I have officially dubbed this plot bunny Mission Creep. This scene happens a short time before the action depicted in my previous blog post.
Enjoy.
Marcus Orling nursed his unadorned coffee. Though his trusty rum bottle weighed down the inner pocket of his jacket, the unusual crush of bodies in his favorite off campus coffee shop had so far made it unwise to add the much desired brace.
An elbow pushed into the space between his shoulder blades. High pitched giggles told him it could only be a group of feminine students pushing through to the counter. A glance confirmed his conjecture. Fourth year examples of fine womanly flesh, on the ordinary side.
He returned his attention to his too plain coffee. Not being faculty, he didn’t have to live by the constraints of his fellow researchers, but that didn’t mean he could be overt in his actions. Though maybe such a distraction would take the edge off the stress of the upcoming assessment of his work.
A flash of violet drew his attention up and three tables over. Short cropped brown hair, angular face, narrow eyes, and skin pink enough to show blushes real well. Such exotic beauty had to mean she was one of the latest crop of off-worlders to grace the institute. Hadn’t he even seen her in the vicinity of the Stellar Dynamics section a few times over the last week?
She almost met his gaze, then looked down at the roll on her plate. A moment later, she glanced back at him. This time a tentative smile brightened her face.
This could prove to be just the distraction he was looking for.
Edwin Downward 