Future Plans - Part I

Posted on Sat Jan 2nd, 2016 @ 12:32pm by Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Vic & Ensign Reva Madhava & Desta

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Reva & Desta's Quarters

* Reva & Desta’s Quarters *

Desta was in the kitchen finishing up some snacks. She had stopped to take Commander Rousseau’s call, then got back to work. Vic was coming by later and she was a little nervous. She didn’t cook much, so she hoped everything tasted alright. There was enough there too in case Reva and Riley decided to stay in. She was working on the last platter when she heard the doors open.

“Reva?” Even now, she still hadn’t gotten over the odd jolt of nervousness that came when the doors opened by themselves.

“What if I said no?” Reva teased Desta as she walked by the kitchen and paused in the doorway. She saw the platters of snacks and snagged one before Desta could stop her.

I am not Reva. I am Kahuna, came Kahuna’s alien answer. So, no.

“I see you had Reva to deliver you.” Des watched as Reva gobbled down the bit of food. “How does it taste? Be honest. I don’t want all of you to feel forced to swallow down something awful.”

“It’s good, though it could use a sprinkle of salt.” Of course, Reva was a salt fiend: she loved salt on everything. “And, yeah, I thought it’d be easier if I just brought Kahuna with me. Gilroy is around, right? Look at how small Kahuna is, comparatively.”

Hey! I’m not small!

“Smaller than Gilroy, but then females usually do grow first,” Desta teased him. She reached for the salt and sprinkled it over the plate. “Gilroy was perched in the palm last time I saw her. She wanted to watch the ships coming in.” She had a taste and nodded. “Better. Vic will be here soon.”

“Oh, good, I haven’t seen him in a while it seems. I don’t know where Riley is or when he’ll be here. We’re supposed to talk about wedding ideas tonight, so he might be late.” She cleared her throat and laughed. “Come on, Kahuna, I’ll drop you on the palm and then I’m changing clothes. Des, I’ll be back out soon.” Reva disappeared from the kitchen doorway towards her own room.

From the palm tree, Gilroy thought at Desta, What snacks have you made? Did you marinate any roaches?

Desta laughed out loud. “Those are in your terrarium. Will you share with Kahuna?” She put the salt away and gave the kitchen counter a quick pass with the dish towel. Then, she checked the front of her shirt to make sure she hadn’t splattered anything on it. All good.

Share? The single word carried a heavy note of disdain. Oh, sigh. I suppose I will share with my tiny brother. There were the sounds of a tussle from the palm tree.

“Be nice you two,” Desta called out. The chime rang and she tossed the towel aside and hurried to the door. “Come on in Riley.”

“Heya Des. Is Reva home yet?”

Desta waved to the bedroom door. “Just now. She’s changing but should be out any time now.”

“Ahh good. What a day.” He dropped into a chair. “Hey, Reva!”

Through her bedroom door, Reva called a greeting then came out, still buttoning her jeans. “...want to go out and talk about our wedding? Have you told Raj?”

“Not yet. He’s had his hands full with the team getting back from Bajor. There were some...problems as I understand it. Niro’s in the brig, by the way.”

“Still alive? Too bad,” Reva muttered as she went over to him and kissed him. “I did get in to see him, so he knows. He’ll probably jump in with that when you see him next. And, here’s my fun thing: I get to take a bunch of little kids on a tour of the Academy.”

“That might not be so bad,” Riley mused. “What did Raj say?” He watched as Desta transferred the two spiders from the palm to the terrarium.

“He’s thrilled for us, of course,” Reva said then went to answer the door just before the chime rang. “Hey Vic, come in.”

“I figured he would be. Hey Vic.” Riley waved to him.

Hearing Vic’s name, Desta peeked out of the kitchen and smiled. “Vic...welcome.” A happy smile lit her face.

“Hey,” Vic grinned and, waving quickly at Riley and Reva, went into the kitchen. There, he caught Desta and kissed her. “Sorry, I was running late. How are you doing?”

“Much better now. We have an extra visitor tonight. Kahuna is here. Commander Rousseau asked if he could stay here tonight.” She reached up to touch his face gently. “Reva and Riley are leaving soon I think, so it may be just us.”

“Spiders, I don’t mind. Much. So long as they don’t have egg sacs. Now those, I mind,” he shuddered playfully, and part of his lizard brain appreciated how Desta felt against him as he did that. “Too bad about Reva and Riley. Are they heading out for dinner?”

“Wedding plans,” Desta answered. “What about you? Are you off tonight? I know Jackson’s away so…..”

“I made a deal with Jan so I can go in a bit late; she’s going to take off early to go see her beau,” he smiled. “Resourceful, aren’t I?”

“You are. Did she ask why?” She rested her hand on his shoulder and fell silent. I wonder if she would believe you if you told her. She laughed but she knew her nervousness would be read by Vic. She was still finding all this a little hard to believe.

Why wouldn’t she believe me? He held her close and could feel not only her nervousness but also Reva’s and Riley’s curiosity.

Let them wonder. Desta laughed softly. As for Jan, she thinks you move too slow. Maybe you should keep her wondering too.

“Oh, I will.” He chuckled. “What did you make?” He looked at the snacks and smiled. “Looks like your cooking skills are coming along.”

“I’m getting there.” She named off the things on the plates with a wave of her hand. “That one is from my home. We didn’t cook much there obviously but sometimes...it was just for the pleasure of the taste. Fair warning though, it’s very rich.” She lifted one of the small hors d’oeuvres and held it out to Vic. “Try it.”

He ate it, licking her fingers as he did so, and made all the appropriate ‘mm, good’ sounds. “Yeah, I can see that just one or two of those would be enough. Should I go be social with Reva and Riley?”

“One or two is all you need,” was her enigmatic answer. “Maybe so, at least till they take off.” She slipped her hand in his and led the way back out to the living room.

“So then Ian pulled up this picture and Tess happened to be walking by and...oh hey you two.” Riley greeted them.

Giggling, Reva looked slightly guilty as she slid from Riley’s lap to the sofa next to him. “Evening, Vic,” she said. “You two have big plans tonight? It looks - and smells - like Desta cooked up a storm today. Hey, Des, any progress on a job?” Reva glanced at Vic as she asked.

“I actually got a call today….” she looked up at Vic, her expression shy. “From Jan.”

Vic managed to not look surprised, though he was. “As one of our hostesses?”

“Oh, that’d be a fun job, I’d think,” Reva said, demonstrating that she’d never worked in a restaurant.

“For Camille’s days off, yes, and to see to the late night hours after she is off.” Desta shrugged, though she looked pleased. “Someone named Sam offered to have me assist him when you are off Vic, but Jan said...well never mind what she said.”

“Jan said that was a bloody bad idea?” Vic glowered. There was no way Sam was getting near Desta.

“Ooo,” Reva laughed. “A touch of jealousy there, Vic? Or possessiveness? I bet it’d drive you a little crazy if Rye and I have a Betazoid-style wedding.”

“Are you?” Desta looked somewhat alarmed. Deep down, however, Vic’s stab of jealousy pleased her.

Alarmed, but more stricken than Desta was, Vic frowned at Reva then appealed to Riley, “Seriously, Riley? Everyone naked? Everyone watching Reva walk down the aisle? Won’t Robart, Suresh and his two goons, the Cardassian and the Orion, be there, too? Eli and Chance, too, and you have seen how Chance looks at Reva, even with her clothes on?” He caught Reva’s grin then and glared at her. “You’re just yanking my chain?”

She laughed and shrugged before taking Riley’s hand. “We haven’t discussed it. It is an option.”

“We’ll leave that to you to and hope for the best,” Desta laughed. She turned now to Vic. “What do you think about Jan’s offer? Would it be weird for us to be...us and work together too?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never worked with...someone like you,” he said.

Reva nudged Riley and canted her head towards the door. “How about going for a walk in the arboretum?”

“I can go for that.” He lifted Reva to her feet, then stood. “We’ll see you kids later.” He winked at Vic, then led Reva out into the corridor.

Once the doors closed, leaving Desta and Vic alone, she sat silent, trying to think of what to say now. This situation with Vic was still new and despite what she had said to Reva about him being her first choice, she was still a little uncertain what to do with him.

“Maybe they will decide against the Betazoid wedding idea?” she ventured.

“Gods, I hope so,” Vic said, inwardly musing about how a Betazoid-style wedding could go all sorts of wrong. “I’ll bet Seyla would be in attendance, just itching to wreck havoc.”

“I’ll take your word on that,” Des answered, but she smiled. “Well, we can hope.” She reached for his hand, finding it easier to let him read her than to put things into words. I will call Jan and tell her yes...if you are okay with it.

That’d be fine, Des, if you want to. It would give us the same hours, roughly - though yours would be shorter than mine.

Very well then. I will. I just don’t want you to feel that I’m stuck like glue, you know? She realized, belatedly, that thinking of that conversation with Reva had brought it top of mind. Too late now, she supposed.

Reading her thoughts about him being ‘first choice’, and stopping before he read anything more than that, Vic frowned then asked aloud, “I thought we covered that ground already, babe. The whole ‘settling’ and such. Or are you worried that I’ll move even slower if I know I’m your first choice?”

Her eyes widened for a moment and she shook her head. “That was just...girl talk. I suppose I am nervous about this because I have no experience with...something real? Maybe I’m just afraid I’ll wake up and find I was merely dreaming.”

“Are you afraid this whole thing, Reva, the rescue, being here on SB900, is a dream?”

“Sometimes, yes. You especially,” Des admitted. “Raj says that it will just take time to sink in and accept it, that it’s not unusual given...everything. It’s exciting too, though. Soon I’ll be on my own, in my own place. There’s a lot to be said for that.” A faint flush colored her cheeks.

“There is, such as walking around naked,” he spoke before thinking that through and flushed slightly. “Ah... sorry, bad example. Having guests whenever you chose. Eating nothing but ice cream and cookies - there’s no one around to judge your sweet tooth.” Smoothing a lock of her hair behind her ear, he smiled. “And you mentioned maybe getting a pet?”

“Well, the young ones are in and out so much,” she motioned to the terrarium, “that I think they will be enough for now. Besides, they can talk so I won’t get lonely at home either.”

“There are some birds that talk, too.” Vic smiled and shared an image of the spiders and bird together. Then he recalled: Goliath Tarantulas, aka Bird-Eating Spiders. “Um, nevermind.”

Desta laughed and shook her head. “Iggy would have my hide if that happened, since I suspect at this size, they’d get so fat their legs wouldn’t reach the ground. Either that, or I’d have a silk-wrapped bird hanging around for months. Ick.” She leaned in and gave Vic a soft kiss. “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah,” he answered, almost absently. Her mention of Iggy made him think of Six; he wondered whether she’d been told yet about their away team, headed by their boss, being assimilated. After a brief second, he realized Desta was watching him and he could feel that she was out of her element. “Those snacks were tasty; more of those?”

“Sure.” She rose immediately. “I’ll get the food. How about a movie?” It would be a good way of relaxing and getting cozy.

“Okay,” he agreed, and while she went to get the food, he scrolled through their choices to find a movie.

******************
Desta
Ensign Reva Madhava
Lt. Riley Sukotav
Vic