81022.18
Hours After Not Goodbye
-=/\=-
-=Bridge, USS Serendipity=-
"Reece!"
Liis leaned her head out the door of her ready room, and Dabin swiveled in his chair.
"Yo."
"Front and center!"
"Um,"
Liis sighed. "Means, get your ass in here."
"Gotcha."
He bounded down the steps and stood before her, still bouncing.
"You weren't at the party last night." Liis complained.
"Sorry, prior commitment." That commitment was sitting next to Bru and talking to her tummy all night, but he didn't feel that was a detail he had to share.
"I see. Well, about that little stunt you pulled with the ship-wide comm system..."
"Sorry, Liisy. Won't happen again, I promise. Scout's honor."
"You were never a Scout." Liis moved to the replicator and requested her third cup of coffee of the morning.
"What was that all about, anyway? Lassiter was hugely pissed. I didn't hear it because I was on the holodeck at the time but I understand you put on quite a show."
"Oh, Lassiter needs to add more fiber to her diet." Dabin waved his hand dismissively, then he thought about the second half of her statement. "Oooo, hey now. Holodeck? Alone, or with a friend?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "A big Irish friend perhaps?"
"Dabin, stay on topic. Why did you feel the need to serenade the whole of the ship with ancient Queen?"
Dabin gasped. "You haven't heard? How can anyone not have heard by now?!"
He clapped his hands, excited to get to see the look on her face when he told her. "We're...Bru and I, I mean...um..." Suddenly he felt shy about elaborating.
"You're..."
"Procreating. Um. That is, my sweet lil' Bru, she's...uh, in a family way or...expecting, you might say..." For once in his life, Reece was at a loss for words.
Liis, determined to make the most of this moment in a way he'd never forget, suppressed all signs of having heard him.
She retrieved her cup from the replicator, took a long, slow sip from it, and walked past him back to her desk.
"Good for you. I'm getting married the day after tomorrow."
"You're getting..." Dabin gaped, then frowned. "NO! No no no! You did it, you, damn you, Zanh Liis! You just...just...one-upped me!"
"Sorry." Liis' lopsided grin appeared. Laughter immediately followed.
Reece ran up behind her chair and grabbed her by the shoulders. Luckily, she had just set her cup down otherwise he would have sent hot coffee flying as he spun her around in her chair to face him.
"Whoa. Room is spinning."
"Of course the room is spinning! You're in love!" He hugged her ferociously. Then he stepped back, put his hand on his hip and eyed her warily.
"You are in love, aren't you? You're not just doing this because of some twist in the timeline I have to do this or I'm screwed sort of rationale? 'Cause in that case, no. I won't let you."
"Absolutely not. I mean, absolutely yes. I am," she looked at him with eyes he had never seen. "I am in love with him, Reece."
She thought back to their conversation on the Rixx Rewards and her face took on color. "But you already knew that."
"Oh, Liisy! I'm so happy for you and the big lug I could just..." He squished her again.
"Oof." She gently pushed him back and rotated her chair back to the desk. "Listen, I need your help. You used to be quite the fashion plate when Reece was female, if I remember correctly. Right?"
"Baby, with the body I had back then I could, and did, wear anything I wanted." He giggled.
She brought up a screen on her computer and began scrolling down. Reece leaned in closer behind her.
"What we shoppin' for? Lingerie?"
She reached backward, slugging him with her elbow.
"Ow. Okay, uncalled for. There is no need to injure the father-to-be especially if you want his services as a stylist. What then?"
"Wedding gown."
"What about the groom's gift? Need any help with that? It's an Earth thing, you know. They have lots of things on Earth."
"So I remember." Liis replied distantly. She smiled at him much more brightly as her attention returned to the moment. "No, I have the groom's gift covered. Dress, I'm absolutely lost on."
"Don't worry, honey," Reece began tapping commands into the screen, and squealed. "You're going to look fabulous."
He began passing by images of elaborate gowns one after another at breakneck speed; Liis didn't even have a chance for her eyes to focus on the pictures of half of his rejected options before he moved on.
"Yikes, yikes, yikes..." He made the face you'd expect him to if he'd just drank from a glass of pure, lukewarm lemon juice. "Hate it, hate it. Ooo, love it. No, wait." he cocked his head to the side, "Hate it."
"Reece?"
"Yeah doll face?"
"Be sure that you tell Bru I said congratulations."
He leaned down, placed a quick peck on the top of her head, and kept on searching for the perfect wedding gown for a woman who never imagined she'd wear one.
"You know, we are gonna have to talk foundation garments at some point." He looked her over, leaning fore and backward. "Hm. You've got a pretty hefty rack goin' on there. I'd estimate about a forty-"
"REECE!"
"I'm just sayin'! Before we pick a gown I need to know this stuff. Ever worn a strapless bra?"
Liis raised a single eyebrow as if to ask whether she looked the type who would ever have worn such a thing.
"I warn you," he shuddered from the memory of underwires digging into tender skin and almost passing out from lack of oxygen. "They're a bi-otch."
-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012