Two Men And A Bar

Posted on Tue Mar 1st, 2016 @ 11:25pm by Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Ensign Reva Madhava

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Saturnalia

* Saturnalia *

The doors opened and Riley led Grax inside. Both men were dressed casually now, given they were down in the Pit. A table opened up and Riley staked a claim, waiting for Grax to sit, then he did.

“This isn’t exactly the politest of places,” Riley commented. “But the drinks are good and you can say whatever you like down here. Well...you can do whatever you like down here too.”

“Saturnalia...,” Grax looked about them in a mild daze. “Reva mentioned this place in one of her messages.”

Shelly came along, swiped at the table with a somewhat clean cloth and asked, “What’re you two havin’?”

“Andorian ale,” Riley answered. “Grax? What about you?”

“Orion ale?” Grax said, sounding hopeful.

Shelly winked at the dark-haired older man. “Sure thing, honey,” she left to get their order.

Grax sat quietly for a moment, seemingly looking at nothing. Suddenly he asked, “That Rommie over there, is he the one Reva has a problem with?”

Riley glanced over his shoulder and spotted Suresh. He considered how to answer this, and finally shook his head. “No, it was a misunderstanding.” That much was true and he hoped Grax wasn’t reading him at the moment. “He actually ended up doing us a big favor.” That was mostly true. “He sort of looks out for her.” Again, mostly true. “Why?”

“Huh. She doesn’t like him much. Has she changed her mind?” Grax watched Riley, though he was careful not to read the man. There were certain things he didn’t really want to know about his daughter. “She told me he’s an arrogant ass who thinks he can claim ownership of people. Sort of a sore subject for her. Mother has ranted about Europa’s ‘ownership’ of me.”

“That was the misunderstanding part,” Riley assured him. He was curious now, though. “Tell me about Europa? Why does Menna have such hatred for Orions? Reva’s never acted as if she owned me and honestly? Someone once told me I was the only one who could make her behave, instead of the other way around.”

“Europa...,” a smile floated to Grax’s lips. Shelly, delivering the drinks right at that moment, choose to believe the smile was for her and moved on. “Europa is everything I ever could have hoped for,” he said. “Mother, though... You can’t blame her for hating Orions, though that did make managing Reva rather difficult. Tell a girl often enough that her mother is evil and only good for degenerate men and prison and...,” he lifted his shoulders slightly. “Before Europa destroyed the transport I was on, Mother probably never thought one way or the other about Orions. After, though, I am so in love with Europa... she’ll come for me one day,” he asserted. “I wouldn’t even consider any of the women Mother wanted me to marry. And then Reva was brought to us. Woo... Mother was livid. Do you know her real name is Cyllene? Reva’s, I mean. She’s even more beautiful than her mother. And smart. Sometimes she surprises me with how smart she is. Mother always said she’d turn out to be stupid, like all Orions.” He laughed. “Guess she forgot about the Syndicate.”

“Apparently so,” Riley agreed. “As for Cyllene, yes she told me that name, she is brilliant. I don’t know how much you know about engineering but when we leave here, I’ll take you to our quarters and show you some of her side projects.” Riley studied the man before him and suddenly realized that this man didn’t seem to be anything like the man he’d first met at dinner. There, he’d seemed slow and truly out of touch, but here, that was gone. A sneaking suspicion entered Riley’s mind. “So tell me Grax, what did you do...before? Were you Fleet?”

Grax smiled at Riley and nodded slightly. “That’s how Reva ended up in the Fleet. And why Europa is in prison,” he sounded sad about that. “Do you know what the Syndicate would do with a telepathic Orion?” He laughed and shook his head, sipping the Orion ale. “I’ve seen some of Reva’s gadgets. She gave me a dedicated communicator; looks like a little toy ‘bot so Mother doesn’t think it’s important. It’s how she tells me about you, about that Rommie, things like that.”

Riley had a very good idea of what the Syndicate would do with a telepathic Orion. He also wondered if Robart was wandering around and was glad the man wasn’t here at the moment. He couldn’t even hazard a guess as to how Grax would respond.

“How long are you staying?” Riley finally asked. “Long enough for Reva to get back and us to have the ceremony?”

“Oh, definitely. Mother might go back, but I would like to stay.” He paused and looked at Riley. “Did you just think of an Orion named Robart? Big fellow, snazzy dresser?”

Riley hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”

“He’s here watching over Reva?”

“Among other things, yes. Do you know him?” There was no avoiding the subject now, Riley knew. “He is the one who took me and the Counselor to rescue Reva.”

“He’s lucky that worked,” Grax said. “Otherwise, Europa would have had him skinned. While I was with her, she had that done to a male who failed her.” He shuddered; even after all these years, the sickening terror stuck with him. “It’s an effective deterrent. But, yeah, I know him. He’s one of Europa’s husbands and sort of an uncle to Reva. I’ll have to look him up while I’m here.” A hope that, perhaps, Europa was here rose up.

That wasn’t exactly the reaction Riley had expected, but he was relieved. He wasn’t so sure he could be so relaxed should Reva have another husband lurking somewhere. He hoped it didn’t mean Graz intended to wring Robart’s neck.

“So I have a question for you. Do you want to stay with Menna or would you rather come to our place?”

“Do you have room for me there?” Grax considered the offer. “That might be awkward for Reva.”

“She is likely to be gone for a couple of weeks so we’ll be bachelors till she comes home. I just thought you might like...getting out and having some breathing room.” He was putting it as diplomatically as he could. “And I’d enjoy the company.”

“Weeks?” He sipped his drink several times. “She lives with you now?” He eyed the band on his arm then nearly choked on his drink. “Where did she get that?”

“She had it made for me.” Riley finished off his drink and raised two fingers as Shelly looked over. “A few weeks ago, and yes, she just moved in the day before she left on her away mission.”

Grax’s eyes traced some of the symbols on the band then he smiled. “Sure, I’ll stay with you for a while. Mother won’t appreciate it, of course. But she has Maxym to boss around. I’m too slow and out of it to act as her go-for boy.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you? I’m not seeing the Grax she seems to be so accustomed to.” Shelly arrived with the next round and Riley thanked her.

Grax looked at Riley for a moment then grinned. “How do you think I get out of being her go-for boy?”

Riley laughed heartily, then raised his glass to Grax. “Brilliant. I think we are going to enjoy your visit here, Grax. I hope, also, that you will give us your blessing. You are the one that matters, to me and to Cyllene.”

“Of course I approve, Riley. Europa does as well.” He sipped his ale.

“I’m glad, thank you.” Riley had a sip of his drink, then stopped, his glass halfway to the table. Moving across the room in their direction was someone who could put a real kink in the evening - Seyla.

Seyla was at the top of her form this evening: dressed in a silvery sheath that hid very little, she had her red hair down in curled spirals. She paused near the door, the better to let everyone in the room see her, then started across the floor towards Suresh’s table. Partway there, she spied Riley and smiled wickedly. Changing course, she sidled up to his table. “Dear Riley, how are you? I heard that our kitten has been assigned to a survey mission. Are you missing her already?” Her pheromones were active and floating on the air.

Riley smelled them immediately and frowned. “Trying to start a riot in here Seyla? If so you’re about to be successful. As for Reva, yes she is currently off the station.” Despite his hint regarding her pheromones, he looked her up and down, then smiled.

Reaching out to touch his jaw with her finger, Seyla laughed. “Poor Riley. You'll be looking for companionship soon enough.” Her attention turned towards Grax and a spark of recognition showed on her face. “I'd offer someone for you, but I’d rather not cross your Orion.” She didn't mean Reva.

Grax nodded. “Probably best for you,” he agreed then smiled as Seyla continued on towards Suresh.

“Trouble,” was Riley’s opinion as Seyla moved away. “Maybe she’ll include me in that group of people that are Europa’s. She certainly won’t find me at her door requesting her services.” Though for a moment there, Seyla slithered through his thoughts, tempting him thanks to the pheromones.

“Maybe, though really, you’re Reva’s. She should talk to Robart about keeping that one away from you,” Grax said.

“I agree.” Riley nodded, his gaze slipping back to Seyla. Finally he shook his head to clear it. “Or to Suresh. He did me a huge favor not too long ago, and people don’t want to cross him either.”

“Hmm...,” Grax had more faith in the Orions than any Romulan. “Is Reva really off on just some survey thing? That seems ...beneath her.”

“Well, it’s a special ship and they sent the two best engineers on the station.” Riley was obviously proud of that fact. “She’s always worried that Chief Jenkins didn’t take her seriously, and there was a time I agreed with her. That time is long gone now.”

“Good. I hate seeing her underestimated,” Grax grumbled. “Mother has been doing that to her since she was little. She put Reva in a monastery for women, the Kistarcian Order of the Strict Observance, after she got into trouble at school with some boys. They weren’t the smartest of the bunch, but ...,” he shrugged and sipped his ale.

“What do you think it would take to have Menna finally stop with the racism?” Riley’s question was blunt but he knew Grax would understand his motives. “Reva plays it off but I think it really gets to her and to be honest, it pisses me off too.”

“I think it’s too late for Mother to change. She sees Europa as having twisted me into a worthless lump. I just let her think that; I should have stood up to her, defended Reva when she was little.” He sighed and changed the subject. “Do you know that she’ll have to be off inhibitors if you want to have children?”

That was news to Riley, though he suspected children were a long way off. “Umm no? Why is that?”

“To suppress the pheromones, the drug inhibits an Orion’s reproductive cycle; they’re interconnected.” He looked a little vacant for a moment ten nodded to himself. “That Seyla smells good.”

“She does but she is trouble as I said. Her influence initially caused Reva some trouble a while back. She had Reva all but convinced that Orions couldn’t really love anyone and that they were poison to those they do care for.” Riley shrugged and finished his drink. “A lot has changed and Seyla’s lost her influence.”

Grax grunted. “For Orions like Europa and Seyla, perhaps that’s right. Reva’s part Betazoid, which changes everything, as you might know. Reva and I used to talk for hours; she’s not like her mother.”

“What happens if Menna refuses to agree to this wedding? I know your family is a powerful one back home and I come from a house with no number attached to it, but ….we’re not back home.”

“Hmm... The marriage may not be recognized at home.” He considered that statement then said, “But Betazed isn't your home not is it Reva’s, so that doesn't matter, does it? Then again, Mother might not be vocal about your marriage at home - if she does and then you two have children that look Betazoid... she couldn't welcome them to the family without losing face.”

Riley nodded. “I suppose we’ll worry about that as it comes up.” He smiled finally. “Besides, I may make her change her mind yet.”

“No one has managed that in decades, Riley. Best of luck to you.” Grax toasted him.

Riley nodded to Grax, then glanced up as Suresh departed Saturnalia.”Another round? Or do you want to see some of the station?”

“Let's wander. I'd like to see some of this place before Mother catches on that I'm not quite a simpleton yet.”

Riley laughed at that and stood. “Let’s do it then. There’s more than we can get to tonight but there’s always tomorrow evening.”

********************
Lt. Riley Sukotav
Bad Influence

Grax Madhava
The Original Influence