Three Cockroach Night

Posted on Tue Oct 25th, 2011 @ 4:32pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Captain Li Hawke

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: Oralia's Quarters

"We need to talk."

Oralia had nodded when Li said that, then nodded her head towards her quarters and said, "Let's talk in my quarters. Iggy can have a cockroach while we talk."

Cockroach!, Iggy hopped excitedly then followed Oralia and Li down the hall.

Once inside, Oz had pulled out a box of live, large roaches and given one to Iggy. While Iggy did what Iggy did with all her meals, she stood and glanced at Li. "Are we talking professionally or personally?"

Li hesitated at the question. "I think... both. Security detail first, however."

"I've added another team to the Speaker's security. So far, nothing's come of the search for Kh'ali, though. Just the dead Enaran in my office," she shuddered, "And a note that I didn't take too seriously until last night. But... if whoever killed the Enaran had gone after Connor... why isn't Connor dead?"

"Different styles suggests different person and a different motive. What I sensed in there wasn't personal. I don't think they even knew him aside from associating him with you. It felt very..." she frowned a moment, searching for the right words. "Very malicious and business-like. It wasn't an emotional strike or done by an amateur as you've said. They were very good at what they do. A warning, and whoever sent the messenger is serious."

"I was afraid of that," Oz frowned. She motioned for Li to take a seat then brought drinks for them both and took her own seat in her arm chair. She slowly stirred her Mexican hot chocolate. "So somehow, I've done something that has made someone very angry." Her worry wasn't apparent outwardly; internally, her mind was racing with the possibilities.

"That's my guess. What have you been working on lately besides Kh'ali, the Speaker and this murder? Anything unusual turn up?"

"Nothing, just all the normal Security duties," Oz sighed. "And so far nothing unusual has turned up in our search for Kh'ali." She didn't count the illegal stills and drug lab as 'unusual'. "We'll find the pieces of the puzzle soon enough."

"I hope so. It makes no sense to tie it to the murdered Enaran. Connor had no contact at all with the man." Li shrugged and sipped her drink, then set it on the coffee table. A shift in her posture signalled that the conversation was moving into the personal realm now.

Oz saw the shift and immediately had the thought: Oh crap. "Are you about to harsh my mellow?" Not that she was mellow, but... she was trying to just not think about the end of her relationship with Connor. It hurt too much.

"Maybe." Li paused a moment before continuing. "Iggy said that you'd been in Connor's quarters just before we arrived there. Tell me what you noticed."

"Do you mean the bottle of scotch Connor was determined to drown in?" She gestured at a bottle on a table near the door. "Or the morose funk he's settling into?" She would have stood and paced, but just then Iggy came over the arm of the chair and into Oz's lap. There, Iggy settled in. Oz's brows rose as she looked at the spider; when she had been gifted with Iggy, she'd been told the spider wouldn't ever be an interactive type of pet - not like a cat or a dog. But... Patrick's rock really had changed the spider, she guessed.

"If I've harshed anyone's mellow today, it was his. I was pretty blunt and told him to find another way. Someone's life may depend on the choices he makes now. He misses you Oz, and he's letting the pain eat him up. It's why I didn't stay too long."

Oz nodded slowly as she worked to beat back the sense of abandonment he'd left her with. She had other reasons why Connor couldn't be hers anymore, even though she wanted him to be. "Perhaps. I suppose that'll get worse before it resolves," she finally said, avoiding Li's eyes by watching Iggy groom herself. "He needs to recall that he's the one that did this, not me."

"I think it's both of you," Li said softly. "He's too busy wallowing in whatever he thinks you might have done, and you are too busy avoiding really opening up. Too many secrets between you two, Oz. I've been where you are, too. Believe me when I say, though, that you have to really look deep and decide what you want. Then don't let anything stand in your way of getting it."

"He thinks I bedded Jackson!" Her outburst had Iggy flattening herself on Oz's lap; Oz winced as some of Iggy's claws dug through her thin robe. "Ugh... I may as well, since I'm paying for having done so without getting any of the pleasure of having done so," she added disgustedly. "What's worse, Li...? How do I trust him again? He did it the wrong way! He left, then wants to talk."

He does not possess the intelligence of a female, Iggy opined and went back to grooming herself.

Li gave Iggy a 'look', then settled back as she thought on this. "I have no idea how you non-telepaths manage it. With Sakkath, secrets are impossible. Being unaware of what the other thinks and feels is not possible either, so we can't get to that place where there is an issue that we aren't discussing. For you two that means extra effort and the courage to be really open with the other, especially since he thinks it's all his fault. Attraction isn't love Oz, it's fleeting and doesn't always last. But the one who holds your soul is worth fighting for."

Nudging Iggy, Oz said, "Get up, I need to move."

Too bad.

Trapped in her seat by the spider, Oralia frowned. She couldn't walk away from this conversation; she sighed, "It is his fault." She knew she was being thick-headed but the habit of protecting herself was years old; it wasn't something she'd get over in a day. Rolling her eyes and taking a different tactic to remain in the same place, she avoided looking at Li. "Not that it really matters now, what with the threat. I can't put him - or anyone else - in danger by having them close to me."

"And you believe that? Do you plan to stop doing your job? If not, then it's a risk no matter what, and staying away is an excuse. And I know you Oz, you'll not rest till you find them. And if you still love him, then having him close is better given this threat anyhow. I honestly think he's put himself out on a thin branch by reacting, and it's breaking beneath him and he has no idea how to get back."

"He'll figure it out," Oz said, earning her a squeeze from Iggy's legs. "Ow...."

Blockhead.

"Hey! This blockhead has your cockroaches, just remember that!"

May I have another?

As Iggy moved off her lap, Oralia went to get another crawling critter for the spider. From the alcove with Iggy's terrarium, she said, "Of course I don't believe it. There's no way I'll stop doing my job. I'd just like to know which applecart I upset... That'd make it easier to find those behind this."

Coming back to the living room, she added, "I'll talk with him again. I'm not sure if I'll get past the abandonment thing, though."

Oz now got the 'look' that Iggy had received earlier. "Have you never just reacted, then regretted it?"

That comment drew a flash of anger from Oz. "Not like this, no! I've never told someone I'd always be there for her and then left the next day."

"Men can be illogical, it's true." Li sighed. "At least he only went down the hall to put some distance between you. Mine tried to kill me."

"Yours left no room to doubt how he was feeling, that's for certain," Oz said, remembering the last scene of Rhys' life. The momentary distraction did nothing to allay her irritation. "Let's leave it here. I'm not about to just let him back in. I'm not that forgiving." Once upon a time, she had been; she'd paid for that.

"It will take some time, yes. Just don't lose the big picture." Li smiled a moment before continuing. "As for whatever you've stirred up, I'll help all I can, as will Nenita. We know a few... people."

Oz smiled, "I'll take all I can get. Once I get in in the morning, I'll forward a list of the people we've arrested in the last week or so. There were some other things we did: shut down a drug lab, that sort of thing."

"Good. In the meantime, are you free for dinner? You need to get out and it wouldn't hurt for me to be seen with someone besides Norval."

"Yeah, lemme change real quick. Are we taking Iggy?" Oz didn't see a reason not to... though some of their fellow diners might object. She asked that even as she headed into her bedroom. Moments later, she returned, jeans and a t-shirt had replaced the silky robe. "Iggy? Going or staying?"

"Hate to say it, Iggy, but you might want to hang out here, or we can drop you off in my quarters." Li rose as Oz returned. "That will give me time to change too."

I will go to your quarters, if I can take another cockroach Iggy answered, looking at Oz, who, with a quick expression of surprise that the spider would want yet another cockroach, went to get one. While you have dinner, I can weave a bed for myself. The spider took possession of the wriggling insect, paralyzing it quickly with one bite. Holding it with her pedipalps and fangs, she headed for the door.

Oz shrugged at Li and followed the spider.

*********

Lt. Commander Oralia Zeferino
Blockhead

Lt. Commander Li Hawke
Temporary Counselor

Iggy
Ravenous and Tactless