Unnatural Attractions
A Farscape Fan fiction by "Surebrec"
This story takes place between "...Different Destinations" and "Eat Me"
Disclaimer: Farscape and all related characters and elements are trademarks of the Jim Henson Company. In other words, I'm not profiting off this.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Suns and Lovers
Special thanks to Fianna-Garou from #farscape on irc.scifi.com

John Crichton arrived on Moya in a transport pod, returning from the commerce planet Geneka over which Moya orbited. Recent damages from Neeyala's Pathfinder vessel had damaged Moya quite a bit, and still needed various repairs. He had acquired all the necessary supplies to make most of the repairs needed on Moya at the large marketplace, and were conveniently packaged in six cargo crates. Chiana sauntered into the docking bay as Crichton was pulling the first crate off.

"Hey, Crichton. Need any help? I'm bored out of my frellin' mind."

"Yeah, go ahead. There's five more crates onboard."

Chiana entered the pod and came back out shortly with a crate in her hands. As she set it down, she stopped for a moment, and looked to Crichton.

"So, Crichton," she hesitated for a microt, "how are things with you and Aeryn?" she asked, finishing with a quick smile.

"Oh, you know, it's goin' fine-- but slowly," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Ya know, I got this potion-type thing a while ago, when me and D'Argo were shacking up," Chiana said, and pulled a small vial, filled with orange liquid from her small pocket and held it up. Crichton stopped and took a look at it. "I just recently found it in my quarters. What it does is gives off extra pheromones-- attracts females-- at least that's what the old traj said that sold it to me. I was gonna use it for me and D'Argo, but that didn't quite happen," she said with a quick smile.

"Your point?" Crichton asked absently.

"Well, I was thinking you could maybe use it for you and Aeryn. I've seen the way you look at each other, you guys are long overdue. I don't know, I thought you'd like it since I don't think I'll be using it anytime in the near future," she said, and twitched her head. Crichton held out his hand, his gaze unwavering from Chiana. She placed it in his hand with a slight giggle. John pocketed it.

"Sounds kinda like Viagra. Yeah, well they say sex is the best thing to relieve stress," John said with a wry tone. Chiana's eyes narrowed, and she disregarded the comment as another one of John's confusing Earth references.

"Anyways, help me finish moving these crates, Chi," he said as he turned his back and went back into the pod. Chiana followed.

Chiana and Crichton finished moving the crates out into the docking bay. Crichton wiped the sweat from his brow just as D'Argo walked into the bay.

"Are these the supplies Moya needs for repairs?" D'Argo asked, looking over the crates.

"Yeah. We gotta get 'em all down to various spots in the neural cluster, since that's where most of the repairs are. You'll see them," Crichton said.

D'Argo nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll start moving them down," D'Argo said, and with that, he picked up a crate as if it weren't heavy at all, and walked away.

"I'll catch up later, D!" Crichton called. D'Argo didn't answer as he exited the room and turned the corner. Crichton stared into the space D'Argo occupied mere microts ago as Chiana walked up behind him.

"So, Crichton, you should drink that stuff now," she said over his shoulder.

"Why now, Pip?"

"Well, you never know how long it could take for it to take effect. Might as well have it working when you run into Aeryn."

John considered. Aeryn could be anywhere about the ship. If it takes effect quickly, the experience might be too rushed. However, if it takes a while to work, then things could move a bit slower, and he might get the result he wanted. This potion could essentially get his relationship moving again. He pulled out the vial and drank the entire thing. It was actually quite sweet.

Crichton stood, staring off into space with a stern look, waiting for something to signify that it had taken effect. Chiana came around John and looked at him, as if searching for something in his eyes. John glanced at Chiana dubiously. Chiana moved her nose closer to John, and took a quick sniff. John frowned, wondering what the little grey girl was up to. Chiana stepped back from John and shook her head. She then turned her gaze back to John's eyes with a querying look.

"Nothing," John said. Chiana smirked.

"Well, it's supposed to give off a certain scent which is supposedly irresistable. Hey, let me know how things turn out between you and Aeryn," Chiana said with a smile.

"Oh, yeah, Pip, you deserve to know everything about my life," John said sarcastically.

Chiana giggled, and walked away. John stood in the silence. After a few microts of thinking, John spoke into his comm.

"Aeryn, where are you?"

"I'm in the galley, why?" her disembodied voice came over the comm.

"I wanna talk to you about us. Can I meet you there?"

"Fine," she said after a pause.

---

John walked down one of the halls towards the galley, which was still far off. Nervousness had come over him. His heart hammered away in his chest. He felt slightly guilty for using such a concoction to entice Aeryn, when the feelings could just come naturally, but he figured he'd give it a try anyways. He could break down a few barriers, perhaps move the relationship to the next level, get things moving again. The potion was guaranteed to enhance the experience, apparently.

John also figured now was the best time. The sexual tension was getting to him. His relationship with Aeryn had built up for so long. They had come close to sex before, but it just didn't happen right. Now that she had finally shown an interest, despite the backing off at the commerce station, another chance was well in order. He also figured it was a good time since things were a bit stressful lately, with Zhaan dying, and the blast-to-the-past memorial site. So far, so good with the meeting-up plan. Excitement was in the air, for he could smell it.

John finished climbing the ladder and was now walking towards the galley. He was now quite close to the galley; he imagined he could almost smell her. Suddenly, Stark came around the corner in the corridor, his eyes pacing back and forth as if looking for something he had lost in the corridor.

"Hey, Stark," John said and waved carelessly.

"Hello, Crichton," he said, not taking his gaze off the floor. As they passed, and the distance between each other began to increased, Stark stopped, sniffed quickly and quietly, and looked up. "Crichton, wait."

John stopped and turned. "Yeah?"

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about for a while, Crichton," Stark said, and turned towards John. Stark inched towards John with small steps, his fingers twitching as they usually did. John managed a quick frown.

"Look, Stark, I kinda got an appointment, so could you make it snappy?" John said, his lips pursed and his hands on his hips. John noticed Stark's eye darting all over his face, and John managed a frown.

"Did you ever want to see how things were on my side, John?" Stark said with a quick smile. Stark was mere inches away from John now, who refused to flinch at whatever kind of game Stark was playing now.

"Stark, what are you going on about?"

"Well, I've just now realized that I'm attracted to you. You know, your eyes are quite blue, much like Zhaan's eyes," he crooned, rolling his eyes back in bliss at the mention of her.

Crichton raised an eyebrow in confusion. Stark slowly moved his hand up to Crichton's cheek and began to stroke it gently. Crichton became uncomfortable and backed away, putting up his hands in an attempt to ward Stark off.

"Um, yeah, Stark, I'll get back to you on that later-- much later," Crichton said, stumbling backwards a few paces, then immediately turned and continued his journey down the hallway, this time in a nervous jog. Crichton shook his head as he jogged away, simply disregarding the whole event. Stark had said, and done, weird things in the past; that last act was just another to be added to the list.

As Crichton walked the final minutes to the galley, memories were coming back to him of his relationship with Aeryn. It started out with the near-death situation in the transport pod while caught in the Flax, and slowly-- with numerous bumps scattered about-- progressed into what it was now. John always figured it must've been her Peacekeeper training that got in the way of her feelings. Well, or she could just be naturally defensive and skeptical about expressing her feelings. Either explanation would work. But regardless, he liked it.

Suddenly, Aeryn's voice came over John's comm. "John, a power conduit has ruptured on Tier Two. I'm already on my way there, so we're going to have to have our conversation some other time."

John stopped abruptly, threw up his hands in frustration, and let out a moan of disappointment. Things always seemed to happen so quickly and get in the middle of plans. But Crichton was used to it by now. It was a natural occurance for things to go wrong or be delayed.

"Alright, that's fine," John said into his comm, quite annoyed. John stood, staring at one of Moya's bulkheads. And all he wanted was to talk to her. He shrugged his annoyance off the best he could, and remembered that Moya needed repairs.

Might as well get that done, he thought, and walked off towards the neural cluster where the repairs were needed.

Luckily, on the way to the neural cluster was the Center Chamber, so Crichton decided to stop by there. As he rounded the corner and entered through the door, which was already open, he noticed Rygel, as usual, eating. His platter was piled with a various assortment of food cubes, marjools, drenkas, and a large piece of some sort of meat. Almost a meal fit for a Dominar, if it weren't for the bland food cubes.

"Hey, Sparky, how's it hangin'," Crichton said as he sat at the table. Rygel stopped stuffing his face for a microt to get out a few words.

"Just fine, Crichton," he replied with a frown, very slightly annoyed that he was interrupted. Crichton reached over and grabbed a food cube off of Rygel's platter, which immediately resulted in Rygel shooting Crichton a glare. Crichton munched away, staring out one of the portal's at the stars beyond. Rygel suddenly took a deep whiff of the air, and chuckled.

"Something funny, Sparky?" Crichton said and turned back to Rygel. Crichton noticed a wide grin on the Hynerian's face, which seemed a bit out of place. Rygel didn't usually smile unless he was eating, or getting what he wanted.

"Ehm, Crichton, you've never touched my earbrows before," Rygel said calmly.

"Yeah... your point, Buckwheat?," Crichton asked as he grabbed another food cube from Rygel's plate. This time, Rygel didn't glare. He continued to smile. Crichton swallowed the food cube and continued to wonder what Rygel was talking about.

"Would you like to?" Rygel asked, and pushed aside his plate. Crichton's eyes narrowed.

"No, that's OK, Ryg, I've got things to do, and that... just doesn't interest me," he said after a pause, and began to get up, but Rygel stopped him.

"You seem very skillful with your hands, you could most likely stimulate extreme sexual pleasure" Rygel said with a wide grin and a glance at Crichton's hands, and stood up on the table. Crichton didn't move. Rygel began slowly hobbling over towards Crichton. Naturally, Crichton backed away in case the Hynerian might try anything so fast.

"I insist, Crichton. Most mating rituals involve some stroking of the earbrows," he said, slightly fingering the whispy hairs of his brow. John quickly stood up, a nervous smile quickly overcoming his almost blank expression. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Sparky! I dunno what you've been smokin', and I probably don't wanna know, but you, little buddy, should get yer mind outta the gutter," Crichton said, and paused for a microt, glancing around the room. "Something is very wrong with everyone today," Crichton said softly to himself with a look of confusion. Crichton spun on his heels and walked away, shaking his head, wondering what the hell was wrong with everyone. Rygel gazed at Crichton as he rounded the corner, and groaned in disappointment.

As Crichton walked down the corridor, he was wondering how D'Argo was handling repairs so far. He wasn't quite sure of the specifics of it all, just the general information. Crichton took a right at the cross section, and commed Pilot.

"Pilot, can I get a status report on the repairs in the Neural Cluster?" Crichton asked Pilot as he walked.

"Various power coils on Tiers Six and Seven of the Neural Cluster are damaged, some amnexus fluid valves on Tier Three are ruptured, some synaptic processor crystals need to be replaced. D'Argo has already fixed one of the damaged radiation filters on Tier Six, and requires assistance working on the second filter located on Tier Five."

"Right, and how is Aeryn doing?" John asked hopefully.

"Officer Sun is still working on the power conduit on Tier Two."

John cursed silently. Aeryn never liked to be interrupted while working on something, so he decided to wait until she was done with fixing the power conduit. He also decided to stay away from Rygel and Stark at all costs, since they were acting a bit odd as of late. John walked down a few more corridors, a few more cross sections, and went down the ladder to Tier Six, and decided to look for D'Argo.

---

Crichton finally found D'Argo in the Neural Cluster on Tier Five, still working on the second damaged radiation filter. The circular central area of the Neural Cluster was between John and D'Argo. D'Argo stood up and turned. John noticed he was wearing an environmental mask, which effectively blocked out intense lights. He pulled it off, then leaned on one of the pillars in the middle.

"Grab the mag-stet over there," D'Argo said, pointing at a small tool on the ground beside him. "I could've used your help a while ago. This filter is slowly leaking vespin vapor which can be harmful after extensive exposure."

"Right, got it, big guy," John said. D'Argo pulled his mask down and continued working on the filter. He almost started towards where D'Argo was working when he realized the odd behavior of Stark and Rygel earlier. He was skeptical about getting near D'Argo, considering how skillful he was with his nose, but decided to give it a shot anyway, to see how things pan out. John slowly walked over to where D'Argo was hunched and grabbed the tool D'Argo had pointed to.

"It's gonna be a day filled with fun, D'Argo, with all the repairs Moya needs. I tell ya, that Neeyala certainly did some damage," John said, and patted one of Moya's bulkheads.

John was just about to begin work when D'Argo took a sniff of the air, and took his mask off, placing it on the floor. John froze. The telltale sign of the day that people were going to start acting weird. John glanced at D'Argo quickly, noticing D'Argo was staring at John out of the corner of his eye.

"D'Argo, buddy, something up?" Crichton asked nervously, trying to hide his fear. D'Argo's shot John a wry smile.

"John, we've been friends for quite a while. We've been through a lot, and I was wondering if I could speak to you about our relationship," D'Argo purred calmly, his voice tranquil. Crichton knew something was amiss here. D'Argo never spoke in such a way. In fact, most of what he said was in the form of a bark.

Crichton put his hand over his eyes, and mumbled, "Oh, God, no, not you too..."

D'Argo's purr quickly became a growl, "Oh, yes."

Crichton quickly shot up and dropped the mag-stet and ran to the other side of the center, so that there was something in between him and D'Argo. D'Argo stayed where he was.

"Oh, come on, I just want to talk to you, John!" D'Argo sighed, annoyed, and threw his hands into the air. D'Argo slowly began inching his way towards John. "You know, being couped up on the ship with you for so long, I've always longed for you to rub my tenkas. Haven't you ever thought about it?"

"No, D'Argo, I really haven't, because I'm not that frelled in the head! Try and rethink this, man! You like females, not me!" Crichton yelled, trying to convince D'Argo of what was real.

"You know, there's this Luxan bonding ritual I wanted to perform you," D'Argo said with a smile.

"A... what?" Crichton asked skeptically.

D'Argo continued almost as if Crichton hadn't asked his question. "I'll need some lutra oil, which shouldn't be too hard to find."

"...Lutra oil?"

"And I'll also need my Qualta Blade."

"Oh, God, I don't wanna know what that's used for," he asked in a weak, dismayed voice. "We don't need Chiana, do we?"

"Oh, come on, no need to ruin the mood, Crichton... John."

"Good God, man, I gotta get the hell outta here before I lose a body part, or somethin'!"

Suddenly, Crichton remembered what Chiana had said about the potion she gave him.

"Frell, why didn't I think of that before!" Crichton cursed himself, slapping his forehead. He looked up, noticing D'Argo still staring Crichton down. "Listen, D'Argo! Chiana gave me this love potion that acts as an aphrodisiac. She said it attracts females, but apparently, it does more than that," Crichton said, ending with a slight chuckle.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Crichton. These are real feelings; I've felt them for a long time. I just could never express them until now."

Crichton, wide-eyed and flustered now, picked up a tool by his foot and hastily threw it at D'Argo. D'Argo was obviously unready for the projectile, as it hit him in the head. D'Argo's hand shot to his head to caress the wound. John took advantage of the moment and began to run out the large doorway behind him. D'Argo immediately noticed and shot his long tounge out at Crichton, which barely missed him. Both Crichton and D'Argo mumbled a curse.

"Crichton! Please! Try and put this in perspective!" D'Argo yelled in annoyance, rolling his eyes, and began after him.

---

Crichton ran down numerous hallways, climbed ladders as quickly as he could, but didn't quite know where he was going. He just wanted to get away from D'Argo. Apparently, the potion he had taken was faulty, and had affected everyone instead of just the opposite sex. He cursed himself for being so hasty in taking it and in failing to realize that there were other people aboard who could get in the way of him and Aeryn, obviously in more ways than one.

That'll teach me to take things Chiana gives me, Crichton thought.

He assumed he was on Tier Twelve by the look of things, which would mean that Command was nearby. John headed down a few hallways and arrived at the door to Command, waving his hand over the door control without thought. The door swivelled open with a slight whirring sound, through which John entered.

At one of the tables in the room were Chiana and Jool, apparently bickering about something, as they usually were. The forward portal showed a rather bland view of the stars, with nothing of interest to look at. Crichton really didn't want to get into whatever the girls were fighting about, and paid no attention to it. He tried not to look too obvious that he was annoyed at Chiana, and went over to one of the control panels.

After a few seconds, John broke into the girls' arguement, "Hey, Pip, come over here a microt."

Jool's and Chiana's arguement quickly ended and they both looked over to Crichton, a bit surprised they hadn't noticed him come in.

Chiana stood up and slowly sauntered over to John apprehensively. "Something wrong, Crichton? Hey, how's my love juice working?" she asked with a small giggle.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," John said firmly, almost glaring at Chiana as she stood on the other side of the control panel now. "You see, Miss Kinky, your potion not only attracts females... it attracts every frelling person on this ship!" John yelled. Chiana's usual smirk fell.

"Yeah, well, the old traj that sold it to me must've lied. Hey, not my fault," she said. Slowly, she leaned over the control panel so that she was looking up at John. A wide, sly grin came over her face. John knew that look. "But, ya know Old Man, it seems to be workin' just fine for me," she cooed. John rolled his eyes, already knowing what was coming. John began to walk away to another control panel, but Chiana was quicker. She ran to intercept him, leaping up at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and placing her arms behind his head. John let out a breath of air as he was unexpected for her.

"I definitely can't dismiss this behavior as different, coming from you, Chiana," John said, a little skittish over the current situation. Chiana giggled and cocked her head about. "However, as much as I'd like to... ya know, with you, I really can't," he added.

"Oh, c'mon. I remember the way you looked at me while on top of me in that dark cargo bay the first day I came aboard. You had lustful eyes, Old Man," she whispered into his ear sensually. "You want me."

John glanced over at Jool, who was just sitting, staring at the two of them with eyebrows raised. Jool didn't look at all motivated to help in anyway, and assumed it was just another day aboard Moya. John looked back into Chiana's eyes.

"Look, Chiana, before you go too far with this, do you perhaps have anything that can null the effects of your love potion?" John asked with a small ounce of strain, trying to support her weight.

"Now, why would you want to do that? I'm actually proud of myself that I found something so useful," she said, bringing a hand around and caressing John's cheek. "This is actually kind of fun for a boring day on Moya."

"Hey, is it hot in here?" Jool asked, knowing no one would answer her. She stood up and walked over to a control panel. John took his attention off of the voluptuous Chiana and looked at Jool. She manipulated a few of the controls, when a faint whining noise came from the panel, it's pitch lowering as it prolonged, until it faded after a few microts.

Chiana continued running her hands over John's face, who was unfazed so far by Chiana.

"Jool, what did you just do?" Crichton asked curiously.

"I lowered the temperature in the room," Jool replied nonchalantly.

Pilot's image abruptly came onto the clamshell.

"Commander, Jool has diverted over half of Moya's power to her propulsion system. While we are not moving, it has inadvertently overloaded two of the power conduits in the ion backwash chamber. I've already reported this to Officer Sun, who is on her way as we speak."

John sighed, a bit irritated at all that had gone wrong, or kinky, so far today. John swivelled in place, the clinging Chiana creating a bit of momentum, and looked over at the control panel he was standing by to see if he could do anything.

"Pilot," he said to the clamshell, "isn't there anything you can do?"

"I have already returned the power to optimal in all sectors. However, the overloaded power conduits I told you about could cause extensive damage if not attended to."

"It just keeps gettin' better and better," John said to himself and smirked. Chiana, still clinging to Crichton, took one of her hands and began putting it down her pants. Crichton noticed this immediately, and finally decided to end this encounter. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Crichton said with an embarrased smile, and pushed her off of him. She fell off quite easily, landing on the ground on her ass, her hand still in her pants.

"Crichton, you never like to have fun," she whined, but didn't seem defeated. Crichton walked away, completely unsympathetic to her cries, and went to the control panel Jool screwed with. He looked down at it, immediately realizing what Jool must've touched: the main power level control. John looked up slowly to Jool, glaring.

"What?" she asked, as if it wasn't her fault at all.

"Environmental controls are over there!" Crichton spouted, frustrated, jabbing a finger at a control panel on the other side of the room, implying that Jool knew nothing about how to work a ship. Jool slowly smiled, completely disregarding Crichton's outburst at her, and inched towards him.

"Ah, damn, this day is too weird," Crichton lamented, rubbing his eyes quickly.

"I may not know you very well, Crichton," Jool started, a seductive intent in her voice, "but since our two species are supposedly related, maybe, in the name of science, we could... experiment," she said, looking John up and down with a heated, yet critical gaze, and a sly smirk. She swiped her hand over John's chin, gently and slowly. Crichton wanted to move, but his legs wouldn't budge.

"I guess the head down south defeated the head up north this time," John said to himself with a weak chuckle. At the same instant, Chiana came up behind Jool at an incredible speed, grabbed the arm Jool was using to caress John, and jerked her away from Crichton, resulting in Jool falling to the floor. Crichton breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, tralk, I saw him first!" Chiana argued, standing over Jool who was sitting on the floor. Jool stood up quickly with a look of disdain.

"You were too slow, plus he didn't want you!"

"Yeah? Well, he wouldn't want you anyways! He'd frell me in an instant if he were in the right mood," Chiana sneered. She turned to walk away to Crichton, but she was stopped when Jool's hand grasped Chiana's arm and pulled her back.

Crichton, noticing the two were back to arguing, decided it was a good time to leave. Their bickering was rapid and blurred, their voices working up to a very shrill crescendo. It would keep them occupied for a few arns, if they decide to come looking for him like D'Argo did, he'd have a generous headstart. Who knows what Jool might do, considering she had already tried to kill him once for murdering her cousin. He quietly stumbled out the doorway without Chiana or Jool noticing.

As he entered the hallway, Chiana called out to him from Command. Crichton was wrong. Chiana had noticed. Crichton stopped and turned as Chiana came running out, stopping a metra from Crichton, then walked towards him.

"Ya know, Crichton, I meant what I said back there," she cooed gently, her head cocking slightly. Crichton strained a smile and laughed nervously. Her gaze was unwavered; her demeanor unabated. Her eyes darted around quickly, but when they met with Crichton's, they were locked. Chiana leaned in closer, her hot breath hitting Crichton's face. She began gyrating her hips, then moved them in closer and grinded on the bulge in John's pants.

"Ya know, Pip, I never really noticed how dark your eyes are," Crichton interjected, and forced out a quick snort of laughter, trying to cool the sexuality of the moment down, but to no avail.

"Shut up, and save the pillow talk, Old Man," she whispered. "I want you, you most likely want me. The feelings are mutual," she said with a barely audible giggle, and slightly twitched her head. Crichton was still, looking deep into her eyes.

"OK, I may have wanted you at one time, but not anymore, trust me," Crichton stressed.

Crichton grew tired of Chiana's attempts. As much as he enjoyed it, it just wasn't right. He wasn't comfortable consenting for such a thing. He tried to push her away, but she crouched down and began to uncinch Crichton's pants.

Crichton didn't try to stop her immediately. He rolled his eyes and looked down. Chiana glanced back up with a giggle. He was getting a tad bit annoyed, and scared, at everyone being so... sexual.

Crichton reached down and put her head between his two hands, about to push her away, when Stark flew around the corner, a pulse rifle in his hands. His eye was full of fire; the grand grin on his face accentuated it. Crichton couldn't tell if the rifle was pointed at Chiana or himself, but he knew it was aimed in his general direction, which presently put him in danger.

"You tralnik!" Stark shouted at Chiana. Chiana didn't even wince at Stark's comment. "He's mine, do you hear? Mine! Not yours! Mine! Not yours! Mine! Not yours! Mine! Not yours! I sense Zhaan all around him!" Stark yelled. John was beginning to back up now. Chiana was serenely watching Stark inch towards Crichton, still crouched down.

Crichton suddenly spun around and broke into a run, down the hall and around the corner. Stark fired the pulse rifle, blowing a hole in the bulkhead Crichton just ran behind. Stark sneered and cursed himself silently, and turned to Chiana quickly.

"I'll deal with you later, you sleazy tralk!" Stark growled. He turned back to the direction John ran in, bellowed a battle cry, and lunged down the hall.

Chiana giggled at Stark's battle cry.

"Sounds like a squealing Hynerian," she mused.

---

D'Argo quietly lurked through Maintenance Bay Two, his Qualta Blade drawn, scanning for any sign of John. Nothing stirred, only the normal sounds of Moya were audible. After finishing his search of the bay, he went over to the transport hangar controls, and smashed his fist into them, effectively disabling them, sending sparks raining to the floor.

Pilot's image came onto the nearby clamshell. "D'Argo? What are you doing?" Pilot asked, confused.

"Trust me, Pilot," D'Argo growled, and left the maintenance bay for the next one to disable it's controls. D'Argo did not want Crichton getting off the ship before D'Argo could speak with him.

---

Crichton jogged down the one of the hallways on Tier Twelve, wary of running into the Luxan. At this point, he either had two choices: to hide, or find Aeryn. He'd rather not meet up with Aeryn, however, considering the ion backwash chamber was on the other side of the ship, and he would most likely run into D'Argo if he went in that direction. John tapped his comm.

"Pilot, can you tell me where D'Argo is?" he asked, hoping the beast wasn't anywhere near his tier.

"Sensors indicate he is one tier below, one sector away," Pilot said.

"And Stark?" Crichton asked.

"My sensors indicate Stark is on your tier, two sectors away," Pilot said.

"Frell," he mumbled. "Thank you, Pilot." D'Argo was not far, neither was Stark. He turned, and started jogging, hoping he was moving away from the Luxan and the Banik, and not toward him.

John came to a cross section, ran down a hall, then came to another cross section, when an idea hit him. He could hide out in the access shaft system until the effects of the pheromone juice wear off. He looked to his left, seeing a portal to the access shafts. He walked over, hit the button, and the hatch slid aside, revealing Scorpius--Harvey, rather-- sitting in the shaft, smiling.

"You are right, Crichton. The access shaft system of Moya can take you anywhere you desire. You could hide out for days from the Luxan or the Banik. And yes, the aphrodisiac concoction will metabolize in a matter of arns," Harvey said.

John smirked. Harvey always seemed to show up at times when he least desired, but this instance was an exception. "Yeah, Harvey, you always seem to know what the hell is going on, but you're no Steven Hawking," Crichton said. "Hey, you're not gonna hit on me too, are ya?" he asked rhetorically as he looked down each direction of the hallway, making sure the Luxan or the Banik weren't anywhere near.

John looked back where Harvey was, but he was gone. John shook his head, and made his way up into the access shaft.

After climbing for what seemed like forever, he finally found a spot that suited him. The light was dim; the air somewhat stale. He sat down, found a comfortable postition, put his hands behind his head, and tried to sleep.

Harvey's voice cut in just before John nodded off to sleep. "You know, John, you try too hard with Officer Sun. Attempting to allure her with a aphrodisiac that emits pheromones?" Harvey scoffed, and leaned forward. "Are you that desperate?"

"Can it, Harvey, you wanna spend more time in the dumpster?" John opened his eyes and shot Harvey a menacing glance, who was sitting beside him, his back to the opposite side of the access shaft. Crichton's expression quickly changed to a wide smile when he noticed Harvey wearing a pink mini-skirt and a green tank top. Harvey eased himself and leaned back to the wall. "I just wanted to get things rolling again," Crichton said.

Harvey leaned forward again. "The method you employ is irrational!" he spat.

"Yeah, well, I'm only male," John said, and sighed. "I guess perhaps my feelings got the best of my logic. I can't push her like that. For once, the pale man in the leather bondage suit is right. I'm surprised, ya know."

Harvey smirked. "I always was the smarter one in your mind."

John chuckled at Harvey's ludicrous comment. "You wish, Harvey, you wish." Crichton closed his eyes, Harvey no longer whispering his pompous comments in his ear, and drifted to sleep.

---

D'Argo stood over a control panel in Command, manipulating various controls and analyzing the data they put out. His head was throbbing now that the effects of the pheromones Chricton was secreting had worn off. Jool and Chiana sat at one of the table's nearby, not arguing, but in complete silence. They were both clutching their heads.

"So anyways," Chiana said, breaking the silence, "I guess I was magra-fahrbot for giving Crichton that stuff. Wasn't thinking of the possibilities at the time," she finished with a smirk which went unnoticed. D'Argo looked up from the control panel and shot her a glare.

"Do we have any fret'nar on this ship? My head is killing me," Jool put in lethargically. D'Argo paid no attention to her complaint.

"Pilot!" D'Argo said into his comm. Pilot's image come onto the clamshell. "Are you able to locate Crichton?" he asked, looking up at Pilot's hovering visage.

"Negative. Crichton has managed to stay off my sensors for several arns. He is still on the ship, however, since no transport pods have left the hangar. It is likely he is hiding in one of Moya's blindspots. He is skillful at hiding."

D'Argo sighed, and nodded reluctantly in agreement. He regretted the fact that he let a simple drug overcome his senses and succumbed to it's effects. The fact that Chiana had even offered the drug to Crichton annoyed D'Argo, but it was forgivable. If he could find Crichton, he could explain that the effects have worn off already.

Chiana explained the whole thing to D'Argo earlier. D'Argo nearly got angry at her for what she had caused him, but surpressed his rage. He was also disappointed that she interfered with Crichton's relationship in such a way. For Luxans, it was dishonorable. D'Argo respected Crichton, and would never get in the way of such a sensitive bond. He sighed, relieving himself of the tension. He could not hold a such a grudge against Chiana.

"We don't have any fellip nectar, do we?" Jool asked curiously. D'Argo glanced at her with a glare; Chiana glanced at her with a smirk.

"Always thinking of yourself, eh Princess?" Chiana asked mockingly. Jool responded with a grimace at Chiana. "Frell, I feel like dren," Chiana mumbled, stood, and stumbled out of the room. Chiana had now regretted giving the potion to John, angry she had not taken the time to consider possible reprocussions. She had a knack for doing rash things, anyway.

---

The maintenance bay was silent, save for the sparks that jumped to the ground. Aeryn worked silently and peacefully at her Prowler. There was nothing specific to be fixed, no damage. She was merely giving it a "tune-up", as Crichton had called it in the past. She often let her mind wander as she worked. She felt somewhat guilty for shirking Crichton off so easily. He had often proven to be impatient, but the emergency situations on Moya had taken first priority, and her decision was justified.

A thump in the bulkhead above made her stop. She frowned, and looked up, wondering where the sound originated. A few metras away, a grate fell from the ceiling and clattered on the floor. Aeryn stood up, completely alert, her pulse pistol drawn by instinct. Then, someone fell from the access shaft above and landed with a thud. After a microt, Aeryn realized it was Crichton.

Aeryn frowned at Crichton's presence as he was unexpected. She lowered her pulse pistol and reholstered it with a muffled click. Crichton stood up languidly, rubbing his eyes, and noticed Aeryn standing before him.

"What were you doing in the access shaft?" Aeryn asked curiously. Crichton chuckled.

"I had to spend the night in the access shaft. Everyone was out to get me in the sack. Hell of a way to wake up, eh?" Crichton said with a smile, and blushed slightly. Aeryn frowned at Crichton's natural oddness.

"Aeryn, I was gonna talk to you about--" Crichton began, but was cut off by Aeryn.

"Yes, I needed to talk to you too," she said firmly, unashamed she had interrupted him.

"Well, actually, I was gonna say, 'Forget about it, it was nothing', but OK," John said passively.

"We may have made an agreement to... back off... at the commerce station, but that doesn't mean we can't be... close. I mean," she hesitated for a moment, rubbing her brow, "it's just intercourse. We can still be close, and we can still have... a relationship even with getting too... intimate," she said, using hand gestures to emphasize her point. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Cricton nodded.

"I'd like for us to... continue with our relationship without expectations of what we could be doing to relieve... tension... getting in the way."

John stood there, his gaze unwavering. He nodded in understanding, with a slight grin. "Got it, it's cool." He turned, about to leave, when Aeryn stopped him.

"John, wait," she said. John turned back around. She was beginning to move towards him, slowly. Silently and gently, she leaned in towards him, closing her eyes. John closes his as well. Very softly, Aeryn kissed John. After a few microts, she leaned back, with a smile. John was smiling too.

"John," she whispered. "You smell good. You smell.. different.. today," she trailed off. John smirked, turned, and left the bay with a goofy grin.

Feedback is appreciated

<< Return to the fan fiction main page