Reflection: Part 2
In the pilot’s seat, Beka maneuvered the Maru out of port and set a course back to the Andromeda. Standing, she watched Dylan and Rommie slowly walking toward her, neither of them appearing to notice the woman. Dylan’s arm was wrapped around Rommie’s shoulders as he spoke into her ear, and the AI’s attention was fixed entirely on her captain. Beka, with a bitter taste in her mouth, ducked down a side corridor before they could see her.
Trance had departed for parts unknown on the ship after starting the engines and Harper was buried in the engine room with some parts he had found. Beka wasn’t sure where were Tyr was, and was nervous over wandering the back hallways of her ship without knowing that he was far, far away, like back on the Andromeda with Rev. It seemed rather ridiculous to her; she was a grown woman and this was her ship, yet one arrogant male had the power to keep her from being comfortable on it. Damn the man!
She shivered and adjusted the nearest temperature control. The ship had been set at freezing levels since Tyr had borrowed it for that trip that ended up on Middan (what was so important about that package he had been lugging around since then, anyway?).
"Why’re you doing that? The temperature’s fine the way it is."
"Only for you, Tyr," Beka replied without turning around. "For the rest of us, it’s cold."
"You can fix that, you know. Put on more clothes." His voice was low-pitched and sensuous, and there were definite implications in his words.
She shivered again and turned to him. This time the spasms weren’t from cold, but the tone of his voice, making it sound like they weren’t standing in a hallway, but somewhere much more intimate. "Sorry if I don’t agree with you, but I happen to have plenty of clothes on. Besides, Trance and Harper have been complaining about the cold, too."
Tyr chuckled slightly. The sound was not pleasant. When he spoke again, his voice had hardened. "Those two? The Magog would be more reliable."
"Sorry, but I happen to believe that ‘those two’ are reliable." Beka noticed that he had shifted to block the doorway she had just come through and tried to push past him. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a ship to run."
He caught her arm. Beka got a nasty shock as she realized that his grip was too strong for her to break. "If you really had something to do, you wouldn’t be stopping to adjust the temperature." His voice had switched from cold to bored, but his eyes were studying her carefully, and held more than a flicker of interest. He may have an inscrutable face, Beka realized, but I have his complete attention. She grinned mentally, but kept a poker face as she replied.
"Wrong. I do have something to do, Tyr, and it doesn’t involve talking to you."
"Really? What?" Again with the bored voice. He still hadn’t let go of her arm.
Her mind raced. She needed something that he couldn’t know wasn’t malfunctioning. A light bulb went off. "One of the pipes may be leaking. I need to check it and maybe fix it." It wasn’t a lie. She should have checked that pipe a while ago.
"I’ll come. You might need help."
Great. Another offer of help. This guy was beginning to feel like a jailer. "Fine," she snapped. "Just let go of my arm." She tugged her arm free of his hand, slightly startled that she was able to do so. Beka supposed that her sudden jerk had surprised him.
Tyr didn’t say a word, but followed her deeper into the back hallways of the ship. By the time they reached the pipe, Beka was distinctly nervous about the intentions of the silent man acting as her shadow.
She kneeled down and looked at the pipe. It was rapidly dripping water, with a puddle spreading over the floor. "Dammit," Beka growled, standing. "I’ll have to fix this. Tyr, get the- whoa!"
Her foot had hit the edge of the small lake. She hung in midair for a moment as her arms pinwheeled madly. Time slowed as she began to tip over and had three realizations in rapid succession: she was going to land flat on her face, embarrass herself in front of Tyr, and, dammit, this was going to hurt. The ground was rushing up at her, but then time froze. Beka looked around wildly, cursing the hair that swung into her eyes (if time had stopped, how was she able to move?). Then she realized that time hadn’t stopped- she had. Two warm, very human-feeling hands were supporting her as she hovered a scant foot and a half above the floor; one gripped her upper left arm, almost too tightly, while the other arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her up.
She looked up until she reached the face of the person who had caught her. Big surprise- it was Tyr. His expression was of shock and puzzlement, as if he couldn’t possibly explain why he was holding a human woman up. She ducked her face to hide the smirk. After a moment of silent laughter, she decided to see about getting up semi-gracefully.
Looking down, she froze. Both of Tyr’s hands were dangerously close to- well, nowhere good, anyway. Should she risk movement and extreme embarrassment, or just stay there until he let go? It boiled down to one question- humiliation or cramped muscles?
She decided on the latter course. Besides less potential for complete and total mortification, the opportunity to torture Tyr like this came along only once in a lifetime. Beka wanted to see just how long he could stay in that position before his muscles started feeling stiff.
It would probably be a while, though. He lifted weights most days- she should know, he had helped her figure out a fitness regime. He was capable of holding an incredible amount of weight for a long time. Not, she hastily added, that I really weigh all that much… Still, it was a relatively short time before he shifted, and she felt the familiar surge of energy and clenching stomach.
"I’m going to let go. Ready?" he murmured into her ear, only a few inches away from his lips.
"On the count of three," Beka said quietly. She was almost sorry to have him release her. Of course, now she knew what she had to do to get his attention next time- trip and nearly do a face-plant. "One, two…three!"
He let go, she straightened, and they both half-ran, half-stumbled to opposite sides of the hallway. Beka gripped the railing, breathing harder than she would have liked. Tyr was leaning heavily against the railing on the other side and she could hear every exhalation.
Not this, please not this! Turning her head to look over the railing, anywhere but at him, she could feel his eyes boring through her body. This always happened. They managed to reach a comfortable state of interaction, and then they got too close for too long. That hold he had just gotten was a prime example.
She sneaked a look. He was still staring at her. His eyes flicked up and met hers, and they looked away quickly in perfect synchronization. This had to end now, before something else happened.
Beka cleared her throat, forcing him to look at her face. "Uh, you know, I could get Harper to, um, take care of this. I’ll- I mean, uh, I’d better go get him." She knew her face was flaming red again. Deciding that knowing when to turn tail and run was the better part of valor, she walked back to the small quarters she kept aboard the Maru, quickly, not bothering to stop and tell the engineer about the problem.
Standing in the bathroom, she splashed frigid water on her face, trying to cool the heat in her cheeks, then blotted it with the first towel she could grab. Tossing it behind her, she leaned on the vanity and stared at her image in the mirror. Valentine, you idiot! Why was she even making such a big deal about this?
She lifted her head and began banging her forehead against the mirror, trying to break both the physical and mental reflection.
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