Start Spreadin' the News...

Posted on Mon Dec 14th, 2015 @ 12:25am by Ensign Reva Madhava & Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Lieutenant Raj Amani & Ensign Cela Bonham

Mission: Further Challenges

“Reva?” Riley nudged her gently and waited. “Time to get up, angel. You’re seeing Raj this morning.”

“Five more minutes,” she muttered then smiled at him. “Are you going with me?”

“Do you want me to?” He sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly waved a cup of coffee under her nose, knowing that would get her moving. “I am off today.”

She sat up by pulling on his arm and shoulder, following the coffee. “We could claim it’s couple’s therapy,” she joked. “Although he might not appreciate that, since... we’re still talking about Fisher.” She took the coffee from him and kissed him.

“Oh? I bet if you tell him the big news he might want to talk about that instead.” Riley grinned at her. “I know I do.”

“Maybe I should let you tell him, then?” She moved slightly and first kissed his bare shoulder then playfully pretended to bite him. “He might like hearing it from you better. I’ll just put it in engineering terms.”

“No, I think he wants to hear from you. It’s a big step for you. I think he’ll be pleased.” He laughed softly and leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Besides, I have a few things to do this morning while you’re there. Oh, did I tell you I got the okay to wear this band with my uniform? Captain Hawke finally got back on my request.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him,” she agreed, wrinkling her nose at him. “That’s great that you got the okay. Did Leroy give you a hassle about it? I don’t like him much. Too strict.”

“He’s alright. He just has high standards.” Riley shrugged. “Not much of a hard time, no. He just said it would have to be cleared. He’s a little different since he got back you know? A little more mellow. Plus, he knows what a hard time we’ve both had lately so he said congratulations. Makes me curious though, what happened while he was on Qo’nos.”

“I could speculate, but you probably won’t like my guesses.” She handed him the coffee mug and got up from the bed. “A shower and then I’m off to see Raj and then there are a couple of classes today and office hours. What are you up to today?”

“A few errands is all,” He was being purposely vague. “I am going to check in on the status of Darwin and that group while I’m out. I’ll leave a message if I hear anything.”

Catching his vagueness, she nodded and dropped her nightgown on the bed before sauntering off to the shower, looking back to see if he’d follow. He did and she was a little later getting out the door than she’d intended.

* Raj’s Office *

Breathless, Reva entered the outer office of the counseling suite and smiled at Cela. “Sorry, I’m running a little late. Is Raj with anyone?” She’d just dashed here from her quarters, so the ‘running’ part was accurate.

“Good morning, Reva.” Cela looked up from the terminal and smiled. “You’re in luck. He’s on his way back too. He got an emergency call earlier but he should be here any minute now. You can go on in and get comfortable.”

“Oh, okay,” Reva nodded, glad for the slight respite and went in. She went to the replicator and ordered a mug of coffee. With it in hand, she settled in the most comfortable chair in the room and waited.

Almost immediately Raj rushed in, waved at Cela on his way by and appeared in the office. “Morning, Reva. My apologies for being late. That’s rare for me but I got a call that had to be seen to right then.” He took a deep breath and settled in the chair across from her. “How are you today?”

“It’s okay, I was running late, too.” She sensed a huge relief in him, but also trouble. “What was the emergency, or can’t you tell me?”

“Part of it I can since it concerns a message to you.” He smiled back at her. “Six, Darwin, and Lt. Bajun are home. They arrived very early this morning. Six wanted you to know, but she’s going to be off the station for a few days.”

“Oh that’s wonderful! So they’re all okay?”

There was the slightest hesitation before Raj nodded. “Yes. Darwin and Julisa have already been released and are home. Niro is in the brig, of course.”

“And Six?” She prodded, knowing that he was avoiding something.

Raj frowned. “She asked that I tell you she will be on Archadia for the next few days. You can call her there but that’s as far as I can say, Reva.”

“Oh.” The message sank in quickly and she frowned. “Okay.” She cast about for a way to start from there. “Moving on. I have news of a different sort, if you’d like to hear it.”

“I do.” He looked her over and smiled suddenly. “I sense happiness. You feel more settled. What’s up?”

“Riley and I are engaged. I gave him an armband in the Orion tradition,” she said, smiling. “It started as a lark - just a comment from Vic and a remark from Robart, but we took it to heart. So we’ll be getting married and then moving in together.”

Raj’s eyes widened, then so did his smile. “That’s awesome!” He reached over to take her hands, giving them a squeeze. “I’m proud of you and if you are interested in my opinion, I think it’s about time.”

She grinned and as he touched her hands, she got a flash of thoughts from him all centered on a female she almost recognized. Her name was easier for her to place: “Janice? You’re involved ...seriously involved with Janice from the Nexus? Go you! She’s interesting.”

“Ahh...yes...well….” He pulled his hands back but there was amusement in his eyes. “That’s another story for another day. I want to hear about you and Riley. What made you finally take the leap?”

“I can’t imagine life without him,” she answered. “I treated him so poorly, Raj. But he stuck by me and has been there when I needed him, maybe even to his own detriment. Sometimes, I think he needs to focus on what happened to him, not on what happened to me. Maybe that’s unfair, though; maybe he works through it with you? and that’s enough?”

Raj nodded. “He does and he’s doing well. You two might want to think about coming together sometime, if you want. I do think, however, that both of you are making excellent progress, considering what all you went through. It has been far more difficult than most could deal with and yet you’ve just dropped into my office to tell me you’re getting married. What does that tell you?”


“That we’re ignoring the issues?” Her grin was sly and she laughed. More seriously, she added, “That we’re both moving away from what happened to both of us.”

Raj nodded. “You are and as I said, a very good sign. I’ve told you before but it bears repeating. You cannot let the past define your future. It will always be part of you of course, but little by little, it begins to stay where it should - in the past. I am very happy for you. So...when? You’ll be moving to Riley’s I take it?”

“Yup. I’m not sure when, though. Does he need some time on his own? Is Desta okay to live alone? She knows, of course. Perhaps that’s something you can discuss with her?”

“We will. How did she take the news?” Raj was curious, given that Reva had been a lifeline for Desta since they had recovered her from Fisher’s ship.

“She’s happy for us, though I did catch an edge of fear in there - she’s concerned about where she’ll be in all of this. We’ve asked if she’s going to get a job - ‘we’ being Riley, Vic, Eli, Chance and I. I think Vic is helping her with that. He seems ready to help her with more than that, though he’ll likely move at his ‘slow as cold molasses’ speed.” She laughed, thinking of Vic’s recent manner around Desta.

Raj chuckled. The subject of Vic had come up with Desta more than once. “I think she’ll be fine. You’ve seen already that she’s greatly expanded her boundaries. However, while I know you two are close, you can’t protect her forever, Reva. She’s an adult and she will make her way. I don’t want you holding back on moving on with your life because you’re afraid of what will happen to Des.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean that...,” she said then stopped to think about it. Maybe she was using Desta as a way to stall things. She hadn’t been to see Seyla since she’d returned and her reasoning had been that she wanted to be at home for Desta. Seyla hadn’t called her out on the lie yet; Raj was coming close to doing so. “Well, maybe I have been protecting her more than I realize. Or using her to protect me.”

“That’s perfectly reasonable,” Raj observed. “Given what the two of you went through. Now? I’m glad to see both of you branching out. All three of you actually.” He smiled now, thinking of her comment regarding Janice. “Maybe all four of us. We shared a lot on that trip, didn’t we?”

She cocked her head to one side. “Yes. Though I think you and Riley shared more. I slept quite a bit on the way back. Slept and ate.” She chuckled. “I’m lucky I didn’t gain weight,” she joked before the memories set in and she frowned.

“Still raw, I see.” He nodded. “Getting better though. “Now, we are close to finishing up, allow me to take off the counselor hat for a moment?”

“Sure,” she nodded. “I didn’t realize you could do that.” She winked at him.

“On a station where we all live and work so closely together, we can within limits.” He set the padd he held aside. “Two things. First, I’m thrilled at your news. I’d like to take you two out to dinner to celebrate. Second, if you want my opinion? I think you should get this done sooner rather than later. I think you’re ready.”

“Sooner? We don’t really have a timeframe in mind. I’ll need to talk to Riley about that; he might have someone he wants at the ceremony.” Her face scrunched up for just a second. “Oo... I need to tell my grandmother.”

“She would probably appreciate it, yes.” Raj laughed. “Will she come? And will that be an issue of Robart is there to give you away?”

She smirked and laughed. “That’s very Human of you, Raj. Give me away? Robart has told me a bit about Orion weddings, such as they are. I’m hoping he has a skewed view of them because he makes them sound more like mergers than weddings. But there’s no father figure giving away the girl - he said his wedding to my mother was... more like a hostile takeover: she swept in, claimed him as hers and that was it. Not that a Betazoid wedding would be much better, what with everyone naked as jaybirds.” Her cheeks turned a darker shade of green. “I don’t know if my grandmother will come.” Translation: Reva wasn’t sure she wanted her grandmother to come.

“You could always elope?” he suggested. “The beach on Archadia seems to be a popular choice.”

“That might be an option, yes,” Reva smiled again, liking that idea better than a full Betazoid wedding - after all, if her grandmother came, then likely her dad would come as well and how would that work with Robart here?

“Does Robart know yet?”

“Yeah. I showed him the armband before I gave it to Riley; he’s the one who said it was like an Orion ownership band, one that men wear with pride. He’s pleased, though he already thought of Riley as my ‘property’. You know that he bought the rights to Riley from Suresh? So Suresh can’t hurt him.”

Raj shook his head at that. “Whatever works, Reva. So when for dinner? You want to check with Riley, then let me know?”

“Yup, we’ll call you. Janice will come?”

Raj nodded. “She will. Congratulations again. Is there anything you need before we meet again?”

“Nothing that I know of. I have a couple of classes with Cyrus today, then office hours for the Cadets. Riley’s off,” she rolled her shoulders. “I’ll call him about dinner with you.”

“Good. In that case, same time next week? Same time same channel?”

Standing, she nodded, “Yup. Thanks, Raj,” and headed out the door.

Once she was gone, Cela stepped into the inner office. “She seems to be doing much better.”

Raj nodded. “By leaps and bounds. She and Riley are getting married soon.”

That obviously surprised Cela. “Really? That’s wonderful. Call me sappy but I’m glad those two finally got it all together.” She passed him a padd that had an update from Sickbay. “Authorization to release Six? She’s given Lt. Imal all the rest of what she can recall and they don’t need to keep her in there. Dr. Crane will see her before she leaves.”

Raj took the padd, entered his code, and passed it back. “You ready to get some lunch?”

“Let’s go. You’re free until 1400 hours. Kh’ali has requested you for an in-house call.”

“Sounds good. I’ll look at the information once we get back.” He led the way out and Cela locked the office behind them.

******************
Ensign Reva Madhava
Lt. Riley Sukotav
Lt. Raj Amani
Ensign Cela Bonham