Life Is Not Always Easy
Chapter 36 : Soft and Quiet
June, 2268
The ship was quiet again. The Kelvans were gone, off deliberating with Federation representatives, the changes they had made to the ship all undone, the crew functioning normally once more. It was a vast relief.
He sat in front of his firepot, slowly coming up from the depths of his meditation. She was there, he could feel her, smell her. She was quiet, trying not to disturb him. He did appreciate that. He opened his eyes and looked about. She was curled up on the couch, PADD in hand, reading. When he rose, she lifted her head and smiled at him. "Hi there, handsome."
His lips quirked up. "Am I to assume that you are addressing me?"
"Do you see any other tall, dark, and handsome male in here?" Her voice was teasing now, her mood light and happy.
"No, and I do not anticipate that there will be, either."
"Well, that's good, because I think one of you is all I can handle." She sat her PADD down on the table at the end of the couch and stretched.
He joined her on the couch, pulling her over, almost onto his lap. "What did you have in mind for this evening?"
"Not a blamed thing. Too much has happened. I just want to be quiet here with you."
"That sounds extremely agreeable." He nuzzled against her hair, her neck. She made a small satisfied sound and wiggled against him, settling down into a comfortable position. For some time, they just sat there, soaking each other in, not even talking.
And then, eventually, she began to talk softly, to tell him of funny and strange interactions she had seen, between the crew and the Kelvans, once the Kelvans had relinquished control over the ship. And he told her of the experiments that he and Bones and Kirk had performed, to make them overwhelmed with the sensations of their new bodies.
And then she talked about some strange messages and asked about the odd cloud-thing he had detected today and he rubbed her back, and her arms, softly.
It was delicious, just being there, close, and quiet. No interruptions, no excitement. Healing from all the trauma of recent events.
Until she turned her face against his neck and began to nibble. He sighed and stretched his neck to the side, elongating the area she was attacking, silently asking for more. And she murmured and licked and nibbled until he rose from the couch, carrying her across the room and into the sleeping alcove, where he laid her on the bed and slowly devoured her, until she was shaking and moaning and clutching at him, so wet, so wonderful. The heat built slowly between them until it burst out in a wonderful blaze of shared ecstasy, that filled them up and left them sated, curled around each other, softly drifting off to sleep.
Sometimes, soft and quiet was better than anything else.