Flustering the Unflusterable

Posted on Fri Jul 16th, 2021 @ 9:36pm by Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett

Mission: The Thorion Conundrum Mission Brief
Location: Main Engineering

Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett stepped into main engineering looking about for a moment before stopping a passing engineer. "I'm looking for the person really in charge down here. Point out where I can find 'em."

The engineer sized up the Gunny for a moment before pointing to Jamie's office door.

Tom gave a nod and wave to the engineer as he moved off smartly for the door. He pulled out a half smoked cigar and clenched it between his teeth. He wasn't going to light it, but thought the image would add to his intimidation factor while discussing with the Chief his desire for a maintenance detail for the marine deck. He depressed the button to announce his request for entry.

"Enter," said the Chief Engineer. She had gotten back from the capture, and was trying to catch up on things, but it was one thing after another. In the privacy of her own office, she didn't exactly observe protocol, leaving her uniform jacket hanging on the back of her chair, having only a tank-top on, revealing quite a bit of cleavage, with her curly red mass of hair cascading down her back and down her front. She had no make-up, but she didn't need it, to be honest. Her lips were full and her eyes were framed perfectly without it.

Tom entered the office expecting to see a middle-aged Fleet Non-Com he could intimidate into getting him the maintenance services he needed on the Marine Deck. Instead he encountered a woman unlike any other he had ever seen before. His eyes traced every inch of Jamie's body and the unlit cigar tumbled from his open mouth in awe of her Goddess-like beauty.

Jamie looked up, catching his eyes drifting downward like most men did. She liked it, and her body reacted, cheeks getting flushed and her lips turning redder and fuller, but her recent experiences were still weighing on her enough to keep her in control. "How can I help you, Gunny?"

Tom blinked as his brain tried to reboot. He finally found his ability to function despite the fact that Jamie seemed even more radiant than the few seconds prior. "Um, Marine Deck has some mechanical issues that need undressing ... uh ... addressing." His face flushed at the slip of the tongue. He continued on, hoping she missed his slip. "We could use a team of engineers to come by and do services."

Jamie leaned forward, giving him an eyeful, as she rested her hands on the desk, squeezing her assets together. Her instincts couldn't help themselves. "What kind of services did you have in mind?"

Tom couldn't help but start to stare at her assets. It was through a sheer force of will that he raised his eyes to her face. "Problems with the power distribution." He glanced at her left hand briefly.

"I know all kinds of ways to get things flowing as they should," Jamie said with a single, knowing, suggestive wag of her eyebrows. "So you'll have to be more specific in what exactly you need from me."

Tom nodded at her statement too. His blood was flowing and not just to his face. He pulled a PADD from his pocket. "This is the list of what needs fixing." He gave his own suggestive eyebrow wag as he planted his hands on her desk and leaned down face-to-face with her. "Fix up the Marine Deck and I will be eternally grateful." His eyes dropped to her ample cleavage and a single sigh escaped him.

"I can't fix your eyes, unfortunately," she said as she read the list. "They seem to keep looking down for some reason...no idea why though..." She was egging him on, and she enjoyed it.

She took the PADD as it slid out of his hand, smirking a little as she scrolled through the list. "Power transfer conduits...ODN intermittent failures...LCARS is a bit out of date...y'all don't ever click on 'accept updates' over there do you? We're about 3 cycles ahead of you here in engineering," she said looking back up at him. There were a dozen other minor fixes that an NCO could do, but Jamie liked working with her hands.

"I don't mind having some gratitude in the bank for later on," she smiled, handing the PADD back. "I could get Tiira on this but she's working on an LCARS display bug in the UV spectrum, and I have three NCOs already working on the subspace warp field balance, so you're in luck, you get the Chief to fix your problems. If you can keep your eyes up long enough to walk out the door, perhaps you can escort me to get a better picture of what needs to be coaxed back to life."

Tom brought his eyes back up. 'Get a grip man', he thought. He turned halfway to the door, thinking perhaps her effect on him would not be nearly as intoxicating if he didn't look at her directly. "I'll show you the systems that we identified."

"Let's go," Jamie said, grabbing a tool belt, and rounding her desk, she she gestured for him to exit her office. "I'm great at identifying systems needing my special touch. Don't forget your cigar..."

Tom turned to the door and started forward only to bend down to grab his unlit cigar. A few moments later they were out of Main Engineering and on a turbolift to the Marine Deck. The enclosed space only caused him to feel even more aroused by her closeness. 'How do the men in her Department get any work done", he thought to himself.

Jamie tussled her hair a little, adjusting it just right to get it back off her front. Possibly unconsciously making herself more visible in front.

Given the small size of the ship, it didn't take too long to get over to the Marine Deck.

Tom led her through the still deserted deck pointing out the few minor maintenance issues he had taken note of. He tried to fill his mind with thoughts of his last combat tour as a means to wave off his overwhelming attraction to Jamie. He stopped the inspection. "I am sorry, but I must know something. Would you..."

"Would I...?" Jamie said, her normally soprano voice (like Christina Hendricks) now sounding like a sultry alto (like Jennifer Lien).

Tom was not accustomed to feeling not entirely in control. "Would you like to get a drink with me after your duty watch?" He felt like the nerdy guy who had just asked the Captain of the Cheerleaders out on a date. 'She is going to shut you down hard here in a second", he thought.

"Soldier, I can drink you under the table," she said, her voice still alto in tone, a subtle vocal manipulation undercurrent also present until she cleared her throat and returned it by willpower to her normal soprano. "So be careful asking something like that."

Tom chuckled briefly. "Soldiers serve in the Army. I am a Marine Non-Com." He gave Jamie an exaggerated head-to-toe once-over. "Not so sure about the under the table part, but I wasn't challenging you to a drinking contest. I...well...was asking you out on a date." He figured she was probably asked out a lot, but figured nothing ventured...nothing gained.

"I know, Gunny, just busting your chops a little," she said with a smile. "You're not the first guy to ask me out on this ship.... Or today, for that matter... to be honest. So, what's your idea of a date? It'd be the first in a long while where I wasn't doing the asking, so color me intrigued."

"Well, that would depend." Tom was grateful for Jamie not refusing his request out of hand. He gave a moments thought. "Perhaps meet in the lounge for a drink, discuss our interests, hobbies and such. See if we have anything in common we like to do. There's always the holodeck after the lounge. We could even beam down to Thorion IV if possible."

She eyed him up and down, giving the impression of a lioness sizing up her prey. She crossed her arms, which inadvertently squeeze her breasts together too, and put a fingernail between her teeth as she did. "Let's see what happens. Eight o'clock?"

Tom nodded. "Lounge, twenty hundred hours. I will be there."

"See you then," Jamie said with her hands on her hips, leaning on one leg, giving a nod as she said it.

OFF