Flirting Is Such Sweet Sorrow (Part 1) [18+]

Posted on 05 Jan 2014 @ 7:52pm by Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov & Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson

3,784 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Midnight Sun Bar/San Francisco
Timeline: MD 12 - 2300 hrs

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It was a Thursday night and the crowd at Badlands had spilled out into the street. Men of various ages, looks and species, most of them shirtless, all of them in various states of inebriation, gyrated to a raucous beat that could be heard half way down the block.

Next door at Harvey's a stream of men walked in and a trickle walked out. Most of those walking in were alone, those exiting in pairs.

Across the street from both was the Midnight Sun. It was a different kind of bar. Badlands was a party bar, Harvey's a place to to go for a quick rendezvous. A place to pick up someone for a one night stand. Midnight Sun was just a neighborhood bar.

Keval Grayson was not in the mood to party and he couldn't remember the last time he had gone to a bar to find a 'date.' He chose the Midnight Sun, partially because it was an old haunt of his from his days as a student at USF, a place he could go to escape from pursuing a degree he really didn't want and a father that had forced him to pursue it, and partially because it was only half a block from his apartment building, a large neo-Victorian home that had been converted into six individual units. When he was not on assignment he stayed in the smallest unit, a 550 square foot studio.

A small, live band, was playing Andorian Blues and Terran Jazz. Keval, dressed in faded khakis and a teal rugby shirt, went to the bar, ordered himself a daiquiri with real alcohol and found a seat close to the band and rather small wooden dance floor.

It had been 748 standard days since Ellsworth's last sexual encounter - a very quick, messy and somewhat unsatisfying affair before being shipped off Risa to the basic training program at Deneb V. He knew Starfleet regulations were lax for the most part when it came to interpersonal relationships, but during the first week of basic training two recruits had been severely reprimanded for engaging in sexual activity. It had scared Ellsworth enough to keep him celibate for the duration of his basic and advanced training, much to his personal dissatisfaction.

But now he'd been given a duty assignment and it was after hours, so he was taking the first chance he had to go out and "experience" Earth. The recommendation for the Midnight Sun had come from a sympathetic officer at the Starfleet Headquarter's commissary, who described it as "casual" and "not too divey." As he ducked inside the bar, he privately commended himself for not being drawn into the two raucous joints down the road, as he once would have been. He knew he would have found something there, but the question was quality of companionship rather than speed of locating it.

For the cool San Francisco evening he'd chosen a plain, slightly rumpled Oxford-style shirt; dark pants woven from a heavy fiber that he thought grew somewhere on Efros Delta; and a dark blue scarf emblazoned with the Starfleet logo. It was a more casual look than he was accustomed to wearing but it seemed to match the place.

Ellsworth stopped in at the bar, ordered an Aldebaran depth charge, and took his drink to a table at a comfortable distance from the band. Far from a music aficionado, he generally ignored most bar bands in favor of that evening's company if only for the sake of business. Without a client to fawn over, he felt a little bit at a loss for what to do, so he tried to enjoy the music for the sake of enjoyment and took his time watching the crowd, including an attractive Andorian two tables over. The species remained an almost complete mystery to him, nothing more than rumors and vaguely remembered lessons from exobiology classes; Andorian visitors to Risa had been few and far between as it was and none of them had chosen to spend their time with Ellsworth.

Keval had no ring on his finger, he was unattached, single, and free to explore his options. His time on the Galileo had been the most exciting, most dangerous time of his young life. A far cry from running a corporation. He had come close to losing his life on the last assignment and indeed had lost one of his antennae in his attempt to play hero. But he wouldn't have traded his time there for the old days for a bar of gold latinum.

Even though he was free, he hadn't come here to look. Not really. Still he had noticed when the good looking dark haired man entered and now sat less than twenty feet from him.

He debated whether to go over and introduce himself for several long minutes. Then noticing a billiards table open up, as two players finished their game and moved to the dance floor, he stood and closed the distance between the two tables.

"Hi," he said in his clear baritone as he pointed towards the table, "You want to play?"

His smile turned a bit wicked as he realized his words could be a double entendre.

Ellsworth looked up at the sound of the deep voice, already knowing it was the Andorian that had caught his eye earlier. He tried not to be too obvious in looking him over, but he did notice from his stance that he was probably light on his feet.

"Sure, I'm always up to play, but you're gonna have to show me how," he said, shyly averting his gaze as he stood up from the table and fell into step next to his new companion. "I'm pretty new here, and I don't know most of the games."

"Really?" Keval asked genuinely curious, "You'll have to tell me about yourself I always like meeting new people.

As far as the game is concerned, its an old Terran thing, been around for ages. Its all about the angles. If you're any good with geometry you should do well.

We'll start with a game call rotation. The rules are fairly simple. You use your cue stick to hit the white ball. You have to hit the balls in order. 1 first then 2 etc."

The noticed the scarf with the Star Fleet emblem, he'd been so focused on the man's eyes, and the rest of his lithe body, that it took him awhile to notice. "You from the Academy?" he asked.

Ellsworth took the stick and eyed the table while the Andorian prepared the game for them. He was actually exceptionally good at geometry and spatial reasoning, but he kept that to himself. Most underestimated him because of his size, and he sometimes enjoyed surprising people.

"The Academy? Nope," he replied, teasingly refusing to say more while he circled the table to determine the best angle of attack and wonder whether they were playing just the one game in front of them or if something more was afoot. He kept a partial watch on his new companion, whose fluid movements were sensually graceful and spoke to what must be an impressive musculature under his loose clothing in order to grant that level of control.

"I'm in Starfleet, though. Petty Officer Third Class Ellsworth Hudson, sir." He stood at attention, gave the Andorian a mock salute and then slouched with a quirky grin. "You can just call me Ells, though. How about you? Fleetie or civvie?"

"I'm Keval Grayson, Keval zh'Erinov Grayson if you want to be technical," he said extending his hand. "But you can just Kev if you want.

And yes, I'm Star Fleet too. A Chief Petty officer. I'm an Operations guy. What about you?"

Ellsworth lifted an eyebrow as he moved into position behind the cue ball. He still wasn't sure how exactly the chain of command worked off-duty - was he supposed to show deference to the Andorian, or treat him as an equal? In his current mood, he wasn't too worried about decorum; he probably would have openly flirted with a Fleet Admiral.

He bent over to line up the stick with the ball, purposefully kept his back erect, legs straight and bottom pushed out as he dimly remembered seeing from some holovid. Holding the stick was another matter altogether, so he gripped it entirely wrong in one enclosed fist.

"Chief, huh?" He frowned slightly, intuitively feeling that he was holding the stick wrong and picking up the same feeling telepathically from his companion. "I'm Ops, too. Quartermaster, though, so nothin' too fancy. You got a specialty?"

Keval's good antennae curled back as he found himself staring at Ell's bottom and wondering what it would be like to see it without his pants on. He quickly brought his thoughts under control, mostly anyway, and answered the man's question. "Communications and security systems. And yes chief. If I were a smart ass I'd make a comment about it would be nice to have you serve underneath me, but I'm too much of a gentleman to say that."

He flashed him a roguish smirk before moving over to him, He reached out putting his hands on the shorter man's arms. "Do you mind?" he asked, "You just need to tweak your grip there."

"No, I don't mind. And I think I serve beneath you just by virtue of our ranks, don't I?" Ellsworth asked, closing his eyes in both concentration and embarrassment at how breathy and heavy-handed his reply had been. More than 700 days without the touch of another person seemed to heighten his senses, deepen his desire, and undermine his normally smooth tongue. In fact, he was going a little weak at the knees as the Andorian guided him. "I think I get the basic principle here, just not the finer points of how to hold this stick."

"Well some sticks are easier to hold than others," he replied struggling to keep his face impassive at his words. He moved his hand further down Ell's arms and rearranged his grip on the cue stick. "There, that's better." he said.

"You must be a pretty smart guy for comms and security," Ellsworth said, bringing his arm back and striking the cue ball. When the billiard balls broke, he stood up straight and took a slight step to the side from the Andorian. His heart was pumping so hard he was afraid his cheeks were going to start turning red. "I just fill out forms and move cargo and people around."

Keval focused on the shot. He had to, to keep his head in the game and not let his thoughts grow carnal. "Not really all that smart, I was just around it all my life so it just kind of came natural." That wasn't exactly true, it had really been forced on him, but he wasn't going to admit that to someone he had just met.

He took a deep breath and looked at Ells again. He was in no way telepathic, but he could read body language and it sure seemed like the right signals were being sent up. But he didn't want to assume, so he decide to test the waters a little. "Hey I have a joke for you, but before I tell it to you, tell me where you're from."

Clever Andorian, he thought with a smirk, but the question itself caused him to furrow his brow. He hated that question, though he didn't hold it against Keval. Everyone asked it. It was just difficult to answer; no one wanted to hear that he was a war orphan, especially not when they were flirting with him. It was a gauranteed conversation killer.

"I was born on Betazed, a few years before the Dominion invasion. But I lived on Risa for a few years, too." The answer wasn't sharp or rude, but it did carry a tone of finality - personal history seemed to be off the table. He moved around the table and leaned over to take his shot; some hair cascaded down his forehead, partially shading his eyes as he looked from the cue ball to Keval. "So, before I let you tell me your joke, you've gotta tell me where you're from."

"Well, that is a little complicated," he said not wanting to go into detail for much the same reason as Ellsworth had, "I was born on the Andorian home world, but I've lived on Earth most of my life. San Francisco to be precise. I was adopted by humans.

Now that I've answered your question, riddle me this. How fast can two guys have sex?"

Ellsworth opened his mouth to ask more about San Francisco, but the question caught him off guard and he let out a sound like that was something like a cross between a cough and a laugh. "Well, I've never tried to set any records or anything... Something tells me you've either got a very charming or very clever answer."

"Well you may not get it if you are unfamiliar with Terran history and its love for automobiles, the joke is that old, but the answer is 68 miles an hour, because at 69 they blow a rod."

He stood back a little his arms folded across his chest. He wasn't sure if the Betazoid would get the joke or not and didn't want to come off sounding like a total moron.

Ellsworth's laugh was delayed; he didn't want to embarrass his new Andorian friend by completely missing the joke so he cheated with a little telepathic probe, searching out the meaning behind the terminology. At first he grinned, and then he laughed. His laugh was infectious - it wasn't too loud or too soft, just enough to let others know he was enjoying himself. The broad smile that went along with it caused his eyes to squint and his nose to wrinkle.

"Charming and clever both," Ellsworth said, resting the butt of his cue stick on the floor and leaning casually against the billiard table to watch his companion take his shot. As his body curved to the contour of the table's edge, it revealed in a certain way just how lithe and limber his body was. "Aren't you a wicked man, Kev. I'll have to remember that one, for my Terran friends."

The Andorian smiled at Ells, a smile that definitely reached his eyes. It was hard to say if the smile came from the successful hot he'd just taken, Ell's laughter, or just his close proximity, or perhaps a combination of all three.

"Wicked? You call me wicked? Flattery sir, will get you just about anywhere you want to go."

"I want to go to the warm sands of Taffensal Beach on Risa. Just the sun and surf on bare skin, tropical drinks, endless miles of white sand," Ellsworth said, circling to line up his shot. He frowned and gestured toward the table. "I don't know if I'm lining this up properly. Care to help the opposition and show me? I'm new. I need pointers so I don't lose too badly."

The bottom of his two full lips protruded just the slightest bit and he frowned, trying to accentuate the pout. In truth, he could tell exactly how he should stand and strike the ball, but he wanted to give Keval the sense of power that came from helping someone "helpless." It was a role he didn't mind playing in the least.

Keval was into the theater so he was used to putting on a mask and pretending he was someone else. He should have realized that he was being 'had', but he was completely clueless. He fell for the Betazoid's act hook, line and sinker.

He helped him line up the shot, his leg accidentally brushing the leg of the smaller man, "Just like that," he said. "It's called a combinations shot. If you sink both balls you win. In fact unless the cue ball goes in you've pretty much won.

We never did declare what we were playing for, so I guess you'll just have to name your prize."

Ellsworth was used to being the coy, demure one for his clients - the prey to their predator - but he was getting far past that point tonight. The feeling of Keval's breath on his neck and his hands on his arms was pushing him beyond the role he'd learned to play for two years on Risa, driven by the intense need awakened from being in a strong man's arms.

"My prize... Well, hmm, let's see," he said, leaning down closer to the table and moving his back side out and against the resistance from Kev behind him.

He took the shot and stayed low, almost rocking on his heels as he watched the billiard balls find their mark. Once the last one had entered the pocket he stood up and turned around to face his opponent. "You can buy me a drink or two and keep me company for a bit, Chief." He winked and motioned with his eyes toward a booth in the corner, as dark and secluded as anything he'd expect to find at some of Risa's seedier establishments.

There had been a normal and rather rapid anatomical response when Ellsworth's backside brushed against him. It took all his self control to clamp down on it and keep from embarrassing himself.

"Whatever you're drinking," he replied letting himself be pulled back to the dark corner where the booth stood. He signaled for one of the bartenders and when they had both given their orders, he slid into the booth, wetting his lips as he did so.

Ellsworth waited for the bartender to depart before closing to a more intimate distance beside his taller companion and easing his hand across the top of Kev's thigh, being sure to keep at a teasingly respectable distance from anything too sensitive. Feeling the taut muscle beneath his hand and recalling some long-forgotten exobiology lesson about the superior strength of Andorians awakened more suppressed carnality in him. He was surprised but not embarrassed when a low, quiet growl rumbled in his throat.

"What are you doing in this place, Kev?" Ellsworth asked, looking at him with seductively heavy-lidded eyes in the dim light of the booth. "It's not divey enough to be picking someone up for the night. You're not involved, are you? I don't want some Naussican to come and kick my ass in the morning."

The hand on his thigh judiciously away from anything tantalizing felt good. He was hoping it would move, at some point, to a more intimate location, but for now he was content to let it stay where it was.

"I didn't come here to pick anyone up," he admitted,"This is just a place I used to come when I was in college. Besides I just live half a block away. And no I'm not involved for a long time. I haven't even been in a nice shoe's let's jump in bed situation situation for even longer."

Ellsworth paused while their drinks were delivered and then downed his second Aldebaran depth charge. He was already starting to feel a little less subtle and a little more sloppy, and with no small amount of yearning he thought more alcohol would speed up the process.

"This is your local joint? Lucky me, then, a chance encounter," he said, trying to play off any obvious excitement at hearing about the proximity of the Andorian's apartment though his grip on Kev's leg became tighter and more insistent as it moved slightly higher. "A few months ago I would have been at those places down the street. I think Starfleet is straightening me out." He glanced down toward Kev's lap and then cut his eyes up at the Andorian, grinning coyly. "Mostly."

"I like that its only mostly," came the quick reply. His blue hand stated to move down towards the hand that was on his thigh and moving into dangerous territory. But it stopped about halfway there.

For just an instant he hesitated. He didn't believe in the whole no strings attached nonsense. It just wasn't him He teetered on the edge of just getting up throwing some credits on the table and walking out.

But the man beside him was so beautiful, so willing and oh so close. So instead of pushing Ells away his hand moved towards him tracing his jawline with his fingers.

He cocked his head to one side both antenna, the full one and the stub, curling backwards. He pulled the other man's face towards his own.

Ellsworth fell into the kiss with all 748 days worth of need. Inebriated logic and raging hormones helped ameliorate any sense of doubt about the fling as he almost aggressively kissed the Andorian. Emotional feelings were nowhere near the forefront of his mind; he was being driven far more by desire.

Breaking away for a moment, he let his head fall next to Kev's with his lips brushed against his neck as he spoke. "It probably sounds juvenile, but I don't care... I like your blue skin." He knew it sounded silly, but his low husky words were genuine. The blue skin made it seem like he glowed in the dim light of the booth, and Ellsworth was almost too eager to see the rest of it. "I've heard Andorians are very strong and aggressive. And also good interior designers. If your place is around the corner, are you gonna prove me right or wrong?"

Probing fingers now departed from Kev's thigh and moved into a more sensitive area. Finding his mark, Ellsworth leaned back slowly from the Andorian's neck, squeezing with a hungry look in his eyes while he awaited his response.

The first response Ellsworth received was felt rather than heard as he massaged Keval's manhood he felt it grow under his touch. The second response was an eager look that matched his own hunger, it was only the third that was verbal. "Strong yes, aggressive as much as you want. I can be on top or a power bottom, or both. Just as long as it feels good for the both of us. I'm afraid I'm a lousy interior decorator though."

Ellsworth blinked lazily and smiled while looking toward the door, feeling heady from the rush of hormones and alcohol and already thinking ahead to the apartment. "That's okay, I think I made that up, anyway."

[ OFF ]

Chief Petty Officer Keval Grayson (zh'Erinov)
Operations Officer
USS Galileo
[ PNPC - Nicholas ]

&

PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo
[ PNPC - Mott ]

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