Win by Submission

Posted on Mon May 19th, 2025 @ 1:42pm by Lieutenant T'Mara & 1st Lieutenant Kes Th’relnal
Edited on on Fri May 23rd, 2025 @ 12:52am

4,373 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Year One: Strange Bedfellows
Location: Kes' quarters
Timeline: MD 033 - 2215 hours

Kes leaned back and took a sip as he watched the two combatants squared off in the arena. They wore brightly coloured outfits that shimmered in the bright lights. The crowd chanted for their favourites and jeered the opposition. Their antenna waved back and forth as the announcers made colour commentary about their feud that'd been going for the last six months.

It'd been forever since he'd gotten to see a match live, and now with everything going on and his commission being extended, it would be a long time before he got another chance. Watching it on a screen would have to do for now. At least he could keep up with the rankings.

There was a chime at his door and he barely glanced back. "It's open."

T'Mara heard the muffled voice inside telling her that the door was open, which is most certainly was not, however, as she stepped closer the door opened due to the proximity sensor. Ah. The door was unlocked. What an imprecise method of speech.

She stepped into Th'relnal's quarters and saw the male lounging in his chair watching some sort of holovid but did not take the time to determine what exactly it was in the moment.

"I did not mean to intrude, however...I procured libations on the Orion ship - Given you have shared with me, I thought it logical to reciprocate." She motioned to the two bottles she held in her arms. "I have Orion Delaq and Romulan Ale..." I also have other souvenirs... Her inner voice helpfully supplied and T'Mara unconsciously fidgeted as she considered her new, not exactly asked for, jewelry. And promises. You did promise something to the Orion, Rushgili. Her inner voice continued. Damned inner voice.

Kes raised an eyebrow. "Both of those could be considered contraband in some circles." He sat up in his chair and motioned toward the other chair just on the other side of the small table. He corked and put his own bottle of ale on the floor safely behind the table on the floor. "Good thing I'm not in those circles. Join me doc, a drink is only as good as the company it is with."

He reached down and clicked open the front of the table and brought out a second glass from the compartment inside and placed it on her side of the end table. "Guest's choice on what to crack open first."

T'Mara followed Th'relnal into his quarters and placed the bottles on the table. Given his deferment to her regarding what to sample first, T'Mara reached forward and pulled the Romulan ale towards her. She had sampled Orion fare...although not this particular spirit. Regardless, for first round, she felt a 'change of pace' would be prudent.

"You provided me with libations not easily procured on a Starfleet vessel, recently. I thought it logical to reciprocate. I have never had either of these spirits, before." She began to pull at the metal wrapping that protected the topper on the bottle and got to work 'un-corking' the thing.

Kes watched as T'Mara took on opening the bottle as if it were a logic puzzle and was about to offer a hand when the cork let lose with a satisfying pop. "Nicely done d- T'Mara."

He grinned in spite of himself, even though he'd just used her title she was a guest in his quarters and the last thing he wanted to do right now was remind her about that damn medical tricorder.

There was a cheer from the video and Kes glanced in time to see that Thren had connected with a left hook that sent his opponent staggering.

"YES!" He shouted and then looked at T'Mara to see if she'd seen the blow as well. "Thren... he's been climbing the rankings steadily since coming back from injury. Good kid."

T'Mara watched the vidscreen as she poured two servings of the vibrant blue liquid. "I remember watching a match during my studies...years ago - for a time I was going to be relocating to Andor so it was logical to learn about the Andorian people. The physical form in motion is a fascinating thing."

"I think you mentioned nearly going to Andor before." Kes said as he took another sip. "Mind if I ask what happened there? Allergic to the cold? Freaked out by Antenna?" To make a show, his own antenna wiggled before coming back to face T'Mara.

She took an experimental sip of the blue liquid. It rolled down her throat like a fiery caress. Never before had she tasted such a beverage. T'Mara took another robust swallow in appreciation before answering Th'relnal. "It was decided that it would be best if I were not to accompany my family to Andor but to report to Mount Seleya and begin training as a priestess. It was not my preference. I was...anticipating relocating to Andor. I found what I had learned about Andorian culture to be fascinating."

"Pfft, you'd have fit right in with a thirst like that." Kes replied as he took a large gulp to keep up. He wasn't about to be shown up by a Vulcan after all.

"So let me get this straight... you did all this research into my home and people only to be shuttled off to be a priestess. And now you're a doctor?" The burly Andorian shook his head and smiled broadly. "If you next tell me you have a secret lust for Horta you might just be the most interesting person I know."

He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers against the padded arm. "I've always known I was going to fight. Loved the arts but can't sing for shit. But I can rattle a skull or pick off a vole with the best of them."

"Horta? Sweet Surak, no. Part of my training as an acolyte focused on the healing arts, which I excelled at...however, another part..." T'Mara's voice trailed off as she thought back to the moment where she had been informed what she would be required to do for males during their 'time,' and something broke in her. They blamed her rage upon her mixed heritage; it was yet another black mark on her person - and yet, in this, she had no contriteness in her. Not good enough to be a daughter, or a mate...she refused to be used up in such a manner by those who would not even look her in the eye and offer water as was required in guest-rites.

She downed the rest of her glass and poured another helping of the Romulan ale, and noted that she was already starting to feel the effects of the vibrant blue liquid. "I was not considered suitable to the role I had been assigned. The high priestess considering my healing skills to be of a caliber that they should--logically--be put to use. She recommended I sit for the Starfleet entrance exam, leave Vulcan to study medicine..." And never return. T'Mara added silently.

"A far different path from being born to 'fight,' but being shit at the arts." T'Mara used his verbiage in her response.

Kes coughed as the romulan ale almost choked him for his reaction to T'Mara repeating him. "Well, count me glad that this is where your path took you so far."

There was another cheer from the vid screen, and Kes shook his head as it looked like Thren had just gotten the wind knocked out of him.

He took a breath and finished his drink proper before pouring another. "That's the thing I like about Starfleet over the Imperial Guard, the different skills and challenges. You're out here patching up all manner of injury and illness in all manner of person. Where some of the doctors in the Guard wouldn't know where to start if a Vulcan or Human ended up in their med bay."

"Most I learned of Vulcans was a bit of Suus Mahna. That kind of art I could get behind." Kes said with a grin as he swirled the romulan ale in the glass. "Some dismiss it, but I've seen Vulcans half my size toss around a Nausicaan without breaking a sweat."

"I learned a number of techniques in that style." T'Mara responded easily. "And I was anticipating learning more fighting forms once on Andor...what is it the humans say...the road not taken? They have the most peculiar ways of conveying data at times, but I am beginning to see the appeal of creative speech." She took another swig of the ale, and found the spreading warmth and lassitude to be quite fascinating change from her usual rather controlled self.

Kes laughed heartedly. "My favourite is something I heard about an engineer once. A human said, and I quote... "He could weld the ass on a cat." Don't ask me why someone would weld a cat's behind, but as shocking as it sounded it was meant as a compliment!"

Kes finished his drink and poured another from the bottle. It was nearly empty, another glass maybe, had he drank that much or had T'Mara really been keeping up with him. He smiled and shook his head as his Antenna swayed as if affected by an otherwise unfelt current. It seemd Vulcans could hold their alcohol when they wanted to. "I'd ask you to show me your moves, but you're half my size and I'm not even a Nausicaan."

"A wise decision." T'Mara said as she felt the side of her mouth tug in an unusual manner, and what Kes saw was a smirk. "It is a challenge to hold back when engaging with weaker species. I have struggled with consistency in that regard." She huffed air out of her nose in a quick exhale, looking quite satisfied with herself. Wait, was she actually baiting Kes?

Kes slowly raised an eyebrow as he locked eyes with her over the rim of the glass. He slowly took in the drink as he antenna perked up. "I agree. To engage with an untrained person could be dangerous... for them." He put the glass down and only half watched the vid screen as his antenna stayed sharply alert.

"Humans have another phrase I like as well. 'Don't let your mouth write cheques your hands can't cash'." Kes said firmly as he smirked. Part of him was holding back as she was the medic, but the part of him that wanted to toss her across the room was growing.

T'Mara's brows rose with what Kes replied with. She didn't quite understand the idiom he used, but considering what she had just done--to an Andorian, no less--she was fairly confident she could glean the meaning. She opened her mouth to inform him she was more than competent hand-to-hand combat but she halted before uttering anything...a miracle in itself given the curious effects of the Romulan ale.

It was at that moment she recalled a Rihannsu proverb she had been forced to learn while at Mount Seleya, but in the moment it seemed rather apropos. Misdirection is the key to survival. If knowledge is power, then to be unknown is to be unconquerable.

"As you say, Lieutenant. It is often wiser to be cautious and avoid unnecessary risks, rather than to be overly courageous and potentially put yourself in danger." As if to highlight that she was being 'ironic,' T'Mara raised her glass to Kes in a salute and tipped it back, downing the rest of the liquid in one go, and then placed the now empty glass down on the table with an audible clank.

"And switch." Kes said politely as he uncorked the other bottle, the Orion one, and filled two glasses. He tried not to let himself be goaded into a fight by the doctor, because why else would she be making those comments. And here he thought Vulcans could hold their liquor.

Picking his up he held it out toward T'Mara to toast. "To knowing when to fight."

T'Mara reciprocated the gesture, holding out her now re-filled glass of Orion intoxicant towards Kes. She huffed out an exhale through her nose. Perhaps it was because he had been watching the holovid match, but she was not trying to bait him to fight...the words were out of her mouth before the logical, controlling portion of her mind could shove them down into a dark box never to be uttered, ever. "Is not aggression a technique utilized in Andorian society to convey...interest, Or have I erred?" Her hazel eyes held his violet ones in an unblinking stare. "Of course, I am more than willing to dispel your preconception that I am somehow an unsuitable sparring partner, if that is what you would prefer." It was getting really hard to consider all of this logically. What was she doing??? The Romulan ale had all but obliterated her inhibitions...

Not breaking her gaze, T'Mara brought the glass of rosy-amber liquid to her mouth and took a sip of the elixir that got her into a very fascinating scenario on the Orion ship with Rushgili. She would have to return and procure more of these libations...she tried to perform some mental math to calculate just how much she could obtain but gave up half way through after the numbers started to fall apart in her mind.

Kes had been mid gulp when he heard T'Mara. To his credit he managed to swallow what was in his mouth, but lost his grip on the glass as it tumbled to the floor with a clack. His eyes widened and his general smirk and air of confidence disappeared entirely. Mentally scrambling, Kes wanted to look away, but T'Mara held his gaze.

"You... you did your research." Kes leaned forward and wiped some of the spilled liquid from his shirt. "Just wasn't expected from... well... a vulcan." He reached down and picked up the glass that luckily hadn't shattered, but the remainder of the drink now belonged to the carpet.

Kes studied T'Mara for a second longer in confusion, still trying to see if this was some sort of joke or test. "I... " He then chuckled. "Yeah, I got nothing. I'm an idiot." His antenna slowly leaned forward as he picked up his glass from the table and raised it in a mock cheer.

"To being blind I guess." And he tossed back the drop of alcohol that had been left.

T'Mara tipped her head down and covered her mouth with her hand after her mouth pulled strangely, but what Kes saw before she reacted was an amused expression. It took 4 seconds to regain control, and she turned her gaze back on Kes. "An unfortunate metaphorical state of being." She was going to say something more when the crowd's roar again was heard from the holovid. Something significant had occurred.

Kes raised an eyebrow and was about to pour himself a refill when the crowd roared again. He caught the end of a devastating kick from Thren that downed his opponent into a crumpled mass on the floor of the arena. Kes smiled broadly and leapt from his seat with a shout of approval.

"That is how you end a match!" Kes said triumphantly as if Thren had been of his own family. Caught in the moment he turned and reached to pull T'Mara to her feet in celebration as well.

One moment she was sitting, trying to figure out if she actually liked the Orion liquor, and then she had been dragged to standing by an Andorian engaging in some sort of celebratory dance. She tilted her head in a curious manner watching his movements in fascination. It was unfortunate T'Mara had no idea on how to interact with this. She thought on what Kes had just exclaimed...the end of the match...perhaps.

"It was a most effective blow. It takes quite a skilled fighter to attain such precision and accuracy."

"And he's barely more than a kid! He'd have a future in the guard for sure if the public arenas get boring." Kes smiled broadly and was about to reach down for his glass when he realized he hadn't refilled it yet. He paused and closed his hand around air before standing up straight again.

He turned to face T'Mara front on and raised his chin slightly. "You were making a joke about being interested." His inflection was trying to keep it from sounding like a question. Of course she wasn't serious, it had been an attempt to throw him off. It had to have been.

"I am Vulcan. 'Joking' is not part of my repartee, Lieutenant." He thought she was engaging in a humorous anecdote? That knowledge made her feel rather foolish, even through the languid feeling of the Romulan ale.

He studied her for a long quiet moment. "Seems you know Andorians better than I know Vulcans."

Kes reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. "How does this... work? I mean, I know how to be with a woman, an Andorian woman at least. Not sure how this goes with Vulcans."

She tilted her head in a manner that made her look like a German shepherd dog hearing the crunch of a bone. "No doubt you know enough about my kind. Aloof...judgemental...arrogant. Although utterly illogical I used to consider mental scenarios where I was something else...anything else - but I did not know enough to make it a worthwhile past time." T'Mara took a small step closer to Kes and looked up into his exotically colored violet eyes. "Treat me as you would a shen, Kes. I will inform you if any particular action is not...agreeable." She reached out and traced a feather-light line down the musculature of his chest and abdomen.

Kes blinked several times as her fingers traced down his chest. He let out a deep exhale and and pushed the doubts and hesitation from his mind.

She was a full foot shorter than him, which made his next instinct to pick her up and get her at eye level. With one hand on the small of her back and the other hand on her firm behind, he rested his forehead against hers as his antenna bowed low, while she couldn't respond in kind, he did brush them softly over her dark hair.

He locked eyes with her for a moment before he hungrily pressed his lips to hers.

The featherlight touch of his antennae against the top of her hair was...electric. Andorians weren't telepathic, but their articulate appendages were filled with nerve endings and were able to sense a multitude of details. She was able to sense the energy field that were focused within the sensitive organs.

She leaned her head back as he dipped down, given the disparity in their heights, and he captured her mouth in lascivious kiss. This was far unlike her previous experiences with mouth kissing. It would appear that Kes approached this activity in the same manner as he performed his duties as a Marine...to capture, to conquer...it was agreeable. It spoke to her primal instincts that had been subsumed by the dogma of Surak's 'Logic.' It was tempting to give into her more primitive desires, and T'Mara could not come up with a reasonable reason not to.

Her hands pressed firmly against his chest and she shoved, pushing Kes back to his seat and quickly climbed atop his lap, straddling him. It did solve the issue of the height differences as she was now able to gaze into his violet eyes. With a mischievous gleam in her own gaze, T'Mara raised her fine-boned fingers and gently caressed his antennae with her index and middle fingers to see what would happen.

Kes fell gladly back into his seat and placed his hands on either side of T'Mara's waist as she straddled him. A tingling wave shot down through his core and back as her fingers delicately danced around his antennae. A guttural growl escaped his lips as his hands rose along her slender form beneath her shirt.

Unexpectedly, one of his fingers felt and brushed over a strange piercing. Kes paused and tilted his head. "You're full of surprises." He pulled on her shirt, lifting it with a mix of curiosity and hunger.

His hands on her skin was really quite distracting, and when his fingers brushed across her new...hardware, it elicited a most interesting sensation. She really was the worst Vulcan.

"Surprises?" T'Mara's voice slurred slightly from all of the ale circulating through her system...not to mention what the Orion libations were doing... "Is...is that a good thing?" She reciprocated in his actions, pulling at the garment covering his upper body to expose a lean, toned chest and torso that spoke of dedication and commitment to maintaining his physical form.

She made a soft trilling sound that Kes most likely had never heard a Vulcan make at the sight of his exposed skin; she was well-pleased at the sight. Although the libations were making complex thought very difficult, T'Mara could not help but feel satisfaction with this current development. He was a rather enticingly proportioned male.

A grin appeared on Kes' lips.

"Very good..." He let out with a growl. He pulled her closer to him, pressing her skin against his and his hands ran over her athletic form. He leaned forward and brushed his lips over her neck, nipping playfully with his teeth as he did.

Her skin was soft but firm under his fingers and lips. Pressed together he could feel the warmth radiating from her easily matching his own. Part of Kes was amused as Vulcans were oft believed to be cold and distant, but neither of those could apply right now.

One of his hands moved lower, he could feel her own desire and lust against his own growing hunger. He placed his fingers against the fabric of her pants. She had asked him to treat her like a shen so he would. His hand moved rhythmically over the thin fabric that separated him from her needs.

There were no hesitations in Kes' movements. She found that most agreeable. His ministrations served as a stimulating tease, and frankly it just felt good to experience such gratification. Far preferable to many of the other sensations she had experienced in her short life.

Besides, what difference does it make? You're not a 'real' Vulcan anyway...why shouldn't you pursue physical sensation? Her 'inner-chorus' whispered to her. That was a rather scandalous thought...

While she was somewhat consumed with her inner dialogue, T'Mara's hands did not still but moved down to the belted pants and began to--rather proficiently--unclasp the belt buckle and undo the catches for his pants. Why were they wearing so much clothing?!

She growled her displeasure, but recaptured his mouth in another searing kiss and recognized that she had been unconsciously moving against his hand as he stroked at the juncture between her legs.

His own desires transmitted through their mutual touch, and T'Mara did not want him to go unfulfilled; it was necessary to be a conscientious partner. She clawed down his chest to his now 'unwrapped' groin and reciprocated his gesture, marveling at the feel of him against her sensitive fingertips.

Kes let out a low growl as her touch sent waves up and down his spine. He kept her form close to his as he trailed his lips from hears down the side of her neck. He brought his lips brushing over her supple breast and nipped with his teeth before flicking his tongue across her delicate skin. All the while he could feel his hips seemingly moving of their own accord against her touch.

A feather-soft smile graced her normally stoic features as she pulled away from him. The libations they had consumed together were eliciting such a fascinating physiological response. T'Mara felt such satisfaction; In this moment she was a female who had successfully aroused her chosen. This felt so...good.

Standing over him was suddenly quite provocative with her chest bare and her cheeks flushed emerald-tinged in desire. Her limbic system was now firmly in control from the Orion Delaq, and coupled with the inebriation of the Romulan Ale, T'Mara had now rather seamlessly slid into her primal self - she who was without 'Logic.' It was the same sensation she had experienced aboard Stalker, and it felt so...thrilling. YES

T'Mara stood and looked down upon Kes' chiseled features, and inhaled in a manner that showed how viscerally affected she was by these overtures. He smelled of coniferous sap, piney and crisp - in such an alien way that was...fascinating.

The smaller Vulcan woman held her hand out in an invitation of a most physical kind, and said in tone that promised all sorts of enjoyable things, "Will you show me your sleeping platform, Kes?" Things were becoming quite warm and fuzzy.

Kes stood as gracefully as he could, his unbuttoned trousers falling loosely to the floor and leaving him completely exposed. He wasn't a vain man, but he was still proud of his form and the reaction T'Mara was having to it. He took her hand in his own firm grip, pulling her in close before lifting her into his arms and stepping out of his trousers completely.

His eyes locked with hers and his Antenna waved slowly before finding their direction forward once more. He wasn't sure if it was the Orion drink, or just too much of a good thing, but all his senses were heightened and made his very being feel as if he was on fire.

Holding the beautiful Vulcan woman in his arms, he walked toward and through the door to his bedroom.

As the doors slid shut behind them, the far away Andorian crowd on the vid screen cheered.

 

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