Just Another Boring Night

Posted on Sat Feb 13th, 2016 @ 1:54pm by Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi & Janice Gree & Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Desta

Mission: Further Challenges

* The Nexus Club *

“Thank you, Mrs. Molson. It’s lovely to see you again too. Good night now.” Eli smiled and deftly jumped aside, barely missing a roaming hand from the little old lady. He waved until she was gone, then nodded to Des. “She’s the last. Lock the door. Please lock the door.”

“Sure,” Desta hurried to the doors and keyed in the code just as Eli had shown her earlier. “No one else will be coming in that door now. Do we need to lock the back door, too?”

“No, it stays locked all the time, ever since….” Since Chance… “Yeah. It’s locked. Come on over to the bar. Sam’s waiting. Chance should be here soon but he knows how to get in.” Eli turned and began to walk across the main show lounge towards the bar.

Trotting to catch up, Desta fell into step two feet behind Eli. It wasn’t something she thought about - she just did it, a holdover from her time on Fisher’s slave ship. She was silent till they came to the bar then asked, “Sam, do you need help closing up?”

“I’m almost done. You two have a seat, Jan will be out in a few.” He placed four glasses of Jackson’s special lemonade on the bar. “Enjoy, we deserve it after tonight. It was a madhouse. Plus, Eli kept having to dodge Mrs. Molson’s hands. I swear the woman is an octopus.”

Taking one of the glasses, Desta sipped at the liquid then blinked happily as the warmth of the alcohol filled her belly. “Well, she’s old. She’s probably lonely. People like that can be forgiven, can’t they?”

“As long as she doesn’t get a handful, she is harmless,” Eli agreed with a smile. “She uh...offered to host the reception when Chance and I get married.” His face blushed a deep red. “I politely said thank you and let it go.”

“Aww, that’s sweet.” Sam reached across the bar and patted Eli’s cheek. “And I am kidding.”

“When are you two getting married?”, Desta asked.

“Not till they are out of the Academy!” Jan said loudly as she joined them at the bar.

Eli blinked and once again wondered how Jan seemed to be able to appear out of thin air. “We’ve not even talked about it Jan, it was just some old lady rambling, that’s all.” He passed her a glass of lemonade.

“Good. You two need to ...,” she went silent, frowning, then suddenly hugged Eli. “You’ve been through more than you should have been through at your age. It took me a few hundred years to see that much tragedy.”

Desta looked from one to the other then settled for watching Sam as he cleaned up behind the bar. “Few hundred? Huh. I would have guessed less.”

“Yeah, she’s gorgeous isn’t she?” Sam looked up from the ice bin where he was melting down the leftover ice with boiling water and smiled.

“We all think so, “ Eli agreed. He looked back at Desta. “El-Aurian. But watch out, she always seems to be everywhere and hear everything.”

“That’s because I bug you,” Jan joked. “Do you and Chance have one of the spiders tonight?”

“We have Ariadne and Gilroy both. Reva and Des were moving to new quarters and now Reva’s off-station and Riley’s holed up in the science labs,” Eli answered. “Kahuna’s still at Commander Rousseau’s. Why? Do you want one?”

“Oh gods, no!” Jan shuddered. “I just wanted to know whether Chance might come burdened with one or not. You know I still find those things creepy.”

Desta laughed. “Creepy? They’re cute! Ariadne has those touches of pink and green on her; Gilroy has those red knees.” She stopped when Jan gave her a look.

“They really are kinda fascinating, Jan,” Sam chimed in. “And they talk! That reminds me, Eli, Francis wants to see them.”

“Francis? Is that the fellow from Portin?” Desta asked. She’d met so many people recently that she was still trying to keep them all straight.

“Yes. He was here the other day to see Hillaire. He was asking about you, actually, Des.” Sam smiled at her and finally came around the bar to sit down. He reached for his glass and had a long drink.

“Woohoo!” Eli teased her. “Nice looking fellow he is.”

She blushed darkly. “Now, now. You know I’m dating someone. Sort of.”

“Sort of?” Sam asked.

“Well, he’s gone off, now,” Desta nodded towards Jan, “On Nexus business. All sudden-like.”

Jan shrugged, “Yeah, it was sudden. We got in an invitation for an exclusive tasting from a supplier. He had to act on it without any notice.”

“Maybe he’ll bring back something good,” Eli suggested. “Which reminds me, any word from Jackson yet? It’s been a few days, surely…..” He turned a hopeful look on Jan.

She shook her head. “I haven’t heard anything, Eli. Perhaps Chance would, since it’s his sister involved? Maybe that’s why he’s not here.”

Desta frowned, catching the seriousness of the conversation. “His sister... is... ?”

Eli frowned when he checked the time. “He is late, one sec.” Reaching into the interior pocket of his dinner jacket, he pulled out his comm badge and called Chance.

While Eli called Chance, Jan leaned closer to Desta and said, “Oralia Zeferino, Chief of Security. Chance doesn’t advertise that, though.” She smiled. “He should, might keep him out of trouble.”

=^=Conradi here!=^=

“Hey, where are you?” Eli asked. “Sam’s promised some lemonade for you when you get here.” He covered the badge and whispered, “nothing will keep him out of trouble.”

=^=Oops! I forgot what time it is!=^= A female giggle came across the channel, as did a hurried, ‘Shh!’ =^=I’ll be there in a minute. Chance out!=^= The channel closed quickly.

Sam looked at Janice, his eyebrows raised, but said nothing. Instead, he raised his glass to take another drink, wondering if he should make a quick exit.

Also taking a sip before saying anything, Jan eyed Eli. “He’s working on an Academy project, isn’t he? You’ve been working with the Orion, Reva, haven’t you? Is he doing the same? Do you know what his project is?”

“She’s not on the station at the moment,” Eli said. His tone was restrained. He finished his drink in a few sips and rose, moving around the bar to wash the glass. “Can I get anyone else’s?”

“I’m good, but thanks. I promised Jan dinner tonight but we have time for one more I think.” He glanced at Jan with a smile. It might be a good idea to linger a bit, now that he thought about it.

“Desta, since Vic isn’t around, want to come to dinner with us?” Jan asked the new woman, watching Eli with some concern.

“I would, thanks!” Desta said. They chatted amiably about their evening, then Desta caught movement behind Sam. “Oh, someone’s here.”

“Hey!” Chance came into the bar area, a spider on each shoulder. “Sorry to hold y’all up. Babe,” he went over to give Eli a kiss on the cheek.

“No worries.” Eli looked back at Chance, studying him a moment. “This bunch is taking off to dinner so we can hit the road. Why not take the little ones to the Arboretum? It won’t be crowded this time of night so they can roam a little.”

“Yeah, that’d be good. Unless...,” Chance looked at Sam and Janice and asked, “Are y’all going to Lao’s?”

Even if they were, Jan shook her head and quickly answered, “No, we’re not. It’s likely we’ll just go to Mel’s Diner.”

“Oh... greasy spoon,” Chance winked and smiled. “I’m all yours, Eli.” He winced as Ariadne shifted her grip on his hair.

“Sure. In that case, we’ll be going and I’ll see you all tomorrow. ‘Night folks,” he said, a farewell he’d picked up from Jackson.

He led the way out and locked the door behind them.

Sam was silent a few moments then let out a sigh. “I feel like I should say something but I have no idea what.”

“About them?” Jan laughed. “Poor Eli has put up with a lot with that boy.”

“They’ve been together a while, then? Did they know each other before coming here?” Desta asked.

“No, Eli actually came here as a stowaway from Enara Prime,” Sam answered. “They had declared him a wanted man...at the age of what? Seventeen? He took a stand against some torturous punishment practice and became a public enemy. He got asylum here and ...it’s a long and twisted tale after that.”

“Oh.” Desta nodded. “Let’s go get dinner.”

* Arboretum *

They stepped off the lift and soon were standing on the grass of the Arboretum. “The Lake?” Eli asked. He’d purposely not read Chance since his appearance at the Nexus, though the silence in his head felt strange.

“Yeah,” he nodded and caught Eli’s hand as they walked. “We can put the kids on the edge and let them explore.” They went a few paces before he frowned and glanced at Eli. He, too, was feeling the emptiness. “What’s up?”

“A little curious, I suppose,” Eli admitted. “The giggle you hushed up when I called.”

“Curious or jealous?” Chance challenged. “And hang on,” he pulled first one then the other spider off his shoulders and set them in the grass by the lakeside. “Okay.”

Eli shrugged, watching the spiders as they slowly began to move. “Both, honestly. It caught me off guard, I guess.”

Chance grabbed Eli and smiled at him. “The giggler was Aurora. You know her - our classmate? She’s dating that pretentious little ass, Mark. She and I have been working on a presentation for our command class.” His smile turned a little sly, “But I do like the idea of you being jealous.”

Eli’s eyes narrowed a moment and he finally opened the link that ran between them. In an instant, he saw them, Chance and Aurora and with it came a smile. “Do you?” He rested his hands on Chance’s shoulders.

“Mm-hmm. Goofball, did you think I’d go and cheat on you? With a girl? Tsk, tsk.” He laughed. “Come on, you’re the one hanging out with Reva.”

“Oh please,” Eli laughed. “I’d have to put on Riley’s head to get her to look twice and you know it.” He paused a moment and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I know you better than that but I just...couldn’t help it.”

“That’s okay - it just means that you find me so sexy you can’t imagine someone else turning me down,” he laughed, too. “Now kiss me.”

“That’s about right.” Eli pulled him close into a kiss that lingered long enough for Ariadne to clear her throat. “Oh...yeah….” Jan’s words came back to him now and he was too late to block that discussion from Chance.

“Really? She wants us to wait till we’ve graduated? We are both of age; we could do this without anyone’s permission. Hell, we could go to the beach on Archadia and come back married; it’d take us less than a day!” He stopped talking and stared at Eli. “Are we going to get married?”

Now Eli’s eyes widened as he stared back at Chance. “I don’t agree with Jan, if that helps,” he began. It would be a good time since all their parents were on the station...then again, the idea of eloping and missing all the chaos was extremely appealing. All of it was passed to Chance in an instant.

“Yeah, Mom and Dad have said that they aren’t leaving until after Oz is back and recovered. Oh, I heard from Jackson earlier: they found her and Ignatius. They’re on their way back. He didn’t look good, Eli,” Chance frowned and shared the memory with Eli.

“They’ll be able to fix her back. They managed it with Six and she’s been Borg her whole life. They’ve only been that way for a week or so.” He took Chance’s hand and returned to the subject at hand. In answer to your question….yes. Now. We can have Jan, Des and Sam transport down with us.

“Right now?” Chance blinked. “Um... Right now? But didn’t Jan just say we should wait? Maybe we should leave her here?”

“She may say that but she’d skin us both alive if she missed it,” Eli answered. “Right now. We can take the younglings with us.”

Ooo! A wedding! That would be interesting and educational for us, Ariadne chimed in, proving that she and Gilroy were listening even if they didn’t appear to be watching the two.

Eli laughed. “Well?”

He swallowed hard. “Right now. Okay.” He nodded then paused and eyed Eli. “Are you pulling my leg right now?”

“No. I’ll joke about a lot of things but not this.” He pulled out his comm badge and put a call through to Lao’s. He knew they would end up there as late as it was. When Lao’s son answered, he asked him to give a message to Jan’s table - to meet them in transporter room 2 immediately. He closed the channel. “Let’s do this.”

“This is crazy,” Chance admitted, but he picked up Gilroy. “Come on, you two, time for a lesson in wedding etiquette.”

Eli bent to retrieve Ariadne, then laughed. “Hey, at least I’m dressed for the occasion, though this bow tie has got to go.” He rested the spider on Chance’s shoulder, then took his hand. “I need to run by our quarters for a second. I’ll meet you at the transporter room. That should give you time to fill them in on what’s happening.”

“Okay,” Chance said, bemusedly. He quickly kissed Eli then they headed off.

* Archadia *

Coordinates had been set by Janice and the lot of them had beamed down. When they got there, an idyllic beach with a small hut out over the water. Janice had smiled and looked around but kept her thoughts to herself for the moment. “You two sure about this? You could just wait till you’re done with your schooling.”

Hush, woman, Gilroy and I would like to learn about this wedding ceremony tradition. Ariadne’s voice sounded in everyone’s head.

“We’re sure, Jan,” Eli assured him. “If we’ve learned anything, it’s that life is uncertain. We know that better than most people. Waiting is pointless.” He glanced at Chance and smiled. It distracted him completely and he rested his hand on Chance’s cheek, letting his thumb brush over Chance’s lips.

“It is. Jan, wouldn't you grab what you could?” Chance leaned in and kissed Eli.

“You're both so young,” was Jan’s answer.

“Compared to who?” Eli asked, laughing, and ducked out of her reach.

“Alright folks, let’s get this show on the road,” Sam called out. “Look who I found.” He indicated a tall, robed Archadian woman who had arrived. “Everything’s ready.”

Eli pinned a bright red flower to Chance’s uniform jacket, then stood patiently as Desta pinned another to the lapel of his dinner jacket. He reached into his pocket and passed something to Desta. My grandparents’ rings.

“Now, I’m ready.” He offered Chance his hand.

Desta glanced at the box, smiled at Chance and stepped back for them to approach the Archadian official.

Chance, swept along in all of this, took Eli’s hand and pulled him along to face the tall woman. “So am I.”

The Archadian led them through less-than-traditional Archadian wedding vows and, as they placed Eli’s grandparents’ rings on each other’s hands, pronounced them husband and husband. Chance sealed it by kissing Eli.

“Woohoo!” Sam cheered and tossed some flower petals at them. “Congratulations you two!”

Congratulations to us….I love you... Eli continued the kiss until someone yelled ‘get a room!’. “Yeah yeah, bite me,” he joked.

They have a good idea there. Chance laughed as Janice tackled them both with a hug.

“Thanks Jan. You may need to hide us out when we tall our parents we did this without them all present.”

“Oh, no, I will chain you to the rock like a Greek sacrifice,” Jan said, laughing. “And they can have at you.”

“They’ll get over it,” Sam replied. He smiled and reached for the champagne. The pop of the cork echoed around them and he began to fill the glasses.

***************
Desta
Gilroy, Jr.
Ariadne
Chance Conradi
Eli Conradi
Janice Gree
Sam the Bartender