Dinner and a Favor, part 1

Posted on Thu Feb 11th, 2010 @ 8:38am by Commander Raven Adams & Khiy Tal'ehrihn

1,909 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: FORGING AHEAD
Location: Raven's quarters
Timeline: current

ON

It took a few days for Raven to get up enough nerve to contact Khiy again. Even though she needed his help, it was still hard as she wasn't sure how far she could -- or should -- trust him.

The invitation was for dinner. She'd decide then if she should ask him for help. As she didn't want their conversation to be overheard, she invited him to dine in her quarters.

The table was set. Black candles flickered brightly in the soft light. The dishes were black with a Celtic pattern etched in silver. Simple yet classy. Or so she hoped.

Raven had changed into a deep red cocktail dress a silver dragon dangled on a chain about her neck. As she had a few minutes before he was to arrive, she sat on her sofa and practiced a Bajoran meditation technique that always helped her focus and relax.

Khiy was in a good mood today. The station, he found, was more than able to support the kind of operation he wanted to run; and what’s more is that there seemed to be available clientele for a quick start, so down time would be at a minimum. All that was left was to draft a proposal and submit it to Starfleet. The proposal, however, could wait; tonight he would wind down and enjoy dinner with a rather colourful character from his past.

He hadn’t brought much in the way of formal dinner wear in his shuttle, but he did have the good sense to bring a black suit jacket. Since his wardrobe was nearly exclusively stocked with button up shits and blue jeans, it was no stretch to add the jacket and go with the ‘business casual’ look.

He casually walked down the corridor until he arrived at his dinner guest’s quarters. Looking down at his watch, he noticed that he was still a couple of minutes early. With a shrug he leaned up against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. Khiy was keen on being on time for everything, being too early risked interruption and being too late was disrespectful. He watched as the seconds ticked off his watch before turning his body and ringing the door chime.

Raven uncoiled from her position on the sofa and put away her PADD. She took a deep breath and walked to the door. She didn't know why she was nervous. Khiy was a business associate from her former life. But she believed him when he said he would keep her secret. Besides, she knew a few of his secrets as well. Perhaps it was the favor she hoped to ask of him later? ~That's probably it,~ she assured herself.

By the time she reached the door none of her concerns or misgivings showed on her face. She was calm and collected, wanting nothing more than to have an enjoyable dinner with an old acquaintance. "Hi," she said warmly as she stepped aside to let Khiy enter her quarters. "How are you?"

"Well, thank you." He said enthusiastically as he stepped inside. "How about you? Save the galaxy again today?" He said poking fun at her Starfleet career.

So, he was going to be that way about it, was he? Raven closed the door and walked up to him, invading his personal space. "I don't save the galaxy. I dig up its dirty little secrets." An exaggeration, but true, nonetheless.

Khiy grinned in classic form. "Well then I'm glad you are busy digging elsewhere." He said before taking a step back. He looked over her head and took a quick glance around the room. "I kind of figured it wasn't all for show. You actually live the whole 'look' don't you?"

Raven's eyes lit up when Khiy stepped back. ~Score one for the home team,~ she thought. "No, I don't live the 'whole look," she insisted. "I happen to enjoy wearing black. Ravens and dragons are not always 'Goth' and coffins are very comfortable. You should try it some time." She looked around at her room. So, the lighting was softer than normal, but it was by no means dark. And, although she did have an abundance of dragons and ravens, there were no Goth symbols anywhere. Not even on her coffin.

Khiy was amused by the way she took his words so defensively. The way she immediately jumped to a conclusion was certainly something of note that he was going to file away in his mind. "I assure you no insult was intended. What I meant is somewhat dark and mysterious, not gothic. Many people used to comment on 'Morticia's look' as if it was simply just a facade played out to gain a reputation. Personally, I never thought you to be so weak a person that you needed to hide in someone else's skin." He waved his hand to highlight the room "It appears I was correct."

Mistake number one. Raven felt her cheeks begin to burn and turned away, pretending to look at the room. "I don't dress for the benefit of others. I never have. Sorry I jumped to a conclusion. I encounter too many people who seem to feel that because I dress the way I do I must embrace the whole 'Goth' lifestyle." The man was too astute for his own good. He always had been. "Before we eat, do you have any particular food allergies? I wouldn't want to poison you by accident." She hadn't heard of any, but she wanted to change the subject.

"Hmm, telling an intelligence Officer about my food allergies. Perhaps I should say I am deathly allergic to Romulan Ale, that way I would imagine I would be drinking vast quantities of it before long without my knowledge of it." He said this while carefully examining a very ornate statue of a small dragon. He took his eyes off the item and returned his gaze to Raven. "No," He said smiling "no allergies to anything."

"Khiy, this dinner invitation is not to get information out of you so I can use it against you later," Raven told him sternly. "This is simply a dinner to renew old acquaintances. Your paranoia does you justice most of the time, but today it is clearly failing you."

She had prepared the meal in advance and it was in a small kitchen off the main living room. Without another word she walked into the room and began to put lay out the food on a serving platter. ~Let the man think what he wanted~ she told herself. She picked up the tray and set it on the table. "Terran beef marinated and roasted. Baby carrots, string beans and potatoes, lightly marinated and roasted." She walked back into the kitchen and brought out the salads and set one on each plate. "Help yourself," she said as she sat down.

This was a bad idea. What made her think they could be friends -- or that she could ask him for help? He would never trust her now that she was in Starfleet. She quietly began to eat her salad.

As Khiy ate the food he noticed the silence begin to drag on. It's not to say that his ethical code bothered him for pushing the comments, but certainly his moral code left him feeling slightly abashed. He rested his fork down on the plate and leaned back in his chair. "You're right, I’m sorry, I was being rude to you." His words stopped there and he frowned for a moment as it seemed one of those rare occasions where he was lost for words. Perhaps he was being too guarded, his thoughts were even lost to him it seemed. He crossed his arms across his chest as he thought of how to describe why he was being uncouth. "Perhaps," He started "old habits die hard. For many reasons I have spent my life avoiding the Starfleet uniform, I guess I have just forgotten that there is a person behind it."

Raven had eaten part of her salad and part of her main course, but her appetite was gone. She pushed her food aside. "I'm in Starfleet Intelligence. If I'd want to know your medical history, I can find it. If I want to know who your friends are, I can find that, too. I'm good at what I do." She gave him a direct look. " Very good.' Of course, she wasn't going to tell him that she still had ties to her old life. That was one of the things that gave her an edge in this business: she had a foot in both worlds.

She noticed that he, too, had finished eating. She stood and walked around the table, grabbing a PADD on her way. She leaned close to once again invade his personal space because he didn't like it. "This wasn't business -- I'm not wearing a uniform." She set the PADD on the table in front of him. "This is. And before you comment, I could have called you into my office to talk about it -- I should have called you into my office. This is separate from why I asked you here and it's not official. Read it over later and let me know." She looked him in the eye for a moment. ~You also forget that I'm Betazoid. Just remember that I'm not prying.~

With that she stepped back to give him his space. She knew that he would be able to read the emotions on her face, so she turned, picked up her uneaten food and headed back into the kitchenette.

Khiy watched as she walked away to dispose of the dishes. A smile crept across his face and he chuckled to himself while shaking his head. Morticia was always a hard case, to her credit. He was glad to see that Starfleet hadn't sapped her spirit. His eyes fell to the PADD on the table. He cocked his head to the side and studied it for a moment before his curiosity got the better of him and he reached out for it. With a push of his thumb the screen lit up revealing station records and numbers. His brow furrowed as he read the information. As he read, he leaned further back on his chair as his foot pushed off the floor forcing the chair to be balanced on its rear two legs. His thumb tabbed down a number of times until he reached the empirical data. He let out a long slow whistle. "Hey," He spoke up while still looking over the PADD "Are you sure I’m supposed to be able to see this?"

Raven poked her head back into the room. "There is nothing on that PADD that I didn't personally approve for you to see." She was sorely tempted to bump his foot and see if he could regain his balance, but she decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea at this time. Although she did bump it slightly, grinning as she turned and walked back into the kitchen.

Khiy smirked at the intended bump and lifted the front two feet off the ground further in response. "Well I can tell you a few things about this operation right off the bat."

To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Raven Adams
Chief Intelligence Officer

Khiy Tal'ehrihn
Trans Galactic Trading

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