Just the Worst Thing (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 29 Mar 2015 @ 12:32pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson & Commander Andreus Kohl

1,964 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Nautilus - Deck 2, Executive Officer's Quarters / USS Galileo - Deck 4, Compartment 1007 EN
Timeline: MD -03, 2002 hours

[ON]

The somewhat-clothed form of Andreus Kohl appeared on an LCARS panel in Ellsworth Hudson's quarters. Kohl appeared to be half a compartment away from the LCARS panel he was using for the subspace communication. He was draped across a sofa, which was positioned at an offensively-assymetrical angle from the bulkhead. Kohl was clad in box-cut briefs and an open robe -- both of them in a command shade of crimson, because he was still acclimating himself to the colour.

"Ellworth Hudson, hullo," Andreus said experimentally. Clearly, he was savouring the way that name felt in his mouth. At first, Andreus had made eye contact with Ellsworth, but now, his gaze darted away. Diffidently, he considered the ceiling as he considered what to say. After a couple of heartbeats more, he decided on, "I couldn't wait a week."

The message had been an interruption of Ellsworth's nighttime snack, a Ktarian chocolate bar, but at least it gave him some eye-candy to go along with his candy-candy. In fact, the sight of Andreus' long body stretched out on the couch was almost better than the chocolate itself. As he stared into the monitor in his empty quarters, he made no move whatsoever to hide his boldness; in fact, he wanted Kohl to watch his dark eyes rove over every square inch of his body. After all, he'd put it on display, so shouldn't someone appreciate it?

He started at the feet, nodding slightly with approval. They were large to match the tall Argelian's frame, and Ellsworth could easily imagine his small hands working out tension in the muscles and tendons, mercilessly squeezing pressure points until Andreus' head rolled back in pleasurable pain. If he indulged the fantasy enough, he could practically feel the dark hair on Kohl's legs beneath his fingertips as they moved ever upward, sliding over the briefs with outstretched thumbs and trailing his body along behind. If he straddled his torso just right, he could use his knees to work the robe further aside while he buried his hands in thick hair. The thought of it left his cheeks flushed, and he had a very wicked smile on his face.

"I see you've made a few changes to the uniform on the Nautilus," Ellsworth said appreciatively. He finally set the chocolate bar down on the desk, turned a pouty look on his chocolate-covered thumb and forefinger, and then stuck each of them in his mouth in turn, making a show of swirling his tongue around to suck all the confection off. "We're still in grandma's pajamas over here."

Kohl started to say, "Yooouuu..." but the vowels came out elongated, as he became fixated on the implications of what Ellsworth had just said. Kohl snapped his mouth shut, he tilted his head back, and then he asked, "Are you on duty?" It came out so quickly, he almost sounded like a teenaged girl. "Is the whole Operations department there?"

Ellsworth made a show of looking around. "Off-duty and alone, just the two of us. You have me all to yourself, sir," he said, leaving a pause before the honorific. He looked down at himself and then cut his eyes up to the viewscreen, a slow smile spreading across his face. "I just forgot to take my uniform off. Would you like me to change?"

"Yes. Please, yes," said Kohl, as if the question relieved him of such great tension. He folded his hands behind his head and he shifted his weight on the sofa. "I liked the costume you wore to the masquerade. I was thinking about it tonight-- about the costume-- about you in the costume." --Kohl stopped to blow out a breath of frustration-- "I was trying to focus on my Academy lab report, and all I could think about was your costume. ...At this rate, I'm going to have to trick one of my classmates into writing the rest for me."

Ellsworth got up while Kohl spoke and moved off screen, making a stop first at the door's control panel to lock it and avoid any embarrassment with his priest-roommate. He was sure to make several sounds of agreement while he remained unseen and shimmied out of his uniform. He tossed it carelessly on to his bunk, along with his briefs and socks, and walked back into view completely and shamelessly nude. He sat back down at the desk slowly, making sure to give the other man more than a brief glimpse of his body before most of it disappeared out of view again. He did his best to look casual, glancing off into the distance while still trying to keep an eye on the viewscreen to gauge Kohl's reaction, but it was difficult to hide his mischievous smile.

"Lab report? Are you taking a class?" Ellsworth asked, sounding genuinely interested. "I didn't know officers did that kinda stuff."

Kohl, meanwhile, made no effort to hide his steady stare at Ellsworth's natural form. One might normally describe Kohl's manner as casual and relaxed, but he managed to keep his eyes on Ellsworth without blinking once. Kohl replied, "Ellsworth, I'm a nurse practitioner and amateur anthropologist serving in a leadership role for a science department..." The implication behind Kohl's inflection was: you can't be that naive, can you? All the while, Kohl's comfort with Ellsworth was plainly evident by his frank honesty.

Kohl went on, "Continuing my scientific education is the only way I can get through the day without crying. Especially when Oren stops by for the express purpose of describing the utter dysfunction of a Starfleet that would promote someone as incompetent as me to my current role. It's become a daily ritual for him, I think. I rate somewhere between his morning beverage and his afternoon bowel movement."

"Yeah, he doesn't really like you very much, does he?" There was a half-vocalization caught in Ellsworth's throat that dragged on in one low note, like there was something more he wanted to say but he was physically unable to do so. What could he say, anyway? He ran a hand up across his chest to his neck, a move that was meant to be seductive but given his current demeanor just made him look uncomfortable. "They make us take classes, too. But, like, it's a requirement. I never liked school very much, I always spent too much time looking at the other students. And the teacher, sometimes. And study sessions never really seemed to turn out the way they were supposed to."

The young Betazoid grinned suggestively, although it was a bit lopsided, and leaned closer to the monitor. It was a sloppy segue, but he felt almost desperate to skirt the issue of Oren to avoid feelings of guilt, the raw emotions associated with him, and the burning desire for K'os that lurked ever-present just below the surface. He found himself reaching for that and grabbing it tightly, letting it flow through his veins like fire. If Kohl was there, he'd have given himself over to it fully in a fit of reckless self-destruction but given the distance between them he had to settle for sloppy seduction. "Maybe I could help you with your report..."

Kohl hadn't known Ellsworth for very long, didn't know him very well at all. And yet, Kohl thought he saw a contradiction in Ellsworth's body language. He couldn't identify what exactly was out of sync with what exactly, but it felt disingenuous. Perhaps not intentionally so, but it didn't feel much like seduction to Kohl. That was likely why Kohl's only response was a dubious, "Are you very familiar with soil salinity?"

'Soil salinity' may as well have been a thrown bucket of cold water for it's effect. Ellsworth wrinkled up his nose, crossed his arms and flopped back into his chair, almost regretting the decision to shed his clothes and expose himself so completely.

"You know I'm not," Ellsworth said petulantly.

As off-kilter as his emotions were lately, it didn't take much to push him into being irrationally angry at Kohl. Where did he get off calling him up wearing that outfit and then start talking about Oren and soil salinity? There was nothing more unsexy than someone's ex-boyfriend and dirt, not that he could have possibly known. But in his current state, he wasn't feeling the least bit forgiving. In fact, the more he thought about it, the tighter his grip became on the arms of the chair; if Kohl were nearby, he'd have become domineering immediately, seeking to take out the anger with aggressive advances.

But he wasn't nearby. He was far away and inaccessible, just like everyone else important in his life. Then, just like that, the anger was gone, and he turned morose. Ellsworth looked small and vulnerable sitting naked in the chair, sullen and above all very lonely and isolated. He glanced off to the side and sighed, like he was about to relieve himself of a heavy burden. "I wish you were here."

"I'd arrange for a warp transport over," Kohl said blithely, "but I think Blake would charge me with desertion if I left my post on day one."

And then Kohl blinked, and he stared at Ellsworth. He sat upright on the sofa and he folded his arms across his knees. Kohl leaned towards the LCARS panel, as much as he could comfortably do so. His voice turned softer and rounder when Kohl said, "I want to be there." The words themselves might have seemed trite, but they were delivered with an air of concerned realisation. There wasn't just something off about Ellsworth's behaviour, Kohl realised only then, there was something wrong.

Ellsworth looked at the screen quickly, less than a second after Kohl had finished speaking, and analyzed his features. People said that kind of thing all the time; in fact, what else could one possibly say in the face of 'I wish you were here'? But whether or not they meant it was something else entirely, especially for someone like Ellsworth who was so incredibly slow to trust. He reached out with his mind to test the veracity of the claim but found himself frustrated by the mental exhaustion of his ongoing ordeal with K'os, the distance between the ships, and his lack of telepathic control.

Eventually, he settled down on the side of distrust - Kohl barely knew him and their entire relationship had been one long game of trying to get in one another's pants, so what motive did he have to truly care? More likely, Ellsworth's cynicism told him, it was just a gambit to appear sympathetic so that it could be cashed in later. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time someone offered honeyed words only for him to find a hand on his thigh an hour later.

"People say that all the time. And then all they do is lecture you, which is not 'being there.'"

Kohl's head was whirling now, struggling to be present with Ellsworth, while also trying to glean some shred of context from their brief conversation. The reference to lecture had come out of an unseen black hole, as far as Kohl was concerned, and it caused the furrows across Kohl's brow to deepen. He was inclined to ask about lectures, but he cut to what he supposed would be the heart of it. "Ellsworth," Kohl said, in an even tone. "Is people what you need to talk about?"


[OFF]


To Be Continued


Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Executive Officer
USS Nautilus

PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo
[ PNPC - Mott ]

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