Facing The Music

Posted on Mon Jun 8th, 2015 @ 12:48am by Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D. & Seyla

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Archadia III

Archadia III

When one is known as the consort of the Prime Minister, it’s difficult to set foot anywhere in the main city without being recognized - with one exception. The house they had leased to hide out the recovered alien. Since she was now in stasis below the basement that had been refinished, even the most exacting investigator could go through the place and never find a thing. So it was that Will entered the house and called out for Ronin.

Ro bounded down the stairs with a smile. “Hey hey, how’s it feel to be a celebrity?”

Will smiled. “Without divulging things I cannot, let’s just say she’s well worth the trouble. You want the afternoon off? Solaana’s out of the city today, an official state visit to one of the northern continents and won’t be back until tomorrow. So you’re good to go til tomorrow morning. Go, be a young man, enjoy yourself.”

Ro didn’t have to be asked twice. He saluted and took off up stairs. Several minutes later he was changed and out the door. "Don’t leave the light on honey.”

Will laughed and locked the door behind Ro. Then he crossed to the terminal in the bedroom he’d remade into an office. Opening a channel, he put through a call to Seyla.

"Seyla's Den of Inquiries!" Bella chirped brightly. She meant 'Den of Iniquities' but didn't know the difference between the two words. "What sort of depraved services can we offer you -- Oh! Doctor Harding! Did I miss an appointment?"

“Not exactly, Bella. I need to speak with Seyla if she is available?” One good thing about Bella, she’d simply assume it was medical business and float on by.

"Oohhh. Well, she's not around, Doctor. But I don't know where she is. She's been acting funny lately. Probably needs to see you. I could take a message for her, though." Bella smiled, glad she hadn't missed an appointment.

“Of course. Have her call me.” He gave Bella a code, fully intending to send a text since he didn’t expect Bella to remember what day it was, much less a channel number. “Thank you.” He closed the channel and sent the number to Seyla via text. That done, he rose and went back to the kitchen. The house was silent around him and knowing that no one was watching his every move was exhilarating. He opened a bottle of red wine and poured a glass.

Sometime later, Seyla called him. "William, dear. Are you still imprisoned on the planet?"

“That’s why I called, actually. Are you free for the evening?” He smiled at her image in the view screen, then sipped his wine.

She was, though she didn't want to admit that outright. "Perhaps. Is your Prime Minister not keeping you busy enough?" Her tone had an icy edge to it.

That caught Will up short for a moment and he debated how to answer the question. “It seems we have something we need to talk about, Sey.” His tone was gentle. “I called because I missed you.”

He missed her? That mollified her, slightly. She softened a bit. "I suppose I need to book a shuttle flight, then? Will you arrange ground transport to where you are?"

“Consider it done my dearest. Half an hour?” He took another sip of the wine and relaxed just a bit more. “Please.”

"Yes, I'll be there," she smiled slightly and signed off.

***

Dressed in a white, strapless gown, Seyla stepped out of the transport and stopped to take in the house William had brought her to. She then moved to the door and wasn't surprised when William was there, waiting. "Is this a perk of being the Prime Minister's whor--- ah, consort?"

“Get in here.” It was a thinly disguised order. He was glad to see the transport was not Archadian but one of the public transports from the station as he had ordered. His gaze swept over Seyla, the look hungry. “Now.”

"Yes, sir," she stepped inside, amused by his orders. "Are you a little tired of taking orders?"

He closed the door, locked it again and pushed her back against it. “Maybe just too long without you.” He kissed her deeply, giving her no room to slip away. “We’ll talk later.” His tone was firm, and it was clear he was in no mood to argue….yet.

She didn't argue and followed his demands, verbal and physical.

Later, when they'd finally made it to the bed, she sat up, curled her legs under her and asked, "Feeling better? More manly again?"

He tucked his hands behind his head and looked up at her. “That’s not it, Sey.” But now he wondered if perhaps it was a big part of it. “Maybe it’s just that you bring out my primal instincts, hmm?” He smiled now, noticing that the sharp edges he’d been feeling had softened considerably. He wanted to tackle her again already, lose himself in her once more, but she seemed to be in the mood to talk now. So be it.

"Perhaps, William." She rubbed his arm. "How is it that you're a consort? It doesn't seem like you."

“How did you find out?” He was curious how the gossip had reached 900 already but it didn’t really surprise him. “As for Solaana, she and I go way back to a time I can’t discuss. We had dinner one of my first nights down here and she made me an offer I found hard to refuse.”

"I see. Some of the Archadian women like to use my boys; some of the men like my girls. They talk, talk goes from them to me. In beds, there are often few secrets." She watched him. "But you know I've never betrayed you."

“I do or I’d have heard about it by now.” He smiled once more. “Are you angry?” He reached out, tracing a fingertip over her exposed thigh. “That I wasn’t the one to tell you?”

"I was, but it doesn't matter. You're my client; whatever you want me to do, William, I'll do. If you choose not to tell me something, that's your prerogative."

Client? That was a punch to the gut and he rose, slipping from the bed. “I’ll be back.” He walked silently out to the kitchen and decided to make some coffee the old fashioned way. It surprised him that her words had cut so deeply. But then, Solaana had happened and where did that leave him now? Besides caught in the middle, drawn to two women, neither of which were his alone?

She realized she'd said something that had not settled well with Will. She got up and followed him to the kitchen. "I know you were the one sending me the gifts. Those stopped. And then you're here with the Prime Minister. It's fair for me to see that I provide a service to you."

“You’re wrong, Seyla.” His voice was surprisingly soft. “You are good at what you do, and you’re so very perceptive….except where your own life is concerned. And me. I am just stuck wanting something I cannot have. I have to make peace with that.”

"You have no idea what my life is, Will. An iota of weakness and all I've built will crumble. And now, in the span of one day, I had everything I held dear taken from me." Her usual cool demeanor cracked and she swiped at tears on her cheeks. She turned and went back to the bedroom.

He left the coffee brewing and hurried after her. When he reached the bedroom, he didn’t stop but caught her, lifting her to the bed where he cradled her in his arms, holding her close. He’d never seen her cry and it really shook him. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, then held her tighter against him.

“Tell me.”

How could she? She had loved a man nearly universally hated. Being held like this, though, broke her down and she sobbed, let herself cry as she had the night she had found out about Suresh and about Will. She gained some control over her sobs and said, "The same night I heard about you, here on Archadia, I learned that a... an old friend," close enough, "...has been killed. I can't express how any of it affects me with my employees or clients. And it isn't as if I have friends."

“You have me,” he answered quietly. “And in one night, you lost us both. I’m so sorry Sey. I wish I could fix it...make you feel better...do something. Such different worlds, are we not?” He ran his hand through her long hair with gentle strokes, content to hold her and let her relieve the hurt that cut through her. “What can I do?”

She realized he was doing it: he wasn't being a client, he wasn't judging her, faulting her for being emotional. Would Suresh have ever let her cry like this? "Different worlds, indeed. I was wrong: you are far more than a client, Will." She hugged him tightly.

He sighed aloud at her words. “There’s always been so much I wanted to tell you and never could, Sey. I had the feeling, deep down, that you wouldn’t want to hear it anyway and that maybe it was a fool’s errand - because of those different worlds. I sent the gifts anonymously but you figured that out. And still I was stuck between those worlds. I….I suppose I thought that here...this might be what I wanted.”

"This? Having the Station's Madame in tears in your arms?" She chuckled and sniffled before gently disengaging from Will. Grabbing a tissue, she blew her nose and dried her face. "I didn't figure out it was you sending the gifts. The new Suresh," a bit of bile came out in those words, "told me."

Will noticed and he frowned. “What’s the issue there? Your tone….” He left it at that but it was clear something was wrong with that scenario.

"I'm sorry, Will. I'm not a fan of the new Suresh," she hiccupped lightly, an aftereffect of her crying. "And perhaps partly that's because of the way he told me about you and your gifts, like it was a dirty thing."

“Well I was being sneaky.” He shrugged. “I’ve only met him the one time when I did his exam after he reached the station.” He paused and leaned in to kiss Seyla softly. “So what happens now? You’ve lost someone you loved; I’ve loved someone and never told them. We’re still standing on opposite riverbanks.”

Love? Surely he didn't mean he loved her.... Seyla's heart tripped. How could he? She was.... And she realized that, suddenly, she was in the same position Marla was in with Dae Nalas. But upstanding men of the community never really love their prostitutes.... It was just a momentary thing, the thrill of ...she couldn't finish the thought. After all, it wasn't like Will wasn't getting a thrill elsewhere as well. "I think, now, you either finish making your coffee or make love to me."

“And if I want more? What then?” He had come this far, he had to ask the question that had weighed on him for so long.

Suresh was the last to ask for more - he wanted her to stop seeing Darwin. "I... I don't know, Will. What do you mean by more? That I stop seeing clients? That's... I don't know." She put a hand on his cheek and kissed him. "What would you have me do?"

“I don’t know either. It’s not like I’m completely unfettered right now. What do I do? Where do we both go now?”

"Status quo, William. For now. We have time to figure this out."

He finally nodded. “But at least now...you know.”

"I do," she kissed him. "Coffee? Or me?"

“You. Definitely you.”

He pulled her close once more and soon the coffee was completely forgotten.

************************
Lt. Commander William Harding, M.D.
Finally Admitting The Truth

Seyla
Stripped Bare