Necessary Pretext

Posted on Thursday February 20th, 2020 @ 09:13 hours by Mayterial Droz & Meghan Moreau

Mission: Short Treks
Location: Unknown
Timeline: A lifetime ago
1591 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

“A glass poured to air for the one who sits with us unseen; the patron and protector, the Crooked Warden, the Father of Necessary Pretexts." The Andorian man reached and grabbed the small shot glass from the middle of the table, only to throw it over his left shoulder. In any normal establishment that would've turned heads, or prompted a call from the bartender. But in a dive nobody noticed, and those that did wouldn't care enough to speak up. With that out of the way he raised the glass that had been standing in front of him.

"Thanks for deep pockets poorly guarded." Her voice was smooth, like silk. She spoke with purpose and clarity that commanded attention no matter the situation they were in. She raised her own shot glass, the colour of the liquid a golden brown, like her eyes.

"Thanks for watchmen asleep at their posts." Across from her was a Bolian man, slightly inebriated already, but still uttering the words with the appropriate weight. Not a slur or misspoken syllable. He too raised his glass.

"Thanks for the city to nurture us and the night to hide us." The fact that the words were spoken by a Romulan only made them sound more sinister, it was always going to be him that rose his glass for that particular sentence, everybody around the table knew that.

"Thanks for friends to help us spend the loot.” It was a cliché that a Betazoid woman had to speak the words, but Mayterial did it happily, she glanced over to Meghan by her side and smiled. She truly was thankful for the only woman in her life she could truly call a friend. As she finished her words and raised the glass they all downed the drink in one go before slamming the glasses back on the table in perfect harmony.

A loud laugh from the Andorian, "Remember the shock on that woman's face, Vik?" he turned to the Romulan, apparently very amused by something they had experienced during the con.

Vikane shook his head with a smirk, "That wasn't my doing, I was simply the messenger." He motioned at Meghan, "That was all Meg. Her performance was truly inspired."

With a small bow of her head, Meghan accepted the compliment, "So we're doing a round of blowing smoke up each other's asses now?" She then nodded, "Alright then, Bramix, I don't know how you always manage, but the credentials, the security overrides, everything was immaculate," another smile as she sipped from her second glass that held a mix drink, "made everything so much easier."

"It's a lot easier if they just give May everything we need to made them legit,"

"I'm not doing this. I have no compliments for any of you. You all suck. Especially Thy," Mayterial put out her tongue at the Andorian, "Honestly, most of the time it's like watching the blind leading the blind, stumbling through a boot camp obstacle course."

"Auch. That hurt my feelings," The Andorian put a hand on his heart in mock anguish, "but then again you can tell of course. Perhaps that's what's in it for you." I twirled his finger around his temple, "The mind flayer feasts on the sweet taste of misery."

The table laughed at that, Mayterial smiled a bit half-heartedly. Quite contrary to Thyven's pseudo-analysis of her psyche, she blocked herself off from catching emotions from their marks. The shame and guilt had been enough in the past to make her doubt her chosen career path. She could usually square it away knowing how much of these people's wealth came from their greed, their unrelenting pursuit of it. Over the backs of the common people. The entire reason their schemes worked was that these people were always looking for a quick and easy buck. Some way to skirt the rules and regulations. Some way to get the upper hand over an entire quadrant filled with competition. It was only a few lucky planets that could boast the post-scarcity utopia of Earth. Suddenly she felt a hand on her lap to interrupt her thoughts. She looked over to Meghan.

Meghan smiled and gave a wink. She knew. May knew that she knew. The gentle squeeze and the wink reassured her that this was the case. May slid her hand under the table and touched Meghan's hand. The heat of the two hands connecting immediately started radiating into her leg. ~want to get out of here?~ it was easy to project her thoughts to Meghan, their bond was strong and the tactile touch made it child's play.

~I thought you'd never ask.~ Meghan finished her drink and looked around the table, "It has been an honour and a privilege, but I really have to go."

"I'll walk with you." Mayterial subtlely pulled her hand back and finished her drink as well.

"Oh come on, you know I didn't mean it like that," Thyven immediately tried to stop them from getting up, "one more round, on me. You can't leave me with this sausage fest."

"Sorry, it's late, I have a shuttle to catch tomorrow morning." Meghan pushed her chair back and got up. She walked around the table and gave Bramix a hug, "I'll see you around Big Blue."

Mayterial gave a simple wave to the table as she got up, it had been a good run but they all knew they had to move on before it fell apart. Before local authorities got wise. They needed to be long gone before that happened.

[Later that night]

"You know what scares me, you can know exactly what I'm thinking whenever you want to..." Meghan ran her hand through Mayterial's black hair, "and I just have to sit here and guess."

Mayterial looked up from her position in the arms of Meghan, the blankets of their temporary bed in disarray, barely covering either of their naked bodies, "You know you don't have to guess. I'm honest with you, I always will be." she rested her head back on Meghan's shoulder and sighed, she sent a wave of loving thoughts and feelings over to Meghan as if to prove her point.

Meghan closed her eyes and allowed it to wash over her, "I love it when you do that." The warm feeling spread throughout her body, she could be content to bask in this glow for the rest of the week, "Do you ever tire of it?"

With a jerk May propped herself up on her elbows, in order to have a good look at Meghan, to make sure she was understanding it correctly, "Tire of what exactly?"

"This life, running around, finding new places, new dumb people? Wouldn't it be nice to have something for ourselves? Somewhere to return to at the end of the day?" Meghan pulled Mayterial back into her embrace and kissed her forehead, "The two of us."

May closed her eyes and just enjoyed the embrace for a moment as they lay there, "Are you planning on buying a farm?"

Meghan laughed a bit at that, "No way I'm going to be working a farm."

"You'd be an amazing farmer. In the sun, tending cows, cowboy hat." May mused, snuggling closer to her, "I'd tend the chickens and our goat."

"Just one goat?"

"He's just for decorative purposes."

Meghan laughed again, "It sounds tempting, but I don't think I'm ready to buy a farm yet. Maybe someday." She shifted a bit to be able to look at May, the whole talk about farms and decorative goats had struck her as a bit odd coming from her, "For now I was thinking a ship. Some old, freighter class. Being able to go where we want to go, and charge other people for riding along."

"Running a freighter?" Mayterial pulled herself closer and kissed Meghan, "I don't think I'm cut out for that kind of work, but I'm more than happy to book passage on your boat."

"I was kind of hoping you'd be the Captain." Meghan returned the kiss and pulled May in closer, looking deep into her fully black orbs, "We'd both own it, equal partners."

It was odd, a jolt of reality shot through May as she realised that Meghan was very serious about this. She normally never got this way, always calculating, somewhat distant. She was serious, she really wanted to go all-in on the idea of owning a freighter and run the transport routes of the sector. A smile started to creep onto her face as she realised that not only did Meghan want to own a freighter, she wanted to own one with her. She didn't know how long this infatuation with the idea of owning a ship would last, but she wasn't going to waste it, "Let's do it, let's buy a ship," she sounded like one of their marks, someone they had so tightly wound around their fingers that they could play them like a string puppet. She kissed Meghan passionately and her hands started to roam her lover's body.

Meghan gently grabbed on to Mayterial's hand that was travelling downward, "I'm serious. I want to do this. Together."

Mayterial stopped and looked at Meghan. She took a moment to let all the implications of this sink in. She made an effort to leave no doubt that she was genuine as she said, "So am I."

[OFF]

Mayterial Droz
Lowly Hustler

&

Meghan Moreau
Lowly Grifter

“Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.”