More Than One Predicament

Posted on Thu Apr 7th, 2022 @ 4:50pm by Lieutenant Irynya & Lieutenant Kennedy Ryan Walsh

Mission: Sojourners of Time
Location: Senior
Timeline: Mission Day 3 at 2200

Kennedy hadn’t been out of Junior Crew Quarters for long, but it was long enough that he and Irynya had fallen into a new sort of pattern. They’d work their rotations and then, on days where the rotations lined up well enough, Irynya would show up at Kennedy’s quarters after they were both done. Sometimes she’d come directly from her own shift, still in full uniform and ready to decompress. Others she’d arrive a few minutes after him, familiar sweatpants and t-shirt combo already in place.

Today Kennedy had been the later of the two, and she was curled up on his bed, watching the ceiling while she waited. It had barely been 24 hours since Margarar arrived to take over the open bed in Noah’s room and yet Irynya felt like it had been ages. A yawn overtook her, and she arched her back slightly in a stretch, reveling in the more comfortable mattress on Kennedy’s bed compared to the thinner one on the Waverider. Even with Timmoz’s help she hadn’t slept well.

Kennedy had slowly made himself comfortable in his new accommodations onboard the Sojourner. He had a room to himself for the first time in his lifetime. He had shared his childhood bedroom with his twin brother Quinlan until he shifted off to the Academy.

Then he had shared it with three other cadets before being given his first posting of his career on the Reliant where he had his own bunk with fifteen other junior officers. He had thought it was a luxury that he only had three other roommates, two per room.

Chief among them was his girlfriend, Irynya. He missed their long conversations on the couch. How her knee brushed up against his leg and their general closeness. He walked into the common area of his quarters and saw that Irynya wasn’t there. He raised an eyebrow as he walked into his bedroom and saw Irynya comfortably laying on his bed. She looked angelic even in her t-shirt and sweatpants. A smile came across his features, highlighting his dimples. He looked over to the horga’hn she had gifted him on the left nightstand. He wasn’t sure where it would be appropriate to place it but it was one of the very few keepsakes he had put out as he still was adjusting to the luxurious living compared to the spartan lifestyle. He broke the silence, “Hi.”

The Risian propped herself on her elbows and grinned up at him. “Figured Mothim might be more comfortable if I waited in here since it’s not really my quarters,” she explained. “I didn’t mean to get here before you.”

She yawned again as she sat up, winding her arms around her legs and drawing them up to her chest. “How’s Sickbay? Any particularly fun holodeck injuries today?”

Kennedy raised an eyebrow at her last comment nodding his head, “There were a few minor lacerations. No problem a dermal regenerator can’t fix.” He sat down on the bed beside her as he rolled off his feet. He looked over his shoulder, “I know this probably breaches boyfriend protocol… but you look like you haven’t been sleeping… well… Everything okay?”

The spray of freckles across her nose wrinkled as her mouth turned up at the corners and she gave him an amused sort of face. “I’m pretty sure that’s like… boyfriending 101,” she said with a small laugh. “Unless you’re about to get your tricorder out and check me for illness, asking if I’m ok is pretty standard.”

“I do have one laying around here somewhere,” Kennedy rose to his feet and began to walk over to the dresser.

“Just didn’t sleep well last night, honestly. I slept in one of the pods on the Waverider. Just… it was a rough night all around.” She shrugged, not sure how to get into the subject. She wanted to tell him – Noah was his friend too – but it still felt raw and uncomfortable and made her hackles rise just thinking about it.

Kennedy tapped the interface to open the dresser. He turned around and looked over at her, “Good thing your boyfriend is a medical doctor… I could prescribe a sleeping aid?” Then his mind went to the night that they slept together in her bed, “Or… I could prescribe that you spend the night with me… I remember a certain night where you had the best sleep… well maybe I had the best sleep that night?”

She had been inspecting her fingernails, trying to put together the story of what had happened in a way that would make sense without taking half the night to explain. So she didn't catch his body language as fast as she should have. His tone of voice, though, was clear. Her eyes drifted quickly up to meet his, cheeks darkening slightly. She'd been so close to coming to him the night before. So close to asking.

Her expression must have been hard to read, or perhaps the blush gave her away more than she thought, but she watched as his cheeks turned a familiar shade of deep red.

Her voice stuttered into use, "I… almost asked you if that was ok last night," she said quietly. "Timmoz was walking me here even. But I was worried you would feel pressured. So… Waverider. Timmoz too." Her eyes widened as she realized the necessary clarification, "separately… separately! Timmoz slept in the other pod. He's been staying there since Nico disembarked. Just… I needed to keep my bed open last night. In case Noah…" she trailed off, willing him not to jump to conclusions. "Did I mention it was a rough night?" She finished lamely.

Kennedy had ignored the open drawer in the cupboard and it automatically closed behind him. He found himself sitting back down on his bed facing her as he spoke. He rested his hand on her knee. He had met Timmoz twice; one count of mistaken identity and the other during breakfast at Debbie’s the next morning. He was a very good looking man. Or was it the pheromones? He wasn’t sure… or was he? His heart skipped a beat when she told him that Timmoz and her… but he didn’t chime in as he listened to what she had to say. He was relieved that they slept in different pods. He took in a small breath before speaking, although he wasn’t sure how he would have responded if they slept in the same pod., “First you’re always welcome to spend the night here, Irynya. Always. Okay?”

She nodded her understanding. "I just wasn't sure. We hadn't since the night in my room and I thought maybe you weren't comfortable," she admitted. "I promised not to rush you."

“Second… What happened last night?” Kennedy asked. His mind jumped to something that had happened to Noah, “Is Noah okay? I didn’t see him on any medical reports… “ His heart skipped another beat. The dynamic of the four roommates had changed with his promotion to Lieutenant and to Chief Medical Officer. He missed Noah. Her. Even Sheldon Parsons.

"Yes and no," she sighed. "At least last I saw him she hadn't touched him." Her expression turned stormy at that thought. "The new Assistant Chief Engineer is Noah's new roommate. She's…" She drew out the word trying to find an appropriate way to explain. Giving up she finally just used the words that came to mind. "She's mean. And she's been nasty to Noah. Insulted his work. Insulted… him… as a person. And she's his boss. Her arrival in our room wasn't pretty. And there was a fight and Noah walked out and I had words with her and then Timmoz had words with her and I left so Noah could have my bed if he needed someplace safe to go."

She gave much of her explanation in a jumble of rushed words and heated description. Even a day later the way the Antican had spoken to them made her blood boil.

He nodded his head to her earlier comment that she promised not to rush him. But her well being and being able to sleep wasn’t only his concern as her boyfriend but as the chief medical officer. He shook his head, “I know you promised me that you wouldn’t rush me, Irynya. You’re always welcome to be here. With me.”

Kennedy’s face changed to guilt and anger. A side of him that no one had seen on his features with the exception of his siblings, “Not Noah.” His face fell sullen suddenly as he felt sick to his stomach, “Harassment is unacceptable.” He looked over at her, “Has your new roommate been reported to Commander t’Nai?”

Iry shook her head, no. "I don't think so. It's… we're trying to support Noah without doing it for him. Sheldon and I, I mean. And Timmoz too, I guess. He was the one who talked Noah through how to handle Margarar."

He didn’t know Timmoz all that well, but he trusted Irynya. “Well. You’re more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need so cooler heads will prevail and to give Noah a safe space to sleep. He’s more than welcome to spend the night on the couch if you don’t want to sleep here… I just wish I could move back in with the three of you.”

Irynya frowned. It hadn't occurred to her that Kennedy might prefer the group sleeping arrangements. The privacy of your own room was a coveted thing and one that was afforded only to senior officers on a ship this size. Gently she pulled his hand from her knee, sliding closer and winding his arm up over her head to make it clear she wanted it around her. She leaned into him, sighing as she did. "I want to sleep here," she said quietly. "I wanted that before there was a roommate crisis to figure out."

Kennedy shifted himself, pulling them both down so that he now laid on his side with his arm around her shoulder. He looked into her hazel eyes. He offered her a reassuring smile.

A complicated set of emotions ran across her face. "We talked about halfway," she said quietly, "but… then we kind of stayed where we were." Her stomach twisted slightly as she said it. "And that's ok. I just… it's kind of…" Somehow the words were hard to wrangle. "It feels strange to know so clearly what I want and to be so unsure of what you want."

“I want you to spend the night with me,” Kennedy’s voice cracked with intense emotion and with a slight frustration in the conveyance that she was more than welcome to spend the night or any night with him, “I do. I want you to have a good night's sleep. I want you well rested. I just…” he fell silent and the only thing he thought of was to place his lips lightly against her lips with his eyes closed. His eyes reopened, “I just want you to be here.”

Irynya’s eyes were soft, darkened slightly at the emotion in his tone and the light brush of his lips. “Then I’ll stay,” she said softly. “Tonight… if you want…”

He wrapped his arms around her bringing her in closer to him. Their cheeks brushed up against each other, “I do. But I should probably hit the sonic shower and change into my pajamas. I’m smelly,” Kennedy still smelled the same mixture of a lavender-based scent and some others.

Giggling slightly Irynya stuck her face against his chest and inhaled with an exaggerated sniff. “Yes… Lavender… Sooooo smelly,” she said, eyes dancing. She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, mind wandering for a moment before she reigned it back in. “Go shower. I’ll be here.”

Her lapse in an immediate continuation of her train of thought was the causation of a deep blush across his cheeks. He leaned his head up to kiss her on the forehead before unwrapping his arms from around her. He repositioned himself and pushed off of the bed, “You let me know at any point throughout the night if you need any sleeping medication. Okay? Doctor Boyfriend insists that you get a great night’s rest.” He shot her a cheeky grin.

He returned to the dresser to get out a new set of pajamas before turning back to face her, “Do you want me to get you anything from the replicator when I get back? Have you eaten?”

She met his gaze pointedly. “I ate. And I won’t need medication. But I do need you to go get a shower and get back here.”

“I’ll be back momentarily… make yourself comfortable…” Kennedy smiled and gave her a short curt wave of his hand before departing. He stepped out into the common area realizing that he hadn’t undressed yet. He wasn’t certain if he was ready for that part. To remove his clothing in front of her. He knew she would be accepting of that fact.

She watched him go, still dressed in full uniform and, as the door whooshed shut behind him, broke into a fit of girlish giggles.

He wasn’t gone very long. He returned to his room and placed his folded laundry into the hamper and looked over at her towards the bed, “And… I’m back.”

She’d shifted since he left, sitting cross legged on the bed, the small horga’hn statuette cupped in her palm. She’d given it to him before he moved out. A reminder of her when they weren’t right next door. While he showered she had been gently passing it from one hand to another, a distraction as much as a nervous tic as she considered spending the night with him. It made her feel warm to think about it. Anticipation settled in her stomach at the thought of falling asleep with his arms wrapped around her. At the thought of waking up in those same arms.

Hazel eyes rose from the statuette to the door as it whooshed open and her face lit. “Yes…” she said with a grin, “Yes, you are.”

“I see you found and reacquainted with Hank the Horga’hn…” Kennedy folded his hands together in front of him in an anxious tic as he approached the bedside.

“Hank?” she asked, teasing in her tone. “I didn’t realize he had a name.” She turned him over in her palm one more time before flipping the statuette end over end and offering it to Kennedy. “When did you name it?”

Kennedy rubbed his hands together briefly before accepting Hank the Horga’hn from her hands and sitting beside her on the bed. He held it in both of his hands. He looked to her and then to Hank, “When I set up my room. And Hank was the first name I came up with. Us Irish have a thing for alliteration, I think.”

Her head tilted in acknowledgement, eyes on the statuette in his hands. “It suits him,” she said with a chuckle. She leaned back slightly, looking side to side as if she needed to check where she was placing her hands. “Do you… have a side… of the bed you prefer?” she asked.

“Usually dab straight in the middle,” Kennedy replied before reaching over, returning the statuette to a nightstand table nearest to him. He looked over, “I’ll sleep on whatever side of the bed that suits you.”

The Risian twisted as if she were inspecting the two sides of the bed. “Well…” she said, as if she were reviewing a question of intense concern. “This side…” here she shifted, half crawling to the opposite of the bed and stretching out on her side facing him. She patted the space next to her, an invitation to join her. “This side involves…” she waited for him to lay down and then scooted over to him, moving so that she was pressed close, “yes… cuddling. It involves cuddling.”

Her eyes turned mischievous then as her lips dusted across his before she shifted herself up quickly, settling over top of him for one second, eyes glinting as she held the position, not touching him and yet painfully close, before she dropped down on the other side of him. “Yes… this side also seems to involve cuddling,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

He was taken by surprise when she laid on top of him briefly. His eyes closed as her lips brushed up against his. He was nervous that if she had remained there long enough his sex would have been an indication of his response. Thankfully she found herself behind him. He smiled with relief and then chuckled, “I’m calling this a Girlfriend-Boyfriend Cuddle Zone…”

He couldn’t see the amused curl of her lips. He smelled like his soap and the nape of his neck was just the tiniest bit damp still where his hair curled against it. She hesitated only a moment before giving in to the temptation. Gently she pressed her lips to the space of skin right above his collar. “That sounds… remarkably…” She repeated the motion, breath ghosting across his neck before she withdrew with a sigh, “tame.”

A small inaudible sound escaped Kennedy as her lips touched up against the nape of his neck. His body had control as his neck leaned back into her kiss. Then he felt her lips press against the exposed part above his collar. His eyes remained closed but he was unfocused to hear what she had said.

She wasn’t being fair and she knew it. She threaded her arm underneath his, tucking it around his chest before leaning her forehead into his shoulder. He’d said he wanted her there, not that he was ready for more than the comfort of warm bodies and arms wrapped around each other. “Cuddle Zone sounds lovely,” she breathed.

He became quite aware when her arm wrapped around his chest that even that motion was heightening his reaction. The worry that she would discover his arousal seemed to have faded as he felt the security and safety of being in her arms, “We are the cuddle zone…” he trailed off as he felt her breath against his back.

His reaction was impossible for her to miss. The tension in the lines of his shoulders and the way he held carefully still gave him away as much as she imagined other things might. For a moment she held still too, breathing him in. She wanted to be held. Soothed. But it wasn’t certain that would work. She worried her lip slightly, considering the options. He’d asked her to stay and she’d said she would. She wouldn’t take that back now. Still, they were going to have to find a way through this if either of them was going to sleep. Were it anyone else she might have simply acted on his body’s obvious reaction.

But it wasn’t anyone else.

It was Kennedy.

And she didn’t want to make him go any faster than he wanted.

Carefully, she unwound her arm, rolling slightly until she was off the bed before she tugged back the blankets and slid underneath. “I’ll take this side,” she said quietly.

He frowned when she pulled away. He rolled onto his back and shimmied over to the other side of the bed. He laid onto his side regardless of his current state and looked up at her. Pinkess and redness settled across his features. He searched her face to see if she had any reaction of any kind, “I promised you cuddling…” he bit down on his bottom lip for a moment as he found this complicated. He wanted to be there for her, “If you’re comfortable… with… how I am now…” He found it hard to say.

“Kennedy,” she said his name softly, a sigh of understanding and exasperation rolled into one. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Kennedy was nervous, “If you are okay… with my present predicament… up against you… then I’m okay with that. I don’t think I’m ready for… copulation…”

Her lips pressed together, the mirth back in her eyes. “Your girlfriend is lying in your bed. Pressed up against you. And kissing the back of your neck. You’d have to be dead right now not to be in your current… predicament,” she said, laughter in her tone. “It’s fine, Kennedy.”

=/\= A Mission Post By =/\=

Lieutenant Kennedy Ryan Walsh
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant JG Irynya
Assistant Chief Flight Controller