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Lounge - Post Dinner Rush

Posted Nov. 23, 2019, 10:21 p.m. by Lieutenant Commander Stark Nightstalker (Chief Intelligence Officer) (Ian Kerby)

Posted by Civilian Marishka (Lounge Host) in Lounge - Post Dinner Rush

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Stark Nightstalker (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Lounge - Post Dinner Rush

Posted by Civilian Marishka (Lounge Host) in Lounge - Post Dinner Rush
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
snip
Marishka watched Orvos go for a few seconds. He was good at his job, no doubt about that. But he was also infuriating. Those two qualities always conspired against Marishka and she simply couldn’t have that.

Turning back to Stark, she smiled and lowered her voice considerably.

“And just what type of friends should we be Commander?” she asked playfully.

  • Marishka

Stark looked at her and his eyes were as dark as the universe is deep. “You’ll come to understand that I have no friends. My relationships are either indifference or total loyalty to the point of death. Ghubari needs you and so you fit into category two”.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Obviously Stark had misunderstood her but the cold shock of his words settled in her fiery heart.

“Oh I understand you and I but I was curious about Orvos and myself. What kind of friends should we be?” she asked with a vicious smile.

  • Marishka

“But I don’t understand you…” Stark said realising now what she had meant by the first question, “I can’t answer your question on any level because I cannot understand you. Your motivations and goals are so emotively mercurial and elemental that I find you unpredictable in the extreme. As someone who knows Orvos I think you’ll find that he, nor I could ever fully trust anyone that we cannot predict at least to some degree. We both have been in situations where people have behaved just as you have right from the start and the end result has been anxiety and outright pain whereas we two have faced death together and forged a relationship through it. You seem to take nothing seriously except sensuality and whether we have misjudged you in that will be irrelevant until both of us feel that you can take us and especially him seriously”.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Marishka regarded him calmly. He had made some very excellent points.

“You are correct. You don’t know me and that is a blessing and a curse, I suppose, for all of us. Whatever my mercurial nature may be, I have a loyal heart. I’m only fickle on the surface. I do what suits me because usually that is the necessary thing. I have faced death many times and I will probably do so again. Whether it is with either one of you remains to be seen.” Marishka’s voice was dead calm as she spoke to Stark. He couldn’t see the visions behind her eyes which was probably for the best.

  • Marishka

“Ahhhh,” he said slowly holding her gaze with his own, “Now we begin the journey to understanding. Would you permit me a personal question to aid us on the journey? I’m more than happy to reciprocate but there’s something about you that I’m sensing and I want to know whether I’m right or completely off base”.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Marishka was pleased that he didn’t get up and walk away. That had happened several times in similar scenarios.

“Ask what you will. I will not lie to you but I may refuse to answer.”

She had said the same thing to Julien and look where that had gotten them.

  • Marishka

“Thank you,” Stark said his eyes curious, “I have come to see that many of my mannerisms are designed to keep me safe and at arm’s length from others, I was wondering if the superficial seductress mannerism you espouse is also designed to keep people on the backfoot and yourself safe… or is it more elemental to your makeup?”

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Marishka hadn’t been certain what type of question Stark would ask but that was a very good one. And no matter what role she was playing, it was one she could answer.

“Growing up in my household, surrounded by a few Orion women and many Klingon men, I guess you could say it’s elemental to my nature. It also takes me where I need to be and helps me accomplish whatever it is I need to.”

Marishka set aside her chopsticks and finished her tea.

“There are many facets to who and what I am.” she finished.

  • Marishka

“I don’t doubt it,” Stark said with a wry smile, “It’s amazing to me that with so many different natures, cultures and habits on a ship that we can find a way to understand each other at all.”

“I apologize if I sounded blunt before, but I get fed up with innuendo, half-truths and what they calling “beating around the bush”. I’m really much better at killing people than I am at talking to them… present company excluded of course”.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Marishka laughed and smiled thinking ‘Ah yes, you say that now.’ she wanted to quip.

“I suppose I can understand. When one part of your nature is called on more than another it can be incredibly frustrating. There is always a little truth in what I say. I suspect most people are intelligent enough to find it but lazy enough not to want too. Present company excluded of course.”

  • Marishka

Stark smiled, “Truth within jest, blunt innuendo, heart hidden on the sleeve, you’ve obviously been through hell and back, as have I, as has Orvos. His frustration with you is a compliment by the way, most people he simply ignores, you should be flattered”.

Stark Nightstalker CIO


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