a Promethean knight hovering over it. "Your teams would be very useful. They'd be able to handle the fast movements. The knights teleport and can do this fast movement toward an enemy. The Rabbits are our best bets against those tricks," Palmer explained.
"Agreed," Kelly decided. "I can commit however many of my soldiers you need." She paused and looked over her shoulder at John. He moved forward to stand beside her. "I didn't expect your meeting to end so soon."
"Sorry to keep her so long, Chief. Just wanted to be sure she was full read up on Prometheans before she committed troops," Lasky explained.
"It's all right, sir. Congratulations on the promotion," John added.
"Thank, though its not really how I wanted it. I always wanted to be promoted because I deserved it, not because the former Captain made a big mistake." There was a look of regret on Lasky's face as he spoke.
"You did deserve it," Palmer cut in before turning back to Kelly. "I'll get the number of troops well be requesting to you by tomorrow. I would say tonight but..." Her gaze turned to John and she smirked suggestively. "Heard you two have already shacked up."
John tried to keep his features neutral but Lasky looked openly stunned, as though not believing Palmer could be so blunt. Kelly kept her calm and changed the subject. "So when do we deploy?"
"About that." Lasky looked a bit pleased. "I was thinking this might be a perfect chance to test the Rabbits on their own, without having a Spartan II leader. I would think that you would have more pressing matters to attend to here on earth." John noticed Lasky glance toward him for just a fraction of a second.
"Don't worry, I promise to bring back most of the Rabbits," Palmer added. "Insert joke about Rabbits breeding here."
Kelly looked to John for a moment and then back to Lasky. "I do have things that need to be taken care of. I'm trusting you with my Rabbits, Captain. I'm sure you won't disappoint. Oh, and Shara, they do enjoy being given carrots when they've done particularly well." Kelly motioned to John and he followed her out of the room. "So, it looks like I've got some time off," she said once they were outside. "What do you want to do?"
"You," John replied without thinking. He frowned, knowing that he never would have said that out load if he hadn't felt so mentally strained. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Wow, you seem out of it. That wasn't what I was expecting." Kelly frowned and stopped. John stopped as well and faced her. Kelly's hand moved up to his cheek. "You need to relax, John." She pursed her lips as she thought.
"You are how I relax." John lifted his hand to rest over her hand on his cheek. "Being around you relaxes me." John reminded himself that they could be being watched but he found himself not caring. He attributed it to his mental exhaustion and forced himself to pull her hand from his face. "We should go somewhere off base."
Kelly smiled at the idea. "You know I know of a great lake we can visit. Beautiful view, calm and peaceful, and though it's on base it is far away from anywhere that's used." Kelly turned and led him down the hallway.
"I could use some calm and peaceful." John followed her back to her room so they could change out of their uniforms. John was glad to be out of his uniform and the looser fatigues felt more relaxing. Kelly grabbed a few things before they left. She led him across the base to a motor pool where selected a warthog. "Not a mongoose? There's only two of us."
"Wouldn't want you getting too excited on the way there. We don't want a repeat of the last time we rode a mongoose out of armor," Kelly teased as she climbed into the driver's seat. John knew what she was referring to but decided not to rise to the bait. "Come on, Chief. Let a girl take you for a ride."
John moved around the vehicle and settled into the passenger's seat. Once he was in place Kelly hit the gas and they sped of over the landscape. They were silent for a while and John tried to figure out what to talk about. He stared out at the vegetation as it passed by. This certainly wasn't Reach but the plant life was close enough he might still be able to see this place as a home, as long as the Spartans were there.
When they reached the lake John was starting to feel relaxed. He couldn't think of the last time he'd rode in a warthog without being shot at. The last time was probably all the way back to the drive he took with Kelly back before Reach was attacked. The lake was clear and calm, the grass surrounding it was a brilliant green with a few flowers here and there. John just stood and took in the scene for a moment, glad to see that there were places with this kind of calm. Too many beautiful planets had been burned during the war, too many places like this gone.
A hand moved to his cheek and Kelly forced him to look at her. "You're thinking about sad things." It wasn't a question and John wasn't surprised that she could read him so easily. His emotions had always been like bright neon signs to her. "Think of the good, like all the times lying in field together when we were kids, or that night we went skinny dipping and I touched you for the first time."
John didn't know why but he blushed at the memory. He shouldn't have been embarrassed, she'd touched him in the same place plenty when they were being intimate but for some reason he was embarrassed by the first time. Maybe it was because that time had been an accident and all the other times she'd meant to do it.
"You're still embarrassed by that?" Kelly raised an eyebrow and John frowned at her. "You know that was the entire reason we put our hands under the water."
John was surprised by the information. "You mean you did that because you wanted to touch me down there?"
"Yeah, it was because of a conversation with Linda earlier that day," Kelly explained. "She pointed out that we'd seen all the guys naked but none of us had ever touched one's genitals when they were naked. We had a bet running for who could touch a guy' junk first and I ended up winning because of that. Got a full sized chocolate bar out of it."
"You mean you felt me up in front of everyone for a chocolate bar?" John really wasn't sure how he felt about his first intimate contact with Kelly having been because of a bet. "Wait, we were playing Marco Polo that night. How did you know it would be me?"
"I didn't. I just had to touch a guy, any guy, as long as they were naked and I touched their dick, and it didn't have to be in front of anyone." Kelly stared out at the lake. "It just happened that way."
"Then you could have touched any guy?" Kelly smirked at him and John realized that his question had come off sounding a bit jealous. He decided he didn't have any reason to hide his defensive feelings and that more likely she would respond positively. "I don't want you touching any other guys." Kelly smiled and John was glad he'd been right. Some women didn't like men being possessive but Kelly seemed to be a hit-or-miss on the subject. Sometimes she liked it, sometimes she thought he was being insecure. He was sure there was a pattern somewhere he just hasn't found it. "If you'd really wanted to win and we didn't have to do it with people around then you could have asked. I would have let you touch me."
Kelly looked at him disbelieving. "You mean back then if I'd asked you to go into the showers, get naked, and let me grope you, you would have let me? I didn't know you were so easy."
John nodded without hesitation. "Of course back then I wouldn't have known that you touching me would feel so good." John reached over and his hand brushed hers for a second. "Though I might have requested to feel you as well, out of curiosity."
"You can feel me up any time, John. I know how good you touching me can feel." Kelly smirked and leaned against the warthog. "Now what do you want to do, and if you say me again I'm going to force you to watch clouds for an hour until you relax."
John wasn't against the idea of cloud gazing but he'd like to know his options. "What do I get to chose from?"
"Well we could go swimming, or we could lay in the field and just relax for a while, or we could, I don't know, climb trees," Kelly proposed.
"I don't know. I'm still having trouble getting out of a combat state of mind. All I can think is that none of those games would put us in a safe position if we were attacked." John could see the concern on her face and he felt a bit of guilt. He wanted to make her happy, not worried.
Kelly suddenly perked up. "I've got an idea." Kelly moved over to the warthog and grabbed some of the supplies she'd stored in the back. She returned to him with a small rectangular box. She held up the box and he could see the checker patter on it. "Up for some chess?"
"I didn't know you still played, "John admitted.
"I play from time to time. Fred likes to play, and so does Gabriel, though he uses a program to predict my moves so every once in a while I just move pieces about with not real play. It annoys him." Kelly moved to the lake edge and set up the pieces. John was surprised to see that it wasn't a classic set but rather a set that had Covenant pieces. On one side there were elites, blue armored elites as pawns, stealth elites as bishops, field masters as knights, ship masters as rooks, an elite with the two left mandibles missing that John identified as Ralts as the queen, and the Arbiter as the king. On the other side were brutes. Minors as pawns, stealth as bishops, war chieftain as knights, majors as rooks, a clan chieftain as the queen and Tarturus as the king. Of course she'd set it up so he was the brutes.
John sat down across from her and just watched her set it up. "I haven't played this in a while so I might be a bit rusty," John warned.
"Oh, making excuses and you haven't even lost yet," Kelly smirked devilishly. "I'm not going to go easy on you." With that she made the first move and the game began.
Half an hour later John was staring intently at the board, not believing what he was seeing. Kelly was lying in the grass on her stomach, facing the board. "You beat me," he finally admitted. "You weren't this good before."
"Well being in command helped me find the leader in me." Kelly sat up and started to put them back in place. "Rematch?"
John watched her for a minute and nodded. "But can we do it a bit different?" Kelly looked at him, puzzled by the question. He wasn't sure how she would react to the suggestion but he pressed on. "How about we play strip chess." Kelly opened her mouth to voice her objection but John stopped her. "When I'm playing I'm still thinking of combat, Prometheans and Covenant, but I could just as easily focus on each of your higher rank pieces as another piece of clothing I get to take off of you."
Kelly considered the proposition and nodded. "All right, give me the rules."
"Each time one of us takes the others knight, rook, bishop, or queen we get to take a piece of clothing off the other. Each shoe, and sock are a single piece of clothing along with pants, shirt, under shirt or bra, and underwear. If a person is put into checkmate they have to strip everything. If you get a piece to be promoted then you can put a piece of clothing back on. Clear?"
"Yeah, now prepare to sit naked in an open field," Kelly taunted as she got them started.
"That's where you're wrong. Our first game was like first Contact with the Covenant. I now know how you work and can properly fight back." John moved his piece and waited for her move.
"Oh, you think you know how I play? You have no idea." Kelly smirked and the game got really rolling. "The thing is you're too confident. You aren't used to losing."
"No, I don't lose, and you know that when I do I always win the rematch, particularly if the stakes are higher," John reminded her. "I think you've forgotten why I was leader of the Spartan." John could feel himself relaxing as they played. He had to control himself from getting caught up in his thoughts and making a mistake by breaking his strategy just to remove something from her. He had to stick to a plan if he wanted to win.
Kelly was the first to take a piece that wasn't a pawn. Her bishop took his knight and John had to allow her to take off his shoe. He stuck his leg out for her and she slowly undid the laces of his boot. She slid the boot off, her hand massaging his ankle as she finished sliding the boot off. John pulled his leg back when she finished. He knew that if he didn't she'd continue to touch him and he wouldn't be able to focus.
John hesitated for a second but moved his rook and took her bishop. He held out his hand and she stretched her leg out. He let her leg rest on his hand as he undid her boot and pulled it off slowly. He set it to the side, keeping her leg in his grip for a moment. His hand moved to her feet massaging the soul of her foot. Her toes curled and she let out a slight moan of relief. "Remind me later that I owe you a good foot massage."
Kelly nodded and John reluctantly let her pull her leg back. The game was more intense after that, each of them determined to remove more, though John tried to restrain himself. Forty minutes later they'd both stripped each other of their shoes and socks but Kelly had taken John's shirt and undershirt. It had worked his advantage as she was more focused on staring at him than winning the game.
"Checkmate," John announced. Kelly stared down at the board, trying to see if he was right. "You were paying too much attention to my king, not watching your own," John pointed out.
"I was paying attention to my king," Kelly smiled at him. "Bad luck, I was only one move away." She moved her rook and John checked, seeing that she would have had him in checkmate.
"Seems this time you weren't fast enough." John stood and Kelly watched him, confused. He moved to the warthog and grabbed the blanket out of the back, heading back to Kelly. He lay the blanket out and held his hand out to her. "I believe I won."
Kelly took the hand and he helped her stand. "Yes, you won," she admitted. "Why'd you get the blanket?"
"So that way you don't have to put your bare body on the grass. Who knows what kind of ticks there might be," John explained. "Now lay down, I've got an officer to strip."
She stood before him for a second and then lay down on the blanket on her back. John knelt down beside her and his hand moved to the bottom of her shirt. He stopped, his hand moving up to her cheek and caressing her skin carefully. He bit back the question on his mind. She demonstrated her skill at reading him by answering the unasked question. "Yes," she whispered.
Their lips touched, gentle at first but quickly growing in desire. John's tongue invaded her mouth as he fought to explore every inch of her, relearn every bit of her body. Her hands moved to his chest, trailing heat as they carefully moved over the muscles of his chest. He held himself over her as his hands moved to slip under her shirt, slowly making their way up. John had long ago realized that he could apply the strategic skills to these more intimate situations. It was all about choosing the right places to put his hands and mouth to get the reactions he wanted. He moved to kiss along her jaw which caused her to lean her head back, allowing access to her neck.
His hands pulled her shirt up a bit and he removed his mouth from her skin and sat up a bit. She put her arms above her head and he pulled her shirt up and off. He returned his lips to her neck, latching on and was rewarded with a deep moan and her body arching up toward him. He decided to use the chance and slipped his hands behind her to the clasp of her bra. He struggled for a few seconds to try to work it having been never good at getting the clasp unhooked. He felt Kelly's throat vibrate under his kiss more than he heard her laugh. He decided that the clothing could be replaced and with one strong pull broke the clasp. "Hey!" Kelly protested.
She tried to continue protesting but each time she tried to scold him he cut her off with a kiss. "You're better bra-less," he managed to assert. His hands moved over her side and he lowered his head to lavish attention on her chest. Her hand moved to the back of his head, nails starting to dig into his scalp, urging him on. It was no secret to her that he had a particular affection for her chest and she always indulged his desire to spent a bit of extra time on her chest. He pulled away as he shifted and found he was straining a bit painfully against his pants.
Kelly pushed on his shoulder and he let her switch their positions. Her hands moved to his belt as her mouth moved to his chest, lips trailing over his hardened body. She unzipped his pants and he lifted his hips to help her pull them down. She removed them completely, running her hands up his legs as she moved back up. She ducked down for a moment, nuzzling a spot on his left inner thigh. John moaned as she touched him, not at all surprised that she'd remembered his erotic spots. She moved up a bit and nipped at his abs as she moved up. When her mouth had reached his collar bone John suddenly switched their positions.
John returned his mouth to hers as he pressed their bodies together, letting her feel his arousal press against her thigh. He liked letting her know the effect she had on him, an effect only she ever had on him. His hands moved down to her pants and undid them carefully. He reluctantly pulled away from her and moved down, removing her pants and underwear with ease. He tossed the clothing to the side and started to work his way up her leg. He stopped near the bottom of her thigh and kissed at the flesh, enjoying the little sounds she made. He continued to work his way up, kissing his way up her stomach. He reached her shoulder and kissed at her collar bone as his hand moved between her legs. John worked her body in a practiced, precise manner. It was like a sword fight with an elite. He knew all the chinks in the armor, every place that turned her on, it was just a matter of finding the right combination and using the right tool, tongue, teeth, or fingers, to get the job done.
"John...please...I need you." Kelly's grip tightened on his shoulders and she pressed her body toward him. "Oh...I need you in me."
John removed his fingers from her and moved away for a moment to removed his underwear. Kelly spread her legs enough for him to settle between them. He moved into position and stopped himself. He gave Kelly a quick kiss and leaned down so his lips touched her ear. "I love you, Kelly," he whispered.
"I love you too, John." Kelly pulled him to her for a deep kiss, pushing her chest up against his. "Now...I think you've kept me waiting long enough."
John smiled and pushed his hips forward, sinking himself into her. They started to move, John setting a slow but steady pace to start them off. Their lips collided in passionate kisses only breaking to suck in breaths. John slowly increased his speed and Kelly matched him stroke-for-stroke. John let himself get lost in the pleasure and the joy if the bond he shared with only Kelly. Each touch and action was warm and soft, so human and vulnerable. He'd missed this human feeling so much in those last days of the war, during the fight against the Didact. The fire inside grew as his pace increased and his hands had to move from her body to brace himself and give himself some stability as he moved.
Kelly's nails scratched along his back and her body tightened as his name spilled from her lips in a scream. John continued to move until the fire inside him threatened to burn him alive and could no longer be contained. He finally reached release and stopped his motion. He held himself in place, not daring to move. Kelly was the first to take action, pulling him down for a passionate kiss. John reluctantly pulled himself free and lay down beside her. "Totally worth it," Kelly sighed.
"Sorry I kept you waiting so long." John places a quick kiss on her cheek. "I noticed you have some new scars. I'll have to spend some time getting familiar with them. I don't know what caused the one on your back, but I'd have to guess some sort of human weapon." John had felt the scar when he'd been removing her bra but hadn't seen it so he couldn't be sure. "Then there's the burn on your side," his hand moved over to trace then outer line of the scar. His hand moved over to a horizontal scar just below her navel. "And this one I'm not sure about."
"Those scars don't matter, John. They're from the past and were in the now." Kelly moved to drape herself over his chest and curled up against his warmth. "I'm just happy you seem back to your old self."
"I told you, Kelly, I lost track of me. All I needed to find me again was some time with you." John wrapped what little of the blanket he could around them and encircled her in his arms. For the first time in a while John felt calm, happy. There was no looming threat of the Covenant or a Forerunner. Lying here in this field with Kelly in his arms Cortana's question seemed to have an obvious answer. He wasn't a machine, he was human. John let the calm sounds of the forest and Kelly's steady breaths help him drift off to sleep.