Posted by Major General Charles Tenkiller (Vice-Commander, Colonial Customs and Defense Agency) in Safe Harbors

Posted by Civilian Yavia Crockett (Nurse - Sacred Heart Hospital) in Safe Harbors

Posted by Major General Charles Tenkiller (Vice-Commander, Colonial Customs and Defense Agency) in Safe Harbors
Posted by… suppressed (25) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
The bed was huge so there was plenty of room whether she had moved or not. She had moved, in fact she had woken up at some point because instead of the blanket from the bed she was curled up under that same blanket Charles had wrapped her in that first night that he had also used as a makeshift toga. Sharah had inadvertently claimed it. Despite being asleep and the soft light of the water feature, Sharah looked rested, relaxed, and was actually smiling in her sleep.

Sharah

Charles smiled and said “Well sunnuva… look at that, V.” he whispered very softly. He pointed at her face and smiled.

Yavia nodded, putting an arm around his waist and hugging him. “That’s gorgeous,” she whispered back. Sharah’s feelings in her sleep were even more so, and V wished she could share that with TK, but she knew he did in his own way.

He crawled very carefully into bed on one side, leaving Sharah enough room to adjust as she felt in her sleep. He exhaled slowly and was soon asleep, but not before whispering “I love ya, V.”

Tenkiller

Yavia slipped into the bed on the other side, laying on her side facing them both. “I love you, too.” Yavia didn’t miss the way Sharah’s smile grew slightly nor the sense of contentment that flowed off of her. Even in her sleep Sharah could feel how they loved each other and her and their much deeper connection. Yavia brushed her hair back a little and kissed her forehead before drifting off to sleep.

Yavia

---

Sharah woke as the tangle of limbs unraveled itself some. She had no idea who moved, it didn’t matter, it made her smile. She had no idea what time it was or how long she had slept. She drifted in a content half asleep state, listening to and feeling the people next to her. That was until she suddenly had to get up.

She opened her eyes, it was Charles who had moved. Good he woke up far too easily, Yavia slept like a bkava in a hurricane. She carefully extricate herself from the slumbers embrace of the other woman and then slid down to the end of the bed. She looked to make sure they were both still asleep and with a smile closed the door behind her.

Half an hour later, Sharah was showered and dressed and in the kitchen. The house was quiet but it didn’t feel empty. It felt warm and welcoming, like she fit, even while they were still asleep. She didn’t feel like she was intruding or a guest. This was home now, and right then Sharah’s fears and worries were very far away.

Sharah stood by the counter making hot chocolate and eating toast. The sun was rising and the colors and light coming through the windows was brilliantly beautiful. Her eyes landed in Hope and adjusting her perception a bit she could feel the simple joy all that light brought to the tiny tree. Sharah hurried down the stairs and into her room. She returned and pulled a stool around and sat at the counter sketch pad and pencils infront of her and began to draw.

Sharah

Warm hands went around her hips and wrapped themselves around her middle, and soft kisses landed exquisitely on the junction between her neck and shoulder. “If I’d ‘a known that you drew, I’d never have invited ya here. Two artists in such close proximity? It’ll be chaos…” Charles said with a grin as his hands slid slowly under her top and rubbed against her stomach.

Tenkiller

Her eyes closed, her head dropping forward as he kissed her skin. Her breath moved out ringed with a soft sound of delight at the contact. Her skin shivered under the warmth of his hands. “Oh well, I’ll try to keep my half of the chaos contained.” Any other time that statement would hold a depth of other meaning, but right then there was only soft amusement in her voice. She leaned back against his chest, and tilted her head back on his shoulder. There was a great depth of love and happiness and peace and home that flowed over him from her. “I didn’t wake you did I?”

Sharah

“Light sleeper, love. Hazard of the job.” he said with a smile. “But thats ok. So how are you doing? Feel better since your sleep?”

Tenkiller

Shara turned her head and stretched just enough so she could softly press her lips against his neck. “Sleep helped a lot. I feel better, a lot better than I have in…I’m not sure when.”

Sharah

Charles smiled at her and said “Well thats a good thing. You deserve to feel good. And I’m glad you are settling in here.” He kissed her solidly on the lips and then said “And since you so selfishly only made a snack for yourself, I guess it falls to me to make breakfast.”

Tenkiller

His kiss made her feel all kinds of things and reset her even when she didn’t need it. Sharah hugged him tightly before she turned and lifted the remnants of her toast and gave him a cheeky grin, “That is the extent of my cooking skills. I was being quite considerate, I didn’t want to burn the house down. You want something decent, you had better cook.”

Sharah

“Done… but you gotta go wake up V. I swear, that woman could sleep through drowning.” and he laughed as he moved to the chiller and began pulling out stuuf for a breakfast. He looked over his shoulder and grinned. “If she tries to keep you in bed, I want pictures.” and he laughed and turned back to figuring out what to cook.

Tenkiller

Sharah kissed him one more rime before she closed her sketchbook. “I don’t know how she manages her on call shifts.” She chuckled and headed for the stairs before pausing and turning bright red. She turned to look at him still red, “You want pictures come take them yourself.” She winked at him and headed down the stairs.

Sharah stopped in the bedroom door and shook her head. It was a good thing it was a big bed. Because now that Yavia had it to herself she was sprawled out taking up a little over half the bed on her own. It was impressive. Sharah moved onto the bed and sat next to her, watching her face. She lifted her hand fingertips reaching for Yavia. Then she stopped and rubbed the pads of her fingers against her thumb. She could do this. It had been awhile. When she studied on Delta when she was 12. She breathed deeply, focusing on her feelings and the meaning she wanted them to convey. Then she reached out and traced Yavia’s face with just the pads of her fingers.

Yavia woke to the most wonderful sensations washing over her. Happiness and a sense of loneliness. But not in a sad way, but the way you anticipate seeing someone after an absence. It tugged at her, a wishful sense of closeness for when she woke up. There was a soft sense of awe and wonder carried on a sense of being cherished. Exquisitely gentle love that was bright and warm. And finally the subtle wild hint of passion.

Yavia’s glacial blue eyes opened and darkend into a deep sapphire. Her hand reached up, tracing Sharah’s temple and across her cheek. Her finger splayed into Sharah’s silken curls as her palm rested in the back of her neck. Surprise and delight at such a willing and open connection from Sharah came through her touch. Knowing how afraid Sharah was and how isolated she had been, that connection was worth more than a ship full of latinum. Yavia pulled Sharah down towards her, pausing a breath away, letting their feelings swirl wildly together for a moment. Her lips brushed Sharah’s softly and then the kiss became deeper, but no less gentle. Yavia savored that connection, her hands roaming on their own. Letting their closeness grow and settle.

Some time later, she brushed Sharah’s hair back. “Mmm good morning Sweetheart.” She kissed Sharah again, her arm wrapping around hed waist and pullingbher closer. “You can wake me up like that any time.” She laughed gently as Sharah flushed. “Do you feel better, after yesterday?”

She looked up at Yavia’s eyes. “I feel good, Yavia. I can’t really explain it, but I do.” She kissed her…her what? She was so much more than a girl friend. They just belonged. “Come on, Charles is making breakfast.”

Sharah

“Glad you waited to tell me that. I like our time just us.” Yavia kissed her forehead and sat up and started tossing clothes at Sharah. “Come on, his food is amazing, but I am missing him too.”

They made their way up the stairs and into the kitchen. Yavia waited till he wasn’t doing anything and walked over and hugged him, laughing softly as she brushed at a fleck of paint at his hair line. “You know you would be in trouble if you had a cologne that smelled like breakfast. I’d really never leave you alone.” She kissed him firmly.

Yavia

“You don’t leave me alone now. Between the two of you, I’m surprised I can walk, let alone function.” and he laughed. “Go have a seat in the dining room. Table is set and Eggs Benedict with sauteed spinach is on the way. And yes, V… there is paw-paw juice for you.” He smacked her on the backside gently, but loudly, and smiled as she jumped slightly. He looked at Sharah and said “And where are my pictures?” and he grinned and turned back to the stove.

Tenkiller

Sharah was standing at the counter, sketch book open again, she grinned but didn’t look up, “I told you if you wanted them to come take them.”

Yavia grinned. “Don’t you act like you don’t instigate at least half of it, TK. You can’t keep your hands to yourself either. Not that we want you to.” She made a beeline for the table and grabbed the pitcher of juice and poured a glass, grinning.

“Hmmm,” Sharah mused at Yavia’s delight over the juice. “We’re gonna have to do something about that. We’ll be in trouble if we ever run out of paw paw juice for her.” She wandered her way over to the table, still sketching, and managed somehow not to run into anything. It was nerve wracking to watch and impressive. She sat in the chair cross-legged while she worked.

Sharah

“Hey I only get this at hime. The hospital doesn’t have it. It’s torrure I tell you, having to go all day without it.” Yavia grinned, “I mean you are a bit crazy over apple butter.” Sharah didn’t respond and Yavia peered over the table cranning her neck, “What are you doing?”

Yavia

Charles walked in and set down a plate for each if them. On each,a toasted English muffin with local bacon, sautéed spinach, and a poached egg. All covered with a light drizzle of hollandaise sauce. “Sketches down, Sharah. We don’t draw at the table while we eat. And yeah, that is almost verbatim what I was told growing up.” and he chuckled and sat down.

Tenkiller

“Oh that’s funny coming from you. Between you sketching at dinner last night and Sharah this morning…” Yavia shook her head, “Who would have thought I would be the one minding the rules.”

Sharah looked up and over at him, “But if I don’t, you won’t get your pictures.” She grinned and flipped the book closed and set it aside. “I might get back to it later. I have other things I need to do today.”

Yavia’s brows went up? She was drawing pictures? Oh Sharah had a little risque streak in her. That made Yavia grin widely. “What do you need to do today? Can it wait a bit?”

Sharah picked up the muffin and took a bite. She waved at the plants and pots Yavia had stacked by the door. She finished the bite, “As long as I get them in the ground sometime today they will be fine. Did you have something else in mind?”

Sharah

“Just an idea. I promised you, we would help you, and since you are feeling better, starting now might be easier than when you are struggling.” Yavia reached over and squeezed her hand. “I thought we might, all three of us if you like, practice cha’uud. It’s a mental and physical meditative ritual Deltans practice every morning. I thought we might see if something like that would help you.”

Yavia

Charles shrugged and said “I’m game. But I also have some calls to make. I need to find somebody to deliver a crap ton of custom glass… or maybe transparent aluminum. Dunno which quite yet. Ooo… maybe replicated crystalline matrix… yeah, that’d be beautiful.” It was obvious that his mind had wandered and he was talking to himself out loud.

Tenkiller

Sharah stared at him and shared a grin with Yavia. She decided not to ask what he needed all of that for and shrugged before quietly finishing her breakfast. When she and Yavia were both done, they both got up and started quietly clearing the table and the kitchen. There was a quiet peaceful intimacy to it all.

Sharah

It took a minute or two for Charles to snap back to the there and then. He looked at the two women and smiled. “Sorry… have an idea for a project for the house. Two projects, really. But I think I got them figured out. Now the question is, do y’all wanna be surprised? Or do ya want to help build ‘em?”

Tenkiller

Yavia leaned back against the counter facing him, “Hmmmm that’s tough. I like the idea of helping, but your surprises are pretty amazing.”

Sharah finished wiping the counter, “I’ll help.” It wasn’t like she wasn’t going to find out. She already had brief flashes of things, despite working to not listen.

“But if you both are working on it, I will too. It can be a group project.”

Yavia

Sharah smiled softly. That was Yavia. She just went with whatever. Like last night…which reminded her, “Oh and I have calls to make too. So where are we starting?”

Sharah

“Where else? Drawing board. C’mon.” He led them.into the studio and sat down in front of a large drafting table where he began to draw. It took about fifteen minutes, but there on the page appeared a greenhouse. “Project one. Whaddya think?” he asked the two. “Thinking we put it right out there.” and he pointed out the window to the large back yard.

Tenkiller

“I like it. And there in the back yard near the trees it will get plenty of sunlight and even some shade. It should work well there no matter what kind of weather Oed ends up having.”

Yavia looked at it, tipping her head back and forth, looking from the drawing to the back yard. “What about…” she pointed to the front right corner under the roof, “changing this to come this way…” her finger traced over the section trying to convey what she was thinking and then shook her head. Sketching was nit one of her skills.

Sharah look at where Yavia was pointing and then set a hand on her arm briefly. “Focus on the image in your mind.” Sharah picked up a pencil, “This is what she’s thinking.” She began to sketch the corner Yavia had pointed at, adjusting the angle, height and curve to move around a large branch of a cedar like tree that jutted into the back yard. The metal work of the frame took on a similar look so it appeared to be another branch growing out of the tree.

She watched as Sharah picked up a pencil and on another piece of paper drew what she was picturing. “How do you do that?”

Yavia

Sharah shrugged, “I had a Cairn tutor when I was very little. They communicate telepathically through very detailed imagery. Any telepath can learn to do it. It’s like learning a new language. Pavier is the one who taught me how to translate what I was hearing and feeling into images and then to sketch them.” Sharah continued to sketch as she talked. “If we make the top of the roof flat, rather than peeked we can take advantage of the noon sunlight. Then that will make the surface area of this side here less and lessen the direct sunlight in the afternoon. That will reduce the chance of the heat becoming too intense in the afternoons.”

Sharah

“Your greenhouse, you do what you want. But we don’t know what climate we’re gonna end up with. If it snows, flat will have issues.” Charles said. “But you two finalize that. I’m gonna work on the other project.” and he grinned as he began sketching.

Tenkiller

Yavia grinned and dragged Sharah toward the counter and they worked quietly, Yavia chattering away and Sharah’s pencil scratching softly at the paper. The final sketch was very similar in structure to his original. The rough was still peeked, but asymmetrical. So the side facing the morning sun was larger and would collect a lot of sun, especially in the winter if the nights got very cold. The ither side was still slanted, but slightly more vertical than the other. It would still collect the heat, but not cause the temperature to go too hot. Several of the windows would also need to be able to be opened for ventilation. Yavia had added several pieces that were purely design and no function. An artist she was not, but she knew what she liked. Sharah wasn’t sure how practical it would be, but it was a rough sketch.

“Here ya go. It won’t need electricity, but it will need water.”

Yavia

Charles stopped drawing and looked at the two women. “I don’t see any broken fingers or anything. Go on, get it done. Y’all are educated, determined women. You got the design, go get ya someone to build it.” he said with a grin. “I got my own thing goin’ on here.” and he went back to drawing.

Tenkiller

Sharah grinned, “We’ve been given orders, and at the chance of it going to his head, let’s go take care of that.” Sharah headed out of the studio to sit at the computer and start looking for ideas of who to talk to. Yavia had other ideas.

She dragged Sharah down the stairs and into her room. “This is a Scileestra.” It was a long kimono like ribe in design made of a medium weight cotton type material that felt like a cross between satin and silk. “Cha’uud can be performed wearing a scileestra or nudes. But if we did that we might end up ‘nekid’ as TK puts it.” Yavia changed into her own which was a beautiful swirl of yellows and oranges that seemed to fit the bright warm theme of her bedroom. Sharah’s fit remarkably well, Yavia had been considering this for awhile.

Then she let Yavia drag her down the stairs to the gym. But not before Yavia yelled up thebstairs, “We’re up to things in the gym if you wanna join us when your done!” She chuckled and placed her palm to open the door. “Usually Cha’uud is performed in the center of the House, but I thought all the way down here, underground, it might give you a buffer?”

Sharah allowed herself to listen for a moment and then gave Yavia a warm smile. “It does. I never thought about that. It would make sense. My room and our room works the same way. I hadn’t really consciously noticed.” Sharah made her way into the center of the room and sat, crossing her legs and getting comfortable. “I remember this. I spent a year with Deltans when I was 12. They taught me how to meditate. That is part of Cha’uud isn’t it? Vulcan meditation never worked for me.”

Yavia nodded, “It is. The purpose of the meditation is to accept all the things that happened before, how they affected you, to determine if you cannot should change anything, accept then choose an action or let it go. You experience so much, know and hear so much, but can do very little in comparison. You can only chose for yourself. I think this might be similar to your sketching. What is yours and what is others.”

Sharah nodded, “It is.” Then she closed her eyes and breathed deep and slowly. Yavia took her hands, holding them loosely and then gently guided her through the meditation.

Sharah