�Is anybody sitting here?� Hoshi stood nervously, shifting the weight of her tray back and forth. On it, a salad moved from side to side. Her appetite had vanished the day Earth was attacked. Apparently, she wasn�t alone as she looked at the undisturbed plate of pasta sitting before Trip. He was reading a data pad, making notations on it, as she continued standing there.

She cleared her throat, having gotten no response to her question.

Trip started at the noise, suddenly realizing that a room full of people was around him. Noticing Hoshi, he smiled. �I�m sorry, Hoshi. I guess I was so wrapped up in these upgrades; I just let the world pass me by. Of course.� He motioned for her to sit, and she took the seat opposite him.

Don�t I know you that let the world pass by? If it doesn�t have alien babe or warp engine written in bold bright letters, he is clueless.

�So, um�what are you looking at?� Hoshi asked, trying to pry him from his shell. She was used to him laughing and carrying on as though he hadn�t a care in the world, but that changed after the attack. Now, he was cordial at best, not engaging the crew in the nonsensical rhetoric of old time movies or comic books. He was the one everybody turned to for a pick-me-up, and now� well, now he needed a pick-me-up.

�Weapons� schematics,� he shrugged his shoulders, getting ready to get up. �Nothing for ya to worry your pretty little head about.�

She snatched the PADD from his hand, irritated with his comment. He hovered above her, puzzled by her actions.

�So, you�re trying to route the secondary relays to the primary backups without experiencing the random power surges that have caused the brownouts on decks C and E?�

Trip stood there with his mouth hanging open.

�You might want to try reversing the flow from the primary to the secondary couplings then back to the primaries. That way, both the secondary and primary couplings are sharing in the load.�

Hoshi handed the PADD to him and stood up, forgetting her salad. �Next time, don�t discount my pretty lil� head.� She walked off.

--------------

She sat at her desk trying to write a letter to her father, but found that she had nothing to write about. She hadn�t been in her quarters long and started when the chime rang. �Come in,� she barked without really thinking.

Trip stepped in. �I just wanted to apologize for earlier.�

Hoshi stood there silent and on edge.

�I didn�t mean to�� he huffed. �I�m just sorry if I hurt yer feelins� okay?�

Hoshi nodded for him to continue.

�Look, I�m just sorry okay? Ever since Lizzie�s death��

�That gives you no right to snap and demean people,� Hoshi interjected sadly. �Everybody was affected � maybe not directly, but indirectly. Several of my students came from Venezuela, and�they�re gone.�

Hoshi hung her head, unwillingly to start crying about them now. She raised her head; her eyes filled with unshed tears and gasped as she saw a tear meander its way down his cheek. The raw emotion hung in the air.

�I-I�m sorry,� he reiterated.

Hoshi closed the distance between them and placed her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him. �So am I,� mumbled Hoshi against his chest.

Sniffles and breathing patterns were the only thing that could be heard and time passed by, letting the painful emotions swirl about them.

She could feel Trip�s hands on her shoulders, moving her hair out of the way and kneading a knot of tension out. She could hear his heart beating, as her ear pressed against his chest. It was rapid and his breath was labored. She pulled away, and looked up into his eyes. They still glistened with mournful tears, but something was different about them.

Her eyes bore into his, and she closed hers, letting the feel of his strong hands work the knot out of her shoulder through the silk of her kimono. Her face raised and a moan escaped her lips.

Hoshi opened her eyes as she realized the moan did not go far. Trips lips were hovering over hers and his eyes were clouded over, shrouded with unknown wants and needs and unknown questions.�

Without Trip asking the question, Hoshi rose up on her toes and answered it for him, her tongue darting out and licking across his lips. She wanted him to know that what they initiated right here and now, would not just stop at a simple kiss. The ache in her belly had been ever present whenever her superior officer was around. She had ignored it for the past few years, chalking the feelings up to foolish crushes and the desire to have what she couldn�t have.

As soon as she was done with the kiss, finally placing his lips against hers, he groaned a deep lustful sound and crushed her petite body to his.

Hoshi�s hands, having disposed of the zipper to his uniform, worked the buttons of the Henley trying to gain access through the various layers to the naked chest she had lusted after in her dreams, having viewed it thoughtfully in decon.

Their tongues dueled, pushing and pulling against one another, and their teeth clashed together. His hands had now moved to hold her head to his, trembling as though afraid that she might stop. Trip pulled away briefly to kick his boots off and tear his uniform away from his arms. When he returned to the embrace, her fingers slid the Henley away from his body and started tugging on his tank. His hands had less to deal with, as they tugged on the sash of her robe and let the silk fall away from her body. The only barrier remaining was her panties.

Trip did a hurried dance as Hoshi pushed his uniform down his hips, releasing him from the confines of the constricting material. His hands glanced against her breasts, trailing a path lower, past the elastic of the lace that covered the object of his passions. He made quick work of them, heaving a sigh of relief as she opened her legs for him, welcoming the stroke of a finger inside her.

He gave in to the deafening roar of need in his ears, hefting Hoshi up and backing her into the nearest wall. He groaned as her slick heat welcomed the quick intrusion of his body, as he sought release inside her. She arched her back, deepening the penetration and exposing her breasts to him, which he suckled greedily, biting and nipping at the buds that formed as his breath danced across the flesh.

The coupling was furious and quick; both participants wanting only to feel something, Hoshi wanting to feel something other than the despair and numbness; Trip wanting to feel something other than the need for revenge.

The deep stroke of Trip�s thick cock inside her and the feel of his body rocking back and forth against her clit, coaxed her into an early orgasm. As she bucked wildly in his arms she chanted to him to go faster and harder. Finally, she bit down on his shoulder, and heard him shout his release, feeling his ejaculate mingle with her essence.

He stood there, still pinning Hoshi against the wall, not caring about anything at the time, as he still continued to shudder inside her. He wanted more, his blood roaring in his ears.

He disengaged from Hoshi and picked her up hearing her whimper. He carried her over to her bunk and laid her down, careful as not to hurt her further. He kissed her, whispering a quick, �I�m sorry. I didn�t mean to hurt you � you of all people.�

He stood, intending to leave her in peace. Seeing this, she sat up and grabbed him by the hips. The feelings he invoked in her were too good to let go so suddenly. Just for tonight she would greedily hold on to him. She nipped at his thighs and across his hipbones, rubbing her face across the dense public hair, and smelling their mingled sex. Hoshi smiled up to him, frozen in place, and darted her tongue against his quickly growing erection.

He hissed as the cavern of her mouth surrounded his growing manhood. He hissed again as the suction of her hollowed cheeks aroused him further. He noticed one of her hands snake down her body and rub her clitoris in a measure of self gratification.

He pushed on her, gently laying her down onto her side. He scooted her over so that he could lie next to her, the length of his body opposite hers. He groaned again as Hoshi, without skipping a beat, took him in her mouth.

Her legs gave way as his hands spread her thighs gently apart, then her outer folds, placing a kiss on the swollen nub that awaited him. He noticed the cool air on his cock as Hoshi threw her head back when he kissed her.

That encouraged him further. He slipped several fingers inside her, curling them up and reaching for the mass of nerves that would bring her to orgasm. As he did this, his tongue stroked across her clit. With each pass of his tongue, a shudder passed through her body.

They feasted on one another, Hoshi lost in the pleasure, and crying out as her orgasm wracked her body. Trip thrust repeatedly as Hoshi continued to pleasure him, and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn�t cool air that met with his orgasm, but the warm orifice of her mouth that continued to drink his semen as it spurted forth.

Exhausted and overwrought, they both slept. When she woke, he was gone � along with any trace that he had been there.

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