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Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

DAY 09 [1910 HRS.] HAPPENSTANCE

STARDATE: 57579.81
MARCH 19
1910 HRS.

[ Captain Ives | Turbolifts | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] @TheSithChicken
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It was an odd thing, feeling a bit of hope over the mission's development.

After he'd came back from the mission on the Allegiant, having made contact with Director Andersson in the Covert Ops branch of Starfleet Intelligence, Captain Jien Ives had begun to get a sense of traction when it came to the seemingly impossible tasks ahead. New officers due to arrive at the courtesy of their inside man, all trusted with knowing the real development in Starfleet's admiralty, and a backdoor access to the Federation database. Intel from the ongoings in the fleet and a strengthening of the alliance with the Klingons. The Infested had yet to make their move in reaction to the halt of the Borg invasion, merely resorting to exaggerating the fallout in the Azure Nebula for the time being. Thea's repairs were underway, and the Aldean Defence Committee was warming up to their hidden presence in the cloaked shipyards.

On a personal end, Jien was still having nightmares from the Scion's Nest; seeing Semathal in his dreams. The darkness could still conjure images from his abuse, so he had yet to turn off the lights in his quarters completely - the blackness reminding him of glistening chitin and talons. He was attending his medical examinations, and he was in talks with counselling. So far, the advise was to keep shifting between his two forms in order to regain the aptitude in his morphogenic matrix, and it was becoming easier as the stiffness wore off. With this in mind, he changed... into her female form.

After she did so, the turbolift came to a stop at a deck not of her choosing, and the sliding doors parted. Jien raised her eyes, and saw a face she both knew well... and yet didn't.

Nathaniel Isley, the Savi having made him wear his Romulan heritage plainly. The sight was a stark reminder about the suspicions towards him after Skye Carver's death. Doctor Nicander had discovered that he was of no Vulcan blood, but actually a Romulan in genetic disguise. Even though Isley had been acquitted from the murder of Ensin Carver - having fired on her Valkyrie above the Black Opal - the memory of the revelation about Isley's Romulan nature was still there. It was a source of shame for Jien, in how she'd thought the worst of her bygone lover. Worse yet was how he'd actually admitted to killing Carver just for the sake of not being in the Brig, which had delayed the discovery of the real murderer.

Nicander, having been one of the Infested since before the Theurgy was commissioned.

Nonetheless, Jien gave the Lone Wolf a faint smile and stepped aside a bit, letting Isley get some room in the turbolift. Soon enough, the sliding doors closed, and they were alone. She remembered, right then, the Niga Incident, and how Isley had stepped on her lift in the middle of the outbreak, and she'd pointed her phaser rifle at him - unsure if he'd been infected or not. This time, there was no rifle between them. Merely bad blood over a confession and an accusation. A lie and a demotion. Yet before then, Isley had been someone Jien had opened herself up to, and on the Versant, Isley had been one of the officers that freed her from the Scion's Nest. All in all, things were... complicated between the two of them, which the silence in the turbolift quite aptly illustrated.

"Thea, stop this lift," said Jien quietly, but she continued to look ahead, a frown coming to her features.

"I am surprised you've decided to keep that face," she said, but not in accusation. Slowly, she turned to face Isley, folding her arms underneath her chest. "I got the impression that you hated your mother for lying to you, and had assumed you didn't want to be reminded about what she did to you when you were a child. I am merely surprised, mind. Not suggesting either choice is wrong."

The unsaid was plain. There were things to sort out, and she'd merely opted for an observation to break the ice.

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #1 –
[Ensign Nathaniel Isley  | Corridor/Turbolift | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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After spending as many hours as he had in his fighter out on patrol, Nathaniel was glad to be done for the day. He hated patrol duty whenever he had to do it, usually nothing exciting happened so it was pretty much 8 hours flying around doing absolutely nothing but wasting fuel, as had been the case today. Oh sure some would say that by patrolling they were deterring anybody from trying anything and therefore it wasn't a waste but Nate most certainly considered it so, even more so now that he was still getting used to his stronger emotions.

As a result, after he had changed out of his flight suit and taken a shower, he'd decided to spread his legs by taking a walk around the ship. He didn't really have any idea where he was going, it was more just to stretch the legs a bit and loosen up after spending hours upon hours in his fighter. Of course how moving between decks in the even more cramped jefferies tubes could be defined as stretching he didn't know. Nor was he entirely sure he was allowed to be in them, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. He'd only gone up from deck 16 to 15 before his body protested being in the confined space, it might not hurt anybody else but it was certainly hurting his body currently, so he decided to just take the turbolift to another deck and continue his walk the normal way.

Summoning the Turbolift, Nate looked down at himself and straightened out a few creases in his pants from where he'd been crawling around the tubes and didn't pay much attention to the lift as first as he heard the familar hiss of the doors opening. Looking up he was briefly frozen in place at the sight of Ives standing there. A part of him briefly wondered if Thea had known about his crawling around in her tubes and had planted the Captain here to make him pay for it, he wouldn't necessarily put it past the AI but for now he'd play it cool, after all he hadn't really done anything wrong.

He caught her faint smile as she stepped aside to make room for him and stepped inside, taking a spot beside her while leaving some room between the two. "Captain." he greeted the shapeshifter with a nod opting to keep things professional.

To say the two of them had a complicated relationship would be quite the understatement. From the whole discovery of his heritage debacle, Skye Carver's murder, the mistrust, his lie about killing her to avoid jail time and hampering the capture of the real killer to the Niga incident when she'd aimed a rifle at him, they'd been through some things and that wasn't even including their sexual history. None of which they had really addressed for one reason or another, mostly due to the chaos that generally surrounded them on all sides nowadays including the recent incident with the Savi, of which they both suffered through.

The awkwardness was even more palpable in the confined space of the turbolift and the Wolf quickly decided he'd rather be crawling around the jefferies tubes aching again or on another 8 hour patrol doing nothing than be in this situation right now, he never was one for uncomfortable silences after all. As they continued to ride the lift in silence, he heard Ives quietly ask Thea to stop the lift, a brief thought flashing through his head of if she had said it louder than she had meant to, if the quietness at which she had given the order was due to the uncomfortable silence or if his newly gained hearing had picked up on it, he supposed he would never know, although it was an interesting thought to have.

He could see out of the corner of his eye that when she had first spoke, mentioning that she was surprised he decided to keep the Romulan facial features and kept his head straight until seeing her turn slowly to face him, continuing to speak as she folded her arms under her chest, at least she was making sure that it was an expression of surprise and nothing more.

"Oh I still very much hate her for that." he said "I figure that for all I know this is how I was always meant to look and have gotten back something that was taken from me without my permission." he added "Plus it's kind of a big fuck you to her...granted she's not here to see it but it's a victory for me at least."

Shrugging he finally turned to face her "Not sure if I'll keep it though, not really adjusting to looking in the mirror and not entirely recognising the person looking back at me too well so we'll see. On the other hand I've had enough of people messing with my physical and genetic makeup for a lifetime so we'll see." Nate finished explaining.

He remained silent briefly as his mind flashed back to times when she had opened herself up to him and the time they'd spent together, those seemed like years ago now before flashing forward to his relief at finding her alive in the Scion's nest and being part of those to bring her back, despite the clear hell she had been through, perhaps more so than the rest of them, which was saying something.

Aware of his brief lapse into memory and the lingering silence filling the room again he decided to speak and break it "So how are you doing after...you know..." he said somewhat awkwardly, with a shrug. Smooth Nate, real smooth he thought to himself. As much as they needed to discuss...well a lot of things, evidently this might well be one of those awkward small talk situations but he hoped it wouldn't be, he hated those just as much as uncomfortable silences.

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #2 –
[ Captain Ives | Turbolifts | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] @TheSithChicken
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Isley's reasoning made sense, she supposed, in how he kept the face out of spite towards his mother T'Mei, who's motivations might have been understandable if she was a Romulan undercover operative. Yet she suspected that there was far more to the story of this woman, and before she'd make her suggestion in T'Mei's regard, she'd wanted to hear what Isley thought of it. It had been one of the things on her mind since Isley's true heritage was revealed, but back then, they had been in no position to do anything about the Romulan operative.

Before she could make her inquiry, however, Isley asked how she was faring, and the question caught her a bit off guard - not having thought he cared overly about her since she'd demoted him. She cleared her throat and glanced towards the side of the turbolift.

"As expected, I still dream of the time in the dark of that place," she heard herself admitting, not having thought she'd be so open about the repercussions of her abduction. She was the Captain, and she couldn't show weakness. This was the same reason she'd sworn Isley to secrecy about what they had ended up doing in the gymnasium before the Niga incident - regardless if there had been spore-pheromones in the air systems or not. They still didn't know if the development between them were caused by the pollination, but either way, when she'd come to his modular shelter on Theta Eridani IV, there had been no pollen in her blood. Only a need to assert a distinction of her own free will, as a kind of assurance that she was in control of herself and her body. After having succumbed to the Niga virus, she had wanted to act on her own needs. Her own choices. Isley had obliged her, the promise from him still binding him to silence. Perhaps it was this very promise that had her talking right there in the turbolift.

"You need not be concerned," she said, however, and looked back at Isley with a faint smile, "with Commander Hathev in charge of the Counseling Department, I have access to the right kind of listeners when it comes to what I've been through. I might be the worst kind of patient, since I was once a counsellor myself, but I will process it all in due time."

She wanted to return to him, however, and his current situation.

"I can understand how you would refrain from any further genetic tampering being done to you," she said, and she did understand. She just wanted to tell him what she'd learned from sickbay before they could move on with the conversation to T'Mei. "If you do decide to have your appearance restored, I do get reports from Doctor Kobol  stating that the android that the Savi gave us isn't anything like the actual Savi in their Correction Program. V-Nine, which is the name of the android, has even been upgraded by Thea, getting the same kind of processing matrix that she has herself. This has made V-Nine quite personable, and she fully abides to the ethical protocols of Starfleet Medical. Reports from sickbay as well as the abductees whom have decided to be restored state that the process - unlike the one on the Versant - is completely painless, and is done without the intermediate steps the Savi employed in their methods. You come to sickbay in the morning, you get sedated, and when you wake up in the late afternoon or evening, she's finished. I wouldn't have believed it myself unless I'd actually seen them before and after during the same day. In any case, I don't think you have any reason to be apprehensive if you do decide to undergo the procedure."

She paused, letting Isley think about it for a moment, before she got to the obvious question.

"Now that we have an inside man in Starfleet Headquarters, someone on our side and right behind enemy lines," she said, the name of Director Anderson of Covert Operations still on a need to know basis since otherwise he might be compromised, "I wonder what you want us to do in regard to your mother. She's a Romulan infiltrator, and sooner or later, she'll have to be brought in for questioning. She might even be deported, or forced to be a double agent somehow. I am not sure, but either way, before T'Mei's name is brought up, I wanted to speak with you and your half-brother, Drauc T'Laus, whom I believe are also aboard our ship."

A difficult decision, for certain, but perhaps Isley had already thought about it.

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #3 –
[Ensign Nathaniel Isley  | Turbolift | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Nate listened as Ives spoke, not really surprised that she was having dreams still about that place. He'd had his fare share of them too, as had a lot of the others who had gone through that hell. He suspected that they all would for quite some time. Admittedly he was a little surprised that she had revealed as much to him considering how things had been between them as of late, yet he couldn't deny that what they had shared had allowed her to open up to him about certain things and after their time together on Theta Eridani he had swore that he would keep quiet about what had happened between them and as far as he was concerned that also extended to whatever she might share with him, he might have made some mistakes in the past but Nate knew that his word at least still meant something, even if his reputation didn't.

"I suspect we'll all being dreams like that for quite a while." he said, repeating his earlier thought out loud "Although as bad as some of us had it..." he said, motioning to the ridges now on his head "...It looked like you'd gotten it far worse than the rest of us." the Wolf said, his voice going quiet as his mind flashed back to the moment seeing her in that chamber covered in blood, wanting nothing more than to rush over and free her from her captivity yet knowing such display of emotion would have more than likely implied that something had or was going on between them,  broking the vow of silence he had promised her about their....liaisons. "It uh it didn't look good." he eventually said, hoping his voice didn't betray his calm exterior about how much he had been worried about her.

Lucky for him Ives decided to change the subject, unlucky for him it was to another subject he didn't really want to dwell on, his mother. Having still not fully mustered control of his stronger emotions, he felt his fists clench and his eyebrows furrow at the thought of T'Mei, the anger about her lies still the primary emotion he felt at the moment as he listened to Ives talk about what would happen to her, even as he glared a hole through the turbolift door. Of course their inside man would have to be an Intelligence Officer. At least until the guy is exposed and killed or implanted with one of those parasites he thought before shaking his head, evidently pessimism was another trait he'd unlocked with his change it seemed.

He tuned back in to what Ives was saying about wanting to speak with him and his half brother about what to do about their mother. When she finished speaking, Nate was silent for a few minutes, thinking about his mother and what he thought about the situation. It wasn't easy at first based on the growl that came from the back of his throat as the words liar, betrayer and deceiver seemed to orbit the mental image of the woman  his mind conjured up, causing him to take a deep breath and focus on pushing past his current anger into the memories of him growing up as a child, of the T'Mei he knew before the revelation about his heritage came out.

"I appreciate that." he told her after a few minutes "While I'm sure my mother's original subterfuge was to spy on the Federation, I don't think that's why she stayed. Thinking back on my life there were plenty of opportunities she had to flee back to Romulus both with and without my father or me knowing and she didn't. As angry as I am with her for lying to me about what I really am, I do believe she stayed and continued posing as Vulcan not because she was still spying on the Federation but because..." he paused and turned to look at her "She loved my father and I." he said "Of course I don't know if she was still continuing to spy during that time but I don't believe that to be the case." he continued "I honestly don't know what to do about her but if it's possible to talk to her at some point I would appreciate it, as I'm sure will come as no surprise I have a lot of questions that need answering." he finished.

"As for what my "brother" thinks, you'd have to ask him, we haven't exactly talked much but I'm pretty sure I spent more time with her than he did, then again she was pretending to be a Vulcan with me soooo...." Nate said with a shrug.

"At the end of the day though it doesn't change the fact that even if she stopped spying because she loved my father and I it doesn't change the fact that she started as a spy who willingly lied about who and what she was, unlike me who had no idea I was what I was, she did and I suppose at the very least she will have to answer for that." he said.

The tone in which he had spoke about his own genetic "deception" and the reaction of that revelation, especially from the woman standing opposite him right now hadn't intended to be laced with the somewhat confrontational tone that he had, but he couldn't exactly deny that he wasn't a little bitter about it. Not so much the suspicion, given the Federation's history with the Romulan Empire that was fair enough, but it was Jien's reaction that had hurt. That look of suspicion she had given him, especially given not only his own shock at the revelation but everything they had been through at that point. Sure one could say it might have been simply sex but they conversations they had had, there was a connection there that might have implied something more than just a somewhat friendship with a sexual aspect, it was something they had never discussed or even had time to really figure out but at the very least he would have thought that whatever it was they had been developing would have earned him something other than immediate suspicion from her.

Sighing and shaking his head, he looked away from her and back at the door. They hadn't had a chance to discuss whatever their sexual meetings and talks meant, if anything nor had they spoken about that revelation and the outcome of it nor really his demotion and Carver and that certainly wasn't going to help matters any. "Sorry I didn't mean for that last bit to sound like that." he said quietly, keeping his eyes on the turbolift door "Stronger Romulan emotions and everything, not really got them under control yet." he added, unsure as to what and how Ives, who was still his Captain would say...or do.

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #4 –
[ Captain Ives | Turbolifts | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] @TheSithChicken
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Of course the question about the fate of Isley's mother had weighed hard on him, and Jien gave him the time think it through. The answer was somewhat expected, him wishing - despite his betrayed feelings - to give her the benefit of the doubt. At the same time, she ought to be brought in for questioning because she'd started out on an assignment by the Tal Shiar, and there was really no way of knowing for certain what her ultimate ambitions were, even if it appeared like she'd abandoned her mission for sake of Isley and his father.

The remark about him not knowing his own true nature was a baited one, but Isley apologised for it. Still, it triggered something in Jien, recognising an accusation when she heard one. Romulan emotions enhanced by the Savi or not, Isley had no way to take those words back, and Jien wanted to settle the matter in that regard, instead of having to wait for it to surface again.

"Just like T'Mei appears to us now, being this unknown quantity with enemy ties in her past," she said and raised her chin a bit, her oaken eyes as unsmiling as the rest of her face, "I just want to remind you of the circumstances in which your true heritage was revealed, before you so readily leap at accusing me and the rest of Security for doing their job given the situation at that hour. You were also the same kind of unknown quantity."

Jien adjusted her stance a bit, tilting her head a little. "As unfair as it might feel for you, proven innocent as you are now, please remember how there was no sign of system errors in you warp fighter. All the internal sensors and the onboard computer corroborated with Thea's own sensor readings at the Black Opal. Everything pointed at you shooting down Ensign Carver, and Doctor Nicander - Infested as he proved to be - presented the fact that you weren't Vulcan at all. Specifically, that your true heritage had been carefully hidden with genetic tampering so that you might pose as a Vulcan hybrid instead of a Romulan one. This is exactly how undercover operatives infiltrate foreign powers, incidentally, just like your mother did."

Needless to say, there was another quantity to her own reaction, which she wasn't prepared to admit, and that was how she couldn't risk the chance that a Romulan spy had not just inserted himself into her crew... but between her legs as well. Being a spy of old, and the Commanding Officer of the ship, such ignorance and weakness was not just disastrous, but catastrophic. She had enough officers questioning her actions, and she'd already suffered a mutiny. The Devoted would have a field day if they learned what had happened between her and Isley, and Jien couldn't allow anything of the kind.

Regardless of these circumstances... she also felt that it was unfair to not say anything at all.

"Moreover," she added, eyes still hard, "I had come to trust and confide in you on a personal front. So, I hope you understand how you not being who you said to be... felt like a betrayal close to home. Then, when you even chose to admit to shooting down Ensign Carver, claiming absentmindedness as a reason - saying that you were daydreaming during a mission - I found it just too implausible. It led me to think you were indeed a spy, for I had great trouble accepting that you'd be such a poor officer. To make matters worse, the admission even ended the Carver investigation prematurely."

It had to be said, for despite how hurt Isley might have felt, the facts were not on his side at that time. "I thought I knew you better than that, but you disappointed me - regardless what blood you have in your veins. Of course, had we known that Doctor Maya had preformed a mind-meld on you, as well as Thomas Ravon and Lin Kae, at the behest of Doctor Nicander, we would of course have acted differently, but surely you can understand why you ended up in the Brig at that time?" Jien glanced towards the single pip in Isley's collar, just to indicate it. "It was how you got out of the Brig that earned you the demotion you still live with. Is this truly so hard to accept?"

She almost added 'Ensign' to the sentence, but stopped herself, feeling that it would create an even greater divide between them than had already separated them at the Black Opal.

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #5 –
[Ensign Nathaniel Isley  | Turbolift | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Nate kept his eyes forward the entire time Jien spoke. While he could understand her position it still didn't change the fact that he too felt betrayed. As she spoke about her mother, she turned her attention to his own genetic history and felt his own anger and frustration rising again. Remaining silent as he bit his tongue and kept his gaze firmly on the door, he listened to her continue to list all the evidence against him and how his genetic tampering was exactly the same what undercover operatives infiltrate worked. Operatives like his mother.

"Except my mother did it on purpose. My mother knew exactly who she was and what she was doing. I didn't, my utter shock at the revelation that thing pretending to be our Chief Medical Officer revealed was evident enough. I am very well away of what it looked like, yet I didn't even get the slightest benefit of the doubt from anyone despite that just...." he started saying before shutting himself up and taking a breath before eventually shrugging. They were never going to see eye to eye on this despite their views and shook his head. "It doesn't matter anyway, what's done is done." he said while trying to reign in his emotions as best he could.

That didn't really go to plan as Ives continued to explain how she had come to trust and confide in him and how it felt like a betrayal when him not being who he said he was revealed, he felt his anger rise again. Still he bit his tongue, he wasn't going to snap because he could somewhat see her point and yet how she said it seemed to imply something that wasn't true. Clenching his fists at his sides, he listened to her continue on about how he admitted to shooting down Carver and lied about it. He was doing his best to keep his mouth shut but when she said she thought she knew him better than that, he snapped and turned his head to face her.

"I didn't know! he yelled. "You stand there and say that I wasn't who I said I was like I intentionally lied about it. I didn't and even now that you do know I didn't know about it still sounds like an accusation." he continued. He reminded firmly planted in his place so that despite his angry yelling, he didn't appear to be threatening his Captain, even though he was most certainly not addressing her in the way an Ensign should address a superior officer but at this point he didn't really care.

"As for Carver what else was I supposed to do? Huh? All the evidence said I did it, along with the revelation of who I really was nobody was going to believe I was innocent, no matter what I said. What was I supposed to do, sit in the brig for god knows how long for a crime I know I didn't commit? Let's be honest if it wasn't for the truth coming out I'd still be in that brig more than likely. What would you have done in my place, when the only proof you have of your innocence is the fact that deep down you know you didn't do it. Would you just accept that you're going to jail for the long term or would you admit to it in the hopes of maybe getting out and being able to contribute and perhaps even find out who set you up?" he continued.

Pausing to catch his breath and reign in his anger, he started at her for a few moments before shaking his head sadly and turning away from her. His shoulder sagging as he took several more deep breaths to regain control of himself. A long silence passing between the two of them before he eventually spoke. "You say you thought me better than that and that I disappointed you...well the feeling is mutual." he said sadly. That was what he was really mad at. "While it's true true that I can't argue much against the reasons behind what had happened, you are one of the few people on this god forsaken ship who did know me better than that and I thought that that maybe, just maybe you of all people would have at least given me the slightest benefit of the doubt and heard me out, but no, you deemed me just as guilty as the rest." he said sadly, all trace of his anger gone now as he shook his head, just replaced now with the hurt even he didn't know he'd had.

"Don't get me wrong I know exactly why I ended up in the brig and why I got demoted, I can even accept it, all of it. The reasons I ended up there, the demotion, the fact almost everybody on the Wolves hate me, all of it. But to have the one person you thought knew you better than most accept the lies without much doubt...that's a betrayal that's harder to get over. Not that I need to tell you about that." he said, his tone and demeanour one now of accepted defeat.

What else was there to say? The divide between them since the Black Opal was pretty big already, who knew if it would ever close again, at least now it seemed as though one of the big things they needed to discuss outside of their relationship was now out in the open on both sides. Where it would lead them from there he didn't know.

"Like I said what's done is done, can't change it now, don't know where it leaves us now though. Think that's up to you."  he said, almost adding 'Captain' to the end of the sentence but stopped himself, getting the feeling that it would either create an even bigger divide between them instead of closing it or set the definition of where things would be between them, as Captain and Crewman and despite everything he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted that. At the very least he wasn't going to be the one to plant the flag that determined it. 

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #6 –
[ Captain Ives | Turbolifts | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] @TheSithChicken
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It was rather plain that Isley still thought ill of Ives for not believing in him, that she'd somehow ought to have known better. She could sympathise with that sentiment, regardless how the evidence had been stacked up against him at the time, but perhaps he thought too much of what had been developing between them. She felt callous to do so, but it might just be for the better that he heard her point of view on where they stood.

"Likely because of the pollen in the air aboard, the two of us had a private moment that very early morning in the gymnasium. That was just before the Niga incident, where we fought alongside each other and managed to reach the main bridge. Afterwards, I promoted you for your effort. Then, I sought you out on Theta Eridani IV, and I am still grateful for helping me that night," she said, and then she took a step closer. Her eyes, however, didn't suggest any kind of intimacy despite the shorter distance between them.

"That is the limit of our past, however, so in what way do you think I should have known you well enough to dismiss the evidence? Either you give too much credit to my ability to read thoughts and emotions of people, as if I were Betazoid instead of Chameloid..." she tilted her head a bit, "or, you put a lot more import into what happened between us, to the degree where you'd think those couple of times I've been with you would grant me some unique insight."

Her eyes dropped to his lips for a moment, but her oaken stare returned to him without her batting an eye. "I do not say I didn't value the times I were with you, for I still do, but in no shape or form can I say I know you. See, there hasn't been that much... conversation going on. Our interactions have been more... primal in nature. Wouldn't you agree, Ensign?"

The proximity was palpable, right then in the turbolift, but she made no motion to take it further. She rather just wanted to illustrate her point. At least that was what she told herself, as she stood there and stared him in the eye.

Yet the scent of him summoned memories of those two times she'd been with him, and she felt herself swallow in unwanted anticipation...

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #7 –
[Ensign Nathaniel Isley  | Turbolift | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Nate remained silent as he listened to Ives speak. Explaining how the pollen had likely affected them and how he had earned his promotion only for her to seek him out on Theta Eridani and how grateful she was for helping her that night and watched as she took a step closer to him and looked down at her as they locked eyes.

"How about the fact that you were once a councillor? That gives you some skill at reading people for one thing so you could have at least tried to see things from my perspective and at least hear me out considering my shock at that particular revelation. I don't argue with how the evidence looked but honestly it felt like the second you heard the words "He's Romulan" that was all you and everybody else needed to not even try to see things from my side. "Oh he's a Romulan and he didn't tell us so must be lying about everything else too" because it sure as hell felt like that!" he countered. "Perhaps I did give you too much credit." he muttered onto the ending. He was very tempted to added I won't make that mistake again but thought better of it. She was still his Captain after all.

As they started at each other, he caught her eyes drop slightly to his lips before her gaze returned to his own, listening as she spoke of how she valued their times together but how she didn't really know him. And he supposed that was true, she had revealed a little more about herself during their limited talks than he had about himself and it was also true that their interactions had indeed been more primal in nature than anything else. "I suppose that's true Captain." he admitted, his own gaze glancing down at her lips briefly before returning to her eyes.

They were standing very close to one another in the confined Turbolift and while neither of them had made a motion to take it further the tension was palpable in the small space. It might have started as anger on his side but it certainly seemed to have shifted to something else during their conversation. That primal interaction they had had before in the air.

The two staring each other in the eye Nate wondered just what the hell was happening right now and what was going to happen yet. Neither had made a move to do anything, be it launch themselves at the other or give the order to resume the lift. Part of him knew he should get Thea to start the lift again, or at least suggest it to Ives then again she was the Captain and she knew she could do it and she hadn't either. He'd also caught the brief flicker of her eyes down towards his lips much as he had done the same to her. It was those things that had the other half of him feeling like he should embrace her, push her back against the wall of the lift behind her and kiss her, especially with his new full Romulan blood pumping through his veins but there was two ways that could play out. 1: She embraced the moment and kissed him back and who knew where that would lead. Or 2: She's kick him between the legs and have him thrown in the brig for sexual assault and he wasn't entirely sure which was she would go.

However in the confined space between them, the way they were staring each other in the eye and her scent pulling up those two times they were together certainly pushed things in one direction, especially when he saw her swallow in what could very well have been anticipation of him doing something.

Stepping closer to her, now mere inches apart as he looked at her, their noses practically touching he licked his lips. While it was certainly a move that escalated things between them he was pretty sure...well relatively sure that this wasn't an act that could wind up with him in the brig. It took every ounce of self control he had to not push her back against that wall and kiss her feverishly yet he knew that she would be able to see that hunger for her in his eyes. Given their primal interactions in the past it certainly wouldn't have been out of character for either of them given the circumstances at least not before what had happened but now he hesitated.

"And now here we are." he managed to say, his voice much lower in tone now, their close proximity practically making his lips brush against hers.

 

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #8 –
[ Captain Ives | Turbolifts | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] @TheSithChicken
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The anticipation was palable in the close confines of the turbolift, the unsaid plain in the manner which they stared at each other. While her own approach towards Isley had been one made to drive home a point in their argument, the subsequent step that the Lone Wolf took reciprocated something Jien hadn't even admitted to herself just yet. Still, the smell of the pilot filled her nose, and she knew it had naught to do with Niga this time. No, what lay between them went beyond the mere effect of pollen, that much was plain given their brief and rare meetings, but how much further than that was... debatable.

"Indeed," she said in kind, and while not stepping back, her frown didn't lessen either - the challenge in her eye yet to abate. "So we are."

She made no motion to close the distance. With not an inch between them any more, their breaths mixed between their faces, and she recalled the gymnasium that early morning.

As heated as Jien was, it took only ten seconds before she felt her body betraying her. Her eyes widened, and she pursed her lips in disbelief, and her climax was an avalanche that smothered her mind into limbo. She cried out and fell back on the floor, writhing and squirming as the carnal electrocution lasted. She came so hard she feared she might fracture him, and her nails helplessly scratched at his chiselled chest for somewhere to hold on to. All her pent up desires had been denied for far too long, and she had not even lasted a full minute.
The vivid memory made her breathing hitch a bit, and yet she still didn't drift closer to him. It hadn't ended there, since he had yet to be content. She recalled how she'd indulged him.

She gyrated her hips a bit in a languorous way, teasing him with a smile, while the dance of the light caressed her glistening body. She bit her lower lip and stroked her hands up to his neck - pulling herself up with the hold she took so that she was sitting in his lap. She kissed him just as her nipples scraped against his chest, her shuddering gratitude plain, and the promise of making him come too just as evident.
In the end, she wasn't sure who made the move. Him or her. Did it matter? As close as they were, and with the history between them opening doors that were usually shut, she found herself tasting him once more - his facial hair all too reminiscent of those past couple of times. Her hands had made their way up to his collar, and she'd formed a hard grip on the cloth, not letting him back off. A sound escaped her throat, but there was naught more coherent to be said.

Their interaction had clearly moved beyond the use of words.

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #9 –
[Ensign Nathaniel Isley  | Turbolift | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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As the two stared at each other Nate was sure you'd be able to cut the sexual tension between then with a knife. The warmth of each other's breaths hitting the other and while he didn't make another move towards her, she didn't take a step back either. Of course that frown of hers was still on her face but that was it. Nate was pretty sure the woman wasn't going to back down, almost daring him to do something, yet he was giving her the exact same look.

As they stared at each other he couldn't help but let his eyes glance down over her, she certainly was a gorgeous woman and his mind flashed back to when he'd had her naked in the gym, that had been one hell of an experience. The pent up desires she'd had finally gotten to release and experience had certainly made for a fun time and he was briefly sure that he heard her breath hitch at some point in the back of his mind, although if that was in reality or his memory he wasn't entirely sure.

Snapping his mind back the two were still looking at each other, neither saying anything nor moving. He remembered how she had sat in his lap and he drove into her, feeling her body against his chest and how she bit her lower lip in that arousing way....

Nate wasn't exactly sure when the two had started kissing nor when or even who had started it but he really didn't care anymore. Feeling her lips against his as he tasted her again hadn't changed at all since their last couple of times. He was very much aware of the grip she had on his collar, clearly not about to let him back off and end whatever this was, not that he had any intention of that. He heard a sound escape from her throat that could have been a moan, a grunt or a growl he wasn't entirely sure nor did he care, words were unnecessary at this point.

Allowing his hands to wrap around her and run down her back, he felt his way to her rear as his hands ran over the firm roundness of her ass and gripped her. Lifting her up much easier now with his unlocked Romulan strength he carried her a few paces forward and pinned her against the wall as his tongue danced with hers, a moan of his own rumbling in his throat.

The thought of how close he'd come to losing her on the Savi ship flashed through his mind and he deepened the kiss as he let his hand run back up her body, over her hip and higher before snaking in between them and up along her stomach, feeling her strong abs beneath her uniform until he felt the soft curvature of the underside of her breast brushing against his fingertips.

Slowly the tracing the outline of the curve he eventually let it rise up and over her breast, simply resting it there for now, although he did let his thumb lightly trace around the erect nipple he felt poking against her shirt.

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #10 –
[ Captain Ives | Turbolifts | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] @TheSithChicken
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When Isley lifted her up, Jien's grip on his collar shifted and she wrapped her arms around his neck instead.

Internally, she was at odds with herself about what was happening - again - but it was as if she had no voluntary control any more. Or at least that was what it felt like, being caught up in this primal obsession for someone who'd she'd been with before. There was familiarity in this willing lover, whom had granted her the discretion she needed given her rank and position. Someone who'd kept his word and remained silent, been there for her when she needed him at Theta Eridani IV, and whom had come to liberate her from her tormentor in the darkness of the Scion's Nest. Despite the bad blood that remained between them since Skye Carver's death, Isley had remained loyal - Romulan or not.

Reciprocating in the dance that had begun in the close confines of the turbolift, Jien raked her nails through Isley's hair. This, in answer to the quest his hand was on, reacquainting himself with her body as he was. She had not altered her female form since last they had been intimate, and she found herself answering as quickly to his touch as before. He was, however, different in how he no longer held Human blood to balance the raw strength of his Romulan genes, so he did feel stronger to her. Of course, having learned to know him physically while he'd been his proper self - before his Correction - she much preferred him as he used to be. Not that it mattered in the heated moment, but she did feel the Romulan ridges of his forehead against her palm. A reminder of what they had been through on the Versant.

It was, actually, the first time she'd come to be intimate with anyone since then.

She decided, quite consciously, that she needed Isley to remind her - once more - of her own needs. To not be at the beck and call of alien entities or pollen, tormentors or the grief over the loss of others. This was just her, wanting him. Nothing more, nothing else. This was her choice, and she took it, for it would assert her own volition and needs.

"Hurry," she said against his lips, the intent quite plain. Time was short, and the opportunity for privacy right then and there. She re-sequenced her female form, making the uniform she'd mimicked vanish entirely. Inside the span of a couple of seconds, there was no cloth in the way for him - fading from his touch. Her morphogenic matrix was still healing from the Versant, but it was getting more limber by the day.

Still, she couldn't make Isley's clothing disappear. So with one arm around his neck, her legs around his waist, she reached down with her free hand to try and free him from his confines. Time was short, and so was her breath. She needed him right then and there, before the reality outside the turbolift might steal the moment they'd found together. Luckily enough, the surveillance system in the turbolifts held no vid-feed, merely internal sensors, and those readings would not offer any compromising data. Still, better safe than sorry.

"Thea," she managed, "pause and delete... this hour's sensor logs.... in this turbolift."

A mere chirp acknowledged the order, and once she'd freed Isley for their mutual needs, she guided him where he needed to be.

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #11 –
[Ensign Nathaniel Isley  | Turbolift | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Still somewhat hesitant despite his actions, they lessened at the feel of Jien's arms wrapping around his neck as they kissed passionately against the wall of the lift, losing themselves in the moment.

While the two of them no doubt had their issues and there was still some bad blood between them over the incident with Skye, that raw desire the two had for the other was still there it seemed. As evidenced by their current situation. He didn't know what it was or why they were like this but despite everything he had been there for her. After their two previous encounters he'd remained silent, keeping his and the Captain's pairings to himself given her position and both on Theta Eridani and at the Scion's Nest he had been there for her, despite everything between them, he had a loyalty to her. Before they had been together she was his Captain that was enough and now perhaps he was loyal to make up for his own past mistakes or perhaps it was something else that he didn't want to dwell too much on. Right now it didn't matter as they the passion took over.

Feeling her nails running through his hair in answer to his roaming hand, all doubts about whether this was the right thing to do or not were gone. He wanted her and she wanted him in the moment and that was all that mattered. As he squeezed her breast, it felt the same as the last time they had been together so she had seemingly kept her form the same despite being able to change it at will if she wanted. Although why he was thinking that in the moment he didn't know and soon the thought was gone as they continued their passionate embrace.

For the first time in a while he didn't think about his correction or what he used to be, what he was going to do about it, even with the ridges of his head pressing against the palm of Jien's hand, Nate felt like himself.

Her voice telling him to hurry against his lips pulled him out of his thoughts as he remembered exactly where they were, feeling her clothing disappear beneath his hand, replaced by the soft, warm flesh of her breast. Her breath was short as he felt her reaching down to free him for the confines of his pants, unable to simply will them away unlike her.

He hadn't given any thought to whatever survellace was in the lift or if Thea was watching them, nor did he really care at least not for his own sake anyway, he was an Ensign and already regarded as a screw up onboard so getting caught in this situation wasn't much to him but he cared for Jien given the fact she was the Captain and getting caught like this wouldn't do much for her and he wouldn't want that. Luckily she managed to breath out a command to Thea to delete any record of what happened in here as she finally freed him and guided him towards her core.

Not needing any more encouragement he slid himself inside her with a soft groan and started thrusting, driving his length deep inside her, using one hand and his body to keep her pinned against the wall as his hips pumped back and forth. With his added Romulan strength he found it much easier to do than before as he enjoyed the feel of her sex gripping him with every thrust.

Grunting as they continued to fuck he buried his head against her neck and started nibbling along it, making sure to not bite hard enough to leave any marks on her skin, although the temptation was certainly there to do so.

He wasn't sure what this meant, what would happen after they were done or if it would happen again but he certainly enjoyed it and as long as Jien did too that was all that mattered in the moment as the sounds of their shared passion echoed around them in the small confines of the lift.
 

Re: Day 09 [1910 hrs.] Happenstance

Reply #12 –
[ Captain Ives | Turbolifts | Deck 15 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] @TheSithChicken
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Finally, Isley was inside her once more, and until that moment, Jien hadn't quite realised how much she'd needed him. There was something about the way they fit together so perfectly, and the release that was so oft denied her because of her position aboard. Isley had been the first male she'd indulged herself with since many years, that time before the Niga incident, and here she was again, returning to him despite all the bad blood that had been raised between them.

She didn't remain still in his hold, instead using the side of the turbolift for leverage as she ground herself down unto him. She clenched her jaw hard as she gave voice to her satisfaction, and she dug her nails into his rear - her hand having found its way down below his waistline. She urged him on thus, wordlessly, as she undulated her hips and took as much of him as possible into herself. She could alter her sheath to fit him, but that wasn't necessary to begin with, ready as she'd been. Rather, she made sure to clamp down hard on him whilst they moved together, as if siphoning his length with each thrust he gave her.

His lips on her neck, and the rasping of his stubble, only heightened the sensation, and there would be no issue for her to remove any minor marks he'd sustain upon her skin.

Better yet than the experience of consensual passion was the remedial effect it had after her captivity. This was her choice, her wish, that was being granted. She was not at the mercy of the Scion in the darkness of his nest, but a willing and wanting person of her own volition and needs. It had taken more than a week of recovery and talks with those she trusted to share with, along with an away mission away from the ship, but she'd found herself without greater issue. The issues, with dreams and night-time shifting, had - of course - been quite dampened to begin with since she lacked the pain receptors that would have made her torment unbearable. There was simply no need for her to have the nervous system that might compromise her, so it hadn't been a part of her chosen forms to begin with. It was, perhaps, the sole reason she remained as sane as she was, given the nature of torment she'd undergone on the Versant.

Her nervous system was feeling quite the opposite of stimuli right then, however, as Isley brought her across the edge much more quickly than she'd imagined. She cried out, and shook in his strong grip - the shivers of pleasure crashing through her Chameloid frame. Breathlessly, her lips found their way to his ear. "Lie down... Your turn..."

- FIN
 
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