Deja Vu

Posted on Wed Aug 8th, 2012 @ 6:33pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Jackson Banning V

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant

Nervous in a way she was rarely ever nervous in, Oralia had spent much of her day thinking about Jackson. Not just about his brilliant eyes and that smile that could turn her insides to pudding; nor just about how he looked in his tuxedo at the Nexus Club. No, she was thinking about him in terms of what would make his first night home, his first night out of Piper Medical, their first night together in his quarters, go easier, be quiet, be romantic and special.

Dumplings from Lao’s was on the menu, that much was easy, thanks to Cassidy’s hint earlier in the day. A vase of fresh cut flowers, too.

It was her wardrobe that ended up giving her the biggest problem. The dresses she tried were either far too sexy or the other direction: dowdy; then the pjs she tried ...same problem. Finally, she’d just chosen her favorites, to hell with how they really looked. Laden with food, flowers, overnight clothes, and a hefty feeling that she was betraying Connor, Oz showed up on Jackson’s doorstep. She’d gotten word that he’d been escorted home not more than twenty minutes ago.

Indeed, a Piper Medical orderly opened the door for her and explained a few things as she set the flowers down, put the dumplings on the coffee table, dropped her bag by the couch and, finally, shooed the orderly and his partner out the door. “Jackson?” They’d put him in the bedroom and Oz approached that door but didn’t enter his domain. She recalled the last time she’d been in there: waking up naked, feeling hung over, and wondering just what the hell had happened during the night.

How different things would be if they had had sex that night. Or ever, really.

“Hey.” Jackson was in the bathroom, but the door was open and he was just stepping into the shower. “I have been lookin’ forward to a real shower for days. Thank god for waterproof bandages.” He poked his head out and smiled at Oz, looking more like the Jackson she knew. “Wanna get wet?”

“Ah, no, you go ahead and get good’n’clean,” she smiled at him but still hadn’t crossed into his bedroom. “I’ll keep dinner warm.”

“Gimme five.” He vanished back into the bathroom and moments later was singing ‘You Make Me Feel So Young’.

Smiling and shaking her head slightly, Oz went about her self-appointed tasks, including one that involved changing out of her uniform and into a short, blue dress that flowed comfortably around her. By the time Jackson turned the water off and was toweling dry, she was on the couch, carefully contemplating the glass of Cabernet in her hand. A week or more ago, wine was off limits. Now? It didn’t matter again.

He finally emerged wearing a pair of dark blue shorts and one of his many Hawaiian shirts, his feet bare. When he stepped out of the bedroom he stopped, seeing her on the sofa, wine in hand. He was struck immediately with his own deja vu, of the one time she had been in his quarters after he’d slipped her away from two men at the Wormhole who’d slipped a little something into her drink. That time, it had been awkward. This time....no.

“Hi Oz,” he said softly.

Setting her glass down, she stood and moved towards him, right into his arms. “Hi, J,” she answered, looking up at him and, taking his face in her hands, kissed him the way she’d always wanted to kiss him.

His arms wrapped around her, drawing her into an embrace that had waited eons for her. The thought of how perfectly she fit was only a moment, then her kiss swept his thoughts clear, leaving room only for emotions, and desire. Finally, he came up for air.

“Should you welcome me home or the other way around?”

“I thought I’d welcome you home a slightly different way...,” she took his hand and drew him toward the couch. “Have a seat.”

He followed her over to the sofa and settled down on it. “At least this time we both know what happened last night.” He couldn't help the grin that crossed his face.

“Haha,” she mock laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. “Sit there! Don’t move!”, she ordered and flounced off to the kitchen. Moments later, she brought back dinner: the dumplings, and set it on the couch beside him. “The doctor said no real alcohol, babe. So... water, synth, take your pick.”

“Harding said that? Really? Does lickin’ wine off yer lips count?” The smile that came now was wicked.

“Hmm... No, he didn’t address anything about anything being licked off of someone. He did caution me about letting you be too... How did he put it? Athletic. That’s the word he used. In other words, no big heart rate jumps.” She settled on her knees on the couch and sat back on her heels. “I get the feeling he was trying to say ‘no sex’ without using those words.”

“Did he say ‘don’t let Jackson have any fun’ while he was at it?” He picked up the fork and began to eat. “Oh my god...this is amazing. This is why the everyone on this station fights for a table at Lao’s.”

She reached over him to pick up her glass of wine. The frivolity she’d had trickled away and she sipped at her wine while Jackson ate. After a moment, she said, “I’m sorry it was one of mine who led you into that, J.”

He paused in eating and frowned. “Don’t apologize for that asshole, Oz. There’s no way you coulda known what he was up to. I didn’t know what Natalia was up to and I slept with her. She played up to some old suspicions I had and appealed to my white knight side and I ran with it. I must be gettin’ soft, I’d never have fallen for that back in the day.”

“You? A white knight? I’d never have imagined,” she teased him, covering the spike of jealousy she had at hearing that he’d bedded Natalia. Ick. Natalia. “How is your wound? Does it hurt? Did Harding give you pain meds?”

“He gave me something that should last till mornin’. He wants to unwrap me then an’ see how things look.” He watched her a moment, then shook his head. “An’ I regret Nat even though it was only the one time. I guess I hoped that something... someone would help me get over you but it was a wasted effort.”

“It shouldn’t, but that... I’m rather glad for that, Jackson.” She smiled ruefully and drank her wine. “I’m not sure I deserve you, J; with all the shit you went through because of me and Connor.... I told Cassidy earlier today that I’m lucky you even talk to me now.”

Jackson speared another dumpling with his chopsticks, not bothering to try and take hold of it properly. “There was a time, Oz, that I wanted nothing more than to be away from both of you. Jan went so far as to tell me I needed to break up with you two.” He gave her a sad smile. “I told myself I was gonna do that, and despite my best intentions, you refused to let go of me. I won’t lie, it wasn’t the best time in my life.”

“Hopefully I can help you forget those times, and give you some much better times to remember,” she touched the nape of his neck and curled the ends of his hair around a finger. “I do love you, Jackson. Have for a long time. Please don’t ever doubt that.”

He couldn’t breathe suddenly. Words that he’d dreamed so long of hearing, and given up hope that it would ever happen, shot straight to his heart and he felt it melt entirely. For a split second he was afraid this was a dream stirred up by some of Harding’s pain drugs but the fear passed as quickly as it came.

“You know I’ve loved you since you got confined to your quarters on the Berkeley.” He turned his head slightly, brushing a kiss to her wrist. “There were times....when you kissed me in my office...and when I brought you here after your drink got drugged.....that it was so hard to be good, Oz.”

Her cheeks colored slightly, recalling that he’d told her she’d stripped naked for him that night. Under the influence, she’d probably done other things, too. And somehow, he’d resisted and put her in his own bed, alone. “No good deed goes unpunished, right?” She smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

“So they say.” He gave in to her kiss, drawing it out, then deepening it. His thoughts were a whirlwind, too many of them things he likely never would ask her. He whisked them away, not caring about the past now. All he cared about, was Oz. “What happens if we ignore Harding?”

“You end up in pain?” She pulled away from him slightly and met his gaze. “Jackson, ...I …,” she stopped. Did they need to or should they discuss Connor? “We have a gorilla in the room.”

“I think the old saying used an elephant.” He set his empty plate down, knowing this was bound to come up. “I think I made my feelings regarding that pretty clear in my office not long ago.”

“You did,” she winced, thinking of that argument in his office, then his visit to her quarters soon afterward. That night, she hadn’t wanted him to leave. “I was ready to write off the both of you that night. Just end up celibate and alone. ‘Course, I also wanted to take you to bed that night.” Again, she smiled ruefully and curled his hair between her fingers. “Maybe that’s why I’m a little... torn. I should be grieving Connor, not happy that you and I have a chance.”

“Oz....” He let out a slow breath, debating just how to approach this. “I know you are sad at his death, we all are, though I know it goes deeper for you. But you also went through a lot of....turmoil there too. It’s not wrong to grieve someone and still be realistic about how things were.”

Turmoil.... That was a polite way of phrasing what she and Connor had had. She heard Jackson’s underlying message, or, rather, the one she assumed was there. She didn’t have to hang onto Connor; they’d had a shit relationship, even though they were crazy for each other. Crazy was a key word in that relationship. And Oz had been ready to be done with it; had Connor not died, she still wouldn’t be with him anymore.

There would be those who would think poorly of her, she knew. But she also didn’t care. Explaining her life and feelings to anyone besides Jackson seemed like a waste of time. She wanted happiness and a return to the ease she’d once had with Jackson. Right now, as she played with his hair and watched his face, she ached, thinking about how he and she almost never got this chance, and of the things that had to happen to give it to them. Her ache turned into a desire, a longing for Jackson, to finally discover him and the sure-to-be-interesting little quirks of his body.

“I suppose, J,” she finally responded. She drank her wine, which ended up being the tail end of the glass, then reached over him to put the glass on the coffee table. She moved the dumplings there, too. Turning back to face him, she straddled his lap and sighed. “If I recall what you told me correctly, the last time I was on this couch, I was naked and doing my best to convince you to have sex with me.”

His hands circled her waist and he smiled. “You were and damned if I didn't say no. I doubt seriously that will ever happen again.”

“Tonight, then, I might have to muster up some self-control where you’re concerned and be the one that puts you to bed, alone.”

“Are you seriously gonna listen to Hardass? I mean Harding? The things I could tell you about that man...”

Intrigued, she sat back slightly and cocked her head to one side. “Like what?”

“He and I go way back. Nat would’ve had me believe he was up to no good and that he intended to take Su and I an whisk us away to a lab somewhere for his own nefarious purposes. Back when I believed her, she also made it seem as if he was hittin’ on her. I suggested she play along to see what he was up to.”

It was information Oralia put into her mental “Work” file. “He’s a good doctor, J.” She unbuttoned his shirt and lifted it slightly to see his bandages. “But to answer your question, dear, I’m not just listening to Harding. I’m also looking at those bandages and thinking that, maybe, sex shouldn’t be on the menu tonight. For your health.”

“Morning then?” He gave her a crooked smile. “I’ll be much better then.”

“After your follow-up with the doctor?”

“I was thinking before, actually. Then I’ll fix breakfast. Pity those zebra-striped pumps won’t be sitting on the nightstand though.”

She smiled, recalling that those had been the only pieces of her outfit that had made it to Jackson’s bedroom that night. “Keep that up, I’ll make you wait till my hair grows in and you’re all healed.”

His eyes narrowed at her. “You wouldn’t!”

“I’d try!” She laughed and lightly kissed his lips. “Most likely, though, just until you’re all healed. After that, I imagine resisting you might become a bit like tangling with an octopus.”

“Damn skippy.” He wrapped her tighter in his arms and settled her in against his chest. “Are we good on the elephant or is there more we should work out?”

“For now, we’re good, but... you never know when those darned gorillas will come and sit in the middle of the room.” She eased in close to him and, just because she could now, her hands explored parts of him she couldn’t touch before, which was most of him.

“Keep that up and I’ll ignore Harding....” he whispered.

Chuckling just a little bit, Oz didn’t stop. She unbuttoned his shirt further and trailed her fingers along his abs. “You know, we could replicate a pair of those zebra-striped heels.”

“And I can promise not to move too much...if you’re on top.” A slow smile spread over Jackson’s face as he looked back at her. “Too long dreaming of this Oz...”

Like a kid in a candy store, she couldn’t keep her hands off him, or off his clothing. His shorts were just in the way, and then they weren’t. “You’ll have to yelp if anything hurts, luv.”

“I suspect I’ll yelp, but for far different reasons.”

Smiling, she kissed him and made him right in so many ways....

_________________________
Oralia Zeferino
Zero Willpower

Jackson Banning V
Home At Last