Disclaimer: Not mine – though I sort of wish they were!
A/N: I love you guys! Really I do. You guys are so supportive. I love you all.
Frances progressed swiftly after Icheb started helping her. As soon as she stopped thinking of it in terms of science, and math, and started thinking of it in terms of history, she learned very fast.
Her method to the madness was simple. Relate everything to something she already knew. Star charts were organized, in her mind, under the TV shows they reminder her of. Genetic sequences were organized based on Latin words that started with the same letters. It was hard, but eventually, Frances could organize all the words into – mostly – sentences. Once she had done that, she repeated the mostly complete phrases over and over, and hoped she could remember what they were.
That's when Icheb broke the news to her, at 12:45 in the morning, during one of their nightly study sessions.
"Very good." He said, as she finished reciting the star-systems-one-could- reach-in-a-week-or-less-if-one-flew-at-warp-six. "I think you're ready to move out of review."
"Review? We've been doing review this whole time?"
"Yeah. Pretty sad, ain't it?" That was Q2, who had taken to sitting in on their sessions, and periodically changing what was on the pad, just as Icheb gave it up, and just before Frances took it. He snapped his fingers quietly, and chuckled at Frances' reaction to seeing a rather large butterfly drawn on the screen, instead of notes.
"Q2!" He laughed out loud, and snapped his fingers again, returning the pad to its normal, boring content. He cocked his head, then, listening.
"Q2, I need to talk to you." It was Q.
"Damn." He muttered under his breath, disappearing without another word.
The lessons lasted for a few hours longer, but without Q2 to bother them, Frances and Icheb got through the rest what the Brunali had had planned for that night. After, both had gone out for celebratory ice cream – Frances' suggestion – when something almost as unexpected as Q2 had once been, arrived.
"Hey! Frances!" A familiar voice reached the ears of the human girl. It reached the Brunali's too, but it wasn't familiar to him. Frances turned joyfully.
"Benlet!" She cried out, running, and hugging her Deep Space Nine friend. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying on Deep Space Nine!" "I was." He said, pulling out of the embrace. "But, well, I was talking about you to Anariel, and she wanted to meet you."
"Anariel?" Frances looked around for this unknown entity, but couldn't see her.
"Anariel," Benlet repeated. "She's my fiancée." He stepped out of the way, to reveal a rather shy Bajoran girl, who smiled timidly, before extending her hand. Frances shook it, amazed that: a) Benlet was engaged – she hadn't known that! – And b) that there was someone shorter than her – she hadn't thought that possible.
"You're engaged?" Frances cocked her head to the side, brow furrowed.
"Yeah." Benlet looked embarrassed, and bowed his head, examining his boots in rather excessive detail. Frances decided to take pity on him, and change the subject.
"Well, come on, I want you to meet Icheb." Frances led them back to where Icheb had been patiently waiting. "Icheb," she addressed the Brunali. "This is Benlet, a friend from Deep Space Nine." She emphasized 'friend' slightly, guessing correctly the reason that Anarial had wanted to meet her. "And Anariel, his fiancée."
"Nice to meet you." Icheb shook their hands, and all three talked well into the morning. Neither Frances nor Icheb cared, since neither had any classes the next day, it being a Friday.
A/N: I love you guys! Really I do. You guys are so supportive. I love you all.
Frances progressed swiftly after Icheb started helping her. As soon as she stopped thinking of it in terms of science, and math, and started thinking of it in terms of history, she learned very fast.
Her method to the madness was simple. Relate everything to something she already knew. Star charts were organized, in her mind, under the TV shows they reminder her of. Genetic sequences were organized based on Latin words that started with the same letters. It was hard, but eventually, Frances could organize all the words into – mostly – sentences. Once she had done that, she repeated the mostly complete phrases over and over, and hoped she could remember what they were.
That's when Icheb broke the news to her, at 12:45 in the morning, during one of their nightly study sessions.
"Very good." He said, as she finished reciting the star-systems-one-could- reach-in-a-week-or-less-if-one-flew-at-warp-six. "I think you're ready to move out of review."
"Review? We've been doing review this whole time?"
"Yeah. Pretty sad, ain't it?" That was Q2, who had taken to sitting in on their sessions, and periodically changing what was on the pad, just as Icheb gave it up, and just before Frances took it. He snapped his fingers quietly, and chuckled at Frances' reaction to seeing a rather large butterfly drawn on the screen, instead of notes.
"Q2!" He laughed out loud, and snapped his fingers again, returning the pad to its normal, boring content. He cocked his head, then, listening.
"Q2, I need to talk to you." It was Q.
"Damn." He muttered under his breath, disappearing without another word.
The lessons lasted for a few hours longer, but without Q2 to bother them, Frances and Icheb got through the rest what the Brunali had had planned for that night. After, both had gone out for celebratory ice cream – Frances' suggestion – when something almost as unexpected as Q2 had once been, arrived.
"Hey! Frances!" A familiar voice reached the ears of the human girl. It reached the Brunali's too, but it wasn't familiar to him. Frances turned joyfully.
"Benlet!" She cried out, running, and hugging her Deep Space Nine friend. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying on Deep Space Nine!" "I was." He said, pulling out of the embrace. "But, well, I was talking about you to Anariel, and she wanted to meet you."
"Anariel?" Frances looked around for this unknown entity, but couldn't see her.
"Anariel," Benlet repeated. "She's my fiancée." He stepped out of the way, to reveal a rather shy Bajoran girl, who smiled timidly, before extending her hand. Frances shook it, amazed that: a) Benlet was engaged – she hadn't known that! – And b) that there was someone shorter than her – she hadn't thought that possible.
"You're engaged?" Frances cocked her head to the side, brow furrowed.
"Yeah." Benlet looked embarrassed, and bowed his head, examining his boots in rather excessive detail. Frances decided to take pity on him, and change the subject.
"Well, come on, I want you to meet Icheb." Frances led them back to where Icheb had been patiently waiting. "Icheb," she addressed the Brunali. "This is Benlet, a friend from Deep Space Nine." She emphasized 'friend' slightly, guessing correctly the reason that Anarial had wanted to meet her. "And Anariel, his fiancée."
"Nice to meet you." Icheb shook their hands, and all three talked well into the morning. Neither Frances nor Icheb cared, since neither had any classes the next day, it being a Friday.