Here, there, and everywhere.
Posted on Wed Jun 10th, 2020 @ 4:09am by Lieutenant Commander Charlotte Hudson & Lieutenant Jane Sinclair MD, DVM
Edited on on Thu Jun 11th, 2020 @ 4:55am
2,555 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Mission 2 - Love ORION Mistaken
Location: Various
OOC: This post is after Legacy leaves Vulcan and before we get new crew.
Bec sighed and rubbed her neck as she moved through the corridors. Another night in Neza's bed instead of her own was welcome, but still, she felt restless. Something was still nagging at her. It wasn't Ayden, no she'd spent a few nights with him as well. Though she couldn't figure out what was missing, Bec tried to put it out of her mind as much as possible. She was content, to a point. Satisfied...to a point.
As she rounded the corner though, she looked up in time to bump into Jane, quite literally. "Oh... sorry Jane.." she said softly, her heart skipping a tiny beat. "You ok?"
“Yeah,” Jane answered with an awkward laugh As she stepped back and caught her footing. It had been some time since she’d seen Bec, and the first time off-duty since her confession of love. Her rebuffed confession of love. No, that wasn’t fair. Bec didn’t say ‘no.’ She said ‘give me time.’ Which Jane assumed was a gentler form of ‘no.’
She too had been restless. Her body continued its betrayal of her mind, the Orion pheromones having apparently done lasting — possibly permanent — harm. It translated to poor sleep, but her drugs now included a sedative for night time use. The problem was the anti-Vivyra medicine wore off before the sedative, leaving her with vivid and erotic dreams.
And she had no one to wake up and talk to about them. Or to help re-enact them.
“You’re looking well,” Jane said, making small talk. “Still love that purple look. Did you reapply the colour recently? It looks sharp.”
"Uh, yeah... I did," Bec said somewhat awkwardly. "You're looking... well, as...well..." She mentally facepalmed and gave Jane a small smile. "Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm already late for duty. Catch ya later?"
“Of course.” Jane wanted to invite her to dinner, but...now wasn’t the time. “I’m due in sick Ah anyway. Catch you later.” Jane hurried down the corridor, not looking back.
Bec watched Jane for a moment, then took off for the lift at the end of the corridor. She was feeling grumpier now, and wanted to simply lock herself in her office for the rest of the day. And yet, that wasn't going to happen. No, she'd be in there for a while, going over reports, but then she'd do a patrol or two, maybe swing by sickbay if she could. Bec shook her head as she entered the lift. No, going to sickbay would be a bad idea, she told herself as she entered the lift.
Dr. Jane Sinclair constantly gave health advice to the entire crew. It was only fair that she live up to the same standards she expected of them.
Everyone knew she didn’t care for the gym. Nurse T’Kal regularly threatened her with dragging her to one of the ship’s many exercise facilities and supervise her doing a multi-hour workout if she didn’t make the effort herself. So with the reluctant sigh of a petulant child, she agreed to spend an hour two days a week in the gym and another hour three days a week in the pool. It seemed like a lot, but she legitimately loved to swim so that helped.
She by far preferred the pool over the gym with its weights and machines and sweaty smelly men. The gym was also where she first met Zoe Cayce. Or was it? Those memories were jumbled. Zoe might not even be real. But still, the weird sense of loss made Jane slightly uncomfortable in the space.
She walked in and saw Bec wiping down one of the machines, clearly just finished her workout, or at least finished with that machine. “Hey.”
"Oh, hey," Bec said, clearly startled out of some reverie as she finished wiping down the machine. "When'd you start working out?" She felt her heart skip a beat again and frowned slightly. Why'd it keep doing that? She looked at the cleaning cloth in her hand and shook it out, a small tear had grown quite large and there wasn't much left of the cloth anymore. Walking over, she deposited it in the recycle and grabbed a new cloth to finish the last of the machine.
“I started working out when T’Kal threatened me,” Jane quipped as she picked up a clean towel from the shelf and draped it over the first machine of her workout routine. “I don’t suppose you want to stay and talk a bit? As I start off? I am new to this and could use some guidance.” She began amp few simple stretches to get ready, semi-consciously showing off her legs while doing so.
"Ah... wish I could," Bec rubbed the back of her neck and tugged on her messy hair a bit. "I promised Ayden dinner tonight and ah, I've got to cook," she frowned. "Sorry... but one piece of advice? Warm up your muscles before you work out, stretch after. Maybe drop me a line before your next workout and I can come with you then?" As she spoke, she put her towel and cleaning cloth in the recycle and headed toward the locker room, but stood by the door to wait for Jane's response.
"Thanks," Jane said with a smile. "Will do." She stopped stretching and found a stationary bicycle to warm up her muscles as Bec had suggested. She looked sadly in the direction of the door.
Bec gave a half-hearted sort of wave before going through the door and heading for the shower. She felt bad denying Jane like that, but she had promised to cook for Ayden that night. She realized that it seemed more and more like she was avoiding Jane, but she wasn't... at least not consciously. "I really do need to talk to her," she muttered to herself.
On her way to the mess, her mind relaxing as she came out of work-mode, again that nagging feeling that something was missing hit her. She'd finally spent a night or two in her own bed, and alone for once, so sleep had eluded her. But that wasn't the thing bothering her. Someone ahead of her said "Hi Doc!" and Bec looked up to see Jane coming out of the mess. Again her heart skipped a beat. "Hey Jane," she said as she got closer. 'Stop that,' she thought, directing it at her heart. 'You're not some love-sick puppy...' she chastised herself.
Jane was finishing exchanging pleasantries with Ensign Rosenbaum when she heard the other familiar voice greet her. “Hey, Bec,” she said, sheepishly, before offering a quick farewell to her first conversation partner. “Shame we missed each other earlier. We could’ve eaten together.” She pointed back to the mess hall doors. “I can come back in anyway? I could always have a glass of water or some dessert.” Don’t sound over-eager. She said no to you, remember? You’re getting better. Right?
"I... uh.. was just grabbing a quick dinner to take back to my office," Bec said running a hand through her still-purple hair. "You can join me if you want... but I'm just gunna be reading reports... had a lot come in recently and I'm a bit behind."
“Oh.” Jane looked to the deck and began walking backward. “No, I won’t bother you. I should probably catch up on paperwork too. Enjoy your dinner, Bec!” She turned around and began walking to the turbolift, but stopped herself partway. “I’d still love to cook dinner for you one night, if you’ll let me.” She waited for a response, frozen in anticipation.
"Yeah, maybe soon? I'll check my schedule and try to free up some time," Bec said, though sounded unsure and non-committal. "Have a good night," she called before turning and entering the mess feeling rather more miserable than she'd been before running in to the ship's beautiful doctor. Morose and lacking an appetite now, she surveyed the offerings before grabbing something that looked moderately good and departing for her office to eat, alone and in silence and misery.
Once Bec left her field of view, Jane hurried to the turbolift, ensuring no one saw the tear in her eye.
Grumbling as she went, Bec headed toward the 'elusive thing' that had been plaguing her for weeks now. Though she was smart with most things, damn was she dumb when it came to this. It had taken weeks of trying to figure it out and several awkward, heart-skipping a beat, encounters for Bec to realize that what was missing was Jane. Though it confused her greatly. She'd already confessed love, spur of the moment, to both Neza and Ayden, and yet she still felt incomplete. Could she really be in love with three people at the same time? Was it possible?
Either way, it seemed to be exactly what her heart wanted. The three of them. Exclusively. Well, maybe they could love each other as well, but for the first time in god-knows-how-long, Bec wanted committed relationships with each of them and no one else. None of this playing by the seat of her pants, having relations with whomever she fancied. No, she wanted them and only them. But how did she tell them this?
Before she could come up with anything, she was at Jane's door. "You can do this, Bec..." she whispered to herself. Then she pressed the chime before she could run away. She glared at two officers who walked by, whispering to one another as they looked at her and laughed.
Jane had been reading a mystery novel on a PADD, unwinding before bed. Comfortable in pink silk pyjamas, she was sitting on the couch with the book, legs curled under her, when the door chime sounded. “Come in!” she called, happy not to stand.
The door opened, revealing Bec on the other side.
“Bec! Please, come on in!” She tried to get to her feet, but being tucked under her, they’d fallen asleep and she tripped as she tried to stand.
Moving swiftly forward, Bec caught Jane before she could tumble to the floor. "Silly goose," she mused as she helped Jane stand upright. Her heart had skipped a beat again, the sign she'd been ignoring before, when she first saw Jane, but now, standing in front of her, hands on her shoulders, Bec's heart began racing. "I... uhm... I just came to say...." she looked away, dropping her arms and taking a step back awkwardly. "I'm sorry I hurt you the other day, when you confessed your feelings, I didn't mean to," she paused and ran a hand through her hair, the new signature 'I'm feeling awkward' motion.
"TruthisIloveyoutooandIwasafraidofadmittingitbecauseI'mveryconfusedandloveNezaandAydentoo," the words rushed out of her before she could stop them, coming out so fast they formed one long word. "Please forgive me," tears actually shone in Bec's eyes as she finally leveled Jane with a sheepish look.
“You...you love me too?” Jane asked. She stood still as she considered the words. Words she’d been waiting to hear for weeks. She’d practically given up hope. But...Bec loved her too.
She also loved Neza and Ayden, but that wasn’t news. Bec loving multiple people wasn’t a dealbreaker. It never was; Bec was always honest and up front about it. Truthfully, Jane was beginning to think of Neza differently. Was that love? Maybe. It was fun, whatever it was.
“Bec...I’m still so sorry for everything I put you through. Knowing how I’d hurt you when I got pulled in by Vivyra is worse than any of the pain I’d been put through during that debacle, or in my recovery.” Jane’s eyes started to water. “I don’t care that you love Neza and Ayden. I care that you love me too.” Her legs began to feel weak again and she began to wobble.
Her protective nature kicked in and Bec pulled Jane to her, hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry I've been such a bitch to you... I don't have a good reason other than being scared to admit that I've fallen in love again," she whispered, kissing Jane's cheeks. "I've been so miserable these past few weeks and I couldn't figure out why. But last night, as I showered, all I could think about was you... how my heart would skip a beat every time I saw you... how certain shower-upgrades felt when you were wielding them rather than me... and how much I missed your singing," she laughed at the end. "I never thought I'd say I missed you belting out annoying songs, but gods I missed it."
Jane melted into Bec's hug and her cheeks burned under Bec's kiss. So much had just been said. What to say back? What to address first?
She pulled back slightly, looked Bec in the eye and smirked. "That's because I know exactly how to wield that shower-upgrade perfectly."
"Hah! You've had more practice than me... and well, it's not the same using it on yourself as it is using it on someone else," Bec replied, laughing at the smirk.
"I need to be honest with you about something," Jane added. "Prolonged contact with Vivyra messed me up good. I didn't listen to you before, and the consequence is a biochemistry imbalance that might be permanent. Drugs are helping but only so much. Not long ago I was overconfident and skipped a dose, and half an hour later I was going down on Neza." She took a deep breath. "I want it all the time. And while playing has been fun, it's scary to think I'll feel like this forever."
"I... uhm... wow... Though I have to say you're not the only one to have done so with Neza recently... she and I, uh also reconnected." Bec ran a hand through her hair again. "Well, what a fine lot we make... you're suffering from overexposure, I'm one confused bundle of emotions, Neza's confused about random encounters, as am I mind you, and Ayden? Well, I think he's the most normal of us all!"
"Figures," Jane replied with a snort. "Well let's do away with at least some confusion. I love you, Bec Hudson. And you love me. And apparently we're also in love with other people and that's good too." She cocked her head in the direction of her bedroom. "Ops gave me some new bedsheets recently. I was too hot under mine. Want to come see?"
"Of course!" Bec laughed and shook her head. "Have to be some special bedsheets if they don't make you too hot." She followed Jane toward the bedroom, wondering why she'd left this so long.
“Oh yes,” Jane replied, nodding mock-seriously. “They’re comfy but not too thick.” She pulled the sheets down and began sensually stroking the exposed fabric. “But you can’t really get the full effect with that on.”
Eyes locked on the First Officer’s, Jane peeled off her pink PJs and slid under the bedsheets.
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