Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Nash (Chief Engineer) in Academy Flashback - Soup for Two

Posted by Lieutenant Emily Fox (Counselor) in Academy Flashback - Soup for Two

Posted by Lieutenant Emily Fox (Counselor) in Academy Flashback - Soup for Two
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
SNIP
------------------------------------- Present Day, Atlantis -------------------------------------

“It took about ten minutes before the new stuff arrived and the old stuff was taken away,” Nash explained to Lauren, filling their glasses again and looking at the bottle, frowning that most of it had gone, then looking at the woman on the other side of the desk and pointing his finger at her. “You do NOT tell anyone, anyone about E-Dog, got it. Nobody, especially not Maybelle.”

“Ugh why would I ever do that,” Lauren wrinkled up her nose and gave a small disgusted grunt like sound shaking her head. “Everything we say here,” she pointed a finger and waggled it back and forth, “is considered privileged information. Sacred even,” she raised her glass in a toast. “Tell someone,” she repeated rolling her eyes. “You think I break that easy. I am dating Rand for God’s sake and if an intelligence officer can’t get me to talk who else is?”

“A huh,” Nash smirked slightly. “You sure he doesn’t just have to ask ‘how your day?’ For that iron will to snap?”

Lauren let out a small laugh as she paused with the drink to her lips. “Nah that is when I say help me with this as I change out of my uniform his iron will snaps.”

Taking a sip of her drink she rolled her hand for Ethan to continue. “So hot sticky night. Two half- dressed cadets. Possible issue with pronouns that might or might not have been intentional,” she summed up the last part of the story.

------------------------------- Flashback ----------------------------------------------

Now, he smirked and looked for his shirt that had been discarded hours before. Finding it he adjusted it so he could touch the comm badge on the front of it. =/\= Broadsword this is Command Cadet Nash, I need fresh plates and bowls, spoons and cooking supplies for the soup kitchen beamed down to my coordinates, and I will place a marker on the goods to be beamed up for recycling. Authorization Nash Omega 717 =/\=

Turning off the Comm, he dropped his shirt over the back of a chair and folded his arms, leaning back on the table facing her. “It’ll take a moment, then the goods should arrive and we can close the doors on this place, for tonight at least. “It’s been, interesting,” He looked at the room and at the decorations. “You put a lot into this.”

Ethan Nash

“Wait you are planning to like go back to the barracks after this. At twenty-two hundred hours when we got a free pass to stay out all night because the sonic sanitizer went on the fritz again?”

“What are you talking about? The sonic sanitizer is fine, I used it like ten minutes ago right before your friend left.” Nash looked at the device, status light was green and it sat there patiently awaiting its next task.

Pulling open the door, Emily slammed it a bit harder than need so that a light came on indicating the door was no longer sealing properly. “Seems to be on the fritz now. Come on,” she grabbed her own shirt and headed to the door. “I wanna show you something.”

“What are you getting me Into? I don’t want to go anywhere, I’ve got an early shift tomorrow.” Nash picked up his shirt again and began to shake out the wrinkles.

“Yes you do,” she began flipping off lights to the room at the door. “Oh and grab that emergency medical kit on the wall on your way out,” Emily pointed a the red bag hanging on the wall.

“What the hell? Why would we need that?” Nash picked it up anyway, looking at it, and her, doubtfully.

“Dude you never go out at night on Arakis III without that thing trust me,” she slung it over her shoulder and waited outside until Ethan exited the building. Adjusting the strap on her shoulder, Emily sized him up. “So your choice. Come with me and I will explain more about why you are going to thank me in the morning or go to bed…like you are ninety…instead of twenty…as in old and wrinkly and geriatric....instead of hot as hell with a body that don’t quit,” she taunted him walking backward and curling her finger encouraging Ethan to follow her. “It’ll make ya feel goooooood,” she sang out before turning around and leaving her best asset to entice him along. “Because who doesn’t want to feel good,” Emily kept walking and waiting for him to reply.

Emily Fox

“Okay, okay fine’” Ethan said while pulling his shirt over his head, “I’ll Come. Where are we going that’s got you so excited? It better not be another soup kitchen getting ready for breakfast service.”

Ethan Nash

Fifteen minutes later, Emily had led Nash to a small outcropping of rock on the edge of a sand-filled ocean. On a different world, waves might have crashed into the base of the fifty-foot outcropping. On Arrakis III it was just sand as far as the eye could see. Sitting down on the top of the outcropping, Emily let her feet dangle over the edge. “Okay cop a squat and get me a beer out of the medical bag.”

Pausing for a moment Nash looked out over the desert laid out before them. There was a strange beauty in the emptiness, the near silence that met them except for the slight wind that brushed over them. Sitting down beside Emily, he realized what she had asked him to get. “A what out of the medical bag?” Ethan asked, then lifted the bag in one hand and tested the weight. “Why would there be....” with the other hand, he opened the bag and looked inside. He stared at it for a second not believing what he was seeing initially, then he just closed his eyes and shook his head, wondering why he was surprised.

Opening the bag, Ethan would not see a single item normally included in it unless what amounted for medicinal was Bubba Jo’s backwater whiskey and ale.

Taking out one of the beers, he looked at it critically. “Please tell me this crap is the only stuff available in this hillbilly hell town and not your favourite,” Nash told Emily, but handed it over anyway. For his own part he picked out the bottle of whiskey, then put the ‘medical’ bag beside them. He was in no rush to open the bottle, so he looked out over the dunes again and leaned back slightly, resting on his hands. “It’s a pretty sight,” he admitted.

“You know I never really gave a desert too much thought before I got here. During the day it is hot and sand gets stuck everywhere chaffing everything. At night though is when the beauty of this place shines through. Just look at that moon.” Emily’s tone was soft and slightly awe-inspired but so was the view. The sand waves almost appeared to dance and move under the moonlight sky. Bits of silica reflected the moonbeams back causing patches in the sand to glisten like diamonds. The world came alive at night and Emily and Ethan had the perfect view. Birds circled the sky and swooped down plucking things off the sandy landscape below. Tucked into the nooks and crannies of the rocks they were sitting on, flowers and vegetation blossomed instead of wilting in the hot desert sun.

“It’s definitely something,” Nash replied as he looked up. The moon was full and large. Arakis had two moons, at present only the one was visible over the dunes spready out before them. The strong light made the activity more visible, or perhaps was the cause of the activity. Either way, Ethan and Emily had no trouble seeing anything in the ‘dark’ around them. Picking up the bottle that Emily had put down as she had explained this outcrop to him, he handed it to her again and smiled, being fairly sure that if he let her talk, she could be here for hours. Not that he minded at that moment despite his early protests. He wasn’t a big drinker but they had a strong drink after the night working, the world around them was amazing and beautiful, and the woman beside him was stunningly beautiful in the moonlight as she took in the world.

“Kalani is a science officer,” Emily took the beer Ethan handed her. “Thanks,” she smiled holding hers up for a small impromptu toast before taking a sip. “The first night we found this she could not stop talking about the planet and life forms. She is writing her term paper on this place. How life will always adapt and find a way no matter the circumstances and then thrive. I told her she needed to go into the greeting card business and just slap a picture of that landscape with those words. That’s why she wanted you to cover for her shift for the next three days when the teams are out doing recon and exploration. They couldn’t take everyone but teams so with you staying here a spot opened up. So thank you,” she leaned her head on his shoulder giving him a make shift hug.

“Yeah, no problems,” Nash commented but the tone was somewhat sarcastic. “I’m glad she can go do…” he waved the bottle at the vast open nothing in front of them, “Sciency stuff.” Twisting the top of the bottle he held, he opened it up and smelt the contents, then made a face. “Oh god, this stuff smells like it’s designed to clean the inside of those soup pots.” Lifting the bottle he took a sip, letting the strong alcohol slide down his throat and he coughed. It was stronger than he was used to.

Emily let out a long laugh leaning over and nudging Ethan with her shoulder making him bobble some. “Tea tottler,” she teased him looking at the characteristic tight-lipped smirk men wore when drinking something strong. It was in sharp contrast to the gagging face most women wore when drinking strong alcohol. “Get used to it Nash ol’ boy. Aris Ale is the only thing to drink here that is off the radar. We are all cadets and drinking is no mas but you know that Mr. Regulations....E-dawg.” Taking a sip she swallowed the foul liquid as fast as she could. Emily wasn’t drinking the ale for pleasure but only for a purpose.

“Off the radar? Why? This stuff tastes like it is so off the radar it’s really used to clean grease out of water pump machines.” Taking another, bigger swig he made a face now and laughed. “Now I understand why your friend switched places with me. She was avoiding drinking this crap with you, right? You threatened her with this stuff didn’t you? Three days huh, I bet that’s how long the hangover this stuff gives you lasts.”

“If you run with the boys you need to get up with the men Nash,” she teased back. “Tell me you have the constitution to get up with the men. Besides, she and I drink this all the time.”

“I did however threaten her to an inch of her life if she brings home another pet,” Emily said the last word with the first hint of her having a temper. “Kalani’s dad’s a diplomat and they traveled all over. Someone gave her a pet, and then another one and another one so she started running out of room in all the cages. She dumped them into one and it was survival of the fitness but,” Fox laughed, it spurred her idea for a career. “Her focus is trying to save indigenous species that are near extinction and transplant them to new worlds without wreaking ecological destruction. If she brings one more thing back to our room I am going to be her destruction. It’s like we live in a pet store now as it is. So what’s your passion Nash and don’t give me that patented save the galaxy and promote peace speech. It’s lazy and scripted. Something makes you swing your feet out of bed, throw on some pants and put up with all the BS of the academy. Is it a girl back home,” she tested the waters.

Emily FOx

“No girl,” Ethan shook his head. “I’ve been too busy trying to do my best at the Academy, even with all it’s BS,” his voice didn’t sound like he really believed there was much BS, “I worked hard, got noticed and they assigned me to the Cadet Command program, you know, the one where they take Cadets with signs of early Command potential and try to bring it out more. That’s why I’m here, I want to be out there,” Nash looked up at the stars now, “on a ship, finding things we have never seen before. I know, it’s cliché, but that is why I joined Starfleet. After the war and everything that’s happened to the Federation in the last 20 years or so, I want to be part of getting back out into the stars as explorers. I don’t give a toss about saving the Galaxy, it will still be here when we are gone. I want to see it before I’m gone.”

Emily didn’t doubt this. Nash was the type that set a plan and followed it. He was so different than the group of cadets she interacted with. Everyone came to her with problems. That was her job but Emily was also only human. Psychological and counseling services were designed to get into people’s heads so that they could release their burdens and find the best version of themselves. Physics however stated that energy could not be created nor destroyed. It could only be converted from one form of energy to another. In the psychological world that meant transferring the negative energy to the therapist. All her professors warned that you had to let it go. If not it would eat you alive. The problem was a good therapist could not just turn it off after the session. They thought and pondered about the person long after they left the couch.

Ethan leaned back, onto the rock behind him and looked out over the land ahead of them in silence for a moment. It was a primal and savage land, unforgiving and perfect for testing young Officers who though they were ready for anything. His eyes moved up to the stars, all of them unfamiliar to him from this angle but all of them familiar in their pinpoint brightness, their promise of a world beyond what he knew. Taking another sip of the drink, he coughed and laughed again. He looked over at Emily in the moonlight, relaxed, and raised the drink in toast to the stars and took another sip.

Ethan was uncluttered. He was simple. His drive for excellence let him ignore all the noise around him and focus on only what was important. It didn’t hurt he was hot as hell too but his single minded determination to be the best was something Emily found very appealing. Ethan would be the type that probably gave gut answers and whether they were right or wrong, he stood by them. “Let’s just hope you being gone isn’t a permanent thing. I think the galaxy and me would find life much more interesting with you in it so get out there and do your job.”

“Oh I would, but that job was here,” he laughed again and looked at Emily, raising an eyebrow and completely missing the part where she said she would find things less interesting without him. The combination of drink and heat, fatigue from working in a soup kitchen playing a part. “On that Security detail tomorrow. That was my job, leading the Security teams doing that recon and exploration, I was due to replace Chad, your… friend?” Now it sounded like Nash was the one testing the waters. Why, he didn’t know. There had been a familiarity between the two sure but no sign of anything more than that, other than the familiarity and the comfort that the man told Emily what not to do. Nash knew her well enough by now to understand that Emily wouldn’t listen to an instruction like that anyway, unless perhaps she had a reason to listen to Chad specifically.

“Oh Chad is a bit more than my friend but I wouldn’t worry about that. Trust me you will shine far better on your eval here saying you helped the poor instead of found a cactus,” she waved him off taking another sip of her drink.

More than a friend, she said it. For some reason Ethan felt his heart suddenly sink, a cold feeling wash over him. Perhaps this Chad was ambitious and wanted Ethans spot, maybe Emily was interested in Chad and was making sure Chad had the opportunity to shine. Nash let the thought slide for now, Emily really didn’t seem like that type of person but he hardly knew her. People would do anything for those they cared about, wanted to be noticed by, or were in love with. Ethan also knew he didn’t have to be here with Emily right now. He could have called time at any stage, gone back to barracks, led the team tomorrow. Why hadn’t he? The thought confused him, even made him more frustrated. Chad was more than her friend, was leading the security detail tomorrow in Ethans place and Ethan was sitting drinking grease dissolver with a girl he met in a soup kitchen, a girl who knew Chad well.

“What if that Cactus decides to shoot at them, I’ve heard they do that here, some tribesmen hide in them and shoot at anything that moves in their territory? So instead, I am stuck serving soup to the less fortunate, while my team that I was in charge of leading leave without me, with your friend in tow, and Chad leading it on a hostile planet. That was supposed to be my moment, and now, I’m serving soup. For three days. After that I’m due to rotate to supplies.” Nash raised his bottle in mock toast to Emily, and his voice sounded a wee bit disappointed, perhaps even slightly angry. “While your more than a friend Chad takes my place.”

“Dude again stop worrying about Chad or what you think you need to do to succeed. Nothing is going to ever stop you from reaching your potential except maybe yourself. That little voice,” she reached up and ran a thumb gently over his temple, “right here needs to be silenced. Getting lost in your thoughts is good at times but signing a lease to stay there permanently will only leave you spinning your wheels. You have gotten to where you are based on your drive, commitment, and promise to do something. Stay the course because people like my cousin tend to follow the easier path.” Emily removed her finger from his temple and took another swig of beer.

“Wait what?” Ethan lifted his head from the rock that he was leaning it back against. “Your Cousin?” Things clicked into place for Ethan just then, Chad was part of Emilys family. Family was thicker than blood, and Chad was now in Ethan’s place, leading the patrol Hornsby had assigned Nash to and in Hornsby’s notice. Nash let his head fall back against the rock. “Crap.” The word was muttered under his breath as the stars began to dance in front of his eyes, the drink was strong and had begun to have an effect.

“Would you have preferred he was my boyfriend,” Emily chuckled at his response? “Mr. Nash you really need to relax some and enjoy what you are experiencing instead of looking for something to experience. If you don’t take a moment to ponder what you have how will you ever learn anything about yourself? Living is the sum total of all your experiences. You think you want to sit your ass in a metal seat staring at stars out from a glass pane but is that really seeing it? That star,” she randomly pointed to one, “is just a pin prick of light like all the other ones up there but that star,” she pointed to another one, “is sending light down here to dance on the sand creating something you are never going to see again. You are only getting half the picture in that metal chair. Sitting here you get the star and all that it influences. Sometimes the biggest impact of something is not immediately apparent so shut and tell me one thing you see that novel.”

Ethan listened to her as she spoke, looked at the stars and watched as she talked about the light on the sand. Finally, after a moment of silence when she stopped talking he looked at her and shrugged. “So do you want me to shut up or tell you something? I’m getting a few mixed messages there Miss Fox.”

Emily let out a half-laugh. “Well it is your choice but I will just revise the question to limit your next choice Mr. Nash,” she teased him. Ethan was definitely not the type to bring a pillow and blanket to a counseling session unlike most of the others that graced her doorway. In fact, most others not only brought a pillow and blanket but kleenex and a whole host of rubber bands for Emily to alternate braiding their hair and passing a snot rag. It was not that Emily wasn’t sympathetic. It was more Emily felt her strength in counseling was building on someone’s strengths from the start. That being said at times people like Ethan could do with a nice french braid from time to time.

Emily could see Nash was struggling with his choice of staying with her. That did not bother Emily. What bothered her was Ethan was seeing but not observing. She had no idea what the desert held from a security standpoint but she knew what it held from a social point of. Every day Dulin and the other tribal leaders came into the soup kitchen, dressed without the pomp and grandeur of Starfleet. These men controlled the desert. She would not mention this to Ethan or the mission to the deep desert. Emily would just place Ethan into positions to make sure he was chosen for that mission if he wanted it when the time came. Until then, she would just learn more about the man and what made him tick.

“At least,” he sighed, “this place is amazing, I never thought this hick planet could look like this or have this much, life. It’s a great place to explore, or it would have been.” Ethan looked at her accusingly, his mouth set at an angle that told of frustration but his eyes weren’t angry at all. They were disappointed at missing the adventure. Confused as to why he let himself stay behind with her, drinking whiskey and looking out over endless dunes on a bright moonlit night, a warm breeze on their faces and glimmering silica sand below them looking like ocean waves.

“Are you an idiot,” she asked Nash?

“I am an idiot,” Nash said and looked at the almost empty bottle in his hand. “Why the hell am I here instead of at the barracks getting ready to do my job? How did I let myself get talked into this. This isn’t my job.” Feeling a sudden burst of temper, Ethan threw the bottle off the cliff in front of him, hard. He watched it spin a few times, glinting in the moonlight as the spilling drink and glass both reflected the rays of the moon around it before disappearing out of sight below.

Ethan Nash

“Okay, that’s it. Get up,” Emily stood up slightly wobbly and turned to face Nash. “Come on. Don’t whine,” she gestured with her hands for him to stand up.

“Fine, it’s time to go back anyway,” Ethan said and moved to stand up, then the moon spun and he felt the rock against his back again. “Damn that stuff is strong, help me up,” He held out his hand and despite himself, laughed as the drink kept him off balance for a moment.

“We are not going back. You want adventure,” she waggled her fingers letting the rest of her sentence disappear into the night air.

Reaching out she took his hand and began to lead him down an almost invisible path on the drop-off side of the cliff. The path blended so seamlessly into the side of the cliff, unless you knew where to look, you would never find it. While the path was two feet wide, Emily leaned hard into the rock wall so she stayed as far as she could away from the edge. Walking down around ten feet, Emily stopped in front of what looked like a one-foot crack in the wall. Taking Nash’s hand she led him towards it. Only when Emily disappeared into the rock did Nash understand it was only a hologram.

“What the hell?” Nash muttered watching her disappear through the fake wall, and then watched as his hand began to disappear as well. Curiosity overcame caution and drink, however and without letting her go he followed her in. Through the fake wall the crack had turned into a cave entrance that Emily led him through, walking beside him. Moonlit for a moment, it quickly became dark. Her hand was soft and smooth and warm, her touch pleasing, his senses more sensitive from the drink he thought. He could smell rock and sand, that was a given, and something else coming from her beside him. He took a breath to try and pinpoint it, closed his eyes as he did so. Onion and garlic, from the soup kitchen. In the dark he smirked, at least it wasn’t Slig meat.

The darkness lasted only moments though as if by their very presence small globes of light began to softly illuminate the way forward and around them. The smirk faded though as his mind broke through the drink and the sense of touch and smell diminished with the light, he still wasn’t where he was supposed to be. “Emily what are we doing here?”

“So you are right. Exploring is fun and I am sorry if I stopped you from finding something of your own but I can promise you this is worth sharing.” Emily let go of his hand as the passage narrowed so that they could only walk single file. “That man Dulin brought me here. He said I was someone that could see below the surface of things.” Pushing through a narrow crack, she stepped aside so that Nash could enter the large black cavern. The glow globes that had lit the way so far were absent from the room. “So you believe in magic Ethan,” Emily said.

“I stopped believing in magic a long time ago,” Ethan said, carefully moving forwards into the cavern. “Everything has an explanation, magic was just an old time excuse for things people didn’t really understand.” Turning back to face Emily he stopped walking and raised both eyebrows in question, a light smile on his face. “What are we doing here, Em? What is this place and why the question about magic?”

“Abra Cadabra,” Emily said in a low tone and then switched on the small flashlight she had in her pocket. The room lit up like they were standing in a huge diamond. The amount of light from her flashlight did not seem possible to generate such a glow but the room was filled with soft white light and the walls glistened with a thousand pinpoints of rainbows. Emily knew what Nash would see and waited for him to give a reaction. “So tell me this place is not worth giving up a duty shift for?”

Emily Fox

“Holy.......” the rest of Nash’s sentence was lost as he ran out of voice. With the light flaring around him he had shielded his eyes but dropped it quickly when he realized the light wasn’t blinding, just light, and his eyes adjusted fast.

Nash stood for a moment, how long he didn’t know but he looked around him in surprise. Out of all the things he had expected on this world, this room was not in any of them. Every movement that Emily made with the flashlight was reflected in the walls and reflections of the room. The prisms of light and rainbows moved and jumped from one pillar to another, ran over the ceiling and all around them. The room around them seemed silent as well, the sounds of the night in the desert outside dulled and hidden in this sheltered room.

Ethan turned back to Emily and took a couple of steps towards her before stopping and looking around again. “Okay, this is worth giving up a duty shift for, barely.” Looking at her, he grinned.

“Shut the hell up,” she rolled her eyes with a sarcastic laugh. What was it going to ever take to have this man admit he was either impressed or awed.

“This is amazing, what is this place? Why is it hidden with a fake wall and how did Dulin know it was here?” Letting himself turn around slowly again, he finally looked back to Emily as she stood in the light, rainbows reflected around her from the surface around the entrance they had walked through.

Ethan Nash

“Its called Mire Nimbu Tol Jakarata. Translated from the tribal language it is called the Well of Souls. The tribes come to places like this to ponder on their future. You are supposed to sit and let the possibilities of life fill you and inspire you. The light not only captures your sight with the blinding brilliance of the crystals but your positivity and negativity.” Taking his hand, Emily sat down on the hard flat rock in the center of the room. Moving on the rock, she placed her back against his and passed him the bottle she had carried into the cavern.

“You still have half left!” Nash said in half surprise. “And after all that fluff about keeping up with the boys and being hard? Mine was almost empty and you’ve been holding back on me.”

“I am also half your body weight,” she joked. “It was not a race to keep up but to match up. I just have a lower center of gravity to I am not as wobbly as you walking.”

Nash laughed despite his half-serious tone, took off the lid and threw it back in the general direction of the door. “No lid means we have to finish it, you know the rules.” Nash recited the unofficial official Academy rule when it came to drinking.

“That sounds like something your blonde co-ed friend would say. That or her Italian stallion partner. Rumor on campus is those two are secretly dating and just using Ric and Natasha as cover so Command doesn’t discover their plan to secretly take over the Federation. All Hail Mr. and Mrs. Knight,” she joked. Nash didn’t run in the same circles as those two but his path suspiciously crossed their enough Emily wondered how tight he actually was with the Knight-Shultz duo.

“Pffftt,” Ethan made a dismissive noise from the back of his throat. “Those two? Captain Fantastic and his partner in luck, She-Devil? If they aren’t or haven’t been dating I’d be surprised,” Nash admitted. “They are basically joined at the hip, although I have to say that Knight’s supposed girlfriend has the catchy last name to go with Captain Fantastics image. Knight and Daye, get it? Like some kind of spy holonovel or something.”

“You can’t hold back on me now. So, how exactly are these crystals supposed to absorb all my supposed negativity? You think they have a big enough crystal?” Throwing a smirk over his shoulder he took a drink. It felt, thinking back, that most of Emily’s night had been spent trying to convince him of the wonders he was missing out on when his whole focus had been the wonders he was missing out on. They were talking about different things of course and there was nothing to be done about that now, except drink.

“They use some psychedelic mushroom to achieve the trance like straight but I find the degreaser better and doesn’t show up on med scans.” Emily heard the soft gurgle of liquid in the bottle and waited for Nash to hand it back behind him to her. Taking her own sip, Emily relaxed back against Nash’s back. “So tell me what you want in life but don’t mention Starfleet or command posts or rank. Use only words like success, power, freedom…lovers.”

Emily Fox

“Not so fast,” Nash held up a hand. “You only took a sip, I took a mouthful. I could hear that baby sip a mile away, and can see you reflected off all these shiny crystals. Take a proper drink and pass it back.” Nash held his hand over his shoulder waiting for her.

Emily took the bottle and produced a man-sized swig. She had no doubts the boy scout Nash’s honor would return her passed-out body to her dorm using enough stealth that neither of them would get caught. Emily let out a choking gag as she sloppily passed the bottle back to Nash.

“That’s my girl,” Nash laughed, “If I have to drink this stuff like a man, so do you. You know that Natasha chippy that Captain Fantastic is dating, word in the local bar is that she can down vodka like a trooper, so don’t give me any of that trash about body weight, it’s about determination.”

Taking the drink she handed to him he delayed the answer by taking another mouthful and wincing as he swallowed it, then handed it back to her. “Okay, sure, I’ll tell you. But you first. You aren’t doing the counselor thing on me until I know more about Emily Fox, Cousin of Chad, Soup Saviour of Arakis and Room Mate of Doctor Doolittle. Tell me about what you want in life, and leave out Starfleet, counseling, decorating and world peace. Then tell me something about you that I don’t know. Something that will make me want to ask you more about it.”

Ethan Nash

Emily let out a large laugh and rocked forward no longer leaning on Nash. Pushing off the ground she crawled around to face him instead of walking. Kneeling down in front of him, Emily sat back on her heels and looked into his eyes. “I am simple. I don’t want the whole universe but just a little one of my own that I can come back to each night and be happy. I want someone that will tolerate me leaving my shoes where ever I drop them and will spend ten minutes daily helping me find my personal communicator that I just had in my hand. I don’t want something as grand as world peace but smaller. I want people to see what they have and appreciate what they have because in a second it can all disappear. I want to go to my death bed with as few regrets as possible wearing a t-shirt that says I am pretty sure my last words were well that didn’t work out the way I expected.” Emily swayed a bit having a hard time staying upright and still.

“Whoa, steady up,” Ethan said softly and put his hands on Emily’s shoulders to steady her. “You’ve been thinking about that answer, haven’t you,” he smiled at her. “I like that though, see what you have and appreciate what you have, because it can all be gone. Too many people take the ones they care about for granted, assume they will always be there because they always have, and then, gone.” Ethan was rambling himself, the alcohol had begun to hit him too, but then he laughed. “You leave your shoes lying around?

“If they are not on my feet they are land mines lying in wait all over the floor,” she laughed.

Letting Nash steady her, Emily took in Nash’s blue eyes, chiseled jaw, and sandy brown hair. Time to add to the no regrets list, she half mumbled and half thought. “I am going to kiss you now,” she said letting out a deep breath and resting her palms on her thighs. Leaning forward, anyone coming into the cave and seeing them would not see two lovers about to lock into a steamy embrace. Instead, the image with Nash sitting and Emily on her knees was far more reminiscent of a flashback from the game of spin the bottle complete with the empty bottle cast aside and pointing at them.

“You are what?” Ethan replied, his eyes coming to look at hers as if he hadn’t quite heard what she had said. “That escalated quick,” he mumbled, “maybe we shouldn’t yet,” he moved his hand from her shoulder and put a single finger over her lips, more commonly used in the hush motion.

“Mwess me mould,” she tried to encourage him however with his finger keeping her lips closed it was a mumble at best.

Her forward motion was too strong for him to stop her though, and he wasn’t really trying to. The alcohol had made her forward motion and statement that she was going to kiss him two disconnected things.

Her lips and breath got close enough to wash over Nash. He could smell the scent of her shampoo and traces of perfume under the scent from their time in the soup kitchen. She puckered her lips and closed her eyes as she leaned in and let her forehead fall into Nash’s chest along with the rest of her body.

Emily Fox

Nash sat there for a few moments in vague confusion about what just happened. One moment the beautiful girl was leaning in towards him for a kiss that he kind of remembered saying they shouldn’t, to, and now she was laying awkwardly forwards with her head on his chest. “Hey, you awake down there?” Ethan asked, and gently brushed her forehead in the fashion that people used when they were supposed to be checking if someone was awake, but not actually trying to wake them in case they were asleep. Her only answer was a grunting intake of breath, and Ethan used his fingers to gently brush the loose hair off her face and behind her ear.

“Okay, fat lot of good those crystals did, sunshine.” Nash smirked looking around him. “Time to get you home before we are missed.” Moving to his knees in a similar fashion to how Emily had when she crawled around to face him, he moved her sleeping form as much as he could so that she was on her back in front of him, in his arms. “Ohhhkayyy, we got this, we got this,” Nash breathed a few times and then pushed himself to his feet, Emily in his arms with her head on his shoulder now. “Time to go home, that way.”

Turning for the entrance, Ethan took a few steps and suddenly felt the world begin to spin. The light coming from the torch resting on Emily’s stomach as he carried her didn’t help, as it threw the light dancing like a kaleidoscope among the crystals. Lurching sideways, Nash turned in time for his back to come to rest against a crystal and thankfully, it held them both upright. “What you doing Willis,” he said to himself. “We gotta get home.” Nash blinked to clear away the spinning and the fog clouding his eyes, but as he closed his eyes he felt himself sliding down the crystal and coming to rest at it’s base. Emily was still in his arms, now resting in his lap with her head still on his shoulder as Nash felt the final slivers of his own consciousness begin to quickly fade. Before he fell asleep, his free arm moved around to encircle Emily, to keep her warm and against him from the cool desert air as the night deepened outside the cave.

Ethan Nash

Emily let out a small whimper as Nash’s arms closed around her body. It was not the upset or hurt type. The whimper was more the sound of someone who was utterly content and somehow found shifting their body was even more content.

Some time in the night as they slept, Nash woke. Half asleep and still feeling the effects of the alcohol minus the headache yet, he had still woken at the feeling of a small amount of extra weight being placed over the two of them. Opening his eyes the room was dark but he could make out the rough blanket now covering them, and his eyes moved to the beautiful young woman in his arms. Half asleep he couldn’t remember how she had come to be there yet, but her body felt warm against his and she smelt fresh, sweet. Looking at her his eyes noted the delicate curve of her lips, how the corner twitched upward in a momentary smile as his breath warmed her lips. Lips that promised more than a smile for the right man. The shape of her eyes as they lay closed with her head pressed to his chest. He remembered those eyes, green eyes with a depth behind them that he could fall into as she looked at him and able to change the intent with the lift of her lashes.

Ethan’s lips moved gently into a smile as if a sudden movement would wake her as her face brought back images in his mind from the night before. Her legs around his neck, her weight on his shoulders, her obvious asset so close with his hands on her knees. The way she blew hair out of her face as she worked the kitchen beside him and watched him for long moments with those green orbs as he worked and complained, always with a smile on her face like she knew something he didn’t. The way she leaned back on the bench as she spoke to him, tilted her head to one side and focused on him.

His hand moved slowly, partly because he wanted to make sure it went where he wanted and not into her eye or ear in his half awake state, but also so that he didn’t wake her with his movements. He adjusted the blanket to cover her more fully around her shoulders, then moved upwards to move the stray hairs from her cheek behind her ear so they wouldn’t tickle her and wake her. That motion cause her to smile slightly and shift her head, exposing more of her neck and Ethan paused, his dream encased mind moving thoughts of a more carnal feeling to the surface as his eyes followed the delicate curve of her neck to her shoulder under the blanket. Some men may have blushed at the thoughts, but Ethan simply smiled and relaxed. Those thoughts may or may not happen with this woman but he could enjoy them all the same. His hand returned to brush away the last remnants of hair from her face, her skin smooth and warm on his fingers. Moving his hand further up he gently brushed his fingertips over her hairline and down behind her ear, using his thumb to brush the skin behind the ear and clear the last hair from there as well. He let his fingers gently caress the side of her head as he watched her for a few short moments, feeling sleep catching up on him again quickly but feeling more content than he remembered as he looked at the woman sleeping happily against his chest.

Letting his thumb brush her lips finally, he remembered his finger being pressed against them as she approached him to stop her. He let out a slow, long breath he had been holding and his smile was warm and genuine while he watched her sleep against him. He let his head move slowly closer to hers. His lips would never reach hers in this position but that wasn’t his intent. Instead his lips were close enough to her so that she could of heard his whisper if she was awake, thankful that she wasn’t in case her drunk actions didn’t reflect her sober feelings. “I wanted to kiss you too,” he whispered, “wanted to let you kiss me. But I want the first time we kiss to be something we can look each other in the eyes about after, and say more. Ethen let his head settle back against the crystal and his arm moved to her back, his hand gently on her shoulder as his thumb moved in small circles against a point slightly under her ear. It was a spot that always relaxed him when he felt tense. Holding her against him and feeling the warmth the two of them created, Nash drifted back to sleep.

Five hours later Emily rolled slightly in her sleep and found her arm was actually asleep. Trying to sit up, she realized it had gotten tucked under her which was now why it hung thick, numb, and unusable. Pushing the blanket off her she did a double take finding the fabric was rough, not the soft cotton she was used to. Her eyes only widened as she noticed she was not in her bed but lying next to a man on a dirt floor. Putting a hand on his chest, she pushed up to a sitting position rubbing the arm that was asleep. It was all coming back to her. The drinks, the cave, and the soup kitchen. “Soup kitchen. Crap. Nash get up,” she rapidly thumped his chest as she rolled to her knees still not able to use her right arm.

“What?” Ethan said still asleep, but beginning to wake from the sudden assault on his chest. “Up where?” He tried to open his eyes and the light quickly forced them closed again. What he remembered was the weight of the woman against him the previous night. That was gone now.

“Nash get up we overslept,” she replied wincing at how her head suddenly felt like it had a klaxon going off. “We need to go. We have fifteen minutes to get back to kitchen before the people start showing up.”

Emily Fox

“Plow me,” Nash groaned and rolled from his back to his knees and hands. His butt was asleep, thanks to the hard ground and weight of two people on it.

“Absolutely but that would give us no travel time,” she let out a laugh as stood up adjusting her shirt which looked absolutely like she had slept in it. She winked as she gathered up her hair into her hands and pulled it into a long ponytail as she talked.

“Fifteen minutes? It took longer than that to get here,” he said and tried to stand up, using the crystal to pull himself up.

“I would also suggest we bring a blanket that doesn’t smell like a Yak,” she separated her ponytail into two parts that she began to literally tie into a knot resulting in what women called a sloppy bun, “but I am not really fussy. I know you are broke college kid,” she winked at him. Emily tried not to laugh at Nash as he clearly looked like he was a virgin with waking up ten minutes before he had to be somewhere. It fit his personality though. This was probably the first time he was not shaved or in a clean uniform since he arrived at the academy.

Pausing in his struggle, he looked at her, forgetting the soup kitchen for the moment. He smiled. “Sleep well? It’s no five-star hotel Em but you were right, it was worth it coming here with you.”

Ethan Nash

The man had potential but he did need some help. Walking up to him she moved around to his back and began to brush off all the debris from the back of his uniform. Her hand brushed him harder than sensual but the way she felt him stiffen made her stifle a laugh.

“Is there that much dirt on my ass or are you just tryna cop a feel there hot stuff?” Ethan grinned, and tried to turn himself around enough to see what she was brushing away.

“Easy there, sailor. I am just getting the big chunks off. The dust is a permanent part of the uniform.” Moving around to the front she picked off a few loose strands of her hair that was embedded in the front of his shirt. Taking a step back she proudly said, “now you look presentable.” While she meant the statement to give Ethan confidence, the expression on her face stole back any reassurance.

Looking down at himself, Ethan ran his finger across his chest and the dust still clinging to the tunic. Despite her brushing his finger left a mark. “No, no I really don’t” he used both of his hands to try and get the dust out. Despite how hard he brushed, it seemed it tunic now produced dust on demand.

“No you don’t,” she let a laugh that echoed in the small chamber, “but things are not always as they seem. Trust me Nash and I will take you where you want to go which at this moment is the soup kitchen.”

“Where the hell did all this dust come from?” Ethan grumbled as more and more puffs of dust flew out of his tunic, and he saw just how bad the dirt stains on his pants were and why Emily had said she was brushing away the big chunks. “Why aren’t you grubby? Oh yeah, cause you slept on me all night, not the ground.”

“Leave the dust. Makes you look like a local.” Emily resisted telling him he had a small tan smear of dirt on his cheek. Instead she reached up and gently brushed it away with her thumb.

Ethan paused at her touch. It wasn’t a freeze in place kind of pause, more that he held still and let her fingers brush away whatever she was wiping. Or he assumed she was wiping something, her touch was soft and like a gentle caress. He let his eyes wander to hers, and a light smile play around his lips. He wanted to press his cheek into her fingers slightly more but resisted the urge. “What was that? More dust?” He asked simply.

Emily grabbed the small bag and stuffed the empty bottle in it before heading out of the cave. Exiting in the bright sunlight she put a hand over her eyes to shade them until her eyes adjusted. “Careful and hug the wall. People tend to plummet to their death leaving here rather than getting here. Do this,” she turned to face him with her hand over her face. “Now separate your F finger and ring finger so you get a slit. Look down and by the time we get to the top of the cliff your eyes will be adjusted.”

Making her way to the top of the cliff took far less time in the sunlight and without the booze coursing through her veins. As promised, by the time they made the two-minute assent to the top of the cliff the sun was still bright but tolerable. Kneeling down, Emily tied her shoes in a double knot. “Okay, this is where you are gonna impress me E-Dawg with your mad track and field skills. The town is just past the huge rock,” she pointed across a large, flat rocky expanse of land. It was only about a mile. Standing up she grabbed her toe and pulled her foot to her waist stretching her quads as she talked. “You however are gonna channel that first place I’m a winner mentality and run the fastest mile you have ever run. Got it.” Emily’s tone lost the softness and took on that of a coach prepping a runner for the big race. Bending down she touched the ground and leaned back now stretching her hamstrings. “You don’t stop. You don’t quit. You just run.” Righting herself, she stretched her shoulders out as she continued talking.

“Lucky we both do track then, right?” He grinned at her, “I think I showed you last night I don’t quit, ever.” Getting sick of a puff of dust every time he moved, he stripped the tunic off so he was down to just his tank, same as he had worn in the kitchen. Watched Emily stretch he nodded, then began to roll his shoulders and step lightly from one foot the other stretching his own calves. “You know last night felt like of a heck of a lot longer walk to get out here.”

“When you get to the edge of town we are gonna separate. There is a back window next to the trash cans at the back of the soup kitchen. Shimmy your way up and go inside and start pulling out the pans.” Her directions were clear and concise and strangely enough very exact as if she had done this numerous times. “I will come through the front. Got it.”

Emily Fox

“You come through the front? Boring.” He grinned at her. “Coming through the front is only for senior officers and missionaries. You gotta spice it up a bit, there is a side door isn’t there?” Now Ethan began to stretch, one arm behind his back locking the other from the elbow, and then his calves and thighs in the same manner Emily had. “And don’t call me E-Dawg,” despite his stern tone he laughed.

“Why you love that name,” Emily winked at him.

“God I hate that name. How bout you start and I’ll catch up? You won’t be able to beat me so if I give you a minute or two we will finish together, like the sound of that?”

“Rodger Dodger,” Emily said and began to run to city. She needed to get there before Ethan to make sure things were as they should be before the say started.

Picking up his tunic he shook it vigorously to get out as much dust as he could, then sneezed as the cloud enveloped him. “I would kill for a coffee, they got no mobile carts out there in the desert do they?”

Ethan Nash

Emily kept running across the expanse feeling the heat of the day starting. She had made this run a million times. It was not because she wasn’t allowed to go out to the cliff, but more the local people did not trust or appreciate the rumble of vehicles over their homes. Few if any knew what actually lay beneath the small outpost town. Starfleet thought is was just a backwater oasis of sorts but Emily knew different.

Ethan watched her begin to run, and noted two things. First she had great form for a runner and was clearly very fit. Second, was that she had great form, just like a runner should. Letting the light smile that had been playing around his lips grow to a grin he shook out his tunic from the dust once more and then paused as he looked at it, seeing the glint of metal from his comm-badge sitting on the front of the Starfleet uniform. Looking at it for a second, he glanced back to Emily and then back to the badge, then back to Emily. Finally, he looked up into the sky and laughed.

Reaching the edge of the town she ran into Dulin and the other naibs entering the street that held the soup kitchen. “Was your officer E-dawg worth your company?” The nickname did not hold a humorous tone from the man but one of more respect and authority.

“He was,” she smiled and began to walk with him towards the kitchen at a slow and leisurely pace to match the man’s. “And he is worth yours.”

Dulin looked at Emily quizzically. “One night with this man and you know his mind?”

“No but I know his soul. He is a good man just on the wrong path. He needs someone to show him the best path is not the road you think you should always take.” Arriving at the door Emily entered the code and opened the door. The lights instantly lit up the space giving it a warm glow. “Give me 15 minutes to start the oatmeal and then you can let in the guests,” she called over her shoulder to Dulin. “Ethan?” Emily called out hoping the man hadn’t run off into the dawn from her terrified. “Cadet Nash,” she called again coming around the corner.

Emily Fox.

The first thing Emily would notice as she walked around the corner wasn’t an empty room with stuffy air from the previous night, but the smell of oatmeal cooking in the kitchen. That kitchen was in full swing, with a handful of Starfleet Officers in bright uniforms working to get breakfast up and running. Alongside the oats that she would see cooking in large pots were a number of dishes set along the long table with fresh fruits of several varieties that the kitchen didn’t have the previous night. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries. Almonds and assorted other nuts. Banana’s and chunks of pineapple cut by the team working the counter. Another clearly chilled pot held what looked to be yogurt, a spoon sticking out of it and right beside the oatmeal pots, ready to be dished out along with breakfast. At a counter further along from the oatmeal another pot bubbled away. It was another large pot of soup but this one had a richer smell than what the soup of the previous night had. Clearly, the hotter option was there for anyone that didn’t want oats, yogurt and fruit. Right beside the soup, at the very end of the counter was a new machine. A coffee machine with a number of bags of real beans beside it.

Emily walked into the kitchen as if she was walking into a dream. Her eyes were wide taking in every detail and the global picture of what Nash accomplished in the ten minutes she had left his company. It had to have been Nash that did this but how? Maybe for the first time, she was at a loss for words or explanation. Emily looked around in silence as if saying a word would wake her from a dream because this had to be a dream. The small kitchen looked even smaller with the flurry of activity and the addition of a dozen workers doing what she and Nash had done with just themselves. Picking up a piece of pineapple, she took a bite and wiped a bit of juice off her chin. Walking, almost as if she was tiptoeing, she made her way to each station inspecting what everyone was doing.

As she walked, the Starfleet Cadets that Nash had requisitioned for this task nodded to her and smiled, and made sure they stepped aside to let Emily walk amongst them. Clearly, they were aware that she was in charge of the kitchen and were ready to change what they were doing at her word.

“Tell me you like coffee. I’m not going to be able to respect you in the mornings if you aren’t into coffee,” the voice of Ethan Nash sounded beside her as he walked out of the side room where the storage containers were. Unlike a few minutes ago when they had parted, Ethan was once again the model Starfleet Officer. Not a speck of dust was on his fresh uniform, he was clean shaven and his hair was brushed back in a quick and tidy slightly messy wave. He wasn’t wearing the full sleeved Starfleet tunic though, this one was a sleeveless tunic far more suited to the climate, but cut so that it fit his form rather than looking like a sack. In his hands were two cups of coffee with lids on them, both double-sized and one of which he was holding out for her to take.

“Give me time Mr. Nash and I will give you so many ways not to respect me in the morning,” she bit her lip and waggled her eyes taking a cup of coffee from him.

How much time do you need? Flashed through Ethan’s thoughts, and that thought showed on his face with a light grin and humor in his eyes. I only have three weeks, with you before it’s back to the Academy. Despite her words being able to be read in two ways, the way that she bit her lip and moved her brows made his heart beat faster.

“You will appreciate me and years from now when you are lying in your bed at one hundred and twenty, you will say to those gathered around you, there once was a chick I met named Emily.” In her mind, she silently added. I met her on a dusty planet and left with the woman of my dreams. Even though it had only been twenty-four hours since Fox had spent time with Nash, Emily had fallen head over heels for Ethan. Until she had met him, Emily only half-believed at love at first sight. Now she was a card-carrying member of that club. Taking the cup of coffee from him, she opened the lid and let the smell waft under her nose letting out a small groan of anticipation. Like everything else Ethan Nash seemed to do, he went over and above any expectation. Taking a small sip, she let out a laugh. “You know Ethan if you continue to make me set the bar of my expectations from you higher with every encounter you are going to need a pole vault to reach it.”

“Don’t do that,” he laughed and sipped his own coffee, “I’m a runner, not a pole vaulter remember? Lets consider those expectations hurdles, you haven’t seen the way I can move yet. Hurdles are just a challenge I love to beat.” Now it was Nash’s turn to bite his lip and waggle his eyebrows mimicking what she had done. It was perhaps the first open flirt that Ethan had made, while sober at least and after the events of the previous day. He had to his surprise, enjoyed his time with this girl and was actually looking forward to more, and another opportunity perhaps to go walking with her again.

“I thought we might need a little help this morning setting up, so I brought in a team, and real coffee for Two.” He explained, looking her straight in the eyes for a moment as she took the coffee, then looking at the people behind them in the kitchen. “I requisitioned a few supplies that I thought we might need. I loved seeing that cave, I wanted to thank the people here for letting me see it. I’m guessing that as you said Dulin told you about it and it was hidden so specifically, he must be someone important and allowed us to go. I wanted to thank him and his people, and you. I wasn’t the most agreeable guy last night, but thank you Emily. I really appreciate what you did and that you spent time with me even if I am missing my patrol shift. I didn’t say anything about that cave by the way, I wasn’t sure that it’s a thing Starfleet knows about.”

“How did you do this,” she looked at him with a smile of disbelief? “What did these people owe you or what do you have on them?” Looking around, Emily’s mind could not grasp the efficiency which Nash had to use to accomplish this. The only way she could get this many people here would be extorsion from secrets shared in her counseling session.

Nash turned up the corner of his mouth in a grin, the dimpled look giving him a decidedly boyish, roguish charm. Then his now free hand pointed to the badge on his chest. “I’m a Command Cadet, remember? Ok so I didn’t remember that myself until you had started to run, but I beamed back to the Broadsword and set this up.” Pointing to the Starfleet Personnel, he looked at her and turned to face her bodily. “You ran that mile well, I had to work fast. They are about to return to the ship now that we are here, but I thought you might want to take a moment to freshen up,” he took off his badge and handed it to her, “they will transport you straight to a guest room and there is a shower, replicator for clothes and smelly things waiting for you. Go get that dust off and I’ll be here when you get back in a few minutes. I got this. How’s your coffee by the way? It’s Rhodes Foundation Limited Roast.”

Ethan Nash

Her smile dropped from her face the second she realized she could smell his cologne and stopped staring at him like a love sick teen. “Smelly things,” she murmured and let out a small moan.

“What happened to your face?” Ethan asked as her smile dropped away. “Don’t tell me you like a guy smelling like a wet dog, you have some kind of weird smell fetish? I keep clean Em, soap and toothpaste are a must, and clothes that don’t itch or have sand hoppers in them.”

“Okay handsome you are an eleven on a scale of one to ten and I am not adding this,” she motioned around the room, “to the scoring system. You look so damn good in that uniform but.... you’re clean,” she grimaced slightly. “And God you smell amazing. I don’t know what you are wearing but never stop using the cologne,” she smiled up at him…”but Dulin and the others…well they are going to expect you to look and smell like you slept in a cave with a Yak.”

“Why? The only one sleeping with me on the floor of that crystal cave was you, and you don’t smell like no Yak I ever met. Okay the heat last night and the booze might have given me that special musk that a working man has, but why would the people here want that?” Pausing for a second as the her other words registered, he blinked. “It’s Old Spice: Swagger, and the face wash and hair shampoo is Cedarwood. You like that?” His smile appeared again as he looked at her gently, she had said he was handsome. Taking his badge, he held it out to her, “I have things waiting for you remember. You worked hard, you deserve some you time.”

“Emily,” a rough and husky voice yelled out to the pair from the other side of the counter. “You will dine with us?” Picking up a piece of pineapple, the man’s eyes widened slightly seeing the juice from the fruit drip from his fingers. Licking them to not let a drop of the liquid leave, he put the yellow chunk into his mouth and chewed it slowly looking at Nash. The neutral visage made it hard for one to guess whether the man liked it or not. The moment he placed two heaping spoons of it on his plate was the only indication Dulin liked it. “Come. I will save you seating.” Nodding at Nash, Dulin looked back at Emily for a long second before turning on his heel and moving to the most isolated table in the place.

Nash watched the man walk away, and then pinned the badge back on his chest. Clearly his plans to let Emily indulge in some luxury would have to wait. “Okay, I think he liked it, but his face looked like yours when you realized I was clean. What the hell is up with that?” Nash recited the words to the time honored drinking game that Cadets and new crew aboard Starships everywhere played.

“Oh my god,” Emily said excitedly. “Don’t send your people away. Can we keep them for an hour?” Grabbing two plates, she began to pile on fruits along with two bowls of creamy orange-colored peach yogurt. “You have out done yourself. Do you have any idea what is about to happen even with you looking respectable and smelling like a soap is your best friend?”

“Um, you are about to have breakfast with a group of natives that smell like salty Yak?” Nash questioned, and he honestly had no idea what she was talking about. “But hey! That thing you do with your face came back,” he teased her, “I like your face like that way more than how it was before.”

Emily let out a small chuckle at his comment. “If you want me to keep that frown upside down then keep doing things that make me keep it that way…E-dog,” she winked at him.

Nash winced instantly at the name, and more than one of the other Cadets looked up as Emily said it.

Glancing at the plates she was piling with food, he looked at the nearest member of the team he had recruited for the kitchen. “You’ll all need to stay a bit longer, keep up the good work, it looks like the locals are loving what you are doing. They look far less likely to riot than they did last night.” At that, the Cadets all looked at each other nervously, for the first time doubting what they were doing here. “And if anyone repeats that E-Dog name, I’ll book you in for a double shift during the dinner service, when they are really cranky from being in the sun all day.” His voice had slipped back into the Command tone, slightly reminiscent of Hornsby.

Emily stood behind Nash mouthing no he won’t and gave the people working a thumbs up and winning smile. Dropping her hands she put back on a neutral expression as Nash finally faced her.

“Okay Em’s, so what’s going on?” Nash asked her, and picked up the coffee she had put down in order to fill the plates.

“Dulin wants to meet with you,” she explained. “I told you I would make sure you shine here on Arakis.” Rocking on her heels, Emily wore the expression of someone overly pleased with herself. “Cadet Ethan Nash, get ready to do something no one in the Federation has been able to do even with pips so bright around their neck they out shine the sun. “

Emily Fox

Is she talking about herself or something here on this dust bowl Nash thought cheekily, then switched his line of thought to less adventurous matters. “Why would he want to meet me? Because he liked my pineapple?”

“He has never seen pineapple so it is not that,” Emily said over her shoulder. “He wants to meet you because I said you would be perfect for a job. You can thank me later but we really need you to slip into that command bravado thing you had going the first day to make sure these people buy us some time for a meet and greet,” she waved the tongs around as she talked.

“Perfect for a job? For them?” Nash raised an eyebrow, now curious about what Emily was planning.

“And us,” she shrugged slightly as if she didn’t care so much about that part.

Ethan swapped the cup of coffee with one of the plates that Emily was holding, and looked down at the extra fruity and juicy platter she had prepared. “We can keep the team as long as you need them, but I can’t promise that Hornsby is going to be happy if he turns up and we are dining with the locals instead of working. I signed them out under my authority, not yours as Kitchen supervisor so if he does come in, he can’t target you.” Pointing at the table with Dulin and a few others, he smiled at her, “Shall we, we don’t want to keep them waiting. Whatever this is sounds important.”

Cadet Ethan Nash

“One second,” Emily said taking the plate and setting them on the table along with the coffees. Moving around to Ethan’s back she leaned up and against him and started to wiggle her shoulder blades into him.

Feeling her rubbing up against him, he half turned and craned his neck at her. “What the hell are you doing? You’re covered in dirt!” He began to step away from her but she had already finished her work.

“I am Yakking you up so yakety yak…don’t talk back,” she let out a laugh at her own bad joke. Moving around to his front, Emily hugged Ethan and wiggled her shoulder’s into his. “The people here value work. They had no water so the only people that look and smell like you are rich, lazy people with no value.”

“What is she doing,” one of the fourth class cadets asked the person beside them as they lazily cut the food. To say Ethan scared half of them to death and the other half questioned if he was actually a robot was an understatement. It wasnt that Ethan Nash was a bad guy. It was more he was one of the most serious cadets for his age at the academy.

“My mom called it poking the bear but he seems to not mind it,” the other cadet replied.

“Who wouldn’t? With an aaaas “ the first cadet replied before a third dropped a hunk of green stalks directly on the cuttin board

“Asparagus,” she said firmly glaring at him. “With as much asparagus as we need to cut you better get started.

Emily reached up turning Nash’s chin back towards her. “There are just jealous of you. Now stand still and let me do my thing,” she Winked at him.

Reaching up she stood on her tip topes and began to rough up his hair. “I need to make you look a bit more working-class and less water-fat off worlder. It is why no one from the Federation has gotten anywhere with these people. It is why you are going to go everywhere with them.”

“Because I am going to look like a hobo and smell like a trash compactor?” Nash asked her dubiously.

“Becuase you are going to look like a hard worker and translate that serious scowl you are always strutting about with into an Arakeen asset. “

“Jeez, tough crowd.” Despite his words and what sounded like doubt, Nash let her do her thing. He was starting to trust her and after last night, knew that while her ways might be unconventional, they oddly worked.

Taking a step back she scrutinized Ethan like a drill inspector. “Okay roughing up your hair only gave you more roguish charm if that is even possible. So ready?” She picked up her plate and coffee. Turning on her heels she escorted Nash to the table where Dulin was sitting. “When you get there don’t sit. Ask to be granted a seat. Address him as Naib and nothing else. If he wants you to refer to him as Dulin he will tell you. Got it?”

Emily Fox

“Why do I feel like you are pimping me out,” Nash grinned, but spoke in a light tone for only her to hear. “Okay okay, I got it. Wait to be invited to sit, refer to him as Naib. Show respect, Diplomacy 101, I got this.”

Following Emily to the table where Dulin and his friends were sitting Nash stepped aside slightly as they arrived to give Emily room, and sipped his coffee. Looking around, he smiled slightly as he saw everyone on the table had a plate of fruits and yogurt piled in front of them, and a few had hot cups of coffee. Clearly the fact that coffee was water and bean juice wasn’t enough of a deterrent for these people to try it.

“Good morning,” he nodded to everyone, “Naib,” he nodded to Dulin separately, “I’m glad you seem to be enjoying breakfast.”

Nash

Emily stopped sliding into the seat and paused half standing and half sitting. Her face looked shocked for a half second before replying. Touching her ear, she nodded as she took a seat. “Yes sir good morning the Naib’s do seem to be enjoying their breakfast. Will contact you later. Fox out.” Dulin looked at Emily with a raised eyebrow and a skeptical expression. “Command was talking to him. He wasn’t not addressing you,” she replied nonchalantly picking up a fork and eating a slice of pineapple.

“Indeed,” Dulin looked at Ethan with a critical expression.

Ethan looked back at Dulin with an expression that showed, perhaps, confusion at what was going on.

“So the water fat man is your selection,” he asked Emily before sniffing Ethan slightly. “Has the man ever worked a day in his life other than barking out an order?”

Despite Ethan knowing what Dulin was talking about, he couldn’t help looking down at his stomach. Fat? Ethan was as fit and muscular as any athlete. Soap and a good eating regime did the rest.

Emily paused setting her fork in the table. Casually picking up her coffee she shrugged. “Ask him,” she took a sip and acted like she could care less if Ethan stayed or left the table.

Slowly directing his attention back to Ethan, Dulin let out a full bodied laugh. “So waterfat offworlder do you think you can handle this one,” Dulin waved a knife at Emily.

Emily Fox

At that, Ethan smiled and looked at Emily for a long moment before looking back at Dulin. “No, Naib, I don’t. I don’t think anyone can truly handle or tame that one and nobody who knows her or appreciates her would want to.”

Nash took another drink of his coffee, emptying it and then putting the empty cup on a table beside Dulin’s, not on it.

“In the time I’ve known Emily she has surprised me, infuriated me, made me care about what she cares about and helped me see the magic that this world has stored away if you are willing to look. She has kept me off-balance, waiting for the next spontaneous idea or care that she has and in just a day I have learned that I want to experience more of her. I want to stand beside her and be there for every idea she comes up with and see her eyes light up when she has an idea.”

“I’ve worked hard at Starfleet Academy, I have learned, worked and bled for what I believe in. But none of that effort compares to what Emily has made me experience and feel in 24 hours. No, I can’t handle her, and I don’t want to, but I want to experience her. For a long time.”

Nash

Dulin listened intently to Nash’s speech before turning his attention back to Emily. “Emily Fox, Cousin of Chad, Soup Saviour of Arakis and Room Mate of Doctor Doolittle. Tell me are you bringing me an officer of your Federation or is this man practicing his proposal for your hand in bondage?”

“What?” Nash asked, putting his hands up in the classic ‘stop’ position. “You asked if I could handle her, I just answered honestly.” Then his eyes narrowed. “Hey, how did you know about those names I gave her?”

“The acoustics of the cave,” Dulin remarked. “You are not the first to go there and not use it for the intended purpose but at times not achieving your goal sets you on the right path.” It was clear Dulin viewed the night as a success for Emily and Nash even if didn’t see it that way.

“He is definitely not ready for bondage,” Emily let out a small chuckle popping a piece of pineapple in her mouth. “Or maybe he is but that is topic for another day. We have more pressing matters to discuss” Motioning for Ethan to move next to her in the open seat Dulin looked at the man and gave a slight nod.

Ethan slid into the seat beside Emily, leaned forward on the desk and took a piece of pineapple off of Emily’s own plate, taking a bit out of it. “I get the feeling their and your definition of bondage differs,” he grinned slightly as he whispered to Emily.

“I’m a good girl Mr. Nash. Whatever are you talking about,” she winked back at him.

“You pour your heart out to her and she wants to discuss business. You Cadet Nash, Ethan, E-dawg, Producer of pineapple,” Dulin let a small smile crease the edges of his mouth, “I approve of your status as traveler.” Standing up he nodded at Ethan and then Emily. “You have three minutes. Say goodbye to your bond-mate and meet us outside.”

“Wait, wait,” Nash put up a finger. “No E-dawg, okay, No. Why did you have to say that out loud so everybody knows,” he looked at Emily and shook his head slightly, then back to Dulin. “Three minutes, and I know right, I poured out my heart and she didn’t even flinch.” Now, he smirked.

“Did you think I was going to go all awww and bat my eyes,” Emily let out a small laugh. “Honey I did that the second you walked through that door and made fun of my Welcome to Chow Town sign but I did get a squishy feeling knowing you finally caught on what I already knew would happen.” Emily’s tone was full of confidence and sincerity. She did know the second Nash had walked through the door, he was someone she wanted to get to know. She also knew that he was going to be part of her future. Dulin used the word Bond mate and to Emily there was no better term to describe it. She and Ethan were bonded in the sense her future with him was directly tied to Ethan getting what he needed to secure the future he saw. She had no doubt the man found her appealing. What Ethan didn’t yet realize was Emily was going to be the only thing he wanted in his future and pursue that goal as tenaciously as he pursued everything else at the academy.

Emily watched Dulin turn his back to them and head towards the door. He got two steps from the table before Emily dropped the calm reserve and let out a small seat dance. Balling up her fist she playfully punched Ethan in the arm. “See…see I told you. I can make all your dreams come true,” she smile at Ethan and gave him a wink. For the smallest second her smile faltered as it crossed her mind she no longer had anything to give to Ethan on this planet. She would see him back in San Francisco but that would not be for another six weeks once he got back. His two week rotation here was going to be cut short with this excursion but it was worth it. It was important to Ethan and therefore important to her. The handsome man sitting next to her might not know it yet, but Emily was going to make him fall in love with her so losing three days was nothing in the span of a lifetime.

“Hey, hey,” he said softly looking at her face carefully. His eyes showed concern. “You are doing that thing with your face again. The one where you stop smiling. What’s wrong?” Under the table, Nash put his hand on her knee and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You were so excited for this a moment ago. Hang on,” Ethan suddenly looked at Dulin, or the door he had been heading towards. “He said to say goodbye. You aren’t coming with me?”

Putting her hand on his uniform, she straightened it some and looked up at Ethan. “You are going to do amazing. They are going to love you as much as I do just try to smile. You look better when you smile. Less scary,” she let out a laugh.

“I am not scary,” Ethan laughed softly. “I am a soft Starfleet Cadet on a desert world where water is a sign of wealth, and I am about to go native with Yak herders. I am nervous as hell, honestly, and I won’t have you by my side to tell me when I’m putting my foot in Yak poop.” Reaching up, he tucked a lock of her red hair behind her ear. “It’s not going to be the same without you.”

“Producer of pineapple,” Dulin’s voice thundered. “Kiss her and then come with us or we shall find someone else.”

“You heard the man. Kiss her or is that the one thing you are scared of? A little public display of affection,” Emily teased him and waited to see what Ethan was going to do.

Emily Fox

Nash smiled, and it was an open and honest smile. No blush, no bite of the lip. Just the smile of someone who felt comfortable and happy in the presence of another person they enjoyed being with. Emily had had an effect on him, it was true. She had moved from crazy broad to a woman that made him smile when he thought of her, in the space of a day and night. Nobody had been able to ‘distract’ Nash from his study or goals for his entire time at the Academy, and they had tried. Ethan was a good looking, fit guy with a brooding serious face but a wide and bright smile when eyes that focused on someone let them know they had his attention. Women had wanted that, and Ethan had no time to give that. Emily had changed that in one night on a ridge in a desert surrounded by Yak herders.

“I have no fear of PDA’s,” Nash smiled, and reached up, cupping her cheek in his hand. Her cheek was soft, smooth and warm and touching her made his breath quicken. He leaned in slowly, half closing his eyes and his lips curling into a soft, intimate smile to kiss her, one hand moving to her waist.

Emily let him pull her close. She loved the feeling he gave her. The butterflies and dizziness excited her. Closing her eyes, she leaned in to return the impending kiss.

A finger width from her lips, close enough that he could feel her breath and the warmth of her mouth on his he stopped, then slowly opened his eyes and looked her straight in hers. “But you called me E-dawg.” Now Nash bit his lip slightly as he pulled back, grinning wider. “I told you not to call me that,” He pushed himself out of the seat and stood up, then leaned down again and put a hand on the table, his other hand stealing another piece of pineapple from her plate, popping it into his mouth.

“What,” she opened her eyes and started laughing. “You really are going to leave without kissing me?” Emily did not care that every cadet Ethan had beamed down was not staring with rapt attention at the events playing out. “I mean distance makes the heart grow fonder but you could leave a girl something to hold on to there Nash.” For the first time since she had met him, Nash had pulled out a play that surprised her. In some ways, his ending to the start of thier story was far better than ‘and then I kissed your mother.’ His story ended in a cliff hanger which meant there was always a part two. Emily could barely contain the smile and her eagerness for the next installment of How I met your mother.

“I’ll be back Em, I promise, and we can see what happens with that kiss when I am. Goodbye, Bond-Mate, wish me luck.” Nash reached out and took her hand for a moment, before walking backwards and out of her reach, then turning for the door. Once he reached he paused and turned around, smiling at her, he mouthed Thank You, then walked out of the soup kitchen.

Ethan Nash

“You don’t need luck Nash,” she yelled out. “You have me and that swagger or yours that is going to have me waiting here and watching the door until you return.” Seeing the door close, Emily sighed. It was going to be long and boring for the next few days without Ethan around but she had the rest of her life to spend with him so she could give up a few days. “Okay back to work people,” she said standing up and moving to the kitchen to help serve food.

Emily Fox