Nika and Christian Don't Have Sex

The cockpit's been her favorite place since the ship took off, though that's not exactly out of the norm for her. Nika's got her boots propped on the console and the Cortex off -- she's humming under her breath, the tune seemingly random notes but melodic enough, with her head tipped back and her eyes closed. It's that sense of displaced air that everyone who spends time alone gets that alerts her to someone coming through the cockpit door. She opens her blue eyes and looks toward the hatch.

"Music of the stars?" Christian asks. He's carrying a cup of steaming water in one hand and a tea bag in the other. "I thought you might want this. After protein paste for ten days, a little flavor might be welcome."

There's a soft laugh as she reaches up to take the cup from him, appreciative of the tea bag that he brought with him. "Something like that," she admits. "Thank you. How're things holding up back there?"

Christian glances back for a moment, before he settles into the co-pilot's seat. "Arden seems to be coping well. Rina... will heal with time. Rick is a survivor by nature. He's dealt with worse."

Nika doesn't seem inclined to get up or really to say a lot. She puts the tea bag into the hot water and lets it steep for a few minutes. "Good," is her only reply.

Christian turns to look out into the stars. "So." He says. "Want to go to my room and have sex?" He says it in the same manner one might say, "Wanna go shoot hoops?"

Maybe she just plain doesn't intend to answer him. Maybe she didn't hear him. It's hard to tell with her eyes toward the viewports and her hand absently toying with the tea bag in her cup. Finally she takes the tea bag out, very carefully placing it on the saucer that came with her cup and leaving both saucer and tea bag on the console's flat counter next to her elbow. She sips the tea briefly and finally asks, "Why do you do that?"

Christian smiles, "Because I know you'll see through it." He kicks his feet up onto the console. "And because you need something to jar you a bit. You've been wallowing for days now. You died. You need time to reflect. That's why I haven't said anything for the last ten days... but we need you. Rina, especially. There are some things only a woman can help another woman work through."

Glancing toward him, Nika raises a single eyebrow. "I'm not wallowing," is all she says, though her brow raise is clearly a query as to what's going on with Rina.

"The assault by Potempkin came right after," Christian says, softly, "but Rina still had to let go of Mike. Worse, tell him no when he proposed."

Nika nods slightly, her eyes turning toward the viewports again as she sips her tea. "I kinda figured when she came back that something like that happened. That one of them put the other off." Because before that, Rina had been pretty much accepting of the fact that they'd go their ways whenever it was necessary. "She's not going to talk about Mike. Most assuredly not to me. He's a topic we ... steer clear of." She glances at him.

Christian sighs, softly. "I think you're wrong there. I think she wants you to talk to her about him. I don't think she holds what you and Mike did against you or him."

"I don't think she holds it against me," Nika says slowly, testing the words on her own tongue. There's a hesitance there, as if she's not entirely sure she believes that. "Just... " The nightmares that plagued her when they first took off are finally slowing, but some things linger. "I'll talk to her if you think I ought -- you're the person in charge of the mental well-being of this crew."

"I think it might be a good idea." Christian says. He stares out into the stars as they move, slowly, despite the great speed of the ship. "Thank you for coming back to us, mei mei."

There's a sudden tension in the room, Nika's entire body tightening with shock, the hot tea sloshing as she bobbles the cup. "Please.... don't call me that," she chokes, her throat suddenly tight. "I never went anywhere."

Christian draws his feet off the console and turns to face Nika. "Did he call you that?" There's no questioning as to who "he" is.

There's true surprise in her features when she looks up at him, only a hint of tears. "My friend Harry.... she used to call me 'xiao mei,'" she tells him. "It makes me miss them." She pauses. "I'm not sure what you think Mike and I had, but it damn sure wasn't a relationship, Christian. It was ... the right person at the right time to keep nightmares at bay." Her assumption on who 'he' might be and the defensiveness are perhaps more telling than she'd like.

Christian nods his head, some relief on his features. "I was worried it was your sister's husband. I had this horrible image of someone twisting something beautiful into something horrible."

Nika relaxes just a little and even laughs. "He didn't usually call me much but bi (OOC: Cunt), saobi (lewd cunt; bitch), you get the drift," she tells him mildly.

Christian snorts. "He needed lessons, then. There are much better ways to speak dirty to someone."

Her laughter is soft. "He wasn't terribly imaginitive," Nika admits. "I always wondered what Nala really saw in him anyway." She's kind of glad he didn't follow up on the other part of what she said. Sipping her tea again, she says quietly, "No... it just surprised me that you'd use that derivation. It reminded me of Harry." She grins a little. "She's a piece of work, that one. I wish you'd gotten to meet her when we were onplanet."

Christian can't help but smile, seeing Nika smile. "It fits. I call my friend Max that, sometimes... though less when we began the more physical training in the Guild. I'm sure I'll meet your friend again. Once we have everything settled, why don't we go look for them?"

Nika looks up at him and says quietly, "We have a couple of other things to take care of, but... I'd like to deal with that, yes. Let's see what's what when we get to Bernadette. I'd like to handle the situation with Nguyen, as well. We don't need the rumor mill getting worse and worse."

Christian nods his head in agreement. "Alright. That sounds like a good idea. Now." He says, getting to his feet. "I need your help. Come on."

Looking puzzled, Nika swallows the last of the tea in her mug in a big gulp, ignoring that it's still quite warm, and shoves herself to her feet. She's still moving stiffly, though it's not nearly as bad as it was a week ago. "What's up?"

“I want to get into better shape." Christian says. "Specifically my upper body. I've been neglecting that. I need someone to spot me while I work on our weight machine."

"I hope you're not planning on using much weight at all," Nika tells him. "Arden will skin me if I damage all his hard work."

"Low weight, high reps." Christian assures Nika as he leads the way to the back of the ship, "I prefer to keep my present physique. Wearing a dress isn't all that attractive when you have large biceps."

Nika eyes him and just shakes her head. "Where I come from, you do know that men don't wear dresses, right?" she says as she follows him.

"Where you come from, men aren't pretty enough to." Christian says cheerfully.

Nika snickers. "If we go to Boros, I highly recommend you keep *that* opinion to yourself and wear trousers, or they may take it upon themselves to teach the girly-man a little somethinsomethin about 'how we do things on the Rim.'" The last is said in a VERY drawling tone of voice.

if you don't want me seducing your menfolk I'll dress appropriately. I own a wonderful pair of cowboy boots, though."

Looking at him sideways, Nika merely rolls her eyes at him. "You'd look like a fairy in cowboy boots. A complete greenhorn. And they'd laugh you off the ranch."

Christian smiles. "I reckon some things just ain't for city folk." He mock puts an imaginary hat to his heart. "I'm sorry, Miss Nika. You and me, we're just too different to make it work. You're all horses and grit and I'm all glass and concrete."

She rolls her eyes again at him. "You are a complete ham. You do realize that, right? I can't take anything you say seriously." Nika follows him toward the lounge where the weight bench is Are you really as gender neutral as you seem?" she asks. Maybe it's a personal question, but whatever.

Christian strips off his shirt, revealing a nicely toned, though not overly muscled, chest and settles down on the weight bench. The rear lounge is empty, with the three other crew members off working on individual projects elsewhere. "I'm a man." He says, "Biologically and psychologically. I enjoy wearing women's clothing, though. The fashions are usually more beautiful, visually, and there's more variation. Men have pants, shirts, and occasionally kilts. Women have skirts, dresses, pants, leotards, catsuits..."

Nika clears her throat and says quietly, "I do hope you won't take this the wrong way, Christian. But .... you're a man genetically and all, but I ain't NEVER met a 'man' like you. The men I know would just as soon beat you up because you're sort of.... girly. Like that statement right there! 'Men' in my world just don't wear women's clothing. I don't mean to offend, and I truly apologize if I have."

Christian laughs. "Men in my world don't tend to, either. Most of them don't wear make-up or have sex with other men as well as women. I'm a bit unique, I admit. I just don't see why I shouldn't enjoy everything that's out there to enjoy. Women have it easier than men, of course. Say you see a shirt at a store. It is clearly marked as a man's shirt, but you like it and it'll fit. Would it being in the men's section keep you from buying it?"

"Well... no. But then, no one would look at me oddly for it, either," Nika replies. "And in most places, you're definitely going to get looks. At least places on the Rim." She's not so sure about the Core.

"Generally, when we're out in those places, I wear men's clothes and very little makeup." Christian notes. "I don't want to get beat up. But I also refuse to allow society to dictate what I should enjoy or be. As a companion, it was easier to get away with it."

Nika nods slowly. "Yeah, I can see that. Because Companions have a good bit of leeway to work with in that regard, it seems." She shrugs a bit. "Don't get me wrong, I'm getting used to you these days so I don't think too much of it -- except when you toss sex into the conversation. And well.... the more I get to know you, the more I'm not really ever gonna go that direction with you." She glances at him. "And I almost feel like I ought to apologize for //that// too."

Christian stops in his lifts, lowering the weight bar onto its rest. "Because you're not ready to hop on me right now and ride me until I'm broken and wet?" He laughs. "I admit, I've had some lustful fantasies about you but as time goes on, I'm realizing how important it is we don't become lovers."

There is a roll of her blue eyes as he says that, and Nika actually has to laugh at him. "Yes, Christian, because I am not now, nor do I think I will //ever// be able to imagine hopping on you and riding you until you're broken and wet." She shakes her head. "//Shi//, man.... you have this absurdly candid way of phrasing yourself that ALWAYS throws me!"

Christian grins. He can't help it. "You're a touch puritanical about sex. Not that you won't have it but you're like a lot of people. You separate it from the rest of your life as much as possible."

"Hey, I'll have it, but it's got nothing to //do// with the rest of my life most of the time. It's a good way to have some fun, get closer to someone I feel like being close to, and relax." Nika shrugs a bit and admits, "Maybe with the right person, it's more than that. But it's not the be-all, end-all of my activity and I kinda like my private stuff private."

Christian shakes his head. "Except its not. Its a component of your relationships and your interactions, its part of how advertisers and publishers try to cater to you, its a factor in how you pick out and buy your clothing... it is a pervasive part of life."

"Be that as it may, I don't particularly think my own preferences and such should be for public consumption. It's... personal. I don't feel the need to flaunt either my self or my sexuality all that much." She grins a bit. "There's a time and a place to be a girl."

"Yes, there is. I always enjoy my time and place for being a girl." Christian begins lifting again, pressing up on just ten pounds of weight. Very low, very high rep.

Nika just facepalms and then settles on a bench to watch him idly.

Christian continues to press the weights up, then lower them down. "If you're interested in Arden, I think you will have to make the next move."

Crossing her arms in an instinctively protective gesture over her chest, Nika nods slightly. "Maybe. Not sure I'm gonna make that move either," she admits.

Christian glances over. He didn't miss that. "I understand that." He says as he continues his reps. "Probably better we focus on business right now, anyway."

"Yeah, probably," Nika replies. She nibbles her lip a bit. "Going back to Bernadette not in full fighting form worries me a good bit," she admits. "It's Potemkin's stronghold."

"I know. If this were a Cortex drama, we'd be on our way to a final confrontation with our arch enemy." Christian says. "And he's a dramatic enough guy to want that."

With a smirk, Nika replies, "Well, if we're living a drama, here's hoping the resolution goes in our favor, yes?"

Christian nods. "Amen to that."

Nika smirks faintly and then moves to get up. "So.... just so you know, I'm okay." Because after all, he came to drag her out of the cockpit and all.

Christian lowers the weight bar once more and sits up. "Okay."

Nika eyes him. "'Okay' I believe you, 'okay' if you say so but I'm skeptical, or 'okay' I've decided you're lying and it's my job to fix you?"

Okay." Christian says. "I believe you."

There's a grin, and Nika ruffles him as she goes by. "Okay, good." She will be okay... she's getting a bit better every day. "I'll get out of the cockpit more, I promise."