(Snip)

“I am doing fairly well,” Vanessa said feeling the room seem to move around her. Subconsciously she was aware of what she wanted to say but her mind was thick and foggy. She had tipped to the point of no return with the last drink. All her talk earlier of being a big dog disappeared as Vanessa Slade realized she might be a little too inebriated. “In fact I am doing better than fairly well,” she moved her legs so they were tucked up under her allowing her to adjust her height to be eye level with him. Handing him her glass so his hands were full, Vanessa took his chin in her hands and turned his face so Marius was looking directly at her. “You scare me. Not because you are built like a mountain or can send a glare across the bridge that instantly makes someone feel like they are going to be called to the principal’s office but because under all this…I think I could fall for you.” Alcohol tended to cause people to make bad decisions but it also at times was the greatest truth serum. “Kiss me,” she said closing her eyes and leaning in. Her lips might have been puckered but they never reached the intended target. Her leaning increased to a more steady fall landing her not on his face but directly impacting his chest.

“Vanessa? Falling…” He question as she started tilting. It was almost like a ship listing, or the tower of Pisa pitching over, just a lot faster. She then just thumped against his chest. “Van-ess-a?” He started to speak in a falsetto, “Marius… take me to bed or lose me forever…” (for our Top Gun fans) He paused.

A soft snore was her only reply to anything Marius asked.

Marius blinked at her snoring form, that two fisted whiskey theft did her in. He shook his head. Better now that if they started really fooling around again. Bad enough intoxicated… completely wrong drunk. She had done pretty well considering she had more than him and he out weighed her by a god 70 pounds.

Hands full it took a moment to maneuver in a fashion to get the glasses on a stable surface so they wouldn’t spill. Vanessa was not a large woman, certainly not heavy in terms of what Calvin could lift, however any drunk dead weight person could be a trial on someone especially when they had to pick them up from a fairly low couch. “Oh my… I guess you want to crash here.” He carried her over to his bed. Being Captain did have its advantages and he did have a Queen sized bed.

Vanessa breathed deeply but did not wake up as Marius wiggled and shifted to a standing position with her in his arms. Not by any fault of Calvin, Vanessa’s head lolled slightly making her snort awake long enough to look at him and blink a few times. “I don’t think I should drive home,” she limply patted his shoulder obviously not aware she was on a space ship and not the corner watering hole. “Give me twenty…’kay,” she murmured half intelligibly before ending her sentence with a small snore signalling she was asleep again.

“You do… lovely.” He had to put her down, pull back the sheet, put her under it and then tuck her in. It probably would have been easier not to bother and she certainly wouldn’t notice it, but it didn’t seem proper. He chuckled to himself, she was out like a light.

He ran through the many steps of his nighttime routine, leaving an empty trash can on her side of the bed. On the night stand on her side as well he left a glass of water and four aspirin. She had been drinking real alcohol so the hangover was going to be real as well. Four hours later

Vanessa let out a small moan as the sound of an alarm from her personal communicator echoed in the darkened room. Her hand reached out flopping around on the small table next to her trying to silence it. A small gnawing headache was starting to form and Vanessa was not ready to get up to see it if got worse. Pulling the blankets up, she inhaled deeply hoping for just a few more seconds of sleep. It was then she noticed something felt off. Turning her head, she buried her nose in the pillow and inhaled deeply. It was not the scent of lavender and vanilla indicating she was in her own bed. It smelled distinctly of masculine cologne and only one person wore that scent. Oh crap, she said silently to herself.

Vanessa Slade CNS

OOC: Six am for an 8 or 9 am shift? Or do I have the time line wrong.
OOC: 8 am I have always thought. Not sure why. I have always assumed Senior staff worked 8 hour shifts and all other shifts were 4, 6 hour shifts. I have no clue where I got that idea. Do you have a picture of Calvin? Just trying to figure out the small things for a post. If he is bald I will alter the post lol. ~ Kate

OOC: I always thought I had a picture… and yes he’s bald. https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Terry-Crews-Walk-of-Fame-Honor.jpg?w=1000

Marius had elected to cancel his 6 am workout. He could skip one… or make it up after his shift. What he couldn’t control is the fact Vanessa had her own alarm set too early. “Why,” He grunted unhappily. He mentally couldn’t decide what would make him happier ignoring the alarm and continuing sleeping or enjoying the hangover Vanessa had to have. “Are you kidding me… four hours…”

The sound of his voice made her freeze as if suddenly Calvin Marius, the expert Marine, would not notice a lump on the side of his bed.
Oh my god oh my god Vanessa you did not just bang the boss, she said still not moving. With any luck, he was just shifting position and will fall back to sleep.

Despite this he rolled over on his side and forced open his eyes… less forced was his smirk. “Good Morning Sunshine… Are you getting me breakfast???”

Marius

The slightly surprised look on her face instantly melted hearing his greeting and seeing his smile. “Yes, but I have a question first.” She took a minute and looked at him. Reaching out she ran her fingers through his hair gently before leaning in for a quick soft kiss.

“Yes, twice, well two and a half if you’re catholic” He paused, “Which I think you are.. given you 12 brothers and your total disregard of the definition of Catholic Sins… BTW you were wonderful.”

“I did hit lust, gluttony, and pride like a rock star,” she said letting out a small groan as she tried to shift positions but felt the stirrings of a headache threatening to rear its ugly head if she spoke any louder or made any fast motions. “You have any analgestics on hand?”

“Which I believe came before your fall.” He nodded towards the table on her side of the bed. “I suspected you might wake up with a little hangover.” Marius had been there several times. He hadn’t ever really passed out, but even without losing consciousness the hangover could be very real.

Rolling over to the nightstand where he had placed a couple of tablets before crawling into bed, Vanessa palmed them and flopped her hand about until she found the water he left to wash them down. Moving slower, she looked at him with a half smirk. “When did we switch from synthohol to the real stuff?” Synthohol was like alcohol except for the nasty side effects like headache, aversion to light, and a queasy tummy. The problem was it also wasn’t like the real thing which was why so many people kept a stash like Marius had for emergency purposes.

“We didn’t switch… it was real alcohol the whole time, Miss’ I’m going to drink mine and yours too.’”

“No my question was not how many hail Mary’s am I going to have to do on Sunday,” she let snuggled deeper trying to move as little as possible before the drugs kicked in. “It was far easier.”

Calvin chuckled a little, “I never understood that part of Catholic penance system. That’s like writing something on a chalk board just boring and punitive. I like the restorative practices, making things better or doing good deeds to make up for a sin.”

“Fortunate for you your sins were mostly of the minor variety except for that pesky lust one… ” He shrugged. “I’m pretty sure you did that sin a couple of times before you met me, or you’re a savant at it. So I imagine you know what the charge is for that particular act.”

“But if were up to me, Ironically I do the discipline on the ship, so I know a little about this, maybe a few hours of hard labor, peeling potatoes, scrubbing the head. Things like that.”

“What the hell thread count are these sheets? I am mean I knew the being a Captain has some perks but these sheets are the bomb.” Now was supposed to be the awkward moment where neither of them talked and both hastily made promises about texting or calling as they rapidly donned their clothes and shoes. Instead it was comfortable and almost familiar.

“I really can’t take credit for that. I didn’t buy them… well I didn’t choose them.” Marius’ wife had purchased all of the items of any quality in the room with the exception of his clothes, the bar and the alcohol. He decided to leave that part of the story out. “I had a personal shopper that took care of keeping my quarters ‘decent.’ By and large I can’t tell Betazed silk, from rayon by anything else aside from the charge on my banking account. I did pick the bed and mattress… I do know sleeping.”

“Well you might have made a grave tactical mistake in letting this turn into a slumber party last night. You have opened my eyes as to what I can have.” She kept her tone serious and her expression as neutral as possible as she talked. “Calvin I hate to say this but you might have just made me aspire to become,” she let her voice trail for a second.

“A captain myself,” she pulled up the blankets and snuggled a bit deeper. “I mean I am really loving these sheets.”

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Well it’s probably easier then getting into my quarters way you did it.” Marius responded. “I’ve heard of trying to get into someone’s pants, but getting into someone’s sheets… I can’t decide if I’m insulted or am impressed by your cleverness and work ethic. I’ve seen mules who were beaten work less hard than you did. Thanks by the way.”

“No problem and it is totally my work ethic that has you saying to yourself…now why can’t I be like Slade. She is my newest idol,” she quipped as she decided moving from this spot was no longer on her agenda.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Hoping the sarcasm in his voice was especially clear.

“But I do remember a promise of breakfast.” Not that, that was exactly what she said… but if she was half as drunk as she appeared, she might not remember the exact wording of the discussion. Or she was thankful enough about his performance… which was a fifty fifty shot.

“Oh my god yes please. Something greasy,” she responded reaching out and patting his shoulder, fully hearing the statement as an invitation and not a question about her putting her money where he mouth was. “On bread though definitely on bread. The carbs help soak up whatever is still being processed,” she started placing her order as if they were at some restaurant.

“Oh no,” Marius couldn’t decide if she forgot or was intentionally was playing stupid. “Your big mouth made a lot of promises last night, dropped a lot of challenges.” He was intentionally vague as he tried to measure her memory. He reached out and clutched her body to his firmly running his hand through her hair…’ummm’ Calvin did like hair. Ironic again since he didn’t have any.

Now firmly in his clutches he continued. “I intend to hold you to every single one of them, repeatedly.” He ran as series of kisses down her neck ending with a light sucking bite, low on her neckline, lower than a open blouse would reveal just in case she bruised easily. He released her with a yawn and a placid smile as he rolled back to his side of the bed.

“Unless you want some afternoon delight first thing in the morning.” Vanessa had awoken the lion and in all honesty, last night ended without an actual resolution for Calvin.

Marius

“Wait are you talking before coffee?” The tone in her voice indicated that as flexible and eager as she was last night, it did not stand a chance of coming in first on her list of things to do this morning. For the first time, Calvin would notice actual fear and apprehension in her eyes over whether her first true and absolute love of coffee was going to have to jockey for second place. Her mouth went slightly dry and her heart rate increased not because of what he was suggesting but what he clearly did not understand had to come first before any decisions were to be made or activities planned.

“Yeah, I was planning on going back to sleep after. We have 2 hours because of your alarm. I was planning on making the best of it.” Calvin literally could roll out of bed, wash his face, brush his teeth, and be in his uniform in 3 minutes, which meant he’d be on the bridge in 5. He wanted to use that time in a preferred fashion… that would be fooling around or sleeping. Breakfast was of interest, but lower than those other two.

There was only one option. Sometimes you just had to pay the piper. “Woof,” she said in a soft high pitched tone but without the vim and vigor from last night. Somewhere deep in her memories, Vanessa remembered standing up and barking about being a big dog and the ability to run with the boys. Now she was no longer barking up that tree. This morning she was not a five foot Great Dane but more like a one foot Yorkie as she nursed the growing headache forming behind her eyes and the sensation she was so dehydrated she left like she was two steps from mummification. She had no idea if Marius even remembered that from the beginning of the night or not. Usually her ten foot tall and bulletproof status vanished as her liver processed out the alcohol that caused such displays of her ego. Of all the things that Calvin Marius needed to know about Vanessa Slade, it was coffee started out as the first thing her lips touched regardless of whether the night was spent alone playing solitaire or involved more rigorous activities.

Vanessa Slade. CNS

Calvin chuckled, “If you want to run with the big dogs you have to learn how to piss in the tall grass.” Vanessa had locking into that phrase and made it the mantra for the evening. He exhaled. “Alright.” He conceded. It was only fair, she had done most of the work in the second half of the evening. He announced to the computer =^=Coffee service for two. Full English Breakfast for two.=^= He rolled unhappily out of the bed to collect it. The only consolation he had was that he was going to bring it to the little table in his living room, well it was the other room that was used for everything. She would have to leave the warmth of the bed as well.

Calvin padded over in his black boxer briefs. He had a full collection of clothes she was still semi-clad in his shirt from last night.

Marius