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yolandekleinn[This ficlet takes place seven years before the events of An Intimate Charade (and shortly before the events of Coffee. Having read the actual book is probably not necessary for the story to make sense, though full confession: writing this made me want to dedicate a whole book to these two side characters. Gamina Rielle and Laia Keeth own a very large corner of my heart.]
Navigation
"Here, hold this." Gamina's voice carried muffled from beneath the control conduit, and she reached back to brandish a thick coil of glowing material. The semi-translucent cords gathered into a symmetrical bundle in Gamina's deceptively delicate hand.
Laia accepted the handoff, shamelessly brushing her fingers over Gamina's knuckles in the process. She smiled, watching her wife shiver and then withdraw the hand beneath the console.
This was why Gamina rarely allowed her into either the engine room or the navigation array when there was work to be done. Laia knew this. They were both too prone to distraction. Twenty years mated and eighteen married had done nothing to dull the spark of unabashed wanting that still twined amid other, softer affections.
But today's work was neither difficult nor urgent. Beyond the knowledge that an extra set of hands was of strategic help, Laia had very little idea what Gamina was actually doing. Something involving the accuracy of the aft sensors and the sub-quantum propulsion drive, but even that was far outside Laia's experience. She was a pilot, not a mechanic, and as such she was content to leave all the mucking about in the engine room to her wife.
"So, what do you think?" Gamina's voice came a little clearer as she backed partway out from the console, giving Laia a chance to appreciate the contours of her backside beneath the fabric of coveralls pulled taut.
"About what?" Laia grudgingly tore her gaze from Gamina's perfectly shaped ass to stare at the glowing coil in her hands, but the pulsing light gave her no clue as to Gamina's meaning.
"About our new crew member."
"Oh." Laia stopped trying to figure out mechanical components and redirected her thoughts toward Gamina's actual question. "I like him. He's very earnest."
Gamina snorted. "I was going to say 'desperate', but earnest works. He seems determined, anyway. I'm sure he'll work hard."
Laia considered for a moment before admitting, "I think he's more clever than he lets on. Barely a week onboard, but he spent the whole time watching everything so closely. I think he was trying to figure us out."
"Mmm," Gamina agreed. She fell silent for a time, as the console's innards echoed with the louder scrapes and clangs of her work. Then the sounds quieted again and she asked, "How do you think he talked the captain into it?"
"Into what? Giving him a job?"
Gamina grunted in the affirmative and then held her hand out behind her. "Ion cables, please."
Laia, assuming that meant the cords in her hand, returned them obediently. Touching Gamina deliberately again in the process.
"I don't know," she admitted. "Odona's a softie, but he doesn't usually take it this far." Even providing the young Human with free transport across the sector had been more than most cargo ship captains would offer—but then, Addison Valdez had also sworn he would find some way to repay them. Laia hadn't figured that would mean asking to stay on permanently, yet somehow she couldn't find the capacity for surprise.
"You saw the way this kid looked at Odona, though," Gamina said. "That's some top-tier hero worship. No wonder he wants to stay." This last was immediately followed by several banging thumps in succession, as though Gamina were pounding some heavy piece of equipment securely back in place.
"Makes you wonder what sorts of people he was dealing with before," Laia murmured. Not that hero worship was such an improbable reaction to Galin Odona. It was, in fact, perfectly reasonable given the captain's improbable mingling of kindness, confidence, and capability. What was unlikely was the speed with which those impressions had imprinted on Addison Valdez. The new arrival clearly had good instincts.
With a final satisfied grunt, Gamina wriggled completely out from beneath the console. She emerged with a graceful twist that had no place on the messy floor of an engine compartment, and the familiar sight made Laia want to peel her immediately out of those coveralls.
"I can't fathom what he'll do onboard." Gamina set down her tools and wiped both hands clean on a piece of gray towel.
Laia wordlessly agreed. A few years of dock work and engine repair provided useful skills, but none of them were things the Korria's small crew lacked. They'd always managed just fine with three. It was difficult to imagine what a fourth crew member with scattered skill set might contribute.
"Do you think he'll really stay?" Gamina cozied into Laia's personal space with the question, snuggling close despite the warmth of the engine compartment and taking her hand.
"Yes," Laia answered after a thoughtful delay. She had no explanation for her certainty, and yet certain she was. "I really think he will."
"Here, hold this." Gamina's voice carried muffled from beneath the control conduit, and she reached back to brandish a thick coil of glowing material. The semi-translucent cords gathered into a symmetrical bundle in Gamina's deceptively delicate hand.
Laia accepted the handoff, shamelessly brushing her fingers over Gamina's knuckles in the process. She smiled, watching her wife shiver and then withdraw the hand beneath the console.
This was why Gamina rarely allowed her into either the engine room or the navigation array when there was work to be done. Laia knew this. They were both too prone to distraction. Twenty years mated and eighteen married had done nothing to dull the spark of unabashed wanting that still twined amid other, softer affections.
But today's work was neither difficult nor urgent. Beyond the knowledge that an extra set of hands was of strategic help, Laia had very little idea what Gamina was actually doing. Something involving the accuracy of the aft sensors and the sub-quantum propulsion drive, but even that was far outside Laia's experience. She was a pilot, not a mechanic, and as such she was content to leave all the mucking about in the engine room to her wife.
"So, what do you think?" Gamina's voice came a little clearer as she backed partway out from the console, giving Laia a chance to appreciate the contours of her backside beneath the fabric of coveralls pulled taut.
"About what?" Laia grudgingly tore her gaze from Gamina's perfectly shaped ass to stare at the glowing coil in her hands, but the pulsing light gave her no clue as to Gamina's meaning.
"About our new crew member."
"Oh." Laia stopped trying to figure out mechanical components and redirected her thoughts toward Gamina's actual question. "I like him. He's very earnest."
Gamina snorted. "I was going to say 'desperate', but earnest works. He seems determined, anyway. I'm sure he'll work hard."
Laia considered for a moment before admitting, "I think he's more clever than he lets on. Barely a week onboard, but he spent the whole time watching everything so closely. I think he was trying to figure us out."
"Mmm," Gamina agreed. She fell silent for a time, as the console's innards echoed with the louder scrapes and clangs of her work. Then the sounds quieted again and she asked, "How do you think he talked the captain into it?"
"Into what? Giving him a job?"
Gamina grunted in the affirmative and then held her hand out behind her. "Ion cables, please."
Laia, assuming that meant the cords in her hand, returned them obediently. Touching Gamina deliberately again in the process.
"I don't know," she admitted. "Odona's a softie, but he doesn't usually take it this far." Even providing the young Human with free transport across the sector had been more than most cargo ship captains would offer—but then, Addison Valdez had also sworn he would find some way to repay them. Laia hadn't figured that would mean asking to stay on permanently, yet somehow she couldn't find the capacity for surprise.
"You saw the way this kid looked at Odona, though," Gamina said. "That's some top-tier hero worship. No wonder he wants to stay." This last was immediately followed by several banging thumps in succession, as though Gamina were pounding some heavy piece of equipment securely back in place.
"Makes you wonder what sorts of people he was dealing with before," Laia murmured. Not that hero worship was such an improbable reaction to Galin Odona. It was, in fact, perfectly reasonable given the captain's improbable mingling of kindness, confidence, and capability. What was unlikely was the speed with which those impressions had imprinted on Addison Valdez. The new arrival clearly had good instincts.
With a final satisfied grunt, Gamina wriggled completely out from beneath the console. She emerged with a graceful twist that had no place on the messy floor of an engine compartment, and the familiar sight made Laia want to peel her immediately out of those coveralls.
"I can't fathom what he'll do onboard." Gamina set down her tools and wiped both hands clean on a piece of gray towel.
Laia wordlessly agreed. A few years of dock work and engine repair provided useful skills, but none of them were things the Korria's small crew lacked. They'd always managed just fine with three. It was difficult to imagine what a fourth crew member with scattered skill set might contribute.
"Do you think he'll really stay?" Gamina cozied into Laia's personal space with the question, snuggling close despite the warmth of the engine compartment and taking her hand.
"Yes," Laia answered after a thoughtful delay. She had no explanation for her certainty, and yet certain she was. "I really think he will."
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