Shh!

Posted on Sat Feb 23rd, 2019 @ 5:28pm by Lieutenant Commander Mara Ricci & Stephen Spires
Edited on on Thu Mar 25th, 2021 @ 8:29pm

Mission: S0E0: What Came Before
Location: Some bar on the station
Timeline: Whenever

Most girls liked being chatted up by a handsome stranger so long as he was respectful and polite. Mara, however, wasn't really feeling it just now. She would never admit that it had anything at all to do with Stephen Spires, even to herself. But, here she was, a drop-dead gorgeous science officer flirting up a storm and all she could do was to smile politely at him.

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced over to see none other than Spires attempting to turn the charm on some bimbo with a flat chest. Wait. Could a woman with a flat chest be considered a bimbo? What was a bimbo anyway?

Forget it. If Spires was moving on, so would she. So, she turned back to the science officer and gave him her brightest smile, leaning ever so slightly closer to him. He was cute, after all.

The wiles of a woman knew no boundaries. Stephen Spires knew this, which is why he moved on once he felt attachments were being formed between him and Mara. His first love was to the unknown, the hidden mysteries that people try their damnedest to hide.

Such as the woman before him. This unendowed waitress was an aspiring artist of some sort or another, taking a civilian position on Canopus Station for the experience and inspiration in future art. But Lord have mercy if she wasn't a total fucking twat. As if Stephen Spires hadn't read a book on art before and was in need of a cultural history lesson.

Yet Mara was watching. Stephen Spires made her the moment she started up a conversation with the pencil-neck. Now that she had made him, though, Stephen felt obligated to endure more pretentious prattling from the artistic waitress--what was her name again? Kendra? Kendall? Had he expected to maintain a conversation of any length after learning she had jack-shit to offer him, both professionally and pleasurably, Stephen would have committed the effort to remember her name. As it stood, if he let the conversation die, Mara would indubitably assume he had struck out.

Forcing a smile, Stephen Spires kept up the nods and affirmative cues that would sustain the pretentious prattle for several more agonizing minutes. He risked only the briefest of glances back at Mara.

Oh, no! Mara forgot the guy’s name. Shit! Was it Mike? Matt? It was definitely something short that started with an M. That didn’t leave many choices. One of his buddies passed by and that’s when Mara found out his name. Christoph! What? Maybe he’d introduced himself as Chris. Yeah, that must be it. He seemed to have made a joke, so Mara giggled appropriately.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Spires glancing her way frequently, but she resisted turning her head. Let him see her having a good time and not giving a single shit about him. The douche nozzle could suck himself for all she cared.

Just when Stephen Spires thought he could endure no more, the K-girl got pulled away by another patron. Left to himself, and with no other waitresses in sight, he gravitated to the next available female. She was several stools down the bar, a distance he closed very quickly. Rather than greet her, he called for a refill on her drink.

Throwing a look back Mara's way, Stephen felt satisfied in catching her stealing a glance at him as well. He cast her a wink before giving this new buxom beauty his full attention.

Inside, Mara fumed. Outside, she gave a throaty laugh and laid a hand on her companion's arm. If there was one thing Mara was good at, it was flirting when she really wanted to smash someone's head in.

That made it sound like she'd had a lot of practice. Well, she had. Flirting with someone entirely different was a great way to get rid of creeps and for whatever reason, Mara was very good at attracting creeps. Case in point: the man now attempting to chat up some fat chick at the bar.

Well, okay, so she wasn't really fat. She was definitely bigger than Mara, but far from fat. Mara was just being salty. She knew it, but that didn't stop her from being it. For now, she simply turned her charm back on this Christoph fellow. After all, he was pretty darned good looking.

Disgusting. That's what it was. The way Mara shamelessly flirted with that man was disgusting. And Stephen knew it was entirely for his benefit. He intended to top that. This flirty girl wasn't going to get anywhere, so Stephen decided to play the opportunity for maximum benefit.

Waiting until Mara peeked at him again, Stephen leaned into the busty woman and motorboated her chest with his face. Predictably, and more than understandably, the woman slapped Stephen across the face and stomped away.

Most of the other patrons either didn't notice or care, but several onlookers cast him a withering glare. One mint-skinned Orion woman with dusky features, fully advertised in a skintight catsuit, made her way to Stephen to capitalize on his brazen gesture.

Well, that was certainly one way to get rid of unwanted attention. Mara had to bite her lips to keep from laughing out loud. She shook with mirth and when her companion asked what was so funny, she could only shake her head an gesture. But of course, it was all over now and when he looked, only saw the reporter chatting to an Orion. It took Mara a full minute to stop laughing long enough to tell him what she’d seen and it sent him into a long rant about how some men were pigs and made it hard for all the nice guys of the universe to actually get anywhere. Normally, Mara would have rolled her eyes, but she was far too amused by what had just happened to be annoyed at the rant.

Laughing?! The smug bitch was laughing? Objectively Stephen Spires knew it was probably an amusing sight, but he had been aiming to trigger jealousy, not amusement. At least this slutty Orion had the right idea. Her wandering hands began exploring Stephen's lean yet chiseled frame, lightly at first, but more boldly when granted unspoken permission.

When she leaned in to whisper seductive nothings into his ear, Stephen shot a look toward Mara. Their eyes met once again, and Stephen favored her with a wink. The Orion pulled away, her eyes narrowed in salacious intent, inviting, coaxing, teasing. Stephen reciprocated, even leaning forward to steal a soft kiss in a simultaneous offer and request for more.

The Orion chuckled at his advances before cupping his cheek with her green hand and taking his mouth in hers. One might have announced the end of all things for the fervency of her sudden facial mugging. Stephen put aside mental comparisons to the mating habits of green praying mantises and indulged the wanton public display of affection.

He was trying to make her jealous! And actually, it probably would have worked if not for the earlier display. She was still laughing about it as he began snogging the Orion chick. Of course, it made it look like she was laughing at the snogging itself. Chris also laughed, taking his cue from her. Trying to get in my pants more like, she thought. Ah well, why not? After all, he was really cute.

And so, giving him a cue, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. He kissed back eagerly- perhaps a bit too eagerly. It didn’t matter. Hopefully, it would cause Spires the same jealousy he was trying to cause in Mara. (And to be fully honest, it was probably working on some deep level.)

The nerd love between them was lost on Stephen Spires, who was forcibly kept from looking away from his voracious green vixen. Her hands-on passion made promises that Stephen really wanted to make good. When she suggested they go back to her place, Stephen agreed if only to pull his head up for air.

A stray glance in Mara's direction only confirmed his decision. The sight of another man going tongue-deep into her mouth compelled him to go without a moment's delay. The Orion girl seemed elated that she succeeded in getting Stephen on the hook. She led him by the hand away from the bar toward the exit.

Mara was so engrossed in Christoph that when he suggested going back to his quarters, she agreed without looking to make sure Spires was watching. As they headded for the exit, she glanced around, but didn’t see him. Damn. Now she was going to have to work out how to get it into conversation when he was nearby. Oh, well. She kissed Christoph one more time before they headed out of the bar. Maybe the rumor mill would get to Spires before she did.