The Ties That Bind

Posted on 11 Mar 2014 @ 6:49pm by M'Ressa & Lieutenant Teth Miir & Lieutenant Olsam Mott

8,164 words; about a 41 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Caitian District, Dusseldorf, Germany
Timeline: MD51

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ON:

[Earth]
[San Francisco]

M'Ressa stood waiting at the main transport hub for European traffic waiting for Teth to join her. San Fransisco was in the midst of one of it's rain storms which M'Ressa found uncomfortable in a damp and cold sort of way. Teth had mentioned wanting to introduce her to his family before their departure in the next few weeks.

Given she was expecting Germany to be cold this time of year, M'Ressa has dressed warmer then normal. Trading in the little black dress she'd worn for their first meeting, M'Ressa was dressed in black leggings with calf high leather boots and a light tho warm wool jacket over top.

Counselor Miir walked through the transporter station, wondering if he was making a horrible mistake in introducing Olsam to M'Ressa. He was even beginning to wish he had actively hidden any involvement with with the crewmen.

Furthermore, he was terrified of the combination of Olsam and R'Lara, and all the awkwardness and humiliation that those two managed to generate in a single conversation. Especially in front of his parents. While he shared on occasion, small parts of his life with R'Lara, his mother and father know next to nothing about him since he joined the academy.

They know he is a counselor. When he worked at Starfleet medical, he would go visit them from time to time. He rarely discussed anything from his personal life, and then it was never anything of importance. He had in fact, worked quite hard for the past eleven years to distance himself from his family as much as possible. This wasn't because he didn't love or care about his family. He did. He just preferred his life with them mostly absent.

He saw M'Ressa near the European Transporter block and waved as he hurried over to her. He was still wearing his uniform from his appointments earlier in the day.

"M'Ressa, please. No matter what happens tonight, please don't hold it against me and try to reserve judgement. I can't control the behavior of others."

M'Ressa smiled. "It will go fine Teth. Even if it doesn't I promise I won't hold that against you. You are not your family." She paused. "A quick rundown of everyone I might expect to meet would be nice tho."

"Well, there are my parents Ashar and M'zeo, my twin sister, R'Lara, and her four kits that are a little over a month old now. All girls, still unnamed as I last heard. Then I also invited the ACMO for dinner. He is a close friend of mine who will be rooming with me on the Galileo. That, and if I didn't invite him he would have likely found a way to invite himself. Even if it meant drugging someone."

M'Ressa just nodded her head as Teth explained the situation to her and the players involved. His mother she knew from their interactions several years before. The rest of the family she didn't but had to be normal enough if Ashar was anything to go by. This roommate however, M'Ressa wasn't sure about. Sure he was the ACMO, but drugging people?

"I met your mother a few times over subspace but never in person. She seemed nice enough from our interactions."

Teth nodded. "She and my father are both lovely, kind people. I am not really worried about them so much as.. well it isn't important now. Whatever happens, happens. I suppose I shouldn't worry so much about things that are out of my control."

Teth searched the transporter station for the aforementioned Bolian doctor.

"Olsam should have been here by now." he remarked impatiently, compulsively checking his watch every thirty or so seconds.

Olsam, upon arrival, was easy to pick out of the crowd as the only Bolian wearing a formal Terran tuxedo, complete with top hat resting on his bald head and cane at his side. He saw Teth with who he assumed was M'ressa, and he waved.

"HEY TETH!" he practically screamed across the station, waving his hands in the air to catch the caitian's attention. His flailing cane nearly lopped off the hairdo of a passing Betazoid woman, who managed to duck just in time.

Olsam closed the distance and scooped Teth up in a big hug - or scooped as much as he could scoop such a tall person. He took a step back and his face fell flat when he turned to introduce himself to M'ressa. "Oh, hello. I'm Dr. Olsam Mott. You can call me Dr. Mott. It's interesting to finally meet you." He cut his eyes to Teth and then back to M'ressa. "I understand you enjoy murdering things."

M'Ressa was quite taken aback by the statement. She glanced at Teth then back to Mott. "I beg your pardon Mr Olsam?"

"Dr. Mott," he correctly, adjusting his top hat. The adjustment, of course, actually made it lopsided. "Teth was telling me that you hunt things, sentient species. You know, murder them for sport. Or food, maybe? I don't know. I killed a turkey once." He stared for a long moment, letting the statement linger in the air. "But that was for a Terran holiday at my friend's house. And I did it with a laser scalpel. Do you use your claws when you kill things?"

M'Ressa stared at Mott for a second, measuring her language before she spoke. "Teth is correct that I have been hunting before. What has not been mentioned, and I hope I told Teth this, if not I apologize, is that it takes place on the holodeck. I have never killed a living creature in my life."

"Huh," Olsam said, both looking and sounding unconvinced.

Teth stared at the bolian with a sneer of intense hatred and loathing. He was certain he could just garrote him with that bizarrely present bowtie. He could watch the life drain out of his face and dispose of him in a waste reclamation station.

But, realizing that option might be slightly excessive, he took a deep breath and clenched his eyes shut. He hoped he could just make them all disappear by the sheer will of thought.

He opened his eyes. They were all still there.

"Well, I suppose we should go."

He managed to say in an even, calm tone.

"Okay, I'm ready! I'm not overdressed, am I? Your dad just seemed kinda formal. So. I thought maybe it was a formal dinner party," Olsam said, suddenly noticing the differences in clothing.

"Very overdressed. But knowing it's you, I doubt anyone will mention it."

The group stepped onto the transporter pad on a rainy evening in San Francisco to materialize in the transporter station in northern Dusseldorf, just two blocks away from the Ashar clan home. Outside was a whirring and blinding blizzard that had been somewhat of a surprise in the day of modern weather control systems. For the sake of realism, a certain level of entropy in the weather patterns was allowed.

Olsam held a hand on his hat and walked into the wind, using his cane for support. The weather was miserable enough to actually shut him up, leaving them to walk in relative silence to the home.

M'Ressa followed close to Teth, holding his hand in fact so she wouldn't get lost in the blizzard. She didn't do well in the cold and even with her warmer outfit on, was feeling the chill by the time they reached their destination.

As they climbed the steep set of stairs to the Ashar family home, Teth inhaled the cold air deeply.

"I love the snow!" he said cheerfully as he opened the front door to his family home. The livingroom was empty but he could hear them all talking in the kitchen.

"Please leave your shoes by the door." he instructed M'Ressa and Mott, doing the same himself.

He left the two guests behind him to go greet his family. As he walked into the kitchen, he saw the kits lined up against a wall in highchairs, contently watching everyone else and playing with various chew toys. Unlike human children, Caitian children learned to sit upright and crawl rather quickly. Though walking and communicating in a meaningful way was quite far off.

His father, M'zeo, stood over the stove, a real stove, stirring a large pot. He looked almost identical to Teth, but older with slightly lighter hair. R'lara and Ashar sat at the table, drinking tea and speaking quietly in their native tongue. Ashar, a tall and formidable woman, was dressed in a dark purple, floor length dress that had short cap sleeves and a high collar. R'lara, by contrast, was wearing her black and gray civilian police uniform. Her utility belt, including her phaser and wrist restraints were laying on the kitchen counter.

"Going back to work already?" he asked his sister in Caitian as he sat down next to her.

"My first shift is tonight. I could have stayed out longer, but staying home with the girls is starting to drive me crazy." she replied in kind

"I brought two of my colleagues with me." he spoke up so everyone heard him, this time in federation standard. "Everyone has already met Dr. Mott, I also have brought along M'ressa. She's a biotechnologist on the Galileo."

"Hello again," Olsam said, smiling awkwardly. Everyone was definitely not in formal wear, especially the children, and he felt even sillier without having his shoes on. "R'lara, you're looking much less fat than the last time I saw you. Don't worry, it's a good thing!"

R'lara glared at the Bolian. She could not believe her brother brought him back. She wondered if she could find a reason to arrest him and have him sent to a prison rehabilitation center far, far away.

"I know." R'lara said coldly to the doctor before taking a long, loud sip of her tea, not breaking eye contact.

"Mr. Mott, so kind of you to join us again..." Teth's mother, Ashar, trailed off, noticing the odor of some very specific pheromones. She gave her son a knowing look before turning to M'Ressa. The woman seemed very familiar but she couldn't quite place her.

"So, M'Ressa, how long have you been intimate with my son?"

Olsam laughed but quieted down almost immediately when no one else seems to be laughing.

M'Ressa knew this question was coming, she didn't think it would be that quick tho. "A few weeks Ms. M'thii" She replied, using the terran custom of addressing another by their last name.

Ashar waved the group over to the table.

"Please, everyone call me Ashar. Have a seat. Why don't you tell me more about yourself, M'Ressa?"

M'Ressa took a seat between Teth and Ashar. "You already know a bit about me Ashar. We met two years ago via subspace when I was still on Ferasa completing my graduate thesis. I was trying to boost the yield of certain caitian flora that some of our heart medications are derived from. Your work in bio-regeneration was the basis of my work."

"And you decided that you liked me so much, you should see if I have any children your age. You track them down in hopes that they might be as great as me!" Ashar joked, half seriously.

"But thank you," the matron continued in a more serious tone, "I am both flattered and thrilled that my work is being further explored and expanded upon. And since my ever critical son seems to approve of you, you are always welcome in my home."

"I would be lying if I said it was anything more then chance, or the will of Rrikalla if that is one's belief, that brought us together. I knew you had children but we never spoke of their ages." She paused. "I am honored tho to be considered welcome in this house." She smiled over at Teth as she gave his paw a squeeze.

Olsam looked a little appalled. "What? Just like that? Nobody has any questions? Teth just brings home some strange woman who makes medicine out of plants, and she gets a free pass?" He turned to R'lara. "You're a police officer, shouldn't you be investigating this? I mean, am I the only one here utilizing Starfleet Intelligence resources to conduct a comprehensive background check on this lady, or what?"

R'lara shrugged and sipped her tea. "She doesn't seem especially suspicious. I think you are just jealous, Mr. Mott."

"Which was no doubt a short Check Doctor," M'Ressa deadpanned, "Given that I've had a background check done in the past twelve months for my Level 3 Biosecurity clearance."

"I am certainly not jealous," Olsam responded, far too quickly. "I'm a grown adult male, I don't get jealous. I'm perfectly capable of handling some new relationship in my best friend's life that's going to consume an inordinate amount of his time and attention that he might otherwise be spending with me." He frowned. "And I could buy a level 3 biosecurity clearance from a Ferengi on Nimbus III if I wanted; doesn't mean a thing to me until I've seen the data myself. You could be... I don't know. Some other caitian. Posing as this caitian."

Teth stared Olsam down, wondering how to best kill him. Poison? A phaser? Throw him out of an airlock in deep space?

"You can't have seriously run a background check on her." Teth added incredulously, "What is wrong with you? I am so sorry, M'ressa."

He gave her a pleading look, wanting to just grab her by her hand and run far away and forget the entire idea of taking her to meet his family. It was obviously a mistake.

M'Ressa just squeezed Teth's hand trying to reassure him. So far the only problem had been the rather annoying and somewhat flamboyant Doctor Olsam Mott. She glanced over at the kit's who seemed content to watch the whole goings on. "I notice several young additions to the family," she mentioned by way of diversion.

Olsam pointedly ignored the comment and shuffled over to the stove, looking preposterous standing next to the antiquated stove in equally antiquated dinner attire. He leaned over the pot and eyed Teth's father. "What're you cooking?"

"Throk root soup with bean curd." M'zeo replied, feeling pleased by his culinary creation.

"You should add yossu powder," Olsam said, staring into the pot. "It will cut the bitterness of the throk root and enhance the natural saltiness of the bean curd." He paused, realizing it sounded like something more than a suggestion. "If you want, I mean."

M'zeo shrugged. "Maybe next time. Tonight I am cooking my great great grandfather's recipe." He diverted his attention back to the soup, hoping to end the discussion there. The Bolian did seem bizarrely persistent about everything and anything.

Olsam wrinkled up his nose, looking to be highly offended at having his advice on cooking turned down. Had M'Ressa called ahead and pre-planned the palpable hostility for him? Or did the whole family just hate Bolians? Probably the former. It was inconceivable - inconceivable - that an entire family could hate him. One person? Maybe. Still, unlikely. But not the whole family.

"They're mine." R'lara beamed to M'Ressa, "They're pretty much the cutest thing ever."

M'Ressa grinned. "They are. Could I hold them?"

"Of course!" R'lara said walking over to the girls, scooping up the smallest one herself. "They grow so fast."

"Have you named them yet?" Teth inquired, looking over to the babies. Caitian children matured more quickly than humans, but these were advancing fast even by Caitian standards. He wondered if it was because they were hybrids. He'd had very limited interaction with kzin and the federation had very little knowledge of their biology and physiology.

R'lara handed Teth the tiny albino kit who was staring up at him with wide violet eyes. She clinged to his shirt and felt quite warm and snuggly. Even if she was half Kzin, he had to admit to himself that she was quite cute. Thankfully none of them had inherited the naked-tail gene from the mystery father.

"Her name Ari Tethara Thyme." she said as she returned to her seat, staring into her empty teacup.

"I named her after you. The other three are from left to right, Ash, Norva, and Lilith."

M'Ressa scooped up Norva and held the little kit in her arms. Norva pawed at M'Ressa's chest before settling down in her arms. M'Ressa stroked the little kit's head as she yawned and settled into her arms. "They're what, maybe a month old?" M'Ressa inquired of R'Lara.

R'lara got up to refill her cup, "There about. If they keep growing at this rate, I'll be able to send them off to college in a few years."

Olsam shuffled in place, trying not to launch into a medical diatribe about the dangers of unregulated metabolic growth in transpecies offspring. The danger always presented itself that the body would be unable to slow the rate of growth, leading to cancerous disorders or incredibly short lifespans. Waddling in place, working his mouth side to side to keep it closed, he looked a little penguin-esque. If he didn't come up with something else soon, he was going to end up blurting it all out anyway.

"Maybe they can all become law enforcement officers, and you can form your own squad to fight crime in Dusseldorf," Olsam offered, then grew sheepish when he caught a few odd looks. "It happened once in a holovid I saw. I mean, it was fictitious. I think. And they weren't Caitian-Kzinti hybrids. They were some sort of reptilian species that had been exposed to radiation... Uh. You know. Basically the same thing. Not physiologically the same thing, I mean the stories are the same thing."

Teth was ignoring Olsam, transfixed by Ari's knowing gaze. He wondered why his sister would name the creepy baby after him. When the child looked at him it was as if she was reaching into the depths of his being, taking small parts of him, only for him to notice them missing far too late.

Ari hiccuped and then spewed a stream of partially digested milk down the front of Teth's shirt and he stared down, feeling sticky and mortified.

"Well, I suppose we would have to wear matching jumpsuits." R'lara said, picking at a frayed claw, "Maybe capes."

Olsam eyed Teth with the "weird" baby and then shifted to look at M'ressa. Hmph. She'll probably be churning out kits in no time, he thought. Probably just to seal the deal. Then I'll really never see him. Biotechnologist. Psh. What do we need a biotechnologist for anyway? I wonder if I could get her transferred...

"Huh? Capes? Oh. Oh, for the police force, right," Olsam said, turning his glare away from M'ressa. "Are we going to be eating soon? I'm starving, and I haven't even seen a single hors d'oeuvre."

M'zeo shot to Olsam, what could only be described as an icey death glare, shifting a basket of fried pasta, a common side for soup in his home province on Ferresa. It was a family recipe, one he was not happy about allowing that dreadful Bolian doctor enjoy.

"Why does my son insist on consorting with the mentally ill and deficient?" he mumbled to himself as he set the basket on the table.

Teth had handed Ari off to his mother and was trying to clean the vomit off of his shirt. His new shirt that he had just replicated a few hours before. He sighed and pleadingly stared at Olsam. Maybe he would just stop offending everyone on his own.

Olsam stared back at Teth, at first a bit blankly and then finally with some exasperation, as if he were asking what he was doing wrong. So far things seemed to be going much better than he'd expected. At least no one had shot at him. Yet.

Throughout the exchange, M'Ressa continued her cuddling of the infant Cait nestled in her arms. She glanced up when she heard the albino kit throw up on Teth and she did her best not to laugh at Teth as his expression rapidly changed in response to the vomit on his front. She couldn't stifle a smile tho as she remembered the first time one of her nieces had done the same all over her.

Olsam shifted between the baby and the pasta, seeming distracted by both of them. That was one weird baby. The weirdest baby he'd ever seen. The way it looked at you... It was almost like even the baby was telling him to be quiet. Psh. Like that was gonna happen.

"So, M'ressa, how did you meet Teth?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the food in the kitchen for long moments. Finally, he turned to look at her.

"Starfleet Medical. We were both on break and ran into each other in a turbolift. Ended up eating together and things went from there."

"Then we saw Cat's" Teth noted. "It was rather bizarre. It's this play about anthropomorphized domesticated Terran cats having a gang war."

"Do any of them develop an unusually fast-paced romance characterized by only superficial acquaintance with one another's personalities, only to later be murdered by rival gang-members?" Olsam asked, lifting an hairless brow in question.

Teth glared at Olsam, narrowing his eyes, his pupils narrowed into slits.

"No." he said abruptly, "But it did have an obnoxious Bolian who was murdered by one of the cats and thrown into a waste reclaimator so no one would ever know."

"That's the worst subplot I've ever heard," Olsam said with a dismissive scoff, completely missing the inference. "Our digestive fluids play havoc with waste reclamation, and I just cannot envision a cat murdering a so-called 'obnoxious' Bolian because I'm pretty sure such a thing doesn't even exist. Who wrote this play? It's terrible. I hate everything about it."

"I think my little brother was threatening to kill you." R'lara observed as she pulled on her heavy police issued winter jacket. The word "POLIZEI" written across the back, in smaller lettering was the word for "police" in federation standard. It still allowed her access to her service phaser that was clipped to the side of her belt.

"But you know, he's right Teth. That's an awful way to dispose of a Bolian. You would get caught for certain. Maybe you should just go dispose of the body in some desolate area on another plant."

Olsam looked exasperated. "Why are we talking about killing Bolians? Nobody needs to kill a Bolian."

"We're rooming together, right?" Teth asked Olsam, ignoring his sister's suggestion. "It might be necessary."

"Well sure, if some Bolian tries to break into our room and take our stuff. I think one of my cousins is a kleptomaniac, so if my family ever visits you should keep an eye on him just in case. He might make off with something," he said, looking distractedly at the kitchen again. "Can I have a snack, please?"

"No." M'zeo yelled from the kitchen. "But you can have some soup, the food is ready."

"Well that sounds like an invitation, Olsam." Teth said as he walked back to the kitchen.

"I like invitations," Olsam said, already in the kitchen before he finished the sentence. He inhaled deeply and nodded with satisfaction; it would have been better with his recommendation, but it would be satisfactory without it. As much as he wanted to eat, he was still worried. Worried about Teth's relationship with...the enemy. "Teth, are you going to move out of our quarters to live with M'ressa?"

"I hadn't really planned on it, no. We are still getting to know each other." Teth looked to M'ressa and hoped desperately that she didn't take to mean that he didn't want to eventually move in with her.

"We really never even talked about it."

M'Ressa had been keeping half an ear on the conversation as she held little Norva. She glanced up when she heard her name. "Teth's right. It's not something we'd discussed."

She took a deep breath of the soup that was ready on the stove.

Ashar set the table with bowls and spoons. M'zeo set the pot of soup in the center and began filling the bowls with the blue tinted, extremely aromatic soup. The chunks of beancurd looked more like some kind of mucus ball than anything remotely food related.

Olsam began noisily eating his soup; within moments it was gone, and he was eyeing the pot. "Well, I hope you don't move out. I'm sure M'ressa would make a lovely roommate, but I would miss you. And I don't know who would replace you. Probably some weirdo, and I'm just not compatible with those sorts of people."

"Which people?" Teth asked, legitimately curious.

"Weird people," Olsam said, still eyeing the pot of soup. "You know, people who are not socially well-adjusted like you and me." He cut his eyes from the soup pot to look at M'ressa, purposefully excluding her name. "I'm worried if you move out then they're going to put some kind of weirdo officer in there with me who's not socially well-adjusted and can't carry on a conversation or something."

"If they're less socially adjusted than the two of you, chances are they live in a psychiatric rehabilitation center already." R'lara mocked. "Not that Teth is any stranger than those."

"Why do you always do this?" Teth said, raising his voice and now standing and staring pointedly at his sister. "Why do you always have to instigate problems?"

"I don't know what you mean, brother." the police officer said flatly, "You haven't told your friends about your time in the psychiatric hospital when you were younger? You hadn't told them about your violent love affair with that engineering professor when you were in the academy."

"What?" Ashar said, staring intently at her son, "What is she talking about Teth?"

"It's nothing, she's blowing things out of proportion."

R'lara turned to Olsam and M'Ressa, "You know that Teth's ex boyfriend, the one who stabbed him? I looked him up after our conversation a few weeks ago. Apparently he's been missing for a few years. They released him from the correctional facility and he vanished."

Teth fell silent, hoping that if he just ignored her then maybe the whole thing would go away and they would forget it was ever mentioned.

"Well I don't think it's a big deal. I was committed to a psychiatric institution on Acamar III. It took my family 6 months to convince them I wasn't insane! Although I think they weren't really convinced, they just wanted to get rid of us," Olsam said, huffing. "How long has he been missing? Where did he go missing? Maybe he got killed by Nausicaans. People get killed by Nausicaans all the time." The Bolian narrowed his eyes a little hatefully. "Serves him right."

R'lara eyed her brother suspiciously. "It was six years ago. Around the time Teth was working at Starfleet Medical. The guy went to Vulcan and checked into a hotel. He went there to meditate or something, was never seen again."

"Hmm. I don't know if there are any Nausicaans on Vulcan. Maybe he got killed by one of those crazy Vulcans that can't control their emotions," Olsam said, finally reaching for the soup ladle to help himself to another bowl. "Or maybe he wandered out into the desert, seeking some spiritual enlightenment, but died from exposure. It's a very hot planet. Do you think we should investigate, R'lara? I'm pretty good at forensics, and there's a few days before the ship leaves. We can bring the kids, maybe Teth and your parents can come." He looked at M'ressa, then moved on, refusing to mention her. "We can make it a family vacation to investigate a possible murder!"

R'lara shook her head, "No. I think I know who did it already, it wouldn't be necessary."

Olsam gasped and almost clapped his hands in excitement, stopping them at the very last moment. "Oohhh, murder mystery dinner theater! I love these! I know who did it, too. The Ghost of Surak!"

R'lara smiled, containing a giggle at how generally ridiculous the Bolian was.

"No, I don't think it was Surak." she said, looking back over to Teth.

Sitting breathlessly through the conversation Teth was panicked. He needed to stop this course of discourse immediately before things went too far.

"It doesn't matter R'lara." he finally said with a gasp, "I am pretty sure they think he defected back to Romulus."

Olsam gasped. "Well, I didn't see that coming. Makes sense though." He stuffed a mouthful of soup into his gob and swallowed hard, eager to keep talking. "Romulans are always defecting this way and that way. You can hardly keep up with them. Maybe he joined some Romulan sleeper cell on Vulcan!"

"No, no one has seen him on Vulcan for years." Teth retorted a little too quickly and perhaps defensively.

"You would know something like that." R'lara said with a smirk.

"You would?" Olsam asked, looking at Teth. "Are you a Romulan defector, too?"

"No. Of course not." he said, offended by the suggestion. "But I don't know what she is talking about. Since I've been back it's like she's more obsessed with this guy than I ever was, but of course, she projects it onto me. It's really pretty bizarre."

"Wait, wait, wait. Can we just stop here? Teth? Who is this male Romulan ex who tried to kill you and why is he missing or dead? Why didn't you tell us about any of that? We could have helped you."

"No, you couldn't have helped me. He was no one, the entire story means nothing. Forget anyone mentioned any of it. Can we please enjoy dinner? It's my last night in Dusseldorf. Do we really have to spend it like this? Do you really wonder why I don't share anything of my life with you?"

"I'm enjoying dinner," Olsam chimed in, evidently oblivious to the heightening emotion in the room. He brought another spoonful of soup to his mouth and blew on it, watching R'lara over the spoon. "Maybe we can all enjoy it, too, hmm?"

M'zeo smiled and clapped his hands together. "I am going to agree with Teth and his rotund and eccentric friend. R'lara, Teth, I love you both more than life itself. I always will no matter what, but there are just some things I would prefer not to know. Especially if they are long and dead and buried, hm? "

The older Caitian man finally poured a bowl of soup for himself before sitting down.

"I want to die happy and thinking my children are perfect and aren't involved in whatever debauchery and violence it is that you three are verbally dancing around tonight. Now please, pass the water pitcher."

"Sometimes it's better to be ignorant," Olsam said agreeably, handing the water pitcher over to M'zeo. "We can be dumb together."

M'zeo smiled widely and nodded.

"I think I like you after all. It's nice having someone around for once who actually agrees with me."

Olsam gave him a toothy grin then turned his attention back to the soup.

M'Ressa, who by this point had been watching the verbal exchange for some time, shifted slightly in her chair. Norva was awake and clinging to her while she watched everything. What the little kit thought about the whole thing was no doubt fascinating and the kit seemed to be staring at everything with an almost wide eye'd amazement.

"So M'ressa," Ashar changed the topic, "What kind of work are you doing these days?"

Latinum digging, best friend stealing, seducing, Olsam thought, eyeing M'ressa.

"Genetic research on plant life mainly. Starfleet's trying to improve the hardiness of certain plants in marginal worlds of Class H and L types. Interesting work if somewhat tedious at times."

"I can't say I envy you there." Ashar said as if remembering something awful. "I always hated planetary survey. How much time do I have to spend in cramped spacecraft over desolate worlds, devoid of intelligent life. It always just felt so... lonely. Hopefully you have good counselors aboard."

Genetic research on plant life... Hmph. I'd use that cover, too. Clever girl, Olsam thought, darting his eyes from M'ressa to Ashar then back again. What kind of biotechnologist is working on plants, anyway? Is she going to roboticize them? Probably not even working on plants. Plants is code for something, like 'stealing Olsam's best friend.' That's what she's really working on.

"That's wonderful, mother." Teth said sarcastically under his breath. For as long as he could remember, his mother was an unrelentingly sarcastic and tactless. Not one of her better traits, but definitely a trait that R'lara had inherited. Furthermore, both mother and daughter had delighted in causing quarrels between others. This dinner had been no exception.

M'Ressa grinned as she gripped Teth's paw. "Your son is both a good freind and a good counselor Ashar. I'm, we're, lucky to have him aboard."

"I think it's getting late." Teth remarked, feeling emotionally exhausted. "Are you ready to go, M'Ressa?"

M'Ressa glanced at the clock. It was getting late and she did have early duty in the morning. "I suppose we should be going."

"Are you leaving already?" M'zeo protested. "Please at least try to stay in touch? I don't want to go another three years without hearing from you. The only reason we didn't think you were dead was because Starfleet would have notified us."

Teth went to retrieve his jacket, "I stay busy."

"Obviously." R'lara said, "I just always assume you've ended up in prison and don't want to tell anyone. That does seem to be how you handle most problems. But none the less, baby brother, you will be missed. I hope the next time I see you and your new friend here, you're drowning in kits. I don't want all the pressure to produce grandchildren to be on me. Because I and finished.

"One step at a time." Teth said, feigning annoyance.

Olsam sensed there wasn't going to be any pie, cake or other dessert offered, so he stood up and tried to hide his disappointment. "Thank you for having me again; the soup was really lovely, although it could have used that powder additive. It was nice meeting you, Ashar. I'll make sure Teth writes to you regularly, or maybe I can just be a ghost writer for him. R'lara, the babies are very cute, and I'm sure they'll all be wonderful crime fighters, even the weird one."

"I'd have it no other way." Teth's twin said, dead serious.

Olsam, as usual, was a little creeped out by Teth's family by the time they reached the door. At least he was beginning to understand where Teth got some of his eccentricities. When the door opened, he was grateful the snow had let up but the bitter chill in the air remained. He adjusted his tuxedo and turned to tell Teth good night but instead found M'ressa standing uncomfortably close.

She's about to kill me, right on the stoop! he thought, alarmed.

M'Ressa placed her paw on his shoulder, almost a like a friend would do if they were pulling the other aside, hopefully out of earshot of Teth but she doubted it, Caitian hearing being what it is. "What Doctor, is your problem with me?"

"Well, mostly I just don't like you, which is odd because I usually like everyone," Olsam explained, sounding even-toned as if this were an everyday conversation held over tea. He cut his eyes to her hand on his shoulder and then looked back at her. "And I especially don't like how much time Teth spends with you. Some of that time used to be spent with me before you seduced him."

M'Ressa chose to ignore the first comment as she understood that sometime people grated on each other, part of life and perhaps that was just this case. But Seduced? "Seduced him? You honestly think I seduced Teth?"

"I can't imagine how else you lured him into the web. Or maybe you're just injecting him with something," Olsam said, leaning to the side to look around her at Teth. He settled back into place and stared into her eyes; it didn't seem like a particularly challenging stare, just sort of passive. "Are you utilizing contraception or fertility control methods? Because frankly I don't know where you've been. You could engage in risky sexual behavior for all I know. I'm concerned for my friend's health...as a doctor."

"Well then Doctor, if you'd seen my medical records you would know that I have no record of having engaged in risky behavior, let alone contracted anything. My file indicates I am on the standard contraceptive method for Caitians, I am two months past heat, and until I met Teth my last checkup indicated that I was still what the Human's call a Virgin." M'Ressa paused. "And further more, I resent the implied comparison to Terran arachnid's. I am not some female spider trying to lure Teth into my web so I can impregnate myself before killing him off."

"Oh, I've seen your medical records, trust me. I've seen 'em all the way back to when you were a zygote, okay?" Olsam said, scoffing a little. "But I know a Klingon on Farius Prime who'll forge some nice clean medical records for the right price, so you'll forgive me for verifying facts through independent investigation.

"I'm glad you claim to not be sexually promiscuous, but I wanna make it clear that I'm not gonna let any more people stab Teth. So until you're cleared, you're not cleared. I need to clear you so you can be cleared to be clear of being not cleared. Am I clear, lady?"

M'Ressa's furr bristled as Mott spoke. Her whisper turned into more of a snarl. "Quite clear Mr Mott. Now you listen to me, and listen well. I care about Teth's safety as much as you do. If however, I find out you've used your authority to access my medical records without my authorization. Or if I find out you've been covertly observing me, you will find yourself before a Starfleet review board while your future as both a Starfleet Officer and a Doctor is brought into question. Is that understood Doctor?"

"Cat, please, you've known him for 33 Earth days and can't even begin to touch this level of safety commitment," Olsam said, holding up a hand to cut her off. His eyes narrowed slightly and both his diction and cadence changed, revealing the clear and sober intellect behind his jovial and easy-going demeanor. "First of all, it's Doctor Mott - I didn't train to be a real medical doctor for nine years so some new age 'biotechnologist' could call me 'mister.' And do you honestly think I haven't already been dragged before like a dozen review boards? I'm reviewed all the time, constantly. I'm on a first name basis with three different inquiry boards. So if you feel I've done anything ethically questionable, you go right ahead and lodge your complaint. But know that it's part of my responsibility to see to the well-being of the ship and crew, which includes reviewing your medical records as a new crew member until I'm satisfied with their authenticity and thoroughness, and that is a responsibility that I take very seriously.

"Now I think we understand one another very well, so I'd suggest we just move along so the poor shivering man you supposedly care about can get out of the cold. Or we can keep standing here for your Terran pissing contest; I know at least 47 different medications that increase both urine volume and velocity. Now, shall we?"

Teth had just finished his goodbyes to his family as he walked in on the tail end of the conversation between Mott and M'Ressa.

"Olsam, I suggest you start showing more respect to M'ressa right now." the tall and suddenly dark and menacing caitian said as he put himself between his the doctor and his mate. He stood chest to chest with the rotund Bolian and stared down his nose at him. Unblinking and unflinching.

Olsam huffed at Teth and leaned heavily to one side, trying to see M'ressa around him. When he spoke his voice was high-pitched and whiny. "Heeey! We were arguing! Don't be such a busy-body, we weren't done. We're supposed to argue a little more and then you fall down the steps or something and we all laugh and have pizza together every Thursday night and you name one of your babies after me. There's a fine art to Bolian arguments, and you're messing up the flow!"

Teth was extremely unamused.

"I don't care. You owe her an apology."

"I know that," Olsam said, rolling his eyes. "If you hadn't butted in we woulda got to that part! Honestly, sometimes it's like you don't even know anything about Bolians." He side-stepped Teth and frowned at M'ressa. "Since Too Tall here has no appreciation for a good argument, I'll just skip to the end and say I'm sorry. I hope you have a wonderful relationship that includes me in a lot of activities, like tandem bicycle riding. I'm sure you're a perfectly lovely young lady, and at least you can hold your own in an argument." Olsam cut his eyes to Teth, stuck out his bizarrely cartilaginous tongue, then looked back at M'ressa.

Teth also looked toward M'Ressa, silently offering to strangle Olsam for her if she so desired. He considered just doing it for his own gratification anyway.

M"Ressa took a few breaths to calm herself before she spoke. She recognized the expression in Teth's eye's as she herself was debating exactly the same thing. Never, in her 29 years had she encountered someone so irritating she'd actually considered killing them over it.

"If Doctor Mott is willing to bury the hatchet then so am I." M'Ressa stated. "I think tho that getting back to the transporter station would be a good idea. I'm starting to get a chill." M'Ressa tucked in close under Teth's arm as she said those last words, mainly for the warmth as she was getting a chill, but also partly because she knew it would infuriate Mott.

Teth squeezed M'ressa closer to him, it felt a bit like snuggling with a fusion reactor thanks to all the heat she seemed to produce.

"But I don't have a hatchet," Olsam said, looking a little confused. His understanding of Terran colloquialisms was pretty limited; he'd only thrown in 'pissing contest' as he'd just learned it last week and was pretty excited about an opportunity to use it correctly.

"Don't put me in a position to chose between the two of you, Olsam." Teth warned "A real friend wouldn't do that. Can we please just move on from this jealousy thing you have going on? You once scolded me for feeling guilty for using Borg implants. This time I am going to scold you for allowing your emotions to potentially ruin our friendship. As a counselor I normally don't tell people to get over it, but jealousy is just one of those things you have to suppress until it's gone. It is an irrational response, especially in this case."

"I'm not jealous. You're an irrational response!" Olsam said defensively, folding his arms. He looked between the two of them and then threw his hands up in the air. "Okay, maybe I am a little jealous... Fine. Fine! I won't be jealous. I'm done being jealous...now. Hmm... Okay, hold on. All right...now. Yeah, now. Now I'm done being jealous." He eyed M'ressa then looked back at Teth. "Like, at least 35% less jealous right now. It's a process, okay?!"

Teth sighed deeply out of frustration, not just at Olsam, or his family during dinner, or anything in particular. He just felt mentally exhausted. It had been the least restful shore leave he had ever had. I was looking forward to returning to work, maybe life would get back to normal then.

Things used to be normal. That is until he was assigned to the ship of the damned full or liberated borg drones, sending him into downward spiral of guilt and anxiety, complete with unearthing a plethora of terrifying memories. And before R'lara outed him for his involvement with a particular missing Starfleet engineering professor. Of course that is why he rarely returned to Earth. These things always seemed to happen while he was there. He almost wanted to cry, but he was past that point.

Now he just felt numb. That is, unless M'Ressa was near him. She brought a peacefulness he had never been familiar with in the past and he did not want Olsam, well meaning as he might have been, to ruin that.

In the span of a single minute, Olsam had gone from belligerent to jealous to having almost completely forgotten the argument. "I'm hungry again. Do you think your dad would let me have the leftovers? I'm not sure he liked me after all..." The Bolian turned to look at the front door, then looked back at them. "Are you two gonna go back home and have sex, or can we all get some pie first?"

Teth sighed and glared at Olsam. "Why do you insist on asking questions like that?"

Olsam looked hurt and appeared to actually get a little teary eyed. "Like what? I just wanted some pie..."

"I know you know that isn't what I meant. Not that it is your concern, but I was actually planning to go to bed. To actually sleep. Because this whole dinner ended up being a disaster and I feel physically exhausted from all the cringing and teeth grinding I did."

Until the subject came up, M'Ressa'd been hoping to pull Teth aside once they got back to San Francisco and talk him into some alone time. Not necessarily getting intimate, but some quiet time to deflate from the evening's events. She'd discovered a specific massage Teth enjoyed and figured if ever there was a time he needed it, tonight was the night. If things progressed beyond a massage....

Olsam looked a little confused. "I didn't think it was all that disastrous. Did something happen that I didn't notice? Everyone seemed to like M'ressa, your family misses you, and the soup was pretty good even without the yasso powder. Do you grind your teeth often? I can give you a medication for that. Would you say the cringing is voluntary, or involuntary? Because that could be an indication of a broader problem..."

"Never mind, it isn't important." Teth said to Olsam, pulling M'ressa in for a hug. The positioning was always awkward due to the height differential, but any discomfort was easily out shadowed by her warmth and smell. He just wanted to curl up somewhere dark and warm and quiet and burrow his face into her neck and run his hands across her soft curves. How had he been alone for so long?

"Are you ready to head back to San Francisco?" he addressed the two of them, but mostly M'Ressa. "Wouldn't want to miss departure."

M'Ressa let herself get lost in the moment as Teth held her. His warmth against the cold was welcome after her exchange with Mott. Enveloped in his arms she quietly whispered in Caitian so Mott couldn't hear. "Ditch him and retire to your place?"

"That sounds like a plan."

M'Ressa looked up at Teth as he released her. "I think I'm ready."

Teth looked over to his friend and smiled in spite of how much he currently wanted to strangle the man and leave his cold, lifeless body on the front steps of his family home. But emotions were fleeting and prison sentences were not.

"I will see you on the Galileo, Olsam. I want bottom bunk."


[OFF]


Lt. Olsam Mott M.D.
Assistant Chief of Medicine
USS Galileo

&

Lt. Teth Miir
Counselor
USS Galileo

&

M'Ressa
Biotechnologist
USS Galileo

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