[NOVA] Tête-à-Tête (K 1.6, M 1.5)

WPTunes

Ksenia, it's been an interesting morning already, and it's not yet lunchtime. When you make it back to quarters, Mei is asleep. On her own bunk. As you've gotten used to, she is snoring gently. Her face, drained of her waking doubts and questions, speaks volumes even in sleep. You can read her determination and will, so often hidden by eagerness and self-censorship, in the lines of this sleeping face.

Ksenia, in the week and a day you've been aboard the Stalker Jane, have you watched Mei sleep before?

What do you do?

Rich

[Ksenia Cribbage]

I haven't watched her sleep before. I've honestly avoided that by staying active and matching her sleep cycle. I'm not entirely sure it was intentional.

Right now though, my side still tingling from Dai's touch, I find that I'm just standing there looking at her face. I stand there, near the bunk, hands at my sides, watching her quietly. I wonder what she dreams about. Can she hear me now?

Probably should get some sleep, or check over the manuals, re-read the reports, something. I should be doing that instead of standing here gaping at a junior officer like this. She'll wake up any minute, and then it will be weird. I really, really don't want it to be weird.

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Mei, you wake up with the feeling that someone is watching you. Indeed, someone is. Ksenia. You first catch her out of the corner of your eye, sharing focus with the ancient star chart. There's a complex look in her eyes, and her left hand, her flesh hand, is pressed lightly against the right side of her torso in an unfamiliar gesture.

Mei, Ksenia is right there, just feet away, watching you with that enigmatic look. What do you do?

Mischa

[Mei]

I'm a little confused and still achy behind my eyes. I'm not waking to my alarm, it feels like my psi tugged me. And Ksenia is right there, and I'm puzzled. Am I dreaming? Is something wrong? I feel my features shift to concern, her mood is hard to read. I feel my psi twitch, and my half-awake self wants to know more. I shake my head and squeeze it away, push fully awake.

I wipe some drool off with the back of my hand — classy, Mei — and lean up on one arm. Swallow. My head still hurts, and I blink hard a couple times. "Ksenia?" I didn't sleep through lunch, I don't hear alarms, and I have a wild notion that we've fallen out of the Grey. "Is anything wrong?" I wonder if she's hurt?

Rich

[Ksenia Cribbage]

The drool wipe puts a smile on my face. Classy, Mei. She winces at the light. Is she still hung over? "No," I reply with a little bit of mirth. "We're fine." I realize I'm holding that spot on my pizza side and let go, a bit self-conscious. I turn and walk over to the sink, fill the glass from before with some water for her, start walking it back to hand to Mei.

Mischa

[Mei]

We're fine or we're fine? That's the same glass, she must've left one for me earlier.

"Okay... you sure?" My shoulder still hurts a little, but it's better. I rub it. Maybe she hurt her side working out. And was she watching me sleep? I probably was snoring loud. At least I'm decent. I double-check. Yep, pants. I swing my legs around, hop down. "Thanks for the water." I take an aspirin and more water. Is the light too bright in here?

I blink some, a little unsure how we are. She did say we'd talk later. I want to sort it out before we hit dirtside. Can't have her avoiding me if I'm in command... but she's not on my staff.

I check ship's time. "Did you already have lunch?" I regret the misstep as soon as I've asked. "I mean, are you okay after dinner last night?" I'll take one step closer when I ask.

Rich

[Ksenia Cribbage]

She's still hung over. Poor girl. I don't miss being hung over. What's the deal with her shoulder? I saw that flinch when she hopped down. She really does move like a dancer, right up to me.

"Lunch is in twenty." I answer. Then she switches to dinner, asking about, ugh, my sudden departure. The right corner of my mouth quirks in a frown for a moment, "Yeah, Taban. I'm okay." It comes out softer than I meant it.

A moment of quiet passes, and I realize I'm just standing here looking down at her. I glance at her shoulder, then my left hand, my frakking traitorous left hand is up on her right shoulder, the one she favored, "What's wrong with your shoulder?" I'm not squeezing it.

Mischa

[Mei]

I nod, clearly she doesn't want to talk about it, happy she calls me Taban. She sounds... I don't even know. Upset? Why? "Good. I didn't know what... I didn't want to make a fuss." I quirk my mouth up at the corner. "I had too much to drink last night." And I somehow wound up in your bunk. I blink, not saying it.

She's just looking at me. I'm about to open my mouth and ask her if she wants to talk, but she goes first. I glance at her hand on my shoulder, then back. I do a rotating shrug with that side, feel the complaint. "I tricked it during this morning's workout. This hangover, I should know better. I shake my head at myself, then perk up. "I'll put ice on it and it'll be fine tomorrow. It's not bad enough to need a real massage." Not that I really want to be alone with Gaumata... but I think of the note.

I glance at her cyber. "I didn't know yours came off. That must be handy." I stop mid-sentence and literally, actually, slap my forehead with the heel of my hand. "I swear to you that pun was unintentional." I'm smiling and rolling my eyes, not intentionally breaking the tension, but very grateful for it.

Rich

[Ksenia Cribbage]

The handy bit didn't bother me, but her head slap makes me chuckle. I shake my head slightly, amazed at how uninhibited she can be."Morning workout while hung over? That had to be fun."

I step around her, still holding her shoulder, then I start trying to feel for the kink in it. I'm no masseuse, but I've lived with a unit of soldiers for a decade and we've all figured out how to soothe aches and tweaked muscles. Get your mind out of the gutter.

I'm working at the muscles in her shoulder as well as her upper back, seeing if it's a particular muscle, a knot or whatever. "I can remove my right leg, too. At the hip. It looks like a barbie doll's hip." Shut up, K. What the frak was that about?

"Work out with Sanchez?" I ask as I continue working on her shoulder. Her skin is so damn soft, but there are nice muscle groups underneath. She's in excellent shape. I admire her form.

Mischa

[Mei]

I'm honored with a rare laugh. "No, it was not fun. I do not like a hangover. Drink goes straight to my head, I can't take it." I have a certain wild memory of a certain party back at the Academy. "Next time we're at dinner, no more than two glasses. And it should probably only be one." I'm really lucky I kept a lid on my psi.

"Ummm," I sigh as she works my shoulder. Like getting a rock out your boot. Then she starts on my back, and I stretch into it. "No, seriously, you have six hours to stop it. That's an order." I'm joking, obviously. Oooh, yes, right like that, and I twist to crack one of the thoracics.

I put both arms straight out, clasping each wrist in turn, give a little twist. "Just the right?" I wonder why. "Why not the left?" I knew a test pilot, Peter Juchi, he could remove both legs to save mass. Really handy, um, really useful for the R&D boffins.

"No, with Sung. I think Sanchez didn't do so great this morning, either." You're an officer, Mei, you should check on him. I'll knock on the way to the galley.

Mmm, she's doing a number on me. I close my eyes, head down, swaying lightly in response to her pressure. I smile, faint and content.

I'm really glad I can't give her orders right now. How would this look?

Rich

[Ksenia Cribbage]

I keep working at her shoulder, but it's bullshit. I'm pretty sure I worked out that mess of muscle when I found the knot, but I'm still touching her. God, her back is like an artist's canvas.

"The explosion blew my right leg off just above the knee. A cybernetic replacement of the entire leg offered increased mobile range and control." I answer it plainly, but I'm sure she can tell I'm giving back the response they offered me. "For stability, both of my hip joints were replaced. I can run at a pretty damn good clip, and when my left gets tired, I can fall into a sort of hopping gait by launching more with my right. Took me a while to get the balance right, but it's useful."

I realize I haven't answered her question. "I don't know why they let me keep my left leg, honestly." I should stop touching her. Stop it, right now.

"Sung?" I ask, more like I'm confirming it. He's gay. Why did I just think that? Why does that even matter? "I wonder if Boots had a few too many? Haven't seen him this morning."

Mischa

[Mei]

"Hmm." It's a interested, pondering, questioning hmm. I'm thinking about Ksenia, wounded in the field. Then in the recovery. I knew the extent of her cybernetics, but like this it's different. I'm really considering it. I feel her warm left hand, soft and flesh, at the same time I feel her cool cyber hand, harder and chrome. It's a real marvel of medicine. She must have really good feedback to feel the subtleties of the human body.

I feel suddenly very aware of the two of us, alone. I take a long, deep breath. Lick my lips without realizing. She can't see my face, the expression. I might take a third shower, but I'll never hear the end of it from Lourdes.

Again, I'm about to say something, but she preemptively deflects. How does she know to do that? "Mm-hm, Sung. Why? Do you want in on the next one?" I'm still eyes closed, enjoying the hell out of this massage, keeping my balance with a small effort of will. "Oh, Sanchez did have a few too many. More than me, looked like hell." I laugh, a short one. "Unless Gaumata and Lourdes fucked his brains out." I open my eyes, feeling unprofessional. Worried that the moment is broken. "Er, that is, unless he was indisposed and occupied?" I try.

Rich

[Ksenia Cribbage]

"He's probably sleeping it off, then." I say, my eyes closing as my hands, both hands, keep working at her back and shoulders. A stray thought that this would work better if she were lying down. Followed by her lying in my bunk.

That's enough, Cribbage. My eyes open back up, hands move up to tap her shoulders lightly, like "ok, we're done". "I spoke with Dinah this morning, she didn't mention Sanchez. And Gaumata is a, uhm, a guy today. I think I'd have heard about Sanchez waking up in bed with a guy already." I feel just a tiny bit off balance, a little dizzy or light-headed or something. Dai really messed with my head. And now this.

Mischa

[Mei]

Too soon, she's done. But it feels better! I think I'll still ice it. I roll my neck, then the shoulders, then I do some deep twists at the waist. Gotta stay flexible. I don't think I'm showing off. Next time, I should lie down and she can get my back. I'm suddenly aware of my hard nipples. Next time, Mei?

I'm nodding along. "I'm going to knock on his berth on the way to the galley."

I look briefly at the floor when I turn around, then up to her face. "Thanks for that, Ksenia. You're good." I'm really glad she's not mad at me, or avoiding me. I push on. "I'm really glad to be working together again. I thought you might've been avoiding me. After they humped me through Psi Corps." I reach up to her shoulder, her flesh one with my sore one, give it a comradely squeeze. "When I saw how much they censored my messages, I just didn't bother to send them. I should have." You're an officer, admit to your mistakes.

Rich

[Ksenia Cribbage]

"We could head to lunch now, if you're ready." I suggest it to get us moving. I glance down while talking to her. Her nipples look like little cherries. Look away.

She talks about me avoiding her, which I'd hoped wasn't obvious. Apologizes for not sending letters, doesn't mention that I didn't send any to her, either. It breaks my heart a little that I let her go, let our friendship lie fallow like that. Convinced myself that she was better off, that I needed to move on.

She's touching my shoulder, it feels nice. I'm not sure what to say. "We're here now, Taban." It's the best thing I can get out of my mouth.

Another long moment. I lick my lips, glance away, clear my throat, then, "Let's go."

Mischa

[Mei]

My stomach manages to both agree and disagree at the same time. But food and fuel sound good, and I have a sudden flash of thought as I'm in Ksenia's personal space. Am I orbiting her? I pull on my comfy jumpsuit before we go, and I feel extremely self-conscious as she watches me zip up.

Something's still bothering her, and I worry, then feel oddly lonely. Sanchez, maybe?

Me?

Rich

[Ksenia Cribbage]

I try not to watch her get dressed, do a half-way decent job of looking away when she zips up. Maybe she caught me, I don't know. Why am I staring at her? I head for the door.

"What happened to them?" I ask suddenly just inches away from the door. "The letters you didn't send, I mean." My back's to her. I don't want her to read too much into it. I'm keeping my tone casual. Like I'm asking about the weather or something.

Mischa

[Mei]

I shrug into my sleeves, my shoulder feeling better but still unhappy. "They got censored. So it said, 'Hello Ksenia, blackbox blackbox redacted blackbox, your friend, Taban.' I figured that wasn't worth sending." I make kind of a 'oh well' gesture with my hand.

Rich

[Ksenia Cribbage]

Most of our friendship seems redacted. So much unsaid. So many black boxes.

I huff a little laugh through my nose, "Yeah, that would've been a quick read." I open the door, then look back over my left shoulder at her, "Next time, send them. I'll write back a bunch of black boxes and we can read between the lines or something."

Was that flirting? I was trying to be funny, but everything comes out so serious. Shit, I need to get out of the room before I shove both feet in my mouth. I step into the corridor, hope she isn't snickering at me.

Mischa

[Mei]

I laugh a little with her joke. It's a funny thought, a black box pen pal. "Next time," I say agreeably. I'd rather not go through Psi Boot Camp again, though.

Why can't we just talk, Ksenia? I get a little serious, but still an amused air. I drink some more water before I also head out. Need to check on Sanchez. Sung's warning is floating in the back of my mind.

WPTunes

--End Scene--