Politeness Is Golden

Posted on Wed Aug 22nd, 2012 @ 7:17am by Cassidy Wilde & Commander Oralia Zeferino & Ignatius Reilly

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: The Nexus Club
Timeline: After 'What A Sight To See'

* * * The Nexus Club * * *

One consolation Oz had in Cassidy going off and dancing with Suresh was that Gilroy came over and sat with her. He, of course, opened the conversation with a quote from Shakespeare, something about enemies and beware... Oz didn’t quite get it, since he’d used a Klingon word or three in the quote.

Instead, she’d nodded, smiled tightly and then filled him in on the conversation she’d just had. And on the bandages she and Suresh were wearing. When she explained hers, he’d growled and pointed a finger at Iggy, “Bandersnatch!”

To that, Iggy had replied: I have no snatch! Bandered or not! Oralia, what does bandered mean?, causing Oralia to cover her face with a hand. When she finally removed it, she was laughing and trying to apologize to Gilroy, who had gone red in the face. A moment later, he politely excused himself from Oz’s table and went back to where Darwin was seated. Oralia went back to discussing things with Iggy, specifically what a bandersnatch was and why the word ‘snatch’ really shouldn’t be used unless one was simply saying ‘to grab quickly’.

Despite the initial tension between Oralia and Suresh, Cassidy managed to put him at ease while they danced. All she picked up off of his emotions was a layer of irritation over his sorrow. They stayed on polite topics when they spoke or simply enjoyed the dance. It was almost enough to make her forget her own irritation. Almost. At the end of the dance, she escorted him back to his own table, thanked him for the lovely dance and bid him to enjoy the rest of his evening.

Returning to the front of the club, she greeted more patrons and sat them at their tables. It was enough time to help calm her down again some before her next break. When she had time to herself again, she stopped by the bar long enough to get a raspberry lemonade from the bartender that had stepped in briefly for Vic. In a way, she was relieved. She knew she wouldn’t be able to hide her inner turmoil from him. Drink in hand, she headed back over to Oz’s table, pausing to say hello to several people on the way and turning plenty of heads.

“May I join you for a few minutes, Oralia?”

“Of course,” Oralia smiled at Cass. “I apologize for cutting you off earlier,” she added as Cassidy took the seat Suresh had vacated, “It’s just that letting him know you isn’t a good thing.”

There was a mild flash of annoyance in the blonde hostess’ eyes. “It wasn’t very polite, that’s for sure.” Picking up her glass, she took a sip and gave a little mental wave to Iggy. Hello again, Iggy.

Hello, Cassidy, Iggy re-greeted her friend in her oddly calm, alien voice.

“No, it wasn’t, but Suresh deserves no politeness. He deserves a good shove out an open air lock.” Oralia sipped her wine - the wine Suresh had so imperialistically ordered for her.

Cassidy’s eyebrows shot up at the hostility in Oz’s voice and her emotions. “That may be, but my job here is to be polite to everyone that comes here, even if I don’t want to be. I’m the hostess. Finding out who I am wouldn’t take him longer than a few seconds. If there’s a problem with someone, security here at the club will take care of it. However, since you are Chief of Security on this station, that blurs the lines, but you are not on duty right now.” She glanced at the other woman’s dress, then looked over her shoulder back to where the group with the newly joined Trill sat. Again, no uniform. “If there is somethin’ I should know about Suresh, then I suggest you tell me and do not tell me it’s complicated.”

Oz had read Cassidy’s glance at her dress and then at the group with Eric. “Being in or out of uniform isn’t a sign of being on or off duty. Eric is on duty and blending in; as for me...,” she paused and glanced around the room. “I’m not on duty and I wasn’t just acting like I was, either.” She didn’t say it, but she meant she was protecting a friend from a bad egg.

“Anyway, Suresh.... I’m not sure if anyone would have told you about this. I think it was fairly old news by the time you arrived. My hair used to be halfway down my back, til Suresh had his henchmen shave it off. If certain people on the ‘base hadn’t acted when they did and how they did, then I’d likely be some disgusting Kazon’s slave right now or worse.” She turned her wine glass by its stem, swirling the heavy red liquid around.

“Yer hair was as long as mine?” Cassidy frowned. “Actually, yes, I have heard about it, but when I asked if the ones responsible for yer kidnappin’ and everythin’ else had been caught, I was told the two goons that had done it were found dismembered.” She didn’t bat an eyelash at the gruesome thought anymore. Her views on kidnappers had definitely changed. “I’m thinkin’ someone didn’t mention all the facts that night,” she murmured, glancing at Iggy for a moment before looking back to Oz. “If it was Suresh behind all of it, why is he not locked up?”

“It’s complicated, Cassidy,” Oz started. “Suresh is... he’s like a mafia don, the head of a crime syndicate, and has all sorts of others do his dirty work. My department knows he’s giving orders, but every time we find someone who is willing to talk,” she shrugged, “They either disappear, are found dead or otherwise get silenced.” From her seat, she could see Suresh at the bar. “As for my case, the two who were witnessed taking me were found dead; I’m the only witness who can tie Suresh to the incident. And our prosecutor... in any other case, I’d be a great witness, but in my own kidnapping? Not so much.”

Cass had almost started growling in frustration at what she thought was going to be the standard dodge after her least favorite word - complicated - but Oralia kept talking and surprisingly told her the truth. She sat quietly, taking it all in and finally had to take a sip of her tart but sweet raspberry lemonade again. “Where is the logic in that? So you were a victim of a crime, but because you’re also the Chief of Security does that automatically disqualify you as a witness? The information you have can’t be used against him? At all? Why? Does the prosecutor see it as a conflict of interest?”

“Without corroborating evidence, of which we have absolutely none tying Suresh to my case, it becomes my word against his and probably half a dozen of his business associates, who were his alibi for when I was taken.” She shrugged. “Eventually, we’ll get him and lock him up.”

“One of my brothers is a lawyer, so I know what that means. He said, she said doesn’t hold up in a court of law, not in criminal cases. It all comes down to evidence, facts and what you can prove.” Cassidy’s hand tightened around her glass before she forced it to relax.

They sat in silence for a moment then Oz asked, “Did Ian have any idea why he reacted the way he did to you?”

Pulled out of her thoughts, Cass’ expression looked pained for a fleeting moment before she was able to cover it up. “At first I don’t think he had any idea why. He just reacted. It wasn’t him...it was the symbiont, Bren. It startled me, so it took a second for me to pick up on it.” Tucking a section of pale golden hair behind her ear, she glanced over her shoulder at the Trill, then back to Oralia. “At the time when I was tryin’ to rip Bren out of Natalia’s stomach, I wasn’t thinkin’ ‘bout them bein’ two separate beings. All I knew was she wanted to kill me and Jackson. And with the way Ian reacted, it looks like Bren fully remembers who I am.”

“You must admit, you’re rather remarkable, Cassidy,” Oz paid the woman a compliment, though probably not in a way that Cassidy would really appreciate. “I’m sorry we didn’t give you or Jackson a heads up about Ian Bren coming in here tonight. We need the information the symbiont has and were hoping seeing familiar places and faces would help jar some memories loose. We didn’t realize Bren would fear you or panic on seeing you.”

“That wasn’t too well thought out on yer end. Consider his memories fucking jarred.” Cass shook her head and smiled ruefully. “I thought my ears were gonna bleed.”

“That was quite the shriek. I thought Eric’s heart was going to stop,” Oz chuckled. “Poor guy. He probably thought that assignment would be a cakewalk.”

“I think he was worried he was gonna get in trouble with ya. Asked me to let ya know that I understood what happened, since that’s what I told him.” Twisting in her seat, she looked towards the front of the club, then checked the time before turning back. “If yer gonna question Bren about what happened, I would like to know the reasons behind why I was kidnapped. At the very least, if you need help knowin’ whether or not the symbiont is bein’ truthful...I’m kind of a livin’ lie detector. I’m able to tell if someone’s lyin’ or not.”

Oz pursed her lips together. “Cass..., I have Betazoids in Security who will do that. But I will tell you what we discover with regard to your kidnapping, when and if we get that information. Unfortunately, there’s no telling if we will. Natalia didn’t tell you why you were there?”

“No, she didn’t. Basically what she did tell me was that I was going to die.” Taking a deep breath, Cassidy shifted in her seat. “As Jackson would say, this isn’t really the place to discuss things. I’m paraphrasin’ now, but it sounds like somethin’ he’d say. And I need to get back to work.” Looking over at Iggy, who had remained surprisingly silent during the conversation, she smiled. They were sitting together, that was a good sign. “Did the two of you get things talked out? Or am I having a spider sleepover?”

Oralia glanced at Iggy and let her answer that question. We did, thank you, Cassidy. No need for a sleepover tonight.

“We didn’t really talk, but... Iggy got her message and feelings across and we’ll get everything addressed. Speaking of, when do you have free for reading lessons? Iggy has class from 1000 till about 1400 hours.”

“Iggy isn’t limited to words alone. Her emotions come through, too.” Cass smiled at the spider. 1400 was two o’clock in the afternoon. Most of the time, even if she worked, she was awake well before then. Well...most days. “We can start anytime, I’ll just need to know when so I can make sure I’m around.”

“All right, Iggs and I will chat about timing, then I’ll send you a message. I also need to get her transmitter updated.... Something to see the Ops folks about, I think,” Oralia smiled.

Sakkath?

“Yes, Sakkath.” For Cassidy’s benefit, Oralia added, “The Chief of Ops on the station.”

“It sounds like I still have a lot of people to meet or at least learn who they are.” Standing, she picked up her lemonade. “Thank you for bein’ honest with me ‘bout Suresh, I appreciate it. If he crosses my path, I’ll keep an eye on him. While he’s here though, I have to be polite.” A sudden thought crossed her mind. “Does Jackson know everythin’?”

“I don’t know if he does or not. Things happened sort of quickly around that time. I was sequestered in Intel for a bit, then sent to Archadia. It’s very possible Jackson doesn’t know Suresh was involved. Why?”

Looking around the club to see if she could catch a glimpse of Jackson, she saw him on the other side of the room, near the bar. Not too far from where Suresh was. Keeping her expression neutral, Cassidy turned back. “Oh, I’m guessin’ that he’s not aware of Suresh’s involvement. Do you have any idea what he’d do to that man if he did know? He sure as hell wouldn’t be standin’ that close to him without doin’ somethin’ about it.”

Oz could see what Cassidy saw and she nodded. “Yeah, that’s pretty decent evidence that he never got the full story like you just did.” She wondered whether Cassidy would tell him now.

Like she had told Vic, the longer she spent around people, the easier it was for her to pick up on what they were feeling. However, she didn’t need her empathy to know Oralia was probably wondering what she would do with the info on Suresh. “It’s not my place to tell him, but he deserves the truth. And he deserves to hear it from you, unless there’s some reason you don’t want him to know. Like the possibility he’d go straight after him?”

Mildly surprised by Cassidy’s advice, Oralia looked from Cass to Jackson then back. “I would hope Jackson wouldn’t go after him; the likes of Suresh need to be left to my department and Intel. I... I can’t think of a reason to hide the information from him, though I also can’t think of a good reason to bring it up, either.”

“I don’t want to see him do anything that would get him or you hurt, but if I were in his place and the person I loved had been in yer position, I would want to know,” she shrugged. “But that’s because I don’t like the idea of not bein’ told something because someone else thought it was better for me to not know. That’s not for them to decide. Think about it for a little while, but you guys are just startin’ out. Honesty is always the best policy and secrets suck. Don’t let this become a secret yer keepin’ from him. He’d want to know.”

The way Oz saw it, there were some things the people who loved you were better off never knowing. Once you told them about it... it was too late for them to decide whether they wanted to know the information or not. Also, while she’d rather not have secrets from Jackson, her position dictated that she’d harbor at least a few from him. “I’ll think on it, Cass,” she agreed. This particular piece of information was relatively public anyway; no harm could really come of Jackson knowing about it.

Smiling, Cassidy knew she’d given Oralia something to think about. While she wouldn’t go and tell Jackson about it, if the subject ever came up, she wouldn’t keep the truth from him if he asked her, either. She wouldn’t lie to him. “Alright. I’m gonna get back to work. Enjoy the rest of yer evenin’, ladies.” Weaving her way between the tables, she made her way back to the front of the club; surreptitiously keeping an eye on the dark haired patron standing at the bar.

__________________
Oralia Zeferino
Definitely Not Golden

Iggy
Bandersnatch

Cassidy Wilde
Remarkably Golden