Babysitting, Part 3
Seven decided to assume good intent. She carefully tucked her hands behind her back. "…Was this part of a biology lesson?"
The Doctor carefully extracted the kitten that was clinging to his sleeve, before scooping up the one that was crawling up his leg. He glanced around the room nervously. "Er… Yes! A biology lesson. Of course."
Icheb frowned. "You told us this was just for fu-"
"I know what I said, Icheb!" The Doctor's smile was just a little too wide. He handed both kittens to Icheb. "Why don't you take Winston and Fiona here for a moment, please."
Kitten-free, the Doctor walked to his office, beckoning Seven to follow him.
She chose to comply. But not before sighing in annoyance.
The Doctor closed the door to his office behind her, then looked at her with pleading eyes. "Seven, I need your unconditional support on this, no questions asked, no protests of it being 'irrelevant', just perfect support. You're always striving for perfection after all."
"Doctor, why has Sickbay been invaded by tiny felines?"
The Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "Oh don't worry, they're holographic." He flinched. "Er. Most of them, anyway." He paused. "Ok, about half of them. Anyway. Do I have your support?"
"…"
"Oh, alright! You've dragged it out of me." He clapped his hands together, and the pleading quality of his expression increased by a full 200%. "I need the kids to think I'm cooler than Neelix."
"…"
"You see, Neelix won over Naomi a long time ago, but I was automatically in the lead with the Borg kids because you and I are so close. But recently Neelix told them a spooky 'fake' story about that entity we're not supposed to discuss around them and they loved it and now I'm falling behind!"
"…You need the children to think you're… cool."
"Yes! Cooler than Neelix!" The pleading quality of his expression increased even further.
Seven was simultaneously endeared and very annoyed. "…Why are you like this?"