| Sexual Healing | |||
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| Summary: Healing Care acts out. | |||
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Leo Stenbuck, despite his crash landing on the streets of Ulan Bator, is not actually that worse for wear. His shoulders hurt from the safety restraints of the Pallas Athene, and the back of his head is tender thanks to his refusal to wear a helmet, but he didn't break any bones, and, indeed, other than an assortment of aches and bruises he's perfectly fine.
And now he's back on the Giga-Float, in his office, eating dinner with one Ralla Traln Triald. He is rather more animated tonight than most recent ones... largely thanks to having just come back from combat, instead of having spent all day in strategy meetings and long overdue officer training courses.
"They should have kept their security teams in the Palace," Leo is complaining, stabbing his fork irately at his food. He's not even entirely sure what it's supposed to be; it's nights like this that he misses the food in the Titans. "Once the MS line got there they got chewed apart. And they're just security guards, anyways, not real infantry."
"It was stupid. A stupid waste." Leo finally stops poking at his food, and takes a bite.
Make no mistake, having dinner with Ralla Traln Triald, Ensign of the Earth Federation military, is not a calm or casual event that goes on in the nicest and sweetest of ways, it's not romantic in the least. It looks more like a surgical strike, the way she uses fork and knife and occasionally spoon to systematically slaughter the contents of her meal from the mess hall, putting it back onto the tray in short time perhaps cleaner than when she picked up the meal for herself and the Major.
Now, still seated in the chair across from his desk, she sits with her hands clutching a tall can of neoChou! Lemony Iced Tea, the blonde listening attentively to every word, processing the situation and playing it out in her own mind.
"It sounds as though the entire scenario was a massive tactical blunder, sir." Lifting the can, she takes a sip.
Curiously, her head tilts a little bit as it seems like the one-eyed pilot wants to know something-- beyond her standard blank expression. "What machines were the MS teams fielding?"
All is well on the Giga-Float. Well and peaceful, in fact, all things considered. Despite the last sortie in Mongolia, things are quiet now, meaning that soldiers get at least /some/ sort of R&R before the next big operation. Likely, it'll be against Crusader forces.
But one must not get ahead of themselves.
Beyond the comfort of Leo's office, things are buzzing at the Giga-Float's mobile hangar. A unit is requesting--no, demanding--clearance, despite the fact there's precious-little room to harbor /yet another/ mobile suit in its hangar. Eventually, the pilot's demands are met, and the silver GNZ machine lands itself comfortably on the massive ship.
Thirty minutes later, there's a call into Leo's office.
"Sir, you have--"
The door SLAMS open and there, standing in the doorway with her arms on her thin hips, is Healing Care, dressed in...a black gothic dress, like before.
"Commander Stenbuck~!" chimes the young "Cyber Newtype," whose violet eyes then...shift toward his company. Briefly, the girl goes quiet before she lifts a pale finger to her glossed up lips.
"Oh my, is this a bad time?" Pause.
"Well, /too bad/."
Stepping in, the door slams shut behind the girl as she bounces in her step toward the two. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Le~o? I see you're doing /quite well/ for yourself."
"Us or them?" Leo asks, after swallowing. He washes it down with a swig of Purple Drank, and then continues, "They were mostly AS. The 18th--" He's interrupted when his intercom starts making noise, and, scowling, the boy reaches across his desk towards it--
And then his door flies open. Leo, already irritated from the clusterfuck that was the night's sortie, transitions instantly into anger, and begins rising to his feet. "What the hell-" he begins, looking over Ralla's head towards the door.
This time, he interrupts himself, because oh god, this again. "Uh," Leo practically squeaks, anger draining away as quickly as it appeared. "... Captain," he offers weakly, after a few beats. A moment later, he quickly takes a seat again, certainly not to get his body out of sight below the waist.
Certainly not.
Listening to his side of the story a little more, it looks like things are going to be interrupted very fast-- and by someone that arrives in clothing that doesn't seem to be befitting the image of a military base like this; the "gothic" look isn't exactly something you'd expect to normally pass through the halls of this building-- or on many areas of the Giga-Float, even if civilians do reside here.
She rises to her feet, back straight and turning halfway toward their new visitor; Ralla's eye studies her carefully before the Major makes the rank slip from his mouth. Immediately, the Ensign sets down the can of iced tea on the desk and snaps a sharp and precise salute, her gaze turning forward just as someone in the military would be trained.
Good dog.
Waiting for an indication to cease her salute, she'll shift a step back and leave the chair open for Healing to seat herself-- that is, of course, if she wants the spot.
Grinning from ear to ear like the cat that's caught its delicious canary, Healing Care has no qualms about entering, even if her presence is unwanted here. The shift from "angry teenager" to "squeaking and possibly intimidated young man" is certainly enough to pique Healing's interest--so much so she simply steps into the office proper.
"Why, hello Commander~!" coos the young woman, the corners of her lips curling with amusement. "It certainly has been some time since I've seen you outside your cute little Vic Viper, hasn't it?" Folding her arms behind her back, the waif, green-haired pilot all but flounces forward to the center of the room. That's about when Ralla hops out of her chair and offers it--as well as a salute.
Healing makes no motions to tell her to ease. Instead, she steps forward--close, in fact.
Very, very close.
"Ohhhh, is /this/ the fabled "Ralla Traln Triald?"" Healing wonders, tilting her head gently to one side. Violet eyes peer curiously as the Englishwoman, gaze falling beyond the collar of her standard-issue Federation uniform. It keeps falling, in fact, to the woman's obvious chest (where she, Healing, lacks by comparison, woe), and settles there.
"Well, now that I've seen you in person, Ensign Triald, everything makes /sense/."
Stepping back and away, Healing gives the Cyber Newtype breathing room. "Oh, I don't need the chair," she notes, waving a pale hand dismissively. "The gesture was charming, thanks." That said, the girl's eyes shift toward Leo at his desk, hooding discreetly as she asks, "So, what're you two doing?"
Leo has apparently forgotten how to blink; he stares, wide-eyed in shock, as Healing practically skips further into his office, and Ralla rises from her chair to salute. By the time Healing has placed herself firmly in Ralla's personal space, and is openly staring at her chest, 'confusion' has joined the shock. A bead of nervous sweat trickles down the back of Leo's neck, and his face remains fixedly firmly in an expression... well, a little like this:
D8
By the time Healing gets around to addressing him again, Leo has at least started to come to his senses. It still takes him a few beats to work up a response, however. "Uh... eating dinner," he explains, lamely. Another few beats, and he gestures to the chair, and urges, "Ralla, you can sit back down." His voice cracks when he says 'Ralla', in an example of puberty giving him the finger.
In the process of gesturing, he realizes he's still holding his half-full can of Purple Drank, which has begun to crumple under his suddenly vise-like grip; Leo clears his throat sharply and lifts the can to take a long, long drink.
Staring straight forward, her hand holds in it's position. Her body doesn't so much as twitch a centimeter out of it's position, her hand held in salutory position. Even when Healing Care steps closer-- much, much closer-- Ralla doesn't budge in the slightest, her single blue eye refusing to even so much as blink.
Still, while the dusky-skinned Brit isn't one to react to that, her gaze does travel downward just a little bit as it becomes clear the green-haired girl is paying special attention to her figure. Still, she just -does not open her mouth-.
Leo says that she can sit down-- but she still doesn't, even though her hand comes down from her temple. Standing more at ease than at attention, the young Ensign's brows furrow a little. "Ma'am?"
"Oh, eating dinner?" chimes the young woman as she backs away from Ralla, giving the Ensign distance. Turning her eyes briefly toward the Englishwoman, she grins brightly before taking a deep breath in. "It smells nice.
"Did you get her to make it for you, too?" Healing Care wonders of the young Commander, offering him a toothy grin. "I sure hope so. I mean, she seems to do everything /else/ for you, /sir/." Drawing violet eyes shut, the young "Cyber Newtype" lets that settle briefly before her feet stir and, as result, the girl walks to the desk. There, Healing takes a seat on its edge before opening her eyes and focusing them on Ralla.
"You heard the man, take a seat," she states, though her tone sounds less-inviting and more commanding, if anything. "I mean, we're all /friends/ here, right..?"
Dropping her arms behind her, Healing props the majority of her weight up on them, getting comfortable before idly kicking her Mary Janes lightly against the desk. "Hmm, so is this how Commander Stenbuck spends his free time? Sitting in a cold, Spartan office with dinner?"
Leaning forward, a hand reaches to her side, plucking a pen from a pen holder before she gently--and thoughtfully--taps it against her chin.
"Don't you...I dunno...have a hobby or something?"
Leo's eyes flit back and forth between Healing and Ralla the whole time Healing spends talking, like he's a cornered animal faced with a plurality of predators. At some point after Healing takes a seat on his desk, however, his eyes end up on her legs, where the flesh is visible between the end of the dress and the start of the thighhighs.
This is very curious, because he definitely does not remember telling them to look there.
"H-huh?" Leo blurts, tearing his eyes off of Healing's leg when she asks about hobbies. Lord knows they're not going to make it to her eyes; they go from her forehead to her chest to the wall behind her and finally down to his food. "Uh... y-yeah. Just... now is dinnertime."
His riveting contribution made, Leo lifts his eyes back to Ralla, and does his best to communicate 'oh god, help me' using only subtle facial expressions. Mostly he just manages to look exasperated and distressed.
Indeed, she does do a lot for Leo! Relatively minor errands, work, reports to superiors (though Mister Bushido is admittedly guilty of doing that too), pretty much... pretty much everything short of helping him get dressed and making sure that he brushes his teeth in the morning.
No, wait, she had to do that once, too.
Indeed, the Major would be lost without her, but Ralla really doesn't think about that sort of thing. The Cyber-Newtype looks at Healing, then the chair... then quietly takes the step back in front of it, sitting down slowly as she was ordered. It wasn't so much an 'as you were,' but it she's not so thick as to not understand the innuendo to her words.
Yes, now is dinnertime.
"I apologize, but I did not make it, ma'am. It was the standard meal served in the mess hall tonight. They will be open for another hour for dinner if you wanted to partake of it."
For the most part, Healing Care just likes to /pretend/ she doesn't notice Leo staring at her. So, rather than point it out and humiliate him /right now/, Healing remains oblivious, as it were, eyes focused on the ceiling overhead. "Awwh, maybe I should've called ahead," the "Cyber Newtype" mulls aloud, lips curling into a Cheshire's smile. "I could have joined the happy couple!"
Sliding off the desk, Healing gets back onto her feet, immediately discarding the pen formerly in hand with a mere toss of it over her shoulder. It lands with a clatter, dangerously close to Leo's cooling dinner. Only then does she stretch her arms high and offer a light grunt of strain before she responds to Ralla. "I'm not /really/ hungry," she notes, turning around to face Ralla with a smile. Once again Healing's arms fold behind her back as she paces through the office.
Really though, it's more like a predator stalking through the heavily foliage of a deep jungle.
"You two aren't really all that talkative," she observes, still pacing around the room. She only stops when she comes a few feet from behind Ralla and her chair. Only then do violet eyes slowly shift back onto Leo, lips pulling into a wide, very thin smile across her face.
"So, what's for dessert?" she asks, innocently enough.
Unfortunately, the air about her seems anything but.
Leo Stenbuck's higher brain functions have all but failed completely, but he's not /totally/ retarded - not yet - and Healing's hammered the point home pretty thoroughly, using terms like 'happy couple.' So when she starts talking about 'dessert'...
"No dessert," Leo says, too quickly. "Dinner's enough. In fact, I'm already stuffed. How about you, Ralla?" The boy is all but babbling... and also kind of lying. It isn't that he's stuffed, but rather that Healing's... unique charms... have utterly destroyed his appetite.
Or at least given him a great number of preoccupations.
Frowning, Leo pushes his tray away from him, and sets down his by now almost totally crumpled can of Purple Drank. His hands empty, he fiddles briefly with them before settling for resting them on his desktop, the fingers on his left hand drumming at the surface, with a rapidity that betrays the boy's intense discomfort.
Ralla breathes in, still staring straight forward. "I am afraid that I must decline. While I am not prejudiced against the flavor of desserts and comfort food, I am also on a very strict dietary regement. There is very little gray area in this; while a canned sweetened iced tea may not be the most healthy it is part of my pre-approved food and beverages list."
Turning slightly in her chair, the blonde is forced to look over her right shoulder to look back at the green-haired girl with her face still so calm and controlled, her demeanor still so unfazed by almost-- ALMOST-- everything this girl has thrown at her. "We are also not a couple, ma'am."
"Fraternization between officers, let alone an officer and a Cyber-Newtype, is against regulations." Spoken like it's read out of a textbook.
It's a good thing Healing Care is no mind-reader, Leo Stenbuck!
Still, even if she may not be a wacky Newtype, his uneasiness and discomfort is plain as day--because it's practically worn upon his sleeve. This, naturally, amuses the "Cyber Newtype" girl in the gothic dress, violet eyes suddenly filled with mischievous light. Things are getting most interesting, now that Ralla has stepped into the picture.
"Oh, that's no fun," the young woman offers with a pout, thin shoulders sagging deeply. Drawing her eyes momentarily shut, the green-haired officer just lets her words hang before violet eyes slowly open, focused on Ralla as she speaks. And when she finishes--
"Spoken like a true doll," she states flatly.
"It's good you're so informed though," Healing continues, pacing a few steps towards the chair before she stops. Tilting her head to one side, she offers what is apparently some sort of puzzled expression. "Are you sure that's right, though..? I mean, aren't there /so many/ people fraternizing within the Federation?"
A finger lifts, tapping idly at her glossed up lips. "Or maybe the both of you are just too shy..?"
A few more steps are taken, pointedly toward Ralla's blinded peripheral. Only then she'll pause again. "That's rather harsh though, don't you think, Commander Stenbuck? I mean, you /do/ have a crush on her, after all. I can't really blame you."
It's about /then/ Healing moves like the predator she is, all but lunging for Ralla's back. It's an odd gesture certainly, and almost seems like some overenthusiastic hug. But it's anything /but/; in fact, pale hands snake around Ralla's front side and...grab her chest through her uniform, giving the poor Ensign a rather fair grope.
All of this as she chimes, "Look at how bountiful she is~! Look Leo, aren't they amazing??"
Ralla's comments on her (purely platonic and professional) relationship with Leo make the boy's shoulders sag. His stance had always been that he couldn't act on it unless she wanted it; just asking might result in her saying 'yes' like she says yes to everything else, a though that quite literally sickens him.
Ralla's words might not change his situation in any significant way, but they handicap his ability to at least fantasize about it, which was a decent substitution even if it did make him feel like a terrible person sometimes.
He doesn't have long to mope, though; Healing's deconstruction of his only barely restrained, and even less concealed, affections make Leo's face flush red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. The boy's just working up the will to speak when Healing strikes.
Leo's eyes widen in fascination and horror, and his gaze fixes firmly on Ralla's chest. This can't possibly be an okay thing to be happening. But... they're both Cyber-Newtypes, right? So it's not like anyones rights are being violated. But still, he should stop her; she's- but- they-
You can practically see the smoke coming out of Leo's ears.
"Uh," the boy says, obviously stunned, his mouth hanging open. "Y- uh... if- s- uh..." Eventually he runs out of broken syllables to stammer, but his mouth keeps flapping, noiselessly.
Not just a true doll, a Cyber-Newtype weapon. Originally fighting for Paptimus Scirocco, the Admiral's departure and replacement by Kai Kitamura has shifted her allegiances only to the slightest degree: Her orders are to obey her superior officers, no matter who they may be.
Arms come around her body, giving her what seems to start as a hug. Her expression is still blank, as it seems like the Ensign lacks proper understanding of just what the hell anything relating to "affection" is. The hands shift upward, along her body's curves, and then her palms reach the chest. Fingers fan out, and Ralla Traln Triald can feel the measuring grope.
Quite bountiful.
Instead of getting worked up or embarassed, she instead stares at Healing. She stares long, hard, and cold; there's no fire in her eyes or emotions visible on her face, but to some the unsettling weight of her gaze predates the few moments before her mind exudes a degree of firm pressure, as though somewhere, deep down in her soul she's going 'get off of me.' 'Stop manhandling me.' 'I'll break you in half.'
"Captain, this is an uncomfortable position."
Practically strewn out across Ralla's back, the other "Cyber Newtype" just finds sheer amusement in violating her personal space--and her person, at that. With a handful of her chest, Healing Care seems more than content to show off her "goods" to the poor, /very flustered/ Commander seated just beyond his desk.
Distantly to Healing's surprise, the girl doesn't argue back. Expected, she thinks, of a weapon.
Even her glare, that cold unforgiving eye that focuses on Healing from her peripheral, goes unnoticed; instead, the girl's violet eyes are fixed on the stammering Leo, her lips pulled into a wide, toothy grin across her pale face. "What's /wrong/, Commander Stenbuck?" she wonders, giving poor Ralla a bit of a hoist before she continues. "Where's all the fire and brimstone? Where's the /anger/..? Cat got your tongue? Or maaaaaaaaybe all that loss of blood has stilted your thoughts? Eh, Stenbuck?"
Pausing briefly, Healing actually LETS GO, hands retreating like two snakes from the front of Ralla. Instead, her pale hands find purchase on either of her shoulders before she leans down a bit and levels her head with the Englishwoman's.
"It's like I said, Leo," Healing states with a tone that still bears a predatory edge. "It doesn't take /much/. If you want it, go for it? And I /know/ you do." Glancing aside, she peers at Ralla, the corners of her mouth curling devilishly as she wonders of the woman, "It isn't as if she'd say no. You wouldn't, would you?"
Peeling away, the girl paces a few steps away--thankfully--from poor Ralla, her hand tossing flippantly about. "It isn't fraternization if no one /knows/ about it, after all...and I certainly wouldn't tell~"
Leo's head doesn't move, but his eyes stay locked firmly on Ralla's breasts, tracking them upwards when Healing lifts them (and then back down when she eventually releases them.) His mouth remains hanging open the entire time. A few seconds after Healing releases Ralla and moves her hands to the Ensign's shoulders, Leo finally lifts his eyes to Ralla's face, and then to Healing's.
The question posed - 'you wouldn't, would you?' - is a question that Leo is one hundred percent sure he doesn't want to know the answer to... but he can't bring himself to actually speak. All of his attempts end as broken, abortive single syllables.
He can't even get his arms or legs to move. In fact, he's so much in shock, /none/ of his body parts seem to be functioning at the moment.
Well... except for one.
Lift.
Uncomfortable noise.
Drop. Slight bounce. Leo's attention, no doubt grabbed for the time being. The hands shift to her shoulders. Curiously, there's very little tension there, meaning that Ralla is either that relaxed or that the EFA issues her some very powerful medication to keep her that levelled at all times. Still, if she could look toward Leo right now she would; instead, all that shows to the Major of the left side of her face is a peek of the hard plastic "shell" of an eyepatch strapped down onto her head through a few thick locks of blonde hair.
Ralla's forced to turn her head slightly, to look over the bridge of her nose to regard Leo as Healing begins to make the more obvious suggestion. Slowly, the Ensign rises to her feet. "Captain, I believe you are alluding to inappropriate behavior. If you persist in continuing on this way, I will be forced to file a report and call for disciplinary action."
She doesn't so much say it out of anger or spite, but... again, as though it were a completely automatic response.
Woops, Healing broke Leo it seems.
That alone was /definitely/ worth the effort of the trip.
Frozen behind the desk, Healing just smirks as she momentarily regards the poor young man with her violet gaze. However, as Ralla rises from her seat she skews her gaze aside, violet eyes slanting toward the Cyber Newtype as she begins to speak. Then..?
Healing Care just buckles forward with laughter.
"Hahaha, f-file a...r-report! D-disciplinary...a-action, hahahahah!" is all she can manage as she has a fit, arms folded over her stomach as she laughs. Only after a minute does she calm somewhat, exhaling with a light-hearted sigh before reaching up to wipe away a tear. "Oh, you both are just so /charming/!" she notes. "And so adorable!"
With newfound amusement, the young "Cyber Newtype" seems to bounce in her step as she makes her way toward the door of the office. "Well, I thought I'd just stop by to say hello and /catch up/," Healing explains as she reaches the automatic door. As she draws near it the sensor plate triggers, the door opening with a HISS. Only then does she turn around to face both with a big, frighteningly charming smile.
"We should do this again sometime, it was /fun/. ...oh!"
She goes rigid in posture, giving Leo a formal salute.
"Great to see you again, Commander Stenbuck!" she chimes...before she gives him a wink, stepping past the threshold of the automatic door.
"Go get 'er, tiger~"
HISS. The door shuts. Healing is gone.
/Thank god./
Leo is, in fact, pretty much broken; he just stares, mouth still agape, as Healing and Ralla have their little exchange.
What the fuck is even /going on?!/
Several seconds after Healing finally leaves, Leo's mouth snaps shut with an audible *click*, and the boy's gaze swivels to settle firmly on Ralla. What does he even... do, now? Does he apologize? Is she even upset? Whatever he does, he certainly can't stand up, that's for sure...
Leo keeps on staring for another few good, long seconds as his brain reboots. Eventually, upon careful consideration, he comes to a conclusion on what the best course of action is.
"Please leave," Leo says quietly, dropping his eyes back to his hands, where they still rest on his desk. "Now."
Watching her go is like watching the weight lift from someone's shoulders-- Leo's shoulders, in fact, a burden that he doesn't need or want to have to carry at a time like this. Instead of attempting to correct or argue with Healing as she laughs her way out the door, the English girl turns her gaze towards the Major-- towards him, and noticing the look on his face.
His posture, his tone of voice.
"Yes, sir."
Without another word, Ralla opens the door and steps outside, moving down the hall of the military base and filing today's events away in her mind as something she'll have to remember for later.