Star Trek: Theurgy

[ The Presence in the Darkness | Somewhere on the USS Theurgy ] Attn: @BZ 
[Show/Hide]Like a scattered image before his glowing eyes, Lucan didn't just see Eun Sae Ji crawl out of the broken doorway and land upon the cold deck plating one time. No, he saw it happening before, and how sometimes she would run in the opposite direction, and other times towards him. It was odd, however, in how the old images seemed unfamiliar to him, as if with this Cycle, the past ones had been altered as well. What had the Theurgy done to unravel the tapestry of time in such a fashion? Surely the images of Ji, and the experiences of her arrival, would not seem so recent? Through the abyss, he saw it all nonetheless, and he could but wonder how it had come to pass. Had the Theurgy and her crew, in some other reality, managed to escape the virus he carried? Or had something else happened, which had sent ripples down the time-stream?

This Cycle, for whatever reason, Ji came his way, and he just stood there and smiled while she approached.

That name... he thought, the echo of 'Luca' traversing the depth of the dark void, and he realised she'd called him that. The connection to the host body... it had been weakened. The Radiant had got to him, surely. Yes, this is the Ji that came to me in the cell. Was it her reality that set time in disorder? Or is she just a facet of that effect, since I've seen her here before? Hard to tell. Nonetheless, she's here again, which suggests that she might come once more.

The Cycles hadn't ended, and the darkness yet fed.

"Oh, Ji," he said in a soft voice, and he stepped out of the shadow and into the overhead light - his feet making whispers against the deck of the corridor. He could see the glow of his own stare reflected in her big, dark eyes. She would undoubtedly see the layers of scar tissue at the front of his bare torso, knitted together in a cursory was with his dermal regenerator, and she would undoubtedly slowly piece it all together. He expected to see the shock dawning in her eyes, unsure if it would be before or after she could smell him. For he carried the same scent as the flora he'd just subjected her to, like all the other people that had been left behind on the ship. "I am so happy to see you as well."

His next move was one propelled by his disconnect with the host body. The darkness that imbued his frame served to both strengthen and quicken him, phased out of corporeal restrictions as he was. In no time at all, he had closed the distance to her, and caught her by the neck with his tattooed hand. He held her there while he smiled at her - the light from his eyes casting her face in garish glare - and he let her struggle all she wanted. Against him, his scent or her doubts about his nature. Perhaps even her hopes against all odds that he remained the same 'Luca' she had left behind.

"Let me show you," he said, and while he didn't scream, his deep voice had risen to a kind of eldritch scratch against the fabric of their current reality, "what I really wanted to do when you saw me last."

Then his grip around her neck tightened gradually, suffocating her completely. Effortlessly, he lifted her feet clear from the deck plating. Soon, as he continued to squeeze, her vertebrae would yield, and her flesh split between his fingers. If her fight-or-flight response kicked in before then, he'd let her kick him all she wanted. He would even enjoy the pain she might cause the host body. It would be inferior to the experience of the seeds that had sprung through his torso, but pain was still pleasure, no matter how minuscule.

Then, he tilted his head, and the white light of his eyes turned from her face and caressed her thrashing body - suspended as she was from his grip. Was he really about to waste such a delectable opportunity, by breaking this new toy so soon? No, perhaps not. She would likely be more than willing, if he only let his scent turn her to his will. Her compliance was inevitable, if he only exercised a bit of patience...

So he dropped her before she suffocated, yet to have damaged her neck. Oh, how she reminded him of a mewling animal. Another skin-puppet, so easily bent to his will. They were all made to breed and die, after all. A pointless existence, about to cease.

"Look at me," he said to her, and his cutting words flayed the bulkheads. "I am your end."

Then he began to step after her.

[ LT. JG Jovela | Locker Room | Upper Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]
Hearing Ida call for her to enter, Jovela stepped through the doors into the dimly lit quarters and couldn't help but scan the room with her eyes, pretty standard quarters all things considered from what she could see, although her gaze was more drawn to the spot where she was to be painted. The fact it was illuminated with the easel just outside the brightness was the give away.

Before she could say anything, she spotted Ida and the way she smiled at the sight of her, noting how her antennae rose and smirked at her words. "Who says I don't but I'm pretty sure there are regulations that forbid walking naked through the halls of the ship, despite the fact I'm sure nobody would mind the view so I figured a sexy dress was the next best thing." she grinned. "As for whether I'm in the dress or out of it is entirely up to you." she winked.

Shaking her head at the offer of food as she crossed the room, closing the distance between them the Risian couldn't help but smile seductively at the Andorian Chief, pausing before the woman "So how do you want me?" she asked, lowering her voice into a husky tone before stepping past here and into the light where she was meant to pose.

[ Doctor Lucan cin Nicander | Brig | Security Center | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @BZ 
[Show/Hide]Embracing her in turn when she hugged his waist, Lucan was still not able to wrap his head around how much Eun Sae Ji trusted him. It did seem that she, beyond what many of the crew might, had faith in him and believed him more a victim than a facet of the enemy they faced. So standing there with his arms around her, he quarrelled with his own doubts in her - trying to see what it was she saw in him that the others didn't - but inevitably, he reached the same conclusion. That she didn't care about what had happened to him.

Lucan knew he wasn't fair in doubting Ji at all, but after the treatment he'd suffered since his true nature had been revealed, it was rather easy to assume the worst of his captives; the crew he had once been responsible for when it came to their health. With fading disbelief, he had run his tattooed hand through her hair during the embrace they shared, while his metal fingers rested against the small of her back. Eventually, however, she had withdrawn from him and gone to sit at his bunk. It appeared like she was a bit contemplative, and who could blame her? It wasn't like he was sure what had gotten into them either, throwing propriety and sensibility out the airlock. It was as if some... primal affection had got into them. Some animal drive beyond their reckoning.

Her question brought Lucan back to reality, however, referencing the indefinite captivity he endured. He had no idea when, or if, he would be released.

"Yes," he said in his deep voice, a frown touching his brow as he glanced towards the forcefield that separated him from the rest of the ship. "At least until then, I would think."

She'd said she didn't know how often she might be able to visit, and by the winds, that admission - after being deprived of lasting company and having experienced what he just had - cut him deeply. He stepped over to her where she sat and helped her her hair down with his fingers. He smiled to her, even if he knew there might be some time until she might return, which would allow them to speak at length about... whatever it was that went on between them.

"Regardless, I look forward to it," he said quietly, honestly, and glanced towards the reading she'd brought him as a gift. "Meanwhile, it seems like I have more than enough reading to pass the time. Thank you. Not just for that..."

It seemed such bitter-sweet thing to say it. Regardless, it was the truth. "But for giving me hope." Having said this, he ran his hand down from her hair and to the side of her neck. He put his metal hand on the bunk as he leaned down, and kissed her.

He hoped she might return sooner rather than later, but if she had to leave, then at least a kiss seemed the proper way to say good bye.

[ Ensign Isel "Foxfire" Nix | Adisia's Personal Quarters | Deck 14 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @fiendfall
[Show/Hide]"You know, darling, you didn't have to bring that nasty thing. If you wanted some fun you could've just asked. "Please" gets you a long way."

Isel smiled behind the Orion's back, amused by the flippant defiance the woman showed in her current circumstances. The admonishment she received as she discarded the tech she'd found on Adisia's person made her grin. "Worth more than me? I suppose that depends on who you're asking, darling." Given how vindictive Analla had been throughout the years Isel had worked for her, she could imagine a sizeable sum placed on her hide.

Not-Adisia made more protests, insisting she wasn't claiming to be anyone. She again insisted she wasn't Adisia, nor a member of the Orion Syndicate. The repeated claim was followed by an underhanded comment which insinuated that Isel was an idiot.

She's got guts, I'll give her that. Isel mused, though she'd see how long that nerve held.

Not-Adisia was talking again, giving another name. Xelia. The name rang some bell in the back of Isel's mind, but she couldn't place it. The fact that an Orion's name had such an effect did little to convince Isel that the woman wasn't a Syndicate associate, however. Neither did Xelia's claim that she was aboard the Theurgy because it was the right thing to do. The claim elicited a dark chuckle form the Vulpinian. The Orion's nerve continued to hold, as the woman went so far as to claim it was her turn. She claimed that Isel wouldn't use the phaser, asking what she had hoped to accomplish by coming here. Apparently she thought that something about Orion's scared Isel.

"Well, if it's constructive criticism you want..." Isel spoke the words softly, running her hand gently up Xelia's back. "I've got a few points for you..." A quick motion left Isel with a firm grip on Xelia's long, dark hair. She pulled it backwards, using the phaser to press Xelia forward to that the woman ended up in a rather strained position. "First of all, never tell someone holding a phaser on you that they won't use it. I've got an itchy trigger finger, and I'm just dying to prove you wrong. The only reason you're alive at this point is because I want to know how many contracts Analla handed out, and how much the bounty on my ass is." Isel's hand released Xelia's hair, but rather than providing a reprieve it reach forward to grasp the woman's throat, the tips of her pointed claws pressing into the soft green skin of the Orion's neck. "Second point. I don't need the phaser to kill you. All that moisturizing you obviously do means that these claws will have an easy tiny opening your pretty little throat, darling." Isel pressed herself against Xelia's back, digging the phaser in deeper between the Orion's ribs. "Third point. It's a mistake to think that a fear of Orions would be something that would benefit you. Fear would make me more likely to finish you off quickly. Luckily, I'm not afraid of Orions, as you seem to think. Though after being sold on your fucking slave markets, I can't say I'm a fan of them, either."

Isel pressed the claw of her middle finger against the soft, tender skin of Xelia's neck, sliding it so that a small drop of blood beaded on the scored flesh. Isel pushed herself up on tiptoe and leaned in, then darted her tongue out to taste the beaded blood. "Lastly, darling, as you said. "Please" gets you a long way. You might want to think about begging for your life about now. Or..." Isel loosened her grip on Xelia's neck and used the hand holding the phaser to force Xelia around to face her. That done, Isel's grip tightened on the green woman's throat again, forcing her to bend back over the sink. Isel leaned in close, her heterochromic eyes peering out of her white furred face to bore into Xelia's dark grey eyes. "You could just tell me how much Demetria's hide is worth. I'd love to know how much Analla hates me." The furry white muzzle split into a grin, exposing long, sharp teeth which hovered just inches from the Orion's throat. At the same time, the phaser pressed into Xelia's ribs. "I still don't know how she survived, but if she's sending assassins after me, perhaps that's a mistake I'll have to go and remedy..." The furry white head tilted to the side, the green and blue gaze holding a look of dark amusement. "What do you think, darling? Should I go kill Analla after I take care of you?"

[ Ensign Isel "Foxfire" Nix | Adisia's Personal Quarters | Deck 14 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @fiendfall
[Show/Hide]"Oh, well aren't you gorgeous?" Not exactly the words Isel had expected from someone seeing a stranger training a phaser on them. Still, it also wasn't the strangest thing she'd ever heard. The Vulpinian's canine features twitched into a slight grin at the words, though her eyes remained cold.

The Orion claimed Isel must be confused, and that she was not that nasty witch Adisia. She also claimed not to be involved with some horrid business with a cat, claiming to have only arrived on Aldea after the fact. The Orion stared at herself as much as Isel as she spoke, as though enjoying the sight of herself talking. Isel chuckled as the greenskin made the claim that Isel shouldn't judge people like that. There were all here for the same reason after all, weren't they? Saving the world or whatever.

Isel took a step forward, moving in behind the Orion woman and pressing the muzzle of her phaser into the small of the Orion's back. "Word of advice, sweet pea..." Isel said as she pressed the phaser harder into her target. Her other hand snaked forward, frisking the Orion in search of any hidden weapons which might be brought to bare against her. "Tacking the words "or whatever" on the end doesn't make for a convincing lie, pretty as you might be while telling it." Isel's hand continued it's search, pausing on the Orion's thigh as she felt a familiar shape beneath the fabric of Adisia's dress. "And I think it's you who's mistaken. I don't know anything about any horrid business, and I don't have any cat friends." Isel pressed the phaser harder into Adisia's back, forcing her to lean forward over the vanity. With her free hand she hiked up the dress that Adisia wore, retrieving the dagger from it's sheath strapped to the Orion's thigh. "I don't think you'll be needing this, sweetling." Isel cooed as the Orion, tossing the dagger out of the small bathroom so that it landed somewhere off in the shadows.

"Alright, miss Not-Adisia..." Isel spoke as she continued her search, her hand moving over the various parts of the Orion's body where one might conceal weapons, or anything else they wanted to hide, with an almost invasive thoroughness. "Who are you claiming to be then? And what really brings you're here?" Her continued search uncovered a small PADD, a pair of data crystals, and what appeared to be several recording devices, all of which Adisia was relieved of and which joined the dagger in the shadows of the next room. Satisfied, Isel listened to Adisia's next attempt at an explanation, still not believing a word which came out of the woman's green lips. In truth, a part of her hoped that this wasn't Adisia, though she would have a hard time believing it. The odds of a Syndicate Venator showing up on the planet below, accosting one of the crew, and then an different Orion showing up on the Theurgy, quite out of the blue, seemed too long to bet on. Add to those odds the fact that Demetria likely had a sizeable bounty on her head, and the threats made by Admiral Asshat, and Isel didn't expect to find herself overly inclined to take that bet.