The Phenom of the Opera

Posted on Wed Dec 12th, 2018 @ 12:47am by Lieutenant JG Jaya Maera Garlake & Lieutenant Colonel Storr Garlake

Mission: Season 1 Interlude I (E2.5)
Location: Memory Theta, Deck 3, Holodeck 1
Timeline: ID 0 - 1300

The murmur of the crowd died down as the lights dimmed and the wrap of the unseen conductor's wand against the music stand from the orchestra pit just in front of Storr brought the musicians to immediate attention. A striking of notes and lilting flute and violin duet filled the air as massive velvet curtains were drawn away, lights focusing on the props depicting a 19th-century prison. The South African adjusted his tuxedo's white bowtie and dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief; he hadn't remembered being this nervous in a long, long time and he wasn't even the one on stage!

As the notes began lifting to a crescendo, the spotlights panned over the settings to stage right where a diminutive woman dressed in the greatest finery of 1822 enters. She looks around furtively before rushing to a man bound in chains, her stark white clothes, perfect flowing blond hair and makeup a sharp juxtaposition to the dingy surroundings she now found herself in. An amorous conversation ensued before the couple is confronted by a group of guards led by two men arguing. The argument grows and quickly involves the white angel in the prison and her husband until a murder plot is exposed, the criminal was led away by the guards, and the chained man released by his heroine. The entire cast then moved from the darkened background as they surround Leonore, singing her praises in a rousing rendition of...Storr quickly looked down at his Fidelio playbill/invitation to read the title: Wer ein holdes Weib errungen...bliksem, he couldn't read German but it was close to..."Goodwife?"...as her voice lifted above the village crowd to a perfect-pitch soprano aria ending.

Garlake jumped to his feet, clapping as if his life depended on it and his heart bursting with pride, a smile a country mile wide. Jaya...Leonore, was perched upon Florestan's shoulders as the cast took their bows, flowers, a nearly deafening round of applause and hails of "Bravo!" and "Encore!" erupting from the packed theater house.

---

"You were absolutely stunning, vrou," Storr effused as he presented two dozen roses to his bride, after subtly bearing his way through the flattering crowd that surrounded the night's prima donna. "I knew you had been practicing while I had been away but...this...you were absolutely incredible!"

Jaya beamed with delight as he lavished his adoration. "Hm. That is music to my ears. On Seyalia," she cooed, using the romantic native name for Delta IV, "we're also fond of theater. It's a popular prelude to public exhibitions." Her eyes sparkled in a sultry look. "... of a romantic nature."

Before God and the universe, she began to pull at Storr's cummerbund. The sparkle in her eye took on an almost feral look of hunger. Was she blind to the audience that had not dispersed?

Storr smiled as she responded to him, playfully swatting her hands away as she pressed closer. His spirited efforts failed to dissuade her, however, as he stepped backward under her insistent pawing at his shirt and belt, the cummerbund already on the floor. Garlake chuckled nervously as his eyes cut between the crowd around them and his ravenous wife, all the while unsuccessfully trying to keep his shirt tucked in as Jaya stepped out of her overdress, exposing her near-sheer tulle petticoat and smooth, ivory legs.

"What's the matter, my dear? I celebrated your people's culture." Jaya followed him as he stepped backward, tugging against his clothing all the while. "Don't you want to celebrate mine?"

The Marine's mouth opened but only a babble of words emanated as his shirt's buttons tore away at Jaya's insistence, their clatter against the marble floor like rain on a hot tin roof. Somehow he had lost his shoes in the last retreat and his pants were around his ankles as his wife's now-bare chest was struggling (and failing heroically) to be covered by the blond wigs' curls. His vision was clouded with equal parts sheer terror, horror, and a lust that nearly burned through his chest. It nearly kept his stare fixated upon her voluptuous yet petite form. Nearly.

"Jaya, what are you doing?!" Storr squeaked, his eyes bulging and rapidly shifting from his near-nude wife to the pressing crowd around them, his voice warbling in an effect so unlike him that it would have taken the Station Commandant and anyone in earshot by surprise and horror.

Jaya laughed as she pushed him backward, which planted him in a high back chair. "I heard you calling for an encore," she teased as she unfastened her own clothing. "Ask and you shall receive -- isn't that what you always tell me?"

"umm...ah...ehh....ughh..." was all that the tall, proud, husky Marine could utter, the velvet seat cushion and back hungrily trying to throw his mind into continued sensualness as it pressed against his bare thighs and back. As the minx in ivory stockings, garters, high heels, and unmentionables strode towards him like a cat who had swallowed the canary, Storr was for once...powerless.

A sizable crowd formed around them, some people being far too close for comfort. Jaya straddled him in the middling stages of undress and stared down his face. "Why so uncomfortable?" She broke out in laughter. "Oh, Storr..." She couldn't even look at him for the hysterics. "Computer... advance program."

With a mere beep of acknowledgment, the computer shifted the holographic environment. Every single crowd member vanished in a whiff of scattered photons. They had in fact been alone the entire evening. Jaya bit her lip to keep from laughing, but the look on Storr's face broke her composure once more. "I'm sorry! But you should see your face!"

A swift gulp and guttural sigh rumbled from Storr's lips, his head falling back against soft ground as his eyes closed. His breathing was ragged as his arms flopped down to his side, lifeless for all intents and purposes. His pulse dipping below 160, the horror and terror that tunneled his vision peeled back to reveal a breathtaking sky with two moons in various stages of eclipse from a red binary system. Wind rushed through tall grasses and willows nearby as Jaya's nails seductively traced circles on his chest and down his stomach. He took in a deep breath. He let it out.

"You little vixen..."

As quick as a leopard and with the presence of the King of the Jungle, Storr was on her, pinning her wrists to the ground. His breathing had become ragged again, the hedonistic passions that churned within and been mostly suppressed by his wife's voyeurism were charging back with a vengeance.

"What were you thinking?! And in public! You...you..." Garlake sputtered, his voice booming in gasps as his eyes burned with lust, his hands pawing at her few remaining items of clothing with moderate success in removing the necessary one. As Jaya bit her lip and demurely batted her eyes under his imposing figure, he blinked. Hard.

"Yes?" Flat on her back, Jaya winked at him. It was a teasing, inviting, taunting confirmation, all rolled into one.

"You....you WANTED me...argh!" Garlake's control broke like a lake breaking through a dam as he dove into his wife's lips with reckless abandon, taking her roughly into his arms as he moved to take that which was his (and very happily and freely offered). He nearly missed the comm call.

=/\= Laena to Mr. and Mrs. Garlake =/\=

"WHAT?!" the Commandant roared, his head popping up and eyes darting around like a lion disturbed from his kill; the image wasn't as far from the truth as he would have liked.

The sharp crack of a hand slapping a cheek broke the night air as a sharp pain make Storr blink and begin breathing somewhat normally. He sighed heavily, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

"Sorry...yes?"

The couple wasn't sure if they heard laughing or crying on the other end. =/\= You have an official communication from the Deltan Foreign Ministry...it looks important. =/\=

Those few words turned Jaya's blood to ice. Has it been one year already? Dry as the Gobi, Jaya pushed Storr's girth aside and sat up.

Storr flopped back onto the grass with a *thud*, the thousands of soft blades comforting his nail-raked skin. "Thanks...I needed that," he said with a chuckle.

"Don't you remember?" All mirth from a moment ago was drained from her face. "The Foreign Ministry said they would evaluate our marriage after a year's time. If this doesn't go in our favor, Storr, then I will be banished from home... my family... discharged from Starfleet... and be forever remembered as an Oathbreaker." Her face crinkled in a panic that she fought to control. Even Deltan equanimity had its limits.

"Of course I remember, vrou," Storr replied, sitting up and wrapping Jaya into his arms, her frame subsumed by his. "I also remember how committed you've been to not be those things...to be committed to me. To us. I honestly don't see how they couldn't rule in our favor....do you?"

Jaya melted into his warm, comforting embrace. It felt odd that he was the one soothing her, but it was a welcome feeling. "I honestly don't know. This is not a common situation. Most Deltans who enter Starfleet fulfill their enlistment and return home. So far as I know, this is a special case where my Oath of Celibacy was expanded to include you. If there was ever a time for the Foreign Ministry to discourage future cases of Deltans reinterpreting their Oaths, it is now. The favorable decision we had a year ago was just pushing the final decision down the road, which was better than the alternative, but it also undermined any attempt at an appeal. I don't know what we're going to do... or how to prepare..."

"Well, you're quite the uncommon wife, my Love. I'm not sure I know what to do either." Storr dropped his head in contemplation but a wicked smile started tracing a line across his lips. "But I do have an idea of how to prepare!" With a laugh, he brought Jaya back down to the grass, gently running a hand over her head and down her cheek and jaw.

"I love you, Jaya, and know that no Foreign Ministry decision, no Starfleet position, no family shame...nothing will change that or will separate you from me. We can endure all things with faith, perseverance, and love. I'm a man that doesn't run and you'll never be alone. If it means going to Delta IV, so be it...we'll face them together with pride in what we've accomplished for this little family of ours."

They were just words, but Jaya accepted the reassurance all the same. If nothing else, she couldn't ignore their sincerity.

"I just hope your sister doesn't hit on me again," he teased with a playful smile and a waggle of his eyebrows.

Jaya slapped him, just hard enough to smart a little but soft enough to stay affectionate. "Little Miss Perfect? She wouldn't dare. A lug-head like you, on the other hand..." She gave him a mock scowl that turned into a pout before rolling to her feet. "Come on. Let's go face the music. I don't know how long the Foreign Ministry will wait."

Storr chuckled and rose to his feet after Jaya but couldn't help but feel that his reassurances had missed their mark; it was a feeling he did not like nor was familiar with, especially with her. Closing the distance between them in a couple strides, he took her hand firmly in his and squeezed, smiling down at his willowy wife. "Door," he said firmly and as the entryway appeared between two trees, he couldn't help but feel that they were about to embark on a trip neither of them was prepared for but could postpone no longer.