Something In The Air - Part II

Posted on Tue Jun 30th, 2015 @ 3:37pm by Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Ensign Six of Ten & Suresh & Ensign Reva Madhava

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Riley's Quarters / Bubba's Barbecue / The Arboretum

Braid swinging, Reva arrived at Riley's door and rang the chime. When he answered, she fell into his arms and kissed him. "Evening, babe," she greeted him and smiled.

Riley smiled widely and scooped her up, carrying her inside. Breathing in her scent sent fire blazing in an instant and he kissed her deeply. Finally he spoke. “You look amazing. I was just about to call you to see if you were still coming.”

She liked his attention and wouldn't mind having it all to herself tonight. But she had promised Six. "And here I am. We've been invited out for barbecue and a trip to the Arboretum with Six and her date. Could we go, please?"

“Sure.” He pulled her in close for another kiss and felt for a moment as if he was losing his senses. “Are you sure you want to? And how soon?” He tilted her head back and his lips brushed her throat.

"I do, Riley," she gasped. "Let me call Six and see what their timeline is." She pulled away from him, finding she had to wrestle with his hands a bit more than usual. "Handsy tonight, aren't you?" She laughed and called Six. "Hey, Six. Reva. When are you heading out?"

=^= About an hour, is that good? You need more time? =^= came Six’s reply.

"Yeah, that's fine. We'll meet at Bubba's?" She giggled as Riley hugged her from behind.

=^= Sure, take your time. Sounds like you’re occupied. Make it two if you need. =^=

"An hour will be fine," Reva assured Six. "See you there."

“Is the channel closed?” he murmured against the back of her neck. “Tell me it’s closed.” He slipped the shoulder of the dress down and his lips followed his fingers, kissing a line along her bare skin.

"It's closed," she answered. She dropped her jacket and reached back to put her hands on his hips. "And we have an hour...."

“Is that a yes, Reva?” he whispered at her ear.

She turned in his arms and kissed him. She thought of Seyla's bed, the four posts and the silky sheets. She opened up to Riley, mentally, and could read his desire, the one she knew he'd been so patiently holding off on fulfilling. She had no reason, except her own past experiences, for keeping him at arm's length. "Yes, Riley," she nodded, looking him in the eye.

Without hesitation, he reached around to the back and slowly lowered her zipper. Reva’s dress fell and with it, the last of Riley’s willpower.

* An Hour Later, Bubba's*

Reva laughed and nuzzled Riley's neck. "Do you see Six yet?" It was obvious she wasn't looking for her friend.

“I can’t see through you, Reva but I don’t mind.” He laughed softly. “Hey, who is her date anyway?”

"That jerk, Suresh," she replied. She was mellow, but still had a chip on her shoulder about the Romulan.

“Wait...what?” Riley pulled back from her just a little. “Suresh? You’re kidding, right? Isn’t he a little old for her?”

"Is he?" She looked up at him and smiled. "I don't think age is a problem, do you?" She touched the tip of his nose with her finger and quietly reminded him he was eight years her senior. "I think the issue is really one of corruption. He's awful. He's willing to let people think he owns others...," she growled, "...while Six. She's innocent, like a kitten."

“Your innocent kitten helped kill thousands before she was rescued. Perhaps you should say..inexperienced, hmm?” Riley said softly.

"Okay, inexperienced, then. Either way, I don't like Suresh."

“Does he make her happy? This isn’t the evil one that got shipped out of here some time ago, remember. I am curious to see what he is like though.” Riley kissed her once more. “We could eat and cut out early…..”

She laughed, kissing him back. Seyla's comment about leaves and grass in her hair came back to her. "Or we could find a hidden glade in the arboretum." She put his kisses on hold long enough to look around. "Where are they, anyway?"

“Sounds good,” he answered, then looking past her, he cleared his throat. “Coming in now.” He pointed to the door.

Just across from where they waited, Suresh and Six entered, hand in hand. Suresh was dressed casually and Six wore a filmy skirt and a cropped top that revealed a navel ring, her hair down loose. She waved to them and then for an instant her eyebrows went up. A knowing smile spread over her face as they reached Riley and Reva.

“Hi, Reva, Riley. Sorry we are late, we had a stop to make on the promenade.”

Suresh greeted Reva, then offered his hand to Riley. “I’m Suresh. I recall your face from the rescue. Thank you….you saved my life you know.”

Riley shook his hand and nodded. “Glad we were able to pull it off, and glad to officially meet you.”

In a move most friends won't have even thought to make, Reva touched Six's midriff and admired the jewel there. With that touch, she and Six shared girlfriend secrets and Reva smiled, chuckling. She shook her head, making eye contact with Six before looking at Suresh. "Interesting."

“I could say the same.” She winked at Reva, then looked up to Suresh. “Shall we get the food and get out of here? Feel the grass beneath our feet?”

Suresh nodded. “Riley, want to come run down the menu?”

“Sure,” Riley answered agreeably. “I’ll be right back ladies.” He followed Suresh up to the counter, leaving Reva and Six at the table.

“So?” Six asked the second they were gone. “How was it?”

"Amazing!" Reva grinned. "He's been worth the wait. I went to see him right after visiting with Seyla and... he was so....," she shook her head, "Attentive."

“That’s wonderful.” Six reached up to rub her temple slowly. “I’m happy things are working out for you two. You can tell by the way he looks at you that...well…” she paused and laughed. “That you are all he sees. Nothing wrong with that, Reva.”

"No," she shook her head. "Now, tell me about this gift?" She lifted a brow as she looked at Six.

“He came to pick me up and when he saw what I was wearing, he said he wanted to go through the Promenade. I normally have a small gold ring there. We went by the Risan shop and he picked it out. Do you like it?”

"It is beautiful," Reva hedged. It was a touch ...intimate and possessive.

“Thanks.” Six glanced back to the counter and noticed the men returning. “It looks like they successfully killed and barbecued the boar. Ready to go?”

"Yes! And I'm hungry!" She stood, turning to face Riley and sent him a risque thought.

Riley missed a step and nearly dropped the bag he was carrying. Suresh reached out a hand to steady him.

“You alright, Riley?”

Both men turned when both Six and Reva began to laugh. “Stop that Reva,” Six whispered. Reva shot her a wicked grin.

Riley cleared his throat and grinned. “After you, ladies. The view is much better back here.”

Flashing him a smile, Reva took Six's arm in hers and the quartet made their way to the Arboretum. It was a popular place. Couples wandered the gardens while groups staked out spots on the grass and adults and children ran around in the playground. A dog ran up to them, sniffed at the bags the men were holding then, apparently hearing his name called, raced off again. Reva exalted, "Finally! A normal pet! Four legs, standard size, no scary teeth or too many eyes!"

“No Iggy, huh?” Riley asked.

“I haven’t seen her yet,” Six informed them. “Maybe when she gets back from wherever she went.” Six began unpacking the bags and passing around the containers. “We have Iggy’s soon-to-be babies down in Science, Reva. They should be hatching before too long I think.”

Riley nodded. “I think Tess said another couple of weeks maybe?” He opened his container and dug in.

"Oh, that's awful!", Reva shuddered before pulling her braid over her shoulder and working her fingers over it, as if checking the braid for mini-Iggys.

“Making your skin crawl Reva?” Suresh asked. He reached into his container and pulled out a pickle. “I don’t blame you. One of them isn’t bad. Hundreds is the stuff of nightmares.” He pointed at Six with his pickle. “And no, I don’t want you to take me down to the lab and show me this new marvel.” He grinned at her.

“Deal,” Six answered. She swiped the pickle from Suresh’s fingers and took a bite.

Noticing that his pickle had dripped juice on his shirt, Reva grabbed a napkin and handed it to him. "I agree. I actually like Iggy; she's funny. But a whole passel of her offspring? Nope. Just, nope."

“We also don’t know if they will be sentient like her, or normal arachnid like Jerry,” Riley added between bites.

“Jerry?” Six asked. “Her mate has a name?”

“I think I’ve heard everything now.” Suresh blotted the small spot of juice with the napkin. “Thanks Reva.” He dropped the napkin back in the bag and began to eat.

“He does and while he’s large, he’s not even close to Iggy’s size.” Riley wiped his mouth and smiled. His gaze drifted to Reva and her suggestion of finding some hidden spot rose in his mind and he passed it to her.

Her eyes widened slightly and she grinned at Riley. "Later, we can go for a walk," she winked at him. "So, Suresh, if you're from some other universe, what are you going to do here? Besides pretend you own people?"

“Well, now that the old Suresh is gone and life is settling down, that remains to be seen, though a few possibilities have come up.” He took a drink from his water bottle, then set it aside. “As for the owning people, I never said I did, I just let them think it so you didn’t get carted off to be sold. We’ve already had this conversation, Reva. Let it go.” His words were direct but his tone was relaxed. “Most would have said thank you and gone about their business.”

He confirmed her bias: he was an arrogant ass. Reva looked at Six and worried about her friend's interest in him. She wanted to argue with him but caught Riley's look and let it drop. Still, she radiated irritation.

Six frowned and, laying her dinner aside, she stood. “How about a walk Suresh? It’s too pretty here not to enjoy it.”

“If you wish, certainly.” Suresh closed up his dinner and stood, offering his hand. “If you two will excuse us.” Six dropped her shoes and the two wandered off skirting around the lake.

Riley looked down at his plate and was surprised to find it empty. “Well, that disappeared quick.” He set it aside and reached for Reva. “All done?”

"I am," she kissed him quickly then watched Six and Suresh. "He concerns me."

“You concern me too, my love,” Riley answered. “Why are you hanging on to that so much? Nothing came of it other than you getting out and if you keep pushing, it could cause issues with Six.” He drew her in close against him and kissed her neck. “It’s over and done. We have more important things to enjoy.” Once again, the images of them in the park rose in her thoughts.

"I...," he distracted her a moment. "Mmm," she moaned as he nipped her skin, "Wait... Wait, Riley." She made him look her in the eyes. "I just think that he set something out there and there's going to be a repercussion." She'd seen it on Betazed when she was a teenager; nothing good ever came of rumors.

“This is a different situation entirely,” he said, picking up on the direction of her thoughts. “Up here, people from Saturnalia are given little credence, if any. It would be a miracle if rumours weren't passing around down there. No one believes them. That little incident is likely already such old news no one remembers, and it did keep you safe, so worry about things that matter, like me.” He kissed her once more. “Had enough of the Arboretum?”

"I've unleashed a monster, haven't I," she asked as she laughed and kissed him back. "Shouldn't we wait for Six to come back?"

Riley glanced out past Reva and out over the lake. “Umm...I don’t think so. Look.” He pointed in that direction. Off on the other side of the lake, Suresh stood with his arms wrapped around Six. As they watched, she tilted her head up for a deep kiss. “I think she is occupied.”

"I see," Reva said, not entirely happy that her friend liked that man. "Could we walk through the gardens first? I'd like to see what flowers are in bloom." She stood, then squatted to pick up the remains of their picnic.

“Whatever you like.” Riley packed the dinners Six and Suresh left behind in the bag beside Six’s shoes, then helped Reva clean up. “I think I have a new favorite thing.” He grinned at her and paused for suspense. “Barbecue!”

Laughing, she carried their trash to a nearby recycler then held out a hand to him, "Let's walk this off." As he got close to her, she whispered, "And who knows, maybe find a little private spot."

“I like private spots...in all forms,” Riley commented, then took her hand and led her off across the grass.

********
Ensign Reva Madhava
Dangerously Spiced

Lt. Riley Sukatov
Under The Influence

Ensign Six of Ten
Suffering Other Effects

Suresh
Carrying The Scent

Seyla
Master Chef