Log Date:
	8/24/97

Log Cast:
	Shenneret Veery, Paul Nighman

Log Intro:
	With their borrowed ship _Hawk's Wing_, Shenner and Paul have finally 
reached Corellia to fulfill their mission of delivering V'ez-tcha refugees to 
safety. But they've done it at the cost of Paul going without sleep for two 
days straight, and only after essentially seducing Paul into bed has Shenner 
managed to get the man to sleep. But to her dismay, Paul's rest has been 
interrupted by what appeared to be a violent nightmare, one that apparently 
involved Jessalyn, for he'd cried out her name upon awakening. 
	Despite her concern over the implications of Paul having nightmares 
about Jessalyn after making love with _her_, Shenner has nevertheless gladly 
heeded Paul's request that she stay with him, fulfilling her promise to 
herself to give him support and comfort....

----------
Captain's Quarters
Unlike the rest of the ship, this room is extremely cluttered with books, 
  papers, computer equipment, and many artifacts and pieces of art from 
  different cultures. In the corner stands a Viol, and a guitar rests in it's 
  case not too far from it. The rest of the ship is clean and efficient 
  looking, but this room is somehow cosier for all it's mess and confusion.

It's a fair amount of time later when Shen awakens again, blinking her eyes 
  and trying to figure out what time it is. A slight headache behind her eyes, 
  a sort of 'you've slept too long' pulse, she frowns vaguely, and tries to 
  gauge her surroundings. _Mrmmmmmm?_ And then, _Paul...?_

The Corellian is still there, sprawled out next to Shenner. His arms are no 
  longer wrapped about her, having shifted since he first fell asleep, but he 
  is still close, pressed up against her. Since the nightmare, his body has 
  been trying to recover from its exhaustion, but his mind is overactive and 
  hypersensitive. It is evident from the state of the sheets and blankets that 
  he has been restlessly sleeping.

Shenner stretches, or at least tries to, as best she can without awakening 
  Paul. Her gaze casts round the room, looking for the nearest chrono by which 
  to judge the time, before coming back to Paul's face, trying to see whether 
  he's slumbering peacefully now.

The nearest chrono, which is on the wall near to Paul, claims that it is now 
  5:36 pm, Coronet City - Corellian time. That would suggest that Paul has 
  been sleeping for close to four hours or so. As for the Corellian in 
  question, his features seem peaceful enough, but there seems to be, even as 
  he lies there relaxed and prone, a slight edge of tension about his frame 
  ... as if his body were winning the battle of sleep against his mind ... but 
  only by the slightest of margins.

Shenner frowns, thinking for a moment to try to prop herself up, but no, 
  Paul's still snuggled tightly against her. She lifts a hand instead, running 
  it through his tousled hair. "No more nightmares," she murmurs to him, 
  scoldingly. "You're supposed to sleep."

His brain seizes upon her voice, despite its appeal to his body, and catching 
  hold of it tightly, forces the man awake. Paul's eyes flutter open 
  uncertainly, crusty from his earlier tears and ragged sleep. Hazel orbs fix 
  upon the hand, following its movement unfocusedly. He blinks, trying to 
  clear the haze, and mumbles, "What? Sl-eep?" One hand rises, uncertainly, 
  flailing through the air near his waist.

"Shhhh, Paul, shhh... I'm sorry," Shenner says softly, smoothing his hair 
  again. "You should rest. Go back to sleep, okay?"

The searching fingers give up, reaching for his face instead of their unknown 
  quarry. Paul rubs at his eyes, blinking a few more times and yawning widely. 
  The import of Shen's words seem to have been lost on him. His eyes gradually 
  clear, and while he remains where he is, allowing Shen's fingers to stroke 
  over his brow and hair, he locks his gaze to hers, now quite firmly awake. 
  "How long?" he asks huskily, his voice still warm and drowsy.

"Four hours or so," Shenner murmurs, nodding her head briefly more or less in 
  the direction of the chrono. "How you feelin'?"

"Like a wrung out washcloth," he admits honestly, "but that's an improvement," 
  he assures her in the same breath. Lurching upward, he makes the 
  concentrated effort to sit up in bed and makes it, though it takes a second 
  or two longer than it might normally. He rubs a hand over his rough jawline, 
  scowling slightly at the beard being born there. "Damn, I must look like 
  crap," he hazards a guess.

Smiling a little where she lies, Shenner says, equally honestly, "I wasn't 
  payin' attention."

Swinging about, Paul leans lazily on his left arm, gazing down at the redhead 
  laying next to him, her figure clear beneath the sheet covering her. 
  Shifting and placing his right arm next to her left hip so that he is 
  hovering over her partially, he cracks an affectionate smile and drawls, 
  "You're so lovely when you're lying."

Shen blushes, momentarily nibbling at her lower lip, though her eyes brighten 
  as she does so. "Well, I wasn't payin' attention to you lookin' like crap," 
  she protests, waggling a slender forefinger at him.

"Now you're just flirting with me," he warns her playfully, a warm tenderness 
  stealing over him subtly. Memories of things said, and unsaid ... of actions 
  taken and accepted trickle through his mind. A not so small warning bell 
  begins to chime insistently. _Keep it light, that was just a reaction ... a 
  need of the moment, an expression of gratitude ... nothing more. Keep it 
  clear, don't confuse the issue more than you already have_ he reminds 
  firmly. _Okay, but flirting is alright?_ he queries himself, uncertain if it 
  might indicate stronger feelings than he's really experiencing. There is a 
  brief pause before a rather generalized opinion of, _Well, it's always been 
  fine before, and I wasn't in love those women either, so ...._

Shenner offers a lopsided smile, and although she's still blushing a little, 
  she points out wryly, "Field work!"

One eyebrow cocks upward in surprise. "Well, well, well, being quite the 
  little scientist, are we?" he teases, wondering just how far he should take 
  this. The right hand slides foward, slipping beneath the sheet, the edge of 
  it and his arm pressing against her side now. "I thought you didn't -like- 
  flirting though ... why pursue it as a topic of research?" he rumbles 
  suggestively.

_Because it makes you smile,_ is Shenner's immediate thought, reflected 
  without her knowing in a brightness in her eyes. She modulates her words, 
  though, over to "I like my research partner...."

"Ah," he murmurs approvingly, allowing himself to slide down closer. His palm 
  fits to her side, sliding up along the length of her body as he slips 
  closer, nuzzling her stomach through the thin sheet. "I see you have learned 
  the fine art of office politics ... flattery will get you everywhere ..."

Shenner gives a throaty little giggle, relief beginning to fill her that Paul 
  does indeed seem to feel better. Twining her hands in his hair, she tells 
  him,"Flattery, hell... just sayin' what's true...." But she sounds amused.

There is a small snort of disbelief blown against her belly, as Paul takes 
  that particular statement with a grain of salt. "You're too generous," he 
  informs her wryly, his eyes raising slowly along with his face to look up 
  the length of her prone figure and into her eyes. It is a fiendishly 
  seductive gesture, his jawline scraping against the sheet as he remains low 
  against her, his eyes suggestive and gleaming in the relative darkness of 
  the room.

Shen's eyes meet with Paul's, and she blushes anew under that look he gives 
  her, but smiles even yet. She lifts a hand off his hair, bringing it around 
  to gently trace what she can of his features. "What, you don't buy somebody 
  could like yah?" she parries.

Shaking his head at her misunderstanding, he chuckles roughly, "No, that's not 
  it ... like me, sure ... like me messed up with cheeks like sandpaper and 
  scraggly unkempt hair, that's another thing entirely," he informs her, 
  raising up to his elbows.

"Your hair's not scraggly!" Shenner protests. Unkempt, sure, but there's not a 
  thing scraggly about that thick, full mop. Her gaze warming, the girl runs 
  gentle fingers through it. "I like your hair."

Wrinkling his nose in mock disgust, he murmurs, "It needs washing," 
  plaintively. "In fact, I need a good washing period," he announces firmly. 
  The words are both honest appraisal as well as avoidance techniques, feeling 
  a warm surge rushing through his system at her continual defense and 
  appreciation for him, depsite his ragged appearance. Raising up slightly 
  more, it seems as if the Corellian is thinking of making good his claim.

Shen brings both her hands down to cup Paul's unshaven cheeks in her palms, 
  her gaze softly lit. "Okay," she says agreeably. "If you wanna do that 
  instead of sleep. Are yah hungry? I could go make somethin'... see if Shikh 
  and Kux're still on board, or if they went out..."

Well, if he was honest with Shen and himself, he would tell her that neither 
  sleep nor cleaning up have as much allure for him as a different "activity" 
  he has considered indulging in. However, the girl is still very shy and 
  easily shocked in Paul's humble opinion. Twice in the course of one 
  afternoon would probably be a bit much for her to handle, not to mention the 
  fact that he had to get a few "facts" straight in his head before he 
  proceeded any further. That particular thought is not well received, but 
  Paul smiles warmly. "I'm sure that you're viewing me through rose colored 
  lenses ... I'm definitely awake now, so I might as well make myself decent 
  for a change of pace," he jibes, more so to himself, his self-referential 
  meaning quite different from the one meant for Shenner. "As for food," he 
  murmurs, raising up some more, "if you're making something for yourself, 
  feel free to make some extra ... otherwise I'll scrape up something, or we 
  can go out and eat somewhere?"

"Well, I'd make us both somethin'," Shenner clarifies. She sits up, but 
  slowly, giving Paul the opportunity to do so as well; the sheet shifts 
  position off her slender form, emphasizing her delicacy. But she doesn't 
  seem too much in a hurry to move, as she adds, "Ought to check on Kux and 
  Shikh anyhow... I guess..." Her green eyes take in his features again.

"Ah, okay," he agrees somewhat breathlessly, moving up along with her, 
  remaining always just a few inches away from her despite his intentions to 
  initiate a great deal more distance between them. Her revealed body, still 
  bare from their lovemaking, doesn't make his resolution any easier. Her gaze 
  holds his easily, as Paul finds it hard to break the link, and is almost 
  fearful to glance anywhere else just now ...

She has learned, it would seem, that to be unclad before Paul is nothing to 
  fear in the slightest, for she doesn't try to conceal herself, though she 
  does shyly dip her gaze a bit. But she also leans to him, impulsively, and 
  wraps her arms about him in a hug.

That elicits a small tremor from the Corellian, the feel of her delicate 
  body, her small breasts, pressed against him, is anything but casual 
  affection to the man. Doing his level best to keep things casual, he drops a 
  kiss to her shoulder, one hand raising to hold her as well.

Shen squeezes Paul tenderly, once, then pulls back slightly to give him a 
  smile that lives more in her eyes than around her mouth, but is no less 
  bright for that. Only then does she rise, looking for her clothes, swinging 
  her slender legs off the bed.

Taking a moment to breathe in and out once, deeply, Paul rises as well, moving 
  quickly an efficiently and trying not to look at Shen as he moves about the 
  quarters, pulling a towel from the laundry refresher. "I'll just be a few 
  moments," he murmurs, knowing that it will be quite a bit longer than that, 
  as a cold shower will be required first, then a hot one, and then shaving. 
  He carries the towel before him and palms the entry way to the refresher, 
  his mind already considering the ramifications of the last five hours.

The girl murmurs an affirmative reply, dressing -- the ocarina pendant first, 
  over which her hand lingers for a moment, unconsciously. Then her shirt and 
  breeches and shoes. Then, out she goes, into the rest of the ship, calling 
  out for Shikh and Kuxli before the door of the quarters whishes shut behind 
  her.

Entering the refresher, Paul closes the door and leans against it for a 
  moment, closing his eyes. _What the hell was -that- all about? For Gods 
  sake, he was acting like a sex-crazed teenager!_ Of course, Paul never had 
  been a sex crazed teenager, but that was beside the point ... or perhaps in 
  some odd way that was the point, or the cause, or whatever. Turning on the 
  shower, nice and freezing, Paul steps under its needled attack, 
  shuddering spasmodically in reaction. _Alright, let's get everything into 
  perspective_ he rationalizes, reaching for the soap, _shall we?_

[End log.]