Cocky Bastards

Posted on Thu Jul 16th, 2015 @ 3:31pm by Ensign Six of Ten & Suresh & Seyla

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Saturnalia

* Saturnalia *

Six entered the square outside Saturnalia. She sneaked a glance behind her and spied Marat a few yards back and smiled. Suresh had some business to attend to and since she had to start making her appearances, both with and without him, Saturnalia was the logical choice. She wore the dress she’d worn the night of Bubba’s, the one that showed off her navel ring. The doors opened to let some out and she entered. Ignoring the looks she got as she passed through the tables, she turned towards the bar, then stopped when she saw two familiar faces.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” she said to Owain and Marcus.

Owain looked up and smiled, "Six! My borgly friend! Come join us."

“Please.” Marcus stood and pulled out a chair for her. He offered his hand but she shook her head. “Not if you expect to keep it.” She smiled and took a seat. “So how are you boys this evening?”

"Good! Even better now that we have you as company," Owain grinned and slid closer to her.

Marcus laughed and agreed, "It is wonderful to see you again." Then he sobered slightly and asked, "How's Reva? Her ...accident... has been big news today."

"Physically she is fine. The doctor fixed her up as good as ever, though he said she came close to losing her eye. Emotionally, she’s pissed off and shaken up, which is to be expected.” Six frowned. “She’s also confined to quarters for two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” Marcus asked. “That seems a little excessive.”

"Jeez. Someone is pitching a fit! Is that Zeferino who assigns the punishment?" The other male was shocked. "It's good that she's okay, though."

Six shrugged. “I don’t know Owain, I just got it third hand from her boyfriend. The Fleet no longer keeps me informed, remember?”

"Boyfriend?" Marcus frowned.

Owain nodded. "Yeah, you quit. That's... wow. For Suresh, huh? I suppose power does corrupt, doesn't it? Better to be girlfriend to an underworld powerhouse than an Ensign in Starfleet."

“Sour grapes, Owain?” her tone, however, was pleasant. “It had nothing to do with his position, but the man himself. That’s it. Some up above just didn’t see it the same way and thought I should choose one or the other.”

Marcus shook his head. “I don’t know Six. Seems like you’ve sort of jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. You’d be much better off with O here, at least in my opinion.”

"Absolutely," Owain laughed before reaching over and stroking Six's arm, sending a mental tingle through her as well. "So much better off. If you get tired of being Suresh's girlfriend, I'll bet Seyla could make room for you on her roster."

Six snatched her arm away and narrowed her eyes. “Did you miss the whole point of the attack on Reva? Do you think it wouldn’t be worse if he saw what you just did? And a problem for me? I have a watchdog sitting somewhere in this room, you know.”

Marcus began to casually look about the main area. “Where?”

Owain simply smiled and reached out with his telepathy. "Ah, the big fellow, pretending to be interested in Nemi over there, Marcus." He nodded in Marat's direction. He looked at Six, "I didn't miss the point at all. But Suresh wouldn't begrudge a simple touch." He grinned and laughed.

“If that’s what you want to believe. Do you have any idea how unhappy he was the night we met at the Nexus?” She smiled back at Owain.

Marcus pulled his gaze back to the pair before him. “Now that was a good night. For me at least.” He couldn’t resist the prod at Owain.

"Don't remind me," Owain muttered. "Seyla laughed about shifting my earnings from that night to you." He hadn't meant to say that. "I'll bet Suresh was plenty unhappy. I'm known as one of Seyla's best, for reasons I haven't been able to show you, Six. Yet."

"What do you mean, shifting your take for the night to Marcus? Because of me? Explain.” She watched Owain intently. “Why does that sound like a bet to me?”

"It was," Owain admitted. "But not because of you. Not exactly. It was because of Reva." As if that was somehow better than it being because of Six.

“And people say Suresh is twisted,” Six muttered. “So tell me what the whole plan was? I want details.” She looked to Marcus. “And you, I know what happened with you that night. You two are lucky you got out when you did.”

“Thanks to some Klingons,” Marcus admitted. “But it was worth it.”

Six kicked him under the table, then turned to Owain. “So? Let’s hear it.”

Owain shook his head, "We had no plan. Marcus and I were in the Nexus for some fun, saw you two and... took advantage of that. I knew Reva had a boyfriend, so I bet Marcus he wouldn't be able to get anywhere with her. I didn't count on an encounter with Klingons being a catalyst," he griped.

Marcus chimed in, "Actually, I think it was more Seyla's bed that tipped that over the edge." He grinned: the cat that ate the canary. “What a night... And then a crowd of people were at Seyla's in the morning. Reva nearly gave that security guy, the one that's always around here with Suresh and Seyla? ...she about gave him a fit with how she flirted with him."

“She has been giving everyone fits lately, which is part of the reason she’s stuck at home now,” Six muttered. “Too many targets on her ass and she just wouldn’t believe it. But you two….betting on how far you can go with someone? That’s despicable! She deserves better than either one of you.”

Owain turned an upraised brow on Six and laughed. "Says the girl dating Suresh," he shot back at her. "It was just a friendly bet. I was sure I'd win it!"

Marcus, too, laughed and shook his head. "I didn't mind proving him wrong. Though it's not something Reva needs to know about."

“No she doesn’t. It would hurt her feelings. But don’t let it happen again.” She turned her attention to Owain. “He, at least, knows how to treat a lady and isn’t making bets with his friends about what he can get from her.” Six crossed her arms and shook her head. “I can tell you I wake up in the morning feeling like I matter, not feeling used.”

Nodding sagely, Owain turned toward Marcus with a slight grin. "You do now. Will you when you learn that Suresh isn't bedding down with just you?"

Six just smiled at that. “He isn’t and maybe there’s a reason for that.” She left it at that, knowing it might make him curious.

"Maybe not now, but he will. Even when he was after Isha and had Seyla, he was also seeing Bella and a couple others. He's a hard one to please," Owain said, almost casually.

“I’ll worry about that if that time ever comes. I suppose if it does, you’ll be happy to step in?” She smiled once more. “Or you Marcus?”

Marcus shook his head, "Ah, not me. You're hot'n'all, but maybe too hot." He meant he didn't want to get mixed up with Suresh.

Owain wasn't so concerned, "I would, beautiful Six. Anytime you need your heart or self comforted, I'll be there."

Six just laughed. “You know very well that’s off-limits for me.” It sounded obsessive, even to her, but she had a part to play and maintaining the image was essential.

"Come on, surely he won't begrudge you making friends," Owain was confident this Suresh wouldn't. After all, he knew what Seyla thought of him and what he and Marcus had done in the man's name.

A hand fell on Six’s shoulder, the grip firm. “That all depends on exactly what your definition of ‘friends’ includes.” Suresh looked down at Owain and his voice was harsh.

"Friends. People who talk to each other." Owain calmly looked back at Suresh. "I don't suppose you have a lot of those."

“More than you might think,” Suresh answered and smiled. “I’m certain you have no intentions of moving in where you are not welcome? I know Seyla depends on you.”

"Yes, she does," he replied. "More than you know," he added, grinning.

Suresh looked Owain up and down, then gave him a chilly smile. “Then I’m sure you’ll see the wisdom of keeping your hands to yourself where Six is concerned. It would be a shame if Seyla had to manage without you.” He stepped back to give Six room to stand. “Come, Six. I have need of you elsewhere. Gentlemen.” He nodded to them, then rested his hand at her back, guiding her along to the doors.

Marcus watched them go, then turned back to Owain. “Crazy.”

"Certifiably," Owain laughed.

Marcus joined in his laughter, then stopped to study Owain. “And you still intend to sample that, don’t you? I know you.”

"Eventually, yes. It might take awhile, but eventually," Owain confirmed. "Reva, too."

Marcus considered that a moment, then smiled. He motioned Owain closer. “I have a little idea on how to make that happen.”

****************
Ensign Six of Ten
Watching Reva’s Back

Marcus
Owain
Bad Influences

Suresh
The Long Shadow