Reva Makes A Move

Posted on Fri Oct 23rd, 2015 @ 11:24am by Commander Louie Rousseau & Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Ensign Reva Madhava & Lieutenant Commander Cyrus Thorn

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

Bringing Riley a beer, Reva sat next to him on the couch, legs curled under her and facing him. She reached up and brushed a knuckle against his cheek. "Raj did a good job," she smiled faintly. "I'm sorry, Rye."

“For what?” He sipped the beer and sighed with satisfaction. “Thanks, sweetheart.” He took another sip then lowered the glass, waiting for her to continue.

“For hurting you this morning. Did Raj say anything when you saw him?”

“I told him what happened, so expect it to come up on your next visit. He said he would be surprised if something like that hadn’t happened, then gave me some complicated reason why it’s actually a good sign. He’s also ordered me to start seeing him too, now that things are settling down.” Riley shrugged. “He’s right.”

“Right about what? I don’t see how nightmares are a good sign,” she settled against his side, her head on his shoulder.

“I’ll let him explain it,” he laughed. “I’ll just screw it up but it made sense at the time.” He looked around suddenly, then back at Reva. “Where’s Des?”

“She decided to take a walk. By herself.” Unconsciously, she held onto him a little tighter. “Hey, there’s a new Dean in the Academy, and a new professor. I went with Eli this... you knew about the meeting...,” she laughed lightly. “The professor wants me to help him with some of the classes, like a TA, I guess. Eli thinks it’d be good for me to get back to work, and to have work that doesn’t bore me.”

“I agree with him,” Riley commented. “Raj is trying to help you get past this, work on getting back to normal. Sitting home all day with nothing to do but relive it won’t do that.”

“I don’t sit here doing nothing,” she defended herself. “Today, I took Gilroy, Jr., around,” Eli had been with them, “and then, back here, I read a book to her and ...napped. Fortunately, Gilroy wanted to nap, too. Well, as much as spiders sleep. Desta woke me up before she headed out. That’s when I worked on the guardian ‘bot. I tweaked it so it shouldn’t try to take your toes off again.”

“You read a book to a spider, then napped.” Riley shook his head. “You just made my point for me.” He set his beer on the table and wrapped an arm around her. “Go see the Dean, tell him yes. Run there before he changes his mind.”

“Will you come with me?”, she asked, “The Dean and Professor Thorn are watching a baseball game tonight. A quick interruption shouldn’t bother them. Or I could just call them.”

Riley considered the question, then shook his head. “No, you need to do this one yourself. If you’re going to do this, it will be you. I won’t be there to hold your hand, Reva. You can do this, and you need to.”

Frowning, she looked at him for a moment. She recalled that she wouldn’t be alone: one of Robart’s crew would be there. “I’ll take Gilroy with me,” she said, getting up and moving to her bedroom. There, she changed into her uniform and came back out. “Sure you don’t want to go for a walk with me?”

“Reva….” He hesitated for a second. “I think you need to leave Gilroy here too. This is a new Fleet position they are offering you. You need to let them know you can do this and appear confident. You can do it and you’ll be great at it, but appearances do count. Just be you and they’ll love you. Trust me.”

She didn’t like that he wasn’t supporting her - he was, but he wasn’t holding her hand and she didn’t like that. “Fine. There’s a cricket in the box if she gets hungry. Take her with you if you leave. Otherwise... well, she might go somewhere.” She headed for the door, forgetting her sweater in her irritation.

“Reva?” Riley called over to her. “I’ll be here when you get back but don’t think I don’t support you. I do, and that’s why I’m staying home. You have to start getting past this rut. Rekkar will be watching but this is something you need to do on your own. You’ll be fine.”

“Hmmph,” she grunted, shot him a look and left.

* Louie’s Quarters *

“Oh did you see that Cy? That ball was gone!” Louie hooted with joy. From the coffee table, Kahuna copied the sound as best he could via thought.

Home run!

“Woo!” Cyrus hooted as well, caught up in the game’s excitement with Louie. “OH! They are so going to the playoffs!”

Just outside the door, Reva paused and tried to calm herself. She’d already met Cyrus, it was just the one new man she’d have to meet: the Dean. She rang the chime, hoping it’d be heard over the whoops inside.

“Hey Cy, see who’s at the door. I’ll refresh the beers.” Louie got up, grabbed the bottles and carried them off to the kitchen.

Getting up and moving to the door, Cyrus called to Louie, “Ah, yeah, yeah. Good thing there’s a pause in the action, otherwise I’d have to skin....” The door opened as he spoke, “Whome... oh, Ensign Madhava! Please, come in.”

Hesitantly, she smiled and entered the room. “Commander Thorn, um... hey, Kahuna is here!” She startled and flushed darkly as Louie came back from the kitchen. “Commander Rousseau, good to meet you.”

“Ensign Madhava, welcome. It’s a pleasure.” He had three beers in his hands and offered her one. “Come on in, sit down. We’re all casual tonight, last game before the playoffs.”

Taking the offered bottle, Reva smiled and took a seat. “Last game? Who’s going to the playoffs? Has that been decided in this game yet?”

“This one’s really a formality,” Louie answered. “The Mets are wiping the field with them. You came at a good time, actually.”

Seventh inning stretch, Kahuna piped up.

Cyrus laughed. “That damned little pipsqueak definitely has a handle on the game, Louie! You taught ‘im well.”

“They’ll little sponges for knowledge,” Reva agreed. “Gilroy, Jr., you met her Commander Thorn, seems to have a handle on Shakespearean quotes; she can quote them and use them in dead-on insights.”

“Have you thought about what we talked about, Reva?” Cyrus asked.

Louie sat back down and took a sip of his beer, then passed Reva the bowl of popcorn. “Cy was telling me about that earlier. I think it’s a great idea, especially since the engineering classes often seem overwhelming to the cadets. Having someone there though, that can put it in plainer language is a great idea.”

“Plainer language?” She looked at them doubtfully. “I can try...,” she smiled. “That is what I came to talk to you about,” she paused then asked, “You have read my file, right? I haven’t been a stellar officer lately.”

Glancing at Lou, Cyrus nodded. “I’ve read your file. Chief Jenkins forwarded it to me while I was in transit. She had some interesting things to say, too. She used words like ‘undisciplined’, ‘spoiled brat’....”

“Gee, Cy, who does that sound like, back around 2242 aboard the Maryland?” Louie grinned.

Frowning almost playfully, Cyrus chided Louie, “Oh, come now, you needn’t tell on yourself like that, old man. Miss Madhava would have gotten that information eventually.”

Louie snorted. “You see, Reva, we had this Engineering Chief who thought Cy here was, and I quote, ‘the biggest pain in the ass to ever leave Arizona’. That was just the top of a long list of her terms of endearment.”

“Huh... yeah, Kilmore. Man, she was a harda--, ah, slav--, ah... tough Chief to work for. I learned a ton from her,” Cyrus joined Louie on the memory bandwagon. “Remember your chief on the Mary’? He called you a few choice words, too. Oh, and you got yourself confined to quarters!” Cy laughed harder, “All I really remember about that was that it involved a few bottles of something and something you shouldn’t have said to an Admiral.”

The Ensign found herself relaxing with their banter. If the Dean had been issued a punishment like hers, then he should understand what was in her file.

“That’s because said Admiral and my Chief sent me planetside for a…” He stopped and laughed a moment. “You ever met a Terellian, Reva? Four arms? A little flaky?”

“No, I haven’t...,” she shook her head, “Flaky? In temperament or skin?” She grimaced.

Cyrus just about choked on his beer as he laughed.

“Temperament. They are friendly enough but a little touchy-feely. Anyhow, the Chief and the Admiral called me in and ordered me down to the planet to capture a Terellian buffalo that was supposedly on the loose and terrorizing the colony. I spent four hours down there and saw nothing. It wasn’t till I got back and walked in on the assistant chief laughing his ass off that I found out I’d been sent on the Fleet’s version of a snipe hunt. Things went downhill after that.”

Snickering, Reva tried to hide her reaction by sipping her beer. “I’ve been lucky - no one’s sent me on a snipe hunt. Anyway, I came to say that I’ll take the position. Commander Thorn--”

“Call me Cyrus unless cadets are around, Reva.”

She nodded, “Ah... Cyrus, I understand that classes start next week?”

He nodded. “They do. I’ll need you to start sooner so we can discuss your role and duties. I’ll talk with Chief Jenkins and get your schedule worked out with her.”

“I’ve already sent the request through to her,” Louie added. “Well, more like an order but anyway, that’s just a detail. If there’s anything you need as you go along, just bellow and one or the other of us will see that you get it. Like Cy said, on our own time, I’m Louie. In class, however, they should use your rank. It’s a good habit to get into.”

Reva wasn’t that far off from having been a cadet; the idea that she’d now be teaching them and having them call her Ensign Madhava was a little weird. “Will do,” she agreed, wondering about the fact that he’d already sent the order to Jenkins. Had he been that sure of himself? “I have a couple of somebodies waiting for me at home, so I’d better get back. Cyrus, I’ll contact you tomorrow about my schedule?”

He nodded. “Yup. Thanks for coming by.”

“Welcome to the zoo,” Louie laughed. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Au revoir cherie. Kahuna waved a leg at her.

“I’m teaching him French.” Louie explained.

“Oh dear,” Reva breathed, laughing. “Good thing the UT has that language.” She put her bottle on the coffee table, stood and headed for the door. “Tomorrow. And thanks for the beer.”

Cyrus waited till the door had closed again. “Well?”

“I think you made a good call. Was she more comfortable this time? You said she seemed rather...uneasy when you met earlier?”

“She was much more at ease. Of course, I think I came on strong when she came into my office. She had Kahuna’s sister on her shoulder and I ...might have rushed my approach.” He shrugged. “I’m glad she took the position; you know Jenkins was underutilizing her.”

“I wonder how much of that is Jenkins reacting to her skin color?” Louie asked. “There are few Orions in the Fleet, though we have another here in Intel. It’s not an easy path, especially since they are female.”

“Yeah, well, Jenkins might also be responding to Reva’s recent behavior. And I don’t mean her time on the slaver’s ship. Before that, when she wasn’t acting like a Starfleet Officer,” Cyrus said, sounding unhappy.

“Agreed. I suspect that has changed. I didn’t mention her recent troubles because I think she’s heard way too much about that of late. Maybe this will get her out of that and moving on. Just be…careful? Not that you’d do anything, I know, but you are a little unrestrained.” He smiled now. “It’s why we love you but she will need time to get used to that.”

“Yes, well, you know I rarely resist a pretty face. Especially one that spouts arcane Engineering knowledge,” Cyrus sighed. “I promise: I’ll dial back the charm and just let her come to me.” He grinned, full of himself.

“You know she already has someone waiting at home? One of those two somebodies waiting up for her?”

“Yeah, well... my last girlfriend had one of those, too. Long as he - or she - doesn’t come after me with a phaser rifle, all’s good.” He wasn’t aware that, on this Station, he might should worry more about knives and drugged drinks.

“Hey this game’s in the bag. Speaking of pretty faces reminded me. Want to hit Ella’s and see that blonde you met?” Louie asked.

“Sounds good. What about the kid?”

“Time for his dinner in his terrarium. I’ll take care of that and put on something decent. Meet me back here in a few?” Louie stood, brushing popcorn from his lap.

“Yeah. Be back shortly,” Cyrus left Louie to Kahuna’s company.

******************
Lt. Commander Louie Rousseau
Mets Fan

Lt. Commander Cyrus Rubus Thorn
Treading Softly

Lt. Riley Sukotav
Supporting Her...Not Propping Her Up

Ensign Reva Madhava
Unhappily Moving On

Little Kahuna
Becoming Bilingual