Post by Admin on Apr 7, 2016 23:57:30 GMT
"Blurred Lines"
Postby FSF Eris » Wed Oct 09, 2013 11:14 pm
Julia sat at an upscale bar at her Risan resort, looking out from the top floor over a dimming sunset and the sparkling skyline of the city beyond. It was one of the more costly bars at the resort, and certainly (intentionally) beyond the credit budget she had allocated to the senior staff... but then again, Julia had not had to pay a cover charge since, well, ever.
She had spoken with approximately six of the men milling about the bar over the last hour or so, to her dissatisfaction finding every one of them already besotted with their Risan callgirls, girlfriends, or, worst of all, wives. This was horrible.
She finally retreated to the bar for another scotch, adjusting her tight skirt a little as she took up residence on the barstool. This was certainly not how she had envisioned the night progressing. Had she entirely lost her appeal? Recent evidence pointed strongly to the contrary.
Another new officer, to her satisfaction the CO from the Miami, joined the crowd at the bar. Draining her most recent double, she slapped on another quick coat of lipstick and start making her way towards him through the crowd.
She wouldn’t have noticed Atton’s entrance, her back turned to the door as the Betazoid entered the bar. He’d discovered this exclusive spot the last time Aquarius had been on Risa, and now that he was returning as a full Commander, the jeers were all but non-existent. Taking a seat at the end of the bar, he ordered a Samarian Sunrise, and proceeded to scan the room. Various socialites and the occasional Starfleet officer populated to the room. Sipping his orange drink he pondered his options and found them lacking, disappointing him greatly. The art of seduction usually served him well to distract him from his own problems, and none of these women appealed to him.
There was however a woman chatting up the CO of the Miami on the opposite end of the bar. From the look of her backside, she had potential but…if emotions had a scent, she stank of desperation. He continued to watch the exchange for a moment, furrowing his brow as he sipped, a weird sense of familiarity running through him.
Meeting up with old friends should have always been nice. But it was not -- not when they were gushing over their new wife, and did Julia have a husband yet, and that was too bad that she didn't. Missing the point, utterly. After finishing off that pointless conversation as quickly as possible, she nearly stalked back over towards the bartender, quirking a finger at him. "Another," she demanded, taking a seat and taking deep, calming breaths.
Atton's amusement faded instantly as the conversation ended and his potential conquest turned to reveal herself. "By the four deities..." he muttered, shocked for the first time in a long time. He bounced off his barstool so fast it nearly fell over.
"Thanks, I'll take that." He nodded to the bartender, taking the scotch off the bar before Julia could grab it.
She swatted at his arm and wrist, lunging rather inelegantly after her scotch. "That is mine," she complained. "And I want it back."
"I think not. I don't consider myself a thief, so I'll pay you back in 7 months." He gave her a contemptuous look before downing the scotch in several swigs, exhaling with a disgusted look. "I don't know how you drink this, or why. What in the seven hells are you doing here?"
"I was..." Her thoughts flitted back to the attractive CO of Miami, whose name, frankly, she was forgetting at the moment. She was not forgetting how ripped he was, however. "I was networking."
She glared fully at him. "You are not my doctor, the father of this child, nor are you in any position to tell me how to conduct myself. Order me another."
He returned the glare with even more ice. "I don't care who you pull into your bedchambers tonight Julia, but you're done drinking. NOW."
He looked her over, gauging her inebriation. "Gods you're disgusting."
She was somewhere between breaking into tears and decking him. It would serve him right if he had a broken nose. "Could you keep your voice down? Just because I need to..." Crossing her arms, she did her best to lower her own tone. "What I do with myself is none of your damned business."
He leaned into her, lowering his tone, but adding more bile to his words. "You're pregnant Julia. It's becoming pathetic that I need to keep reminding you, but until you get that fact through your skull I will make what you do my damned business."
He grabbed her wrist, trying to lead her off the barstool. "We're leaving. Now."
Julia gave him a look of ice, gripping the bar to resist his pull. "I am going nowhere. I have affairs which I must tend this evening, and I will not have my childish new XO coming in and acting like he is on personal security detail. You are off duty," she reminded, finally fending off his grasp on her wrist and thumping him in a rather exaggerated fashion. "I have certain needs, no thanks to you and no thanks to being pregnant, and I will see to them as I... well, as I see fit."
"It's not my fault you have such piss poor judgement to make me XO, or to drink while you're pregnant, or to try to get bedded like some drunken whore."
He looked her over. "Oh yes, it's emanating off you like an Orion bitch in heat. I don't care if you need to blow off some steam, but we're getting this alcohol out of your system before it does real damage to your pregnancy. Now...you can leave with me now, and preserve a thread of dignity, or I will sully your good name across the entirety of Risa."
Her jaw stiffened with anger, and her eyes flashed. "How dare you speak to your captain in such a way?" She glared for a few seconds, then finally shook her head and turned back to the bar. "All I want is sex. All I can think about is sex. And all I want to do is have sex. And after that planet, and the fact that I cannot find a single man in this bar who apparently wants to have sex, I need scotch more than I need to breathe." Pointing with her chin down the bar, she pointed out a Vulcan. "That one apparently only beds other males. The one next to him? Girlfriend in the dancing center. As if I were not a better choice than a whorish Orion. And that one..." She pointed outright this time at a fairly unattractive human. "He thought I looked like his ex-wife, and said rude things about my morals."
He continued to look at the unattractive one. "Well, I think I like him best," He turned back to her. "I weep for you Julia, I really do. That you somehow managed to find a batch of three guys who wouldn't sleep with you. Gods, I'd sleep with you. Not in this state but..."
He sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's not the point. Once you're sober I'll buy you the prettiest whore on all of Risa if it satisfies you for gods sake."
She stared at him, clearly trying to sink all of his words into her alcohol-infused brain. "Like you would have the nerve to try." She smirked. "I am not desperate and I am not sleeping with one of my crew. And as for whores, I do not sleep with other women. Mister Jetrel," she finally said, poking him again in the arm to emphasize her point. "I am not the science officer." She frowned, motioning over the bartender hurriedly. "Listen. Why do you not leave and find yourself someone to bed, and leave me alone."
He rolled his eyes, waving the bartender off again. "Whatever, I'll get you a man whore then. I'll leave when you're coming with me. I didn't convince you not to abort the baby just so you can give him fetal alcohol syndrome." He spat with a measure of disgust.
"I am not giving it fet--" She stopped, staring at him with sudden focus. "Him?"
"Yes," He replied. "It's still early, and these sorts of things are never one hundred percent accurate. There are plenty of variances, but I'm fairly certain it's a boy."
ulia was grinning before he finished the words, resting an elbow on the bar and not even trying not to look pleased with herself. "Thank the gods. I can scarcely believe it. I... am going to have a son." She finally wrangled the grin down to a smirk, forgetting all about how annoyed with her XO she was. "My very own little Marcus."
"Yes well, no empire if you're drunk. Now come on."
She sighed, relenting. "Fine. But I am coming back here."
"The hell you are," he said with a stern look, waiting for her.
"I will have something analcoholic," she replied, firmly. "But I am coming back here and you cannot stop me."
Begrudgingly, she slid out of the chair, more than a little unsteady, and tugged on the hem of her skirt before heading after him.
He watched her walk towards him at the door with a deep frown. She finally, wobbly, reached him, and he sighed deeply, extending his arm. "Take my arm, unless you really want to look the part on the way."
She swatted his arm away, balancing as best as she could in her heels. "What if someone saw?"
He scowled, his features taking a look of general offense. "If you'd rather look like a complete drunk than stoop to being on my arm fine. Let's go."
Starting down the corridor, her heel caught on the edge of the first step down, and she stopped. With a rather overdramatic sigh, she grabbed his elbow without comment. "Where are we going?" she asked. "I will not be seen in the Medbay asking for anti-inebriants."
"Consider youself lucky your horrible XO keeps a stash." He kept her upright with some annoyance as they walked. "You're also lucky we're close to my suite."
"We are? That is lucky. And convenient." For getting back to the bar in particular.
"Julia..." He warned, glancing to her. "You can't be so drunk as to forget I'm a telepath. I don't know if I have that many hypos."
She sighed again. "I told you I would not drink more. You do not have to be cruel, you know. I can monitor my own alcohol intake."
"Obviously you can't," He almost spat, rounding a corner that lead them to a row of elevators. He let her stand on her own while he moved to push the call button, before turning to face her. "This would be gods damned laughable if a child wasn't involved."
She frowned, looking more hurt than angry. "I did not mean to cause him any harm." Stepping into the lift, she looked away. "Really, I would not. It just... it has been so difficult."
He pushed the call button to his floor, not looking at her. "Well, there are other means of coping with your difficulties. I wouldn't have to be such a heartless bastard right now if told me, or anyone else your problems."
"I do not exactly have that luxury, Mister Jetrel," she answered, quietly. "Privileges of the captaincy." She swallowed hard, looking straight ahead. "I truly have made a mess of things, have I not?"
"Oh, beyond words Julia, beyond words." He assured her as the lift doors opened, and they made their way to his suite. "You know, I understand the chain of command, and I respect the need for the Captain to have an acceptable distance from the crew, but you need someone or something for support. You can't be Captain Quintus 24/7, and I'm capable of keeping secrets."
"Yes, I can," she argued, but it lacked much force. "It is my job to be Captain Quintus. And scotch has been a fine support in the past." She rubbed at her eyes, following him mostly in silence.
Well, you can't use that anymore. At least not for a while." He sighed, waving his hand over the little receptacle on the door, biometric scanners unlocking and swinging the door open. "After you."
She leaned on the doorframe a little as she passed by, heading inside and looking around the suite. Funny -- she had not expected such a classy room for her XO. "Where are the stims?"
"In the bedroom." He walked ahead of her, ordering on various lights on dimmed, so as to create ambience that didn't overpower. Once in his room, he opened the closet, kneeling in to open a case within.
Any misgivings she might have had were quickly disappearing in wake of the fact that she was very dizzy and needed to sit. Perching on the edge of the bed, she wiped at her eyes more earnestly, trying not to let Atton, of all people, see her this weak. "You know," she said quietly, "I really do not know who the father is. You can mind-read me. I do not know. There are possibilities, but..." She shrugged. "What kind of mother cannot even tell her son what sort of father he has? I cannot well be a good captain if I am a horrible person."
Leaning into the closet, going through his medical case, he let out a deep sigh. "I'm not the ship's counselor Julia," He stood, hypo in hand. "If you're having this much turmoil over your pregnancy, you should take it up with a professional. As for your captaincy...Gods...as much as I hate to say this to you, you're a fine officer. Better then fine actually. When I was still...wet behind the ears, I even idolized you."
His look hardened until he was almost staring her down. "You utter that to another soul, and I'll make sure everyone from here to Magna Roma knows of your bar antics."
She wiped at her eyes a little bit. "Really?" she asked, smiling a little in spite of how horrendous it might have been to be in such a predicament. "I mean, thank you... but you do not get to make threats to my reputation!"
He scowled, pushing her head back to he could apply the hypo to her neck. "You're beyond belief Julia. You should be singing my praises. Any sane man would have reported you by now." He sighed deeply, dropping his head in shame.
"I really do appreciate it," she said a bit more mildly, tolerating the hypo if not immediately sobering up from it. "Though... Starfleet does not exactly tend to fire its inebriated commanders. There would be none left if it did. But... thank you, Atton."
"So you are capable of saying it." He said with a bit of smirk, despite his highly aggravated mood. "If you really do appreciate it, you'll stop this. I'm not going to rescue you next time. You'll have to live with the consequences."
Giving him a bit of a guilty look, she sighed loudly. "I will not. I promise."
"Good," He replied, pulling a his usual suspicious-smelling cigar out of his breast pocket, lighting it. "I can't say I know what the medical rules on this is, but I at least need some medication for all this."
"I..." She looked at the cigar with slight confusion. "I do not think centering is the best idea for me, Mister Jetrel."
"Suit yourself," He shrugged her off, moving to open a window to allow some ventilation. "I've found it a great tool for relaxation, which is something you could certainly use."
"I suspect my son would prefer that I not center." She smirked, finally starting to sober up -- and not particularly enjoying it. "And I do not need to relax."
He gave her a look. A look that said yes, I'm sure he prefers you getting sloppy drunk and whoring around an upscale bar. How he held the words back, he did not know. That's right. I nearly forgot why you were there in the first place. I don't even need my telepathy to tell me what my proposition would get me..." He sighed again. "I'll go get you some water. You need to hydrate." He said, exiting the bedroom.
Julia tried very, very hard not to think about to which sort of proposition he might be referring, curling up in the bed. Apparently he had invested in a suite with plenty of plush pillows. That was rather nice. Gods. The other problem with sobering up was the fact that she was no longer of the belief that going to bars was still the... best course of action. Examining the sheets, she smiled slightly.
"Atton... I do not think I will be returning to the bar. I think I have what I need here, actually."
He paused, a few steps outside the bedroom. She couldn't mean what he thought she meant, could she? He pondered the idea, while resisting the urge to simply read her. Doing so with non telepath species ruined half the fun. Still, he'd be a fool not to try for it.
"Well, I'm glad to see you've finally made a good decision tonight," He half stumbled into the bedroom, his shirt already coming off over his head, preventing his vision. "I do have to admit I'm a degree away from shocked."
Julia was already flopped onto her side, an arm neatly tucked under her head, and unless she had a side career as an actress, she was extremely asleep -- still in her dress, and with the sheets pulled up almost to her neck.
"Julia?" He asked at her lack of response. He slowly walked to her, the worst case scenario quickly becoming a reality. "You better not be...oh, you are. Of course you are. Of course you f*cking are." He spat out to no one in particular.
He resisted the urge to scream, but let out a low, disappointed groan when the realization that now even sleeping in his bed was denied to him. With a huff he stormed out, still shirtless, determined to blackout this entire night.