What A Night

Posted on Sat Sep 26th, 2015 @ 7:53pm by Staff Warrant Officer Nexi & Lieutenant Daln Hadren
Edited on on Sat Sep 26th, 2015 @ 8:38pm

Mission: Where Angels Fear to Tread
Location: Wandering Star

Daln was outside Nexi's quarters, brushing his hair into place. Well, what hair he had. He had had it cut just a little too short this time. He was in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt, since Nexi loved that kind of clothing on men. He pressed the chime, hoping his warm hand did not heat the cool bottle of wine he was holding. He had a picnic basket full of sandwiches, fruit, and more wine, but he didn't really know what to do with Nexi now that they were away from a planet where he could take out Lia.

Nexi hadn't been expecting anyone to drop by, so she was more than a little messy from working on her ship, her hair in a messy ponytail, a dirtied jumpsuit with the top half tied around her waist, and several grease marks smeared on her arms and even one on her face. She had just stopped by her quarters for a moment to tuck Aewia into bed before heading back out. Just as she was about to walk through the door, the chime rang. Huh? Who could be visiting at this hour? Oh fuck, 'at this hour'? She was starting to sound responsible and that was not like her at all! Nexi shook her head with a huff, then pressed the button to open the door.

"Daln!" She said, surprised to see him there in his sexy jeans holding a picnic basket. "Wow, I wasn't expecting you... And now I feel way underdressed," she said with a grin. She quickly stepped out of her quarters so they wouldn't wake Aewia, letting the door close behind her. "I'd invite you in, but I just got Aewia to bed, and her telepathy is getting better so if she senses you she'll wake up and ask for another puppy."

Daln grinned and looked her up and down. "No, you look...yeah, you look just fine. And she'll be fine by herself for a couple of hours, won't she?" He hefted the basket. "I brought food and wine to woo you," he said jokingly with a little bow, but the look in his eyes said he meant it.

"Woo me? I thought you did a pretty good job of that with Lia," Nexi teased as she started walking, heading for the lift to take her back to the cargo bay. "I was just heading back down to my ship to finish up some upgrades. I guess I can let you tag along if you want." And of course Nexi would never turn down free food!

Daln nodded, picking up the food thought. "Of course I'll come. I'm no genius when it comes to engineering like my brother, but I do know weapons systems pretty well." They entered the cargo bay and he waited for her to unlock the shuttle.

"Don't have much in the way of weapons on this thing, she's meant more for stealth and maneuverability than anything else," Nexi said rather proudly, unlocking the cargo bay and then the rear hatch of her ship. She led him into the cockpit where part of her console was in pieces as she finished some upgrades to improve communication between the Starfleet systems and the Ferengi interface she had installed. She gestured for him to take a seat in co-pilot chair while she took the picnic basket and put it in her chair so she could start checking out what he brought.

The lighting was dim in the cockpit, just how Nexi liked it, which helped add to the mood of their little 'picnic'. It was strange, Nexi usually didn't like bringing strangers onto her shuttle, but for some reason she didn't mind having Daln here. This was supposed to be her haven away from all the crazy things she did in her line of work, and yet she could think of nothing more natural than having Daln over. She found a piece of fruit to nibble on and took a seat on the co-pilot console so she would be closer to Daln.

Daln sat where she she indicated and took a sandwich and a bag of icoberries. He brought out two glasses and filled them with uttaberry and cherry wine. It had a darker flavor, enhanced by the flavors they added to it. He had some chocolates in the bag too, hopefully for some foreplay later, but if she wasn't ready for that yet, he'd be fine waiting. But he was looking forward to it. "You need some weapons, Nexi. Otherwise you're a sitting duck for anyone with a phaser array."

"I've got a couple of phasers, not much else. Truth is, I've never had to use them, so hell if I know if they even work," Nexi admitted, then took a sip of her wine. "This ship is designed to have micro-torpedos, but there was a defect in the torpedo tubes, but with the way it was built into the hull, it was easier to simply write the ship off as a defect rather than fix her, to keep up with the production of the other shuttles in this line. That's how I got her, they were cleaning out the mothballed ships and she was fit for civilian use. She had the stock phasers removed, but I installed some aftermarket phasers from the same guy I got my cloaking device. Tested 'em after I installed them, but ain't used 'em since, never needed to." Because she was that good at what she did.

Daln grinned. "You're good. I couldn't do half that. I could do almost anything with a torpedo, but the tubes? Not so much." He looked over Nexi, his eyes raking down her figure. "You look good in grease. Really good." Maybe it was the wine, but he was starting to feel aroused. Of course he had been wanting to see her from the moment he put together the basket... He reached out and touched her face with his hand, feeling the softness of her skin, looking into those dark eyes. He hated blue eyes. They were...wrong. Green was okay, brown was better, but like chocolate, the darker it was, the better he liked it.

Part of Nexi was afraid, sensing what he wanted. She didn't shy away from the contact, but neither did she lean into it, she simply watched him as he studied her eyes. "I..." she started, but the words were caught in her throat. How could she explain to him why she was so hesitant to give him what he sought now. Part of her wanted it too; she had been alone long enough that she had grown cold to her own wants and desires, she didn't know how to be with him simply because it was something they both wanted. And because it was so confusing even to her, it terrified her. But what terrified her even more was what finally came out of her mouth.

"Remember how I said I had been a slave?" she finally started after a long while, her face bearing a pained expression, afraid he would look down on her for her confession. "My owner used me, my body, and loaned me out whenever it suited him. That's how I met my mentor; he bought my time to teach me the skills of his trade so I could earn my freedom, but I continued to use my body to... make ends meet." Hell, it was more than that; more often than not she would outright use sex as a means of completing some of her work because it made for excellent distractions and helped opened doors for her that might otherwise be closed to her. She had never felt shame for any of that, if anything it empowered her that she could use her body this way, that she could take control of a situation so easily, but knowing that others outside her line of work held a moral compass that frowned on that kind of thing, she was suddenly worried what Daln would think of her.

Daln knew everything that went through her head since her thoughts were so loud, but he didn't want just her body; he wanted her heart, her mind, everything about her, and to give his in return. "Nexi, it's okay. I don't want just sex. I want a relationship. I want someone I can grow old with, someone to be the mother of my children. And right now, that's you. I want to get to know every part of you." He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Every flaw, every imperfection, every strength, and every talent. And I want you to have every part of me in return." He turned towards her smiling. "Even my incompetence fixing computers," he joked.

"I don't know how to do all those things," Nexi answered honestly. She didn't even know if growing old or children were things she even wanted; she had always assumed she'd die before she could ever have any semblance of a relationship or family, so she'd never wanted them before. But she was drawn to Daln, like a moth to a flame, and the imagery of that was not lost on her; she knew if she took a chance that she might get burned, but she was willing to give this whole relationship thing a try. "I won't stop doing what I do for a living," she admitted quietly, but there was a resolve in her now; if he could accept that, then she would try to make this work.

Now it was Daln's turn to hesitate. "I wouldn't expect you to. But...you wouldn't...have sex with a client?" His insecurity was showing, he knew. He didn't trust himself to hold her. He thought of himself as Mr Right Now for most women, since most of his previous girlfriends had dumped him for the next big thing. It always reinforced his feelings of not being good enough for any woman, including his own mother.

"It's what I do," Nexi said, then sighed. If she was seriously going to give this relationship thing an earnest effort, then there would have to be some concessions. "But I'll avoid it if I can," she acquiesced, "And I promise not to enjoy it if I absolutely have to do it." Which wasn't much of a promise considering she didn't really like sex to begin with, but at least she was trying to meet him halfway.

Daln nodded. He guessed he could live with that. After all, she was giving up one part of her life for him. He leaned closer, to see how he would be welcomed. Their lips met and for Daln it was tender, and very very sweet. Then he opened his mind to Nexi. He didn't want to push her if she didn't want it.

Nexi was hesitant, but more than that she was uncertain how to react to his advance. She was accustomed to rather rough treatment, so for him to start with such a tender kiss was a foreign concept to her. She had never known gentleness before, but she supposed now was as good a time as any to learn how to get used to it. After a moment of stillness, she finally pressed her lips against his, curious to see how 'gentle' and 'sweet' would play out. But she did not open her mind to him in return; Nexi was still so afraid of all this, and more than that she wanted to protect him from the darkness in her and all the bad things she had done in career. Although she took her time getting to know the feel of his mind pressing against hers; there was something almost comforting about him and so she allowed him to see at least a small fraction of who she was hidden behind her mental barriers. For as self-assured as she pretended to be, she was very much a broken woman who had no idea what she was doing in life, stumbling from one job to the next until Aewia had landed in her lap and now all she had was chaos and confusion trying to make a life for herself with these 'Fleeters.

Daln kept the kiss tender, and slowly removed his shirt, hoping that him being naked first would be taken for what it was: a sign that he would allow her to be the dominant one. He had been raised among the most traditional women on Betazed and it had stamped its footprint on him: the woman was head of the House. He carefully let his gentle side meet her, but there was a carnal edge to his thoughts that was growing, however gentle he tried to be. He was a guy, after all. Finally he was naked before her, his arousal evident. He began kissing her neck and reached for her clothes.

Nexi closed her eyes with a soft exhale of breath. Something about him and his gentleness was stirring a warmth in her she had long since forget the feel of, desire welling up within her as his lips burned a trail down her neck and she offered no resistance as he slowly relieved her of her clothing. She didn't fully understand or appreciate the little gestures he was making or why, she only distantly knew Betazoid traditions, all she knew was that for the first time in years she was feeling something she actually wanted to take her time to savor and enjoy...

Lt Daln Hadren
Chief Sec/Tac Officer
USS Hera

Nexi
Infiltration Specialist
USS Hera