Orbital Academy 20

"Nah, I would just make you magically unable to see women's butts. Joking." Tes clarified, at the look of utter horror Jackson was giving her.

"That shit isn't even remotely funny."

***

"Oh god Li, no. No no no no." Aimee gasped, closing her eyes and pressing her head against his chest.

"Um. I think I need clarification." Li said uncertainly. "You're saying 'no' a lot."

"I am saying no." Aimee clarified.

"But...you're also doing that." Li pointed down at her fingers wrapped around his length, gently stroking up and down his shaft. Her naked breasts were pressed against him, and the tiny storage closet already smelled like sweat and sex.

"But I *shouldn't* be doing this! Not after I broke up with you!" Despite her protests, Aimee kept stroking him, occasionally flicking her thumb over his cockhead, and she could sort of see where he was confused. "This shouldn't happen!"

"And yet this keeps happening."

"It's only happening now because it's been soo long." Aimee whimpered. "I have a high sex drive, and it's been so long since we've had sex-"

"Aimee, it's been less than twenty-four hours."

*Oh right...against the wall in the engine room...* "But we're broken up! No longer together!"

"Hmm." Li moved her gently across the few feet of the room, until her naked back pressed against the cold metal wall. The chill made her gasp, but she continued to work his dick, a little faster now. Her mind focused on his dark eyes inches away from her own, and when his fingers ran lightly up and down her hips she felt a thrill that had nothing to do with the cold.

"Do we have to be together for you to enjoy this?" He asked. His thumbs were so close to brushing through her patch of hair, and all she wanted was for them to move further, to brush through and dip lower.

"No, I enjoy it, and I can tell you do too." She grinned, sliding a finger down to stroke his balls while her hand moved back and forth. "That's not the problem."

"The problem seems to be..." Li paused for a moment, leaning in and pressing his lips against hers. Even in the rapidly heating closet his lips were warm, with just the right amount of firmness. Aimee melted into the kiss, opening for him and giving a small whimper. She forgot about his member in her hand, forgot about her worries, and let herself enjoy every millimeter of his skin that was touching her.

She didn't know when his fingers began twirling in aimless patterns through her bush, but she noticed when they brushed across her clit with electric jolts. With a gasp she broke the kiss, trying to regain her train of thought while sliding her hands against his member, a task made so much harder by the shocks of pleasure he was sending through her.

"...you don't like being in a relationship." Li finished softly, as one of his fingers parted her lips and began sliding back and forth across her opening.

"But I love this." Aimee moaned. Her hand was sticky with Li's precum, and she loved the feeling, loved the way his hips were bucking to thrust his cock into her hand.

"Then lets keep doing this." His voice was deep and quiet, and it hit every nerve down her spine, just as his finger hit all the right places as it slid effortlessly into her slit. "Why not just have this?"

She was pretty sure it was a rhetorical question, which was good since she couldn't answer. His fingers were curling inside of her, pushing against her g-spot as his hand rubbed her clit. He knew every inch of her body, and right now he was playing her like an instrument. She increased her pace at the same time, the wet noises of her hands sliding back and forth on his member and the sweet smell of their sex making her even more hot.

He let out a moan as he came, and the sound combined with the feeling of his hot jizz on her fingers and wrist made her dizzy with lust. As if reading her mind Li curled his fingers again, sending her over the edge even as he shot his load into her hand. She could feel her cunt tightening around his fingers, the smell of her own juices filled the closet, and from his ragged breathing she could tell he could smell it too.

She didn't know how long they stood there, their bodies tense and quivering against each other, but she loved every second of it. When they finally separated, both covered in sweat and fluids, she was wearing a grin that matched his own.

"So...just this?" She asked, as Li turned and began searching the shelves around them for a towel.

"Why not? We make good friends. We make each other feel good. Why complicate things with what something we feel like we have to do when neither of us want it?"

Aimee considered for the entire time Li helped her wipe herself off with the towel, and as she slipped her pants back on she finally shrugged.

"Good friends it is then. Good friends that occasionally screw each other."

"Very occasionally. And only after a long long time between each session." Li was grinning too.

"Agreed." Aimee pulled her shirt on, and gave Li an appreciative look. "So...are you doing anything tomorrow morning?"

***

After the third hour spent wandering the halls, Jane had decided that she hated taking time for herself. Boredom and unease wrestled in her mind, and she didn't know which was worse. She had tried thinking of what she would do to unwind back on Orbital Academy, but that usually boiled down to flying, preparing to fly, cleaning and maintaining her cruiser, and very occasionally drinking.

*And what've I got now?* Jane thought dejectedly. *No ships to clean, no hangars to fly from. Might be able to snag some booze, but I somehow doubt that getting drunk alone in my room is what Blue had in mind.* The hum of activity at the end of the hallway attracted her attention, and she sauntered towards it for lack of anything better to do.

A handful of engineers were working on one side of the long room, breaking large engines apart and assembling something else with them. On the other side, standing on a large ladder to reach the top of another huge engine, Marcus was working diligently to unscrew a twisted silver piece that looked like an ear. He gave a nod as he saw her, waving her over.

"Howdy Cap'n Jane." He said good-naturedly. "Can you believe none of these so-called 'engineers' know anything about a Curbine Twenty-aught-twenty?" The sentence seemed so strange to her that it took Jane a few moments to realize why.

"Rook, did you just call me 'Cap'n Jane'?" She asked. It was the first time one of the rookies had called her anything but "Captain Appet" since so many months ago, back when Marcus was still in the rush of post-sex afterglow.

"You remember that first day we met?" Marcus said, as if reading her mind. As he spoke he carefully removed the silver piece from the engine, carrying it down from the ladder. "You told us 'if you ever call me something other than Captain Appet, you'd best be sure we're friends'."

"I remember." Jane watched him as he picked up a soft cloth and carefully wiped down the piece in his hands. She liked a man who knew what made an engine hum. A man like that could be counted on to keep his own gear maintained. She had also forgotten the way the beads in his long dreadlocked hair clicked together when he moved his head.

Why had she thought it was necessary to stop sleeping with him? Something about being his superior? Or had she found him too clingy? Whatever the reason, maybe that could be fixed...her eyes travelled up and down his back, noting the muscles rippling beneath his white shirt, dirty with grease. A sudden memory of his dark skin contrasting against her the naked pale pink of her own took her breath away for a moment. Did it even matter anymore, now that she wasn't his captain?

"You're not my instructor any more." Marcus seemed to read her mind again, and Jane blushed despite herself. "And it seems to me that's what you really want, is a friend." He tossed the piece and the cloth to her, and climbed back up the ladder, leaving her open-mouthed and on the ground.

*That was...definitely not where I thought that was going.* She thought as she composed herself.

"Pretty forward there, aren't you? Just assuming you'll fit in that role, acting like my friend already." Jane wasn't actually offended, but she didn't know how to respond. It seemed like Marcus was an entirely different person than the rookie she took in a dark conference room. Of course that had been an entire year ago...a lot had changed.

"You like forward." Marcus glanced down the ladder at her, working his tools with a precision that she was surprised to see in his large frame. "If you can grab me and fuck me on the first day of training, I can call you 'Jane' the first day we're friends."

Jane raised an eyebrow, but she had to admit he was using a surprisingly effective tactic. She liked his easy confidence, and she liked the way he said 'the first day', as if simply taking for granted that there would be many more.

"Don't even know a Curbine Twenty-Aught-Twenty, eh?" She asked, working the cloth into the nooks of the familiar piece.

"Not a damned thing. I told them they need to get a hold of Appet's old crew when they could find them, but in the meantime I'm down here just about every day. You know the Curbine; it's shit in the air but you can part out the whole damn ship. They're using it for water aerators right now..."

And just like that, they were talking and working together, as if they'd had the whole year to form a fast friendship. At her belt, a small ping went off, and Marcus looked down questioningly.

"I'm supposed to say something I'm grateful for." Jane said sheepishly.

"Go on then." Marcus waved with his screwdriver.

Jane hopped up to sit on the tool bench, polishing the last of the carbon from the ancient ship piece. Her mind wandered back to the rookies' first day, how she had thought everything would be so different, and yet could never imagine just how much would've changed.

"I'm thankful for the past year," she answered quietly, staring down at the piece in her hand, "whatever else has come of it, it's definitely been...interesting."

And in the core of the Orbital, halfway between a silver moon and a green-tinged planet, Jane smiled.