Tomas and his flight were in preparation for one their many patrol missions these days. As he powered up his fighter and began going through his checks when the main screen flashed to an odd scene. Romantic music played from somewhere within the fighter that Tomas couldn't locate. On the screen, the pair of Twi'leks reminded Tomas of one of those soap opera shows that he tended to avoid. The Squadron Commander now scrambled to get whatever this was off the screen and get the fighter ready for launch.

"Frak," Tomas mumbled through his helmet. Someone's going to pay for this.



Tomas Dagoram was the kind of guy that needed less sleep on average than the average person. He wasn't sure why exactly, but five, six hours after hitting the sack he would wake up restless and raring to go. As a result, the young Squadron Commander felt no rush to get to sleep just yet.

Following a snack at the Cantina, Tomas decided to get a bit of his paperwork done before going to bed. Cutting through the hangar on his way to his office, he was surprised to see a crew member still at work so late into the night. A closer look, and between the person's height, her female figure and other distinguishing features Tomas recognized the pilot almost immediately:

"Crewman O'Riley what are you doing here so late?" Tomas called out to the woman looking over one of the TIEs.a Got to give her credit, she can work hard when she is ordered to sometimes.

"Just finishing up some repairs, they have me on extra maintenance duty until they get more crewman in," Mira replied with an awkward smile, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just need to get some paperwork from my office," Tomas said as casually as he could manage. He still wasn't all that comfortable around Mira just yet and he was sure it showed as hard as he tried to hide it.

"Oh that's nice, well I'd better get back to work or I'll never get home tonight," Mira said, before sliding under the TIE to keep working. She had done it so suddenly, that Tomas suddenly felt awkward standing there and after a short delay continued on to his office.

"Auuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!" Tomas yelled as the door to his office opened and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing. "Frak...Mira..." he grumbled examining the furniture now on the ceiling. How the hell did she even reach high enough to do all this?!? I don't now what I'm going to do with that girl...

Tomas stood in shock at the scene before him, unable to move really. Every single item in his office had been welded or glued to the ceiling of his office; even his stapler and commemorative beer mug hung upside down from his desk and bookcase respectively. The bookcase itself seemed a little more bare than before. The lack of anything whatsoever on the floor caused Tomas to guess that the books missing were now either crammed into his desk or in the possession of the culprit themselves, though he figured the former.

It took several minutes, but Tomas eventually relaxed enough to step further into the room and examine the rest of the damage. As he moved around the room, Tomas pulled on the things he could reach in order to test their strength. To his relief the one wheel of his chair appeared loose and with a couple tugs a second wheel lifted slightly off the ceiling. It's actually going to come free...

The chair decided otherwise as Tomas tugged and tugged, it slowly loosening but not nearly fast enough for his liking. With a leap Tomas hung from the chair, using his body weight and the artificial gravity to pull it from its place. With a sudden lurch, they both fell to the ground, and although he landed on his feet the young squadron commander knocked off balance and stumbled backwards until he collapsed into the wall.

"Oh my god who did this!" Oh gre-eaaaaat. There standing at the door, it was her...Tomas watched as Mira scanned the room before her eyes fell on his crumple body.

"You damn well know you did this," he managed weakly as he climbed to his feet and approached her yet again.

"Please CWO, does it look like I could get up there?" That's what I was thinking...wait no, she's getting defensive...I've been through this stuff...damn women, I'm not falling for it.

"I don't know how you did it, but you're the only one in the squad that would do something like this!" There was no way he was going to let her out of this as he grew more and more upset.

"Well if you haven't noticed everyone in the squad thinks my pranks are hilarious, well except you, and if you would take that stick out of your ass then maybe, just maybe, you could laugh a little bit," There she goes with that 'stick in the ass' thing again. Tomas felt his fist clench without even meaning to, and continued to lift it from pure instinct. Only staring into her deep green eyes allowed him to regain his composure.

"Go ahead hit me, you wouldn't be the first man to do it," she smirked...she's testing me..., "Don't you think there's a reason why you don't get much respect from the squad, not because of my pranks because I do them to everyone and even Enzadi gets more respect then you and he's a bumbling klutz, gods bless him. It's how you take a joke, you can't take one worth a shit, and humor is all we have out here, hell anyone of us could die any minute and here you are trying to be serious, to play that cool leader type. We don't want that, not when we're relaxing, what we need is a leader that can make us laugh and forget about what we're always fight, what we're dying for, because frankly what we're dying for isn't enough for our blood. Not the way I see it."

"My god, you're really as smart as your test in school show," Tomas was awed by the tirade, Mira had gone off on. She had some good points, though her psycho-evaluation wasn't exactly on target. For one, he could take a joke...eventually...he just...took some time to settle down from initial reactions.

"Yeah, I am, you out of anyone should know that, my brother Jacob kept telling you that, but you never did listen, even after I saved your ass from that bully, what was his name, Hundor or something, big, smelly brute that you had to look at wrong. He probably would have killed you, I heard after I left he had been sent to hard labor camp for killing some guy in a cantina."

"Mouse?" As hard as Tomas had tried not to let her get to him, this mention of Jacob...and Hundor...nostalgia overpowered him, "No impossible, you're you're..."

"Not mousey, well yeah, gained some boob," Tomas averted his eyes and became rose in the cheeks as Mira said this, "some common sense, and a thick skin. Not to mention lost the glasses so I could fly, put some chemicals in my hair to keep it from frizzing and quit slouching so much. Not that you noticed me that much while growing up." That's not...true...not by a long shot, Tomas thought, but decided to keep it to himself.

"Mira?" Tomas spoke softly, trying to bring her back from some sort  of nostalgic rush.

"Hm?" Mira said with a sense of surprise in her voice, as if he had brought her back from some trip down memory lane.

"How are your brothers?" Tomas asked, trying to make conversation.

"Fine, just fine, I have to get home. I have a cat to feed and a plant to talk to," Mira replied in short bursts before turning to leave.

"Mira," Tomas grabbed her should gently now driven purely by emotion and gave her a brief hug. "I know that's very unprofessional, but I'm glad you're here...I really am."

"Yeh, I'm glad I didn't either.  So tell me what's been up since you've been gone, adventures you've been on, pretty girls you've met, places you've been, tell me it all." Despite how much Mira had managed to wind him up over the past little while, sitting with her now felt incredibly relaxing for him. As Tomas handed Mira back her canteen he pondered where to start.

"Well, let's see...after I got on the shuttle I came to Abrae and went through training, but you know all about that jazz don't you," Tomas began giving Mira a friendly shoulder bump as they sat with their backs against the office wall. From there he went on to describe his first mission, the testing disaster his squadron had taken part in, as well the vacation ambush among several other missions he had participated in over his brief career in the Navy. He went through his tales as quickly and made it as exciting as he could, but to no avail as Mira stifled a yawn.

"What!? It's late," Mira said defensively as he gave her a mock glare. This was followed by a short laugh from her. "Have you not been listening to anything I said have you?"

"Hey! Those were some crazy times."

"In that case, you sir just suck at storytelling!" Mira said with a laugh and a grin. "Is there a reason you've left out all those girls in your life?"

"Well, there was one...she was beautiful...the distance was a bit extreme though." Mira merely nodded along with 'mhmm' and a playful nudge. Mira yawned once again, and although Tomas laughed he could see she was long overdue for her bed. With that, Tomas helped her to her feet. "Alright your turn, Miss. Any big, hunky guys back home?"

It didn't seem to take long to get back to their quarters, though that could have been due to the fun atmosphere now between them.

As they parted, Mira wiped some grease on Tomas with another of her laughs. "I probably should shower and hit the sack."

As soon as they had parted ways, Tomas decided it was time to call in a favour.

"Hey Daven, I've got something I need you to do. There's this girl in my squadron who's been a prankster. She's in the shower right now...no, no, no...I don't want you to hook up cameras...here's what you're going to do...close off her quarters, she doesn't get in, okay? Yes, that's it...just get it done, okay? Thanks."

Tomas disconnected and sat back on his bed waiting for it all to unfold...

Tomas was still waiting for a commotion to ensue in the hallway following his prank. Instead he found himself startled by a knock at his door. Odd... he thought, as he got up to answer. He had a feeling it would be Mira and as a result he couldn't keep a "proud of himself" look off his face.

"Hello?" Tomas asked as the door opened. In an instant his cocky grin vanished as his jaw dropped and his eyes bulged momentarily. There stood Mira of course, though not nearly as covered up as he expected. God, was she the one person in the Navy not to be caught up in the pink bathrobe craze?. There she stood before him clad only in a towel. A towel which barely was showing a suprising large amount of skin considering her height, though that was probably helped by her apparent indifference towards being covered or not.

"Ermmm, Can I help you Mira?" Tomas asked looking up timidly. He had gone red in the face almost instantly and had averted his gaze to his shoes.

"Wouldn't you know it the door, that I recall leaving unlock is now locked.  Funny isn't it with your connections with the guys in electronics, anyway I need that extra key you have of my room so I can get in," Mira replied in a friendly, carefree fashion. How did she find out I had those connections? ... Daven ... Lost in thought, it took Tomas a moment to realize Mira was no longer in front of him but had instead slipped inside and laid down on the couch. With a glance out into the hallway, the Squadron Commander closed his quarter's door. "Nice, the ladies must love this place."

"Errr, what are you doing?" Tomas asked walking back into the main room.

"Making myself comfortable while you dig up that key."

"Key? What key?" Tomas replied without thinking, his mind going a million different directions.

"The key to let me in my room silly. Geez, put a half naked woman in front of you and your memory goes poof." Mira accentuated the 'poof' by making exploding actions with her hands. This in turn caused the towel to slide a tad more, only turning Tomas an even brighter shade of red.

"Oh, uhhh...right..." Tomas managed to stutter, before looking at the ground and slipping into his bedroom to find the key. One by one he began searching around the various surfaces and drawers in the room before glancing back out at the couch. Do I really want to find this key of hers? Making up his mind, Tomas instead grabbed one of his white button shirts and a pair of sweat pants from a drawer.

"Here you are," he announced as he returned to the main room. As he did so, Tomas softly tossed the clothing at Mira.

"What's this? Where's the key?" Mira replied puzzled, but with a devious look in her eyes.

"Oh, well I was we could relax here for a while. Maybe watch some movies, you know? And I figured I'd at least give you the option of covering up...not that you've seemed to care so far." Tomas replied, wondering if it was just his imagination or if she did in fact have even more skin showing than when he had left. "They are the smal- I mean, best fit I could find for you on such short notice."

Tomas turned to one of many shelves in the room, bracing himself for a retaliation for his last accidental crack at her height. "Hm, I think I might even have a copy around here somewhere of that play they made you perform in way back when..."

Tomas squirmed underneath Mira laughing and crying simultaneously as she tickled him mercilessly. She would tickle him continually and suddenly stop when she figured he was too worn out from all the laughing and struggling only to resume just as he was beginning to recover. It was obvious to Tomas that she was having a ball and he enjoyed seeing her so happy, but if he didn't get her off soon he felt like he'd pass die from all the tickling.

As a result, Tomas went on the counter attack during the next such break and fought with all his strength to get up onto his knees. Then, sensing his chance Tomas rolled, gracefully flipping Mira off his back and in one swift motion threw her onto the couch. Pouncing on top Mira, tickling her in retaliation. She was not nearly as ticklish as him, but for whatever reason his mind seemed to remember the few spots that made giggle uncontrollably.

Although it seemed he now had the upper hand, Tomas was extremely winded, first from the tickle attack and the ensuing reverse of fates. As such, it wasn't long until he found himself on the bottom yet again, his face and chest pressed into a shaggy rug. As he made a futile attempt  to get free , Tomas noticed something small on the rug inches from his face. It was a button, from the top he had given Mira no less...

"Ungh, uh...Mira?" Tomas said, slightly muffled by the carpeting.

"Yes, darling?" Mira replied in that sweet voice he had been hearing all night. With a shrug, Tomas attempted to draw her attention to the button seeing as how he had nothing else to really work with. This revelation was acknowledged by a short gasp and a giggle, as Mira looked down at her shirt.

"Keep it." Mira said giggling, as she realized that it was merely one of the buttons near the bottom of the shirt.

"Riiiiiight, ready to watch the video yet? We really don't have to watch that one if you don't want."

"Well did you like what you saw?" Mira asked, breaking the trend of the pointless argument that obviously wasn't going anywhere. The next thing Tomas knew Mira was right up close staring deep into his eyes in attempt to get the honest truth from him. When he didn't answer right away, Tomas found himself on the receiving end of another strong poke.

"No...well maybe a little...ok, a lot." Tomas responded finally, poking Mira in the shoulder with each successive answer. Mira attempted to avoid the last one, but instead found herself stumbling backwards awkwardly. Suddenly Tomas found a hand grabbing tightly at his shirt and pulling him down as well.

"Bow-chicka-bow-wow," Mira giggled as they collapsed onto the couch, Tomas sprawled on top of her. She also gave him smirk as he managed to turn his head and look down at her. "Hey! No peeking mister!" Mira said in mock disgust, pretending to cover the hole created by the missing button.

"Listen here Miss O'Riley, if those were my intentions, why in the world would I have gotten you a change of clothes?" Tomas stated in an attempt to defend himself.

"Fair enough, but if that were true, why this shirt with its seemingly very loose buttons." Mira commented with another laugh.

"Hrmm, well it's not." Tomas replied in his defense. Managing to get himself up off his fellow pilot, he gave her a peck on forehead before attempting to pull away.

"Mister Dagoram!" Mira exclaimed, causing Tomas to attempt at sputtering an apology. "That is no way to kiss a lady." Tomas turned bright red once again in response. "THIS is how you you kiss a lady," and with that Mira pulled Tomas back in towards her and giving him a long and forceful kiss on the lips, slowly but surely sucking the airs from his lungs.

"Oh, so said brother's friend and superior officer can't check you out, but you have no problem with making out with him?" Tomas managed to gasp once Mira released him...

"Hmmm, no girly magizines under the bed, no questionable tapes in the closet, not even a twi'lek wearing close to nothing on the wall, geez you're boring," Mira said giggling the whole time. Tomas could only imagine what she was doing in there. It'd probably look like a tornado had hit it by the time she was done. He had been slamming his fist on the door, but when it appeared obvious she wasn't going to let him in Tomas leaned up against it in an attempt to discern what she was upto as she searched his belongings. Suddenly he heard a gasp. Oh no, what has she found? he thought to himself awaiting the accompanying giggling and teasing. Instead the door slid open and sent him tumbling into the room. Mira was right there on the other side and he leaned on her shoulders to keep himself from falling to the floor. To his surprise, Mira wrapped him up in a hug, holding him tightly and resting her hed on his chest.

"I can explain, those are a gag....Mira?" Tomas looked down at Mira in confusion. She had gone from giggling and laughing at his expense to being in a quiet and reserved state clinging to him for dear life.

"What's this?" Mira asked in a mumbled voice, taking one of her arms off his waist and shoved a straw doll in his face, scratching his skin slightly.

"Oh that, I kept it, I mean you gave it to me to make me feel better when I was beat up and I kept it...um...listen..." Tomas tried to explain, before being cut off.

"Tomas, when we were growing up, was there a chance that you had some sort of affection for me? You mentioned a girl before, were you talking about me, and if that's the case why did you leave?" Mira had turned her head and with a clear, though timid tone.

"Well you see..." Tomas began as he put his arm around Mira's waist and guided to the edge of his bed. They sat down, Mira's head buried his chest and his arm around her shoulders. "No, the girl I mentioned before, that wasn't you. I met her on one of my first missions in the Navy." As he answered her questions, Mira looked crushed, as hard as she tried to hide it. Shoot, I started with the wrong one...stupid, stupid, stupid. "But....BUT...yes, you could say I had 'some sort of affection for you'...that's probably an understatement at best. I liked you so much it's not even funny."

"Then why didn't you do anything about it?" Mira spoke up defensively, slowly regaining a bit of her previous confidence. "Jerk!" she exclaimed giving him a friendly shot to the ribs.

"Hey now! You were intelligent, resourceful, tough, heck YOU were the one protecting ME. Needless to say, I was a tad intimidated. Throw in the fact that you were the sister of my friends and my friend, too and well...I wussed out."

"Not sure Tom, I mean most girls I grew up have kids and most guys I grew up with married the girls and had babies. All my basic shipmates are either dead, made the excuse to get out, or flying in distant galaxies. Meanwhile, I have a degree, I'm working on fighters and flying them, but I have no idea what I want in the month let alone the rest of my life. Ever feel like you're going to be stuck doing nothing forever?" Growing up they had had many discussions such as this, confiding in one another on several occasions. True, Mira was a year younger than him and he had been good friends with her brothers first, but there was something that caused him trust her unquestionably. He trusted her brothers, but the sense of comfort he felt with her had been unmatched by anything else he had known.

Right now though, this question and discussion of futures threw Tomas off. As they had gotten older, society had changed things. Sure they still hung out, but the comfort level wasn’t quite the same. Mira had gotten the impression he had still seen her as that cute little tomboy and not as the strong, independent woman she was becoming. On the other side, as Tomas had mentioned earlier he had been too intimidated to take their relationship further and as he left for the Academy things just didn’t seem the same as they once were. It’s all back to normal now, Tomas thought with a smile. Here he was sitting with that same beautiful woman, engaging in one of those deep, comfortable conversations he had grown to enjoy during childhood.

Tomas once again placed his arm around Mira, and ran his fingers through her soft hair as he answered her question:

“To be honest, no I’ve never felt that way…at least not for a long, loooooong time. I’m here doing what I want to do, what I’ve always wanted to do. To be a pilot is my lifelong ambition,” he said full of enthusiasm. “I’m not quite where I want to be just yet; in command of a capitol ship and one day my own fleet, but that’s part of the excitement. I’m taking it as it goes and although dangerous this squadron commanding has been a blast…save some annoying pilot who refuses to follow orders…” Tomas trailed off with a  grin.

“Hey now! You know deep down you like my mischievous ways,” Mira said in mock disgust, though unable to contain a giggle. She also gave him another elbow to the ribs, causing Tomas to flinch. To her surprise all he did in response was pull her in tighter to his body.

OOC:

Thanks for making me come off as a jerk, Nams

It had been a long, tearful sending off as Tomas stood under the shelter of the spaceport. His mother had nearly crushed him to death as she hugged him goodbye. There were many people out to see him off; his family, his friends and even some of his friends’ families, but someone missing. As he looked around, Tomas noticed that Mira was nowhere to be seen. This really hurt him on the inside, but he struggled not to let it show to the others. Instead, he made a note to ask her grandmother when he got to her.

“So Mira didn’t make it out then?” he asked the elderly lady.

“’fraid not, darlin’. She said something about a big exam,” she replied with a warm smile. Once he had given her a goodbye hug, Tomas sighed inwardly on his way to the next person.

Tomas received the last of the ‘goodbye’s and ‘good luck’s from those who were present, before boarding the shuttle and taking a seat by the window. Looking out into the rain only made him feel worse about what he was doing.

‘Could this day get anymore depressing…and now it has to go and rain,’ he thought to himself, ‘I’m supposed to be ecstatic! I’m off to follow my dreams.’

Throughout his time at the Academy, Tomas made a point to send two letters home; one to his parents and one to Mira. Having said this, as the time went on he found it harder and harder to get Mira’s letter written. It didn’t help that she did not always reply to them, and that after a year had passed she did not arrive at the Academy as she promised. He knew that that was likely his fault, but it made no difference. Without meaning to, the time between his letters increased, right up until the point he graduated from the Academy with honours. Once life as a squadron member began, he could not bring himself to write them any longer.

“Mira?” Tomas spoke. Here he was, with the girl he’d grown up with. She looked (and smelled, though that was likely due to her shampoo) even better than he remembered.

“Shut up, let me enjoy your man smell,” she replied, clinging to his chest and looking incredibly at ease. Tomas complied for several moments, watching her smile contently.

“Mira, you never did read the message I sent you on that day that I left did you?” He finally asked, breaking the silence.

“No, I didn’t. I erased it…I was too upset at you to bother looking at what you wrote. Let me guess, you confessed your true feelings to me, yadda, yadda, yadda,” she remarked, the second half of her coming with a heir of sarcasm.

“Heh, of course not. That would’ve been to sensical, and required too much confidence for a wuss like me.” Tomas said, laughing in an attempt to lighten the mood. “I did try to apologize though, but when you didn’t reply or show up to see me off I took it as you having not forgiven me. It seems you still haven’t, and I’m truly sorry. It makes more sense now is all, knowing you never read it.”

With that Tomas moved to hug Mira closer again, unsure how she’d respond following this revelation.

OOC:

My first attempt destroyed itself, this one is similar though I'm afraid not quite as good.

"...Bah look at us, we're getting all emotional and sappy, I hate that," Mira said. All of a sudden Tomas found himself struggling to stay upright as she grabbed him and tried to get him on the ground. Tomas was going to have none of that, partly because he was enjoying their current conversations, and also he was sure it would lead to him being hurt or immobile again.

"Hey not yet I'm enjoying this side of you," Tomas laughed, taking initiative and grabbing Mira's wrists before pulling her in tight so she couldn't get the upper hand.

"Oh you bore," Mira said, disappointed that Tomas had ended her fun. Tomas felt her shift around, and as she lay back onto him, he wrapped his arms around her waist. "If, if this turns into something, like I think it will.  I'll be accused of sleeping with a superior to gain favor, you'll get bagged with fraternization.  Every promotion I work for will be snubbed because people will think because we're sleeping together that I made rank due to you being able to influence who gets what..." Mira attempted to step away and having just heard what she'd had to say, Tomas removed his arms and let her go. "This completely sucks!  We finally find one another, start getting along, snogging wonderfully and now we have to stop!  Where's the justice in the world?"

Tomas sighed at Mira's latest revelation. She had a point, as much as he didn't want to admit it. He wasn't really sure what to say as he watched Mira sulk on his bed. She was bewildered and rightly so. For all that had gone wrong between them, things were finally turning around...now this...

"Mira?" Tomas said, sitting down next to her on the bed. It seemed she wasn't quite done sulking yet, as she pushed him away when he tried to give her a comforting hug. “Mira…” he repeated, once again he cuddled her and found much less resistance. He let her settle down a bit before he continued, “all your training to fulfill your dreams as a fighter pilot I don’t suppose I can convince you to be one of those girls who waits for their significant other to come back from the front can I?” Tomas joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

“No! We’ve been apart too long, there’s no way in hell I’m going back to some far off planet and waiting for you to come home…if you come home. It is a dangerous profession after all. Besides, if you get to refuse to put your dream career on hold, what makes you think I’ll end one of my dreams FOR GOOD.” Mira replied enthusiastically, though with a tone that gave Tomas the sense that she knew he was just kidding around. “But to be serious…”

“I know, I know…we have to think of something…come to think of it, my squadron commander before this assignment had hooked up with and was dating one of the other members of the squadron. They tried to keep it secret, but everyone in the squadron knew…probably even a higher up or two. I don’t think anything bad ever came of it…it’s an option at least…” Tomas trailed off, pulling Mira back to where she was previously, with her back up against him and his lips making their way around her neck and shoulder.

Tomas rubbed his nose gingerly, as to his disappointment it had been left untended by Mira's lips. It didn't feel broken or cut, just really sore. Mira meanwhile, had once again snuggled up next to him and was back to her game. The way she was swinging the controller around as she played made him quite nervous of further pain. With one arm around her waist, Tomas put his other hand on Mira's arm in an attempt to calm her enthusiastic movements.

"Jerk! You just made me lose!" Mira shouted in mock anger as his arm placement had caused her to miss a shot and was subsequently taken out by the game's bad guy. Shaking his hand away, Mira gave Tomas a light elbow to the side in an attempt to deter him from try that again.

"Good, now you have time for me," Tomas said grinning. Replacing his hand on Mira's arm, and moving it down to her wrist, Tomas deftly tried to remove the controller from her hands. Although it resulted in quite a struggle, Tomas eventually succeeded before tossing it on the floor next to the bed.

"Pfft, that's no fun." Mira said sarcastically now that she could no longer play the game. While she said one thing, her body spoke another as she snuggled up closer and pulled Tomas' arm around her. Oh god it's late, Tomas thought to himself as he looked at a nearby clock. He had already been exhausted back in the hangar, and now several hours had passed in the meantime.

"Quit fidgeting." He spoke up, as Mira tried to get comfortable. She eventually stopped as Mira found herself with her head resting on Tomas' shoulder, and her chest on his with her one arm draped over him. Satisfied that Mira had stopped moving around, Tomas stretched for the light switch and flicked it off sending the room into darkness. Within minutes he was fast asleep...content at what the evening had become...

Tomas felt a pair of hands run across his body, but he couldn't tell if they were just a continuation of the wonderful dream he'd been having. As a result, Tomas rolled over with a delighted sigh. Curling up, Tomas pulled his blankets tighter and nodded off back into a calming dream.

Tomas awoke a short time later, and try as he might he could not get himself back to sleep again. Instinctively, he splayed his arms and legs out in one giant stretch, before remembering that Mira had been sleeping in the bed with him last night. He let out a temporary sigh of relief when he realized she was no longer there to be disturbed by his occasional morning ritual. Where could she have gotten off to. More mischief, no doubt. Tomas let out another contented sigh, not only had he slept really well, but he had really enjoyed his evening with Mira.

It took a minute or two, but Tomas finally convinced himself to get out of the comfortable bed and begin the day. Stumbling into the main room, there was no sign of Mira. Odd... Rubbing his eyes, Tomas realized he was feeling a tad gross and headed back through his room and into the bathroom.

"Well, hello there sleepy head." Mira said as Tomas stepped inside. The sound made Tomas jump, it was not a nice experience so soon after waking up.

"Wha-what are you doing in there...and what possessed you to not close the door?" Tomas stuttered turning red for the umpteenth time in a matter of hours. Mira sat in the tub with a relaxed look upon her face, mountains of bubbles thankfully covering the water's surface as well as the rest of her body.

Tomas let out a sigh of relief, as he watched Mira dip back down under the bubbles. It was killing him standing there as she lay their naked, only a layer of suds between his eyes  and her nether regions. Nevertheless, he was unable to move from where he was. The obvious solution to shake off the embarrassment would have been to exit the bathroom and let Mira finish what she was doing, but he found such a thing impossible in his state.

Instead, Tomas just kept turning red attempting to avert his gaze every so often only to find his eyes drawing themselves back onto Mira's exposed flesh. This only increased his embarrassment as he once again tried to focus his vision on something else.

"Just forget it, I'm ready to get out anyway, cover you eyes again you pansy," Mira said beginning to emerge from the tub once again. This forced Tomas to look away in an instant. Thank god she likes the bath so warm, the mirror is all fogged up. It was in his view now, as he turned his head away and it gave him a slight view of the tub and Mira's emerging form but was way too misty to see anything other than the colour of her skin. He quickly couldn't take it and squeezed his eyes closed, only to suddenly have something wrapped around his waist. Tomas delayed opening his eyes, thinking Mira had remained in the nude as the hugged him tight. He was relieved to see she had thrown on his robe when he finally peeked out cautiously.

“There, better?” Mira asked  with a smile and giving him another squeeze. She's trying to kill me... With one more big hug, Mira let go and strutted out of the bathroom as if she was on top of the world. And in reality, in this small world that was Tomas' apartment that fact was true. She had him wrapped around her finger and she knew it. Tomas could only follow her back into the bedroom, his mind in a bit of a cloud. It seemed like this was a very similar situation to the night before, though with a slight difference. As Mira spun in the robe and came to a stop in a teasing pose it was apparent, Tomas' robe was much longer than Mira's had been, but at the same time it was also clung quite a bit tighter to her many sexy curves.

“You there?” Mira asked with a giggle, cocking her head as she stood before him.

Mira slinked towards the door to Tomas' disappointment. It was the weekend, and he had been truly enjoying the time he had been spending with this girl, and it wasn't just because she seemed to have some strange obsession with exhibitionism. He'd been stealing glances all morning, but her complete disrobing just now had thrown him for a loop. She had just stripped down to nothing right in front of him and walked off as if nothing had happened. Not on my watch, he thought to himself. Mira had been in control all morning, and heck even the majority of the previous evening. Through her actions she had lead him where she wanted him, and summoned the select emotions she wanted from him at will. There was no way he was letting her off the hook this easy.

Fortunately for Tomas, Mira had had to stop and collect her shower accessories she had left strewn about the main room the night before. This delay allowed Tomas to make his move, as he entered the room and rapidly closed the distance between himself and the unaware Miss O'Riley. She had been quick to gather her things, but for all intensive purposes not quite quick enough. Halfway to the door, the young squadron commander overtook his target wrapping an arm around her waist as he went. In one fluid moment, he spun her slowly and gently before catching her in his arms and dipping her within inches of the carpeted floor. What few objects she had managed to hold onto following the surprise gesture now fell silently to the floor as he kissed Mira deeply. This time it was her to turn to lose the control, and in the process have the air escape from her chest as he continued his lengthy and passionate surprise.

"Mmmm," Mira sighed contently, though her free arm said other wise waving harmlessly about Tomas' face in an attempt to get her a chance for air. As Tomas released his lock on her lips, she collapsed as if her many muscles had turned to goo. Only supported by Tomas' sturdy arms, Mira fought to regain composure and feeling throughout her limbs. “Hey! What DO you think you are doing, mister?” The curvy lass replied in mock indignation. Tomas had all the control and he knew it:

“Pfft,” was his only response, followed by a hearty chuckle as Mira recalled that his body was the only thing between her and the ground. Tomas simply stared down into her eyes with a deep, warming gaze as his captive hung on for dear life. He must've done something right for a change, as Mira leaped up with all her energy and wrapped her arms around the back of Tomas' neck pulling him down to her to continue the intense snog that he had cut off.

As Mira began to kiss back, Tomas found himself caught up in the heat of the moment running his free hand through Mira's hair. This was followed by a gentle and sensual tracing of her spine with his index finger. He wasn't sure how it'd happened, but the next thing he knew Tomas found his finger running back up Mira's side her body shivering in response. His hand finally stopped, his palm carressing her chest briefly...well not too briefly, before sliding down to her stomach and around her waist.

Shit, what am I doing? This is going to fast, Tomas thought, as he reflected on the previous lingering contact with her breast. When Mira wildly through her leg around him, drawing their waists right up next to eachother he felt he had to do something...fast.

"Mira, stop," he said taking the more direct approach as he pulled away. There was a little resistance as Mira did not quite comprehend and had held on to his shirt a moment longer before letting it fall back onto his chest, half undone. Within moments, Tomas was regretting the move, as Mira all but collapsed down into the wall in a pile of tears. "Mira? Mira, are you okay?"

"D-Does it LOOK like I'm okay?" Mira retorted between sobs, her speech slightly difficult to understand between her tears. "You...don't like me...the way I like you...and you've just...been pulling me along. Just as we were getting hot and heavy you cut it off. I knew it was too good to be true." Tomas instantly felt horrible. Mira had taken the meaning his actions in a completely different context and had thought the worst.

"Mira, Mira honey...listen to me." Tomas said sliding down the wall next to Mira, and wrapping his arm around her. "It's nothing like that darling, I like you ALOT. It's just...we were moving too fast. I mean I had my hands all over inappropriate places and well our groins were all but pressed right up on eachother. It was just too fast."

"W-well wasn't that the point of your make out session? I mean you had to know it was going to lead to much more serious stuff." Mira said, the tears coming out with a little less frequency.

"Actually..."

"No!"

"Heh, yeah," Tomas said with an embarrassed smile. "You see, I really really like you, I just have always ... held up on the reallllllly physical stuff."

"So your one of those 'til marriage chaps, are ya?" Mira said with a bit more comprehension.

"No, no...just more one of those people who makes sure I'm in love and in a relationship people. Though you knew me growing up...didn't exactly have the skills to woo girls." Tomas said with a chuckle.

"No, no you didn't," Mira replied now smiling slightly.

"Hey! No need to be so flat out honest about it," Tomas said pretending to take offense before pulling Mira into a tight hug.