Act One, Scene Two

Posted on Fri Sep 30th, 2011 @ 9:08pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Jackson Banning V & Janice Gree
Edited on on Sat Oct 1st, 2011 @ 10:19am

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: Jackson's Office

* * Jackson's Office * *

The shipment had finally arrived and as promised, Eli and Sulan had taken care of it. His headache had finally melted away, and he'd had no more visitors. Unfortunately, the lack of visitors left him alone and with too much time to think. Not for the first time, as he sat in the silent office, he wished he was back at the Wormhole, singing with Norval. But that man's version of the lyrics... yeah, he didn't wanna pry there. He had enough to worry about himself. And none of it good.

"Why me??" he muttered aloud in the silent office.

"It depends upon why you're making that lament," Janice answered him before she entered his office. Coming in and smiling at him, she added, "If you're lamenting about a certain female appearing out of the blue, chalk it up to your handsome looks and charming demeanor." She settled on the edge of his desk.

"I am lamenting because I am so damned popular today. First Connor, then Sulan, then Oz, then Nenita. And none of them had much good to say. Now you. Please, darlin' tell me this ain't more crap to make me wish for an airlock."

"Well, I doubt Connor was here because of your debonair, dashing good looks," Janice teased him, "But Oz, Sulan and Nenita? All in the same day? Busy boy you are. Just don't need a doctor anytime soon, if you're messing with Oz." She watched him, knowing that he was down but trying to cheer him.

Jackson sighed as he looked up at her. "That's the thing. He was so sure she and I had been ...you know...and we didn't. Do you know the last time I had sex??"

"Hmm... was it a year ago? That lithe little vixen of a Deltan?" Janice smiled at him for a second before her smile faded. "Wait, wait... The Doctor came here and said you and his live-in girlfriend have been going at it? Wow... there's a lack of trust. What's she done that would make him think that? Is she fooling around with someone else and you're just the easy target?"

"No, I don't think so. Not me, not anyone. I sent him home to talk to her and figure out where they are. I don't think they ever do that, Jan." He sighed out loud. "And yes the Deltan, but it was two years ago."

"If they don't, then that's on them, Jack." Essentially, she was telling him not to touch that situation - not even with a ten-foot pole. "In the meantime, there is someone here who would be thrilled to help you with this dry spell."

"I hear what you're not saying, and I agree. I'm not jumping into dangerous waters, not yet." He paused glaring at Janice. "I'd tell you not to say it but you will anyway. So, go ahead."

"Sulan! She's here, she's known to you, she's willing. Go, take advantage of that."

"What is it with you and Nenita? Gonna start calling you two Yentas. So I don't have the one I've wanted for a while now, and may not ever. Maybe I'm okay with that. Besides, Sulan's .....complicated."

"Uh-huh, and being alone while being tempted by another man's possibly-not-so-faithful girlfriend is uncomplicated," Janice rolled her eyes and frowned at Jackson. "What could possibly be more complicated about Sulan?"

"She....." He paused and frowned. "Well, she....it's just that...things were....it wasn't....we weren't...." He stopped and rubbed his eyes. "Kiss my ass Jan," he said good-naturedly.

"Stand up and bare it, sweety," she singsonged.

"You're askin' me to settle. I'm not the type, it's not fair to her."

"And it's so fair to you, isn't it?" She sighed, shaking her head, though, really, she couldn't disagree with his reluctance to be unfair to a woman. "All right, all right. You'll either find someone or you'll stay lonely."

"You know as well as I do, that's an explosion waiting to happen. Till they figure themselves out, I'm not touchin' it." He fell silent, contemplating the view from his porthole. "Maybe you have a point. Su and I have a history, she understands...how things are. She's livin' with the same."

"Sulan? She's living with...?" Even as Janice asked, she recalled the strangeness that surrounded Jackson. She'd known that the same thing surrounded Sulan as well. "Right. Well, that would be a point of common interest."

"She lives by herself. Her current cover is that she is here with her parents. Given her appearance, that's believable enough."

Suddenly, Janice laughed. "Oh, just watch the Cadets fall over themselves trying to catch her attention."

"Aside from Eli you mean?" Jackson finally smiled, a genuine smile. "Have you noticed those two?"

"I have," Janice sounded disapproving. "I'm betting that Chance will be the first to try to pick up Sulan."

"You think so?" That thought had not crossed Jackson's mind and it worried him. "I don't know how Eli would take that. Dammit, why can't women be as uncomplicated as you?"

"Because I'm El Aurian, J," she smiled, as if her race explained everything.

"Oh, clear as mud, darlin'. Am I too young for you?" He grinned at her now.

"Yes. You're more like my teenaged son than a possible lover," she reached over to ruffle his hair, like a mother might do to a kid.

"I wouldn't have it any other way either." He returned her smile, but then it faded. "It's like standing on a cliff, Jan. She's right there, but if I reach out to grab her, I might fall over."

For a moment, Janice paused to figure out which 'she' Jackson meant. Finally, her empathy filled in the blank: Oralia. Such a trouble maker, that one. "Fall off the cliff and encounter an enraged Doctor? That's a definite danger... didn't you encounter that this morning?" She nodded an answer to her own question.

"Yeah." He let out another sigh. "An' I am not gonna be that guy. You know the one...who rides off with the girl the moment her head turns, when she ain't sure what the hell she wants. I am not gonna be an 'in-between' that tides her over till she wises up an' goes home and leaves me in the dust."

"Good. Keep that in mind. And avoid her," she advised, "At all costs. Now, shall we open the Club today or are you going to mope in here all night?"

"Business as usual. Sulan sent a message that we have a full house tonight. Apparently Eli was a hit last night. Who knew?" The thought of Eli brought a groan. "And I have some explaining to do to him too."

"I think he already knows about sex, J."

"That's not what I meant, Jan. He and Chance....yeah, you get the idea. No, he walked in this morning when Oz was here and... she had just... let's just say that for him, the atmosphere would have slapped him hard."

"Ah. Then a chat might be in order," she agreed and stood up. "Shall I send him back?"

"Not right now, I've had enough drama today, honey. Though I do need to see Su. I've not really had time to talk to her about the job...or anything else."

"Oh, sure, that'll be such a drama-free talk." Janice winked at him as she strolled from his office.

"If only they were all like you Jan..." Jackson mused, then hit a button on his desk to call Su.

"You want a lover who treats you like her teenaged son?" The question floated back to him from the hallway.

***************
Jackson Banning V
Owner & Drama Critic
The Nexus Club


&

Janice Gree
Drama Director
The Nexus Club