Kinetic Experiments (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 29 May 2012 @ 11:59am by Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius
Edited on on 29 May 2012 @ 12:02pm

4,648 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Holodeck 1
Timeline: MD06 - 1930 hrs

[ON - Continued...]

Lost in the moment and focusing his sole attention on the woman in his arms, Lamar began to feel more weight on his chest and realized that Lilou was now leaning on him. Without much of a second thought, he reached down and pulled her up by the back of her thighs and into his lap, her legs now straddling him as she sat inches from his face. He snaked an arm around her waist and ran the other up and down her leg as he leaned forward and kissed her on the side of the cheek, then slowly down her row of spots and to her neck.

With his mouth on the sensitive line of her neck, her simple desire for warmth and comfort deepened. The heat from his breath on her markings travelled down the line of them, making her breath catch in her throat as she rolled her head to the side to allow him better access. Her hands spread on his chest, one traveling down to his side, fingers curling into the fabric of his uniform so she could pull herself more flush against him while with her other hand, she deftly opened his collar; she rolled her fingers against his revealed neck, feeling his pulse with every part of her hand, each beat of it against her flesh combined with the sensation of his skin under her perpetually chilled fingertips driving her inexorably onward. Peeling his collar to the side, she lightly stroked the base of that pulse and pressed her face to the crook of his neck, feeling her own low resonant moan hum against her lips on his skin.

Lamar let out a sigh as her lips worked past his collar and rubbed against his neck. Like all of the affectionate attention she had just administered to him, it felt wonderful. The chief tried his best to restrain himself against the intimate thoughts running through his head, and it took a long moment before he regained his senses and finally spoke. "Lilou..." he whispered quietly, then pulled back slightly to break their kiss.

When he spoke her name, she smiled, but when he drew back, she lifted her head, rallying her blood back to her brain to make a deduction. Her skills at reading body language were pretty poor in general, but she was 99% sure she wasn't wrong about the fact that he'd been enjoying himself. Some things were obvious, even to her. She didn't have anywhere to be. He'd said he didn't. Maybe it was all the guns? Or the tech lying around? That was heaven for her, but she could easily understand someone who'd been in something other than ranges with those weapons finding them less than conducive. She still got extra edgy in shuttles. Everyone had their issues. Or... he had gotten pretty badly burned from one of her prototypes. Maybe it was that? Only he didn't feel scared; she searched his face trying to figure out what she was missing. Pointless. His expression might as well have been blank. Why didn't they make diagnostic tricorders for people?

He looked into her eyes once again and struggled to find any words to say. In truth, he didn't want to talk, and would rather just sit there with her in his lap and their mouths pressed together. Strangely, she seemed to be studying him and her eyes were intently locked on his face. He had to say something. "Sorry, I...thought we needed a break." he managed to say, grinning sheepishly in typical Lamar-fashion. "I hope I didn't go too fast."

Too fast? she wondered, still struggling to regain her wits, let alone her breath. A break? "I..." she tilted her head to the side curiously, "no. Not too..." Had there been a speed? "The progression was reasonable and..." she smiled a little, "pleasant." She felt confused, so she imagined she probably looked that way. She was straddling the man, her fingers still resting on his bared collarbone, her lips a little bruised, her cheeks flushed. What reason was there for stopping? She hadn't been thinking. For once. Perhaps for the first time in a year. She hadn't been thinking about anything at all, running on instinct and need. And now her brain was back on, spinning off in different directions. All the extra engines he'd turned on inside of her were churning and pulsing, complicating her ability to reason soundly. "What speed do you normally go at?" she asked, trying to figure out how they could have moved slower. Was it a course of action sense of time? Linear? Non-linear? Actual speed of motion? A thought occurred to her and she pressed her fingers a little more firmly against his jugular to feel the pulse there. Still faster than normal. She'd never done this with a human before; she wasn't entirely clear on how their bodies reacted to stress or adrenaline. She imagined they were like her, that the increased heart rate in this situation was a sign of arousal, not impending physical calamity, but she was only half-human. Her data was flawed.

Lamar shook his head briefly before answering then let out a deep breath. "Okay, I just wanted to make sure we weren't jumping the gun or anything..." he muttered, meanwhile inside he smiled to himself after hearing her words. The progression had been reasonable and pleasant, he mused. Yes, very, he agreed, then looked back up at her. "So, um..do you just want to keep going, I guess...here in the holodeck?" he asked as he glanced around the small firing range, hoping they had sufficient privacy and wouldn't be interrupted. The chief shifted himself in the stool to get more comfortable, pulling her closer in the process. His hands traveled up to her collar where he began to slowly unzip the gold fabric.

Jumping the gun? She wrinkled her nose, the whirring in her brain now competing with the other active parts of her. Where did that phrase come from? She knew what it meant, of course- it was an old earth saying; she used it herself. Why would jumping over a gun mean going too fast? Or was it trying to jump away from a firing line? Or jumping before a starting pistol? Her mother said it all the time; maybe she knew. Only now she was thinking about her mother and the fact that she hadn't heard back from her about her positional promotion. Position - her body fought to reclaim dominance again, her hips rocking forward. Just keep going? she thought suddenly. Just? Was he bored? Is that it? Her collar gave under his hands, then slowly open, the cool air of the holodeck slipping inside her uniform; instinctively, she pressed closer to him to void the chill. Bored? It that possible? Of course it is, not everyone is a contact junkie, Lil, she told herself sternly. Although, now the image of a drill was in her head, she glanced towards the range, wondering how the shields would fare against a micro-resonator while at the same time the mental image charged her with other, less fruitful physical needs. Her hips rocked again, apparently perfectly fine with those thoughts. Maybe it was the guns, after all. Or the test subjects? "I could get rid of them," she offered, shivering a little as the slight chill made her overheated body flush. "Did you not want- I mean, you want, I'm not completely insensible, but that's not the same as wanting- with me- I suppose, only- or rather- are we? Jumping the gun? Such a strange phrase. Because I didn't think we- but I wasn't thinking- and now I am- and I still don't know exactly what- only that I feel warmer when you're kissing me- much- and I like your hands, even though I burned one, which- I'm sorry, actually I didn't burn it, the Mark 1 did, but still I feel bad that you lost that skin, it was nice skin, but the new skin is nice too and skin dies anyway, all the time, just pouring off of us in droves, so there wasn't really any harm except the pain but pain's a reminder, that's not so bad, I think, if maybe you think of this for a day or two, because you tried to break my shield and you couldn't - it didn't- and that is brilliant, isn't it? That something so small can withstand the force of something so powerful?"

Looking at the Trill woman on his lap, Lamar listened to her ramble a bit as she spoke. It was a rather cute habit, he thought, and it was clear to him that she was probably just nervous and excited like he was. And it was reassuring to see her in such good spirits, unlike at the mess hall when she had seemed strangely distressed. "Yeah, it's brilliant," he agreed with a light laugh, "But don't sell yourself short, the shields are your idea. So that makes you the one who's brilliant." he said with bright eyes, leaning back in to kiss her softly on the neck for several long moments. His hands fiddled with her collar some more and he finally managed to loosen her uniform jacket. Proud of his tiny accomplishment, he pulled the gray and black fabric to the side and down around her shoulders, exposing the milky skin and brown spots on her upper chest.

"I'm not- I mean, Quinn is brilliant. I'm just... but I'll get better. I know it. I have a feeling I'm going to learn so-" she gasped softly as his tongue touched her markings and the sensation rode over her body again, humming through every sensitive spot, "much." She bit her lower lip, dragging her jacket off the rest of the way and letting it fall to the floor. "I thought you wanted to talk?" her breath hitched a little. "About... ah... gun jumping? Or nn.." Her head fell back as his mouth found a particular spot just under her collarbone. What had she been saying?

Gun jumping?! he laughed to himself incredulously. She really was a rare catch, and he was growing terribly infatuated with her now. "You're funny." he replied with a wry grin as he pulled back from her neck to look her in the eyes. She looked very...content and happy. Beautiful. Sexy. Her cheeks were flushed and he could feel her breathing deeply, a sign of her intentions. Wasting no time, the chief removed his own uniform jacket and red undershirt, then tossed them casually across the floor. With only his pants and boots still now, Lamar turned his attention back to Lilou and slipped his hands underneath her gold undershirt to allow his fingers access to her smooth skin. Slowly he slid his hands up and down her sides, feeling her breath quicken slightly at the touch.

She smiled, dragging her head back up to look at him. For a moment, their eyes met, a decision was made in silence, and her grin widened as he went about shucking the layers keeping her away from his core heat; she hooked her legs around his waist and shoved her hands back through her hair, knocking her goggles off and to the ground, before pulling him close.

For a while, the test subjects stared straight ahead, unheeded in their division lanes. The guns went untouched. Data unrecorded. The silence punctuated only by breath and laughter and the occasional clatter of metal against the floor.

Lilou looked across the floor, her head pillowed on Lamar's chest, and considered the prototypes and tools that had been scattered from the tables onto the floor. "I'm really glad I labeled," she commented thoughtfully.

With a glazed looked still in his eyes, the chief stroked Lilou's dark hair and rubbed his fingers affectionately up and down her spine. "Yeah...that was a good call." he remarked in a light voice, also noticing the slight chaos that they had caused in the room. Laying on his back, he glanced over at their pile of clothes and sighed. He was still covered in a light sheen of sweat from previous activities and had no intentions of moving anywhere at the moment. For now, he was content to rest alongside Lilou. "How long did you reserve the holodeck for?" he asked, tilting her head towards her in curiosity.

"Two hours," she mumbled, curling up against him. "And there's a warning on the program about potential explosions." She paused for a moment, blinking and hearing what she'd said, surveyed the destruction they'd wrought, and laughed.

"Two hours? Explosions? I see...so you planned this all along, didn't you?" he replied, playfully chiding her and letting out a light laugh. Even though he was a member of the command staff, he only received two hours of holodeck time per week. The ship was small with only two holodecks and over seventy-five crew, all of whom had to share with various priority and allocated time according to their rank and position. For Lamar, it was a luxury to enjoy such a long period of interrupted time. "What other programs do you like to run?" he asked curiously, wondering what she preferred to spend her free time doing.

She shook her head. "It's protocol, in case any events in the experiments create a irradiated energy signature. Don't want someone wandering in before I have a chance to run post-testing security checks and biohazard cleaning programs. That's why I always have to wait and watch for uninterrupted, unbooked hours." Now she was thinking again, there were still a number of other tests she needed to finish, on the Mark 3 and 4. She perched her chin on his chest and looked down at him. He shone darkly with sweat; want scorched her again, nearly to the point if making her salivate, and she peeled herself off of him on a soft sigh. It was either get off of him or start all over again and no matter how much time she had in here, it wasn't for play. Her hand stroked across his stomach as she rose and went to find her things where they'd been scattered around the floor. "Calisthenics, firing range, battle with the Borg," she answered as she pulled on her uniform pants, glancing at him over her shoulder. "You?"

With Lilou now off his chest, the chief sat up and stretched, letting out a deep and relaxing breath. Curling his feet beneath him, he slowly stood and collected his uniform pieces from their various spots on the floor. "Battle with the Borg? Sounds fun." he replied as he pulled his red undershirt over his head. Pleasantly, he watched her nude and spotted figure get dressed next to him. "I've programmed a few combat simulations you might like," he elaborated, "Mostly occupation scenarios. Urban warfare, CQB, guerrilla tactics...that sort of stuff. But I'm also trying to pass my pilot's certification next quarter, so I've been brushing up on basic flight training."

She pulled her undershirt on, zipping it up but not bothering to tuck it in. "Leaving Command for flight control?" she asked, crouching on the ground to search for her goggles. The combat scenarios sounded fascinating to her; one thing she'd missed in the academy track she'd taken was training in more than basic tactics. Her mother had been working them into her brain for years, but practice was the key in a firefight. Taking the time to think could kill you. She found her goggles and hooked them over her head, found one boot, and had no idea where the other had gone.

"Not leaving," he answered with a shake of his head, "More like a secondary position. I've always been interested in piloting but never really got the opportunity to learn. I was a first sergeant, my job was on the ground with my men." he explained briefly as he tucked in his shirt, then slipped on his uniform jacket. As he bent down to retrieve his belt, he noticed a small black boot on the ground next to his foot and picked it up, then offered it to the engineer.

Cinching her tool belt, she reminded herself that he'd had plenty of opportunities in the last hour to try to break her and all he'd done was bend her in a thoroughly rewarding way. He wasn't a threat to her. Yet, her mind reminded her harshly. Deny, deny, deny. Turning around, she found him standing there holding out her boot. "Thanks," she murmured. With a duck of her head, she accepted it and balanced on one foot to tug it on; she wobbled a bit, her legs still a bit weak, and sank to the ground to wrangle it without the risk of falling. "Shuttles or starships?" she asked as she tightened the laces.

"Well, I would have to complete my basic flight qualifications before I moved on to anything as large as a starship. The level one certification is only for small crafts, anything with a mass under ten tons." he answered, then retrieved his own boots and wandered over to the nearby stool where he took a seat and began to put them on. "What about you?" he asked, "Do you have any experience in flight control?" Over the past few deployments, he had known a few engineers on various ships who were competent at flight, some of whom were very fond of aerospace engineering as a hobby. But he wasn't sure about Lilou. She seemed...different.

"I know how it works," she mused, fishing her jacket from the ground and dropping it onto a table before fastening her extra tool holster around her thigh. "I've studied all the consoles; you have to be able to understand them and use them effectively, to be able to know if something's wrong and be able to double check your repair without running and finding another officer. They incorporated basic flight into my starship design class at Academy, but we didn't do any tactical simulations; just the basics, plus lots of reading." She shook her head, "I was okay, but... I don't see myself wanting to fly a shuttle anytime soon." Or ever, she thought, hitching a hip onto the table behind her and rebraiding her hair quickly. It had been a very pleasant adventure, off the expected course certainly, but worthwhile. Worth repeating the experiment for new results, certainly. Only there was so much space between them now she wasn't sure how to navigate. Who was she kidding? She couldn't remember a time when she'd known how to navigate social situations; been able to guess all right, yes, once. Not anymore. Her self-confidence in that area was shot to pieces. But she had missed intimacy, she realized now. All her fear had gotten in the way of her actually finding ways to enjoy her body as anything more than a functional tool; remembering all the ways it could feel good... that was something. And remembering that she was capable of making someone else feel good... she'd forgotten that. She tucked her braid into the back of her collar and began picking up the scattered tools and prototypes, checking them with her tricorder as she replaced them where they belonged on the tables. She still had about forty-five minutes left on her time. She could finish her tests. Maybe the clarity of the data would jog something loose on how to proceed. "What do you want?" she asked, heard herself ask, and refocused. "To fly? Eventually? Larger ships, or stick to smaller?"

"I haven't given it much thought really." he answered in a quiet voice as he finished putting on his boots. Standing up off the stool, he tugged on his uniform to straighten it and smooth out the wrinkles. Feeling slightly cramped, he stretched out his neck and shoulders and felt the durable thick fabric adjust comfortably to his skin. "Support craft are more appealing to me at the moment. I'm still learning the basics and I think I'd get overwhelmed pretty quick with anything bigger than a shuttlecraft." he said. Casually, he moved around the floor and helped Lilou gather her tools and equipment. Hope nothing's broken, he thought quietly to himself as he surveyed the mess they were cleaning up.

"Grav or anti-grav?" she asked, glancing at him as he came over to help her. More and more surprises. One by one, she powered the shields on and off, checking energy signatures and network scans before lining them up on the tables where they belonged.

"Both." he replied rather enthusiastically. "In the Corps, most of the drop ships are designed for atmospheric flight. The Hopper is their workhorse, similar to our Type-Nine or Eleven. " he said, "But we also had warp-capable shuttles like the Firefly for short-range operations, so I've spent a good deal of time in both." he said, then paused as he suddenly remembered one of Galileo's unique craft. "Did you know this ship has a Waverider? I'd love to try and take her out one of these missions," he said with bright eyes, "I was reading through the specs last night and apparently it can hit speeds of up to mach twelve." he said, most impressed.

She nodded, trying not to think about the Corps or drop ships. "Waverider, Type 9, and Hunley," she said, listing off the ship's auxiliary crafts. The room was slowly regaining a sense of order. "When you pass your certification, they'll probably let you co-pilot, at least." She clasped one of the Mark 3s around her forearm and began fishing the Fours from the ground, checking and organizing them. "Haven't heard of a research shuttle using its auxiliaries to maximum speeds except in crisis situations, but maybe you could convince them. Say it's for the sake of system and piloting diagnostics, or something."

"Heh," he laughed lightly, "And I suppose it wouldn't hurt to make friends with the CFCO." he added. Lamar hadn't had the chance to meet all of the senior officers yet, one of whom was the chief flight control officer who would be responsible for evaluating his performance and issuing his qualifications. He knew her name, of course...Lieutenant Mialin, but had not seen much of her lately except during her bridge shifts. Turning his attention back towards their experiment, he looked down at Lilou. "Do you have any plans after you finish your shift tonight?" he inquired, "Maybe you can come to my quarters and help me study for my exam next week." he said with grin.

She glanced up at him and searched his face. She wasn't sure what exactly she was looking for or how she'd know if she found it; something to make the twinges of nerves back down again. Some kind of cue as to how she was supposed to act, what she was supposed to do, how to be a whole person again. "I can be a pretty vigorous study partner; sure you're up for that?" she asked him. It took her a beat before she heard what that sounded like and flushed. "I mean... detail-oriented. Nit-picking. Very... specific." She sighed at herself.

The chief tried his best to not laugh again, however despite his best efforts, one escaped his lips. "That sounds fun, I've been known to get pretty vigorous myself sometimes." he said with a wink, now slightly aroused again as he thought of their upcoming study session. Wanting to taste her lips again, he moved in front of her and put his hands on her hips, then leaned down to kiss her.

"You're making fun of me," she mumbled as his lips brushed hers, then brushed again and began to deepen the kiss. And it was good, better than before almost because she knew where that could go. She pressed her hands to his on her hips; the pressure was delicious, the memories still vivid to all her senses. "And distracting," she added, as much for herself as for him. She already had time to make up for; who knew when she'd be able to finagle another two hour block for testing? "Don't you have a walk to take?" she asked against his lips.

His lips moved down past her cheek and he nibbled playfully on her earlobe. Go for a walk? He focused his attention back on her mouth while wondering what that meant. It wasn't midnight already, was it? "Yeah, but not until zero-hundred hours" he muttered. "Why?" he asked, pulling back slightly to look at her.

She lost track of what she'd been saying as his teeth short-circuited her brain by scraping her earlobe. Fortunately, he reminded her. "Because I'm impulsive and you feel very, very good and if you stay here, I won't finish my work," she looked up at him as she slid her hands up his arms. "I need to finish these tests, run my data, break down the prototypes and figure out what I'm missing. Which means you need to stop touching me. For a while. So my brain can work again."

"Well...alright." he mumbled, his eyes traveling down to his boots as he grumbled to himself. There was certainly time to have just a little more fun in the holodeck, he thought, and he wasn't sure why she was being so obsessive about her work. Well, that was partially a lie. He knew engineers were a rare breed, the type of people to get their hands greasy and calloused in the name of exploration. And Lilou had told him that this was her personal project, so she probably took a lot of pride in it. After a few moments of mental debate, he realized it wasn't fair for him to keep distracting her and delay her work. "I guess I'll see you later then." he said, giving her a quick final glance as he slowly turned and headed for the door. "Good luck with your tests." he added over his shoulder.

She stood where she was for a moment, blinking after him. Well, she had asked him to let her do her work, but there was something about the way he left that made her wonder if she'd upset him. She wasn't sure how she could have. Work was in work time. Play was in playtime. She'd already mixed the two too much today. "Thank you?" she murmured, unsure if she was being oversensitive or if he was actually irritated with her. Either way, she had less than an hour left on the holodeck and she had to make it count.

Lamar stepped out of the holodeck with a swish of the doors and into the corridor, where he walked several paces then stopped to lean against the bulkhead with a smile plastered on his face. He absentmindedly watched several crew members pass as he stared at the floor in thought, musing over the encounter he had just had with Lilou. Much to his delight, he had just made significant advances with her and now hopefully had another encounter in a few hours to look forward to. With a relaxing sigh, he peeled himself off of the wall and moved to the nearest turbolift, on his way to his quarters to shower and get ready for a late dinner.

[OFF]
-------

MWO Lilou Peers
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

MCPO Lamar Darius
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Lirha Saalm

RSS Feed