=/\= USS Charon, Deck 10 Quarters 02 =/\=
Brent could see her watching him out of the corner of his eye. Good. The anticipation would be good for her. He began to eat after she had picked up her fork and tried her meal. Brent ate with enthusiasm, all of the physical exercise from today's PT having made him famished. He took a drink of the wine that he had poured for Sakarra and then himself before speaking up again.
"Thank you for taking me out into the fighter this evening, even despite the brief refresher in terror, I had a lot of fun. I think I'll have to send some of those pictures back home. My mother was a science officer before she got married and settled down. She'd love to see a comet so up close." Idle conversation with that same playful smirk on his face...
Impossible. It truly was the only word that sufficiently described this male.
No Vulcan would ever dare what he did as a matter of course - entice, wake desires, and then leave his companion .. not unsatisfied, because there was a promise in those sea blue eyes and the expression on his face was quite clear. But waiting. Unduly so.
Of a surety, she could have chosen to take matters into her own hands, but her thrice cursed curiosity insisted that if she did, she might never find out what that smirk on his face meant and that, for the moment, was still a more galling prospect than suffering the ever rising tension.
Quietly, Sakarra fumed although her face showed only carefully restrained interest, and she finished the food in short order before appreciating the wine. It was surprisingly excellent, subtle and spicy, with an undercurrent of the warm earth where the grapes had grown and soaked up the warmth of a distant sun. And then, at his last comment, she perked up with unfeigned surprise.
"A science officer?" Fascinating. For a full 2.5 seconds, the young Vulcan completely forgot to keep her posture stoic and leaned forward with sparkling eyes, her expression that of a tiger cub who has heard a rustling noise in the leaves.
"Yeah. That's where she and my father met actually. My dad was a senior sergeant out in the Starfleet Marines way back when. He and my mother met when he got his last assignment. They met and after a short courtship were married," Brent said with a smile. "Whenever my father would harass me or act dumb in my opinion I would always tease her, asking if she was drunk while she dated dad because he sometimes gets insufferably stubborn," he said before chuckling and polishing off his own glass of wine. "I think I inherited his stubbornness though, even if I'll never admit it." He could tell that she was slowly losing control and it made Brent smile all the more, it was subtle little changes that he was beginning to notice more and more here now. He liked doing it.
"I believe you just did. Admit it." A velvety eyebrow climbed in an eloquent manner but it was hardly enough to conceal the fact that there was laughter bubbling inside – part in response to Brent's comments, part as a reaction to his smile.
"My parents met in a similar way although one could describe their courtship as lengthy and quite a bit … turbulent. And of course my father never had any interest in joining Starfleet in whatever capacity."
Sakarra briefly studied the deep red liquid in her glass, shimmering in the dark hues of Thanar's deepest waters at night and made a mental note to send some of the scans Charon had taken of the comet to Brent so he might add them to the pictures, when she found herself distracted yet again.
Looking up, she noticed the tingling sensation that had started at the back of her neck was due to his eyes traveling over the collar of her uniform and down to where the rough, thick fabric hid round forms he knew quite well, as if he were pondering … what?
Exhaling sharply, the young Vulcan drained the glass and set it down, half ready to tell her curiosity to go to hell. But there was that stubborn streak in her as well and she settled for a Look that by all rights should have made a Marine search for the nearest foxhole. Unfortunately this particular Marine was quite immune to her glares, and that was not only due to the fact that he was well aware of the deep affection she never quite managed to hide.
"Brent Warren, whatever you are planning, … I think the human phrase is 'you are pushing it'."
As solemn and echoing with a silent threat as her words were, there was a distinctive timbre of amusement in her melodious voice.
Brent's reply was only to have his smile grow larger and taking on a much more slyness to it. He chuckled in his throat for half a moment before he reset his smile to normal and instead stood up. "Will you help me pick out a few good pictures to send back home? I'd really appreciate it since you are the expert in astronomy in the room. We can discuss just what exactly it is I'm planning and how I am 'pushing it' as you so spoke afterwards. Hm?" he said and took a step towards the console on his desk. He had sent the images there and had just the idea on how to best begin after the pictures were done from there...
If she'd had any doubts he was up to an extraordinary amount of mischief, they dispersed completely after that smile. Silently cursing the Marine and her own inquisitive nature, Sakarra moved towards the desk and settled in the chair he held out for her.
As if by accident- although she certainly knew better – he leaned his tall frame forward to bring up the pictures and his arm brushed ever so lightly against the tip of her ear. Involuntarily gripping the edges of the dark desk, she resolved to focus on the truly quite impressive images, but with limited success.
"This one." She nodded towards the screen where ice illuminated by the blue giant's rays shimmered and actually reflected part of the Valkyrie's silver hull and her running lights – if Sakarra would have needed any more proof of his good eye and obvious talent, it was right there.
Vulcans appreciate beauty in all its many forms, and those capable of creating it are perhaps the planet's most cherished individuals.
And those pictures were beautiful. Some vibrating with energy, some serene and elegant, and a few outright hilarious. It was difficult to choose.
What was even more difficult was not to get distracted. With her senses already tuned to his presence, and further stimulated by studying the magnificent pictures, she was almost painfully aware of Brent hovering behind, almost over her as he murmured assent to her choices and when she stirred in the chair and the tightly braided coils of her hair pressed against the rough uniform covering his taut stomach, she nearly sighed.
Barely but still, her stubbornness won out once more. Squaring her shoulders, Sakarra pointed at the last picture, a marvelous shot of the fighter skimming over Charon at warp. Stars streaking past took up the upper half while the entire lower half showed stark black letters spelling the ship's name, bathed in bright lights on the gleaming hull. And as if Brent had planned it so, the curve of the saucer section arched right where the distant speck of the comet was traveling far below, almost out of sight but not just yet.
"It is … brilliant."
"Yeah I liked that one too. It was kind of by accident, I wasn't expecting such a shot but took advantage of it when I saw it," he said with a smile. Brent had agreed with her on the other pictures that she had chosen. She had quite the eye for this sort of thing. After making sure that the other images were saved Brent stored the ones to send off later in a separate file when he could properly send off a letter to his parents.
When all of that was said and done Brent smiled but stood still for a few moments before he remembered his promise to her. Well he actually knew about it all along but making her wait a few more agonizing seconds would be pure pleasure for him. Brent grinned his hands moving to her shoulders as he stood behind her his strong hand gently squeezing as his thumbs brushed over the soft skin of the back of her neck. "You want to know what I have in mind now don't you," he said with that same arrogant grin and sound to his voice. He had moved down close to her again. "I'll show you, but first. Close your eyes," he said.
She leaned into the touch, wonderful heat rolling in waves down her back, and she would have jumped up right then and there to retaliate if not for the gentle but firm pressure holding her down.
Fine.
Fighting to keep her breathing level, Sakarra decided to play along just a little while longer.
"How will you show me if I cannot see?" she had meant to sound playful, but the steady hands on her shoulders and the cool breath whispering past her ear had finally managed to sufficiently ruin her composure. There was no way to hide the deep, sultry undertone any more, and she gripped the desk tightly.
Exhaling slowly, she nodded assent nonetheless and slowly closed her eyes.
=/\= End (of public viewing) =/\=
Brevet 1st Lieutenant Brent Warren
Marine Commander
Lt Cmdr Sakarra Tyrax
Chief Helm
