"Tempest"

[Guest Sar'vek t'Jhiin]

Author's Notes:

 

This log does contain mature themes and language.

And many thanks to my cowriter.

 

------

 

2392 -- Five years ago...

Following the Battle of Galorndon Core

ISS Neptune Rex

 

 

Avery walked along the corridor with the downtrodden Romulan in tow. He looked to his right, her reflection moved along in the cold metal surface of the wall beside them. Her face was down-turned; her step was slow, hesitant. He put his finger to her chin and lifted her head. "Keep your head up, dear. Just because you are a slave does na mean you have to act like one." His touch was not harsh, rather it was gentle, reassuring.

 

She whipped a hand upwards, pushing his hand away. "I am not acting like one. Merely lost in thought." Glancing at him askance, she sighed. "Insults will not endear you to me."

 

"You thought that was an insult?" He looked a bit disappointed. "I am merely trying to help you...what did you say your name was again?"

 

"t'Jhiin. Sar'vek t'Jhiin." She broke his gaze, hoping on the names of every Element that he wouldn't demand to know the full name.

 

He smiled as they turned a corner. "Sar'vek," he let the name roll off his tongue. "it suits au." He purposefully inserted Rihannsu where he could, trying to put her more at ease.

 

"Suits me?" She looked curious, but didn't belabor the point. "I assume au are taking me to au's quarters," she stated, matter-of-factly.

 

"Au would assume correctly, it is after all where you will be staying." He stepped into a lift, waiting for her to enter with him. "There is one other thing au should know..." he hesitated.

 

"Something else?" she asked, sounding utterly uninterested. "What do you think you can say that would surprise me?

 

"How do you feel about roommates?"

 

Rolling her eyes, she clasped the railing that circled around the turbolift. "You have other slaves. How suiting for you. More trophies of the exotic, conquered, species that pass through your medical bay?"

 

He smirked. "Exotic ... fitting word for her."

 

"Her," He turned to Sar'vek. "Slave na slaves."

 

"One female. What species?" she demanded, running through the possibilities in her head.

 

He laughed a bit as they exited the turbolift and headed left. "Orion."

 

"Of course, the whores of the galaxy. Why did I even have to ask?" She lifted her eyes towards the dim lights, stepping out before the Bajoran as the lift met its destination.

 

"She is…” He trailed off as they reached the door. "hard to explain."

 

Sar'vek nodded, pressing the door chime. "I hope I won't awaken her. Tell me, will she be jealous to see another slave?"

 

"Let's just say... her skin is na the only thing green about her..." The door slide open to reveal a form, slinked across a lavish couch on the opposite side of the room from the door.

 

"Too much light..." the form complained, daintily rubbing her eyes as she sat up. “Darling, must you be barging in like that?" Blinking a few times at the female figure in the door, the Orion hissed. "What is that?"

 

"Naara, dear, this is Sar'vek..."

 

"She looks like a Romulan. What is she doing alive?" Her arms crossed, she shook her head disapprovingly.

 

Avery stepped through the door. "She is alive, because I want her to be alive..."

 

"I want her dead. Kill her for me."

 

Sar'vek watched in silent horror, blinking occasionally. "This is the "roommate" you spoke of? This unprincipled little brat?"

 

"Now Naara, Sar'vek is going to be staying with us for a while." He turned to Sar'vek giving her that "You're not helping" look.

 

Sar'vek shrugged. "I speak the truth, and au know it."

 

Eying the Romulan female with a look of disdain, Naara let out a little sniffing sound. "She doesn't look like much. Please say you're not planning to make her a bedslave."

 

Avery kissed Naara on the forehead. "Please do not worry, love, I am not replacing you." He shot Sar'vek a "Work with me here" look.

 

Rubbing her forehead wearily, t’Jhiin leaned against the doorframe. "And au tell me this only now? After au feed me a line about keeping me as a pet? Something pampered? I will na be treated like that pathetic little..."

 

"Watch your tongue, Romulan. My people are treasured commodities. Yours are tortured for the sheer fun of it." Sternly, Naara shook her head at Tynte. "Send her away. If you don't, I will."

 

"Dear, she is staying with us." His voice took on a stern tone of its own. "You both will learn to live with each other."

 

"Oh, I don't need to. Romulans come to quick ends in their encounters with the Empire. I'll merely hasten hers." She inspected her nails thoughtfully as she spoke, calm in her murderous little assertion.

 

"Do so, and I will hasten yours."

 

With the Romulan looking some cross between bewildered and beleaguered, Naara just laughed. "You know you wouldn't dare."

 

"You willing to risk it?" He leaned in. "There are things far worse then...death."

 

She kept smiling, innocently. "I'm sure I'd enjoy them."

 

"Kill the Romulan, and you will never know those pleasures again."

 

Her face drawing into a little pout, she hissed again. "You're no fun. Though, we could kill her together, you and I..."

 

"Naara." He cut her off. "Enough." He turned and looked at Sar'vek, who was still standing in the doorframe. "Au can come in, au know. He motioned to a luxurious chair nearby. "Make yourself at home."

 

She moved towards the chair, sitting stiffly as she kept a wary eye on the Orion. "This isn't necessary. I can stay with my remaining crew...”

 

Naara nodded. "I think that's an absolutely splendid idea. Send her to work in the mines and factories."

 

Avery reached out and took Sar'vek's hand. "These hands are far too soft for such work...."

 

Naara rolled her eyes melodramatically before, stomping towards him. "Your tone nearly makes me ill, my most darling master. I believe I'll have a quiet dinner alone and see if I can't rid myself of the putrid smell of Romulan lingering in my nose." As she turned to Sar‘vek, the pout turned into a dark, treacherous glare. "And as for you, my precious, the sight of your kind has been known to send me into unspeakable, unpredictable rages. Be warned." Cuffing her Bajoran lightly across the cheek, she stormed out, the mess hall and a few lovelorn admirers in mind.

 

A tear rolling down her cheek as the other woman made her exit, the Romulan looked downwards towards the carpeting. "It'll be too hard for her to accept me. Please, let me go with my crew."

 

Again he curled his fingers under her chin, pulling her face up, looking into her eyes. "She will come around."

 

Closing her eyes, she let a slow breath out. "I should not be here, your captive. It is not the way of my people..."

 

He moved away, pulling a bottle from a small ornate cabinet. "It is the role of every conquered race to be captive." He poured himself a glass of amber liquid.

 

"We're not conquered." Not yet... "Your Empire is strong, but it lacks our spirit."

 

"Soon enough...soon enough." He poured another glass and held it out towards her.

 

She shook her head slowly before reluctantly accepting the offering. "Thank you." Raising it to her lips, she took a small sip. "It's rather good -- what is it?"

 

"It's called Teralla Sunset; it's from a planet called Ma'krit. Just one of the many spoils of this Empire." He smiled at her. "See, being here may not be so bad..."

 

Placing the glass on the side table, she shook her head. Her voice was quiet, a trace of fear resonant in it. "Its downsides will far outpace its... pleasures..."

 

"Downsides?" He took another sip, sitting lightly on the edge of the viewport ledge.

 

"Slavery. The inevitable crushing of a spirit." She stood, standing next to him at the viewport, looking far past him into space. "The people I love ... loved ... will be so far away, and I'll be encaged on the side that's hunting them down, one by one..."

 

He turned and looked out at the stars. "We are all away from the ones we love..." He turned back to her. "Would you prefer a mine to my quarters?" He asked pointedly.

 

"Perhaps I would. Somewhere where I could put every bit of my loathing for your kind into toil, something similar to what everyone else would receive. I don't deserve better than my comrades, Maenak."

 

He ran the back of his hand down her supple cheek gently. "Perhaps au do na think so, Sar'vek, but it is na your decision."

 

She twisted away from him, eyes on fire with a venomous glare. "To die is still an option."

 

"Such...fiery spirits..." His voice held a certain awe in it. "There is something special about your kind, even if you are an inferior species..."

 

"The fact that we'll never yield to you?"

 

He brought his face closer to hers. "We always covet what we cannot have..."

 

"What you'll never have," she hissed, turning back towards the window.

 

He walked up behind her. "Never?"

 

She straightened, the Galae officer still holding strong within her. "Never."

 

His lips were now hovering where her neck met her jaw; she could feel his breath warm on her skin. "Never is an absolute. I find dealing in absolutes to be mostly useless..."

 

"Very good for you. Personally, I find them most useful in situations such as this. To express finalities." She used every ounce of control not to push him away again. After all, with his type, it would only encourage.

 

He wondered why she did not push him away, but thought it unwise to ask. "And what do au believe this situation to be?" His hand moved to her hip, fingers curling around her waist.

 

"A crude piece of veruul trying his luck with a Romulan?" she ventured, lightly, still resisting the urge to shove him into the bulkhead.

 

He rotated himself so that he was sitting on the ledge in front of her. "Crude?" he snarked, then turned his head sideways. "You must want to throw me through this viewport right now."

 

Her jaw tightening, she nodded, briefly. "Yes, I do."

 

"Then do it, if it's really what you want to do."

 

"No. I wouldn't want to appear as violent as you and your kind, Tynte."

 

Moving fluidly, he put his left leg to her right, and his right to her left, coming to sit directly in front of her. "Violent?" He sighed. "I am not violent...I'm a doctor, remember?"

 

"A doctor, ie, but aur people's sense of moral correctness seems to... differ from mine."

 

"Differences can be good things." His hands were now running up her right thigh. Interesting... he mused. Interesting how she controlled herself, did not fight back.

 

Her eyes locked on a point off to the right, ignoring his touch as she set her jaw. "Good?" she asked, almost amused. "How could differences such as ours be good?"

 

He smiled, a coldness to the expression. "Wait and see, e'lev...wait and see." He brought his lips to her neck as his hand pulled her closer. It had been so long since he had tasted the flesh of something other then Naara. It was exciting... exhilarating. He felt her tense, and brought his left hand to her right forearm, attempting to calm her.

 

She pushed him away, a fiery look in her eyes as she struck him roughly across the face. "Aur will to survive does na appear particularly strong, Lloann'na..." she threatened, quietly.

 

He stood, allowing her to move back a bit. "My my, do we not have a temper, e'lev." He ran the back of his right hand along her cheek. "This will be far less...uncomfortable for au, if au simply submit." He purposefully used her native tongue once again, hoping to relax her. Such tenseness would make things...difficult. He smiled, a warmness spreading across his face the belayed none of the darker intentions he harbored. When he spoke, his voice carried that same false warmness. "I wish for au to enjoy this. My little tempest."

 

"Do you now?" She flinched at the touch of his hand, her eyes flitting around in search of any weapon that could be used. Nothing in sight. Her voice carefully sarcastic, she spoke. "I'm sure that's very kind of you..."

 

The warmth of his hand left her face, returning to her cheek as a cold slap. "Au would do wise to watch your tongue." His patience was running thin.

 

"And au to watch aur manners," she replied, gingerly touching the stinging skin.

 

He considered her, watching as she brought her hand so gently to her cheek. So she does feel... "Tsk tsk, tempest." He moved closer. "Why do au resist me so? Would it really be that bad...." He trailed off as his lips closed in on hers.

 

Responding instinctively to the kiss, her head fell back, her eyes closing as she stood otherwise motionless.

 

Would it really be so horrific? Yes, she loathed the Lloann'su, but exceptions could be made, could they not? And considering the rational options available to her that had an outcome of survival, she really didn't have that much of a choice.

 

Melting against him, she pulled her mouth from his, looking into his eyes. "Na, it would na be... but au are na to handle me like that nubile little Orion slut au have," she whispered.

 

His hand moved down her neck to her chest, her tunic finding the floor. "How do au prefer to be handled?" He was curious, not that it really mattered, but he was curious...

 

"Gently," she whispered, her bare arms wrapping around his. "...please."

 

More clothing hit the floor as the two hit the soft mattress of his bed. She sunk into the lavish material as he pressed himself on top of her. Her hands on his back, her legs gently wrapping around his own legs...Intoxicating...

 

Resisting every fiber of her conscious mind that rallied against the act, she pulled him even closer, her slim back arching against him.

 

He felt her arch upwards, her head sinking into the silk pillow beneath them. Suddenly unexpected he broke his lips from hers, pulling away enough to look her in the eye. "Tell me."

 

Her heart racing, she paused in her caresses, raising a quizzical eyebrow. "Tell au...?"

 

"Tell me aur true name, Sar'vek." His eyes locked onto hers, digging for the information he was seeking.

 

She shook her head slightly without breaking his gaze. "I do not wish to say."

 

He ran his hand through her hair, gently, sensually. "Tell me, my tempest. I wish to know." Another forgery of a smile, filled with warmth to envelop and hide intents cold as steel.

 

Her eyes finally closing in a mute show of submission, she gave a gentle nod. "Nav'iae."

 

His face twisted into a smile, content with his success. "Nav'iae..." he repeated, wiping the smile from his face as she opened her eyes, replacing it with a face of sensual pleasure. His lips met hers again, the words exchanged between them making it all the sweeter to taste.

 

Running a stray hand down the length of his arm, she smiled faintly, an odd expression crossing her features for a moment. "Do you have a name or title you wish me to use? Master?" she offered.

 

"Avery," he said simply. "Avery will do." He was growing weary of speech; enough words had been exchanged between the two, at least for now. He pressed his mouth to hers, quieting any other words attempting to escape from it. He moved his lips to her neck; she remained quiet. Good... That same callous smile crossed his lips again, even as they stimulated her neck. She is starting to understand...

Edited September 16, 2006 by Sar'vek t'Jhiin