Sarissa (ladyofsummer) wrote in saveatlantisic, @ 2017-12-17 19:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, *aurora, *natasha, mordecai roberts, sarissa |
Who: Sarisssa and Mordecai Roberts
Where: Tower Two, Monday Night Party.
When: Backdated to Monday, October 23
Rating: PG
Warnings: NOne
Mordecai was always willing to take advantage of an excuse for a party, and an Atlantis party was nearly always entertaining. His team had been training hard, and he felt oddly solicitous of their well-being, so an evening's entertainment seemed just what the doctor ordered. They were the sort of motley crew that one expected in a place like Atlantis: the dhampir bodyguard, the literal fairy princess, and the recently en-souled man between worlds. Really, Mordecai was the most ordinary of the three of them.
He collected three glasses of punch from a table and went in search of his team. He found Sarissa first and offered her one of the glasses. “Enjoying yourself?” he asked.
“I always enjoy a party where I don’t have to worry about being sacrificed or bled for sport,” Sarissa said lightly as she accepted the glass of punch. It wasn’t an answer she would’ve given in most cases, but given the conversation she’d had with Mordecai recently, she felt that maybe he’d actually understand what it meant to her, despite the glibness of her response.
She nodded at the other glasses he held in his hand. “Are you planning to have an especially good time, or are you looking for someone else?”
Mordecai had a deep appreciation for gallows humor. One of the advantages a reputation for not taking life seriously had gotten him was the ability to admit the outrageous without being believed. He laughed accordingly at Sarissa’s reply, precisely because he did understand.
“I’m exercising my responsibility as team leader for the last time tonight,” said Mordecai. “You’ll have to get your own after this.”
“I’d argue you’ve already gone above and beyond,” Sarissa remarked. “I dare say most team leads don’t offer drinks to their teammates.”
She took a moment to examine her punch before drinking it. It was a discreet act, easily missed by anyone who didn’t have the same levels of paranoia. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Mordecai, but given all the things that happened in Atlantis, she tried in general to avoid turning into rubber ducks or teddy bears if she could.
“I think I saw Eddie by the food table earlier,” she continued. “Though he seemed to be engaged in quite the conversation. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“I won’t disturb him, then,” said Mordecai. He politely ignored Sarissa's quick study of the glass. Triple agents were well-versed in paranoia. “Particularly, if he’s talking to that lovely princess of his.” He glanced idly across the room to see, but the milling party-goers prevented him from getting a good look, and he wasn’t really invested in spying on Eddie’s love life. “If that's the case, I wish him well. One of us needs to supply the gossip sheets with tidbits, and he’s due for a turn.”
“No one seems to be immune from that particular brand of poison,” Sarissa said wryly. She wasn’t too bothered by what the gossip sheets said about her, however. As far as rumours went, she’d been subjected to much worse. And invariably, the rumours tended to be more exciting than what was actually happening. “Although the gossip mill is perhaps one of the uninvasive things to happen here. Unfounded speculation isn’t much when you compare it to being turned into teddy bears, for example.”
“That's fair enough,” conceded Mordecai. “I’ve had far worse said about me, and I prefer to stay myself as much as possible, considering the other options that are out there. I believe these are safe, but one never knows.” He tilted his glass toward the light, but saw nothing besides the ordinary stream of light through the bright liquid. “I rely on you to keep me from being trampled if I turn into a toad,” he added and took a sip from his glass.
“I’ll grow you your own lotus pad,” Sarissa promised, amused, as she watched him drink. “And I’ll try not to think about dining on your legs.”
Hey, if you couldn’t tease your team leader a bit, you didn’t have a very strong team.
Seeing that he was still himself and not frog-shaped immediately after the drink, she asked, “How is it?”
“I guarantee I would cause indigestion,” Mordecai retorted with a smile. He made a show of tilting his head and waiting for any magical transformation. After a minute passed and no change occurred, he shrugged and took a second sip. “Still me,” he said, cheerfully. “And no urges to break into song, yet.”
“Pity,” Sarissa said. “It’d be quite something to see you turn into a one-man musical.”
If nothing else, it would be more to tease him about. Mordecai was far from staid, but there was a gravitas in him that Sarissa felt could benefit from some outright fun every so often.
She sipped at her own drink, reassured there was nothing off about it. As she did so, she caught sight of Eddie again. “Looks like he’s on his own again. Shall we go have a team toast?”
Mordecai laughed. “You wouldn't enjoy it! I know my talents, and I'm a connoisseur of music only.”
The first time he’d been assigned his own team here in Atlantis, Mordecai had been nervous. He had experience, true, both here and back in Twelve-A, but it was mostly independent work, with a partner, or under orders. The missions he’d led had not ended well by any stretch of the imagination - the complications of divided loyalties had seen to that. But it hadn't been a disaster, and this new team, which he’d been assigned after his return to Atlantis, had prospered. He was fond of them, and for the first time he felt free to be fond of them, with no nagging dread that the Dright might order him to betray them.
The punch he’d tasted might be contributing to Mordecai’s lightened spirits, but even if it was, who could blame him? He smiled. “I think we shall.”