THE CARD – PART ONE
<< And suddenly, two strong arms were holding him, clinging to him, pressing into him. Bending forward, two soft lips captured his own, increasing the pressure until his own lips opened to allow access to his mouth and his tongue. Lying there, in the dark, silence engulfing them, but all the while feeling, tasting, it felt like the world had come to a standstill, and there was only them, only ever them, lost in the dizzy heights of love.
And then, slowly, teasingly, tormentingly, the lips traveled downwards, finding one nipple then the other, pain mixed with pleasure as the tongue licked and suckled, and the teeth gently nibbled. Slowly, achingly slowly, the pleasure increasing as southwards it traveled, a kiss here, a nip here, all the while heading for the centre of his pleasure. >>
BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP
Lt Malcolm Reed jumped at the sound of the alarm beeping. Cursing loudly, he glanced towards the clock, noting that the time read 0600hours. Another 45 minutes before he had to be on duty. There was just enough time for him to finish off what his amazing dream had started. His right hand reached for his erect cock, and he lay back on his bed, closing his eyes, trying to remember what or whom it was he had been dreaming about. Smoothly, he stimulated himself, rubbing the pre-cum over the head of his swollen organ. Groaning, he came quickly. Too quickly, he thought, and not at all satisfying.
Rolling over, he jumped out of bed, headed for his shower, and quickly cleaned himself. The shower, he reflected, was more satisfying than his self-love session. If ONLY he knew who it was in his dreams. It wasn’t the first time his dreams had left him puzzled. In fact, if truth were known, they usually ended up like this, only this time seemed different. This time, it was way more erotic, and romantic, and it seemed familiar. Shrugging to himself, he swiftly donned his regulation Starfleet uniform, and departed for his shift.
Deep in thought, he wandered along the bright corridors of Enterprise. The turbo-lift loomed and he called for it, standing alone in silence for a few minutes. The doors whooshed open, and, without looking, he walked in. Never noticing the figure in the corner, he pressed for the Bridge, and stood, head down.
“Mornin’ to you, Malcolm.”
He jumped, startled by the realization there was someone else in the lift with him. Turning, his eyes happened upon the cheerful figure of Commander Trip Tucker. For some strange, unknown reason, his heart skipped a couple of beats, and he felt flustered.
“Ahh, um, good morning Commander.” Malcolm stuttered, turning away from his friend, hoping that Trip wouldn’t see the blush that had appeared on his face.
Puzzled, Trip looked at Malcolm. “Malcolm? What’s wrong? Did I do something? Did I drop a gun or somethin’?” Trip grinned.
“Huh? Oh, er, no, no, nothing. I’m fine.” Hmm, fine? I don’t think so, Malcolm thought. But why the hell are you feeling like this just because Trip, your friend, is here? All these thoughts ran riot through his head on the ride to the Bridge, and the rest of the journey passed in silence.
The doors swooshed open, indicating that they had arrived on the Bridge of the Enterprise.
“Ah, good morning, gentlemen” the Captain exclaimed. “My ready room, if you please? T’Pol, Hoshi, Travis, please join us.”
Trip and Malcolm walked across, and entered into Jonathan Archer’s ready room, just in front of the others. Captain Archer seated himself, and indicated to them to also sit.
“Anyone know what day it will be tomorrow?” Jon Archer grinned at his subordinates.
Travis, the helmsman beamed his huge smile. “Isn’t it Valentine’s Day, Captain?”
Smiling back, the Captain agreed. “Yup, it sure will be. And seeing as we are quiet, and the majority of us are bored at the present time…yes Malcolm, I know you like playing with your torpedoes, but even you must want something more to do…I have decided that we will celebrate this day.”
Clapping their hands with glee, the two Ensigns, Travis and Hoshi, and Trip could barely contain themselves. On the other hand, Malcolm looked the height of misery.
Captain Archer noticed, and inwardly smiled. “You have a problem with that Lieutenant?” Raising his eyebrows, he glanced towards his armoury officer.
Malcolm sighed deeply “Captain, are you sure that is a wise idea?”
“Oh yes, I definitely do think it’s a good idea, if only to boost the morale of the crew. Now, what I’m looking for from you all are ideas. Please.”
Trip, Hoshi and Travis appeared the most enthusiastic, spouting forth all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas, but eventually it was agreed upon. A disco set in the mess hall. However, not your ordinary disco, but a school disco. It was agreed that everyone had to don school uniform. It was also agreed that, if wished, an anonymous card could be sent to a loved one. The cards were merely a bit of fun, asking the chosen person to be in the disco at a certain time. A mailbox was to be situated outside the Mess hall, and the cards would be delivered by the Captain, thereby ensuring fair play.
Hoshi and Travis exited the Ready Rooms with big grins on their faces. Malcolm left, feeling strangely excited, but as to why, he had no explanation, especially given his reservations about the idea. Still, at least he kept his face bland, he thought. Pondering on his way to his station, he thought about Trip. When the idea was suggested, Trip, for a nanosecond, smiled across at him, then, turning away, concentrated all his attention on the ideas for the disco. Trip had become voracious in his suggestions, almost like an over-excited puppy. Archer had actively encouraged Trip, but the little grins sent whirling towards Malcolm from the Captain had mystified him.
Shaking his head, he concentrated on the task in hand. He had some simulations to run that would take him a few hours. He was so deep in his work by the time Trip came out of the Ready Room, that he completely missed the look that Trip and Captain Archer gave him.
“Ensign, open a ship-wide channel please.” Archer requested.
“Channel open, sir.” Hoshi responded.
“Attention all crewmembers. After a meeting in my Ready Room today, it has been decided to celebrate the 14th February. As you know, this is Valentine’s Day. A disco will be held on that evening in the Mess Hall. However, just to make it extra special, it will be a school disco. All off duty personnel will be expected to arrive in school uniform, no exceptions. That includes you, Lt Reed!” Archer glanced briefly across at his armoury officer.
Malcolm blushed, and decided to concentrate very deeply on his console, trying to ignore the sniggers of his colleagues. Tuning out, he missed the rest of the Captain’s speech.
“Should be good fun, dontcha think Malcolm?” A voice whispered in his ear.
Almost jumping out of his skin, Malcolm spun around and nearly collapsed at the proximity of Trip. His heart raced and his mouth went dry. Coughing slightly, he muttered, “If you like that sort of stuff” and turned back to the job he was doing. Still noting Trip hovering by his shoulder, Malcolm turned back around to face the engineer. Smiling, he said “Still here Commander? Haven’t you got work to do?” Gratified, he noted that Trip actually flushed a little.
“Um, yeah, yeah I do…see ya later Malcolm.” Giving a small salute, Trip bounced off the Bridge.
The Captain was watching the interaction between Trip and Malcolm and was highly amused by it. “Malcolm? Don’t you have something else to do in the armoury?” he raised his eyebrows in question.
“Yes, sir.” Malcolm left his station, and departed the bridge. Standing in the turbo-lift, he had a sudden flashback to his dream that morning. Gasping, Malcolm suddenly realized whom it was he was dreaming about. And an even bigger realization was that his dream would never come to fruition. His grey-blue eyes clouded over, and his chin dropped. Deep in thought, he never heard the lift come to a halt, until someone spoke “Sir? Are you alright?”
Lifting his eyes, he nodded, and moved out of the lift and away down the corridor to the armoury. At least he would be able to lose himself in his work, he figured. That would stop him from thinking about his dream lover. He hoped. Sighing, he walked into his domain, and soon engrossed himself in his work.
The following day, a mailbox was placed outside the mess hall. It seemed everyone was joining in the fun and it was soon full. Jonathan Archer was almost regretting saying he would deliver the cards as the pile on his desk grew larger and larger. Still, it was his idea and deliver the cards he would. Particularly as he had added 2 cards himself. Grinning wickedly, he hauled the bag further onto his shoulder as he walked around the corridors, stopping occasionally to push cards under doors.
Malcolm had just jumped out of the shower, and was toweling himself down, when he heard a small noise. Wandering through into the other room, he noticed a small card on the floor. Frowning, he picked up the card, and read it.
“Dear Malcolm…
Your eyes are gorgeous and blue,
Your lips should be kissing mine,
At the school disco tonight,
PLEASE BE MY VALENTINE.
Love from?”
Gasping with shock, he felt shivers down his spine, not entirely unpleasant either. He sat down on the edge of his bed, and wondered who could have sent him this card. He had certainly never even considered sending a card to anyone. Well, not really true. He HAD considered it, but then kicked that into touch as being a strictly bad idea.
Oh well, he thought, he couldn’t sit here all day, contemplating who was sending him slushy cards, nice though it was. After quickly dressing, and giving his hair a comb through, he left his quarters, a small smile playing about his lips.
The doors to the mess hall opened, and allowed Malcolm entrance. It seemed everyone and their mother had decided to eat at the same time, making it rather crowded and also rather noisy.
He gathered his breakfast of pancakes and peanut butter, together with a hot cup of tea, and searched the room for either a spare table or one of his friends to sit with. Spying a spare seat with Hoshi and Travis, he made his way over.
“Good morning, may I sit with you?” he smiled down at them.
“Sure, Malcolm. Please be seated! Hey, did you know we got cards?” Travis nodded his head towards Hoshi.
“Yeah, we did. I’m so excited” Hoshi couldn’t contain her glee. “Don’t know who it’s from, but still. Its nice to know SOMEONE is thinking about me.”
“And me, don’t forget about me too,” gently, Travis chided her.
“Oops, sorry Trav. Malcolm, how about you? Did you get a card?” Curiosity was written all over Hoshi’s face as she leant nearer to the armoury officer.
“I hate to disappoint you Hoshi, but no, I didn’t get a card.” Malcolm deliberately kept his face straight. Unfortunately, his hormones decided not to listen at this point, and he blushed.
Laughing, Hoshi spluttered, “Oh yeah, riiiight! And I DO believe that!! Come on, Malcolm, spill. Spill.”
Hoshi and Travis gazed at the uncomfortable man with expectation. Just as he was about to, reluctantly, spill the beans, someone else arrived at the table.
“May Ah join you?” At the sound of Trip’s voice, Malcolm decided to take a very long look at his cup of tea, knowing that if he looked up, his face would be redder than it already was.
“Certainly, Commander,” Travis grinned. “We were just asking the good Lieutenant if he had received a card for the disco tonight, weren’t we Hoshi?”
Hoshi nodded, enjoying the teasing. Trip noticed how quiet the other man was, and decided to let him off the hook. “Well, Ah received a card, if yer interested?”
“You did? Who from? What does it say?” Hoshi jumped on the little tidbit like a starving wolf.
“Ah dunno who it’s from, but I’m hoping” Trip smiled shyly. “Its very sweet, but I dunno how I’m gonna get thro’ today.”
“Mine reads ‘your eyes are brown, your lips are red, I want to get you into bed’” Travis giggled “and you think you cant wait for tonight?”
Sniggering, even Malcolm looked up from his tea, and joined in the giggles.
“Well, if you wanna hear forward, then here this,” Hoshi laughed, “it says, ‘your ass is mine, Ensign Sexy’ and that’s it! Nothing else. So, come on, Malcolm, Trip, read your cards out. You’ve heard ours.”
“Uh uh, no way, sorry. It stays secret, at least until I find out who it is that sent it,” Trip exclaimed.
“Likewise. Its probably someone taking the piss anyway” shrugging, Malcolm made as if to leave.
“Malcolm? Why would anyone want to take the piss? Do you really think that little of your colleagues?” Trip was amazed, and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“No Commander,” the professional face had slipped back into place. “I really think that little about myself, actually.” And on that bombshell, Malcolm left the others to finish their breakfasts.
Mouths gaping, they stared after the armoury officer. “What do you make of that then?” Hoshi asked, as they watched the tense man leave the room.
“Well, I’m sure we will find out, one way or another, tonight.” Travis said.
“We’d better,” Trip shook his head in disbelief. “Oh well, best head off to engineering, see what’s happenin’ there.”
“Yeah, Trav, shall we head on up to the Bridge?” Hoshi gestured for her friend to follow.
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