Beg, Steal or Borrow – The one where Rh'vaurek comes back - part 4
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Chelsea Dunham
Post Details
OLD:
(Raedheol) reached out and patted her on the cheek, a singularly patronising gesture, "Well, before I kicked you out of my bed you might have learned a thing or two, like don't fuck with the Tal'Shiar," he joked with a lopsided and lascivious smile. "Didn't I just tell you I wasn't a nice man?" he asked with false surprise at her expression.
Chelsea didn't know whether to push his hand away from her cheek in rejection of the patronising manner or laugh at the roguish way he was grinning at her. She settled for a grin and a light shove of his arm.
NEW:
"I suppose, to be fair, if I had allowed it, I would have deserved rejection. But to apply the theory to my own situation.... are you suggesting that Ryan is doing this to pique me into paying him more attention? Or are you suggesting I should do the same to him to win him back?" She became more serious again now.
Rh'vaurek leaned back and linked his fingers behind his head nonchalantly crossing his ankles on Chelsea’s knee, “If it were me you were kissing your treatment would be entirely your own fault, you have no reason to expect better of me and every reason to expect me to abuse the situation … if it were your flying instructor … well, I imagine he has more honourable intentions. Look at it this way, if you are capable of abusing his good intentions, then by all means use the situation to make your boy jealous … if not, don’t bother to stoop to Milarno’s level – if he is only trying to make you jealous, get over it, if there is more behind it, get over him.”
Chelsea frowned with mock offence and shoved his ankles off her lap without too much gentleness. "Excuse me!" she raised an eyebrow at him, watching the amused glint in his eye brighten. "Get over it, get over him.... you talk like someone who is totally unaffected by anyone in the universe yet you wouldn't just 'get over' your relationship with Isha, would you?" the question was rhetorical and her tone was lighter than the words seemed to imply. It was exactly the sort of thing that siblings might challenge one another with.
He shrugged, “I’m a hypocrite. And Isha and I do not have a relationship in any normal context of the word – she is tied by so much House tradition that it is impossible and she is kind enough not to demand that I live like a monk just because she is not free to make any form of commitment to me; it makes her furious though … Listen, Chelsea, we’ve been struggling for dominance since we met, and the power balance between us was overwhelmingly skewed in her favour – its gone on for so long that its become a game but along the way we’ve hurt each other both physically and psychologically. If you want my advice, it’s a game that I don’t think you’d be very good at, so don’t start - your ira’v'Dianvm knows what he’s talking about – that’s ‘oldest adopted brother’, to you.”
"Actually, I wasn't planning to" she muttered, subdued. "You're right of course, I have no intention of playing games. You two have hurt each other 'physically and psychologically' as you say but you've also hurt one another 'emotionally' which is a word you don't use a lot generally and when I first met Isha, her apparent lack of emotion was remarkable, but it *was* only apparent. Deep under that bred-in façade she's a very passionate person - but you don't need me to tell *you* of all people *that*." Chelsea sat forward and put her elbows on her knees, looking intently into Rh'vaurek's face.
"To answer your question: No, I couldn't *use* my flying instructor. He's a really lovely guy with a big heart and I'm already eaten up with confusion and guilt that he seems to be getting very fond of me, for whatever insane, masochistic reasons only he can fathom!" She gave a modest blush and a grimace before the look he was giving her beat down her resistance totally and she finished weakly. ".... and besides, I really like him and I only wish....."
“That you were free?” he suggested, finishing the sentence for her. “I’ve been there … you might get over it, or even move on; we won’t, either of us.” Rh’vaurek sucked the air in through his teeth, “You’ll have to introduce me to your pilot, Chelsea, I can’t have you hanging around with unsuitable young men,” he said, then added, “I’m serious, I’m not your counsellor, giving you cheerful words isn’t my job - if I don’t like him you’ll probably start to wish you didn’t have a brother.”
"Rh'vaurek!" This time her protest was in earnest. "Richard is NOT unsuitable - He's a Federation Fighter Pilot, and a Lieutenant. He's a very nice man and I can't think of a single reason why you wouldn't like him. Nor can I think of a reason why I would ever wish I didn't have a brother, unless you intend to be unpleasant to him, which really wouldn't be at all brotherly if I really liked him!?"
It was a rather naive angle to adopt with a senior officer of the Tal'Shiar but as far as Chelsea was concerned, it made perfect sense.
She had always taken Rh'vaurek at face-value having seen little or nothing of his 'business' side and being determined to find the best in him, she had always refused to believe his protests that he was 'not a nice man'.
It was possible Chelsea was projecting the 'template' that if Isha had such a lovely hidden self then he might too, or perhaps she believed that if Isha loved him then it had to follow for that reason, but either way she had him pegged as the loveable rogue she wanted him to be.
Rh'vaurek rolled his eyes, "If I ranked all the criteria I use in deciding whether or not I like someone do you know which are not high on the list - Federation and fighter pilot, and if its a friend of one of my women I'm assessing do you know what else is down there at the bottom - male. I know what he's thinking even if you don't think he knows what those words mean," he folded his arms sulkily.
"Now you're just being grumpy, how can you know what he's thinking? I'm sure he doesn't think like you , silly!" she dismissed the idea out of hand without it occurring to her whether that was a complimentary comparison or not.
"I don't think he doesn't know what words mean. I'm sure he knows a lot more than *I* do about everything, actually, but if you're determined not to like him just because he's male, then am I to take it you want me to give up men altogether?" she asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.
"Oh, I'm sure he knows much more," Rh'vaurek said leaning forward and linking his fingers together between his knees. "I'm a competitive man, Chelsea, but would it kill you to believe that if I care enough to watch out for someone without having been ordered to do so that it is their best interests I have in mind?"
"No, it would not kill me, in fact it would please me a great deal." she replied with candour. "But your reasons for *dis*liking Richard, should you decide to do so, will need to be more than simply that he's male and you *think* you know what he has in mind, otherwise I won't be able to convince myself you've given my best interests a fair assessment." she countered, in a gentle tone.
"I haven't met him yet," Rh'vaurek protested, "believe it or not I have been trained to 'read ' people, I will not make any judgement about anything until I meet him. Understand?"
"Yes, I understand, but what happens if you judge against him? What say do *I* have in disputing that if I think you're mistaken?" she asked.
"You can always try and change my mind, or try sneaking around behind my back - it would be amusing to see how that worked out," he suggested with a smirk. "I'm used to my well meant advice being ignored by tiresome women who obviously know better than me, just don't come crying to me when you find out I was right."
"If I tried to change your mind, I suspect that would make you all the more determined to dislike him!" Chelsea laughed. "But of course I should come *straight* back crying to you if I was wrong and I got hurt. Why, what else are 'ir'v'Dianvms' for?" Her pronunciation of the term for an elder adopted brother was atrocious but she had at least made an effort and she'd remembered the word faithfully, more because she was flattered to be 'adopted' by someone like him.
"And I will say 'I told you so', tease you ruthlessly, and no doubt you will get angry and attack me again before I relent and help you put the pieces back together."
Chelsea couldn't help but blush at the reference to her *attacking* him. "Well if you intend to be so unmerciful then perhaps I *might* find more tears to torment you with!" she stated with a pout that went prettily with the pink in her cheeks and the defiant sparkle in her eyes at the idea of his being rendered uncomfortable.
Rh'vaurek's brow wrinkled, "Are you trying to get yourself into trouble," he asked.
"Aren't I already in that condition?" she countered, raising one eyebrow.
"Not from me," he said, "But if you insist on wailing every time we meet I might just lock you in a cupboard until you learn that I am immune to your tears."
"Ok, ok! I promise I won't wail *every* time - only when Isha is in mortal danger and I'm having my heart torn into shreds by a complicated love-life. Deal?" she grinned sheepishly at him, the corner of her lip caught under her teeth slightly. "... after all" she added with a return of the sparkle of mischief again. "... what are *ira'V'dinVM*s for?" Chelsea tried hard to get the new word she'd learned right, but she got the intonations wrong and in Romulan, that probably meant some great and horrible twisting of the intended meaning.
"What indeed," he said shaking his head. "Must you butcher my language like that? One simple word, Chelsea ... ira'v'Dianvm ee-rah-vuh-dee-AN-vum ... good thing I didn't try to teach you how to swear! Imagine how long it would take you to learn to say imirrlhhse that's ee-MEER-hul-hhseh."
Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Chelsea tried the pronunciation of both words, one after the other but the second word still tied her tongue in knots at the end where there were too many hh's... "ee-meer-hul-huh-seh" she formed the sounds too slowly which divided the syllables more than Rh'vaurek had done. "well, I hope it means something horrible because it's horrible to say!" she declared with a pout of frustration at her failure to master it.
Rh'vaurek pursed his lips, "Next time someone pisses you off just say Imirrhlhhse’hr, you know how to pronounce it now ... and aspirate the 'hh' a little more ..." he shrugged ignoring the question .
"I think I might do some tests in the lab to see if green blood is less dense than red, which might explain how Romulan tongues can get around such difficult sounds... they must be thinner and more flexible!" Chelsea muttered, embarrassed by his accusation that she was 'butchering' his language. ~I was good at languages at school. What happened? ~ she thought.
"Do you really want to go there, Chelsea?" Rh'vaurek enquired with the blandest expression he could muster.
Chelsea looked at him for a second before it sank in and then she blushed totally red from her hairline to her neck. "OH!" she clapped her hand to her mouth before recovering her equilibrium again.
"er... no. Because if I do, you'll teach me a lesson about what I shouldn't try with the Tal'Shiar and then never speak to me again, won't you?" she retorted, trying to regain her outer appearance of nonchalance totally in vain, mainly because her face was so hot he could have toasted marshmallows in front of it right now.
Rh'vaurek reached out and clapped a hand on her shoulder, "You're learning," he said as he got to his feet. "Now, I've got a Consulate to go and shake up. Don't forget I want to meet your boy," he added as he headed towards the door.
"How could I forget?" she smiled.
Just as he turned and was almost out of the door, a thought occurred to Chelsea. "Rv'aaaurek?" she asked, drawing out the middle of his name so it was half a query and half a cajole. "I was going to ask Richard to go with me to see Ryan's show tomorrow but it seems unfair and...... now that I have *family* I could take instead, so I wouldn't look such a billy-no-mates on my own..... do you like musicals at all?"
It was a complete shot in the dark, spontaneous and un-thought-out, and she expected him to turn up his nose and teach her a new swear word, but she'd said it and it was too late to take it back so she waited, her breath held, to see what sort of reaction she would get.
In the few split seconds it took Raedheol to turn back to face her, Chelsea lost her nerve and began to add hastily. "No, but seriously, I think Ed McBain wants to go, I can ask if it's okay if I go with him. I'm sure he won't mi...."
"What? And miss the chance of seeing Milarno fall on his arse in public?" he said, it would give him the perfect opportunity to make a few subtle observations on certain other spectators while he was there, but she did not need to know that. "I'll come."
Chelsea gaped. "You mean it?" She leapt forward and threw her arms around his neck, thinking this was a big sacrifice he was making for her sake. "You're the *best* brother ever!" she enthused, letting him go. "Thankyou!"
"And don't you forget it," he said
"oh-OH!" she grimaced, jokingly. "I'm gonna pay for this, aren't i?"
She didn't get a verbal reply but his eyebrow and smirk said all she needed to know. ~No surprise there then!~ Chelsea thought, still smiling. ~I have *no* idea how I get myself into all these scrapes!~
Jp Between:
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
ACMO - DS5
and
erie'Khrein Rh'vaurek Raedheol (NPC)
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Chelsea Dunham
Post Details
| Title | The one where Rh'vaurek comes back - part 4 | |
| Mission | Beg, Steal or Borrow | |
| Author(s) | Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Chelsea Dunham | |
| Posted | Sat Aug 08, 2009 @ 5:02pm | |
| Location | Infirmary | |
| Timeline | Current (SD9) |
(Raedheol) reached out and patted her on the cheek, a singularly patronising gesture, "Well, before I kicked you out of my bed you might have learned a thing or two, like don't fuck with the Tal'Shiar," he joked with a lopsided and lascivious smile. "Didn't I just tell you I wasn't a nice man?" he asked with false surprise at her expression.
Chelsea didn't know whether to push his hand away from her cheek in rejection of the patronising manner or laugh at the roguish way he was grinning at her. She settled for a grin and a light shove of his arm.
NEW:
"I suppose, to be fair, if I had allowed it, I would have deserved rejection. But to apply the theory to my own situation.... are you suggesting that Ryan is doing this to pique me into paying him more attention? Or are you suggesting I should do the same to him to win him back?" She became more serious again now.
Rh'vaurek leaned back and linked his fingers behind his head nonchalantly crossing his ankles on Chelsea’s knee, “If it were me you were kissing your treatment would be entirely your own fault, you have no reason to expect better of me and every reason to expect me to abuse the situation … if it were your flying instructor … well, I imagine he has more honourable intentions. Look at it this way, if you are capable of abusing his good intentions, then by all means use the situation to make your boy jealous … if not, don’t bother to stoop to Milarno’s level – if he is only trying to make you jealous, get over it, if there is more behind it, get over him.”
Chelsea frowned with mock offence and shoved his ankles off her lap without too much gentleness. "Excuse me!" she raised an eyebrow at him, watching the amused glint in his eye brighten. "Get over it, get over him.... you talk like someone who is totally unaffected by anyone in the universe yet you wouldn't just 'get over' your relationship with Isha, would you?" the question was rhetorical and her tone was lighter than the words seemed to imply. It was exactly the sort of thing that siblings might challenge one another with.
He shrugged, “I’m a hypocrite. And Isha and I do not have a relationship in any normal context of the word – she is tied by so much House tradition that it is impossible and she is kind enough not to demand that I live like a monk just because she is not free to make any form of commitment to me; it makes her furious though … Listen, Chelsea, we’ve been struggling for dominance since we met, and the power balance between us was overwhelmingly skewed in her favour – its gone on for so long that its become a game but along the way we’ve hurt each other both physically and psychologically. If you want my advice, it’s a game that I don’t think you’d be very good at, so don’t start - your ira’v'Dianvm knows what he’s talking about – that’s ‘oldest adopted brother’, to you.”
"Actually, I wasn't planning to" she muttered, subdued. "You're right of course, I have no intention of playing games. You two have hurt each other 'physically and psychologically' as you say but you've also hurt one another 'emotionally' which is a word you don't use a lot generally and when I first met Isha, her apparent lack of emotion was remarkable, but it *was* only apparent. Deep under that bred-in façade she's a very passionate person - but you don't need me to tell *you* of all people *that*." Chelsea sat forward and put her elbows on her knees, looking intently into Rh'vaurek's face.
"To answer your question: No, I couldn't *use* my flying instructor. He's a really lovely guy with a big heart and I'm already eaten up with confusion and guilt that he seems to be getting very fond of me, for whatever insane, masochistic reasons only he can fathom!" She gave a modest blush and a grimace before the look he was giving her beat down her resistance totally and she finished weakly. ".... and besides, I really like him and I only wish....."
“That you were free?” he suggested, finishing the sentence for her. “I’ve been there … you might get over it, or even move on; we won’t, either of us.” Rh’vaurek sucked the air in through his teeth, “You’ll have to introduce me to your pilot, Chelsea, I can’t have you hanging around with unsuitable young men,” he said, then added, “I’m serious, I’m not your counsellor, giving you cheerful words isn’t my job - if I don’t like him you’ll probably start to wish you didn’t have a brother.”
"Rh'vaurek!" This time her protest was in earnest. "Richard is NOT unsuitable - He's a Federation Fighter Pilot, and a Lieutenant. He's a very nice man and I can't think of a single reason why you wouldn't like him. Nor can I think of a reason why I would ever wish I didn't have a brother, unless you intend to be unpleasant to him, which really wouldn't be at all brotherly if I really liked him!?"
It was a rather naive angle to adopt with a senior officer of the Tal'Shiar but as far as Chelsea was concerned, it made perfect sense.
She had always taken Rh'vaurek at face-value having seen little or nothing of his 'business' side and being determined to find the best in him, she had always refused to believe his protests that he was 'not a nice man'.
It was possible Chelsea was projecting the 'template' that if Isha had such a lovely hidden self then he might too, or perhaps she believed that if Isha loved him then it had to follow for that reason, but either way she had him pegged as the loveable rogue she wanted him to be.
Rh'vaurek rolled his eyes, "If I ranked all the criteria I use in deciding whether or not I like someone do you know which are not high on the list - Federation and fighter pilot, and if its a friend of one of my women I'm assessing do you know what else is down there at the bottom - male. I know what he's thinking even if you don't think he knows what those words mean," he folded his arms sulkily.
"Now you're just being grumpy, how can you know what he's thinking? I'm sure he doesn't think like you , silly!" she dismissed the idea out of hand without it occurring to her whether that was a complimentary comparison or not.
"I don't think he doesn't know what words mean. I'm sure he knows a lot more than *I* do about everything, actually, but if you're determined not to like him just because he's male, then am I to take it you want me to give up men altogether?" she asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.
"Oh, I'm sure he knows much more," Rh'vaurek said leaning forward and linking his fingers together between his knees. "I'm a competitive man, Chelsea, but would it kill you to believe that if I care enough to watch out for someone without having been ordered to do so that it is their best interests I have in mind?"
"No, it would not kill me, in fact it would please me a great deal." she replied with candour. "But your reasons for *dis*liking Richard, should you decide to do so, will need to be more than simply that he's male and you *think* you know what he has in mind, otherwise I won't be able to convince myself you've given my best interests a fair assessment." she countered, in a gentle tone.
"I haven't met him yet," Rh'vaurek protested, "believe it or not I have been trained to 'read ' people, I will not make any judgement about anything until I meet him. Understand?"
"Yes, I understand, but what happens if you judge against him? What say do *I* have in disputing that if I think you're mistaken?" she asked.
"You can always try and change my mind, or try sneaking around behind my back - it would be amusing to see how that worked out," he suggested with a smirk. "I'm used to my well meant advice being ignored by tiresome women who obviously know better than me, just don't come crying to me when you find out I was right."
"If I tried to change your mind, I suspect that would make you all the more determined to dislike him!" Chelsea laughed. "But of course I should come *straight* back crying to you if I was wrong and I got hurt. Why, what else are 'ir'v'Dianvms' for?" Her pronunciation of the term for an elder adopted brother was atrocious but she had at least made an effort and she'd remembered the word faithfully, more because she was flattered to be 'adopted' by someone like him.
"And I will say 'I told you so', tease you ruthlessly, and no doubt you will get angry and attack me again before I relent and help you put the pieces back together."
Chelsea couldn't help but blush at the reference to her *attacking* him. "Well if you intend to be so unmerciful then perhaps I *might* find more tears to torment you with!" she stated with a pout that went prettily with the pink in her cheeks and the defiant sparkle in her eyes at the idea of his being rendered uncomfortable.
Rh'vaurek's brow wrinkled, "Are you trying to get yourself into trouble," he asked.
"Aren't I already in that condition?" she countered, raising one eyebrow.
"Not from me," he said, "But if you insist on wailing every time we meet I might just lock you in a cupboard until you learn that I am immune to your tears."
"Ok, ok! I promise I won't wail *every* time - only when Isha is in mortal danger and I'm having my heart torn into shreds by a complicated love-life. Deal?" she grinned sheepishly at him, the corner of her lip caught under her teeth slightly. "... after all" she added with a return of the sparkle of mischief again. "... what are *ira'V'dinVM*s for?" Chelsea tried hard to get the new word she'd learned right, but she got the intonations wrong and in Romulan, that probably meant some great and horrible twisting of the intended meaning.
"What indeed," he said shaking his head. "Must you butcher my language like that? One simple word, Chelsea ... ira'v'Dianvm ee-rah-vuh-dee-AN-vum ... good thing I didn't try to teach you how to swear! Imagine how long it would take you to learn to say imirrlhhse that's ee-MEER-hul-hhseh."
Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Chelsea tried the pronunciation of both words, one after the other but the second word still tied her tongue in knots at the end where there were too many hh's... "ee-meer-hul-huh-seh" she formed the sounds too slowly which divided the syllables more than Rh'vaurek had done. "well, I hope it means something horrible because it's horrible to say!" she declared with a pout of frustration at her failure to master it.
Rh'vaurek pursed his lips, "Next time someone pisses you off just say Imirrhlhhse’hr, you know how to pronounce it now ... and aspirate the 'hh' a little more ..." he shrugged ignoring the question .
"I think I might do some tests in the lab to see if green blood is less dense than red, which might explain how Romulan tongues can get around such difficult sounds... they must be thinner and more flexible!" Chelsea muttered, embarrassed by his accusation that she was 'butchering' his language. ~I was good at languages at school. What happened? ~ she thought.
"Do you really want to go there, Chelsea?" Rh'vaurek enquired with the blandest expression he could muster.
Chelsea looked at him for a second before it sank in and then she blushed totally red from her hairline to her neck. "OH!" she clapped her hand to her mouth before recovering her equilibrium again.
"er... no. Because if I do, you'll teach me a lesson about what I shouldn't try with the Tal'Shiar and then never speak to me again, won't you?" she retorted, trying to regain her outer appearance of nonchalance totally in vain, mainly because her face was so hot he could have toasted marshmallows in front of it right now.
Rh'vaurek reached out and clapped a hand on her shoulder, "You're learning," he said as he got to his feet. "Now, I've got a Consulate to go and shake up. Don't forget I want to meet your boy," he added as he headed towards the door.
"How could I forget?" she smiled.
Just as he turned and was almost out of the door, a thought occurred to Chelsea. "Rv'aaaurek?" she asked, drawing out the middle of his name so it was half a query and half a cajole. "I was going to ask Richard to go with me to see Ryan's show tomorrow but it seems unfair and...... now that I have *family* I could take instead, so I wouldn't look such a billy-no-mates on my own..... do you like musicals at all?"
It was a complete shot in the dark, spontaneous and un-thought-out, and she expected him to turn up his nose and teach her a new swear word, but she'd said it and it was too late to take it back so she waited, her breath held, to see what sort of reaction she would get.
In the few split seconds it took Raedheol to turn back to face her, Chelsea lost her nerve and began to add hastily. "No, but seriously, I think Ed McBain wants to go, I can ask if it's okay if I go with him. I'm sure he won't mi...."
"What? And miss the chance of seeing Milarno fall on his arse in public?" he said, it would give him the perfect opportunity to make a few subtle observations on certain other spectators while he was there, but she did not need to know that. "I'll come."
Chelsea gaped. "You mean it?" She leapt forward and threw her arms around his neck, thinking this was a big sacrifice he was making for her sake. "You're the *best* brother ever!" she enthused, letting him go. "Thankyou!"
"And don't you forget it," he said
"oh-OH!" she grimaced, jokingly. "I'm gonna pay for this, aren't i?"
She didn't get a verbal reply but his eyebrow and smirk said all she needed to know. ~No surprise there then!~ Chelsea thought, still smiling. ~I have *no* idea how I get myself into all these scrapes!~
Jp Between:
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
ACMO - DS5
and
erie'Khrein Rh'vaurek Raedheol (NPC)