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A Mirror Shattered #203 & 204 "We all scream for Ice Cream!"-=On=- [Main Engineering] At the end of her shift, Kitty retreated to her room and took a moment to drop onto her bed, exhausted. She needed a break.. something fun to do. Her thoughts drifted to ice cream... A moment later she was wearing her leisure clothes, a dark green wraparound dress, simple and comfortable. She carried a small cooler with her, humming idly, heading for Hannah's office. Hannah banged her head slowly on the table. She sighed. Her memory was one of thee best in the business, and she was very good at assimilating information, but there was just...so...much. She looked up, out of the glass window that seperated her inner office from the main tactical office. Only a couple of officers were still about, given the lateness of the hour - most were getting some rest before the excitement of tomorrow. Hannah rubbed her eyes, and turned back to her terminal. <Oh joy, another thrilling dossier on Jem'Hadar tactics. Hurrah.> "Ice cream call!" Kitty sang out cheerfully, entering Main Tactical and steering for the familiar, tired-looking woman. She hefted her cooler slightly as she approached. Hannah's face lit up as she saw the younger woman. She hurried to the door of her inner office, and leaned out. "Please tell me you have chocolate." She said, her eyes begging. Kitty smiled, opening the cooler to reveal two pint containers of ice cream and two long-handled spoons. She lifted one pint out reverently. "Chocolate.. chocolate-chunk... fudge-swirl." Hannah's grin threatened to split her face. "Nathan," she said to the only officer left. "Take the rest of the night off - I can cover till Delta get here." She turned back to Kitty. "You. In here. Now." She grinned, beckoning her into the inner office. Kitty chuckled, stepping into the office and handing her the pint of Death By Chocolate and pulling out another for herself. She pulled up a chair and leaned back comfortably. "Boy, do I need this tonight." "Tell me about it." Hannah said, taking the proffered spoon and digging in. "Rough day? I mean, apart from being grounded and all." "Apart from being grounded? My grandmother taught me this old joke during American History class.. 'Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?'" Kitty smiled, then shook her head. "No, there was also a bit of fretting about having to go speak to the captain and ask a favor." "Ugh." Hannah grimaced. "What was it?" Kitty took a bite of her ice cream and closed her eyes for a moment before continuing. "Heavenly. Yeah.. we're coming up on the third Federation planet, and I need to ask him if I can go on-planet for probably a couple of hours." "Why?" Hannah said curiously, slipping off her shoes and socks, and putting her feet up on the table. "Well, because... uhm... well, it's silly." Kitty blushed. "This is a mirror universe, you know.. supposedly there are all 'alternate us's' here." "Didn't you say there wasn't 'another you'?" Hannah said, taking a particulary large spoonful of ice-cream. "There isn't. But.. well, the man who isn't my father said he'd meet with me." Kitty took another couple of spoonfuls of chocolate ice-cream. "Are you going to say I shouldn't have contacted him?" she asked, suddenly a little on the defensive. "I dunno." Hannah said, her brow furrowed. "I don't see why not - I mean, it's not like you're time-travelling or anything. It might be a bit difficult for you, though..." "It's more difficult to not know," Kitty said with a frown. "I mean... it bothers me. I wasn't born here. I know my parents didn't stay together, but I thought they had.. you know... Some sort of relationship. Something... special." "You've got to remember that they're not your parents, Kitty" Hannah cautioned. "They might be similar, but they're not them." "Yeah... I know." Kitty frowned again, eating her ice cream at a slightly faster rate, looking for chocolate comforting. "But my own father would never talk much about it. I'd ask kind of gently and he'd neatly evade the subject. And there has to have been Something... for this one to want to talk to me about." "Kitty." Hannah said carefully. "You can't substitute this guy for your real Dad..." Kitty looked back up at Hannah for a long moment, then shook her head. "I'm.. not..." "You're sure?" Hannah said, questingly. Kitty held Hannah's gaze for long this time before shaking her head. "To be honest... No. I'm... well..." She gave a slight, embarrassed laugh. "I'm scared. I've.. never been this far away from my grandparents before." <tag> zatchlas_str (6/21/20 "You have a good relationship with them, then?" Hannah asked. "With my grandparents?" Kitty smiled. "They raised me from infancy. My grandmother schooled me.. with the help of some distance learning courses. My grandfather taught me how to sail and fish. I stayed with them all the time... playing with my toys in the lab and listening to whalesong." "Wow." Hannah said, enviously. "That sounds awesome." Kitty smiled. "I had a good childhood." The smile faded a little. "But now, out here by myself... I feel all the more isolated, I admit. And I only ever saw my father about once a year, growing up. And my mother... well... once every few." Hannah nodded. "That's kinda tough." "I still consider myself lucky," Kitty said with a sigh and a smile, digging into her ice cream. "But he said he'd meet me, said he had things to tell me.. I want to hear them. Is that.. wrong?" "No, not at all." Hannah said, soothingly. "Just as long as you don't read too much into what he says." "I'll try not to. And I'll be safe enough. Evans said he'd come with me." Kitty took another bite of ice cream. "Taking him to meet your parents already?" Hannah said, grinning "No, we're a long way from..." Kitty blinked as the joke finally made it through, and she started laughing helplessly. Hannah joined her in the laughter. Finally she recovered. "Hoo...that felt good. I haven't laughed that way in a long time." She smiled a wry smile. "Matter of fact, I haven't had anyone to laugh with in a long while." "I don't see why not, you're such a fun person." Kitty smiled, giggling slightly in the 'laughter aftermath'. "Well, friendship with someone with my last name comes with its own set of penalties." Hannah shrugged. "I don't believe that," Kitty said, leaning back casually and taking another bite of ice cream. "Anyone who judges you on that.. well, they're missing out on a lot!" "I guess." Hannah shrugged. "I haven't...well I haven't really had a good friend since the academy, I guess. Not since it all happened." She sighed. "I guess I had it coming, really. I got so good at tricking people into liking me that when all my fairweather friends abandoned me, I didn't have anyone left." "I'd almost say you're lucky!" Kitty said. "I've never been able to trick anyone into liking me by acting different. There's something.. resiliant.. about the way I am. The more I try to act different, the harder 'I' bounce back." She chuckled. "There's nothing like trying to impress fashionable folk and then having Yourself elastic-band back and hit you on the back of the head." Hannah grinned at the analogy. "Impressing people doesn't take much - not when you've been schooled in it since before you hit puberty. My dad used me to win friends and influence people, and when I hit puberty, he used to wheel me out in front of Admirals and the like. I got very good at wearing tight clothes and making not-too-intelligent conversation." She smiled sadly. Kitty blinked at that. "Wow. I... never had anything like that in my life. My grandparents, they're old 'New Englander stock'. My grandfather is quiet and tough, and he looks like an old sea captain. I grew up as this total 'geekette', entering electronics competitions and playing cello. I had no clue how to 'fit in', at the Academy. "I fitted in all too well. Well, until my Dad got busted for treason." Hannah said. "After that, it got more difficult. It's hard for people to get over something like that. Especially when you have Starfleet Intelligence interviewing all your classmates, and going through all your stuff to make sure you're not a traitor as well." Kitty blinked, then frowned. "That's awful! And I bet those 'friends' were probably all sons and daughters of people your father knew... That's the way it usually goes, doesn't it?" "Of course." Hananh said. "They never found anything, o'course - I always knew my Dad was ambitious, but I never saw him as a traitor. The whole thing does kind of account for my career progression, though. Well, if you can call standing still 'progression'." "I got promoted because my old Chief Engineer didn't get along well with me," Kitty said, scraping the bottom of her pint container. "Why on Earth wouldn't anyone get along with you?" Kitty snickered a little. "I think it was because I was possessive of the engines.. And sometimes, I'd fix things and forget to ask permission first. As I remember, his recommendation was, 'She'd make an excellent Chief Engineer... Somewhere Else.'" Hannah giggled. "Well, as far as I can tell, you do make an excellent Chief Engineer...right here." "Thanks." Kitty smiled, eyes half-closing in contentment. "I always kind of hope I'm doing a good job." Then her eyes suddenly opened wide. "Aaaack!" She abruptly straightened up in her chair. "What?" Hannah said, instantly alert. "What's wrong?" "Brainfreeze!" Kitty whimpered, putting a hand to her head. She looked regretfully at the empty pint container. "But it was worth it!" "Yeah." Hannah smiled. "Yeah, it really was." Kitty smiled, relaxing, her eyelids drooping again. "You know what... I hate to say it, but I pulled a couple of late nights.. I need to get to bed before I fall asleep right here. "No problem." Hannah said. "Thanks for coming on over - it really meant a lot to me." "Hey.." Kitty pulled herself to her feet. "It was so worth it. Keep your chin up, eh?" "You too." Hannah said, standing, and walking over to Kitty. "Gimme a hug, eh?" "'Course." Kitty smiled, giving her newfound friend and 'ice cream partner' a big hug complete with backpat. "See you soon, OK?" Hannah said, smiling. "Sure," Kitty said, smiling and lifting a hand in farewell as she headed out of the office. "Maybe we'll get some more ice cream therapy in soon." "Definitely." Hannah called after her. "Bye!" She sat down at the seat, grinning broadly. She really liked Kitty. Hopefully she could see more of her soon. She was definitely going to need a friend on this ship. OFF Lieutenant Hannah O'Driscoll Chief Tactical Officer/Acting Chief Security Officer USS Pegasus Lieutenant Kitty Black Chief Engineer USS Pegasus |
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