CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

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CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

January 22, 2019, 08:21:32 PM

After the Valravn fighters had been flown down into the Fighter Bay proper, Liam's team began to prepare all the birds that were due to launch, arming them as per orders from the SCO or by preference of the fighter pilots. Liam did not know from whom his specs came from, and he really didn't care beyond the fact that his team needed to get all the weapon configurations in place. The specifics were secondary to him, but he did notice that the Valkyries and the Valravns - along with the upgraded Gryphon that Havenborn was still flying - were being fitted for battle against starships rather than other fighter craft. Prudent, given that they were about to go head-to-head with a Borg invasion.

When he gave that some thought, Liam found that he couldn't very well drop it.

The Borg, of all things. They may have fought the Savi in the Fighter Bay a few days ago, and they had been boarded by Klingons. But this was the Borg, of all things. The Federation's track record with the Borg was not stellar, to say the least. Countless ships destroyed, thousands of people assimilated, and it had only been one or two cubes at the time. According to rumour, this was a full scale invasion. It would not just be one cube. Not two. They were coming to claim the Alpha Quadrant as a whole.

On impulse, and against his principles, Liam had begun to type the message before he realised what he was doing.

MEET ME IN THE DECK CREW OFFICE, PLEASE?

He took a deep breath, before hitting send, and then made his way there, leaving his able-bodied team to handle the fighters. Once he was in the office, he was pleased to see it vacated. None of the other Chiefs were there, and while he waited, Liam began to pace the room. It was far different from the office on the other side of the bay, which he had met her in the day before. More practical. Barren aside from the desks and the chairs, more or less.

When the sliding doors finally opened, Liam paused his pacing steps and turned, looking at her.

He had no words to offer. They were alone. He walked up to her, and he ran his arms around her. He hugged her close to his chest. There were no words needed. He suspected she knew where they were heading, and what might be their fate, should the Theurgy not seal those apertures.

"I won't let them take you," he said quietly into her hair.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

Reply #1 – January 22, 2019, 09:18:51 PM

[CPO Eun Sae Ji | On the Eve of Nightmares | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | Theurgy]
@Auctor Lucan

She had been busy.

Fighters needed a lot of maintenance and upgrades in the short window between them finishing up the battles that had already had happened and the one they were currently heading for. The Korean woman swallowed heavily as she leaned heavily against one of the fighters while, once more, one of her people was briefing her on something that needed to be done. She knew that they were just doing their jobs. Everyone was keyed up and looking for any and all work that would allow them to just keep their minds off of what was coming. Many people on this ship would die, and many of them would lose people that were close to them and important to them. Ji finally, actually, had someone important to her and trying not to think about Liam being taken from her was something that was terrorizing her internal monologue.

“Is it vital for this battle?” Ji asked already knowing the answer that her junior was going to tell her. The young man that stood in front of her had likely never seen a ship before the Theurgy. Ji watched him for a moment as he went through the list of 'necessities' and then his shoulders slump.

“No ma'am.” he admitted. “It's just.. it could be beneifical.”

“No, it wouldn't because if something gets fucked then they're dead in space and we can't have a fighter down right now. We need them all out there. If you want to upgrade the fuel impulsion system when they get back and we aren't about to fight some body-hungry robotic fuckers then you can go to town. Until then, you work on the necessities and leave the rest. Make a note of the work you want to do and leave it at that.”

He twisted his lips to the side for a moment and then he turned to head back to work. “Hey!” she called after him causing his shoulders to tighten as he turned on his heel waiting for a reprimand for not having called her by her rank or anything like he should have done. “Keep your chin up, this is the Theurgy, we don't go down lightly.” she gave him a grin.

The spirits inside the boy brightened and he turned to head off giving her a wave over his shoulder as he ran off towards the fighter he had been assigned to. Some of the other guys were working on her already and they grinned when he came back. They probably sent him off thinking that Ji would go off on him for being young and an idiot. She flipped them all off causing a bit of laughter which was nice considering the weight of the day right now. She grinned and shook her head. They were an odd bunch down here, but they were her bunch. She turned to go check on the next set of fighters but paused as a buzz sounded from her pocket. Pulling it out she brushed her thumb across the padd sensor to unlock it and was surprised to see a message from Liam.

To meet him in the office.

Ji knew it was likely for business purposes. They were on the deck right now which was all business and no fun by his own rules. She reached for the rag in her other pocket and wiped futiley at some of the grease that colored her pale fingers as she made her way across the deck. She was in her yellow maintenance bay suit with the sleeves rolled up close to her elbow because she didn't like them and they got in her way. She wished there was a better version .. short sleeved, at least. But, she made do with what she had. Crossing the deck she popped her PADD back into her pocket and looked down at her hands again. Yeah that didn't help at all. she shook her head and shoved the rag into her back pocket before she palmed the door open.

Liam was already in there, and her heart thumped heavily in her chest, at the mere sight of him. Stepping in, the door closed behind her, and she looked up expecting him to ask her how the deck was doing. Who still needed maintenance, who was ready to fly, what mechanics were kicking ass and taking greasy names and which ones needed a kick in the ass. But, instead, he practically attacked her. Wrapping his arms around her slender body, she stiffened in surprise as he held her tightly. Tears prickled at her eyes as he held her as though she was the most precious thing in his world. Ji's arms wrapped around him and clung to his uniform wrinkling it in the back as she stood there embraced in his arms.

His words caused tears to fall down her cheeks. His lips against her hair. She was much shorter than him but she didn't care in the least. She really liked their size difference, and besides, it was so nice to be enveloped in him fully.

“If .. if I'm in danger... of being taken, kill me first.” Ji whispered softly as she pulled back her head so that she could look into those blue eyes that made her knees weak from the very beginning. Sitting on the steps of the Valravyn looking through the manual and reading it together. The way that it was easy to be around him. The way that it was like breathing.. had been refreshing and honestly she had never felt it with anyone else.

“I will... I will do anything in my power to save your life, Liam. No matter what happens, this last week... has been.. has been heaven for me. Knowing you, being with you, learning you. Our fights, our dinners, stolen moments like this one. It's been.. perfect Liam, thank you.. thank you for each and every day.” she whispered as tears brushed down her cheeks softly, the fear of what was to come weighing heavily on her shoulders.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

Reply #2 – January 28, 2019, 08:14:47 PM

Ji asked him for the impossible, to kill her, and Liam felt his face twisting in a premonition of despair.

How was he supposed to do that? She pulled back her head to look at him, and he tried to school his face from showing how unprepared he was to commit such an act. He hoped she didn't see it, instead trying to assume some kind of stoic, serious expression. He looked down upon her beautiful face, and as strong as he tried to be for her, he couldn't help how he had to blink away the blurriness in his eyes. In that moment, feeling how he reacted to the idea of having to kill her to spare her for the Borg, he wanted to cry out, and tell her he couldn't do it, but instead he just nodded, wordlessly lying to her because he...

Because he...

She spoke, but it felt like his inside was twisted because of the dawning of a certain realisation. An understanding that could not be more ill timed. For how could she give it any credence, when spoken in evident desperation? How could he tell her what he felt, without her rebuking his words as a spur of the moment? This last moment they might share, could anything they'd say have any meaning, or would it all just be a testament to their fear?

Though Ji spoke of this week they had shared together, since he'd come aboard from the Resolve. Their time bespoken in such a sweet way that it felt like their life - if so short - together passed before Liam's eyes. His feelings mirrored hers, in how he didn't even regret their fight any more. It had bonded them closer together, and if anything showed him how much it meant to Ji, she was shedding the tears he'd managed to suppress. Only it merely caused his face to crumple once more, a frown of fear - of loosing her - passing over his countenance.

He unfolded his arms from her, only to frame that sweet, mischievous and yet fierce face of hers in his calloused hands. The words came unbidden, unable to be stopped. There was no consideration to make. No doubt or plans. Just the honest truth.

"I love you, Eun Sae Ji," he said.

And if the feelings for her weren't' a miracle, in how they'd bloomed so far, then the fact that his voice didn't crack certainly was.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

Reply #3 – January 31, 2019, 03:17:24 PM

[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Goodbyes Are Too Hard | Confessions of Necessity | Too Fast – Just Right | Now is the Time to Say it All]
@Auctor Lucan

Ji knew her request was unfair.

She also knew that if it was Liam in danger, while hard, she felt that she would be strong enough to take him down. She would rather make sure he ended his life as a human who loved racing on Mars, sleeping with half his covers on the floor, and trying new food but not liking the spicy food of Korea. She wanted to remember him as that, she wanted him to be human, to be himself. She hoped that it was a decision that neither of them would have to come to but she certainly didn't want to finish her life as part of a hive mind. To bleed out all the personality of her. To be gone, dead to all those she knew, she might as well just be actually dead.

She could see the realization of her request come over his face. She could understand how hard it was to hear and how much she wished she had never had to say the words. But they were Fleet, they both knew the dangers of facing off against the Borg. If they were boarded, it was likely they wouldn't win the battle. It was too hard, too impossible. No, they were going to have to be strong for one another. Because the nanobots would find them no matter where they hid, and assimilation wasn't voluntary.

He pulled back slightly, and cupped her face. Rough thumbs brushing at the soft tears that fell down her cheeks. Leaving chilled swaths across her cheeks where the moisture slid across the skin there. Only to be warmed again by his beautiful palms. One of her hands rose and clasped him on the wrist, holding his hand there slightly. Her watery brown eyes shifted up to the lovely blue of the man in front of her.

Then he spoke.

The world stood still.

Her lungs stopped moving.

Her jaw dropped along with her heart into her stomach.

For a long moment Ji just stood there staring at him. Trying to get her body restarted. He had surprised her, so very much. She had tried really hard not to use the L word for the most part of just.. not wanting to run Liam off. They had only been together a short time, and Ji knew that she was quick to fall, and even quicker to get burned. Thus, she had kept her thoughts and feelings to herself wanting to allow things to develop slowly. But, her anger at the fact that he wanted to keep her hidden, the way that she looked around the deck for him at many points in the day, the way she messaged him privately with little messages to get him through the day. Sometimes they were simple like 'if you bend over again you may not make it to your Quarters alone tonight' and sometimes they were 'I hope you have a great day'.

A slow smile crossed her face as she leaned up and pressed her lips against his in a heated and passionate kiss. Fingers raking through that hair she loved so much. She had no idea how learning about the new fighters on deck had sparked this. How working on them in a holodeck had taken it even further, and then.. this. Together. Working side by side and being a strong and sturdy team no matter what. As the kiss broke she was breathing heavily, her chest heaving against his own.

“I love you too, Liam Herrold. So don't you go do something stupid.” she whispered softly her eyes opened, and she looked up so their eyes would meet again. A bright and happy smile on her face radiating out of her eyes. “When we get through this... you and I are going to be amazing. We'll be a force to be recognized on this ship. I'm going to spend all my free time soaking up yours.” she chuckled softly brushing her fingers against his short hair, and keeping him as close as possible. Breathing in his breath, and trying to soak up as much time as she could.

Once things got hectic it would be hard to have a stolen moment. It would be hard to come back together. They had fought the Asaurians together, they had lived, hurt but alive. They had been too hurt to fight the Klingon. But, this would be different all together.

“No matter what happens, know you carry my heart with you.”

Re: CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

Reply #4 – February 07, 2019, 12:16:51 AM

To hear her confess to the same feelings as he harbored towards her, it was blissful to hear.

So was the kiss she'd shared with him directly after, one foreshadowing her words quite well. There might not have been any time, the deck crew out there and waiting for them, but as unconsummated as this exchange was in terms of desires, what their bodies may want was secondary to the import of the moment. This promise shared, and hope for more. Feeling her chest heave against his immediately after, he might have stirred in answer, but his eyes were on hers, just as his hands remained in their embrace around her frame.

"And you carry mine," he said to her, his voice thick after the lasting kiss. He cleared his throat in light embarrassment. "I only wish we had more time, and that the depth of my feelings had been more obvious to me sooner. I wish I had known how deeply I felt for you, so that we'd have more time... I..."

He trailed off, shaking his head. "I wish I could have been with you longer, and showed you the rover I used on Mars. I wish I could have taken you across the dunes on the holodeck, at least, and and felt free to express my feelings for you. I wish you could have taken me to that beach. To share that freedom with you... "

The notion that this may be the last time they'd share together lingered still, and it made his chest hurt. He kissed her once more, this time even pushing her up against the bulkhead next to the door, seizing the moment to make the most of it, in fear that they would not make it.

Right then, right there, he did not care if someone might walk in and see them. As much as he wanted her, he knew it was a bad idea to indulge. Their teams waited for them, but as he kissed her, he couldn't pay privacy any heed. Let them watch, if they were only to share in one last kiss.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

Reply #5 – February 09, 2019, 03:17:35 PM

[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Finding Time | Making Time | Love Knows No Bounds | Throwing the Rules Away]
@Auctor Lucan

She carried his heart.

The smile that warmed her face was second to none. These confessions felt as though, something would happen, a foreshadowing. If this were some movie that would be exactly what happened. Intense time together and then one of them died during the massive battle scene. If not, they got really hurt. Ji hoped that wasn't going to happen in real life. She cared so much for Liam, it was the first time in her life she had truly fallen in love. She had liked Sten, hoped that feelings could develop with Sten back when they had shared some nights together. But, it hadn't, and now, she had a feeling that her heart was waiting for Liam even though she hadn't met him yet.

Now she had Liam, her sweet Liam. He was taller than her, so much so, that she had to crane her neck to see him but she never once minded. She loved sleeping beside him, she loved working beside him, she love being around him. Even when their schedules didn't meld and they were busy, just knowing he was there brought that 'warm and fuzzy' feeling to her. She felt that, overall, outside of Sten's office, they had been very professional about their relationship on deck. She knew, that some of her crew had figured it out. She had held Liam's hand and they had slept in each other's Quarters enough.

No one seemed to mind, that she could tell.

His voice was thick and heavy as he spoke to her about how he wished he had realized his feelings more quickly. That he wished they had more time. He wanted to show her the dunes of Mars and take her racing on his rover. He wanted to go to the beach with her, her own date-dream. She smiled softly, tears cascaded softly down her cheeks as all the hope of the future and all the things they wanted to share with one another seemed as though they may never happen.

It wasn't overly dramatic, they were dealing with the Borg. It was a very possible outcome.

“Afterwards. When this is all over. I want to go to Mars with you.” she said softly, her dark eyes boring into his light colored ones. “I want to see your rover, and ride over the dunes. I want to spend time on that beach, just us.” she whispered softly. Holodeck or not, she didn't care how it happened as long as it was possible. She wanted to experience more with Liam and build a deeper relationship. She loved him and truly wanted to know as much as she could about it. She wanted to grow together and become a formidable team on and off the deck. “I'm going to take you to Jeju, Oppa.” she whispered softly. “When this is over, I'm going to take you there.”

He kissed her then, and she gasped at the emotions that were poured between their lips. She wrapped her arms around him tightly. She felt him push her back into the bulkhead right next to the door. The metal against her back was solid and holding onto him felt rather perfect. She didn't give a shit who saw them, but then she never had. It had always been whatever felt right at the time. She only refrained out of respect for Liam's wishes. She had never cared, and still didn't. The fact that he was here kissing her told of the weight of the situation around them.

They may not make it, the odds didn't look good in the least.

She kissed him and held him as close to her as she possibly could. As the kiss came to a break for air she looked into his eyes and stroked over his cheeks. “Sa rang hae.” she whispered softly, she knew he didn't know what it meant, but it was 'I love you' in her own language. Her own native tongue because it was her native tongue it rolled off beautifully. She smiled up at him, and kissed hips lips again. She didn't want him to move. She didn't want him going anywhere but she knew they had no choices. Kissing her lips across his jaw she hugged him tightly breathing heavily.

She wanted him, how she wanted him.

The crew were waiting on them though. They needed orders, they needed support, they needed their leaders. She cupped his cheek.

“Don't you go anywhere today, Liam Herrold.” Her heart hurt, the pressure in her chest was so great, they would be serving on the same deck. They would be fighting side by side and if they were boarded who knew how things would go. “I wish time would stop, for a little while. I don't want to go back out there. I don't want to let you go.” she whispered as she rested her forehead against his, trying not to kiss him again because if they kissed again, they wouldn't leave for another fifteen minutes at least.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

Reply #6 – February 15, 2019, 02:14:43 AM

Oh, how he shared her sentiment. Liam did not wish to leave either. He had no interest to go back out there. Not when he could stay with Ji. It was too hard to tear himself away from her, when the only prospect they had was duty and another battle. Not just any battle either, but one where they'd face the Federation's greatest known enemy.

Sweet words against his lips, so warm in sound and texture. Leaning down as he was, with his forehead against hers, he had to crane his neck. It was their height difference that had him change his embrace around her a little bit. He picked her up, hoisting her up against the bulkhead so that their eyes were level. So that he could kiss her once more. He simply didn't want to stop, since stopping meant that reality would return, and it was reality he sought to escape in her embrace.

It seemed so cruel, that they got so little time together, and that either - or both of them - might die or become assimilated. It was all too unfair.

"I don't want to leave either," he confessed against her lips, feeling her warm breath against his face. He had his hands underneath her thighs and bottom, keeping her face level with his own, and it served as a reminder about other times in such a close embrace, when there were no jumpsuits or clothing separating them. It was intoxicating, the experience of how well they fit together, physically, and they hadn't even begun to truly explore that. Other couples would have years to learn what the other wanted best, while they were still fumbling in the dark in regard to preferences. It was fun, the needs and desires paramount, but a lot of fumbling guesswork still.

"We can't make time stop," he murmured with regret, and slanted his lips across hers, feeling her body against his own when he pushed her against the bulkhead. In spite of their pending duties, just outside the sliding door, he found himself quickening to her warmth. It was such a bittersweet notion, to want her when he couldn't have her, making this final moment of confessions all the more difficult. "I wish we could too."

When Liam emphasised his wishes with another kiss, he couldn't help but seek her tongue with his own, to taste her fully once again, even though that kind of kiss was the first step down a path they were forbidden to take. Not just in the sense of propriety, but since they were all waiting for them out there. It was so easy to make excuses, and think they didn't need them. In fact, they were quite capable without them, were't they?

When he parted his lips from hers anew, for breath, his voice was thick. He was on the verge of asking the computer to seal the door, in complete disregard of duty. "To put it mildly," he grated, his breath uneven, "I'd say we share hope of a new tomorrow."

Re: CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

Reply #7 – February 15, 2019, 10:24:03 PM

[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Quiet Moments | How Long Can We Stay | Never Say Goodbye | Always Time for Love]
@Auctor Lucan

His hands shifted.

Suddenly she was sliding up the bulk head, her hair moving against the metal as he brought her up to his level holding her there. She clung onto him with her legs and her arms. Not that she felt she needed to hold onto him for support but that she didnt want to be apart from him. He was kissing her again before she could even speak or ask anything. She pulled him as close as she could her strong arms keeping him securely against her. Her hand raked through the short hair on the back of his head. She kissed him as though this was the last time she would be kissing him. She didn't want it to be, she wanted years of kissing him, holding him, coming home to him. She wanted to make him Korean dishes and call him Oppa when he least expected it. She wanted to do so many things that they hadn't done yet. Visit beaches, Mars dune racing with him, watching him sleep because he fell asleep first. Listening to him talk about his life and learning more about his childhood growing up. She wanted to take him to a holo of Korea and take him to a street stall where they could eat fish cakes and duboki. She wanted so very much with him. There was so much yet to do. She wanted to put a stupid cheesy lock on the Namsan tower with their names on it.

Fuck! This could not be the end.

He wished they could stay, that they had time. His was kissing her every time he spoke. And she couldn't even wish for him to stop kissing so that she could speak as well. Because it was so good to kiss him, it made her heart thrum in her chest and it made her grip on the collar of his jumpsuit tighten as she tried to keep him as close to her as possible. She didn't need everything in the world, she just needed Liam, her Liam. Her sweet Liam the one that made her happy, and the one that was so scared that Sten was going to find out. She could give two middle fingers to Sten if he ever did. Right now, her entire being was wondering when she and Liam would be able to steal away again. The fear of the future settled heavily in them. Love had been confessed and yet it seemed that they were careening towards a possible destruction, and yet time seemed to stop because they could not go forward. Not without this battle being over, not without hoping and praying and begging the universe to let them both make it through unscathed because she needed Liam.

His voice was thick as he spoke again, and it did things to her stomach undoing her in ways that she needed and yet didn't have the time to entertain. She didn't have anything to say to his words she could only nod. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Ji wasn't one to cry, she really wasn't. She hadn't cried when Sten sent her to another ship, when she had come back and he had fucked her, she hadn't even cried when he had turned his back on her again after all of that. She cried now because she didn't want to lose this man. This man that was so sweet and loving and open. She didn't know how she had caught his eye, perhaps it was just the regular flirting, perhaps it was how much they shared about their lives and likes. Perhaps it was just time. Whatever it was the mere though to losing him today was everything she didn't want to think about.

“Li.” she whispered softly. “Saranghae” she whispered her love in her native language as she went back to kissing him. The tears only added some salt to their tongues as they clashed. Her fingers undid the zipper on his jump suit just as far as she could get it to go down and they began to explore his chest. Shaking slightly as she tried to memorize all there was to him. Everything that he had about him. All his muscles, where his tattoos lay, everything. She didn't think they had time to stay. They didn't, she knew they didn't, but she would take every damn second that she could. She pushed the jump suit off his shoulders, knowing that she couldn't get it off his arms right now because he was holding her up and they were busy kissing but his shoulders were favorite parts of his body. So she explored them with her calloused hands and enjoyed the kiss deepening. He was pushing her forward to the deck plating behind her as though he needed to push her through it. But she could feel him growing between the two of them and she still didn't stop. She knew if she kissed his neck it would be all over. It would send him over the edge of self control.

It always did.

She bit her lower lip as she finally pulled back from the kiss and she looked into his eyes. Swallowing heavily, she had to calm them down, but she couldn't. There was no shower, the fire suppression system wasn't a wet system. But even still the look of fire in his eyes. The fire that wanted her, she wanted it too, for it to consume her. She wanted to feel it and know it as she always did but this time with love thrown into the mix.

“When... we survive. I am going to spend hours... making love to you, Liam Herrold.” she whispered softly, she wanted to kiss him again, but if she kissed him she wouldn't be able to stop. So instead, she rose her hand, off of the collar of his suit and to his cheek. Brushing the pad of her thumb across his cheek bone softly. “I am going to take you to Korea. We are going to Mars. I want everything. All of it.”

Re: CH05: S [D06|1011] Shared Hope

Reply #8 – February 16, 2019, 05:01:19 PM

Oh, how hard it was to tear himself away from her, especially when he knew she wanted him too.

To give up this chance of a final moment together, when they had confessed to such deep feelings, it was among the most difficult things Liam had done in quite some time. Her nails had raked the skin of his shoulders, and he'd felt her appreciation in the minute pain. Her words, her confession about what she'd do with him if they survived, they certainly did not help cool him off. Quite the opposite.

Still, she was right. They would do Tactical CONN and Fighter Bay Ops both a disservice by being away in this most dire hour of need, where their work truly counted and made a great difference. They may just be NCO's, but they were loyal to... Ives? The mission? Liam honestly didn't know, the time since he'd stepped off the burning Resolve only a week past. On his part, he was loyal to the tenets of the Federation if anything, and it appeared the Theurgy was the only ship that could truly represent what the Federation used to be, before the Resolve was lost beyond Romulan space.

"Oh, I will hold you to that," he said, a mischievous grin touching his lips, "all of it, and more."

The last kiss he gave her was a more tender one. Softer, the promise given physical expression. And while he kissed her, he put her back down on the deck again. He only held her a bit longer to finish the kiss, and to let her regain her footing. Then, he let go, and began to straighten his jumpsuit a bit. He cleared his throat a little in slight embarrassment, clearly having gotten a bit carried away, but soon enough, he was representable.

"Let's make sure the fighters can do what they should, so that we can get out of here afterwards."

- FIN