Fic: Through the Winter chapter 5 (Cain/Gina)
Title: Through the Winter (5/?)
Author: phoenixstorm
Pairing: Cain/Gina
Rating: G
Word Count: 3,434
Summary: Another 'What if' fic. This time: What if Gina was a sleeper agent cylon?
Look who arrived in the mail yesterday and inspired me to finish this. ♥
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Chapter Five
If there’s one thing I don’t think I’ll ever get used to here, it’s how communal everything is. The showers, the laundry, the eating areas, they’re all shared between almost everyone on the ship. I hope Helena doesn’t think I’m just using her so that I have access to a private shower now and then, because if it were me in her shoes I’m sure I’d have started suspecting that by now. The laundry doesn’t bother me, and it’s actually quite refreshing eating with other people all of the time, but having someone banging on the door after barely a minute under the water every single time would have sent me insane weeks ago.
Not that Helena’s shower is entirely private all the time, however... That one took a little convincing, but she seems quite taken by the idea, now, for which I’m glad.
The upside of everything being communal is that it’s much easier than on Scorpia to keep up with my friends. We tend to run into each other on a regular basis during our free time, and sit down for a game of Colours, to listen to Pyramid matches over the wireless, or even just to chat.
Speaking of Colours, I have to stop letting myself get fooled by Jeremy’s bluffs. He won my spare set of shoes yesterday, which I’d be a little more upset about if Lynelle hadn’t spent most of lunch today howling in laughter over the fact that she’d caught him wearing them later on.
Aside from the shower situation I find I’m adjusting quite easily to Pegasus lifestyle, but I suppose this is helped by the fact that I’m not being worked hard through training drill after training drill. The rest of my crew who will be onboard for the retrofit are still a few days away, so I’ve had the computer system almost entirely to myself in the meantime.
The walk to her quarters was longer than Gina had expected, but then again she was still getting her head around just how large a ship the Battlestar Pegasus was. She’d grabbed a man named Scott, who looked like he was a technician of some description, to show her the way there. He wasn’t surprised by the fact that the admiral had left Gina there with no idea where to go. “It’s her way,” he explained to her as they walked, “she just expects you to be able to do everything. It’s easier if you don’t question it, and just ask one of the crew if you run into any problems. We sort of have an unspoken rule here that you help your fellow soldier when they ask, and that way no one gets yelled at.”
“How sneaky.” Gina commented with a grin, her eyes darting everywhere as she tried to take in all of the sights. The first thing she found that she noticed was that everything was metal. Not that that was unusual for a war vessel, but it was strange for a girl used to seeing carpet, wood, tiles and painted plaster. She found she liked it though, and she certainly liked all the computer monitors along the walls. Even though she’d only spent a very short amount of time there so far, she felt very comfortable with the environment. This was what she’d been studying most of her life for, after all.
Scott pointed out the different areas as they walked, and as they passed the kitchens Gina finally stopped paying attention to the ship long enough to remember her little problem.
“What time is dinner?”
“1900 hours officially, though that time isn’t as strict as most of the other rules on Cain’s ship. You can mostly come and go as you please” Scott explained
“And where does the admiral dine?” She asked casually.
“In her private quarters. It’s further up from where you’ll be staying, towards the CIC. Speaking of which, here we are.”
He opened the door for her which revealed a small, but private room. She’d been warned back at the office that they may have to share with the other crew members, but apparently that wasn’t the case here, for which she was glad. There was a small bed set into the wall, and the furniture consisted of a desk, chair and locker up against one of the walls. There was plenty of room for the clothing and couple of books that she’d brought, but Gina was very glad that she’d decided to pack light.
Scott looked around the room and sighed. “What I wouldn’t do for a desk...”
He continued to stare at it longingly until Gina squeezed past him and placed her bags on top of it, at which point he jumped back to attention and told her that she could call on him if she had any other questions, and started to head back to work. Gina closed the door behind him and then stretched out on the bed, getting a feel for her new ‘home’. Although her apartment on Scorpia was quite spacious she still felt more comfortable in something more modest, like this, the way she’d been brought up with her aunt. The size suited her just fine.
She must have dozed off at one point, because when Gina next opened her eyes she was on her side and her arms were wrapped around her pillow. With a yawn she got back to her feet and started to unpack her items, carefully placing all her clothing on hangers in the locker. The books were shared between the shelves in the locker and the desk. She glanced at the clock that had been left on the desk and was surprised to see that it was 6:16. She had definitely dozed off.
That didn’t leave her with a whole lot of time, especially since she’d now have to try and remember her way back to the showers which Scott had pointed out earlier. This was one part of Battlestar living she could probably do without she decided as she ducked out the hatch while trying to juggle her towel, clothing and toiletries.
Surprisingly, Gina only took one wrong turn on the way there. When she came to some stairs she didn’t remember earlier she retraced her steps and managed to get back onto the correct path.
A few crew members smiled at her as she walked past, and one even stopped to make sure she knew where she was going. They along with Scott reassured her that not everyone was as serious as Cain and Thorne in the military, and she made a mental note to try and interact with them as much as possible in the coming months. She got her first opportunity when there turned out to be a line waiting for the showers, and the woman in front of her turned when she joined the queue.
“Oh hey, you’re the woman who got off the Raptor with Cain and Thorne earlier.” She observed, and Gina nodded.
“Gina Inviere, I’m here to supervise the retrofit.”
The woman rolled her eyes with a sigh. “Oh right, the retrofit that was supposed to be happening this month, while we were supposed to be given shore leave. That retrofit.”
“It’s not exactly like you had anything planned, Freckles.” The woman in front of her commented, and Freckles snorted.
“I planned to sleep for three months, Tom Tom. That’s as much of a plan as anyone else’s.”
“I’m sorry,” Gina interrupted, “but what were you two calling each other?”
The one who’d been referred to as Tom Tom grinned at Freckles, and then turned back to Gina. “My name’s Lynelle and she’s Barbara, but we’re Viper pilots so we have call signs as well. Barb’s is pretty obvious,” she waved her hand around Barbara’s face and the freckles on it, “and I used to be a drummer before joining the military.”
Gina smiled and nodded politely, choosing not to admit that she wasn’t sure how drumming and ‘Tom Tom’ were linked.
“I heard the training wasn’t going so well.” She decided to say instead, going back to Barbara’s comment about how the retrofit was supposed to be starting now.
Barbara rolled her eyes again. “The new recruits, this is. They don’t seem to know the accelerator from the eject button.”
A loud “humph” came from inside one of the shower cubicles, and Lynelle punched Barbara on the arm lightly. “That was one time, Freckles, isn’t it about time you let it go?”
”Not until I get my three months of sleep!”
One of the cubicle doors opened, and Lynelle spoke over her shoulder as she walked over to enter after the previous woman had left. “Nice to meet you Gina, drop by the recreation rooms sometimes and we’ll get you into a game of Colours. Oh, and just smack her if she starts to give you lip.” She pointed at Barbara who scowled at her in reply, though not entirely seriously.
Gina was so caught up in trying to work out how someone could accidentally eject themselves from their own Viper that she almost missed Barbara saying goodbye to her as another stall became available, but quickly recovered with a smile and wished her a good evening. Another minute passed and a stall became vacant for her as well.
She stepped inside and closed the door, noting in displeasure that the little seat to store her clothes while she was showering was covered in water. She wiped off the area with her towel and then placed them to one side, and after undressing she folded the clothes she was currently wearing on the other side. There was a hook for the towel on the back of the door.
Although she was used to living modestly Gina did still enjoy some of her creature comforts, and a nice long shower was certainly one of them. She took her time lathering herself up, being careful to keep her hair dry as she knew she wouldn’t have time to dry it properly before dinner. She’d barely even begun to rinse herself off when someone was banging on her door and demanding that she hurry up, and she quickly finished the job and turned off the water.
Drying and dressing herself as fast as she could, she stepped out with an air that said ‘although you’re an impatient jerk I have graciously allowed you the use of my shower’, and stepped aside delicately before she was pushed aside.
It was probably for the best, anyhow, as she was working to a schedule tonight. She applied the finishing touches back in her quarters, using the small mirror in the locker to check her hair and apply a light amount of makeup (and locating her watch in the process, which she’d worried she’d forgotten to bring).
With five minutes to spare she left her quarters again, this time walking in the opposite direction which she assumed would lead her towards the CIC, and therefore Cain’s quarters. She was going to have to make herself a digital map tomorrow.
She located an unmarked door with a key card swipe a while later, and decided that the odds were this was probably the room she was after. A quick word with a passing guard confirmed this, and after straightening her shirt she exhaled deeply and knocked.
After a moment the hatch opened, and Admiral Cain stood before her looking the same as always in her uniform. Then again, Gina told herself as she waited to be invited in, it wasn’t exactly as if she’d been expecting to see the admiral in a dress.
Cain turned sideways to allow Gina room to walk in, and said “Thank you for coming, Ms. Inviere.”
“Please, how many times have we met now? You have to start calling me Gina.” The blonde scolded her lightly, and tried to subtly take in the room as she walked in.
It was a strangely lit area, with lights coming out of the ceiling, the walls and the cabinets, and yet the room was still fairly dark compared to the hallways of the Pegasus and Gina’s own quarters. There were shelves built into all of the walls with sliding glass doors, and all of them displayed either classic weaponry or literature. A few small statues and photo frames were scattered in between, but with the glare from the lights Gina couldn’t get a good look at any of the pictures. It was strange seeing so much glass compared to the rest of the ship’s plain metal, and it was very clear, even if Gina had stumbled across this room by accident when the admiral wasn’t around, that someone important lived here.
However, the one thing about Cain’s quarters that impressed Gina more than anything else was the table set up in the middle. There were candles in the centre (and who’d have thought Cain was the kind of woman who’d appreciate candles), and a lovely looking meal set out with a bottle of wine waiting to be popped. There were also chairs set up at the table, which was surprising only since Gina had never seen Cain actually sitting until earlier today on the Raptor where she wouldn’t have been allowed to stand.
The whole atmosphere was so elegant and relaxing that Gina found herself suddenly very confused. Who in the name of the gods was this woman, anyway? Sometimes she was strict and nasty, sometimes she downright cute, sometimes she seemed all business and no pleasure, and then sometimes she invited you over to dinner with candles and wine. They hadn’t even had any of the wine yet and Gina already felt her head spinning a little.
Realising that she’d been silent for a little while now, Gina turned back to Cain. “This is lovely.”
“Thank you.” Cain replied softly, and directed Gina towards the table. As the blonde sat down the admiral popped the cork on the wine and poured them both a glass of the red, and then took a seat herself.
Gina held the glass beneath her nose and inhaled deeply, and then took a sip, her eyes widening in approval as she did so. She’d always been more of a white wine girl herself, but Cain’s tastes were surprisingly good.
Just what she needed. More things about the admiral to confuse her.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this dinner?” Gina asked, cradling the glass between her hands as Cain swallowed her mouthful.
The admiral paused for the slightest of moments before replying “This is a last kindness for you, a non-military woman, before you get put to hard work for the next five or so months.”
”I’ll bet you really do this for all of your crew.”
”Only the blondes.” Cain replied in her serious voice as she raised her glass for another sip, and Gina couldn’t help but laugh.
With the initial awkwardness over they chatted throughout the meal, mostly about their lines of work. Gina was so involved in the conversation that she barely even noticed the food she was eating, and was then surprised a little while later to discover that her plate was empty.
She refilled both their glasses once the plates were pushed aside, and the two women sat back in their chairs and nursed their drinks as they continued talking.
“Oh, most computer programmers are just children in adult bodies.” Gina replied to Cain’s last comment with a laugh. “We spend so little time interacting with people, or at least people who aren’t also computer programmers. Gods, most of my co-workers spend the majority of their free time playing online video games rather than going out.”
She chose to not mention that she also enjoyed the odd online game on occasion.
“That would drive me to madness.” Cain observed, shaking her head in a disapproving fashion. Gina merely grinned back at her.
“When guns are replaced by magic spells derived from maths equations, then we’ll come back to reality.”
“We?”
”Uh, they. They will.”
Because she knew what she was looking for, Gina spotted the smile Cain was trying to cover by having another mouthful of wine. Not that she’d ever admit this to the admiral, but she was almost too cute to bear!
“Of course,” Cain continued, “maths and science did develop guns, and every other weapon as well.”
“True,” Gina conceded, “but there’s a lot more satisfaction in summoning a lightning bolt to smite your enemies, and you don’t get to use the same poses while firing a gun.” She raised a hand to the ceiling in her spell caster pose, and then laughed at herself as Cain’s eyes rose to the ceiling.
The phone rang and Cain excused herself to go take the call, and Gina was left by herself as her giggles faded, staring at her reflection in the red liquid.
She’d admitted to herself last night that she might be developing feelings for the admiral, but at the time she’d been under the impression that it wouldn’t really change much in their work relationship. Sure, she thought that she’d continue to enjoy finding those smiles and getting the odd word of praise out of her, but although she now understood why that was the case she hadn’t thought that much would actually be different. It was different however, and she’d found herself watching every little movement Cain had made all night as she felt this strange pull within her.
You don’t even know her first name. Gina sighed at the realisation. All the perfect people she’d met in college, and she had to fall for this woman.
It could have been worse, though. At least Cain seemed to like her back, even if it was just a little. Maybe it was just blind optimism but she was certain that Cain couldn’t be this soft around everyone, especially if she had such a strong reputation for being so gods-cursed scary. That was certainly encouraging.
Still, she had to be sure.
The phone clicked back into place and Cain stood at the wall with her right hand up against her face, the knuckle of her index finger pressed firmly against the area in between her eyebrows. Gina placed her glass back on the table and walked over to her, putting her right hand on Cain’s shoulder and gently holding the admiral’s right wrist.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, and Cain shook her head and sighed in exasperation.
“I’ve just been informed that we’ve received a call from the base down on Scorpia. Five of the new recruits I’d selected failed to show up on time for departure today.”
Gina winced, and pulled Cain’s hand away from her face. “They’re going to regret that, aren’t they.” It was a statement rather than a question. Cain merely looked at Gina with narrowed eyes in response, and Gina sent a prayer to the gods for these poor fools who had signed their own death warrants.
After a long moment spent with her eyes closed Cain seemed to compose herself, and she took her hand from Gina’s grasp and placed it on the blonde’s arm. “At least it gives me a very good reason to get up tomorrow” she admitted in a sort of cold optimism, and Gina smiled as she agreed even though she was distracted by noticing that the admiral’s hand was still on her arm. It didn’t help matters at all when Cain then placed her other hand on Gina’s waist, which resulted in them almost being in a position to start waltzing, but what she actually meant to do with the hand was push Gina to the side so she could pass.
With a frustrated sigh she took a few steps past Gina, and then muttered “I should head up to the CIC and send a reply message down to the Scorpia base.”
Disappointed, Gina remained silent. The admiral seemed to notice the silence, and turned back to face her. “Thank you,” she said, her eyebrows unclenching as she talked, “for your company tonight. I enjoyed the conversation...Gina.”
That did it. To Hades with the uncertainty, as the moment she heard the admiral say her name all the questions were shoved to the side. She dove forward, grabbed the admiral’s face with both of her hands and claimed Cain’s lips with her own.
“You can yell at people tomorrow” she told Cain when they finally broke apart for air. Cain merely smiled in that cheeky little fashion of hers, and pulled Gina back in for another kiss.
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Author note: Tom Toms, or Toms, are the two drums that attach to the top of the big bass drum.
I've also decided where I'm going with this fic, yay. =) I'd been tossing up between several ideas, and I've finally made my decision. It's going to be split into four parts for no real reason other than to split sections up a bit easier, though the three parts after TtW will probably only be a couple of chapters each.
And that's it from me tonight!
Chapter Six
Author: phoenixstorm
Pairing: Cain/Gina
Rating: G
Word Count: 3,434
Summary: Another 'What if' fic. This time: What if Gina was a sleeper agent cylon?
Look who arrived in the mail yesterday and inspired me to finish this. ♥
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Chapter Five
If there’s one thing I don’t think I’ll ever get used to here, it’s how communal everything is. The showers, the laundry, the eating areas, they’re all shared between almost everyone on the ship. I hope Helena doesn’t think I’m just using her so that I have access to a private shower now and then, because if it were me in her shoes I’m sure I’d have started suspecting that by now. The laundry doesn’t bother me, and it’s actually quite refreshing eating with other people all of the time, but having someone banging on the door after barely a minute under the water every single time would have sent me insane weeks ago.
Not that Helena’s shower is entirely private all the time, however... That one took a little convincing, but she seems quite taken by the idea, now, for which I’m glad.
The upside of everything being communal is that it’s much easier than on Scorpia to keep up with my friends. We tend to run into each other on a regular basis during our free time, and sit down for a game of Colours, to listen to Pyramid matches over the wireless, or even just to chat.
Speaking of Colours, I have to stop letting myself get fooled by Jeremy’s bluffs. He won my spare set of shoes yesterday, which I’d be a little more upset about if Lynelle hadn’t spent most of lunch today howling in laughter over the fact that she’d caught him wearing them later on.
Aside from the shower situation I find I’m adjusting quite easily to Pegasus lifestyle, but I suppose this is helped by the fact that I’m not being worked hard through training drill after training drill. The rest of my crew who will be onboard for the retrofit are still a few days away, so I’ve had the computer system almost entirely to myself in the meantime.
The walk to her quarters was longer than Gina had expected, but then again she was still getting her head around just how large a ship the Battlestar Pegasus was. She’d grabbed a man named Scott, who looked like he was a technician of some description, to show her the way there. He wasn’t surprised by the fact that the admiral had left Gina there with no idea where to go. “It’s her way,” he explained to her as they walked, “she just expects you to be able to do everything. It’s easier if you don’t question it, and just ask one of the crew if you run into any problems. We sort of have an unspoken rule here that you help your fellow soldier when they ask, and that way no one gets yelled at.”
“How sneaky.” Gina commented with a grin, her eyes darting everywhere as she tried to take in all of the sights. The first thing she found that she noticed was that everything was metal. Not that that was unusual for a war vessel, but it was strange for a girl used to seeing carpet, wood, tiles and painted plaster. She found she liked it though, and she certainly liked all the computer monitors along the walls. Even though she’d only spent a very short amount of time there so far, she felt very comfortable with the environment. This was what she’d been studying most of her life for, after all.
Scott pointed out the different areas as they walked, and as they passed the kitchens Gina finally stopped paying attention to the ship long enough to remember her little problem.
“What time is dinner?”
“1900 hours officially, though that time isn’t as strict as most of the other rules on Cain’s ship. You can mostly come and go as you please” Scott explained
“And where does the admiral dine?” She asked casually.
“In her private quarters. It’s further up from where you’ll be staying, towards the CIC. Speaking of which, here we are.”
He opened the door for her which revealed a small, but private room. She’d been warned back at the office that they may have to share with the other crew members, but apparently that wasn’t the case here, for which she was glad. There was a small bed set into the wall, and the furniture consisted of a desk, chair and locker up against one of the walls. There was plenty of room for the clothing and couple of books that she’d brought, but Gina was very glad that she’d decided to pack light.
Scott looked around the room and sighed. “What I wouldn’t do for a desk...”
He continued to stare at it longingly until Gina squeezed past him and placed her bags on top of it, at which point he jumped back to attention and told her that she could call on him if she had any other questions, and started to head back to work. Gina closed the door behind him and then stretched out on the bed, getting a feel for her new ‘home’. Although her apartment on Scorpia was quite spacious she still felt more comfortable in something more modest, like this, the way she’d been brought up with her aunt. The size suited her just fine.
She must have dozed off at one point, because when Gina next opened her eyes she was on her side and her arms were wrapped around her pillow. With a yawn she got back to her feet and started to unpack her items, carefully placing all her clothing on hangers in the locker. The books were shared between the shelves in the locker and the desk. She glanced at the clock that had been left on the desk and was surprised to see that it was 6:16. She had definitely dozed off.
That didn’t leave her with a whole lot of time, especially since she’d now have to try and remember her way back to the showers which Scott had pointed out earlier. This was one part of Battlestar living she could probably do without she decided as she ducked out the hatch while trying to juggle her towel, clothing and toiletries.
Surprisingly, Gina only took one wrong turn on the way there. When she came to some stairs she didn’t remember earlier she retraced her steps and managed to get back onto the correct path.
A few crew members smiled at her as she walked past, and one even stopped to make sure she knew where she was going. They along with Scott reassured her that not everyone was as serious as Cain and Thorne in the military, and she made a mental note to try and interact with them as much as possible in the coming months. She got her first opportunity when there turned out to be a line waiting for the showers, and the woman in front of her turned when she joined the queue.
“Oh hey, you’re the woman who got off the Raptor with Cain and Thorne earlier.” She observed, and Gina nodded.
“Gina Inviere, I’m here to supervise the retrofit.”
The woman rolled her eyes with a sigh. “Oh right, the retrofit that was supposed to be happening this month, while we were supposed to be given shore leave. That retrofit.”
“It’s not exactly like you had anything planned, Freckles.” The woman in front of her commented, and Freckles snorted.
“I planned to sleep for three months, Tom Tom. That’s as much of a plan as anyone else’s.”
“I’m sorry,” Gina interrupted, “but what were you two calling each other?”
The one who’d been referred to as Tom Tom grinned at Freckles, and then turned back to Gina. “My name’s Lynelle and she’s Barbara, but we’re Viper pilots so we have call signs as well. Barb’s is pretty obvious,” she waved her hand around Barbara’s face and the freckles on it, “and I used to be a drummer before joining the military.”
Gina smiled and nodded politely, choosing not to admit that she wasn’t sure how drumming and ‘Tom Tom’ were linked.
“I heard the training wasn’t going so well.” She decided to say instead, going back to Barbara’s comment about how the retrofit was supposed to be starting now.
Barbara rolled her eyes again. “The new recruits, this is. They don’t seem to know the accelerator from the eject button.”
A loud “humph” came from inside one of the shower cubicles, and Lynelle punched Barbara on the arm lightly. “That was one time, Freckles, isn’t it about time you let it go?”
”Not until I get my three months of sleep!”
One of the cubicle doors opened, and Lynelle spoke over her shoulder as she walked over to enter after the previous woman had left. “Nice to meet you Gina, drop by the recreation rooms sometimes and we’ll get you into a game of Colours. Oh, and just smack her if she starts to give you lip.” She pointed at Barbara who scowled at her in reply, though not entirely seriously.
Gina was so caught up in trying to work out how someone could accidentally eject themselves from their own Viper that she almost missed Barbara saying goodbye to her as another stall became available, but quickly recovered with a smile and wished her a good evening. Another minute passed and a stall became vacant for her as well.
She stepped inside and closed the door, noting in displeasure that the little seat to store her clothes while she was showering was covered in water. She wiped off the area with her towel and then placed them to one side, and after undressing she folded the clothes she was currently wearing on the other side. There was a hook for the towel on the back of the door.
Although she was used to living modestly Gina did still enjoy some of her creature comforts, and a nice long shower was certainly one of them. She took her time lathering herself up, being careful to keep her hair dry as she knew she wouldn’t have time to dry it properly before dinner. She’d barely even begun to rinse herself off when someone was banging on her door and demanding that she hurry up, and she quickly finished the job and turned off the water.
Drying and dressing herself as fast as she could, she stepped out with an air that said ‘although you’re an impatient jerk I have graciously allowed you the use of my shower’, and stepped aside delicately before she was pushed aside.
It was probably for the best, anyhow, as she was working to a schedule tonight. She applied the finishing touches back in her quarters, using the small mirror in the locker to check her hair and apply a light amount of makeup (and locating her watch in the process, which she’d worried she’d forgotten to bring).
With five minutes to spare she left her quarters again, this time walking in the opposite direction which she assumed would lead her towards the CIC, and therefore Cain’s quarters. She was going to have to make herself a digital map tomorrow.
She located an unmarked door with a key card swipe a while later, and decided that the odds were this was probably the room she was after. A quick word with a passing guard confirmed this, and after straightening her shirt she exhaled deeply and knocked.
After a moment the hatch opened, and Admiral Cain stood before her looking the same as always in her uniform. Then again, Gina told herself as she waited to be invited in, it wasn’t exactly as if she’d been expecting to see the admiral in a dress.
Cain turned sideways to allow Gina room to walk in, and said “Thank you for coming, Ms. Inviere.”
“Please, how many times have we met now? You have to start calling me Gina.” The blonde scolded her lightly, and tried to subtly take in the room as she walked in.
It was a strangely lit area, with lights coming out of the ceiling, the walls and the cabinets, and yet the room was still fairly dark compared to the hallways of the Pegasus and Gina’s own quarters. There were shelves built into all of the walls with sliding glass doors, and all of them displayed either classic weaponry or literature. A few small statues and photo frames were scattered in between, but with the glare from the lights Gina couldn’t get a good look at any of the pictures. It was strange seeing so much glass compared to the rest of the ship’s plain metal, and it was very clear, even if Gina had stumbled across this room by accident when the admiral wasn’t around, that someone important lived here.
However, the one thing about Cain’s quarters that impressed Gina more than anything else was the table set up in the middle. There were candles in the centre (and who’d have thought Cain was the kind of woman who’d appreciate candles), and a lovely looking meal set out with a bottle of wine waiting to be popped. There were also chairs set up at the table, which was surprising only since Gina had never seen Cain actually sitting until earlier today on the Raptor where she wouldn’t have been allowed to stand.
The whole atmosphere was so elegant and relaxing that Gina found herself suddenly very confused. Who in the name of the gods was this woman, anyway? Sometimes she was strict and nasty, sometimes she downright cute, sometimes she seemed all business and no pleasure, and then sometimes she invited you over to dinner with candles and wine. They hadn’t even had any of the wine yet and Gina already felt her head spinning a little.
Realising that she’d been silent for a little while now, Gina turned back to Cain. “This is lovely.”
“Thank you.” Cain replied softly, and directed Gina towards the table. As the blonde sat down the admiral popped the cork on the wine and poured them both a glass of the red, and then took a seat herself.
Gina held the glass beneath her nose and inhaled deeply, and then took a sip, her eyes widening in approval as she did so. She’d always been more of a white wine girl herself, but Cain’s tastes were surprisingly good.
Just what she needed. More things about the admiral to confuse her.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this dinner?” Gina asked, cradling the glass between her hands as Cain swallowed her mouthful.
The admiral paused for the slightest of moments before replying “This is a last kindness for you, a non-military woman, before you get put to hard work for the next five or so months.”
”I’ll bet you really do this for all of your crew.”
”Only the blondes.” Cain replied in her serious voice as she raised her glass for another sip, and Gina couldn’t help but laugh.
With the initial awkwardness over they chatted throughout the meal, mostly about their lines of work. Gina was so involved in the conversation that she barely even noticed the food she was eating, and was then surprised a little while later to discover that her plate was empty.
She refilled both their glasses once the plates were pushed aside, and the two women sat back in their chairs and nursed their drinks as they continued talking.
“Oh, most computer programmers are just children in adult bodies.” Gina replied to Cain’s last comment with a laugh. “We spend so little time interacting with people, or at least people who aren’t also computer programmers. Gods, most of my co-workers spend the majority of their free time playing online video games rather than going out.”
She chose to not mention that she also enjoyed the odd online game on occasion.
“That would drive me to madness.” Cain observed, shaking her head in a disapproving fashion. Gina merely grinned back at her.
“When guns are replaced by magic spells derived from maths equations, then we’ll come back to reality.”
“We?”
”Uh, they. They will.”
Because she knew what she was looking for, Gina spotted the smile Cain was trying to cover by having another mouthful of wine. Not that she’d ever admit this to the admiral, but she was almost too cute to bear!
“Of course,” Cain continued, “maths and science did develop guns, and every other weapon as well.”
“True,” Gina conceded, “but there’s a lot more satisfaction in summoning a lightning bolt to smite your enemies, and you don’t get to use the same poses while firing a gun.” She raised a hand to the ceiling in her spell caster pose, and then laughed at herself as Cain’s eyes rose to the ceiling.
The phone rang and Cain excused herself to go take the call, and Gina was left by herself as her giggles faded, staring at her reflection in the red liquid.
She’d admitted to herself last night that she might be developing feelings for the admiral, but at the time she’d been under the impression that it wouldn’t really change much in their work relationship. Sure, she thought that she’d continue to enjoy finding those smiles and getting the odd word of praise out of her, but although she now understood why that was the case she hadn’t thought that much would actually be different. It was different however, and she’d found herself watching every little movement Cain had made all night as she felt this strange pull within her.
You don’t even know her first name. Gina sighed at the realisation. All the perfect people she’d met in college, and she had to fall for this woman.
It could have been worse, though. At least Cain seemed to like her back, even if it was just a little. Maybe it was just blind optimism but she was certain that Cain couldn’t be this soft around everyone, especially if she had such a strong reputation for being so gods-cursed scary. That was certainly encouraging.
Still, she had to be sure.
The phone clicked back into place and Cain stood at the wall with her right hand up against her face, the knuckle of her index finger pressed firmly against the area in between her eyebrows. Gina placed her glass back on the table and walked over to her, putting her right hand on Cain’s shoulder and gently holding the admiral’s right wrist.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, and Cain shook her head and sighed in exasperation.
“I’ve just been informed that we’ve received a call from the base down on Scorpia. Five of the new recruits I’d selected failed to show up on time for departure today.”
Gina winced, and pulled Cain’s hand away from her face. “They’re going to regret that, aren’t they.” It was a statement rather than a question. Cain merely looked at Gina with narrowed eyes in response, and Gina sent a prayer to the gods for these poor fools who had signed their own death warrants.
After a long moment spent with her eyes closed Cain seemed to compose herself, and she took her hand from Gina’s grasp and placed it on the blonde’s arm. “At least it gives me a very good reason to get up tomorrow” she admitted in a sort of cold optimism, and Gina smiled as she agreed even though she was distracted by noticing that the admiral’s hand was still on her arm. It didn’t help matters at all when Cain then placed her other hand on Gina’s waist, which resulted in them almost being in a position to start waltzing, but what she actually meant to do with the hand was push Gina to the side so she could pass.
With a frustrated sigh she took a few steps past Gina, and then muttered “I should head up to the CIC and send a reply message down to the Scorpia base.”
Disappointed, Gina remained silent. The admiral seemed to notice the silence, and turned back to face her. “Thank you,” she said, her eyebrows unclenching as she talked, “for your company tonight. I enjoyed the conversation...Gina.”
That did it. To Hades with the uncertainty, as the moment she heard the admiral say her name all the questions were shoved to the side. She dove forward, grabbed the admiral’s face with both of her hands and claimed Cain’s lips with her own.
“You can yell at people tomorrow” she told Cain when they finally broke apart for air. Cain merely smiled in that cheeky little fashion of hers, and pulled Gina back in for another kiss.
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Author note: Tom Toms, or Toms, are the two drums that attach to the top of the big bass drum.
I've also decided where I'm going with this fic, yay. =) I'd been tossing up between several ideas, and I've finally made my decision. It's going to be split into four parts for no real reason other than to split sections up a bit easier, though the three parts after TtW will probably only be a couple of chapters each.
And that's it from me tonight!
Chapter Six