So tense

Posted on Wed Aug 14th, 2019 @ 8:07pm by Lieutenant Jack Carver & Captain Abigail Laurens

Mission: War and Peacekeeping
Location: Jack's quarters
Timeline: Post-fanning the flames

They hadn't gone far from the lounge, but neither of them had spoken yet. As they rounded the corner, she stopped walking and looked around, trying to take stock of where they were. Finally, with a heavy sigh, she turned toward him, casting yet another look over his form before she spoke softly. "I'm not going to ask what the hell happened, I'm sure those reports will be on my desk when I get to my office... just... are you okay?"

"Oh I'm fine." he offered with a grin, still holding his handkerchief to his face until the bleeding had stopped completely. He'd found his missing tooth and was carrying it with him as well. Some time later he'd go by medical and have it replaced. "It's just a busted lip. You should've seen me when little Jenny was being bullied back home when I was 11." Beat. "Yes I had to go to the hospital, but you should've seen those bullies."

"I guess we should walk toward sickbay," she said quietly, not entirely convinced by his words. Reaching up, she pulled his hand holding the handkerchief away from his face, taking a look at the most obvious of injuries before releasing his hand again. "Definitely sickbay," she said quietly. "Come on, turbo lift is this way."

"Oh come on." He rolled his eyes. "It's just a busted lip and a cracked nose. I'd rather just have a sit down and a stiff drink." Jack harumphed. "I'll get my tooth replaced tomorrow."

"But you're hurt," Abigail said simply, her voice remaining quiet.

He took her hands in his and smiled at her with a rogueish twinkle of amusement. "Well, barely. And I'd love to just have a sit and a stiff drink and enjoy your company. It's just a scratch. I've had worse and been told to walk it off - you don't have to mother me, I'm a big boy. Can put on my own pants and everything."

She drew in a breath, holding it for a moment before she finally nodded. "Alright, but if you wake up dead my conscience is clean, I tried to get you to go to sickbay," she retorted. "Where do you want to go to have a drink?"

He rolled his eyes, actual annoyance briefly seen in his expression now. "Nobody's ever died from a busted lip, alright? I'm fine." he sighed, though his rogueish smile returning quickly. "My quarters?"

"Sure," she said with a faint smile as they started walking again, her hand still in his. "You'll have to lead the way, I'm not quite that familiar with everyone's accommodations yet."

"I'm sequestered away from the other officers, guess they can't handle my rugged charms." He winked. "I'm actually down next to the through-deck hangar. Cuts down on response time in case of an emergency." Jack explained, leading her to a nearby turbo lift, dabbing at his face a bit with the handkerchief. The bleeding had stopped by now.

As they stepped into the turbo lift Abigail let go of his hand, leaning back against the wall of the lift and watching him carefully. "How bad was the fight?" she asked quietly. "Anyone else hurt, aside from you?"

"Nah I got the worst of it. That one Trion, whatshisface, started looking for trouble. Things got heated, escalated. Gail stepped in, tried to keep things calm but whatshisface attacked her. I stepped in, caught the blow, dealt one back." he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, rubbing his cheeks a bit. "That seemed to satisfy him. Calmed him right down. Those were the only punches thrown." he said, opening his eyes again.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she pressed her fingertips into her temples. "So much for a nice, easy, peaceful taxi run," she muttered softly.

He chuckled. "Well, if this is the worst thing that happens all trip, I'd say you could still consider it a success." Jack smiled, stepping out the turbolift when it came to a stop. "Hey, lighten up, ok? You've got such a pretty smile. Be a shame not to wear it."

Abigail offered another faint smile, pushing herself away from teh wall as the doors of the turbo lift parted. "I think that drink is starting to sound really good," she said with a shake of her head. "Something tells me it's going to be a long night."

"Well, I have a choice of beers. Sorry, I don't do that cocktail, wine, mix drink or liquer stuff." he made a face, walking her to his quarters. They weren't far.

Once inside and the lights turned on she'd see some simple decorations. A few posters, of various old and modern fighters, ranging from ancient propellor planes to state of the art, cutting edge ones. There were a few band posters too. Variou scale models of fighters, and a blood-red electric bass on a stand.

"So, what'll you have? Pilsner, pale beer, stout, triple or bock? Or something replicated?" as he headed into his bathroom area to freshen up a bit.

"I'll just replicate a glass of spring wine," Abigail said with a smile. "What do you want? I can get it for you if you like?"

"I'll have a stout. Uhm - kitchen. Fridge. Black bottle, 'Guinness'. And replicate a chilled and damp pint glass for me? Thank you." The sound of water could be heard as he got cleaned up and changed.

Following his directions, she retrieved the stout, replicated the glass and set them on the coffee table for him as she replicated her own glass of wine, taking a sip and sighing softly as she took a seat on the couch and waited for him to return.

It didn't take long before he came back out, wearing simple jeans and a t-shirt, his hair slightly damp and his face cleaned up. He gave her a smile as he sat down and leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment. "Computer. Music. Soft. Hmmmm. Saint Preux. Concerto pour une voix."

A melodic piece of classical music sounded, backing a female voice singing a melody without words.

Abigail remained silent for a long moment, watching him and listening to the music as she sipped at her wine. "Well, you don't look quite so terrible after a shower," she finally said with a half smile. "Feel better too?"

"Yeah. Bit of a headache, but I'll be fine. Promise." he smiled, finally pouring himself his Guinness, raising his glass to her before taking a sip. "Ooof. That hits the spot." Beat. "You ok?"

Abigail nodded slowly. "Just thinking about the mountain of reports that will be waiting on my desk and the reports I'm going to have to file to Starfleet about this incident, especially given it should never have happened. We had procedures in place to stop this."

"Can't be helped. Comes with the job." Jack sighed. "I sympathise though. Already dislike the amount of paperwork that comes with being a CAG." Beat. "Tell you what. When you're done with those reports I'll take you flying on the holodeck. I've got a few programs that might be fun to run."

She offered a smile and took a sip of her wine. "Sure, that sounds like it could be fun," she said softly. "At the very least it will be a nice distraction."

He looked at her for a moment, regarding her, before setting his drink down and standing up, moving behind her and starting to massage her shoulders. "You sure you're ok? You seem very tired. And tense. Seem like you could use some of this."

At the feel of his hands on her shoulders, Abigail sighed audibly, setting her wine glass down and pulling her long hair forward over one shoulder and closed her eyes. "Oh, I certainly won't complain," she murmured softly.

He figured she really needed this and just remained silent, slowly working out the knots in her shoulders with strong, practised fingers. Soft where appropriate, forceful where needed. Meanwhile the music just played in the background. Melodic, beautiful.

"The more I think about it," Abigail said quietly, her words carefully chosen and almost hesitant as they were spoken. "The more I think about what's going on with Trion, with all of this, it feels more and more like something is rotten in the state of Denmark." She fell silent again, her focus turning back to his hands on her shoulders, twisting the ends of her hair around her fingers.

"Yes, and sky is blue, grass is green and cows fart." Jack chuckled softly. "How do they expect to be a productive part of an interstellar government if they can't even agree on who is in charge of their own little ball of dirt. But, nobody asked me my opinion, and I'm more than happy to stay outside of their little squabbles." Beat. "Until they start attacking my crewmates that is."

There was a soft sigh of contentment as Abigail kept her eyes closed, just relaxing under his touch. "That's the thing," she finally murmured quietly. "I have a feeling someone isn't playing by those rules..."

"Only one thing to do. Watch 'em closely and see what happens." Beat. "That's two things, I suppose. Well, you've made your preparations, now all you can do is wait and see." He mused,

Abigail laughed softly, straightening her back and turned to look at him. "Well at least your massage skills are better than your counting skills," she retorted with a cheeky smile.

"Hey now, I know you hired me for my good looks, charming smile and ability to point a flight stick in the general direction of the bad guys and pull a trigger. Ain't nothing about counting in there." he grinned. "So, how much of a massage do you want?"

"Oh don't stop on my account," Abigail replied with a laugh, turning away from him again and pulling her hair foward back over her shoulder. "I don't even remember the last time I had a good massage, it would have to have been years..." her voice trailed off and she shook her head slightly, lapsing into silence.

"Well, then, come with me." he smiled softly, offering her a hand up. "And make yourself comfortable on the bed, face down. You've got a lot of tension that needs addressed."

Moving to sit on the edge of the bed, Abigail pulled her boots off and tucked them neatly beside the bed before shrugging out of her jacket, folding it and setting it on top of her boots before she lay on the bed, pushing the pillow away and resting her face sideways on her hands. "You know, normally I'd expect you to at least take me to dinner before you get me into bed," she replied teasingly.

"We can always take this to the couch if you prefer." Jack mused, placing his hands on her shoulders and starting his massage, slow and steady. "Just figured this'd be more comfortable for you. Geez, how long ago since you had one of these?"

"I don't know, I guess maybe five years or so?" Abigail sighed contentedly under his careful touch. "I've been busy," she closed her eyes, feeling the tension starting to ebb from her shoulders. "Maybe I should find time more often, I forgot how good it feels..."