<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/2/2f/Captain_Braxton_T._Early.jpg)<br/>    <strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: comic sans ms;">  Braxton T. Early</span></strong><br/><br/></div><strong>Name</strong>: Braxton Early<br/><strong>Occupation:</strong>Captain<br/><strong>Location:</strong>The Galley<br/><strong>Time:</strong>Two days out from Shadow, deep space<br/><strong>With:</strong>Mya, Open<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote"><strong>"I can't imagine who would be rummaging through your supplies Miya."</strong></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div>The companion said and looked at the captain just obviously enough so that everyone at the table would get the impression that she knew it was him. After planting yet another poisonous thought, she effortlessly moved the conversation back to casual banter. Serenity was good; Braxton had to give her that. She was elegant, she was smooth…and she was pure poison. Even her dress shimmered in the overhead light like so many snake scales.<br/><br/>Fortunately, he had his hand on the thigh of a lovely girl and that mellowed him out enough not to make a scene. He took another spoonful of Sue’s delicious stew and closed his eyes, savoring the taste and the sensation of Mya’s soft, soft skin at the same time. When the taste was slowly fading, he had to take a big gulp of water to cool him down some and stop his vision from spinning. There was something about the young doctor that just got to him – and in a good way, too. She was something special. He licked his lips, taking in the stew’s residue and then suddenly, sagely, nodded his head.<br/><br/><em>Spicy!</em>That was it: Mya was spicy.<br/><br/>Even though he could do everything he wanted with Elfie, anything a man could want to do with a woman – and he had done most of it on occasion – there was no real excitement. Elfie was<em>bland</em>. There was no flavor to her, just the satisfaction of his biological needs. A bland meal that lead to a full stomach – but nothing else.<br/><br/>His eyes made the round, trying to see if he could apply his newfound metaphor to the other women on the crew. Keri looked lovely in her sundress. When The Line was underway, the ship was always as warm as spring on Maydenfair. Space was cold, but a ship was a thermos bottle in vacuum. Getting excess heat<em>out</em>was usually the bigger engineering challenge than keeping her warm. So Keri’s dress could be called sensible, even if it was unusual for her to wear it. And how she<em>wore</em>it! Good things certainly came in small packages. Braxton could certainly understand the attraction some of the menfolk around the table were showing towards her now that she was showing off her beauty a little more. And she had spirit, too. A fire. A taste. Keri certainly wasn’t bland. But somehow, Braxton never felt<em>that way</em>towards her aside from a purely biological arousal at the sight of her lovely body in a tight dress. Some folk liked strawberries and other’s preferred grapes. Some cultures considered beef the highest form of eating and others eschewed meat entirely from the table. Tastes differed. Braxton nodded: Keri had a taste, but it probably wasn’t his.<br/><br/>And Serenity? He didn’t feel the vibrant attraction towards her that he felt towards Mya – and yet even he had to admit that the companion was hands down the most beautiful woman in the room. Braxton had some trouble wrapping his mind around this one. But then Keri spoke up and indirectly gave him the inspiration he needed:<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote"><strong>“I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I smelled it down the hall. You are going to well and truly spoil us all.” </strong></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><strong>“Only as long as we have fresh groceries, I’m afraid. We stocked up in port, but once those run out our little greenery can only provide a small reprieve from the canned, flavored proteins we have to fall back on.”</strong>Braxton cautioned the enthusiasm for Sue’s cooking, even though he had made sure that they ate comparably well on The Line. Food issues were the number two cause for mutinies, right after late pay, and there would be a sudden drop in food quality mid-journey when the fresh stuff ran out. Switching to protein cans and artificial flavoring was always a downer for morale and he wanted his crew to be prepared for that.<br/><br/>And then it hit him: Artificial flavor! Serenity was artificial flavor. Nothing about her feelings was real; it was all just a practiced act. Sure, lesser men fell for her like flies, but then again, flies were not renowned for being gourmets, either. Any stale soda pop would do, as long as it was sweet. A smile crossed Braxton’s lips. Serenity would hate this metaphor and he cherished it even more for it. Sure, she<em>was</em>a beautiful woman but Braxton was not interested. Of course he occasionally wondered who the real Serenity was…but as cold and calculating as she was, she would have to hang over the volcanoes edge for quite some time to boil away all this artificial, sticky and sickeningly sweet aroma of hers. Serenity was a candy apple: red and tempting and sweet on the outside, not to mention:<em>sticky</em>. And, yes, maybe there was a juicy fruit inside…but it might as well be worm-riddled and rotten and there was no way to tell except to take a bite – and Braxton would have none of that poisonous, forbidden fruit.<br/><br/>Finally, satisfied with his musings, Braxton turned to Mya. His hand under the table was still stroking her inner thigh, keeping her aroused and off balance.<br/><br/><strong>“You really are my kind of flavor, Mya.”</strong>He whispered into her ear. It was probably the nicest thing he had said to her all week.<br/>