I Heard That!

Posted on Fri Aug 31st, 2012 @ 9:46am by Jackson Banning V & Commander Oralia Zeferino & Ignatius Reilly

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Oz's Quarters

After leaving the Nexus, Oralia hadn’t gone straight home.

Instead, she’d made a few stops - the first of which was at Piper Medical, to have the spider’s venom and puncture marks tended to. The wound was on her wrist, but already she had pain up to her shoulder. The spider’s venom was intended to paralyze small prey; for a human, the bite was much like a bee sting - painful, sometimes with lasting effects, but overall not deadly.

The nurse practitioner who treated her kept casting glances at her; his face told her that he was a Connor Fan. His treatment told her that, too; he was none too gentle. But he did complete his job and released her with an admonishment to pay more attention the next time.

Both bemused and annoyed, Oralia left Piper, made three more stops then retreated to her quarters for some sleep.

* * *

Quietly, mon caballero, Iggy ‘whispered’ to Jackson as they entered the arachnid’s and Oralia’s dimly lit quarters. There was more than enough light for the arachnid to see and she could see that Oralia was curled on the couch, a light blanket pulled around her.

What is this? From the height of Jackson’s shoulder, Iggy looked down at an arrangement of items on the coffee table: a brown box with a satiny red ribbon tied around it; a bottle of wine; a note card; a purple and yellow orchid in a bud vase; and another box, this one plain white and marked with a bug symbol, crickets chirped from inside it.

“What’s what?” He spoke softly, then looked down at the table. He blinked. Then laughed out loud before he could stop himself. “Oh my god.” He lowered Iggy to the table, then leaned down, running a finger over the red bow. He didn’t need to check the wine label to know what the vintage was, it was one of his favorites...and one he’d introduced Oz to, way back when they’d first met. After she had locked him in the brig on suspicion of murder.

“Mrph!” Oralia woke with a grunt and blearily blinked up at Jackson. “You’re here already?” She wondered how long she’d been asleep.

“We are.” He knelt down by the sofa and kissed Oz gently. “And what a lovely surprise.”

“Thought you might like to have another shot at that night... not that circumstances are anywhere near the same,” she said, touching his cheek with her fingers. “There’s a towel and bathrobe and stuff for you, if you want to wash off the night.”

“Let me get Iggy started on her crickets, then I will. Sorry we’re so late, she and I got to talkin’ and lost track of time.” He smiled back at her, the memories of that day still so fresh even after all this time. He’d wanted to stay with her that day more than anything he’d ever wanted, but at the time....he shook his head. That was then, this was now. And now, he was staying.

“I’ll get her,” Oz mumbled, sitting up. “Otherwise, I’ll go right back to sleep.” She waved Jackson towards the bedroom, “G’on.” Once he disappeared into the bedroom, she reached out to Iggy. “Good talk, kiddo?”

Very. I told him all the things you do not wish to admit to. Iggy had walked to the cricket box and was lightly tapping two legs on it, trying to determine how to open it.

“All... what things, Iggs?”

Here, Iggy touched her and relayed a portion of her conversation with Jackson.

Oz’s reaction was not good: she jumped from the couch, ran a hand through her hair and stalked back and forth, all while exclaiming, “You what!? You told him that! But, Iggy! It isn’t true! I mean....” She paused, and knew then that what Iggy had told Jackson was the truth, but it was a tiny part of the truth. “Iggy, I loved Connor; he loved me. We... we were....” She sat back down on the couch and tears ran down her cheeks. “I know you didn’t much like him--”

He made you cry too much. Iggy had poked one leg through the box’s top and was now attempting to free herself.

“Perhaps. But I’m not relieved by his death. Yes, I will take this chance to be with Jackson, for however long it lasts, but....” But that wasn’t something she could have done while Connor was alive. She’d been in love with both men; neither had been willing to share. That had been the problem: their male selfishness. So now....

Jackson watched them from the door where he stood wearing just shorts now. He spoke, his voice soft but carrying through the quiet quarters. “You can love someone but not like them much or be able to live with them. You also don’t have to feel guilty because you’re out of it. That’s what you need to separate Oz. You can feel awful about his death, but not feel bad that the problems are ended. Does that help?”

Oralia startled and looked up at Jackson then back to Iggy before nodding. “It does.” She sniffled then told the spider, “Don’t tell anyone else that same thing, okay, Iggs?”

Okay. Could I have some help here, please? Now it wasn’t just one leg stuck in the box’s top, it was three. Chuckling, Oralia helped Iggy then pulled a cricket out and held it for the spider.

While Iggy pounced on her fingers and the cricket, Oralia looked at Jackson. “Just shorts? Are you trying to keep me from having wine and chocolate? ‘Cause I think I’d rather pull the drawstring on those shorts than the bow on the chocolates.”

“Let’s do both, wine and chocolate first though. Then we can end the night like we should have way back then.” He pushed away from the door frame and ambled to the kitchen to get the corkscrew.

There wasn’t much in Oralia’s kitchen so it didn’t take long for Jackson to find the corkscrew and glasses and come back. Within a few moments, the wine was poured and the chocolates were open and Oralia was leaning in to kiss Jackson. “To us, J,” she said, tapping her glass on his.

“Us. Long time coming Oz, but definitely longer lasting.” He leaned in for a kiss then held out a chocolate to her lips. “Chocolate first and hold it in your mouth, then a sip of wine to mix with it. Trust me.”

It was a mix she’d often had; tonight, it tasted better than ever before. Swallowing her wine and chocolate, Oz snuggled in close to him and said, “I do trust you, Jackson. And not just about chocolate and wine.” She paused, unsure just how to spoil the mood by bringing up her kidnapping and Suresh.

“I should hope so by now.” He smiled and kissed her forehead.

“How... no... um,” Oralia searched for the right way to phrase things.

Concern hit Jackson immediately. “What is it? The bite? Is it botherin’ you? You should have that checked, Oz.”

“The bite? Oh, Iggy’s... yeah, I went to Piper. An NP there grumbled about attending to me, but he fixed it up just fine,” she held her wrist out as proof. She went back to the topic she was trying to bring up: “What do you... no. Yeah, what do you know about a fellow called Suresh?”

“Who?” The name clearly didn’t register with Jackson at all.

“Oh, I would say ‘nevermind’, but Cassidy would probably try to kick my ass,” Oz sat up to face her lover. “Suresh is the guy who had me kidnapped, my head shaved, and who would have ...was going to sell me to the highest bidder. He was in the Nexus this evening.”

It took only a split-second for realization to dawn and Jackson stiffened. “The man at your table.”

She nodded. “He recently suffered a loss and seems to think he and I have something in common. He tried to get some digs in on me because I’m happy with you.” Looking into her wine glass, she took a drink of the red liquid then continued with another question. “Do you recall when Connor was stabbed in his quarters? And the threat that was left with him?”

“I do. At the time, didn’t you think that was tied to the Divitian issue?”

“I did. But Natalia said something on her deathbed about Connor... and you... and those close to me,” she bit her lip. “What if Natalia knew Suresh? What if the threat wasn’t about the Divitians but about something else?”

“One way to find out what she was up to. Cass and I talked a bit tonight and given what Natalia did, I think there’s bigger things at work here, Oz. The use of Archadian weapons.... you need to talk to Kh’ali. As for this Suresh, I can easily ban him from the Nexus without a second thought.” And do it happily. It might be better than having him walk in again and giving in to the urge to strangle him on the spot.

“I agree. I’ll call Kh’ali in the morning.” She picked up a chocolate, bit off a piece then fed the other piece to Jackson. “You’re the owner; if you decide to ban him, that’s your right. No need to do it on my account, though.”

“I’ll wait till you say the word but one speck of trouble and he’s gone.” Another thought hit him. “What loss?”

“His... concubine.... Seems she was ...ah, murdered,” Oz hedged then cut off any other questions, “It’s an on-going investigation.” Since that situation made her think of Li, she commented, “I’m lucky Li and Nenita and Patrick were around to pull me out of Suresh’s grasp.”

Now it was Jackson’s turn to clear his throat. “Li and Nita are two of the best. I....” He paused a moment, then sighed aloud. “I got both of them fresh out of the Academy. We worked together a long time, Oz.”

“Got both of them...?” She narrowed her eyes at that wording, wondering just how he meant it. But, no, she was sure Li wouldn’t mix business and pleasure. Nenita... more than likely would. It wasn’t the first time she’d had a flash of jealousy over Jackson, but she tried to dismiss it. Looking at her wine again, Oz ran a finger around the lip of the glass. “Special Ops. That’s why half your file is blank. Why aren’t you still working with them?”

“I retired from active service after that accident. I got recalled now and again for somethin’ special, but I even pulled myself off that train when I went to the Berkeley. Been strictly civvie ever since.” He gave her a rueful smile. “My intent was to see less action, and it was workin’ till Natalia had other ideas.”

“Jackson, if I have anything to say about it, the only action you’ll be seeing will be with me. In a bed, on a couch, in a shower, on a ...desk,” she smiled.

“I’m right there with ya, sweetheart. An’ I promise not to break Suresh’s neck at the Nexus. I’ll wait till no one’s lookin’.” He grinned back at her.

“Good plan. Try not to let the CSEC know, okay?”

“I promise not to say a word to her. She’s already tossed me in the brig once.” He took the wine glass from her hand and pulled her into his lap. “It’s late, ready to get to bed?”

Willingly going into his lap, she kissed him, tasting wine and chocolate on his lips and mouth. “I am. And we’re closing the door so the s-p-i-d-e-r doesn’t watch.”

I heard that!

***********
Oralia Zeferino
Learning

Ignatius
Opinionated

Jackson Banning V
Revealing