Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) in If This Isn’t My Bed, Then Whose Shirt Is This?

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Medical Research & Development) in If This Isn’t My Bed, Then Whose Shirt Is This?

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) in If This Isn’t My Bed, Then Whose Shirt Is This?
Posted by… suppressed (9) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Frigga took off at a steady run following the sound of the ball as it hit and bounced. Alexis walked quietly along beside him. The tension slowly drained out of her, and then, uncharacteristically, she rested her head against his shoulder as they walked. When they got back towards the front of the arboretum, Frigga was lying next to the door, ball obviously having been put away. She got up and padded over towards Alexis and nudged her hand. “Are you tired now? We’re hungry so you better be done. Ready to go home and eat, girl?” Frigga turned a circle and then nudged Kane’s hand looking at him I’m not letting her go back in there, and you’d better not either. and then she headed out of the arboretum. A turbolift ride and couple corridor’s later Frigga stopped right in front of his quarters.
Bonner
Frigga, I told you we were friends

“Here’s a thought. How about we stop here, eat, and then go see you place. Cleaners should have done their thing by now.”

Kane

Alexis nodded, “Yeah, okay.” She followed him inside, Frigga bounding in like she lived there and found her spot under the chair and laid down. Alexis still had hold of his hand; she looked around her eyes landing on the pencil sketch again, and then past the bedroom. “If…if you don’t mind waiting, I can cook…”
Bonner

Kane looked at her and said “If you want, sure. Make yourself at home.” and he went in the bedroom and came back out with a flat, black bag. He said “Mind if I sit for a minute? For some reason I am really tired.” and he looked from her to the bedroom and back… and then half-grinned as he bent over to deal with the bag.

Kane

Alexis moved over towards the replicator, but she glanced back at him and shook her head. A soft blush rushed across her features as she looked away, shyness and nerves, but he could see a matching grin on her face. The very first thing she did was request a bowl of water and set it down, out of the way, for Frigga. Then a tray with what seemed like quite a bit of ‘stuff’ but it only appeared that way. Alexis had a moment of disappointment, it would be so much better with real food, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

She poured the oil into the pan, set it on the hot plate and short minutes later there was the smell of hot oil and the distinctive pop as it heated. She set the bread on the surface in front of her, placing turkey and Swiss cheese on the left row of bread and ham and American cheese on another row. An extra slice was placed on top of the turkey and Swiss and then the whole thing was put together to make one sandwich and then she pinned it all in place with toothpicks.

She was difference while she was cooking. She was still, where in the lab she moved from project to project, played solitaire, fidgetting with the stylus, and then sudden intense stillness. But she wasn’t actually still. She’d told him cooking was her favorite form of applied chemistry and the chemical equations involved in creating the dish were running through her mind, as she made small adjustments to what she was doing, in response to the chemical processes. She wasn’t aware but she was humming softly, songs her mother sang while she baked.

He was drawing as she was cooking. A piece of black charcoal moved across the paper, and every now and then he looked up at her for a moment, and then back down. Soon, his fingertips were smeared with charcoal as his hand and arm moved and applied lines and shadow to the page.

There was the clear sharp sound of egg cracking and then the sound of whisk rapidly folding eggs and water together, and then a pause as she added the salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder. And then the sound of the whisk again, but the sound was slightly slower as the batter began to mix and become smooth. She set the bowl down and everything she was finished was placed in the recycler and disappeared. She placed the first sandwich into the batter flipping it several times to coat it and then with a loud sizzle-hiss she placed it in the pan of hot oil. She dipped the second sandwich and then more sizzling as she placed it in the pan.

She flipped the sandwiches and once the second side was golden she carefully scooped them out onto paper towels to cool. With the practiced ease of a skilled surgeon she removed the toothpicks and sliced them neatly from corner to corner and placed them on plates. They were more than liberally dusted with powdered sugar and small dipping bowl of raspberry jam was added to the plates.

Then in quick order everything she’d been using was returned for partial energy credits to her account. She picked up the plates and walked over to the couch setting them on the table, studiously avoiding looking out the window. She returned to the replicator and removed a bowl of beef, rice, and gravy for Frigga and set it down for her. She turned to look at him. “What do you want to drink?”
Lt Bonner

He licked the tip of a finger with the tip of his tongue and rubbed a spot on the page. “Water is fine, thanks. Whats your favorite color?” he asked, his eyes never leaving the page.

Kane

She ordered another water along with hers. “Green” she said it softly, a pang of…disappointment. She supposed she couldn’t really expect anyone else to hold onto details the way she did. She set the glasses down and sat on the couch. It was better to eat it when it was hot, but she also understood what being immersed in your task was like. And so she waited.
Lt Bonner

Kane shook his head and smiled. “No. My fault. I meant whats your favorite color, doll. Of green. Kelly? Mint? Olive? Chartreuse? Hunter? Neon? You of all people should know that ‘green’ is a spectrum.” and he chuckled as he squinted and worked a spot again.

Kane

Oh! How did she miss that? “Jade, Emerald, Mint, Kelly, and Forest. In that order.” She tucked her legs underneath herself and rested her head against the back of the loveseat. At this angle she couldn’t see the darkness outside the windows, and she could watch him work.

It was, of course, her he was drawing. She was cooking, standing at the hot plate with a spatula in mid turn of one of the sandwiches. She wasn’t 8n uniform, far from it. She was wearing one of his shirts. It looked enormous on her, but the sleeves were pushed up and it fell long enough to just cover up her modesty. Her legs were bare, and the left one was bent slightly at the knee and her heel was raised so that only her toes were on the floor.

She sipped at the ice cold water in her glass. He always used the strangest nicknames for her; she liked it. She really liked Solomon, so much so it scared her. What if it became more than just like? What if she screwed it all up just being herself?
Bonner

As she thought, Kane picked up a piece of colored charcoal, jade green, and began to color only the shirt. “Eat, babe. Im almost done.”

Kane

Frigga had finished her food and the water and had curled back up under the chair. From her vantage point she watched with doggy amusement as Kane made sure that Alexis ate.

Alexis put one of the plates in her lap, dipped the sandwich in the jam and took a bite. She stifled back a moan. It was good, or maybe it was just comfort food and after the last 24 hours it would taste good no matter what. She watched him as he added the green color to the drawing. He fact he was drawing her again created a weightless, dizzy feeling in her stomach. The kind of feeling you get at the top of a rollercoaster, right before you fall at speeds.
Bonner

Kane glanced at her from the corner of his eye and smiled slightly. “I make you nervous. Tense. Why is that? Is it because you know you are going to be staying the night with me again? Or is it something else?” he asked as he added the final touches, smearing lines into shadows that suddenly made the whole picture come together with depth, contrast, and highlights.

Kane

She was staying again. His question confirmed that, and she relaxed slightly but noticeably. She was afraid to go back to her quarters but her mind wasn’t ready to admit that or that she was afraid of him. He’d asked a question and she was supposed to answer. She took a drink of the water to clear the heavy flavour and set the plate aside, only a single bite taken. “Both. I…I want to stay, but I didn’t know if you wanted me to or if I should ask. I really like you, Solomon, a lot and.” She watched him finish the picture and it was incredible, and not because it was her (she didn’t know why he kept drawing her) but because it simply was. She put the plate back on her lap, picking at it, her long hair falling around her face. “And I don’t want to do something so incredibly me that you don’t want to be around me any more.” There was a sick painful sensation across the nerves that ran from her shoulder to the backs of her hands at the confession. She was nervous that he would accuse her of comparing him-them to her past experiences, and maybe she was in a way. But he asked why she was nervous and she was being honest.
Bonner

Kane smiled and took a final look at the picture, made a few more smudges that seemed to breathe life into her face on the page, and then set the pad aside. He looked at her with a scowl, his normal look, and then picked up the sandwich with charcoal smeared fingers and tooka bite after dipping it in the sauce.

“Ok…” he began around the mouthful of sandwich, “… you like me. And you know I like you because I’ve told you that multiple times. And we spent a full day without talking and without realizing it was a full day… and you didn’t know if you could spend the night here? Damn, woman… you’re supposed to be smart.” and he finished chewing and swallowed the bite. “And that is one of the best f&^$ing things I have ever eaten in this or any other universe… damn. What is that, swiss? Holy crap.” and he took another bite and chewed slowly while regarding her intently.

You’re supposed to be smart. It felt like she’d been sucker punched. She was smart but she didn’t understand people. You could like someone, she’d seen people who like each other, even had s*# and not want to be around each other constantly. Solomon Kane liked to be left alone. He didn’t talk to anyone unless he had to; he didn’t work with anyone, and until he met her in the lounge she didn’t think he’d been in there. She’d been working with him a week, dated him less than that if it could even be called dating. She didn’t know him long enough to know if he wanted his space or not. She didn’t say any of that though…

“Swiss and American. If it was fresh it would be colby but the replicator doesn’t get it right.”

“What would you do that is so ‘you’ I wouldn’t want to be around you?”

Kane

Ask questions a smart person should know the answer to but I don’t. She didn’t answer that question either though. Instead she focused on the plate in her lap, but she was more picking at it than eating.
Bonner

Kane dusted his fingers off and then wiped his fingers off on a napkin. He moved next to her and took her hands in his.

“Listen. You are so wrapped up in your head sometimes that you miss things. And that’s fine. But when it comes to us… and yeah, there is an ‘us’ now… then you need to do one of two things: either get out of your head and be here with me, or use me to distract you. Rapid fire questions and answers, academic discussion, sex, questions about where I’m from… doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes for you to be present as long as we are together is fine. But do it, Alexis. You are the smartest person I’ve met in two realities. Start using that to live, not hide. At least not from me, okay?” He scooted back to the sandwich and picked it up.

“I really like you too, Alexis. You drive me nuts sometimes, but I really do.” and he took a bite.

Kane

She opened and closed her mouth a couple times and then it was like a dam broke. “For someone who pays SO much attention, you don’t see it do you?” She nodded towards the drawing, which twisted her stomach into knots but also spread a warmth through her, and she liked it. “That’s what I was doing. Right here, in this moment, on this couch, with you while you worked. Watching while you made that. And why do you do that? Why do you keep drawing me? Did you ever design one of your tattoos from scratch? You use your right hand to sketch the setting and clothes and physical details, but you use your left to sketch me. The middle finger of your right hand is the only one you don’t use when you sketch and is clear of any charcoal. When you draw my hands your head tips to the side on the left until you finish. Are my hands with no tattoos as fascinating to you as yours are to me? What is that one on our right pinky inside the joint now covered by the charcoal? But when you’re trying to get the lines just right to show the emotion on my face, it’s the inside of your left ring finger. It’s the same way you touched my face when…when you made love to me. And that scares the hell out of me because that’s how it felt to me and if it didn’t to you I don’t know what to do with that. The scar on your back is giving you problems, you can’t sit still longer than 93 seconds without moving to relieve the stiffness and pain. And I don’t understand why no one has noticed before now and done something about it. Wasn’t there anyone who cared enough about you to not want you to be in pain? If there was, I want you to be able to remember them because they were important to you. And if there was or not I want to be that person, here in this universe or reality or whatever it is.” And then her voice cracked and she blinked several times. “And for the very first time in my life I wanted to be quiet and my mind calm, and it was. I was totally here, right here, in the quiet, with you, while you worked and I could just be. And then you asked me why I was nervous, and I told you, the truth. And in all the sarcasm that is Solomon Kane you accused me of not being smart enough, and it hurt.”
Bonner

Kane’s eyes opened wide for a moment and then narrowed as he concentrated on the words and questions and comments that literally spilled out of Alexis. When she finished he took her hand and squeezed it.

“I draw you because I want to. It calms me, and makes me see things about I miss in normal life.” His speech was slow and measured. I’ve never drawn my own tattoo. My art is in me, I don’t have to put it on my skin. I’m ambidextrous, but I have more stamina in my left hand, so the more realistic I draw, the more I use my left. My middle finger is clear because thats the one I use to lift the different colors out, so I keep it clean to not cross colors. Your hands are much more fascinating than mine. I use those fingers because they are smaller and I can do finer work. And I wanted to do my best work while we made love to each other. And that’s how it felt to me… and thats probably a first. No one has given a damn about me hurting since the accident, and only one person did before that, so its not surprising no ones noticed. And no, I don’t want to remember that. And yeah, I’d like it if you were that person. I’d like that a lot. And sarcasm aside, I didn’t say you weren’t smart enough. I said you’re supposed to be smart. As in you are, but you weren’t using those smarts right then.”

He shifted his body so they were facing each other directly. “Alexis, I’m sorry I hurt you. That wasn’t what I meant. You are the last person I want to hurt. And because of that, I think you should stay here… with me… for a while. We’ll get some clothes and what you need to stay here, and then you don’t have to worry about going back. We won’t tell anyone, so you won’t have actual access, but you are free to come and go as you please. How does that sound?”

Kane

Alexis squeezed his hand back, she didn’t lace her fingers with his but she didn’t let go either. “You said that drawing helps you not be angry, so if drawing me calms you then I’m glad, even in a small way, I help. Your art is amazing and you are very talented,” she smiled at him, meeting his gaze briefly, “and I might be biased in that opinion but it’s still true. I’m glad you have something so remarkable just for yourself to enjoy. How are my hands fascinating? They don’t tell you anything. Yours tell a story, it’s not a fairy tale but it’s your story, and I want to know your story because you’re important to me. It was a first for me and it was intense and makes my heart race if I think about it, but I don’t regret it or would change it,” she looked at their hands, blushing softly while she talked, and then looked back up at him. “I don’t want you to remember things that you don’t want to, but I also want to know everything about you, so tell me to stop if I ask something I shouldn’t. I don’t want you hurting and it makes me upset that no one has tried to help you since your accident. Will you let me try to fix your back? I was trying to use my smarts, but I don’t always understand stuff like this.”

Kane pushed his fingers through hers, ignoring her hesitation to do so. “Your hands fasinate me because they’re yours. Your whole body… you… grab and keep my attention. My story is… hard… but I won’t hide any of it from you. You won’t like some of it. And some of it will shock you and may change what you think about me, but I won’t hide it. I don’t regret it and wouldn’t change it and I really want to do it again… whenever you want or need to. I hate being worked on. I actually hate doctors and going to them. But… if you want to, you can. And I get it. Your experience with… well… people in situations like this has left a bad taste in your mouth. I won’t push you to go faster than you want. But I won’t go backwards either, all right?

Her fingers curled around his as he laced them together and the warmth from his touch settled her. She grabbed his attention? “You grab my attention too, all of it and it surprises me. No one, nothing does that. I want to know how but at the same time I don’t; I just want it to stay that way,” she was staring at their hands while she talked, fascinated at the way they blended together. And then she raised her eyes to his, “I might not like parts of your story, but it won’t change that I like you. Your story made you who you are, and I like that person. I’m not going to operate on your back. There is scar tissue, but you don’t need surgery, just some physical therapy.” He:d said he trusted her earlier, and she understood that was a big deal for him. “Would it help if I was your doctor so you don’t have to explain over and over, someone you trust? I want to do it again too; you don’t make me feel inadequate. I know you won’t push me, I trust you. I don’t want to go backwards either.”

She’d listened quietly while he explained and she was still quiet. Her hand tightened on his and fear chased across her eyes. Not because of Solomon but because of why she couldn’t go back to her quarters. But her mind wasn’t ready to process any of it and so she just quietly nodded. “I know you didn’t mean it,” and she did because she trusted him. And she wanted to stay, she just couldn’t admit, even to herself, why she needed to stay. She nodded softly, “It sounds good. I like spending time with you. I’m glad you liked the food; I’ve never gotten to make it for anyone else. Are you going to stay on the couch again or will you stay with me? Are you going to teach me Mandarin while I stay? Can I kiss you?” But she didn’t wait for his answer, still having a tight hold on his hand, she leaned forward and kissed him.
Bonner

The kiss surprised him and as her lips met his his eyes widened; but as she held the kiss his eyes closed and he moaned softly as he kissed her back. His hand went to the back of her neck as the kiss slowly grew more intense. Not necessarily intense in physical desire, although that was certainly there. This was intense in something deeper; as if a connection in some highly charged electrical system was made and power began flowing through circuits that were long cold and unused.

Kane quickly pulled back and looked at her, and for the first time his face held no hard edges, no simmering anger underneath the surface. His eyes were clear and bright and he looked at her with surprise and shock.

She thought maybe she’d done something wrong as quickly as he moved back. He just looked as shocked as she was. She only really had the one experience to compare it to, and it had never made her feel like that. That she was suddenly alive that he had turned a key and brought her to life.

“Um… I’ll… I’ll stay with you if that’s what you want. And I’ll teach you Mandarin, sure. And you never have to ask, ya know… just do it whenever you want. Anytime… ok?”

Kane

She bit her lower lip watching him. She swallowed hard and tugged gently at his hand. “It’s what I want. And whenever you want too. Okay.”
Bonner

Without hesitation he leaned forward again and pressed his lips to hers. There was something there that hadn’t been before… hunger. Not for her… but for her. His kiss was trying to bring her to him, to lock them together in some way he couldn’t explain. But at that moment he wanted that merge with her more than he wanted to breathe.

She fell..into his kiss, an all encompassing need for him. Radiating out from her core, where her soul sat alone and waiting....until his lips drew her out, closer and closer to the core of him. Tremors of nerves, anticipation, uncertainty, and longing for him travelled up and down her spine and alone every nerve ending. Set on fire by him and only calmed by him.

He reached around her and pulled her over him so she straddled his hips and he put his arms around her and squeezed her into him, pressing every part of him he could against her, trying to eliminate every gap he could.

Kane

A soft gasp and his name whispered like a talisman. As he squeezed her to him, the tremors slowed and then disappeared. Her arms wrapped around him, pulling herself closer. She sank into him, where she belonged, There was an emptiness she didn’t know was there until suddenly it was filled with him. She gave herself to him, a merging that had nothing to do with physical desire, and she would never be able to breathe again without him.
Bonner

He was on fire. Every nerve, every synapse, every sensory receptor on and in his body starting to fire all at once. It hurt… but he didn’t want it to stop. Time slipped away and all that was there was her.

At one point, he pulled his lips from hers and said “Alexis, I…” but the words hung on his tongue. But what the mouth couldn’t say the eyes held in them. He brushed her cheek with his fingers.

Time stood still when he said her name. She didn’t recognize by name what was in his eyes, but she recognized it was a reflection of what was in her own. He brushed her cheek with the same fingers that had so carefully sketched her picture to life, like he was sketching her, bringing her to life in reality. She closed her eyes leaning slightly against his hand. In that moment something fundamentally Alexis came alive. Her eyes opened and watched him, recognized him and called to him.

And then he kissed her again and let her take him where he had never been.

Kane

It was too much, too overwhelming, too intense, too unfamiliar, too raw. Her mind tried to take it, analyze it, define it, give it shape and form. She shook her head insistent that her mind stay off that she stay in that moment, that didn’t seem to stop. She let him distract her and she sank into the way he kissed her, and Solomon Kane had total control of when and how her mind was allowed to turn back on.
Bonner

---

Hours passed and they remained right there, together. Frigga finally came and tugged on Kane’s pant leg and did a little dance and spun in a circle. You’re both happy and I’m happy and I don’t want you to not be happy but I gotta GO! she said with her movements. Kane finally broke the connection, at least part of it, and looked down.

Alexis rested her forehead against his shoulder, still pressed, squeezed, tightly against him and stayed there letting time start running again. Reality couldn’t return, it had changed, and Alexis didn’t want it to go back.

“Dog door is next on the list.” He looked at Alexis, and said “Walk? Or stay here. We should get your stuff if you’re moving in… you know, for a while.”

Kane

Slowly her mind kicked back in, “Program her combadge to your door.” She was moving in…for a while, but how long was that. Alexis knew though, it didn’t matter how long awhile was, when it came to an end it would break her heart. “Ummm…walk. Then we don’t have to leave a second time.” Did that sound too suggestive, needy, or something? At that moment she didn’t care. With a resigned sigh, once his arms relaxed, she reluctantly stood up, one hand still laces with his. “Come on Frigga. Quick walk okay, no ball this time.”
Bonner

Kane stood, keeping his hand with hers and said “Ok. Dog. Then your place. Then back here. Ok? And if you want, just give me a list and you can wait outside while I go in your place. Either way, you’ll be ok. Promise.”

Kane