Matter of Trust

Posted on Thu May 30th, 2024 @ 9:37pm by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov

Mission: S1 Episode 8: Resolutions
Location: XO's Office
Timeline: Date 2371-12-22 at 1230
2348 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Following his conversation with Kit in the gym, Andrei had gone home, showered, and started his day as he always had. The fact he had to tell Lyra about their plan to go on a trip together weighed on him slightly, but he felt certain she would see it for what it was: an attempt to save his family. After sitting on the Bridge and making his regular rounds around the ship, Andrei came down to his office to continue working on his constant stream of paperwork. An hour passed in silence as the yeomen and slaves worked in the next room and only interrupted him sporadically to bring PADDs or to take PADDs away. An hour had passed since his arrival, and he knew Lyra would be arriving soon so they could enjoy their lunch break together. He was selecting the menu this time, but he had already made the decision hours before.

Lyra entered the office, her eyes immediately finding Jackie and Jasper at their respective desks and she also saw Lottie and Ren in her peripheral vision.

“Jackie, Jasper.” She greeted them in turn but didn’t wait for them to say anything, instead headed into Andrei’s office. She was the only one who could simply enter like she did of course. When she stepped through and saw him sitting there hard at work, she smiled.

“Hello, darling.”

They shared lunch like this usually twice a week, though not always. It had usually been on the days she wouldn’t stay with him in the evenings, but now that those days were virtually gone she had no idea if it would continue. Instead of moving to sit down on the other side of the desk, she moved to his side and leaned down to kiss him.

Andrei returned the kiss, setting the PADD in his hand down and allowing his other hand to find Lyra’s cheek tenderly. At the end of the kiss, he smiled at her and lowered his hand to her hip. Pulling her onto his lap, he kissed her cheek then.

“Hello, Love. How’s the day going so far?”

She settled into his lap naturally, her body seeming to naturally know how best to position itself so they were both comfortable and close. She put one elbow on the back of his chair over his shoulder and rested her head against that hand while her other immediately went to his chest.

“Well enough, I’ve been working out the schedule for the upcoming small weapons maintenance checks. It’s been very titillating.” The comment was dry, but she smirked as she said it.

“Maybe you should strap a few wiley crew to the phaser range and do some low-powered target practice. I’m sure that would spice it up even more.” he said, chuckling. “I can send you some people from other departments too.”

“There’s a thought.” She chuckled and moved her head so she could use her hand to play with his beautiful black mane instead. “I was thinking about just having them chase each other through Jeffries tubes and seeing who won.”

“And then we can shoot that one.” he said, closing his eyes a she played with his hair. “Great idea, Love.”

“Exactly right.” She smiled and worked her nails down to his scalp so she could lightly scratch and massage him there. “So did you pick something for lunch yet?”

“I did. Today, we’re traveling to beautiful China. Lord Li is an asshole, but his food is divine.” he said through a groan as she continued to pet him. He was like puddy in her hands and wasn’t apologetic about it in the slightest.

“Sounds delicious.” She spoke with clear approval and while her fingers worked on his scalp, her lips found the soft skin under his ear at the point of his jaw. “What will we be sampling?”

“Oh, if you don’t stop that, we’ll be having a very different kind of lunch.” he said in a low voice. “Mmm Pineapple chicken with roasted vegetables on a bed of steamed rice.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get an order of the sausage with the special sauce later.” She teased and then nipped him where she had been kissing him, giving a little jolt of pain in place of the fluttering gentleness. Pulling back a bit, she looked over to the replicator. “Want me to get it?”

“No no, sit your lovely toned ass down. It’s my turn.” Andrei said with a chuckle. “You always get it.”

Chuckling herself, Lyra gave him another quick kiss and then finally moved out of his lap to go to the other side of the desk and sat down into the other chair. “Have you been working on anything exciting today, darling?”

“It’s been the same boring stuff as it always is for the most part I’m afraid.” He said, standing up and walking over to the replicator. Punching in the pre-programmed code, two glass bowls appeared on a tray along with two tall cups. He lifted it carefully and brought it over to the desk. “I did run into Kit at the gym this morning, however. We’ve got a project in the works in a few days.”

“Oh?” She prompted with a bit of surprise in her voice and watched him as he brought the tray over to the desk and moved the bowls and cups off of them. “What kind of project?”

“A trip, actually, he said, sitting down in front of his own plate and picking up his fork. “There’s an Engineers Conference on a Vidiian moon and I talked Annalise into letting Kit and I shuttle there. While she learns about Delta Quadrant technologies, I’m going to be searching for a lead on Dr. Pel’s location.”

Lyra had been in the process of lifting a bite of food to her mouth but as he laid out his plan, she lowered it back down into the bowl. While her expression remained neutral, there was something about her eyes that indicated she was likely wondering over the same questions Kit had asked earlier. She occupied herself a moment by stirring the contents of the bowl around. He expected her to be fine with this, she could tell, but she didn’t like it one bit. If the roles were reversed, he probably would have tried to outright forbid it or use his position as XO to change what was happening; she didn’t have that luxury.

Still, she couldn’t deny that he had been dedicated and faithful to her under the terms of their relationship agreement and that wasn’t worth nothing. He was also going with Kit and not Revana - that one she knew she wouldn’t tolerate in the slightest. Even thinking about it annoyed her deeply. Finally, she let out a breath of resignation; she’d have to trust him with something like this eventually. Now was as good a time as any, she supposed.

“Well, I certainly hope you both learn something useful.” She said and finally took a bite of her food though she had lost her appetite.

“I feel optimistic about it.” He said, his eyes watching her for signs of any particular displeasure. He was pleased to see she seemed alright with the arrangement and assumed, much to his joy, that she trusted him with this. “Kit has a crush on you, you know. Every time we talk it’s Lyra’s ass this and Lyra’s moaning that.”

“Oh is that so?” Lyra chuckled slightly between bites. “Well, I do have a magnificent ass, as I’ve been told frequently by a certain someone.” She brought her eyes up to his briefly and took a sip of her drink.

“As for the moaning well… that’s hard to miss too.”

“Apparently it is.” He said with a grin. “People can hear us, you know. Do you think we should consider some sound proofing?

“It’s the only action some people get, darling. Would we be right to deprive them of that?” She asked with a tone of someone with a bleeding heart, but there was that glitter of mischief in her eyes. There was no use in dwelling on the matter of the trip and she knew she needed to give him this chance whether she was thrilled about it or not. Maybe he would understand her feelings, but she assumed not given his general reaction when she had voiced them in the past.

“I suppose you’re right. It’s a grace for them really.” He said, sharing her grin, and then he took another bite from his bowl. He chewed and swallowed before speaking again. “Do you mind me going with Kit alone? It’s a two night trip, and I know I would be a bit..uncomfortable in your position.”

Usually, Lyra would have been delighted he was asking about her feelings on something, but this just felt like a trap and a chance to start an argument with her. He wasn’t stupid. Still, she had endeavored to be honest with him at least when he made a point to directly ask her questions. She swallowed the bite in her mouth and chased it down with a drink, then just looked at him for a beat.

“I’m not going to lie to you, the idea doesn’t thrill me for a few reasons.” She reached across the table and placed her hand on his arm. “But, I trust you.”

At least she was making the active choice to do so.

Andrei grinned, clearly very happy with the answer she’d given.

“I understand. But don’t worry. We’re going to prove the bookies wrong. I have no doubt.”

“There’s very good money in it if we do, from what I understand.” She smirked, not pointing out to him that she was aware that all of the bets hinged on his faithfulness to her - there strangely didn’t seem to be any question of her own to him, but she supposed that was natural given she hadn’t played the whore.

“Maybe we should make someone bet in our stead and then beat them up when they win.”

“That’s not a bad idea, actually..” he said with a grin. “I was going to try to talk Kit into an arrangement, but she seems too connected. I didn’t feel like she was the right choice. I think Jasper bets..and Jackie for that matter.”

“Probably.” She mulled it over a moment while pushing her fork around in the bowl of food. “I could get Simmons to do it, or maybe Romano. He’s always fun to beat up.”

“Yes, but how much can the man take?” He asked with a lift of his brow. “But, then again, he’s fortunate to be alive after what he did. He owes us.”

“Mmm…” Lyra’s eyes shifted slightly and she thought back to the evening Andrei had come to find her as Maddie in the holodeck. He’d been there to find out why she had broken Romano’s hand so badly - he hadn’t been happy about it, but he’d been much less happy about what Luca had done to his sister. She remembered how enraged he was, how intoxicating that had been and how much she had wanted him in her bed after the had shared the experience of torturing the man for his crime.

She licked her lips and blinked, becoming aware she was pressing her thighs together a bit more.

“Yeah, he does.” She agreed, distracted.

“If we had more Terrans with us, I would cut his other hand off too.” Andrei said, clearly getting angry all over again. Obviously any sort of violation of his sister was unacceptable to him, and it was a genuine marvel, in his mind, that Romano still drew breath.

“I think you would have done more than that, Darling.” She said, her words leaving with a wistful sigh from her lips.

He nodded at that, knowing it was true. The man would have been brutally killed.

“I’ll finish the job some day, as soon as it’s right for us.” He said, and then took his final bite of food from his bowl. “Maybe I’ll watch while the Legion tears him apart and eats him raw.”

“Well on that note, I am soaking wet and ready for dessert.” Lyra said and pushed her bowl away from her - she’d eaten most of it but had left some of the rice in the bottom.

“Oh really? You and that sweet tooth again.” He said with a smile. He saw that desire in her eyes he could never resist. “What do you have a taste for, Love?”

Lyra was up and stacked the bowls and cups back on the tray and had it all back in the replicator to recycle at an impressive speed. She then sashayed her way back to the desk, her beautiful, curvy hips swinging with each step. Her hands went up to her jacket and she unzipped it slowly.

“The only thing I ever have a taste for, Darling.” She purred and shrugged it off her shoulders as she leaned in to put her face near his. “You.”

“Oh, of course.” He said, his hands moving for his zipper as well. They so often had their hands on each other, it became difficult when they weren’t actively making love at times.

Lyra’s hands batted his away and she took over the job herself. She was certainly hungry and she intended on having her fill of him. His coming trip still lingered in the back of her mind, but she was doing her best to ignore it and in the moments that followed when she was finally entwined with him, she found that task much, much easier to accomplish.

END