Naked bodies together under the sheets, chilly from evaporated sweat, hair mussed, and in each other's arms, it took a while for their heartrates to fall again. Even Braxiatel had to catch his breath. Brax wasn't a natural cuddler when he was thinking about it, but now? He didn't even seem to notice it being unusual. At this very moment, there was nothing but each other and the feeling of bliss in the dim room.
Benny looked up at him from her head's position over his hearts and finally broke the minutes-long silence, "Alright Brax, pretty damn amazing. Didn't even know men could do that."
He planted a kiss on the top of her forehead. "They usually can't, but it was great, yes. Different from how I typically go about doing things. In a good way. Not to say it surprised me, but you're rather- uh... competitive. "
Bernice took the compliment if it was one, then she grimaced when the euphoria started fading and a realization hit. "But now we have another problem. I have been to less than one day of a five-day dig." Then she added, "Even the best sex in the universe isn't an excuse to bail on a team, no matter how fishy they seemed- alright, technically it's an excuse. Just not exactly a very good one."
"We could just pop back. And we do have access to a time machine. We can have great sex and be on time for things," he explained back, in a posh and formal sort of way that really didn't work in the current situation.
They still didn't want to leave each other's embrace. Bernice twiddled her thumbs and stared at the ceiling, thinking about ideas on how to take care of this. "With how things happened I kinda want to go home as soon as we can. That planet's soured for me, I think. We could send somebody else or do it remotely, I suppose."
His voice was bold and triumphant. "Delegating. That is a favourite part of my being the boss, yes. I suppose I'll do that, have our possessions retrieved..."
She gave an amused huff. "I suppose it would be that, yes. Don't think of ordering people around that way very much. I'm used to it, but not exactly in a business context... You know, more of a mortal peril sort of context."
"Business? Mortal peril? What's the difference?" he joked.
"With you, there's not," she teased.
He added, "Well, I was a politician long before I was a businessman. I suppose I'm used to the mortal peril element."
Bernice thought long and hard about that. "Right. And you certainly do have the recipe to make an excellent politician."
"Thank you, it's true. I was," he affirmed.
Benny hummed. "Don't know if that's a good thing or a bad one. I really don't know what to feel about them, usually. Suits you though, I suppose."
"Well, like any demographic, it can be a mixed bag," he agreed.
"Mixed bags are something I dig into not infrequently..." she trailed off.
His mind fell to Romana- which was frankly a very awkward thing to think about at the moment given this position, so he didn't say her name out loud. "There were some I worked with- our lady president, for example, who I still feel is... the very best our world has to offer. And there are some who are of the sort so awful I was quite happy to see get killed by an evil brain parasite."
Her expression could probably be summed up to 'what? ' "That's... certainly a stance to take."
"If you'd met her, you'd understand. She was even too bigoted for Narvin's taste, for one thing," he explained, tone bitter.
All things considered, that was a Time Lord who, while she still had some beef with him, she knew he wasn't nasty to her specifically, even allowing her to wear official Time Lord legal garb, so that came as a bit of a surprise. "Narvin didn't seem particularly bigoted when I met him..."
"He's undergone some personal growth," Brax stated.
"She must have been pretty damn horrible then," Benny made a face of mild disgust.
He did his best to tell her about it without hitting anything too close. "Darkel literally became a terrorist, then pinned her violent actions on students in an effort to push back Romana's policies and further her own agenda." He waved his hand up in the air towards the ceiling in a somewhat explanatory gesture, before letting fall down and once again rest on Bernice's bare chest.
Benny wasn't too surprised, when they met, her negotiating skills were the first to come up. "Romana was president? I met her once to help her out of this- other dimension... thing, and read the database on her later. Went up in the world since then, I suppose."
"Romana was president after she left E-Space, yes. And I was her High Chancellor," he boasted.
She raised a curious eyebrow, then let out a soft giggle. "High Chancellor Braxiatel has a rather nice ring to it. Ostentatious, but not so much as to be unbearable." She was definitely going to be making a note of that.
He smiled, a glimmer in his eyes. "Doesn't it? I was also president... for about five minutes."
She wasn't sure where to laugh or to squint at that statement. "How did that happen? You obviously weren't assassinated..."
"Well, I couldn't stay... given my situation," he muttered solemnly.
He didn't say much about it, but she knew he couldn't go home because of what was in his head- what drove him over the edge last time. Benny knew it was a sore spot, and she realized just a little too late. "Oh- right. Sorry."
He frowned, but accepted it. "It's fine. I've come to terms with it."
Bernice whispered in his ear. "We should go home."
"Yes, I suppose so. But do you have to leave just yet?" He looked at her pleadingly.
"Oh, alright," she rolled her eyes and gave in.
"Just a little longer. I won't exactly be keeping you. Again, time machine," he pointed out smugly.
"Didn't expect you to be the one being clingy," she chuckled.
Brax shrugged. "I didn't either."
"Fair enough." Bernice leant up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before falling limp in his arms again.
They were there in that position for a long time, Benny lay warm against his chest. Slowly, he could feel her drifting off to sleep by the sound of his heartbeats. They were both being calming presences now, and the same was starting to happen to him. He wouldn't let it be long, of course. He promised that much. But it was a sort of good quiet calm that only came after the storm was over, not something he was granted often. Absentmindedly rubbing her on the cheek with his thumb, Braxiatel fell into a sweet dream.
When Brax stirred, he didn't expect it to be after Bernice was out of his arms, but surprisingly that nap was both deep enough, and she was careful enough for him not to notice for a short period. It was the absence that he felt, not her movement. In the dark his eyes adjusted and he saw that she was gathering up their clothes. He grunted and sat up, finally.
"Nice nap, wasn't it?" Bernice commented, sorting through the covers to find the remaining articles left over. "Well, these are a... bit messy. And smell- well natural is a word for it, but hey- not like we can't go change them later, eh?"
Startled, Brax didn't have much time to react when a large bundle of them flew in his direction and smacked him clean in the face. "Benny!"
"Sorry..." she muttered. One piece at a time, she was getting dressed again. Underwear, socks, shirt, jeans, jacket. Her short hair was still a disaster, but she was quick enough to change.
He followed in that, judging it a more appropriate use of time than sleeping in. Regardless of whether he liked that or not, there were still things to do. Pulling on his crumpled suit jacket and taking his tie, Brax realized he'd definitely need a comb. Running fingers through his hair and getting it straightened out the best that could be done, he looked at Bernice for approval.
"How do I look?"
After a not-so-careful moment of consideration, Benny joked, "...Still like someone who just had a good shag, but not too terrible all things considered. You'll live."
Rolling his eyes, Braxiatel's intentions were still clear "...I'm still bathing and getting into something clean as soon as possible."
"Probably a good idea, yeah-" Bernice got another whiff of the air, then nodded hard. "Definitely."
He saw her getting out of the bedroom and stepping slowly back the way they came. He slipped his shoes back on and followed, making sure they wouldn't get lost. Finally reaching the end of the tunnel and the control room, Benny leaned over the console.
"Home..." she murmured.
"That sounds good, yes," he started humming and absentmindedly punching in coordinates, not paying all too much attention.
"I need it. Safe, comfortable. Friends..." she sighed in longing.
There was something bittersweet about that. He didn't really feel safe anywhere nowadays. That wasn't to say the Collection wasn't a much safer place than the planet they'd just spent time on- he'd probably be putting that one on a blacklist, in fact. But before he lost his real home, Gallifrey, he at least was sure it at least existed. The same couldn't be said now, other than that it lay in ruins. He cleared his throat. "...We'll be home before you know it."
Benny gave a look of exhaustion. "Yes, I should hope so. Goddess I hope so... It's certainly been a week, hasn't it? I need a break."
He nodded. "It's been an adventure, that's for sure. And don't worry, we'll be home in a moment. Unlike him, I know how to drive."
"Thanks, Brax," she smiled.
"Of course."
There was something she'd been thinking about for a bit, and thought it fitting to say now. "Once I've had a bit of a breather I want to visit Peter and his husband. Have some fun, talk about plans. You should come!"
Still humming, he paused to answer. "Oh, yes, that would be nice. It's been quite some time since I saw Peter."
"I'm sure he missed you too," she rubbed his shoulder fondly.
"Well, now... I wouldn't go that far," something she knew he still believed was that nobody cared about him anymore. It couldn't have been less true, when they were a family on Legion. And that was where Jack, Peter, and Diego all still were.
"You're uncle Brax! Come on, give yourself some slack. Then again it might not be uncle forever..." The words just tumbled out of her mouth, she didn't even realize what she was saying until after she said it, almost making her choke. She wanted to marry him one day, didn't she?
He seemed to take it well, at least- paying attention to Peter's side of things rather than the commitment side. "I'm not trying to make a grown man call me father..."
She laughed. "I wouldn't go that far either."
"Good, yes, I'm not really sure I'm father material," he tried to keep a neutral tone about it. That worked, well enough.
Benny huffed. "I can't exactly just tell him what to do anymore anyway."
"No, well, he's a man now," he stated matter-of-factly.
Bernice thought about it long and hard, her big strong boy having grown up. Without her for a good part too, unfortunately. "I admit, still baby him a bit, considering what I missed, how on-and-off things were. But I'm not planning on making him do anything. He did say you were like a father to him though, you know."
His eyes widened slightly at that. "Did he?"
She tried not to act like she cared about it, or that she was ever jealous of Irving. "One of the times we were off by ourselves. Before we made up he said that about you."
The specific type of flattery almost startled him. He stuttered. "That's... I don't know what to say."
"You don't need to say anything right now. I think what he needs is for you just to show up and be there," Benny poked at his chest.
"So long as he doesn't need advice. I had one brief foray into parenthood and she came in a box. And I was a crystal. I have far more experience as an uncle. My brother was like a rabbit in his youth, you know," he commented about the Doctor, somewhat condescendingly.
"Well, that's more than fine for now. Being an uncle, I mean. Not turning yourself into a rock again. I'd rather you not do that," she answered pointedly. That was a rough spot, even when factoring Cantus out of the equation.
"Well, I have far more interesting things to be doing right now," he added, not paying mind to his exact wording.
"Things certainly are interesting right now, yes. But I swear if you were going to say 'me' I don't know how I'd have reacted," she smirked.
Brax shot up and turned red in surprise, stammering. "I... B-b-Bernice... that... that's not what I meant!"
"Sorry, sorry. I know what you meant, Only teasing. Just still feeling... on and off right now." She shook her hand in a so-so way.
"On and off as in...?" Braxiatel prodded.
She tried to phrase it more politely than the general human way. Keep things... a bit formal. "Random bouts of- lust? I guess that fits the bill."
"Well, I have heard that humans have... appetites," he implied.
She nodded at his allusion. "Yes, quite frequently. It's a bit like not knowing whether I'm actually hungry or not, going with that particular euphemism."
He cocked his head, thinking of a suggestion. "I could... help? If you want. Another round, so to speak?"
She shook her head. "No, no. I'd love to, but there's more things to work on, and we just got back in our clothes. Just... not practical at all. Not right now. Maybe later."
"Okay, well... let me know," Braxiatel asked.
"I'm sure I will. Let's just relax for a bit, shall we?" Bernice sighed.
"Sounds good."
Bringing his attention back to the console and the time rotor, he elegantly hit some final switches and a soft groaning reverberated across the ship, before a very, very soft thumping sound as it all stopped.
"We've landed."
Bernice stretched out. "Finally. It's only been a couple of days but it feels like forever. Ahhhh... Home sweet home."
"There's no place like it," he hummed.
"Even more true than anywhere else."
"I'll send someone to finish directing the dig and collect the things we set aside. In addition to our luggage, of course," Braxiatel explained. "No need to worry."
Benny thought about what they actually found. She wasn't there long, all things considered, but the specimens were all good. "I'd be very happy to see more of those cleaned up. They were in phenomenal condition."
"Yes, it was quite an impressive haul, for only a day," he agreed.
"I promised I'd go over to see someone once I got home. Bye for now. Have a kiss."
Benny gave him a quick peck on the cheek as the doors swung open and she stepped outside.
"Okay, have fun."
"See you later!" she shouted back, running off into the distance, her voice fading.
"See you later, Benny," he grinned softly as she disappeared.
Slowly, the console room pulled itself away and shifted back into a lovely, wood-panelled and marble-walled office. The Supremacy of Venus watching from overhead, mahogany desk, busts along the walls, paintings instead of windows, and a fire that never quite stopped crackling.
Home sweet home.
