Judgement – Foundations of Doubt
by (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton
Post Details
::ON::
If there was one thing Ai'lani learned about non-Deltans, it was that they were very good at acting. This was quite apparent when he walked into the Box of Delights that night and found it to be bursting with life. Everyone there was laughing, including the staff, who look as jovial and fun as ever. And if Ai'lani hadn't been empathic, he may have even believed their little ruse. There was a lot of pain underneath all that laughing, the remorse of Klia's death still weighing heavily on them.
He'd agreed to meet Kaelin that night in the Box, but he'd arrived much earlier than necessary, a bad habit he'd picked up during his years of trying to beat other journalists to story sources. Or maybe it was a good habit, since before that he was late to practically everything. Not one to dwell on things like this, he proceeded to get a drink. Trying his best to cheer Pel up a little bit in the process, he finished it and walked around the bar for a while, looking at the activity.
Edward Stapleton was doing his best to behave as if he liked this. As newest Croupier, the other Dabo Boys told him that He had to act as if he was falling in love --or lust, if that seemed more appropriate-- with every woman at his Dabo wheel. Internally, he was mortified. First of all, he was dressed as some sort of 20th century Erroll Flynn; but more than that, he was watching the door, anxious that his wife was going to enter and find him like this.
It was during one of those surreptitious glances toward that door that he saw Ai'lani walk in. Not knowing a Deltan from any other race, he thought the being was human. Bald head, which didn't look too bad on the guy, actually. Edward had occasionally talked about shaving his head bald, but Bridged had always objected. His distraction didn't last long, as his arm was stroked by the woman sitting next to him at the wheel, and he had to turn his plastic smile and fake bedroom eyes back on.
Ai'lani walked around the Box, observing everyone there. His eyes finally felt on the nearby Dabo table and the Dabo...boy? standing there. ~Well that's a sight,~ he admitted, watching the old(er) human flirting with the woman playing. Or trying to anyway. He couldn't help but cover his mouth to keep the laughter in. Feeling he had to see this up close, he eagerly walked over and pulled some of his chips out. He never really gambled, but he doubted he'd ever see this again. Striding up to the table where the Dabo "boy" was entertaining two ladies, he grinned at them. "Hello there!" he greeted in his usual happy tone.
"Ahh, ladies, do you welcome competition for your affections? This handsome young lad will have you eating out of his hands no doubt, within an hour," Edward said, in his best impression of a carnival barker.
In point of fact, Edward wasn't too far off the mark. The women took one look at Ai'lani, and their smiles doubled. One of the two, the older one, boldly scooted her stool closer to Ai'lani and batted her eyes at him. She had to be ninety if she was a day.
But Ai'lani, to Edward's surprise, didn't seem repulsed. "Hi," he told her in a friendly tone before looking up at Edward. He flashed him a dazzling smile. "And you're new, aren't you?"
The backs of Edward's knees tingled. ~What the hell?~ he thought. He only got that kind of reaction when... well... It certainly didn't happen around other men, that's for sure.
"Uh, yes, Edward Stapleton, at your service," he said, bending forward and making a bow, with a flourish of arms. He never took his eyes off Ai'lani. Something about this was just plain wierd, and he could feel his body responding in ways it shouldn't be.
"Edward..." Ai'lani said the name, trying it out. "Alright, Edward, I'm placing a bet," he said, putting his slips down and looking up at him with a look of expectation on his face.
~Baby, I bet you are~ came Edward's thought, unbidden. He could've slapped himself for even thinking it. He was committed to Bridget, and while he sometimes struggled with straying eyes, he'd never acted on it.
"Alright, dear ladies, adorable ladies," with effort, he grinned at the woman on his left, who was practically drooling. But not at him. Her focus was on Ai'lani. "Place your bets, ladies. Will you side with the handsome stranger here? Maybe rub his shining dome for luck?" ~Oh my god, I can't believe I just said that~ he thought.
Ai'lani burst out laughing at that. He looked up at Edward, shaking his head. "You are a very bad man, Edward" he playfully scolded him, shaking his head as he gave him a mischievous look. "Isn't he?" he asked the woman on his left. She beamed at him. "You have no idea!" she giggled.
Edward joined in the laughter, feeling slightly lightheaded. Somehow he felt... more... well, more sexy. It felt as if he could play his role with less embarrassment. More enthusiasm. It scared the crap out of him.
"Alright, sweethearts, let's see what this naughty ol' wheel has to say." He winked at Ai'lani and gave it a good spin, glancing back at Ai'lani's eyes quickly, and then back to the wheel as the marble bounced across the low dividers between each number.
"Twenty-seven, sweethearts, twenty-seven." Well at least he wasn't losing the house's shirt. But the take wasn't anything to shout about yet.
He paid out a strip to one of the ladies, who was younger than the first, but his eyes kept flicking to Ai'lani's, and he noticed how long his eyelashes were. Distracted, he forgot to take his, and the older woman's, bets. She didn't notice, however, because she was plastered around one of Ai'lani's arms, making little mewling and kissy noises at him. She was obviously more than drunk.
Ai'lani smiled at the woman and pulled his arm away discreetly as to not offend her, but simply keep a little distance. He was careful, not wanting to ignite deeper feelings. They went for a few more rounds before the two women finally, with much pouting and promising to see Ai'lani at another time, left the Dabo table with only Edward and Ai'lani there.
"Wow, how clingy were they?" Ai'lani asked rhetorically. "I don't know how you could put up with it all night." Then again, as a human, he knew Edward was good at distancing himself from such things.
Edward chuckled. "Yeah, those two were a couple of live ones, that's for sure," he said chummily, picking up the ladies' chips and depositing them in the slot. Both women had tapped out, which would make himself look good in the casino's eyes. Though Ai'lani hadn't lost much, he noticed. "This is my first night-- I just got this job today, so I'm not sure how I'm going to put up with it, to tell you the truth."
"Then why'd you take it? I mean, aren't you a little....old, for this kind of work? I mean, no offense," Ai'lani said, resting his chin on his hand, looking up at the human with clear blue eyes.
Edward's knees did that ... thing, again, but he did his best to ignore it. He felt a little bead of perspiration slowly trickle down his lower back. "No offense taken," he smiled. "I asked these guys the same thing," he said, with a jerk of his thumb back in the general direction of the bar. "Thing is, I just got here. My wife, she's a Starfleet doctor, and she's been assigned to the station. I'd sold my business back on Earth and I'm not gonna twiddle my thumbs and retire, so I had to find something to do. This was the first thing that came along today that didn't pay chicken feed, and I figured I could do this while I looked for a ... uh, well, just about anything that would pay as much as this and be a bit more respectable."
"And I expected for you to say you took the job because of the tight pants," Ai'lani teased, chuckling.
Edward burst out laughing, his deep baritone voice carrying to the tables around him. "Now who's the very bad man, mister..." he said, his eyes twinkling. He realized he didn't even know the bald man's name.
"Ai'lani. Just Ai'lani. Well, Ai'lani Elley, but just Ai'lani to you," the Deltan explained, holding his hand out in the customary human greeting. "Nice to meet you."
Edward took his hand, expecting a normal human handshake. What he felt instead was warmth, and all the nerves in his hand feeling as if they had been bathed in sunlight. It was a very pleasant feeling. Very.
Surprised, his voice faltered. "N... Nice to meet you too, Ai'lani." He took his hand back, more slowly than he wished to. Part of him wanted more of that touch, and another part of him was grossing out.
"So, uh, what do you do, for a living?" Edward asked, after a slightly awkward silence.
"I'm a photojournalist," Ai'lani replied. "Though I do more photography work. Wish I'd brought my camera now. You're quite a sight," he chuckled.
Edward actually blushed. It had probably been thirty years since he did that. And the experience wasn't any more pleasant the second time around. For some reason he couldn't identify, however, he played up to Ai'lani's teasing and struck a pose. "How about this, then?" But he dropped the stance just as quickly, shaking his head and grinning.
"Photojournalism. So what publication do you work for?"
"I don't really work for anyone. I have a few contracts which last a year or two, but I generally work freelance. It's more fun that way than getting tied down and told what to do."
"Yeah, I hear ya on that score," Edward said. He'd always considered himself a bit of a maverick, and found it difficult to work under other people. He seemed to do better when he was his own boss.
"My middle daughter, her husband is a journalist, works for a paper back home," he continued. "Though he doesn't do the pictures. He just goes out and takes whatever assignments they have him do. The kid writes well enough, though he gets in trouble because he loves to debate politics, and ends up getting half his stories edited. Showed me one, once. Almost got him fired. You get into any hairy situations like that with editors?"
Edward was relaxing a bit, and the turn of conversation had brought out his usual clipped style of speaking, along with a slightly northeastern accent.
"No, I always got along well with my editors," Ai'lani said, unable to relate to what Edward was talking about. "But I rarely need to deal with them, as I said. And I enjoy my photography work more. But I studied Journalism as a major, even though it was kinda boring. Everytime the professor's got to the technicalities, my eyes sorta glassed over."
Edward nodded his head when Ai'lani said his eyes glassed over, and gave a sort of half snort, half chuckle. "So what kind of assignments do you take? Or do you write any story you're interested in, and then hawk it to whichever publisher will take it?"
"Depends on the situation," Ai'lani said honestly, looking over to his right side as a man sat down at the table. He leaned back in his chair then. They played a few more rounds before Ai'lani felt something. Blinking to focus a moment, he turned his head around and spotted Kaelin entering the Box. Turning back to Edward he smile. "My friend is here," he announced as Kaelin walked over.
Edward smiled and gave a slight nod to what Ai'lani was saying, as he greeted the man who joined them and exchanged his latinum for chips. When the other Deltan arrived, Edward felt that same wave of physical attraction. Looking back and forth between them... he wondered something.
"Are you two related?" Bald heads, symmetrical, beautiful features. ~Wait... could they be aliens?~ The thought hadn't occurred to him until just then. They looked so human... gorgeous, but still human.
Ai'lani laughed, looking at him in disbelief. "No," he shook his head. "How'd you come to that? We look nothing alike," he said, standing up. "But we hear us Deltans look all the same to you," he added with a wink. Kaelin smirked. "Hey," he just greeted the man, looking his attire over and trying to keep from laughing. He was fit enough, but for a man his age the clothes looked ridiculous on him.
"Deltans?" Edward questioned. "Hey," he replied back to the other bald man. His brain was catching up fast, and boy, did he feel embarrassed. Attracted, still, too, to his consternation. But now that he knew they weren't human, he had a guess that maybe they were the cause of his biological reactions.
"Oh, this is Edward...Stapleton, right?" Ai'lani checked, then without waiting for an answer, pointed to Kaelin. "And this is Kaelin. Actually, Kaelin is a doctor, he probably knows your wife. Do you know a Dr. Stapleton?"
At that, Kaelin held the frown from his face. "Yes...she's...new, right?" he asked. "I met her. Briefly."
"Right," Edward nodded. "She's just been assigned to Deep Space Five. "
"Hey, can we get on with it? Talk to your friends later," the man sitting at the stool said, his nasal voice expressing his irritation.
"Huh, I hope you lose," Ai'lani told him with a frown.
"Ai'lani!" Kaelin exclaimed. ~How can he say that?!~
"What? He's rude!" Ai'lani argued. Rolling his eyes, Kaelin looked at the man. "I'm sorry for my friend. He's a little agitated," he apologized.
"I am not," Ai'lani said. Kaelin gave him a silent gaze and Ai'lani let it go. He turned to Edward. "It was really nice meeting you. Hope you enjoy DS5," he told him as he and Kaelin moved to leave. A few meters away, Ai'lani turned his head to look back at Edward and motioned for him to set the other player up with a small, playful grin on his face, knowing the game was rigged as all Dabo games were.
Edward caught the expression in Ai'lani's face and the little gesture. With a grin and a wink, he nodded, then gave his attention to the player. Who definitely was going to lose.
:OFF:
Edward Stapleton
(sigh) Dabo Boy, Box of Delights
[npc by Charlene]
Ai'lani Elley
Freelance Photojournalist
(NPC by Maja)
Ensign Kaelin
Doctor (Pathology Resident)
(NPC by Maja)
by (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton
Post Details
| Title | Foundations of Doubt | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton | |
| Posted | Mon Dec 13, 2010 @ 10:45pm | |
| Location | Box of Delights | |
| Timeline | SD35 - 19:00hrs |
If there was one thing Ai'lani learned about non-Deltans, it was that they were very good at acting. This was quite apparent when he walked into the Box of Delights that night and found it to be bursting with life. Everyone there was laughing, including the staff, who look as jovial and fun as ever. And if Ai'lani hadn't been empathic, he may have even believed their little ruse. There was a lot of pain underneath all that laughing, the remorse of Klia's death still weighing heavily on them.
He'd agreed to meet Kaelin that night in the Box, but he'd arrived much earlier than necessary, a bad habit he'd picked up during his years of trying to beat other journalists to story sources. Or maybe it was a good habit, since before that he was late to practically everything. Not one to dwell on things like this, he proceeded to get a drink. Trying his best to cheer Pel up a little bit in the process, he finished it and walked around the bar for a while, looking at the activity.
Edward Stapleton was doing his best to behave as if he liked this. As newest Croupier, the other Dabo Boys told him that He had to act as if he was falling in love --or lust, if that seemed more appropriate-- with every woman at his Dabo wheel. Internally, he was mortified. First of all, he was dressed as some sort of 20th century Erroll Flynn; but more than that, he was watching the door, anxious that his wife was going to enter and find him like this.
It was during one of those surreptitious glances toward that door that he saw Ai'lani walk in. Not knowing a Deltan from any other race, he thought the being was human. Bald head, which didn't look too bad on the guy, actually. Edward had occasionally talked about shaving his head bald, but Bridged had always objected. His distraction didn't last long, as his arm was stroked by the woman sitting next to him at the wheel, and he had to turn his plastic smile and fake bedroom eyes back on.
Ai'lani walked around the Box, observing everyone there. His eyes finally felt on the nearby Dabo table and the Dabo...boy? standing there. ~Well that's a sight,~ he admitted, watching the old(er) human flirting with the woman playing. Or trying to anyway. He couldn't help but cover his mouth to keep the laughter in. Feeling he had to see this up close, he eagerly walked over and pulled some of his chips out. He never really gambled, but he doubted he'd ever see this again. Striding up to the table where the Dabo "boy" was entertaining two ladies, he grinned at them. "Hello there!" he greeted in his usual happy tone.
"Ahh, ladies, do you welcome competition for your affections? This handsome young lad will have you eating out of his hands no doubt, within an hour," Edward said, in his best impression of a carnival barker.
In point of fact, Edward wasn't too far off the mark. The women took one look at Ai'lani, and their smiles doubled. One of the two, the older one, boldly scooted her stool closer to Ai'lani and batted her eyes at him. She had to be ninety if she was a day.
But Ai'lani, to Edward's surprise, didn't seem repulsed. "Hi," he told her in a friendly tone before looking up at Edward. He flashed him a dazzling smile. "And you're new, aren't you?"
The backs of Edward's knees tingled. ~What the hell?~ he thought. He only got that kind of reaction when... well... It certainly didn't happen around other men, that's for sure.
"Uh, yes, Edward Stapleton, at your service," he said, bending forward and making a bow, with a flourish of arms. He never took his eyes off Ai'lani. Something about this was just plain wierd, and he could feel his body responding in ways it shouldn't be.
"Edward..." Ai'lani said the name, trying it out. "Alright, Edward, I'm placing a bet," he said, putting his slips down and looking up at him with a look of expectation on his face.
~Baby, I bet you are~ came Edward's thought, unbidden. He could've slapped himself for even thinking it. He was committed to Bridget, and while he sometimes struggled with straying eyes, he'd never acted on it.
"Alright, dear ladies, adorable ladies," with effort, he grinned at the woman on his left, who was practically drooling. But not at him. Her focus was on Ai'lani. "Place your bets, ladies. Will you side with the handsome stranger here? Maybe rub his shining dome for luck?" ~Oh my god, I can't believe I just said that~ he thought.
Ai'lani burst out laughing at that. He looked up at Edward, shaking his head. "You are a very bad man, Edward" he playfully scolded him, shaking his head as he gave him a mischievous look. "Isn't he?" he asked the woman on his left. She beamed at him. "You have no idea!" she giggled.
Edward joined in the laughter, feeling slightly lightheaded. Somehow he felt... more... well, more sexy. It felt as if he could play his role with less embarrassment. More enthusiasm. It scared the crap out of him.
"Alright, sweethearts, let's see what this naughty ol' wheel has to say." He winked at Ai'lani and gave it a good spin, glancing back at Ai'lani's eyes quickly, and then back to the wheel as the marble bounced across the low dividers between each number.
"Twenty-seven, sweethearts, twenty-seven." Well at least he wasn't losing the house's shirt. But the take wasn't anything to shout about yet.
He paid out a strip to one of the ladies, who was younger than the first, but his eyes kept flicking to Ai'lani's, and he noticed how long his eyelashes were. Distracted, he forgot to take his, and the older woman's, bets. She didn't notice, however, because she was plastered around one of Ai'lani's arms, making little mewling and kissy noises at him. She was obviously more than drunk.
Ai'lani smiled at the woman and pulled his arm away discreetly as to not offend her, but simply keep a little distance. He was careful, not wanting to ignite deeper feelings. They went for a few more rounds before the two women finally, with much pouting and promising to see Ai'lani at another time, left the Dabo table with only Edward and Ai'lani there.
"Wow, how clingy were they?" Ai'lani asked rhetorically. "I don't know how you could put up with it all night." Then again, as a human, he knew Edward was good at distancing himself from such things.
Edward chuckled. "Yeah, those two were a couple of live ones, that's for sure," he said chummily, picking up the ladies' chips and depositing them in the slot. Both women had tapped out, which would make himself look good in the casino's eyes. Though Ai'lani hadn't lost much, he noticed. "This is my first night-- I just got this job today, so I'm not sure how I'm going to put up with it, to tell you the truth."
"Then why'd you take it? I mean, aren't you a little....old, for this kind of work? I mean, no offense," Ai'lani said, resting his chin on his hand, looking up at the human with clear blue eyes.
Edward's knees did that ... thing, again, but he did his best to ignore it. He felt a little bead of perspiration slowly trickle down his lower back. "No offense taken," he smiled. "I asked these guys the same thing," he said, with a jerk of his thumb back in the general direction of the bar. "Thing is, I just got here. My wife, she's a Starfleet doctor, and she's been assigned to the station. I'd sold my business back on Earth and I'm not gonna twiddle my thumbs and retire, so I had to find something to do. This was the first thing that came along today that didn't pay chicken feed, and I figured I could do this while I looked for a ... uh, well, just about anything that would pay as much as this and be a bit more respectable."
"And I expected for you to say you took the job because of the tight pants," Ai'lani teased, chuckling.
Edward burst out laughing, his deep baritone voice carrying to the tables around him. "Now who's the very bad man, mister..." he said, his eyes twinkling. He realized he didn't even know the bald man's name.
"Ai'lani. Just Ai'lani. Well, Ai'lani Elley, but just Ai'lani to you," the Deltan explained, holding his hand out in the customary human greeting. "Nice to meet you."
Edward took his hand, expecting a normal human handshake. What he felt instead was warmth, and all the nerves in his hand feeling as if they had been bathed in sunlight. It was a very pleasant feeling. Very.
Surprised, his voice faltered. "N... Nice to meet you too, Ai'lani." He took his hand back, more slowly than he wished to. Part of him wanted more of that touch, and another part of him was grossing out.
"So, uh, what do you do, for a living?" Edward asked, after a slightly awkward silence.
"I'm a photojournalist," Ai'lani replied. "Though I do more photography work. Wish I'd brought my camera now. You're quite a sight," he chuckled.
Edward actually blushed. It had probably been thirty years since he did that. And the experience wasn't any more pleasant the second time around. For some reason he couldn't identify, however, he played up to Ai'lani's teasing and struck a pose. "How about this, then?" But he dropped the stance just as quickly, shaking his head and grinning.
"Photojournalism. So what publication do you work for?"
"I don't really work for anyone. I have a few contracts which last a year or two, but I generally work freelance. It's more fun that way than getting tied down and told what to do."
"Yeah, I hear ya on that score," Edward said. He'd always considered himself a bit of a maverick, and found it difficult to work under other people. He seemed to do better when he was his own boss.
"My middle daughter, her husband is a journalist, works for a paper back home," he continued. "Though he doesn't do the pictures. He just goes out and takes whatever assignments they have him do. The kid writes well enough, though he gets in trouble because he loves to debate politics, and ends up getting half his stories edited. Showed me one, once. Almost got him fired. You get into any hairy situations like that with editors?"
Edward was relaxing a bit, and the turn of conversation had brought out his usual clipped style of speaking, along with a slightly northeastern accent.
"No, I always got along well with my editors," Ai'lani said, unable to relate to what Edward was talking about. "But I rarely need to deal with them, as I said. And I enjoy my photography work more. But I studied Journalism as a major, even though it was kinda boring. Everytime the professor's got to the technicalities, my eyes sorta glassed over."
Edward nodded his head when Ai'lani said his eyes glassed over, and gave a sort of half snort, half chuckle. "So what kind of assignments do you take? Or do you write any story you're interested in, and then hawk it to whichever publisher will take it?"
"Depends on the situation," Ai'lani said honestly, looking over to his right side as a man sat down at the table. He leaned back in his chair then. They played a few more rounds before Ai'lani felt something. Blinking to focus a moment, he turned his head around and spotted Kaelin entering the Box. Turning back to Edward he smile. "My friend is here," he announced as Kaelin walked over.
Edward smiled and gave a slight nod to what Ai'lani was saying, as he greeted the man who joined them and exchanged his latinum for chips. When the other Deltan arrived, Edward felt that same wave of physical attraction. Looking back and forth between them... he wondered something.
"Are you two related?" Bald heads, symmetrical, beautiful features. ~Wait... could they be aliens?~ The thought hadn't occurred to him until just then. They looked so human... gorgeous, but still human.
Ai'lani laughed, looking at him in disbelief. "No," he shook his head. "How'd you come to that? We look nothing alike," he said, standing up. "But we hear us Deltans look all the same to you," he added with a wink. Kaelin smirked. "Hey," he just greeted the man, looking his attire over and trying to keep from laughing. He was fit enough, but for a man his age the clothes looked ridiculous on him.
"Deltans?" Edward questioned. "Hey," he replied back to the other bald man. His brain was catching up fast, and boy, did he feel embarrassed. Attracted, still, too, to his consternation. But now that he knew they weren't human, he had a guess that maybe they were the cause of his biological reactions.
"Oh, this is Edward...Stapleton, right?" Ai'lani checked, then without waiting for an answer, pointed to Kaelin. "And this is Kaelin. Actually, Kaelin is a doctor, he probably knows your wife. Do you know a Dr. Stapleton?"
At that, Kaelin held the frown from his face. "Yes...she's...new, right?" he asked. "I met her. Briefly."
"Right," Edward nodded. "She's just been assigned to Deep Space Five. "
"Hey, can we get on with it? Talk to your friends later," the man sitting at the stool said, his nasal voice expressing his irritation.
"Huh, I hope you lose," Ai'lani told him with a frown.
"Ai'lani!" Kaelin exclaimed. ~How can he say that?!~
"What? He's rude!" Ai'lani argued. Rolling his eyes, Kaelin looked at the man. "I'm sorry for my friend. He's a little agitated," he apologized.
"I am not," Ai'lani said. Kaelin gave him a silent gaze and Ai'lani let it go. He turned to Edward. "It was really nice meeting you. Hope you enjoy DS5," he told him as he and Kaelin moved to leave. A few meters away, Ai'lani turned his head to look back at Edward and motioned for him to set the other player up with a small, playful grin on his face, knowing the game was rigged as all Dabo games were.
Edward caught the expression in Ai'lani's face and the little gesture. With a grin and a wink, he nodded, then gave his attention to the player. Who definitely was going to lose.
:OFF:
Edward Stapleton
(sigh) Dabo Boy, Box of Delights
[npc by Charlene]
Ai'lani Elley
Freelance Photojournalist
(NPC by Maja)
Ensign Kaelin
Doctor (Pathology Resident)
(NPC by Maja)