Chiana grinned and knocked back her mug of Raslek. Slamming the empty container on the bar top she signaled the barkeep for a refill. She stole a glance at the tall man sitting next to her, quietly watching the crowd around them laughing, dancing, and generally having a good time. Even D'argo had latched on to a beautiful woman and was tearing up the dance floor, the big Luxan surprisingly graceful as he twisted and turned his huge body around his lithe dance partner to the beat of the loud music. She frowned as she observed that no matter what she had tried the recently freed Shrike, even on a pleasure planet couldn't... or would not, relax and enjoy himself. If anything he appeared to be becoming more uncomfortable with the mob of tavern patrons by the microt. The man seemed to wrap himself deeper inside his cloak as if to protect himself against the people and the life going on around him. He steadfastly refused several offers by rather attractive females to dance or go off somewhere more private with them. Chiana sighed and came to the conclusion that there was nothing more she could do for the man until he decided to come out of his shell. She been trying to get the man to loosen up, sometimes he didn't get the simplest of jokes, for frell sakes. It had been a two-arn struggle to pry the ex-assassin out of his armor for the trip planet side for some R&R, but he still refused to wear a PK overcoat and stubbornly hung on to that billowing cloaked he seemed to love so much.
Chiana was here to have some fun and she had spied a rather pleasant looking example of a male who peaked her interest for some distraction. By the smiles he returned, he was obviously interested in her also but hovered around the edges of the crowd in her vicinity while she sat with the gloomy Shrike. Torn between watching over her new friend and taking some time out for her own enjoyment, she didn't know what to do. As the night wore on and Berret seemed less inclined to move from his seat, she came to the conclusion that she needed the break to go investigate her flirting friend across the room. Knowing that John and Aeryn were sitting off at a table to one side and that the Delvians, Andar the new guy, Rygel, and D'argo were scattered around the room, she decided that she shouldn't feel too bad about taking a little time for herself.
"Berret?" she started, "If you don't mind, I'm going to go mingle around the room a little."
The Shrike turned to look at her, his face expressionless for the most part. She wished that sometimes the man were easier to read, she couldn't be sure if he was hurt, upset, or if he even cared now.
"You mean with him," asked Berret, slightly tilting in head in the direction of the young man who had caught her eye. She hadn't thought Berret had noticed the looks that passed between Chiana and the stranger, and it must have shown in her face. Berret shrugged his shoulders at her unspoken question,
"He's been circling the area for over an arn now. He was easily detected."
Berret turned back to the bar. Chiana frowned slightly; even when he promised to do his best to relax Berret still looked at everything as if it were an attack either being planned by him or plotted by someone else. The Shrike was almost as one dimensional in his thinking as D'argo was, but at least the Luxan knew how to let go and have a good time.
"You do not need to ask my permission for anything," he finally said in a neutral tone.
The male beckoned her from across the room and Chiana found she was becoming anxious to go and explore the possibilities. She pushed all other thoughts to one side and brushed her cheek lightly against Berret's and said, "Don't wait up for me and thanks for not being mad."
Berret tilted his head and looked up at her in a quizzical manner.
"For what reason should I be angry?" he asked.
The comment gave Chiana pause, "I had thought maybe..."
She saw that Berret apparently didn't understand why he might be angry about the reason she was leaving him alone. She did find him attractive, but she also had needs that the newly awakened man wasn't ready to meet... and she wasn't really sure if he even found her attractive yet, let alone if he might think about her in that way. Berret was too new to having control of his own life to have made up his mind, as far as she could see, she was the only one the man even came close to relaxing around. Even on Moya when the others where about the man became somewhat withdrawn. Surprisingly she found herself willing to take her time and not push him along, letting him move at his own speed. Still she had her own requirements for companionship and one opportunity waited for her on the other side of the club.
"Never mind," she finished, giving him an understanding smile. "I'll see you back at the rooms later."
Berret watched the Pixie head over to the male who had been circling the room making eyes at her. For some strange reason a part of him wanted to stop her from going but he couldn't figure out why he should wish that. The small woman was just as free as he was to choose how and where she spent her free time... and who with. As the Nebari girl talked to the man across the room, he gave Berret a smirk over the girl's shoulder when she wasn't looking that the Shrike abruptly found he didn't like much. The look seemed to say that the male with the eyes that were an even paler green than the un-nerving emerald eyes of the young Delvian girl, Malika, had defeated Berret at something or in some way. A while later Chiana hooked her arm through the man's and the pair headed for the entrance. Just before disappearing the stranger turned and gave the Shrike one last wicked grin of victory that set his blood on fire for a microt. Frowning he looked around the tavern and found the rest of the crewmates paired off with each other or with people that they had met. He was the only one sitting off alone, not that it mattered much. Even aboard the Leviathan he felt alone except for the Pixie's company. Even though they argued and bickered among themselves the others seemed to fix in with each other in a way that he found alien. He wasn't sure if he'd ever learn how to belong with them or even if he would be truly welcomed if he did try. The rest seemed more to tolerate him only for Chiana's sake, often times referring to him as her pet when they didn't think he could hear. Berret decided it didn't matter; the only one he owed a real debt to was the Pixie. What the others thought of him really didn't concern him all that much.
He turned back to his drink and a few microts later another female patron came to stand by the bar next to him. She ordered another drink from the barkeep and then casually leaned against the bar and regarded the Shrike with undisguised interest. Berret didn't know the woman but if her fancy dress, flashy jewelry, and done up face hadn't told him, then her attitude would have placed her as one of the more 'popular' members of the 'Click' inside the night spot. The Shrike had overheard some of the conversations and remarks being made by the few beings that considered themselves to be the elite of the club's patrons and he found them rather mean-spirited, needlessly cruel... and very boring. The woman turned to him and gave him a phony smile,
"I see your gray friend left with Trace, are you alone now?" she asked.
Berret didn't even bother looking at her as he tonelessly answered, "Yes."
The girl's smiled deepened, becoming the female's version of Trace's earlier smirk. Berret now thought he understood these people's game. They thought it was sport to lure someone away from the company of another person. The successful breaking up of a couple appeared to raise the instigator up in the eyes' of their peers. "Somewhat of a useless hobby," the Shrike thought to himself.
"Would you like another drink, or to dance or something?" the girl purred at him as she moved in closer. The woman's movement had the feeling of a predator stalking its prey, something he knew about well.
Instead of being seductive as the female intended, Berret found her actions irritating. If only she knew what she was toying with, he thought, I could show her the true meaning of what a predator was. He smothered the dark thoughts almost as soon as they arose. He wasn't an Enforcer for the Black Syndicate any longer; he wasn't that sort of person anymore he told himself. He wasn't going to let these people push him into becoming that again with their foolish games.
As the bartender set her new drink down, Berret turned to her and said dispassionately, "Not with you."
The woman's face registered her shock at Berret's refusal, he could almost see the thought, "How dare you!" flow through her shallow mind, and then she became vividly angry.
"You sorry excuse for a man! No wonder you lost your tralk to Trace," she spat in insult before stalking away from him with her fresh drink.
Berret held his drink up and muttered in salute to the departing woman's reflection in the bar's mirror,
"As Crichton says, don't let the door hit you in the eema on the way out."
"She's not a very nice person," said a timid female voice from the opposite side of him a few microts later. Berret turned to find a very plain but pleasant looking woman in a modest dress standing to the side of him. The young woman fidgeted self-consciously and adjusted a large pair of glass occulars, resettling them on the bridge of her nose.
"Crissa and her friends can be very mean at times and they don't treat other people very well," she went on to explain.
Berret nodded to the girl and said, "Yes, I have noticed that about more than a few of the patrons here."
The girl seemed bolstered that the Shrike had answered her back and went on.
"Their favored game is to see who can steal another person's partner away from them. They did it to one of my dates one time... it's not as if they actually care about the person they're using, they just enjoy being cruel to others."
Nodding in agreement, Berret fingered the scars ringing his neck from the collar.
"I know all about how cruel beings can be to other beings," he told her in a quiet voice.
The girl smiled shyly and held out her hand in an almost human style greeting.
"My name is Chandra, by the way," she told him
"Berret," said the ex-assassin as he responded in kind and remembered to gently brush the tips of his fingers against hers as he'd observed other natives do when greeting one another.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" she asked.
Berret indicated that she was free to do so if she wished and the woman took the seat beside him.
"I'm sorry, I saw your partner leave with that Trace fellow," she told him next.
Berret gave her a small smile, "She is not my 'partner,' we are friends and shipmates," he corrected.
Chandra nodded her head in understanding, "Can I ask why you chose to sit here alone?"
Berret considered the question for a microt,
"I guess it is because I am not a very sociable person by nature," he confessed feeling oddly at ease with the girl, there was something plainly honest about her.
"You seem very nice to me," she told him, looking a little self-conscious once again.
For some reason the compliment gave Berret a good feeling. With a genuine smile this time he replied,
"Thank you, that is very kind of you to say so."
The sex had been enjoyable, but after certain drives had been satisfied, Chiana found that the male had started to lose his appeal. The man seemed to want to talk about nothing but himself and she quickly discovered he was becoming quite uninteresting. Increasingly she found her thoughts returning to Berret and she began to wonder what the man was doing at that microt. As soon as she could she dressed and thank the male for the distraction, making a false promise to meet up with him at a later time. Once away from the man she began to wonder what was wrong with her. It wasn't like her to become so easily bored where recreation was concerned. Berret keep wandering into her mind when she should have been enjoying herself. "What has this pitiful human done to her," she asked herself.
The Nebari girl hurried back to the club and once inside to her shock found Berret was nowhere in sight. D'argo was also nowhere to be seen. She found Crichton and Aeryn still at their table; heads close together as they chatted, laughed, and openly flirted with each other for a change. She approached them and interrupted their conversation.
"Hey Pip, back so soon?" asked John when he saw her.
"Hi," she said in return, "Have you seen Berret? I can't find him anywhere and I was wondering if he went back to the rooms."
"Yeah," responded Crichton. "He was dancing with some girl and left with her about half an arn ago."
Chiana tilted her head in disbelieve and her mouth dropped open.
"A female... here? He left with her?" she asked, "And he was dancing with her?"
"Well, it was more like slow dancing... and yes, he left with her. What's the problem, Pip?"
"N... Nothing," stammered Chiana still stunned with the news.
"What did you expect, Chiana?" asked Aeryn. "You left here with your friend after all."
"I - I know. It's just that..." she left off. "Was she at least nice?" the Nebari then asked.
Aeryn shrugged her shoulders and John said, "I dunno. As near as we could tell she looked like a nice girl."
Chiana still looked befuddled, "Um... okay. Well, I think I'll be going back to our rooms now. I'll see you guys later." She moved off leaving them alone again. Aeryn raised an eyebrow in question at Crichton.
John shrugged his own shoulders as he watched the Nebari girl leave.
"Lucy... I think somebody's' got some 'S'plaining' to do when they get home," he commented in a strange voice which caused the ex-peacekeeper to look amusingly confused at him.
Berret had found he rather enjoyed Chandra's company. Even after the quick dance lesson the girl had tried to give him... which she claims he didn't do too badly at, he found he liked the kind of dancing where the music and the movement were slower. It seemed much more agreeable then the wild gyrating and jumping about that went with the more chaotic, louder music. After their dance lesson, Chandra suggested they leave the tavern and take a walk. Despite his earlier misgiving about being around strangers, he found this shy woman was almost as easy to talk to as the Pixie. They walked along the quiet streets and the woman told him about her life, her job, and a little about her family. Berret regretted that he couldn't tell her all that much in return about himself and he doubted it would be a wise move to tell her about his past anyway, but she did gladly except what he could tell her and seemed perfectly happy that he was willing to simply listen to her talk. It seemed natural when they slipped into walking arm and arm halfway through their walk. An arn and a half after they had began their stroll; Chandra announced that she had to be returning home, as she had to work the next afternoon. Berret escorted her back to her apartment near the tavern where they had met in. She hugged the Shrike and both thanked the other for the pleasurable conversation and evening. Berret started his way back to the nightspot to meet back up with his new crewmates feeling somewhat uplifted for a change.
Berret's mood turned sour as he approached the tavern and saw Trace and two of his companions standing outside the front door talking and laughing over something they found amusing. When the man saw Berret coming their way, he slapped one of his friends across his chest to get his attention. As the ex-assassin grew nearer the man said in an extra loud voice designed so the Shrike couldn't help but hear,
"And then she did things to my Mivonks that only a real traltzo could do."
Both the other man snickered while Trace feigned seeing Berret for the first time.
"Oh, it's you," he said with mock wide eyes. "Did you lose another partner?" he asked innocently.
Berret glared at the man but walked around him and his friends instead of choosing to reply to his barb.
"I was just telling my comrades here," he called to the Shrike's back, "How much I truly enjoyed frelling that little Nebari Trask you were here with earlier. Too bad you missed that one, she was exceptional!"
Berret turned back toward the small group, his microbe silver-tinted eyes holding Trace's for a microt before they seemed to flare brighter in rage. In one swift move, Berret covered the short distance between them and seized Trace by his shoulder, his fingers automatically digging painfully into a nerve center. Trace tried to pry the Shrike's fingers from their excruciating hold but he found that he was unable to budge a single one. His two friends rushed in to help their friend, but where stopped cold when Berret turned and snarled in fury,
"You're playing a very dangerous game!"
His voice sounding almost animal-like, the two had second thoughts about coming to their friend's aid and then backed helplessly away. Berret turned his attention back to the struggling Trace. The man curled up one fist and struck the Shrike a blow to his stomach. Berret saw the punch coming and simply tightened up the muscles in his abdomen and absorbed the blow without visibly reacting to it. He then slowly applied downward pressure, causing agonizing pain that forced the man down to his knees. Berret cocked his head to one side as he regarded the fearful male, letting him gaze into eyes that seemed to be filled with silver fire.
"You're not much in the way of a man," finally said the Shrike as if passing a judgment. "No wonder she lost interest in you so soon."
As if losing interest himself in the kneeling male, Berret jerk his arm and launched him into the air, flinging Trace backwards into the tavern wall. The muscles in Berret's shoulder, back, and chest burned as they tore from the strain of throwing the man one handed, but he didn't dare rub the aches until he was out of sight of the three man.
Inside the tavern the only member of the crew he could find still out was Rygel. The Hynerian was still eating, drinking, and playing games of chance. It was all Berret could do to get the small being to answer his question as to the whereabouts of the rest of the crew. He managed to learn that the others had retired to their quarters before the Hynerian shooed him away from his game. Berret decide to do the same and dug out his pass card for his rented room. The quarters they secured for their visit where located on the floors above the club area and the Shrike quickly found his room and then swiped the card through the scanner plate by the doorway. To his surprise as he entered the rented space he found Chiana already there lying on his bed.
She awoke from her light doze at the sound of the opening door.
"What are you doing here?" he asked dumbfounded by her presence and wondering how she got into his room without a key card. He then remembered whom he was asking and then knew how she had entered the locked room.
"Oh, Retty... I must have fallen asleep," she began and then slid off the bed and came toward him, her bare feet making no sound on the carpeted floor.
He watched her, as she seemed to struggle for a moment with finding the correct words for what she wanted to say.
"I wanted to apologize to you for leaving you alone tonight for the reason that I did."
Berret began to become uncomfortable, and considering the trashing he'd just given to her lover in unexplained anger, he wasn't sure if he wanted to discuss the subject further or if it would be wise.
"Um... Pixie, I understand and it's not my place to need an apology or explanation for what you do in private."
Chiana nodded but seemed unsure as to where the discussion should go.
"I just feel bad about leaving you alone," she said again.
"I, ummm... met someone tonight myself, " he said awkwardly. "She was very nice and I enjoyed my time with her. So I really wasn't alone for too long."
"I see," said Chiana, wondering but not sure if she had the right to ask any further questions herself.
Berret could see there was something more that she thought they should talk about between them, but neither one could think of a delicate way to broach the subject as they stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment.
"I learned something new tonight," Berret announced suddenly.
"Oh," asked Chiana," What?"
Suddenly she found she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what it might be.
Instead of answering, Berret went to the small entertainment center provided with each room. Searching through the channels that provided music, he found one with the appropriate slow tempo.
Dropping his cloak off in one corner of the room he approached the bare-footed Nebari girl. When he was close enough that the small woman had to tilt her head up so her dark eyes could met his, he gently took her right hand in his left and then slid his right arm around to the small of her back.
"This," he said in almost a whisper as they began to slowly sway together in time with the music.
Chiana was here to have some fun and she had spied a rather pleasant looking example of a male who peaked her interest for some distraction. By the smiles he returned, he was obviously interested in her also but hovered around the edges of the crowd in her vicinity while she sat with the gloomy Shrike. Torn between watching over her new friend and taking some time out for her own enjoyment, she didn't know what to do. As the night wore on and Berret seemed less inclined to move from his seat, she came to the conclusion that she needed the break to go investigate her flirting friend across the room. Knowing that John and Aeryn were sitting off at a table to one side and that the Delvians, Andar the new guy, Rygel, and D'argo were scattered around the room, she decided that she shouldn't feel too bad about taking a little time for herself.
"Berret?" she started, "If you don't mind, I'm going to go mingle around the room a little."
The Shrike turned to look at her, his face expressionless for the most part. She wished that sometimes the man were easier to read, she couldn't be sure if he was hurt, upset, or if he even cared now.
"You mean with him," asked Berret, slightly tilting in head in the direction of the young man who had caught her eye. She hadn't thought Berret had noticed the looks that passed between Chiana and the stranger, and it must have shown in her face. Berret shrugged his shoulders at her unspoken question,
"He's been circling the area for over an arn now. He was easily detected."
Berret turned back to the bar. Chiana frowned slightly; even when he promised to do his best to relax Berret still looked at everything as if it were an attack either being planned by him or plotted by someone else. The Shrike was almost as one dimensional in his thinking as D'argo was, but at least the Luxan knew how to let go and have a good time.
"You do not need to ask my permission for anything," he finally said in a neutral tone.
The male beckoned her from across the room and Chiana found she was becoming anxious to go and explore the possibilities. She pushed all other thoughts to one side and brushed her cheek lightly against Berret's and said, "Don't wait up for me and thanks for not being mad."
Berret tilted his head and looked up at her in a quizzical manner.
"For what reason should I be angry?" he asked.
The comment gave Chiana pause, "I had thought maybe..."
She saw that Berret apparently didn't understand why he might be angry about the reason she was leaving him alone. She did find him attractive, but she also had needs that the newly awakened man wasn't ready to meet... and she wasn't really sure if he even found her attractive yet, let alone if he might think about her in that way. Berret was too new to having control of his own life to have made up his mind, as far as she could see, she was the only one the man even came close to relaxing around. Even on Moya when the others where about the man became somewhat withdrawn. Surprisingly she found herself willing to take her time and not push him along, letting him move at his own speed. Still she had her own requirements for companionship and one opportunity waited for her on the other side of the club.
"Never mind," she finished, giving him an understanding smile. "I'll see you back at the rooms later."
Berret watched the Pixie head over to the male who had been circling the room making eyes at her. For some strange reason a part of him wanted to stop her from going but he couldn't figure out why he should wish that. The small woman was just as free as he was to choose how and where she spent her free time... and who with. As the Nebari girl talked to the man across the room, he gave Berret a smirk over the girl's shoulder when she wasn't looking that the Shrike abruptly found he didn't like much. The look seemed to say that the male with the eyes that were an even paler green than the un-nerving emerald eyes of the young Delvian girl, Malika, had defeated Berret at something or in some way. A while later Chiana hooked her arm through the man's and the pair headed for the entrance. Just before disappearing the stranger turned and gave the Shrike one last wicked grin of victory that set his blood on fire for a microt. Frowning he looked around the tavern and found the rest of the crewmates paired off with each other or with people that they had met. He was the only one sitting off alone, not that it mattered much. Even aboard the Leviathan he felt alone except for the Pixie's company. Even though they argued and bickered among themselves the others seemed to fix in with each other in a way that he found alien. He wasn't sure if he'd ever learn how to belong with them or even if he would be truly welcomed if he did try. The rest seemed more to tolerate him only for Chiana's sake, often times referring to him as her pet when they didn't think he could hear. Berret decided it didn't matter; the only one he owed a real debt to was the Pixie. What the others thought of him really didn't concern him all that much.
He turned back to his drink and a few microts later another female patron came to stand by the bar next to him. She ordered another drink from the barkeep and then casually leaned against the bar and regarded the Shrike with undisguised interest. Berret didn't know the woman but if her fancy dress, flashy jewelry, and done up face hadn't told him, then her attitude would have placed her as one of the more 'popular' members of the 'Click' inside the night spot. The Shrike had overheard some of the conversations and remarks being made by the few beings that considered themselves to be the elite of the club's patrons and he found them rather mean-spirited, needlessly cruel... and very boring. The woman turned to him and gave him a phony smile,
"I see your gray friend left with Trace, are you alone now?" she asked.
Berret didn't even bother looking at her as he tonelessly answered, "Yes."
The girl's smiled deepened, becoming the female's version of Trace's earlier smirk. Berret now thought he understood these people's game. They thought it was sport to lure someone away from the company of another person. The successful breaking up of a couple appeared to raise the instigator up in the eyes' of their peers. "Somewhat of a useless hobby," the Shrike thought to himself.
"Would you like another drink, or to dance or something?" the girl purred at him as she moved in closer. The woman's movement had the feeling of a predator stalking its prey, something he knew about well.
Instead of being seductive as the female intended, Berret found her actions irritating. If only she knew what she was toying with, he thought, I could show her the true meaning of what a predator was. He smothered the dark thoughts almost as soon as they arose. He wasn't an Enforcer for the Black Syndicate any longer; he wasn't that sort of person anymore he told himself. He wasn't going to let these people push him into becoming that again with their foolish games.
As the bartender set her new drink down, Berret turned to her and said dispassionately, "Not with you."
The woman's face registered her shock at Berret's refusal, he could almost see the thought, "How dare you!" flow through her shallow mind, and then she became vividly angry.
"You sorry excuse for a man! No wonder you lost your tralk to Trace," she spat in insult before stalking away from him with her fresh drink.
Berret held his drink up and muttered in salute to the departing woman's reflection in the bar's mirror,
"As Crichton says, don't let the door hit you in the eema on the way out."
"She's not a very nice person," said a timid female voice from the opposite side of him a few microts later. Berret turned to find a very plain but pleasant looking woman in a modest dress standing to the side of him. The young woman fidgeted self-consciously and adjusted a large pair of glass occulars, resettling them on the bridge of her nose.
"Crissa and her friends can be very mean at times and they don't treat other people very well," she went on to explain.
Berret nodded to the girl and said, "Yes, I have noticed that about more than a few of the patrons here."
The girl seemed bolstered that the Shrike had answered her back and went on.
"Their favored game is to see who can steal another person's partner away from them. They did it to one of my dates one time... it's not as if they actually care about the person they're using, they just enjoy being cruel to others."
Nodding in agreement, Berret fingered the scars ringing his neck from the collar.
"I know all about how cruel beings can be to other beings," he told her in a quiet voice.
The girl smiled shyly and held out her hand in an almost human style greeting.
"My name is Chandra, by the way," she told him
"Berret," said the ex-assassin as he responded in kind and remembered to gently brush the tips of his fingers against hers as he'd observed other natives do when greeting one another.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" she asked.
Berret indicated that she was free to do so if she wished and the woman took the seat beside him.
"I'm sorry, I saw your partner leave with that Trace fellow," she told him next.
Berret gave her a small smile, "She is not my 'partner,' we are friends and shipmates," he corrected.
Chandra nodded her head in understanding, "Can I ask why you chose to sit here alone?"
Berret considered the question for a microt,
"I guess it is because I am not a very sociable person by nature," he confessed feeling oddly at ease with the girl, there was something plainly honest about her.
"You seem very nice to me," she told him, looking a little self-conscious once again.
For some reason the compliment gave Berret a good feeling. With a genuine smile this time he replied,
"Thank you, that is very kind of you to say so."
The sex had been enjoyable, but after certain drives had been satisfied, Chiana found that the male had started to lose his appeal. The man seemed to want to talk about nothing but himself and she quickly discovered he was becoming quite uninteresting. Increasingly she found her thoughts returning to Berret and she began to wonder what the man was doing at that microt. As soon as she could she dressed and thank the male for the distraction, making a false promise to meet up with him at a later time. Once away from the man she began to wonder what was wrong with her. It wasn't like her to become so easily bored where recreation was concerned. Berret keep wandering into her mind when she should have been enjoying herself. "What has this pitiful human done to her," she asked herself.
The Nebari girl hurried back to the club and once inside to her shock found Berret was nowhere in sight. D'argo was also nowhere to be seen. She found Crichton and Aeryn still at their table; heads close together as they chatted, laughed, and openly flirted with each other for a change. She approached them and interrupted their conversation.
"Hey Pip, back so soon?" asked John when he saw her.
"Hi," she said in return, "Have you seen Berret? I can't find him anywhere and I was wondering if he went back to the rooms."
"Yeah," responded Crichton. "He was dancing with some girl and left with her about half an arn ago."
Chiana tilted her head in disbelieve and her mouth dropped open.
"A female... here? He left with her?" she asked, "And he was dancing with her?"
"Well, it was more like slow dancing... and yes, he left with her. What's the problem, Pip?"
"N... Nothing," stammered Chiana still stunned with the news.
"What did you expect, Chiana?" asked Aeryn. "You left here with your friend after all."
"I - I know. It's just that..." she left off. "Was she at least nice?" the Nebari then asked.
Aeryn shrugged her shoulders and John said, "I dunno. As near as we could tell she looked like a nice girl."
Chiana still looked befuddled, "Um... okay. Well, I think I'll be going back to our rooms now. I'll see you guys later." She moved off leaving them alone again. Aeryn raised an eyebrow in question at Crichton.
John shrugged his own shoulders as he watched the Nebari girl leave.
"Lucy... I think somebody's' got some 'S'plaining' to do when they get home," he commented in a strange voice which caused the ex-peacekeeper to look amusingly confused at him.
Berret had found he rather enjoyed Chandra's company. Even after the quick dance lesson the girl had tried to give him... which she claims he didn't do too badly at, he found he liked the kind of dancing where the music and the movement were slower. It seemed much more agreeable then the wild gyrating and jumping about that went with the more chaotic, louder music. After their dance lesson, Chandra suggested they leave the tavern and take a walk. Despite his earlier misgiving about being around strangers, he found this shy woman was almost as easy to talk to as the Pixie. They walked along the quiet streets and the woman told him about her life, her job, and a little about her family. Berret regretted that he couldn't tell her all that much in return about himself and he doubted it would be a wise move to tell her about his past anyway, but she did gladly except what he could tell her and seemed perfectly happy that he was willing to simply listen to her talk. It seemed natural when they slipped into walking arm and arm halfway through their walk. An arn and a half after they had began their stroll; Chandra announced that she had to be returning home, as she had to work the next afternoon. Berret escorted her back to her apartment near the tavern where they had met in. She hugged the Shrike and both thanked the other for the pleasurable conversation and evening. Berret started his way back to the nightspot to meet back up with his new crewmates feeling somewhat uplifted for a change.
Berret's mood turned sour as he approached the tavern and saw Trace and two of his companions standing outside the front door talking and laughing over something they found amusing. When the man saw Berret coming their way, he slapped one of his friends across his chest to get his attention. As the ex-assassin grew nearer the man said in an extra loud voice designed so the Shrike couldn't help but hear,
"And then she did things to my Mivonks that only a real traltzo could do."
Both the other man snickered while Trace feigned seeing Berret for the first time.
"Oh, it's you," he said with mock wide eyes. "Did you lose another partner?" he asked innocently.
Berret glared at the man but walked around him and his friends instead of choosing to reply to his barb.
"I was just telling my comrades here," he called to the Shrike's back, "How much I truly enjoyed frelling that little Nebari Trask you were here with earlier. Too bad you missed that one, she was exceptional!"
Berret turned back toward the small group, his microbe silver-tinted eyes holding Trace's for a microt before they seemed to flare brighter in rage. In one swift move, Berret covered the short distance between them and seized Trace by his shoulder, his fingers automatically digging painfully into a nerve center. Trace tried to pry the Shrike's fingers from their excruciating hold but he found that he was unable to budge a single one. His two friends rushed in to help their friend, but where stopped cold when Berret turned and snarled in fury,
"You're playing a very dangerous game!"
His voice sounding almost animal-like, the two had second thoughts about coming to their friend's aid and then backed helplessly away. Berret turned his attention back to the struggling Trace. The man curled up one fist and struck the Shrike a blow to his stomach. Berret saw the punch coming and simply tightened up the muscles in his abdomen and absorbed the blow without visibly reacting to it. He then slowly applied downward pressure, causing agonizing pain that forced the man down to his knees. Berret cocked his head to one side as he regarded the fearful male, letting him gaze into eyes that seemed to be filled with silver fire.
"You're not much in the way of a man," finally said the Shrike as if passing a judgment. "No wonder she lost interest in you so soon."
As if losing interest himself in the kneeling male, Berret jerk his arm and launched him into the air, flinging Trace backwards into the tavern wall. The muscles in Berret's shoulder, back, and chest burned as they tore from the strain of throwing the man one handed, but he didn't dare rub the aches until he was out of sight of the three man.
Inside the tavern the only member of the crew he could find still out was Rygel. The Hynerian was still eating, drinking, and playing games of chance. It was all Berret could do to get the small being to answer his question as to the whereabouts of the rest of the crew. He managed to learn that the others had retired to their quarters before the Hynerian shooed him away from his game. Berret decide to do the same and dug out his pass card for his rented room. The quarters they secured for their visit where located on the floors above the club area and the Shrike quickly found his room and then swiped the card through the scanner plate by the doorway. To his surprise as he entered the rented space he found Chiana already there lying on his bed.
She awoke from her light doze at the sound of the opening door.
"What are you doing here?" he asked dumbfounded by her presence and wondering how she got into his room without a key card. He then remembered whom he was asking and then knew how she had entered the locked room.
"Oh, Retty... I must have fallen asleep," she began and then slid off the bed and came toward him, her bare feet making no sound on the carpeted floor.
He watched her, as she seemed to struggle for a moment with finding the correct words for what she wanted to say.
"I wanted to apologize to you for leaving you alone tonight for the reason that I did."
Berret began to become uncomfortable, and considering the trashing he'd just given to her lover in unexplained anger, he wasn't sure if he wanted to discuss the subject further or if it would be wise.
"Um... Pixie, I understand and it's not my place to need an apology or explanation for what you do in private."
Chiana nodded but seemed unsure as to where the discussion should go.
"I just feel bad about leaving you alone," she said again.
"I, ummm... met someone tonight myself, " he said awkwardly. "She was very nice and I enjoyed my time with her. So I really wasn't alone for too long."
"I see," said Chiana, wondering but not sure if she had the right to ask any further questions herself.
Berret could see there was something more that she thought they should talk about between them, but neither one could think of a delicate way to broach the subject as they stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment.
"I learned something new tonight," Berret announced suddenly.
"Oh," asked Chiana," What?"
Suddenly she found she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what it might be.
Instead of answering, Berret went to the small entertainment center provided with each room. Searching through the channels that provided music, he found one with the appropriate slow tempo.
Dropping his cloak off in one corner of the room he approached the bare-footed Nebari girl. When he was close enough that the small woman had to tilt her head up so her dark eyes could met his, he gently took her right hand in his left and then slid his right arm around to the small of her back.
"This," he said in almost a whisper as they began to slowly sway together in time with the music.