Rocky Road (NC-17)

Not this chapter is rated NC-17 for SMUT: some relatively non-explicit, by fanfic standards, explicit sex scenes. So, cover me in ice cream and call me a prude.

Thanks: Many thanks to Vinegardog for the beta-ing: I've added an extra page of smut at the end, and a few lines here and there.

Word count: 4415

Rocky Road (NC-17)

John tumbled backwards onto the bed of their latest motel room, his body pinned beneath Aeryn. He had been almost entirely taken by surprise with the ferocious intensity of Aeryn's assault. John had barely finished shutting the door behind them when she had pounced on him, hungry lust in her eyes. When a Peacekeeper wanted sex, it seemed that creating a romantic atmosphere and getting in the right mood comprised little more than ripping off your intended partner's clothes as quickly as you could manage.

Once John's mind adjusted to the idea of having sex, right then and there, he embraced both it and Aeryn enthusiastically. It only took a couple more seconds for his thoughts to catch up with her intentions, but in that time Aeryn had got quite a head start in the practicalities. Although she had managed to get his shirt off and pants down before he had really responded, he soon caught up. While she struggled to get his shoes off, or maybe get his pants past his shoes, he got to work on her dress.

"Now I see the true point of that garment…" Aeryn smirked, nodding as John threw it away from them. He had unfastened the dress and had pulled it off over her head in just a couple of microts, admittedly with her cooperation. It seemed to Aeryn that it was optimised to facilitate recreation, unlike the fastening on John's frelling shoes. "It had to be good for something," she added with a grunt, finally getting both his shoes and pants off of his feet with an energetic tug. As far as she was concerned, so long as the shoes and pants came off she didn't much care whether she had gotten them unfastened first.

By now John was lying on the bed, half supported by his elbows. He watched, amused and excited, as his shoes and pants joined her dress in a crumpled heap beside the bed. He began laughing gently, the chuckle continuing even as Aeryn began to stalk her way up his legs. In case there was still any doubt in his mind, she made her predatory intentions clear as she paused for a few seconds to scrutinize the now preposterous bulge in his boxers. She inspected him first with her eyes, then her eager, powerful fingers and finally with her teeth.

John whimpered ever so slightly, but held back from protesting. It had long since occurred to him, during months of fantasising, that sex with Aeryn was never likely to be a gentle affair. She had been happy to take things slowly on their first night on Earth, although some of that might have been down to the fact that having sex with an alien was a whole new experience for both of them. Her behaviour now, though, was definitely more in line with his expectations, scarily so.

With a mock snarl Aeryn continued her stalk upwards, closing in on his nervously grinning face. Seeing the way things were going, John laid back, freeing his hands to explore her lithe body, even as her mouth claimed his in a hungry kiss. She did not seem to object that his hands were on a mission to fondle her breasts and her ass. His fingers clumsily pushed aside her underwear as they worked almost as an afterthought. It was only fair, though: one of her hands was tugging him free of his boxers whilst the other explored the musculature of his upper arms and chest.

John's manhood finally sprang free from his underwear and he stifled a gasp as Aeryn clasped him in a steely grip.

"Frell! Now!" Aeryn growled, backing off from his mouth for a microt in order both to speak and to bite his shoulder. She emphasised her intent by firmly pumping his cock firmly three or four times in her vice-like grip.

"Yeah, I got that!" John replied, as manfully as he could manage. He wondered if there would be tooth marks on his shoulder tomorrow. Or finger-shaped bruises on his manhood. Probably both, from the feel of it. He decided it was time to calm things down before something got bitten off: slow and seductive rather than feral and painful.

Flipping Aeryn over onto her back he covered her with his body. A look of confusion briefly passed across her face. Not that she wasn't familiar with a male being on top during recreation, but she had just assumed that this time, with this male, she was going to be the one in that position. Pausing just long enough to be sure that she was staying on her back, John began to wriggle down the bed. He left a slow trail of kisses and caresses down her neck, he paused for a while to minister to her breasts, and then he proceeded across her taut, muscular abdomen.

He'd never been with a woman before who had such well-defined abs: he'd known guys who'd worked out regularly who had less to show for their efforts. Not that he didn't find it sexy, but it sure as hell was different to what he was used to.

Finally, John reached his objective and settled in between her legs. Considering she was an alien, his fingers and tongue found everything to be astonishingly familiar. John got down to the task he had set himself, his tongue reaching out while one hand remained on standby, gently rubbing the top of her thigh. Meanwhile his other hand crept up to fondle her breast. All in all, he was rather pleased with himself and how things were going. He was confident that Aeryn would be too.

"Get on with it Crichton," Aeryn snapped. "Before I die of boredom."

John paused in his ministrations and peered across her belly, trying to catch her expression. "Or old age." Aeryn finished with an angry snarl. To Aeryn, this was just the sort of banter that she would use to encourage any sidetracked Peacekeeper recreational partner to return to the main objective with renewed vigour.

"Umm, what do you want, then Aeryn?" John tried, desperately trying to preserve both his dignity and the moment, desperately keen to learn how to please her, but completely put out by her disparaging words.

"I want you to be more like a Peacekeeper," Aeryn answered, completely unaware of the effect her words would have on John's already deflating libido. She was used to being as direct about her sexuality as about any other aspect of her life and assumed he would be too. "Frell me like you mean it!" she added, furthering the deflating effect her words had on him.

John felt his heart in his throat. He hadn't expected either her negative assessment of his lovemaking or that she might want him to be more like, of all things, a Peacekeeper.

"Umm. I did mean it…." John mumbled, as much to himself as to Aeryn.

"Well, I don't want what you are offering," Aeryn responded. In her mind, and in Sebacean, she was clear on her meaning. She wanted him to do something else, but to keep recreating with her: in her mind, to actually start recreating with her. However, through the prism of the translator microbes and differences in culture and colloquial understanding, John got an entirely different message.

John stopped entirely and rolled away from her, completely dejected.

After a microt or two Aeryn levered herself up and peered at him. He sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on knees, staring at the window. Aeryn did not understand why he found the window so interesting, as the gauze coverings and their position on the second floor meant that there was nothing to see but the clear, blue sky. Her mind floundered, trying to understand what was happening.

After a few microts he sighed heavily, resigning himself to this unexpected turn of events.

"Still hungry?" he asked. She had mentioned she was on their way up to the room.

"Uh-hmmm." Aeryn replied. She had meant that she was still in a mood to continue recreating, but again her meaning got lost in translation.

John stood and pulled his pants back on. Aeryn frowned, wondering what the hezmanna was going on now. She had never before experienced a bout of recreation which had ended in anything other than balancing of fluid levels or interruption by an un-ignorable external event. She had no framework to help her process this strange turn of events.

"I'll go out, then. Get us some food." John grunted, his voice quiet and low. Without turning to look at Aeryn, he picked up his wallet, checked the contents, grabbed the keys and strode out.

Shaken from her inactivity, Aeryn leapt from the bed, meaning to follow, but his departure was so sudden and unexpected to her that to do so would have meant that she would have had to leave the room naked, which she had worked out was clearly taboo on Earth. She couldn't even risk calling after him and having the neighbours hear her shouting his name.

Aeryn sunk back onto the bed and, fighting a growing sense of dejection, tried to figure out what the hezmanna had gone so wrong.

Aeryn glowered at John as he stepped through the door, back into their room. A more timid man might have turned and fled from her scowl alone, never mind the gun she had pointed at him. But John was not a timid man. He was soon rewarded for his bravery: pretty much as soon as she had confirmed that it was him and that he was alone she stopped pointing the gun at him and put it down on the table. It wasn't much of a reward, but it was better than many of the things she might have done.

"I got us some food," John said. He held up two carrier bags, one in each hand, to illustrate his point. "Chinese…." He added. Everyone likes Chinese food, his mind had reasoned.

By John's standards his voice was neutral and emotionless. It seemed to Aeryn that he might want to see how things would go between them before committing to sharing any feelings on his part.

"What the frell does 'giant knees' mean, Crichton?" Aeryn snapped back, more coldly than she had intended, but it did so infuriate her when he used words or expressions which meant nothing to her.

Crichton sighed heavily, in lieu of counting to ten and starting again.

"Just try it. You'll like it," he answered, his voice starting to show hints of frustration.

"What makes you so sure? Humans and Sebaceans seem to have very different tastes," Aeryn challenged as he placed the bags on a low table and began unpacking one of them. She hadn't meant her words to be a commentary on the earlier debacle, but the brief, sharp look John shot her told her that that was how he had taken it.

John sighed again as he put one of the containers in the chiller unit for later. The container was his Plan B, in case all other attempts to sort things out with Aeryn failed.

"Why did you stop? Earlier, when we were recreating?" Aeryn asked, coming straight out with what was on her mind. John briefly reflected on how typical that was for her. With that thought he began to wonder whether that might have been part of their problem earlier. He paused taking prawn crackers out of the bag, his hand hovering over the table as he considered this.

"I got the impression… that you didn't want… that I wasn't…"

"I wanted to frell, Crichton. I thought I was quite clear about that?"

"Well, yes, but…" John spluttered, taken aback both by her directness now and by the still-painful memory of events earlier. "Oh well, never mind... No use crying over spilt milk."

Aeryn gave John what he termed Look Number Three, the 'what incomprehensible dren are you spouting now, stupid ooman' look.

If they were just going to bicker all evening, then he might as well watch some TV, he thought.

Aeryn watched John finish unbagging the takeaway. He picked up a small black box from the table and pointed it at one of the larger items of furniture. The glass-fronted box exploded into life, colour and sounds pouring from it. John seemed to gently flick the hand holding the small box a couple of times, and each time the sounds and images displayed on the glass panel of the larger box changed. He soon seemed to settle on something, which was currently almost too dark to see: a video of two men talking in a large dark, smoky room.

"Hey Aeryn. Bladerunner's just started. We can sit and watch while we eat," John suggested, forgetting in his excitement that Aeryn would have no clue what a Bladerunner was.

"What the frell are you talking about, Crichton?" she snapped. But at that moment one of the men on the screen shot the other with a hidden weapon and Aeryn was instantly enthralled. She barely registered his words as John answered.

"It's a movie, Aeryn. Entertainment. Trust me. You'll love it."

"I doubt it," Aeryn replied almost automatically, contradicting her entranced body language. John smiled to himself and set about arranging seats, table and food containers to optimise the efficiency with which they could combine eating and watching. A contrary response he could understand – there was nothing deep, mysterious or alien about that.

Whilst they ate, the Earth entertainment continued to play on the TV, providing cover for the awkward silences which sometimes settled between them.

Aeryn was both enthralled and confused by the movie. It was apparently about people who were maybe not really people who were being hunted by the Earth authorities. Rain seemed to fall often in the film, which Aeryn found fascinating. Overall it was bewildering and dark, but she conceded, at least to herself, that it was very entertaining. For a while they ate in silence and watched.

Out of the corner of her eye Aeryn half-watched as John pulled a slug of beer from his bottle and helped himself to another helping of the food he had brought back. 'Giants Knees' he had called it. It was hot and complicated with so many flavours and textures, all mixed in together.

"This human food… It is… confusing." Aeryn remarked.

"But it's OK?" John replied. His voice and manner betrayed a hint of concern that she might not like it.

At that moment the main character in the movie seemed to start eating the same type of food as them. Aeryn therefore assumed it was common on Earth, even though she had not so far encountered anything like it during her brief sojourn. She shrugged and nodded. If she was going to be stuck here on Erp she would probably have to get used to eating Giants Knees. She got the impression that it would be a long time before she would see a plain, satisfying food cube again.

By the time she swilled down her next mouthful of noodles with a pull on her beer, John had already returned his attention to the TV.

'~'

"I don't understand…. What is going on now?" Aeryn asked. There was so much in this move fee which confused her. A short time previously John had assured her that many humans found this particular film exceptionally confusing. She had bitten back her annoyance that John expected her to watch something that even frelling humans didn't understand, becoming distracted when there was a short fight on the screen between a couple of the characters. That, at least, she understood.

"Well, she's confused. See, she's not used to emotions, not comfortable with them. Hell, she's not even sure she should be having any, if she really is a replicant. But he makes her feel things."

Then woman on the screen, Rachael, absented herself from the presence of the man, Deckard. That at least Aeryn could understand, although, if she'd been in Rachael's place, she would have just Pantak jabbed the frellwit for treating her like that.

"Oh, I see." Aeryn remarked and took another mouthful of her food. Out of the corner of her eye she saw John stare at her, as though by doing so he might be able to understand what she was thinking. Stupid Erpling, she thought smugly. A satisfying memory of their first meeting, with John lying on the floor, pinned beneath her, flashed across her mind's eye. From what she had seen in the movie, a little playful violence was not unexpected by humans as a prelude to recreation, so she couldn't understand why he had not understood her meaning earlier. Maybe she should pin John down later and do things her way, she thought? But then, maybe not. Maybe he wasn't like normal human males? Or maybe the movie wasn't representative of them? More intelligence on the matter seemed in order before she launched her assault.

'~'

They finished the Chinese takeaway and the movie began going through a quiet period, with the replicants visiting their creator. John took the opportunity to pull the last carton of food from the cooler unit and fill up two bowls with the contents. Gripped with a sudden, mischievous urge, he placed a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream in front of Aeryn without comment or warning.

John watched closely as she picked up the bowl and spoon and, intent on the movie, absent-mindedly slipped a spoonful of the dessert into her mouth. She seemed to quite literally freeze for a few seconds then let out the most orgasmic groan that John had ever heard from her.

Aeryn flashed a glance at John, concerned that he had heard her. The smug grin he shot back at her told her that indeed he had heard her. She quickly averted her gaze and resolved to be more careful with how she reacted as she began to devour the rest of the bowl. She had an irrational desire not to let John know just how divinely cold and tasty she found this strange, new Erp-food. She wanted him to work harder for his satisfaction than that.

'~'

"So, these … replicants?" Aeryn asked. She put down her bowl, now empty of ice cream, as she studiously watched a character who bore a striking resemblance to Chiana, the young Nebari that they had recently taken aboard Moya.

"Replicants, yes," John answered, currently too intent on the movie to notice her creased brow. If only he had paid more attention to Aeryn, he might have proceeded into their latest conversation with more caution.

"They are human, yes?" she asked. She was scarcely watching the TV at all now. Her gaze was fixed solely on the hapless astronaut.

"Well sort of. Not quite, there's little differences, nothing you could see. Like the lifespan. They're genetically engineered…" John burbled waving his chopsticks as he spoke as though he were conducting the orchestra of his thoughts.

"I see." Aeryn stated flatly.

Something about her tone of voice caused John to turn and look at her now. As he did so, he finally became aware of where this conversation might have already headed. He started to worry that indeed she did see, all too well: humans didn't have much tolerance for any differences, even amongst themselves. He'd tried so hard, up on Moya, to convince her that she'd be accepted on Earth, yet so much evidence, even beyond the fact that here they were on the run, pointed to the contrary.

"And this is how humans think they might treat those who are not quite the same as them?" Aeryn drove the point home, in case he was in any doubt as to what she was thinking. She stared at him with her best stormy glare, waiting for whatever answer he dared to give.

Oh shit, John thought. How was she ever supposed to trust him, now that she understood that their own situation was not likely to be just an unlucky chance, but was really only to have been expected?

John smiled wanly, trying to turn on the charm. James T Kirk never had this much trouble.

"It's just a movie Aeryn," he responded, trying hard to placate her. "Just a bit of….." he stopped himself before he said 'fun' or 'entertainment'. He could already see Aeryn was revving up to bite back about how their own situation was not whatever it was that he now thought better of saying. "We're not all like that, you know, Aeryn?" he finished.

"Indeed, John. It seems that you are not like all humans." Aeryn replied somewhat enigmatically. John, of course, had no idea about her thoughts on him and normal human recreating behaviour from earlier during the film.

"Hey Aeryn, not everything human is so bad." He tried another of his usually-winning grins on her. If it won her over any, she wasn't showing it. Instead of smiling, she arched an eyebrow. "I mean, you seemed to like the food, especially the ice cream?" he continued hopefully.

Aeryn stared at her empty ice cream bowl and considered the matter for some microts. She came to a decision.

"Fine, John, I will concede that humans can do some things well," she agreed after making John wait for a painfully long time.

"Only some things?" He tried the smile again. This time, he got a hint of a smile back. At least, he thought that was what it was.

While John was still pondering the nature of her smile, Aeryn decided that it was time to act. She grabbed the remainder of the ice cream tub with one hand, and John's hand with her other. Having achieved her first tactical objective without any defensive action on John's part, she stood and tugged him towards the bed in a most unambiguous way. John very briefly considered protesting that they would miss the end of the film before he decided that seeing the end of the movie came a very poor second to what Aeryn was obviously proposing. And after the fiasco earlier that evening and her icy demeanour when he had returned with the food, he knew it was probably unwise to piss her off again.

Once Aeryn had arranged them so that they were both kneeling on the bed, facing each other, she carefully and silently set the ice cream carton down beside them.

"OK, Aeryn…" John opened his mouth and began to speak, but he was silenced by a finger across his lips and an absurdly over-serious frown from Aeryn. Obediently, he fell silent, grinning as she began to pull off his T-shirt. With a wickedly seductive gleam now in her eye, she lifted his hands and set them on her dress, close to the fastenings, before reaching across to set to work on undoing his pants. Even he, a mere human male, was fairly clear on what she meant him to do. After a few further microts, tugs, and grunt-filled manoeuvres their outer garments had been disposed of, all remarkably without a drop of ice cream being spilt on the undulating mattress.

John seemed anxious to rush on to the next stage, and his eager fingers were already torn between removing her underwear and exploring what lay beneath. Aeryn gave a little gasp of pleasure, shivering as he tweaked one of her nipples with one hand whilst, at the same time, he stroked her sex with the other. Normally, Aeryn would have been happy with such directness, but she had already decided that this time she would not succumb to such urges. She would collaborate with their undressing, but then she had other plans before they moved on to what seemed to be the inevitable frell. As she gently eased John's boxers over his now-magnificent erection she raised an eyebrow and gave a half-smile to match, anticipating what was to come. It would be worth waiting a little longer for. She resisted the urge to speak, although she was certainly curious to know who this Calvin Klein was, and why his name was emblazoned on his underwear.

John gently pushed on Aeryn's shoulder, indicating that he thought they should lie down. Whilst Aeryn did not entirely refuse to go along with him, she did subvert his intentions sufficiently to lift the carton of ice cream and ensure that they ended lying, propped on elbows, side by side with the carton held up between them. His erection tapped enticingly against her upper thigh, but she resisted the urge to attend to it. Instead, she set the carton down between them, dipped in a finger, and then ran the chunk of melting dessert slowly down his chest, causing him to shiver and grin broadly.

"So that's the way…" he began, but was silenced with an ice-cream laden finger laid across his lips. He grinned and took the finger into his mouth, locking his eyes on hers as he greedily sucked and nibbled at her hand.

Aeryn nodded her approval and soon the sounds of giggles and gasps arose from the bed. Both of them were now careful to refrain from conversation, though. John reflected that it seemed that ice cream and Sebaceans were just made for each other. With the aid of the frozen dessert and a little imagination, he was pleased that Aeryn was not nearly so set on a swift, vigorous frell this time. And sooner or later the ice cream would run out, at which point he was fairly sure he knew what they would both be keen to do. Although he had no idea what had changed her attitude from earlier, he did not complain.

Maybe this could work, John thought to himself as he licked a spoonful of Rocky Road out of Aeryn's fluttering navel?

Maybe this could work, Aeryn thought as she allowed herself to give in to the pleasures of this strange, new, decidedly human experience.

In the background, ignored by both of them, the final few scenes of Bladerunner played out. And John was mercifully, but only temporarily, spared from having to try to explain any more sayings, subtexts, meanings or other human peculiarities to Aeryn. As the evening wore on they both discovered that sometimes it really was possible to communicate better without a word being spoken.

The end – for now.