Susan's brows rose as she watched Marcus get up from their 'table' to settle beside her. She felt the warmth, the strength in his hand as he took it, a softly dry smile quirked at the edges. "Do they? I think they're falling down on the job, then, because usually they're as confusing as the Vorlons."
The commander sighed. She'd just, essentially, been proposed to, and not only accepted but affirmed that which scared the hell out of her. So why was it just so damned hard to hear those words? Why was it even harder, regardless of language, to repeat them? Ritual was easy, it was comfortable... like, for her, a well-tailored uniform. It gave structure, a place where she could fit in the universe. But the expression of love just seemed so damned...
It was like Marcus. Occasionally elusive and beyond real understanding as to the hows and whys. Probably why she'd gotten, and probably will continue to be, so frustrated at him.
"What? What's a girl gotta do to get a kiss? Barefoot and pregnant on Deneb 4?" The Earth colony was known for agriculture... farm life and the Russian? "Never happen so forget it."
Susan pressed her lips together, but she just... couldn't. Not yet... and she shook her head. "That one, you'll have to give me time." That was whispered, and she couldn't help see the ... oddity... and so she explained herself. "You've always been there, like some English-accented Vorlon.. turn around, and there'd be a flash of brown; even if you were supposed to be somewhere else, I could believe that you were just behind a door, or... waiting in the conference room for some update or other. I could trust you, even if you drove me nuts... well, I could trust you to do that, too." She smiled at the flickering memories, and continued on. "I need that. If you wanted me to be honest with myself, I need that, and I'll admit to being selfish."
The ring still wasn't placed on her finger... it was toyed with in her free hand, the weight of it light and heavy, both at the same time, and she looked away in order to -not- get lost in his intense blue eyes. "Do I love you? I couldn't imagine life without you. It's more than that, or... it's not that at all... or both. You just... are." Very much a part of her... and history, on another time-line, had proven that...
Minbari do not touch, unless it's for purely personal reasons. In fact they rarely make eye contact.
Marcus had lived with the Minbari for so long that personal space was something he'd become accustomed to, but he could sense the faintest level of frustration from Susan. She shielded very well, and he knew that to be inherent, but empathy and telepathy were two different matters. That, and the fact he could read the small amount of tightness in her jaw, the little tightness around her eyes and the fierce blazing in her eyes.
He reached up, his thumb gently smoothing away the tense line on her cheek, then running lightly over her lips, before he leaned in to very gently kiss her.
He hoped that the tenderness and love he felt in his heart could be communicated through the most tender of kisses, but there was always that underlying desire, the burning flame of passion that added a sense of urgency to his touch.
Some might not understand, and because of it, they would think Susan to be cold and aloof. Possibly uncaring... Here was a man who bared his soul, essentially, and she'd picked it up and declared before God that there'd be no other for her, but she couldn't say those three words, even in response to the brave Ranger's own. She couldn't, however, and wouldn't. Instead, she'd given more, for any who knew her. Her trust, and with that came her life. When she gave her trust, she gave everything-- her career to one, her life to another, her heart, now, to yet another. With those, came the power and ability to destroy a part of her; her friends knew that, and more importantly, understood it.
Thankfully, Marcus did too... and proved it with the kiss. She leaned in to it, her hands reaching out to run fingers through the soft brown hair before resting just behind his neck. With what he was wearing now, it was easy to feel the heat rising from his body... while before, nested in his 'Ranger uniform', there was nothing really but folds of cloth. Still, there was comfort to be found in both, and here, she could easily feel his muscles tense, relax... and shift beneath her touch.
With the kiss, she could feel the heat from the flames; where the previous night, there was the hint of tentativeness, now, there was something more. Something had been filled, and she noticed. Closing her eyes to the passion, there was her own desire to have him... truly understand, but instead, kept her thoughts to herself, as it were, if only for the moment. There'd be time. Instead, she responded and fell into the kiss, into the magic of the moment where the world was transcended, and everything was gone, but for them and that one kiss. Passion, desire, affection, trust... the embodiment of love, without the words, but in deed expressed was there... Something, certainly, she'd remember long after the embrace was gone. Susan could feel him, his heart beating, the calm in the storm, both the rock and one needing his own safe harbour. She wanted more, so much more, but there was that sticky point of that whole Minbari ritual... and his potential inhibitions due to, *cough* inexperience.
Once the kiss was broken, even if only briefly, she smiled at him, her eyes gleaming with the fire burning just below, and her voice was a soft purr. "I used to wonder what that would be like." How's that for a confession from the hardened Commander who'd made his life hell (and she KNEW it) for the time she'd known him? She chuckled softly and pulled a hand out from behind him in order to trace the lines of his beard. "Then something would happen..." Or he'd say something to bait her, or, conversely she'd say something to bait him; the never ending cycle.
Marcus' hand lingered on Susan's cheek, reluctant to tall and break the physical contact. However, his eyes watered a little, a look of pure wonder in them.
Somehow this had made more sense than any other thing he'd said or done, promised or created in his entire life. He turned away, restlessly wiping at his eye, telling himself it was the smoke from the fire that caused it.
But in reality, his heart was about ready to burst from sheer pleasure. ~You'd better do something~ a voice came to his head, oddly familiar. In his minds' eye, he could see Michael Garibaldi, arms crossed and a firm look on his face. ~Tell her now that you want to stay the night, start your damn rituals, or you're gonna loose her.~
Marcus turned to Susan, then proffered a small smile. "You know, you weren't the only one wondering... but I wondered if your lips would taste of ice, vodka, or just... you."
It was a compliment, of sorts. "It was everything I could have wished for..."
~Damn it, Marcus! Just TELL her.~
He squirmed as Michael's rough voice broke the mood, and pulled slightly away. "I'm going to stay the night, but you don't have to stay up, if you don't want."
Susan leaned back a little at his own admission, the pleased smile lingering still on her lips. "Ice.. or vodka? Everyone knows you can't drink it on the rocks. Frozen, yes... over ice, never." She was teasing him, the soft purr in her tones remaining as a hand traced lines over the closely clipped beard.
Upon his pulling away, Susan looks momentarily puzzled as he .. well, she thought it was good squirming? Another smile comes, though it's one where she tries to understand what she's being told. "You're going to stay the night, but I don't have to? Marcus, what about the Minbari ritual? Didn't you want-- I mean, I'm not complaining. Lord knows I like a good, solid four hours.. but.. Wasn't that something important to you?" Susan, too, leans back now, and shakes her head slowly. "I won't take that away from you. Sure.. I may complain, I may look horrible in the morning and maybe I might snap someone's head off... but I won't take something that's important to you away."
The commander sighed. She'd just, essentially, been proposed to, and not only accepted but affirmed that which scared the hell out of her. So why was it just so damned hard to hear those words? Why was it even harder, regardless of language, to repeat them? Ritual was easy, it was comfortable... like, for her, a well-tailored uniform. It gave structure, a place where she could fit in the universe. But the expression of love just seemed so damned...
It was like Marcus. Occasionally elusive and beyond real understanding as to the hows and whys. Probably why she'd gotten, and probably will continue to be, so frustrated at him.
"What? What's a girl gotta do to get a kiss? Barefoot and pregnant on Deneb 4?" The Earth colony was known for agriculture... farm life and the Russian? "Never happen so forget it."
Susan pressed her lips together, but she just... couldn't. Not yet... and she shook her head. "That one, you'll have to give me time." That was whispered, and she couldn't help see the ... oddity... and so she explained herself. "You've always been there, like some English-accented Vorlon.. turn around, and there'd be a flash of brown; even if you were supposed to be somewhere else, I could believe that you were just behind a door, or... waiting in the conference room for some update or other. I could trust you, even if you drove me nuts... well, I could trust you to do that, too." She smiled at the flickering memories, and continued on. "I need that. If you wanted me to be honest with myself, I need that, and I'll admit to being selfish."
The ring still wasn't placed on her finger... it was toyed with in her free hand, the weight of it light and heavy, both at the same time, and she looked away in order to -not- get lost in his intense blue eyes. "Do I love you? I couldn't imagine life without you. It's more than that, or... it's not that at all... or both. You just... are." Very much a part of her... and history, on another time-line, had proven that...
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Marcus had lived with the Minbari for so long that personal space was something he'd become accustomed to, but he could sense the faintest level of frustration from Susan. She shielded very well, and he knew that to be inherent, but empathy and telepathy were two different matters. That, and the fact he could read the small amount of tightness in her jaw, the little tightness around her eyes and the fierce blazing in her eyes.
He reached up, his thumb gently smoothing away the tense line on her cheek, then running lightly over her lips, before he leaned in to very gently kiss her.
He hoped that the tenderness and love he felt in his heart could be communicated through the most tender of kisses, but there was always that underlying desire, the burning flame of passion that added a sense of urgency to his touch.
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Thankfully, Marcus did too... and proved it with the kiss. She leaned in to it, her hands reaching out to run fingers through the soft brown hair before resting just behind his neck. With what he was wearing now, it was easy to feel the heat rising from his body... while before, nested in his 'Ranger uniform', there was nothing really but folds of cloth. Still, there was comfort to be found in both, and here, she could easily feel his muscles tense, relax... and shift beneath her touch.
With the kiss, she could feel the heat from the flames; where the previous night, there was the hint of tentativeness, now, there was something more. Something had been filled, and she noticed. Closing her eyes to the passion, there was her own desire to have him... truly understand, but instead, kept her thoughts to herself, as it were, if only for the moment. There'd be time. Instead, she responded and fell into the kiss, into the magic of the moment where the world was transcended, and everything was gone, but for them and that one kiss. Passion, desire, affection, trust... the embodiment of love, without the words, but in deed expressed was there... Something, certainly, she'd remember long after the embrace was gone. Susan could feel him, his heart beating, the calm in the storm, both the rock and one needing his own safe harbour. She wanted more, so much more, but there was that sticky point of that whole Minbari ritual... and his potential inhibitions due to, *cough* inexperience.
Once the kiss was broken, even if only briefly, she smiled at him, her eyes gleaming with the fire burning just below, and her voice was a soft purr. "I used to wonder what that would be like." How's that for a confession from the hardened Commander who'd made his life hell (and she KNEW it) for the time she'd known him? She chuckled softly and pulled a hand out from behind him in order to trace the lines of his beard. "Then something would happen..." Or he'd say something to bait her, or, conversely she'd say something to bait him; the never ending cycle.
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Somehow this had made more sense than any other thing he'd said or done, promised or created in his entire life. He turned away, restlessly wiping at his eye, telling himself it was the smoke from the fire that caused it.
But in reality, his heart was about ready to burst from sheer pleasure. ~You'd better do something~ a voice came to his head, oddly familiar. In his minds' eye, he could see Michael Garibaldi, arms crossed and a firm look on his face. ~Tell her now that you want to stay the night, start your damn rituals, or you're gonna loose her.~
Marcus turned to Susan, then proffered a small smile. "You know, you weren't the only one wondering... but I wondered if your lips would taste of ice, vodka, or just... you."
It was a compliment, of sorts. "It was everything I could have wished for..."
~Damn it, Marcus! Just TELL her.~
He squirmed as Michael's rough voice broke the mood, and pulled slightly away. "I'm going to stay the night, but you don't have to stay up, if you don't want."
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Upon his pulling away, Susan looks momentarily puzzled as he .. well, she thought it was good squirming? Another smile comes, though it's one where she tries to understand what she's being told. "You're going to stay the night, but I don't have to? Marcus, what about the Minbari ritual? Didn't you want-- I mean, I'm not complaining. Lord knows I like a good, solid four hours.. but.. Wasn't that something important to you?" Susan, too, leans back now, and shakes her head slowly. "I won't take that away from you. Sure.. I may complain, I may look horrible in the morning and maybe I might snap someone's head off... but I won't take something that's important to you away."
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