Sympathy for the Devil

Posted on Mon Sep 14, 2015 @ 1:28am by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin

1,044 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Fallout
Location: The Box of Delights
Timeline: MD05 1030

::ON::

Edward Stapleton waved a hand at the door release to Yolanthe's office, and sauntered in whistling. Then he pulled up short when he realised that the room covered in the black and white rococo fussiness that his boss passed off as interior decorating, wasn't actually unoccupied.

The lady herself lay on the couch, her long legs dangling over one end, watching something on LCARS and sucking on a straw stuck in a large glass of something a rather bilious shade or green. She was also naked.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry, I... the float...sorry" he stuttered, and dashed back out of the room, red faced and heart stuttering as if he'd just done the hundred meter sprint.

A moment later, she called out, "I'm covered up now." And he went back in.

"Er, sorry about that." He coughed to clear his throat. "I came for the float. I wasn't expecting you to be here."

Yolanthe had put on a robe, that still only came to mid thigh, and had dropped straight back on the couch. Her skin and hair hadn't changed a shade, she was totally unbothered by being seen unclothed. "Couldn't sleep." She admitted, taking a sip through her straw. "Thought I'd have a run to clear my head. Then I took a shower, and thought I'd watch some stuff."

Edward went over to the rug and flicked it back with the toe of his oxford to reveal the floor safe. "What are you watching?"

"Its a documentary about the Dominion War."

Edward frowned. "Don't bother with the documentaries. They can't tell you a thing abut it. I lived through it, it was the scariest thing I've ever known."

"Pause," she told the recording, sitting up. "You were on the front line?" Her violet skin became a shade of mustard. She didn't approve of men fighting. "How come?"

"Not on the front line, but I was part of the supply lines. But that wasn't the scary part. The scary part was the changelings. They could be anyone. Look like anyone. Everyone was paranoid. And Bridget and I, our kids weren't that old. I mean, we'd had Borg incursions a couple of times, and that was hard, but you could see Borg coming a mile away. The Jem'hadar too. Disposable shock troops are bad, but at least they're obvious. The Changelings though.... No-one knowing if people you had known for years was actually who you thought they were. Everyone distrusting everyone else. It was destructive in a way just getting bombed couldn't be."

"It never really touched my planet." Yolanthe admitted, "We're too far away. Too insignificant."

"Be grateful. It was horrible. Why the sudden interest?"

Yolanthe took another slurp of the horrible looking concoction. "Oh, no reason," she'd gone from mustard to peach, making the blatent lie even more obvious.

"Really," Edward raised an eyebrow "That's what you're going with."

The bokkai slurped her drink empty and it made gross sucking noises. "I don't have to tell you all my secrets. Still the boss of you."

"No, you dont'" Edward allowed, "and yes you are." He grinned back, carefully keeping his eyes on hers and not letting them wanderr lower. She was his boss, not to mention young enough to be one of his own children. "But I still think you're up to something. Are you?" he pressed. "Up to something?"

"Nope. At least not yet." The peach colouration turned to Aqua. "I'm just... curious... about... stuff."

"Stuff?" Edward turned back to the safe and extracted the latinum that would make up the day's cash float.

"Well, its such a big part of recent history. I thought I should know about it." Yolanthe's body blushed a delicate shade of coral.

"That works better than 'no reason'. Practice that and I might believe you." Edward locked the safe again

"Oh alright. Look, When I was trapped with Dorian Gabriel I got a look in one of Melvyn Raddon's storage areas. He's into tons more shit than just running the Dilithium Chamber."

"Melvyn Raddon? He's a loon. You heard the shit he puts his name too. If you're worried about him and his bigot cronies stealing our trade, then trust me, that's trade you're better off without."

Yolanthe shrugged. "That's what I thought. And then I saw the crates and crates of stuff he's salvaged from the Dominion War. Dorian told me he's using it for medical research, so I thought maybe he's not a complete kalaross tarse and maybe I should learn a bit more."

"He's a what?" Edward didn't recognise the phrase,and the UT hadn't translated it.

Yolanthe actually spoke Federation Standard rather than relying on the Universal Translator, so it had no basis to translate her occasional lapses. She gave him a dirty grin. "Its not for a boy's delicate ears."

"I can guess," Edward grinned back. "But I don't think you should change your opinion. He's a cunning bastard, and the fact that he employs the likes of Gabriel and lets his friends make fascist speeches from his Establishments shows you he doesn't much care what people think of him. What ever he's got in that storage area, its all for the benefit of one Melvyn Raddon, so don't cut him any slack because you and Dorian shared a moment of impending doom."

"It was hardly impending doom." She protested. "Minor Inconvenience. Mild Peril at worst. Its only impending doom if something's on fire."

"I shall remember that next time the Promenade is falling apart and people are screaming." Edward deadpanned back.

Yolanthe threw a cushion at him. He dodged. "I'm not wanting to be BFFs with the man. Its just prompted me to ...think again. Fill the gaps in my education about the ways of the federation. Which are many, I freely admit. So let me watch my documentary. Don't you have my bar to open up? Why don't you get on that before I send you back to the Dabo wheel. I miss seeing you in those trousers."

Edward chuckled and gave a mock salute. "Yes, Ma'am."

Yolanthe started the documentary again. "That's what I like to hear."

::OFF::

Yolanthe Ibalin
Owner, The Box of Delights

Edward Stapleton
Assistant Manager, The Box of Delights

 

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