She Likes Him Barefoot and Pregnant!

Posted on Fri Oct 26th, 2012 @ 5:30pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi & Jackson Banning V

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant

“Oralia!” Chance called out his sister’s name, shouting across the Promenade’s open space and raising a hand so she could spot him.

She did and very nearly turned around and ran away. Even if she’d have run, he’d have caught up; he was a faster runner than she was. Besides, she was in heels and a skirt - not the best running equipment. So instead, she stayed where she was, smiled and raised a hand in greeting. She waited for him to jog closer before she said, “Hey, little brother.”

“Hey? Hey? Is that all you wanna say to me?”

“Ah... right now, it seems like a decent greeting. Is there something I should be saying to you, like about your cutting class and taking Iggy to the Arboretum a couple of days ago? Or about the fight you nearly got into at Logan’s?”

His brows rose and he shook his head before stammering, “Um... well... no..., let’s not talk about those things, okay?”

“You forgot I’m the Chief of Security ‘round these parts, didn’t you?” She smiled.

He looked her over. “You sure don’t like like one, Oz. Nice dress,” he commented, noticing the cutouts on the sides that showed the skin of her abdomen and above her hips. The color purple had always looked good on his sister; this one made her look amazing. He smirked and added, “And zebra heels. Jeez, tempting Jackson again? He already proposed, you know.”

She winced, “So you heard about that, huh?”

“So have Mom and Dad,” he grinned.

“You didn’t!” She gasped and glared at him. “That’s my news to tell!”

“Then you need to tell it,” he shot back. “But, no, I haven’t really told them. You’d better get on the ball or else some folks might think you don’t want to marry the guy.”

“You know that isn’t an issue. I’ll get around to it.” She glanced away from him, knowing he was right.

“Uh-huh.” Sometimes, Chance couldn’t figure his sister out. She loved Jackson, that much he could see without a doubt. But he couldn’t fathom why she hesitated about the whole engaged and planning a wedding thing. ‘Course, he was a guy - for most guys (human, at least), wedding planning was easy: you were given a date, a time and a dress code. All you had to do was show up. “You meeting up with Jackson somewhere? Or heading to see a secret lover?”

Again, she glared. “I’m going to dinner with Jackson. Granted, it might be a dinner that happens in his office, in between sets, but it’ll resemble dinner.”

“Good. I’ll escort you over there. I can mess with Eli while you eat.” He gallantly offered an arm, which she took before they walked to the Nexus.

The Nexus Club

Jackson was stepping down from closing the set with Eli. He’d given in to the demands of the audience and sang a duet with Eli to wrap up. Their rendition of ‘The Very Thought Of You’ nearly brought the house down and the applause was still going as Oz entered the club. He wanted a drink and seeing her appear, and the dress she wore, was icing on the cake. He picked up his pace and when he reached her, he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“Hey, gorgeous. Chance, good to see you too.”

“Hey, Jackson,” Chance nodded in greeting as his sister simply leaned into the man and smiled. Smitten wasn’t the word for what Oz was with Jackson. “Hey, I’m going to follow Eli, wherever he went.... See you two soon.” He waved, quickly pinched Oz’s bare bicep and hurried away.

“Ow... little ba... brother!” Oz rubbed her arm and frowned before turning a smile on Jackson. “Thought you might have time for some dinner or something... in your office?”

“I do. We have an hour before the next set.” Reaching down, he took Oz’s hand, lacing his fingers with hers, and led her on past the bar and down the hall to his office. Once they were inside, and the doors closed, he looked back at Oz. “You look amazin’, Oz. Enough to make a man forget where he is even.” He ran his fingertip over the skin bared by the dress cutouts.

“All for you, love,” she smiled and kissed him. Deepening the kiss for a long moment, she held onto him, pressed tight against his chest. When she finally broke their kiss, she happily sighed and said, “J, I'm so glad you're here and that I don't have to worry about you going off on some assignment or task. Club owner... that's a good, stable, stay-around kind of career.”

Awwww.....shit.

“An’ I was just thinkin’ about how our very first kiss was right here in this office. That day sealed my fate, Oz. There was no goin’ back after that.” He smiled down at her as his mind raced for some way to tell her about his afternoon.

“Then I’m lucky, luckier than I deserve. You wanna lock the door and get lucky with me?” Her fingers were already undoing his belt; her intentions were obviously of the impure kind. Typical Oz: she was seeking stress relief through sex.

“I do have an hour.....” He tilted her face up to take a good look at her. “After you tell me what’s up?”

“Just a bit stressed about work,” she smiled slightly. “You’ve heard: the queen killed, a new one put in place, that sort of thing. It’s a taxing situation. Plus, there have been more rumblings in the Cherry Pit, including an Orion who was nearly stabbed to death by a trader. And...,” she traced the lines of his lapels with her fingers, “...now there’s all these people planning parties and asking about wedding stuff.”

“So let’s elope, then have the party here when we get back.” His hands moved lower down her back, curving over her derriere. There was a lot that appealed about the idea, especially in case some new ‘job’ popped up, thanks to Admiral Hawke.

“I like that idea,” she smiled. Eloping would be easy - a quick trip to the planet or, even easier: to Admiral Wegener’s office, - and no planning involved. “Before then, move in with me. I’ve asked for bigger quarters because of Iggy, but I put in the request that we’ll be married soon.” It seemed odd to think she’d soon be calling him ‘husband’.

“When? How about tomorrow? I'll move in, we’ll elope the next day.”

“Isn’t your brother coming in a week or so?” She pulled him to the couch. “We could take him to the planet...,” suddenly her smile turned wicked, “...marry on a beach and send the photos to your twin.”

“Oh crap, that’s right Woody. Yeah, we better wait till he’s here, so he and Jan can go.” Jackson shook his head. “I don’t wanna think about that one either.”

“What, of having Janice at our wedding?” Oz eyed him a moment. “She wouldn’t object when the guy asks about objections, would she?”

“No, she’s the reason he’s coming out here.” Jackson waggled his eyebrows at Oz. “I’ll let ya use yer imagination on that one.”

“Oh,” she winced. “I think I should go home now, without dinner, without testing out this lovely couch.... That image is deadly to one’s libido, J.” Playfully, she smiled.

“You think that’s deadly...” Jackson hesitated. “There’s something you need to know too.”

“Really?” She was about to crack a joke, but caught his change in mood and hesitancy. “What do I need to know?” Snuggling close to him, she kissed his cheek.

He wrapped his arms around her and settled back into the sofa, partly to have her close, and partly to restrain her arms. “Well, Vic and I got called in to see Admiral Hawke today.”

Thinking the embrace was simply that: an embrace, if a somewhat tight one, Oz put her head on his shoulder. "Admiral Hawke?”, she parroted the name, knowing full well who he was. “Did you and Vic get into trouble? ...what sort of trouble could you get into that I wouldn’t know about first?”

“I was asking myself that very same question, and realized I’ve been good. I know, frightening thought. It wasn’t that though.” He took a deep breath, then figure he might as well just get it out. “Vic and I are being re-activated.”

“Re-what?” She struggled to sit up and look at him and realized his grip had tightened. “Jackson! What do you mean re-activated? You said you were retired, done, no longer in that game!”

“I was! And I swore that this time there was no goin’ back. I even told Lucius that two years ago. And isn’t that just like an admiral? Never listens.” He shook his head and still didn’t let go of her.

He had hold of her, all right; his embrace effectively kept her arms against her sides - but she could still move her hands. Sitting the way they were, that put some family jewels within danger’s grasp. Oz wasn’t about to hurt him, but she did remind him that letting her go might be the safer route by putting a hand high on his thigh. “Let go, J,” she said it calmly enough, though anger seethed just below that calm.

He sighed and let go, watching her closely. “I swear to ya, I never asked for this. Neither did Vic. But given all that’s been happenin’ lately, both on Archadia and here, they feel that Vic and I are perfectly placed to hear things that official, known crew might not get wind of.”

“Damn him!” Oz railed, frowning at Jackson. Standing, she paced the few steps to his desk chair and sat in it, turning it around to look at him. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew before we got engaged!”, she accused him.

“No, I found out this afternoon. Exactly four hours ago. Look, don’t worry. It’s not like I’ll be traipsin’ all over the quadrant. There’s plenty to gather right here but this is a way to reinstate our clearances. We’ll be workin’ with you, and you’ll probably get the memo in the mornin’, as well as intel, just as needed. So I’m not gonna be goin’ anywhere, okay?”

“Working with me?” Suddenly she looked shrewd. “I like the idea of you working under me better.”

Jackson laughed outright at that. “Oh, darlin’, so do I. But yeah, Vic and I will be coordinatin’ with both you and Patrick’s bunch. It’ll be like old times, workin’ with Nita again, though it seems strange that Li’s not gonna be there.”

“Well, she’s in the big office now,” Oz said, without a trace of envy in her voice. Being the Exec was one position Oz didn’t want - too many things to oversee there. “But you will be going places. You’ll be on the planet and in the Cherry Pit... you won’t be just here and home.” She hadn’t had good experiences with having lovers go to either the planet or the Cherry Pit. Connor had gone to one and been killed; Jackson had gone to the other and been kidnapped and nearly killed.

“And not known as Fleet in either place. And need I remind you that I am already a known and loved face down below? I gotta go somewhere when I wanna get rowdy besides the Wormhole, don’t I? I swore to Jono I wouldn’t cause any more fights in there.” He grinned, his expression saying ‘yeah right’.

“Known and loved face?” She looked at him with disbelief. “You nearly got killed down there!”

“I meant the Pit, not the planet. Although,” he mused, “I bet the amazons would love to get a load of me.” He was obviously joking with Oz now.

“You might be too small for them,” she shot back. “Very crushable in their books.”

“Hmm, good point. Have you seen the size of that one at the new coffee shop? She’d have to carry me across the threshold.” The laughter bubbled out of him and he was helpless to stop it.

Oz, however, wasn’t in a humorous mood, not to the point of laughter like Jackson seemed to be. “Just like that? He reactivates you and... what? No training, no review of your skills?” Yep, Oz didn’t like the idea at all.

“You think I’ve lost them?”

She shrugged, “You’ve been out of the loop for two years.”

“Then perhaps you and Nita should take us in hand, make sure that Vic an’ I are up to snuff. Put us through our paces, beat on us, call us dirtbags...” He looked across to her and crooked his finger in a ‘come back’ gesture. “Seriously.”

Ordinarily, the invitation to ‘take him in hand’ was one Oz would fall straight into the gutter with; this time, though, she shook her head and frowned. Doing as he wanted, she moved back to the couch and leaned against him. “Too bad you’re not the girl,” she muttered, obviously unhappy, “Get you pregnant and keep you home.”

“Barefoot too?” He snuggled her in close to him. “It’ll be fine, I promise. I was out in the field since you were ten, Oz. Some things ya just don’t forget how to do.”

“Yes, barefoot. Maybe go the Ferengi way and leave you naked,” she looked up at him. “At least that’d explain the pregnant part.”

“Luckily, though medical science has advanced to dizzying heights, they’ve yet to manage that. I’m serious though, Vic and I need to brush up and you’re the one to do it. Pretty please?” He tilted her face up and gave her a slow, deep kiss. “Am I convincing you yet?”

“Mmm...,” she hedged, regaining an edge of her normal humor as she pretended to think about his question, “A few more kisses like that, I might forget what I need to be convinced of. And you know several ways to make me forget, Jackson.” Oz wasn’t fully onboard with the idea of him being reactivated, but what was done was done; it wasn’t like she could countermand an Admiral. “I’ll help you and Vic brush up; don’t expect me to be easy on you two. I’ll get Gilroy to help.”

“Good. Now, I think you mentioned something about my luck? I see you have on the shoes, that’s a good sign right there. And time’s a’wastin’.”

“Yes, yes, it...,” she was interrupted as her commbadge chirped. Groaning, she tapped it, “Yes?”

=^= Hawke to Zeferino. Oz? Am I interrupting anything? =^= Li’s voice came from Oz’s commbadge.

“Ah... no, not really, Li,” Oz shrugged as Jackson gave her shoes a longing look.

=^= Good. Want to meet me at Lao’s? It’s been a while and I’m craving it in a big way. =^=

“Yeah, could we say...,” she looked at Jackson and smiled, “Thirty minutes?”

=^= See you then. =^=

“Thirty minutes? Just about time before Jan’s set.” Without a word, he shifted Oz, laying her back on the sofa. “You’ll be more than ready for dinner by the time we’re done, sweetheart.”

“I love it when you talk dirty to me, Jackson,” Oz laughed.

*********************

Jackson Banning V
Owner & Smooth Talker
The Nexus Club

Lt. Commander Oralia Zeferino
Little Bit of a Redneck

Cadet Chance Conradi
Tattler