Late Night Interruptions 0300

Posted on Tue Jul 21st, 2015 @ 10:43pm by Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Ensign Reva Madhava

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Reva's Quarters

*Darwin's, Late Night*

"Right there," Darwin grunted, moving his companion to a slightly better position. For her part, she squealed and moaned, "Oh, yes!"

He might have chuckled or groaned, or something, but as she looked up at him, she suddenly screamed as if he were killing her. "What!?" He immediately stopped and she shoved him off her, still screaming. Now she pointed at something on the wall. Darwin spun and nearly screamed as well. His interest in finishing with this woman shriveled and died. "Igg-- That's not Iggy," he said and grabbed the spider. He cursed a blue streak as he realized it was mechanical. He could guess which engineer would send such a creature to his quarters at this hour.

"Computer, lights, 50%," he ordered then looked at his companion, who was hurriedly dressing. "Good, I was going to suggest that. I have someone to see." He started dressing as well.

*Reva's*

The pounding on the door pulled Riley from sleep and he turned over, hoping it would go away. It didn’t. Moments later, a voice was added to it and it sounded suspiciously like Darwin. With a groan, Riley nudged Reva, then climbed from the bed and pulled on a pair of shorts.

“Wake up Reva, he’s likely looking for you.” Riley hurried out of the bedroom, caught the coffee table with his foot and cursed. “Computer, lights,” he ordered. He hopped his way over to the door and opened it, then bent down to rub his toes. “Darwin?”

"Where is she? I'm going to kill her!" Darwin entered, barely looked at Riley and stormed into Reva's bedroom.

She hadn't responded quickly when Riley nudged her. Instead, she'd stretched and rolled over, "Riley?" She sat up as Darwin came in and yelped as he hauled her from the bed.

"You!" He shook her by the arm, willfully ignored that she was naked (it wasn't easy), then showed her the mechanical spider, "This? Not funny. I should haul you to the brig for that!"

She glanced at the thing then laughed. "Looks like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

Riley pulled Reva’s robe from the closet and tossed it to her. “Put that on.” Then he turned to Darwin. “So what’s going on that brings you here at 0300?” He rubbed his eyes and forced his brain into gear.

Darwin shoved Reva back on the bed and let go of her so she could pull the robe on. He passed the spider to Riley and said, "This. It was crawling on my wall. There's only one engineer I know who'd be so stupid as to send it to my quarters." He glared at Reva.

She tied the robe closed and smirked. "Just a little payback, Lieutenant."

Riley looked at the spider in his hand and at Reva’s admission, began to mutter. There were plenty of curse words sprinkled in the mix. He glanced at Darwin and knew that this time, Reva had gone too far.

“Should she get dressed, Dar?” he asked.

Darwin scowled. The offense was a simple prank - any other Ensign who'd done this would have gotten a laugh, eventually. "Do you think she should, Riley? Should I arrest her?"

"Oh, wait, come on, arrest me? For a little prank? I set it just to hang out on your wall, Darwin," she smiled slightly and stood, flirting with him like she'd seen Seyla do.

Riley raised his hands. “That’s entirely a Security matter.” He watched her a moment, recognizing the very Seyla-like attitude.

Darwin grunted. He knew what punishment he thought Reva really needed. He looked at Reva and said, "Do you know what Gilroy will do if I put you in the brig? And Chief Jenkins? Do you really want to spend the next week and a half in the brig with no privacy at all?"

"Oh, Darwin, please, don't arrest me, not over such a silly thing," Reva pouted lightly and cozied up to him. "I promise I won't do that again."

He was awfully glad she didn't have the pheromones Seyla did; she was hard to resist even without them. He glanced at Riley, frowning, and said, "Next thing you do, so help me, Reva, you'll be in the brig at least a week!"

“I’d listen to him. I think he’s reached his limit Reva. Perhaps a thanks might be in order,” Riley commented. The pouting didn’t thrill Riley. She was supposed to be a Fleet officer. Seyla seemed to be sinking in more than they thought.

"Of course," Reva smiled at Riley, radiating affection. She looked at Darwin and said, "I apologize for scaring you with my prank. I won't do it again."

"And thanks...?", Darwin prompted her.

"Thanks for not arresting me," she smiled at him and winked.

He nodded, lips tight. "You borrow trouble every chance you get," he grumbled, shaking his head. He gestured to the living room, "Riley, a minute?"

“Certainly.” Riley gave Reva a quick smile, then followed Darwin to the living room. “How private you want this to be?”

"Just between us for now. Gilroy hears about this and he'll ream me for not letting him handle it." He pressed the door panel and the bedroom door shut. "How do you put up with her?"

Riley sighed aloud. “To be blunt, Darwin? She was fine until this fascination with Seyla popped up. I’m worried, to be honest. She’s going to put her position in danger if she doesn’t slow down some.” He shrugged. “Sometimes it almost seems like that’s what she wants but I don’t think she really sees that life for what it is.”

"Seyla won't ever tell her about the clients that get abusive," Darwin said, thinking of Suresh - the old one. "I was hoping the attack and these two weeks would convince her to stay away from trouble. But then, the bot. It made the woman I was with scream. I'm used to doing that all on my own." For the first time since arriving at Reva's he cracked a smile.

Riley did as well. “I know it was a pain in the ass but it is funny. Still, I’m not sure what to do at this point. You and I both have tried to make her see the reality of it without her burning all her bridges behind her.”

"I can't imagine Seyla being okay with burning bridges. I'll talk to her about, maybe she can make headway with her," Darwin said. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to bed."

“Thanks.” Riley nodded, then a thought occurred to him. “You want to put the fear in her? Send her to see the XO.” Riley laughed for a moment. “I’ve seen bigger men than Reva shake in their boots.” He reached for the door panel and opened the bedroom door. “Enjoy your evening.”

Darwin saw that Reva had shed her robe and was back in bed. "Same to you, Riley," he clapped the man's shoulder and left their quarters.

Riley climbed back into bed and settled back on his pillow. “What a night, huh?”

"Mmhmm," she cuddled against him and kissed his bare chest. "I should have installed a camera to catch his reaction," she said and chuckled. "He's easy to poke at."

Riley frowned at her. “Reva, you did go too far this time and you are really lucky he didn’t haul you in.” He considered what to say next and then plunged ahead. “We are both a little concerned.”

This close, she knew what he meant. "Without Seyla, I'd still think that my mother was just some Orion trash tossed into prison because she was a harlot. And she's taught me about Orion culture - stuff I haven't found in any database," she argued. "So, maybe I've picked up some of her habits." She didn't hide that she wanted Seyla's and Six's freedoms.

“The information about your mother and your culture isn’t the issue here,” Riley answered. "It’s the things like sending your robot into Darwin’s quarters, or getting put on house arrest for your behavior. The Fleet has very well-defined standards for its officers. You’ve worked your ass off to become one, and to prove that an Orion can be an officer and not just a piece of ass. But the way things are going now, all those who think an Orion is just a sex object? You’re proving them right.”

"I am not! So, I'm sleeping with you; I had a fling with Marcus and another with Niro. So what? That doesn't reduce me to an object! As for house arrest, Suresh is who caused this! He's just... eh," her fervor for that argument petered out fast and she shrugged. "I'm not proving anyone right," she asserted.

Riley sighed once more. “Just think about it, okay? I don’t want to see all your hard work get lost.” He smiled and pulled her close. “Let’s get some sleep. Hopefully no more interruptions tonight.”

"No, I sent out just the one spider," she replied and curled against him.

**************
Lt. M. Darwin
In a Killing Mood

Ensign Reva Madhava
Buying It

Lt. Riley Sukotav
Offering Advice