I Put A Spell On You

Posted on Fri Sep 11th, 2020 @ 10:28pm by Lieutenant Xenia Windsor & Lieutenant Luke Osswell

1,866 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 3 - Coming Full Circle
Location: Xenia's Quarters

OOC - This post is best enjoyed when accompanied by Nina Simone's "I Put a Spell On You"

The ship was quiet in the dead of night, even in space, where day and night did not actually exist. The ship's clock stated it was though, and the ship was in night mode. The lights of the corridors were dimmed, most crew were asleep in their quarters. An almost eerie quiet had come over the Legacy, now added by the ghosts that were seemingly plaguing the vessel.

Luke's patrol did not uncover any more ghosts, but Luke did not know whether he should take comfort in that. Was he losing his mind? Did this all play in his head, perhaps? If the ghosts had disappeared, just like that, what would keep them from springing up at some point in the future again? Better to solve this mystery as soon as possible and ensure that whatever was happening on the ship was dealt with properly before people got hurt.

It was this thought that had him standing in front of Lt. Xenia Windsor's quarters. While he assumed she would be asleep, he needed to know that she was okay, if she had also seen ghosts. He pressed the chime and waited for her to open the door.

Inside, Xenia opened her eyes when the chime sounded. Was someone really at her door at this time of night? At...she looked at her chronometer...1:30 in the morning? She stood from her bed and walked toward the room leading to the main area of her quarters. If it wasn't some tosser getting the wrong door for a late-night booty call, it just might have to do with duty. That meant she couldn't just tell them to bugger off. With a yawn, she called out the "Enter" command to see who had dragged her out of bed.

Luke entered. He felt a bit awkward, she clearly hadn't expected him, and while she'd been able to explore every nook and cranny of his quarters while they were... consumed by Vivyra's pheromones, so to speak, this was the first time he saw her quarters, filled with her stuff, personal items, knick knacks betraying various aspects of her personality. He was in her domain now, and for him that meant a certain loss of the authority he had called forth as he had justified calling on her in the middle of the night. He smiled sheepishly, as his eyes found hers. "Sorry to wake you..."

Xenia wrapped the kimono wrap she'd grabbed around her as she met the opening door to see the man she hadn't talked to since their night together. "No, it's okay," she answered. "Is everything okay?"

She looked absolutely stunning, Luke thought as his eyes traced the curvatures of silk drawn tight around her waist. If he didn't know any better he'd think he was still under the influence of Vivyra, as drawn as he felt towards Xenia just now. As some of his blood flows began to be redirected to other places, he forced himself to focus. Fortunately, he managed to do so in a surprisingly efficient manner without Orions around to make all of their lives difficult. "I've just spend the last few hours patrolling the corridors of the Legacy, just to be sure. Tell me, did you have any...strange encounters... with people claiming to be crew members?

She lifted a brow. What a strange question. "No..." she drew out. "What's going on, Luke?" She tried not to smile at him, as it came naturally. But, despite the memories of their last time alone, this was not the time to pursue...a good time. His question was strange, but there was something behind it that concerned her. So she kept a straight face as she waited for his answer.

Luke let out a small sigh of relief, and he relaxed his posture a bit. "I don't know what's going on, that's the problem. Earlier today a guy claiming to be the Assistant Chief of Security came knocking on my door, accusing me of impersonating him. It felt very real, and threatening... And then as he rounded a corner he was just gone! As if he had never been there. Commander Hudson had a similar experience, apparently. She decided to gather more information while I went to patrol the ship, to see if any more weird occurrences would, ehm, occur." Luke then shut up, because he feared he was talking too much.

She shook her head. "No, nothing's happened here. Are you still on duty?" He looked a bit shaken, which she couldn't blame him for. The guy looked like he could use a drink.

Now it was Luke's turn to shook his head. "No, my shift actually ended early evening already, I just wanted to make sure, you know?", he said. A new pang of guilt washed over him as he remembered shooting at Lt. Glenn. No way he was going to let anything happen to anyone again, especially to the woman standing in front of him.

She walked further into her living area, toward a replicator, asking over her shoulder, "Can I get you something then?"

"You sure?", Luke asked, his posture and voice relaxing in subconscious reaction to Xenia's familiar and friendly demeanour. "I did wake you from your sleep and all, I would understand if you'd rather kick me out the door," Luke joked, or at least attempted to.

"I'm up now anyways." Not that she couldn't have gone back to sleep, but he seemed like he might need to talk, so she stifled a yawn, waiting for his answer.

"In that case, I'll have whatever you're having", Luke said, sitting down on the couch, which left plenty of room for her to sit next to him, if she so chose.

Well, that backfired a bit as she was going to use the same trick. But she came up with an option anyways. "Single malt?"

"Sounds good", he answered happily. Standing with her back to him while she ordered the drink, he appreciated her curves some more.

Xenia picked up the drinks from the replicator and turned toward her guest, who wasn't masking his...interest. She strolled toward him, one glass extended to him. "See something you like?"

Luke happily took the glass from her, their skin touching briefly as the glass exchanged hands. The touch was electrifying to him. He considered her question for a short moment while their eyes were locked. Then: "Well, that's the thing isn't it? Here I am, completely Orion mojo free, but still utterly blown away by your beauty and your grace. I'm starting to think I might be under a spell of your own making, and the Orions never had anything to do with it."

She smirked as he spoke, feeling a heat when their fingers touched, and as he gazed at her. "I think what you're feeling is all natural, Mr. Osswell," she said with playful formality as she sat on the sofa. "I haven't had to use any of my spells so far." She took a drink of her whiskey, her eyes peering at him over the lip of the glass.

Taking a sip himself, he casually laid his arm over the back of the sofa, his fingers gently caressing the strands of her hair. "Is that so, Miss Windsor?", Luke said teasingly, was that a hint of her own interest in him? Inwardly his heart pounded louder in anticipation, seeing how she neither stopped him from opening up to her, nor discouraged his flirtations.

Her head lolled to the side as she enjoyed his ministrations. She even lost track of what he said until it registered. She held up her glass. "I need both hands free to cast my spells, so you're safe as long as I have this."

Luke smiled. "I feel safe as long as I have you...", he said. Not specifically to her, and not specifically intended. It kind of just rolled out of his mouth. He momentarily froze as he realised what he had said, the meaning such a thing could imply. That was the trouble with him when he felt comfortable and at ease around someone, his barriers would drop and words would tumble out that might put someone off. Perhaps she hadn't noticed, it was, after all, not much more than a murmur, perhaps she hadn't felt the split-second delay in his playing with her hair. It was early in the morning after all, and she was very sleepy. Perhaps.

She frowned in concentration for a moment, and looked at her hands, front and back. The empty hand stretched out, fingers wiggling. "I didn't think I cast anything on you...? Or I forgot I did?" She looked away from her digits to him with mock confusion on her face. "Because no one's ever called me safe before." Even if her delivery was facetious, her words were the truth.

So she had noticed. Luke swallowed. But then again, her reaction was far from unpleasant. On the contrary, she seemed to be mocking him with a playful intent. Even so, there was a serious edge to her statement that told Luke his next remark should convey sincerity first and foremost. There was only one appropriate course of action that sprang to mind. He moved his lips closer to hers, and gave her a tender kiss. Not a kiss of the kind they had shared before in their earlier throes of passion. No, this was a kiss from the heart, a laying bare of the feelings within, communicating to her the sincerity of his desires, of his choice to be vulnerable around her, and, an invitation to her, to make the same choice, if she so wished.

She lowered her glass to her lap when he kissed her so that she didn't drop it by accident. Her eyes closed as well, and she tilted her head to fit their mouths together. She felt him pour himself into the kiss. In response she melted into him and took everything he gave, then reciprocated. Her hand left the drink on a flat surface within reach, but as soon as it was out of her hand, it was out of her mind. That left it free to cup his cheek softly as she opened her mouth to him with a small satisfied sound.

The universe and all its troubles were banished from his mind as they melted into each other. Luke was completely under her spell by this point. He wanted to ask her if she wanted him to stay over for the night, to make sure none of 'ghosts' would cause her any trouble. But he couldn't break away from her lips, much less utter any intelligible sound as long as he was locked in her embrace. Her actions, however, gave him an answer, of the kind stronger and more intense than any given verbally. Tonight, it seemed, the ghosts would not be haunting Xenia's quarters, for they'd be labelled perverts by their fellow ghosts if they did.

Tag or end?

RSS Feed