Farscape: Unexpected Understanding (Aeryn/Chiana | M | 1,000w)
[ Aeryn/Chiana | M | 1,000w (10x100) | 2007-02-04 ]
What starts out as a mistake turns out to be something much better.
(Written for femslash100, challenges 61-69, with an additional non-challenge drabble to round it out.)
Unexpected Understanding
61. Night
She’d supposed-in that idle part of her mind that noticed the efficiency of Aeryn’s stride, the way she clipped her words, her insistence at eradicating any and all signs of softness-that she would be much like any other Peace Keeper in bed.
But here Aeryn was, ripping through Chiana's clothes, hair a wild black corona and lips crushed against Chiana's in a request that she could mistake for nothing other than what it was.
“I like being wrong,” she purred into the skin at the nape of Aeryn’s neck, burying her face in the darkness and inhaling.
62. Day
“That was a mistake,” Aeryn’s voice was clipped again, and she looked pale in the full lights of Chiana’s quarters.
Chiana came up behind her, slipping her hands beneath the heavy belt and digging her fingertips into Aeryn’s hips and biting at her neck.
“You think I don’t know that I’m your little John substitute?”
Aeryn looked on the verge of snapping, lips drawn tight.
“Aeryn,” she said, stretching the name out into a caress. “Surely you’re not delusional enough to think that I care.”
Thankfully, she laughed, and didn’t resist in the least when Chiana led her back.
63. Sight
“Don’t bother,” she said, pulling away the blankets. Aeryn liked to pretend modesty when the sleeping shift was over, and it amused Chiana to no end to prance around the room naked just to rankle her.
“Fine,” Aeryn said, reaching for her clothes.
“No-” Chiana stopped her twirling and slung her arms around Aeryn’s shoulders. “Don’t.”
She arched a single black brow. “Give me one good reason I should be freezing my arse off in here.”
Chiana shrugged, keeping her voice light. “Because I like to look at you?”
Aeryn sighed, but dropped the clothes, laying down.
64. Hearing
She bucked against Chiana’s fingers, her whole body arching off the bed. “Frell, this is torture,” she growled, twining her fingers through Chiana’s pale hair, pulling her closer.
“Yesssss,” Chiana whispered, a beautiful, predatory smile on her face as Aeryn nearly yanked the hair out of her head. She watched Aeryn with her lips half-parted, as if waiting, anticipating.
“Going… to… kill…” But Aeryn was overwhelmed before she could finish the empty threat, eyes closing and every muscle going snap-wire tight. “Chiana,” she breathed as she unwound, falling back onto the covers.
“Exactly,” Chiana said, her eyes shining satisfaction.
65. Smell
“Frell, what is that?” Chiana asked, eyeing Aeryn’s arm with obvious distaste.
“Zhaan gave it to me. It’s a new poultice she mixed up-she claims it will heal the wound three times faster than what she was using before.”
“And that’s worth smelling like a Fredarbian swine-hound?” Chiana crouched down in her chair. “If I lose my appetite, I blame you.”
“I could eat in my own quarters,” Aeryn pointed out reasonably.
Chiana gave her a look and she threw her hands up, knowing better than to argue with Aeryn by now. “All right, all right. I’ll sit upwind.”
66. Taste
Chiana’s fingers flew over the meal in some quick gestures before she started eating.
“What was that?” Aeryn asked, briefly suspecting a sprinkling of aphrodisiac or other undesirable chemical on the food.
Chiana tilted her head as she chewed. “What was what?”
“That-” Aeryn did a rough and inaccurate imitation, “with your hands.”
“Oh.” Chiana looked at her food. “Just something my brother and I used to do. We were grateful for any meal we could get ahold of.”
She fumbled for words, “I… it’s nice.”
“I could teach it to you. If you like.”
Aeryn smiled. “Very much.”
67. Touch
“Chiana. Chiana!”
Chiana jerked awake, sitting up in the bed, her eyes wild and unseeing.
Aeryn sat up slowly, tentatively running her hands on Chiana’s back and making soothing nonsense sounds. “It was just a nightmare. Can you hear me, Chiana?”
“Nerri?” She whispered, gripping her hands tightly around her neck.
“Shhhh,” Aeryn said, pulling her close, gentling the tensed muscles in the other woman’s body and letting her keen her pain. “Shhhh. I’m here.”
What felt like hours later, Chiana’s hand reached up and found Aeryn’s, fingers lacing together.
And even when they woke up, they hadn’t let go.
68. Dust
Iridescent gem sparkles on her skin, Chiana licked them up with a wicked grin and then moved in for a kiss where they shared the powder, starbursts of sensation on their tongues, red and gold and white explosions that jarred her teeth and got her blood roaring.
“Come closer,” she demanded, running her hands across the pale skin and tasting it, more more more pulsing on her tongue.
“You are beautiful.” She didn’t know if it was her or Chiana who said it; her mind whirled and stretched, body was sizzling everywhere Chiana touched her.
She was lost.
69. Texture
“Let me do it,” Chiana said, coming up behind Aeryn on the bed and straddling her legs around her back.
“You know how?”
“I’ve only seen you do it about five hundred frelling times.”
Aeryn dropped her hair and set her hands in her lap. “I value my hair, you know.”
“You’d look more like me without all this hair.” Chiana observed, running her fingers through it to get out the tangles and carefully separating it, braiding with intense concentration.
“I’ve never considered what kind of Nebari I’d make.”
“A very strange one.” Chiana grinned, finishing the braid. “I like strange.”
00. She Admits
“Thank you.”
“For what? The powder was a gift.”
“Not for that.” Aeryn laid a hand on Chiana’s chest, taking a breath. “Just… thank you. You didn’t take advantage of me. You could have.”
“Oh, well. You know I don’t like to do anything that will make life on this ship any more frelling inconvenient.”
Aeryn just looked at her, in a way that might have been labeled fondly if it were anyone other than Aeryn. She was beautiful, with her hair wild on the pillow around her, starlight softening her face.
“Well, no.” Chiana finally said. “I couldn’t have.”
What starts out as a mistake turns out to be something much better.
(Written for femslash100, challenges 61-69, with an additional non-challenge drabble to round it out.)
Unexpected Understanding
61. Night
She’d supposed-in that idle part of her mind that noticed the efficiency of Aeryn’s stride, the way she clipped her words, her insistence at eradicating any and all signs of softness-that she would be much like any other Peace Keeper in bed.
But here Aeryn was, ripping through Chiana's clothes, hair a wild black corona and lips crushed against Chiana's in a request that she could mistake for nothing other than what it was.
“I like being wrong,” she purred into the skin at the nape of Aeryn’s neck, burying her face in the darkness and inhaling.
62. Day
“That was a mistake,” Aeryn’s voice was clipped again, and she looked pale in the full lights of Chiana’s quarters.
Chiana came up behind her, slipping her hands beneath the heavy belt and digging her fingertips into Aeryn’s hips and biting at her neck.
“You think I don’t know that I’m your little John substitute?”
Aeryn looked on the verge of snapping, lips drawn tight.
“Aeryn,” she said, stretching the name out into a caress. “Surely you’re not delusional enough to think that I care.”
Thankfully, she laughed, and didn’t resist in the least when Chiana led her back.
63. Sight
“Don’t bother,” she said, pulling away the blankets. Aeryn liked to pretend modesty when the sleeping shift was over, and it amused Chiana to no end to prance around the room naked just to rankle her.
“Fine,” Aeryn said, reaching for her clothes.
“No-” Chiana stopped her twirling and slung her arms around Aeryn’s shoulders. “Don’t.”
She arched a single black brow. “Give me one good reason I should be freezing my arse off in here.”
Chiana shrugged, keeping her voice light. “Because I like to look at you?”
Aeryn sighed, but dropped the clothes, laying down.
64. Hearing
She bucked against Chiana’s fingers, her whole body arching off the bed. “Frell, this is torture,” she growled, twining her fingers through Chiana’s pale hair, pulling her closer.
“Yesssss,” Chiana whispered, a beautiful, predatory smile on her face as Aeryn nearly yanked the hair out of her head. She watched Aeryn with her lips half-parted, as if waiting, anticipating.
“Going… to… kill…” But Aeryn was overwhelmed before she could finish the empty threat, eyes closing and every muscle going snap-wire tight. “Chiana,” she breathed as she unwound, falling back onto the covers.
“Exactly,” Chiana said, her eyes shining satisfaction.
65. Smell
“Frell, what is that?” Chiana asked, eyeing Aeryn’s arm with obvious distaste.
“Zhaan gave it to me. It’s a new poultice she mixed up-she claims it will heal the wound three times faster than what she was using before.”
“And that’s worth smelling like a Fredarbian swine-hound?” Chiana crouched down in her chair. “If I lose my appetite, I blame you.”
“I could eat in my own quarters,” Aeryn pointed out reasonably.
Chiana gave her a look and she threw her hands up, knowing better than to argue with Aeryn by now. “All right, all right. I’ll sit upwind.”
66. Taste
Chiana’s fingers flew over the meal in some quick gestures before she started eating.
“What was that?” Aeryn asked, briefly suspecting a sprinkling of aphrodisiac or other undesirable chemical on the food.
Chiana tilted her head as she chewed. “What was what?”
“That-” Aeryn did a rough and inaccurate imitation, “with your hands.”
“Oh.” Chiana looked at her food. “Just something my brother and I used to do. We were grateful for any meal we could get ahold of.”
She fumbled for words, “I… it’s nice.”
“I could teach it to you. If you like.”
Aeryn smiled. “Very much.”
67. Touch
“Chiana. Chiana!”
Chiana jerked awake, sitting up in the bed, her eyes wild and unseeing.
Aeryn sat up slowly, tentatively running her hands on Chiana’s back and making soothing nonsense sounds. “It was just a nightmare. Can you hear me, Chiana?”
“Nerri?” She whispered, gripping her hands tightly around her neck.
“Shhhh,” Aeryn said, pulling her close, gentling the tensed muscles in the other woman’s body and letting her keen her pain. “Shhhh. I’m here.”
What felt like hours later, Chiana’s hand reached up and found Aeryn’s, fingers lacing together.
And even when they woke up, they hadn’t let go.
68. Dust
Iridescent gem sparkles on her skin, Chiana licked them up with a wicked grin and then moved in for a kiss where they shared the powder, starbursts of sensation on their tongues, red and gold and white explosions that jarred her teeth and got her blood roaring.
“Come closer,” she demanded, running her hands across the pale skin and tasting it, more more more pulsing on her tongue.
“You are beautiful.” She didn’t know if it was her or Chiana who said it; her mind whirled and stretched, body was sizzling everywhere Chiana touched her.
She was lost.
69. Texture
“Let me do it,” Chiana said, coming up behind Aeryn on the bed and straddling her legs around her back.
“You know how?”
“I’ve only seen you do it about five hundred frelling times.”
Aeryn dropped her hair and set her hands in her lap. “I value my hair, you know.”
“You’d look more like me without all this hair.” Chiana observed, running her fingers through it to get out the tangles and carefully separating it, braiding with intense concentration.
“I’ve never considered what kind of Nebari I’d make.”
“A very strange one.” Chiana grinned, finishing the braid. “I like strange.”
00. She Admits
“Thank you.”
“For what? The powder was a gift.”
“Not for that.” Aeryn laid a hand on Chiana’s chest, taking a breath. “Just… thank you. You didn’t take advantage of me. You could have.”
“Oh, well. You know I don’t like to do anything that will make life on this ship any more frelling inconvenient.”
Aeryn just looked at her, in a way that might have been labeled fondly if it were anyone other than Aeryn. She was beautiful, with her hair wild on the pillow around her, starlight softening her face.
“Well, no.” Chiana finally said. “I couldn’t have.”