JL | CDR Valeese, LCDR Stacker | "Climbing Walls and Candlelight" pt 3

Posted on Sat Nov 4th, 2017 @ 9:36pm by Commander Valeese Stacker

Mission: The Round Table
Location: LCDR Stacker's Quarters | Deck 681 | Cold Station Theta

With little hesitation her sandal clad feet guided her around the table to stand behind him. She didn't even have to bend much as she set her hands on his shoulder and eventually draped her arms over them, fanning her fingers across his chest and bringing her lips to the temple above his covered eye, "I know... I get it... Or else I wouldn't be here."

He wasn't able to see her, but he otherwise knew she was there. The arms on his shoulders, fingers brushing over the fabric of his shirt. The soft words from close by and the feel of warm breath brushing across a few hairs on the side of his head. The smell of whatever she put in her hair filled his nose. After the momentary surge of alarm he had experienced - and where had that come from? he was more level-headed than that, dammit! - the turnaround was both remarkable and settling. His hands settled over hers, cupping them, holding her arms against his chest as he unconsciously leaned back in the chair, tension bleeding away just as quickly as it had filled him almost to overflowing. "I'm glad you do."

"That makes two of us," Valeese chuckled lightly, happy to have connected with him again even on such a base level. "Surprising, really, considering this isn't a familiar song and dance routine for me at all." She added, nosing low to kiss the round of his jaw scant centimeters from where it met his neck. Relationships, especially those only just barely budded, much less fully blossomed, were delicate and strange affairs filled with trepidation and unease. A game of give and take, but the game consisted more of signals, some heavily veiled, given by hearts scared to make mistakes and feel the pain of being broken. She'd been there a time or two, lured in by all the right signals given for all the wrong reasons... It ended in her embarrassment. So young, she'd been willing to believe in fairytales and naive enough to think that the sugar coated nature of fantasy based love was a reality. She'd learned, become guarded, and now along came a most dangerous creature indeed; an adult, seasoned male ghost... And the signals were there again. This time they were jumbled by the faux pas of word choices, but they were there. While guarded, she chose to take them and reciprocate, appreciating the way he molded into her embrace and held her steady all the while. In many ways they were becoming one another's anchor - stealing themselves away from the violence of the storm of life happening all around them.

Had he known the direction of her thoughts he might well have agreed. This was a new area for Stacker; it had been years since he'd last dealt with these feelings, which left him acutely aware of just how much he was trying not to do or say things that might cost him the happiness that lurked right around the corner. His 'brighter day at the end of the rain,' so to speak. But for now he continued to hold her and willingly accept her embrace, even as the candles continued to flicker on the table. Minutes passed. Eventually he stirred, a hand going to the side of her face and delicately stroking it. "We can sit on the couch if you want. Watch the stars outside."

"I want." She nodded, eyes half closed under the satin of his touch. It took a bit of willpower, but she released him and extracted herself from his hold for the sake of something better; the chance to melt into him and rest on the couch while quietly observing the celestial bodies that so many took for granted. Gripping him by the hand, it was Valeese's turn to tug him in her chosen direction, gently applying pressure to convince him to move a little faster. How and when she'd become so greedy, down right gluttonous when it came to him, remained a small mystery - one she didn't care to solve, but simply to rejoice in.

There's an old human saying: "all good things must come to an end." Certainly the story of Valeese and Stacker was nowhere near this over-arching point, but fate, gods, divine intervention, or whatever form of 'outside control' you ascribe to can sometimes play an odd card. Why? Because it can. The infamous Mr. Murphy of legendary human mythology had been a good teacher, in that respect. And so it was that just as they were settling onto the couch, smiling like lovestruck idiots and Stacker gently pulling her into his lap, this outsider wielded a particularly cruel and unwelcome card.

A dull and monotonous tone suddenly echoed through Stacker's quarters. "WARNING," the computer declared. His eyes were widening and his head, which had until that moment been about to nuzzle Valeese, jerked away. "FIRE HAZARD DETECTED. ACTIVATING EMERGENCY RESPONSE." As his head turned, the candles were suddenly and abruptly snuffed out on the table. The forcefields were ruthless. They were so good, in fact, that the candlesticks themselves were sliced in half. By the time the internal scanners had assessed the danger [level of impact: low], categorized the cause [candlesticks: 2], and evaluated both the risk of re-flash [risk: negligible] and furnished its recommendation [no further monitoring required], the broken upper halves were tumbling onto the table next to the dish holding the pasta.

And then... Silence.

Silence filled with wide eyes and adrenaline fueled heavy breaths. Anxiety born of being startled seemed to dictate the moment, and Valeese sat, blinking and clinging to him as if her life depended on it, staring at the suddenly destroyed candle sticks. Mere moments before they'd been perched precariously close to them, well within reach, and then... Violently extinguished. It took her a couple minutes before she was able to gather the words to speak, and when she did they were less articulate than she'd thought they'd be; "Well... That happened." It wasn't much longer after that she erupted into laughter. Soft at first, barely audible as the giggles shook her shoulders, but steadily rising with the apologetic shaking of her head and threat of tears that prickled at the corners of her eyes. Laughter that wasn't granted at his expense, but rather at the reminder of how unpredictable life truly was - and how genuinely wonderful it could be when one's guard was dropped. "I'm sorry!" She gasped, beaming brightly as she let go of her death grip on his shirt and gestured towards the table and what had once been the beauty of candlelight, "I... You... It... Gods help us." Talking, Valeese decided, was pointless. Instead she settled for dropping a kiss to the tip of his nose and hoped he'd understand the surprised nature of the laughter that had been generated by relief and amusement.

His adrenaline had just been starting to spike; he found himself starting to laugh in turn after she kissed his nose. It was more muted than hers, but was real and genuine nonetheless. It welled up from deep in his chest as he nodded his head, conveying that he knew just what it was that had made her grab at his shirt and why she had been laughing. Somehow he knew that words weren't required. After a moment, when the second burst of tension in as many minutes was dissipating, he found himself laying his head back on the couch and wiping a corner of his eye, chest still shaking with deep chuckles. "I swear, I really did fight a heroic fight with that damned system. Guess it really just wanted to kick my ass today," he added, head coming back up to let him look at her. What he saw ... apparently it satisfied him in some way. His shoulders relaxed, letting go of the last bit of tension as his arms encircled her. "I think we're going to stay on the couch. Unless you have some urgent desire to go back over to the table," he gently teased.

"Brave Sir Stacker," She tittered with the remnants of her laughter, allowing herself to sink against him and his embrace, "Pretty sure I have zero desire to go back over there any time soon." Her brow found his shoulder, allowing her to curl up and simply be. Just... Be.


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Commander Valeese
Chief Medical Officer
COLD STATION THETA, SB-1170

Lieutenant Commander James Stacker
Chief Intelligence Officer
COLD STATION THETA, SB-1170