056 Lust

Carter didn't have a word for the emotion that was plaguing him. He didn't even have a way to deal with it, or really understand the cause. The only thing he knew for sure was that it was directed at Kat, and he couldn't help it. It didn't show up during combat, only when they were on base, or during one of the many voyages aboard UNSC ships. It plagued him at night, filling his head with dreams of things that had never crossed his mind before. It was stronger when they were alone, or when he could really watch her. It urged him do to things, things he refused to do. She was his teammate after all, they had to work together.

It was present in Carter's mind as he watched Kat change into her workout gear. He was waiting on her so they could go on a morning run. He'd already changed and despite what his own mind told him to do, he was watching her. He watched as skin was shrouded in clothing as she got dressed and the feeling pushed him to move, to feel that skin before it was all hidden under the fabric.

Kat turned back to him and he didn't look away, trying to look as casual as he could without giving away the thoughts in his head. She moved out of the locker room and he fell into line behind her, trying not to follow too close. They made their way out to the paths that traveled out into the forest. They'd been using them for the past few days since they'd found a full map of the area. Carter liked the back paths, it was untouched by humans, and it gave him more alone time with just him and Kat.

Kat paused at the start of the path, looking over the map and moved off down one of the paths. Carter followed behind her as they slowly picked up a steady running pace. Carter was sure to keep behind her, though it wasn't that hard. Although he liked the scenery around them, his gaze was fully fixed on the woman. He watched each and every movement, the odd feeling once more rising up in him. He tried to push it down but it was persistent as he watched her run.

He kept it suppressed, but he took a moment to once more try to find a word for what it was. It was something primal, instinctual it seemed. From what he could tell, it wasn't a particularly bad feeling, just distracting, and inappropriate. He knew that when he had the dreams he enjoyed them, though they did make him feel awkward around Kat after he woke up.

Carter nearly walked into Kat as she had stopped and he'd been lost in his own thoughts. "Why did we stop?"

"You always said these runs would be more exciting if it were more than just running." Kat motioned up ahead of them where a waterfall tumbled down into a small river. "Thought we'd take a swim, make things more interesting."

Carter vaguely remembered the conversation. They'd been talking about how they'd finally fallen into an out-of-combat routine and were more comfortable around each other. They'd talked about doing something new, and it seemed Kat had taken that conversation to heart. "I suppose it can't hurt."

Carter regretted those words a moment later as Kat started to strip down to her underwear. She moved to the river's edge and looked back. "Aren't you going to join me?" She turned back to the water and dove in. She resurfaced and laughed as she ran a hand over her short cut hair. "Damn, that feels good." She slashed water toward the shore where Carter still stood. "Come on, the water's nice."

Despite everything Carter's mind told him, he too stripped down and dove into the river. The cold water helped to drive back the feeling, and gave him a bit of relief from the way his body reacted toward the feeling. He broke the surface and took a deep breath, enjoying the cooling sensation.

The Commander froze as a hand ran over his back, where a scar ran from his shoulder to his shoulder blade. "How'd you get this?" She moved around to his front and he fought to keep his gaze on her face.

Carter tried to remember how he had gotten the particular scar, but he was finding it hard to concentrate with the half-naked Lieutenant before him. "Training accident, don't really remember what happened." He closed his eyes and tried to focus. This gave Kat the perfect chance. She leapt forward and tackled the Commander into the water. The two broke out into what they both later considered to be very childish behavior consisting of attempts to dunk each other, splashing, and at one point Carter picking up Kat and threatening to drop her off the waterfall.

The two lay on the bank of the river a half an hour later, exhausted but happy. "I haven't done anything like that in ages." Kat stretched out in the sun to let herself dry off before she would get dressed. "We should do this more often."

Carter stared up at the clouds above, watching them shift and change as they moved. "I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time."

"I noticed." Carter looked at Kat, confused. "You've been really uptight lately; well, more than usual." Kat laughed as Carter frowned at her. "Don't take it the wrong way. You have a stressful job, so you have to be a bit uptight to be able to handle it. It's just, you seem even more stressed than in the past."

"I have been, but it's more of a personal issue." Carter was confident that he could keep her from finding out what was wrong. "I'm dealing with it; it's just hard to understand." He shook his head. "Anyway, it's my problem, not yours."

Kat groaned and sat up. "Fine, be that way. I thought I was your Noble Two, but I guess I still can't be trusted." She stood up and started to get dressed, ignoring that she was still slightly damp.

"Kat, you know that's not it." Carter stood up and grabbed his own clothing. "It's just, this isn't a Noble issue, it's a Carter issue."

Kat sighed as she finished getting dressed. "Fine, I'll let it go this one time." Carter quickly got dressed as well and the two walked back to the base, having decided that the swim had been good enough to make up for not running back.

When they reached the base Kat headed toward the showers, feeling that the river water wasn't all that clean to her. Carter watched her leave, taking note of how the still semi-wet clothing clung to her body.

"You two walked back today?" Carter turned to face Richard as he spoke. He hadn't even noticed the other soldier's arrival. "Must have given her a good workout there in the woods for you two to not have the energy to run back." Richard chuckled and Carter frowned.

"We went for a swim." Carter really didn't understand what the other soldier was talking about.

"Sure that's what you did." Richard grinned but stopped as he realized Carter didn't understand. "Come on, I'm not blind. You can feel the lust in the air between you two. You and she went into the woods, relieved some tension." He raised his eyebrows, as if it would help Carter understand.

"I don't know what you mean. We went swimming in a river." Carter shook his head and moved away, leaving Richard behind. He thought about what the other man had said as he walked back toward the barracks to change into drier clothing. He fixated on a single part of what Richard had said. It was the word 'lust' that he didn't understand. He knew it was supposed to be a sin, but he'd never really understood what it was about.

When he reached the barracks he grabbed some fresh clothing and his datapad. He kept it hidden away as to keep Kat from hacking it; though it was password protected, he was sure she could break it. He did a quick search of the seven deadly sins. At least that would cover his tracks a little if someone did hack the system. He didn't bother with the other sins, scrolling down to lust. He read over the description and he had to admit, it was almost exactly like what he felt around Kat.

Carter changed as he contemplated the new realization. So now he had a word for the feeling, but why was he feeling it, and why was it directed at Kat? He sighed and sat down on his cot. One problem down, but a whole other one to deal with.