Post 14 - The Barbe-Cutie, Part 2

Posted on Thu Feb 11th, 2021 @ 7:13pm by Captain Björn Kodak & Debbie Gless & Andrew Munro

Mission: The Waiting Game
Location: Pianta Villas, Isle Delfino, Risa
Timeline: Shore Leave Day 1: 1321 Hours

[Pianta Villas]
[Isle Delfino, Risa]
[Shore Leave Day 1: 1347 Hours]

Jel, Rodney, and Andrew reappeared after a few minutes. The hosting-couple joined those at the first table while Andrew headed straight for the second, taking the seat opposite the big man and flamboyant woman. He took a large sip of his cocktail as he maneuvered his sizeable backside into the chair. "Mnnn, these are good," he said, looking towards Debbie and her similar glass. "So you two are on shore leave then whilst that barely operational starship gets fixed up?"

"They are very good indeed," Debbie nodded with a smile. She'd filled her glass once again while Andrew'd been inside, providing Björn with another beer as well. Seemed he went through the first one rather quickly after the Risian had gone inside, though this time the woman had poured the frothy dark beverage into a pint glass she'd found sitting out.

As Andrew lowered into the chair across the table from him, Björn couldn't help but smile. "Shoreleave, yes," he nodded, taking an extended taste of his new beer. It was different from the first -- hoppier and with more head on it. Drinking from a glass this time, some of the creamy foam came away from the receding liquid's surface, coating the hair arched over Björn's upper lip. Unaware, the man made no move to remove the foam as he continued the conversation. "We were out in the Delta Quadrant for several months. Now that we're back, we figured it was time to relax a bit. Two weeks in a private, quiet villa community seemed like just the thing. Did I hear you're a scientist?" he asked, curiosity coloring his face.

"Yeah, I'm a biologist," Andrew began. "Without its weather control grid, Risa would be mostly jungle and rainforest. All this perfect beach weather is great for the tourists but not for the natural flora and fauna of the planet. The Federation has been leaning on the Risa Hedony to increase the R&R capacity of the planet but the Risians have concerns about the impact of expanding the perfect-weather resorts. To reach a compromise, the Federation Science Council committed resources to Risa for researching the effects of the increased tourism on the local plants and animals." He gestured towards himself to indicate that he was one of those resources.

The foam was still on Björn's lip. "You got a little foam there," Andrew said as he leaned over and raised his hand to where it sat. The big man didn't pull away as he got closer. "I got it," Andrew cautioned as he gently swiped his thumb across Björn's lip, transferring the foam to his thumb. He moved his hand back slightly and paused, as though he needed to show the foam to prove that he hadn't just invented a reason to touch the handsome man's face.

Björn was sure Andrew had been saying something but, for the life of him, he couldn't remember it anymore. When the husky man had moved to wipe the foam from his upper lip, the Chameloid had positively vibrated with surprise. But then he saw the foam on Andrew's finger and instinctively reached his hand up to feel the dampness of his mustache. He looked down at a smidge of foam on his own finger and, without thinking, licked it off, smiling sheepishly at his fuzzy new friend. "The gasses," he gestured down at the rising bubbles in his glass, "sometimes they make the beer stick." He chuckled then, looking down at the swath of froth still on Andrew's finger. The look on his face was clearly one of 'Not going to waste that, are you?' even if Björn didn't say the actual words out loud. His resultant grin was like a dare...

"A biologist," Debbie repeated for Björn's benefit, smiling ear-to-ear in delight for her friend. "I imagine it's difficult for a planet to just have its weather co-opted for our benefit like this. Any stormy spots on Risa? Björn here likes to read a good book while it's raging thunder and lightning outside, you know," she winked coyly.

"Oh, it does have its dramatic moments, if you venture out far enough," Andrew grinned with a mischievous glint in his eye. Her coyness seemed to be contagious. He raised his foamy thumb up to his mouth and slowly ran his tongue up it, all the time keeping eye contact with his own reflection in Björn's sunglasses.

"Maybe you could show--" Björn began, about to ask Andrew to take him to such a spot personally. But then the man was licking the cream off his thumb and staring at him the whole time, grinning back. And not only had Andrew playfully licked up the foam, but he'd done so almost on command -- a command that had been only a look, but a command nonetheless. Something suddenly loosened inside the Chameloid, like a breath he'd been holding for years without realizing it. The easiest of smiles spread across his face and, for the first time in so long, Björn could feel himself well and truly interested in another. But if there were any possibility of what he was potentially envisioning, the glasses would eventually have to come off.

And so they did. Björn reached up, drawing his aviators down and setting them aside, folded up next to his beer. Golden-yellow eyes -- soft, kind, warm -- looked out at Andrew, a little sheepishness creeping into Björn's smile. "Chameloid," he nodded, his voice a rasp as he pre-emptively explained. His eyes quivered a little as he expectantly looked at the man across from him, hoping the connection he'd started feeling wouldn't burst like a bubble.

Debbie, meanwhile, had watched the whole exchange in awe. Like the supportive mother hen she was, her left hand went under the table to subtly rest on Björn's knee, which was slowly bouncing up and down in nervousness. The gesture must have calmed him because the anxiety-fueled motion ceased, the leg coming to rest. Debbie noticed that her longtime friend had also relaxed his posture some, having stiffened up when taking off his glasses. She hoped her presence would calm him enough to see Björn through should Andrew have a distaste for shapeshifters.

Andrew raised his glass to his lips as he waited to savor the reaction to his tease. The sunglasses were coming off which was surely a good sign, a little barrier dropping between them. His eyes followed the movement of the sunglasses being placed on the table and then returned to the handsome man's face, ready to save a mental image of it, completely uncovered for the first time.

Striking golden-yellow eyes were fixed on his, studying him. They had an iridescent quality and an intricate black pattern decorating the iris that seemed to pull him in and hold him transfixed. 'Chameloid'. He heard the word but it hung in his mind as though it were waiting to be processed.

The eyes were still fixed on him, but the gaze was soft. A strong feeling of vulnerability gripped him but, felt foreign at the same time. Intuitively he knew that the eyes were expecting something hurtful. 'Chameloid'. The word echoed in his mind again, but this time the associations all fell in to place. Shapeshifter. Mythical. All stories and no data. 'Fascinating'. The word pushed to the forefront of his mind and he almost spoke it but pulled back after the 'F' sound came out. What was natural all of a sudden felt like an incredibly inappropriate response. This was a risk and to reveal his true nature to a biologist of all people.

"Thank you."

Andrew had managed to fudge the 'f' sound into a new word, but had held the first syllable entirely too long and only the remainder had any hint of certainty and confidence. Anxiety gripped him, entirely his own this time, as he hoped that would be enough.

A sharp, freezing sensation suddenly assaulted his left nipple then, snapping Andrew out of his trance and forcing a sharp intake of breath. He became aware of the tilted glass, still in his left hand. He had neglected to move his lips to it and a quick glance downward confirmed that he had tipped about a mouthful of his drink down his open shirt and chest instead.

Thank you. Two words -- albeit, awkwardly said -- that untied the knot Björn's stomach had churned itself into. It was as if, somehow, the man knew how hard it was for Björn to admit his true nature to a total stranger. And in that tacit gratitude for lowering the veil between them, Andrew had made it comfortable for Björn to be himself. The Chameloid's sheepish half-smile blossomed into one full of his own gratitude, his mouth opening to express such verbally. Except then Andrew's peachy-orange drink tipped, spilling a wash of liquid down the man's chest and sopping through his shirt. The look on his face said it all: the fruity concoction was as cold as it looked.

Unable to help himself from laughing, Björn reached forward across the narrow picnic-style table, intending to scoop some of the liquid up with a finger of his own. "You got a bit of juice there," he grinned, forming a hook with his index finger and running it vertically up Andrew's chest from belly to clavicle. Wet and sticky as it was, the soft matt of chest hair rippled as Björn's finger moved through it. Pulling the digit back, the Chameloid made sure to establish eye contact before licking the juice off in a reflection of Andrew's earlier foam-save. "Sweet," he commented, his face melting with mirth.

Andrew shivered when Björn's finger made contact with his belly. He hadn't realized just how much he'd wanted to feel his touch and it sent tingles up his spine, mirroring the motion of the finger. Not only was the handsome face smiling again, but it was also exuding confidence and an element of mischievousness. The look was clearly conveying the message that he could play Andrew's game too, but also that he would win. With the residual embarrassment from the spill and the use of his own tease against him, Andrew felt control of the situation, and of everything, passing to the burly Chameloid. The second thing Andrew realized, was just how much he'd wanted that too.

Debbie had been watching the exchange with the dopiest grin possible. However, as events played out, she had quickly realized two things: one, her place in the conversation was naturally fading away -- which she was perfectly fine with -- and two, that it was time for her baby bird to fly on his own. If she remained, she'd likely just distract Björn from the very handsome gentleman he was so obviously interested in. That was the last thing she wanted and so she excused herself to grab the nearby pitcher of Risian Sunrise and start making the rounds. Seemed she was just as much of a bartender on vacation as she was aboard-ship, moving about the tables and refilling drinks as needed.

As the woman moved away from the table, Andrew peeled off his shirt and attempted to use the dry part as a makeshift towel. It made little difference and the path that Björn's finger took was still visible as a parting in the sticky clumped hair. As he tossed it aside, he realized that the golden-yellow eyes were looking over the newly revealed parts of his body. And the big grin was still there.

"That's quite the mess you've made there," Björn chuckled, forcing his eyes up to meet Andrew's. "Fruity drinks may taste good but all that sugar means your shirt is basically useless," the Chameloid smirked, watching the man try to clean himself off with the garment. "Though I admit, I don't mind seeing it off of you," he conceded, eyes alight. Reaching for his beer, Björn took a long sip, letting the golden liquid slide down his throat and pool in his belly. Gulp...gulp...gulp went the beverage as the Chameloid packed it all away, finally setting the empty glass down on the table with a dull thud. And then, with one, smooth motion, Björn rose from his chair and held his hand out towards Andrew.

"Stand up, handsome," he ordered, sounding like someone who always expected his commands to be carried out. "It's time for a sea water scrub. And no arguments," Björn cast Andrew a mock-serious look, not needing his aviators to look intimidating. To the BBQ's hosts and other guests -- who'd seen Andrew spill his drink and laugh as he tried to mop it up -- the Chameloid turned and said, "Gonna go wash this boy off in the water. We'll be back," he beamed, forgetting -- for once -- that he wasn't wearing his eye-hiding glasses.


=/\= A joint-post by... =/\=

Captain Björn Kodak
Currently Unassigned

and

Debbie Gless (NPC of Kodak)
Currently Unassigned

and

Andrew Munro
Biologist and Furry Floozy