Vita Per Nex, pgs. 20-22

“If you tap your fingers one more time ---”

Leland was already launching himself at Mischa when she looked him square in the eye and deliberately tapped her fingers on the counter, which was the only reason he caught her by the waist as she pushed herself away from it. She laughed as they tumbled to the ground, and as he cushioned the back of her neck with his arm and leaned over her, Leland rolled his eyes with a smile. Then he pushed her hair out of her face, his fingers trailing just slightly along her skin as he looked her over.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly.

She looked to the side, up, anywhere but at his face. “I'm always all right.”

“Liar.”

“Family Members never lie.”

Leland snorted. “We lie all the time. Are you all right?”

“You've already decided that a positive response to that question is false, so what am I supposed to say?” She shifted a little, but was only making herself more comfortable, bending the leg he wasn't straddling. Leland responded by sliding his free arm under her waist, and Mischa let out a small sigh.

“I want you to admit that you're not always fine. We're not supposed to lie to each other, you know. Just everyone else.” Mischa was fiddling with his shirt, unbuttoning it, then buttoning it, grasping it in fistfuls and then smoothing it out. Leland let her touch him, his head lowered to the crook of her neck as he waited patiently.

“I have no reply to that. Has Tanaka reported recently?”

“You were just staring at her last report, nitwit. It beeps when a new one comes in, remember?” His lips were brushing against her skin as he spoke, which made her sigh again.

“You're too close; I can't hear it.”

“Yes, you can. Except it hasn't beeped yet, so of course you can't hear it. You're just too impatient. You can wait until tomorrow to accost the poor woman.”

Mischa pursed her lips and shifted away from Leland's lips. “I know her simulations will work, Leland. We need Tencha.”

“We need the Elders to approve anything else you decide you want done. They don't have infinite patience, Mischa, even for you. There's only so much you can get away with.” Leland raised his head and tightened his arm around her waist as he tilted his head at her.

Mischa drew her hands up and over his broad shoulders, curling them at the back of his neck and scratching lightly. Leland sighed with pleasure and lowered his head again. “Are you all right?” she asked quietly.

“I've been better,” he mumbled. “Much better.” He groaned when she dug her fingers into tense muscles, resting more of his weight on her.

“You wanted to switch to Mikhaila.” There was no bitterness or jealousy in Mischa's voice. She was simply stating what she believed to be a fact.

“I've never wanted to switch to anybody,” Leland whispered. “Throttle you, yes, on too many occasions to count. But I've never wanted to switch.”

“But if you ever wanted to, it would have been to Mikhaila.” She was whispering in his ear.

“Yes, fine, yes. If I had ever wanted to switch, it would have been to Mikhaila.” There was pain and loss in Leland's voice, and Mischa was silent for a few minutes.

Finally, “Me, too.”

Leland started laughing, his body shaking as he squeezed her tightly. Mischa squeaked in protest and growled at him, but it held no venom and she let him cling to her. She ran her hands through his hair and kissed his temple.

“Are you done, yet?”

“No,” he mumbled against her neck. “I'm never letting go.”

“You're heavy. Get off of me.”

“You started it. I told you to stop tapping your fingers.” He took his arm out from under her and ran his hand up her side, then back down and along her raised leg, lifting it off the ground and over his waist. Mischa raised her eyebrow and made a warning sound. “You are so difficult.”

“I do my best. Back off. Comfort time is over.”

Leland heaved a sigh and let her leg go, and Mischa lowered it back to the ground. He raised himself back up and cupped her cheek. “You just like teasing me.”

“Not at all. Go get your kicks somewhere else.”

“Doctor Tencha's attractive.”

Mischa glared at him. “You touch her and I'll kill you.”

Leland smirked. “Is that a challenge?”

Mischa smirked back. “I met that Haruka girl last Friday night, while you were on the Moon.” Leland raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Did you know that she likes French toast for breakfast?”

It was said smugly and Leland glared at her with a snarl. “I hate you.”

“Jealous, much?”

“I hate you.”

Mischa laughed and pushed him off of her, then arched her back and jumped to her feet. She shook her head and ran her hands through her hair. “Doctor Tencha's simulations will work, at least a little. She's talented; good at what she does. Awarding her Probationary Citizenship will be no problem, and full Citizenship when she proves me correct and gives us a working formula.”

“You're very confident about this.” Leland unbuttoned his shirt and draped it over a chair, scratching his chest with a yawn. Mischa rolled her eyes and turned back to the computer screen, brushing her fingers lightly across the sensitive field as she selected a report to read over. “I hope you're correct.”

“Of course I am. We're headed to Io next. I hate Io. Shall we declare it Bender controlled and just nuke it? Jupiter doesn't need it.”

“No, we can not declare it Bender controlled. Nuking one's own territory is frowned on, you know.”

“Not if it's Bender controlled.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as he opened the refrigerator and leaned down, peering into it. “Don't you dare spoil your appetite. And put your shirt back on. Jocelyn just got transferred to Venus; the Underground is roughly seventy five percent complete. I think they'll hold us here until it's done and the terra forming has progressed significantly more.”

Leland straightened with a bottle of juice, unscrewing it and taking a gulp. Mischa watched his throat muscles work. He sighed when he finished. “Quit hacking into the Elders' files, would you?”

“It concerns me.”

“That doesn't mean you need to know it before anyone else.”

“That's exactly what it means. I have more time to prepare, this way.” She tugged at her ear. “Besides, the Elders know I have access to their files. Mother stopped griping at me about it a long time ago.” She scrolled down a few reports and sighed with disgust. “They haven't run Doctor Tencha's simulations yet.”

“They'll get around to it, Mischa.” Leland rubbed her back as he read over her shoulder.

“They should do it immediately. We don't have time to waste, you know. I'd run them myself, if I knew how.”

“I know you would.. Wait, go back. No, one more. One more . . . there. Donations to the Med Centre for research into a cure for Madison's Syndrome? Who came up with that?”

Mischa scrolled down a bit. “Faizah and Asha. Why would they do that? Were are they now?” She switched screens and narrowed her eyes at the Locator as it popped up with the Heart Theatre as the two Admirals' current location. “I'm going to kill them. They ran into Doctor Tencha. They met her before I did.”

“Great, she's going to think we're a bunch of babbling, uncouth idiots.”

“If she meets you, she certainly will. I thought that everyone knew I wanted to be the first to meet her. Didn't I make that clear, Leland? Didn't I?”

“You made it very clear. Which, of course, means that every Family Member wants to meet her. Someone, or something, that you're that enthusiastic about is generally cause for concern.”

Mischa turned her head just enough to glare at him. “You make it sound so bad, Leland. When I have been enthusiastic about something that was bad?”

“Let's see, when was the last time you wanted my help with something? You were grinning, I remember. That always bodes ill. Always,” Leland stressed.

Mischa shifted against him, slightly irritated. “I didn't know it was going to explode, Leland.”

Leland clenched his teeth and sighed. “I don't believe you for a moment.” He dug his fingers into her back as she slid her legs to either side, letting herself ease down until her chin rested on the counter. Leland pinched her sides gently until she inched back up.

Mischa laughed and let him lean over her, let him drag his lips across the back of her neck and bite down gently. Anything that took his mind off of Mikhaila's death was fine by her. Leland was, after all, hers --- and anything that was hers she took very, very good care of.

“The Benders have apparently taken over General Mischa,” a soft baritone commented from the kitchen doorway. Mischa and Leland looked up sharply, and General Vijay raised his eyebrows at them.

Leland cough gently and straightened, redoing Mischa's bra and pulling her shirt down from where he'd bunched it up around her shoulders. “General.”

“Admiral.” Vijay wasn't smiling, but his eyes were twinkling enough that it didn't matter.

“That's not true, General,” Mischa replied mildly as Leland moved to her side, keeping his hips out of Vijay' sight. “I was about to deny him when you walked in.”

“You are a malevolent woman.” Vijay cleared his throat once more and shifted a small package from his left hand to his right hand. “My compliments, by the way, and I brought Leland some of Mikhaila's effects.” Leland's knuckles turned white as he gripped the counter top. “Mother wanted me to bring them to you now, Leland. I'm sorry.”

“It's no problem,” Leland coughed. Mischa turned and hopped up onto the counter, pulling her partner between her legs and holding him close, running her hands through his hair. Leland buried his face in the crook of her neck as he took a few breaths, waiting until they stopped shaking, and then reached a hand out for Vijay' package.

“I do not compliment you on your timing, Vijay,” Mischa glowered at him.

“Neither do I, but it was under Mother's orders. By the way, they're going to run your non-Citizen's formulas in . . . five hours, if you want to be present.”

Mischa was chewing on Leland's hair, and nodded. “We'll be there.”

The faint purring that had been going on since Vijay' entrance got louder, and two thumps heralded the arrival of two cats on the counter. Mischa pushed Leland away from herself, but her legs stayed wrapped around his waist as she scooped up both felines and held them to her chest. The larger one, a Siamese mix with reddish – tan flame points, struggled out of her grasp, but the smaller tabby curled up in her embrace. She held him close and kissed him.

“You and those felines,” Vijay grumbled. “How do you put up with it, Leland?”

“I learned long ago that Mischa's only true love is her cats,” the man in question responded.

----

I don't have anything but snippets past this point, and there are things I want to add in, so I'll be tweaking it a bit. Posts that I've messed with will be marked, and at the beginning I'll tell you where to find the modifications. Any stray bits of story will be noted with the rough chronological order they're in.