Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive ^{Beam me up, Scotty.}

Chapter Text

The Star Beagle Adventures                                                
Episode 13: Close to the Edge Part II - Total Mass Retain
Scene 10: All the Way

All in all, the journey takes you all the way…

13.10
All the Way

Abra Kahen rested on her elbows. And on the extremely fit and handsome young man underneath her. 

He claimed to be a prince. Prince Dahar. He was certainly handsome enough for it. They were both dancers, exceptionally fit, extremely flexible, and, at this moment, finally sated, if quite exhausted.  

Prince Dahar (he insisted on being called “Prince,” but he didn't like honorifics such as “Your Highness” or “Sire”) traced his young lover’s face with a finger. Abra was exceptionally pretty and quite skilled with makeup. And barely 18. 

“I’ve waited so long for this,” he said, softly. “So lovely…”

Abra sat up and took his hands in hers. Gently kissed and suckled his fingertips. One at a time. 

She laced her fingers with his, came down to her elbows again and studied his face. He was so incredibly fit. But fine lines on his face betrayed his age. He wasn’t a boy. Or even a young man. That didn’t matter so much, really. He was the star dancer of the Tiruppur Agni Yuvraj Nritya Atithi, a dance company that had, according to legend, been founded by the local royal family more than 800 years ago. 

While the company was charged with keeping traditional dance forms alive, the family who had founded the company were, as the name of the company implied, fascinated with fire dancing. And Prince Dahar was the best. And Abra had been his student for 6 years. And had been hopelessly in love with him that entire time. 

Today was the end of a dream come true. 

Abra knew she was only the most recent in the long line of beautiful young dancers who had graced the prince’s bed. Four months was the average length of these torrid affairs, but it was really driven by the birthdate of the next young dancer he had his nets out for. For Abra, that next date was about two months away. Many of his former lovers stayed with the dance company and even occasionally shared his bed again. Others would join other dance troupes, often traveling troupes.  These women also occasionally returned. And not for bad reason. The prince was really, really good in bed.

But Abra was not going to be another of his has-beens. She had used him to learn her own arts of pleasuring.

She kissed Prince Dahar’s nose, then sat up again. “Will you see me off tomorrow?”

“Off to where?” the prince asked in confusion. “Are you going to visit relatives?”

She leaned down and kissed him again. “No, silly. Off to war.”

“War? What are you talking about?”

“The klingons have attacked one of our colonies, my dear prince. We are at war. I have enlisted in Star Fleet. Aren’t you going?”

Prince Dahar was stunned. He fumbled about for words. He finally settled for: “But what about us?”

Kahen laughed. “Us? There is no us. There never was. Only you and your desires… And me and mine.”

Dahar started to say one thing. Then started another. His confusion was almost comical. 

“Oh, you are a wonderful lover. And when I was 14 years old I used to tear myself apart fantasizing about you. But I see you. I know you. I’ve known you for some time. I was happy for our time together. You taught me more than you realize. You taught me to dance. You taught me how to handle fire. You taught me how to make love. And you taught me how to see through other people’s lies. To see people for who they really are, not just what they want you to believe.”

Abra Kahen leapt lithely out of bed, happily displaying her beautiful, young, naked body before donning some diaphanous robes that covered without concealing, somehow making her even more alluring. 

She smiled at the enormous royal shrimp that was far too big for the bed it was reclining in.

“I made love to my prince one more time. I was rewarding him for teaching me such a valuable lesson. But you are not my prince. I see you, Stephanie. I see you for who and what you really are.”

“Once you have been used the way that I was used, you either willingly blind yourself, or you promise yourself to never be fooled again.”

Princess Stephanie had nothing to say. She could only observe the humble Star Fleet NCO with some confusion and only a dawning appreciation that these people might not be so simple as at first they had appeared.

13.10