Cause for Celebration

Posted on 30 Oct 2015 @ 9:54am by Commander C. Kos & Commander Terry Walsh

2,150 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Rude Awakening
Location: XO's Quarters

With the Black Hawk now underway, Mackenzie had settled back into her routine. Or at least as best she could given that she wasn't sleeping very well still. She tended to get up around 0545, collect information for her scheduled meetings for the day, and check her inbox for messages, all while having a cup of coffee. This took her to 0630, at which point she would get in the shower, dress, and head to her office, arriving a bit after 0700 She would work there, enjoying a second cup of coffee and a lite breakfast, saving some of her work for when she was on bridge duty. Unless she had meetings that took her elsewhere, she would head to the Bridge around 0900 to check in with Geisler.

Much of her day after this point was up to the schedule for the day, meetings with department chairs, personnel requests, and other administrative tasks occupied most of her time. When possible, she would break for lunch around 1200, though she often ate at her desk, preferring to work through her meal to get more done.

She tried to get a workout in around 1400, spending about 45 minutes in the gym complex. A quick shower and she was off to work her bridge shift.

After her shift in the big chair, she would head back to her quarters for a small meal and relaxation. Her favorite relaxation during shore leave had been Terry. And she still loved spending time with him, but she found it difficult to do so. Their different scheduled made things complicated, but the biggest issue was that she was trying to keep their relationship private. Because of that, she had refrained from having him come to her quarters since the crew had been recalled from leave. She didn't want rumors about her personal life circulating around the ship.

Terry had been busy all day. It started with a meeting with Bravo and Charlie Flight Leaders, then a sit-down with the Flight Boss and the Fighter Handling Officer, and ended with an official introduction to the entire staff, enlisted included, on the flight deck. Everything seemed to go well and almost everybody was happy to be back on the Hawk. Terry made a note to message his senior NCO’s to keep an eye out for “disgruntled employees.” The pilots, he could handle.

Then came the administrative side of things; which took up most of his day. A squadron of twenty fighters meant more than just twenty pilots. There were additional maintenance personnel, ordinance personnel, and crew chiefs just to name a few. And that meant quarters assignments; which is where the first problem happened. Apparently some of the pilots had been assigned with the enlisted and the enlisted assigned with the pilots. Terry got them straightened out and moved into the right places, but he still needed to get Mac to sign off on it officially. And while he was at it, he needed to run the flight training schedule by her that he put together. If they were expected to stay sharp, they needed to be out in the black as much as possible.

With that, he tapped his commbadge, “Walsh to Kos.”

Her lips curled into a smile hearing Terry's voice. "Yes Commander?"

“I know it’s after duty hours, Ma’am...sorry ‘bout that. But I’ve got a couple of administrative type things that I need to run by you for tomorrow. I want to get the squadron started off on the right foot. Soooo, if you don’t mind, permission to run them by you?” Truth be told, Terry was also looking for any excuse to see Mackenzie off duty and spend some time with her. And this seemed like as good an excuse as any. But now that he had played the administrative card, he had to come up with something else for the next time.

Mac was glad that Terry was keeping things professional over the comm. She didn't want to be part of the ship's gossip. Normally, she'd offer to meet in her office, but she didn't feel like getting dressed. Since getting back to her quarters after duty, she'd been lounging in shorts and a loose-fitting deep v-neck shirt. The idea of changing back into uniform just to spend time with Terry was off-putting. That they'd be in her office was even more abhorrent.

"If you don't mind coming by my quarters, we can go over them right now," she said, glancing at herself in the mirror. She wanted to make sure she looked presentable.

“Can do, Commander. Walsh out.” It took quite a bit of control to keep from sounding excited. He quickly pulled on the uniform undershirt and let it hang out over his pants. He left the jacket hanging over the back of the couch and grabbed the PADD off the table. Terry then headed out the door.

A few minutes later, Terry was standing outside Commander Kos’ quarters ringing the door chime.

Mackenzie activated the door from the small control panel on her coffee table. She watched the doors part to reveal Terry, standing in the corridor.

Terry walked in and noticed right away that these were definitely an XO’s quarters. They were much roomier. He looked around and saw Mackenzie sitting on the couch. Nice shirt, he thought.

As the doors closed behind Walsh, she patted the sofa next to her. "Join me?"

He smiled. “You don’t have to ask me twice,” he said. Terry walked over and sat down next to Mac. He put the PADD on the coffee table for now.

"Congratulations on the promotion. Harvey one-upped me. I put you in for Chief Flight Control Officer, but he had to go and give you a fighter squadron."

“Thanks,” he said. ‘Harvey’ huh...with no correction this time. Guess I’ll have to work a little harder. “Yeah, he told me that you did that before he offered the fighter squadron. Then he asked what I thought about it. I said I needed to tell you ‘thank you’ for the recommendation.” So Terry leaned in and whispered ‘thank you’ in Mackenzie's ear.

"No need to thank me," she responded, running her fingers across his cheek. "You deserved a promotion."

Sitting back, he continued. “You don’t strike me as the kind of woman that gets one-upped that often.”

She smiled. "It happens more than I'd like. But this was the first time Harvey beat me." She realized that this was the second time she'd mentioned Harvey, in familiar terms. She hoped that Terry wasn't bothered by it, but she didn't want to bring it up in case her raising the question is what caused the issue. She grabbed Walsh's arm and pulled it over her shoulder, as she curled up and rested her head on his chest. "We should celebrate," she said, nuzzling into his muscular torso.

Now this was comfortable. “I like that idea,” he said, giving her a gentle hug with the arm she moved. He enjoyed the moment, having her simply lay there. He took his other hand and ran it through her crimson locks and down her cheek, holding her face for a moment. He took a deep breath. “What are we celebrating, beautiful?” He knew full well what she was talking about, his promotion. But he just wanted to enjoy the moment. And be a little playful.

"You know!" she said, poking him in the side. "Your new pip. Your command." She knew he was joking with her, and she appreciated his playfulness. It was something that Harvey lacked. Or at least hadn't displayed yet.

Terry jumped a little each time Mackenzie poked him.  "Hey now. Be careful with that thing," he said, laughing.  "I already know you're my kryptonite.  You don't have to tickle me to prove it."  He took a deep breath to compose himself.

"So, how do you want to celebrate?"

"We could start with a bottle of wine, something in the Pinot Noir category. And then a few celebratory toasts, followed by some playful flirting. And then, well, you're a smart woman."

"I don't keep wine around," Mac reminded him. "I've got a couple of liquor options. And a small selection of non-replicated beer."

"Of course," she said with a coy smile, "I don't mind cutting to the chase."

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Surprise me then, babe,” he said. Terry watched her. “So how was your day?” he asked.

She had already gotten off the sofa and was crossing to the chiller she'd had installed when she came aboard. "Pretty standard," she said, perusing her beer collection. "You prefer ales or lagers?"

“I’ll have ale, if you don’t mind,” he said. “Standard days are nice. No surprises.” He was already more relaxed than what he had been during their first meeting. He smiled as he thought about just exactly where he was relaxing. Hanging out and relaxing in the XO’s quarters with the XO, with Mac.

She grabbed two large bottles from her chiller. Using the edge of the small counter, she popped off the caps before returning to the sofa. "Here you go," she said handing a bottle to Terry. "It's from Cygnus. It's hoppy, about on par with a double IPA, but also fruity like a cider," she explained. Mac had fallen in love with beer in the aftermath of the war. She'd developed a strong friendship with another junior engineer on the Murmansk and he had introduced Mac to the wide world of beer. Prior to then, she'd never really enjoyed beer, trending more towards cocktails.

"Tell me what you think." She took a long swig and enjoyed the strange combination of flavors dance across her palette.

Terry, being a connoisseur of wines rather than beer, followed Mac’s lead in taking a long swig. “You’re right, fruity like a cider.” He took another drink, not quite as long though. “And yet, hoppy. That’s an interesting combo, sweet and strong.” He took another swig and swished it this time to get the full effect. “I like it.” He smiled at Mackenzie. “Sweet and strong.”

She could feel her pale skin blush, a warm reddish glow spreading across her cheeks. "You need to stop that," she said, poking Terry in the shoulder.

“Oh I’ll think about it,” he said. “But you’re just too cute when you blush.” He then returned her playful poke, but in her ribs.

Kos finished her Cygnet ale, set the bottle on the coffee table and sat on Terry's lap, straddling his legs. "You should finish your beer," she said, a mischievous smile on her lips. She pulled off her shirt and threw it, playfully, in his face.

Terry looked at the shirt that had fallen between them, then at Mackenzie, then at his bottle. He quickly downed the rest of the ale and leaned forward to put the empty bottle on the coffee table. When he did, he put his other arm around Mac so that she wouldn’t fall backwards. Leaning back, he pulled off his shirt and said, “Turn about’s fair play.” But he tossed it behind the sofa. Instead, he put his hands around her waist, winked, and asked, “Ticklish, Mac?”

"One way to find out," she said playfully before giving the pilot a kiss that was a pretty good indication of what was on Kos' mind. As if straddling Terry's lap topless wasn't enough of a clue.

Terry waited until the kiss was over. “Wow, you...are...the...best,” he said, staring into her bright green eyes. He slowly moved his hands up to her ribs, wiggling his fingers as he went. Terry had picked up on exactly where she was going when Mackenzie took her seat. But he was being a little extra playful this time around.

She found mild tickling to be erotic, so she had no qualms about letting Terry's finger dance across her pale skin. She loved the sensation, the light finger touches against her sensitive sides. She closed her eyes a giggled as Terry moved his fingers up her torso.

It wasn’t exactly the response Terry was expecting, it was a whole lot better. Her giggling was terrific. His fingers eventually stopped their slow dance at her shoulders. He then gingerly pulled her in, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her.

After releasing her lips, he whispered in ancient Earth Gaelic, “Ta tu go h-aileann. It means, ‘You are beautiful." Then he paused, "muirnín.”

Mac smiled. She had no idea what the last word meant, but it didn't matter. She liked that someone as attractive as Terry found her beautiful. She leaned down and nibbled on Walsh's right ear before whispering, "Take off your pants."

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