Thevius woke up with a rather undignified snort, his face plastered to Lihran’s chest. The two Romulan’s limbs were all tangled up. Lihran was still out cold, snoring gently. Thevius quietly watched him sleep, admiring how peaceful he seemed. He reached blindly for the closest PADD to check the time. Cracking his eyes against the glaring light, he sees it is still quite early and shuts it off with a grunt. Thevius sighed softly before using Lihran’s chest as a pillow again. He closed his eyes and let himself relax for a little more at least, finding that Lihran’s slow, steady breathing was lulling him back to sleep, thinking to himself, ‘I think all Vulcans are touch deprived. This is… Nice.’ 

Thevius held still and listened as he heard footsteps approaching and stopping near where he and Lihran were sleeping. He heard Covel’s voice murmur in an agitated manner, “Seriously?! I’m convinced this unfaithful bastard slept with the entire crew.” Covel let out an annoyed growl and stormed off. Thevius lifted his head, meeting Lihran’s now opened eyes. Thevius murmurs, “That is your plan? To piss him off?”

Lihran shrugged, "Kind of. He gets violent if I make him mad, him being violent to his crew will make them more willing to revolt. Which is exactly what we are going to do. I'll goad him enough that he will raise a hand to me, you stand up and lead an impassioned speech to rile up the rest of the crew. You are a leader, Thevius, I know you can do this." Doubt flickered in Thevius's eyes, "I can try at least. Worst case scenario we get killed."

Lihran nodded, "Exactly. Sekal and Thajeet will incite a riot and meet us in the cargo bay we came in on." Thevius nodded, "Alright, let's do this." The two lay in awkward silence staring at each other before Lihran spoke, "I need you to get off my leg so I can get up." Thevius tensed and awkwardly bolted up, tumbling backwards off the bed by accident and taking the covers with him. Lihran snorted in laughter and sat up, "Not supposed to do that." Muttered cursing came from the tangled pile of Thevius and blanket as Lihran stood and pulled on his uniform.

Thevius finally untangled himself, looking very dishevelled and went about pulling on his own uniform and fixing his appearance. Lihran stepped up to kiss the other's cheek, whispering, "Act all lovey dovey for a bit to get Covel angry. You can kick my ass after, I promise."

Thevius turned his head, 'accidentally' catching Lihran's lips with his own. Thevius stepped back and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, "Gross!" Lihran furrowed a brow, not believing that was an accident, "Yeah, like that. Minus the gross part."

Thevius stepped away with a scowl, adjusting his uniform and snatching the PADD he acquired last night and tucking it under his arm, “Shall we?” Lihran looked faintly amused as he led the way to the mess.

The pair sat down at a table with their breakfast; Lihran with his strong coffee and Thevius with some black tea. They sat at a table with Thajeet and Sekal. Lihran leaned forward to the other two and whispered, “Thevius is my Starfleet contact. He is our ticket out of here.” Thajeet nodded quietly, “Sounds good. If you trust him, I trust him.” Lihran nodded and leaned back, draping an arm around Thevius.

Thevius tensed momentarily as he drank his tea. A confusing swirl of emotions dwelled inside him as he sipped at his tea. Abandoning his Romulan side, he had repressed such emotions for many years. He couldn’t even recall what emotion he was feeling, but it confused him. He felt Lihran gently grasp his chin and he looked up at him. Lihran closed the distance between them and kissed Thevius gently on the lips. Thevius set his tea down and kissed him back, savouring the intimate moment, as fleeting as it was.

The kiss ended just as quickly as it was initiated, Covel being heard yelling across the room, “Lihran!” Thevius leaned slightly away and picked up his tea again, blushing furiously. Lihran looked over and raised a brow at Covel as he stormed over, “Yes?” Covel approached Lihran from behind, “Who were you just kissing?” Lihran blinked, feigning ignorance, “Oh, Lieutenant Thevius. He and I have been together hm… about ten years now.” Thevius nodded in agreement, “I apologise, I thought this was common knowledge Lihran had multiple partners.” Covel sputtered, “Multiple!?”

Lihran smirked slightly towards Thevius, then nodded to Covel, “Yes, Thajeet, Sekal as well. And you know what? I got some others in Starfleet from my excursions. Quite a few mind you.” Thevius nearly laughed at Covel’s outraged expression, hiding it with a sip of tea. Covel’s voice started to raise in volume, “No! I forbid it! You are MY husband!” Lihran seemed to think about this before shaking his head, “No, I can do what I wish with my relations. I am not just yours, you need to learn to share.” He knew quite well that is not how a proper dynamic worked, but he knew it would push his buttons.

And push his buttons it did. Covel raised his hand to backhand Lihran. Thevius leapt up to his feet, raising his voice, “Lay another hand on him, I dare you! Not just my lover, but one of your crew?!” Thevius banged his fist on the table, his words becoming impassioned and zealous, “Who is to say any of us will be next!? How many of us has he already raised his hands to!?” A slow murmur started to fill the mess hall. Lihran would praise his acting later when they get out of this alive.

Thevius threw his hands in the air, stepping towards Covel, pointing an accusing finger at him, “What next!? How many of us will he betray and deceive! How much more of his abuse will we tolerate?! Enough is enough!” The initial plan had been for Thajeet and Sekal to start throwing fists first, but in the heat of the moment, Thevius aimed a sharp uppercut towards Covel’s jaw. 

Covel reeled back onto the table behind him, knocking into some of the other crew. Thevius was just as alarmed as everyone else was. Thevius reacted quicker, shouting, “Now! Now is the time! Let's take this ship and get out of here! We have family and children! Loved ones! This is NOT our war, we will lose! Rise up and we can see our children prosper!” That seemed to strike some chords in the crew. Several of them rose up and started fighting amongst themselves. The argument quickly escalated into a violent brawl

Thajeet practically dragged Sekal out of there. Lihran made sure Covel was distracted before grabbing Thevius and dragging him out of there as well

Lihran sprinted as hard and fast as he could towards that cargo bay, Thevius hot on his heels, not looking back. Lihran stopped and doubled over, catching his breath, chest heaving, “I am… I am not a sprinter. Sekal, Thakeet, Thevius… And… Me. We are all here.” He groaned and straightened up, wiping sweat from his brow, “Let's get out of here, please!” Thevius slumped heavily against a crate, panting and just grunting in reply. Thajeet breathlessly nodded, finally letting go of Sekal. Thevius straightened up and grabbed his combadge, “Captain Tehvius to the Thyanis. Four to beam aboard. Get us OUT!” 

Thevius’s words were nearly cut off as the shimmer enveloped them all. The visuals faded and they found themselves aboard the Thyanis. Lihran staggered off the transporter pad, his knees buckling as he sank to the ground, completely laying on the floor, cheek pressed down. Ivin rushed forth to check on him. Lihran mumbled, “Oh sweet Raven, beloved Federation… I am fine.”

Thajeet sputters, “That was NOT the plan! Nope! Not at all!” Thevius sank into the chair behind the console, “No! I know it wasn’t. It… it got us here.” He sighed and tapped his combadge, “Thevius to K’Vibo. We are home. Take us out of here. Pilot a course to Starbase Bravo.” 

K’Vibo replied, “Captain! Yes, Captain! Right away, sir!” Thevius slumped back again, closing his eyes, “Ivin, get rid of these damn brow ridges please!”