Orbital Academy 07

"To Patrick Appet. Hell of a pilot, hell of a friend, hell of a lover, or so he liked to say. Hell of a man."

"Patrick Appet," Jane and the other five repeated. The emotion they filled the two words with caught her by surprise. There was a fervor there still, even after so long; the toast hadn't just been for her, they all still felt the loss. The knot in Jane's stomach loosened by the tiniest fraction, and for the first time all day she felt just a little bit better.

"A *captain* now huh? Finally started fucking the right people I see," Center slipped easily into the friendly ribbing with his typical inappropriate candor, and Jane felt better still.

"Took me long enough, didn't it?" She joked back with a half smile, "I suppose if you try enough people you're bound to find the right one eventually."

"But the wrong ones are so much more fun," Lily winked, and just like that, they were all back together again, just like in the old days.

When the bartender brought her tray of drinks around, Jane distributed them among the table to grins and cheers. The alcohol was loosening the worry in her shoulders a little, and the camaraderie that slipped back around her so easily was loosening it even more. She pulled her personal screen out and tapped out a few lines, setting them to send automatically later, then leaned back to enjoy the night. The banter and childish jokes, the sudden topic changes and the rapidfire teasing seemed to pull her out of time. Sure it was slightly different; she didn't know some of the inside jokes, and sometimes they had to backtrack in the conversation to fill her in on this detail or that, but as the hours passed Jane felt more at home than she had in many long years.

"You have enough luxury chits to pay for all these drinks ma'am?" The bartender asked delicately when he brought the sixth tray of drinks to the table.

"Paranoia is a fine qual'ty," Jane slurred cheerfully, fishing out her keychain and transferring enough to cover her tab and six more trays to receiver in the table. Jack-pip whistled,

"They are clearly paying captains far too much these days," he noted, in the clipped and enunciated tone he took on when sloshed.

"Eh, I don' use luxury chits hardly at all," Jane waved a hand vaguely by way of explanation, "don' need much, pretty content wi'out all that."

Even half-drunk, Jane saw the look that passed between them. She knew they were about to ask, and that they'd let Arthur do that asking.

"You've been pretty content, but you haven't exactly sought out your old friends for the last...oh, eight, nine years," he said. His tone was offhand and casual, but Jane could see the tension in the others that Arthur was hiding so well. "It's been amazing to hang out and catch up with you Jane, but I get the feeling it was the alcohol you came here to find, not us. What's happened?"

*They're being careful, think they're gonna scare me away,* Jane realized through the liquor haze. She wasn't entirely sure when the change in her mind had happened, but the thought of never seeing her old friends again was unbearable.

"Got assigned a planetary th's evenin'," she mumbled. Her typically demeanor, cheerful but always at arms-length, was being worn away by the alcohol. All she wanted right now was more liquor and perhaps hug.

"Aw hey, that's always rough," Arthur murmured, throwing a sympathetic arm around her shoulder. *He always knows. Damn chip-head,* Jane thought, but she smiled and rested her head against his arm in spite of herself.

"'s my first one since Patrick," she added, so soft it could barely be heard. She saw the reactions of sympathy around the table, the ones she had been dreading to encounter. Instead of making her angry it almost seemed...sweet.

"No planetaries this whole time?" Center asked, and Jane didn't miss the warning look that Arthur shot him, "how'd you manage that one?"

"Not hard," Jane shrugged and reached for the tray that had just been set down, "made captain-level as soon as I could. Volunteered to teach the newbie Rooks every year since then."

"Probably what I'd do if I could stand busting my ass up to Captain-level," Acren had been nursing the same glass since the beginning of the evening, and he was nodding sagely, "so why send you down now? I thought they didn't pull instructors from leading Rooks mid-year."

"They don't," Jane downed the entire glass in one swallow, and reached for another, "they're sending the rookie team down. I'm leading a team of rookies on a planetary."

There was a moment of stunned silence, then a flurry of exclamations and questions, some outraged and some simply bewildered. Jane was too far gone to make any single question out among the cacophony, so instead she simply grabbed another glass.

"Guys, guys, hold it down," Arthur's voice cut through the noise, and his arm tightened protectively around her almost imperceptibly, "it's pretty clear Jane doesn't want to talk about it alright. Yea she's pretty obviously getting screwed for some reason, but I'm sure she's doing all she can to get out of it, and she sure as hell didn't come to a bar so she could remember her problems. I think the more serious issue we need to address is that this woman still, to this day, carries a T-320 pistol instead of the clearly superior R-500."

Jane grinned as the familiar debate was rekindled, Lily gesturing wildly with her glass with Jack-pip backing her up, while Acren dryly quoted firing stats and Center made random stabs at various randomly-selected arguments.

"Thanks," Jane said softly, nestling a little closer into the crook of Arthur's arm.

"Don't talk to me, T-320 user," Arthur replied snootily, with a dramatic sniff, but he grinned.

***

Another few trays had passed by the time the bar had emptied and the lights were starting to go out. Everyone in their group but Acren and Arthur were completely drunk, and all of them were cheerful as they stood from their table and walked or stumbled away, shooed by the bartender in a good-natured but firm fashion. With mumbled and slurred goodbyes the crew parted ways, Center, Sam and Acren heading down one corridor and the rest in the opposite direction.

"Don' be vanishin' off again, Jane," Center hicced on his way.

"I won't. I won't again," Jane promised, the gravity of the words seeming to counteract the slur. The rest of them walked on in silence for a few hallways more.

"It was really good seeing you again Jane," Lily smiled when she reached her door.

"You should come by again some time," Jack-pip nodded exaggeratedly, "we missed you quite a lot." The two of them entered the room together.

"Wha-?" Jane asked dumbfounded, "when did those two..."

"They've been together for about a year now," Arthur replied, steadying her as they walked, alone, down the corridor to her room, "they're really good together. I think they balance each other well."

"'ve missed a bunch, haven't I?" Jane said quietly.

"You don't have to miss a bunch more."

"This's me," Jane indicated the door to her room. She stared at the door for a moment, reluctant to give up the strong chest she was leaning against. "Listen," she said carefully, "you wanna come in for a shot o' coffee or synth or somethin'?"

"Mmm, I'm not particularly thirsty after this evening," Arthur replied. Jane squinted at his face; even if he had been a normal man he would know what 'come in for coffee' meant, but his modifications should've made it obvious what she wanted even before she had asked. He was grinning down at her, and Jane blushed as she realized that he was perfectly aware of what she wanted, he just enjoyed teasing her.

"Oh, okay," Jane said innocently, "well in that case you wanna come in to fuck my brains out or somethin'?"

Arthur threw his head back and laughed, and Jane chuckled along with him as he palmed her door open. To her surprise he let go of her, leading her in with one hand but staying outside the room himself.

"Much as the offer sounds tempting, I'm afraid not Jane," he said gently. At her look of confusion mixed with a little bit of hurt he continued, "you're intoxicated right now. Having this," he tapped his temple again, "makes consent a bit of a tricky issue at the best of times, but alcohol makes things pretty clear-cut."

"Are you kidding?" Jane pouted, "'m offering some no-strings-attached, come-and-take-me, any-hole-you-want-it wild sex and you're turning me down?"

"You're drunk Jane. Very very drunk."

"Well sure," Jane winked, "I'd only offer two holes if I were sober." Arthur grinned, but shook his head.

"I want very much to say yes Jane, but-"

"Wait!" Jane remembered and pumped a fist in the air, "Yes! I am a genius!"

"That's debatable. What am I waiting for?" Arthur leaned against her doorframe, an amused smile playing on his face as he watched her.

"Oooh jus' you wait. 'ts gonna be awesome. Gonna be amazing," Jane crowed.

A few minutes dragged bye, but just as Jane started pondering whether or not she had set the message to send, Arthur's screen pinged an alert. Jane did a small drunken victory dance as Arthur read the message.

*If I'm timing this about right with the time the bar closes, I'll probably be throwing myself at you about now. And if memory serves me right, you'll probably be being a stick-in-the-mud about it. Consider this advance-consent, so you'll know I actually want this. You have my express sober permission to engage in whatever crude and disgusting acts I'm drunkenly proposing to you right now. ~Jane*

"I'm'a genius," Jane slurred again, while Arthur chuckled and stepped inside her room, closing the door behind him, "and I'm'bout to be a happily fucked genius."

"I'm still not fucking you, genius," Arthur smiled, and Jane cocked her head in surprise.

"Wha? Bu' you saw th'text," she mumbled. Suddenly she was in the air, Arthur was carrying her. *To the bed? That's good, that's where it should happen,* she thought vaguely, as her stomach lurched for a moment. First heavy blankets and then strong arms wrapped themselves around her, warm and reassuring. *So comfy. His arms are really strong. But why isn't he taking my clothes off? How's he going to bang me if we're both dressed-*

***

A steady pounding in her head was counterpointed by the pleasant aroma of coffee, providing an oddly mixed wakeup. Jane smiled, keeping her eyes closed as she listened to the sounds of Arthur moving around the room. She typically set the lighting in her room to remain pitch-black when she awoke, but he had overridden them and bathed the room in a soft natural level, like sunrise. She stretched, long and luxuriously, revelling in the quiet noises, taking stock of each muscle as she stretched them. *I'm surprisingly non-sore for the morning after. Did good old Arthur lose his touch in the last few years?* Nestling back into the pillows, she began slowly restringing together the memories from the night before. They had gotten to her room...she had pleaded a little more than she liked to admit...he had taken her to bed...and then...

Jane's eyes snapped open.

"Did you drug me without fucking me you asshole?" She asked, outraged. Arthur set two metal cups down on the table at her bedside, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. He was shirtless, and Jane was slightly distracted from her outrage by his heavily muscled chest. The speckled grey on his scalp was also present in his chest hair, and she couldn't help but picture her fingers running through it.

"If you count the truly impressive amount of alcohol you had, I would say you did a perfectly good job of drugging yourself," he grinned, handing her one of the cups, "drink this, it'll help."

"What kind of guy are you, turning down a perfectly good girl who's throwing herself at you like that," Jane grumbled, taking a sip and wincing at the bitterness of the black coffee, "I hope you're happy, preventing me from getting my drunk satisfaction."

"Pretty happy," Arthur took a long drought, "especially since I'm sure we'll both enjoy your sober satisfaction much more than we would've the sloppy half-conscious drunk version."

"Oh?" Jane lifted one eyebrow as she gazed at him over the lip of her cup, "You turned me down when I was vulnerable and horny. That kind of thing can make a girl self-conscious. Are you entirely sure you'll get the chance to give me sober satisfaction?"

"'Course I am," Arthur tapped his temple with a knowing smile, and Jane leaned back on her pillow with a sigh.

"It's not fair," she groaned, "taking the mystery out of everything. Have I ever told you how much I hate that chip?" She closed her eyes. Even though she griped, her mouth curved in a half-smile. Complaining aside, Arthur did have a way about him; half mischievous boy, half charming gentleman. A girl could get in trouble with a guy with that sort of power.

Even now, she wanted his lips on hers, and she knew that he would be able to read that desire all over her face. All she had to do was wait and...

*Oh,* a small shock ran through her when she felt his kiss, light and feathery on her neck, *that's...unexpected.* The surprise caused a tingling in her chest that wasn't going away, as further unexpected fingers brushed through her hair. Jane kept her eyes closed, but reached up and ran her fingers across Arthur's chest. He made deep rumble of approval, one that curled Jane's toes, and then suddenly he was on top of her, his body warm and firm against hers.

Breathing fast, Jane opened her eyes, pulse quickening. His fingers were still running through her hair, brushing along her scalp as he leaned forward. The room was still except for their breath, and Jane swore she could hear his heartbeat. Smiled up at him, she met his eyes, inches away, her expression coy and playful. Of all the games she played in bed with all her partners over the years, there was one she could only play with Arthur, and the anticipation was making her giddy.

*I think I want his hands to run from my chin to my belly,* she decided. She had no clue what had changed about her body language, what imperceptible cues she had given him, but Arthur shifted almost immediately. His hand traced down the side of her face, fingers resting gently on her chin and then sliding down her neck. Fingertips caught on the edge of the blanket on their way down her collarbone, dragging it off slowly as they made their way down between her breasts, down to her stomach. The cool air against her bare body made her smile.

"Oh, you won't nail me when I'm drunk but you'll strip me naked in my sleep?" She teased. *I want kisses all over my face,* she decided at the same time.

Arthur didn't answer her, but he leaned forward, lips grazing against her cheeks and forehead and softly on her lips. The motion moved his chest against hers, and the warmth against her skin after the cold air felt more amazing than it had any right to. *Now lower...my neck and chest,* she thought, but the kisses continued to rain down on her face. She enjoyed them for a few moments more, but then gently pushed upward so that he stopped and leaned back, so he could see her face. *My boobs need attention,* she thought again, meeting Arthur's eye. With a wicked grin he leaned down, and Jane gasped as he took a hard nipple gently in his teeth. His other hand skimmed up and down, from her navel all the way up, over her other breast, to her neck and then back down, swirling in intricate meaningless patterns is it went. His tongue flicked back and forth distractingly; as soon as she got used to the feelings on one side he sent a shock of pleasure down the other.

*No more foreplay,* the thoughts were so intense that her lips almost moved along with them, *no more teasing, fuck that. Fuck me. Now.* Arthur's lips pressed against hers with ferocity, and the blankets were ripped from her legs with a suddenness that made Jane shiver in anticipation. She arched her back to press against him, lifting her hips off of the bed. Somewhere in the teasing he had gotten rid of his loose uniform pants. She could feel him, warm and hard, pressing on her leg.

He shifted, and Jane shivered as the movement pushed him against her, between her legs. Her arms were wrapped around his back, and she rocked her hips back and forth, the feeling of him rubbing against her slick wetness driving her crazy. She broke the kiss with a gasp, catching his eye again. Arthur was making almost imperceptible movements of his hips that rubbed his member against and over her clit with an achingly slow rhythm. One motion away from filling her completely, sliding across her opening, just one shift away. *Stop teasing,* she thought, *thrust in, thrust in hard.*

Arthur lifted his hips, and Jane braced herself to feel him inside her...and then gasped out a whimper when instead he slid back down again. The feeling of him grinding against her clit, moving against her but not inside, felt so good but at the same time so frustrating. She yanked her head back, fixing him with a look full of lust and longing. Leaned up on her elbows, Jane focused on her thoughts so hard that she felt like she was mentally screaming at him. *Fuck me Arthur, fuck me! Your foreplay duties are complete, I'm ready, take me!* Jane distractedly wondered if his mods just couldn't handle her anymore, even when it was painfully obvious what she wanted. *I could always ask out loud I suppose,* she thought, but it felt like a shame to lose out on their special game.

She decided to try one more time, placing a hand on his chest to still him as she stared right into his eyes. *Shove. Your. Cock. Into me,* she thought, giving him a look that even a robot could understand. Arthur's hand came up and cupped her chin, then moved gently down to brush at her throat. His voice, quiet as it was, broke the silence.

"Don't. Tell. Me. What to do."

His hand clasped around her throat, and he suddenly slammed her back into the pillows, holding her against the soft material. Jane was paralysed with shock, heart racing, the heat between their bodies intense and pleasurable and frightening. When she felt him hard against her opening again her body stiffened. His hand was still wrapped around her throat, holding her beneath him. Was he going to take her whether she wanted it or not? Was he about to take her by force?

As soon as the thought crossed her mind Arthur froze. His hand was still at her throat, but his stillness was complete and clear. She didn't even need to tell him to stop, he would be able to tell the instant she wanted him to. The adrenaline still coursed through her, but the fear subsided, and she took the opportunity to gather her thoughts for a moment.

*What the hell was that?* Jane wondered, trying to ignore the aching just beneath her mound and think clearly. She was normally the one in control, she called the shots. For Arthur to pin her like this, holding her gently but firmly around the neck, pinning her to the bed, dominating her body, was...

*...really fucking hot,* she realized with surprise. She wouldn't have guessed that she would be intrigued by that sort of thing, but the way he was subduing her was making her pulse pound. Even though she knew he would stop if she wanted him to, the thought of him taking her like that, in control, using her body however he wanted...she was very, very turned on by the idea.

As soon as that thought crossed her mind Arthur began moving again, his hand releasing her throat and instead grabbing a handful of her long brown hair, much rougher than he had before. He yanked her head back, and Jane cried out at the slight pain and the unexpected thrill of lust it drew from her. He moved, shifted himself up her body, and suddenly his member was against her lips, his grip on her hair holding her head in place. She took him in her mouth with relish, mind racing at how much she was enjoying herself. The intensity as he thrust into her mouth was sending electricity coursing through her. His warm length tasted of her own juices, and the dirtiness of it was exciting. He reached behind him, sliding two fingers into her without warning. Slick with her wetness they went deep into her body with no resistance, the heel of his hand pressing into her clit as they entered her.