Talking Shop

Posted on Sun Feb 12, 2017 @ 5:08pm by Lieutenant Commander Alex Rho & Lieutenant Xylia Lischka

Mission: An Orion to Die For
Location: Various
Timeline: MD 4 || 1030 Hours

Once the briefing concluded, Xylia left the Ready Room and leaned against the nearest bulkhead. She was a bit nervous as she waited for Lieutenant Rho to make his way out. The last time they'd seen one another, she'd gotten a bit aggravated with the way things had gone with the initial interrogation of Vash, but now she had a much better understanding of why he'd done things the way he had. In fact, she was a bit grateful for it. Vashkele felt as though she had someone on board the ship she could trust, and she did, but now Xylia wished she could do more to help the Orion woman.

Pushing those thoughts from her mind, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. They needed to get more answers, and he was going to have to help her. Hopefully, without the use of underhanded means. The only way they could properly help their guest was if she came clean about everything, and despite her theories, Xylia needed confirmation.

Alex left the Ready Room with a lot on his agenda for the next little while, including contacting the Admiral at Starfleet Intelligence. But before all of that, he had a meeting with the temporary Executive Officer. Pausing outside the door, Alex looked around as a few more officers walked by. He saw the woman he'd shared a meal with and an interrogation leaning on a bulkhead. "You wanted to speak with me, ma'am?"

Arching a brow at the use of 'ma'am', the German woman shook her head. Her role was only temporary, and she didn't want to be treated any different... especially by him. "Don't stat calling me that. I'm still Xylia to you," she said with a smile, gesturing for him to walk with her. "I need your help with a couple of things if you're able."

Alex chuckled. "Of course Xylia." Alex fell in step with the hazel eyed woman. "I'm always able to help. What can I do for you?"

"Well..." she began, spotting a maintenance closet not too far ahead. It would be the second time she'd have been inside a closet with someone, but she had a feeling Alex wouldn't be as willing as Vash was earlier. "Neither are very appropriate for talking about in the corridor. Other ears and all."

He looked down at her and half grinned. "Okay...well, I have a large portion of a deck that is more secure than any other place on this ship. No kind of ears, actual or otherwise, can hear us there." His mind started racing with what in the world could be on her mind that was not very appropriate for discussion in a corridor.

Xylia came to the maintenance closet and stopped, looking toward him. She had a feeling if she gave him half the chance to think about anything... Mentally, she shook her head and turned to get the door open, then reached for his hand to get him inside before following and closing the door behind the two of them.

She let out a shaky breath and took a step toward him, leaning in to press her lips against his. Actions spoke louder than words, and now she found herself hoping he wouldn't over think things too much.

When she grabbed his hand and put him inside the maintenance closet, he was caught off guard. Then she followed...and closed the door. Help with a couple of things indeed, he thought. Then she moved in and pressed her lips to his. He returned her kiss and placed his hands on her sides. When the two finally separated, he looked down at her. "This isn't quite what I was expecting, Xylia, when you asked for my help."

Xylia gave him a sheepish smile. "Oh... I did say a couple of things, and I do need to talk shop with you, but I was hoping that could wait for a few..."

He grinned. "Dinner and an interrogation, an Intelligence officer's dream date. And now," he squeezed her sides gently. "I suppose shop talk could wait a few." He looked at her. She was...curvy...to say the least. And he wished, did he ever wish, he could get inside her mind for just a few seconds. That had to be a wild ride.

"Oh... I expect dinner again... and I'll even let you interrogate me," she said, her accent thickening a bit. Xylia reached up with shaky hands to unzip the jacket part of his uniform, grateful he was on board. He was beyond her type. Gorgeous, Intel, smart and a great deal of other things that just so happened to tickle her fancy. "If you'd rather not, now would be the time to say so." It would be hard, but she'd be able to mash the breaks.

Alex took a deep breath and put his hands on hers, feeling them shake. He held them. "You'll have dinner with me again, there's no doubt about that. And then I'll interrogate you, if you wish." He smiled and winked. "Oh, and I love that accent of yours." He then moved her hands on down his uniform jacket, unzipping it. "A maintenance closet...an interesting choice. Ever so slightly private in a public place. For someone with shaky hands, you're quite the daredevil, honey."

Xylia couldn't help but grin when he helped her unzip his jacket. "You can hear my accent any time you want to," she said softly, pushing the jacket away from his shoulders before leaning in to kiss his softly. "I appreciate a good surge of adrenaline, and the fact we could get caught provides that. Not to mention this is quite the adventure, wouldn't you say?"

When she released him from the kiss, he let his jacket fall into one of his hands. Tossing it to the side, he said, "Oh, I would most definitely say." He looked at her, still in her uniform jacket and began to slowly unzip it. "Getting caught in a maintenance closet taking the jacket off of the temporary XO...yeah, that's an adrenaline rush." He continued unzipping the jacket until he could remove it. But instead he put his hands back on her back, near her shoulder blades, and pulled her against him. "How's this for an adrenaline rush?" He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, hard.

Xylia shivered and returned the kiss. That definitely provided her with a rush of adrenaline, and one reason she chose the maintenance room was because of the lack of security cameras inside. It provided them with a little privacy, but kept the thrill of being caught alive. After a few moments, she pulled back with kiss swollen lips to take in a much needed breath. "No more talking," she said, trying to make quick work of getting the rest of his uniform off.

He smiled as he felt her shiver. Then...then there was no more talking, only the removal of uniforms. While she was trying her best at his, he was trying his best at hers. All the while trying his hardest to not make too much noise or knock something over. He stood there, bare chested, as Xylia had gotten his shirts off.

The time for talking was definitely over, and so was caring about making too much noise or knocking anything over. She ran her hands over his chest, then leaned in to kiss him once again, making quick work of removing any other restrictive garments that might be in the way. Xylia mentally vowed to put a smile on his face and proceeded to do just that.

---

Alex was pulling his uniform shirt over his head as he watched Xylia. Honey brown hair, hazel eyes, tanned skin and an inner, something, that he never would have guessed was there. He was smiling. Then he telepathically spoke to her in a gentle, easy manner that wouldn't frighten her. You, Xylia Lischka...maintenance closets...this rendezvous... We must do this again sometime. Alex winked.

Xylia couldn't help but smile. His ability to enter one's mind bothered a lot of people, but it didn't bother her. She found the entire thing rather intimate, and that was sitting right at the front of her mind for him to see. Well... that and some rather steamy images of what they'd just done.

She pulled her own uniform shirt on and began the process of getting it tucked into her pants as she looked over at him. "We definitely will. How would you like to come to my place tonight?"

Alex had finished with his shirt and caught the the thought at the front of her mind. Intimate. It was, really. There was nothing you could hide, no inconsistencies. You couldn't say one thing and think another. Then there were the images...he smiled again. "I think I can do that," he said, looking for his uniform jacket. "What can I bring other than myself? Food? Drink?"

"You can bring anything you want," she said as she pulled on her jacket and zipped it up. With that done, she moved over to him to press a kiss to his lips. "How's my hair?" Without a mirror, she couldn't tell for herself.

He returned the kiss and looked her hair over. He smirked and ran his hands through it a few times. "There, now it looks good." He zipped up his jacket and looked at her. "Just a moment..." He trailed off as he searched the corridor outside. Now there goes a hot little Ensign. Look at that... I wonder if I could get some time approved... He waited a few more seconds. "Okay, no one in the corridor, just in case." He stepped back and put out his arm, inviting her to go first if she wished.

"Thank you," she said when he fixed her hair, but that didn't keep her from smoothing her hands over it. A slow grin spread over her lips. "For the record..." She gestured at his body with a hand, then started to pull the door open. "I've staked my official claim. You're all mine now." With that, she walked out into the corridor.

Alex smirked. Well, how do you like that, he thought to himself. He smiled as he watched her walk out. Nice. "Well then, my German claim-staker, I guess there is only one thing for me to do later...stake my claim." Alex followed her out to the corridor. "Now, I believe you had a couple of things you wanted my help with. One down, one to go."

"I've been talking to Vashkele, and she's provided us with more information as you know from the briefing, but I have a strong feeling there's a lot more to it than what she's telling me," Xylia said as they moved down the corridor once more. "I've drawn my own conclusions and pieced together a puzzle, but the Captain wants us to speak with her to get more. Would you be willing?"

Alex sighed. "I'd be willing to speak with her, yes. But I don't think she'd be willing to speak with me. Not after the interrogation. She was rather vociferous at that point and adamant that she wasn't going to speak any more to me. Even though, I was setting you up to build a trust with her. I'll talk with her, but I don't think she'll have anything to say to me."

"I'll be there, too, but she may view it as us trying to gang up on her," she said with a sigh. "I'm not sure what we should do, but the Captain wants us to find out what we can. Like you said... you set it up so she and I would develop a trust, and we have, but now I'm afraid that will have all been for nothing."

"We will do everything in our power to make it work," said Alex. "It's the Captain's orders and we'll do them to the best of our abilities. We have more information, which usually means more questions. And the trust that you two have developed will be a plus as I intend to approach it differently if some things have been met. First, she was requesting asylum. Has that been granted?"

Xylia nodded as they continued their journey down the corridor. "She has. She's resting comfortably on deck one with a female guard that's more for her own protection than anything else. I think I made her understand that. I also set up a spending account for her and transferred some of my own personal credits to it. The Captain approved a transfer of funds to her after I did that, so that's something I need to get taken care of."

Alex was listening and nodding as they walked. "Asylum, regular quarters, and a spending account. I'd imagine that even with this freedom, she's still very restricted as to where she can go. My point is, she's no longer in the Brig and is now under the care of the Federation at this point. So I see no need for another 'interrogation' or anything of the like. I hope that will help to make things easier."

"She is restricted in more ways than where she can go," she said. "I think if we were able to speak to her like a person and not a criminal, it would help a lot."

"Precisely," said Alex. "Her current situation should aid in that as well. Plus some reassurances from me. So, I think speaking to her in her new quarters where she's becoming more comfortable would be best. Unless you have another idea."

"That's better than any idea I had. She and I are supposed to have dinner later. Do you want to come? Maybe if she sees you outside of your uniform it might help a bit," Xylia suggested.

"That's a possibility," said Alex. "Though I'm fairly certain it's not the uniform. She knows I'm not human. And for me to give her my word that I won't speak to her telepathically may not carry much weight. As for the dinner, I think it might be better for you if I pass on that. You're more likely to get more out of her without me present in that informal setting. She sees me as the deceiver."

"But we don't want her to see you as such, and for the record, she isn't human, either," the German woman pointed out. "We'll get it figured out, but I still want to meet up afterward if you're on board."

"Indeed she isn't," said Alex. "But people notice that as soon as they see her. When they see me, they do just as she did. They assume I'm human. And when they find out I'm not, that's typically the response I get. Anyway, we'll get done what the Captain wants done. And we can still meet up afterwards. Though, you're going to need to do some prep work before I arrive. That woman can't stand me, Xylia. I was in her mind for a few brief moments. I know." He paused a moment and thought about something. "How are you going to go about getting the information on the fleet that we need?"

"I only wish I knew," she answered with a frown. "Since I was appointed the acting XO, I haven't had much chance to sit down and think about anything. I've been bounced around more than a tennis ball in the last few hours. I'm hoping you might be able to find out something that will help, but if not, I'm definitely open to suggestions."

"Well, just based on the last time we spoke to her together, she seems to like trading. She wanted asylum, we wanted information. She gave us information on Raimus that was accurate and we granted her asylum, eventually. We offer her quarters and a spending account, and she gives us information on a fleet of ships that guard the place we're headed. She doesn't seem the type to give information away for free. She wants something in return." He paused a moment and grinned. "Woman could out-bargain a Ferengi if she wanted to. But, personally, I'd start there because she's already established that pattern. Which means, you need to be prepared with several things that you have the authority to give her. Keep in mind those 'things' could be abstract as well."

"That's just it. What I think she wants, I can't give, and neither can anyone on the ship. That's based off of the fact she told me we can't give her what she wants."

"What is it that you think she wants, exactly?" he asked. If Vash had one primary demand, or request, above all others, he was curious to know what Xylia thought it was. And even more curious to know from Vash if Xylia was right.

"After thinking about everything that's happened, and some things that have been said, I think she wants a fresh start. I have nonway to prove it unless she confirms that, but that's what I think she actually wants. If it is, then it's far beyond my realm of reach," Xylia said. How would she get her to admit something like that? It seemed impossible.

Alex took a deep breath. "That's certainly a big order to fill, if that's the case. I agree with you, it's beyond any of our reach. That would be a decision that would have to be made far above our rank and influence. As far as her confirming it, don't try too hard. You don't want to ruin anything that you've built with Vash. Speaking as the Intelligence Chief, connections like this usually take time to build and solidify. This one was put together much quicker than I would have liked due to the circumstances. But we have to work with what we have. Which is why I don't want to see you and Vash crumble. Raimus isn't talking and she's our only source of information. Don't push it." At first, he felt a little awkward, like he was giving orders to the temporary XO. But, as a Department Head, he had to make sure that he got his point across. "Just be yourself, Xylia."

"You have nothing to worry about, Alex. I plan to be no one but myself. I think she and I could even be friends, and I owe that to you. The way you did it was a bit sneaky, and it angered her, but I think she'll get over that in time," the young woman said. She turned to look at him and smiled. He was gorgeous, and the greying... it added something she couldn't quite put her finger on. "I'll set a time for us to speak with her as soon as I can. My schedule has turned hectic since I've been shoved into my new, albeit, temporary role."

Alex laughed. "Sneaky is what I do." He wasn't sure if Vash would ever get over what he did and the manner in which he set things up. "Just send me the time when you get it and we'll go from there. I'm sure you do have a lot to take care of." When they came to the turbolift, he stopped. "And I have an Admiral to contact." He stepped closer so that the doors would open. "Going up, down, or staying here?"

"Staying, but I'll be seeing you later," Xylia said with a smile. "If you get anything useful, let me know."

"Later it is, then," said Alex. He stepped inside the lift car, but left a foot between the doors as he turned around. "I'll let you know, about the useful information." He pulled his foot in and, right as the doors closed, he winked.