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A Mirror Shattered #108&109 "Anti-Kitty?"-=On=- [Main Engineering, USS Pegasus] Lt. Black probably should have gone to bed. She couldn't. She'd already had a few hours of sleep completely off her schedule, and she was still rather keyed up over the date she'd just had, analyzing everything in her head, trying to figure out whether it turned out alright! So she returned to Engineering to check on things there. After all, she was supposed to get everything up and working as soon as possible. As it turned out, the last of the repairs had been finished, and they were about to contact her when she came strolling in through the door. It was with a vast sense of relief that she gave the command to restart the engines. She listened to the hum for a while, making minor adjustments until she had a list of variables to plug into her equations. By now, though, she was starting to feel tired again. So she set out for the lounge, her equations in a PADD in her hand. She'd changed back into her uniform already, and put her hair up in a high ponytail, the newly-cut layered bangs framing her face. Ryylar had had a long day. Between trying unsuccessfully to track down Lieutenant O'Driscoll and dealing with the propositions Sulan had made to him, he just had his head full and knew of only one place he could go to just relax and get rid of it all, the Bellerophon's Den. He stepped through the doors that wooshed open and smiled a bit. The place didn't look all the worse for wear since he had spent little time there, and he immediately hopped behind th bar of the nearly empty lounge, to make himself a drink. Kitty stepped through the doors not long after Ryylar arrived. She looked around the nearly empty place and let out a quiet sigh, smiling, remembering the dinner she'd had only a couple of hours earlier. She made her way up to the bar and sat down, tapping away at the PADD as she waited quietly to be noticed. Ryylar heard the entrance of someone as he rummaged below the bar for a few ingredients and looked up. "Hello!" He said with a smile, standing up to put both hands on the bar in front of Lieutenant Black. "What can I get forrrrrrr you?" He asked her. Kitty blinked and looked up, smiling as she put the padd down. "What do you think?" she quipped. Like most absent-minded engineering geeks, she tended to fall into a pattern and always wanted the same thing. Her timing was a bit off, though. Usually she came looking for her chocolate coffee in the midst of her shift, not several hours past the end. He chuckled and nodded, turning to grab the ingredients to her chocolate coffee "Our engines are up and running again." Kitty smiled brightly. "How are you doing?" "I could be betterrrrrrrr." He said with a very tired looking smile as he mixed up her coffee. "I could be worse," Kitty countered. "I think I just had a date. You know what, though... the captain turned over a copy of our manifest so that we could see if there are 'other us' in this alternate reality, and I confess I'm a little nervous about that." "Why would you be nerrrrrrrvousssssss? And who did you go out with?" He asked with a smile. Kitty blushed a bit, glancing down. "Evans and I met for dinner a few hours ago. I dressed up for it... and I must have done a good job, because he seemed impressed. And he kissed my hand." She blushed a little more at that, and then gave a slight, shy giggle. "And as for 'other us'... could you imagine what an 'opposite me' would act like? I don't think I want to know." "She'd be boorrrrrrissssh, uncontrrrrrrolable, terrrrrrrrible company, and prrrrrrrobably hate chocolate coffee. I'd rrrrrrratherrrrrrr sssssstick with you." He said with a smile. "Ssssssso you went out with Evanssssss and he acted like a gentleman huh?" He asked, trying to switch topics. The thought of a Ryylar that was meaner and more detestable than he allready was frightened him to say the least. "Uncontrollable? Does that mean I'm controllable?" Kitty asked in a moment of helpless amusement. This was almost as interesting as hearing Evans say that her opposite would flaunt her figure. "Oh, uhm.. Yeah, he seemed to know exactly what to say and do.. up until I admitted that I had no idea what to say and do. It's got to get easier over time, right?" "Well let'ssssss put it thisssssss way, I'd ssssssay you follow orrrrrrderrrrrrssssss. The otherrrrrrr you prrrrrrobably would neverrrrrr take an orrrrrrrderrrrrr in herrrrrr life." He said with a nod. "Rrrrrrelationssssshipsssss take time. It took me quite a while to get Krrrrrrrissssstiana to carrrrrrrre forrrrrrr me and trrrrrrrrusssssst me... Ssssssseverrrrrrral nightssssss I vividly rrrrrrrrememberrrrrrr jussssst sssssssleeping in anotherrrrrr rrrrrrroom orrrrrr in a chairrrrrrrr orrrrrr on the floorrrrrr becaussssssse ssssshe didn't trrrrrrrusssst me enough to be in the sssssame bed with herrrrrrr." Ryylar said with a shrug. "Oh good heavens!" Kitty's eyes widened in surprise. "I'm nowhere near ready to share my bed with any guy." The corner of her mouth quirked up and she couldn't help adding the last bit. "Even one as cute as Evans." He chuckled. "But you can sssssssee my point." He said with a gentle smile. "Yeah, I can see the point." Kitty smiled back. "I'm sure willing to be as patient as it takes, and he said he was, too. So I'm sure it'll work out. We're going to get together soon and practice sailing. That will probably go more smoothly," she said innocently. "Wow, what a day I have had. ...IS Petrova okay? I saw how she looked when she left the bridge. I was worried." "She should be all rrrrrright." He said with a smile. "Assssss sssssssoon assssss I get out of herrrrrrre I'm going to go sssssspend sssssssome time with herrrrrrr hopefully." He said with a smile. "Yeah.. sounds good. I'm not keeping you here, am I?" Kitty asked as she started sipping her coffee. "No, I wassssss jusssst trrrrrrying to rrrrrrrelax." He said with a bit of a smile. "Likewise. I.." Kitty paused as her PADD beeped at her a couple of times. She picked it up. "Oh, I asked to be notified when they finished running the search for my 'other self'. Looks like the results are in..." She reached for the button to bring up the message, but hesitated. "You think I really want to know.. what the 'other me' is like?" "I don't know... but I have to ssssssay perrrrrrrssssssonally I don't want to know what the otherrrrrrr me isssss like." He said with a slight shiver. "How come?" Kitty looked up at him and tilted her head a little. "Do you think he's uninterested in women?" she asked in that wonderfully blatantly honest way that suggested her mouth spoke before her brain had a chance to filter. "I think he'd prrrrrrrobably me morrrrrre deplorrrrrrable than I allrrrrrready am. A biggerrrrrrr monssssterrrrrr than I everrrrrr could have been." He said with a slow nod. "Well... I'm about to find out.. a little more about myself.. and what I'm not." Kitty nodded, closed her eyes.. and tapped the button. She peered at the PADD and read the message through... three times. She lowered the pad a little, took a long sip of her coffee, and looked at the pad again to see if it still said the same thing. From the expression on her face, it clearly did. "Uhm.. Well." "Jussssst rrrrrrrememberrrrrrr... you can only ssssstarrrrrre into the eyesssss of the monssssterrrrrr forrrrr sssssso long beforrrrrrre becoming one yourrrrssssself Lieutenant... don't look orrrrrr sssssspend too much time on it." Ryylar cautioned his friend. "That would be kind of hard to do." Kitty sounded stunned as she looked back up at him. "There isn't any." "Jusssst be carrrrreful... pleassssse?" He asked her, it was obvious he was concerned for her. "I mean it." Kitty realized after a moment that he didn't realize what she was saying. "There is no monster. No record. Not in Starfleet, not in Federation citizenship, not on Earth records, not for any other planetary records they've got... There's no 'other me'. She isn't dead... she just... isn't." He blinked at that realization. "Oh.... I ssssssee." He said slowly. "I hope I'm that lucky." He said after a while. "Lucky?" Kitty looked perplexed. "I was born before the disaster that changed history so much on this end. I was born before.. This Earth.. was overrun, I'm quite sure. So why.. wasn't I born here?" She sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I.. it's a bit of a shock. My life almost ended earlier today, and now I find out that we're in a place where it never began. I guess.. I'm kind of feeling my own mortality today." "But you'rrrrrrre alive..." He said with a nod, walking around the bar to put an arm around her shoulder. "And you should cccccccelebrrrrrrate that.... go talk with yourrrrrr boyfrrrrrriend and sssssspend time with him." He suggested. "Poor guy, he's going to think I'll never leave him alone," Kitty said wryly, finishing up the last of her coffee. She rested her hand on top of the arm around her shoulder. "For what it's worth.. I'm glad you were here when I found out." "Well I only hope that I'm assssss lucky and find out I wasssss neverrrrrr borrrrrn. The thought that I could be ssssssome horrrrrible twisssssted perrrrrrrrrsssssson sssssscarrrrrressssss me." He said with a shiver. "Maybe you won't be," Kitty said encouragingly. "After all, we've been assuming we'd all find our opposites here. But maybe this universe is just.. a little to the side. Unless the opposite of me is.. well... Isn't." "I don't know.... I've got a bad feeling about it..." He said with a shake of his head. "Anywaysssss you ssssshould go sssssee yourrrrr boyfrrrrrriend and I sssssshould go and ssssssee Krrrrrrissss." He said with a smile. "Ok." Kitty stretched a little and rose, picking up her PADD. "Thanks, Ryylar. For the coffee and the company. Could you tell Petrova for me, please, that I hope she's feeling better?" "I will." He said with a smile, patting her back gently. Kitty smiled back, closing her eyes for a moment, finding a measure of strength in her friend's presence. Then she nodded, reaching up to pat his shoulder a couple of times in return before turning and walking out of the lounge, still carrying her PADD. -=Off=- Posting and about to break the no-tagline habit: Warrant Officer Ryylar Morale Officer Acting Security Officer USS Pegasus Lt. Kathleen Black Chief Engineer USS Pegasus The One Who Lived |
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