Substitute

by Pixie (73pixie@home.com)

---

Moya's crew sat back in their seats, smiles of unadulterated pleasure on their
face. They had recently returned from a supply run where Aeryn had found a sweet
purple treat she called baumich. Once John had tasted it, reminders of chocolate
rushed back to him. Oh how he had missed the delectable candy! And his
now-favorite former-Peacekeeper had found him a lovely substitute.

They all had been eating tons of it since their return, and John was beginning
to wonder if they would have any left. He gazed across the table at Aeryn, who
looked like she was in the throws of orgasm.

John's mouth went dry at the sight of her. Mouth parted slightly, eyes closed,
cheeks flushed, quiet moan of pleasure...

Crichton felt himself become aroused. All his dreams, and daydreams, were
presenting themselves a mere few feet from him. John licked his lips, attempting
to wet them as he watched her slip the last piece of baumich past her lips.

Most of the crew observed Crichton and Sun with a good dose of amusement.
Chiana threw D'Argo a grin that said 'Why don't they get a room', while Zhaan
was intrigued by this newest courtship ritual they seemed to be going through.
Rygel was simply disgusted, like he was with most things to do with anyone other
than himself.

Aeryn finally opened her eyes and found herself looking directly in to the
desire-filled eyes of John. She smiled seductively, running her tongue across
her lips to clean up any remaining baumich. His eyes actually got larger as he
watched, something she hadn't thought possible. This was fun..and could get even
more so, if she played her cards right.

"Well, I hope you all had your fill of it, that was the last piece." Upon
hearing groans of disapproval from her crewmates, she told them, "Not my fault
you had to eat like vorcs."

She got a few dirty looks from them, but kept a sweet smile on her face.

Aeryn stood up, sauntering out of the galley, swaying her hips slightly. She
didn't look back, but she was pretty sure John was watching her departure.

Once she was in the hall, Crichton suddenly appeared at her side. The
dark-haired woman barely contained a triumphant smile as she stopped.

"I could really use more of what you've got," he stated, raising a finger to
her lips and wiping off a smudge of baumich there. He licked it off slowly,
relishing the taste of it.

Aeryn watched the Human. His begging made her almost feel bad about teasing
him with it. Almost.

"Well...no more that they need know about..." She smiled seductively at him
again, and got the desired look of happiness from him.

She took his hand, leading him to her quarters. He paused at the entrance,
suddenly unsure. Aeryn turned and looked at John. She could see the conflicting
emotions flitting across his features and guilt finally sank in. He was coming
down from the aphrodisiac and was feeling confused from minor withdrawal, not
certain what he wanted to do.

She wanted to ease the conflict for him, so Aeryn gently touched his cheek,
getting him to look at her. "It's okay. I can get it and we can go to the
terrace and enjoy it there."

John blushed. "No, no, it's okay. Just, ya know, thinking." He smiled
nervously, making the decision for her.

Aeryn slipped her hand out of John's and entered her room, going to the secret
compartment where she hid everything she didn't want anyone to find. She took
out some of the baumich, then replaced the rest of it in its hiding place.
Finding her temperature rising from the effects of the baumich, she took off her
PK vest, leaving her in her black leather pants and a white tank top.

She returned to the corridor to see John pacing and taking deep breaths. An
amused smile appeared on her face. He was trying hard to cool down, but she knew
that it wouldn't take long for him to get heated up again once they started
eating more of the baumich. Something she had forgotten to tell the others was
that baumich was also something of an aphrodisiac, but only to Sebaceans. She
had supposed it would react similarly with Humans, and from Crichton's
reactions, she figured she was right.

"Ready?" she asked, stopping John from pacing. She caught his quick glance at
the wrapped baumich in her hand, and grinned. He was quite eager for more.

They walked in silence together to the terrace. As they made their way there,
Crichton slipped his hand in to hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. Aeryn gazed at
him, feeling the guilt once again of not telling him about the properties of the
baumich. He was so trusting of her, something she was not used to lately from
any other being.

"Crichton.." she trailed off as he looked her in the eye.

"Yeah?"

"The baumich..it..well.."

"It's melting."

"What!?" Aeryn was startled by his statement, and looked down to the package
in her hand. It was indeed melting, much to her disappointment. She released her
hand from his and took hold of the baumich in both hands. "Frell!"

John bit his lip, trying not to laugh at her anger over the melting sweet. It
had oozed out on to her hands now, colouring them purple. Watching her attempts
to stop it from melting finally set him off and he laughed aloud. The former
Peacekeeper turned her gaze upon him, her annoyance apparent.

"You think this is funny? My frelling hands are purple!"

"But such a lovely shade..." he started, then began to chuckle again.

Before he could react, Aeryn raised a hand and swiped his face, adding a
purple handprint to his features. Crichton opened his mouth, then closed it. He
went to grab the package, but she kept it out of his reach. She took off down
the corridor, John in hot pursuit. No way was she going to get away with it.

She disappeared around a corner and John nearly missed it since he had been
charging so fast after her. He quickly took a few steps back, and rounded the
corner, right in to the terrace. Aeryn was nowhere in sight.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Crichton said in a sing-song. No
sound, not even an intake of breath. He stood there for a couple of minutes,
beginning to wonder if she had gone out another way. Then he heard a movement
from his left and turned in time to see Aeryn trying to make a run for it. He
pounced and just caught her around the left leg, bringing them both to the
ground.

John breathed heavily, laughing as Aeryn squirmed to get out of his grasp. He
literally climbed up her body in an attempt to get hold of the baumich, but just
before he reached it, she threw her arm back and the package flew out of her
hand a few feet away.

"You don't really think I'd let you get it so easily, now do you?" Aeryn
grinned cheekily.

Crichton returned the grin. "And you don't think I'd let you get off
plastering my face with this stuff, do you?" He leaned his head toward her chest
and rubbed his face all over.

Aeryn lay there, stunned at his actions. If this wasn't some sort of revenge
on his part, she could have sworn he was coming on to her. And damn if it wasn't
turning her on.

John stopped what he was doing, laying his head on her chest while he caught
his breath. He heard her heart beating a mile a minute, and he smiled. Was it
the exertion, or him? He lifted his head and saw that her head lay on the floor,
eyes closed. He slid further up her body, bringing himself face to face with
her.

Aeryn now opened her eyes, looking in to the impossible blue depths of
Crichton's. He brought his lips to the tip of her nose, kissing it softly. As he
pulled back, the cheeky grin reappeared, causing the dark-haired woman to narrow
her eyes suspiciously. She put the back of a hand to her nose, as the palms were
covered in baumich, and came away with something resembling a purple lip print.

"You..." she growled, then surprised him and kissed him hard on the lips. She
ran her hands through his hair, down his neck, over his clothing and then pulled
up his shirt, tickling his sides softly. He let out a little gasp between the
kisses and arched his butt in the air, attempting to move away from her teasing
hands. Aeryn chuckled, taking the opportunity to begin working at his pants,
loosening them. John went to protest, but before he had the chance she slipped
her hands past the waist band of his Calvins and groped his behind, marking her
path with the purple on her hands.

Crichton moaned loudly, pulling himself out of the kiss. He whispered her name
over and over as she rolled them, leaving her on top. She continued her manual
exploration of his lower body, but never removing the clothing. It was
pleasurable torture to him, and when he looked her in the eye, he saw that she
was loving it.

Aeryn could tell he was getting very excited with what she was doing, but she
decided to avoid going too far. This was about revenge, not recreating. Not that
the two couldn't go together, just not in this situation.

She removed her hands and sat up, straddling his body with one leg on either
side. "So, do you give up?"

Crichton's expression was confused, and frustrated, because of her change in
tactics. "Give up?"

"Yes. Admit I've won." Aeryn now looked confused as John's expression turned
to hurt.

"Yeah, sure, you've won, whatever you want. Can I get up now?"

She did as he asked and sat beside him. Aeryn watched as he sat up and worked
on zipping his pants. He let out a derisive laugh as he did this, mumbling to
himself. She tried to hear what he said, but he moved away the closer she got.

Aeryn began to worry, so she reached out to touch his arm, but he shrugged
away from her. John got up and walked out of the terrace, leaving Aeryn alone.

"What in hezmana is wrong with him?" Aeryn questioned aloud to herself. She
stood up and jogged quickly after him, finally catching up to him after a few
microts. "What's wrong?"

John stopped, letting out a snorted laugh. He turned and faced her, anger and
hurt colouring his face. "Why the frell do you have to always be the one to ruin
any intimate moment we may have?" he asked, his hands waving as he spoke.

Aeryn was taken aback by his question. She hadn't thought that that had been
intimate..okay, if she were truly honest, it did have glimmerings of intimacy,
but she had understood that he had been playing rather than wanting intimacy.

"I didn't realize, I thought you were seeking revenge, not intimacy."

Crichton sighed. "Aeryn, just because something starts one way doesn't
necessarily mean it's going to stay that way. At least not when it comes to you
and me." He put his hand to her cheek, rubbing his thumb softly back and forth.
Her expression softened, and he leaned forward to kiss her. Their eyes closed,
inches from contact, feeling breath on their lips...

"Planning on trying out all areas of the ship?" Chiana's boisterous tone
seemed to shoot them apart, their eyes opening in surprise.

"Very funny, Pip," he joked.

Before he could stop her, Aeryn turned and left, but not before she gave the
young thief a glare.

"Aeryn!" he called after her, but she didn't glance back, just kept going. He
moved to follow her, but Chiana got in the way.

"You know, I think she's not interested any more. But I am," she teased,
running her index finger down his chest.

"Not now," he stated tersely and walked around her, running after Aeryn.

After checking most of Moya, Crichton finally arrived at the exercise room. He
heard grunting noises echoing from there, and he knew she was in there beating
the dren out of something..but hopefully not some*one*.

John poked his head around the corner just in time to see Aeryn kick the
exercise pad hard enough to send it flying a few feet. He gulped, not so sure it
would be safe to talk to her right now.

He turned back around and started to walk away when he heard his name barked
out.

"Crichton!"

John paused mid-step, then put the foot down. "Yes, dear?" he kidded. Before
he could turn himself around, he felt Aeryn's hand on his shoulder.

She spun him to face her. Her expression was tense, the sweat running down her
flushed face, down her neck, in to that little well just at the base of her
neck, down..down...

"Will you frelling look at me? You're not listening, are you?"

John blushed deeply at being caught. "Uh, not really," he replied, lowering
his head and waiting for some sort of retribution from her. Instead, he saw her
feet turn away and go in the direction of the exercise pad. He looked up again
and watched as she started kicking and hitting the pad.

He walked over to her, deciding to risk certain death. When she ignored his
presence beside her, he risked even further injury and stood behind the pad,
holding it in place. He thought he might be imagining it, but he believed that
Aeryn began hitting it even harder once he was behind it.

"Aeryn!" Crichton yelled after a particularly hard kick. The former
Peacekeeper stopped, breathing hard as she leaned her hands on her knees.

"What?" She sounded perturbed at the interruption.

"We need to talk."

She straightened herself up. "You didn't seem all that interested in hearing
what I had to say a few minutes ago."

"And that was stupid," he admitted, surprising Aeryn. He stepped around the
pad and tentatively placed his hands on her shoulders. "I want us to be able to
talk about things, ya know? And when I'm being a guy, I want you to still talk
to me. You have to get this stuff through my thick Human skull after all," he
joked, giving her a cheeky grin.

A smile began to twitch at her mouth. "You do have a particularly thick
skull."

"You've banged it in enough times."

"Need to soften it up."

Smiles now lit up both their faces, and they began to laugh. John's hands
slipped down Aeryn's sweat-covered arms, then took her slightly raw hands in
his, holding on to them.

Once they stopped laughing, he gave her hands a little squeeze, then went to
let them go, but Aeryn kept hold of his.

"Crichton, we do need to talk. About all that frelling emotional stuff," she
stated, looking mildly uncomfortable near the end.

John smiled good-naturedly at her reaction. "Yeah, I know."

"Not right at this moment. Another time, when..things aren't possibly out of
our control."

Crichton looked a bit confused at her final words. "'Out of our control'?" he
repeated.

Aeryn seemed to consider her next words before speaking them. "You know the
baumich?"

He grinned widely. "Best stuff in the Uncharted Territories."

She got a distinctly guilty look on her face. The dark-haired woman sighed
deeply before she spoke again. "It's not just any candy. Actually, no children
are allowed to buy it."

John's expression became curious. "Oh?"

"No. You see," she paused, looking away before she continued, "it's considered
an aphrodisiac." She glanced up quickly and saw that he still looked curious,
not angry, as she was expecting. This gave her the confidence to look him in the
eye once again.

"So, how strong an aphrodisiac?"

"Relatively strong, for Sebaceans, not other species."

"And..for Humans?"

Aeryn breathed deeply. "I wasn't certain. You are very similar to a Sebacean,
yet, I assume, there are differences."

John's eyes narrowed a bit in thought. "Were you trying to seduce me?"

Her mouth opened and closed, then a blush began to creep up her neck. She let
go of his hands and moved back a bit from him. "I wouldn't say 'seduce'..."

"So what *would* you say?" he asked, a huge grin plastering his face.

"A test. A simple test," she blurted out.

Crichton laughed. "I'm the scientist here Aeryn. That was no test."

"It was my version of a test. Not everything has to follow the way you did
things back on Erp," she said, getting a bit defensive.

He put his hands in the air in front of him in a protective posture. "Okay,
Sunshine, don't bite my head off."

Aeryn gave him a pensive look at his statement, but didn't say anything about
it.

"Well, I think I'll leave you to beating up that pad, now that we have that
cleared up." He turned to walk away, but slowed when she started talking again.

"I'm sorry I tried to..test you. Without your prior knowledge."

John turned back around to face her. "You're sorry."

"Yes."

He couldn't help grinning now. "Wow. I never thought I'd hear you say that."

She sighed. "If you're going to be silly about it..." She turned on her heel,
but John grabbed her arm before she went very far.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're not taking off." He turned her around to face him
once again. He raised one hand to her cheek, caressing it, while the other hand
rested on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to get so flippant. Honest," he responded
when he saw her unbelieving expression. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"You don't need to use aphrodisiacs to 'test' me."

Aeryn's expression softened from tense to amused. "I know. I suppose I just
wanted to see what other forms of 'testing' made you more..pliable."

A wide grin reappeared on Crichton's face. "Baby, I don't need anything more
than the thought of you to make me pliable."

Aeryn laughed aloud at his response. She smiled happily at him, finally
feeling the guilt releasing her.

John let his hand linger a moment longer on her cheek, then he moved away from
her. "I need to shower, what with all this baumich covering me." He gave her a
sly grin. "And I'll let you work off some of that aphrodisiac. You ate an awful
lot of it."

She hit him lightly on the shoulder and he mocked being hurt by it, causing
her to shake her head at his goofiness. She turned around and laid a hard kick
on the pad, moving it a few inches.

"Hey Aeryn!" Crichton called from the entrance.

She paused mid-punch and looked at him. "Yes?"

"I knew." He grinned hugely and turned around quickly, jogging off down the
corridor.

Aeryn pondered his words, then realized what he meant. "You little..." she
said quietly, then yelled after him, "I'll get you for that, Crichton!"

His only response was laughter.

* * *

Chiana moved out of the side-corridor entrance to the exercise room. She had
been wandering around, bored with nothing, and nobody, to currently do, when she
had come across Aeryn and John. She had been very interested to learn what the
baumich was used for, and the reaction that Crichton had had to it.

"I guess this will really come in handy some time," she thought, a devious
grin forming on her lips as she looked down at the half-melted candy in her hand
that she had found on the terrace.