Let's Dance

Posted on Sun Sep 13th, 2015 @ 12:23pm by Lieutenant Commander Solis & Lieutenant Bajun Julisa

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Promenade / Guest Quarters / The Nexus Club

Brother Spencer had retired for the evening but Antonio was restless. He paced the width of his quarters several times, then decided to give up and go for a walk. He’d checked on the woman with Dr. Crane at dinner - Lt. Ophelia Payne. She didn’t seem to be involved in the hunt for the artifact, but of the several possible time streams he’d checked, she was involved with the doctor in a myriad of different ways ranging from marriage and children to leaving him for one of the counselors in another to his death at her hands in yet another. It was enough to make Antonio’s head spin. He needed to get out.

He soon found himself on the Promenade. At this hour he’d expected the foot traffic to be light but he learned the true meaning of the station never sleeping. He slowed his pace, simply enjoying the people and seeing what all was available for enjoyment on this deck. So busy was he in looking over at the entrance to a place called the Nexus Club that he wasn’t as careful of direction as he should have been. He smacked right into a young brunette. He turned his head so quickly to see who it was that his hood fell back. He was looking into a pair of eyes as blue as the seas on Betazed. The thought seemed to click in the back of his mind as he looked down at her.

“I must apologize, I wasn’t paying attention.” He spoke quickly as he took hold of her arms to steady her.

“Oh!” Julisa stumbled and appreciated the helping hands steadying her. She looked at him and paused, an old memory coming to the surface. A similar face looked down on her from above; she tried to place the memory in a time or place, but couldn’t quite do it. “Do I know you?”, she asked.

Her face gave Antonio a start and he couldn’t believe the near impossibility of running into her all the way out here and with thousands on board. He knew her face as well as he knew his own but it had been years….the tail end of the Occupation...since he’d seen her.

“Julisa,” he whispered before he could stop himself.

“Yeah,” she nodded, mystified. “You do know me. How? I was a kid.”

“You are not so easily forgotten.” He smiled briefly. “It has been a very long time and I must confess to amazement at meeting you all the way out here, my child.” He realized he still held her arms and let go of them. His eyes told him she was no longer a child and the contact threatened to bring thoughts that he’d condemned in Spencer.

“Um, yeah.” She straightened her dress, still feeling disoriented by the man. “You’re... in a religious order, but not a Bajoran one.” She smiled a bit. “Oh, Antonio? It is amazing to meet you here, of all places. What business brings you here?”

“Seeing the frontier. There is a motion under consideration to send two of us here so Brother Spencer and I made the trip to see what it’s like.” He glanced at the club’s door, then back to Julisa. “Oh, were you going in? I don’t want to delay you.”

“Yes, I’m meeting my husband there. We haven’t had a date night in a while,” she said. “The ‘frontier’ is interesting. Sometimes a little rough, but overall, good. What religious order are you, again? I’m sorry, I just don’t recall that.”

“An ancient Iconian order that had some association with your Prophets millennia ago and we’ve maintained ties to the vedeks, which is what brought us there when you were young,” he answered. “Though we seem to be few and far between these days and there are not many of us left.”

“Oh. My mother is a vedek! Perhaps that’s why I recognize you, Brother Antonio.” Julisa grinned, happy to have placed him, somewhat.
“It’s wonderful to see you again, and all grown up and so beautiful.” He smiled once more. “The years, they fly away so fast. But I ramble and your husband is waiting. Perhaps we might speak again tomorrow?”

“Of course. I have quite a bit on my schedule. Perhaps coffee at Java around ten?” That was her usual coffee time.

“That will be lovely.” He bowed slightly and raised his hood back into place. “I will tell Brother Spencer that I found you. He will be pleased. Until tomorrow.” He tried to block out the image of Julisa’s cleavage in the evening dress she wore. “Enjoy your evening.”

“You as well, and may the Prophets smile on you,” she smiled and stepped around him to continue to the Nexus. She glanced back once to see that he was watching her.

* Guest Quarters *

Unlike Antonio, Brother Spencer had been able to drop off into a deep sleep unmarred by dreams or nightmares. He was sleeping peacefully when Antonio returned and jarred him awake. “Huh!?” He snorted. “What?”

“Sit up Spencer,” Antonio ordered. “Computer lights, forty percent.” Soft lights came on in consideration of Spencer being pulled from sleep. “I was just out for a walk on the Promenade and ran into a young woman because I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“What the hell? So?” Spencer blinked in the sudden light, even though it was a low level. “Did you cop a feel? Are you confessing?”

“No, I didn’t ‘cop’ a feel unless grabbing her arms to keep her from falling counts,” Antonio answered. “Though she was in an evening dress and her cleavage….” He shook his head to clear that vision and get back on track. “I know her. From Bajor. Remember little Julisa?”

“Margay’s girl? Got in the way a lot? Wasn’t she just barely in her teens?” Spencer fell back in the bed and closed his eyes.

“Yes, that’s her. She is no longer a child.” Antonio sighed. “But worse, she is here. She hasn’t recalled anything...yet. It took her a few minutes to remember my name but you know how this works. She seemed pleased to see me and we are having coffee tomorrow.”

Spencer cracked an eye open and looked at Antonio. Sometimes, he thought, the Brotherhood really needed to implement IQ exams in its recruitment efforts. “She didn’t recall you, then recalled your name? And now you’re having coffee with her? Are you intentionally trying to jog her memory? What if she recalls what we did on Bajor?”

“What was I supposed to do? Be rude? She was constantly at my heels back then. As a man of the cloth, I couldn’t just refuse to see her,” he grumbled. “Not that I am a man of the cloth but as far as she is concerned, I am a saint.” Damn vows, he thought. She certainly had grown up very well indeed.

“And you are, considering our vows.” Spencer laughed. “I think she had a crush on you back then. Never know, though. I recall her as a weird little kid. One minute, she seemed to not understand a damned thing and then the next was telling you your thoughts for the past half-hour. Little shit.” He waved a hand. “Whatever, go, don’t touch the merchandise, and don’t let her interfere.”

“I am not pleased that I did not foresee this.” Antonio moved towards the door of Spencer’s room. “My apologies, go back to sleep. I need a shower.”

“Yeah.” Spence sighed and knew that sleep would be a long time coming now. Damned Brother.

* Nexus *

Inside the Nexus, Solis sat at their reserved table waiting. It had been quite a while since he and Julisa had time for a night out, thanks to the recent craziness between his job and hers. Things seemed to be settling down, at least for tonight. He’d gotten word from Isi that a certain boisterous nurse destined for Valhalla colony would be arriving tomorrow. Once she was here, quiet would be a thing of the past. Finally, he saw Julisa moving through the tables and rose as she reached him.

“You look amazing,” he murmured as he kissed her.

“And you, my dear, look delicious,” she whispered and kissed him back. I love you. She smiled and took a seat next to him. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.”

“I love you too.” He gave her a bright smile and sat down beside her. “Just a few minutes. I got a call from Isi just as I was leaving. Tammy arrives tomorrow - she’s going out to the colony to assist him and Julian.”

“Oh. That’ll be a ...boisterous group. I hope their CO knows about that - about how loud they can be, I mean.” Solis had polished off a few of her sharp edges, but sometimes they showed through. “And I heard that Earl was tapped as Assistant CMO.”

Solis laughed. “Their CO is Adara. She is well aware.” He nodded his head at her last comment. “He has duly taken office as the assistant CMO with much grumbling, none of it serious. He said as long as it doesn’t interfere with his golf game, it’s all good. And get this….he and Will have started playing on Wednesday afternoons. I swear they are like two old women talking about that sport.”

“Oh jeez. You know Earl has at least one complaint against him regarding golf balls, right? He hit one woman in the head, thankfully not too hard. Apparently he had been practicing his putting in his office and she surprised him.” Julisa laughed.

Solis brushed back his long hair and groaned aloud. “I’ll have to tell my girlfriend to stop his putting in the office. Or have Tammy drop in and do it. Ophelia sneaks into his office and steals his balls every now and then.” He paused and blinked. “His golf balls.”

That made Julisa laugh harder. “I could see Ophelia doing that - with either kind.”

Solis laughed along with her. “If you mean that kind, I think she’s stealing Julian’s. At least to listen to him but you know his mouth. I just nod and smile.”

“What are we doing? Talking work when we’re out on a date together?” She put a hand on his thigh. “Let’s talk about something else. Oh, I just ran into a guy on the Promenade. Turns out he might know my mother. Small world. So we’re having coffee tomorrow morning.”

“Knows your mother? From where?” Solis smiled at her touch and rested his hand over hers. From where he sat, he had a perfect view of her cleavage and that pleased him. “You know, I really like that dress.”

“From Bajor. He’s in a religious order - Iconian....” She paused, her mouth forming an ‘o’. “Oh... The Iconian stone. That’s all tied up in Sukotav’s situation.” Searching her non-existent pockets, she grumbled, “Damn... I need to send a message.”

Solis pulled out his comm badge and passed it over to her. “Have at it. Wait, he was on Bajor and now he’s here?”

Julisa frowned at his commbadge then tapped it and left a message for herself to look into the Brotherhood. She passed it back to Solis. "Yes. Bajoran, when I was a kid and now here, right after one of ours attempted to kill another. Little too coincidental for my tastes."

Solis frowned. “What’s a priest got to do with Riley?” The waiter came to take drink orders then moved away. Solis grinned. “If he was there when you were a kid, he must be an old geezer by now.”

His comment stunned her and she blinked: that's what was bothering her! "No.... He looks ...the same as he did," she shook her head and looked at Solis. "He's not Vulcan. Maybe he's El-aurian, but I don't think so."

“Huh.” Solis considered that for a moment, then realized she hadn’t answered his other question. “So? Why would his being here have anything to do with Riley?”

"Riley's been working on an Iconian stone, so was Six of Ten, and now this Brotherhood is an Iconian sect. Maybe it is coincidence, but that bothers me." Julisa frowned and toyed with the glass the server placed in front of her. Making herself smile, she kissed Solis on the cheek. "And that's work; new topic?"

“Riley’s off the station,” Solis informed her. “We got word from Raj’s assistant that Raj and Riley left to go retrieve Reva.” Solis sighed and reached for his glass. “I hope he finds what he’s looking for, whatever it is.”

"Sounds like I'm behind on the Station gossip. Reva? Ah, the Orion Riley is in love with," she knew that from seeing it in the man's head. "Where did she go?"

“Damn, honey, you are behind. She got snatched by some slaver and he took off. One of the techs got an earful about it down below...sounded like a real mess.” Finally he took a drink of his water. “I packed up some med supplies for a team that’s in pursuit.” He eyed her a moment and smiled. “So what else haven’t you heard? What about Lev and Dr. Sala’s assistant?”

"Um... Huh, no." She shook her head and grinned, laughing at herself. "I get a little focused when working. Usually Siri keeps me updated, but she's been out of the office lately."

“Then my job as her replacement is done.” Solis pulled her close and kissed her. “OH! There is one more thing. Speaking of Lev, he and I are playing at Lady Ella’s tomorrow. I managed to twist his arm to do one night before they take off to the colony. Wanna come be my lone groupie?”

"Oh yes! You know how I get when you play your instrument!" She laughed and settled against him as Janice took to the stage. "I like her voice."

“You think I could twist her arm to come do a few with us tomorrow?” He wrapped his arm around her as Janice began to sing 'I’ve Got A Crush On You’. “Mmmmm….true words, Vina,” he murmured.

"Never hurts to ask," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "Maybe after her set."

“I will. Want to go dance and give people something to gossip about tomorrow?” He ran his fingertip over the bare skin exposed by the low neck of her dress. “Did I tell you how much I like this dress?”

"Mmhmm," she nodded. "Dip me too far and the folks here might have some to laugh about, too." She laughed and stood, holding out a hand to him. "Let's dance."

****************
Brother Antonio
Unsettled For Many Reasons

Brother Spencer
Awake For No Good Reason

Lt. Bajun Julisa
Piecing the Puzzle Together

Lt. Solis
Enjoying The View