Dream a Little Dream

Posted on Sat Oct 23rd, 2021 @ 8:44pm by Lieutenant Irynya & Ensign Noah Balsam

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Junior Officers' Quarters, Deck 5
Timeline: Mission Day 25 at 2200

[[This post contains brief sexually explicit depictions and nudity]]

Irynya was yawning. Again. It had been her plan to wait for Kennedy to get back from his shift, but at this rate she wasn't going to make it. Slightly teasing she bumped Noah, who was seated next to her, with her shoulder. "Why is it that sleep is so necessary again?"

A soft amber glow came from her counterpart’s presence. His long fingers flicked and flecked at an air-sea of holographic data. He felt Irynya’s shoulder bump between his shoulder blades. With a nimble twist, the skinny one looked back at his friend and evening companion.

Her yawn was infectious: Noah followed suit, hiding his behind a modest hand block. He flicked his fingers down and “minimized” his data surround. “Um.” He blinked tiredly. Noah had dark bags under his eyes from the sheer weight of overwork Engineering had put in. “You, um, you don’t like to sleep?” He asked with a curious blink. “I love to sleep. I love to-to dream.” He quirked a smile at the corner, “I do s-some of my best brainstorming when I dream.”

She raised her eyebrows back at him, a curious expression on her face. "My dreams these days are a toss-up. Sometimes they are… lovely… others…" she frowned. "I never know which to expect."

Noah’s smile faded, replaced by a line. Lips tucked, He nodded with uncertainty. But, unvoiced, he felt similar. His dark, coffee gaze redoubled their effort. “Y-yeah. I think I understand. S-so try and think of nice things before you um, you know. You go to bed.” He turned off his PADD- with a clatter, he set it on the living area’s center table. “Or music.”

She chuckled at him, shoulder bumping him again. "Nice things, huh?" Her question was only half-serious and her eyes twinkled. She couldn't help wondering what Noah considered to be nice things.

Noah’s head bob seemed almost led by his beaky nose. His mouth quirked a smile and bore teeth. “Yeah. Nice things.” He said, brows hiking up under his curly bangs. He glanced at her again and, twisting his head in an irreverent shake he smiled wide.

Noah rose. His skinny body elongated as his arms went up and he stretched. His sweater midriffed, and shockingly white skin peered out from beneath. “Goodnight Iry,” he said with a friendly rumble, weighted equally with bemusement and fatigue. He tapped his fist on her knee. “I-I’m going to bed. I have to be uh-online at 0500.”

She watched him stand, not missing the line of bare skin when he stretched. His hand on her knee brought her back to the moment and she stood as well. Unlike Noah, it simply took standing for any skin to show as her t-shirt decided it was no longer happy to remain on her hips. Tugging it absently back in place she grumbled, "You would think that t-shirts could be made to stay put for those of us with hips by the 24th century."

Effectively wrestling the shirt back over her hips she offered Noah a parting smile. "G'night Noah," she said heading for her door, only looking back over her shoulder once.

Noah smiled back from his door as it swished open, and gave a finger-sway of a wave. Once his doors shut behind him, Noah breathed out. “Lights off please,” he said into the air. And he was taken into darkness. There he disrobed, found his pajama bottoms and pulled them on. He yawned and stretched his skinny limbs skyward again, did a few bending exercises and then sidled under his covers.

Noah glanced over at the empty bed that went unfilled; another late shift for Kennedy Walsh. Noah hoped he was keeping his head above water. The Enceladan rolled over to turn his back to the strange void of space- purely out of habit to give Kennedy some privacy. He nuzzled his pillow with his beaky nose and sighed. His eyes fluttered closed. Noah thought of nothing and drifted…

Irynya watched Noah step through his door then turned as if she might head to the bathroom first. She debated for a long moment and then sighed, triggering the sensor for her bedroom door.

She glanced over at Sheldon's bed out of habit, remembering a moment too late that he was also working a night shift. She blew out a breath half thankful that he wasn't there in case there were nightmares again.

Climbing into her bed she pulled the covers up, one hand tugging to hold them in place while she shifted to curl up on her side. "Lights off," she said to the wall.

The sudden dark of the room felt as heavy as the blanket she was curled up beneath. "Nice things…" she murmured, repeating Noah's earlier advice, "Think about nice things…"

A fresh yawn overtook her then and her eyes drifted shut. It was only moments before the rest of her followed suit into sleep...

---

It was eerily quiet, almost unnaturally so. Her quarters were empty at this moment, each of her roommates out on a duty rotation. Irynya, however, should have been asleep.

"You can do this," she muttered to herself, her voice breaking the silence. The swish of the door to the shared bathroom was too loud, shattering the silence alongside her voice. Suddenly the hum of the deck plates, a clear mark that they were traveling at warp, rushed back in to fill the silence.

The small mirror and sink filled her vision first, her face seeming blurred to her. Her eyes skipped away from her reflection, not wanting to see the expression on her face. She eyed the corner of the room, building up courage.

Finally, she blew out a long breath, deflating as she did and moving around the corner to stand in front of the sonic shower.

"You can do this," she murmured again.

“You can do this,” a soft voice said behind her. It was adenoidal, gentle, friendly… reassuring even. Long fingers ghosted over her shoulder and down her arm. Fingers locked between fingers.

Irynya stilled, goosebumps raising where unexpected fingers trailed down her arm. She felt his fingers slide between hers, soft skin pressed against the back of her hand. She flexed her fingers lightly, locking him into a more comfortable position. Curiously, she glanced down. She had thought she was alone.

"I don't think I can do this," she admitted, voice wavering.

Breath ghosted across Irynya’s neck and shoulder. “Yes you can.” A nose traced along the back of her neck. Lips kissed under her ear. “Come on in, it’s just a little water.” Presence shifted from behind, and around. Noah’s dark eyes watched Irynya as he passed. He stooped and his underwear came off. He stepped out of them. And with a thrumming hum, the walls of the sonic shower cascaded downwards in a purplish-blue tanzanite color.

Noah’s pale flesh had a violet albedo to it as he offered out his hand to her.

A little water… the words echoed in her head, distraction warring with uncertainty. It wasn't just a little water. At least, it wasn't now.

She stood for a long moment, eyes traveling from the top of his head downward. She waited for him to change his mind… to realize the effect of his offer and switch over to blushes and averted glances. But he didn't.

With the quick practiced motion of someone who had found themselves in similar situations before, she slipped her t-shirt over her head, shimmying out of shorts and underwear shortly after.

"Ok," she said simply, placing her hand in his.

Noah tugged her within the all-bathing tanzanite light and the soft, regular ebb of the sonic shower. “See? It’s not so bad so far.” Noah said. His rangy arms reached for the black panel and fingers danced across. With blinking LCARS, a steady drizzle began to fall over their shoulders and heads from above.

Noah swayed closer with a smile. “OK so far?” he asked.

Iry tipped her head back, water running down her face. A deep sigh pressed past her lips, tension that she didn't even realize she had been holding starting to release. One part of her mind was entirely taken up with the feel of the water on her skin, but the other was utterly aware of him. Proximity and a complicated feeling of vulnerability working to crowd out any other input her brain wanted to insert into the moment.

She tilted her head back down, eyes opening. Hazel eyes met and held dark brown, searching. "So far," she said quietly.

Midshipman Balsam bobbed his head- slow, deliberate, taking in. “It’s not so bad…?” He coaxed. Noah’s eyes, cast in sonic shower purple, looked into hers. His hair was wettening down and losing its curls. The purple light on his fair skin accentuated his fine bone structure- high cheekbones, the lines of his throat.

His movements were slow. He stirred closer to her. “Hi…” Noah said with a puff of breath down toward Iry’s breasts. Her chest touched his, first a graze and then explicit. The backs of his fingers raised to pet down her hip. Noah’s visage moved close and he touched her nose with his.

Her breathing hitched for just a moment as he stepped in to her, eyes not leaving his the whole time. "Hi," she breathed back at him, eyes closing for just a moment, long enough for her to pause the moment in her head, taking stock of every inch of skin.

He was thin, but in his slenderness Starfleet had found enough raw materials for ropy muscles and wiry definition. His neck, his stomach, the v-grooves toward…

Noah’s hand on Irynya’s hip pulled her flush against him. Stomachs touched. Legs. Noah’s long arms wrapped Irynya in a hug. His wide mouth hovered over hers. He tapped his nose to hers again and then nuzzled into liplock. Something about him was kind. Nurturing. Familiar.

What little hesitation she had, if it had even been that to begin with, dissolved immediately and when his lips met hers. Arms came up of their own accord, wrapping around his neck, holding him in place as she pressed back into the kiss. What started simply with familiarity shifted toward safety, the confidence of an unspoken agreement to what was happening.

It was a long moment before her arms relaxed, giving slightly so he could pull away if he wanted to.

The slender countenance of the Cadet swayed: as Irynya relaxed her arms, Noah’s wrapped her and he pulled her against him. With a couple of small, circled steps he turned the slightly shorter Risian into the shower. He eased her against the back of the shower and pressed against her. The angles of his body pushed into her curves. The heat of his sex rested against her. “Iry…” he said softly near her ear.

Noah’s mouth closed against hers again. And again with a new angle.

It was as if a switch flipped, and rather than give him the opportunity to retreat, she pressed back from the wall, her lips working gently against his as she did. She paused for only a moment, long enough for one hand to run down his back, settling at the small of his back to press him against her tightly. The other traced its way up to cup the back of neck, fingers getting lost in damp curls for a moment before settling into place.

She pulled her lips away from his, just barely. “Noah?” she said his name like a question, lips brushing his as she spoke it.

He closed the gap between. His broad mouth encompassed her bottom lip and pulled until its elasticity snapped it from between his own lips. His breath was soft and choppy downward, catching her cheek, chin and breasts. Noah’s slender, technical fingers swept over the arc of her hip. He pulled one of her legs around his skinny backside. He swayed and centered against her, and ground.

Irynya let herself be led, tucking her leg around him as he moved, the motion removing any doubt of what might be happening. The hand that she had placed on the small of his back before swept quickly up his side, settling on his shoulders and twining to meet her other arm. A shiver ran down her spine as he adjusted his position, a sense of anticipation taking over her reactions. She pressed her hips against his, using his own weight to drive her motion.

His dark eyes lifted, their sclera purple and electric. He hovered near her lips again; with a cotton, gentlemanly grunt as he pushed his hips in a roll against hers. It was like waves lapping at a Risian shoreline at night. Rhythmic. Regular, almost predictable at swell and ebb.

She pressed back, matching his motion in a mirror unison, shifting toward him when his hips rolled toward her and releasing as he pulled back. Her body knew exactly when to increase pressure or release it, working to draw out a deeper, less controlled, reaction.

Noah’s lips found the u-shape of her collarbones and he dipped to kiss. Gravity began to bring him down to his knees. Sopping wet curls brushed breasts, tickling.

She tilted her head back, a small whimper escaping her as his lips swept across her collarbone. The wall felt solid against the back of her head and she rested there for a moment, eyes closed, taking in the feel of his lips--nerve endings beginning to stand at attention anywhere they touched.

Peck.

Soft lips tenderly touched above Irynya’s navel.

Peck.

Then they touched below. A pregnant exhale pushed downward, and Noah’s hands formed first around the pilot’s breasts and then over her curves. Finally, to her hips. Noah lifted her leg to rest on his shoulder.

He looked up at her with a tilt of a smile. “OK…” he said tenderly. His mouth opened again, and the rounded, almost medically polite bong of an alarm clock began to pulse out of Noah’s mouth.

Hazel eyes shot open, greeted by the computer-determined darkness. Irynya pressed her head back into her pillow, staring into the dark at the ceiling of her quarters.

“Shit,” she said in a whisper. Her body was more than a little reluctant to leave the dream-space where she had been dwelling, a frustrated tension welling up.

The alarm sounded again, this time seeming more insistent to her ears. She groaned, swearing again. For a moment she debated pulling her covers up over her head, trying to go back to sleep--back to… well…

She closed her eyes, blowing out a long breath. “Computer, lights 25 percent,” she told the air around her. Low warm lighting lit the room, Sheldon’s prone form was opposite her, turned to face the far wall as he slept happily through her alarm.

Before the alarm could sound again, she canceled it, a quick verbal directive leaving her as she swung her legs out of the warmth of her blankets, sitting on the side of the bed. Two elbows leaned against her thighs and she buried her face in her hands.

She knew, even before she was sure how, that she was going to have to tell him… all of it...

A Post By:

Lieutenant JG Irynya
Acting Chief Flight Controller

Midshipman Noah Balsam
Systems Specialist