Get Out

Posted on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 @ 1:57am by Lieutenant Commander Mara Ricci & Stephen Spires

Mission: S0E0: What Came Before
Location: Mara's Quarters

After her chat with Calida, Mara had gone straight to Spires's quarters. He wasn't there, of course. She hadn't really expected him to be. But it didn't matter. She simply gathered all her things- a toothbrush, a spare uniform and a bra she'd thought she'd lost- removed her access to his quarters and returned to her own. Only then did she regret removing her access as it meant he would have to come collect his things.

Oh, well. She should probably talk to him anyway.

With a sigh, she sat down with Ravioli to read and wait.

Spires came to Mara's place because it was closer than his and the computer said she was home anyway. Inputting his access code, he walked through the door and announced himself. "Chere, I'm home! Where's my pussy?"

It was an annoying play on words that he intended to segue into a pet joke if Mara protested too much. But she didn't reply. In fact, she didn't so much as stir from the book she was reading.

"Hard day, huh?" Spires went to the bookcase where he kept a bottle of bourbon stashed. Prying the cork out with his teeth, he took a swig and offered it to her. "I'm sure it ain't anything you can't handle."

She glared at him over the top of her book. “I know about your activities with the Orion,” she said evenly.

Spires did not move or so much as flinch until he was sure he had processed her words correctly. Once he did, practiced professionalism took over his mannerisms. "You'll have to be more specific, chere," he said as he took another swig from the bourbon. "I've had lots of activities with lots of Orions."

“Don’t play stupid, Spires,” she snapped, tossing the book onto the coffee table. “You need to gather your things and get out. Now.”

"So now I'm playing stupid?" he quipped. Internally, Spires was running through scenarios trying to determine what Mara could be on about. There wasn't any way she could know about the Orion's Thorn. He'd been discreet about Daihnnaa. How on Earth could she know? "That's a step up from actually being stupid which is your usual accusation."

“Don’t change the subject!” she snapped, jumping up from her place on the sofa. “You can live your life any way you want to- fuck every Orion on the station and do their drugs for all I care- but don’t expect me to be a part of it. I mean it, Spires, get out!”

Spires laughed at the whole boisterous scene. "Are you on drugs?" he asked. "I mean we can do group sex if that's what you want to try but I don't know where all of this is coming from. If you took a bad hit off something, I won't judge, but maybe you oughtta get checked out before you pass out or something."

Mara’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Listen very carefully,” she said, voice dangerously low. “You made me a promise. You broke that promise. That alone is enough for me to kick you out of my life. I don’t need anything else you’ve been up to. Now, for the fiftieth time, gather your things and get. Out!”

"Keep the shit, then," Spires said. "I don't need it. I don't need you." Thrusting a finger at her, he said, "Fuck you and your dog!" He stormed back to the entrance to leave.

Mara’s face contorted in anger. Nobody took a shot at her dog. “Oh no!” she shouted at him. “You absolute fucking asshole! You do not get to make out like this is somehow on me. You’re the one who cheated! You’re the one who ran off to some simpering Orion bitch and then had the audacity to pretend you had no idea what I’m talking about! You’re the one who messed up! This is your fault! And don’t you EVER talk about my dog like that again!”

"It's hard to tell you two apart right about now!" Spires fired back. "I hope you two bitches grow old and happy together!"

Mara crossed her arms, completely unfazed by his quip. “Well, I’d much rather be a dog than… whatever it is you are!” she shot back. “What you are is so horrible, they haven’t even invented a word for it, yet.”

"What I am," Spires said, "is a man. You can't handle it. I've got a job to do, and you've only ever stood in my way. If you want me gone, then I'm gone. Don't come crawling back to me the next time you get an itch to scratch. I'm done fucking with crazy, and you, principessa, are as fucking crazy as they come."

Mara laughed. She couldn’t help it. He was so absolutely absurd, she had to. “I’m the crazy one?” she repeated. “Because I expect someone to stay faithful after they promised they would? If that makes me crazy, then I don’t want to be sane!”

"I said I would stick by you," Spires said. "You're the one throwing me out. Don't make this on me. You want me gone, so it's you throwing me out. That's all you. And I'll make sure everyone knows it."

“Make sure you tell them why I threw you out!” She shouted. “That’ll show me, won’t it?”

"You threw me out because you're a psycho," Spires said. "That will be front and center, don't worry."

“I threw you out because you fucked someone else!” she spat. “They all like me. They all hate you. Who do you think they’ll believe?”

"The one who tells it best," Spires said with a wink. "You'll regret this. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will. And I'll be there, telling you I told you so. When I do, I hope my face gives you hell." With that, he walked out.

And with him went a burden that she hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she removed his access from her quarters.

Oddly enough, she felt only relief at this, but she couldn’t have explained why if anybody had asked her. The thought of talking to Meilin crossed her mind, but she didn’t really feel like talking to anybody right now. Instead, she went to find Ravioli, who had hidden under her bed when the shouting had started. “It’s okay, Rav,” she assured the dog as she crawled out from under the bed. “He won’t bother us anymore.”