Chapter 4 – Forbidden Love

Keeping his arm wrapped around her, Corso reached up with his other hand, and brushed the tips of his fingers along the curve of her jaw. "Nothin's changed for me, Captain," he whispered in reply. "I still want you, now an' always."

Vacy touched the tip of her nose to his. "You ain't like anyone I've ever known before," she murmured. "There's a part of me wants to say throw everything to blazes, tell him you love him, just go with it." Her smile was sad. "And if you was anybody else, maybe I would. Because it wouldn't bother me in the least to say Yanno, I just don't love you anymore to anybody else." With a soft sigh, she lay her head on his shoulder. "But with you – I don't rightly understand it – I don't ever wanna do that to you."

Corso slipped his other arm around her as well, and closed his eyes as he rested his cheek on the top of her head. He let out a contented sigh, holding her close for a few moments before letting go and stepping away. "Let's go ahead an' get back to the ship," he said. "Wouldn't want Risha to say we was slackin' off."

"That girl needs to get out more," Vacy replied, rolling her eyes. "Maybe next time I should drag her along as well."

As they stepped off the barge, Corso chuckled. "I expect it'd make for an interesting evening," he said dryly.

Corso lay in his bunk, trying not to fidget. It seemed like it must've been at least fifteen minutes since he'd heard Risha quit moving around over on the other side of the room. The ship was as close to silent as it ever got; there was no noise beyond the ever-present whurr of the air circulation and the various beeps and pings of status checks.

He'd had common quarters before, with Viidu's crew, but that was just with the guys; there'd been a separate room for the women's bunks. Space was at a premium on a ship – kinda ironic, that, since there was certainly plenty of space all around! – so it made sense to have everyone just kind of pile in together. Still. It made things a mite awkward, least to his way of thinking.

Each morning he tried to make sure he was up and out of the room well before Risha so much as budged. He didn't know what she wore to bed, and he wasn't all that interested in finding out. Actually, it wasn't so much that he wasn't interested as it was he wanted to keep himself physically intact. Risha didn't seem the sort who'd respond well to that sort of completely-harmless curiosity.

At any rate, he didn't think it would be too much trouble to get out of the room without disturbing Risha. The trouble lay in other directions.

If he took a right and headed directly to the workstation, he'd pass the C2 unit on his way. Corso figured it ran on low-power mode at night, but then, it tended to abruptly blather at whoever passed by, and he wasn't sure whether that feature stayed active or not.

On the other hand, if he took a left, he'd avoid C2, but he'd have to go past the captain's cabin. She was probably asleep by now, but he didn't much like the thought of trying to explain why he was sneaking past her door at all hours of the night. Especially with her in that soft little nightshirt that left her arms and shoulders bare and only just came down over… oh blast it.

Definitely time for a distraction, Corso thought to himself with a sigh. He reached over beside his pillow and grabbed the clothes he'd stashed there that evening, pulling on the shirt quickly, then swinging his legs over the side of the bunk and stepping into his trousers. They were a little snug in certain areas, but he'd learned to grit his teeth and do his best to ignore that situation.

The metal floor was chilly under his bare feet, but he'd certainly had practice dealing with worse in terms of discomfort. Corso quietly shuffled over to the open doorway and leaned out, listening.

He decided to go left, cutting past the holoterminal. If he woke the captain, or if she was already up, so be it. He'd just tell her that he was going to go make some adjustments to Grabber, which was the truth – at least, from a certain point of view. And if he was a bit nervous in talking to her, well, there certainly wasn't anything unusual about that. Especially if she was in that nightshirt. Corso clenched his jaw as he felt a rather ungentlemanly throb.

Walking a little more quickly, he tried not to imagine sliding his hands up her thighs, pushing the nightshirt up over her waist and – stars, this was completely inappropriate. Gear. Think about your gear, and what modifications you'll need to make.

He reached the technical bay without incident and ducked around the corner. The crew locker opened with a gentle *click* and he dropped to a knee. As quietly as he could, Corso pulled his weapons out, setting rifles and pistols to the side and then reaching in for his beloved harpoon, Grabber. His eyes lit up and he couldn't hide a grin.

This was going to be absolutely blasted amazing.

Again taking care to make as little noise as possible, he set his rifles and pistols back into his compartment in the locker, then closed the door again, picked up Grabber and took her over to the workbench. His grin broadened when he saw the crate underneath. He pulled it out carefully, unlatched the top and set it to the side.

His chestguard was on top, and he quickly pulled it out and set it gently to the side, followed by his greaves, bracers, belt, and gloves. He smiled a bit as he reached in again and picked up the digital helmet – it was such a bitty thing, but it'd saved his hide quite a few times in the short while he'd been wearing it.

Then he took a slow breath and looked back into the crate, and his eyes shone. He reached inside and ran his fingers over her smooth lines. His mouth was dry, and when he finally found his voice, it came out in a husky whisper.

"Hello, beautiful."