Hurt - Comfort

Posted on Sun Jan 28th, 2024 @ 3:41am by Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance & Captain Mira Rodale

Mission: Deep Space Nine
Location: Deep Space Nine
Timeline: Before Oops

on:
{DS9 Promenade}

“Commander Rodale! Commander Rodale!”

Mira turned at the sound of her name, Quark was rushing up to her with an arm extended and his hand waving to get her attention.”

“What is it, Quark?” she asked rather exasperatedly, “If you are going to offer to spend the night with you in a holosuite again, I will break your arm.”

“Nothing so pleasant,” the Ferengi replied, “One of your officers is eating and drinking me out of house and home, and he refuses to leave!”

“Is he paying?” She asked with a raise eyebrow, not seeing a problem.

“Yes,” Quark admitted, “Normally I would be quite happy with the situation but a Klingon delegation has contracted with me to cater a conference and your officer is eating and drinking his way through the supplies that I had stockpiled for them. I really don’t want to disappoint the Klingon delegation. It would be extremely bad for business.”

Since he was talking about a klingon party and supplies, she was thinking it must be Kronnelti. "Ok, I'll see if I can help."

As she turned towards the bar. Quark moved up beside her. "Now that you mentioned the holodeck, I do have some amazing Andoria whiskey and these fantastic Saurian Brandy deserts."

Mira stopped walking and raised an eyebrow at him. Quark grinned.

"Do you really have a problem with one of my officers, or are you asking me out of a date?" Mira asked him.

Quark grinned. "Can I have both?"

Mira leaned forward and whispered "No."

Quark chuckles. "I am growing on you!"

Mira laughed as she thought of 'like fungus' and walked into the bar. Expecting to see Kronnelti, she was surprised to see Kevin.

“Son of Kheldar!” Kevin shouted upon seeing Quark re-enter the bar, “More warnog!” The table that he was sitting at was covered in mugs, flagons, bottles, and half eaten dishes of various Klingon food.

"Well, your back? And drinking?" Mira took the seat next to him. In all the time she had known him, Mira had only seen him reserved and well mannered.

He was the levelheaded one.

The Star Fleet Lieutenant was not his usual clean and well-dressed self. His clothes were disheveled and stained with food and drink that had missed his mouth. A small dermal bandage adorned his right forehead just below his hairline and a large purple and blue bruise dominated the left side of his face.

He blinked and shook his head as if to clear his vision. "Mira? What are you doing here," he asked and took drink from the stein in his hand.

Mira blinked at all the Klingon food and drinks. She had no idea Kevin had even tried Klingon food, let alone order it.


"I was asked to come and handle a problem here." She waved a delicate hand at the room. "To my surprise it wasn't a Klingon, but my pilot." she smiled. "You are eating and drinking all the food for a Klingon party that will be taken place later. " She told him sweetly as she took inventory of all his injuries. If it had been herself she would have thought that was one hell of a fight but it was Kevin, so she wasn't sure what had happened. Mira, herself, had just been in a fight for her life. If Kronnelti hadn't had showed up with Vaytoc, Mira wasn't sure she would have won.

Mira slipped off her jacket. She was right, her forearms were black and blue. "Quark, bring me a good bottle of whiskey and two glasses."

Quark moved to do as she asked but whined. "I thought you would be taking him with you, not staying!"

Mira grinned "You said you had whiskey and dessert for me. You didn't think I was going to leave once you said that, did you?"

Quark huffed, "That was for the holodeck later."

Mira pointed to the table as Quark put the bottle and glass down. "Ok Kevin, what has you all out of.......character? " she poured two drinks downing both. Then poured two more.

"Mira? what are you doing?" Quark asked her.

Mira laughed "Trying to catching up to him"

"I'm trying to forgetz," Kevin slurred, "and whats make you think that this is out of characters? Maybees zis is who I reall' yam." He spread his arms as if to make his point and knocked a partially eaten bowl of gagh to the floor.

Mira raised an eyebrow, thinking too bad Vaytoc wasn't here. He would make short work of this mess. "Okay." she said slowly, pouring them both a drink. "What are you trying to forget?" She waved Quark away when he started to come over to complain about the mess.

"Zhings I've done, zhings I haven't done," he brooded before knocking back the glass of whiskey, "Zhings left unsaid until itz too late. Like you, yoose so pretty. But I's cant say that because it wouldn't be right."


Out of the corner of her eye, Mira saw Vaytoc and Spike sneak in and start eating the food off the floor.

She tried to follow Kevin's line of thinking. He can't call her pretty because it wouldn't be right? Mira knew she wasn't very pretty. She had been told that from when she was seven until she was fifteen years old by the Caitian kids growing up. Ambassador M'Niras had told her how unimpressed he had been by her repeatedly no matter how hard she had tried to please him. Kolar had seen her.

Mira downed her drink and poured more for them both. What should she say to him? This wasn't about her. "So the things you have done and haven't done. We all have regrets. We regroup and make new plans and do things better the next time." At least that was what she was trying to do Mira told him.

Kevin fixed Mira with a blurry stare, "You sound like Zefram Cochran, Hiz name be praised. But what of those we left behind? What do yoose say to the onez who haunt your dreams? I'll do better next time? Bah!"

He stabbed a slab of sauced targ with a fork and ripped off a chunk before tossing the rest to Spike. "This is absolutely disgusting," he said as he chewed on the meat.

"Then why are you eating it?" Mira asked.

"Penance," he replied.

Mira raised an eyebrow at 'penance'.

"Ok, so you left someone behind? Where? We go get them. If they're still alive. If they are not, then you honor their name by living if they can't." Her son had died because of .... Mira closed her eyes, trying to stop that thought. Again this was not about her and she would not rip her own heart in half by thinking painful thoughts.

Kevin waved his hands in a sweeping gesture. "Even if I knew where to look, itz far too late." He picked a goblet and stared into its depths as if it might hold the answers he was looking for. Finding nothing he took a long gulp.

"I like your idea of living if they can't and doing better," he slurred. Reaching out to take her hand he continued, "What does that look like?"

Mira took his hand. "You live every moment, and every day. You do it one day at a time." At least that was what she was doing. "the hard part is building the life you want."

"The life I want," Kevin pondered. Then, without warning, he leaned in and kissed Mira.

Mira was surprised by the kiss, but she kissed him back as her heart sped up, thinking he probably wouldn't remember kissing her after he sobered up again. With her luck it would be the only kiss she would share with him.

Mira's lips were soft, warm and inviting. Something in the back of his alcohol fogged brain nagged him that to kiss her was inappropriate. He didn't care as he leaned further firward into the kiss.

He lost his balance, falling off his chair and onto the floor.

Mira sighed as looked at Kevin on the floor.

"If I had known your kissed did that I would have charged people to see this." Quark told her with a laugh.

"Oh, by all that is holy Quark if you know what is good for you, you will shut up." Mira told him a little anxious and annoyed.

How was she going to get him back to the ship? Seeing all his injuries, she figured he hadn't seen sickbay yet.

Taping her commbadge, Mira said, "Commander Rodale to the USS Chuck Norris. I have a medical emergency. Please transport Lt Kevin Lance to sick bay."

=/\= affirmative Commander =/\=

As Kevin disappeared, she heard Quark’s laughter. Mira recorked the bottle and took it with her as she walked out of the bar trailed by Vaytoc and Spike. She could still hear Quark laughing. "Maybe I should just let Vaytoc bite him."

:off

Lieutenant Kevin Lance
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Chuck Norris

and

Commander Mira Rodale
XO
USS Chuck Norris

Tag.