Sweet Serenity

Posted on 21 Oct 2016 @ 9:36pm by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Commodore Harvey Geisler

3,844 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 8 || 2130 hours

Joey walked into Harvey's quarters... what was to be her new home now... and brought the last load she planned to bring over for the day to the couch to set it down. There wasn't much left, but it would still take her a few more trips before everything was out. She stretched her arms above her head with a groan and moved to the bedroom to find Rico and Pequeno curled up together on the floor. A smile formed on her lips as she made her way over to them to crouch down and give each of them a scratch.

"That last load was just for you two spoiled pups, you know," she commented, knowing neither one of them really had any idea what she was saying to them. Of course, the fact Joey was talking to them was more than enough for them as a large white tail began to thump against the floor, which was followed by a much smaller black one. She scratched them for a couple more minutes, then got to her feet again to search for her significant other. There weren't many places he could be, and there was a possibility she may have missed him in the living room while she was distracted.

"Harvey?" she called, making her way back into the living room. It wasn't their first time spending the night together, but it was their first night officially living together, and she had to admit to being a little nervous. At the same time, she was excited, too. He was the last thing she would see before she fell asleep at night, and the first thing she'd see when she woke up. That only meant her days would begin and end on a high note.

Harvey had been behind the couch when Joey had reentered, trying to organize some of the things she'd brought into his--their--quarters. While he knew it would take a few days for her to settle in and to find a place for everything, Harvey wanted the room to look somewhat organized, especially since he was doubling it as his office for the moment. Already he'd had his first night visitor in the form of the Acting Operations Chief, and for as long as he'd be the ship's Captain, there would always be the possibility of more visits from other members of the crew. If he'd wanted to fly under the radar for a while with his and Joey's relationship, that would not last long with her living there.

Alas, he no longer cared about that. What mattered to him was the woman and the dogs who would now be with him on a daily basis.

In fact, he'd moved on to the newest items when Joey had returned to the living room. Standing and holding their feeding bowls, he asked her, "Where's the best place for these?"

Joey blinked when she saw him standing there. She must have been deep in her own little world to have not noticed him there. Her eyes went to the bowls he was holding. "I normally put them in the corner by the table so they'd be out of the way," she answered, moving over to him. "That was the last load I was going to bring. I'm going to pack everything else up and store it."

She'd brought the more important things over, and even then, a great deal of it was still packed up to be tucked in a corner somewhere. The only thing she wanted out were the roses he'd given her, the now fixed figurine her grandfather carved for her, and the hibiscus print blanket her grandmother made her. "We don't have to unpack anything else once the dogs things are taken care of."

Harvey looked at the table, then the floor, then back to Joey. "Eating near the table?" he murmured to himself. Harvey didn't exactly have a better option, so he began to walk over there to set them down. "We can pull out whatever you need to settle in. What's the saying? My place is your place?"

"Here... we can put them over here," she said, gesturing toward an empty space where they wouldn't be in the way. "They don't care where their bowls are as long as there's food in them when they're ready to eat. As for my stuff, we can introduce things gradually so you don't get overloaded with change. For now, this will work. I've got my clothes, the dogs, and some other things here already." She moved over to him once the bowls were settled on the floor and slipped an arm around his waist. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

A smile conquered his face as he slipped an arm around hers. "Of course," Harvey said, knowing he'd allowed himself to be alone for too long. He still wished the circumstances leading up to the development of their relationship were different, but the end result did not need any changing.

"I have to admit I was a bit shocked when you asked, but I'm beyond happy. You get to be the last person I see at night, and the first person I'll get to see when I wake up. No matter what happens throughout the day, they'll always start off on a positive note," she said, knowing she sounded a bit sappy, but it couldn't be helped. Harvey was definitely a bright spot in her life, and she had no intentions of taking that, or him, for granted. "Are you sure you're okay after earlier? I was trying not to make you uncomfortable."

Harvey scoffed. "Tell that to Lieutenant Astrid," he said, referencing the young engineer who'd tried to nuzzle up to him. "I have no idea what compelled her to do that."

"Alcohol," Joey began, fighting a frown. The girlfriend side of her wanted to seriously injure Astrid for what she'd done, but the officer side of her won out allowing her to do the right thing. "and you're an authority figure. Most women look at that and see it as the ultimate conquest. You're not a conquest, and it took every ounce of self control I had not to hurt her. You're a human being who has feelings, and shouldn't be treated like you're a piece of meat by anyone."

He couldn't help but to scoff once more. "Conquest," he muttered. She was right, but he had a different reasoning for that. Harvey simply didn't feel he was worthy of being someone's trophy. After all, what had he done in life to deserve such attention. "At least that's over. And I'm sure the Lieutenant is going to have several regrets of her own tomorrow."

"Oh, I can guarantee she'll have regrets in the morning," she said, taking his hand and moved over to the couch with him. "You're right, though. It's over now, and hopefully nothing like that ever happens again. You don't deserve to be pawed at by anyone. Not even me."

As they approached the couch, little Pequeno exited the bedroom with a piece of black cloth in his mouth. The sight amused Harvey as he'd given the pup an old rag he found in his trunk that had once protected something valuable. "It's the least of my worries," he said as they sat down. And it was true. As much as he wanted to separate the personal and professional parts of his life, being a Captain meant those roles would be forever intertwined. And until they were back in their Gamma Quadrant, thoughts of the Cochrane and her crew would never be far from his mind.

The crew of the Cochrane weren't far from her mind, either, and the waiting was beginning to eat away at her. The issue with that, though, no one could do anything about that without any information to go on. Getting to the place that likely had that information was taking longer than she would have liked. Especially when no one knew what was happened to the crew in the meantime. "I know it isn't, and we're going to get them back," she said, leaning forward to pet Pequeno when he came within reach. "You need to relax a bit. If you don't, you'll never fall asleep tonight."

Harvey sighed and nodded. Joey was absolutely right. The trouble was, Harvey didn't know what to do next. It had been years since he last shared his quarters with someone he loved. He'd become an expert at entertaining... well, occupying himself. Now that he had roommates, he was at a loss. "Right. Relax." He then leaned forward, just as Joey did, and scratched Pequeno behind his ears.

"Off with your shirt," she said when Pequeno decided he'd had enough love and went to go terrorize the newest piece of fabric in with his life. "Then lay down on your stomach. The floor will likely be the best place for what I have in mind."

"Okay," Harvey said without the slightest hesitation. He unbuttoned his shirt and draped it over the couch. Hesitation took hold for a moment, and Harvey quickly turned around and picked up the shirt and set it squarely on the seat of the couch, away from the small Pequeno's prying eyes. He then laid on the floor, his chest detecting the cold metal floor underneath the thin carpet.

The second he was settled down on the floor, Joey rose to her feet and pulled her heels off, placing them on the couch for the time being just in case Paqueno decided he had a fondness for shoes. Once that was done, she straddled his backside and rubbed her hands together to warm them up, then proceeded to place them against the small of his back. "Now, for you to relax," she said, working her hands upward toward his shoulders with the perfect amount of pressure to relieve tension. Once she got to his shoulders, she ran her thumbs over the muscles there and brought them in again, then moved them up his neck before moving them all the way back down to the small of his back once more.

"Mmmmm," Harvey uttered, enjoying the movement on his back. "That feels really good," he murmured, closing his eyes and surrendering to the massage. "Where'd you pick this up?"

"SAR training was eighteen months of hell and extremely sore muscles. Megan, my roommate, and I would take turns giving one another massages. They helped quite a bit," Joey answered as she repeated the entire process, focusing on the areas where tension tended to hang out the most. "Is it helping so far?"

Harvey groaned his acknowledgement as words could not express the feeling of some of the stress evaporating away. "You really never cease to amaze me, Joey," he said as Pequeno came back over to the couple, choosing to sit right next to Harvey and thwap his tail on his shoulder. "This one learns quickly, it seems."

"It does, and he seems to be fitting in rather nicely," she said, reaching out to pet Pequeno again before Rico gave a bark from where he was laying in the bedroom. The pup cocked his head to the side and took off as fast as his short little legs could take him after giving off a 'mighty' back of his own. Joey laughed and shook her head as she continued to move her hands over his back, neck and shoulders. She leaned down to press a kiss to the back of his neck. "Just relax, honey. I want you to be able to sleep."

Harvey smiled, his eyes closed as he let his body surrender to the movement on his back. "And if I fall asleep on the floor?" he asked, seriously thinking that something like that could happen.

Joey stilled her hands at the small of his back and smiled down at him. "I'd have to move you, though we can move this to the bedroom just in case you do fall asleep," she said, getting to her feet and holding her hands out so she could help him to his feet. Part of her hoped he knew she was doing this strictly for his benefit without any kind of ulterior motive. She wasn't that kind of woman. He deserved to have someone in his corner that would work for him when times were tough instead of against him. "You should probably get ready for bed, too. I'm going to do the same." As a matter of fact, she was still wearing the dress she wore to dinner.

The Captain hesitated in getting up, because he was comfortable and he didn't want her to stop doing what she was doing. He couldn't ignore how logical the idea was. If he were to fall asleep, the bed was the best place to be, and who knew who would awake him in the middle of the night if he remained on the floor. Slowly, Harvey pushed himself up and led Joey into the bedroom where Rico was still attacking the sock from earlier. Smiling at the dog, Harvey changed into his usual pair of sleep pants and a white shirt.

"I should be able to continue what I was doing with the shirt on," she said, watching as Pequeno gnawed away at the rag Harvey had given him earlier. Her, no... their, dogs were odd creatures, but the made up for it by being absolutely adorable. Joey laughed and changed into her own sleeping attire. When she was done, she moved over to Harvey and leaned in to kiss him. "Time to stretch back out on your stomach again."

Of course he shouldn't have put on the shirt. He was more tired than he thought if he allowed his habits to put him on autopilot. The combination of the kiss and Joey's sleepwear were barely enough to snap him out of it. He returned the kiss, and took off the shirt anyway. "Sounds good," he told her, stretching out on the bed with his back facing the ceiling.

Joey assumed her previous position and warmed her hands once again. Still, she wasn't interested in anything more than helping him get a good night's sleep. Placing her hands against the small of his back once more, she began to moved them along the same path she'd done when they were in the living room, focusing on the more tension prone areas that felt tight to the touch. "If you start to snore, I'll know you fell asleep," she said with a grin.

Harvey grunted as her hands worked on his back. "I don't snore," he protested before moaning a bit at the pressure to his tight muscles.

A laugh escaped her lips at his protest. After two nights with him, she could confirm he didn't snore, but it was still fun to pick on him a bit. "I know you don't snore. I'm only picking on you," Joey said, bringing her hands back down again, working the muscles there. It felt good knowing she was helping to relieve days worth of buildup so he'd be able to relax a bit. "Even if you did, I wouldn't have any problems with it."

It was his turn to laugh. If he had been snoring all these years, it would be very difficult to start changing that, though there were many remedies for snoring. He was most worried about what the addition of the dogs in his quarters would do to his nasal passages. Time would tell.

"Just think... soon we'll have all of our people back, then we'll be heading home. That's something to look forward to. I'll do whatever I can to make this a reality... even if it means using myself as collateral for what we need," she said softly as her hands continued to move over his back. She wouldn't stay on Razmena, though. Joey would fight tooth and nail to get away the second they had what they needed. "Whatever it takes." She waited for him to roll over so he could look at her, but she didn't think he'd yell.

Collateral? His closed eyes shot open at the mention of the word, and adrenaline surged at the words Whatever it takes. While that may have been his own private marching orders, he hadn't expected anyone else, much less Joey, to adopt that attitude. He rolled over on the bed and looked up at her. "No one," he said, his tone stern, "will be used for collateral. We might be on our own, but we can't lose what makes us who we are."

"You can't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing," she pointed out, looking down at him since she was still straddling his midsection. Why was it okay for him to do, but not for anyone else? And being the Captain wasn't a good enough answer for her. In fact, that was the very reason he needed to be kept safe. Hundreds of lives depended on him for so many different things. "The safety of everyone going to Razmena is important to both of us, and we'll do what we can to make sure no living being has to be used as collateral. That being said, we'll get what we need somehow. I'm sorry, Harvey. I didn't mean to upset you like that. I promise you here and now that I will not do anything like that."

Harvey sighed. "It's in my nature to think the same thing," he told her. "It's like at dinner tonight. I can't just separate Captain Geisler from Harvey. There's five hundred people on this ship, and another hundred and fifty whom no one knows what's happening to them. I can't not do what I can to get them back."

"I know you want to separate the two, but it's going to be next to impossible to do. I'm the same way. It's all about finding a balance between the two. You don't have to stop being Captain Geisler, but you do have to give Harvey a chance to breathe. We've all been through hell lately, and the fact that you've allowed yourself the chance to relax a bit means you're going to be at the top of your game when the time comes. We both will be," Joey said, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. "I know I mentioned I wouldn't say it again, but you... all of you... is what made me fall in love with you. Your heart. Your selflessness. Your caring nature. I can go on and on. You are everything a man should be as far as I'm concerned, and there's not a single thing about you I would ever change."

Harvey let her words sink in. Separating the parts of him wasn't on the agenda, rather he was focusing on discovering the parts of him that he'd lost over time. Joey had a point. Harvey Geisler was a sum of his parts -- all of his parts. He felt like he was growing and was more of a man than the shell that took command those months ago. Many had a hand in restoring his soul, but he could not deny that Joey had been able to push him farther in the last couple weeks than anyone so far.

Allowing the tone to change with the levity of her last few words, Harvey slipped his arms around her, taking advantage of how close she was to him. "Except the snoring," he said, delivering the deadpan line.

She laughed and kissed him softly, looking into his deep brown eyes. "Not even the snoring," she said with a smile. What was it about the man lying beneath her that made her feel whole again? She'd been speaking nothing but the truth when she said there wasn't a thing about him she would ever change. "You once told me you would be in my life for as long as I wanted you to be. I'm saying the same thing to you right now. Good times, bad times and everything in between... I'll be with you every step of the way as long as you want me to be."

He smiled and pulled her closer. "That right there," he told her, "is worth coming back for." He then raised his head just enough to meet her lips and deliver a kiss.

She kissed him, allowing it to linger a bit longer than she meant to, but it was worth it for her. She slipped her fingers into his hair with a smile. "I should move now so you can get some sleep," she said softly, pressing another soft kiss to his lips. But despite saying it, she remained where she was for a few more moments to enjoy their closeness. Of course, she didn't want him to protest, either, so she started the process of slipping off of him.

To say he was tempted to keep her close was an understatement. Harvey knew it was important to take it slow. If anything, he didn't want this relationship to be built upon reactions and coping due to rough situations. He'd be there for her, just like she would be there for him. For now, this would have to suffice. He was looking forward to, when this was all over, finding a remote place in the universe for some well-deserved rest and relaxation. "You need it just as much as I do," he told her, rising from the bed and moving to the head of the bed to pull back the covers.

Joey moved to the other side of the bed and helped turn the covers back with a smile. Like him, she was quite tempted, but the time just wasn't right. Not when there were still over a hundred people unaccounted for and going through unimaginable acts. A frown formed as she settled on the bed. "I've gotten used to sleepless nights over the years, but I am going to try," she said softly, wishing she hadn't thought about what could have been going on.

She stretched out on the bed and laid her head on her pillow, then opened her arms to him with a smile. "At least I can scratch your head. That should help finish up what the massage started."

He joined her willingly, pulling the covers over himself as he entered the bed. Harvey closed his eyes as he laid beside her, taking in a deep breath at the same time. While his body began to settle down, Harvey's right arm slipped underneath Joey to pull her close for the night.

"Goodnight, Harvey," Joey whispered once she was settled again, then pressed a kiss to his temple. She brought her hand up and rested it against the top of his head so she could scratch it gently until he fell asleep.

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