No One Likes a Tattletale

Posted on Wed Aug 10th, 2022 @ 4:01am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov

Mission: S1 Episode 3: Phage
Location: Holodeck 2; Various
Timeline: Mission Day 5 at 0030
5823 words - 11.6 OF Standard Post Measure

While Madeline had every intention of following through on Mika's "orders" to her to get plenty of rest given her condition, it was proving to be a very difficult task and not for lack of trying. She had at least followed through on her promise of taking her injections in a timely manner and returning to sickbay every eight hours for another check. Truth be told, though, that didn't help her in her quest to find rest. Last night, well... at least those reasons had been pleasing but frustrating in equal measure. She didn't let her mind wander though. In fact, she was quite focused on her current endeavor.

She was standing in a large flat field in the twilight hours just before night. Her uniform jacket and undershirt had been discarded, leaving her in her tank top and pants. In her hand, she tested the weight of the javelin she held in her left hand and then looked out to a point in the field shifting her stance, she arched back and aimed along her right arm; the ruby ring on her index finger glinted in the light but didn't distract her. She launched it with practiced ease and watched it soar outward. While most women focused on much more delicate pursuits and hobbies in their life, Madeline did not constrain herself to such limits. This was something she enjoyed.

Something she hoped would tire her out. There had been reports throughout the day that crew members had begun falling ill but that it didn't seem overly serious, so she was choosing not to dwell on that either. Suddenly, there was an animalistic yelp and thud off in the distance, and she picked up another javelin from the holder beside her.

--

"Computer, locate Lieutenant Cassiel." Andrei said, standing in a deep green t-shirt and shorts outside the quarters of several security nco's.

"Lieutenant Cassiel is in Holodeck 2." Came the reply from the computer.

Andrei set his jaw. Soon, he would be too.

--

Madeline had simply been continuing her method of relaxation, it would be a while before she would really have to stop but she only had the holodeck for so long. She prepared another throw when she heard the doors slide open and intrude on her time. She didn't stop, though, and launched the javelin with ease. Rolling her neck, she turned just slightly to see who had entered and immediately quirked a brow.

Andrei watched the trajectory of the javelin as it arched across the field and watched with interest as the animal fell.

"Great at working poles, wood or otherwise. A good trait." he said, looking back to her with a lift of his own brow. "A bonus for hitting your target, of course."

"Well, wouldn't be very good if I couldn't guide a spear to the right target, now would it?" Madeline asked almost lazily and picked up another of the javelins. "Did you schedule some holodeck time and I missed it?" She asked. He hadn't. She knew it. He knew it.

He didn't bother answering the question, but instead took several steps toward her, his eyes on her body in casual clothes.

"I'm here on business, actually." he said, his face serious, though not aggressive. "I'm assuming you know why."

"Oh I imagine I have a pretty good guess." She replied, now annoyed, but clearly not at him. She rolled the spear back and forth over her hand and fingertips. Nobody liked a tattletale, and she had a rather good guess of who it was. She didn't bother to try and flirt with him at that moment. She respected moments of business.

As did he. Mixing those two things too much lost greater men much bigger empires. He would stay smart and alert.

"A little bird told me, you beat that stupid ape Luca Romano terribly right in the middle of a corridor." he said, stepping up close to her until he could smell the sweet smell of the scent she wore. It was faint now at the end of the day, but he could still pick it up. He too had thought a lot about the night before and had temporarily lost his interest in visiting other women, as worrying as that was for him. He was serious now, and pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. "The problem is he's my stupid ape."

"I know." She said and finally wedged the javelin into the ground firmly then looked up to him. She was not intimidated by him drawing close to her and simply looked up into his eyes with a steady calm. "He needed to be taught a much needed lesson in the moment, though." Her head tilted just slightly, curiously. "What did they say happened?"

"They don't know. Luca is apparently very tight-lipped about the whole thing. I wonder why." he said, resisting a nagging desire to touch her; to kiss her. He reached over and quickly lifted one of the javelins out of the bin, spinning it around a finger to the side and then stopping, planting it into the earth by the business end. "I came to you first, because he's not even a reliable witness for himself."

"He decided to try and drunkenly grope a woman. She protested. He insisted. I impressed upon him that no meant no." Madeline explained simply, grabbing hold of the javelin at her side and wiggling it in the ground but not turning to face Andrei yet. She wondered how much he would press in this situation.

"So, a woman you were with. In the corridor." he said, his mind working. "You don't have any girl friends, Maddie. So, it was either someone you were meeting for some ad hoc reason..or you just happened to be there. I find that hard to believe, though."

Madeline was quiet for a moment. She wasn't going to come out and blatantly say it, she had after all promised not to. If Andrei figured it out though well... that couldn't be helped. She turned toward him then and walked up behind him. He would feel her hand on his back between his shoulders. The way she pressed, it was bidding him to do something.

Listen.

Her hand moved to his shoulder and she squeezed firmly, holding him for a moment.

Pay attention.

Finally moving in front of him she simply raised her shoulders and smiled. Then she looked up to his eyes, none of the amusement her face was depicted in her gaze and instead the imperative demand he give her his attention. "Well, that is what happened. I do have to admit I may have gone a bit overboard and I am sorry for that. I was not in the best mood and irritated from the whole ‘alien bacteria are trying to kill you’ thing. Your sister did suggest I rest more but I seem to have a hard time with that."

Two wine glasses. One had a lipstick stain on the side. He had never seen Madeline even once wear lipstick.

He understood that she was doing a song and dance, something he found rather amusing, though he made no expression on that. What she was talking about was a different story.

"Yes, she told you to rest, but it was still day. So you went back to your duty shift and returned for your shots." he said, his mind working. "You went back to your quarters like a good little girl, of course, but it didn't work. You couldn't rest. Was it because of your racing mind? Or maybe because you were interrupted."

"Mm... yes, I did have a new and very eager friend over. She talked my ear off. Such a sweet girl." Madeline paused a moment and thought about Mika. She really was a sweet girl. "Eventually though she needed to leave, so I walked her back to her quarters and that is where Luca had his very unfortunate lesson." She gave a dramatic sigh and turned away. "She was very upset at what he did."

Andrei only needed two seconds to understand her spoon-fed information beyond the shadow of a doubt. His face changed immediately. It was immediately darkened and anyone who was looking could see that old Petrov trait coming out. He didn't look at her but past her, and leaned down until his lips were next to her ear.

"Are you telling me that Luca Romano laid hands on my sister, Madeline?" he asked. His voice was dark as well, every word laced with sharp syllables and breath. His building anger could be felt, even though he gave no voice to it.

"Of course he didn't, Andrei." She replied, speaking softly, almost seductively into his ear even though she could plainly see his anger. She wasn't afraid. "I laid my hands on him."

That simple fact might save the man's life this night, but Andrei hadn't calmed at all at the news.

"You have my former quarters. You didn't happen to keep that old sword I left there, did you?" he asked, placing his hand in hers without thought. He figured eight mounted swords was enough for one man to have, so he'd left it behind in the move.

"I have it. I'd been meaning to give it back to you." Madeline's fingers curled against his hand. Her eyes caught his. She saw the rage. She wanted to kiss him, to drink down that rage and share it with him. She stepped closer. "I just seem to always get distracted by something."

He looked into her eyes, and held her hand tighter. Perhaps too tight. He turned and stormed at a quick pace toward the door, pulling her along roughly at first and then, remembering himself, giving her a chance to catch up and walk with him. He didn't speak or ask if she wanted to come and, if needs be, he would lift her over his head and carry her. His face was lined with anger and his eyes were pools of an unspoken hatred, rare and primal. She would have to grab her spears later.

If he hurt her, Madeline didn't show it. When he pulled her, she planted her feet just long enough to grab her jacket and undershirt up off the simulated ground. "Computer, end program." She commanded just before they exited the holodeck completely. With some effort, she pulled her hand from his but continued to follow him at pace while she pulled on her clothes. Her focus was drawn to his body as they moved. She could see the building tension, the glittering hate in his eyes. So intent. A predator. She licked her lips, but let him seethe in silence.

The journey to her quarters was of a tension most people would have found unbearable. There was so much raw emotion in Andrei that Maddie would see the energy that sparked the fight with Christoph a few days earlier. Every now and then he would ball his fists so tight his knuckles would turn completely white. He stopped short of punching the walls, but the crew who they passed all stepped aside with wide eyes as they went by. He stopped outside her door and turned to her, looking into her eyes, so angry he dared not even speak to ask for what he needed. One might expect him to try to open the door by force if she didn't get there quick enough.

Madeline didn't see the look he gave because she was already breezing by and opened her door. She moved past him, lightly brushing against him as she did so and moved into her room. She knew he was following her and she didn't bother to ask him not to follow. It wouldn't have worked in this state, she wagered, and really as he was he wasn't going to be paying attention to anything anyways. Opening her closet, she quickly produced a long box and put it on the bed on top of her blood red robe that was still laying there. She opened it, but allowed Andrei to grab his prize. It was cleaned, polished, and honed to a much sharper edge than when he had left it there.

The gleam of the blade caught his eye. He had been using these since he was a pre-teen, and he knew that this one hadn't been in good shape. When he saw that it had been polished and sharpened, he sheathed it and dropped it on her bed, turning to her instead and pressing his lips to hers forcefully. His anger hadn't been replaced, but a certain amount of that energy was now directed toward her in the passion of his sudden embrace. They stumbled at first and his hands found her waist immediately.

While Madeline preferred spears, she had trained in blades as well and knew how to properly care for and restore those that had been neglected. When she had done it, it had been without thought, a project for an evening when she hadn't been able to sleep. She was completely caught off guard by his kiss, but returned it with a fiery passion after she had her footing under her again. She pressed into him and she grabbed a handful of his hair near the roots to keep him in the moment for just a few beats longer. Her heart was pounding, the ache between her thighs almost hurt. She didn't hold him long, though. After all she didn't want to distract him from his goal.

Even as he began to stiffen from the embrace and the sheer rush of adrenaline and testosterone involved in this entire process, he remembered the reason they were there. Images of his sister in tears filled his mind and was enough to take him out of the kiss. He attached the sword to his waist and turned quickly for the door, ignoring the low tent fully-formed at the front of his pants. All sense of decorum or image were gone. He would pick up those pieces later.

While he hadn't exactly invited her to this next part, Madeline made the instant decision that she would follow him unless he turned and specifically told her not to. She kept up with him easily, though something else occurred to her. Collateral damage. She tapped her commbadge as they walked. "Cassiel to McKnight. You have five minutes to report to the Armory. I've warned you about being late." She commanded imperiously. The man wasn't on shift, but he was also Luca's roommate and to hear Madeline's voice coming through to him in that way right now well...

"Y-yes, sir?!" McKnight barked in alarm from the other end. He sounded utterly confused, but also compliant.

Andrei noticed her quick thinking, but didn't process it or comment on it. Instead, he continued on his way. When they arrived at the door to Luca's room, Andrei marched right up and pressed the chime three or four times in a row. His head was angled low as he waited for a response.

"Who the? What? WHAT?" Luca barked from inside and the sound of the door unlocking could be heard. He was just trying to get up from the couch when all the commotion started.

As soon as the door swished open, Andrei surged into the room, his long raven hair billowing behind him. He made a quick beeline toward the couch, his teeth bared like a wolf prepared for the slaughter. He seized Luca by the collar and, despite the man's respectable size, lifted him up off the couch and into the air. As the man struggled and wailed, Andrei tossed him like a sack of potatoes, watching the satisfying shattering of the glass coffee table as he crashed into it.

"Get up, you dog!" he shouted, his voice echoing in the cabin. His chest was heaving and his breath was quick. "Any man who lays a hand on my sister has a death wish, and I'm here to deliver."

"I-I didn't touch your sister!" Luca shrieked and saw Madeline behind Andrei. "You vile cunt." He spat and tried to push himself up out of the glass. "You lying fucking bitch! Tell him the truth!"

"You talk to her like that, and I’ll cut out your FUCKING TONGUE, you PIG!" Andrei roared, lunging at him and delivering the heel of his dress shoe to the man's face.

"I didn't touch your sister!" Luca cried out desperately, holding his now extremely broken nose while he tried to pull himself up on the couch. "She was there! She knows!" He insisted.

Madeline meanwhile stepped up onto the frame of the coffee table behind Andrei, watching over his shoulder with very keen interest while she balanced there. "He's really just so rude." She sighed from above and behind Andrei.

"No, you didn't touch Mika, only because she litterally stopped your hand in mid swing." Andrei said, stepping forward and grabbing the man by the collar again. "But you were going to! Now I'm going to put my hands on you!"

Andrei growled as he lifted the man up again and dragged him across the room toward the desk he shared with his roommates. He used Luca's body to sweep the desk clear of the items that were there and dumped him onto the floor on the other side. Then he reached down and pulled out the sword which sang from the scabbard and gleamed. He held it with practiced ease, his face grim.

"All you had to do was be a good little doggy, but you couldn't respect even me. That's what they're going to write on your tombstone. I'm going to kill you and I'm going to put your head on a fucking spike!"

Madeline had followed, a happy little smile on her face and a merry bounce to her step as she practically skipped along after Andrei while he handled Luca. She hopped up onto the desk, getting up on her knees so she could once again peer over Andrei's shoulder like a child watching something in amazement. When he drew his sword and brought his arm back, she suddenly grabbed him. One hand was on his shoulder and the other held the inside of his elbow. She had a surprising amount of strength in those hands, quite likely from handling those spears she seemed to like to throw around.

Luca sputtered and now just looked up in genuine fear, his pants starting to darken as he lifted one hand up to shield his face.

"Andrei." She spoke into his ear, her voice even. "Think about this. Killing him will bring nothing but problems. There will be questions, demands of what exactly happened, Mika will be humiliated and people will be scared to go near her. She won't thrive like that." She nuzzled the skin under his ear gently. "Luca can still be useful to you." She didn't make it us. Just Andrei. "Take his hands. New ones can be given." She kissed his neck, the devil on his shoulder.

The angel lay dead and rotting.

Andrei took several seconds to soften by her touch. There were about to be a lot of secrets out in the open either way.

“If we leave him alive, he tells everyone what happened here. Isn’t that right, Luca?”

"N-no." Luca sputtered and whimpered, curling in on himself slightly. "I swear. I won't tell anyone! Not a soul! Please!"

"Take one hand." Madeline offered options, her warm breath playing over Andrei's neck. "Easy enough to make it look like some sort of accidental weapon discharge. The mess was him stupidly flailing about." She kissed his neck again. "Or leave him and if he hasn't actually learned his lesson... then we can get really creative." Her voice held promise.

The heat of her breath was becoming exciting for him. That, plus the sheer dominance he felt caused his pants to tent noticeably again as they stood over Luca. Ignoring this, however, he looked down at Luca on the floor.

“If you tell anyone…a single soul about what really happened here, or about us…I’ll kill you.” Andrei said, his eyes wide and his face deadly serious. “In fact, if anyone finds out on their own, I will kill you. Can you get that through your thick skull, Luca?”

"Y-yes, sir." Luca whimpered out, his eyes shifting between Andrei and Madeline. "I understand."

Madeline slid her hand up from Andrei's elbow and then draped both arms around his shoulders so her hands were on Andrei's chest. She looked down to Luca, smirking wickedly at him. "Say thank you to Andrei, Luca."

"Th-thank you, Andrei." The man was absolutely terrified, his eyes practically bulging out of his head and the veins in his neck pulsing with his heartbeat.

As sweet as that was, Andrei had no intention of letting him walk out of here unscathed.

“Alright, one hand then.” He said, reaching forward and grabbing him by the wrist. “Maddie, hold down his arms and make sure he doesn’t flail.”

“NO! NO!” Luca began to shriek and started to try and crawl away, managing to rip his wrist from Andrei’s grip by some miracle.

Madeline let out what could only be described as a snarl as she watched Luca trying to move. She jumped down from the desk and immediately got onto the floor, moving toward the terrified man.

“Luuuuca~” She called to him in a singsong voice as she drew near to him. “Luca, look at me.”

Luca stopped immediately and looked to Madeline, he was sobbing now and pulled his arms in close to him. When Madeline grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him up onto his knees, he blinked in utter and hopeless confusion, but looked at her again.

“Luca,” Madeline began firmly as if she were speaking to a child. “If you don’t hold your arm out nicely for Andrei, I’m going to start peeling the skin off your bones and feeding it to you.” She spoke so sweetly and touched his cheek. “Now, will you be good?”

Luca let out a horrified, strangled cry, but lifted his arm and looked away. At this, Madeline moved behind him and grabbed his hair, using it to pull him back onto his feet and move him over to the desk again. “Open your eyes, Luca, and thank Andrei when he only takes one of your hands off.”

Is this what normal people called love? Is that the feeling that was coursing through Andrei’s heart? He smiled despite himself, his anger starting to subside just a bit, and watched as Luca returned to the table, his arm extended, and his fingers splayed out and shaking. His cries were now strangled and he had such tension in his body that he was shaking uncontrollably.

“If you move one inch, Luca, I’m taking the entire arm.”

He raised the razor sharp sword to the height, the defined muscles in his arms revealing themselves, and his eyes glowed.

Madeline had moved with Luca, pinning him between the desk and her body. She grabbed him by the elbow to steady him but it wasn’t hard enough to prevent him from pulling away. She gave the illusion to him that he had a choice in the matter and he had chosen to be smart and obey. As Andrei pulled back and lifted the sword, Maddie watched him, not the sword and not Luca’s wrist. Andrei. He was the most interesting thing in the room at this moment. “Don’t forget to say thank you.” She purred into Luca’s ear.

The blade moved down swiftly, cleaving his hand from his wrist. Andrei smiled as the blood sped out of the man’s arm and stepped back, his chest still heaving. His rage had been satiated with blood. Now, after it was passing, the only thing left was desire. He looked at Madeline, her lips pressed against the crying man’s ear, and his eyes went intense in a different way. It would be very hard for him to deny himself after this.

“Th-thank you.” The man sobbed with pain and then let out a defeated moan as Madeline yanked him from the table and brought his hand with her. She didn’t notice Andrei watching her and was instead very intent on her task. She hummed a nameless little tune that was punctuated now and then by Luca’s whimpers. It was an oddly pleasing combination, eerie to be sure. Madeline forced Luca down on his back on the couch, dropping his severed hand on his chest and then suddenly stepped back and considered like an artist would her canvas. It all happened quickly after that. She grabbed his phase pistol, playing with the settings for a moment and then arranging his arm, severed hand, and pistol in a convincing display that the moron had fallen asleep while clutching an active weapon.

Paranoid that whoever had beaten him would come back for more no doubt.

The pistol overloaded, the sharp crack of the controlled explosion briefly filling the room followed by Luca’s agonized, defeated moans. The hand was now completely gone outside some bits of burnt flesh, and the precise cut Andrei had delivered was now a jagged, burnt mess at the remaining bits of wrist.

“You should probably get that looked at, Luca. That looks painful.” She cooed with what passed with absolutely genuine sympathy and concern. She had done this too cleanly for it to be the first time she had performed this particular song and dance.

Andrei watched her work and, after she was finished, he stepped up and leaned in next to Luca.

“They can give you a new hand and they can fix your burns…but they can’t fix you on the inside, can then?”he asked. “And that is where we can reach you again, very easily. Next time we won’t stop with just a hand.”

He stood up straight and and grinned.

“Come to think of it, a bionic dick might give you a fighting chance if the rumors are true.” He said, looking down on him like he was human filth. “When you go to Sickbay, don’t say a word to her.”

“As far as you are concerned, Luca, her name is Doctor. Don’t let me hear you say otherwise.” Madeline said behind Andrei to enforce the point. She stood behind Andrei, supportive, not trying to take his moment of vengeance away, simply enhance it.

“Y-yes, sir.” Luca managed to get out, his voice garbled.

Andrei turned around, a smile on his face, and grabbed her, pulling her into his arms. His lips met hers quickly, but not as feverishly as before. He had some of his control back and it showed. He was no longer as easily read and the look in his eyes had become neutral again, rather than filled with inhuman fury.

Madeline returned his kiss, her fingers brushed his cheek. When he pulled back, she returned his smile and her fingers ran down his arm to his hand. In her eyes there still lingered a girlish glee stemming entirely from their antics. Luca was now entirely forgotten in her mind. Squeezing his hand, she parted from him just briefly to move back to the desk, pulling the blanket off Luca’s bed to clean it up and then bringing it back to the couch. She threw it onto the man’s face. “Make sure you get rid of that, Luca. Wouldn’t want anyone to know how prone you are to accidents.”

“Yes, sir.” Luca responded, seeming to understand that this was absolutely the only acceptable response to either of them anymore.

Andrei looked around the room to ensure their setting was complete. He had put together in his mind the story Maddie had decided to tell which wouldn’t implicate them. The difficulty was if Luca talked, how terribly he would die. He walked to the door quietly and waited for her to be satisfied, meanwhile he admired her almost dancing about the room with some jaded joy. He felt it too, deep in his chest. They would be terrible together.

Madeline didn’t linger any longer than she had to. It was good, quite good, and no one really cared enough about Luca to do much looking. He wouldn’t say anything, and if he did, his life was forfeit. She moved to join Andrei at the door, looking up into his eyes with a pleased smile on her face. “Shall we?”

“Let’s” he said with a grin of his own. The two strode into the corridor and walked away from the room together in calm silence, not at all seeming like two people who just cut off a man’s hand. Andrei’s limbs felt electric; he felt more alive than normal. He remembered this old drug, the one he’d discovered as a child but had been weened off of by his mother. He had felt it with Christoph, but that was different. This was one sided; bully verses victim, and it drove him crazy. What made it all the more sweet was, for the first time, he’d had a partner in it. “I haven’t had any real fun like that in quite a while.”

“Neither have I.” Her voice held a sympathetic note to his plight and for her own. Madeline was a good girl. A level headed woman who demurred at just the right time. Mad Maddie though… “Would you like me to hold onto that sword of yours in my quarters still?” She offered and glanced up to him as they walked easily back toward the turbolift.

“Yes, I think so. It seems I might need to have access to one here.” He answered, pressing the chime to call the lift. It opened and a crewman in science blues stepped out. The entered together and the doors closed, leaving them alone.

Though the crewman had passed them by without incident, Madeline had stepped onto the lift, but not before looking over her shoulder to the retreating figure. Once the doors closed though, she turned and leaned her back against the wall. A long, satisfied sigh escaped her lips and for the moment she seemed content to just bask in the afterglow as it were. She reached out to him, running the back of her hand down his arm.

Andrei looked at her, watched her attractive features as she sighed and unwound. He smiled.

“Does my sister know about us?” He asked. “That we’re…whatever we are?”

"Your sister suspects I am like any of the other women you surround yourself with. I told her otherwise, but I don't think she completely believed me, which I can't say I find overly surprising." She closed her eyes. Her features were calm and expression neutral. Any woman would have giggled and denied they were with Andrei, because none of them were ever really "with" Andrei and claiming to be so would usually immediately drive men like Andrei away.

“Well, that’s for the best, I suppose.” He said with a smile. “We’re stronger when people don’t know. It allays suspicion.”

Madeline remained quiet, the silence comfortable, though she seemed to be considering something.

"Your mother brought cookies to the security office this morning. Well, yesterday morning now I suppose." As she said this, she opened her eyes halfway to look at Andrei, wanting to see how he received this news and see if she could pick up if any of her suspicions were true.

“My mother brings cookies to everyone.” He said with a nod, not catching any inflection or suggestion from her that something was amiss. “Were they good? Or did she bring that gross random trash?”

"Pretty good. I only had one. I was too busy watching four idiots play king of the hill to impress her." It had never really been about the imperial crowns, after all. "She'd like to have lunch. Or something."

Andrei looked at her, eyebrows raised, but said nothing. It was a reaction, but not a decisive one and hardly readable. Before anything could come of it, the turbolift door opened and he walked through.

“Well, mother does like to network.” He said. “Especially with a certain kind of person.”

She would take the reaction - or lack thereof - as a net positive. He didn't immediately show anger nor concern which would have been the two reactions she would be most curious to see. "Does she? Well, I'll keep that in mind." Madeline had strong doubts it was about networking, more about the fact that she had been playing quite closely with the Petrov children and they had both been loving it. Again, she followed him, keeping up with ease while musing to herself about what a meeting might bring. Strung up by her toes from the ceiling? The agonizer? Or maybe just more cookies.

“I’m sure you’ve figured it out, but she’s not as nice as she seems.” He said, looking to her as they arrived at her quarters. “Don’t underestimate her too much.”

"But she brought cookies." Madeline said and placed her hand on her chest, looking completely shocked by the revelation. Her expression evened and relaxed as she looked up at him. "I gathered as much. I'll be careful." Now, she grinned deviously with clear, joking amusement in her eyes. "Your parents are going to love me." She then held one hand out for his sword while she opened the door with the other.

“And here I was thinking you’d want me to bring it inside.” He said, knowing that it wasn’t time for that. Though he might lose sleep over what had happened tonight, it wouldn’t be for the reason most would. “My father is…quite oblivious to certain facts about his family. Though I have no doubt you’ll charm him completely.”

She chuckled softly, the sound tinted with darkness, and took his sheathed sword when he finally offered it to her. "Always lovely to see you, Andrei." She stepped inside her quarters, placing her hand on his chest and looking into his eyes. "We'll do this again sometime." It was a promise. He didn't get a chance to respond though as she gave him a light push backwards from the door and let it close, his last look of her smirking face and glittering eyes.

He chuckled as he rebounded from the shove. Now, he was off to get some sleep. This little trip to Vengeance had been much more fruitful than he’d expected.

END