Last Minute Favours

Posted on 05 Nov 2014 @ 11:18pm by Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D. & Petty Officer 3rd Class Vermeer Talbot

1,396 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, quarters 02-0806 SO
Timeline: MD -27: 1230hrs

[ON]

His pack ready and slung over his shoulder, Oren took one last look around his quarters, making sure he didn't forget anything important.

Toiletries, paDDs, clothes...

Looking around the living room, his eyes finally fell on the small pet bed in the corner, Landi comfortably snuggled inside of it.

Oren's face fell at the sight of her and he went into a brief state of panic. I can't believe I completely forgot about her! What the hell do I do? Ticking through the people he trusted on board, Oren realised the list was depressingly short, considering how long he'd been there. Surely there had to be someone trustworthy enough to care for a dog!

Grayson was out of the question, since he'd imposed on him enough as it was. Ellsworth was the one person he definitely didn't want to see when he spoke to him, and that only left one person for the job.

---

[Deck 2, Talbot/Murray quarters]

Bag swinging off of his shoulder as he ran down the corridor, Oren carried Landi in one arm and a bag of her things in the other, silently hoping that T'Vanna would not refuse him at such a dire moment. Reaching the room, he found himself surprisingly out of breath as he pressed the chime.

T'Vanna glanced up, her eyes briefly going to the small cot in the corner, then towards Vermeer. She shrugged, indicating she wasn't expecting visitors. "Come!" she called out, setting the book she'd been reading aside.

As the doors swished open, Oren stepped inside, looking a little worse for wear. His eyes fell immediately on T'Vanna.

"I need you help," he told her, swallowing hard to prevent his voice from cracking.

"Oren?" T'vanna got to her feet and approached, taking his hand while kissing him lightly. "Are you alright Oren? You look terrible my dear, just terrible. Come sit down, tell us what's wrong..."

"Yes, please tell us..." Vermeer said, but there was a bit of a sarcastic under or overtone to it. It wasn't that he minded Oren. Truth was he was fifty shades of sleep deprived and still trying to get over the fact that there were zombie Cardassians and he hadn't been invited to that mayhem. Which, yes, grateful. But also...come on, zombies! But mostly he was in the sleep deprived camp.

"T'Vanna, I'm really sorry about this. I need to go to Bajor. It's an emergency," Oren told her after she pulled away. He glanced over at Vermeer. "Hey, sorry," he told him sympathetically before turning back to T'Vanna. "I need you to take Landi for a while." He held the puppy up to her.

Surprised, the Vulcan woman took the pup into her arms. "Take her?" T'Vanna looked back at Vermeer, then at Oren again. "Sure, but you know this isn't ideal right? I do have a baby here." She looked back at Vermeer again, seeking his opinion. "If Ver's okay with it sure..."

Oren frowned and turned to Ver now. "Please, Vermeer! Please, please, please, I'm desperate!" he told him, pleading.

"Maybe you should have thought about stuff like this before getting a dog. What do they do, eat dogs on Bajor?" Vermeer shook his head, rubbing his hands through his hair as he turned away. "She's not going to have time or be able to take care of a puppy. She has a baby herself to deal with."

Oren sighed, rubbing his face with his hand once and shaking his head, at himself most of all. "He's right," he told T'Vanna. "This was stupid, and selfish of me. I'll just...I'll figure something out," he said, taking Landi from her carefully. The puppy began to wiggle slightly, put off by the sudden manhandling. "Shh..." Oren soother, pressing his lips against the side of her head. I guess I could take her with me,' Oren reasoned, though wondered just how good for her so much transit time would be. Still, there was nothing to be done about it. He made a mental note to drop back to his quarters to get her carrier.

"Don't be silly Oren, of course I'll take care of her." She glared at her roommate. "If I can handle one baby, sure as hell I can handle two. Whatever his business is on Bajor, can't you see that it's something that's come up rather sudden? And no dear, I don't need to know what your business is, that's private, I won't ask so don't fret, please." T'Vanna took the puppy from him again, her free hand brushing his cheek. "Don't you wory dear, I'll take good care of her."

Vermeer looked at them before shaking his head, walking away. "Fine, whatever. Not like I live here or anything except...yes, I do! I live here too but who the hell gives two toss about that?" he called out and walked through to his own room.

Oren looked at T'Vanna, feeling incredibly guilty. "I'm sorry," he told her softly, scratching at the puppy's ears. "I don't want to make trouble for you and your roommate, I just really don't have a choice."

"I'll keep her in my room so that Ver's not bothered by her," T'Vanna promised, loud enough for her roommate to hear.

Ver came out again, watching them for a long moment. "Really? Really, that is going to be the way it is? You know what...it's fine. It's just fine. Because really, what I need in my life including a crying baby is indeed a puppy." He held his hands up, nodding. "I'll find somewhere else. Hey, if you're off to Bajor on your super secret emergency anti-dog convention, maybe I can take your quarters and catch some sleep? And then when you come back, you can move in here and you two can be all snuggly? Because truly, I have my own stuff to deal with and this..." he gestured between them three of them. "Really isn't helping my mental state."

Oren sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Forget it, T'Vanna," he told her firmly, taking the dog back once and for all. "Thank you," he told his friend kindly. "But I'll just take her with me and no," he added firmly, stopping T'Vanna from saying anymore. "That's the end of this discussion. I don't want to argue, I don't think I could handle it," he admitted. He felt like he was on the edge of an emotional outburst as it was, he didn't want to lose control.

"I'll call you when I leave Bajor to tell you about it," he finished, kissing T'Vanna's cheek before walking out the front door. His grip on Landi was slightly rougher than was probably necessary, but he needed something to hold onto so that his hands wouldn't visibly shake. Luckily, she didn't seem to complain and simply lapped at his cheek.

T'Vanna stared after him, then whirled towards her roommate. "Now that's completely unfair, can't you see he's desperate?" she exploded. "That you can't stand babies, and seem to be irrationally afraid of him, I can deal with, but turning that poor man away because he has nowhere else to go with his adorable pup... that's beyond me."

Vermeer watched her, his eyes flashing with anger. "Then go after him and tell him to give you the blasted dog! I am not sleeping with him so I have emotional bonds to him or what the hell he wants and don't respond well to emotional blackmail over dogs and not taking the responsibility to think through things properly before getting one. But go after him, take the dog and enjoy the extra space," he said, shaking his head. "I'm out of here. I need to sleep. I need some...silence..." he moved towards the bedroom, getting his bag and started putting his personal things in it.

"Oh you..." Gritting her teeth to keep herself from calling him some very suitable expletives, T'Vanna raced towards the door. "Oren! Oren come back!" she called after him.

But Oren was already gone, or completely unresponsive as her shout was only greeted with silence.

[OFF]

Oren Idris, Ph.D
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

Ensign T'Vanna Murray
Asst. Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 3rd Class Vermeer Talbot
Engineering
USS Galileo

 

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