What A Sight To See

Posted on Tue Aug 21st, 2012 @ 3:12pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Ignatius Reilly & Jackson Banning V & Cassidy Wilde & Suresh
Edited on on Thu Sep 27th, 2012 @ 10:07pm

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: The Nexus Club

* * * The Nexus Club * * *

In the years Oralia had known Jackson, she’d only ever danced with him twice. At the times when she would have or could have danced with him, she hadn’t and she’d told herself it was best that way - best not to tease nor tempt Mr. Banning with such close proximity. In reality, she knew now, she’d been heading off any issues with Connor, preventing him from getting hurt feelings, experiencing jealousy, going stark raving mad. It hadn’t worked; it had merely served to keep her from having a wonderful dance partner.

But no more. When Jackson appeared at her table and asked for a dance, she hadn’t hesitated. Now he had his hands on her, in public, and every brush of his fingertips or palm against her bare back was like a mild electric current. For the life of her, she felt like he was playing her like a guitar and knew just how to strum every note perfectly.

“Enjoying your evening so far?” Jackson spoke the words softly, meant for her alone as they glided across the floor. She was light on her feet and her body seemed made to respond, no matter which way he led her. He was sure that, after this dance, he’d likely have to excuse himself till things calmed down a little. Luckily, he wouldn't have to go on stage immediately to introduce Janice.

“I am, other than Iggy’s expression of anger,” she smirked then turned the smirk into a smile. “Just being in your arms makes that seem like nothing.” That wasn’t the entire truth. The painkiller Eli had brought to her plus the wine were not quite keeping the pain at bay.

“Once I’m done after Jan’s show, how about I talk to her? Think that’ll help Oz?”

“She and I talked, at length.” Not really. They’d just touched and exchanged a flurry of thoughts and emotions. The result, though, was a level of insight that Oralia was still sifting through. “We’re good, but she’s wondering where she fits in with everything that’s changed.” She paused, hesitant about bringing up her next comment. “Iggy was... she was absolutely thrilled I was pregnant. She was eager to be a nanny and a helpmate and... whatever I needed. I think she’s more upset about that loss than I am; and I didn’t even realize it until tonight.” Ruefully, she smiled and brushed imaginary lint from Jackson’s shoulder. “She saw it as ‘ours’, something that would give me a reason to need her. She was all for dropping Connor and having it be me, her and a baby.”

“And now there’s me in the picture and she’s still wonderin’ where she fits isn’t she?” He spun her beneath his arm, then drew her back in close. “I know Connor wasn’t wild about her, she worried that there’s gonna be no room in the inn?”

“Not wild about her,” she laughed, “That’s a mild way of putting how he felt about her. He and I argued about her....” She shook her head and stopped relating what Connor and she did. “Yes, Iggs asked me where she’ll go when you and I move in together. If, I meant to say if, not when.”

“I think I like when better, Oz.” He looked down into her eyes, his smile gentle. “Definitely better.”

“I do, too, Jackson.” She met his gaze and returned his smile. “If you wouldn’t mind having a chat with Iggs, then please do so. I’ll leave her here and you can bring her home.”

“Good. She and I can sit down, talk about whatever. Be like old times.” He grinned as the music began to fade. "Then, we’ll come home to you.”

“Just watch the beer. Did you know she farts?” Her face wrinkled in disgust. “And... good god, Jackson, I had to get up and walk to the bar to breathe!”

“She graced my office with one or two, yeah.” He led her back to the table, raising her hand to his lips as they reached it. Then he addressed Iggy. “After Jan’s set, Iggy, it’s me and you. See you ladies later.”

“Thanks, Jackson,” Oralia watched him head back to his Club Owner Duties.

Beside her, Iggy asked, After Janice sings, he and I will dance? How?

Oralia laughed. “No, Iggs, he wants to talk with you.”

Oh. I hope he has beer.

* * *

Several tables away, a man in black tuxedo pants, white shirt, vest, jacket and tie watched as Oz was led back to her table by the man he’d been told was the owner of this club. Suresh had to admit, the decor was lush and relaxing, opulent even. Lovely place, and he couldn’t ask for better music. The kid who’d just finished singing had a rare talent. He recognized him, having seen him a time or two down in Saturnalia. Young, but dark good looks. A friend of Seyla’s.

Suresh’s own intense, dark looks got more than a few sly glances from the single ladies close by but any attempts at conversation had been politely ignored. There had been a slight ruckus going on when he arrived but things had calmed down since then and so he’d watched Oz dance. She looked surprisingly happy for someone who’d just lost another so close to her. It made him curious - both as to why she was and how she managed it so quickly. Perhaps if he knew that, he could use her method on himself. Almost immediately he shot down that thought. Surely she hadn’t cared as he did. Here she was, dancing...smiling...while he was drowning in blackest despair.

The man left her at her table and moved away, leaving her alone save a....a spider? Seems they’d let anything in here. No matter, the spider held no interest for him. Only the dark haired woman. When no one came to join her, he rose, drink in hand. After the method of Isha’s demise, he no longer trusted his drinks out of his sight. Moving through the tables, he turned other heads, some admiring, others sensing the anguish that cloaked him. He saw none of them. Only Oz. Finally, he reached her table and spoke, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

“Good evening, Commander.”

His voice was like an icicle sliding along Oz’s spine. She looked up, finding it incredible that he’d approach her... yet here he was. She cast a glance around then greeted him, “Good evening, Suresh.” Her voice sounded amazingly neutral.

“You look lovely this evening.” He looked her over, but there was no hint of desire in his eyes. Instead, they looked distant and empty.

“I’d say you look handsome, but it’s rather difficult for pond slime to look good,” she said, locking eyes with him and sneering slightly.

“Perhaps so.” The insult slid off him seemingly unnoticed. “I wanted to offer my condolences, I heard the news of Dr. McKinney. It’s a shame, he was trying to do some good down below.”

That hit harder than any insult could have. Oz looked away, but couldn’t hide the tears that welled up. Next to her, Iggy rasped out a warning hiss at Suresh. She touched the spider’s leg, thankful for the distraction. Clearing her throat, she replied, “I hear that you’ve had your own loss and condolences are due to you as well, Suresh.”

His hand tightened on the back of the empty chair until his knuckles were white and he closed his eyes for a moment. “I see news travels fast here. Strange that you and I now have something in common.”

“That and our hair styles,” she managed a smirk. “Oh, I’m being impolite. Ignatius, meet Suresh; Suresh, Ignatius.”

I believe the phrase I should use here is: the pleasure is all yours, Iggy spoke up, looking the Romulan up and down.

“Indeed, Ignatius.” He inclined his head to the large spider. “It’s not often that a spider communicates. That could cause nightmares for some, depending on their experiences.”

“She’s a nightmare even without communicating,” Oz commented. Her tone was good natured and it was obvious she had no small amount of affection for the spider. Iggy simply waved one of her back legs at Oz, as if kicking aside her gibe.

Suresh’s gaze lingered on the bandage attached to Oz’s forearm but he didn’t mention it. Instead, he indicated the chair beneath his hands. “Do you mind? I’d like a little advice on something, if you would be so kind.”

Advice? Oz was floored, but she shrugged and gestured at the chair, “Have a seat. And do tell: what advice could I ever give you?”

He pulled out the chair and relaxed into it, looking across the table at Oz. Iggy went largely ignored for now.

“I observed you dancing a few minutes ago, and you have my compliments. You are a wonderful dancer. What struck me, however, was that you looked so at ease, so completely happy with the gentleman. Sparks, Commander Zeferino. That much is obvious.”

“That gentleman is Jackson Banning, owner of the Nexus,” she informed him. She heard the rebuke in his words: Connor was barely cold, in some people’s minds, and here she was, laughing and loving another already. She was well aware that the medical staff, save for Doctor Harding, were not pleased by her quick replacement of Connor. “Thank you for the compliments; Jackson is... a wonderful dancer and could make any woman look good on the dance floor.”

“In this case, he had to do little to make you look good. But my question is this - how do you move on? Granted, you’ve had more time, while it’s been what? Two days only for me? Does the despair stay?” He pressed his hands to the table as tension hit him again. “How do I make it go away?”

“Move on?” That was the advice Suresh wanted from her? This salvo, like his last, hit harder than an insult. Her thoughts and emotions reeled; she sipped at her wine to give herself a moment to gather her wits again. She glanced away, over across the dance floor, and saw Gilroy rather pointedly watching her. With a small shake of her head, she kept him from coming over to ‘rescue’ her. “It’s complicated, Suresh. Far more complicated than I really care to explain to you.”

“I see.” He considered that for several beats. “You are a lucky woman, Commander. I can understand what he sees in you. I still have no idea what she saw in me and now I’ll never know.”

“That is certainly not a question I could ever answer, Suresh. Perhaps she saw under the layers of scum and slime and glimpsed a redeeming factor,” Oralia sounded like she doubted that was the case. Though she wanted to, she didn’t dare ask him how he perceived her as being ‘lucky’.

“Very likely, something you will never be able to do where I am concerned. Second chances are rare, Commander. I hope you take hold of yours and enjoy it for all it’s worth.” He turned his glass slowly in his hand, then took a sip of it, finally meeting her eyes.

Anger flashed in her eyes as Oz took that statement as something a touch too close to being a threat. “Oh, I intend to, Suresh. And there will be hell to pay for anyone who gets in the way.”

A sad smile crossed his face at her words. “Perhaps I should have been more like you. I was afraid to take such a stand, and now I’ll never be able to. There’s one other coincidence too.” He pulled up the sleeve of his jacket, unbuttoned his cuff and slid the shirt sleeve up to reveal the bandage on his left forearm. “Interesting.”

Oz sat straighter in her chair. “Except mine’s smaller.” Granted, hers was also a pulsing, throbbing pain and the skin around the bandage was red. “You should have someone at Piper Medical take a look under there. Before that wound scars.”

“That’s my intent actually.” He didn’t clarify which he meant as he buttoned his cuff and pulled the jacket sleeve back down. A passing waitress was stopped and he ordered another drink for Oz.

Iggy beat Oz to any comment: You are a crazy motherfucker.

“Iggy!” Oz hissed and had to stifle a laugh. It was a phrase close to what she’d been thinking, so she couldn’t blame the filterless arachnid from blurting it out. It might just be the one and only time she approved of the spider’s vocabulary usage. Still... “You intend to have a scar there? That’ll be a nice, constant reminder of your loss,” she nodded, sarcasm heavily lacing her words.

“And a reminder of my intent to find the one responsible. I know Security is required to look into it but there are so many things on your plate already, and often I hear things....” Suresh shrugged.

“Hear things? Such as what?”

After taking some time to calm down from having the young Trill scream at her like a little girl and popping a few pain killers for the instant headache that resulted from the onslaught of emotions when that mess happened, Cassidy finally re-emerged from the back. Taking the time to survey where everyone was in the club, she saw the waitress with Oz’s drink after watching for a minute. “I’ll take it to her.”

Moving across the room, she didn’t bother looking towards the group from earlier; just went directly to the private table where Oralia, Iggy and a dark haired gentleman that wasn’t Jackson were seated at. Before she was even within ten feet of him, she felt the complete and utter grief coming off of him. Taking a deep breath, she came up to the table and smiled at Oz. There was tension and anger radiating off of her, but the man’s grief was stronger and Cass turned to look at him.

Suresh looked up at Cassidy as she reached the table and nodded to her, his dark gaze sweeping over her. “Thank you, it’s for her.”

Inclining her head, she smiled and realized she still held the drink. Setting it down in front of Oralia, she met and held his gaze steadily. So much pain. It would be wrong of her to say something about it to a complete stranger. “Good evenin’,” she offered, her voice soft and melodic.

Lifting the glass of wine Cassidy had just brought to her, Oralia tipped it towards Suresh in a salute. “Thank you. Though one might wonder if you’re trying to get me drunk, Suresh.”

“That would not be gentlemanly, would it?” He offered his hand to Cassidy. “As noted, I am Suresh.”

“And this is one of Jackson’s employees, Suresh,” Oz cut Cassidy off before she could reply. She really didn’t want Suresh on a first name basis with Cassidy, or for Cassidy to think Suresh was an okay person to know. Glancing at Cass, she hoped the beautiful blonde got the message.

There was a slight tightening of Cass’ jaw; not enough for anyone else to pick up on just how annoyed she suddenly became with Oz. If being interrupted wasn’t bad enough, to be treated as if she were nothing more than a mere employee after everything she’d recently gone through? She raised her eyebrow at the other woman briefly and turned her attention back to Suresh.

“Employee and friend of Jackson’s,” she corrected and took his hand. “I’m Cassidy Wilde.”

Rolling her eyes, Oz shook her head and rubbed her forehead.

“Miss Wilde.” He glanced from her to Oz and then smiled as he raised Cass’ hand and kissed the back lightly. “My pleasure.”

Unaware of Oralia’s dislike of the man, Cassidy smiled back at him. This close, his grief was crystal clear as well as...physical pain. Her gaze started to drift towards his left arm, but she caught herself in time. “Is this yer first time at The Nexus Club, Mr. Suresh?”

“No Mister, just Suresh, and yes it is. I’ve been acquainted with Commander Zeferino for some time and just stopped by to say hello.”

Glaring at him, Oz added, “Sure, but, Cassidy, when he says ‘acquainted with’, he’s leaving out that he’s the one who had my hair cut off. Payback was a bitch, wasn’t it, Suresh?”

He recoiled as if he’d been physically slapped. When he spoke his voice was husky. “Moreso than you know.” Pushing back his chair, he stood, his attention on Cassidy now. “Miss Wilde, it has been a pleasure. Perhaps a dance before I go for the evening?” He merely nodded to Oz. “Commander.”

Caught in the middle of a tense situation and not wanting another big scene, Cass decided the best thing would be to get Oralia and Suresh separated as quickly as possible. At the moment, that meant accepting his invitation to dance. “A dance would be nice, thank you for askin’.”

She shot a look over her shoulder at Oz and mouthed silently, ‘We are so gonna talk about this later’. Not giving the other woman a chance to protest, she turned and placed her hand lightly in Suresh’s for him to lead the way to the dance floor.

Sighing, Oz let her shoulders slump and she shook her head. Sometimes, trying to prevent stupidity just didn’t work. Stupidity? That is a bit harsh, Oralia.

Call it like I see it, kiddo, Oz answered Iggy. Truth was, her irritation was borne of worry and pain.

**********

Suresh
A Subtle Twist Of The Knife

Oralia Zeferino
Thrusting and Parrying Right Back

Cassidy Wilde
Preventing A Knife Fight

Ignatius
Delivering the Best Cut

Jackson Banning V
The Keenest Insight