Let's Have Another Round Tonight

Posted on Jun 25, 2016 @ 8:42pm by Raxl Dreyton
Edited on on Jun 25, 2016 @ 8:44pm

Mission: Fortress: Earth

= Let’s Have Another Round Tonight =

(cont’d from “Now You See Me”)

LOCATION: San Francisco, EARTH

SCENE: Restaurant Patio

STARDATE: [2.16] 0625.1630

As predicted, the restaurant had filled to capacity. The lunch rush seemed to be in full effect; Rax could see waiters carrying trays of sandwiches, salads, and other, lighter fare milling around the patio area. The food looked good - a multi-layered club sandwich elicited a particularly jealous rumble from Rax’s stomach - but they were here for business, not pleasure. The restaurant’s maitre d’ was already giving them a snooty look as they approached. Selyara took the lead, stepping up to the sour faced man and favoring him with a wide smile.

“Please tell me you can squeeze in two more for lunch,” she said, but the maitre d’ had already put up his hand to stop her.

“Absolutely impossible, miss,” he said, wrinkling his nose at the pair of them. “As I’m sure you can see, we are quite full up.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Selyara said. “There’s open seating everywhere.”

She gestured, not directly at their quarry, but in his general direction. The maitre d’ didn’t take his eyes off her.

“I’m sorry, miss,” the maitre d’ said, undeterred. “I recommend making reservations next time. We are quite popular at this time of day.”

Selyara stuck out her lower lip in a convincing pout. She turned to look over her shoulder at Raxl, who took this as his cue and stepped forward. The maitre d’ shifted his gaze to Rax, but other than that he did not move. Rax leaned against the man’s podium and gave him an agreeable smile.

“Listen, buddy,” he said. “She has her heart set on some apple walnut chicken something or other you serve here, and she goes home without it I’m never going to hear the end of it,” Rax said. He glanced over his shoulder at Selyara, who still stood there pouting at them from a few paces away. Rax looked back to the maitre d’ and whispered, “You know how they can be.”

“I know nothing of the sort,” the maitre d’ snorted. “Now I’ve already told you we have no more room. Now I must insist you leave.”

“Oh, come on,” Rax said. “What if we get someone to share their table, huh? That wouldn’t be so bad, right?”

“Sir, I don’t think-” the maitre d’ started, but Rax was already on a roll. He turned, and his eyes lit on the nearest table with but a single occupant. The lone man was sipping a glass of wine, his attention riveted on a PADD propped up on the table in front of him. Rax pointed at the man.

“What about him?” he said. “He’ll let us sit with him.”

“That will be perfect,” Selyara said.

“Sir, I must insist-” the maitre d’ repeated, but Rax had already stepped away from the podium and was walking towards the table, with Selyara close behind. The maitre d’ stepped around his podium, then promptly tangled himself up in the fronds of one of the large potted ferns set to either side of the restaurant’s front entrance. By the time he had extricated himself, the maitre d’ was mortified to see that Rax and Selyara had reached their target. The table’s sole occupant was looking up at them, blinking his eyes as if he’d just been awoken from some deep sleep.

“Hey there, fella, sorry to be a bother but can you help us out?” Rax was saying. “My partner and I wanted to pop in for a quick bite, but they’re saying they’re full up, and I noticed you’ve got nobody sitting with you so I thought maybe we could share your table? I promise we’ll be in and out.”

“We’ll even get you another glass of wine as a thank you,” Selyara chimed in.

“Well, I… I don’t…” the man said.

The maitre d’ had finally caught up with them, and he forcibly inserted himself between Rax and the table’s sole occupant. The maitre d’ glared up at Rax, his eyes narrowed.

“Who do you think you are?” he demanded. “Now you will stop bothering our guests and leave at once, or I will have no choice but to contact Federation security!”

The mention of the black-shirted thugs that had so recently taking up the job of “protecting” the citizens of Earth caught the lone man’s attention. His eyebrows raised noticeably, and suddenly he was standing up.

“Now now,” the man said reasonably. “There’s no harm done. It doesn’t seem my partner will be joining me for lunch anyway. I suppose I clear out and make room-”

“There are *other* customers waiting for your table, sir,” the maitre d’ pointed out.

“Please, don’t let us chase you off,” Selyara said. She reached out to rest her hand affectionately over his, and her eyes sparkled. “Sit. Please.”

The man blinked again, but a moment later he was sinking back into his chair. The maitre d’ looked shocked, and his eyes cut suspiciously back and forth between Rax, Selyara, and the lone diner. Rax and Selyara had already moved to fill the empty seats at the man’s table. Rax looked up at the maitre d’.

“Can you bring us some menus?” he asked.

The maitre d’ opened his mouth, then closed it abruptly. He gave Rax and Selyara a final, withering glance, then turned primly on his heel and headed back towards his podium. Along the way, he caught the eye of a busboy and gestured contemptuously back in Rax and Selyara’s direction.

“Thank you so much,” Selyara was saying. “You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to lunching here.”

“Oh, not at all,” the man said, still sounding bewildered. “It’s, ah, quite good.”

“An understatement, of course,” Selyara beamed. “Best food in the city, in my opinion. Though we haven’t been here long. My name is Aella Navarron, and my insistent companion is--”

“Chuck Finlay,” Rax cut in quickly, ignoring the split-second icy stare he receive from Selyara. If there were code names to go around, he wanted to make sure he was in charge of his own. Rax reached out a hand to their companion and flashed a toothy grin. “Pleased to share your table, fella.”

“Stephen Flass,” the man said, accepting Rax’s proffered hand. “So, what, ah… what brings you to San Francisco?”

“Business brought us,” Rax said. He pointed a thumb up towards the sky. “That’s what’s keeping us here.”

“Shh,” Selyara said, giving him a mildly reproachful look. “You promised, no more complaining about things we can’t change.”

Rax put up his hands in surrender. “I know, I know… but he asked, didn’t he?”

“You’re referring to the Aegis shield,” Stephen said, looking a little uncomfortable.

“Oh, please don’t get him started,” Selyara said, but she subtly flicked her eyes to Rax. Rax took her meaning and pressed ahead.

“Aegis shield,” he repeated with a snort. “Wrongful imprisonment, is what it is. Kidnapping, maybe.”

Stephen looked around, worried that someone might overhear, and leaned in closer to Rax.

“Mr. Finlay,” he said quietly. “Best not to talk about such things in public.”

“Why not?” Rax asked. “It’s a free planet, isn’t it? Goes right in with what I’m talking about, how do they have the right to restrict traffic--”

A waiter approached their tableside, holding two menus, inked in fancy calligraphy and printed on sturdy card stock. Most places these days simply used PADDs for their menus - much easier to update with changing menu items and specials - but the old fashioned paper menus were part of this restaurant’s unique aesthetic. As the waiter lay the menus down on the tabletop, he frowned at Raxl.

“I have to ask you to lower your voice, sir,” the waiter said quietly. “You are disturbing our other patrons.”

“Now see what you’ve done,” Selyara said, frowning to Rax. “You’re going to get us kicked out, Charles.”

“I’ll be good,” Rax said, first to Selyara and then to the waiter. “Really. Won’t hear another peep out of me.”

The waiter did not seem satisfied by this promise, but he left them alone again. Rax made a show of looking contrite (though he reached for one of the menus while doing so), and Selyara looked at Stephen with a rueful smile.

“Please forgive him,” she said. “He can be very passionate when it comes to politics. I don’t have a taste for it, myself.”

“I feel the same way,” Stephen said, smiling at her reassuringly. “My partner, Leonard, works in politics. It keeps him so busy, and when we can find time to spend together, it’s all ‘work work work’ all the time.”

“Isn’t it awful?” Selyara laughed. Rax noticed her reaching out and gently settling her hand over Stephen’s once more. The gesture was playful, light, not something that would attract attention… but Rax understood the implications. No command, no directive, just suggestions:

**Don’t you like us?**

**Don’t you want to talk?**

“It can be tiresome,” Stephen was saying. “But I suppose that passion is part of what attracts us, isn’t it?”

For a moment, Selyara was confused. “I’m sorry?” she asked.

“Me to Leonard, and you to Mr. Finlay here,” Stephen said. Selyara’s puzzlement was contagious; it spread quickly across Stephen’s face, as he shifted his eyes between Rax and Selyara.

Selyara, meanwhile, had understood his implication. “You think we--” she started.

“You got us wrong, Steve,” Rax said, cutting in quickly. He wasn’t sure how Selyara was planning to finish that sentence, but he had a feeling the end of it wasn’t going to do his self-esteem any favors. “Aella and I are business partners. Nothing more.”

“Oh, I see,” Stephen said, his cheeks flushing slightly. “I’m sorry, I just assumed.”

“No harm done,” Rax said. “Makes sense when you think about it, I suppose. Good looking guy like me.”

He glanced at Selyara, his eyes twinkling. For an instant, he thought he could see annoyance creeping in at the edges of her eyes, but then she flashed another dazzling smile that lit up her face, chasing away the coldness that usually hardened her features.

“Now Charles,” she said. “You know I like my men a little more intellectual.”

This won a polite laugh from Stephen. Rax made a show of clutching his heart. He leaned away from her in his chair and towards Stephen’s.

“She wounds me,” Rax said. “You see how she treats me, Steve?”

“You bring it on yourself,” said Selyara.

The waiter came back to take their order. Rax ordered the multi-layered club sandwich he’d seen earlier. Selyara ordered the salad she’d mentioned at the door, while Stephen contented himself with a refill of his wine glass. The conversation had gone smoothly so far - surprisingly, both Selyara and Raxl found they were enjoying themselves, though whether it Stephen’s company or one another’s that they were enjoying was something they weren’t quite sure of. They kept the discussion light, moving quickly from topic to topic in that way new acquaintances do, and never focusing too long on any one thing. Their food came and went, they emptied their wine glasses and ordered refills. Rax was starting to catch a rather pleasant buzz when Selyara decided to move in for the kill.

“So, Stephen,” she said. “You said your partner is a politician? What does he do?”

“Not a politician himself,” Stephen said, sipping at his wine. “More of an aide, really. Oh, but a very important one, I don’t mean to say he isn’t successful.”

“He’s got you, hasn’t he?” Rax said, patting Stephen affectionately on the back. “He must be quite a catch.”

“Who does he work for?” Selyara asked.

“Oh, I don’t know if I should say,” Stephen said, waving this off. “He takes his job very seriously, and he doesn’t like being fussed over.”

“Aw, come on,” Rax said. “Who are we going to tell?”

“Well,” Stephen said, considering it. “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you, is there? Leonard is the personal aide to Admiral Edgerton.”

Rax and Selyara each made a show of widening their eyes in shock.

“The head of Starfleet?” Selyara asked, her voice just above a whisper. “You are kidding.”

“I’m not,” Stephen said, trying not to swell with pride. “Leonard’s a very important man in the hierarchy. No official rank, but privy to the private thoughts and musings of leader of the Federation.”

Rax whistled. “That’s some job.”

Stephen nodded. “And it leaves precious little time for a personal life, I’m afraid.” He picked up his wine glass and drained it.

“Has he heard anything about the traitor fleet?” Selyara asked, leaning in close to stymie any eavesdroppers. “You don’t know when travel from Earth may be allowed again, do you?”

“Oh no,” Stephen said, shaking his head. “Leonard doesn’t discuss those kinds of things with me, they’re all strictly confidential.”

“Of course,” Selyara said, her eyes dropping to the table in the requisite show of polite disappointment.

“Must weigh on him, though,” Rax said. “Carrying around all those secrets. Might make some kind of distant.”

Stephen sighed. “Sometimes, yes. He and I… we had an agreement. We would try to meet here, for lunch, whenever he could get away. But he comes less and less often. I haven’t even seen him in two days.”

“Oh, but that’s terrible!” Selyara said. “You must be worried sick, with everything that’s been going on!”

“We’re safe,” Stephen said. “Under the Aegis Shield.”

“But to not even have time for you,” Selyara continued. “He deserves better. And so do you, for that matter.”

“It’s not all bad,” Stephen said, smiling ruefully. “He’s wonderful when he is around. And I know he loves me. It’s just… things have been so confused, ever since the Romulans invaded. Every time I see Leonard, he just seems more and more harried.”

“Sounds like he could use a night off,” Rax said.

Stephen laughed. “Yes, he used to love to go out. He loves people. He’d love the pair of you, now I think of it.”

“Then you must introduce us,” Selyara said, matter-of-factly. “We can make a night of it. You both need a chance to relax, blow off some steam.”

But Stephen was already shaking his head. “Leonard would never--”

Selyara reached over to close her hands around Stephen’s.

“One night off won’t be the end of the world,” she said. “If he’s as important as you say he is, he’ll have the leverage to insist on it.”

Stephen’s eyes went distant, and for a moment Rax was worried that Selyara had overdone it. He watched as Selyara released Stephen’s hand and sat back in her chair. Her expression was one of polite interest, but Rax had known Selyara long enough at this point to know that she was paying fierce attention to what Stephen would do next.

“Well…” Stephen said quietly.

Rax had never worked as a salesman, but he’d known his Ferengi companion Brak long enough to have picked up a few of the tricks of the trade. When closing a deal, the first one to speak is the loser. Rax didn’t know if that was an official Rule of Acquisition, but he decided it probably ought to be.

“Okay,” Stephen said finally. His expression brightened immediately, as if he was glad to have been talked into it. “You’re right. Leonard had worked so hard for so long. We deserve a night together. And I just know he’ll adore you both.”

“It’s a date,” Selyara said, flashing one of her dazzling smiles again. “Shall we say tomorrow night?”

“I’ll contact Leonard this evening and have him make the arrangements,” Stephen nodded.

They traded contact information (Selyara had a number of dummy identities to use for occasions such as this, including one for the Aella Navarron alias she’d been using when Rax had first met her on LIMBO), and reluctantly parted. Stephen seemed to have truly enjoyed their lunch, and Rax had to admit it hadn’t been as awful as he’d been expecting. They remained seated at the table for a few minutes, watching as Stephen strolled across the street and disappeared around a corner.

“You did well,” Selyara said, finally.

“Of course I did,” Rax said, grinning at her. “It’s not like this is the first time I’ve been your mouthpiece.”

He was referring, of course, to the tense negotiations he’d entered into with Harad-Sar, back on LIMBO. Back then, Selyara had been pretending to be Aella, and Rax, who’d been after her bounty at the time, had unwittingly teamed up with her. Those talks had gone well enough, and Stephen Flass was certainly not as intimidating as the Orion crime lord Harad-Sar had been.

“He suggested we were a couple,” Selyara observed casually.

“Yeah, about that,” Rax said. “You didn’t have to look quite so disgusted.”

Selyara blinked. “Come again?”

“I mean, I clean up okay,” Rax said. “I ain’t the most stable guy in the galaxy, I admit, but I gotta be better than some of the people you’ve been with.”

He knew it was mostly the wine talking, but he couldn’t help himself. It wasn’t that he wanted her, exactly - intellectually, he understood there was no chance the two of them could ever work as a couple. It was just that she could be so *cold*... and yet, every now and then, he thought he could see genuine warmth inside her, too. In spite of everything, Rax had come to consider Selyara a friend… and he knew, somewhere deep down, she must be starting to feel the same way, even as he knew that it would be hell itself trying to get her to admit it.

“That’s hardly a compliment,” Selyara said. “Where is this coming from all of a sudden? We’re working a job, Mr. Dreyton, or did you forget?”

“Rax,” Rax sighed. “Haven’t I told enough of your lies yet to be on a first-name basis with you?”

That came out harsher than Raxl had intended - part of that was the wine’s fault, but part of it wasn’t.

Selyara absorbed this without a change of expression, but Rax had a feeling the cheap shot had hit pretty close to home. She sat in silence for a moment, her eyes on the tabletop. Then, she looked up at him suddenly.

“You’re right,” she said. “I am… not the easiest person to work with. And you’ve been a good sport so far.”

“Good sport,” Rax said. “I’m like a piece of luggage you drag around with you.”

“But a very dependable piece of luggage,” Selyara said, smiling a little. It was a warm smile, not like the calculated ones she’d been flashing at Stephen. “And I have not been as appreciative of that as I might have been. So. Thank you. Rax.”

“Aw,” Rax said, waving this off. “Wasn’t nothing. It’s the wine.”

“Ditto,” Selyara said, her eyes sparkling. “I’m sure I won’t even remember this conversation tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry,” Rax grinned. “I’ll remind you.”

=[/\]=

NRPG: Just a lot of gab gab gabbing away, when are things going to start blowing up? ;-)

ALIX: Hope I did okay with Selyara!

Shawn Putnam

A.k.a.

Raxl Dreyton

Bounty Hunter and Raconteur

And

Jake Crichton

Chief Engineering Officer

USS PHOENIX