Toys
Posted on May 26, 2014 @ 9:46pm by Commander Jacob Crichton
Edited on on May 26, 2014 @ 10:19pm
Mission:
All Our Yesterdays
Location: USS DISCOVERY
Tags: Jake, Cindy, Kane
= Toys =
(cont'd from "Politics")
LOCATION: USS DISCOVERY
SCENE: Corridor
STARDATE: [2.14] 0522.1155
TIME INDEX: Before “Friends In Low Places”
Jake Crichton walked through the corridor, pushing a cart loaded down with children’s toys, and whistling quietly to himself. Officers and crew stepped out of the way, casting odd glances back at him as they passed. Jake would nod politely at them and continue on, his whistling uninterrupted. He was in far too good a mood to let a little something like embarrassment disrupt his reverie. The pile of toys nearly overflowed over the sides of the cart, a soft mound of pinks, purples, greens, and blues.
A turbolift door opened just as Crichton was walking by, and Cindy Rochemonte stepped out, nearly toppling the cart. She cried out in surprise, her hands quickly shooting out to steady the cart. This interfered with Jake’s attempts to do the same, and the cart tipped over, spilling its contents all over the corridor.
“Mon dieu!” Cindy said, surveying the multicolored chaos. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see- oh!”
Her cheeks flushed when she saw Jake. She looked good, all things considered; just a few bruises on her face that had already started to fade. Jake smiled, glad that she was recovering well, then shifted his eyes to the mess of toys that littered the corridor.
“Jake,” Cindy said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to knock over your…”
Her eyes followed Jake’s gaze to the floor.
“…toys?” she finished.
“ Hey Specs,” Jake said, as he righted the tipped cart. “Glad to see you’re up and about. No harm done. This stuff isn’t breakable.”
Cindy had already stooped and started to gather armfuls of toys to pile back onto the cart. She tried to mask her confusion at the strange collection of objects: Andorian music crystals, Bajoran puzzles meant to promote the development of motor skills, good old fashioned Earth dolls and action figures, and a score of other toys and games from a variety of cultures.
“You know, if you were getting gifts for the Engineering staff, they probably would have been okay with some donuts,” Cindy offered.
“Very funny,” Jake said. “No, these are for my kids.”
Cindy blinked. “Kids?”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “They want to come and stay with me, once we get back from the Beta Quadrant. My wife sent a message-”
“Your wife,” Cindy said, nodding.
“Yeah,” Jake said. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” Cindy said quickly, continued to rake in armloads of toys to deposit on the cart. “No, it’s nothing.”
“Okay,” Jake said. He went to his knees and started to help Cindy gather up the scattered toys.
“You don’t wear a ring,” Cindy said.
“Yeah,” Jake said. “We, uh… we had some problems. We’re working on them. Or we were, before I got assigned to the DISCOVERY.”
“Well, she sounds lovely,” Cindy said, smiling just a little too broadly as she spoke.
“I haven’t told you anything about her yet,” said Jake.
“Oh,” Cindy said. “Oh, of course. But well, I mean, if you married her, she must be wonderful.”
“She is,” Jake said. He gathered the last pile of toys and deposited them on the cart. He stood, and offered his hand to help Cindy back to her feet. She took it, blushing again. Jake pretended not to notice.
“So, um,” Cindy said, glancing down at the toys. “How old are they? Your kids, I mean.”
“Dahlia is nine,” Jake said. “Ben is four.”
“Nine and four?” Cindy asked. She looked at the toys again, then back up at Jake. “You don’t have a lot of experience with this, do you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Jake, half these toys are meant for infants,” said Cindy. “9 year olds don’t need a lot of help with shapes and colors.”
“What about four year olds?” Jake asked.
Cindy laughed, shaking her head. “They’re going to hate these, Jake. Surely, they’ll be bringing their own toys?”
“Yeah, probably,” Jake said. “I don’t know, I guess I went a little overboard. I didn’t have a lot of toys as a kid, you know? The ship I grew up on had a food synthesizer, but no matter replicators.”
“You want them to have all the things you didn’t have,” Cindy said.
“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “I haven’t seen a lot of them for the past few years. I guess I just don’t want to screw this up.”
“I think I understand,” Cindy said. “Listen, Jake, if you ever need help, or someone to talk to…”
“Thanks, Specs,” Jake said, smiling. “Hey, listen, I’m glad you’re okay.”
Cindy smiled, blushing a little again.
“Thanks, Jake,” she said. “But it wasn’t that bad.”
“It looked bad,” Jake said. “Don’t do that again, huh? Sickbay gives me the creeps.”
“I promise,” Cindy said, making an X over her heart with her hand.
Just then, the turbolift doors swished open again. Jake and Cindy turned to see Captain Kane standing there, hands clasped demurely behind his back. His eyes went first to Jake, then Cindy, then dropped to Jake’s cart and its contents. Then, slowly, Kane’s eyes came back up to look at Jake, a single eyebrow raised.
“Hi, cap,” Jake said. “Uh, I mean, captain. Sir.”
“Commander,” Kane said dryly.
Jake glanced down at his cart, then back up to Kane. He smiled apologetically.
“I’m off-duty,” Jake offered. He wasn't sure why that would make a difference, but he thought he should say *something*.
“Mm-hmm,” Kane said.
“And we’re probably in your way,” Cindy said quickly. She grabbed the other end of the cart and pulled it down the corridor, clearing Kane’s path out of the turbolift. The captain stepped out, expression unchanged, and turned to look at Jake and Cindy and the toy cart. For a moment, it seemed as if he was about to say something, then simply shook his head and turned to walk up the corridor away from them.
“Thank you sir,” Jake called after him. Then he turned to look at Cindy. “I don’t suppose you know anyone aboard who’s looking to setup a daycare center, do you?”
===================================================
NRPG: Just a brief scene before Jerome’s mission opener.
Shawn Putnam
a.k.a.
Jake Crichton, Commander
Chief Engineering Officer
USS DISCOVERY
