Issue 1 Downtime

Dressed in her civilian clothes, Nina knocks on Zeryn's door, humming happily to herself.

Zeryn's room was impeccably decorated with various pieces of Atlantean art here and there, tanks of small fish other places, and a floor-to-ceiling tank containing his sharks in one corner. What looked like an oversized jaccuzi filled the end of the room where a bed would be.

Zeryn himself was, as usual, shirtless in leather pants as he opened the door for Nina. "Ah," he said, a smile crossing his face. "And here I believed that my little starfish had forgotten me."

Nina gives him a quick peck on his cheek as she walks inside, "It's possible. Us starfish aren't known for our brilliant memories."

"The fact that you are here suggests that your memory is still quite satisfactory," Zeryn said, closing the door behind her. "Or that I'm simply able to overcome any deficiencies in it."

"Oh, my memory is great," Nina says, examining one of the tanks, "I even remember things that never actually happened. Best memory ever."

She smiles at Zeryn, "How are you doing with the kids?"

"They're all still alive, despite their best efforts," he said, taking a seat on the couch. "They find me rather strange. And they never seem to believe that you can solve most problems with sharks."

"Sounds like a bunch of little fools to me," Nina says, crossing the room to sit down in Zeryn's lap.

"Well, no one ever really understands how sharks can solve problems," he admitted, wrapping his arm around her as she got comfortable. "How are you acclimating at SHIELD?"

"My captain says I'm terrifying!" Nina says brightly.

"Excellent!" he said, beaming. "How much longer will you be in training?"

"I already finished basic," Nina says, "I do need to go through powered training though, because of my abilities. So that's another month at least."

"Excellent," he said, somewhat distractedly. "Then the only question is where they post you."

"It will probably be classified," Nina says, wrapping her arms around Zeryn as she started to straddle him, "I may be very hard to reach."

He sighed. "I was rather afraid of that," he admitted.

"Don't worry about that," Nina says quietly, "I have two weeks leave, and I plan I spending it all right here with you."

Zeryn smiled, slowly untucking her shirt. "One thing I have still not understood is the fascination with wearing excessive clothing on the surface," he commented, smirking at her a bit.

"I didn't fancy teenagers ogling me," Nina says, running her hands along Zeryn's chest, "It's gross and weird."

"You think they would? Hmm, I haven't noticed. Granted, I do enjoy looking at you more than I would enjoy looking at myself," he admitted, arranging her shirt so that he could mirror the gesture. "Still, beauty should be appreciated."

"I prefer letting you appreciate it," Nina says, sighing happily, "Besides, I don't think the faculty is lacking for reasons to keep me off campus. Best not to give them another one."

"Mmm, but you're SHIELD now," he mused, kissing her neck. "You could get yourself posted here, even, and they couldn't stop you."

"Mmm...there's an idea," Nina says, leaning her head back a bit.

"Mmmm," Zeryn tossed her shirt aside, pulling her in against his skin. "Oh, how I've missed this. So do they know who you're with right now? Or do you need to keep parts of your life secret?" he mused.

"I try not to think about it," Nina says, undoing Zeryn's pants.

"Mmm, understandable," he decided, helping her out of hers. "My people see it as quite a beneficial relationship, so perhaps there is no problem."

"Oh, they think I'm beneficial, do they?" Nina asks, teasing Zeryn as more clothing is stripped away.

"Mmm, quite," Zeryn answered, enjoying the fact that the last of the clothing was out from between them. "Excellent judgement, I think..."

"Ah," Nina says, shifting her position a bit, "I don't know. That didn't sound very convincing to me..."

Zeryn made a low, rough sound, pulling her in suddenly face-to-face with him. "I haven't seen you in three months. If I get too convincing you'll probably spend your two week leave in the infirmary," he growled before kissing her fiercely, shifting her forcefully.

Nina kisses back, letting out a muffled gasp before breaking away, pushing him hard against the couch.

"I think you're the one who should be worried about ending up in the infirmary," Nina says, leaning her head down and letting her blonde hair out of it's bun to spill down around her shoulders.

Zeryn promptly siezed the now-flowing golden tresses, pulling her in to kiss her again. "Do your worst," he challenged, preparing for 'battle'.

With an enthusiastic moan, Nina began to do just that.

((FTB))

((FTB))

Some time later, they were finally relaxing in Zeryn's bed/jaccuzi/whatever. "No, it will be fine," he was reassuring her. "Just give it a good hit and knock it back into place."

"Either I've been getting more flexible or you're getting soft and fragile," Nina says, moving his shoulder back into place gently.

"Perhaps I simply did not wish you to get injured quite so quickly during your leave," he said, the quietest grunt escaping his lips ash she set his shoulder again.

"Don't hold yourself back on my account," Nina says, "I'm tougher then you think. Especially if you're going to injure yourself so we have to keep taking a break every couple of hours. That's just teasing, right there."

"Mmm, perhaps, but you're at your best when you're teased," he chuckled, affectionately slipping his uninjured arm around her as he worked out the stiffness in his shoulder in a way that must have been incredibly painful.

"Oh, so you like it when I'm begging?" Nina says massaging his shoulder gently.

"Well, it is good to know that one's attentions are desired," he reasoned, running his hand along her back.

Nina smirks before starting to plead in a breathy voice, "Oh, my Lord, please....I need you so badly."

Zeryn rolled his eyes and smacked her on the ass. "One can also tell sincerity from falsehood in these matters."