Negotiation Complications
Sep. 5th, 2018 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerUrrrgh. If I disappear on Friday, it's because I got scheduled really, really poorly this week.
~Dreamer~
Main Points:
Star Trek (the 2009!movie verse) Vampire AU
Summary: Liodinu (Leonard) and Jim flirt, and Liodinu asks Kirk to look into current Strigai problems for him.
Word Count: 1102
Rating: Teen (though they pretty much only kiss and slightly make out)
CONSENT IS SEXY Y'ALL and you legit can't convince me Kirk isn't a gentleman
This Liodinu’s good at kissing, and I’ve had kisses the universe over, no exaggeration. (I really have no idea why that tends to be one of my only tools, besides violence, to escape—and thanks to Spock Prime, I know it’s not just me with my weird Silvan charisma that’s the cause, either.)
I reach out and caress the back of his neck, smiling a little, because there’s not that often I get to just make out with people. “So, you wanted to speak in private.”
He bites his lip, fangs drawing blood. “I’m insane. This could get me killed. This could get you killed.”
“Hey, I could place you under Starfleet protection, if necessary.” I reach out a hand and help him up, getting him into a more comfortable position. There’s not a lot on the Galileo to make it cushy, but that’s not its function (though I’ve thrown in a few pillows anyway, if only to give Spock another reason to give me the Sassy Eyebrow). I sit down close by, both so that we can talk quieter (they’re not likely to be listening in, “So, tell me what you wanted to tell me.”
“Faction Dirijior has my daughter,” he tells me, and the utter despair he feels tells me he isn’t lying. “Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have allied with their Faction, but my bond-mate, Sabiena, sought more power. They were gaining in power, so she believed giving them a Vindroi with the threat to my daughter would give her the position she wanted. She’s not wrong. I’m acting like a vitha, damn it!” He smacks the side of the shuttle, and surprisingly enough it hurts his hand.
My heart aches for him, and it hurts that if this is the whole situation, I can’t let either this atrocity go forward or myself to jeopardize an allegiance just based on my own feelings. “I’ll do what I can,” I promise. It hurts to project emotion, rather than simply taking it, but I try to send whatever soothing feelings I can because this Strigai needs it. “If all else fails, I can request you and your daughter as part of the terms of joining the Federation. A trade of knowledge, for example. The Dirijior are the ones we’ve been dealing with, which is why they sent you to spy on me and seduce me, right?” He nods, still furious. “Would the Dirijior consider the alliance more important than keeping you captive?”
He considers it briefly. “Vindroi are hard to come by for the Dirijior, not bein’ a natural association an’ all, but they’ve been pushing for this alliance for some time. I think they’d do it, showing their fangs all the while. There’s something else, though, Captain—”
“Jim,” I correct him, and watch him smile.
“—Maybe it’s just my paranoia, but this all happened pretty soon after I started asking questions about the blood.” This sounds promising. What, I like improving my position.
“Okay, you’re going to have to explain that part,” I tell him, and he feels both excited and worried.
“Strigai drink blood. ‘m old enough I remember the last vitha. An entire herd, exterminated.” I swallow. Genocide, or mass extinction, is certainly a sin humans have committed, but it still feels….primitive, somehow. “From them, we drank our fill.” He pauses, before adding, “They appear similar to Strigai, but have no fangs or basmat.” I shiver a little, and he pulls away, looking worried. “Scare you away, sweetheart?”
“Nah. Human history is—seriously—bloody as well. Remind me to tell you the history of our world wars sometime.” I draw him back. “From what you’re saying, though, you killed the vitha. Do you have other sources of blood?”
“That’s the thing.” Those pretty brown eyes are troubled. “We do—we drink the blood, though not from bodies anymore, so where do we get our supplies from?”
That’s—
“Did you have any blood sources other than vitha?” I ask, tapping my fingers against the seat restlessly. “Or any animals that could serve as alternate blood sources?"
He frowns. The UT must be translating one of the words oddly, something he’s not used to hearing. “The vitha ate all the middle-size…animals?” He tries out the word, as if it’s unfamiliar. I’d noticed myself that they hadn’t served any meat, just veggies, but Spock was pleased about it anyway. “There are very small critters, but they wouldn’t be able to supply food for us all, and there’s…” He pauses, struggles with his words, but it’s not like he hasn’t already told me things that, by his own words, could get either me or him killed (or both). “Only the lower-class eat any meat, though they clearly wouldn’t serve it in a feast for the Federation. Plants are more dangerous, worth hunting and fighting.”
That gets my attention. I’ve never run into an actual mobile plant monster before—
(I hear Uhura’s voice in my head. You’ve never almost been killed by one, either. And, Captain? M’Benga doesn’t need the work.)
Mind Uhura isn’t wrong. I suspect I’ll be too busy putting myself in danger in other ways anyway. “What about trade or manufacture?”
He shakes his head. “No Strigai would rely so heavily on outsiders to supply a basic necessity of our lives, and fake blood wouldn’t have the same power. We’d all waste away.”
So. Of course the doctor would know. “That does sound like a reason for someone to shut you up, if we’re on the ‘the world is a thriller’ idea.” I pull him close, for a kiss. I let my fangs grow, bite his lips visibly, to give everybody a cover for what we’d been doing. He twitches and moans and I can feel him getting excited, but there’s still that reluctance there that indicates lack of consent. I pull away reluctantly, but I can deal with this on my own.
He looks surprised. “Captain—”
I cut him off. “Look, I’m not about to sleep with you just because the Dirijior told you you had to, if I was interested. I’m not going to take advantage of the fact that you can’t say no.”
Disappointment-gratitude-hope-lust. Other tastes I can’t quite make out. “Thanks.” He’s not used to that.
I smile, take and kiss his hand, and stand, a little uncomfortably. I’ll deal with this on my own, and leave him to do so as well. Just for appearances’ sake.
~Dreamer~
Main Points:
Star Trek (the 2009!movie verse) Vampire AU
Summary: Liodinu (Leonard) and Jim flirt, and Liodinu asks Kirk to look into current Strigai problems for him.
Word Count: 1102
Rating: Teen (though they pretty much only kiss and slightly make out)
CONSENT IS SEXY Y'ALL and you legit can't convince me Kirk isn't a gentleman
We kiss as we fall into the shuttle, and it’s only after I hit the controls to close the door that I pull away to catch my breath.
This Liodinu’s good at kissing, and I’ve had kisses the universe over, no exaggeration. (I really have no idea why that tends to be one of my only tools, besides violence, to escape—and thanks to Spock Prime, I know it’s not just me with my weird Silvan charisma that’s the cause, either.)
I reach out and caress the back of his neck, smiling a little, because there’s not that often I get to just make out with people. “So, you wanted to speak in private.”
He bites his lip, fangs drawing blood. “I’m insane. This could get me killed. This could get you killed.”
“Hey, I could place you under Starfleet protection, if necessary.” I reach out a hand and help him up, getting him into a more comfortable position. There’s not a lot on the Galileo to make it cushy, but that’s not its function (though I’ve thrown in a few pillows anyway, if only to give Spock another reason to give me the Sassy Eyebrow). I sit down close by, both so that we can talk quieter (they’re not likely to be listening in, “So, tell me what you wanted to tell me.”
“Faction Dirijior has my daughter,” he tells me, and the utter despair he feels tells me he isn’t lying. “Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have allied with their Faction, but my bond-mate, Sabiena, sought more power. They were gaining in power, so she believed giving them a Vindroi with the threat to my daughter would give her the position she wanted. She’s not wrong. I’m acting like a vitha, damn it!” He smacks the side of the shuttle, and surprisingly enough it hurts his hand.
My heart aches for him, and it hurts that if this is the whole situation, I can’t let either this atrocity go forward or myself to jeopardize an allegiance just based on my own feelings. “I’ll do what I can,” I promise. It hurts to project emotion, rather than simply taking it, but I try to send whatever soothing feelings I can because this Strigai needs it. “If all else fails, I can request you and your daughter as part of the terms of joining the Federation. A trade of knowledge, for example. The Dirijior are the ones we’ve been dealing with, which is why they sent you to spy on me and seduce me, right?” He nods, still furious. “Would the Dirijior consider the alliance more important than keeping you captive?”
He considers it briefly. “Vindroi are hard to come by for the Dirijior, not bein’ a natural association an’ all, but they’ve been pushing for this alliance for some time. I think they’d do it, showing their fangs all the while. There’s something else, though, Captain—”
“Jim,” I correct him, and watch him smile.
“—Maybe it’s just my paranoia, but this all happened pretty soon after I started asking questions about the blood.” This sounds promising. What, I like improving my position.
“Okay, you’re going to have to explain that part,” I tell him, and he feels both excited and worried.
“Strigai drink blood. ‘m old enough I remember the last vitha. An entire herd, exterminated.” I swallow. Genocide, or mass extinction, is certainly a sin humans have committed, but it still feels….primitive, somehow. “From them, we drank our fill.” He pauses, before adding, “They appear similar to Strigai, but have no fangs or basmat.” I shiver a little, and he pulls away, looking worried. “Scare you away, sweetheart?”
“Nah. Human history is—seriously—bloody as well. Remind me to tell you the history of our world wars sometime.” I draw him back. “From what you’re saying, though, you killed the vitha. Do you have other sources of blood?”
“That’s the thing.” Those pretty brown eyes are troubled. “We do—we drink the blood, though not from bodies anymore, so where do we get our supplies from?”
That’s—
“Did you have any blood sources other than vitha?” I ask, tapping my fingers against the seat restlessly. “Or any animals that could serve as alternate blood sources?"
He frowns. The UT must be translating one of the words oddly, something he’s not used to hearing. “The vitha ate all the middle-size…animals?” He tries out the word, as if it’s unfamiliar. I’d noticed myself that they hadn’t served any meat, just veggies, but Spock was pleased about it anyway. “There are very small critters, but they wouldn’t be able to supply food for us all, and there’s…” He pauses, struggles with his words, but it’s not like he hasn’t already told me things that, by his own words, could get either me or him killed (or both). “Only the lower-class eat any meat, though they clearly wouldn’t serve it in a feast for the Federation. Plants are more dangerous, worth hunting and fighting.”
That gets my attention. I’ve never run into an actual mobile plant monster before—
(I hear Uhura’s voice in my head. You’ve never almost been killed by one, either. And, Captain? M’Benga doesn’t need the work.)
Mind Uhura isn’t wrong. I suspect I’ll be too busy putting myself in danger in other ways anyway. “What about trade or manufacture?”
He shakes his head. “No Strigai would rely so heavily on outsiders to supply a basic necessity of our lives, and fake blood wouldn’t have the same power. We’d all waste away.”
So. Of course the doctor would know. “That does sound like a reason for someone to shut you up, if we’re on the ‘the world is a thriller’ idea.” I pull him close, for a kiss. I let my fangs grow, bite his lips visibly, to give everybody a cover for what we’d been doing. He twitches and moans and I can feel him getting excited, but there’s still that reluctance there that indicates lack of consent. I pull away reluctantly, but I can deal with this on my own.
He looks surprised. “Captain—”
I cut him off. “Look, I’m not about to sleep with you just because the Dirijior told you you had to, if I was interested. I’m not going to take advantage of the fact that you can’t say no.”
Disappointment-gratitude-hope-lust. Other tastes I can’t quite make out. “Thanks.” He’s not used to that.
I smile, take and kiss his hand, and stand, a little uncomfortably. I’ll deal with this on my own, and leave him to do so as well. Just for appearances’ sake.
