Samus went to sit on one of the benches that littered the park-like enclosure. She sat and stretched her arms out over the back of the bench, leaned back and looked up at the stars through the clear dome. Nicole paced back and forth a few feet away, nervously tapping her fingers on her thigh. The tension in the air was obvious to both of them. Nicole stole a quick glance at Samus then looked away quickly as Samus looked to her then away herself. She bounced her knee while Nicole continued to pace. "I um..." they said in unison then shut up as they realized the other was talking. But they both forgot what they were going to say and the uncomfortable silence continued on. Samus tilted her head back and closed her eyes trying to focus her thoughts elsewhere. Nicole however dwelled on it. 'What was it that just happened between us? Was I just imagining it or did she feel it too? She must have.' What to do? Should she say something? But what? She couldn't think of anything... she'd been alone for months and she had become unaccustomed to talking. She preferred action to words anyway. Nicole sat down on the bench next to her so that Samus' outstretched arm was behind her shoulders. Samus' eyes snapped open and she looked to Nicole a bit. What was she doing!? Samus' heart skipped a few beats; she essentially had her arm around Nicole. What was this? Nicole smiled nervously at her then turned her head away and sat there for a bit, again tapping her fingers on her thigh. Then, finally working up the courage, she cautiously reached for Samus' hand that was over her shoulder; lightly just laying her fingers across the back of Samus' fingers at first, and then gently closing her hand around them. Samus turned her head away and froze; her entire body didn't move an inch, like she was a statue. She fought to control the trembling in the limb that Nicole held. Nicole now firmly took Samus' hand in hers, palm to palm. Samus turned to Nicole again, she looked desperately confused, even a little frightened. This, even the simplest of human contact, was clearly new territory for her. Nicole gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Forcibly suppressing her fear and apprehension Samus squeezed back. Nicole couldn't help but smile at the small accomplishment. Nicole had only really intended it to go as far as that, however, what had started innocently enough quickly snowballed into something else, because Samus now found her arm unconsciously sliding off the back of the bench and around Nicole's shoulders. Almost immediately and without thought Nicole leaned over and rested her head on Samus' shoulder. Samus tensed up when she realized what had just happened; Nicole's soft, warm body rested against hers. She looked down at Nicole, feeling light headed. Nicole's loose brown hair obscured her face. Samus now inexplicably felt she absolutely needed to see her face. Her right hand came up to Nicole's head; and she ran her fingers slowly across her forehead, brushing aside the loose strands of hair, then allowed her hand to trail down the side of her face. Nicole looked up at her questioningly and her soft brown orbs met Samus' piercing azure gems; it was like they fell into a trap, unable to escape each other's gaze. Samus had never been this close to another person before. Why did she feel this way; not in control? Normally she was in complete control of her emotions; calm, cool, collected, some would even call her stone cold. But now she was a maelstrom in side; experiencing a spinning, swirling, dizzying sensation, staring at Nicole like that. Samus drew closer and closer to Nicole, compelled by some irresistible force. She paused when she felt Nicole's breath on her, but only for a moment. With mouths slightly agape and eyes intently locked on each other, Samus nervously closed the remaining distance, and gingerly took Nicole's lower lip between her own lips, whilst Nicole took Samus' upper lip between hers. They pursed their lips together softly, held that position for but a second, then ever so slowly slid apart from one another, maintaining eye contact the entire time. With their faces still less than an inch apart Samus stared dumbfounded into Nicole's eyes, a flood of emotions she'd never felt before threatened to completely overwhelm her. Nicole was feeling quite flustered herself. Unable to take it any longer Samus pulled back and away; sliding to the end of the bench, she turned her back to Nicole. "I... Sorry, I... I shouldn't have... I'm sorry." Samus spoke in a quiet, nervous voice. "Don't apologize." Nicole slid up next to her again. She took Samus by the chin and turned her head around so they were facing each other again. "It's ok, don't be afraid." she spoke softly. Their eyes met again and Nicole leaned in for more, not content with that brief contact. Samus attempted to speak but was unable to force any air from her lungs. Nicole took Samus' hand in hers, and placed her other hand around the back of Samus' neck. "It's ok." Nicole repeated reassuringly as she drifted closer. Samus had never been this nervous in her life; the anticipation of facing a horde of Space Pirates, or the prospect of plunging head first into a pool of boiling lava and trusting her suit would protect her somehow paled in comparison to this. Samus knew this was what 'normal' people did, and she was fairly sure she wanted to, but she still wasn't fully capable of accepting the reality of the fact that it was her doing these things and having these feelings. It was like it was something exclusively for those other 'normal' people and had no place in the life of someone like her. That thought train was thoroughly derailed when Nicole finally kissed her again. Their lips meeting with the softest of pressure, kissing ever so slowly, both still very timid about the situation; Samus still deeply confused. She was attacked by a slew of new emotions that she didn't even have words for, as well as new physical sensations; her brain racing to incorporate, to understand it all. Yet at the same time she didn't want to think, to analyze, she just wanted to let it be. Those feelings that threatened to overwhelm her earlier finally did and she gave herself over to them. She leaned back against the bench, sighed softly and relaxed. Closing her eyes, she shut out the rest of the world, the only sensation was Nicole's lips on hers and the heart pounding in her chest. And for a moment that's all there was. Though the moment then ended when Nicole's lips were no longer there. Samus opened her eyes and slowly came back to reality, she now heard the whooshing sound that had distracted Nicole. The airlock at the far end of the dome opened revealing her ship docked inside. Samus stood from the bench now feeling a little embarrassed, she looked at Nicole with a nervous smile. "We, uh... we should... go now." "Oh...all right..." Nicole sighed, disappointed. Why couldn't that ship have taken longer to get there? "Need help carrying that?" Samus said referring to the pieces of Nicole's armor lying in a pile on the floor. "Thanks." Nicole nodded. They collected the bits of her armor, one by one tossing them into the ships top hatch. Samus jumped in the hatch first, Nicole jumped in after her. As she landed, instinctively, Samus partially caught her, with her arms winding up around Nicole's waist. "Uh, thanks..." Nicole said. "Yeah... no problem," Samus said uneasily as she released Nicole. She climbed into the pilot's seat and lifted the ship off and left the station once and for all. She set course for the Federation's capital world and engaged the ship's autopilot. Since the pilot's seat was the only place to sit Nicole stood leaning against the wall, though she had to lean to the side a little and duck because the ceiling wasn't very high. A while passed in silence as Nicole stood there. They occasionally traded glances and timid smiles at each other. A long tense moment passed before finally Samus spoke. "You don't have to stand. You'll get a crick in your neck." "I'll be fine. Besides there's no place to--" Nicole didn't have a chance to finish as Samus had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into her lap. Nicole was a little startled at first but she relaxed and accepted it. Samus hugged her from behind and rested her chin on her shoulder. "This is... all right?" Samus asked. Nicole turned her head to the side to face Samus. "Yeah... it's ok," she said and stared at Samus with those beautiful brown eyes of hers. She couldn't resist that look Nicole gave her; Samus was drawn in and kissed her delicately once again. Nicole sighed softly and reached up behind Samus' head as she kissed back. At that point they really started to get into it; what was gentle and exploratory, more experimenting than anything else, quickly changed to something more passionate and intimate. Nicole pulled Samus by the back of the head, firmly pressing into her as they began deep open mouth kisses. Nicole turned over, kneeling in the chair and straddling Samus. She held Samus' face gently between her hands, tilted her head up slightly and resumed kissing her passionately. Soon, wandering hands began groping, massaging, and slipping beneath clothing. Breaths became deep and labored, a thigh pressed against a place it shouldn't have, and kisses were not just on the lips any longer. Nicole started pulling Samus' top off. "Wait." Samus said breathlessly, breaking their kiss. She put her hands on Nicole's shoulders and held her away a little. "What... what are we doing? This is... very sudden ...we hardly know each other." Nicole looked down seeming to ponder this fact. "I've always lived life in the moment; I know... I can tell you're the same. For people like us... there might not always be a tomorrow." Samus timidly nodded in agreement, yet looked away not making eye contact. "You don't want to? ...it's ok... I get it..." "I- I do... I do want to... it's just, well... I never... I've never done anything like this..." Her eyes cast downward, "It's pathetic, I know..." she sighed, "...I ...I hadn't even kissed anyone before." Nicole smiled and caressed her face "I know... me neither... This is... It's all completely new to me too." "You're kidding, right? You... you just seem so confident." "Well I just know what I want." "What-- what is it you want?" "Right now... You." Samus half smiled at that and allowed Nicole to start kissing her again, and this time when Nicole tried to remove her clothing Samus didn't object. ------ Nicole awoke to a beeping sound; where was she? She looked around still groggy... a ship? Suddenly she realized she was half naked. "What the..." She sat up in the bed... or was it a chair? Then she realized she wasn't the only one in the chair. She was sitting on top of another woman who also happened to be only partially clothed. "Uh..." Slowly the previous night's events came back to her as she became more alert. "Samus?" A smile crept across her face as she recalled all the things they had done. She looked out the ship's window to see where they were. The ship had set down on a landing pad beside a small structure. There were many other similar buildings scattered about the landscape, set amongst lush trees. On the horizon was an expansive cityscape of countless skyscrapers; ships formed endlessly flowing streams going to and from the city. Nicole's stirring and the continued beeping woke Samus as well. "It's Kortalth, the Federation's capital world." Samus said, seeing Nicole looking out the window. She sat up and put her hand on Nicole's shoulder. "I live here. This is my house." "Oh..." "So... Nicole, what are you going to do now?" "I guess I don't really know." "I mean this is a whole new world for you." "Yeah..." "Everyone you knew and everything you were part of is long since gone. So... where will you go? How will you live?" "I guess I'll... find something... start over. Maybe I'll do what you do. It's probably all I'm cutout for anyway." "You'd be good at it... uh... It could take sometime to get started with that. What will you do till then?" "Hmm... I'll be alright. You don't have to worry about me." "Well, you can... stay here if you want." "Hey, listen..." Nicole slid Samus' hand off her shoulder and scooted off of her and onto the edge of the chair. "...about last night... It was great but--" "Yeah, no, it's ok, I get it. It was what it was, but that's all, nothing more." Samus said quickly with a nervous vibration in her voice, while scratching the back of her neck. "Right, let's not make anything out of it that it wasn't. Ok?" "I know. I wasn't... I didn't mean anything like that... uh..." Samus said glancing to the side. "It's just that you have no place to go really, no job, no money, so... just stay here until you get yourself together, that's all, ...just a temporary thing." Nicole still seemed unsure. "I'm not even here that much." Samus added a bit hastily. "I live on this ship mostly." Nicole seemed to think it over some then finally relented. "Just a temporary thing," she said nodding her acceptance. She really did have no place to go after all. Samus showed Nicole in, and gave her the tour of the place, if it could be called a tour that is; the house was fairly small. The front door opened onto the kitchen, which served as a hallway of sorts to the rest of the house. Beyond that was a single room, with a bed in one corner and a desk and computer in the other. On the far wall was the door to the bathroom. There was a large bay window by the bed with a view of the city. "Hmm... It suits you," Nicole commented. "Eh... It's not much I know. I'd get a bigger place but I don't even use this one that much to begin with. ...Uh... I have to go out again, I'll be back tonight. Use whatever you need." "Where are you going?" "I need to report back to the Federation what I found to complete my job... I..." Samus paused, apparently thinking something over. "It'll probably be alright, but they might want to question you... I don't know, they could make trouble for you, but maybe not. Just be aware of the possibility." "Oh... yeah ok. Thanks." "I... I could not tell them about you." "No. You don't have to--" "Right, yeah. That was stupid. I don't know why I said that... I'll see you later." "Mmh..." Nicole nodded. And with that Samus was out the door. Nicole sighed. 'Inviting me to live with her, offering to lie to protect me... I hope she isn't getting any funny ideas... This was probably a mistake.' End Part Three
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