Joint Log | Capt Ivanova - Cmdr Dahe'el - "Fall"

Posted on Sat Sep 13th, 2014 @ 12:36am by Admiral Rochelle Ivanova

1,911 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Are You Touched?

Grabbing a Klingon by the beard. That's all it had taken to free herself, and Pond, from that ridiculous predicament. But now came the knowledge the Klingons were aware that two of their own had been able to be paid for their involvement in their thwarted kidnapping and attempt to hand over a Starfleet command team to Federation First. The Klingons would handle their own affairs, Rochelle had little want or desire to take over in such proceedings. For now, however, she had her own demons to remedy and her own ills to cure. Could it be ruled as cultural differences? Were Klingons, and Klingon derivatives no matter how diluted their blood, simply predestined for such behavior? In truth, Rochelle couldn't answer those pointed questions -- and it troubled her.

What troubled her more, however, was the sight of the pensive Cardassian sitting in the chair across from her bed as she climbed in and under those scratchy sheets. She was tired. Worn thin from everything had gone down and growing wearier still from the storm battling in her mind. "It's not your fault." She sighed, tugging the blankets over her knees as she rested her back against the headboard. "I did a stupid thing and allowed Amelia and I to leave the resort, and I got us home again." Her lips tugged sideways in a strange little smile, one full of regret as she watched him.

Almar moved over to the bed without a word and moved to sit beside her, an arm snaked out and wrapped itself around her shoulders, pulling her to him as his other hand caressed her cheek gently, "The important thing is that you made it back, you scared the life out of me, but you made it back." the Cardassian replied softly.

"That's going to happen." Rochelle curled into him, comforted by his touch and the warm softness he offered against the itchiness of the sheets. "I'm the Captain of a star ship, we're risk takers working to expand and protect the universe. It's bound to happen." Her efforts to comfort him may well have resonated the need to ease her own worried and troubled mind. He was still alive, hadn't been given the chance to be injured in an attempt to free her from her momentary captors. The time would come, she knew, where he'd risk it all -- his life, his career, his very soul -- to pull her from the wreckage from some broken moment in history. The thought made her shiver and wrap her arms around him protectively, perhaps even possessively. He, like she, wasn't allowed to die.

"I understand that, but this risk was while you were on R&R, Rochelle," Almar replied as he felt her pull him in close, her arms not willing to let him go, "It was a risk that you should not have taken."

Her head shook slightly, "No. I shouldn't have." The agreement tasted bitter as if made rancid by the element of cold truth that inhabited it. It wasn't like her, the chaste little firebrand, to wander off to some Klingon bar outside of the safety of the resort. Anything could have happened to them -- what had transpired had been the lesser of all evils. They could be dead, or worse. "But it's over now and it's not a mistake I'll make again." Rochelle mused softly.

The kiss to the side of her head was unexpected, even for the one placing it there, it had been an impulse reaction and his lips brushed her temple for the briefest moment before the Cardassian pulled back.

Rochelle's eyes closed the moment his lips brushed her skin, absorbing the sensation and relishing in the affirmation it offered. She knew he was upset, worried, scared and like her, relieved. So many emotions had come in a torrent only to be wordlessly expressed by the softest of kisses against her temple. Her grip on him shifted, affording her the ability to react, to look up at him and ultimately return the kiss with one of her own to his neck just shy of where the ridge met his neck. It's ok, she seemed to say as she settled her head back on his chest, allowing their nearness.

Her lips against his neck sent shivers through the Cardassian as they always did and a smile crossed his face as he leaned into her and held her tight. The sensation of her body pressed against him, of her arms clinging onto him, her breath against the scales of his neck, it all reminded him that he was alive and that he had something else to live for. For years his duty had been the only thing he'd had.

"I'm sorry." She whispered against the relative silence even though she knew words alone wouldn't erase the pensive moments she'd spent being held in that bar. It wouldn't dissipate the troubled nature of his mind, but it was a start. It was something.

"I would have come for you," the Cardassian replied as he laid another soft kiss on her temple, the arm around her laid to rest with his hand on her hip, his large barrel chest moving carefully as his breathing regulated.

She peered up at him from beneath the thick veil of her lashes, catching sight of his chin and the subtle flash of his throat as he drew breath. "I know." She replied, "It would have meant your death and that terrifies me."

Rochelle's voice was scarcely a whisper as she chased the vision of Klingons and their hate for Cardassians from her mind. The Dominion War was still a heavy memory to the honor driven Klingons and she knew they'd take whatever excuse they could get. "I need you not to take those risks. You'll have to learn to let me go."

"Possibly, very possible indeed," Almar replied as he turned and looked down at her, the look on her face drained any and all resolve from him as their eyes met. He melted into her and smiled softly, "You know I cannot just let you go Rochelle, your place is here and if needs be, I will rain fire on anyone who tries to take you away from us... away from me."

Her eyes studied his, searching the dark obsidian fathoms for the source behind his words. "That won't always be." She said, reaching to cup his cheek, "There's always going to be some threat from someone somewhere, eventually my luck will run out." It almost had on Notura and would have if it hadn't been for him.

"Well, consider me your good luck charm, I intend on making it my business to keep you around for as long as I can," the Cardassian replied as he softened slightly and slid down the bed so he was level with her, propped up on one elbow and facing her, "As long as we have the Vindicator, I will bring you back."

"Bold words." He'd grown and evolved, no longer did he hide in shadows. There laying in front of her, asking for her heart, was a true Cardassian. Eager. Strong. Beautiful.

Rochelle's eyes closed as she pressed forward, stretching her neck as best she could to allow her lips to meet his forehead and dropped them lower to the bridge of his nose in soft succession.

Lifting his head slightly, the Cardassian bought his lips up to meet hers and electricity sparked between them as they met.

The contrast between the rough skin of his nose and the soft pliable velvet of his lips came as a surprise to the young Captain, though she didn't dart away. Instead she accepted his offering, the very tip of her fingers coming to rest ever so lightly against the very tip of his chin as she returned the kiss with one of her own in careful answering.

His hand glided up her side and cupped her soft cheek, she was fire and the cold-blooded man was warming to her touch. The sensation of her lips on his, her fingers brushing his chin, they all bought the passion forward as their kiss deepened.

There was a tenderness there that was slowly slip sliding down the slope towards an evolving hunger and need that burnt and churned somewhere deep. It could have been called desire if it wasn't for the fact that the desired was already there and each one shared in that ephemeral moment in time. Their lips parted long enough for Rochelle to breathe and she found her body turning onto it's side, half sitting as she unconsciously sought a better angle by which to engage him. It was dangerous territory fueled by the earlier evening's surge of adrenaline and the myriad of emotions that drove her forward. "Almar," Her voice was raw, husky as the tip of her nose touched his and reason began to grab hold of her, shaking her sharply. "What are we doing?"

"I don't know," Almar responded, his breathing ragged as they broke apart slightly. They were still close, an inch separated the two of them as if it were enough to keep them from each other. "It just feels right Rochelle... I can't explain it."

Neither could she. Ask her and she'd have blamed everything from near death experiences to solar flare activity -- none of which would have made sense. Defining emotion and placing a name and a reason to things was hardly an easy endeavor. It was an impossibility. In that space of time Rochelle knew that her walls were crumbling, shattering and falling away brick by frigid brick. But in that fray was a light, bright and effervescent demanding she use logic instead of the rawness recent events had left her with. Rochelle's lips found the Cardassian's in a kiss that was feather soft, fleeting, testing the waters. "Why?" She asked, her eyes opening just enough to be able to see his.

He couldn't answer, all he could do was return the kiss, his eyes closing for the briefest of contact between their lips before finding hers again, "I really don't know..." he finally replied softly.

the firebird was the type of woman who could think her way out of or into almost any and every situation. The other half of the time was spent leaping head long into things that were potentially dangerous and life ending. Romance... Fell into category A. She'd spent forever loving from afar, convinced that love would be the downfall for all involved -- and now history seemed destined to repeat itself as she slowly began to let things unravel with Almar. "Then settle for holding me until you do?" Just like that the moment was gone, the fire shifting directions to yield to the ice. Something still clung to her, begging her to hold back. It said a kiss was but a kiss and it was too soon for anything more. Silently, she agreed.

"Whatever happens, I'll always be glad to hold you," the Cardassian replied with a slight smile as he pulled her tight and laid a soft kiss on the bridge of her nose.

All she could do was admonish him with an appreciative hum as the lights flicked off and she allowed herself to surrender to sleep.

---

Captain Rochelle Ivanova
Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR

&

Commander Almar Dahe'el
Chief Engineer/Second Officer
USS VINDICATOR

 

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