What a Tangled Web

Posted on Sat Apr 27th, 2013 @ 2:47pm by Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Lieutenant Commander Gilroy & Seyla

* * * Lao’s Chinese Restaurant * * *

"...married?" Darwin blinked at Gilroy.

"Yeah. Spur of the moment, I gathered, since she called me to replicate and beam down some clothes," the part-Klingon confirmed and laughed.

"A wedding dress and tux?"

"No, clothing. Seems she didn't pack any for Jackson, so he needed a shirt and shorts. I sent her a dress that matched his shirt. Hideous pattern. Bright red and stuff on it," Gilroy took another dumpling and then laughed before adding, "I sized the dress down a couple of inches."

Darwin coughed as he tried to laugh at the same time as he was swallowing a dumpling. He ended up having a coughing fit that required Gilroy thump him on the back to help him. He finally choked out, "Warn a guy next time you're about to say something that funny!"

Gilroy shook his head then caught sight of Seyla. "There's someone who gets around," he muttered.

Seyla sashayed her way over to the table, never one to miss the perfect entrance. “Nice of you to notice, Lt. Gilroy.” She smiled, but though she spoke to Gilroy, her eyes were on Darwin. “Imagine, both of you out together. It’s a veritable feast. However did you convince your little Frenchie to let you out tonight?”

Glowering darkly at Seyla, Gilroy wondered whether she'd intentionally made Kai sound like a lapdog or not. Then the idea of Kai in his lap filtered through his head and he had to shake himself a little. "She doesn't have me on a leash. Though it seems like someone has you on a leash lately."

“Oh?” Amusement lit Seyla’s face as she pulled her attention from Darwin to Gilroy. “And who might that be?”

"You know your own keeper, Sey. I just know that our folks are seeing less of you lately."

Darwin glanced at Gilroy then ducked his head and focused on the bottom of his sake glass.

“Perhaps I simply have important things to see to, that’s all. Things that don’t include Security sniffing into my business.” She smiled, the expression slow and impish. “But that’s life when I’m the only one telling me what to do.” Reaching down to the table, she liberated Darwin’s sake cup and drained the last of the liquid in it.

He looked up at her now then shot a look at Gilroy. They'd worked together long enough that Gilroy knew the meaning of that look. "I think my 'little Frenchie' might want me home right about now, Dar. I'll see you tomorrow. And, Seyla, I hope I don't see you again for a long time." He smiled and left the two with the half-bottle of sake and two dumplings.

“The feeling is mutual,” she called after Gilroy. Once he was out of earshot, she winked at Darwin. “I thought he’d never leave.”

"Eh, he just needed a signal." Darwin shrugged and gestured for her to sit with him. "Haven't seen you in a bit."

“I could say the same of you.” Reaching across the table, she entwined her fingers with his. “I’ve missed you. You know, of course, that Suresh is gone?” It was merely small talk. She knew Darwin well enough to feel the angst that wrapped around him and for an instant, the image of his quarters, the night he’d healed her bruises so gently, rose to mind. For the first time, a hint of relief at Suresh’s departure stirred in her.

Ruefully, he smiled. "Yeah, he's gone. And it’s unlikely he'll ever get out. I suppose you're hurting for that?" He had disentangled his fingers from hers.

She was, but she was also damned if she’d admit it. After a slight pause, she shook her head. “No, not really. I think we’ll all be better off. He let certain things get the better of him and lost his way.”

"Yeah, being that obsessed over a woman," Darwin shook his head and watched her. "What will you do now?"

“The same thing I’ve always done, minus a few bruises.” She studied his face intently. “And you? That black cloud over your head is hard to miss, Dar.”

"Yeah." He sighed and tipped the sake bottle into his glass. "It's been a rough time, Sey. Over in that other place, I ran into a woman...." He fell silent.

“Their version of her, was it?”

"Yeah. She was there, married to... their version of me. Gave me a taste of what could have been." His fingers rotated the now-full glass. "Ever wonder what could have been if... you know, if you weren't doing what you're doing?"

“Now and again, yes.” She reached over to still his hand. “But I never let it consume me, because I enjoy what I do so much. Still, there are times that what I am gets in the way of....things.”

He reached over and pulled her closer, one arm around her back and his hand on her hip. "I can kind of imagine how. Was Surie going to look the other way or make you stop seeing others?"

“Does that really matter now?” It was a sidestep and they both knew it.

"No, I suppose not." He tightened his hold on her slightly. "Have a dumpling."

“Let’s get them to go, shall we?” Seyla stood and traced her finger over his cheek. “I think this time, I’ll be the one doing the healing for you.”

With a small shake of his head, he declined her offer. “I’ve been ‘healing’ all week. Doing so again tonight, in your bed, won’t help any more than the others have. Besides... I,” he paused, momentarily unsure whether he wanted Seyla to know this much about him. Hell, she already knew far more than anyone else on the Station..., “I just saw her again. This time, this universe’s version. Pregnant.” He stared at his glass without seeing it.

Seyla had been reaching for the sake but Darwin’s words caused her hand to jerk and the small carafe tilted dangerously. She managed to stop it and let out a sigh of relief. “You saw her? Here? How’s that possible?”

“It was one of those freaky visions or whatever it is we’ve been having around the ‘base. You’ve heard of these, right? Past or future folks showing up and then disappearing. We’ve had a couple of injuries due to them.”

“I’m not exactly on the station’s Need To Know list, Dar.” She frowned as she thought over what he’d said. “None of the girls have reported anything odd, and the only thing strange for me is a personal matter that has nothing to do with visions.”

“A personal matter? Besides Suresh being shipped off to Elba II, you mean?”

She shrugged as if that mattered little. “Just something with one of the girls who is letting personal feelings get in the way of her job and getting too attached to a client.”

Warily, he eyed her. “Um....” He was well aware that what they were doing right now was a bit beyond her normal client relationship. What they’d been doing all along was outside her normal client relationship - after all, he wasn’t exactly paying her for her time or her services.

Seyla narrowed her eyes at Darwin. “I know that tone, and don’t you dare try to tell me I’m guilty of the same thing.”

“You’re not?” he said, hesitantly, then quickly cut himself off, “Oh! I mean, no, you’re not! Of course, you... no, not you.” Relieved, he realized she really did mean someone else on her payroll. “Ha, ‘course not. Wouldn’t be the first time, either, would it? I recall that one... what was her name? It was a stupid name... Daffy, Duffy... Trixie? Anyway, I recall pulling her out of the tertiary emergency water supply after that trader left her.”

Seyla pursed her lips as if she’d tasted something sour. “You had to remind me, didn’t you? The problem is this time, the target’s not a transient.” She shrugged and waved it aside. “But it’s been dealt with. Now what about you? Your grip gets any tighter, it will cut off my circulation.” She leaned in to put her lips to his ear. “Not that I mind.”

With a quick, embarrassed laugh, he released her and shifted over a hair. "What about me? Should I contact her? Make the vision happen or just let it go?" He met her gaze and wondered, not for the first time, whether she believed in love.

“I think if you’d really wanted to do that, you would have a long time ago. Sometimes, when we get hit with what might have been out of the blue, we get swept up but eventually, logic and reality return.” Seyla kept a serene expression but her words were a prod to herself as well. Sometimes she got caught up in ‘what if’ as much as anyone and for an instant, she could understand Marla’s position. The instant was fleeting, however.

Darwin leaned in a little and kissed her lightly. "What we need then, is a good dose of reality, sometimes found in the arms and beds of others."

“Oh, so now it’s a yes is it?”

"I don't know, Seyla," he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

She stood and tugged him to his feet. “Let’s go, Dar.”

"As you wish, Seyla," Darwin draped an arm about her waist and went where she led him. He brought his misgivings along for the walk.

* * * Darwin’s Quarters * * *

“...better?” Seyla’s fingers continued to knead Darwin’s muscles as she sat astride his back on the bed. The air around them was scented with a heady mix of the massage oil she used and her own pheromones. Leaning forward slightly, she pressed her palms into the muscles of his (very large) shoulders.

“Mmm...,” he moaned in response. Physically, yeah, everything was better; mentally? Not so much. His first thought was of Amber. “You have some stellar hands, Seyla. Even without the pheromones, you could turn most men into putty in them.”

“I know.” She smiled, but it faded a few seconds later. “You need to come back to now, Dar. What will it take?”

He looked over his shoulder at her, then twisted and shifted till he was on his back and she was still straddling him. “I don’t know, Sey,” he admitted, again. “Maybe more of that thing you do with your tongue...?” He grinned slyly.

“Sure.” She leaned in closer, steadfastly refusing to think about the fact that the fantasies in their heads were of different people entirely.

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

Lt. Gilroy
Lt. M. Darwin
Seyla
Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave