"I can get someone else to do it…. Off ship, next time I'm on shore leave..." The look of horror in the Bolian's eyes at her boldfaced challenge was comical. She almost laughed in the man's face but managed to control herself at the last moment. It wouldn't do to upset the ship's best stylist.
"You would have someone experiment with my hair?" The disbelief was not feigned, and Beverly merely raised her eyebrow at his possessive tone. It was simply evidence of the Bolian's eccentric nature. He was an excellent stylist, however, and suffering through his more bizarre quirks was all part of the price of service.
"Well, I obviously don't want to, but if you're not willing…" Lizal flapped his hands at her in the mirror.
"Not fully blonde," he declared, and she realised that she would have to compromise here.
"Not fully...?"
"Strawberry…. Sunkissed…". She saw a dreamy quality come over his face. "We shall leave the beautiful red undertones."
Beverly nodded her agreement at his reflection, trusting that strawberry would be more suitable than brunette…
"Nice hair." Will was the first one to break the silence around the table after Beverly breezed through the doors of the observation lounge.
Deanna watched in amusement from the other side of the table as Beverly took a seat beside the First Officer, which had become her customary spot in the last several months, now that the counsellor thought about it.
She could sense a mixture of shocked amusement and male appreciation emanating from Riker as he lounged back against his chair looking over the doctor's hair with an exaggeratedly appraising eye.
"Why thank you, Commander. Someone recently suggested that blondes have more fun. I thought I'd put that hypothesis to the test." Beverly's response was prim, but her eyes sparkled with glee at his reaction.
Finally, the Doctor's grin escaped her control, and she immediately tugged her bottom lip between her teeth as if trying to get it to behave itself. Suddenly the surrounding silence penetrated her high spirits, and she glanced around the lounge meeting amused looks from most of the senior staff assembled there. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the grin slid off her face.
Data's head was cocked inquisitively to one side, but it was Jean-Luc's deep frown as he stared at the pair of them that had her schooling her features and pulling her professional cloak around her.
"Doctor, if I might inquire as to the reason for..."
"I don't think now's a good time, Data." Geordi placed a restraining hand on his friend's arm, and raised his eyebrows pulling Data's attention pointedly to the Captain who was still frowning in Beverly and Will's direction. For several long, drawn-out moments no one said anything.
"Sir?" Deanna's voice broke the silence and Picard's startled eyes flew to hers. Quickly he surveyed the group and found all eyes now focussed on him, no doubt waiting for him to begin the briefing.
"Right... yes. Mr. Data, if you would. You have the floor."
A routine briefing for what promised to be an unexceptional mapping mission was the perfect chance to sample the mental and emotional well-being of each member of the senior staff. Given how reluctant some of them were to attend official sessions, Deanna did not hesitate to make use of the opportunity whenever possible.
To a certain extent they all allowed their mind to wander when Data presented the background information relevant to an upcoming mission, thus providing the Counselor the opening to slip in unnoticed while their mental shields were lowered.
Normally she would focus on each individual briefly, moving around the table in a counterclockwise sweep ending always with the Captain, then Beverly. It often took the pair of them somewhat longer to settle into the briefing and drop their defences.
As far as Deanna knew the entire senior staff was well aware of what she was doing. It was her role after all, to perform ongoing evaluations of their psychological fitness for duty.
Today, Deanna zeroed in on Will first, but with the intention of moving straight on to the Captain afterwards. From Will she caught just the slightest remaining traces of amusement despite his efforts to suppress it. She could also feel the same tension or worry just underneath the surface that she'd first sensed before the poker game the other night.
Sensing her concern, Will smiled gently in her direction and tipped her a wink before returning his attention to Data's presentation. No real surprises there then, but he was still preoccupied with something having to do with the Doctor.
The Captain was also preoccupied, and for similar yet different reasons. His thoughts were in no way amused, however. She didn't need her empathic abilities to see him, every so often, throwing a glance in Beverly's direction.
On the top she could clearly discern discomfort and concern, but above all a sense of dismay. All of those were easily explained given Beverly's entrance into the lounge. Deanna suddenly wondered if Beverly was aware of just how much any change in her appearance, but especially her hair, affected the Captain…
Just underneath those superficial emotions was a surprising tangle of thoughts and reactions of varying intensity that she knew she would never be able to decipher in the time she had now. Sighing she turned her focus to Beverly only to realise that everyone else was rising from their chairs. Damn. Trust Data to be concise just when she needed verbose…
"Will… Wait up!" She shot out of the lounge, her short legs attempting to overtake the ship's First Officer who was headed for the turbolift. Thankfully he held the lift for her.
"Deck 36," he called, then looked over at her expectantly. There was a long pause then he finally asked, "Deanna, where to?"
"Wherever you're going." The lift doors popped open, and they both stepped out.
"Well, I'm going to Engineering, but I'm not sure wh…" Will didn't get to finish his thought as Deanna latched onto his bicep and tugged him out of the hallway and into a vacant meeting room, craning her head to scan both ends of the corridor to make sure that they weren't being observed.
"Will, what is going on with you?"
"What do you mean?" She sensed that he wasn't attempting to deceive her, so she clarified.
"You're tense, upset about something. I felt it the other night when I arrived at your quarters for the game." She saw understanding as well as reluctance in his eyes now.
"Deanna, I don't want Beverly to think I'm tattling on her or… or spying for you or something," Will hesitated, only confirming Deanna's suspicions.
"She's still upset? About the Captain?" she asked, somewhat confused.
"I thought things were getting back to normal now that Commander Daren has transferred." Will was shaking his head and unexpectedly she could feel real anger radiating off of him. Will wasn't often given to anger. Frustration yes, but not anger, and Deanna was confused as to why he would be angry now.
"They were. Until he informed her that he was taking shore leave…"
Deanna's eyes widened in shock as she took that in. The Captain did not take shore leave unless Deanna herself or Beverly forced the issue, usually by intimating some vague threat about forcing him to either take some time off or be temporarily relieved of duty for his own well being.
Although, granted, Beverly had outright refused the last several times the Counsellor had tried to engage the Doctor's help in encouraging their CO to take vacation time. But that was probably due to Picard's little adventure on Risa with V…. Suddenly it all clicked into place for her.
"With Nella…" she breathed out. Oh, poor Beverly.
"Beverly was just as shocked as you are. She had no idea they were still seeing one another."
"You mean he didn't tell her?" Will stroked his hand over his beard and down his neck trying to get his irritation under control.
"No. She had no idea. As you can imagine she's upset. Not that anyone would notice, but..." Deanna was silent a moment, thinking that over.
She was horrified that the Captain had behaved so thoughtlessly, and yet she had no doubt that he had. Will had already informed her about Picard's handling of his relationship and the time he spent with Beverly while Nella had been on board.
She wished Beverly would be more forthcoming with her about this. She didn't want to admit that she was somewhat hurt by the Doctor's evasive tactics. While Beverly hadn't been avoiding her, her friend had been very close-mouthed about the situation with Picard.
Their friendship was still as close as it had ever been. Beverly had even opened up somewhat about the effect that the Captain's relationship was having on her, but only so far and only ever in passing.
There was something deeper that she wasn't willing to divulge. Deanna had an inkling that Beverly might have actually confided in Will, and if it was something serious, then Will wasn't exactly qualified to…
"Will, did you have anything to do with her hair…?"
"Hey, I'm just doing what you suggested." She raised her eyebrows pointedly at this and he released a long-suffering sigh. "Spending time with her, being her friend… Deanna, it's only hair." His exasperation at what he obviously considered her mercurial attitude, evident.
"Point taken. But you must promise to tell me if she's thinking of doing anything rash, that..."
"Deanna, I am not Beverly's keeper," he interrupted. "I am her friend." His eyes reflected his sincerity and she rushed to reassure him.
"I know that, Will. And you've been a very good one lately, but…"
"I understand what you mean, but she can handle it for now. You know Deanna," he smirked. "I think I'm quite good at his whole counselling thing." She rolled her eyes at him and circled around him pushing his considerable frame out of the way as she made for the door.
"Well Commander, if I need a replacement, I'll know who to call!" she tossed over her shoulder.
"Where do you want to go? Shore leave hasn't been granted, Beverly." They had finished up their mapping assignment early and were now in orbit around Tarsis until the Captain's scheduled beam out time tomorrow morning.
"To the surface… Just for a few hours after shift. No one except you will even know that I'm no longer on board."
She could see that he was obviously worried about her running into Nella and the Captain, perhaps that she had gotten it into her head to run into them on purpose. That got her back up. She simply wanted to do something fun, maybe even a bit rebellious. And if it had a "while the cat's away" feeling to it she was determined to ignore it.
That morning had been very quiet in Sickbay. A couple of her nurses had been chatting as they'd organised supplies in the store cupboard adjacent to her office. Their whispering and stifled laughter caught Beverly's attention immediately. She was certain that, even though she rarely joined in on their gossip sessions, they knew that she was aware of them and, accordingly, kept the topics appropriate to the work environment.
Usually, the talk revolved around someone's recent or recently defunct relationship or a new hobby or newly discovered replicator recipe. Earlier today however, one of the nurses in the storeroom was recounting a trip she'd taken to Tarsis with a group of friends. What had really caught Beverly's ear was a mildly off colour story about a night spent clubbing, and before she knew it she was in the Ready Room demanding that Will give her leave for a few hours that evening.
"Give me some credit, Will!" She rolled her eyes in disgust. "I want to go dancing. New hair. New me. Dancing." Her eyes were already sparkling with anticipation, but all Riker could envisage was her potentially giving in to that impulsive streak that never seemed to be far from the surface lately.
"Alright, but I'm going with you…" He saw her visibly bristle.
"I do not need a babysitter, Will Riker!" She eyed him sourly. She didn't need Will cramping her style. She didn't have a plan, wasn't going trolling for a date, but nor did she need a third wheel along either!
It wasn't that Will didn't trust that she could take care of herself exactly. Beverly was in a vulnerable state right now. The overly bright eyes and the too wide smile over the last several days since they'd dropped Picard off were making his protective instincts kick in.
"I know you don't," he soothed her. "All the same, I'd feel better if you had someone along. You could ask Deanna…"
"And have my night on the tiles turned into a therapy session? No." She loved Deanna, but lately the Counsellor had that "therapist" look in her eye every time they were together.
"Well, maybe if you'd talk to her about…"
"If I can't go down then just say so," she retorted waspishly.
Will knew that, contrary to what he'd first expected, her drunken confessions months ago had brought the two of them closer together. It was as if he already knew her most shameful secrets and it allowed her to completely let her guard down.
He had no idea why she wouldn't talk to Deanna about what had happened all those years ago. She'd probably expected to take those secrets to her grave and, had fate in the form of Nella Daren not intervened, she probably would have.
So, until she either gave in and told Deanna what was really bothering her, or Picard ended his affair, Will had been called in to pinch hit. And he didn't mind, was having more fun with Beverly than he'd had in a long time actually. He just also took his new best friend cum "counsellor" role very seriously.
"I didn't say you couldn't go, Beverly. But I'm coming with you."
"Fine," she huffed and headed out of the Ready Room, her choicest words for the Commander left unspoken, which was probably for the best really.
—-
When Beverly turned up in the transporter room her eyeshadow and lipstick appeared much richer, more sultry than usual. To his uneducated eye it seemed much more dramatic and sensual.
She was wrapped in some sort of light coat effectively covering her entire outfit except the two-inch sparkle covered heels which only served to highlight the outrageous length of her legs. They, both the heels and the legs, had certainly drawn his attention.
When she sent the transporter tech into the hallway after announcing that they would beam themselves to the surface he knew that she was up to something. He moved over to the console to set the coordinates and when he looked back up, she was standing on one of the pads, but the wrap was missing.
"You have to be joking… Beverly, I'm going to have to spend half the night chasing off every male within a five-kilometre radius down there." She looked at him saucily, one eyebrow raised.
"You don't have to do anything, Will. You're the one who insisted on accompanying me. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself…."
Will thought he was more worried about himself than her…. If the Captain discovered that she'd gone dancing in that…. A moment later he realised what he'd done and felt ashamed of himself. Damn. No wonder she wanted to cut loose for a few hours.
"Alright, Mlle…. Lead on!"
Nella's hand was threaded around his arm as he guided her away from the venue. They'd had a romantic candle lit dinner at a secluded restaurant and afterwards attended a late evening orchestral performance. It was a sampling of the planet's musical offerings, strictly for the tourists, but they'd both enjoyed themselves immensely.
Their entire shore leave had been restorative and tranquil. Time spent with Nella was as fulfilling as it had been on board the Enterprise and he thought that perhaps they could make this work after all. Granted it wasn't the same, not seeing her every day. But after her departure from the Enterprise, he'd filled his time as he always had with his customary pursuits and company. His friendship with Beverly had even surprisingly reverted to its comfortable familiarity. Granted the last couple of days before he'd left for leave…
"Isn't that Dr. Crusher and Commander Riker?" Jean-Luc startled at her side. For a moment he was convinced that he'd voiced his thoughts aloud until she nodded towards the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. Following her gaze, he was shocked to see Will and Beverly exiting what looked like a restaurant of some sort.
"I… I think you're right. I wasn't aware anyone would be planetside this evening."
Jean-Luc was aware that the Enterprise had arrived ahead of schedule after completing its mapping assignment early. He hadn't been informed that general shore leave had been granted, but apparently Will and Beverly had taken advantage of the break to slip away and…
He got a better look at Beverly as the pair walked directly in front of them across the street. The busy main city artery was filled with the traffic of tourists and locals leaving the downtown core after an evening out.
The frown on his face was beyond his control. He still found the blonde jarring and he didn't know if he'd ever get used to it. He'd known her for far too long and her hair had featured in far too many stray daydreams for him to accept her as anything but a redhead. Her hair reflected her personality, so much of what made her Beverly.
She had given a weak excuse to skip breakfast following their conversation about his leave last week and he'd been completely blindsided when she'd walked into the lounge, her once fiery locks unrecognisable.
Moving his gaze downward he saw that her hair wasn't the only thing she'd chosen to change recently… He'd never seen her wear anything nearly as revealing as what she currently had on, at least not since she'd boarded the Enterprise. In fact, he didn't know if he'd ever seen her similarly garbed even when she was dating Jack, and they would drag him out clubbing with them.
Her attire since she had re-entered his life six years ago had always been very professional, perhaps a bit conservative. This was… not. She was fully covered, he reasoned. The deep blue blouse was form fitting but long sleeved, the material descending to wrap cleverly around each thumb. The skirt wasn't that short…. It was just….
The heels she had on, paired with the length of the skirt served to emphasise the unending length of her legs. As she moved, the slim toned muscles of her thighs flashed flirtily through the panels of her short skirt and for just a moment, his mind called up the memory of them linked securely around him as he moved over her. His breath caught and Nella peered at him closely; something of what he was thinking had been momentarily visible in his expression and had not gone unnoticed by the woman beside him.
"And they're still not together…". He had forgotten all about Nella. Her tone and the look she threw at him both expressed disbelief.
"No. Of course not."
"I don't think there's any "of course" about it, Jean-Luc." She glanced in the couple's direction again, a smirk appearing.
"Well, it looks like they're having a good time anyway," she stated wryly.
Picard turned his gaze back towards the two officers in time to see Riker capture Beverly's hand as she danced nimbly away from him. He spun her back towards him and into his arms. There was a lull in the traffic, and they could clearly hear Beverly's breathless laughter. Will must have said something to her then as a moment later the Doctor's response drifted over to them.
"Aye, Sir." She gave him a little mocking salute.
"For the love of God, Beverly! Behave yourself." But Riker was also laughing as they disappeared from view.
He couldn't help but notice that, even in heels, Will's stature was a perfect match for Beverly's willowy height, his dark good looks an impeccable foil for her pale features.
He was startled when Nella gripped his chin, bringing his face around to hers. She slid her body against his and bent forward to whisper in his ear.
"Shall we go have some fun of our own?"
Picard's small smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He was vaguely uncomfortable with the public demonstration, especially now that he knew that Beverly and Will were nearby.
He took Nella's arm, steering her in the direction of their accommodations. He tried unsuccessfully to shake off the image of Beverly's legs, her long lean body… However, even though that was what his mind had chosen to latch onto, he had a sinking feeling that it wasn't really what was bothering him at all.
