Heart To Heart III

Posted on Thu Sep 8th, 2022 @ 11:19pm by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov
Edited on on Thu Sep 8th, 2022 @ 11:20pm

Mission: In-Between (S1:E3-S1:E4)
Location: Anorra
Timeline: Mission Day 16 at 1830
2459 words - 4.9 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

"I wager that within a week your father will name you XO proper. If he does, you have to take me on a date befitting a son of a lord courting a daughter of a lord." She paused and grinned deviously. "If he doesn't, I'll do that thing you always want me to do, get down on my knees in front of you and do all sorts of naughty acts."

“Sounds like a win win for you, Love.” He said with a grin. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

"What but not for you?" She touched her hand to her chest in mock offense. "Does it sound so horrible taking me on a date?"

“All that time and money. I don’t think I can stand being around you that long.” He joked, leaning back and pretending to be repelled by her, though he was smiling.

“Oh that’s a shame.” Lyra looked sad, even frowning, though the amusement in her eyes betrayed that she wasn’t serious. “All of those naughty mouth things take time, but since you can’t be around me that long, well…” She shrugged and slipped away from him to head back out to the living room and their drinks.

He finished and quickly followed after her. "Drinks are in here." he said in the bedroom, going over and pouring the glasses. He intended to get his robe again eventually, but for now, he stood nude.

"You know, I suppose it might be okay you can't do the mouth stuff anymore because...." he started, his brain working. He suppressed a laugh. "I've been wondering what I can truly do with a hyperspanner."

Lyra paused at the door to the living room and looked over her shoulder at him, just staring at him a moment before she started to laugh. She left then, back out to the other area to collect their robes from the floor, the pleasant sound of her laughter still carrying back to him. She returned to him with a smile on her face and shook her head. "I can do mean things with a hyperspanner."

"Well, in that case we can talk about the date," he said, wrapping one arm around her. "After all, it's usually better when someone else does it."

"I suppose that's true." She stepped into him as he wrapped his arm around her, seemingly enjoying nothing more than being close to him. "So, where would we go?"

“I want to take you to Brazil.” He said, kissing the top of her head. “But we’ll have to make the holodeck work for our purposes.”

Lyra considered his answer for a moment and seemed perhaps hesitant about the idea, but she shrugged and smiled and looked up to him. “Alright. Why not? We can make the holodeck work I’m sure.” She kissed his neck and slid her arms around him loosely. “Where will we go or what will we do in Brazil?”

“I have no idea, Love. It only just occurred to me.” He said, looking at her with his arm over her shoulder. He seemed to try to read her face. She wasn’t as excited as he had expected at his idea. “If you’d rather do something else, we can do that.”

“No, no. I’d like to do that. It just occurred to me that I haven’t been back to Brazil in thirteen years.” She assured him gently and kissed his shoulder. If she was going to go back, even in a holographic capacity, who better to do that with?

"Well, how about you think about it and tell me where you want to go, hmm?" he said smiling at her. "After all, I don't know the place."

“Alright. I’ll give it some thought.” What had interested her as a twelve year old girl certainly wouldn’t interest her now, so she would have to give it some thought. Lyra seemed to become pensive again. Her arm slid from around his shoulders and her hand moved down to lightly take hold of his. Her thumb began to run over the backs of his fingers. After a moment, she took a deep breath and looked into his eyes again, her dark gaze searching. “Is there anything I can do or give to you that might help you make this rather stark life change you are intending on making?”

"Well, you could accompany me everywhere I wander, growling at every girl that looks at me." he said with a smile, starting to chuckle before the phrase was even done. "That would be most helpful in one way, but wouldn't do much for our reputations."

"I'm afraid I'm all bite, no bark, darling." Lyra replied with little humor and squeezed his hand, her gaze holding his and showing she wanted a serious answer.

He chuckled at her quip several beats, but when he met her gaze he saw that she was serious. His smile faded as he considered her question.

"I'm not terribly concerned about most of them. There are a few that...may not want to take no for an answer at first." he said, looking out into the Livingroom at nothing in particular. "And one that I...rather think might try harder now that I'm taken. I'm not sure what you could do."

"Who?" She finally asked, still holding his hand and watching him.

"Karen Lamont is...completely in love with me, I'm afraid. If I break it off in any imperfect way...the two of us would make an enemy for sure. Not the worst thing in the world, but...well, despite what people say, I'm not totally heartless. And I know making enemies like that is bad for business...you know, ones that will be responsible for saving our lives in the future."

He paused, shifting gears. "I'm thinking I need to seek a transfer of Eritrea to a different department. She..has kept her distance, but she does make eyes at me and I can tell she's trying to figure out how to get back. And...then there's Revana. We've never...done anything really. Nothing serious. But she's not going to want me out of her back pocket. And if I withdraw into a relationship, I'm sure she'll try to ruin it."

"Do you want to remain in the back pocket of an Orion mongrel?" She asked coldly, but didn't remove her hand from his. "Would you tolerate her trying to ruin us?" Now she tilted her head slightly at him, challenging his perception of the situation. "The onus of this agreement is on you, Andrei, not on any of these women. You are the one expected to be faithful in the face of their best efforts." She reminded him and lifted his hand to kiss the back. She wasn't angry, but this was a big shift for him in his life that she wasn't sure he truly grasped.

"I could get you a ring or something to wear. A physical reminder to you of your promise would be harder to ignore."

"I didn't say anything at all about wanting to remain in her back pocket." he said, his tone hardening just a bit. "I was answering your question."

He did regret that fact. He was, after all, quite consistently programmed to keep information like that to himself. Cataloging his women wasn't something he did aloud ever, and certainly if he was going to get what he perceived to be a mild scolding for his moment of honesty. A moderate gust of air escaped his lips; an obvious sign of frustration. But beyond that he said nothing else; showed nothing else. He knew now that she was testing him to see if he was strong enough to do what he said he would do. He wasn't a fan of that and made no indication otherwise. He removed his hand from hers and went over to the bed, pulling on his red silk robe and fastening it in the front.

Lyra watched him for a moment. The fact he was acting like this didn't exactly bode well for their agreement and she knew she had to accept that. Sighing softly, she let her body relax and moved up behind Andrei. Her hands went to his hips and she pressed her forehead to the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, Andrei." She spoke softly, genuinely. "I shouldn't have said that, of course you don't. I just can't stand to think of some half-breed cur thinking that they own you or that you are beholden to them in some way."

"She has nothing from me, Lyra. Flirtation; martial arts training. Nothing more." Andrei said, not yet softening from the apology. He was irritated at the comment from before and that was coming out now. "She is a pawn. The daughter and heir of Nolan Nazar. I cannot afford to be anything less than her friend if I mean to have the kind of future I'm going to have. And I said I would touch no one else" his voice was going up in pitch. He wasn't losing his temper terribly, but he was becoming emotional. "Do you think I lack self control?"

"I don't know, Andrei." She let her hands slide from his hips and pulled her head back, but she still stood behind him. "You are the one who said it would be quite an adjustment for you to take on and I was just trying to figure out how to help with that. What you were saying just... seemed like you were pointing out what they would do, not what you would do." She stepped away from him then, wrapping an arm around herself. "You have to understand this isn't a comfortable situation for me either. It requires trust, and I do so want to trust you. I choose to trust you." What other choice did she have?

"Please, forgive me. I just... don't want to share you. I don't want anyone to interfere with us and our goal to make the galaxy tremble. Even though I asked, it is hard to hear and I reacted poorly."

Looking at her, he knew she had done all she reasonably could to placate his irritation. He calmed and walked over to her again, wrapping his arms around her.

"There, it's okay. No more of that. We'll forget it ever happened." he said gently. He kissed her forehead then. "I will keep them out of my quarters and my office, first of all. That way, nothing could happen considering all the people around."

For just the most fleeting of moments, Lyra felt dirty, but she shoved that back into the abyss from where it came. She slid her arms around him and simply gave a nod, all of a sudden seeming tired. She didn't point out that there were a vast number of places where all manner of things could happen on the ship. He knew it. She knew it. "Of course, darling." She finally said, kissing his shoulder.

“We will have to trust each other.” He said, his arms still around her. “There’s no fool proof method. And when that fails…we can track each other’s locations with the computer. It’s very easy.”

"Do you trust me? Truly?" She asked, now looking up into his eyes. She was searching, her eyes intense.

“I’m not the one doubting your faithfulness, love.” Andrei pointed out. “Have I been suspicious in any way?”

That was an easy no, then, and so much for forgetting her doubt ever happened. She wasn’t surprised on either front.

“You’re always suspicious, it’s part of your charm.” She teased, seeing she wasn’t going to get an answer from him. She kissed his neck once more and pulled back from him, picking her robe up off the bed and pulling it on. Things would just take time.

“That’s what I’ve been told.” He said, laying back on the bed sideways and closing his eyes.”I’m glad you moved in.”

"Well, I should hope so. I'd find it terribly unfortunate otherwise." For a moment, Lyra just stood there and watched him, her eyes running over him without shame. Trust would come in time. They both knew words meant so little in the end. She turned and left the room then, going back out into the living area to collect her shoes, dress, and bag she had brought with her. She walked back in and started opening drawers to see if she could find an empty one, not really lingering to look at Andrei's things at all. When she saw they were all full, she pulled her back up to the top of the dresser and opened it.

"I'm going to move some of your things over to make a little room. What would you like to do for dinner, querido?" She briefly glanced back at him then started shifting some things around so she could put her clothes in with his.

“We could dare to try one of their restaurants.” Andrei suggested, giving her a thumbs up about the clothes.

"We could." She agreed, sorting out her things quickly enough then putting the bag away in the closet. She hung up her dress and then finally looked back at him. "Though you look like you're about ready for a nap."

“I’m tired, but I’ll manage.” He said with a suddenly sleepy voice. He smiled weakly, his eyes still tired. “Why don’t you go ahead and look through that catalog while I…rest my eyes?”

Lyra smirked at the tone of his voice and the smile he gave her. She stepped back out into the living area to grab the data pad that contained all the information on the offerings of the resort then returned and moved back to the bed. She sat down with her back to the headboard and reached out to run her fingers through his hair as he lay there. She left herself open if he wanted to cuddle closer to her and "rest his eyes", but didn't press him.

Andrei did just that, finding her leg with his head and drifting immediately away into unconsciousness. It seemed he really had been tired.

As he rested on her leg and she continued to soothingly play with his hair and run her fingers over his face, Lyra looked down to Andrei and mused at how peaceful he looked sleeping like that. It was innocent in a way. She couldn't help but smile slightly. It would be the start of something beautiful now. Power or ruin - it would be beautiful.

END