Deter, Deflect, Defend

Posted on Fri Oct 23rd, 2020 @ 12:05am by Civilian Keddem O'Brien The Amazingly Fearsome & Lieutenant Nydia Holt

856 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Joint Logs
Location: Keddy's Quarters

Dinner had been had - and had been remarkably good, Keddy thought. Now he and Nydia were talking, leaning against each other, or more precisely he was talking her through some of his older shenanigans. "...an' here we were, all covered in crud and sun's about to come up and the big guy just looks around and leads us all into the river and under the bridge for the day. For shelter. And because we stunk."

Nydia giggled and shook her her head. "Do all of your stories end up with you guys covered in crud and stinking?" She grinned up at him.

"Only the funny ones babe." Keddy answered, pulling her in for a hug and kissing the top of her head. "We had some bad ones too but ...well the big guy was wasn't above tellin' me to throw a molotov cocktail or two, but he figured if we weren't in danger, we couldn't get killed." a wry chuckle. "Somehow that rule never applied to /him/"

"Of course not... never does apply to the people in charge," she said, snuggling into him and sighing. "I don't have any fun stories, I mean, other than the time I made the vine plant grow like crazy and produce grapes, so when we went into the lab the next day, we had enough of a grape harvest to make a thousand bottles of wine...."

"Super fast growing plants? Sounds like fun. Hey, you could cross 'em with the Tabasca Gourd, be lotsa fun!" Keddy snickered at the thought.

Tilting her head, she looked up at him questioningly and then her eyes went wide. "They grow fast as it is... super fast could be... problematic..."

"Be fun." Keddy tilted his head and raised his arms over it, resting them on the couch arm "We could try it..on the one in the bedroom?" he asked, with a pointed look and a snigger. "I'd show er...restraint..." He waggled his eyebrows at her, then turned thoughtful. "And if it works... maybe we put one in your lab. In case there's ever a problem."

Nydia turned slightly red, but nodded. "Could be...fun..." She said after a moment. "Oh, there's a botany convention coming up! If we get it working as a natural security measure, I could present it to the top minds at the convention!"

Keddy grinned at her, propping himself up on one elbow. "Nah doll, watcha do is you go to your boss, and you say that you need to update your knowledge, to ensure you stay current, and you ask for them to get you a seat on a shuttle going there and to be put up. Professional development, y'know. "

"Well, yeah, there's that too," Nydia said rolling her eyes and giggling. "But definitely, I wanna go to that convention. It would be so cool! I've gotten to go to one before, but I was basically a lackey at that point, I didn't get to do anything I wanted to do. I had to help my boss set up for his, verrrrrry borrrrring, presentation." She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "Some days I miss solving problems like rebuilding a coral reef and doing good that way. But I also love travelling the stars and discovering new things."

"Babe. You, and your department, you are the top minds. You've seen strange new worlds. They haven't. They know nuthin' about spiders, or whatnot. " Keddy leaned over, kissing her softly. "You, Nydia Holt, not anyone else." He rolled back and snickered. "Basically, you get the lackey."

Giggling, Nydia shook her head. "Nah, I'm not high enough in rank to get a lackey. I'd have to do it all myself," she said. "But then, I could always make you be my lackey for the day," Nydia added with a cheeky grin.

"Oh baby, I'd be your lackey." Keddy answered, equally cheeky "Might have me a demanding boss here." Then his expression changed. "Might be a good idea. If blow lands, be somewhere else. I hear there's psych debrief coming and I'd just as glad be out of town." he paused. "Was thinking of asking Teagan if she'd mind..I dunno, locking my files or somethin'. I'd ask Flora but she's not feelin' too kindly towards me these days. An' Tea was CMO, right? She can still do that, I think. If I ask her realllll nice?"

"The world's not ready to know about us yet." he added softly. "'s why we all learn some ...ah...magic tricks."

"I'm sure both of them would do it for you, especially if I asked Flora nicely," Nydia said with a giggle. She paused a second and then make a silly face. "I'd like to know some magic tricks. The best thing I know how to do is disappear for as long as my body will contort. I'm up to about half an hour..."

"Contortion eh? I think I need to get my brain back up to the gutter....." Keddy shook his head "Betcha I can make it worth your while to ask her real nice....." he smirked, reaching for her........

RSS Feed