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

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

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Nash (Chief Engineer) in Academy Flashback - Time for Two
Posted by… suppressed (9) by the Post Ghost! 👻
A week had gone by. On Arakis that was a week of hot, sandblasted days and relentless heat, that merged into each and every week on the planet that, on the surface, very little to endear it to anyone.

Emily’s soup kitchen had operated every day without fail, although the coffee machine that had been left by Nash when he had left the kitchen had raised more than a few eyebrows. Most loved the bean machine that turned water into black gold, but many distrusted anything that changed such a precious thing as water.

Today was no different as the evenings regular clientele pushed there way through the doors and began to take their seats. Dusty, smelly and dirty, dressed in linen wraps with hoods over their heads most of them couldn’t be told apart at first glance unless they had something specific about them. One of these men that sat at a table was clearly broad shouldered and muscular, but not overly so. His hood was pulled down over his eyes as he looked at the table, and toyed with something metallic in his fingers. Fingers wrapped in cloth and to protect them from the sun. For a time, he watched the goings on and the Cadets as they worked stirring pots and calling out for more of whatever they needed, and his eyes followed one woman in particular.

“Coffee?” He asked one of the Cadets quietly who was walking around serving tables with drinks and clearing bowls. In his fingers was a Starfleet Comm badge. “If you could ask the Soup Savior of Arakis to come with it, I have news for her. About her friend.” The mans voice was heavily accented, like the people of Arakis.

Nash

The man nodded and heard back to the small kitchen area. “Yo Soup savior,” the cadet called out to Emily. “Someone is asking for you. They say they have news or something and they want coffee.”

Emily wiped her hands on the rag that seemed attached to her shoulder and moved to the small machine Ethan had left a week ago. Glancing out into the room, she smiled seeing a dusty, cloth-covered individual. There was only one man it could be. No one asked for coffee that wasn’t part of the Federation. Approaching the table, Emily had a spring to her step. She had waited a week to hear anything about Nash. The problem was not all the desert cities communicated. When Nash disappeared into the desert, only the immediate people with him knew where they were going. Emily had asked but the only response she could get was the dog roams the desert at night. The response was poetic and the fact Ethan’s nickname was now his tribe name was comforting and problematic. Ethan was bound to be less than pleased to see the nickname Emily playfully gave him has been bestowed as an official one. For Emily however, it had meant Ethan, as she expected, had earned a place in the tribe. Being an outsider this was unheard of.

“So you have some news for me,” Emily said to the stranger setting the coffee down on the table.

Emily Fox

Her face fell slightly not finding Ethan under the robes and dust but someone different. She had half expected Nash to surprise her going all native but something deep inside Emily told her Nash was not at the stupid in love antics yet.

The man looked up at Emily a moment as she set the coffee down, and under the hood she would see that it was neither Dulin or Ethan, but a young man that had been in the kitchen once or twice. Picking up the drink, he brought it to his lips and drank it in one sitting, closing his eyes as he did so. Giving a body shudder as he set it down, he gasped slightly for breath and waved a hand in front of his mouth, the coffee had been hot, but not enough to burn.

“The Dog told me to ask for coffee, and then drink it before giving you the message,” the man explained, his mouth making odd shapes as he tried to decide if he liked the drink or not. “He told me it was good manners among his people to drink this when meeting someone,” he shrugged, “it is disgusting, I liked the pineapple better.”

Sliding into the seat, Emily’s face brightened some. “Okay tell me they are all calling him the Dog because of his cunning and brilliance and not because they think that is his nickname.” Seeing the man focused more on the pineapple than her question, Emily pulled the plate. While Nash had only seen the happy without-a-care Emily, there was another side. This side of Emily got things done and whipped people into shape. “Hey no pineapple without some information,” she said snapping her fingers.

“Oh!” The man said, looking up at her and remembering why he was here. Holding up the Starfleet Badge that was in his fingers, he motioned for Emily to take it. “Your friend told me to give this to you, he told me that you have to meet him at the place you took him the night you met. The first place, he said, under the stars. Meet him when you finish here, as he cannot come back yet.”

Emily took the badge and the smile slowly dipped from her face as she turned it over in her fingers. This was the first thing of his Emily ever held in her hand. Turning it over she rubbed the small indicator without depressing it. If she activated the device, it would only reach the ship in orbit and not the person she wanted to talk to most. For the millionth time today, Emily wished she hadn’t sent Ethan off into the desert.

“Ahh,” the man let out a long, drawn out sound of understanding. “The dog does know you. He told me to say these words when your face did that, he described it well. He said to tell you, Why is your face doing that? He likes it more when it does that smile thing, not that confused thing. Meet me where you opened my mind to the world and where you asked too many questions. Those were his words.”

Emily let out a huge laugh and tapped the comm badge on the edge of the table. “Yeah, I think he knows me better than I think.”

Pushing himself to his feet and turning to leave, he paused, and then turned back to her. “Room Mate of Doctor Doolittle,” he said, using one of Dulins names for here that Ethan had used in the cave, “the Dog told me that you are to ride in style tonight to the place he will meet you. He left you a gift outside, and asked that you bring coffee.” Turning, the man walked out of the door, throwing the hood further over his face to cover it from the sun and sand.

“He sent me a gift,” Emily stood up and followed the man out the door. For the first time meeting Cadet Ethan Nash, Emily was shocked at something he did. “What is it?” she asked eagerly following the man out the door.

Outside, he patted the animal that was tethered to a post outside the kitchen, a post that was very reminiscent of old hitching posts outside saloons on Earth. The animal resembled the Yak that Ethan and Emily had joked about, but was saddled for a rider. Like all animals on Arakis, this one could go without water for a long time, was strong and sturdy, stank, and was uncomfortable to ride with the way it swayed side to side when it walked.

Ethan Nash

“He got me a Yak,” she stopped and let her face twist into a confused expression. Taking a step forward she wrinkled her nose and looked around. “This is a joke. He can’t really expect me to ride this..thing right? Right,” she yelled as the man walked away. Sighing she reached out and patted the animal. Taking another whiff of the air she withdrew her hand and let out a small eww sound as she fanned the air around her. Emily’s face screwed up more when she realized the smell was not on her. Moving inside to wash her hands, Emily was not so sure about the mode of transportation for her date tonight but she was still excited about the company.

================
Eight hours later....
================

Emily rode on the back of the Yak to her destination but the look on her face showed she was not so impressed still with the Yak. As Emily moved over the sands, she pulled out another bottle of perfume and began to spray it liberally around the animal’s head. The bellow of the animal only caused her to roll her eyes. “Oh stop it. This is expensive stuff,” she turned the bottle back on herself. As much as she wanted to see Ethan, she did not want to smell like a Yak when she did. It only took an hour to get to the cliffs overlooking the ocean of sand where she took Ethan the first night she met him. Looking around for another silhouette and not finding one made Emily begin to doubt herself. Was it a prank? Was this payback? Letting out a sigh she slid off the beast and decided to give it an hour before she returned back to the town.

Emily Fox

This night was almost identical to the night that Emily had brought Ethan to this spot. The world around them was quiet enough, but the quiet hum of desert life and the sound of the wind passing over the dune sea below the cliff ensured that the night wasn’t eerily quiet and uncomfortable. The moon was bright and caused the rock formations on top of the cliff to cast long, dark shadows on their dark side, while the light site was easily bright enough under the desert moon to see by.

The cliff where they had sat was bare and empty, but as Emily waited a short time, maybe ten to fifteen minutes at most, the moon had shifted in the sky and that caused the shadows in the rock formations behind her to shift slightly also. That shift revealed a lone figure leaning casually against the side of one of the large rocks, taller than he was. That the figure was a man was easily shown by the width and bulk of his shoulders as he was entirely dressed in the tribal robes and hood of the native people of Arakis, those robes helping a motionless person to blend in and stay hidden when he should have been in plain view.

Emily sat on the plateau, leaning back against her Yak as if it were a couch or a hammock. She had been chatting with the animal since she arrived and did not find the person she had been expecting. Still, her faith was not deterred. These desert people did not run on standard time. They ran on their own time. The only thing that they could be expected to show up for like clockwork was meal times.
Glancing up at the sky, Emily wiled away the time pointing out stars as if the smelly behemoth behind her actually cared. Not being a stellar cartographer, the game ended far to quickly. Sighing deeply she changed the topic. “You know Fred, I should have brought us some medicinal remedies to pass the time.”

A deep bellow moan escaped the Yak’s lungs causing Emily to laugh. “You’re right. You’re right,” she reached up and patted the side of the beast’s head. “It wouldn’t be very ladylike to meet him drunk or be passed out and miss him altogether.” As if the Yak was conversing, he let out a small rumbling sound and shifted his weight to get more comfortable.

“Come on Nash where are you,” Emily scanned the horizon but it was still devoid of anyone or anything for miles. “I’m Blue, navy blue
I’m as blue as I can be ‘Cause my steady boy said, “Ship ahoy” And joined the Nah yay vee,” she sang a song so old no one would remember the actual singer. How she knew the song was a mystery but the way Emily continued to hum the tune indicated there was more than just one or two lines of lyrics.

Her singing again caused a loud, mournful bellow from the Yak and a laugh from Emily. “Everyone is a critic,” she elbowed the animal. “I know there isn’t an ounce of water anywhere around here but the blue is not meant as water or color. It’s about a girl that is sad because her boy is off on an adventure and she is stuck waiting for him to return. The song however does have a bright side.” Emily started to sing the last bars of the song. “He’s comin’ home to see me on a weekend pass. A forty-eight hour day-ate. That Yak he’s ridin’ on just better get here fast ‘Cause I can hardly wait. Till then I’m blue, navy blue I’m as blue as I can be ‘Cause my steady boy said, “Yak’s ahoy” And joined the Frem-e-en.” Emily was not a songbird but she was out in the middle of nowhere with her only audience a smelly Yak she had named Fred.

As Emily would turn and see the figure, his hands rose and pulled back the hood that covered his head. It was Nash, though his week in the desert had given a roguish length to his stubble, now looking like a short, trimmed beard and his hair was messily brushed back.

Getting up, Emily resisted the urge to rush up to the man. “I’m sorry,” Emily looked at him with a frown. “You seem like a really nice rock lurking, desert guy but I was waiting for a spit and polished Ensign. I am kinda taken,” she could not keep the neutral expression on her face as she teased him. “See I have been sitting here talking to a yak for the past thirty minutes so,” she wobbled her head as if weighing her options.

Ethans face broke into a smile as his eyes rested on hers, but he didn’t move towards her yet. “It’s been a week since I saw you,” he explained with a quiet voice that carried far in the night. “I wanted to look at you a little while, remember how beautiful you are and think about how much I’ve missed that smile on your face in the week since you sent me out into the desert with the locals to survive or be ripped apart by sand worms.” The smile on his lips broke into a grin for a moment, before settling back to a smile that showed he was happy to see her.

Emily felt her heart pounding as Ethan closed the space between them. A part of her was really turned on by the scruff and robes. It was not something she hoped became Nash’s style of choice but tonight it made him look exotic and daring. Nothing would single him out as being Federation until she noticed his stride. The Fremen walked with a mismatched gait to lessen the imprint of their steps on the sand. Nash had the confident swagger of a man sure about his destination and the determination to get there.

Standing straight again he walked out from the rock formation towards her, looking at the Yak that had come to rest not far away and making a sound in his throat that caused the animal to grunt, stand up and walk further away leaving the two of them alone. “Did you like my gift?” Now he laughed, “I had to learn to ride it before they accepted me as even slightly capable. That stinking beast is a point of pride for them, and if you wanna court a girl you have to offer to let her ride it. If she accepts the offer, you are officially a couple. I couldn’t think of a better way to bring you here to see me. You’ve been here a while, you knew that though, right?”

“No,” she said softly feeling her words catch in her throat. Her heart rate increased so loud, Emily swore Nash would be able to hear it in the dead silence of the night. “That is a new one for me,” she stopped talking feeling like there was no air between them. Emily felt dizzy and excited all at once. Letting out a small chuckle, her face lit up in a smile. “Okay so while you stink to high heaven, those robes are really doing something to me,” she looked up at him smiling. “You need to keep a set. Washed of course but keep the scraggly beard scruff and the robes and it might make me do things that in some cultures would make us man and wife.”

Reaching Emily he looked down into her eyes and smiled wider, his hand reaching out and cupping her cheek. “I missed you, Bond Mate” he said easily then looked at her a moment longer before lowering his head and kissing her gently, tenderly and letting his kiss linger and match the warm breeze that washed over them from the dunes in the moon light.

Ethan Nash

Emily lost all measure of control being this close to him. Jumping up, she pulled him closer to her and deepened the kiss. His arms encircled her body holding her close to him. Emily felt the world slip away as she kissed Nash like he had been gone far longer than a week.

Emily Fox

The week that he had been away from her had felt like an eternity to him, and for the first few nights, Nash had lain awake trying to understand why he felt like being away from her was like missing a part of something that belonged as part of him, part of who he was and who he was to be. Being away from her even for just these few days had made Nash realize just how much he had come to care about her over a single day and night. He had never believed in love at first sight, never believed the stories of being knocked off your feet the moment you met the right person were true. He still didn’t believe because it wasn’t until Ethan had been pulled away from Emily he realized how much he cared for her.

He let the kiss linger for a long time, his lips on hers and his hands holding her close as they kissed, explored each other for the first time. Finally he made a low moan in the back of his throat and let their lips part, pulling his head away from her. “I have, something else for you,” he told her quietly, and lifted his hand. Between his fingers was a stem of a flower, with a closed bud at the end. “Dulin gave this to me, told me that in their culture if the flower bloomed when you are with the person you love even when cut, you should pay attention because your life is about to get a lot more complicated.”

“Did he say now,” she smile at him and traced the delicate bud and stem with a finger tip.

Looking at her, he held up the flower for her and laughed. “Yes, his words exactly.”

“Well then it seems to me you are holding something very dangerous and unpredictable in your hands right now. You should be careful with it. It could leave you with a smokin’ crater in your heart if it goes off however sometimes in the middle of disaster you find the most amazing and wonderful. Did you know that for a pine tree seed to take hold it needs a wildfire to open it up? The heat causes the seed to burst open,” she let her finger leave the edge of the flower and trace down his index finger slowly and gently.

Looking at the bud between them, the moonlight that the flower grew in naturally caused it to begin to open and spread it’s petals. It was a flower of the night and was important to the people here as where it grew, meant there was water. The flower meant life and a future for these people, and the legend around it was special to them. That Dulin had picked one and given it to Nash, meant more than the young Starfleet Officer probably knew.

Once the flower had opened to it’s full spread, Nash smiled and tucked it into Emily’s hair behind her ear. “There, a desert flower for a flower in the desert,” he told her and laughed. “Corny, I know alright. But shut up and let me be romantic.”

“Oh you are not going to get a complaint from me. I like this side of you. It’s like a secret place only I know,” she traced his jawline with her finger taking in every inch of the scruffy Ethan. “The world gets the next brilliant commanding officer of Starfleet who knows exactly how to save the Federation but I get the nervous and slightly hesitant guy that is struggling to find a way to tell a girl he loves her.”

Nash grinned and kissed her again, but this time much shorter and he grunted slightly and pulled his head back quicker this time. “You know Em, as much as I want to kiss you all night, and do other things all night,” he was talking quietly, letting his lips stay near hers, “I’m not sure I can when we both stink like Yak. You smell like a Yak that got a new career standing on the street corner in San Fran on a Friday night after the Cadets last lecture.” He made a point of sniffing, the perfume that Emily had sprayed liberally on her ride to the ridge still hanging in the air around them.

“So you don’t like dirty girls. I can respect that but there is not much I can do about it,” she sighed. Nash was right. At least for her part, the smell coming off them was working as a pheromonal chastity belt.

“I have something for that,” he told her and his eyes rose to look behind her. “Abrakadabra,” he said and nodded to where a few moments earlier she had been sitting leaning against the Yak. In her place had appeared a hot tub, beside it a small table with a burger and fries, pizza, and a six pack of beer and chilled cider. Nash had clearly planned it before she arrived and the items had obviously appeared after being beamed down from the ship in orbit, but Nash didn’t have his com-badge. He had obviously taken a lot of time to plan the night.

Emily let out a huge smile seeing the impromptu half turkish bath half picnic. Her uncle had always said men and boys have one thing in common. They do stupid things for the women they cared about whether it be decimating a garden to get their mom the perfect flower or carrying shopping bags for hours in the mall death march. While the gesture might have just been grand to anyone else, to Nash it would have meant acknowledging swallowing the whipped pill around his fellow cadets. Without access to tech, it meant Nash had to call in a few favors. The more Emily thought about Nash having to explain to someone else what he wanted and put up with the snickers or nods the more she understood exactly how much he truly did like her.

“We have a hot tub under the stars on a ridge overlooking a sea of sand dunes in the moonlight. Real food, and time just for the two of us.” He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around his waist, kissing her neck now, but slowly. Taking his time, he wasn’t trying to rush the night, just spend time with her.

“Yes, just the two of us. I promise, and so did Dulin,” he said the mans name specifically after the cave where they had not been alone, even though Nash thought they were. “He told me, that if a man offers to let a woman ride his Yak and she accepts, then his people have no business being around when she wants to ride his donkey.” Now Nash tried desperately to keep a straight face at the remark.

“I have a bathing suit for you, you can get changed behind the rocks, it’s just us, I promise.” At that, Nash opened his robes and let them fall to the ground, showing that under them his chest was bare, and he wore Starfleet issue athletic shorts underneath in an attempt to keep cool. He had no need to change into a bathing suit. Cupping her chin, he kissed her again lightly and smiled, robes at his feet. “Go get changed, wildflower. Let me pour the cider.”

Ethan Nash

“Ride his donkey huh,” she let out a laugh taking the offered garments. “I think I am done with anything four legged for a while.” Raising on her toes, she gave him a peck on the lips and the promise to be right back.

“Don’t keep me waiting,” Ethan grinned as he turned to the small table and drinks on it. “You have no idea what I had to do to get this thing here.”

Five minutes later, Emily appeared from behind the rock barefooted and wearing the robe Nash had given her. Her hair was no longer up in a pony tail but down resting on her shoulders. The flower was still tucked behind one ear as she made her way through the sand towards Nash already in the hot bubbling water. “Is the water hot enough,” she asked starting to unknot the belt cinching the robe closed. “I like it really hot.”

Sitting in the water, Ethan ran his hands through the water and then looked at her. He playfully waggled his eyebrows and looked at the steam that was rising around him. “It’s hot, really hot. It’s about to get a whole lot hotter when you get in here though. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to handle the heat.” He let his arms spread either side of him and rest on the back of the tub, the water glistening over the muscles on his arms and chest on the moonlight.

“Okay because if it is lukewarm I am going to be so disappointed,” she commented opening the robe and letting it fall to the sand. It would become readily apparent that all the time Emily took in getting ready to join Nash in the hot tub, she had forgotten the critical element of her suit. Acting as if she had known him forever, Emily climbed the steps and held out a hand. The bubble were obscuring everything below Nash’s chest but the look on his face told her everything she needed to know.

Nash’s mouth had dropped open at the same speed that her bathrobe had dropped to the ground, and as she walked towards him and up the steps with that certain sway that women had when they wanted eyes on them, his eyes hadn’t left her at all. “Okay so you didn’t like the suit I picked out for you,” he grinned and looked up at her. “Noted. I’ll choose that same suit every time we go somewhere now.”

“You are not going to be able to stand up and help me in are you?” The question was rhetorical and Emily knew it even before asking it. It was the reaction she had intended to happen. There was no actual need for Nash to help her in. The steps made entry into the pool easy.

“Why not?” His reply was simple and innocent, but the look on his face and his smile was anything but. “It’s just us, and I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I didn’t help my girl in.” Using his arms that were spread to either side, Nash pushed himself up and then stood in the tub. It was immediately apparent that Emily was completely correct in her rhetorical question and if they had been in a public pool or somewhere not so private then Ethan would likely have been kicked out amongst the screams of terrified husbands and giggles of impressed wives as the monster surfaced.

Holding out his hand, it took a very long and obvious moment for his eyes to raise to the same level as hers and he let out a very long and slow breath. “Come and join me, wildflower,” he smiled. “Your face is doing a different thing now,” he said softly, “I think I like it.”

Stepping into the water, Emily slid into the tub and leaned against the opposite side of the tub looking at Nash. “You know I think you were right. It is pretty hot in here isn’t it?”

Emily Fox

“It just got hotter,” he laughed and turned towards her. “Now I feel like I’m overdressed for the occasion. I might get heat stroke.” He handed her the glass of cider that he had poured, the glass was cold as if chilled, then hooked a thumb through the elastic of his athletic shorts and moved closer to her.

“I should fix that,” he said and then slid the athletic shorts down so that after a short balancing act in which there was no way possible to make it a graceful movement, and there was no way that he was going to try and make it graceful in his eagerness, the crumpled pair of athletic shorts were tossed unceremoniously on the sand beside the hot tub.

Turning back to face her, Ethan slid slowly into the water and took up a spot near her but within arms reach of the table beside the tub. Closing his eyes for a moment he smiled and sighed in relaxation, then opened his eyes and looked at her. The moons were rising behind her over the desert and the flower still wedged in her hair over her ear was in full bloom. Except for the sound of the wind over the dunes and the dry scent of the desert, the night could have been mistaken for one on Risa, Deneva or his own Mintara Prime.

Emily was gorgeous in every way that Ethan had imagined, and more, and her red hair and soft eyes framed a face that, in that moment he wasn’t going to resist. Moving towards her both of his hands reached forward and cupped her cheeks while he let his body rest against hers. Running both his thumbs over her jawline, Ethan looked her in the eyes for a long moment and said nothing, then he kissed her. Softly at first, the kiss grew harder the longer it went on while his tongue explored hers.

“You look like you had a hard day, come here and sit with me.” Ethan said quietly after what felt like long, long moments of kissing her. He sat back beside her and reached over the side, picking up a small bottle of what looked like oil. Emily would see it looked like scented massage oil and he turned it over and tipped a small amount onto his hands. Slowly coating his palms in the oil he looked at her again while he rubbed his hands together. “I hear big hands are the thing for a massage and this stuff is one of those wacky Mintarans’ most popular exports.” Spreading his legs and leaning back, he motioned with his head for her to come sit in front of him so he could rub her shoulders. “Come, I’ve missed your touch.”

Ethan Nash

Bump!

Bump

‐------‐---------- the next day-----------

Stepping off the transporter padd to the Broadsword in orbit over the planet, Nash nodded to the transporter chief.

“Welcome back,” the man said. “Eventful trip?”

“Yep,” Nash nodded, then left for his quarters. Now, it was back to the Academy.

End Thread.