JPL ~ Cmdr Waterhouse & MCPO Caine ~ "It's Drawing Me In And Pulling Me To You" Pt II/II

Posted on Sat Jan 17th, 2015 @ 3:56am by Master Chief Petty Officer Rik Caine & Commander Amelia Waterhouse

3,137 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: A Spot To Kill

=/\= Continued from Part I =/\=

Rik followed her out into the main room and looked around; he didn't remember much of the decor in the frenzy to the bedroom. He clocked his belt on the floor just outside the door and swiped it up, sliding it through the loops and fastening it as he looked around. He eyed the shelves next to the door, boxes with what appeared to be comics inside, he smiled impressed once more, and a lot of books. There was some literature he recognised and some academic he couldn't even pronounce. This dame was sure as sunlight smart. There it was, laying carefully atop a book by Andrea Levine, if his research on the roster correct now a Commodore onboard. The gat. Out of place, but fitted in so well. The gat that had sent this dame spinning. Reaching out for it he picked it up, cold steel and rubber in hand as he slid it back into his wasitband.

"Some impressive art, your brother has quite the gift... ashamed to say I was locked on a living art piece" he said as he watched her start to make tea. He forced himself to take his eyes off her for just a moment to admire the art in the room before they snapped back like rubber-bands. "The artists I recognise... but who are the turtles?" he asked.

He moved closer, picking up his shirt from the crumpled heap on the couch and slipped it on. Button missing he noted as he roughly did it up half-way. Finding a spot close enough but not crowding the maestro work in the kitchen like a conductor and their orchestra he couldn't help but note the tea capsules... and the charms. He reached out and held the bat loosely in his fingers twirling it slightly. "Is this...?" he asked almost in disbelief that anyone, let alone her - that dame who had walked into his life with more in common than he thought possible - knew that symbol. Once again; he found himself increasingly impressed with the red headed dame that went by 'trouble'. "A down-and-out gum-shoe with not a lot to offer and a righteous cause that drives me... then you throw in the past" he paused and twirled the bat-symbol charm again "not most dame's first pick you understand" he explained. He raised his head to meet his eyes with hers "I'm hoping you're a whole different kind of class mind you - I think you just might be" he grinned.

"I noticed your tattoo, it was hard to miss." She set the bread back down at his question, turning to face him with her head tilted slightly to the left. "What do you mean, the past?" The kettle started to whistle, and she moved to collect it while trying not to break eye contact; she was mostly successful, only fleeting glances needed to find the kettle's handle, to press the button to turn off the burner, and to aim the spout at the mugs to fill with the boiling water. It left her standing right next to him as she set the kettle on a different burner, a cool one. "You tell me how many dames you've met with a genetic makeup like mine, and I'll tell you how many dames you can judge me based on." She smiled, closing the space between them with her hands coming to rest on his shoulders.

Electricity; it was a funny thing. Some used it to charge equipment, others for power. When she moved in close Rik couldn't help but think it powered him as he rested his face on her extended arm kissing it softly. "The bats... symbol of a character I'm guessing you know. My grandfather introduced me to the stories just ... just after my parents were bumped off" he explained choking on his words slightly. The rawness of that fateful night replaying briefly in his mind like an old VT before he snapped himself out of it. "H. Horatio, my father. C. Clara, my mother - angels upstairs now who gave their lives for us. V... What can I say 'bout V... Verity. My baby sister. Who I failed to protect and hasn't spoken to me since the poker incident" he concluded shaking his head slightly. "My folks were murdered in a home invasion, case never solved" he added before looking up again.

"The blue-prints to a troubled childhood and an eventual ultimatum. Enlist in Starfleet and become something more; or drown at the bottom of a bottle in a dive a nobody. The stories, what happened to Verity, the disappointment I heard on the wind when I visited the folks' resting place... well, rest is history I suppose and here I am, trying to be something more. I guess that’s why I 'count coup' proof I'm getting there" he finished using her phrase and smiling; softer than before. An honest and raw vulnerability playing on his lips. "So; there's my hand and… not one I usually share. See, I knew you were equal parts trouble and special" the confidence returning to his grin. "And… the turtles? Part of your past or just you and your brother's own design?" he asked.

She listened quietly, letting the story turn over in her head as she took it in. Part of her wished she had some grounds to understand the pain he'd been through, but then the thought of losing her parents — she couldn't even imagine how hard it would be. Her heart broke for him.

"I'm so sorry," she finally said softly, the only words that she could find to get her lips around, and they felt shallow and hollow — what does one say to something like that? She shifted so she could lay her forehead on his, her arms wrapping around him. When he shifted the subject back to the turtles, she blinked and drew back from him. It felt like he'd just pulled a tight little three point turn on the conversation, and he got a funny look and a tilted head for his troubles. "Another comic book, teenage mutant ninja turtles. What got me curious about nunchuks to start with."

"You don't need to be sorry doll, but thank you for not recoiling - it ain't a subject I like to dwell on much" he said closing the gap and kissing her softly. He moved back taking in the view of soft, smooth flesh in its natural form, the feint spots drawing his eyes down as he looked her over with lust, attraction, admiration, and something he couldn't place - the same feeling that had sent him dizzy when he first clocked eyes on her. Special. An understatement. "Not one I know; but seeing you with nunchucks in your current 'outfit' intrigues the hell outta me" he said with a wink. He then clocked the look, a look that went right through him as he looked down.

"I... change the subject 'cos I don't want to kill a mood. Something as blissful as this shouldn't be tainted by my daemons. But... if you want to know it all, if you really want to, hand on my heart - I'll spin you my tale now or tonight and open it all up to you Amelia". He admitted as he slowly followed the lines of her body back up to her beautiful eyes "and that would take the total number of other people who know it all... to one" he concluded hoping it would convey just how much he valued her and how close and comfortable he felt with the red head who forty-eight hours ago he didn't even know.

"I'll leave it up to you to decide when, and what, you want to tell me," she said softly, a quick and gentle kiss to punctuate the sentence. "For now, we're not going to have time for breakfast if I let you keep distracting me like this. Would you stop being so ruggedly handsome in the middle of my kitchen?" Another kiss, followed by a giggle, and she pulled away to turn her attention to the French toast again.

Rik chuckled at her comment "I guess I kinda am" he agreed with little modesty but a cheeky wink enough to make it acceptable. He held his hands up in mock apology "I'll sing like a canary later then - would hate to run the risk of not trying this breakfast and... there's plenty here to occupy me while the maestro works at her craft" he added once again slowly taking in the view as if it were oxygen and he needed to fill his lungs. "But you're not off the hook doll, 'cos I'm still picturing you holding nunchucks right now" he added before miming a zip across his lips.

"I'll give you a show after breakfast, promise," she assured him with a laugh. Bread passed through the mixture in the bowl before landing in the frying pan with a sizzle. "Just because I said to stop distracting me doesn't mean you need to shut your pie hole," she insisted with a head shake. She turned towards him to slide the milk and sugar down the counter towards the mugs steeping tea. "Spoons in the drawer right there," she added, touching the drawer in question as she leaned in to steal a quick kiss. "The tea's a blend called Hot Cinnamon Sunset, one of my favorites. Though I've always thought it should be called a sunrise because the cinnamon and the citrus really are a great way to start a day."

"Well baby I await it with anticipation" he said with a soft drawl. He watched the bread as it started to sizzle, the aromatic scent wafting into his nostrils like a welcome invasion. Her lips finding his an added bonus to send senses soaring to the stars. "Well I wasn't sure if it was my rugged good looks or impossible enigmatic charm and wit that was distracting you so doll" he said with mocking arrogance. "Smells good" he commented as he pulled himself up from his leaning post and purposefully walked round the other way sliding his hand across the base of her lower back with a gentle caress as he stole a kiss of her soft neck passing like a thief in the night to the drawer in question. Retrieving a spoon he returned to the brewing tea and added a splash of milk and sugar to his own "Do you want either?" He asked the goddess standing at the hob.

"It's the whole package that distracts," she insisted with a laugh and a shake of her head. As his hand brushed against the small of her back, a shiver traveled up her spine, and she turned to look at him. Her eyes drew closed at the touch of his lips on her neck, and she sighed softly as she forced her attention back to the French toast to flip it with the spatula. "Nothing in mine, thank you."

He took a sip of the tea; went down as smooth as the finest hooch without the burn but a pleasant, but not overly sweetness to it. "That's a mighty fine brew" he added taking another sip of the warming liquid fixing his dry throat and ringing head. Still dizzy, but he reckoned that was down to her.

"We'll have to find an excuse to make you come visit my office on the bridge. I hide the really good stuff up there to get me through meetings and paperwork," she said with a glance towards him and a wink.

Rik smiled when he caught her eye as she worked "this is, without a doubt, the best way I've started a day that I can remember" he concluded drinking some more of the tea. Strangely, it suited her. Strong, sweet and damn addictive. "So you always cook like that?" He quipped with an obvious once over "can't wait for dinner" he added with another trademark devilish grin.

"No, I mostly only cook when I have company, and most people are... awkward about this," she returned, waving her hand up and down not unlike the assistant at a magic show. "Mornings are usually grab and go from the replicator after a work out in the holodeck or gym... Then tea after I get to the bridge." She grabbed her tea mug, and closed her eyes as she took a drink. "If I'm repeating this outfit tonight, then you're joining me." She smirked.

Rik couldn't help but do two things as she spoke the first was chuckle at her comment and the second was follow her hand with his gaze like someone who had been hypnotised. "Sounds awful similar; I generally pull awake and grab whatever is nearby" he commented "so this; a mighty fine treat" the smell of the food getting stronger and permeating his senses. He paused for a brief moment and thought over her request with careful consideration like an anxious shopper. "I think that can be arranged" he said leaning in and lowering the tone of his voice.

"Ah, but my only worry is, will we keep our eye on the prize if so? Or will I burn dinner because you're so thoroughly distracting?" she returned, her hand finding his jaw as she grinned at him. "Like now, we're getting to that critical point where if I don't pull the French toast at just the right time, we'll end up with charcoal instead." Her hand moved from his face, and she touched him on the nose with the tip of her finger before turning her attention back to the frying pan.

"Well doll I can safely say my eyes would be locked… firmly on the prize" he flirted. "But I'd hate for you to burn anything on my account, as you said... I really am ruggedly handsome aren't I?" he said as she tapped his nose and he bit the air playfully as she pulled away to return to the toast in the pan. He mimed a kiss at her as he turned his attention to the contents of the pan also "seriously though, you're distracted now and doing a damn fine job; smells incredible".

"French toast is a deceptively easy dish to make," she insisted, turning up a edge of one of the pieces, then let it settle back in the pan. "But you are making me exercise a lot of self control. I'm liable to get in trouble today if I'm not careful. Especially with all the bad ideas you put in my head. Can you grab plates?" She pointed to a cabinet.

"You're a modest dame ain't ya?" he asked with a smile. "Doubt I could repeat the process, but watching you work is like watching a painter go to town on canvas". Rik made a noise in the affirmative and moved from his perch taking another swig of the refreshing tea as he did so. Reaching for the cupboard in question he set two plates down on the side before wrapping his arms loosely around her waist kissing her several times on her back and neck "you're doin' a swell job at that too" he teased. "I promise, scouts honour, I'll behave when we're on duty" he said before releasing her to let her finish cooking. "Speaking of which; how you gunna like me calling you m'am?" he said with seductive emphasis on the last word.

A slow head shake was her only response as he continued to toot her horn, though an amused grin painted her face. Like a parched man in the desert finding an oasis, he just couldn't seem to get enough of her; it was endearing and a little overwhelming, all at once. As he pulled back to let her mind the French toast, she gave him a sidelong glance as she she let it all wash over her. There stood electricity, trouble, a diamond in the rough — Rik Caine went straight to her head and fogged it right up. Somehow the French toast made it to the plates without her really noticing that she'd done it, and he pulled her out of her head with his promise to behave and his teasing question. She couldn't help a snort of amusement.

"If you say it like that, there won't be a person in earshot that won't suspect you're warming my bed," she observed with a laugh, but then softly frowned. "Normally I wouldn't worry about what anyone else thought, right or wrong, but..." she paused. She hated to even bring it up, but she realized she actually wanted to see where this could go. With a sigh she stepped close. "Please don't get me wrong, I don't want to hide what we're finding here, but I feel like I need to get the lay of the land with Rochelle before we make it obvious to the casual observer. Just with the chain of command, my being an officer while you're enlisted — even if there aren't regs against it specifically, there's enough of a divide. I just-" She laid her forehead on his and closed her eyes as words failed her.

He leaned his head into hers and kissed her forehead softly running his hand on her flank with gentle reassurance. "I know I come off as a sure-fire gum-shoe but truth be told I guess I'm as scared as you are - don't normally wake up with someone still there. I get you don't wanna hide it but are balancing what's considered taboo against what feels damn right and you're worried about what your friend and CO may think... I get that. I promise Amelia; I will be the paragon of discretion - I spent three years with the Syndicate, I'm sure I can control myself in public and on duty. Don't get me wrong, I don't have as much invested here yet and I sure don't mind if people know. For you; I'll do it for you darlin' until you're happy to shout it down the com channels and you know the boss won't throw me out the nearest airlock". He paused for a moment the honesty in his voice ringing true as he kissed her again. "I wanna find out what this is doll - I think it's the start of somethin' special - we know the start of the story, don't matter if it takes a week, a month or a year before anyone else does... We're gunna be just fine" he said sealing it with a final kiss.

=/\= End Log =/\=

Commander Amelia Waterhouse
Executive Officer
USS Vindicator, NCC-78213-E

MCPO Rik Caine
Security Investigator/Chief of the Boat
USS Vindicator, NCC-78213-E

 

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