Miranda took a deep breath, another. Counted to ten and back down to one. She opened her eyes cautiously.
Yes, this was real. No, it was not some horrid nightmare as she first hoped. Clearly Beni had been bored; the wreck that was her office testified to that.
Her papers were scattered everywhere, drawings of fanciful creatures scribbled on important reports and a riot of colored paint smudged on the edges of her desk. When she caught the genius that had left Beni unattended with a vial of paint she would see to it they paid in full for every last fingerprint.
She stepped gingerly into her quarters, skirting the piles of papers. It looked like someone had been practicing her addition on some of those papers, and vexed as she was Miranda couldn't help a fond smile. License to play however she pleased and the child still spared a moment for her studies. Miranda couldn't decide if that was more her father's sense of responsibility or her mother's rampant curiosity or simply her own special blend of their traits. Either way, it brought a reluctant smile to her face, though it seemed someone hadn't quite mastered subtraction yet.
Miranda wasn't sure if she was entirely surprised to find Beni curled up on one of her pillows for all the world like an overgrown kitten. She winced to see drying stains on the pillow covers. They would have to have a talk about the importance of washing hands and respecting property when she woke. Beni never used her father's position as an excuse to run wild, but growing up aboard the ship meant her idea of personal space and private property was a little skewed. Or maybe that was just something children her age weren't expected to know yet. She would have to do a little more research on asari development.
Miranda knelt and began to gather up the papers, sorting them neatly into piles. She heard the rustle of the sheets as Beni woke, rubbing her palms against her eyes to clear them of sleep.
She hopped from the bed and sat across from Miranda, legs crossed and chin resting on her hands. "Do you want to help?"
Beni nodded, still yawning a little, barely remembering to cover her mouth. Miranda nodded to a paper not far from her, "See the yellow tab on the right side? Find all the papers like that and put them into a pile."
Beni scrambled to obey, darting around and kneeling to pick up any paper that bore signs of yellow anywhere. Given her recent adventures in coloring, that seemed to be quite a lot.
"Just the yellow tabs, not the yellow you put there."
Beni blinked down at the papers scrunched in her hands. "Oops."
Miranda watched as she fumbled with the papers, searching now for the officially marked papers.
"Who let you in, Beni?"
"No one." Beni chirped, face scrunched up in concentration.
"Someone had to have let you in. My pad was locked."
"Aunt Tali taught me to unlock it."
"You're too small to reach."
Beni beamed proudly, "I used papa's omnitool."
Miranda wondered if Shepard knew the nefarious deeds her daughter had committed with that blasted omnitool; she half suspected the answer was yes. And what had Tali been thinking to teach Beni a skill like that? As though she wasn't enough of a hazard just running around the ship unchecked, constantly trying to sate her bottomless curiosity.
Something had to be done. Beni's education was turning out to be a shady affair, addition and hacking? That had never been part of any curriculum she had been exposed to. Someone had to take a hand in this or Beni was going to grow up even more eccentric than her parents. Miranda paled at the thought.
"And may I ask why you wanted to come in?"
"You weren't at breakfast. You weren't here. I wanted to find you."
Miranda melted a little inside, but she kept her face as stern as she could manage. "So you threw all the papers around, worked on a little math and fell asleep in my bed?"
"Papa says fugi…" Beni wrinkled her nose, shuffling papers trailing off into silence.
"Fugitives."
"Fugitives almost always go back to familiar places."
"I take it I am the fugitive?"
Beni pulled a face, "Mama says we all are."
Well, that was true enough, if a little misleading. Shepard's line of work and particular experience were in much demand; she was sought for any number of reasons and more often than not she attracted an unwanted breed of attention. Several of the crew had dared to suggest that after all she had been through she should take an early retirement; after the spectacularly long sulk that had followed, they had not suggested it again.
"Did finding necessitate throwing my things on the floor?" A gentle rebuke, but to the point. Miranda congratulated herself on choosing the diplomatic path.
Beni blushed darkly, voice whispering much softer than was her wont. "Biotics."
Miranda snapped to attention, everything she had read said it should be a few more years until Beni started developing her biotic abilities. Nothing had said she would be prey to unexpected surges.
Miranda narrowed her eyes, "Why did you draw on everything then? Why not pile it up neatly?"
Beni shrugged, "Was on the floor."
As though that were all the answer necessary, and maybe to her mind it was.
"Beni, when you knock something to the floor it does not immediately become a toy. You need to respect my things; accidents happen, but when they do you have to pick up after yourself."
Beni looked away, nodding slowly. "Are you going to tell papa?"
"I think this can stay between us."
Beni brightened as though her eyes hadn't been threatening tears only a moment ago. "On the condition that you report back here every day after lunch to work on your math. You shouldn't be using negative numbers yet. There are tricks to subtracting larger number from smaller without resorting to imaginary numbers. And when Aunt Tali visits, you could show her the new trick you've learned."
There was an ominous squealing sound as Beni dropped her papers and flew to Miranda's lap, wrapping her tiny arms as far about Miranda's waist as they could go.
Miranda blushed with pleasure, patting her back softly.
No need to remind her now that her mother always knew.
Sorry, that one took awhile. Miranda is always a tricky character for me.
Next up is Aunt Tali and Uncle Joker. :)