A Heart Needs A Home (Part 2)

Posted on 04 Feb 2014 @ 6:25pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson & Ensign K'os Beaumont

3,561 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Chicago, Earth
Timeline: MD 22 - 1700 hrs

Previously, on A Heart Needs A Home (Part 1)...

He wobbled his way towards the large ice rink, trying not to feel too overwhelmed by the skyscrapers surrounding them. People of all levels of experience were laughing and enjoying themselves as the crowd slowly moved in a large circle around the rink. More ambitious and skilled people zipped and twirled around in the middle part. He noted the lights in the trees around the park and he smiled at the thought of what they'd look like at night. He was starting to get cold, so getting on the ice and moving around would be best. When he got to the ice he skated a head in a few sweeping motions. He was out of practice and he wobbled a bit. He slipped a couple times, but recovered well without falling. When he had his skating legs back and he was less wobbly he skated back towards Ellsworth to see how he was making out.

And Now, the Continuation...

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Ellsworth had his knees bent too much, and his arms were still outstretched for the occasional windmill. He was crouched down to a height of about three feet and had his arms stretched out like the wings on a runabout. His eyes were darting nervously from side to side as people "zoomed" around him without too much regard for the obvious novice. When K'os headed back toward him, his face seemed to relax a little bit and he smiled.

"Look at you. The only good thing about seeing you skate away was that I got to look at your butt. This is harder than I imagined," he said, wobbling dangerously to one side as he stood up straighter. He gave an exploratory push with his right foot and managed to scoot forward without falling. A few feet away, someone went zooming by at extraordinary speeds and leaped into the air, twisting several times before perfectly landing. Ellsworth scoffed. "I could do that."

"I don't doubt you." K'os skated backwards as the smaller man followed. He watched him flail a couple times and reach out to him but he didn't allow Ellsworth to use him as a crutch; skating just out of his reach so that he could learn to balance on his own. When he looked as though he were a little more comfortable K'os turned around and skated beside him. He put his gloves back on, then interlaced his fingers with Ellsworth's hand.

Ellsworth had been so focused on not falling that the touch startled him. He looked at their hands out of the corner of his eye and suddenly turned bashful; cheeks already reddened from the wind and cold turned a shade darker, and his long lashes gave a few coy flutters.

"I have three surprises for you today," Ellsworth announced suddenly, giving his hand an affectionate squeeze. He loved planning surprises, but he was horrible at keeping them. It was taking a great deal of effort to keep from screaming the plans at the top of his lungs.

"Three more than I was expecting. How fortuitous." He suppressed his smile, making his dimples appear.

Ellsworth grinned at him, thinking of how adorable the dimples were. Somewhat reluctantly he let go of the half-Vulcan's hand and skated away a distance, weaving awkwardly between people and narrowly escaping more than one near-collision. He'd been feeling much more confident in his ability to ice skate, mostly from holding hands with K'os. In many ways, ice-skating was like dancing - the poise, the balance, the control- and he felt like he didn't need his training wheels anymore. In fact, he began to think it should be fairly simple to replicate some ballet he'd learned on Risa.

"Watch this!" he shouted, uttering those fateful words that usually preceded disaster where men were involved.

Ellsworth set off to gain speed at first. Though he still felt wobbly on his feet, he ignored the sensation. The wind and the cold really were invigorating; beyond that, he was feeling over-confident and some very young part of him wanted to impress K'os. He knew from the way the Vulcan hybrid looked at him - from the excitement in his eyes when Ellsworth had called to the affectionate looks he earned - that he didn't necessarily need any encouragement, but it never hurt to try to further endear himself.

To Ellsworth's credit, the flying leap really was very graceful. His hands and legs were spread with perfect poise, and he even had the audacity to scissor his legs once. But in that split second when he reached the apex of his flight and hung in the air, he realized too late that he had no idea what he was doing. The leaping, no big deal. Anybody could leap on skates. But the landing? The landing seemed to be another matter, he thought, as the ice came rushing toward him. He didn't have on ballet shoes, and the ice wasn't a forgiving hardwood stage; the skates were clunky, bladed monstrosities, and the ice was jagged and slick. Now what was it K'os said about falling? Flail around as much as possible?

The impact to his side was jarring and absolute; he thought he actually heard a woman nearby gasp in horror. When he finally came to a stop, he laid on his side and tried to take account of his body through the pain. He didn't think he had broken any bones; the only thing wounded would be his pride. Motionless, he hoped K'os might somehow forget about him entirely. The cold of the ice was already seeping through the clothing on his right side; maybe if he laid her long enough it would cryogenically freeze him. Snow would fall soon enough, burying him under a blanket of white purity that might serve to wash away his misplaced hubris.

K'os chuckled and then smiled widely in total contradiction to everyone else around who had witnessed the display. He quickly skated to Ellsworth then stopped suddenly spraying ice snow into the air. "That was amazing. I would never be bold enough to try that." His laugh was hearty and loud, obviously forgetting people weren't as sturdy as he was. "You almost had that landing!" He offered his hand to help him up.

Ellsworth watched the spray of ice go arcing over his body, creating a small rainbow when the light reflected perfectly off the frozen water droplets. Hearing K'os made him let out a short laugh, cut short by the pain in his side. The small Betazoid finally flopped to the left, laying on his back and looking up at K'os. The sun was caught behind his body, giving him a warm aura. Ellsworth had no idea if this whole thing was infatuation or love, but he was certainly in love with the half-Vulcan at that moment. How many people in the universe could take such a colossal failure and spin it in a positive, encouraging light?

"I'm nothing if not bold. Maybe also a little foolhardy, arrogant, overconfident, et cetera, et cetera," Ellsworth said, giving him a goofy lop-sided grin while grasping for the hand.

Once he was upright, he planted his feet firmly and remained close to K'os. A myriad of people were spinning around them, like hundreds of planets revolving around a binary star; everything else was beginning to seem distant and unimportant. Ellsworth slowly raised his head and looked up. His black eyes were wide-open, vulnerable and a little wet, two bottomless depths in which he hoped K'os would see reflected all the things he wanted to say but didn't because his clumsy words might just ruin the moment. K'os was very many things to him, but, above all, he was the first person to make Ellsworth feel good about himself.

K'os took his gloved hand and the two began to skate again. He concentrated on just enjoying the experience. He wanted to let go and allow his mind to latch on to the hope that the feelings they shared were genuine, but he didn't. Right now, he just wanted to skate.

=-=-=-=-=

"Okay, so, I spent almost that whole hour before I met you at the transporter pad planning our date," Ellsworth said, pulling off the last skate. He was grinning with excitement. "The first surprise is we're gonna go shopping an' I'm gonna buy you a fancy suit cuz you'll need one for the second surprise."

He stopped putting his boots back on and turned to stare at K'os. His eyes looked distant, as if he were envisioning something in the future. He focused again and reached over to affectionately run one hand through K'os's hair, careful to preserve the style and not touch his scalp. "You're going to look so handsome."

K'os didn't seem to be aware of the hand through his hair as the gesture just felt natural enough not to notice. "I've been told I look like a boy in men's clothing when I wear a suit." He finished putting his boots and the two of them began to walk back to the vendor to return their skates. "I am intrigued though."

Ellsworth wrinkled his nose. "I'll be the judge of all that. I think you're going to look dashing!"

=-=-=-=-=

In the back of the hovercab, Ellsworth gave K'os a dreamy look. He leaned over close and made a minor adjustment to the lapel of the suit jacket and the lay of his hair before looking up at him. He eased his hand across the material covering K'os's chest and fought down the Betazoid hormones inside of him while the hovercraft was bearing them toward a still unannounced destination.

"Not like a boy at all," he said, giving an appreciative smile that bordered on the lustful.

K'os returned the smile then continued looking out the window. He was completely oblivious to the Betazoid's preening or lingering touches. He clutched the side of the door tightly, but otherwise his face was calm. He had thought they spent an unusual amount of time picking out clothing, but he admitted he lacked any knowledge of such things and deferred judgment to Ellsworth. Neither him or the tailor had seemed satisfied with K'os's own suggestions, which was for the best. He had said no to the vest however as he was getting too warm in it and he didn't like how it felt. He fidgeted with it so much they finally all agreed to not include it. There would have been even more discussion surrounding his pants had K'os not threatened to go without if they didn't make up their mind. After the beach incident where K'os had said he would and did carry Ellsworth from the bed to the restaurant and back, he knew K'os would have left the shop pantless. The half-Vulcan turned his attention back to the other man. He seemed to pull the look off well and K'os enjoyed any reason to look at a beautiful person.

Ellsworth had chosen a decidedly traditional Terran suit that their Tellarite tailor had cut with an overall profile that had clean lines to accentuate his small frame. He'd chosen a traditional black Harris Tweed fabric with a silver jacket lining (more for warmth than anything); two-button single-breasted jacket with a narrow, notched lapel to lengthen his stature; flat front cuffless pants that fit close to his legs and pulled tight across his full bottom; and a 2-pocket vest with lapel meant to add width to his small frame.

The three-piece suit was almost wildly ancient, but he'd always had an appreciation for Terran fashion and wore it so well that people likely wouldn't think twice about it. Not that he really cared; he was happy with the way he looked, and he thought K'os was, too. That was all that really mattered.

K'os himself was dressed similarly, though the shape of the shirt and jacket seemed to hug his not overly muscular but solid chest and shoulders. The trick he was told was in accentuating K'os's clearly defined v-shape torso, but also accommodate the larger than normal thighs and calf muscles without making the stomach look roomy or the pockets near his hips flare out. To the tailor's credit, K'os wished his starfleet uniform could be this well fitting. He returned his gaze out the window and clutched the seat tighter.

Outside, the city had come alive with light. The sunset had come and gone while the Tellarite businessman fussed over measurements and style choices; if the city had looked glorious in the day then it seemed to sparkle and glow in the night. Bright lights not only lined the street but also flooded out from every building lining the roadway and the various vehicles traveling along it. As the hovercab sped past block after block, Ellsworth marveled at the reflection of the lights off the shiny metallic surfaces he could see shooting skyward; the speed created a dazzling display that was unlike anything he'd ever seen or imagined on pastoral Betazed or tropical Risa. Here was a modern Federation city, glowing and prosperous.

"Thank-you for the suit, Ellsworth Hudson." He continued to stare out the window for a moment then as if he suddenly remembered something he quickly looked away from the window and back into those depth-less black eyes. "Thank-you for...well..." He flicked a fluff off his pants and then smoothed out an invisible wrinkle before looking out the window again, "...everything, really."

"Everything?" Ellsworth asked, looking a little confused. He wasn't going to pass up the compliment but he was looking for a little clarification. In turning to look at him, he noticed he wasn't exactly at ease in the car. It had never occurred to him to think that K'os might be uncomfortable in the hovercab. "Wait... Are you okay? Oh..." Reflecting on their destination, he almost felt his stomach turn. "You're not afraid of heights, are you? I should have asked first, ugh..."

K'os chuckled and released his grip from the seat as if only just realizing he'd been doing it. "No, I'm not bothered by heights. Just hovercars." He laughed, more to release a little tension. "And now you have me even more intrigued about where we're going." He sighed and leaned back in the seat, forcing himself to look more comfortable. His eyes met Ellsworth's. He chose his words carefully, conscious that the cab driver could overhear. "More precisely," He began slowly with a nod, "thank-you for keeping me company." He nodded again more to himself. "I'm very fond of these outings." His eyes cut to the cab driver who occasionally looked at them in the rearview mirror.

Ellsworth smiled; if he was in a holonovel he would have also swooned, placed his hands over his heart and fell into a bed of rose petals. 'Thank-you for keeping me company, I'm very fond of these outings' might have seemed a tad functional to anyone else but Ellsworth; for him, it was to date the sweetest most romantic thing anyone had ever said to him, and he had the blushing cheeks to prove it. In response, he eased a hand on to K'os's leg, hoping to show both his appreciation and sympathy about the uncomfortable ride.

"I guess we're close enough that I can let the secret slip," Ellsworth said, glancing at the display of the city streets, showing both their current location and destination. He was grinning from ear-to-ear. "So, that petty officer whose stuff I was transferring the other day... Well, he's from here. Chicago, I mean. And it wasn't like a simple transfer; it was more like a favor cuz I had to route his stuff through Vega then call the Supply Command officer on Starbase 73 and... Anyway, he said he owed me one. And it turns out his uncle is the manager of this really nice restaurant here called Michigan, so I cashed in my favor to have dinner with you. We get a special table an' everything. I'm so excited!"

The last part he nearly shouted, his exuberance getting the better of him. Spending time with K'os was thrilling and fulfilling in and of itself, but their impending romantic dinner had him riding a high that made him feel near-manic.

"Very resourceful." He nudged him with his elbow affectionately. He studied Ellsworth's face, enjoying the display of exuberance. His boyish face seemed more mature to him in that moment. Maybe it was the suit, but to K'os he seemed more debonair than dapper. As they spoke further he was constantly finding his attention drawn to the small things. The way he absently adjusted his hair or how his cheeks turned pinkish when he laughed too hard. He suddenly felt very fortunate to have him as a companion. No one he knew went to such great lengths to ensure that he had a good time. It was so endearing to have someone care about him that much.

=-=-=-=-=

The restaurant consumed the entire 195th floor of the building. The closed off block in the center running from floor to ceiling clearly housed the passenger and cargo elevators, kitchen, and storage areas, but the rest of the area was dedicated to dining space. Despite its massive size, Michigan was absolutely jammed with people: dignitaries, ambassadors, politicians, businessmen and others were scattered within view of the open foyer at the elevator landing. Two petty officers from a science ship would ordinarily have been laughably out of place, but they were dressed for the occasion and Ellsworth carried himself with a dignity that was far beyond his years.

In fact, he was perfectly comfortable in "high society." He couldn't always keep up with the topics of conversation, but he could at least smile, look pretty and not be the least bit intimidated by the wealth and titles of those around him. They were just people.

The monochromatic scheme of the restaurant was the enduring standard for Terran elegance. Back on Betazed or Risa something upscale like this would be decorated in either garish colors or taupe. But Ellsworth liked the understated refinement of the simple white table cloths, black tile floors, white calla lilies, and seamless floor-to-ceiling windows.

The maitre d'hotel greeted them and lifted an eyebrow at the notation on their reservation. He discreetly double-checked, gave Ellsworth a brief but dubious look, and then turned all smiles while leading them to their table. Each of the four corners of the restaurant had a high-backed, semi-circular single seat booth turned away from the rest of the patrons, providing spectacular views of the lake and the city while giving privacy to a romantic dinner or business negotiation.

They were fortunate enough to be seated in the southwestern booth, which provided a view of both the city and the lake. The moment they slipped into the booth the sound of the other diners and the soft Terran jazz of the house band seemed to fade significantly by some trick of acoustics. For Ellsworth, it felt like he was completely alone with a handsome, charming, lovable young man floating above the sparkling city of Chicago.

Before their server could appear, the young Betazoid leaned over to kiss K'os's cheek and squeeze his leg beneath the heavy tablecloth.

K'os couldn't take his eyes of the view. Though it was starting to get hard to make out the lake, the lights doting the city were magnificent. Streams of colours below whirled around in a way that threatened to make him dizzy. He leaned in and accepted the kiss distractedly saying a quick, "thank-you," as he continued to take in the beauty of the city below them. He wasn't sure how long he was taking in the surroundings. K'os's perception of time was always different from other people. Maybe it was the comfortableness he felt around Ellsworth, or maybe the privacy the booth created but he found himself easing control over his emotions; allowing them to swell more rapidly and strongly. He knew Ellsworth would detect the change, but one of the things he loved about the younger man was his acceptance of him. The effect was immediate. His heart rate increased from the joy and excitement. The palms of his hands became warm and slightly damp from the gentle hand on his thigh. His smile became less dopey, instead becoming wide and full of warmth.

"We're so high up!" He said quickly, with an almost giddy tone. "My stomach tightens at the thought of pressing my face against the glass."

Some may have found the emotional outburst childlike, filled with the sense of wonder that one had when experiencing things in the world for the first time. But Ellsworth could feel it on a deeper level and knew it represented a relaxation of the controlling grip K'os always kept on his emotions. Something about feeling the unbridled passion behind the outburst was sensual to him, and he could feel his own heart quicken for completely different reasons. An impulse inside of him began to grow more insistent, hungry.

To Be Continued...

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PO3 K'os Beaumont
M/E Systems Specialist
USS Galileo

&

PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo

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