I Can Fix That...

Love Me Harder || Indy & Kryss

Date: June 27th 2022

Location: Indy’s pod

Lydia smiled as Indy found what she was looking for and leaned her head on Indy’s and kissed her cheek when she leaned in close. “Just reading some research papers about some diseases,” she said. “Whatcha making today?” She asked, looking at all the ingredients she had set up.

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Indy rose an eyebrow, blushing innocently at the kiss to her cheek before poking at Lydia’s side teasingly. “On diseases? In the kitchen? Lydia we need to talk about your choice of setting when doing that research.” She giggled before looking back at all of her ingredients. “I think it was supposed to be hot chocolate but I’m not sure there’s meant to be flour in there...”

“I wouldn’t say I’m a cooking expert. More like I can feed myself without hating what I’m eating,” he explained with a laugh. “It’s more like…mixology? It’s a drink, so I don’t think it really counts as either. I can standby if you need help though.”

Sky listened carefully as Indy answered his question, just a little bit surprised by some of the details she shared. It wasn’t news to him that there was something going on with her and Kryss, obviously, but he hadn’t realized that whatever was ran quite so deep. It made sense, though - it had seemed like Indy had been acting differently even before she and Kryss had started up with  whatever it was they were doing. “I mean - you don’t have to explain anything if you don’t want to,” he assured her. He’d been candid with her about himself and Ali after they’d gotten back together, but he wasn’t going to hold it against her if she preferred to keep things to herself - especially considering it didn’t sound like she was on quite so secure of footing at the moment. Having kept some secrets of his own for so long, he definitely understood that there were some things that were just too difficult to talk about. “But… yeah, sounds like there’s a lot there, if you’re up for it.”

Kryss blinked when Indy sneezed again. Damn, was there something in the air? “Mhmmm, can never get enough of you, beautiful.” It seemed like her woo-ing time was over, though, because now something didn’t feel right. She put her hand on Indy’s forehead and frowned. “You’re feeling a little warm,” she told her, feeling around her face and realizing she was in fact warm. “Maybe we should go to the med bay. You might be coming down with something.”

Kryss was tempted to take a risk of getting it on in the kitchen, but then Indy started sneezing. Kryss’s brow furrowed. “Whoa, bless you,” she chuckled. She caressed Indy’s cheek. “You allergic to me now?” She playfully grinned. “I can’t say I’ve successfully fucked someone so many times they developed an allergy, but I think that would weirdly inflate my ego.” She gave Indy a peck on the jaw. “Then again, I’ve never fucked the same person this many times in my life so who knows.” 

Kryss happily accepted the kiss, placing her hand on Indy’s face as the kiss deepened. She still wasn’t 100% sober, so she didn’t care too much about the potential of someone walking in on them. Indy’s lips were very soft and Kryss loved her very much and didn’t give a shit about anything else at the moment. When Indy pulled away, Kryss licked her lips and smirked. “What cinnamon?” she mischievously asked, brushing her thumb against Indy’s cheek before pressing her lips against hers again.

“No problem.” Skylar grinned, nodding when she asked if he was having a good day. “Yeah, can’t complain.” All of his days had been above average lately - that probably meant he would need a new baseline for what average was eventually. He raised an eyebrow at the way his friend dropped her voice down to a whisper. “Yeah, it’s been a minute,” he agreed, dropping his voice down to match. “How are you doing with all of that?” He wasn’t really sure what he should be calling it, but he figured Indy knew what he was talking about.

“No, it’s okay,” Ali assured her quickly before Indy could get too upset about the hot chocolate. “You can use either. Milk makes it creamier though, so you were on the right track. I just meant too liquidy.”

“Call it intuition,” he replied with a small smile. “Or call it centuries of learning how to be observant. I will trust that this is normal hot chocolate and not some special type that will somehow result in the kitchen getting caught on fire.”

Kryss was hearing a bunch of words but something still felt a off. Maybe Indy was really affected by the nickname. Well, Kryss would just have to keep proving this time would be different, she supposed. “Thank me?” She teased. “Caring about you isn’t something you have to thank me for, Indy. Loving you isn’t something I have to actively work on, it’s as easy as breathing. Now, all the other stuff, yeah I have to work on. But that’s not because of you, that’s because of me. Well, I guess I’m trying because of you, but that’s because I want to try for you.” She reached up to tuck some hair behind Indy’s ear. “The name’s something just for us. Just like it was before.”

Kryss was relieved to hear she hadn’t said something wrong, but Indy’s concern still didn’t feel good. She hadn’t even thought about the last time she’d call her Mei - she could see where Indy was coming from. Kryss sighed, then leaned in to give Indy a reassuring kiss. She pulled back just enough to be able to look at Indy in the eye. “Things will be different this time, I promise.” For one, Indy’s parents weren’t here to royally fuck them over, so they were already at a huge advantage. “Shit did hit the fan once but we’re here now. And now I’ll fight like hell to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I love you as Indy. I love you as Mei. I love every single part of you. Always have. No matter how this plays out, that’s never going to change. Ever.”

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“Oh. I understand that completely. Well, I understand what your words mean, and can relate them back to my own experience. I’d hate to say that I know exactly what you mean when I just can’t know you as well as you do yourself, but… The ship has been very kind and done such a good job bringing me to somewhere that it’s okay to maybe try to be me for once,” Stella said, smiling gently at Indy while tracing a small crack in the wall by touch. “You don’t… have to explain.”

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It wasn’t until Indy pointed it out that Kryss realized what she said. She wouldn’t have minded much, had she not been aware of Indy’s sudden change in demeanor. Her arms fell to her side, completely confused on why Indy moved away from her. “Um… yeah… it just sorta came out…” Was she just too out of it to realize she’d said something wrong? She was so confused. “Is that alright? If that’s not alright then I just… won’t next time.”

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Indy still had her arms wrapped around herself, shaking her head when Kryss said that she wouldn’t call her that again. Realizing that she was doing the exact opposite of being a good person, Indy moved towards Kryss and sighed. Placing either hand on the other woman’s cheeks, she pressed her forehead to Kryss’. “I’m sorry, that’s not... It’s not bad. I’m not upset. It’s just... I haven’t heard you say that in so long and it just brought me back to... To before it all went wrong, ya know?”

“That I am, beautiful. I’m doofin’ for you always,” she chuckled against Indy’s neck. She pulled away at Indy’s reaction to her joke, and she gave a playful pout. “Oh c’moooon Mei,” she let the old nickname slip without realizing, this time locking her arms around Indy’s arms and torso so she didn’t go anywhere. Not that her grip wasn’t easy to escape - Kryss had the upper body strength of a car wash tube man. “I was jokinggg. I’m far too talented to not keep you awake the entire time anyway,” she cheekily added. “I wanna make schweet, schweet schmores with you.” Even Kryss was forgetting they were actually called s’mores at this point.

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Like a shock of lightning, Indy stopped in her tracks. Suddenly she was fifteen years younger, just by hearing that nickname. Swallowing thickly, Indy pulled back and moved slightly away from the other woman. Her arms wrapped around her torso, feeling panic settle in. Why? She wasn’t quite sure. Maybe it was because the last time she’d been called that, everything had gone wrong. Or maybe it was the fact that at one point in time, Indy had thought of Kryss as her whole world when she’d last called her that. And now? Now she was afraid of even thinking that. “I uh... It’s been a long time since you’ve.. Since I’ve heard that.”

“Cinnamon is an important spice. You should always assume you need cinnamon at all times. Just something to keep in mind in the future.” It seemed like there was every single spice but cinnamon in the damn cabinets though. “Well, I’m always working on new music, but that’s just a new Harry Styles song. Well, sort of. He doesn’t say cinnamon. I made that bit up.” She was about to look through another cabinet until Indy spun her around. “Oh!” She grinned following the quick kiss. “Hello there.” She wrapped her arms around Indy’s neck. She was naturally reckless when sober, but given she was still a little high, she definitely was not mindful at all right now about people potentially walking in on them. “I didn’t want to wake you. I know I kept you up a little late last night.” She smirked, before she leaned in to kiss Indy’s neck. “Figured I’d be nice and let you get some sleep. That way you’re not falling asleep on me when we have sex. That would just hurt my feelings,” she joked.

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Blushing deeply at the kiss placed to her neck, Indy poked at the other woman’s sides. “Hush. Hush up right now. You’re such a doofus.” Indy rose an eyebrow at Kryss suggesting that she’d ever fall asleep on her during the act. “I’m sorry, excuse you? I wouldn’t ever fall asleep during coitus. Why would you even suggest?” Indy grumbled, turning away from Kryss to finally grab at the cinnamon that Kryss had missed. “Guess I’ll just make some schmares on my own.”

Stella was full of an unusual combination of joy and nervous energy, so most of what she could offer was a rather confused smile. “Uh… The ship’s like our friend, right? That we get to spend all of our time in? I wanted to get to know our friend better, and understand all of the marks of character that it has. The… laugh lines? I think that’s what people call them. Whatcha doing yourself, Indy?” There was nothing accusatory- just awkward.

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“I mean.. I guess it is. I consider her to be one of my closest friend’s in some ways now that I think about it.” Indy looked down at her boots, clearing her throat softly. “’Specially when she helped get me away from my old life.”