Paint The Town Red

Posted on Sat Mar 30th, 2013 @ 8:53pm by Lieutenant Nick Marcinko & Commander Dae Nalas & Lieutenant Commander Leto

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Saturnalia

* * * Saturnalia * * *

Things were in full swing when Dae arrived at Saturnalia and stepped through the doors. The cacophony of voices, laughter, and arguments swelled out around him, drawing him in, and grew louder as the doors closed behind him. A slow smile spread across his face as he looked the place over. The patrons were loud and unrestrained, the women uninhibited and apparently not modest either. It was perfect for a night out with no holds barred.

He moved on in, looking for a table and a blonde with a body to die for and a face to match sidled up to him.

“Hey there, you’re new around here.” She stepped close, giving him an up-close view if he looked down, and rested her hand on his chest. “I’m Marabeth. Welcome to Saturnalia.”

“A pleasure, Marabeth.” Dae’s view as he looked down was of ample cleavage and he smiled.

“Not yet, but it may be before the night’s over.” Her fingers ran over the buttons of his shirt and, as if by magic, two of them became unbuttoned, revealing a good deal more of Dae’s chest. She ran a finger over his bare skin. “So what can I do for you?”

“A table would be a good start, and then alcohol. The real stuff. Lots of it,” he answered. “Tell me something, is Seyla about tonight?”

“She’s busy,” Marabeth answered. “Does it matter?”

“No, actually.” Dae was rather glad to hear that the green vixen wouldn’t be here watching him. “I’m meeting a friend here. Nick. Should be here any second.”

Marabeth’s brows drew together. “A friend? That mean you aren’t interested?”

Dae blinked a moment, then tilted his head back and laughed out loud, enough to draw a few looks. “No, not like that. He’s had a rough time and needs to cut loose is all.” He didn’t bother to mention that he had other, prettier reasons for not being interested in what Marabeth had to offer.

“Ahhh, I see.” Her smiled returned and she took his hand. “Let’s get you a table.” She led him to one close by and shooed away the pair that sat there. They grumbled, but moved on up to the bar. “Here you go. They’re going to be cut off when they get to the bar anyhow.”

“Thank you.” Dae smiled at Marabeth once more and took a seat.

Marabeth waved and a waitress appeared. “Janara will take good care of you and I’ll check on you soon.” She patted his cheek and glided away to another table, leaving Dae alone. He ordered the first round and settled back to wait for Nick.

Dae didn’t wait long as Nick walked through the doors less than ten minutes later. He wore black jeans and a dark blue button up shirt that was only halfway buttoned, and the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually dressed in civilian attire and couldn’t find anything really worth wearing, unless he was just going to be hanging around in his own quarters. So he had to replicate something.

The whole situation seemed a bit odd. He liked Dae, somewhat, and thought he might actually make a good drinking buddy, but he was still a bit irked that he hadn’t introduced himself properly the first night. And it seemed a bit odd to Nick that he was actually getting dressed up to meet a dude. But, he couldn’t go out in uniform since he was off for a while, and he didn’t want to go out dressed like a slob.

Sliding into his seat he grabbed one of the drinks on the table and chugged it. “I hope that was for me,” he said when he finished.

“It was, and welcome. The waitress had orders to bring a fresh round every three minutes. Her name’s Janara I was told.” Dae downed his own and sighed at the slight burn going down. He set down his glass, then re-fastened the two buttons of his shirt. “One of the locals already dropped an invitation, the second I got through the door. Marabeth, you know her?”

“Heard the name, that’s about it. I guess she’s new around here.” He looked around for Janara hoping she’d notice them sooner than three minutes. He was thirsty and was aiming to get hammered tonight. “Is she a looker?”

“There.” Dae pointed out Marabeth, even as Janara appeared with four glasses. “Better speed that timetable up some Janara.” She nodded and moved away.

“Hmm, nice,” Nick replied as he looked at Marabeth and grabbed another glass. “Blondes are okay but I prefer redheads or brunettes. But if she’s working with Seyla I’m sure she’ll be busy.” Another glass down. “Damn, this is good.”

Dae had to laugh. “She was hoping to be busy but not my scene tonight.” And given his somewhat unusual predicament with Marla, not anytime soon most likely. “I put her off, but she’ll likely be back, though she did say Seyla was not in this evening. Small blessings, Nick.” He picked up a glass and raised it. “Here’s to you and here’s to me. If ever we should disagree, to hell with you, here’s to me.” He laughed and drank the liquor down.

“Yeah, when you hang out in here it’s like her stable of girls take turns offering their services, hoping you’ll take interest in at least one of them.” He recalled several times when he’d gone back to his quarters with one or more of them, but that was long before he and Leto had been serious. It felt like ages since he’d been with a woman, Leto or otherwise, and looking around the bar was sorely tempting. But he knew better.

Coming back to reality he asked, “So, what’s the plan for tonight? Heavy drinking, dodging the women-folk and then what, a brawl? I could sure do with some of that.” He chugged another just as more glasses were dropped off.

“That, my friend, sums it up nicely. You want a brawl, this place strikes me as being a breath away from one at all times.” He picked up the last glass and emptied it. “So how’s your time off going?”

Nick stopped halfway through his drink and looked at Dae. He hadn’t come here wanting to talk about his time off, nor his issues with Leto. He thought this was just going to be two guys out prowling and looking for trouble. So, he changed the topic. “That little prick over there looks like he’s itching for a fight. Wiry. The dangerous-looking sort. He may be worth a shot. What do you think?”

Dae sized him up and narrowed his eyes. “You could take him once you get his knife away from him, but he’s got a pal that might be trouble if you take ‘em on alone. Ahh Janara, right on time.” More glasses were set before the two men.

“Shit, man, she could take his buddy,” Nick said, tossing a thumb toward Janara. “He’s not even armed with anything.” He shook his head. “I guess we’ll skip him, then. Not much sport there.
And, thanks,” he said, looking up at Janara.

“Sure thing, Nicky.” She winked at him and strolled away.

Dae scanned the crowd as he downed another drink and was glad to see that he was finally beginning to feel the buzz from the jet fuel they were drinking. He leaned closer to Nick could hear him without his having to shout. “You wanna fight, and a good one, I can do. How soon?”

Nick scoffed. “You don’t know me very well at all. I’m ready to fight as soon as I wake up.”

“Yeah?” Dae grinned at him. “I may not always be in the mood to, but until I got here, most of the time I did have to wake up and fight.” he looked past Nick and smiled, then crooked his finger in a ‘come here’ gesture. Moments later, a tall brunette in a very skimpy dress appeared and settled in his lap.

Nick checked her out. She looked amazing, that was certain. “And who might this be?” he asked Dae.

“I don’t have the first damn clue Nick. All I know is that two seconds ago she was sitting with a big fellow over there who’s looking right pissed and getting up to come this way.” Dae looked up at the woman’s face and she winked. “I hate to say this, ma’am, but I think you’re going to have to shift over a seat real soon.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Nick said as he heard a chair fall to the floor behind him. He assumed her ‘boyfriend’ stood up so quickly that he knocked it over. But it was only seconds later before a man was standing on Nick’s right, between he and Dae...and the tart on Dae’s lap who was now sliding her hand up his inner thigh.

A glance from Dae told Nick that the man had brought a friend and he was standing directly behind Nick.

“About time for the fun to begin.” Dae gave the two men a cheeky smile. “Evening fellas. Something I can do for you?”

“Get your hands off of my woman!”

Nick looked at the girl. “One of Seyla’s?” he asked. She nodded. “Has anything been planned yet?” She shook her head. “That means you can go fuck yourself, buddy,” he said, turning his head to the man.

“I had plans for her, you asshole,” he yelled.

“Alright now you’ve gone too far.” Dae lifted the woman and sat her gently in the empty chair, then stood. He was tall and so he looked down at the man. “You just insulted my friend and he’s had a shitty week. So the best thing you could no right now is try and convince me to keep him from killing you. I gotta say though, with your manners, I’m not too inclined.”

The man behind Nick chimed in. “Hey, sit your ass down!” He seemed to be reaching over Nick for something, like he was going to try and push Dae. It was time to act.

Nick stood straight up, his thick Klingon skull slamming the man’s mouth shut, breaking several teeth, and sending him staggering back. And, almost as if it had been choreographed, he sent his right arm out to punch the ‘boyfriend’ just as Dae did the same. But the stunned man didn’t wait long to return the favor. Nick had focused on him as the man he’d hit in the chin tackled him, leaving Dae with the ‘boyfriend’.

Dae faked a shot to the gut and when the man reached down to block him, he struck him with a solid upper cut to the jaw that sent him reeling into the next table. The men there were nice enough to push him back towards Dae and the man got a solid blow to Dae’s chest.

While the fight was getting in full swing, the doors opened and a woman stepped in. It was Leto. She greeted a few people by the doors but the man surging back towards Dae caught her attention first, then she spotted Nick and her eyes widened.

He, however, had yet to see her because he was busy pounding his opponent’s abdomen like it was a speedbag, which he followed with a kick to the knee. The man fell to the ground and Nick took the brief time to check on Dae, but before his head turned that far he spotted Leto. He stopped everything. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her but it was she he was there to forget. He was brought back into the moment, however, when his prey stood and kicked him in the gut, sending him backward. Landing on a table, the man rushed him but with Leto’s appearance, a rush of rage ran through Nick.

He stood and went headfirst into the man, his big head crashing into the man’s chest. Grabbing the man by the ears, he smashed his face with his forehead several times until he passed out, the whole time roaring, and turned to find Dae.

Dae’s fist connected with the man’s temple and it stunned him. While the man stood, dae reached down and picked up one of the full glasses and downed the whisky in it. The man shook his head roughly to clear it, then took a swing at Nick. Before either he or Nick realized it, however, Leto had dashed across and caught the man’s wrist, twisting it painfully until the man sagged to the floor.

“I can’t let you two out of my sight for a second, I see.” Her tone was sharp but she was, surprisingly, smiling.

The ‘boyfriend’ heard Leto and turned to face her, thinking she was going to engage him as well. He pulled a hand back to swing at her. Nick yelled out but Leto had already responded with a sharp kick as Nick tackled him and began smashing his head into the floor of the bar. To the bystanders he must have looked like a monster, the screaming and spittle flying as he continued bashing the man.

Two sets of arms grabbed at him, which he shrugged off once, but the second time they took him with purpose and hauled him backward. He was so focused on the man, however, that his rage spilled out onto those who had him. He shoved Dae backward, toppling him into more bystanders then turned on the other set of arms, attached to Leto.

His arm had been drawn back ready to plow the massive hand into the face of who had dared grab him, but it was as if the wind had been knocked out of him when he recognized her. Dropping his arm, he roared again, kicked a chair across the room, breaking it, and stormed out of the bar.

It was as if she were everywhere. He couldn’t get away from her, even when he was trying to do things to purposely forget about her for a while. It seemed that every time he turned around she would just appear and frustrated him beyond anything he could control. For now, he had pent up rage and needed to let it go. He went straight to the gym.

Leto watched him go, then turned and offered her hand to Dae and helped him up. Around them, the patrons had picked up the few chairs overturned and went back to drinking. They’d seen worse. Much worse and this fight hadn’t lasted long enough to worry about security. No blood was shed, no one died, and Leto got a round of applause.

“Leto.” Dae sat back down and reached for the remaining drink that hadn’t been spilled. “Nice shots, I must say. Care for a drink?”

“Thanks and no.” She shook her head. “I’m taking you up to sickbay. You’ve got a hell of a shiner there and I think your cheekbone needs fixing.”

Dae reached up and gently felt along his cheek and flinched. “May be right. Ah well, fun while it lasted.” He rose and took the glass from the woman’s hand who had started this whole fight and drained it. He then gave her a wink. “See you later. Lead on Leto.”

She guided him through the tables and out through the doors. “What the hell were you two thinking anyhow?”

“Thinking? Who said anything about thinking? We were just having a little fun.” He grinned at her as they stepped into the turbolift.

Leto shook her head and laughed. “Remind me to tell you about Chile sometime. After I kick your ass.”

“You won’t have to, I bet it’s gonna get kicked otherwise but thanks for the offer.”

“Smart ass,” she grumbled. As the doors of the lift closed, her thoughts turned to Nick, as usual.

***************

Lt. Commander Dae Nalas
Having A Rousing Good Time

Master Chief Nick Marcinko
Just Can't Seem To Get Away

Lt.(jg) Leto
Getting In A Few Good Swings