Malice in the Palace

Posted on Mon Jun 22nd, 2020 @ 5:15am by Huyo & Lieutenant Commander Mindo
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 2:45pm

Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Little Caesar's/Mindo's Palace
Timeline: Current

A Mission Post by Huyo & Lieutenant Mindo
Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Little Caesar's/Mindo's Palace
Timeline: Current
Tue Apr 10th, 2018 @ 11:46pm

Huyo, for the first time since she’d come aboard the Pandora, was supremely furious. The tall Deltan cut quite a path through the ship’s halls, plainly fuming as she stomped without any of her usual grace, ignoring everyone whom she passed. She was dressed to impress, wearing a revealing red dress that hugged her generous curves and exposed considerable cleavage, but her hurt and wrathful visage marked a disconcerting contrast, her lovely bald head now looking somehow intimidating. Huyo, the normally sweet and genial chef, looked quite ready to rip someone in half with her bare hands, less a gentle friend than an avenging Fury of ancient Earth legend.

Blasting through the halls back to her quarters, only the bright lights and sounds from inside an open doorway distracted her, if only out of curiosity. It took a moment to remember she was, outside a holodeck, and to remember sweet Mindo’s entertainment complex. Standing outside the holodeck, still breathing hard, Huyo sighed as she peeked inside the doors. She really couldn’t stomach returning to her quarters right now, nor indeed the Box, but she had been meaning to visit Mindo’s Palace. Perhaps it would help take her mind off things. Or, better yet, it would give Huyo some plastic things to hit as she could. Huyo was a pacifist by heart, having never hurt anyone in her life nor learned anything about inflicting violence, but she certainly felt in the mood for it tonight.

Thus Huyo entered the Palace trying to control her deep and rapid breathing as she looked around. The place seemed deserted, which suited Huyo perfectly, and she aimed straight for the first game she saw, a large table with what appeared to be a...sport’s pitch? Huyo looked it over, befuddled at the game as she hesitantly picked up an odd disc off the smooth surface, her rage simmering as she worked it out. There was a clear scoreboard, with a single disc (a puck?), two openings on opposite ends of the table and two slidey...things.

“Oh wonderful, a game for two people,” Huyo said to herself acerbically. Rolling her eyes, she nevertheless put her slidey-thing down and enthusiastically slammed it into the puck. The disc missed the goal, but it nevertheless went banging off the table walls with satisfying force. Realising that bending down to play the game exposed even more of her bosom to a somewhat undecent level (for Terrans, anyway), Huyo huffed, glancing around again and confirming that she was quite alone. “Computer, please lock the doors.”

Suddenly behind the bar, Mindo's small head peeked out from underneath. "Um, are you sure you want to lock..." Mindo stopped when he saw Huyo in that dress... my god that dress! "the... doors?"

Huyo being Huyo, she didn’t react at all when Mindo appeared except to smile weakly. “Oh, I’m sorry sweetie. I just...oh, I just really didn’t want anyone to see. I’m...I’m just-“ (she slammed the puck) “-really-“ (she slammed the puck again as it bounced back) “-really-“ (she smashed the puck again even harder, panting with exertion) “FRUSTRATED!”

With her final cry she blasted the puck harder still, sending it straight into the small hole that defined the goal and earning a celebratory light show. Huyo tried to smile at Mindo again even through her panting, although she abandoned the attempt upon realising that it must look more like a grimace. “Oh, I’m...wow, that felt good...um...I’m so sorry for locking the doors. I can leave. It was awfully rude of me.”

"You don't have to leave," said Mindo, rising from the bar and hovering over to the other side of the air hockey table. He grabbed the puck from its pocket on his end of the table and set it back down. He smiled. "I could use the company. Not many people around at this hour." He pointed to her dress. "Did someone stand you up?"

“Worse,” Huyo said with an embarrassed grin. “Her lover arrived during our date. They had a misunderstanding over boundaries, so when she arrived it was all so horrible, and I was caught in the middle. I made a little joke about the three of us in bed together, and it went out of hand, and then they were shouting at each other, so I just left so they could work it out. It was all so embarrassing.”

Mindo didn't laugh, or even smile. He just nodded and said, "That sounds like a normal night for me. People are so weird about these kinds of things." He started to make his way over to the bar again. "Maybe you need a drink? I have just about everything back here."

Huyo laughed as she followed him. “Oh sweetie, yes, please. Did you know that a few people have started to prefer your bar to mine since you started this place? Not that I mind a little competition. However did you ever find the time to create this program and be Chief Engineer, anyway?”

"Lots of sleepless and lonely nights," said Mindo. "I mostly did this for my own amusement. It's something I've wanted to create for some time. I already had most of the place planned out and constructed over the years. At this point it was just a matter of putting it all together. I was going to do it on my old ship, but never quite had the time. I've had the time here because ever since K'Laus tried to strangle me, no one's been knocking on my door. I was beginning to feel avoided. So this place is sort of a redemption for me." He paused as he mixed her a drink. "Try this. It's a Nagustini, or simply an appletini made with Nagus Tears brand vodka."

“I do love Ferengi drinks,” Huyo said pleasantly as she stood at the bar, and after Mindo gave the Nagustini to her, she sipped the orange liquid with relish. “Just the right level of sweetness, with that precise level of fruitiness to support the flavour but not overpower it. No particulates either, not like Klingon cocktails. Hm...yes, this is delightful.” Eyeing Mindo over the rim of her glass contemplatively, Huyo’s smile turned a little sad. “Well, my dear, would you be able to teach me the intricacies of that game over there? I would so enjoy playing against someone. It felt wonderful to hit that puck with the...what are those little slidey-things?”

Mindo thought for a moment. "Umm... I'm not sure what you'd call them. Maybe little slidey things? You use them to boink off the puck to the other end of the table to get it into your opponents slot. So, you just boink until it gets in the slot, and then you get a point." He paused to take a drink of his own, a Risan screwdriver. "Does that sound like something you'd be into?" He gave her his most innocent look.

Huyo was the picture of innocence herself, her wide smile not flickering a millimeter. “Yes, I believe I would. It does sound like such a lovely game.” With that, she moved back to the table hockey game, carrying her glass with graceful ease as she sauntered. There was still a bit of tension to the Deltan, still some pent-up energy, but she was quite plainly keeping it constrained as she leaned a little and took her paddle in hand, ready to play. “Please start, my dear. And oh, do go easy on me...”

Mindo nodded as he took his place at the other end of the table. He put the puck down and served it. The puck rebounded off the table wall and shot toward her side.

Grinning with excitement, Huyo smacked the puck right back at Mindo, and to her own amazement, the puck zoomed right past his paddle into the goal. The bald Deltan laughed gleefully, bending lower down to look inside the goal where the puck was nestled as the lights whirled in celebration.

“Oh, this game really is fun,” she said, still giggling as she straightened, then after her laughter faded, she smiled enigmatically at Mindo, who was perched on a stool on the opposite side of the table with his LEGs. “Well, I heard from Ensign McMahon that for each game won, the loser has to forfeit an item of clothing. I know he was probably teasing me, but the doors are locked...”

Mindo raised an eyebrow. "You want to play strip air hockey?" He nodded slowly. "And the doors are locked... OK, let's do this." Mindo unzipped his jacket and threw it on the bar. He now stood in his yellow turtleneck. "I can't help but wonder, how much do you have to take off?"

At that, Huyo glanced down at her dress, as if suddenly realising Mindo’s obvious advantage. Still, she shot Mindo a look that was downright sultry. “Oh, hun, you’re pre-supposing that you’ll win.”

Mindo served the puck.

It slid from one end to the other and back again, back and forth until... it went into Mindo's goal again.

Mindo straightened and casually took off his turtleneck and tossed it onto the bar. Now he stood bare-chested in front of Huyo. "Something funny?" he asked, seeing signs of a suppressed grin on the Deltan's face.

Huyo couldn’t help but laugh at his expression, holding a hand over her heart. “Oh, sweetie, you’re just so cute when you’re losing!” Her eyes flicked up and down Mindo’s chest in clear appreciation; the Fesarian was clearly in good shape, his smooth body very well proportioned indeed. “Oh, I do see why you have such a reputation onboard. You are such a gem, dear.”

Mindo smiled a little and served again. This time Huyo wasn't ready and the puck slid square into her goal.

"Is it getting hot in here?" Mindo said. "That's a point for me!"

Not that Huyo seemed to especially mind. She smiled mysteriously at Mindo as he spoke, her patient, teasing smile forming an odd counterpoint to the lights and celebratory buzzers crying out madly in celebration at the goal. Huyo stepped to the side of the table where Mindo could clearly see her entire form, head to toe, then carefully turned away from him, giving the Fesarian a perfect view of how the red dress perfectly clung to her well-shaped derrière. With a deliberate sensuality, Huyo then bent down slowly, emphasing the movement with her teasing slowness and only presenting her rear end to Mindo even more. Her slender hands moved to her shoes, unclipping the straps and easing her feet out of their confines one by one. Then, with that same relentless slowness, Huyo stood back up, moving gracefully back to her side of the table.

“Next point,” Huyo teased Mindo seductively as she took hold of her paddle and prepared to serve, “winner takes all.”

The serve happened fast, but Mindo stopped it and deflected back, almost getting a goal, but Huyo was to fast for that. The puck glided to Mindo's side with near-perfect accuracy. Mindo stopped the puck as it very nearly entered the goal. The puck was now about twenty-five percent in Mindo's goal, but the sirens hadn't gone off yet.

"That was close," said Mindo.

“Not close enough,” Huyo answered with a confident grin, unable to resist eyeing her soon-to-be prize. Mindo was right; it was getting warm, hot even, as if the holodeck environmental systems were getting wonky. Huyo could feel her skin flush with excitement, but she forced herself to focus, paying full attention to the puck as Mindo served it...

...right off a wall and behind her puck, slamming into the goal with a satisfying thud. “Oh,” Huyo said with subdued amazement; that particular shot had been downright crafty. “Well, that happened.”

Mindo used his forearm to wipe sweat from his brow. For whatever reason, it was very hot in there. And he really needed a drink. Damn her Deltan pheremones, he thought. There was an understandable tightness in his pants. He shifted his legs a bit and found some comfort.

“Then I suppose it’s only fair...” Huyo whispered, staring at Mindo intensely. She softly stepped around the table, one hand reaching behind her back to pull the zipper on her dress down all the way, exposing her smooth back. Then, stopping right next to Mindo and keeping her eyes locked on his the entire time, Huyo pulled the straps of her dress over her shoulders. The entire garment was now only remaining in place thanks to friction and Huyo’s ample bosom, looking for all the world as if it would fall off at even the slightest touch or movement.

“My sweet Mindo...” Huyo murmured, recognising and relishing his response to her, feeling her own body quicken. It was requiring a considerable effort to stay her hand, to stay entirely still and build up that wonderful tension even further. The loud, garish arcade machines around them faded into nothing around Huyo and Mindo, as if they were locked in their own private little universe. “After all your pain with Shae and Fick, are you sure...?”

Mindo grabbed the red garment and pulled her into him, still standing on the stool. As they kissed, he moved his hands to the sides of her face and gently brought them down to her neck. The garment fell to the floor. Mindo almost stumbled off the stool, and he activated his LEGs fast, allowing him to hover at her height. He put his hands on her shoulders and she grabbed him by the waist, picked him up, and slammed him onto the air hockey table. Mindo undid the zipper on his pants, looking to Huyo for help with the rest.

And so Mindo and Huyo got to business amidst the bright, happy arcade, exercising their considerable skill on each other for what would prove to be a memorable night indeed. Both of them, starved of contact with another person for so long, finally satiated their appetites.

The doors to the holodeck would remain locked for quite a while...

============
One Hour Later...
============

After a long hour, they both lay on the Skee-Ball ramp sweaty and exhausted, breathing heavily.

"That," said Mindo between breaths. "That was good." He breathed a bit more.

Feeling her sweaty back press against the cold plastic, Huyo laughed breathlessly. “That is...an understatement,” she replied, her breathing steadily slowing back down. She peeked at the arcade around them and laughed again. “Do humans even know how well these places work for this?”

Mindo laughed. "Where do you think the term 'High Score' originated?" He breathed a little more, his breath beginning to slow down as his heart caught up. "I'll have to wipe off the Air Hockey table... and the pinball table."

“And this table, whatever you call it,” Huyo commented with a grin, turning on her side to look at Mindo directly. “But we are on a holodeck, right? So you can just order the computer to rectify the situation.”

"Oh yeah," said Mindo. He turned and kissed Huyo on the lips and smiled. "I'll get to it later." He turned onto his back and pushed himself up from the ramp. "Right now I need a drink. You want anything?"

“Oh yes, absolutely,” Huyo answered cheerfully, hopping off the Skee Ball ramp as well. After such a workout, she was quite parched. “Something fruity and smooth, please. A cocktail, maybe.”

Mindo stepped behind the bar and went to the large replicator on the wall. "Computer, two silk bathrobes, one medium, one small." The purple robes materialized and Mindo took them out, tossing the larger one to Huyo, then putting his own on.

Slipping on the bathrobe, Huyo deftly tied the slim little belt around her waist before sitting on a stool, crossing her long, slender legs. “It has been months since I was able to let go like that, Mindo. Your reputation is well earned.”

Mindo mixed the lovely Deltan her cocktail and handed it to her. He moved on to his own drink, a glass of tranya from one of the bottles he had behind the counter. Normally, he would let Criswell, the place's holographic bartender, but it would undo their privacy, even if only artificially.

"It's been a while since I've experienced Deltan," said Mindo. "I haven't had a workout like that in a long time."

Huyo made a noise of agreement as she sipped her cocktail, savouring the fresh flavour as it touched her dry throat. “I didn’t know that Fesarians had such stamina,” she said conversationally, albeit with a wink.

Mindo chuckled and took a drink. Something occurred to him then, something she had been trying to say... about Fick and Shae... his eyes widened at the realization.

"Oh my god," he said.

“What?” Huyo asked with bemusement, sipping her bright blue cocktail.

"You said you were with someone earlier tonight," he said. "And her lover came in and..." he trailed off, trying to put the pieces together. "You're not... seeing someone, are you?"

“Oh gosh, no, sweetie, don’t worry,” Huyo said kindly. “I haven’t been intimate with anyone since before the ship launched, as a matter of fact. I’m too ‘intimidating’, or so I’m told.” She paused to sip some more, eyeing Mindo thoughtfully. “And you, Mindo? Is there anyone special in your life? I know that Fesarians are looser than most, but it feels only right to ask.”

Relieved, Mindo took another drink, downing the rest of the glass. He poured himself another. "It's been a while," he said, not making eye contact. "Her name was Caradan. She was... unique."

Huyo nodded knowingly, sliding over her empty glass. “You’re still in love with her, aren’t you? True love?”

Mindo nodded. He took her glass and poured her another, sliding it back to her. "What about you? Leave anyone behind?"

“Not really,” Huyo said, this time with a faint hint of sadness. “Being a chef on Earth has been all consuming. I have had relationships and liasons...many, actually...but none that developed into something deep and serious.”

"You've been lucky," said Mindo. "If you've never had a someone special, you've never lost them either."

Swirling her cocktail absent-mindedly, Huyo cocked her head to side, smiling at Mindo enigmatically. “Do you really believe that? Honestly? If you could forget this woman entirely, excise her from your memory...would you?”

Mindo had to think about that. "I don't know," he said. "I've never thought about it that way." He took a sip of tranya, but couldn't shake the idea of forgetting the one person he'd loved so much. "What's worse, the pain of losing someone or the joy in loving them?"

“I don’t know,” Huyo said with a shrug, grinning. “It’s a question that people have been wrestling with for countless millennia, and honestly, I’m not used to my lovers getting all deep and philosophical after sex. Not that I mind, sweet Mindo. You are rather cute like this.”

Mindo smiled. "You brought it up, sugar," he said.

Mindo came around the bar and hopped up onto the stool next to Huyo. "So what kind of food does a galaxy-renowned chef like yourself enjoy?" asked Mindo.

“Anything and everything,” Huyo said with a light chuckle. “Klingon, Risian, Romulan, Cardassian...if it’s out there, I am professionally obliged to try it. For my personal tastes, though...oh honey, it varies. Some weeks I just adore Andorian ice cream, other weeks it’s Bajoran souffles or Terran seafood. But then there’s Cardassian salads. I did go through a big salad phase when I was living on Betazed.”

"Betazoids do like their salads," Mindo said with a grin. "Where did you try Fesarian food? You make it almost like we make it back home."

“I had a lot of practice with a Fesarian client, an ambassador,” Huyo explained, idly sliding her finger up and down the stem of her glass. “She often came to my establishment on Earth, in Damascus. We’d chat sometimes, and she was kind enough to help me try to perfect a few Fesarian recipes.” As the conversation came to a natural end, she gave Mindo a sensual look. “Mindo, I really enjoyed tonight. Truly. You are a very skilled lover. Would you...perhaps...be interested in doing this again sometime? Whenever we both have an itch?”

Mindo grinned and leaned forward. "Sugar, I'm up for a scratch any time," he said, and punctuated it with a small kiss on the tip of her nose.

Despite herself, Huyo giggled at Mindo’s antics; he really was adorable. “Well, if you need me, I’m just a comm call away,” she said, adding a sultry layer to her voice and look for added effect. Then, sobering slightly, she added, “And hun, if either of us start to develop feelings, want more, we’ll talk. We’ll work it out, one way or another. For now, I suggest that we have more incredible nights like this and see what develops.”

"I can do that," said Mindo. "Let me know when you need more heat in your kitchen."

Huyo shot Mindo a ‘are you kidding me’ look, although she was quite plainly holding in yet more laughter.

"No, seriously," said Mindo. "I'm a pretty good cook."

“Then I look forward to putting that to the test, Lieutenant Mindo,” Huyo replied with amusement, her eyes alight with life. It was a small thing, perhaps, to reconnect physically after so long, to make a new friend, but even so, she was thrumming with happiness at a night that turned out much, much better than she’d originally expected.