Spoiler! :
“Karina.”
Karina looked up briefly from her magazine, a spoonful of soup on the way to her mouth. “What?”
Milly smirked, her eyes shining deviously. “He’s looking at you.”
“Who’s looking at me?” Karina flipped a magazine page.
Milly rolled her eyes and smacked the back of Karina’s hand. “Officer Travato!” She hissed.
Karina’s pulse sped up, and she quickly stuck the spoon in her mouth. After she’d swallowed, she said, “No, he’s not. He’s—“
“Coming over. “
Karina stiffened. “What?”
“You heard me! Now wipe that look off of your face, it isn’t very attractive.”
“Milly—“
“Hi, Officer Travato!” Milly said loudly, smirking in Karina’s direction.
The skin on the back of Karina’s neck prickled as she heard the scrape of a chair being pulled away from the table. “Hey, Ladies. How’re we doing?”
“…Fine,” Karina choked out, putting down her spoon. She could feel her cheeks heating up. She glanced quickly at Milly, sending her frantic vibes of help me!
“Well,” Milly said loudly, piling her plates atop one another. “I’m done eating. Karina, I’ll see you later. Officer.” She gave him a quick nod, winked at Karina, and left.
Oh god, help me.
While things hadn’t been as awkward as they had been before Karina had apologized, they’d still kept some sort of distance from one another. Why this should have changed now, Karina had absolutely no idea—
“So, Blondie.”
The heat expanded on Karina’s cheeks and traveled downwards to her neck. Now she had no choice but to look up at him. “Yes?”
He regarded her, an expression on his face somewhere between a smirk and a smile. “I wanted to ask you…You doing anything on Friday?”
“I..I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“A bunch of us are going into the city Friday night, and…” he crossed his arms on the table. “I wondered if maybe you wanted to come with us—with me.”
She felt as though she had been submerged in a pool of water. She could hear the sound of her blood roaring in her ears. She forced herself to eat more soup. “Is it like the state dinner?”
Vance laughed. “Uh, no. It’s definitely more casual than that.” He shifted in his seat, leaning towards her a bit, and Karina caught a whiff of something off his clothes.
“Just so you know,” she said, trying to sound offhand, “I don’t go out with smokers.”
“So you’ll come?”
“So you’re not a smoker?”
“Wouldn’t you know,” he grinned and winked. “I just quit.”
Karina stared into her soup. After several moments, he shifted his chair closer to hers and said, “Y’know, Karina,” he said quietly, his face close to hers. “I really want to get to know you, and unless I’m seriously off base, I think you’d like to get to know me too.” He smiled slightly, and Karina had to admit that she didn’t believe he was pulling her leg. “So what do you say? Let’s do it properly this time.”
One beat passed. Then two.
“Alright,” she said quietly, meeting his gaze. “I’d love to go.”
He let out a long breath, one she hadn’t been aware he’d been holding. “Oh my God, I was positive you were going to say no. This is fantastic.” He pushed his chair back and stood. “The shuttle’ll leave at about 5:30 on Friday. Make sure you don’t miss it this time.” He grinned to let her know he was joking.
“Wait!” She called after him as he started to walk away. “Where are we going?”
Ten minutes later Karina rushed into the android hangar and to Milly’s work station.
“I need your help,” Karina burst out, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
Milly raised her eyebrows as she snapped on a pair of rubber gloves. She took in Karina’s flushed appearance and sniggered. “Need to borrow lingerie already? Sorry, honey, even you’re going out with the hottest guy on base, my boobs are still way bigger than yours."
“Milly,” Karina begged, ignoring the slight on her chest size. “He’s invited me to go to Carboncore. Carboncore. I don’t have anything to wear—actually, never mind,” she backed off, as a slow grin began to spread across Milly’s face. “I’ll just—“
“Oh no,” Milly cut her off, picking up a screwdriver and twirling it between her fingers. “You asked, you are receiving.”
~
“I don’t think this is going to work.”
“Hush.” For a woman who was supposed to wear mandatory jumpsuits and tee-shirts, Milly owned an impressive amount of clothing. “Here, try this on.” She plucked a shirt from a hanger and tossed it Karina, who caught it in midair. She looked at it.
“Milly, I can’t wear this.”
“Why not?” she asked, sorting through the rest of her hangers. “Not enough cleavage?”
“Too much cleavage!”
“Urgh. Karina, don’t be an old woman. Show a little skin! Bother him a bit. Not to mention, you’re going to Carboncore. You’ll look like a moron if you go dressed like you usually are. Just try it on, okay? I promise it’s not as bad as you think.”
Karina grudgingly obliged and pulled the shirt over her head. “Oh, man,” she groaned, looking at her reflection in the mirror. “This is—“
“Perfect,” Milly said, turning her around and adjusting the neckline a bit. “Trust me, he’ll love it.”
Karina was surprised that she hadn’t set anything on fire what with all the blushing she’d been doing lately. Though, really, as much as she might say otherwise…there was a little part (okay, a big part) that was excited about going on a proper date with Vance.
“—Make up sorted out and then you’ll be all set,” Milly was saying as she opened and shut various dresser drawers.
“I hope he doesn’t end up regretting this,” Karina fidgeted with the belt loop on her borrowed jeans. “I hope I don’t end up regretting this.”
“Karina, for God’s sake. It’s just a date. Not a marriage proposal. Relax.”
Karina fell silent as Milly began applying makeup. She was right, of course. It was just a date. It might just be a onetime thing.
Or, it might not.
“There.” Milly put down the makeup brush. “Now don’t rub your eyes and remember to reapply the lipstick every once in a while. Don’t spill anything on those jeans, and if you two end up making out against a wall, make sure that no one’s vomited on it. I like that shirt too much.” She began to push Karina towards the door. “And, last but not least, you have to tell me about everything. Everything.”
Before Karina could get in a breath to say anything about any of those things, she’d already been shoved into the hallway.
“Have fun!” Milly cackled, blowing Karina a kiss.
Karina stood there in mild shock for a minute after her friend had closed her door. Shaking herself out of it, she glanced at her watch.
“Shit!”
Karina yanked off her shoes and sprinted down the hallway. If she’d known it was this late, she would have forgone having Milly do her makeup. It was all she could do to pray that the shuttle hadn’t left yet.
“Not again,” she panted as she ran towards the shuttle platform. “Not again!”
She slammed her palm onto the button to open the door and braced her hands on her knees to catch her breath. When she looked up again, the door had slid open and Vance was grinning down at her.
“I was just coming to find you,” he said, standing back to let her through.
“Sorry,” she said, slipping her shoes back on. “I, uh, lost track of time.”
“No problem.” He waited for her to fully catch her breath. “You look great by the way.” His eyes lingered briefly on her neckline before focusing on her face. He gave her an easy, charming smile and Karina found herself, for the umpteenth time, blushing again.
“Thanks,” she said, then, before she could stop herself, “you don’t look too bad yourself.” She almost wished it wasn’t true, but it was. If she thought he looked attractive in uniform, Vance looked just as good, if not better, in civilian clothing.
He pretended to look shocked. “Holy crap,” he said, pressing a hand to his chest. “Did Karina Bois just compliment me?”
Karina smacked him on the arm. “Don’t be an ass,” she said, pretending she hadn’t noticed the spark in her fingertips at the contact of her skin on his.
The shuttle gave a high-pitched buzz and the remaining people on the platform began to move. They began to hurry towards the shuttle; Karina prayed that she wouldn’t break an ankle from the shoes she was wearing. The shuttle began to move forward just as they reached it. They climbed in and Vance led the way to a center aisle seat, where he flopped down next to the window.
Karina hesitated, and then slowly sat down next to him, aware that if she were any stiffer she’d probably crack in two. The scenery outside began to speed up until it the desert was a blur of gold, tinged with pink and red from the setting sun.
“How long does the shuttle usually take?” Karina asked.
“You’ve never been on it before?”
She shook her head. “when I arrived on base we came on the trucks.”
Vance looked a bit surprised. “It’ll take about twenty minutes, maybe a half hour at the most.” He smirked and nudged her knee with his own. “So we’ll actually have a chance at a proper conversation.”
Karina’s mind went blank. What on earth was she supposed to talk about? Thankfully, she was given a few minutes of stalling time when an officer from the seat in front of them turned and said, laughing, “And why the hell would she want to do that? Jesus, Travato. You’ve already put her through the humiliation of going out with you, now you want her to talk, too? Not to mention she’s probably on every other woman’s black list—“
“Shut up.” Vance kicked the back of the seat in front of them, none too lightly, either. “Ignore him,” he said to Karina, to the indignation of the soldier whose seat he’d kicked. “He’s D Class and therefore a moron—to which I might remind him that I’m his commanding officer and he might give my date a little respect. Also, his girlfriend just dumped him.” The soldier blushed crimson and turned around, but not before he gave Vance the stink eye.
“So,” Vance said, continuing as though nothing had happened. “Let’s avoid sounding like a bunch of tools and not talk about work—not like we don’t know what the other is doing anyway.”
Then what on earth are we supposed to talk about? Karina thought. Apparently though, this hadn’t occurred to vance as some sort of issue, and who simply kept on talking. “Have you ever been to CarbonCore?”
Karina shook her head. “I never really…went to those kinds of places.” Wonderful. Now she sounded like a twelve year old.
“You’ve never been to a club?”
“It’s not really my kind of thing. But a few friends of mine have gone to this one before, and they liked it, so.”
“It’s not too bad,” he shrugged. “If you avoid the drunken creeps. But,” he grinned. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.”
Karina gave a small smile in return and let herself relax back into the seat. She had to admit, it was nice to be able to go out on a date, one who actually seemed capable of watching out for her. She glanced around to see who else was on the shuttle, something she hadn’t done before. She didn’t recognize too many; most of them were soldiers and from Vance’s platoon, and therefore had nothing to do with her department. One of the woman, however, she recognized—Abbi, a nurse from the infirmary. She apparently felt Karina’s eyes on her, because she turned and when she saw Karina looking at her, gave her a smile that could have frozen lava.
Karina tensed up again, then abruptly realized that Vance had been speaking to her.
“I’m sorry, what?” She asked, turning from abbi and back to him. “What did you say?”
“I asked if you’ve ever eaten a bug before.”
Karina looked aghast. “Ew, no!”
Vance laughed. “Okay, good. And what I’d really asked was where you were from, but the other question seemed like it would get your attention faster.”
Karina made herself laugh, determined to relax again. “I’m from Walden.” She let herself be drawn into the conversation, and was surprised to find that he actually wasn’t a bad conversationalist.
She was actually enjoying herself.
Soon enough, the city began taking shape on the horizon. Not long after, they entered a tunnel which brought them into the city’s underground station.
“Watch your step,” Vance warned as Karina nearly toppled over. He glared at the soldier who’d knocked into her. “Hey! You’re gonna pay for that on Monday, Asshole!”
Karina glanced around nervously as everyone began to walk up the wide stairs to the street above. Excitement and fear battled in equal measure inside her. “I feel like a bumpkin,” she confessed as they emerged onto the street. She had to immediately step to the side as she was nearly run down by a pedestrian on a cell phone.
“Yeesh,” she said, sticking close to Vance due to the sheer amount of people around her. “Is it always like this?”
“usually,” he agreed. “The trick is to walk with confidence, or else you’ll be spending all your time avoiding everyone else. Walden isn’t that big, is it?”
“Not really.”
“So this is your first real city experience?” When she nodded, he smirked. “Then I’m flattered that you’re allowing your first time to be with me.”
Oh my God, she thought, grateful for the fact that the darkness and all the neon lights made it impossible for anyone to see her scarlet blushing. He did that on purpose.
They walked several blocks, Karina content with allowing Vance to lead the way, as she had no idea which direction they were going, or what they were even looking for. Therefore, it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise when they arrived at a large, converted warehouse.
“This is it?” she said loudly to be heard over the sound of pulsing bass as they joined the line at the door.
He nodded. “Brace yourself,” he said close to her ear, and the sound of his voice that close sent shivers up her spine.
Looking around, Karina became increasingly grateful that she’d allowed Milly to dress her. Had she worn any of her own clothes, she would have looked like a fool. As it was, she appeared to be the only one dressed even slightly
conservatively. She saw a group of girls apparently on their way out, all laughing hysterically. They appeared to be slightly drunk. As they passed Karina and Vance, they slowed, obviously giving him a once over.
“Hey,” one of them called out, a petite redhead. “Why don’t you drop grandma and come out with us instead?”
Karina bristled. But before she could say or do anything, Vance, smirking, called back, “Sorry, ladies. Not into the slutty look. My girl suits me just fine.”
The redhead flipped him off, and, still shrieking with laughter, the group moved down.
“Thanks,” Karina said.
“Don’t have to thank me for the truth.” He winked at her as they moved up in line.
At the front, Vance paid for their entry, and Karina had the back of her hand stamped by a leering security guard. She felt Vance’s arm wrap securely around her waist and pull her along.
“Creep,” she thought she heard him say as they entered a short hallway, but it was lost in the sounds of thump thump thump of the bass.
The hall opened up into what used to be the main warehouse, a massive space filled with people. The music pulsing through the air wasn’t even discernible above the noise of all the people.
“Come on, let’s find a table.” Keeping a hold onto Karina’s hand, Vance navigated his way easily through the crowd to the side where the booths were.
“What do you drink?” He asked close to her ear after she’d sat down.
“Whatever you get is fine.”
She watched him go through the crowd to the bar. The dance floor was packed, and it was only then tht Karina had the terrifying but nevertheless logical thought that at some point in the evening, there was going to be dancing involved. Dancing with Vance. Her belly warmed at the thought.
“Hey, honey. Why’re you all by yourself?”
Karina turned. Some guy had stumbled off the dance floor and was stumbling towards her. She could see sweat glistening on his forehead, and, when he was close enough, smell the alcohol on his breath.
“So, baby,” he said, leaning against the booth and staring down her shirt. “How about it? Wanna come give me a dance?”
Karina slid further down the booth and scanned the crowd for Vance. “Actually, I’m here with someone—“
Her unwelcome visitor took the extra room as an invitation to squeeze in next to her. “But he left you here all alone,” he slurred, leaning in close. “So why don’t me and you get busy—“
“Hey.”
Karina’s heart leapt into her throat. She’d never been so grateful or relieved in her life. Peering around the intruder’s shoulder, she saw Vance, who was staring down at the intruder with distaste. “I’m gonna ask you to leave now. You’re bothering my date.”
The intruder sneered up at him. “I don’t her hear asking me to leave,” he said.
“I bet she didn’t ask you to sit down, either. Leave, or I’ll make you.”
The intruder stood up, and for a few blessed seconds Karina thought he was actually going to leave without making a scene. But instead, he gave Vance a hard shove in the stomach. “Oh yeah? You and what army, pretty boy?”
Vance grabbed the front of the intruder’s shirt collar and yanked him up to eyelevel. Digging under his shirt, he pulled out his dog tags and held them up under the drunk’s nose.
“C Class Officer,” Vance smirked. “So, yeah. That army.” He dropped the guy back onto the ground. “Now fuck off before I have to break some limbs.”
Vance sat down across from Karina as the intruder, after giving vance the finger, staggered off. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, glancing at the dance floor again, then back to Vance. “No drinks?”
“Actually,” he said, giving her a wide smile. “I had a thought. This place is a bit too packed for my tastes, which probably means its way over packed for yours. What’dyou say we get out of here and go get ice cream instead?”
~
The sidewalks hadn’t cleared out much, but the shuttle station had. The only other person around was the janitor washing windows at the far end.
“You’ve honestly never broken a bone?”
“Nope.”
“I have a hard time believing that. Even when you spar with the battle droids?”
“What can I say?” Vance popped the last bit of his ice cream cone into his mouth. “I’m a lucky guy.”
Karina shook her head. “That’s…something else.”
“That isn’t to say I haven’t had my fair share of injuries,” he said, pointing to the scar on his cheekbone. “Just no broken bones.”
“Hmph,” Karina said, thoughtfully taking a bite of her icecream. “Well, I, on the other hand, have broken my leg and my nose. Wanna know what’s even better? I broke my nose when we were leaving the hospital after the broken leg.”
Vance snorted. “How the hell did that happen?”
“I wasn’t used to the crutches, and I fell down the stairs.”
He burst out laughing. “You’re full of shit, Blondie.”
“I am not! Look!” She pushed her face close to his and pointed at her nose. “See? Crooked!”
“I can see that,” he chuckled. “Hey, can I steal a bite of your ice cream?”
“No, you already finished yours.”
“Exactly.”
Karina slid to the other end of the bench and took a large chomp of her ice cream.
“Hey, share a little! I bought it!”
“Don’t be an Indian giver.”
He smirked at her. “Y’know, I have to say, Blondie. I’m a little disappointed.”
“Disappointed that you aren’t getting my ice cream? Get over it.”
“No,” he said, stretching the word out. “Disappointed that I didn’t get to dance with you.”
The warm feeling returned to Karina’s belly with such a vengeance that it could have melted her ice cream.
“Oh well,” He shrugged, glancing slyly at her. “Maybe next time—“
The rest of his sentence was lost as Karina pressed her mouth to his. Immediately, his hands were on either side of her face and she’d dropped her ice cream to tangle her fingers in his hair.
“Geeze, Blondie,” he whispered as she pulled away for air. “Where’d you learn that?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered back, breathless. The warm feeling had spread. She could feel it in her fingers, her cheeks, her eyes.
The back of her knees.
On the shuttle trip back to base, Vance brushed off questions of where’d they gone with a stern glance. He kept his knee pressed to hers the entire time.
It wasn’t until they’d arrived back at base that Karina began to think about what was technically supposed to happen next. The warm feeling in her belly expanded, and simultaneously went cold.
“Listen,” she said haltingly, clearing her throat. “I don’t…I don’t want you to think that I’m some kind of tease or anything—“
“Relax, Blondie.”
“Because seriously—“
“Karina.” He kissed her, deep and long, and she responded more readily than she would have liked. By the time he slowly pulled away, her breathing had gotten considerably heavier, and she was quite willing to forget whatever it was she’d just said.
“Relax,” he murmured, his voice husky. “I’m a…gentleman. At least for tonight.”
Please don’t be she wanted to say, even though this was completely contradictory to what she’d just said. Her mouth felt swollen.
“So I’ll see you tomorrow,” he murmured, backing away slowly. “Meet you for breakfast before it’s time for our respective duties.”
It didn’t take Karina the entire walk back to her room to know that she’d have a hard time sleeping tonight.
~
Spoiler! :
I love your handle on the characters. I kinda got the one or two hints of Scifi xD It just makes these characters more intriguing for me. Now, I'm going to be doing the review kind of differently. I was reading while I was making edits - and because there's so much character in this, well...I tend to react aloud to the story so my reactions are there as I was reading 
Your characters were great. I'd LOVE to know what happens next!
Gender:
Points: 2188
Reviews: 74