Uninvited

Posted on Fri Jul 17th, 2015 @ 12:57am by Suresh & Ensign Reva Madhava & Seyla

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Reva's Quarters / Seyla's Quarters

*Reva's*

Just one day down on her two week 'house arrest' and Reva was officially bored. She'd been off duty thanks to Doctor Harding's orders and had spent time tinkering with a tiny AI 'spider' of her own design. Right now, said spider was attempting to work its way out from under a bra she'd tossed at it. Riley wasn't yet off duty yet and she had no one to talk to.

Accordingly, when her door chime sounded, she was thrilled and called "Enter" without checking who it was. When the door opened, she cursed and said, "You. What do you want?"

“Hello Reva.” Suresh stepped in and the doors closed behind him. He remained standing there, however. “I see you are recovering well enough.”

"No thanks to your men," she replied. She didn't invite him to sit, instead she put as much distance between them as she could.

Suresh shrugged off her comment. “I tried to make you understand that no one is playing down there but you refused to listen. But that’s not why I am here.”

"Why are you here, then?", she growled. He was one who could push her buttons without even trying.

“A few reasons, but one in particular.” A faint noise got his attention and he noticed the small robot still trying to escape a bra. A brief smile crossed his face. “Something you said down in Saturnalia.”

Seeing what he was looking at, Reva blushed and grabbed the bra, tossing it into her bedroom. The robot went with it. "I've said lots of things in Saturnalia, most of them along the lines of you being a bastard," she replied. "So which thing did I say that you're here about now?"

"Just before you dumped that drink on me, in the middle of your rant. You said, ‘if you love her as you claim to…’. Where did that come from?”

"I was ranting," she lied.

Suresh’s eyes narrowed. “You meant every word of what you said so tell me what made you say that? Do you know something I don’t?”

Wary, she watched him. "You do know I'm an empath, right? Granted, lots of what you put out around her is... obsessive, but there's also something deeper. Plus, I can see it when you're around her." She laughed suddenly, "It looks like I do know something you don't. Poor, dumb Suresh."

He growled softly but then settled himself. “No, not dumb, just uncertain. My life hasn’t been the most serene, Reva. Especially where women are concerned, which is why I came to ask you. You know her better than anyone else here.” He paused a moment, thinking on her observation about his being obsessive. “But yes, she is mine. I don’t think that is open to question.”

She snorted lightly, "You and your possessiveness. She is not a toy to be owned." Boldly, she approached him, "If you harm her, I'll come after you."

“Six is the last person in this universe I’d ever harm. You have my word on that, Reva. She is the one good and decent thing in my life and we both know it.” He paused a moment as he looked down at her. “What about Vic? I know he was a bit of an issue.” He didn’t mention the cancelled date, but he suspected Reva knew.

"An issue?", Reva raised a brow. "He's a friend of mine; he and Six went on a grand total of one date. How is he an issue for you?"

“He’s safer for her,” Suresh said simply. “He’s a nice guy and he’s interested. Or was. Things have changed quite a bit.”

"He is a nice guy, the sort that Six deserves. If she were dating him, she could have kept her Starfleet career."

“It was her choice,” he replied. “As for you, I came with a word of warning. I know you and Six are close and that’s fine. Just be careful where you wander and who you piss off and you’ll have no problems. That includes the pair that tried to drag you out of Iapetus.”

"A warning?" She laughed in a way that was very reminiscent of Seyla, the one Seyla had when she was confident the one talking to her couldn't hurt her. Reva wasn't afraid of him, even though, by her knowledge, this was the man who had just ordered her beaten to within an inch of her life. She didn't stop to think about that. "I'd have no problems if you hadn't interfered when Six and I went to Saturnalia that night. Instead, you did and now you're corrupting my best friend. Don't tell me what to do."

He reached to open the doors and stopped. “Did you learn nothing from your incident in the Pit?”

"That you farm out the violence to someone else. By extension, then, out of the public eye, I can say what I want to you."

“This is likely the last time you and I will see each other out of the public eye. Given Six’s attachment to you, I’d rather you stay in one piece….for her sake. Which means you have to use that brain of yours and not play at being a dumb kid like you have been. I’m not the only one you need to worry about.” He pressed the panel to open the door. “Remember that...for your sake.”

She couldn't figure him out. He would order violence but then, when faced with defiance, let it go. "Or you'll have me beaten again?"

“I hope you’re smarter than that, Reva, and I would hope your sense of self-preservation is greater than your need to run wild.” He paused and smiled a moment. “You are a very lucky young woman, but you really have no idea just how lucky. Enjoy your stay at home.” He stepped out into the corridor and the doors whispered closed behind him.

Something thudded against the closed door and again as it fell to the floor.

*Seyla's*

"You visited my Reva? How is she? Well, I expect, since Harding is the one who patched her up," Seyla set her stylus down and rose to go to her bar. "A drink, Suresh?"

“No, I’m good. I’m taking Six out to dinner shortly and I want to have my wits about me.” He nodded, however. “I did go see her and I swear to you Seyla, it’s like talking to a wall.”

Seyla laughed and turned towards him, a thin green liquid swirled in her glass. Dryly, she said, "Really? Did you expect her to bow and scrape before you? Have you done a damned thing to make her respect you?"

“I don’t care if she does or not. All I want is for her to stop acting like the brainless wonder and getting herself in trouble so she won’t end up dead. Not that I really care but Six sure as hell does.” Suresh shook his head in wonder. “You’d think after the beating she took, she’d be at least a little wary. Any sane person would be.”

"Hmm...," Seyla pondered him. "I would talk to her to try to make her see sense, but... well, you know Darwin has barred me from doing so. Without seeing her, though, I can't explain why she might ... What was it that she actually did this time? You're dry, so it couldn't have been too bad." She chuckled.

“Oh, the usual ‘no one can tell me what to do’ approach and saying in private she could say whatever she likes. What concerns me is that I’m not really picking up any sense that this made an impression on her. Then again, she could be putting up a facade for my benefit but I’m the last person she’d want to impress.” Suresh frowned. “She’s damned lucky Marcus got her out of Iapetus that night or all this would be a moot point.”

"Yes, that was enormously fortunate. For both of them. I know Marcus lost a good deal of sleep because of that attempt," she smiled, clearly amused by her own joke. "It could be bravado, Suresh. Or... you aren't quite... well," she cocked her head to the side as she looked him over. "Do you get angry with her? I mean really show her your anger?"

“Not for a second,” he answered. “Though that seems to piss her off more when I am rational, as we saw in Saturnalia. “There, when she was ranting that I made Six resign, I reminded her that it was entirely Six’s decision. I didn’t advise her one way or the other.”

"She's not a Vulcan. Logic isn't a strength for Orions and, from what I know of Betazoids, emotions run high. Combine the... primal nature of a young Orion with the passions of a Betazoid...?" She shrugged. She had already analyzed this and had spent enough time with Reva that she could figure the child out fairly easily. "I won't be surprised if she's less eager to be down here alone; hopefully, she's learned that lesson. But you," Seyla touched Suresh's cheek, "don't try to be logical with her."

“I don’t intend to see her unless she’s down here again anyway,” Suresh admitted.

"If you see her in the Pit and she sasses you in anyway, you have to react, Suresh. You have to hit her and make it obvious that you won't tolerate that from her or anyone," Seyla admonished him.

“Agreed,” he answered. “I don’t foresee that being a problem, though, given her comment about only saying what she wanted in private. Let’s hope.” He shifted in his seat on the sofa, then leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “I want to ask you something personal.”

"Ask, then I'll decide if I'll answer," Seyla replied.

“It’s about you and Will. Well, not him specifically. You gave up a hell of a lot for one man….for love, yes?”

She stood and moved away from him to put her glass back on the bar. Without facing him, she answered, "I gave up very little for love. What have I given up? Being a consort to various men, pretending to be what they wanted me to be? Always worrying that one or the other might turn mean? That's easy to give up. Why do you ask?"

“Reva seems to be of the opinion that I am in love,” Suresh replied.

Seyla's shoulders tightened; there were times she had recall that this was not her Suresh. This was one of those moments. "She's an empath and a telepath, likely she read that in your head, at some level you aren't aware of."

“How did you know with Will?” He watched her carefully for a moment. “And what if she’s not there yet?”

Thinking about his first question, Seyla recalled the sick feeling she'd had on learning that Harding had shacked up with an Archadian. She'd learned that same night that her Suresh had been killed. "Get out. I don't have answers for you," she said, still not looking at him.

Catching the sudden pain in her tone, he frowned. The tension was coming from her in waves, even for a non-empath. He rose and crossed to where she stood and rested his hands on her shoulders. “What is it, Sey?”

She wanted to turn and verbally lay into him - after all, he was the one who'd wielded the knife that had killed her Suresh; hell, she wanted to kill him - but instead, she shifted her demeanor and smiled. When she spoke, her tone was far gentler than it had been, "I simply can't answer your questions. If you doubt she loves you, then she likely doesn't."

“That’s just it.” He let go of her shoulders and shrugged. “I think she just might, but it’s a little soon to press.” He stepped back and turned to go. “But thanks Sey, you’ve cleared up a lot for me.”

"Good. Now goodbye," she dismissed him and waited till he was gone before relaxing again and daydreaming of ways to make those four pay for taking her Suresh away.

*****************

Ensign Reva Madhava
Entertaining Herself

Suresh
Socializing

Seyla
Plotting, Again