Be Careful What You Ask For

Posted on Sat Oct 17th, 2015 @ 1:25pm by Niro & Seyla

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: EFS Korenna / Seyla's Quarters

* Korenna *

Walking the corridors of his ship, Niro sipped the drink in his hand and thought of the women he’d had on the Korenna lately. Reva: she’d been fiery and way too brilliant to be just another consort on his ship, or on the Station. Falasin: bright, joyful and easy to control. She was one he could see keeping around; she’d have done anything he nudged her to do. He liked that in a woman.

As he wandered, he heard something up ahead then saw a flash of blond hair. None of his crew had blond hair. Frowning, he strode along, thinking he’d catch up to whomever it was within a few strides. He didn’t. He rounded a corner and heard a laugh - a woman’s laugh - ahead. He didn’t have any female crewmembers; perhaps this was one of his crew’s conquests. He glowered: the men knew that company wasn’t allowed to roam freely.

Again, he spied a flash of blond hair and heard the woman laugh. She was just ahead of him and he picked up his pace. He came to an intersection in the corridors and expected to see the woman down one of the cross hallways. She wasn’t there and he didn’t hear her again.

“Fuck.” He finished his drink and decided to go back to his quarters - he doubted the woman was of Reva’s caliber and thus couldn’t do anything to the Korenna that couldn’t be undone. He gave up the chase and headed for his personal bar.

As he filled his glass and raised it to his lips, the lights dimmed to a soft glow. “Hello Niro.” The voice that spoke behind him was low and husky, at once familiar. The scent of a familiar perfume drifted over to him.

He nearly dropped the glass, he was so surprised. “How the hell did you get on my ship? Not that I particularly mind, but... I thought my security was better than that.” He turned to look at his visitor.

“Security is a simple thing for me, you know.” Her bare feet padded across the carpet and the light silk of her skirt whispered against her legs. She reached Niro and looked up at him. “Why are you so surprised?”

He should have known that bypassing security would be easy for her. “Of course it was simple. Why wouldn’t I be surprised? I thought you didn’t want to see me. Plus, whatever will your dearly beloved think when he discovers you’ve been here?” He smiled and set his glass aside to put his arms around her.

“He won’t know will he?” As Niro’s arms encircled her, she pressed closer. “If you want to keep your head on your shoulders, that is.”

“I like my head on my shoulders. He’s the one who should worry. I should kill him just for being,” he murmured and ran his hand up her back and into her hair. Pulling her head back, he kissed her neck. “Perhaps that’s my next task - remove him, Seyla, whomever else stands in my way.... or would you stand in my way?”

“That depends on what you want, Niro,” she whispered. As he continued to kiss her throat, she slipped her arms around him, holding him tight against her. “Or should I say who?”

“You’re here.” He didn’t stop kissing her as he moved her toward the bed. He debated: did he want her permanently or someone else? Why was she here? He realized he couldn’t get a read on her; that disconcerted him further. “Where does he think you are?”

“At the theatre, so you’ve no need to worry. No one will be looking for me for hours yet. Besides, I’m not a slave you know.” She slipped her hands beneath his shirt and they felt smooth and warm against his skin. “I had to come. You made it clear enough what you wanted.”

“Yes,” he growled and ripped the dress she wore. “You might not be his slave, but you’ll be mine,” he pushed her onto his bed. As he held her down, she turned the tables on him and her Borg tendrils came to life, piercing his skin, entering his muscles. Across his bare chest, the first small hardware spurs began to erupt. He screamed and woke himself up, the sound of her laughter echoing in his mind.

He jerked upright, looking around frantically. Six was not in his room. He looked down at his chest and seeing it unmarred with implants, he finally breathed a little easier.

* * *

Niro emerged from the shower and pulled clothes from his closet. Oddly, the shirt he’d been wearing when he dozed off was ripped. He didn’t want to stop and think about that. Wherever that dream had come from, it had done a thorough job of freaking him right the hell out. The first part he could sort of understand. Six was a trophy to be won from Suresh but this? This was just a little too emotional and he didn’t like the direction it was leading. The rest? Was pure nightmare. He resisted the urge to check the rest of his body, just to make sure no little metal bits had appeared on his skin. He finished dressing hurriedly and was glad to leave his bedroom behind. He had someone to take care of before he dealt with Six.

* Seyla’s Quarters *

Puttering about her quarters, Seyla had to admit she was at a loss. She had nothing to do and none of her own income coming in; she also had no William to make those losses acceptable. He hadn’t called her and he wasn’t on the Station where she could contact him. Sighing, she sat and pulled out a skein of yarn and two large knitting needles. Within a few minutes, she was knitting and purling along like a seasoned pro. Mid-purl, her door chime rang, leaving her trying to mark her place and hide the yarn away before she rose to answer the door.

“You. What do you want?”

Niro took hold of her shoulders and stepped in, moving her back. He looked extremely unsettled as he looked down at her. “Do I look normal to you?”

“Define ‘normal’. Personally, I think you look like an ass.”

“Thanks.” He moved past her and ran his hand through his hair as he paced. “The freakiest thing just happened.” He really did appear rattled.

“Okay, now define ‘freaky’,” she said, calm as can be. She went to her bar and poured a snifter of a toxic-looking green liquid. “Here, have a drink. It’ll calm you down.” She put the glass in his hand.

He drained the glass and an immediate warmth seeped into his bones. “Thanks.” He looked around the living room, then settled in a chair. “Have you ever awakened from a dream that seemed utterly real? Especially when you didn’t even realize you’d fallen asleep?”


“Hmm... can’t really say that I have. Then again, most of my life seems like a dream, sometimes good, sometimes bad. At the moment, it’s sort of bad. And that’s thanks to you.”

“I’ve done nothing to you. I have other projects in mind, which is what I think led to this nightmare.” He pressed his fingers to his eyes briefly. “So you want to hear about it? Then you can yell at me all you want.”

“Go ahead, tell me.” She poured another inch of the green liquid into Niro’s glass then poured her own glass. Taking a seat on her couch, she toasted Niro. “To storytelling.”

He gave a distracted nod and drained the glass once more. “I was in my quarters, pouring a drink and then…she was there, in my living room. She came to me and let me kiss her, swore that no one knew she was there and didn’t fight. She gave in. I could feel her hair against my hands, smell her perfume...feel her skin beneath my lips…” He stopped realizing he was still more than a little wound up in other ways besides fear.

“Do you need some cold water there, loverboy?” Seyla asked. “What ‘she’ are we talking about? Reva?” Her eyes narrowed, “No... you’ve been with her. Someone you haven’t had but want... Six?”

He nodded. “Yes, Six. But there’s more. I carried her to the bed and when I crawled in over her suddenly….” He paled just a little. “Suddenly, those Borg tubes came from her hand and went into my neck. I could see little implants popping out all over my chest and then, I woke up screaming.” He set the glass aside and brushed back his hair. The urge to check over his shoulder came but he resisted. “It was just….awful,” he finished lamely.

She got up and refilled his glass. “Resistance is futile,” she said, smirking. “That would be scary. But it was just a dream. Or... are you here because you want me to check you over for implants?” She laughed at him.

“Very funny.” He scowled at Seyla, then closed one eye. She seemed a little blurred to him. “Besides, I already checked. Don’t laugh. You wanna know something though?”

“You’re going to tell me whether I want to or not,” she purred as she sat beside him. Gesturing to his glass, she silently suggested he drink up.

He drained the glass again, thinking he’d just done that and then not caring. The heat from the liquor was doing a fine job of chasing away the panic from the nightmare. “Part of that dream’s true. You think I could convince her to drop Suresh?”

“Oh, honey,” she lamented over him, “No. And I think you’re an idiot if you try. Reva didn’t really have anyone looking out for her - Jonah is under my control; Patch and Farco can be paid to look away. But Six? No, no, Patch and Farco know that their lives are over if something happens to her. Make a move on her and you’re going to end up dead.”

“Only if they catch me first.” He laughed at the idea, feeling suddenly much better. “Besides, she’s cost me Reva and Falasin. She owes me.” He laughed again. “You know I touched her right in front of Su..resh?”

“Did you? You do have a deathwish, don’t you? Perhaps that’s what the dream is about: your own actions are going to lead to your death.” She watched him closely now.

“Didja know his wife’s here now?” He leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes briefly.

Shock made Seyla sit up and shriek, “Xerena!? She’s here? Is she crazy? Oh... how would you know. She was crazy then; she can’t be any better now. I hated that bitch.”

“Says she is gonna get ‘im back.” He nodded for emphasis. “Doesn’t like Six.”

“Suresh won’t go to her,” Seyla was aware that, for this Suresh, there was no ‘back’. “He loves Six in ways that he never loved Xerena.”

“Tell her that. Don’t trust ‘er though. S’okay, if he wants ‘er, I’ll take Six off his hands. She owes me anyhow.” Niro stretched his legs out and got more comfortable in the chair. Slowly his eyelids drifted shut.

Seyla reached over and checked his pulse. It was slow but steady. “You do that, Niro. Beware of Suresh, though. Also, beware of Orions offering Orion whiskey. It’s a drink you really should sip.”

* Later *

Niro stirred, then thought better of it. The green liquor that had so mellowed his mood earlier had turned into a sledge hammer in his brain and even blinking his eyes was painful. He pressed his hands to his temples and the pressure helped, but only a little. His first thought was of Six and the scene in his room...but then that had been a dream, hadn’t it? Had he really awakened and left the ship or was that part of the dream too?

“Six?” he murmured.

“Try again,” Seyla said loudly, knowing it’d pain him. She laughed then frowned as she noticed she’d dropped a stitch. She unraveled her work back to that stitch then started again. “And did you know you talk when you’re in a drunken stupor?”

“Sey?” So that part was real. It took a few seconds to figure out that he was on Seyla’s sofa, covered with a light blanket. “What the hell was that stuff?” he mumbled. “What did I say?”

“That ‘stuff’ was Orion whiskey. It has a really nice warming, calming effect. But it can be a bitch the next day,” she said. “You called out for a few people, women mostly. Happily, not me.”

He groaned aloud. “Who?”

“Well, the expected ones: Reva, Six, Falasin.... But you also kept moaning about Mamu B’yaga. Are you attracted to her? She’s old enough to be your grandmother several times over. Plus... she can lick her own eyeball!” Seyla shuddered then suddenly sat back and breathed, “Ohh... a tongue like that... wow, I suppose that could be rather interesting. Have you ...had her do that?”

The sudden need to throw up hit Niro hard and he clamped his hand over his mouth. He tried to think of anything but what Seyla was suggesting and finally the urge passed. He shook his head, then regretted it.

“Oh gods no! That’s disgusting, Sey, and that’s saying alot coming from me.”

Laughing, she agreed, “That is, but I wouldn’t put anything past you.” She watched him a moment. “I could offer some pain relief.”

“Such as? Coffee would be nice too. I need to get my head straight. Seeing Six later today, for real, not for some Borg nightmare.”

“What you had wasn’t a Borg nightmare - for a Borg, that’d be akin to porn,” Seyla said as she set aside her knitting and got up. She went to the replicator and requested something then brought that back to Niro. “Drink this,” she told him. “Perhaps you should reconsider seeing Six. Ever. Suresh won’t take kindly to you being around her.”

“Thanks.” He sat up slowly and took the cup. After a few sips, he smiled. “That’s not really his call. He may rule with an iron fist with others but not me.”

“Right. Keep up that belief and you might find that iron fist rammed right up your...,” she shook her head and picked up her knitting again. “Whatever. You’re going to do what you’re going to do, Niro. But you know what Suresh is capable of.”

His eyes narrowed at her words. “Yes, I do. Let’s talk about Marat for a moment Seyla.”

“Marat? Oh,” she touched a finger to her lips, “Gosh, I meant to tell you. But then... I didn’t.” She shrugged. “By the way, Suresh found out Marat was on Archadia and had Patch and Farco do their thing on him.”

“He told me.” Niro’s tone had turned icy. “He knows that I freed one of the men who attacked Six. It is just one more thing to endear me to him. Why did you let him find out?”

“I didn’t let him find out. One of the employees had loose lips and mentioned how well Marat was doing at the house. One consolation: he had quite a bit of fun before getting beaten to death.” She was unconcerned by the man’s death.

“Suresh wasn’t pleased, I can tell you that. The effect I had on Six just made it worse.” Niro was clearly amused by that. “It’s alright, I’ll have the last laugh.” He rubbed his forehead and smiled. “I feel better.”

“You think you’ll have the last laugh?” She scoffed. “Okay. I’ll start picking out a dress for your funeral, if there’s enough of you left to burn or bury or shoot towards the nearest star.”

“Wait and see.” His smile lingered. “I really should get home and clean up. It’s been interesting, Seyla.”

“Indeed it has been. Be careful on the walk home.” Seyla saw him to the door and shook her head, marveling at his determination to get himself killed.

******************
Niro
On A Collision Course

Seyla
Not Celebrating His Audaciousness