Fight Night [Kali]

[Kali Reyes]

[Promenade]

Kali naturally liked Sala, but then again she just enjoyed most Orions in general. There was even love for the mean bald males that hogged the pool table from time to time.

She didn't find what was wrong with the conversation, but Mahak's abrupt closing the conversation made Kali pause and re-evaluate Sala's words and the way she held herself saying it.

"Night ensign." She gave Sala a little wave in parting and waited for her to walk out of earshot to needle a bit. She couldn't help it; she was naturally curious. "I like her. You've got uh... good taste - oh sod it - does she mean like I think she means?"

Okay, so it wasn't needling. It was a full on cruiser slamming into an asteroid.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Promenade]

"Sala made certain...advances when I was posted here." Mahak had his finger firmly jammed against the 'call turbolift' button. "They were unwelcome. She never forgave me for not returning them, and tried to have me transferred off of the Columbus. Hence, why I am there now."

The lift arrived and Mahak stepped aboard.

"You'd never behave that way with a subordinate, would you, Kali?"

[Kali Reyes]

"You'd never behave that way with a subordinate, would you, Kali?"

[Promenade]

Something about the way he phrased it bothered her. She rubbed her arms as if chilled. "No way in hell! I wouldn't..." Oh god, what if she - and he was trying to tell her -

Kali swallowed hard when he stepped into the turbolift. Her boots refused to pick up and follow. Okay, so maybe she was a little bit flirty, but she hasn't yet heard any complaints from anyone on the Discovery. She would have stopped if they said anything. She'd leave them alone.

And wow. Sala sucked. Like scumbag sucked. Her perception of her changed immediately. But maybe this was something she needed to hear. She didn't want to be like Sala. She didn't want his new tour of duty to be a repeat performance.

Go up to a private room with him? Sala would do it. She wanted to punch something, cry a bit, and maybe get really drunk.

"If I... look, I'm gonna go." There were no shuttles off at the moment, but she could find a bar or a Jeffery tube with a case of beer; really she could navigate just fine. Spotting the close door button, she suddenly reached out to push it.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Turbolift]

His intercepted hers and their fingers intertwined, as if by magic.

"If you wish to leave I do not understand why," Mahak said calmly. "But of course I will not stop you."

"If, however, your wish to depart has something to do with Ensign Sala I would urge you to reconsider." The Vulcan said, still holding her hand. "I did not mean that you would take advantage of a subordinate or behave as she had. It was a declarative statement with a rhetorical question at the end of it, nothing more."

[Kali Reyes]

[Promenade]

Kali continued staring at the button, unable to look up at anything but her fingers entangled with his. "Don't act like a serene bastard," she answered heavily. "I go up with you to a private room and lo and behold, your pervy ex-superior comes around saying I'm gonna finish what she started. Kind of a mood killer." Anger hit her hard and ate up her self-confidence like a forest fire.

Whether or not she was going to go up, she had to tell him. "You need to tell me if I went too far. I'm not a pre-packaged Starfleet officer that automatically has the sense of one. I'm trying and learning everyday. But you know what? I have enough sense to know when I'm not wanted and walk away, okay?"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Turbolift]

"I find your confusion illogical, Kali," Mahak told her, his voice every bit as calm as her's was fierce.

"Sala went too far just with her words. You are not as bold or as roguish as you make yourself out to be." There was no judgement in his tone, he was merely stating the facts as he saw them. "And you are a proper Starfleet crew member to ask me this. No, Kali Reyes, you have not gone too far and I don't imagine you will."

[Kali Reyes]

[Promenade]

"Your attraction to me is illogical," Kali said half-heartedly. "I don't know why you do. I'm trying to and I really can't."

People were starting to come out into the Promenade whether the event ended or not. To avoid a public disturbance, Kali stepped into the turbolift and let the doors smoothly slide shut behind her. She felt chastised and foolish, but Mahak's clinical tone kept her from feeling worse.

Desperate for some kind of reassurance, she finally looked up at him and took a deep breath. Maybe she was a bit petulant when he said she wasn't a badass, but he wasn't wrong. A lot of her recklessness came from loneliness. If no one cared, why not jump without looking?

After a beat, she said tentatively, "I like you." It wasn't exactly the greatest love confession this side of a holovid. She still wasn't sure if she was capable of something like that. But she was telling the truth. She liked hanging out with him, she liked working with him, and even liked having her ass kicked in training.

Years of therapy, months of Starfleet councilors trying to break through the cracks of Kali's empathy, and none of them reached her the way Mahak's quiet coolness did. She took a step forward and, with a great dramatic air, thumped her forehead on his chest. "Sorry for being a pain in the ass."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Turbolift]

"You say we are different but I do not see it as such." Mahak said to her solemnly. "But we are similar. You express your emotions physically like I do with boxing."

They were alone for the first time in...since they had met, really.

Mahak had long arms that were whipcord thin but layered with muscle. His shoulders, chest, stomach, all of it was rigid and hard and toned. With just a bit of reluctance at such an emotional display, he wrapped his arms around her smaller form and pulled her against his body.

It felt so good that for just an instant he wanted to show some of the emotion that she always brought up in him, to let her see and know and feel what he felt. But it was quickly gone.

Instead, Mahak ran his hands along her back, memorizing every muscle and curve from her ribs to her hips and shoulders. He nuzzled the mass of dark hair with his mouth and closed his eyes.

[Kali Reyes]

[Turbolift]

A small scoff from her warmed his uniform jacket. She knew how to lash out, get rid of the excess emotion coloring her judgment, but then feel lousy afterwards. Boxing helped a bit; it may continue to do so.

Mahak wasn't kidding about his hobby. The moment he pulled her in, it felt like she was hugging the side of cargo box - not unpleasantly so. She decided cargo boxes was the best thing ever.

He held her in a way that was stabilizing, almost suffocating. She melted into it so quickly it was ridiculous how much she needed it.

"You're really good at that," she mumbled. Her eyes darkened in a lazy daze when she felt his mouth brush into her hair. A sigh hit her hard. That was kind of a weak spot for her.

When she nudged up for a stellar kiss, the turbolift suddenly buzzed. People were trying to call it down.

"Problem," she said weakly. "Kind of don't want to let go." Her fingers sank a bit into his ribs to drive her point across.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Turbolift]

"Let them." Taking her chin and cheeks in his hands Mahak felt the fullness of her lips against his own, the exhalation of their commingled breath, and her body urgently pressing closer to his.

The bells grew strident and louder. Sighing a little against her, Mahak reluctantly broke their contact to say.

His cheeks were flushed again and his eyes were shining with intensity as they stared into hers.

"You are really good at that."