Guess we're partners today *Pt 2*
Posted on Sat Jun 26th, 2021 @ 3:57am by Lieutenant JG Damien Blackford & Lieutenant Vira Vemre [Whavi]
Edited on on Sat Jun 26th, 2021 @ 4:00am
Mission:
Season 5: Episode 2: Operation Save Humanity
Location: Brig
Timeline: MD 4 1600
2967 words - 5.9 OF Standard Post Measure
Thanks to a computer glitch, Ensign Vira Vemre has found herself serving a shift in the brig with Ensign Damien Blackford. Damien, the consummate professional, finds himself slightly at odds with the young Risian's attitude, but at the same time feels a slight pull towards her. Maybe it's the lack of contact he's had with people, but either way, the shift is certainly turning out to be an interesting one, with V's latest question of: "Know anything about a game called poker?"
Damien smirked at Vira, raising an eyebrow at her. She knew that she was out of trouble. And something told him that she had some kind of plan up her sleeve.
"I've been known to dabble in the odd game." He said, shrugging his shoulders, trying to maintain an air of nonchalance. "What did you have in mind, V?" He asked.
"Ah, but have you every played with a Risian before? The rules are... a bit different." Vira highly doubted the male before her spent much time on the pleasure planet Risa. He still had an air about him, an innocence not yet soiled by mischief.
Vira patted Damien's shoulder as she changed direction to head back towards the front desk. "I'm sure there's a deck of cards in this brig somewhere."
Damien had been to the pleasure planet exactly one time in his life. Senior year of the Academy. A group of classmates had all heard and read about it during one of their classes, and decided it was worth a visit, and had convinced Damien that he needed to take a break.
He'd enjoyed his time there, especially the Temtibi Lagoon, he hadn't found himself wanting to rush back.
"Risian rules?" He asked, heading back to the desk, opening one of the drawers to look around. "What makes Risian rules so different?" He continued rummaging in the drawer, finally finding a pack, pulling them out with a triumphant, "Here we are."
Vira smirked as she took the cards from Damian and scanned the immediate area for a spot to play. Seeing a table free she pulled a chair from a nearby console towards it. Straddling the chair backward, Vira rested both forearms on the back and began shuffling. "Well for one, currency isn't the only form of payment." Chuckling she added, "Don't worry this will just be for fun, and bragging rights."
The risian nodded towards the seat across the table, urging Damien to sit as she continued shuffling almost ready to deal.
Damien watched, before following her over to the table, grabbing another chair, seating himself opposite her, sitting correctly, leaning back, crossing his arms over his chest, watching her shuffle, raising an eyebrow slightly at her comment. He hadn't played poker on Risa when he'd gone, so wasn't sure if the rules were real, or if she was just making them up to mess with him.
"Oh really? So if I don't want to lose my entire week's pay, what else can I can lose? He asked, leaning forward, placing his arms on the table, his eyes locking momentarily locking with hers, glinting slightly in the light of the room.
Vira set the cards down in the middle of the table so that he could cut the deck. Tossing her long honey blonde ponytail over her right shoulder she returned Damien's gaze but kept the playful grin she wore. "Favors."
The risian leaned forward, there was a bit of adrenaline coursing through her. She had grown to enjoy these taunting little games of hers. Relishing in how mysterious she could be. "You lose, you owe me a favor. I lose, I owe you a favor. To be called in whenever the other sees fit." She said plainly.
Damien held her gaze, his lips tugging upward into a slightly devilish grin. "A favour?" He repeated. "How very ominous." He reached across the table, taking the freshly shuffled deck, and cutting it, before pushing it back towards her. "Alright Miss V, you've got yourself a deal." He said, finally breaking the gaze, leaning back in his chair. This was turning out to be a very interesting shift indeed.
Vira extended her right hand across the table, "Is it not customary to 'shake' on a deal on your homeworld?" She raised her eye browns, still donning that feline grin.
Damien smirked back at her, reaching across, taking her hand in his hand, giving it a firm shake. "Deal." He said, before leaning back. "Alright Miss V, deal the cards."
Giving a small chuckle the risian picked up the cards and started dealing them out. Before looking at her own hand she asked, "Best out of five?"
He nodded, picking the cards up, he glanced over them, making sure to adopt a poker face, as not to give anything away. "Best out of five." He agreed, nodding, glancing over the top of his cards at her.
As the game commenced Vira tried some small talk, Damien intrigued her more then she would have thought. Normally she found security officers boring but he seemed more patient and easy going then the ones she had met prior. Or perhaps it was the circumstances in which they met that gave her a different perspective.
"How long have you been aboard the Elysium?" She asked, only briefly glancing up from her hand.
Damien glanced up at her, trying to discern something, anything from her expression about what cards she might have, but she was giving very little away. Damien allowed himself the smallest of smiles as he looked over his own cards. He certainly hadn't been expecting this when he started work this afternoon.
"Um. Just a little over two months. I arrived just before Christmas. I was on a training cruise for a year before that on the Vanguard. What about you?"
"Four days." She said bluntly, momentarily lost in her train of thought. After a minute she smiled and set her hand down. "After the academy I was assigned to the Rosenbloom, super small, super boring. We mostly did supply runs to space stations. I was jumping at the bits for a new assignment after Lieutenant Whavi left the Rosenbloom."
Setting her chin in her palm she looked across the table at Damien. "Call." Vira said confidently regarding the two cards in her hand.
He chuckled softly, grinning at her. "Wow. A real newbie then." He said. "You've served with Lieutenant Whavi before?" He asked. "What's she like? I've not had much chance to interact with her."
Damien raised an eyebrow at her as he regarded the three cards in the middle of the table, then regarded his own cards. Keeping his face straight, he nodded, before throwing a couple of chips into the pot. "I see your bet, and raise you Five Credits." He was fairly confident in his hand so far, but playing against someone he was sure had played more than him, he was probably gonna lose more than he gained.
"New to the ship anyway yeah." Vira's expression fell slightly when she considered how indifferent Baeryn was towards her now. Granted she had always out ranked Vira, they were at one time friends. If not more then that. Sighing she added, "We were close on our last post, it was a small ship so everyone was well acquainted with one another. Her and I spent a lot of time together. I'm not sure if its the Elysium, or the pressure of being second officer, but she was less then excited to see me."
Shrugging off the disappointment she was boxing up she kept talking, her eyes focused on the cards in her hand. "Whavi is a great officer though, dedicated, understanding, and a great listener. I hope you have the chance to meet her." Vira smiled over the cards at Damien. In a flash her features portrayed something mischievous. "I'll match your bet D."
"If you're so new, have you had a chance to properly explore yet?" He asked, before quickly taking note of the change in her expression. He nodded as she explained, before saying, "There's been a bit of a shakeup in the command structure recently. I don't know everything behind it, but I get the feeling the new XO has some history with a few of the Senior Staff. And not all of it is good. And I don't think people are happy with the new Captain. Old loyalties dying hard and all that. I'm sure she was happy to see you, just still getting used to everything that's happening."
"I'm glad to hear it. I've not had a chance to interact with many people outside of Security yet. Which is why I'm glad you're here today. Computer glitch or not." He said, flashing a soft smile in her direction, which quickly changed into a smirk, as hers changed as well. Either she had a decent hand, or she was great at bluffing. "Alright then, Miss V, I'll call and match as well."
"I've done some exploring, not too much, just the arboretum. Maybe if I had a tour guild I would see more." Vira brought her shoulders to her ears in a shrug but that didn't stop the innocent smile she gave him. "Its too bad, Carrington seems really nice. I like her anyway." The risian thought back briefly to her first encounter with the captain and how the woman had inspired a desire to learn more, to do more. Be something more then just a transporter tech.
With a slight bite of her lip she flipped the first card laid out between the two.
He smiled and shrugged. "I've done a little bit of exploring. This ship is so big I keep getting lost though." He said, chuckling. The Armstong was a Nova-Class ship. Eight decks and seventy-eight crew members. Going from that to a ship of the Elysium's size, well." He shrugged. "Maybe we could get lost together sometime?" He said, grinning at her. "Between the two of us, I'm sure we could map this ship out eventually."
"I can't really say. I only met Captain Lalor once, and that was for an inspection. Considering I was missing my rank insignia, and I was wearing an old uniform, I'm not sure how much of an impression I left." He said, grinning. "And I've not had the chance to get acquainted with Carrington yet."
He glanced down at the cards on the table, holding his breath slightly as she flipped it.
Vira thought about having someone to explore with. Sure it had been her goal to enlist Damien as her guild around the ship but now that he had extended an actual offer, a genuine one she was more touched by it. The feeling was a bit of a shock, but not unpleasant. It made her fidget in her seat, averting her eyes as she felt the blush warm her cheeks. "I think that sounds like fun. If your not too busy and have the time to get lost with me that is." She chuckled.
Letting out a long slow breath Vira reluctantly looked up from the cards now turned over. It took a lot to school her expression into a smug one knowing full well the cards laid out between them did not stand in her favor.
He shrugged, smiling at her. He hadn't met many people yet. It seemed like the majority of people on board had been here a while, and Damien felt like he was intruding on pre-established groups by being the new guy. Finding someone just as new as he was, and his own age seemed like it was too good an opportunity to pass up.
As the cards were revealed, Damien fought to keep his expression as neutral as possible. With the Three and Four in his hand, and the Two, Five, and Six on the table, he was currently sitting pretty with a Straight. Not the best hand, and easy enough to beat if she had a Flush or a Full House, but still a difficult enough hand to beat.
Keeping his composure, he shrugged, and simply pushed a couple of chips into the middle. "I call." He said simply.
Vira didn't move for a few seconds. Her hazel eyes narrowed at Damien, "Fold." Her voice held a small note of annoyance, not towards the other player, but towards her lack of luck in the first round. She tossed her cards down on the table face up. A three of spades and a jack of diamonds.
Damien grinned as he kept his eyes locked on Vira's, waiting to see what she was going to do. When that single word left her mouth, the grin widened slightly. "Oh dear." He said, reaching a hand out, pulling the small pile of chips towards him, along with the cards. "Bad luck Miss V. Maybe you'll better this time." He said, an innocent look covering his features, as he swept the cards back into one pile, and quickly shuffled them, before placing them in front of her to cut.
With a sour expression Vira double tapped the deck, a cocky sign she didn't feel the need to cut the deck. "Beginners luck. Enjoy while it last D." Placing her elbow on the table and resting her chin in the palm of her hand she waited for her cards to be dealt.
Damien couldn't help but continue smirking at her as he picked the deck up, dealing two cards each to him and Vira, then placing three face up in the middle, the Ace of Diamonds, the Six of Clubs, and the Five of Diamonds.
"Hey, luck is luck." He said, shrugging. "I'll take what I can get." He placed the rest of the deck face down next to him, before examining his own cards. Three of Hearts, and Four of Clubs. Not a great start. Keeping his expression neutral, he merely placed two chips into the centre of the table. "I call." He said, nonchalantly.
Vira huffed, "Careful there D, don't wanna make yourself sound desperate." She gave him a sly look over the table as she picked up her card, an eight of hearts and three of spades. 'Looks like the goddess isn't pleased with me today.' she thought while schooling her expression into a neutral one.
"Desperate? I don't even know the meaning of the word." He grinned at her, scanning her face trying to deduce anything, but she wasn't revealing anything to him. 'Oh well.' He thought, reaching over to the deck, revealing the next card. The Eight of Diamonds. Crap. Definitely not what he needed. Maybe beginner's luck was all he had. Still, he could maybe turn this around. Provided he didn't give anything away to her. He glanced up at her, biting his lip nervously, not realizing what he was doing.
"Not knowing the meaning of the word makes you the perfect candidate for it." She teased, then caught the lip biting and her face lit up. "Nervous over there lovey?" Vira took her time, having every intention of making Damien sweat.
"Not sure if I should be charmed, or insulted right now. " He said, letting out a soft chuckle. "Me? Nervous?" He shrugged, trying to play it off. "Don't know what you mean." He chuckled again, this time a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice, which he tried to cover with a quick cough, fighting the urge to run his hand through his hair, balling it into a fist under the table. "I'm fine. You doing okay over there?"
Okay, if he was being honest, the 'Lovey' had taken him by surprise. He wasn't used to nicknames like that, from girls like... well from girls at all in all honesty. "Why don't you tell me something about yourself?" He suggested innocently, reaching over for the final card, turning it to reveal:
The Eight of Clubs. Yeah. Not what he wanted to see.
Vira laughed, not just at the tells Damien was showing, but his subtle reaction to her use of a nickname. Was that blush she saw? She sat up straight again watching him flip the next card before responding. Maybe the goddess wasn't upset with her after all. She was sitting on a 3 of a kind now. "What would you like to know, Lovey?" she drawled out the nickname pausing to see its effect before adding. "Call."
Damien raised an eyebrow at her. Okay. Now she was just teasing him. Did he make it that obvious that the nickname had unnerved him? He just shook it off, looking at the cards. He definitely wasn't winning this round. "Tell me a story about your childhood." He suggested. "Must have been interesting, growing up on Risa." He sighed, before tossing his cards face-up on the table. "I fold."
Vira smirked and confidently laid her hand down on the table as well. Slowly gathering the chips and moving them to her side of the table. "My childhood was...peaceful, I have three loving parents who always ensured I was the center of their world. My family owns a spa at one of the popular resorts where I spent most of my time. Being there I also grew up around a lot of off worlders, and alot of starfleet officers. Their stories about the dominion war intrigued me, the danger and adventure! It came as no surprise the day I enlisted."
She picked up the cards and began shuffling. Her mind now on how much she missed the sun on Risa, so much so she could almost feel its warmth on her cheek.
