[ Chris knows how he's going to die. One petulant godling with a bruised ego isn't going to be the end of him, but that doesn't necessarily mean he won't be the end of his crew. He should be more careful. Except that, once again, he knows Loki. He knows he wouldn't do something like that. He sincerely believes that. ]
No, I don't want you to leave. I'm happy to see you. [ Despite all the yelling of earlier, that appears to be entirely true. ] Do I wish I had had a little more forewarning of your visit? Yes.
Of course not, I was making a point but you're too captain-y right now to prove me right.
[ Loki's body-language telegraphs his annoyance clearly, chinning a hand at Chris over the table. Gods know what that short-haired guard-dog that Chris arrived with is thinking on the periphery, Loki imagines froth at their chin like that of Garm the Hel-Hound. ]
[ Erica is not frothing at the chin, but she is making wide-eyed faces at him from behind Loki's back, a combination of you okay there, chief? and you're on your own with this one, buddy that would normally have Chris cracking a smile and shaking his head at her, but he doesn't want to give Loki any other reason to nurse hurt feelings, so he doesn't. ]
Like I said. I'm still on-duty, and I have responsibilities to my ship and my crew that I can't just put aside whenever I feel like it. [ That's what responsibilities are. He doesn't say that out loud. He has a feeling it won't go over very well. ] Also, since you're currently posing as an enlisted member of Starfleet and an officer on my ship, you are my direct subordinate and it would be unethical for me to fraternize with you.
Oh, I'm well aware it's unethical and breaks a dozen regulations. I studied the laws of Starfleet.
[ The frown melts into a warm, thoughtful once-over glance of Chris that lands on those blue eyes. With his chin in-hand, his little finger catches on Loki's parted lips. ]
What do you think made me dress like a dewy-eyed scientist in the first place? Don't tempt me to act like it again, I will.
[ He shouldn't be surprised. It seems Loki truly has committed to the bit, as it were, and has been able to fly under the radar for however long it's been before he deliberately crossed paths with Chris. He must have been able to fake it well enough for others to believe him. ]
Why did you choose sciences to begin with? It can't just be because of the bracelet.
This is the goldest the uniforms have been in... a while.
[ There are times Chris almost misses the blue uniforms he wore a few years ago — the lines were so sharp, and he thought the collars were pretty nifty, even if they were awfully uncomfortable after a long day — but the new ones are far more comfortable, and he appreciates that more than he cares about looking spiffy, so...
Three days. Well. That makes him feel a little better for not noticing, it wasn't like Loki'd been hitching a ride since the day he left that little planet they'd been together on. ]
What have you been working on? Tell me about your experiments.
[ They are the blandest reports he's seen in his three-day history as an unofficial officer but he isn't about to let Chris see him being a nerd and investigating basic space-travel propulsion and improving their security system. ]
I could try and explain it to you later, but you seem awfully busy today chasing blue proverbial skirts through the cafeteria of your own ship.
[ Chris would delight in seeing Loki be a nerd. Even if whatever it was he was working on was boring, he'd sit and listen to the entire report just to see Loki be secretly proud of himself for working on a project with a team or sneakily improving things without letting everyone know what he's doing. ]
Is it really chasing when you sat still the whole time and pretended I wasn't here even though all your friends scattered like a fox jumped into the chicken coop the moment I walked through the door?
[ So it would seem their little spat has been well and truly patched up. Chris is relieved — though the anger he felt before hasn't entirely been washed away, and at some point he might circle back around to try and convince Loki that he's not trying to be an asshole but what he did has consequences — by the heat that flashes in Loki's eyes for a moment, heat that makes him want to reach out.
He restrains himself. ]
Lieutenant. [ Loud enough to stop Loki in his tracks but not loud enough to be heard through the entire mess hall; the tables nearby all stop and stare regardless. ]
Aren't you forgetting something?
[ At least pretend you've gone through the same basic training as everyone else, Loki, come on. ]
[ He has to force down the smirk alive in his blood, affecting a wide-eyed, soft-voiced sight who halts and turns back to look at his captain with nervous devotion in his gaze, lips bitten red and shining. He swallows for effect. ]
Sorry, sir. [ It's coquettish and entirely contrived when he looks down and up. ] It's been a day. May I ... ?
[ Laying it on a little thick seems to be Loki's forever-MO, and today is no exception.
Luckily, Chris is a rather adept actor himself, when the situation calls for it, and the only hint that he's deeply amused is the slight thinning of his lips and the flare of his nostrils as he suppresses a smile.
After a moment, he lifts his chin in a little nod. ]
[ His gaze lingers a moment longer before he turns and hurries out of the mess hall. In the corridor, as the doors close on his heels, the anxious forward-slouch of his walk dissolves into a relaxed stride all the way to the turbolift where he heads to Deck-H. The physics lab is his destination, wondering if he's going to be sidestepped yet again before he makes it there.
He wants to turn on his heel and drag Chris into the nearest fancy Starfleet closet to feel the heat of his body, the eagerness of his kisses, his broad shoulders and strong thighs plastered up against Loki again until he doesn't have mere memories to go on.
[ As much as he might want to get up and follow that slender figure as it walks out the door, Chris has responsibilities of his own that have nothing to do with following his own wants and desires, and he knows he can't.
So, he turns back to his meal and finishes what's on his plate, studiously ignoring everyone still staring at him and speculating just what that was about. It's none of their business.
Still, he can feel eyes on him for the rest of the day, word spreading through the mess like wildfire and only slightly slower through the rest of the ship, a juicy new tidbit of gossip for people to pass around like a hot potato. Belatedly, he realizes he never asked Loki where he was billeted, or rather, in whose bunk he was sleeping, since it's clear none of the yeomen assigned him any sort of quarters. Did he find an empty one and assign it to himself? Is he sharing with one of the other crewmembers? Where exactly is he staying?
It's a question that plagues him all the way through to the end of his shift, and he resolves to do a little more digging once he's in the privacy of his own rooms. There's nothing he can do about it while he's in the chair, he'll just have to wait. It's not that big of a ship, they'll run into each other soon. ]
[ Loki spends the rest of his day working on his new security code, sinking Asgardian runes hacked through with magic into a padd cut off from the rest of the main computer, testing which codes work best. Stark would do the same, he's sure, but Loki's codes are a virus and he has to make them recognise a kind of neural loyalty to Starfleet's before letting them loose.
He wouldn't before talking to Chris, anyway. Not because he gives a damn about the ship but because Chris cares about it and so Loki must by extension too, it becomes something like a law instead of a choice.
When he's done, he makes his way into an access chute and crawls his way to the warmer jefferies tubes near the rear of the ship, arms around himself as he lets the hum of The Enterprise lull him just like the heartbeat of Yggdrasil. Curled up, he catches some Z's for a couple of hours to be fresh for whenever he emerges. ]
[ After a few hours left alone in his room with his own computer banks, combing through all the reports that have been delivered to him that day, one tiny little anomaly grabs his attention: one of the jeffries tubes has been accessed for no reason that he can see.
Intrigued, he calls up the security cameras, watching the occasional crewperson walk through the halls, each of them scurrying on their own way with the kind of hustle that indicates a man on a mission, and he's just about to dismiss the footage when finally, he sees a blue shirt worn on the right kind of body, the right fall of inky-black hair suspended above, the right shape of the hands that reach for the control panel.
Loki.
Torn between amusement and confusion, he watches Loki open up an access chute and climb up inside, disappearing out of sight.
Fifteen minutes later, he finds himself outside of that access chute, opening the access panel. ]
[ He was just starting to doze off when his actual name brings him to full consciousness. He blinks at the ceiling above, twists around in the narrow crawlspace, and around the corner of the jefferies tube his head pops out with a smile. ]
Yes?
[ As if he's been disturbed doing something perfectly normal. ]
[ It's said with the kind of tone one uses when discovering a cat trapped in a kitchen cabinet, not in one expecting much of an answer. Loki doesn't look uncomfortable, but... ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ His patience frays in the face of Chris's coolness and he takes a moment to resettle, thoroughly irritated with himself more than anything. ]
What do you want me to do? Leave?
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[ Chris knows how he's going to die. One petulant godling with a bruised ego isn't going to be the end of him, but that doesn't necessarily mean he won't be the end of his crew. He should be more careful. Except that, once again, he knows Loki. He knows he wouldn't do something like that. He sincerely believes that. ]
No, I don't want you to leave. I'm happy to see you. [ Despite all the yelling of earlier, that appears to be entirely true. ] Do I wish I had had a little more forewarning of your visit? Yes.
But I'm still glad you're here.
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[ Loki's body-language telegraphs his annoyance clearly, chinning a hand at Chris over the table. Gods know what that short-haired guard-dog that Chris arrived with is thinking on the periphery, Loki imagines froth at their chin like that of Garm the Hel-Hound. ]
You don't seem overjoyed to see me.
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[ Erica is not frothing at the chin, but she is making wide-eyed faces at him from behind Loki's back, a combination of you okay there, chief? and you're on your own with this one, buddy that would normally have Chris cracking a smile and shaking his head at her, but he doesn't want to give Loki any other reason to nurse hurt feelings, so he doesn't. ]
Like I said. I'm still on-duty, and I have responsibilities to my ship and my crew that I can't just put aside whenever I feel like it. [ That's what responsibilities are. He doesn't say that out loud. He has a feeling it won't go over very well. ] Also, since you're currently posing as an enlisted member of Starfleet and an officer on my ship, you are my direct subordinate and it would be unethical for me to fraternize with you.
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[ The frown melts into a warm, thoughtful once-over glance of Chris that lands on those blue eyes. With his chin in-hand, his little finger catches on Loki's parted lips. ]
What do you think made me dress like a dewy-eyed scientist in the first place? Don't tempt me to act like it again, I will.
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[ He shouldn't be surprised. It seems Loki truly has committed to the bit, as it were, and has been able to fly under the radar for however long it's been before he deliberately crossed paths with Chris. He must have been able to fake it well enough for others to believe him. ]
Why did you choose sciences to begin with? It can't just be because of the bracelet.
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[ He narrows his eyes, throwing Chris a timeframe-bone. ]
I've been working on your ship for three days and you think I've been, what? Vacationing?
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[ There are times Chris almost misses the blue uniforms he wore a few years ago — the lines were so sharp, and he thought the collars were pretty nifty, even if they were awfully uncomfortable after a long day — but the new ones are far more comfortable, and he appreciates that more than he cares about looking spiffy, so...
Three days. Well. That makes him feel a little better for not noticing, it wasn't like Loki'd been hitching a ride since the day he left that little planet they'd been together on. ]
What have you been working on? Tell me about your experiments.
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[ Just like that. ]
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Chris raises his eyebrows. ]
Is that so.
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[ They are the blandest reports he's seen in his three-day history as an unofficial officer but he isn't about to let Chris see him being a nerd and investigating basic space-travel propulsion and improving their security system. ]
I could try and explain it to you later, but you seem awfully busy today chasing blue proverbial skirts through the cafeteria of your own ship.
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Is it really chasing when you sat still the whole time and pretended I wasn't here even though all your friends scattered like a fox jumped into the chicken coop the moment I walked through the door?
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[ Huh? Smart guy! Answer him that. ]
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[ He winks, smirking like a smug asshole, obviously joking.
It's obvious, right? He's joking. He is. ]
Besides. There might be a mutiny on board if word got around was I kissing my lieutenants in the mess hall.
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[ The steady promise of heat is swept away as Loki's expression switches to an anxious crewman, babbling loud enough for anyone to hear. ]
I'll keep that in mind for the future, sir, yes. Thank you, Captain.
[ He shuffles with an awkwardness not his own out from the table, tugging down his shirt as he heads toward the door. ]
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He restrains himself. ]
Lieutenant. [ Loud enough to stop Loki in his tracks but not loud enough to be heard through the entire mess hall; the tables nearby all stop and stare regardless. ]
Aren't you forgetting something?
[ At least pretend you've gone through the same basic training as everyone else, Loki, come on. ]
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Sorry, sir. [ It's coquettish and entirely contrived when he looks down and up. ] It's been a day. May I ... ?
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Luckily, Chris is a rather adept actor himself, when the situation calls for it, and the only hint that he's deeply amused is the slight thinning of his lips and the flare of his nostrils as he suppresses a smile.
After a moment, he lifts his chin in a little nod. ]
Dismissed.
no subject
[ His gaze lingers a moment longer before he turns and hurries out of the mess hall. In the corridor, as the doors close on his heels, the anxious forward-slouch of his walk dissolves into a relaxed stride all the way to the turbolift where he heads to Deck-H. The physics lab is his destination, wondering if he's going to be sidestepped yet again before he makes it there.
He wants to turn on his heel and drag Chris into the nearest fancy Starfleet closet to feel the heat of his body, the eagerness of his kisses, his broad shoulders and strong thighs plastered up against Loki again until he doesn't have mere memories to go on.
But he keeps walking, serenely. ]
no subject
So, he turns back to his meal and finishes what's on his plate, studiously ignoring everyone still staring at him and speculating just what that was about. It's none of their business.
Still, he can feel eyes on him for the rest of the day, word spreading through the mess like wildfire and only slightly slower through the rest of the ship, a juicy new tidbit of gossip for people to pass around like a hot potato. Belatedly, he realizes he never asked Loki where he was billeted, or rather, in whose bunk he was sleeping, since it's clear none of the yeomen assigned him any sort of quarters. Did he find an empty one and assign it to himself? Is he sharing with one of the other crewmembers? Where exactly is he staying?
It's a question that plagues him all the way through to the end of his shift, and he resolves to do a little more digging once he's in the privacy of his own rooms. There's nothing he can do about it while he's in the chair, he'll just have to wait. It's not that big of a ship, they'll run into each other soon. ]
no subject
He wouldn't before talking to Chris, anyway. Not because he gives a damn about the ship but because Chris cares about it and so Loki must by extension too, it becomes something like a law instead of a choice.
When he's done, he makes his way into an access chute and crawls his way to the warmer jefferies tubes near the rear of the ship, arms around himself as he lets the hum of The Enterprise lull him just like the heartbeat of Yggdrasil. Curled up, he catches some Z's for a couple of hours to be fresh for whenever he emerges. ]
no subject
Intrigued, he calls up the security cameras, watching the occasional crewperson walk through the halls, each of them scurrying on their own way with the kind of hustle that indicates a man on a mission, and he's just about to dismiss the footage when finally, he sees a blue shirt worn on the right kind of body, the right fall of inky-black hair suspended above, the right shape of the hands that reach for the control panel.
Loki.
Torn between amusement and confusion, he watches Loki open up an access chute and climb up inside, disappearing out of sight.
Fifteen minutes later, he finds himself outside of that access chute, opening the access panel. ]
Loki?
no subject
Yes?
[ As if he's been disturbed doing something perfectly normal. ]
no subject
[ It's said with the kind of tone one uses when discovering a cat trapped in a kitchen cabinet, not in one expecting much of an answer. Loki doesn't look uncomfortable, but... ]
Come here, come out.
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[ It sounds stupid out loud. Loki crawls out and dusts himself down in the corridor, raking back his hair. ]
What are you doing stalking my whereabouts? Can't stay away?
[ Heh!! ]
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