SD241808.17 | JL | Lt Anaxar Shran & Lt Si'a Dai'xun | "Reunion"

Posted on Sat Feb 18th, 2023 @ 8:09pm by Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Lieutenant Anaxar Shran & Lieutenant Si'a Dai'xun Shran

2,693 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Lacuna
Timeline: BACKLOG

Some time had passed. Time enough for the team to finish off what loose ends remained on the base, while the medics on the ship ran a quick scan of Si'a. Their verdict came down to 'A little dehydrated, but essentially fine.' Her tiny passenger was also scanned and pronounced healthy.

"Can I see her?" Anaxar asked.

The medic shrugged. "I don't see why not."

That was all Anaxar needed to hear. He just barely managed to refrain from shouldering the man aside as he stepped into the small room, smiling that rare smile reserved only for her. There she was, filling the room with her smell, her soft breathing, the drumbeat of her heart.

What was once dull was now shone so very bright. Si'a bloomed into a full smile where she'd previously been rather unremarkable and quietly resting in the bio bed she'd been placed in for temporary keeping. It didn't hold her much longer at all. The wee Stenellis poured out of it and onto her feet in an array of bells and little zills attached to barely there silks. Her hair followed, still a bit damp from their watery escape.

"Anaxar," she chirped in relief and happy greeting. He was smiling, not the morose and grim devil in the dark that had rescued her from hell. It didn't take long for her to meet him and wrap her arms around his waist, burying her nose into the warm fabric covering his torso. It felt so damn good to touch him. "We have to stop doing this. I owe you my life for two lifetimes." She'd give him all of them. Gladly.

"Not so." He rested his chin on the top of her head and folded his long arms around her. For the first time since she'd gone missing he felt complete. He never wanted to let her go again. "The first time was life for life, equal trade…" They both had kept each other going, had lent the other strength to survive. "And you gave me back my life a long time ago." He inhaled her scent, wrinkled his nose at the perfumes which tainted it. "Does this ship have a shower?" he asked the medic.

"Of course!" the man snapped, sounding offended. "Shower or water?"

"Water," Anaxar said decisively. Oh yes. Lots and lots and lots of water.

"Follow me."

Follow they did, mostly in silence as if their thoughts were for them and them alone. The medic was just a third wheel, cramping their style while words singed the tip of the tiny woman's tongue. Only after he'd finished playing tour guide and left them to their own devices did Si'a puff a little sigh of relief and allow herself to relax. "I still say I owe you." Of course the fact that they'd managed to create a while new life fluttered through her mind on butterfly wings.

The soft hiss of artificial rain hammering upon tile combined with the gust of humid mist generated by the shower's sudden down burst. Her eyes closed, enjoying the sudden change in humidity and temperature. "I hate these clothes..." She hummed, allowing her lashes to part and eyes to find his. Her fingers agitated, by the feel of the foreign fabric, tangled and wrung around bits of it at her hip. "I hate everything about what happened." The anger felt hot against her skin when it rose to the surface, "I... We..." Si'a swallowed the growing knot threatening to choke her, "Everything. Almost lost everything." It would take some doing to handle on her own, but she was determined to get free of the last agreed on the Orion stronghold over her person. Over them. Her fingers, shaking, plucked and tugged at the knots that tied the fabric ends together, "No more..."

"Almost." And I almost lost everything as well, at the same time… Anaxar began to strip her from her clothes, swiftly and efficiently, until she was completely undressed. Somehow, he'd manage to lose his own clothing in the process, though whether that was his own doing or the work of smaller, nimble fingers was impossible to tell. He scanned around. "Soap, soap…" he muttered, before spotting a small dispenser. This ship had a subtly different design from regular Starfleet ships, so that what seemed to be familiar just had a way of surprising one at times. "There it is."

He sprayed foam in both hands, then began to wash her, slowly, starting with her hair. He felt it under his hands, the joint heartbeats of Si'a and their little one. And suddenly, he remembered that dream-encounter, which had felt like more than a dream. He suddenly wondered if she had dreamt the same.

Anger burned hotter than the water, leaving it to cool against her skin and his hands right along with it. The question as to why she was angry when she should have been relieved barely registered. Maybe it was that threat of losing him and being kept from everything she'd ever known and loved. Maybe it was just that she needed to feel that anger in order to process through to accepting what had happened. Si'a head tilted, part in thought and part to give him better access to the task he'd chosen to undertake. His fingers massaging her scalp did little to help fuel that anger. In fact they worked to douse the flames and replace them with pleasure and a sense of calm she hadn't felt in weeks.

About the time he abandoned her hair for sake of the rest of her body, working methodically as he often did, she allowed her eyes to close and the tension to leave her by way of a heavy, long sigh. Had she known what he was concentrating on, thinking about, she'd have chimed in and questioned that momentary respite offered by that dreamlike state. She'd thought it real enough to bank on it. The investment had paid off. Blissfully ignorant of those thoughts, her fingers traveled to find the soapy backs of his hands and dabbled idly in the foam, needing to touch as much as be touched and forge that connection once again. "Almost is still too close." She finally whispered, "But it's still just an almost. What do they say about the glass being full or empty? It's perplexion." perception, though... they both kind of worked.

"I don't mind whether the glass is full or empty, as long as nobody tries to steal it…" He massaged her gently as he washed her down, his long fingers kneading gently or firmly, depending on the situation. He did it as much for himself as for her, he needed to touch her, all of her, to confirm the reality of her being here. Mechanical eyes were one thing, but he wanted – he needed – true senses for this, and nothing felt as real as touching.

"No, I take that back," he said after a long second. "I want this glass to be full, for as long as it needs to be…" Those words were spoken softly, barely audible over the soft hiss of falling water, and his hands strayed over her belly and halted there. He felt the fluttering of that second, quicker heartbeat – no doubt about it now! under his fingertips.

That's when it dawned on the wee creation of the stars. His hands slipped across the sodden satin of her skin to fall into place, cupping and holding the budding swell of their child. It was as if he knew of their work of genetic art with the way he touched her and the words he spoke. He'd told her in a dream that no longer felt like a dream the longer she dabbled in reality.

"For a little while." Si'a replied in a voice so small it barely existed at all. It was filled with the swell of emotion that threatened to completely overtake her. Pride was number one, happiness and love being super close seconds. The future was being nurtured in that particular glass, waiting for a greater chance at existence beyond simply being a fleeting heartbeat and whisper, "We made a life, Anaxar." She hummed, leaning back into him, "No one's going to take that away." They'd tried. They'd failed. In the end, their family was reunited, safe, sound, warm, and far from any and all that would try to harm them.

"I know," he said, simply. Two words, such short words, but they seemed to contain the universe. He quickly finished washing her, then simply delighted in holding her awhile longer as the water drenched them both, washing away the soap and cloying perfume and dirt.

Their minds wouldn't be as easily washed clean, but they were here, they were together once more, and that alone would go a long way to mending mental scars.

There were dozens of questions (Would the child she carried not get too big for her? How long would the gestation time be? Same as for other Stenellis? Same as for Andorians? Something in between? What would the genetic mix be like, would the baby take after mom or dad or both? Could that even be determined yet?) but all those questions could wait.

There was a past, and there was a future, but they could wait as well. He just delighted in the eternal now.

Turning carefully in his arms, Si'a wrapped herself around him and rested her lips against the beautiful blue of his skin. Sparse tangled webs of scars lay beneath them, but she'd long ago worshipped them and the strength they left behind. The questions, hidden beneath the beautiful veils of his mind, could indeed wait a little bit. None of them were overly urgent, none were life and death. The only urgent thing on her mind was being with him, reinstating their lives together as one beautiful whole. "I love you." She murmured with a smile, "More than all the stars, I love you."

"And I love you…" Words which could never grow old. Words he had feared he would never speak again. Sometimes it was a good thing that artificial eyes and ruined flesh couldn't cry, otherwise he'd be bawling like a child right now. He hugged her instead, again, as tightly as he dared. "So unspeakably much…" His fingertips caressed her skin, no longer probing for injuries which were hidden to his strange eyesight (so discerning in some instances, so oddly deficit in others), but just touching her, stroking her, making her glow.

"I remember the first shower we took together," The laugh was soft and filled with awkward amusement and embarrassment, "Thankfully, there's no spiders this time or head injuries..." She paused, shaking her head slightly, cheek rubbing against his warm, wet skin, "No leg or toe injuries either..." Another pause, this time punctuated with a little whining chortle. Definitely embarrassment, "Or aardvark petting." Awkward. Sigh.

The smile she boasted colored her cheeks, no doubt, her ears had started to heat up well beyond the wonderful ambient temperature of the water that soothed and comforted them, rinsing away the bad and conjuring up the good. It was as if she sensed his troubles and felt his emotions. Could she? She wasn't really all that dense and his posture and touches spoke volumes. Her own fingers found the path to his abdomen and hip, tracing and following the scars she'd first admired. "You were so careful with me then. Putting up with all of..." Si'a paused to think of the perfect word to describe her weirdness, "Social ineptitude? Is that the right word?"

Anaxar smiled. He still marvelled that she could make him smile. "I think it is. And I think it's also a great definition of how I was at the time. I guess we both pulled each other out of it." His voice grew softer as he regarded her. "I remember it too. You didn't look at me with revulsion, or a sick kind of fascination. That's how people looked at me, then. They either stared or looked away. You did neither. I couldn't believe it at the time." Sometimes I still can't...

The star-child's fingers paused as he spoke, lingering over a particularly rough patch with a heavy measure of tenderness remaining with her touch. It was amazing, how even now, she couldn't understand why anyone would look at him with any of those feelings or reactions, "They're a map," she interjected, "They lead you to me and me to you. So, I love them. Each and every one."

"So you can read my map," Anaxar said, shivering deliciously at her touch, "but I can't read yours. It isn't fair, you know." The water had washed away all traces of her ordeal: the grime, the sickly cloying perfume, the make-up. Now there was just them, and the warm water raining down. "Do you know?" he asked softly. "Is it safe? I mean, for us, to, ah make love without harming the baby?" A dark blue flush made the scars on his face stand out even more.

"That keeps things interesting." Si'a shushed him in good humor, pressing her lips to his chest, her hands in motion again as she watched his face darken with the sudden rush of blood spreading across his cheeks and nose. Oh how she loved the lines of his face. They hinted at a man who had been, and still was, painfully handsome and elegant with sharply refined features still strong enough to loudly crow about his masculinity without being garish.

She smiled a sheepish smile, sucking in a humid breath as the meaning behind his flush came to light. "We're a very touch oriented people. It's safe." More importantly, she loved his mind and the gentle care and bubbling spring of love her graciously showered her with. She knew that his next question would be a veiled inquiry as to whether or not she was interested - and gods and stars alive was she. Si'a lifted on tip toe and allowed a sodden finger to trace his lower lip, the stilled hand resting against his belly returning to motion as well. It didn't take much to move her questing fingers to the sensitive inside of his hip, drawing little hearts as she went, "More than safe." This wasn't to be simple sex based on desire. No. This union was to be a homecoming, worshiping one another and thanking the Gods that they were allowed to remain belonging to one another, to continue honoring their union. No way was she going to deny them that chance.

His quarters on this ship were like everything else here, cold and utilitarian. But the bed was tall enough to accommodate him, which meant that Si'a would fit as well. Physically, she didn't take much space. Anaxar's antennae quivered at Si'a's touches, and he felt something else stir as well. "Towel time?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Towel time." She nodded a bit emphatically, still remiss to the thought of leaving such warmth and the comfort of his touch. Better things waited, she decided, far better and far less public and far more conducive to hiding beneath blankets and taking their time loving one another. Yep. Towel time. She didn't need to be asked twice before reaching over to kill the water and hunting to get at least dry enough not to leave a soaking trail down the corridors.

Anaxar reached out with one of his long arms and plucked a towel from the hook. He wrapped it around Si'a, quickly wrapped a second one around his waist and lifted her up. It wasn't necessary, really, she should be able to walk, but he just wanted to have her close to him. Really close.

Ignoring the look of passing personnel (was that Commander Archer he saw disappearing around a corner?) he walked with his living treasure in his arms through the corridors to the quarters assigned to him. The door closed and left them alone at last.

---

Lieutenant Anaxar Shran
Chief Science Officer
USS VINDICATOR, NX-78213-F

Lieutenant Si'a Dai'xun
Stellar Cartographer
USS VINDICATOR, NX-78213-F

 

RSS Feed