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Stars streamed past as the La Sirena glided through warp. Captain Rios flicked open his lighter, the metal sound jarring on the otherwise silent bridge. Relighting his cigar he drawled “Don’t make me say it…”
“Don’t” Raffi warned. A hint of a smile played across her face. She glanced at JL and the xB as they made their way toward the Holodeck.
“If you make me say it, I will be pissed.” Rios exhaled.
He settled deeper into the Captains chair, staring down at his old friend.
“I said don’t.” Said Raffi, spinning her chair around to face him. A stern expression flashed across her features and she glanced over at the book balanced on the console. She was tempted to throw it at him.
Cris, peered over his shoulder impishly and watched the Ranger follow Picard into the Holodeck. He waited for the door to hiss close before grinning and whispering conspiratorially “She’s your type!”
“Honey, this is so not the time for this conversation.” Raffi restarted one of the data scans then turned back to the Captain.
“And also; how the hell would you know my ‘type’?!”
“I’m so glad you asked, Raffi!”
“Fuck” Raffi sighed, realising she’d walked into that one.
“Lets review the evidence shall we?” He was enjoying this far too much, “Exhibit ‘A’: Captain Bosch; heroic do gooder and Starfleet maverick. Shorter than you, though but not by much. Over the top sense of moral righteousness. Not an attractive trait if you ask me but you seem to be into it.”
Rios pushed himself up from his chair and paced around the bridge, “Exhibit ‘B’: Your ex-husband. A little terse but a pretty good pilot, though not as good as this Ranger seems to be. Both confident too and I think maybe you have a thing for a rebel?” He paused to appreciate Raffi squirming.
“And finally Exhibit ‘C’: Our beloved Admiral Picard . . . ”
Rios ducked, cut off. Barely catching the book launched at his head.
“Cris!” Raffi protested “Thats disgusting! He’s like a father to me!”
“Yes! And that’s exactly my point!” Rios laughed “Women go for people like their fathers.”
Raffi sighed “Babe, you don’t even know anything about her!”
“I know they were both Starfleet.” He mused.
“She just served on Voyager, she wasn’t crew-crew, no rank.” Raffi snapped.
“Close enough.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Stop interrupting me! You’ll make me lose my train of thought.” Rios rolled his cigar absentmindedly between his fingers.
“Ah yes! Both Starfleet. Both ex-Borg. Both out in the cold nobly fighting for a lost cause. Sure sounds similar to me.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“Are you telling me, Raffi, that you don’t think she’s utterly gorgeous?” He teased, striding past her before settling back down in his chair.
Raffi turned back to the con muttering “I mean… I didn’t say that…”
“Called it!” Rios laughed, slapping the arm of the Captain’s chair.
He settled himself in his seat before smirking at her “And thank you very much for the kind offer, Raffi, of course I’ll be your best man at the wedding!”
“I’m all out of books, Cris, so the next thing I start throwing is subroutines.” She typed a few swift command into the holoscreen and held her finger dramatically over the 'execute’ command space.
“Sure, crash the navigational computer. All the longer to be lost in space with your new beau.”
“Thats it!” Raffi stood up, exasperated “I’ll be in my quarters!”
“Sure thing. No guesses what you’ll be doing there!”
She flipped him both her middle fingers over her shoulders as she exited the bridge. She tried not to laugh, a blush creeping across her face.
With friends like Cris, who needed enemies!?
Rios exhaled, smoke briefly blurring his view of Raffi’s retreating frame. Seems this trip was going to be fun after all.