Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Medical Research & Development) in If This Isn’t My Bed, Then Whose Shirt Is This?

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) in If This Isn’t My Bed, Then Whose Shirt Is This?

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Medical Research & Development) in If This Isn’t My Bed, Then Whose Shirt Is This?
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Frigga took off at a steady run following the sound of the ball as it hit and bounced. Alexis walked quietly along beside him. The tension slowly drained out of her, and then, uncharacteristically, she rested her head against his shoulder as they walked. When they got back towards the front of the arboretum, Frigga was lying next to the door, ball obviously having been put away. She got up and padded over towards Alexis and nudged her hand. “Are you tired now? We’re hungry so you better be done. Ready to go home and eat, girl?” Frigga turned a circle and then nudged Kane’s hand looking at him I’m not letting her go back in there, and you’d better not either. and then she headed out of the arboretum. A turbolift ride and couple corridor’s later Frigga stopped right in front of his quarters.
Bonner
Frigga, I told you we were friends

“Here’s a thought. How about we stop here, eat, and then go see you place. Cleaners should have done their thing by now.”

Kane

Alexis nodded, “Yeah, okay.” She followed him inside, Frigga bounding in like she lived there and found her spot under the chair and laid down. Alexis still had hold of his hand; she looked around her eyes landing on the pencil sketch again, and then past the bedroom. “If…if you don’t mind waiting, I can cook…”
Bonner

Kane looked at her and said “If you want, sure. Make yourself at home.” and he went in the bedroom and came back out with a flat, black bag. He said “Mind if I sit for a minute? For some reason I am really tired.” and he looked from her to the bedroom and back… and then half-grinned as he bent over to deal with the bag.

Kane

Alexis moved over towards the replicator, but she glanced back at him and shook her head. A soft blush rushed across her features as she looked away, shyness and nerves, but he could see a matching grin on her face. The very first thing she did was request a bowl of water and set it down, out of the way, for Frigga. Then a tray with what seemed like quite a bit of ‘stuff’ but it only appeared that way. Alexis had a moment of disappointment, it would be so much better with real food, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

She poured the oil into the pan, set it on the hot plate and short minutes later there was the smell of hot oil and the distinctive pop as it heated. She set the bread on the surface in front of her, placing turkey and Swiss cheese on the left row of bread and ham and American cheese on another row. An extra slice was placed on top of the turkey and Swiss and then the whole thing was put together to make one sandwich and then she pinned it all in place with toothpicks.

She was difference while she was cooking. She was still, where in the lab she moved from project to project, played solitaire, fidgetting with the stylus, and then sudden intense stillness. But she wasn’t actually still. She’d told him cooking was her favorite form of applied chemistry and the chemical equations involved in creating the dish were running through her mind, as she made small adjustments to what she was doing, in response to the chemical processes. She wasn’t aware but she was humming softly, songs her mother sang while she baked.

He was drawing as she was cooking. A piece of black charcoal moved across the paper, and every now and then he looked up at her for a moment, and then back down. Soon, his fingertips were smeared with charcoal as his hand and arm moved and applied lines and shadow to the page.

There was the clear sharp sound of egg cracking and then the sound of whisk rapidly folding eggs and water together, and then a pause as she added the salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder. And then the sound of the whisk again, but the sound was slightly slower as the batter began to mix and become smooth. She set the bowl down and everything she was finished was placed in the recycler and disappeared. She placed the first sandwich into the batter flipping it several times to coat it and then with a loud sizzle-hiss she placed it in the pan of hot oil. She dipped the second sandwich and then more sizzling as she placed it in the pan.

She flipped the sandwiches and once the second side was golden she carefully scooped them out onto paper towels to cool. With the practiced ease of a skilled surgeon she removed the toothpicks and sliced them neatly from corner to corner and placed them on plates. They were more than liberally dusted with powdered sugar and small dipping bowl of raspberry jam was added to the plates.

Then in quick order everything she’d been using was returned for partial energy credits to her account. She picked up the plates and walked over to the couch setting them on the table, studiously avoiding looking out the window. She returned to the replicator and removed a bowl of beef, rice, and gravy for Frigga and set it down for her. She turned to look at him. “What do you want to drink?”
Lt Bonner

He licked the tip of a finger with the tip of his tongue and rubbed a spot on the page. “Water is fine, thanks. Whats your favorite color?” he asked, his eyes never leaving the page.

Kane

She ordered another water along with hers. “Green” she said it softly, a pang of…disappointment. She supposed she couldn’t really expect anyone else to hold onto details the way she did. She set the glasses down and sat on the couch. It was better to eat it when it was hot, but she also understood what being immersed in your task was like. And so she waited.
Lt Bonner

Kane shook his head and smiled. “No. My fault. I meant whats your favorite color, doll. Of green. Kelly? Mint? Olive? Chartreuse? Hunter? Neon? You of all people should know that ‘green’ is a spectrum.” and he chuckled as he squinted and worked a spot again.

Kane

Oh! How did she miss that? “Jade, Emerald, Mint, Kelly, and Forest. In that order.” She tucked her legs underneath herself and rested her head against the back of the loveseat. At this angle she couldn’t see the darkness outside the windows, and she could watch him work.

It was, of course, her he was drawing. She was cooking, standing at the hot plate with a spatula in mid turn of one of the sandwiches. She wasn’t 8n uniform, far from it. She was wearing one of his shirts. It looked enormous on her, but the sleeves were pushed up and it fell long enough to just cover up her modesty. Her legs were bare, and the left one was bent slightly at the knee and her heel was raised so that only her toes were on the floor.

She sipped at the ice cold water in her glass. He always used the strangest nicknames for her; she liked it. She really liked Solomon, so much so it scared her. What if it became more than just like? What if she screwed it all up just being herself?
Bonner

As she thought, Kane picked up a piece of colored charcoal, jade green, and began to color only the shirt. “Eat, babe. Im almost done.”

Kane

Frigga had finished her food and the water and had curled back up under the chair. From her vantage point she watched with doggy amusement as Kane made sure that Alexis ate.

Alexis put one of the plates in her lap, dipped the sandwich in the jam and took a bite. She stifled back a moan. It was good, or maybe it was just comfort food and after the last 24 hours it would taste good no matter what. She watched him as he added the green color to the drawing. He fact he was drawing her again created a weightless, dizzy feeling in her stomach. The kind of feeling you get at the top of a rollercoaster, right before you fall at speeds.
Bonner

Kane glanced at her from the corner of his eye and smiled slightly. “I make you nervous. Tense. Why is that? Is it because you know you are going to be staying the night with me again? Or is it something else?” he asked as he added the final touches, smearing lines into shadows that suddenly made the whole picture come together with depth, contrast, and highlights.

Kane

She was staying again. His question confirmed that, and she relaxed slightly but noticeably. She was afraid to go back to her quarters but her mind wasn’t ready to admit that or that she was afraid of him. He’d asked a question and she was supposed to answer. She took a drink of the water to clear the heavy flavour and set the plate aside, only a single bite taken. “Both. I…I want to stay, but I didn’t know if you wanted me to or if I should ask. I really like you, Solomon, a lot and.” She watched him finish the picture and it was incredible, and not because it was her (she didn’t know why he kept drawing her) but because it simply was. She put the plate back on her lap, picking at it, her long hair falling around her face. “And I don’t want to do something so incredibly me that you don’t want to be around me any more.” There was a sick painful sensation across the nerves that ran from her shoulder to the backs of her hands at the confession. She was nervous that he would accuse her of comparing him-them to her past experiences, and maybe she was in a way. But he asked why she was nervous and she was being honest.
Bonner

Kane smiled and took a final look at the picture, made a few more smudges that seemed to breathe life into her face on the page, and then set the pad aside. He looked at her with a scowl, his normal look, and then picked up the sandwich with charcoal smeared fingers and tooka bite after dipping it in the sauce.

“Ok…” he began around the mouthful of sandwich, “… you like me. And you know I like you because I’ve told you that multiple times. And we spent a full day without talking and without realizing it was a full day… and you didn’t know if you could spend the night here? Damn, woman… you’re supposed to be smart.” and he finished chewing and swallowed the bite. “And that is one of the best f&^$ing things I have ever eaten in this or any other universe… damn. What is that, swiss? Holy crap.” and he took another bite and chewed slowly while regarding her intently.

You’re supposed to be smart. It felt like she’d been sucker punched. She was smart but she didn’t understand people. You could like someone, she’d seen people who like each other, even had s*# and not want to be around each other constantly. Solomon Kane liked to be left alone. He didn’t talk to anyone unless he had to; he didn’t work with anyone, and until he met her in the lounge she didn’t think he’d been in there. She’d been working with him a week, dated him less than that if it could even be called saying. She didn’t know him long enough to know if he wanted his space or not. She didn’t say any of that though…

“Swiss and American. If it was fresh it would be colby but the replicator doesn’t get it right.”

“What would you do that is so ‘you’ I wouldn’t want to be around you?”

Kane

Ask questions a smart person should know the answer to but I don’t. She didn’t answer that question either though. Instead she focused on the plate in her lap, but she was more picking at it than eating.
Bonner