The Morning Aftermath

Posted on 04 Nov 2016 @ 7:18pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD

Mission: Episode One: Back on the Highway to Hell
Location: Captain's Quarters, Deck 2
Timeline: MD 4: 0630 hours

Captain Nathan Cowell sucked in a breath and pulled his eyes wide open at the sound of his small alarm going off. It took a moment for him to even register that he was laying down rather than sitting in the recliner in his living area. It also took several moments to realize that there was far more weight on his chest than either of his arms could ever apply. Nathan glanced down to find the raven hair of a woman, followed closely by an arm draped over his torso, and then a rather large bulge in the sheets, which accounted for the extra leg he didn’t remember having the day before.

It took Nathan a second to call up the memory of the previous night, though when he did it wasn’t a huge shock that he felt as rested as he did. The woman currently curled up against him had very much lived up to her promise, and even with it taking as long as it did for her to do so, she had managed it. The Old Man began to shift in the bed, which roused the sleeping woman enough to cause her to grab a hold of him tighter.

“No…” she muttered in a half-asleep fashion.

“Yes, dammit…” Nathan countered, prying the woman’s arm from around him, “Unless you want to be covered in piss.”

The woman moaned in an upset manner and relinquished her hold on Nathan. The Old Man pushed himself up out of the bed and made the short walk from the bed to the bathroom. The sounds of him relieving himself echoed through the bedroom, causing his sleeping companion to again groan unhappily.

“Must you do that with the door open?” she protested as she rolled over in the bed.

“Ain’t a damn door to close, woman.”

“Ugh… you told them not to put one in, didn’t you?” Elizabeth grumbled, knowing Nathan rather well.

“You’re damn right I did… Don’t need a door keeping me away from the can when I gotta use it,” Nathan said before flushing the commode.

“You’re a pig…” the woman said in an accusatory manner.

The sound of the shower in the bathroom turning on nearly drowned out Nathan’s reply, “You married me.”

The woman couldn’t argue the point, much as she might like to. Despite the cautions from the Continuum about marrying an El-Aurian, and in particular, Nathan… Elizabeth had said yes to him when he had asked her all those centuries ago in a small town in what used to be the state of Colorado. She had followed her heart, and it had won her… him… flaws and all.

Throwing the sheets off her naked form, Elizabeth crawled out of bed and walked into the bathroom in just enough time to watch her equally nude husband step inside the shower. It was amazing to see that even after 450 years, he still looked more or less the same as he had when they first met, aside from a few wrinkles here and there. He was still in excellent shape, still had all the same well defined muscles, and even if he was starting to go bald, it didn’t look out of sorts on him in the least.

“You just gonna stand there staring at my bare ass or are you getting in?” Nathan asked without having to turn around to know she was watching him.

Elizabeth smirked and took him up on his offer. She didn’t need to, of course, being that her physical form was merely a temporary one that suited her needs at that particular moment. Nevertheless, when she was with her husband, she just kind of became ‘human’ by habit. The water falling from the shower head was unconscionably scalding, something that would have driven most lesser beings out. Elizabeth was neither a lesser being nor did the heat of her husband’s preferred bathing temperature in any way dissuade her from being with him in the slightest.

“Want me to wash your back?” the woman asked, running her fingers over the aforementioned body part.

“Sure,” Nathan replied, handing over the bar of soap, “Saves me the trouble.”

Elizabeth took the bar and lathered her hands up with it before running them back over her husband’s broad shoulders and sturdy back. She took her time with it, even if it was just a rudimentary task. In her mind, the longer it took, the longer she could usurp the man from the rest of his duties. When she did finally finish, Nathan turned around and washed all the soap off while retrieving the bar from the woman’s hands.

“Thanks,” he said before finishing off his shower in the typical hyper-efficient manner that he’d developed long ago on Earth. Nathan shut the water off and stepped out into the bathroom, grabbing a towel for himself before throwing one at Elizabeth as she stepped out of the shower. The suddenness of the toss caught the woman off guard, allowing the towel to smack her in the face. The Old Man chuckled to himself as he walked back into the bedroom area and began pulling his uniform together.

Elizabeth walked out with the towel wrapped around her body and watched as Nathan transformed into Captain Cowell. Not to say that he wasn’t always the Captain, but when he was wearing his uniform… any uniform… Elizabeth could see a visible change in him. His face grew hard, his eyes seemed to take on a much more determined look to them. His long military oriented career, even as a physician, had done a great deal to make his personality very dualistic.

“You leaving?” Elizabeth asked as she sank onto the bed.

Nathan gave the woman a look as if to accentuate just how obvious the answer to her question was. The woman rolled her eyes at how difficult the man was being. She snapped her fingers and suddenly wore an identical uniform as Nathan, complete with the same rank insignia. This sudden move made the Old Man glare at her, but he didn’t say anything as he walked out into the living room. Nathan heard her blink out of existence before seeing her reappear in front of him, hands on her hips.

“What?” Cowell asked the woman bluntly.

“Where’s my kiss?”

Nathan walked by her and as the doors to his quarters swooshed open he remarked, “Kiss my ass, woman.”

Captain Cowell trudged down the corridor and boarded the turbolift, taking it the entire one deck between him and the Bridge. When he walked out, he noticed his Bridge staff were all standing, and a few of them looked as if they were ready to shoot someone. It took a moment for Nathan to register what was going on, but when he saw the form sitting in his chair, he knew exactly why they were acting the way they were. A strange woman suddenly appearing on the Bridge was bad enough, but for her to be sitting smugly in his chair…

“Dammit, Elizabeth, get the hell out of my chair!” Nathan demanded as he walked up and confronted the woman.

Elizabeth smirked and pushed herself out of his chair, “Do I get my kiss now?”

Nathan glared at her for a long while before finally letting out a long sigh, “Fine… if it’ll get you out of my chair and off my ship…”

The Old Man grabbed the woman by the waist and planted a long and passionate kiss that had a fair few people on the Bridge shifting uncomfortably and turning away. When he finally let the woman go, she looked more than satisfied with his offering.

“Was that so hard?” Elizabeth teased.

“Damn near killed me,” Nathan shot back, “Now get the hell out of here, I’ve got shit to do.”

“Yes dear,” the woman winked at the man before snapping her fingers and blinking out of existence.

Nathan turned to see the shocked and stunned faces of the gathered crew. Half of them looked as if they’d seen a ghost, the other half looked like they’d just witnessed the end of times. The entire scene before the Old Man seemed rather exaggerated for what had just happened.

“Haven’t you seen a man kiss his wife before? Get back to work!” Nathan shouted, scattering most of the junior crew with just the sheer volume of his voice.

The Captain sank into his chair, only to find that his wife had been clever enough not to apply any actual weight to it and thus preserved the creases and contours that lovingly cupped and supported the man’s ass. He looked up and took notice that Cmdr. Toddman was looking in his direction, complete with stupid grin on his face.

“What are you eyeballing me for, son?” the Captain growled.

“Did you and the wife make up last night?” the Scotsman tried desperately to hold in his laughter.

“No,” Nathan said flatly, “I’m still pissed at her. But I’m not going to turn down a tumble in the sheets when it’s offered to me.”

Toddman turned back around and started convulsing in a fit of silent giggles.