Do spiders smile? [Closed]

[illhaveyourmind]

Characters: Ariane Emory and Deanna Troi
Content:  A continuation of their adventures after leaving Shasta, in which Deanna discusses the price of her assistance, and Ari linefaces.
Setting:  Deanna's quarters on the Amestris
Time: Immediately after this thread
Warnings: Mindgames, telepathy, general sadism and enjoyment of making people

Comments

[myworknotme]

As soon as Deanna reached into her pocket to fish out the key, Ari moved both of her own hands calmly to the pockets in her skirt. It was a relief to get out of reach, if only for a moment, and Ari looked through the door with interest as it opened, and she entered before her crewmate.

"Lovely quarters," Ari commented mildly as she looked about. They reminded her of her own, to some extent, though Troi's tastes were somewhat different from her own. Feeling a vague wish that she had her azi with her, Ari sat down in the nearest available chair.

[illhaveyourmind]

Deanna smiled at the compliment, pausing to cast her own eyes around her quarters. Everything was clean lines and cool colors, giving off a feeling of serenity that one who knew her probably would not expect. But then most people who knew her would never, ever want to be in her quarters. Nor were many people invited here. This was her private sanctuary, and where she went to retreat from the constant buzzing of the emotions of everyone around her. She centered herself here, and so she'd made it as soothing as possible. "Thank you. Not quite what I'm used to, of course, but it serves my purposes well enough."

She did not sit, instead moving very close to Ari, but not actually touching her again. She walked past her, striding over to a small cabinet. "Vodka and orange, isn't it?" she asked, not bothering to question if Ari wanted the drink or not.

[myworknotme]

Ari, in turn, didn't even question how in the hell Deanna knew her preferences when it came to alcoholic beverages. Of course she knew. Ari had the feeling that the woman had been studying her as intensely as she could, ever since that time that she'd been at Reseune. But at least the drink would be good, given the supplies that Deanna likely had access to.

"It is," Ari replied, closely watching as Troi poured it to make certain that the only ingredients were vodka and orange, and accepted it when the drink was at last handed to her. "What are you used to, then?"

/got new icons. Have a matching one. =p

[illhaveyourmind]

Her fingers trailed over Ari's as she handed her the drink, meeting her eyes with an amused smile before sitting. The chair was a respectable enough distance from the one her companion was in, but easily within arm's reach should Deanna to reach across the small table separating them.

"When on assignment? It varies, of course." She'd made herself the same drink, sipping the orange concoction leisurely. "When not? ...Well, that kind of information is probably classified." She smirked playfully. Ari, being the only person on the ship who'd previously known Deanna in any kind of professional sense, was the only one she'd be this frank with.

/moving comment

[illhaveyourmind]

Ari was beginning to come back to the present, Deanna noted with some small irritation. She could feel Ari's uncertainty with what she was doing to her, and the conflicting emotions were becoming tangled- hard to read. Still, she was returning her kiss, which had initially surprised her. Deanna didn't allow it to throw her off, of course, but it had still given her a moment's pause.

She was reminded of her task by the scream, and it was beautiful. It was made even better by the tiny feeling of pleasure that was worming itself through her target. Part of Ari was enjoying this, and Deanna couldn't resist gloating about it a little. They were beginning to come to the tail end of the memories, and Deanna stretched them out longer still, not wanting her playtime to be over just yet.

She was enjoying this far, far too much. Apparently, so was Ari.

[myworknotme]

A wave of cold swept across Ari's mind as the last major memory of the set began to play out in exquisitely painful detail. Here, then, was the time a few days after she'd told him that she loved him, where he'd laughed in her face and told her to get out of his room and his life. The angry shouts seemed as though they'd happened only seconds ago to Ari, and she closed her eyes tightly and sobbed without tears into the kiss.

[illhaveyourmind]

Deanna watched the final scenes unfold with rapt attention.

Memory watching was always a delightful experience, especially when the memories were painful ones. But this... this was made even sweeter by simply whose mind it was she was in. Ari did not let many people get close to her. Watching the memories, now she knew why. The significance of these particular events was not lost on her, and privately, she was a little surprised that this was what Ari had chosen to show her.

To compensate for the pain of what she was watching, the kiss became much more gentle. She allowed a little of her almost unheard of tenderness to creep into it. Her hands trailed over her target's neck and shoulders, before she lightly wrapped her arms around her. She did not do this out of pity or any actual caring feelings for what Ari was going through- she was responsible for that, after all, and she relished it. She did it because it would be unexpected, and convince Ari all the more that part of her relished it, too.

[myworknotme]

The pain that she experienced now, she hoped, would be worth it if Deanna's assistance helped them gain anything that would stop Denouement and Bradley. She would have to repeat it to herself over and over after this experience, more likely than not, but if there were one thing that Ari was good at besides manipulating others, it was rationalizing her own pain and locking it away where she didn't need to concern herself with it. With luck, the floodgates that were currently open in her mind would close once she was alone again.

The small part of her that was cautiously enjoying the physical contact with Deanna became slightly larger as the entirely unexpected occurred, and her 'partner' became gentle and almost caring in her touch. Ari knew better than to expect it to be anything more than a show, but in her confusion, she allowed herself to enjoy it, and opened her eyes to gaze at Deanna.

[illhaveyourmind]

Had Deanna actually been listening to her thoughts at the moment, she would have laughed at the comparison. It was, of course, completely accurate. If she was unsettled at all by Ari's secretive little smile, she didn't show it. She had a very reasonably good understanding of the way the other woman's mind worked now- and would have, even had she not been inside it so recently. But having done so, it gave her even more of an edge of the doctor. And Ari was obviously trying to convince herself she had more power than she really did. It was a rather classic move by those who are well and truly outclassed and completely unused to it.

She did laugh a bit at Ari's words, and shook her head a little. "Because 'sound' choices are what you've obviously made so far with this man? From my point of view, it only seems like you've been encouraging him to frustrate you. Unless, of course, that really is what you've been intending all along."

[myworknotme]

The antagonizing words did little for Ari's temper, but she smoothed over it, though the veneer of calm was thin. "I've made choices that were not the smartest, and I admit my mistakes." She leveled her gaze directly at Deanna, knowing that both the determination and the stubbornness would show, and hoping that they would help her to make her case. "They won't happen again, and I will manage things far more carefully with him in the future, regardless of how it is that I decide to manage things."

/is very evil

[illhaveyourmind]

Ari's anger was exquisite, made even more so by the fact that she refused to act on it and instead shove it behind a wall of calm. She did that quite often, Deanna guessed, and smiled even more. People who denied their own emotions were always the most fun to toy with.

Smoothly as a snake, her hand slipped forward, and she ran her fingers lightly over the doctor's on the bed. She slid her mind back into Ari's, but only barely. Her mental hooks did not extend, but she wanted to make it obvious that the threat was there, and she easily could if she chose to. She laughed a little outwardly, but laughed more mentally.

You try so very hard to be careful, don't you dear? But things seem to so rarely work out for you, romantically.... Everyone always leaves you.

/is supportive of this evil

[myworknotme]

She started at the contact, her anger flaring up as Deanna presumed to touch her again, and their minds met. If she stayed here, the telepath would only play havoc with her mind again, or at least threaten to do so. If she pulled away, the hooks would sink in again, and the pain would be far worse and far more immediate. Ari didn't yet know the full extent of Deanna's abilities, but she suspected that the other woman was holding more than a few things back as reserve weapons.

Still, she resisted, indignant that her mind was being invaded for the second time today. Get out.