Posted by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) in Mason and Paris - Taking a Break

Posted by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) in Mason and Paris - Taking a Break
It was late, the evening shifts had ended and Mason knew that Paris would have been back in her quarters for little less than half an hour after her shift. Tonight, he knew she had left on time because one NE Snoopy had done exactly as instructed, comm’d Mason when she had left shift.

It would have been just enough time for her to shower, unless she was taking one of her famous Long Showers that stressed the Replicator systems almost to breaking point with excess water, however Mason was pretty sure he could handle that, if needed. Moving up to her door, he was dressed in civilian clothing that was casual yet rather tidy, as if he was going out for the night. Lately, he knew Paris had been working hard, and the two of them hadn’t had much chance to catch up around shifts and work created from the events on the Ferengi homeworld. Tonight, Mason was going to change that.

Coming up to her door, Mason was generally allowed to just enter. She had after all given him her access so he could come and go as he liked, and while his quarters were more spacious, from time to time the two of them did enjoy spending the night at hers for a change of scenery. Reaching out he opened the door with a small grin, and it slid open easily as he looked left and right quickly, then stepped inside to let it close behind him. “Hey Gorgeous” he called out softly, “are we decent?”

Lt Cmdr Black
XO

“Mason,” Paris said staring at him with an expression one mostly wore when they were caught in compromising positions with someone other than their significant other. Quickly turning around, Paris scrunched up her face and began to utter a string of silent curses that would have made any sailor proud. Thinking Mason had a few more hours left on his shift, Paris took the time to self-spa. She had soaked in the bath long enough for not only her finger to prune but also to require a second round of hot water. After emerging from her soak, Paris had donned a comfy bathrobe and her favorite bunny slippers. Wrapping her hair in a deep conditioner and applied a thick glob of facial, she had just decided to get a cup of coffee and search Bang for the latest round of epic fails. What she had not planned on was the guy she was trying to schmooze to be in her living room.

“So how ya doing? We did not have a date.....did we,” she tried to keep her voice upbeat as she cringed waiting for his answer.

Lt, Commander Paris Carisi, COS

“Well, I was thinking of heading to the charcoal mud pools of Goopy VI, but it looks like you already made it there before me” he teased her as he moved around to get a better look at the creature with the voice of his girlfriend. Looking at her a moment he sat on the arm of the sofa and leaned closer to her, “You know, I was kinda hoping for a Last Tango in Paris kinda moment, but I think it’s refreshing that our Chief of Security is a little more Harry Henderson with your mud face and slaughtered animal slippers. Wait, is that my bathrobe?”

Cmdr Mason Black, XO

“Harry and the Hendersons,” Paris looked at him crossly with her hands on her hips. “I do all of this to look pretty for you and I get Goopy VI comments,” she huffed and looked anywhere but in his direction. Turning back to face him, Paris narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “You wanna know something Mr. Black,” she took a step closer to him with her eyes full of anger. “You had better get used to this.”

Not giving Mason a chance to react, Paris dove at him sitting on the edge of the couch forcing him backward with her on top of him. She then proceeded to rub her face all over his slathering him with kisses. Large streaks of her facial now smeared his cheeks, chin, and neck.

“Oh my god” Mason said, feigning horror at the attack and cringing as he felt the facial smear over him. “I’ve been Slimed. Wait, is that strawberry?” He asked and wiped some of the offending smear from his cheek, sniffing it. “I love strawberry” he stated as he wiped his finger on the tip of Paris’ nose where some had rubbed off.

Laughing, she pulled the towel from her head letting the hair fall in wet clumps over her shoulders and down her back. “Everyone knows that when you smile and crack one of these masks,” she swirled her face with a pointed finger, “you get wrinkles so the only thing you can do to make it up to me is to stay with me forever.” For a brief second, she stopped the pretend pout and pressed her lips to his. She loved kissing Mason. She could do it for hours. It felt natural and like they had been together for years. After breaking the kiss she laid her head on his chest transferring more of the facial to his uniform as she got comfortable in his arms.

“If staying with you forever is my punishment, I’m going to make you laugh every time I see you wearing one of these things” he told her, and held her closer to him, his arms not letting her wriggle out even if she wanted to. “Was there ever any doubt this is exactly where I want to be?”

“I am glad you did come home when you did,” she said letting out a long relaxed sigh as she tightened her hug around his body. “I just got word that I have to go to Beltran II. The away team leaves in two hours. Not enough time for fun but enough for a snuggle and maybe a quick shower. I got the shower over without you unfortunately and unless I want the away team comm’ing my butt off the snuggle is over too now,” she let out a deep sigh huff and slowly pushed up until she was sitting on him and no longer laying down. Adjusting his robe she began to finger comb her wet hair as she looked at him with the thin layer of black facial mud covering his face. Even with it, Mason was still the most handsome man she had ever seen. “I should be back in a couple of days. Maybe we can pick up where we left off but without the goop,” she winked wiping a spot off of his cheek with her thumb.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, CoS

“Oh when we are back we so have to pick up where we leave off, I mean, this spot right here” he told her and moved his hands gently along her thighs to her waist, “is one of my favourites.” He grinned at her with mischief. “What do you think? Do you think I can pass this stuff off as ninja camouflage before we leave or should I shower first?”

Cmdr Black, XO

“We could shower first,” Paris said biting her lip and waggling her eyes. Leaning over she kissed him softly. She tried to control it. Not let it get too passionate for the sole reason that they were due in the hangar bay in less than forty-five minutes. It would not look good for either of them to be sprinting to the location hand in hand. Still, Paris’ mind went fuzzy as her lips continued to be pressed to his and Mason’s hands moved to the small of her back.

Exactly forty minutes later Paris was scowling at Mason. “I told you we did not have time for all that,” she slightly scolded her boyfriend as she tucked in her shirt. It was not that she hadn’t immensely enjoyed herself. It was more that Paris did not want to be red-faced when they strode in together. It was not a secret the two were a hot and heavy couple off duty and as senior officers, they were never off duty so times like this did occur. “So I am going to take the right corridor down. You take the left,” she said holstering her phaser and moving to the door. “Oh but,” she stopped abruptly and turned back to Mason, “You give me a fifty count before you leave the room.”

Paris held up a hand forestalling the complaints she guessed would start pouring from Black’s mouth.

“You are the XO and are late doing XO things. No one will say a word. I, however, am a lowly department head and they will just assume I was with you and that is why we are late so the separate paths and fifty count will randomize it. Rising on her tiptoes, Paris gave him a quick peck. “Remember fifty,” she said before disappearing through the door.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, CoS

Victus I

Two hours later, the shuttle began its descent to the surface of the planet. It was not a desert world but it was on the warmer side as climates went. There were no lush forests or oceans. In fact, the only speckles of green came from along the edges of the three great rivers cutting a path through the dry red surface. Several mountains dotted the terrain with white capped peaks but the general impression was this mission was going to be a hot one. “Why anyone would think this could be a viable colony is beyond me,” Paris remarked looking out the window of the shuttle.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, CoS

“Because it’s an M class world with an acceptable climate, even if a little hot and has soil suitable for large scale agriculture, despite the looks of it. We’re you not paying attention in the briefing, Commander?” Mason said to her, his eyes asking the question while knowing the answer only too well, “I hope you weren’t, preoccupied in your preparations for the mission.”

“I was preoccupied with our away mission but work does seem to want to get in the way,” Paris said slowly taking in the view as the descent continued. “Scans show a lot of life forms down there but I don’t see a thing,” Paris said squinting her eyes as if that would help. “I mean a lot of life forms.” Paris tapped the console and then gave Mason a side glance.

“I doubt there is anything larger than a beetle down there” he said, leaning over and looking out of the window where Paris had been looking. “Nothing’s been showing up on scanners of any size, it’s unlikely we’re going to come up against anything that’s going to suck our brains out, is it?”

Cmdr Black, XO

“Well since it is an unexplored planet I am not sure if there are brain-sucking animals or not but to be on the safe side how about I go check the weapons hmm,” she said in an upbeat tone.

“Good plan” Mason nodded to her, “brain suckers haven’t got anything on a good phaser. The landing site is coming up, let see what this paradise has to offer.”

Five minutes later the descent was complete and the shuttle’s door opened. The heat and humidity hit the pair like an oven. Paris tilted her head to the side, back and forth several times as if that would help ease the instant rush of heat coming up from her neck as the uniform added to the sweltering temperature. Paris was careful however not to start complaining already. While it was hot, it was not face of the sun hot as her father called it.

Mason moved from his seat after locking down the shuttle and took one of the Phasers from the locker, then stepped out beside Paris as he slid it into his holster. “Wow” he said as he looked around and shielded his eyes from the sun, “Didn’t they say in the briefing that this was their cool season?”

“Welcome, welcome, welcome,” a man in a dark suit met them at the end of the ramp with his hands spread. “I am Jaxon Smythe. I was told you were coming. We are so happy to have the Federation seeking to develop on our little corner of the universe,” he said. “Chellron Industries was pleased to have the Federation as a partner in their efforts to colonize. We supply the initial infrastructure and you the eager, intrepid and adventurous colonists.” As with any civilization, there was the symbiotic creatures that worked in conjuncture with another organism. There was also the parasitic ones and Chellron was the new breed of entrepreneurs. They found a planet and instead of colonizing it themselves they brought in anyone to provide the people. They provided the shops and businesses making a killing in profit. The Federation was not thrilled with such ventures but even less thrilled to have a real estate market that could allow Dominion or Romulan neighbors.

“Well we are just pleased as punch to know that you will try to make these colonists life the best they can be for a price,” Paris said in a snarky tone. While this was a formal delegation, Paris could not keep nice in check seeing the swarthy representative.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, COS

“Good morning, Mr Smythe” Mason said, after very obscurely giving Paris a slight elbow nudge and stepping forward. “I’m Commander Black of the Asimov, I’m sure you know, but we’re here to evaluate the progress the colonists and yourself have made in the last few months and send our report back to Federation headquarters.” He turned and indicated his away team, mostly engineers and scientists that specialized in the fields that they were here to check up on. “This is our Chief of Security, Lt Commander Carisi. She’s going to take a look at the colonies security measures and make sure that no shortcuts have been taken in protecting our colonists. How about we head into the compound?” Mason said looking back at the man in the suit and holding out his hand as if he actually lived on the planet and was inviting Smythe himself to accompany him.

Cmdr Black, XO

“Of course. Of course. I have refreshments and I can show you to your rooms. We saved the ambassadorial suite for you Sir and the rest of your crew also has the tops rooms but for you, nothing but the best Chellron has to offer.” The man had an oily quality to his voice. It was slippery as if nothing he said held true but sounded like something wonderful all the same. The group walked past a common area and past a series of what looked like governmental offices until they reached a set of tube-like elevators.

Mason stopped and looked over the doors to the elevator’s, not just any old door these seemed able to withstand something heavy or an immense amount of pressure, they looked thicker and more reinforced that the doors to a turbolift. “These certainly seem designed to keep something out” he observed quietly to Paris.

“I thought we were going to go to our rooms,” Paris asked as they stood in front of the military steel grade doors.

“Yes but you are not staying on the workers level. Come come,” he gestured for the group to enter as the doors slid open.

“You mean colonists,” Paris raised an eyebrow as she cast a side glance to Black.

Mason had heard about the Chellron types before, although never actually met any. He was aware of the more businesslike mindset of the company and the way in which they viewed everything, absolutely everything as a resource or an investment and stuck rigidly to long term and short term goals. On paper, they ran an impressive operation with numbers that always beat budget and time projections. In reality, they were regarded as ruthless and slimy operators who treated people like their pay grade. He knew that his fiery little wildcat wasn’t going to be able to keep her snark to herself for long, and if by miracle she did, he was going to hear all about it very soon. “Colonists, I think the correct and required term is, indeed, Mr Smythe” Mason said to the Suit, “especially as they are Federation Citizens.”

“Does the term really mean that much to you,” Smythe asked a bit annoyed.

“Yes. Yes it does. My daddy always said you can’t bull crap a bull crapper. Commander do you smell something,” Paris asked Mason. After all their time together, Mason would be able to tell his petite blonde was about ready to call a spade a spade.

Lt Commander Paris Carisi, COS

“It could be the Electro Plasma Grid running this lift” he said, narrowing his eyes at a nearby inspection panel, and quietly trying to deflect their diplomatic inspection from becoming a polite request to leave within 4 minutes and 30 seconds of their arrival.

“Or maybe it is just the smell of hard work,” Paris said looking at Mason with a blank expression. Shifting slightly towards Smyth she sniffed the air and shook her head. “Nope has to be the plasma grid. The smell of an honest day’s labor is not apparent in here.” Paris could not stand the pompous types that droned on and on about the affluence of their culture, planet, business. Whatever word they wanted to fill in it was always the same. The people in power often forgot it was the little guys that kept them smelling elegant in their hundred credit colognes.

“Or maybe they have used some substandard parts or purchased second hand goods from a Ferengi merchant” Mason said to nobody in particular as the doors opened and he stepped out to look around at their surroundings, finding that they were now high above the colony in one of the towers in what looked to be a reception hall with glass windows all around, short sets of stairs to the next level and what appeared to be the more ‘affluent’ suites.
Paris opened her mouth to verbalize everything the occupants in the elevator could see. The hard, metal, echoing infrastructure had disappeared during the transporter ride to be replaced with a modern, clean, and shining area far above the ground.

“Note that down, Ms Carisi” Mason said to Paris as he looked at her with a very straight face, “The contract here was to provide a first class facility for the colonists, I’d hate to think that the Federation funding has been spent on anything less than that, and I am sure that Starfleet Command will want a report on anything out of place.” Not waiting for any kind of comment, Mason walked to the nearest window and looked out over the colony below. The entire planet seemed hot and arid and largely inhospitable. Altogether not a place one would think to settle but with terraforming technology the way it was these days, the forecast was that in 20 years these people would have a lush, green and beautiful world to call home.
She closed her mouth knowing that Mason cut her off to be the ever diplomatic XO. There would be time to voice her concerns and then Mason would get an earful.

“I understand that there is some kind of dinner or function this evening?” Mason said, still looking out the window, “I expect that the head Colonists and Engineers are going to be there to fill us in on their progress before we run our inspections tomorrow?.” His query, although it sounded like a question, Paris would recognize as being more a statement of expectation at what should be happening.

“Of course,” Smythe said waving his hand as if he was a magician revealing a surprise. “Dinner will be eight pm sharp. Please feel free to explore as you like and we can discuss and questions over dinner. Now I must sadly leave you. Etheria does not run its self. Commander, Lt. Commander,” Smythe bowed and quickly left before anyone could pin him down for a moment longer than he wanted.

“Sir, would you like me to check out that turbo,” NE Erlick Trician asked Mason. “I am not sure the chief’s comment about smell was related to a mechanical failure but I think you did hit on something?”

“Ms Carisi I’d like you in my room after you get yourself settled into your quarters, we have a few items on the agenda to discuss before the function and inspections and I know we were a little rushed for prep time before we departed the Asmov.” He threw Paris a sideways glance with a slight smirk that vanished almost instantly, and anybody watching wouldn’t have known that the smirk had even been there, certainly not one as oily and self absorbed as the Suit who had met them.

Cmdr Black, XO

“Uh huh,” Paris said nodding but not really acknowledging his request. Her mind was running a mile a minute.

Lt Commander Paris Carisi, COS

==================
THREE HOURS LATER

Mason might have thought it was going to be a lackadaisical day lounging about in an apartment that brought to mind a city in the clouds from a long forgotten movie yet he could not have been more misguided. No sooner had he dropped his bag at the entry to the door, the console beeped showing an incoming message from the powers that be back in San Francisco. Since this was not a real weekender type event, Mason and his crew were still technically on duty even if they were not on the Asimov. After three hours of discussion about what was now being called the Ferengi Affair, details about the upcoming mission, and finally mind-numbing prattle about which Admiral was trying to scramble to the top while the Admirals speaking to him at various points was trying to stop it, Mason heard the sound of his freedom. A soft chime at his door indicating someone was seeking entrance.

“So Mason have you thought about transferring to San Fran,” Admiral Boxlight continued either ignoring the chime or not caring.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, COS

“I have considered it once or twice, but the opportunity was never right or available at the time” Mason said, trying to be diplomatic. “I’m also a Starfleet explorer, Admiral. Being out amongst the stars is where I really want to be.”

“Being cognizant of your potential and where your best chances for promotion are where you should really want to be,” the Admiral countered.

“Wait, Sir… you’re breaking up” Mason said, suddenly looking confused and straining to hear the Admiral, then squinting as if the screen had gone fuzzy.

“What? No, there doesn’t seem to be any interference on my end,” the Admiral cast an angry gaze at the ensign next to him.

“There seems to be some interference, maybe this colony is having....... an issue with it’s receiver, I am going to have to look into that”

“Is it the transceiver,?”

”..... let… me ”

“Come on Holmes get that line fixed. I am losing him,” the Admiral bristled only hearing every few words Black was repeating back. “Black....Black. Hold on we are trying to boost the line.”

”....try… and clear......” he said as he reached forward, and shut off the perfectly clear and functioning communication in the middle of whatever sound the Admiral was making. “Drats” Mason said with a disappointed tongue click, “Lost him.”

After that, he stood and moved to the door, knowing it was Paris that was finally there. Pressing the chime, he opened it, then as soon as he saw Paris looking back at him, he launched into his small rant. “Three hours?” he said, drawing out the word hours. “Three? How long exactly does it take you to get settled into your quarters Paris? Did you have to fumigate it then wipe it down or something? Three Hours woman? You put me on Paris Time didn’t you?” He said to her, and folded his arms in a very judging sort of way.

Cmdr Mason Black, XO

Paris gave Mason a funny look and then gestured at herself. She had always held the suspicion that men never really noticed any difference in a woman’s appearance unless they were dolled up for a night on the town or doing manual labor with mud smeared all over their cheeks. “Yes, I was busy,” she half squawked. ‘Look at me. There are cobwebs in my hair and enough grime that I am going to need an hour shower just to get the top layer off.” Paris threw her hands up walking into his quarters.

As Paris walked past him Mason opened his mouth to reply, but instead of doing so shut it tightly and made a face. Luckily, Paris couldn’t see him but whatever ‘grime’ she was talking about stank to high heaven. A slight gag action took place and he looked down at the carpet of the high end penthouse that he had been given to stay in, wincing at the smelly footprints his girlfriend was leaving behind. “Paris, baby” he said to here, following but making sure he stayed a discreet but effective distance away, “where exactly have you been to get in that state? And more importantly, why?”

“Remember when you said something smelled in the turbo? Well, I was just being snarky claiming it was Smythe but it turns out there is something rotten in Denmark. So Parsons ran a scan on the turbo. Turns out there was this residue in pretty much all the duct works from levels 10 to sublevel 86. Might go lower but our scan could not reach that far. The residue is a combination of decenaldehyde and trans-2-octenal. This may not mean a lot to you but when you are hip deep in it, it stinks to high heaven. This combination of chemicals is only found in the Halyomorpha halys or more commonly known brown marmorated stink bug. Now the scans of the fauna have shown no stink bugs but something is leaving the smell.”

“So we have a whole lot of” he waved a hand in the direction of the grime on Paris, “bug poo in the ducts, which follows the ducting down as far as we can scan through the sublevels and beyond, no good idea of what is producing it and a smooth talking corporate business suit who wants to make sure the colony, and his company, looks good and that Federation funding continues to pour in? That sounds like a really bad use of foreshadowing in a cheap B-grade holonovel, but I can tell by the smell that you might have, uh, put your foot on something.” Mason now came towards her with a smirk although his eyes showed concern for what she had discovered, and looked her up and down much closer. “That dinner is supposed to start in about an hour and we are supposed to be there, we need to get you showered, scrubbed and changed bub, and get that uniform burned.”

“On top of that,” Paris continued barely taking a breath. “The ducts have more armor than a blast door. It is like they are built to stop something but the question is what and why? The specs say they are solely for airflow. You should come see,” Paris said standing up taking Mason’s hand.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi COS

As Paris took his hand and he felt the grime sliding between their skin, Mason winced again but it was too late now, he had been slimed. “Alright, we have time and if anyone asks, we will say we decided to run an inspection without the Company looking over our shoulders.” Instead of walking with Paris, however, he stood and held her hand firmly and pointed at the bathroom. “First, you shower and get that stuff off. We don’t know if it will have an effect on our skin and without Medical here to check it, we need to minimize the risks. Shower first, then we replicate some Bio suits and gear to go on this Spelunking expedition of yours.”

“But Maayyyy sooon,” Paris said looking back at the door before turning to face him with a soft smile. “Is that an order,” she asked suddenly becoming a bit coy. “Can we make it an inspection. White glove,” she bit her lip and waggled her eyebrows. By now Paris had gone nose blind to the stench. This was supposed to be a small getaway even if it was a working one. Looking at the time she realized Mason was right. She had other plans for the first three hours here. Since they did not pan out maybe she could use the last hour more to her advantage. “I promise not to use those girly soaps and make you smell like sun-dried raspberries.”

“It’s not the dried raspberries” he told her, “but the lavender and edelweiss that I had the issue with. You know how hard it is to be the serious Commanding Officer when you smell like lavatory flowers?” But his serious look took on a cheeky smile, “you go shower, for, say, 10 minutes. Then I will be there ok, and I promise that my inspection will be very, very thorough. It’ll make you sweat, bite your lip as you fight to keep silent while I carry out my work. I promise your Adrenalin levels will be through the roof as you watch me work. Now go shower before we have to be at the dinner.”

Mason watched her walk away, taking particular note of her hips and then walked to the window where a small table sat. On it were two wine glasses and a chilled bottle of wine, prepped for when Paris had supposed to have been there three hours prior. Looking out the floor to ceiling glass window/wall that showed the hot and almost inhospitible planet, he popped the cork and let the wine breathe for a few minutes before he himself undressed completely, folding his clothes over the chair. Letting the cool air from the air conditioning flow over his skin for just a moment, he picked up two glasses on one hand and then filled them with the wine. Deciding that Paris had more than enough time to wash the grime off, he smirked and turned for the bathroom with only the two wine glasses and bottle of wine for adornment.

-------------- Elsewhere in the Tower--------------

Yes Sir, she entered the Commanders Quarters 20 minutes ago. She and that Engineer Parsons were in the ducting, they came out covered in the substance. Yes sir, we have people on the way to the access points now. They will block them from heading back in until we can use the thermite charges to purge the substance from the ducts. It was scheduled for tomorrow Sir but they arrived early as you know, we didn’t have time to purge it. We will just claim it’s a reaction from our mining operation, that produces similar vibrations Sir. Yes Sir, understood.

The Assistant Secretary of Security turned off the Monitor to the smooth talking suit and looked over at two of his bulky henchmen who both nodded and patted the bulges in their coat pockets. “You know what to do” he told them, “especially if they do not co-operate. Inspecting the mines can be a dangerous job when you do it without the correct safety measures. How unfortunate.”

Turning back to his monitors on his desk, the two henchmen looked at each other and wordlessly turned and walked away.

Cmdr Black, XO

=====================
During the Dinner............

Paris walked back to the quarters with Mason in a slow stroll. While the food at the event was five star, the dinner was completely lackluster in the conversation. A small smile curled on Paris’ face as she remembered Mason getting his first text from her. Her boyfriend was amazing at being on. During staff meetings, conferences, away mission, heck anything job related, it would be hard pressed to know that they were a couple. The man had a poker face that was set in stone. Paris had taken this as a challenge early on. Tonight she entertained herself trying to make him break. Smythe had little to say to her and the other officers but he was up Mason’s butt so far, Paris was not sure how Black was able to sit. To pass the time and not fall asleep as Smythe preened about the colonies accomplishments, Paris sent numerous texts to him via the personal communicator. The first messages were simple. Sassy little messages asking if he wanted the right side or the left side of the bed but either way if he played his cards right both sides of the bed with be right.

“Is there a problem,” Smythe asked hearing Mason’s communicator bleep. “Is that a message from your ship? Your other crew? You know they were all invited right? Even the non-officers?” Smythe did not like that everyone wasn’t here but his people were monitoring them.

“No problem Smythe” Mason told him, reading over another message, this time acompanied by a picture found on Bing Universe that depicted a particualrly difficult yoga position that Mason thought was vaguely familiar. “I’m just getting routine reports that I will have to follow up with when I am back to my quarters, Duty rosters, work requests, inspection details and extra curricular training activites. I may be tied up for a few hours after dinner unfortunately.”

The messages then progressed to snap shots of her wardrobe. She was glad he had installed the privacy protector on his comm until. This meant that unless one was directly behind him and looking at the exact angle Mason was holding it, no one but Mason could see the screen. She had planned to send this stuff to entice him when they were levels apart actually working her but the wine and her libido were working together right now.

The extra beeps made Mason look at his device again, and this time he raised an eyebrow and tilted his head as if in thought slightly. “Make that an all nighter” he told Smythe, “the demands on an Executive Officers time are endless it seems, it looks like I am going to be hip deep in work all night, head buried deep in fact in these work requests. I assume you can arrange for room service Smythe? I’m going to need something to keep me going. Wine, peanut butter snacks, fresh fruit with dipping sauces and some ice. I’m sure the tower kitchen has then fresh, not replicated? My energy levels suffer with replicated food at times.”

“My my you are a busy man. How do you do it,” Smythe said as a series of hums could be heard when the conversation paused.

“He is always on top of his crew’s needs,” Paris immediately replied taking a sip of her wine to hide her smile. Mason might have a face of stone but she did not and at this moment was particularly enjoying herself.

Lt. Commander Paris Carsis COS

“Always” Mason admitted, “My crews needs are always top priority Smythe. You keep your crew happy, and they will bend over backwards for you, work on their knees if you tell them to and keep their opinions to themselves when your busy and need quiet. Talking about crew needs, Lieutenant Commander we should get an early start, I am going to need your assistance with most of this. I think we should come together and put our heads to work. Good night Mr Smythe, first room service delivery in an hour and then each hour after that, yes?” Mason stood up from his chair and nodded to Smythe, and a few of the other guests at the tables, holding his hand out for Paris to help her up like the Gentleman he was.

Cmdr Black, XO

Paris took Mason’s hand and let him help her up. He had half proposed a few weeks ago on the holodeck. In her mind, she was as good as his fiancee so taking his hand was not out of the ordinary under those circumstances. They smiled and nodded to the hosts of the dinner and saying the polite goodbyes that were always necessary at events like this. As Mason dealt with the oily Direktor of the facility, Paris’ eye happened to catch something. A man at the far end of the room was acting just like Paris felt. He wanted the dinner over as bad as she did but Paris had a gut feeling it was not to cuddle up with the man he loved and spend the night making love. The way he tugged at his collar, glanced at his PaDD and let out deeply held breaths so his chest rose and fell impatiently showed he had something important to say but secretive enough that he was not going to draw attention to his presence any more that he was.

Paris snapped out of her scrutiny of the man as she half heard Mason speak to her and place his hand on the small of her back indicating it was time to get moving. She mumbled a reply and began walking with the group back to the designated living quarters. With several members of the crew with them still, Paris could not be his girlfriend yet so she kept silent as the group discussed the night. Reaching Mason’s quarters she did not miss a beat as she entered acting as if this was her room. This did get an eyebrow cock by Paulson.

“Goodnight Paulson” Mason told the man, a slight smirk on his face. “I suggest you get some rest, you’re going to need it tomorrow with the amount we have to do.”

The man thought about replying with something less professional like “have a nice night sir,” to Mason’s question watching the turn of events at the XO’s door. Mason was a good guy and a guy. He was not a stiff officer and had been known to drink too much with his crew and stay up too late during poker games. This, however, seemed not the time to comment with ‘you are one lucky man,’ as they did at times when they talked about which female officers they were dating or had an interest in. Instead, he opted for a simple, “good night Sir,” as he left to go to his own room.

As Mason entered the room he could not have missed the string of clothes like breadcrumbs leading towards one particular room. He would pass a single high heeled shoe then a second one. Her dress lying almost flat on the ground as if she had laid it out instead of just taking it off. Her bra was draped over one end of the chair indicating the end of the trail to a closed door. Behind the door, he would hear movement about the bedroom.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, COS

Locking to door behind him, Mason looked over the clothes spread across the ground and had to give a low chuckle. Taking his time, he slowly approached the bedroom door while undoing the cuffs of his sleeve, and loosening the collar of his shirt. Admittedly their brief time before the dinner had, by necessity been cut short although they had still been fashionably late and now Mason paused to pick up the bra she had draped over the back of the chair and grin as he had an idea, so he took it with him as he carried on to the room she was in.

As he came up to his room he threaded one of the bra straps through his fingers, feeling the texture and remembering the same from earlier that evening. The doors slid open and Mason had his fist glance at what was waiting for him in the bedroom.

Cmdr Mason Black, XO