InsaneJournal

Who: Christopher PIke & Leia Organa
When: Back during the headache & nightmare plot...
What: The Admiral and the General use illegal substances.
Where: Admiral's quarters
Warnings: Talk of death, torture, nightmares, trauma...



Chris had messaged Leia to come by after he'd returned from Jim's quarters. It had been awhile since he'd indulged in anything like this, but there had been a night or two in Boyce's hottub after the Narada. This… though.. Would be something else.

He dimmed the lights in his quarters and set some background music in before settling himself on the couch. He was dressed in sleeping pants and a tshirt, taking a sip of his scotch as he waited for her to arrive.

Leia had done as he asked and slept in her own quarters for a few nights, left him alone even, while he sorted out whatever the problem was. She hadn't been affected, at least not in the same way (she often had a headache that persisted longer than it should). She let herself in and walked over toward him. "Feeling better?" she asked him, arching her eyebrow.

"A b-" he started before stopping himself. He sighed. "Worse, actually, but Kirk had something he thought might work better than what McCoy has in his arsenal. He actually suggested I invite you over. I suppose I should ask how you feel about the use of illegal substances.."

She sat next to him. "Guess it depends on what kind of illegal substance you're talking about," Leia said. She set a hand on his knee and leaned into him.

Christopher wrapped an arm around Leia, fingers stroking her shoulder.
"Something Jim confiscated. Reckon it came from Risa. You smoke it and it's supposed to help relieve pain and relax you.. He thought it might help with the nightmares. And we're not telling Dr. McCoy…"

"So what am I here for?" she mused, leaning against him. "Monitor you to make sure you don't do anything idiotic while you get high?" Leia was teasing, mostly.

“Well, you could do that, but it’s no fun being a babysitter,” he teased, letting out a tired sigh. "I was hoping you'd want to get high with me."

Leia tipped her head toward him with an amused look on her face. "I feel like I should point out that I'm too old to be getting high with my boyfriend, but what the kriff. I hope it's the good stuff."

Chris laughed at hearing her say boyfriend. For some reason, it sounded ridiculous to his ears. "We're too old for a lot of things, but well, life keeps throwing them at us."

He brushed his lips against her shoulder before reaching for the table. There were other ways to get high from the substance - which he was fairly certain was from Risa. Smoking it seemed the easiest and the way to have some control. He picked up one of the joints and lit it, taking a long drag from it before passing it to Leia.

"If anything goes wrong, we comm Jim.."

She chuckled as she took it. "Do you think this'll help with your nightmares?" she asked him as she pressed it to her lips and enjoyed it for a moment before leaning back and exhaling slowly. There had been several times over the course of her life, mostly times with Han, where she had partaken like this, though none very recently. She had always been concerned about getting addicted to something, especially in the years close to the Alderaan disaster and her time on the Death Star.

"Honestly, no," he admitted, but then maybe he was a bit of a pessimist in some ways. He'd prefer to call himself a realist. After two nights of the nightmares which were too realistic for his liking, he'd given up on sleep. "But I haven't slept in days, so I'm willing to try just about anything."

He shrugged as he took it from her and took another long drag, tilting his head up and blowing smoke rings towards the ceiling. "Worst case scenario - it does nothing. Best - well, it takes my mind off the nightmares and the headaches and maybe I even get some sleep."

Leia pressed her lips together and sighed. "I know you kicked me out for whatever good intentions you had and all, but I still maintain I could have been helping all along." She took it from him and took a long, slow inhale, leaning her head against the back of the sofa, her hand moving against his thigh.

She was calling him on his shit and he knew it. He wasn't sure if it was better or worse that she'd agreed. He slid his hand over hers, fingers intertwining as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.

"I've been sleeping with a phaser under my pillow," he admitted. "I… didn't feel safe having anyone else around especially… well, I've attacked bed partners before thinking they were part of the nightmare."

He took the joint back from her and took a long drag, much too sober for this conversation, but he was so exhausted and his head was in a state that his defence mechanisms were down.

"One, you don't need a phaser under your pillow for nightmares, that's an accident waiting to happen and not with you shooting me or anyone else you're sharing a bed for. Two, I know this from experience. I slept with a blaster in bed for over a year after the Death Star." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "And three - well, I'm sure I can come up with a dozen if i need to."

"A phaser under your pillow is just being prepared," he said tiredly, his body relaxing into the couch as his muscles relaxed slightly. "It's set on stun… it just makes me feel better when I see his face to be able to do something, even if it's just firing my blaster at thin air… "

She shook her head but chose not to argue with him. If that was his coping mechanism, who was she to tell him to stop, even if she wanted to. "I'd still rather you didn't, if only so I can stay here with you."

"And what if I have a nightmare and try to kill you in your sleep? I'm not willing to take that risk.." Chris leaned his head back, rubbing at his forehead, trying to ease the pain. Of course, currently his solution to the nightmares was not to sleep. "I suppose this is the part where I tell you I'm a stubborn old bastard who's set in my ways."

"I already knew that, Chris," Leia said, leaning over to kiss him, her palm against his chest. "Also, I trust that you won't kill me. Do you trust me on that too?"

"I trust you…" He slid lower on the sofa, resting his head on her shoulder. "I just don't trust myself."

"Well, I trust you, so that's got to count for something." Leia slid her fingers over his and took the joint back from him to take another hit. It was relaxing her, but she wasn't the one suffering from the nightmares that Chris was. She'd had a low-grade headache that might have been worse for someone else but she was used to it.

“You sure that headache hasn’t messed with your common sense?” He teased, leaning over to kiss her slowly. “Computer, lights at ten percent.”

His hand slid over Leia’s thigh. “I’m not sure if it’s helping but it’s certainly making me want to take you to bed."

Flattered, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. "I certainly won't complain if that's what's next on the agenda," she said, flattening her hand against his chest and smiling up at him.

Chris captured her lips in a kiss as a response, momentarily distracted.