Thank you so much for your patience with this one. Believe it or not my computer like literally ate itself so I had to replace it. So I've got a brand new sparkly humming laptop that is ready to feed my muse so we should be getting somewhere now! Little Hope/McCoy in this one.
"ahhh, she's such a charmer, oh no! ahhh, she's such a charmer, oh no!"-she's such a charmer by the kings of leon
Spock watched Nyota pace their quarters. He knew better than to try to talk to her before she was ready so he waited. Posture perfect as she strode in front of the sofa. Taking exactly three steps, then a half step on the ball of her foot at which point she would pivot and repeat the pattern in the other direction. She had done this precisely 82 times before she suddenly stopped. Turned to him and finally spoke.
"I'm angry." Spock nodded his head slightly.
"Your posture and tone of voice indicates that you are not pleased." Nyota resumed her pacing pattern.
"How could she just refuse to come meet Hope? She is blood. Her sister, who practically kept the family together, after Anisa was born and she just wanders off to who knows where in order to do what? Probably engage in an illegal alley brawl which is twice as bad since she is considered a weapon and what are we gonna do if she up and kills someone in a fist fight?" Spock had, overtime, come to recognize rhetorical questions and did not respond. He merely watched Nyota. Allowing her to vent her frustrations through her physical pacing and speech.
"Perhaps she needed time to...gather her thoughts k'diwa. It is not uncommon for humans to need time to prepare for interaction with other humans. I have noticed this to be more likely in events where the other humans in the interaction are family members and it appears nearly 100% necessary when the relative is one in which the human does not have a positive relationship. Did you not say that Kivuli and Hope were having difficulties in their relationship?" Nyota dropped next to Spock on the sofa.
"I did. It's just. She hasn't grieved over our parents, she's doing nothing to control Anisa, she refuses to see Hope. Why is she even here. Why doesn't she go secretly destroy Klingons or Romulans or Orion assassins or whatever it is the Alpha of Prime does and just...just leave!" Spock gently intwined his fingers with Nyota's causing her to look at him.
"Nyota, surely with some adequate rest and time to reflect on the situation you would not wish for Kivuli to leave until matters have been resolved. We are still unsure as to who destroyed the village and your youngest sister's situation is now precarious. It seems she has few options as to her future. We should not judge or act quickly. We must take the time to analyze the situation from all angles and pick not the easiest course of action. Instead we must choose the course that is most correct. For all involved." Nyota sighed. Knowing Spock was right, as always, but loathe to admit it.
"Are you sure that the easiest choice, you know, the one where I kick both her and Captain Annoying out of an airlock isn't the best course for all involved?" Spock didn't smile at her joke. She didn't expect him too although, his response was surprising.
"I am not saying it is not the best course of action. I am simply suggesting that we analyze all others before we make a final decision." She smiled.
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Kivuli woke up suddenly. Startling herself to an upright position and launching herself off of the bed. The pounding in her head both hurt and annoyed her, but she pushed the pain aside. She needed to wade through the fog and figure out where she was. She looked around. Everything seemed to be white or metal. Overly clean. You might even say sterile. Kind of like a lab or a hospital.
"So yer up I see." Kivuli whipped around to see the gruff man from the bar staring at her. Arms crossed over his chest and heavy brow pushed down in a look of consternation he looked exceedingly like her father. She wondered if he practiced that look. Opening her mouth to speak she had to swallow around the sticky tightness in her throat.
"Yeah, uh...Dr. McCoy right?" He made no move to indicate that she was correct or incorrect in her assumption. Simply dropped his arms and began to move around the room with the efficiency of someone who spent a lot of time here. She did notice however, that he never seemed to drop the scowl.
"You're dehydrated. When you drink that much it dehydrates you. So basically a hangover is like dying of thirst...just not as bad." She nodded numbly, but realized with his back to her he couldn't see her. She still didn't bother to respond vocally. He turned and came towards her with some sort of hypo. He didn't ask if it was okay and she didn't try and stop him. The quick sting and hiss of the hypo gun informed her that he had in fact, just injected her with something.
"That outta help. Go get some food in you and rest. You'll live." He moved around her towards a closed door that she assumed led to his office, gathering a PADD that he began to read as he went. "Newsflash kid, I'm a doctor, not your babysitter. Don't let it happen again." The door to his office whizzed closed behind him.
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As the crew of the Enterprise made their way to their usual posts for the day they found packages all wrapped nicely and tagged with their names. Pretty script on the outside of boxes that were beautiful themselves without the gifts inside. Once opened the card read:
You're presence has been requested at a ball to honor our new guests aboard the Enterprise. The ball will commence at midnight two days from now. Enclosed you will find a clue to the theme.
Opening their boxes everyone was surprised to find masks. A masquerade ball! Uhura found a beautiful golden mask with jewels in the shape of a butterfly, Sulu had a mask much like Zoro, Bones was surprised to find a mask from The Phantom of the Opera on his desk, Kirk's Captain chair had a mask that seemed to be flames, Chekov and Spock got more simple hand painted venetian masks, on Kivuli's bed awaited a mask made of a simple strip of sheer black netting that went only over the eyes, Scotty got something that looked an awful lot like a devil, and Hope smiled softly at her handheld white and crystal mask.
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Hope wandered down the halls of the ship gently touching some of the panels as she passed. Well, this was certainly a lot different than her classroom in Mississippi. That was apparent. She found the medical bay after requesting directions from a few crew members that she passed, who all seemed to be nice, if not all apparently Terran life forms. She entered the medical bay when the doors opened in front of her and glanced around. Not seeing anyone apprarent she checked the time on her watch. 9:47am. They shouldn't be at breakfast. Perhaps they had just stepped out. She looked around for a chair to wait in, but the room was designed to only be occupied with medical supervision. There were medical beds and a few chairs that the doctor or nurse who was examining used. She quietly rocked on her feet looking for some signs of life when something interesting caught her eye. She moved closer bending over. Colonel Reb! Someone here liked Ole Miss. Her alma mater.
"Who the hell are you?" Hope whipped around surprised and squealed. McCoy maintained his look of reproach. Who was this woman and what was she doing in his lab? And dressed like that? In a sundress, french twist, and pearls. Looked like a nice southern sorority girl. He'd outgrown them when one had crushed him like a lemon in her tea. What was this one doing here?
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I thought my sister...I mean, I noticed the Colonel here and...." McCoy closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. If there was one thing that annoyed him more than the girls from back home it was the dumb girls from back home.
"I said, who the hell are you not what are you looking at?" Hope cringed a little at his gruffness, but she was raised in the South and she knew how to handle a cantankerous good ole boy as well as the next girl.
"I'm Hope. Hope Uhura." She clasped her hands behind her back and inclined her head slightly towards him. He seemed to relax.
"Uhura's sister. The one from Mississippi. The school teacher, right?" She smiled brightly.
"Correct. Pardon me, and at the risk of you yelling at me again, but, did you by chance attend Ole Miss?" McCoy smirked.
"Why d'you attend State?" Hope reeled in near anger.
"You take that back sir! I am a proud alum of the University of Mississippi and I won't have you sullying my good name with such horrible talk of places known as state." McCoy smiled. Okay, so she wasn't dumb. In fact, she was smart and her beauty established. But he was still a bitter old man and she need to get the hell out of his medical bay.
"Was there something you needed...Ms. Uhura." McCoy knew with a true southern lady you didn't just start calling her by her first name until she asked you too and when she gave her second name, there are always two names in the south, that you could start picking out china and names of kids cause she wanted to hold on to you.
"It's Hope, you're not one of my students. And I was looking for my sister." McCoy grunted as he straightened invisble mess in sick bay.
"Which one?" She nodded.
"Right...yeah, uh, Kivuli actually. The Captain informed me that I might find her here." McCoy turned to face her. Thankful that she wouldn't be staying any amount of time now that he could provide her some information.
"She left, oh, about 20 minutes ago or so. Probably back to her quarters." Hope nodded and headed towards the door.
"Thank you Doctor........." The way she drew it out let McCoy know she was waiting for his name.
"McCoy." She smiled.
"Dr. McCoy." She stepped towards the doors and as the whizzed open something extraordinary happened. McCoy, being unable to control himself yelled after her.
"Leonard! It's Leonard." She simply smiled softly and nodded.
"Leonard."
After her exit McCoy hung his head in shame and frustration. He hated women. Especially southern women with their wiles and their hair, shiny hair and perfect outfits and manners and niceness and straight, white even teeth.
"Ah Hell!"
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R & R: IT'S NOT JUST REST AND RELAXATION! :)
