<snip>

Flex was between songs when she entered. There were so many people aboard the Atlantis that he’d only had one interaction with Aurra despite having been on board for some time now. Despite the purely professional nature of their first meeting, she’d carried herself with the presence of someone that he wanted to get to know better.

Taking a sip of his drink, he enjoyed the burn of the rum as he swallowed it down. As Aurra made her way towards one of the seats near the stage, Jacen found the alcohol wasn’t the only warmth he was feeling. Placing the glass down he gave her a smile and began to pluck the strings once again. He thought this song might be a bit forward, especially considering her rank… but then again it was a late night, the drinks were flowing, and she had chosen to join this program out of all of the other possible choices of how to entertain herself… there was no harm in being playful.

As he began to sing, the bass in his voice became prevalent. A genuine warm smile spread across his face as he made eye contact, it was fun to play for an audience that could experience legitimate emotional responses to music.

OOC: The Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ShWf8XhdY

When he finished playing, he placed the guitar back on its stand and picked up his drink. Swallowing it down he raised the glass to the waitress indicating he was ready for another then stepped down from the stage to approach the CMO. “Good evening Lieutenant!” He said warmly, “Mind if I join you?” He was excited about the prospect of human interaction. Flex didn’t like being surrounded by the masses on the ship, but he’d always enjoyed connecting with people on an individual level… the fact that this individual happened to be stunning didn’t hurt either.

Flex

The atmosphere, the drink and the music made Aurra experience one of those ‘perfect’ moments in life that surprise you—where everything in the universe seems right for just a few seconds. She recognized the feeling and made a silent toast to it. So when the song ended and Flexwood joined her at her table, she was smiling with genuine pleasure. He was a big man in excellent shape who generated a sense of ease naturally. And now she’d found out he could sing. The night was looking up.

(OOC: Is he in civvies or uniform? Aurra is still in uniform.)

OOC: He’s in civvies: jeans, black boots, and black shirt

As she gestured for him to be seated, Aurra acknowledged the program. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing your place like this. It turned out to be a good day today and I just wasn’t ready to settle in for the night. I wanted a drink and a distraction before calling it a night.” Smiling, she lifted her glass to him hinting she had the first but was still looking for the second.

—CMO Tallise

Flex took the offered seat, as the waitress arrived with his drink. He thanked her as she moved off to attend other patrons. “I don’t mind at all Lt.” He responded formally, they might be off duty but given his rank he needed to keep it professional until given permission to act otherwise. “Honestly it is a pleasant surprise. I couldn’t sleep… and I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste the prospect of a good night by laying there staring at the ceiling. I’ve been known to be distracting, whether that’s good or bad depends on who you ask.” He said with a wry grin.

Flex

She looked him over thoughtfully, appreciating many of his physical assets. “I’m sure you have been, Chief. Are you offering to be my distraction?” Aurra sipped her drink while maintaining eye contact with Flexwood. Are you sure there isn’t someone on the ship that would mind?”

She’d kept herself busy with work since she’d boarded the Atlantis, so no one was waiting for her. Well, Demo might be at loose ends looking for a partner in crime, but that was unlikely as he had a real nose for the ladies on board.

Aurra lifted the pick from her drink and pulled one olive off with her teeth. The salty, bitterness of the meat exploded in her mouth as she waited for Flexwood’s answer.

—CMO Talisse

He watched her intently as she placed the olive in her mouth, focusing on the way her supple lips wrapped around it. He cracked a smile at her question. “Oh I think it could be great fun distracting you Lt. And no, no one has me tied down yet.” He said his voice full of humor, meanwhile his mind added a second part that remained unspoken… he was usually the one doing the tying.

“I’m still relatively new to not just the Atlantis, but the Fleet in general so I’ve spent most of my time playing catch up. Learning how to operate various systems and what certain protocols are meant to look like. I haven’t taken much time for ‘distractions’.” He said using her verbiage for added effect.

Flex

Aurra enjoyed the forwardness of the man who suggested he would like to take her mind off of ship life. With so many bodies on the Atlantis outranking her, Flexwood offered a mostly lateral fraternization opportunity. She tossed back the rest of her martini and signaled for another. “I’m surprised a big, good-looking guy like you isn’t already attached, but maybe its just my lucky day.”

“Or maybe I’m a terrible person.” He responded sarcastically with a wry grin on his face. This wasn’t exactly how Flex had seen this interaction playing out, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise. He wondered if she was looking for one lucky day, or if this could evolve into anything else… there was plenty of time for all of that later, for now he was just having fun with their banter.

Her eyes sparkled as she held his gaze and chuckled at her good fortune. “So, if I were to take you up on your offer, what would you suggest we do?”

The server arrived with another drink just as Aurra ate the last two olives on the pick.

—CMO Talisse

He pondered her question as he took another sip of his drink, a hunger in his eyes that he couldn’t mask. When Jacen spoke his voice was infused with a playful tone that wasn’t normally there. “Oh I don’t know… long walks in the arboretum? I’ve heard the fresh air is nice there.” His grin spread a little more. “A drinking contest so that I can carry you home after I drink you under the table… or perhaps a fair lady such as yourself is looking for stimulation a little more physical, so that she can take her mind off the world for a little bit.” As he finished the last part of his statement he took a large drink and pulled a piece of ice into his mouth.

Flex

Aurra gave him a knowing look. “Oh, do I only get to choose one? Can’t I have them all?” He was very flirtatious and open which was refreshing in the Starfleet setting. His ease, along with the martinis were helping her to relax from the events of the day.

“Who am I to tell a beautiful, intelligent woman no… It’s been my experience that they tend to know what they want.” He said with a grin.

“Its probably not a good idea to try them all at once. I mean, if we try to drink each other under the table, I’ll be too impaired for walking in the Arboretum or anything else physical”. She laughed softly then, wishing she was not in uniform. Why hadn’t she gone to her quarters and changed into something a little more revealing?

—CMO Tallise

bump

“The best stories never come from good ideas.” Flex said light heartedly. His attention was caught as two new faces appeared not far from the bar. It seemed a couple of NEs from engineering had joined them in the simulation and were making their way over to the pool table. “How do you feel about hustling a couple of fresh faced NEs out of a week’s wages? Or at least a couple rounds of drinks.”

Without waiting for the doctor to respond, Jacen stood up and extended his left hand to help her out of her seat.

Flex

As she slipped her hand into his, Aurra wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but the night was young, so she was game for a challenge. Once on her feet, she reached back for the half full martini and followed him over to a table where two, young officers were conversing.

The table had several colorful balls on it and each of the officers had a long stick in their hands. She’d seen a table like it before and understood it was a game of some kind but she’d never played it. “I don’t have any experience with this.” Aurra whispered to Jacen. If he was counting on her skill to win, he needed to readjust his thinking.

—CMO Talisse

bump so its easy to find

He smiled when she mentioned that she hadn’t played before, that made the physical piece even more exciting for him. He leaned close enough that she could feel his breath on her ear and said “Don’t worry Doc, I’ll teach you.”

As they approached the table, Jacen spoke jovially. “Are you guys up for a little doubles action? We can keep the stakes low for now… loser buys the next round?” The two NEs turned to see Flex and Aurra, they clearly sized the two of them up and after looking at each other responded… “We’d love for you to buy us drinks Chief.”

Jacen smiled a toothy smile and simply responded, “Then rack them up and let’s go. You guys can break.”

NE Smith racked the balls and NE Williams set up to shoot. It was a decent break with Williams putting one striped ball in the pocket. On his second shot, he lined up and sank the nine ball in the side pocket. He lined up his third shot on the thirteen ball but missed.

Jacen passed a cue stick to Aurra, “It’s your turn. Would you like my help lining up your first shot?”

Flex

She nodded while looking at the choice of shots. “So all we do is try to push any ball into one of the holes?” Mossy, green eyes shot over to Jacen for clarification. “What if I hit it too hard? Is there a penalty for knocking a ball off the table?”

“Since they knocked in a striped ball, we’re shooting at the solids, but the black one… the eight ball has to be saved for last. Normal shots can be made in any pocket, but you have to call your shot on the eight. As long as you his the middle or above, you probably won’t hit it off the table. The higher you hit on the ball, the more quickly it will stop after it hits your target. The bottom half of the ball gives you some backspin, but that’s also where you’ll get the lift you’re worried about. So for now we’ll just play it one shot at a time… if you decide you like the game we can eventually get to putting English on the ball to set up a chain of shots.”

The cue stick in her hands felt awkward when she held it over the table like their opponents had.

—CMO Talisse

Jacen moved behind Aurra. Placing his hands over hers, he helped her adjust her grip on the cue. Moving her left hand closer to the tip to give her more control of her accuracy and moving her right hand closer to the middle of the stick to allow her more feel for her power. He was close enough to her that she could feel the heat of his body, though their bodies weren’t touching yet.

Aurra consciously made her body relax in order for Jacen to position her correctly. The game was new to her but it was not physically demanding. It sounded like finesse had a lot to do with how accurate a person turned out to be.

“You have a pretty solid line on the two ball.” He said. “That’s the blue one in the corner.” He applied subtle pressure to her he hands to align her. “You’ll want to hit the cue ball solidly just above the middle of the ball so that it strikes the two just right of center.”

Flex

Setting her gaze on the two ball, she propped the fingers of her left hand on the table, supporting the pool cue on the side of her outstretched thumb. For a brief second, while she took a few practice shots to get the feel of the cue, she was very aware of Jacen’s body curved around hers. When it came time to actually shoot though, he stepped back from her and she continued on through with the cue. There was the click of contact between the balls, and the two ball moved closer to the corner pocket but just hung on the lip. “Ohhh, I didn’t hit it hard enough, did I?”

—CMO Talisse

“You could’ve used slightly more speed, but you did strike it solidly which will serve you well as we move forward.”

NE Smith took his turn and sank two more striped balls leaving the NEs with just three balls as compared to the seven for Jacen and Aurra. Flex wasn’t worried though, that was part of the hustle… the first game was the bait so they would bet big on the second one.

He approached and pocketed three solid balls with relative ease before missing a fourth by a hair as it caught the corner of the bumper protecting the pocket.

NE Williams took his turn but was only able to pocket one more of the striped balls.

“It’s your turn again doc. Take your time.” Jacen hung back slightly this time to see if she would ask for help aligning her shot or if she had a feel for it now.

Flex

She studied every shot anyone attempted, the placement of their hands, the angle of the shot and the speed the balls traveled. When her turn was called out, Aurra moved around the table trying to decide which ball would be sunk most easily. “So, I’m thinking the five ball in the side pocket.” She looked to Jacen. “What do you think?” It was a shot any of the others could make without difficulty, but she was so new to the game she didn’t have a practical knowledge of how hard to hit the cue ball in order to make it do what you wanted. There was also another ball just barely in the way. Surely there was a way to shoot around it?

—Talisse

He surveyed the table and took a look at the shot she was eying. The placement of the NE’s ball was problematic because she couldn’t go straight at the five. “It’s doable, but you’re going to have to bank it off the rail because if you hit their ball first it’ll be a scratch.”

He walked down to the end of the table and pointed to a spot, “You’re going to need to hit the ball here. It’ll play off the rail and clip the five into the hole. You’ll want to strike just above center again and hit it hard. You need lots of speed because the bumper will take some of it.”

He move back around behind her so he could see her line. “Longer shots like this, sometimes it helps to bend more and get your line of sight closer to your cue.”

Flex

Banking—that was a new piece of information. “Can I get up on the table? You know, sit on the edge of it to make the shot? Otherwise, I’m not sure how to best go about it…can you show me?” She looked at their competition. “You guys don’t mind, right? I mean, this is my first time playing and there’s a lot I don’t know.” With her friendly smile and twinkling eyes, neither of them objected.

Jacen’s mind took a moment to wander into the realm of Aurra atop the pool table, and the thoughts brought a smile to his face. Corralling his imagination, he responded “You can sit on the edge of the table, but until you’re more comfortable it’s probably best to keep your feet on the ground while you shoot.”

The NEs at this point were picking up on the energy between the two and content to watch the scene play out as they continued the game. This is the stuff that rumors were made of after all.

Aurra grinned and looked expectantly at Jacen. “I’m ready to soak up what you teach me.”

—Talisse

Flex moved closer to Aurra, placing his left hand on her left hip he guided her into position near the corner of the table. Taking his right hand to the middle of her shoulder blades he pushed forward, leading her to bend over the table. Her feet were too close together forcing her right thigh to be in contact with the corner of the table. Flex corrected this by slipping his right foot inside of hers and using it to press her foot out spreading her legs slightly and allowing her to form herself around the table with one foot on either side of the corner pocket.

The positioning felt familiar but in her memory had nothing to do with playing a game. Outwardly, it was innocent—he didn’t do anything untoward while moving her into place for the best outcome with her shot. However, Aurra would be lying to herself if she said her mind didn’t place her and Jacen in another, more private setting briefly.

As he stood beside her, he braced his right hand on the table beside her right hip and leaned his face down closer to where hers was so he could see what she was seeing. In her ear he whispered, “Good, now keep your left arm firm and allow your right arm to be fluid.” He stood up from her and moved to point to a spot on the cue ball. “Strike it here hard and then let it do the rest.”

Flex

Following his guidance, she took aim and catapulted the pool cue forward, striking the ball exactly where Jacen indicated. She watched in awe as the balls on the table moved exactly as they’d planned and the five dropped into the side pocket smoothly. Out of excitement, she jumped up and down a bit while grinning with pure glee.

“I did it! Yes! That was awesome! Do I go again?” Her head swiveled as she looked from one man to another.

—Talisse

bump

A sincere smile spread across Flex’s face as he watched Aurra’s unbridled joy at making the shot. Then he surveyed the table, they had made up significant ground on the NEs. Three solid balls remained and only two striped balls. “Yes ma’am you do.” He said as his smile spread to his eyes. “You have a pretty good line on the one in the corner.” Jacen said indicating the ball he was talking about.

Flex

Unable to keep the bounce in her step totally under wraps, Aurra surveyed the table and chalked the end of her cue like she’d seen the others do. Studying the ball in the corner, she took a practice aim to see if she could actually make the shot and made a little humming noise when she realized that she could.

“Okay, I’m going to try the one in the corner. Let’s see if that last shot was just dumb luck.” Making minute adjustments to her position, Aurra set her eyes on where she needed to strike the cue ball, and launched her stick forward. After a few satisfying clacks, her ball fell in the corner pocket without touching any of the sides.

Jacen watched as Aurra pocketed another ball and now they were even with the NEs at two balls a piece and the eight ball still on the table.

It was her turn again and she tried to knock one of the last solid balls into the side pocket, but missed.

—Talisse

Flex watched as her shot barely missed as it clipped the railing that protected the pocket. The NE stepped up and quickly knocked down the two remaining stripes before calling for the eight ball in the corner pocket and sinking that shot as well. The two NEs smiled at one another, high fiving, as Flex flagged down the waitress and ordered the round of drinks that had been bet.

Looking at their competition he said, “Rack them up again gentlemen. Double the stakes”

Once the balls were racked it was Flex’s turn to break. He lined up the cue and hammered the ball into the triangle scattering balls around the table and sinking one stiped and one solid ball, meaning that he could choose to shoot at whichever he preferred and if he made the shot that would set which they would be shooting for this game. He aligned himself and sank the blue two ball setting them on solids again. He quickly ran off four more balls leaving one solid ball and the eight on the table.

Aurra stared at Jacen right along with the NE’s. He was really good.

The two NEs exchanged a concerned look as they realized they’d been hustled. Smith stepped up and was only able to sink one striped ball before missing what should’ve been a routine shot… the stakes clearly getting to him.

“Take us home here doc.” Flex said before giving her a playful wink.

Flex

“Really? Me? Wouldn’t you rather do it and win?” No reprieve came her way so she looked over the table. The six ball was closer to one corner of the table, but the eight ball was blocking most of that pocket. It took a full turn around the pool table to finally see the best shot. She would have to bank the cue ball off the side at an angle, which she did with a squeal.

A grin spread across Jacen’s face as the doctor squealed with joy. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and it was a disease he didn’t mind catching at the moment.

All that was left was the eight ball. With a prayer to Asad, Aurra got into position. “Eight ball, corner pocket.” It felt like the entire room was holding its breath as she made contact with the ball. The four players didn’t blink until they saw the black ball fall over the edge of the hole. Then the NE’s were talking loudly about how they’d been swindled while Aurra ran at Jacen, squeaking and laughing—and jumped.

—Talisse

Flex watched intently as Aurra secured their victory and reveled in the grumblings of the NEs. They had indeed been swindled which only made him enjoy it more… nothing like humbling some overconfident NEs. A flash of colored hair drew his attention back to the doctor as she rushed towards him in a flurry of delight and launched herself through the air at him. He caught her easily and swung her around one time in a circle, so that she didn’t feel like she’d jumped into a wall, before returning her to her feet lightly. Despite placing her back on the ground he squeezed her tightly for an extra moment that lingered as he inhaled her scent. The pheromones she was emitting having a profound effect and driving blood to certain regions of his body… “You did well doc. I’m proud of you.” He whispered into her ear before loosening his grip, but not quite letting her go yet.

Flex

It had been a good day in medical and now the evening matched. Aurra laughed as he twirled her mid leap and set her gracefully on the ground next to him. She was fully aware how nice it had felt to be lifted with ease and of his praise as her feet came to rest on the floor. “I’m surprised we won, but it feels great!” She probably wouldn’t feel so self aware if she’d been in civilian garb, but the uniform was keeping her grounded in the identity of her job.

As Flex let her go at last, he smiled at he comment and gave her a wink. “Oh doc, I never doubted the outcome.” He said playfully.

Walking away from the losers and waiving her hand at their excuses, Talisse made her way to the bar and ordered another drink for Jacen and herself. Lifting her glass in a toast, “To the victor go the spoils… That’s right, isn’t it?”

—Talisse

bump just keeping it on the board

Jacen watched her walk away to the bar, admiring her as she did. Then he made his way back to their table to wait for her. He took the glass as she returned and raised his glass to her toast thinking about the spoils he really wanted right now. “Indeed it is!” he responded cheerfully.

Taking a long pull from the glass, Jacen looked at Aurra doing his best to tame the hunger in his eyes. The physical attraction was a given, she was a beautiful woman and her colored hair gave her an exotic appeal as well… but she was different than some nameless girl in a bar to conquer and it wasn’t because of her position on the ship. Her presence was alluring to him and he was trying to figure out why. “So how did you end up in Star-Fleet medical and ultimately trapped on this soup can in the void?”

Flex