To Hold When Dreams Are Done

Posted on Sat Nov 5th, 2011 @ 6:21am by Tora Sulan & Lieutenant Commander Kit'rin'e

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: Kit'rin'e's Quarters

* * *Kit'rine's Quarters * * *

Sulan murmured and stretched as she drifted towards waking. She'd slept like a log and couldn't recall her own bed ever feeling so good. She moved her leg out to the side, still not fully awake, feeling for the floor. All she got was more bed. Strange, hers was narrow enough she could reach down and feel carpet wherever she was. Slowly, she reached out the other foot, feeling for the wall. What she felt was warm fur and she froze.

Now she was fully awake. She wasn't in her own bed, therefore not her own quarters. And in a flash, it all came back to her. The early morning visit, the sword, the conversation that had at first been nervous and awkward. Then the trip here, falling asleep....and now waking to find herself next to the man who suddenly loomed large in her life in more ways than one. And still she hadn't moved.

Kit'rin'e was already awake; it felt strange to share his bed but that was for the most part due to the fact of never doing it before. He said hello, in his own language which came across as purrs and other feline sounds. What was evident was the smile on his face. His head still lay on the robe she wore, her scent close, strong and fresh before his nose.

The purrs seemed reassuring and slowly, Sulan turned over, propping her head on her hand. A slow smile spread over her face as she looked at him. "Good morning." She started to speak again, then stopped, realizing she wore...well...nothing. Had they..? She was unsure how to ask that, or even if she should.

Reaching over he picked up his badge, now it would work. "Did you sleep well, you were already asleep by the time I walked in." He spoke softly, his voice more feline still until the translator compensated.

So she'd been asleep. Alrighty then. Slowly, she nodded. "Best sleep I've had in...a very long time. This bed is incredible." She reached out, hesitant at first, to touch his fur.

He lent forward, meeting her hand with the fur on his head placing her hand between his ears. He would have to get used to being touched, but also letting her touch him freely. "I'm glad my bed suits you better." He said, his voice resuming that soft feel to it.

"I think there's a little more to it than the mattress, Kit'rin'e."

"Really?" He asked, inexperience raising its head again.

That got a smile from her. "I think it has more to do with you." Her fingers trailed down the edge of his face. "It's been a long time since I...well...never mind. Doesn't matter now."

He didn't pursue it. "Are you alright?" He asked. "About us." He knew what his ways meant, this was now a for life thing and it was all rather sudden for her, a shock for her to take in. It was still early enough if she wanted to walk away. But only just.

She nodded. "I talked to Janice last night you know. About the idea of...such a sudden thing. She was all for it but I don't think she really understood the implications, or your culture's view on how it works. That any sort of joining together means forever. Her opinion was that I shouldn't get hung up on how long I'd known you, that sometimes it just happens." She pulled her hand away, took hold of the sheet and gathered it to her chest. "And now that I'm here, I'm not exactly sure what happens now. Do I come here? Go home? Do we..."" She decided to stop there for now.

"Do we what?" Kit'rin'e asked. "You can stay here if you wish, or you can remain at your own quarters, it is your right to choose." He answered. "If you so wish it I can leave my quarters and move to yours."

That got a laugh. "Yours are much better, trust me. More space...this bed...shorter turbolift ride." She grinned at him and once more reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder. "You are allowed to touch me now?"

"I am, it will just take time to get used to that fact." He said shifting position. "For so long I have not touched, it is much to simply cast aside." He replied, though if she wanted his touch he would not refuse it.

"Good. You need scent to adjust, I need touch. I want to make this as easy as possible for you." Though really it was more of a surprise to her than him it seemed. "That I am what you want," she added softly.

Kit'rin'e simply lay there, looking into her eyes with his light blue ones. "We can proceed at a pace you set, it's your right to decide when you are ready." He continued, letting her know everything, was up to her.

"I understand. There's something else you need to know about me." Pointing to the bedroom door, and the terminal visible out in the living area, she continued. "You should look me up."

"I will, however it changes nothing now." Kit'rin'e spoke. Though there was one other thing on his mind. "Intimacy comes when you are ready." He said, hoping he was not too blunt. "Though you might want to consult a doctor about the....risks." His voice seemed to fade off.

"Risks? Such as?" Janice had hinted at such but Su hadn't really wanted to go there in the discussion with her.

"Claws and fangs." He answered. "Cuts and bite marks." He tried not to scare her off but part of him was telling him that was already too late.

"I see. And if I said that didn't worry me too much? Not nearly so much as the possibility that you may wake up in two weeks and wonder what the hell happened."

"What do you mean?" He asked, puzzled by what she said. "I do not understand."

"I want to make sure that you are sure. I don't think I could live with it easily if I didn't make you happy." She looked down to her hand that held the sheet tight against her. Slowly, she relaxed her hand.

"I am sure." He answered. "Caitians take one only and that one for life, there will be no others after you." On the basis that he lived longer than her. "I just want you to be sure, ready, comfortable when the time comes." He saw her hand, the tension about it all.

"Kit'rin'e...I've lived through...some things that make your teeth and claws seem...benign by comparison. I'm not afraid of you."

"There is one thing you might like, that I can do." He shuffled closer, or tried to, when that didn't work her simply got onto his hands and feet. He placed his head next to hers, then purred for her.

She settled back down into the pillows by him and with a contented sigh began to relax. Draping an arm over his side, she spoke once more. "Think I should take the night off? I mean, I did just take a life-changing step, and it might be nice to have some time to....adjust."

"I think you have earned it." Kit'rin'e replied. He lay next to her again. His body covered in fine silky white fur stripped in black.

"I'll call him then....in a few minutes." Sulan moved in closer, settling in against his side. "In the meantime, why don't you tell me what happens in a month."

"After about one month my brain, and mind would have undergone a chemical change to accept you as apart of me. It's complicated as to how it works but it does, the mate becomes chemically imprinted on the other." He explained. "After one month you are then free to take our relationship further if you wish to."

"And before then?" She had to ask, Janice had gotten her curious now.

"As the female you are free to do as you wish." He answered. "If you wish to take what we have slower, or faster, then you are free to do so." Kit'rin'e said. "If you should want something, you need only ask and you shall receive it." If she wanted anything from him, he'd gladly give it.

"So tell me why your planet hasn't become overrun with females of every species known to the universe?" She said it half in jest but still...

A momentary impression of what a Klingon would say to this rose but she tossed it aside. Brutes the lot of them. She also shuddered to think what some females might to with a situation like this. A sudden fierce protectiveness rose, startling her.

"Why would it become over run?" He asked, clearly missing the point. Humour not one of his special aspects.

"I would think that if that news got out, you'd have women all over the place wanting a relationship where they could have and do anything they wanted. Unfortunately, many would take advantage of that. I promise you, I never will." The quiet calm of his quarters, the increasing ease of their conversation was having a settling effect on Sulan. She could understand when he described adjusting. With just a word, she'd acquired a mate for life. It wasn't exactly the way she might have expected but sometimes, as Janice said, you just had to go with it. His gentle manner had her feeling much less unsure, though she knew very well what he was capable of, should she need protecting. "So, since this is your last free day before you officially report in, what do you want to do?"

"What would you suggest?" Kit'rin'e posed in return. "Are you sure that it is acceptable to take a day off from your duties, I do not want to get you into trouble?" That was the last thing he wanted to do.

"I'll call Jackson and arrange it." Her smile lingered as she thought about that. She could already hear him now. The day off he wouldn't mind but the reason for it might throw him for a loop. "And then I'm all yours."

"A tempting offer." Kit'rin'e replied bring his head down to her level. "So, if you are all mine,what can I do with you?" A double edge question there, but one no doubt that would play on many aspects of her mind.

Her lingering smile grew, even as her eyes widened. "Perhaps we'll just find out. Give me a moment?" She slid to the side of the bed, and then off and out from under the sheet. Without the least bit of self-consciousness, she moved out to the main control panel in his living room to put a call through to Jackson.

Kit'rin'e watched as she left the comforts of the bed without so much as a slowing of her movements, her slender figure for him to view as she left the room for the main living room. A smile broke across his face. He had a Mate now, he belonged. He lay back down again while he waited for her to return.

The conversation he overheard was in her native Bajoran, the cadence rapid. Her voice was low however, and much of the other side of the conversation was little more than a muffled murmur. Her tone changed, growing firmer as she continued.

Patiently waiting, he hoped that he didn't get her in trouble. He'd be more than happy to ask for her day off himself if that was required. A day together would help him adapt and especially with her scent fresh on the air always around him would ease the transition.

Out in the main room, Sulan spoke again and her voice became serious. The conversation concluded and she sat for a moment, thinking. Finally she rose and reappeared in the doorway. "All settled."

There was something about her that seemed...different. "Something troubles you, what is it?" He asked.

Moving over to his side of the bed, she sat down beside him, now resting her hand on his chest. "Nothing, really. He was concerned at the suddenness. And a few other things. Like how much I told you. But I am free for the night."

If she said it was nothing, then he would chase it no longer. He understood the suddenness, even to him it was sudden but who was he to complain when his mind picks the one for him. "As you wish." He replied, it was nothing, he accepted that. "As for today, what would you like to do?"

"Breakfast first? And in or...do you wish to begin letting people see us as...well...us?"

"Of course." Kit'rin'e replied. "We should not be afraid of letting others see that we are mates, were we on the Homeworld, we would still be celebrating." He returned.

"In that case, I suggest we do just that. Wait...celebrate how?" She wondered if celebrating 'in' might land her elsewhere besides breakfast when they were done.

"To find a mate can take many years for some, we don't pick our mate as you know the mind does for us and on the Homeworld it's harder because of the amount of us, mixed scents. When one finds a Mate however the community celebrates with music, dancing and food. To us, finding a Mate ensures the continuation of our cultures and traditions. Even those who are Mates are not Caitian, All the same rights and honours are given them." He explained to her, probably granting her more of an insight as to what life on the Homeworld was like for him.

"Then perhaps we should do just that. I know people at the Nexus, I can get us a good table." She grinned. "And the feasting I can handle, I'm starving. Then I suppose we will see to...." She stopped, unsure how to phrase the next part.

"See to?" He asked, wondering if she had part of her customs that needed to be satisfied.

"The er....continuation of the culture, more or less." The blush he'd seen in her before rose once more in her cheeks.

Kit'rin'e didn't understand. "As I said before, the pace is determined by you, we develop as to which you are comfortable. In my culture, females are the dominant of the two genders." He spoke. "Females are heads of households, they own the property, it is the male that is invited to live with them. Should we go to the Homeworld, once I have declared you as my Mate a house and property will be given to you."

"I suspect that's a long time coming. But since we are celebrating...computer, lights off."

A low rolling growl followed the lights falling dark. Not that he was about to complain.


*********

Lt. Commander Kit'rin'e
Tora Sulan
Getting The Party Started