From: RKinsler Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 20:45:03 EST Subject: ODONC17: "Dreaming..." (O/K) [R] This is a mood piece I've had sitting on my hard drive awhile...I finally got around to posting it. This one's not for the kiddies, folks. Rated R. I welcome all feedback. RK Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters, but the story is mine. Note: I'll just put the exposition here so I don't have to ruin the mood of the story . This story is set during the Dominion Occupation of Deep Space Nine, before the episode "A Time to Stand." Kira and Odo have become lovers, but are hiding that fact from the occupying force. Dreaming Within a Nightmare by RKinsler The tension of the last two months had worn the Bajoran woman down. Her steps fell with a heaviness particular to the weary. The fire in her eyes burned dimly, a shadow of its former glory. Her body was thin, and her gaze was haunted. She was living in a placid nightmare. The enemies of her former allies now roamed the station, and she couldn't even embrace her lover publicly because of it. It angered her, it disgusted her, and most of all, it tired her. She wanted only to spend some time with his warmth and love. But that was not possible. Kira sighed as she trudged into her quarters. She dismissed any notion of a meal, and headed directly to her bedroom. The familiar surroundings offered spare comfort as she peeled off her uniform, and slipped a long night shirt over her body. The delicate fabric brushed her skin with the softness of a flower's petals. Kira rubbed the cloth between her fingers. Of all her night shirts, her lover liked this one best. He said the material was especially pleasurable to feel against his liquid form. Kira shook away the image forming in her mind of his gentle blue eyes gazing lovingly at her as he bent to kiss her. There was no sense in torturing herself any more than need be. Kira prepared herself for bed, cleansing her teeth, and washing her face. She spent a few moments staring at the grim visage reflected in the mirror. With a sigh, she turned away and went back into her bedroom. She pulled back the covers, and made sure all was in order before slipping between the sheets. Her voice was hoarse as she ordered the lights off. Her head buried itself against the pillow, and her eyes searched the ceiling as she struggled for sleep. Kira hated this part of the day. It was when all that had occurred came back to haunt her, stealing needed rest from her like a pagh-wraith stealing her soul. She desperately missed her lover's gentle touch at the day's end. When Kira's bedclothes began to shift subtly, Kira was certain it was merely her own stressed mind imagining it. They seemed to move with a life of their own, gradually pulling close to her prostrate form. It was when the sheet beneath her began to undulate with gentle waves that she realized her bedclothes were not what they seemed. Her gasp of surprise echoed in the dark as she started to sit up. The rebelling cloth held her down gently. Kira struggled to get out from beneath it until she felt the edge of her upper sheet stroke her cheek softly in a manner so familiar to her. Kira's whisper was a half sob. "Odo?" The linen squeezed in acknowledgment. Kira let her breath escape in a rush, gathering the coverings to her, pressing her face against them. The fabric stroked her in a manner almost supernatural. Kira settled her head back on the pillow, still clutching her lover's cloth form to her. She gasped in surprise and pleasure as the pillowcase beneath her head melted, brushing through her hair and massaging her scalp. The sheets began to move more assertively against her body. Kira let go of the fabric and laid flat on her back, arms out from her. The living material began to massage her supine form, carefully working the tension out of her exhausted limbs. Kira sighed, curling her fingers around handfuls of the loving form Odo had taken. The lower sheet and pillowcase continued to massage her, while the upper sheet began to move more sensuously. It felt to Kira as though someone was running their hands over her body over the sheet. The phantom hands ran up the outside of her legs, catching under the hem of her night shirt. There, they paused. Kira nearly protested before she realized what he was waiting for. "Yes." The ghostly appendages continued their upward trek, pulling the night shirt with them. This would have been an impossible task had not the lower sheet helped them along. The hands crept over her hips, and up her sides. They pushed the night shirt all the way to the junctions between her arms and body. Kira grabbed the edge of the shirt and pulled it the rest of the way off. She threw her head back, and gasping as the teasing sensations started to roam across her entire body. She clutched at the pleasure-giving sheets, trying to grasp the phantom hands and bring them to her. They eluded her. Kira settled for raking her fingers against the cloth. She felt the fabric start to lose its cohesion and liquefy. The sheets became the beautiful golden liquid that was her lover's true form. The fluid poured over her body, rushing over her flushed skin and exciting it. Kira moaned softly as some of it flowed into her body's center, and expanded to fill it. The fluid covering her torso drew itself upward into the vague shape of a humanoid. But it was still the deep gold of Odo's natural form. Kira reached up and stroked his face-form. He leaned into her touch, surging around the hand slightly. Kira felt a rush of pleasure from knowing that she could elicit such a response from her Changeling lover. The liquid that filled her body's core moved with a motion unlike the clumsy thrusting of a humanoid lover. It was more like waves breaking against the beach, each undulation brushing the center of her pleasure, making her gasp. Kira gripped the solidified 'back' of Odo's upper form. She gazed up at his liquid face with passion. The face leaned close and pressed its simple lips to her own. Kira moaned around the kiss as her pleasure began to soar. She kissed him deeply as she clutched his form, nearing the imminent explosion. Kira threw her head back with a cry as the rapture swept through her body. Odo held her as she flew higher and higher. She finally began to come down from the incredible heights to which he sent her soaring. Kira began run her hands over the formed liquid that was Odo's body. It started to soften as she brushed him with soft and firm touches, kneading the molded fluid. The form began to tremble. With a motion similar to water spraying from a fountain, Odo completely collapsed into his natural form. Kira sighed as he sluggishly rippled against her profoundly satisfied body. She stroked him gently. After a few moments, he pulled together into a fairly compact form. His faux arms wrapped around Kira, pulling her close. The two lay together for a long time, with Kira playing her fingers lightly against the skin of her golden lover. As the night became early morning, the Bajoran's Changeling lover prepared to leave. He wrapped his form around her one last time, an intimate embrace of farewell. Kira fought back a disappointed sigh as he drew away. Odo then leaned his face-form toward her. He whispered to her in his gravelly voice, "I love you, Nerys." "I love you, Odo," Kira replied, stroking his face. With one last touch on her cheek, he poured himself onto the floor and left her alone again. For the first time in weeks, the ache in her heart faded away.