Neuropressure: A Scam and a Racket - Part 2

Posted on Wed Oct 22nd, 2025 @ 3:52pm by Lieutenant Dashku Zhevou & Lieutenant T'Mara
Edited on on Thu Oct 23rd, 2025 @ 3:14am

2,246 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Year One: Strange Bedfellows
Location: USS Moore - T'Mara's Quarters
Timeline: MD: 039 - 1915 hrs

And now the continuation...

"Dash...if the proper Orion answer is your answer, then that is preferred response. You need not concern yourself with acting in a manner that I might prefer. I only want you to be yourself." T'Mara countered.

"I don't know that the Orion answer is my answer," Dash admitted honestly, she'd left that life behind. Although with her mother's ship showing up it was starting to make her wonder. Did she really want to leave all that behind. "The Orion answer is I'll do whatever the fuck I want to you and you'll like it. My answer is probably somewhere in between giving you a choice and telling you what to do."

T'Mara's fingers pulled away from Dash's back. She appreciated the Orion woman's honesty, but the words were...

It was the way of things. Within life, in her limited experience, there existed a hierarchy where one held dominion over another. At least Dash was being transparent regarding it...and the illusion of choice? A touching concession.

"So what choice am I being offered, and what do you want me to do?" T'Mara countered.

"I... uh..." Dash felt a shot of guilt go through her at T'Mara's question. She felt her heart hammering in her chest as she struggled with a response. After a long moment of silence, she turned around to look at T'Mara. "I'm not asking you or demanding that you do anything. I've tried that sort of relationship twice since I joined Starfleet and neither of them ended well. I think the people were in love with the fantasy of the idea, rather than the idea itself. Your question implies we're more than friends, is that how you feel?"

Love? Friends? Such alien concepts. T'Mara held whisps and whispers of such notions from her childhood - but they were shrouded in the veil of time, figments from a beginning that was no longer relevant.

"We are engaging in neuropressure...well, I am providing it to you. Normally it is reciprocal process - but given this is a medically driven intervention such requital is not required, nor expected. But, you are fascinating, and I find our...engagements to be quite gratifying. Ultimately, I expect that the novelty of engaging with me will wane, and you will move to something else that stimulates you. Until that time, however..." Honesty begat honesty, yes?

"That doesn't mean I'm going to dictate how you dress or what body modifications you have," Dashku took a deep breath, she watched T'Mara for a moment before she licked her lips. "I grew up with a Vulcan that was... employed by my mother. His name is T'Ka. He was who did a good portion of my early instruction and I developed an appreciation of your culture. I understand you a little better than you might think, and I don't view friendship as a novelty. I would be more than happy to reciprocate, but you will need to teach me."

Her eyes darted to Dashku's tongue as it left a glistening shine on the curve of her lower lip. Such a gesture was considered scandalous in Vulcan culture. Consdering the visceral response she experienced low in her pelvis, T'Mara could now fully appreciate why it had been so. Vulcan society openly forbade the expression of such things. Hypocritical to it's core. Denial did not mean elimination.

"A Vulcan serves your mother?" T'Mara did not have to have a very good imagination to conceive of ways of how this T'Ka served them. "An unusual choice for an employee on an Orion vessel..." She reached down to the hem of the oversized sweatshirt that bore the name of the ship across the chest and pulled it upwards, removing the garment and laying it beside her. "I will show you, then..."

"It's... Complicated. My mother is complicated. As brutal and as ruthless as she can be, she rewards loyalty and works hard to reward those that are loyal to her. T'Ka was owned by another, I'm not sure how he was captured, but my mother got him in a deal she made. He was her slave for several years buthe proved himself a loyal servant, so he was promoted. He is still a slave, he will owe my mother and her successor for the rest of his life," Dashku sighed softly. "For full slaves, they are given nothing, no wages and no privileges, only service. Some of the more progressive Orions offer slaves a chance to become indentured servants, get paid a wage, have your own room... The trouble is the contracts are written in a way that their accounts are charged for everything, room, meals and more. The wages are never enough and most slaves are fine with the debt because they suddenly have an allowance. Most have a minimum they have to pay... They could never earn enough to get out of debt. You don't want either of those things and I can tell you my sister is already scheming to trick you into one of the two."

She tilted her head and her brows moved - it made her look quite vulnerable and betrayed her age, or lack thereof. T'Mara had barely reached her majority, after all. "So it was a...ruse? Rushgili showed interest...hospitality...only because she was...inspecting me then? For...suitability?" Oh, she knew what had occurred had been transactional, but to be considered nothing more than a valuable asset to acquire...at least she had value?

T'Mara began to blink furiously; her eyes had chosen that moment to produce excess lacrimation. Was this the best she could hope for from existence? Even her position here, on Moore was that of service to others on this ship; to ensure their safety and well-being. Perhaps that was the purpose...servitude to others?

...I come to serve... They were some of the first words she had spoken to Dash upon meeting her. It had been instilled since childhood, even well before, well...everything. Vulcans valued service. T'Mara had been all but primed for such a life, hadn't she?

Meditation tonight was going to be...onerous.

Dash sighed softly, her fingers working a particularly tense muscle in T'Mara's upper back, she wanted to do as well as T'Mara. She had it done enough that she felt like she was doing an ok job. "Don't tense up. I wouldn't say that it was a ruse, she was showing you Orion hospitality. At least her version of it. I would call it more of an ulterior motive. I used to view slavery as normal, there were the strong and the weak and the strong were meant to rule. I've learned a great deal since leaving my Mother's home."

T'Mara did not instruct her as she initially stipulated. Dash's fingers were doing an adequate job finding the tense spots and manipulating them into submission in her own way. It was...different.

"Ah. I see." She answered in a neutral tone and was quiet for a moment in thought. "Do you have ulterior motives, here, Dash?"

"No, I do not," Dash shook her head slowly, her fingers continued to move deftly, working the tension spots in T'Mara's back. She found a particularly difficult one in her lower back and started to work it aggressively. "I tried a more Orion style of relationship, it did not end well. Most people might want to play at the fantasy, but the reality is far more crushing."

"And what do you wan--" T'Mara countered and then hissed as Dash's fingertips applied an appropriate amount of pressure over one of the neural nodes along her spine. It wasn't painful so much as...intense. It took a moment for her equilibrium to be restored. "What do you want? Do you find satisfaction in not acting on your instincts or upbringing?"

"I do not want slaves or indentured servants," Dashku replied with a grunt, her fingers continuing to work her muscles. "There is a certain satisfaction in it, but there is also satisfaction in having an equal. One to walk the path of life with, even if it's only for a time."

Such a scenario played out like a dream in T'Mara's mind as she considered what Dash said. It felt like a fantasy, as much as her earlier life did before the unfortunate provenance of her genetic heritage was discovered. However, she could not fault the woman for seeking out such a thing. She had her own personal 'fantasies' too, after all.

"I understand, Dash." She responded diplomatically. Did she really, though? From her current perspective it appeared that they were on opposite ends of topic - one who held 'power,' and one who had it all stripped away. Oh, circumstances had changed drastically, to be certain, but one did not simply shed mindsets and behaviors ruthlessly drilled within so that such things were not easily teased apart.

"It is unfortunate, however..." T'Mara added as somewhat of a non sequitur. "I had wanted to return to obtain more libations...but I had best not, considering..."

"You have free will," Dashku said simply, her eye twitched slightly as she considered saying more but in the end it wasn't her place. It wasn't her job to police what people did when they weren't on duty. Even on duty she didn't need to, she wasn't the XO or CO after all. "I can't tell you what to do, only caution you that my sister is a devious woman and an Orion supremacist."

"Free will..." T'Mara parroted but said nothing further. Perhaps she did, but she did, but the concept was so alien to her that she had no idea what to do with it...Other than make questionable decisions based on the illogic of sensation. You're doing quite well in that department. Her inner voice replied.

She looked over her shoulder to the Orion woman who was still kneading the innumerable knots along her spine. It wasn't neuropressure...but it was...nice. It was agreeable to have conversation--and physical contact--and perhaps she should be satisfied with that instead of seeking out far more volatile--and dangerous--stimulation. What was the saying...infant steps? "Your reciprocation is appreciated, Dash. As are your explanations. I do not have much experience engaging socially and your advice is valuable to me."

"I'm probably not the best one to come to for advice in most situations. While I may not try to dominate everyone around me, I tend to still be in charge," Dash arched one of her brows, as she continued to search for knots in T'Mara's back. She ran her hands over her shoulders and down her arms. "Although I'm not sure if that's because I'm an Orion or because I'm my Mother's daughter."

"You were the appropriate person, Dashku; for your perspective was what I was seeking and you have provided me with much to consider. I also acknowledge your words regarding seeking advice from you. It was not my intention to cause any discomfort regarding my line of questioning. You have been quite...attentive." Dash's fingers were very dexterous and this form of payment for services rendered was most...agreeable.

"I understand, I had no discomfort, we are friends in my mind and I am fine with you asking me anything you want," Dashku arched one of her brows. Was she really ok with her asking anything? She ran her fingers down T'Mara's spine again, but it was more of a caress than her working any tight spots. "I've enjoyed being attentive to you."

Words dried up in her mouth as Dash's fingertips skittered along her highly sensitive spinal column, eliciting an uncontrollable tremor to course down her body. Friends? Attentiveness? What did these words mean to an Orion? For a Vulcan saw both of those concepts as very serious, which of course it wasn't, ...right?

Pull it together, Kre'nath! T'Mara inwardly chided. This was an encounter; a transaction. Exist in the present. For the present.

"It has been quite...gratifying." T'Mara replied, scooting herself around so she was facing Dashku, uncaring that her top was laying in a small, rumpled mass next to them. "I would thank thee for thine attentiveness." She added formally.

"Thee for thine? Am I royalty that you would need to use such language?" Dashku asked with a playful tone, she leaned forward and lightly touched T'Mara's neck and moved her hand down over her shoulder. "My mother might have clawed her way up in the syndicate, by my father was a simple fisherman."

"Federation Standard does not have a formal tone like Vulkahnsu...I was attempting to convey the sincerity of my gratitude towards your association with me. I am quite cognizant that Vulcans are not easy to...befriend."

"No, your people are not the easiest to befriend, I suppose my past experience has helped me," Dash replied softly, as she considered it. "I appreciate your gratitude, even if we are unlikely friends."

T'Mara exhaled a breath she did not even know she was holding. Dash's words were honest and they rang true. Her expression softened infinitesimally before she dipped her head slightly to conceal the slip before schooling herself once more.

"The time allotted for your neuro-pressure appointment has elapsed, Lieutenant Dashku..." T'Mara replied, her mask firmly back in place....

 

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