One Last Adventure II

Posted on Thu Nov 3rd, 2022 @ 2:35am by Ensign Ilan Ocara & Lieutenant JG Corvin Hartjin
Edited on on Thu Mar 16th, 2023 @ 6:44am

Mission: In-Between (S1:E3-S1:E4)
Location: Anorra
Timeline: Mission Day 21 at 2215
2871 words - 5.7 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

"I can tell." She grinned at him. The song in the background began to pick up to a faster tempo, which she responded to by moving her hips faster. Fascinating reaction, she wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it hadn't been that—pressing into her? Grabbing her? Something like that, but not surprise.

With the music, the sudden kiss, and her sensual motions, the Terran man found it difficult to concentrate on anything other than Ilan. He did his best to keep pace with her and the heavy beat of the music. Though he didn't dwell over much on his time as the favored plaything of his former master's wife, it had impacted his psyche. He did enjoy submitting to the desires of the fairer sex, be they aggressive and violent like a Klingon's or more subtle and gentle like Ilan's.

He moved his hands over her body as they danced, mostly keeping it just this side of publicly appropriate. Still, he was enjoying exploring her body, covered by the thin sheath of her dress. Though as they moved together to the music and seemed to have found their rhythm, the alien male with the glowing patterns on his dark skin had finally decided that now was the time to make his move on Ilan after watching her since she'd come into the club and bought several drinks for her. The alien man passed quickly through the gyrating crowd. Some even moved out of his way until he'd reached Ilan and Corvin. However, the Terran man hadn't noticed their company until Ilan was pulled away quite rudely and suddenly.

The alien man chuckled as he pulled Ilan back into him, pressing her rear against the front of his pants while he began to dance and touch her. "Why don't you leave the snow hair and let someone more virile show you what a woman like you deserves."

Corvin was surprised by the sudden intrusion. It took a moment to sink in before he felt that familiar anger welling up as he saw a filthy alien laying his hands on a Terran woman. A woman he had no business touching. "Take your hands off her, Sparkles; we were dancing."

The alien made what sounded like he was annoyed having to deal with a buzzing insect. Reached into a pocket, he tossed money at the Terran and returned to caressing Ilan's body. His hands moved up to the swell of her breasts while grinding against her. "Go away, snow hair, before I lose my patience; this is my woman now."

Ilan had been enjoying dancing with Corvin - he wasn't half bad at it when he let himself relax and get into it without worrying about anything else. With how she had set them up, her back was to most of the crowd so that he would be comfortable with being able to keep an eye on things. Unfortunately, she didn't see the alien coming up until he forcibly pulled her away.

She gave a startled sound but didn't try to pull away immediately, though she also didn't dance with the man as he groped and fondled her. Instead, she just laughed nervously and tried to shift away, though her expression soured when he threw the money at Corvin. Grabbing the man's hands and now forcefully pushing them away. "Leave me alone, you ass."

"I've paid for you, and I'll take what I paid for." He declared firmly to the dark-haired woman, pulling his hands away from hers though he soon gave a loud cry of surprise that turned into one of pain. Corvin had been moving as the man threw the wad of cash at him, catching it since there was a use for it. Injuring others was second nature to the Terran; he'd learned many ways to do so. He grabbed the man's wrist when the alien made to strike Ilan, painfully wrenching one of the man's arms into an excruciating position. The Terran soldier drove his opponent to his knees, cruelly twisting the arm. This was followed by jamming the wad of cash to muffle the alien as his shoulder joint had more play than other species.

Eventually, something would give.

"She is not for sale. Not to you, not to anyone. No Terran woman is for sale like a common whore, and you don't touch them unless they allow it." Corvin growled menacingly as he added more pressure before kicking the man to the floor; club security was making their way through since this disrupted the party-time atmosphere.

Stepping back from the alien clutching his shoulder, Corvin turned his attention to Ilan and moved closer to her. "You okay?"

Ilan blinked and watched Corvin take care of the boorish alien with ease. He was a security officer and had told her about his exploits, but hearing and seeing things were entirely different. Her green eyes were slightly widened, but as he turned back, they softened, and she smiled. "Yeah... yeah, I'm alright." She put her hand on his arm and stepped closer. "Thank you."

Corvin smiled at her, attention briefly drawn to the alien being picked up off the floor. Security escorted him and his friend out before he turned back to look at his companion. "Did you want to stay and try to dance some more? Or share a drink?" The Terran man offered, wanting to try and salvage their time here at the club since they'd been having fun together.

"Let's relax and have a drink; then, we'll see what else we want to do?" Ilan offered after considering it a moment. It was her last night, and she didn't want to let anything spoil that. "I'll sit in the booth over there, and you can grab us some drinks? Whatever you think looks good. I'm not picky."

Corvin nodded, taking just a moment to watch her head over to the booth, admiring the almost hypnotic sway of her shapely rear. He shook himself from his admiration and set about getting their drinks. It took a moment or two to get the bartender's attention, but he managed to get them both drinks that he thought might be fun since he knew that was what Ilan wanted to have.

Soon he was at the booth she had taken for them, offering up a pitch-black cocktail and a small sealed dropper filled with a clear liquid. "I thought these looked like they might be fun. They are called a supernova bang, according to the menu...at the very least, it'll be a spectacular show."

Ilan had simply been sitting and relaxing, watching the crowd dance and not trying to draw any attention to herself for once. When Corvin finally returned, she smiled at him and sat up, patting the place next to her and taking one of the drinks so he could sit down more easily. "Well, it looks strange. What do we do? Put the dropper in the drink?"

"Pretty much," He confirmed after relaxing into his seat next to his companion and went first so she could see what would happen when the two liquids mixed. The dark alcohol caused the liquid from the dropper to glow before a burst of light, and the alcohol began to shimmer in a scintillating pattern of greens, blues, and purples. At the same time, the center started to turn lighter so they could see the layers of alcohol that made up the drink.

He looked over at Ilan to see what she thought of the display.

"Oh wow." Ilan cooed in genuine appreciation as she watched the colors swirl and ripple inside the glass. She was singularly focused on the display, and when it finally toned down, she looked up to Corvin and smiled brightly. "That was pretty, don't you think?"

"It was definitely very pretty; I liked the way the swirls of color exploded out of nowhere." He grinned at his lovely companion, enjoying seeing that bright smile back on her face, and he quietly told himself that he wasn't going to do something that fuck it up. "Honestly, it was all kind of cool, I've always liked mixing drinks like this, but I'm not very good at mixing them myself."

"Well, like anything, I'm sure it takes practice." Ilan encouraged him slightly and sat back to take a drink. Was it the best-tasting drink to her? No, but it wasn't bad, and the little light and color show certainly made up for its shortcomings elsewhere. "When was the last time you tried to?"

"Last time," He paused after sipping his drink. At the same time, his face screwed up into a pensive expression that softened his usually stern, scowling countenance. "Just before we got pulled into the Delta Quadrant, I was trying to make a layered drink, but I don't think I got the alcohol mix right."

"I'm trying to get a better blend of moonshine made for the ship, but I'm not sure where I'm going wrong with it." He sipped his drink, relaxing with Ilan.

"Well, the mixing, as I said, would take practice. You wouldn't have improved if it's been that long since you've tried." Ilan pointed out, though her tone was still warm and encouraging to him. "As for your moonshine, I don't have any theories. I've never tried to make alcohol."

"Yeah, I'm working on it since I don't want to render the crew blind." The steely-haired man gave a slight chuckle while shifting so he could focus on Ilan. "It's more of a hobby at this point though I'm trying to get better at it since I became a fan of whisky on Earth; I like the smooth burn a finely aged single malt has."

"Yeah... I don't think the captain would appreciate you making his crew blind." Ilan agreed with a laugh and relaxed on the couch as she sipped her drink. "So, is the dream to go back home and make liquor for a living?"

"Maybe. Eventually." A thoughtful expression formed on his features as thoughts of home and what awaited him there wriggled into his mind as he sipped his drink. "While I like fighting and enjoy my service to the Empire, I know at some point I'll have to hand in my phaser, though I think I might have to study a little more before I take a hand at making whisky."

"What about you? What's the dream when we make it home? I imagine you'd look to be on the frontier searching out new and interesting alien creatures."

"Not much of a frontier when the Alliance surrounds us." She smirked and shook her head. "But who knows what things will look like when we get home? Maybe there will be." It could have also been just as likely that they could go home and there would be no Empire left, as disturbing as it was to think about.

When she mentioned the Empire being surrounded by the Alliance, his thoughts unknowingly took on a similar vein as they turned to the idea that there might not be an Empire to go home to, though he took a healthy draw from his glass to banish that thought before looking back to Ilan. "So I know you are into genetics and such, but what got you interested in wanting to know more about that subject?"

"It's a family trade. My family has been working as geneticists in service to the Empire for a few generations." She brushed her fingers through her hair a few times and smiled, crossing her legs while she sat there. "I'm the first one in the Fleet proper. Figured it might be a nice change."

"I'm the first of my family to be in the Fleet as well," He idly rubbed along his jaw as he shared this, and his expression turned thoughtful again. "The first in my family to be an Imperial citizen as well, which would have horrified my parents."

"Oh? Why is that?" She looked at him curiously, now starting to study him. Disloyalty in his blood, perhaps? That could be quite interesting. And dangerous. She didn't betray her inner thoughts and merely watched him, still smiling.

Corvin noticed that she was studying him, and he wasn't certain how he felt about that, but he'd dealt with the scorn from others who knew of his family's beliefs. He swirled his drink around, causing the glow to return as he looked down into it briefly. "My parents and from what I know, were mostly Reformists, believing in the pacifistic teachings of Spock. When his regime began to fall, their families fled the downfall with other loyalists to establish a new seat of power elsewhere, but that was just a pipe dream. My idiot parents spent the rest of their lives rotting in an Alliance work camp."

There was a bitter hatred in his tone as he spoke of his parents. Whatever the history there, he did not look upon them favorably.

Ilan listened intently, and when it became apparent, his disdain for his parents and their ideologies became apparent. She swirled her drink in one hand and reached out to place her hand on his thigh, rubbing him there gently but not trying to entice him into anything. It was a gesture of comfort. "Well, you are away from them and free, and you are your own man."

His gaze shifted to her hand as he tried to correctly interpret the gesture before nodding and looking up at his companion. "Yes. Yes, I am," It was stated as an answer and an affirmation to himself while sipping his drink again. "To freedom and being your own person."

"To freedom." Ilan agreed and tapped her glass against his, both drinks swirling with light and color for a brief moment. She took another sip and sat back, looking at him. "Any siblings?"

"Two. Lincoln and Dante." The answer was supplied quickly enough. However, it seemed to stir up old memories causing his expression to shift into a mix of powerlessness, remorse, and underlying resentment. "They are both dead. Or at least Lincoln is killed in a work camp accident by one of the overseers too drunk on kanar. Dante simply disappeared into the night, trying to catch a vole, and then he never returned."

He downed the rest of his drink while setting the glass down to order something different, with a little kick for them both as he looked to Ilan and wondered what she thought of him. Did she even care enough to feel something? Did she pity him? Did she find him an easy mark to play? Was he a fool for even being here and talking about this with someone? He was an angry man inside; it was why he lashed out the way he did at the world and non-Terrans in particular. Finally, he sighed and shook his head, trying to smile easily. "Sorry, I don't have fun family stories."

"Well, that's nothing to be sorry for," Ilan assured him and scooted a bit closer, moving her hand up to his shoulder and squeezing it gently. "I'm not looking for fun stories, per se. I want to know more about you, but if it is uncomfortable to talk about, that is completely understandable." This man was a minefield, and she knew she would have to tread carefully.

"It's not uncomfortable," He made a face as if that didn't quite explain it correctly while looking into Ilan's eyes while considering the woman. "It's just not something I've ever really talked with anyone about since; well, I'm not sure what, but I guess no one has ever asked me about my past outside of my scars."

"Well," Ilan started with a chuckle, "that isn't exactly uncommon for people either, I suppose. Most people are way too self-centered to ask about the lives of others or want to get to know them unless they are close. Even then, some people never care. Take Andrei and Lyra, for example. Does Andrei seem like the type that would ever think to ask her what her favorite book is?"

"No, I'm not sure that would be something that would ever occur to him." The Terran man answered, though, to be fair, it wasn't something he would think to ask either, but he also wasn't necessarily the kind to look for more beyond that.

"If those two are together, they will have the most superficial relationship in existence," Ilan said through giggles and picked up the new, more potent drink. "Just a matter of how long does it take them to realize that, and are they okay with it?"

Corvin wasn't sure how to reply since talking about relationships and being little more than superficial was how he had lived his own life. However, he did wonder if the pair were together and what that would be like for them. He sipped his drink and finally spoke again. "It should be enlightening to see how long it takes, though perhaps Andrei could turn over a new leaf and make an effort to take an interest beyond a puddle's depth."

TBC