A Romantic Picnic Lunch. Or Not.

Posted on Sun Aug 2nd, 2015 @ 8:26pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicolao & Ensign Reva Madhava

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Reva's Quarters

* Reva's *

After Riley had left, she had tried to go back to bed, but sleep just hadn't happened. And that was Niro's fault. She'd gotten up and fussed around in her apartment, doing housework of all things, and showering and dressing. She still had had time to kill, so she had set about getting her Bot #2 (the smallest) to dismantle Bot #3 (the biggest). It had been an interesting task, so far, though for the most part, a failure. Bot #2 would remove a piece of #3, then while it was taking off another piece, Bot #3 would self repair the first piece.

When her door chime rang, she was pulled out of her engineering fog and went to answer it. "Niro," she calmly greeted him, "come in."

“Hello Reva.” He smiled as he came in, a large container that held lunch in hand. “How’s your morning coming along?” He debated reaching for her but decided to wait and see if she came first.

"It's been....an interesting morning." She frowned and offered a spot on the coffee table for the container. "Have a seat. We should talk."

“Of course.” He left lunch on the table and sat on the sofa. “Now, sit down and tell me what’s up.”

She did, purposely sitting touching him, with one leg curled under her. "Why did you stop by so early? Was it just to rub Riley's nose in it?"

NIro shrugged. “Partly, to be honest. The other is that I had several things to do this morning and this was on the way.” He gave her a look that was somewhat amused. “Was he angry with you? Or me?”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. He'd either been honest or was very good at hiding his lies. "It doesn't matter whether he was or who he was angry with. It matters that you did that - it's like you're a dog that wanted to mark its territory."

His expression darkened. “Oh, I’m a dog now? I should be insulted, Reva. I was under the impression that Riley was a very understanding sort. It’s not like I marched in and and made a spectacle of myself in front of him.” He reached out to brush his fingertips along her cheek. “Besides, it must not have upset you too much, I’m still here.”

"He is understanding, but he doesn't want it flaunted in front of him - he doesn't need to know you or see you." She was actually angry, but holding her tongue quite well, considering her usual temper. She looked at him squarely and added, "And neither do I. You need to go."

“Your choice, my darling Reva.” He looked into her eyes intently for a moment. “If you’re sure. I thought you much more adventurous, like your friend Six. A pity you’d rather be locked up here. Perhaps that explains why she has a new Orion friend.”

That riled her up: "I am adventurous! I don't want to be locked up, but I also don't want you or anyone else upsetting Riley! You can't do that and expect me to just be okay with it. What did you think we were doing here? Setting up a real relationship? I have that with Riley - if you haven't screwed that up now!"

Niro began to laugh loudly. “Me? I'm not the one who saw me in passing and invited me into Seyla’s bed. I’m not the one who did the same with Marcus. If you call all this a real relationship? You really need to re-think what that means, Reva. You despise the man that has claimed your friend and yet, she is with him and not a stable of men.” Niro stood up and shook his head. “So maybe you need to figure out who to blame here and what you really want.” He reached down, took her hand and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. “No is a very powerful word, but not one you say often is it?”

"I said it to you yesterday and I'll say it again today. You were hardly a passerby and neither was Marcus." Had she told him about Marcus? Or had he read that in her head? She couldn't recall and the idea that he'd just read it bothered her.

“Why cling to something that isn’t what you want?” His voice has softened and he gently ran his fingers through her hair. “You like the idea of being faithful, I think, but not the reality. If you did, I wouldn’t be here right now and Riley wouldn’t be angry with you. Marcus wouldn’t still be gloating to the boys.” He buried his hand in the back of her hair and tilted her head back. The kiss when it came, was deep and possessive.

"Mmph...," she complained as he kissed her. When he didn't let up, she bit his lip and pushed against his chest.

Niro growled and reached up to his sore lip. “Your loss Reva.” He wiped away a drop of blood and frowned. “I suppose you’re not the woman I thought you were. Maybe you’ll figure yourself out one of these days. What you truly want is within your reach, but you are sabotaging yourself. Think about all the days ahead…..with only one man, day in and day out. No fun, no adventure, no freedom. It would be a shame to waste who you are.”

The damage she'd done was mild compared to what she wanted to do to him. "You need to leave, Niro. Maybe Riley's not the wildest, but I like him." Besides, she told herself, she'd still be able to go to the Pit and see Seyla and Six. And Six's new Orion friend. Who was she? "You don't know who I am. I'm not wasting my talents."

“Are you sure? Think about it Reva. The night with Marcus...the times with me. Did you enjoy it? Was it a thrill?” He smiled as he watched her. “I’d guess the answer is yes or you wouldn’t have done it. Why did you think you needed others? There’s your answer right there.” He glanced at the food container and then back to Reva. “Especially since you’ll notice you didn’t send word not to come back today, or yell at me from your door this morning. I’m not the one you’re trying to fool.“ He stepped close once more and kissed her forehead. “Call me later.”

She wasn't sure - she had enjoyed her nights with Marcus and Niro; they'd been a thrill. Same as when she'd taken Riley to Seyla's. She didn't need Niro for that. "I didn't yell after you because you were already gone by the time I knew this morning. I didn't call because we needed to have a talk. We've done that. You can go now. And I won't call you later."

He smiled finally. “We’ll see.” He stepped around her and towards the door. “What will you do when Riley leaves you? What then?”

"I'll handle it if that happens. It isn't you I would need at any rate," she said, certain that Riley wouldn't leave her. He'd been upset that morning, but when they talked tonight, she'd soothe his bruised ego. There would be no 'what then?'.

“We’ll see. Have fun and enjoy your lunch.” Niro winked at her and stepped through the doors. Moments later, they closed behind him.

She wasn't thrilled with how that had gone, but she was sure it wasn't Niro she needed - or would ever need. 'Course, she didn't want to lose Riley, that much was clear to her right now. Looking forward to seeing Riley that night, she opened the food container and pawed through what Niro had brought. There were two pieces of a chocolate confection; she set those aside for later, when Riley was home.

***************
Ensign Reva Madhava
Certain but Unsure

Niro
Sure But Patient