JPL ~ Cmdr Waterhouse & MCPO Caine ~ "I Didn't Mean To Take Up All Your Sweet Time" Part I of III

Posted on Sun Jan 25th, 2015 @ 1:54pm by Commander Amelia Waterhouse & Master Chief Petty Officer Rik Caine

2,125 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: A Spot To Kill

An air of anticipation had followed him around like a shadow on a sunny day. With each step closer to that special dame's joint his heart drummed a little faster. He didn’t know why; he had been here before, hell he'd been there all night and morning. It was only now. Rik had managed to find his way back to his quarters and office, but it hadn’t been a smooth ride; he'd inadvertently wondered into a hydroponics bay wondering why his desk had been replaced with a small leafy thing. Like an adventurer getting his bearings though he had managed to survive. Now here he was, back at sanctuary dressed casually but classy in a black shirt, part undone from the collar and rolled up at the sleeves, and black jeans and boots. The five o'clock shadow no longer framing his face.

Rik wasn’t accustomed to what lay ahead. He racked his brain for the last time he'd ever done anything like this and decided that he couldn’t remember. Dinner. A shaking nervousness washing through him like a wave crashing against the shore. He didn’t know if he was doing it right; but he'd managed to procure a bottle of an Orion spirit, deep purple in colour and apparently packing a mighty punch. He smiled as he looked at it deciding that as they'd met over bad alcohol the night before it could have a certain charm. Outside. The smooth metal of the door the only barrier between him and her. Anticipation. Longing. He pressed the chime and waited, watching the corridor for any passers by like a patron heading into a secret gin house scared of being nailed by the bulls and taken down the clubhouse.

Inside Amelia tapped the base of the candle holders that sat in the middle of the table, and a holographic flame flickered to life at the tip of each silver spiral candle. She hadn't had the time to investigate the smoke detector settings in the suite yet, so for now she settled for the holograms. The tablecloth was a sheer steel grey, with a shimmer of green and purple to it where the light danced on it. The two place settings had black square plates, heat treated titanium flatware to match the colors of the table cloth, green cloth napkins, and wine glasses with purple stems. The lasagna was due out of the oven in no more than fifteen minutes and the door chime meant that he was on time.

"Come," she called with a grin, turning from the table, the gauzy skirt of her strapless mint green dress floating gently around her. "Lights fifty percent," she directed at the computer, cursing herself softly as she caught herself looking upwards again. As the door slid open, she reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear that had escaped from the waterfall braid that wrapped around the back of her head and held her hair out of her face.

Like the grand reveal of the first act on opening night the door slid open and Rik stepped over the threshold and inside. The lighting was dimmer than it had been this morning; softer. He glanced over at the table which looked all kinds of class with the black spiral candles. He caught a shimmer of the tablecloth and the almost hypnotic purple and green flashes. It reminded him of the twinkle of a Christmas light in a glass decoration. Despite the class, the beauty of the table paled in comparison to the redheaded dame in her green dress and with intricately woven hair.

Stunning Rik thought to himself as he smiled her way and stepped further inside. "Wow" the only word able to escape his lips as stood; transfixed once again by her.

A small laugh, a soft blush, and she closed the space between them as she padded softly over on bare feet. "See something you like?" she teased, catching him by the collar and leaning in for a kiss. Half a step backwards, drawing him with her, allowed them to leave the range of the door's sensor; it slid shut behind them with a sigh.

Wrapping his arms around her waist he half-stumbled into the room allowing himself to be pulled into the embrace he felt her lips against his and that familiar electricity that had played on his mind all day. "I'm seeing something I like a whole lot doll" he said when they parted. "You really are quite the dish" he added kissing her again. When they parted for a second time he remembered the unusual hooch in his hand, he tapped it lightly on her back "found this today; Orion... apparently, not seen it before" he said with a devilish grin not knowing a single thing about the purple liquid he carried. "Figure a dame who's as much trouble as you would appreciate the unknown of colourful Orion hooch" he added with a wink not prepared to let her go just yet.

"You found hooch on a starship currently in slipsteam? That's quite a magic trick." She reached blindly behind herself to grab for the bottle. Finding his arm first, she trailed her nails lightly along the skin of his forearm as she traced her way to his hand and the bottle. "Want to place any wagers on if I've tried this particular brand of Technicolor poison?" Her hand wrapped around his, not in a rush to take the bottle quite yet — half the fun lie in the game after all, and she honestly would happily drink another bottle of the cheap paint thinner he'd given her last night if that's what it took to keep him around. Thankfully, it didn't seem that was required.

"What can I say, gum-shoe like me has gotta be resourceful" he winked the feel of her nails lightly grazing his arm sending static to his very core. He sighed in approval as her hand found his, her soft touch the polar opposite of his own rougher hands.

"Helped out a Bolian earlier who was in a little dutch, he dropped this off at my office to say thanks" Rik mused reminiscing over his first day. "Had to keep myself occupied doing some work without you around offering a welcome distraction and that slip-stream stopping smile" he added grinning and kissing her lightly. "So stack up the deck, what's the bet?" he said teasingly at her challenge. "I'll wager whatever you like against that one" he added with affectionate mocking.

"Stack the deck?" she parroted back at him, pulling away with a pout, "Are you saying I'm going to have to cheat to win?" As she needled him, she tried to remember the shape of the bottle and the color of its contents, trying to judge if she had indeed seen and tasted it before.

Rik chuckled and kissed her nose as they verbally teased assessing the other and arranging their cards ready for the showdown. "Well, depends entirely on what the stakes are doll" his voice danced enjoying the fact she was feisty enough to keep him on his toes.

Another kiss to silence him with another back step to draw him further into her quarters, and she grinned wide at him. Her finger pressed to his lips as they drew apart. "Field work's a drinking game, so chances are good I've tried whatever it is. Breakfast in bed the payoff, for me if I have, you if I haven't? Sadly won't be tomorrow, I've got an early start."

Rik was led once more deeper into the room, a seductive game of cat and mouse as he mirrored her steps like they were in some kind of wonderful waltz. "Field work may be a drinking game doll, but three years with the Syndicate and I never once saw something like this" he taunted. "Breakfast in bed for the winner it is; but the chef wears your earlier *outfit*" he said speaking the last word with another devilish grin and playful twinkle in his eye. "Well that is a shame, was really lookin' forward to breakfast in that lovely bed of yours - something going down tomorrow?" he teased once more not being fully up-to-speed on the ship's current destination.

Without missing a beat Rik kissed her tenderly preventing an instant comeback. As he pulled away he lingered close to her ear long to enough to whisper softly and invitingly "bed will feel awful cold without you..."

"That sounds like the song of a guy who thinks he's earned bedroom privileges without supervision," Amelia quipped, pulling back and twirling around so she didn't have to let go of his hand and the bottle of booze that was currently the eye of the storm. Finally getting a proper look at the bottle as she stepped close again, she grinned like a cat caught with the canary in her mouth — she knew that label and knew it well. "That purple jewel in your hand comes out of a little dive I spent a couple months watching on Rigel. They make it in the back room under the careful supervision of an Orion dame by the name of Narvi who's stacked like a brick shithouse, and she sends it to the four corners of the syndicate by way of her pack of sons."

The smile that played across his lips at her bedroom comment slowly vanished as she spun round and studied the offering he had brought to dinner and which had been the centre of their game. Rik Caine stood, slightly opened mouthed like he was going to catch flies, in disbelief that yet again this dame had impressed him and unsteadied his balance like a tornado cutting through a rope bridge on a high mountain pass. He shook his head slowly from side to side; accepting defeat and realising the terms of the bet he had agreed to. "My, my doll you really are something unique ain't ya? I wonder if there's anything you don't know" he quipped trusting her statement and chuckling. "Fair is fair though... you win" he conceded out loud.

"There's plenty I don't know, but one does not fall into the hands of Intel, fluent in Orion, and not have regular dealings with the syndicate." She turned her back to him pulling his arms to wrap around her and bring the bottle up where she could take a better look at the label. "I only ever had it freshly bottled though, this looks like it's been sitting and collecting dust for some time. Might even be older than her youngest son."

Rik followed the movement bringing his arms around her like a vine seeking a stronghold as he squeezed a little rocking them both from side to side as they continued to move into the room. He watched her with interest as she told him of her dealings with the Syndicate and he couldn't help but wonder what this dame had been like undercover; alone. "No clue where the bo got it; just handed it over for services rendered, but out of all the bottles in all the universe the one that turns up is something you're familiar with - guess I owe you breakfast in bed doll" he sighed kissing her on the cheek as she studied the bottle of purple hooch a little longer. "What was it like? For you I mean; dealing with the Syndicate?" he asked thinking back to his own brief stint with them.

"Exhilarating, but lonely," her answer was simple, but it said everything. "All the places to see, people to do... I saw so many things, met so many people. But I couldn't afford to let anyone close. Thankfully all my stuff with the syndicate was small hops. It sounds like you had the wild ride with them." She leaned her head back to lay on his shoulder, and smirked at him. "So, can you pay up on our bet without touching the replicator?"

Rik met her upside down eyes with his baby blues and smiled down at this vision resting close to him. "Cheek" he commented kissing the dame lightly on the button. "I will have you know I cook four dishes fantastically... Reasonably... Might have lit up a kitchen like the Fourth of July once..." He squirmed as he realised how bad his cooking skills were "but when they go right; it's mighty fine" he added with a wink. "Can even wear that outfit" he added.

=/\= Continued in Part II =/\=

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

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

 

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