Pack Them In Tight

Posted on Sun Feb 4th, 2018 @ 8:37am by Colonel Jason "Jack" Frost
Edited on on Sun Feb 4th, 2018 @ 8:38am

2,084 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Emerald Road
Location: Transit to the ship

Jack had spent most of the time packing when the order to report to the Indefatigable came through. Life of a marine meant he didn’t have many personal effects because not only did it mean more to pack but as a marine it meant he could be assigned, deployed or allocated at any time to anywhere. He grabbed his ‘to-go’ bag, a bag that had everything he needed for immediate deployment and another bag that had everything he’d managed to pack from the Dreadnought. He’d booked passage on a transport and headed to the shuttle port and waited for it along with all the other officers and ratings heading to UP shipyards.

Acacia on the other hand had never really unpacked from being assigned to the Array. Everything she had went into storage except the down quilt on her bed and a few small personal effects. There just wasnt enough room in the cramped shared quarters to set up ones things. Slinging a small bag over her shoulder, she tagged the personal crate with her service number and the final destination...USS Indefatigable.

Jack arrived in line and waited, some muttered about the ships they were going to, others about the shore leave they had enjoyed. It left Jack thinking about Acacia and what they got upto. He admitted to himself that it was pretty good to have a younger woman show an interest in him, he enjoyed her forward nature, focused and knew what she wanted and went for it and that included him it seemed. He did think about her, wondered what she was upto, where she was, if she’d be joining the Indy or picked another assignment.

Seeing the immense line for the transport, Acacia rolled her eyes and headed for a small food stand. Shed get something to eat while she waited for the throng of people to ease. The young surgeon didnt want people pressing in on her from every direction. A shudder coursed through her frame, then another of an entirely different kind as she saw several men in marine green. It got her thinking about him...

Jack sighed, this line was going nowhere and fast. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they had an ETA for the transport but all it had was a name and birthing number. Jack was not in the mood for that game so left the line and walked away to do something other than stand waiting. As he passed the end of the line not caring about his place knowing he’d get on board anyway it was at that moment he saw something familiar. Purple hair. “No way.” He knew of only one person with hair like that, even down and wild as he remembered it best. He headed over to her with hopes but prepared just in case that it was someone else.

Seated on a bench by a planter she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. Waiting for her order number to be called out, she allowed her mind to wander.

As subtle as he could be he tried to position himself to see her face, the long hair down and partially masking her. Her blue uniform helped the hopes but the face would polish it off if he could just get round enough. At some point he figured ‘screw it’ and walked towards her, faining surprise he called out. “Acacia?”

Oh, that voice she recognised and the smile spread across her features before she could even open her eyes. Shed never had such a powerful reaction to a man before and was in the privacy of her mind referring to him as her marine. Which was both sentimental and silly. It did however get her to look directly in the direction of his voice. When they lit upon him, her eyes glowed with joy.

‘Called it’ Jack thought as he smiled relieved that it was her and not some random officer that he’d just made himself look utterly stupid in front of. “Hey, how are you?” Jack came to a stop next to her and sitting in the vacant chair.

“I’ve not seen you around much, what have you been doing that’s kept you so busy?” Jack thought it would be nice to know what had kept her busy, or if he’d scared her away.

"The chief didnt like that i put in for a transfer, so he put me on three 12 hour overnights in a row the moment the request crossed his desk. Work. Work. Work." Her fingers brushed his arm lightly as she spoke.

Oh, work related. That was fair enough and Jack could understand that. He felt the brush of her hand to his arm and smiled, remembering she did the same in 10 Forward that night. To him at least she seemed forward, outgoing, direct, almost marine like actually when he thought about it and he appreciated that. He was not getting any younger and while his options were dwindling, as too was his patience for games. “I know that feeling, I’ve had to sift through mountains of service jackets at all the newly assigned marines to my department. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it though as most are fresh from Boot.”

She laughed in response to the tone of his voice. "So you get to whip them into shape. That will be good for them, and i think you might enjoy it a bit more then you let on. Im just pleased ill be doing the work of a surgeon again.

“I can delegate it to the Major and my platoon staff, they know the standards set, I’m sure they will buff out any rough edges and make them into teams of fighting squads. Some are pretty good but there are a few egos among them.” Jack replied. He was about to continue when her order was placed in front of her. “So what’s on the menu?” Jack had not really considered eating or anything since he arrived and that notion forgotten now that he was here with Acacia.

"Its something called a calzone. Related to an earth Pizza, this is wrapped entirely in crust giving it more portability and less mess." Glancing down at the huge portion in front of her she shook her head. "They must think im feeding an army. This is way too much for just me, but...we could share..." her voice was just slightly hesitant as if expecting him to reject her and leave.

“Oh I got your army.” As a marine food was fuel and fuel was vital. In the field nobody knew when the next meal was coming so if the chance presented itself to eat, you ate for all you could. “But sure I’m down.” Motioning to the staff for an extra set of cutlery.

They didnt bring one right away so Acacia got a twinkle in her eye as she offered him a portion off her own fork, dripping with molten cheese.

Jack leaned forward and took the offered morsel from her fork. “You know, this is fattening to marines, we have to work extra hard to burn this off with all that cheese.” He grinned as he looked at her as he brought his chair closer so that he didn’t have to lean as far.

Her cheeks colored at the implication of his words "ill have you know its not just fattening for marines., but the cheese is my favorite part."

“It is a guilty pleasure of mine I admit.” Jack liked cheese probably more than he should but knew the need for moderation and to balance it out with other food groups.

Glancing down at her curves for a moment she shrugged. "Most food is a guilty pleasure of mine. Its rare i meet one I dont like. I can always work it off later."

There was no hiding the grin on Jacks face at her reply nor the glance she gave herself which accompanied one of his own. He looked down as if to hide the smile, guilty as his thoughts might betray him as he licked his lips thinking the taste of cheese was upon them.

Her smile was warm as her piercing blue eyes watched the subtle play of emotions under the grin. There was something just enthralling about this man, and she worked on figuring it out as she offered him another bite.

Jack accepted the offering and as he ate it he thought, what was he to her? A one of encounter? Was there more? Did she want more? He was older than her afterall and he’d been out of the game so long being a marine was mostly all he knew. “Don’t be feeding this all to me, I know your game.”

"And just what game might that be?" She countered as she cut herself a bite, sprinkled it with Parmesan and pepper and popped it into her mouth. Pleasure at the flavors flickering across her face.

“Tell me something, after that night, what did it mean?” Not that he was complaining about the nights activities but wondered what to think on its meaning. Was it just a moment? Sate an urge? Scratch that itch or was there something more to it like he’d been considering himself?

She paused a moment at his words and laid the fork down. Did she tell him hed occupied her thoughts every moment since their dalliance. Waking and sleeping, for shed awoken in such a state she almost didnt make her shift. Shifting over in her chair, her calf pressed to his as she rose just slightly. It was just enough to clear the distance between then and press a gentle kiss to his mouth. "I dont know...." she whispered when shed sat down again "but id like to find out."

His lips burned and yet he appreciated her directness. She didn’t seem to care he was older, the scars or what he did for a living. The smile was unmistakable and without thinking he placed his hand on her thigh. “I think we could arrange that.” He certainly could with ease.

A tiny little gasp and the shifting of her body so her thighs were slightly more apart she was sure was not lost on him. "Could we? Id like that."

“How about we blow this place.” Just in time too as the transport to take them to the ship was just pulling into view. A smile on his face remained as he had all manner of thoughts, ideas and such stemming from that night and spurred on by the now. “Just in time too.”

She placed her thumb on the plate on the table and it shifted open to provide her with a carry box. It was clear to her she would need the energy later.

Collecting his things and slinging one bag over his shoulder he waited for her, he could see the transport had just finished docking and the doors began to open so people to step on board. One thing Jack hated about civilian transports was that nobody knew if they would be seated, standing, packed like sardines or small quarters to share. “Ready?”

"I was born ready" she replied as she ducked under the strap of her bag. Since acacia enjoyed people watching she didn't mind the cramped little civilian transport. Now though she might want more privacy.

When they finally boarded they were packed in, standing in the corner of a small room with several others. They hardly had enough room for the bags and since Jack didn’t know the others present he put Acacia in the corner with his back to the others, his arms to the walls to protect her since there was shoving and moving going on as people jostled for space.

This gave her ample time to study his face and physique. A few times her fingers twitched towards him, as if her fingers wanted to trace the path her eyes were taking. His eyes were cold now, and she guessed it was because of the transport. It was smaller than was comfortable and she felt the familliar grip of fear trickling down her spine as the walls felt too small for her to breathe. Closing her eyes she rested her head on his chest and took a deep breath of his scent.

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