Jackson's and Oz's Beautiful Day Off
Posted on Wed Apr 3rd, 2013 @ 5:51pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Jackson Banning V
Mission:
Breaking New Ground
Location: Archadia
"You want me to move?" Oz didn't move, didn't even crack an eyelid to look at Jackson. Her words were slow and heavily accented from her Georgia upbringing. Here, there were no universal translators. She and Jackson didn't need one to communicate. "Why would I do that?", she drawled. "I'm completely comfortable right here. Maybe, in a bit, I'll go for a swim. Maybe not, though."
She was, at least, dressed for swimming: her red bikini stood out starkly against the lily whiteness of her skin, lily whiteness that was starting to turn pink from the unexpected and unusual exposure to a star's UV rays. Contentedly, she sighed. In the sun like this, she was warm and lazy, a touch like a cold-blooded reptile basking in the warmth of the sun after a good meal. Really, that's just exactly what she was. And now Jackson wanted her to move.
“Well, now that ya mention it, you could just lay there and leave all the movin’ to me.” He gave a low, sultry laugh. “I think I’m gonna have to move and get some sunscreen on ya or yer gonna be the same color as yer bikini.” He shifted a bit in his lounge chair and sipped from the colorful, and high octane, drink he held.
"You're welcome to come over here and provide me with some coverage from the sun." The mention of sex got her moving: she raised her head and shaded her eyes as she looked up at him, grinning. "I'll even make it easy...," she untied a strap and crooked a finger in Jackson's direction.
Jackson rose and given Oz had packed little for him, very little was what he wore at the moment. More like nothing. He tugged the top of her swimsuit away, then scooped her up in his arms. “I think you need to cool off a little first.” He moved over to the railing that ran around the sundeck and looked down at the water that swirled beneath it. With a wicked grin, he swung Oz out over the water and let her drop in.
She screamed as she plunged into the water and came up sputtering a moment later. Though she was laughing, she playfully glared at Jackson and warned, "You're gonna pay for that! Are you coming in, too, or am I going to have to chase you?"
“Move aside, missy.” He ducked under the slender rail and dove in. Moments later, he popped up beside her and brushed his wet hair back. “I have to say Oz, this place is heavenly. There’s no one around for miles. Not even a comm badge. I might get spoiled.” He drew her in close against him with one arm and held to the deck’s ladder with the other. “An’ I hope you do get spoiled. You deserve it.”
Wrapping her arms around him, she agreed. "It is heaven. Right here, with you, J." His comment about the commbadge wasn't entirely true: hers was in the bedroom, the only room in their little hut. She'd been careful, though, to wrap it in a heavy piece of cloth, jam the bundle into a shoe and the shoe into the bottom of a travel bag and the bag into the back of the closet. Hearing any chirp from the damned thing would be nigh unto impossible. "We've been so caught up in so many things on the Station. I've missed you, even though we see each other every day."
Jackson nodded and drew her in for a lingering kiss. “I have ta confess somethin’ here Oz. I wake up beside you every mornin’ and curl up with you every night an’ I still wake up afraid it’s all a dream. Until I reach over and touch you. I never gave up hope, no matter how it seemed. I just wanted you ta know that.”
The topic, so close on the heels of her sudden and unwelcome visit from a living, breathing Connor, made her tear up. "I was blind but now I see," she whispered. "And I see how very lucky I've been. Connor was lost, but now we're here; Chance was lost, but now he's back. Iggy will come back, too." She paused. "Can we stop talking now?"
“Only if you’ll agree to something for me. Let’s tie the knot while we are here. Something small. We’ll have a big official ceremony once Iggy’s home.”
She laughed. "Wanting to make sure I don't disappear on you?"
“Maybe.” He smiled and kissed her once more. “And maybe I just want to make you a Banning officially. After all, how am I supposed to tell my mother I’m sleeping around?” He tried not to laugh but it was impossible. They both knew his mother would be surprised as hell if he wasn’t.
"I'm sure Woody has told her already," Oz laughed with him. "You don't expect me to change my name, do you? Oralia Banning? Ob doesn't have the same... je-ne-sey-qua as Oz."
Jackson perked his eyebrow at her. “Since when do you speak French or attempt to? As for your name, you’ll always be Oz, even if you change your name to George. I leave it to you. You don’t have to, look at Li. She didn’t change her name to Sakkath’s. Then again, almost no one can pronounce his other name.”
"I'm so glad he doesn't make us try!" She kissed him lightly. "If we're going to tie the knot here, we'll need clothing. I'm not much into having a Betazoid ceremony."
“Hey you’re the one who packed,” he teased her. “Do I have anything I can wear into town?”
"A bikini?", she jested. Holding onto his shoulders with one arm, she paused the conversation for a moment, distracting him from it with her free hand. "We'll think of something, J. We could have Chance beam something down."
“I....ohhh....umm....forget the station...we’ll get something here and....” He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. “What was I saying?”
“You were thinking of getting dressed and dragging me in front of an officiant,” Oralia teased, kissing him. “Did you want to do that right now?”
“Maybe in about an hour...or so..... if that’s good for you?” He wrapped one leg around her under the water. “We have some things to...ahh...take care of first.”
“Can’t imagine what that might be,” she laughed and it was the last thing they said for a while.
Jackson fastened the last button of his Hawaiian shirt, then slipped his hands into the pockets of his khaki shorts. In the right one was a small ring box.
“Does Gilroy always laugh like that when you call and ask him to send clothes?”
“How often do you think I call him and ask him to send me clothes?” Oralia couldn’t hold her laughter in as she looked at Jackson. “Well... there was that one time, when I was in the Archadian jail....” Gilroy’s humor had stretched to the point that he had sent her a dress in the same pattern as Jackson’s shirt.
“And that time I caused a fight at the Wormhole and Seyla broke my nose,” Jackson added. “He laughed then too. You wanna get even? Just tease him about Kai. To see a Klingon blush is a thing of beauty.”
“He’s dating Kai?” She blinked. “I knew he was seeing someone. The Admiral’s aide, huh? Now I know how Lucius always seems to know shit.” She pulled at the top of the dress - Gil seemed to have gotten the measurements shorten a touch; either that or she was gaining weight.
“Lucius knows shit because he’s Starfleet's Director of Intel and he’s Betazoid. Just like Li. Back in our field op days when she was still a little green? It was impossible to surprise her with anything.” Jackson looked at Oz and smiled broadly. “You look lovely. Apparently Gil had the idea that more cleavage is a good idea. I agree wholeheartedly.”
Chuckling carefully to avoid spilling out of the top, she laughed. “Yeah. He’s a touch invested here, you know. He figures that if I’m happy, I’ll be a nice boss. Him and Darwin. Go figure.” She, too, had a ring box in her pocket, something that had surprised her. Gilroy was definitely doing what he could to help them along.
“I do like this dress on you.” Jackson reached up, brushing a hand over the low neckline. “If you have to wear something, that is. I have something for you too. It’s Banning tradition.” He crossed to the closet and pulled out a flat black box and opened it. Inside was a string of pearls and hanging from it, a much larger pearl surrounded by diamonds. “All the Banning women wear them, starting on wedding day.” He lifted it out and stepped behind Oz to fasten it around her neck.
“Oh,” she gasped and touched it as he lowered it to her skin. “Every day? They’re beautiful.”
“Whenever you want. It’s the groom’s traditional gift to his bride.” He leaned down to kiss her shoulder. “I love you Oz. I have since the day I met you.”
Turning in his arms, she put hers around his neck. “And I was an idiot for far too long, J. But I’ve loved you for a long time.” She chuckled and added, “Do you recall when I had you arrested on the Berkley?”
“I’ll never forget it.” He smiled gently. “I think I cursed you just about every minute I was in there.”
“I wanted you that day in the worst way. And my desire for you has only grown.”
Jackson’s smile widened. “Well, now you have me. Let’s hope you don’t regret that in the years to come,” he joked. “Are you ready?”
“I am,” she sighed and nodded. Taking his hand, she walked with him to where the magistrate awaited them.
“...pronounce you wom-- erm, wife and husband,” the male Archadian, a good foot shorter than Jackson, smiled at the two. “You may kiss your groom.”
Flashing a quick, wicked grin at Jackson, Oralia did just that.
The kiss lingered long and was such that the minister blushed a deep red.
“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Jackson whooped with joy, then turned his attention to the minister. “Thanks, my man. Now, you’ve been paid, time to hit the road.” The minister congratulated them once more, then departed. Soon, the beach was empty of all but them. “Well, Mrs. Zeferino-Banning?”
“Yes, Mr. Banning-Zeferino?” Her smile was huge.
“You know, by Archadian law, that would be the required form.” He stepped back and began to disrobe. “Also by Archadian law, I am here to serve my mate. My wife. I am here to do your bidding.”
“Mmm, that sounds delightful, husband. All I want, though, I already have, right here,” she stopped him from completely disrobing just yet by stepping into him again and kissing him. “Except one thing.”
“And what is that?”
“A hand undoing the zipper on this dress.”
“Oh by all means, allow me.”
***************
Commander Oralia Zeferino-Banning
Blissfully Married
Jackson Banning-Zeferino
On Top Of The World
