Heartbeats

Chapter 11: The tempest inside their hearts

Gavril sat on the bed, knees still folded beside him. His stretched arms supported his weight as he continued to pant, still reeling from his climax.

Loria pulled her leg from beneath Gavril and rolled to her side. She reached to a glass of whisky waiting for her on his bedside table. Her long hands wrapped gently around the cool glass and brought it near her. She lifted herself up, her back against the wall and took of a sip.

Gavril focused on breathing for a while before he got out of the bed. He pulled the condom off of him and tied the end with a knot before throwing it on the bin underneath the bedside table. He scooped his boxers on the floor and quickly wore it. He sat on the bed as his eyes scanned the dimly lit room for his discarded pants.

Loria placed the drink on top of the table and moved towards the Commander. Her fingers grazed the hard toned muscles of his back as she wrapped her arms around him. Gavril leaned back, feeling the soft bosoms pressed against him. Loria grinned, quite mischievously, and slowly her fingers started to untie his facemask from behind.

Gavril instantly pulled away, hissing a curse at the woman.

"Oh, not fair. I just wanted a kiss." Loria whined. She looked at Gavril who was walking away from her and to the other end of the room, "this is my first time with a Commander."

"You know I don't do kissing." Gavril said, quite angrily. He stood afar with his hands on his back, his fingers already securing the facemask. During which, his eyes had spotted his pants.

Loria moved back to her drink and finished her glass. "What's the matter? Having Commander problems?"

"No." Gavril said as he picked up his pants on the floor.

Loria's laugh vibrated on her throat, "You rented me out on a date last month telling me that would be the last time I'd see you. You said you needed to uphold your reputation as Commander and everything."

Loria grinned, her dark chocolate eyes looked at Gavril as he dressed, "But here we are."

Gavril finished putting his pants on by the end of her statement, he shook his head a bit, "I guess stress finally caught up to me."

Gavril took the bottle of whisky on top of his study table with him when he went back to bed. Seeing her glass empty, he poured some for her.

Loria continued to watch him carefully as he did. He did look stressed. His eyes lacked sleep and his skin was dry. The bags underneath his eyes were darker than the last time she had seen him. During the whole time she had not seen him, she swore he aged another good five years.

That night Loria noticed how he was distracted. He seemed to have something in his mind the whole time. She grinned as she began to think about what could have been bothering her Commander.

"Ah." Loria uttered, finally getting it, "Are you having problems with your little girlfriend?"

Gavril stopped, "what? Who?"

Loria almost squealed as her fingers wrapped around her glass, she brought the glass to her nose and took a whiff. "Sasha, of course."

Gavril sighed. Not this joke again.

"We had one of your third recon boys talking, down at Mama Terra's — "

"Arseb." Gavril said, easily figuring out who it was.

Arseb was such a blabbermouth whenever he got drunk, it could only be him. Although Gavril could only think of this as a nonsensical story from a drunk, he was indeed curious.

At least for a bit, he could stop worrying about Borian's condition.

"So apparently, the little Captain had a breakdown. He said that she had a nightmare or something at the base and pointed a gun to her brother demanding who he was."