driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Beverly Crusher
Broadcast: No
Action: Blue Fish
When: May 10 (Mother's Day for anyone who celebrates it)

[Having had her fill of the casino scene for now, Beverly is back on board the Blue Fish, hard at work in their sickbay. She quickly discovered that she is unable to download the Starfleet database from her newly-obtained tricorder to the ship's computers, so she has been painstakingly typing up some of the more important information. Right now, she's going back over some of her own medical logs from the Enterprise, editing typos and adding comments where necessary. It's a slow process, but the more projects she has to work on, the better. Today is a day she'd rather not think too much about.

Unfortunately for her, Atroma is not going to allow that to happen.

Hi, Mom! says a bright, chipper voice. A voice she would recognize anywhere, the most important voice in the world to her.

She stands abruptly, knocking her chair over in the process. Where is his voice coming from? Did he... is he really here? A momentary surge of hope flows through her.]

Wesley?

[He continues to speak, Sorry I haven't written in a while. Things have been so crazy at the Academy lately. We got a new member of the Nova Squadron today, her name is Sito Jaxa and she's from Bajor! She's got a pretty cute nose...

Beverly gasps, feeling as if someone's just stabbed her in the heart and twisted the knife. This is only a recording, and an old one at that, before the incident with the Squadron, before Sito... scrambling around the room, she finds the tricorder where she left it sitting on a nearby table. A small hologram of Wesley is being projected above it as he talks. For a solid minute or two, she simply stares at the hologram, not really comprehending his words.

Anyway, I just wanted to wish you a happy Mother's Day! I miss you! His smile is so wide, so happy, and then the hologram shuts off. Beverly picks up the tricorder and scrolls through the messages. There they all are, every single letter he ever sent her while he was away, the videos she sent back of planets she had visited, holoimages of the two of them together on the Enterprise. She is absolutely certain these weren't here when she first got the tricorder out of the voucher machine. Selecting another letter at random, she hits play. There's no hologram this time, but he's excited: it was his first day of zero-g training. She picks up her fallen chair and drags it over to the table so she can sit and just listen.

Suddenly, it all gets to be too much and she begins to cry. Once she starts, she finds she can't stop, so she just lets it go and falls forward, elbows on the table and head in her hands, desperately hoping no one will see her like this.]

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[She nods, the tears rolling down her face again.] They're old letters, but for a moment I actually thought...

[Tilting her head up in a vain attempt to stop the tears from falling, she closes her eyes. Her next words come out barely above a whisper.]

... I thought he was here.

[There's a pang of sadness, and perhaps buried in there, even anger. Not at the doctor, but for Atroma or whoever for doing this, for getting her hopes up. It was cruel and uncalled for.]

I'm so sorry. I can't even... [A pause, and then she puts her hand on Bev's shoulder in support.] Is there anything I can do?

[Beverly rests one hand on top of Kairi's and gently squeezes it in gratitude.]

I ... really don't know.

[She opens her eyes and gives Kairi another small smile.] It already helps that you're just here.

Edited 2015-05-16 02:15 (UTC)

[She spares a glance at the tricorder, wanting to glare at it for the offense. But it's hardly the device's fault. Had Atroma rigged that thing somehow? It wouldn't be surprising.]

We're all here for you, you know that, right?

I do. Honestly, though, I don't want you all worrying about me.

[She follows Kairi's glance at the tricorder and gently turns it off.]

I'll be fine. Today is just harder than usual, because of what day it is.

You can't be the one taking care of us all the time.

[She knows it's not just her. Sokka, Allen... they came to her, too.]

...what's today?

Mother's Day.

[And watch her conveniently not address Kairi's first comment.]

[Damn it, Bev.

But Kairi will worry about that later. Instead, she gives Bev's shoulder another squeeze. They had a similar holiday where she was from, but it wasn't today. Still, she can only imagine how much it hurt.]

I'm so sorry. And the timing of you finding that message...

[She huffs out a completely unamused laugh.] It's hardly a coincidence. None of this was on here when I first got the tricorder.

[She was so afraid of that. Damn you, Atroma. Seriously.]

Then that's just cruel, and thoughtless.

[Grrrrrr.]

We need a complaint system. Or at least be able to throw water balloons or something at them. You shouldn't have to suffer through this without some recourse.

[Cruel, yes. Thoughtless? Not so much. Beverly is certain Atroma knows exactly what they are doing, and the thought makes her even more upset. But then... Kairi's suggestion causes her to huff out an exasperated laugh. At the moment, it's not really water balloons she wants to be throwing, as un-Starfleet of a thought as that is.]

I don't know how much good that would do us.

Might make me feel better though.

No, it probably wouldn't do much. Maybe get their attention. But it'd be a good way to vent.

[A pause.]

...think Hawke and Sokka could make us a cannon?

... could and probably would.

The question is should they?

I think they should. It'll certainly let Atroma know we aren't going to let them do this stuff to us without a response. [Gosh, this is bringing out her sassy side...] Besides, it might be kind of fun.

[Has Beverly mentioned before how much she loves this crew?

Because she loves this crew.

And Kairi is such a sweetheart, even in her anger. Beverly's smile is full and genuine this time.]

You know what, why not? Let's do it!

Really?

[She kind of expected Bev to go full on Responsible Adult and tell her it wasn't feasible, a waste of resources, etc. But hey, if she's all for it, then why not?]

Okay! I'll hunt down Sokka and Hawke later and let them know. They could probably figure if it's possible or not, right?

[Hey, just because she's a mom, doesn't mean she doesn't like to have fun! ~~In fact, Wesley's sometimes more of a stick in the mud than she is.~~]

Probably.

[She taps her forefinger against her mouth thoughtfully.]

The biggest problem I can see is the difference in pressure on the ships versus outer space. If we filled the balloons in here, they would pop as soon as they got outside, well before they even made it to the Marsiva.

[Kairi is a good student but space physics is a bit beyond her. Physics class was next year at the earliest. Nonetheless, she tries to picture it in her mind, and more importantly, a solution.]

I guess there's no way we could fill them up outside the ship.

I can't think of a way off the top of my head, no, but that doesn't mean it's impossible! We won't know unless we give it a try, right?

Right! Maybe Sokka or Hawke can think of something. Even if it doesn't work, it might still be fun to try. We'll have water balloons, at least.

[Good. This is good. If it can make Beverly smile and get her mind off of Wesley, even if just for a bit, then Kairi is glad.]

... that's a good point too. Where would one buy water balloons?

Well if we could get balloons and a good source of water, we'd be set. Maybe a station will have some.

I'm sure Katara could help us with the water.

[She folds her arms thoughtfully.]

I don't understand a lot about water bending... do you think she would be able to keep the water from freezing outside the ship?

Oh that's right, she can... bend water. [Still a damn weird concept for her.] Maybe we can try finding her, see if she knows anything? If she can, then we'll definitely talk to Sokka and Hawke. I don't think they'd say no to both of us.

[She laughs.] No, I don't think they would.

[Impulsively, she reaches over and gives Kairi a quick, yet sincere hug.]

Thank you, Kairi.

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shall we start wrapping this up too?

yep yep i'm good with that