Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, and I didn't invent any of the characters herein depicted. I am not making any money out of this.
Summary: Will Riker and Bevery meet in a deserted Ten Forward. Everyone is on shore leave, and their dates have been cancelled...
Review: Yes, please!! I do have an idea of how to follow up on this, and it would greatly help me if you let me know what you thought, if you see any future in this story (or this relationship??)... just talk to me:))
Not fifteen
by
Miranda
Beverly stared blankly ahead.
"If this is too difficult a question for you right now, I can come back later."
Guinan's face was earnest and sympathetic, but the humour in her voice was unmistakable. Beverly blinked in confusion.
"Uh... what? Oh... I'm sorry, Guinan, I suppose I was little distracted. Just a pineapple juice, please."
"Going for the risky choices, are we?"
"Right, I'm going to make this a wild night." Beverly sighed and smiled ruefully. Then she glanced over her shoulder at the deserted Ten Forward.
Placing a glass in front of her, Guinan said: "Don't worry, he'll be here any minute. I'm sure nothing could keep him from attending to this date."
Beverly looked surprised for a second, then shook her head. "Of course, I always forget: you know everything. Well, almost everything. I have a piece of information for you: he's NOT coming."
Guinan raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"
"It turned out there was this big meeting of some of the gratest personalities in archaeologics. It's a yearly event, and since he is always invited and never gets the chance to attend..."
"I see."
"Yes. Funny though, he never heard a word about this meeting until an hour before we were supposed to meet. Hence the outfit." Beverly made a gesture towards the low-cut, long black silk dress she was wearing.
"You look very beautiful, Beverly. Jean Luc is missing quite a sight."
"Well, I hadn't really decided what I was going to wear. Promise you won't tell anyone, but I've been trying on dresses for practically two days. This was going to be a special night, you know? I mean, we see each other every day, we meet for lunch and for dinner, even for breakfast almost every day... but this was going to be different, a real date: we're on earth, and he was going to pick me up and take me to a real restaurant, with real waiters, not holograms, and linen napkins, we were both going to be out of uniform, and then maybe go for a walk, and - oh, isn't it stupid to still be dreaming about holding hands? I'm not fifteen anymore, for Gods sake!"
"There is nothing stupid about dreaming, Beverly. And there is nothing stupid about holding hands either. OR being fifteen, for that matter."
"But I am, I am SO stupid, Guinan! I should know better, damn it! After all these years, I should know better than to dream up a perfect moonlit night with Jean Luc Picard. He just doesn't work that way. I am all in a fluffy haze about this stupid date for days, and he sets me up for an archaeological meeting, guest star for the evening the lady-explorer who does the best disappearing trick in the galaxy: Vash."
Guinan said nothing, but a queer mixture of concern and amusement crossed her features.
"Right. He didn't tell me THAT little detail, of course, but it wasn't too difficult to find out."
"Maybe he didn't know she was going to be there."
"Maybe." Beverly sipped at her juice, not really tasting it. "But that doesn't change the fact that our date didn't mean that much to him in the first place. So many YEARS, Guinan, hoping, fantasizing, doubting - deluding myself that whenever I was ready, he was going to be there, and now..." She fought the tears furiously. She was NOT going to cry because her boy had forgotten to pick her up for the prom dance, she was not! Thank God everyone was out on shore leave (having the most perfect dream-dates, no doubt), so no one would see her red-rimmed eyes and drippy nose.
"Can I have a double scotch straight, Guinan, please?"
"Speaking of risky choices and wild nights..." Unruffled, Guinan prepared the drink.
"Will! What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Beverly. I'm glad to see you too." His smile was tired and cracking up at the corners of his mouth.
"Sorry..." She giggled in embarassement and blushed. As she turned her head, her hair fell over her cheek, and for a moment, Will Riker saw the girl Beverly Howard once had been, fifteen years old and going to the movies with a guy she really liked, shy about what she said or did, in case he thought she was dumb and didn't want to walk her home afterwards...
"I didn't mean to be rude, I'm just surprised to see you here. I thought you'd be camping under the stars by the Grand Canyon by now."
"So did I." The vision vanished. The woman facing him was definitely NOT fifteen. It would probably be illegal for fifteen-year-olds to be dressed like that. Will whistled mentally.
"Deanna changed her mind. She has already seen the Gran Canyon, she was only going for my sake, and then came this very sudden offer she just couldn't reject, so she said this experience would be much more rewarding for me if I went alone, to make this some sort of an introspective journey."
He finished his whiskey in two huge gulps and made a face. "Introspective journey. That's what she said."
"I'm sorry, Will." Beverly put a hand on his arm. "Maybe she'll come back in time... We still have two days of shore leave left."
"I don't care when or if she comes back at all", he snapped fiercely.
He was silent for nearly a minute. Then, staring into his empty glass, he said, stony faced: "She went to meet Worf's parents."
"Oh." Beverly felt a pang of sympathetic pain. He'd been in love with Deanna ever since Beverly first met him, and somehow he had managed to transmit to everyone else his confidence: eventually, Deanna and him would be together. Forever. They were meant to be. Period. But Deanna's choice to spend her shore leave with Worf and his parents rather than with Will indicated clearly that she didn't want him to hope for a reunion anymore, that she had made her decision. Beverly thought this was a rather rude way to let him know.
"Yeah." He shook his head, then looked up at her. "What about you?"
"Have I been stood up too, you mean? Affirmative. Jean Luc cancelled on me, officially to attend an archaeologists conference, unofficially to meet Miss 'oooh, Jean Luc, guess what, I have an ARTIFACT for you'."
"Vash!?"
"How did you know?"
"Your very accurate description, plus the special poisonous, sarcastic tone you reserve just for her."
She laughed. "Right! Who would have thought I could be poisonous and sarcastic, too, huh?"
"I for my part never doubted it", he grinned.
"Did you, now?" Suddenly, Beverly slapped the counter with her open hand, making both Will and Guinan flinch.
"What the hell are we doing, Will?" The fierceness in her eyes now matched the one he had shown a few minutes ago.
"Look at us! Moping about, lamenting, dark clouds over our heads, and why? Just because things didn't turn out the way we wanted!"
"Well, it's as good a cause to lament as any."
"No, it isn't! Can't you see, Will? For a great part of our lives, we have been hoping, imagining exactly how our future would be, living in a fantasy world. Never once did we stop to look at the real world, at the people we actually lived with. They are real people, with real lives, with their own dreams and goals, and those dreams evidently don't include us, at least not in the way we hoped. All this wasted time, Will, all this - energy invested in dreaming up a life that would never happen..."
Will just looked at her. She definitely had a point there, of course she hed, but that didn't make him feel any better. He felt more miserable by the minute, actually. Not only rejected, but a thoroughly pitiful excuse for a man, that's what he was.
Beverly must have noticed the expression on his face. She stood up resolutely and said: "C'mon."
"C'mon where?"
"We're getting out of here. We're going to find a place where the music is loud and vulgar, the floor sticky, the counter greasy, where the barmaids are top-less and synthehol is science-fiction. And then we are going to get hugely, disgustingly, gloriously drunk. What do you say, huh? Fuck fancy dinners, fuck prissy archaeologists, fuck introspective journeys!"
Will stared at her, dumbfaced.
"Oh, come on! Just come with me", she pleaded. "Aren't you tired, Will? Tired of being proper, of being polite, tired of sitting discreetly in the second row just in case someone notices you? What for, Will? What for?"
She stood before him, tall and slender, her head thrown back, her fists clenched. Will thought that any man would have to be stupid, blind, AND out of his mind to pass up a chance with a woman like that. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a memory flashed through him - a memory that wasn't his, and yet it lingered. He remembered almost nothing of the days he has served as Odan's host, only that he had been in pain, that it was difficult to concentrate - and that he loved Beverly. Odan had loved her, but it had been his hands, Will Riker's hands on her body. He didn't know if it was right, but he also knew that this was a memory he didn't want to miss. It was part of himself now.
He took Beverly's hand. "I bet I can make you pass out before get even half as drunk as me. I know places that are so sleazy, you'll drop on the floor just from the smell."
"Great! And after that, we can play a hand or two. I know just the place."
Giving him no time to react, she started to pull him towards the exit. "Don't wait up for us, Guinan!"
"I never do."
Summary: Will Riker and Bevery meet in a deserted Ten Forward. Everyone is on shore leave, and their dates have been cancelled...
Review: Yes, please!! I do have an idea of how to follow up on this, and it would greatly help me if you let me know what you thought, if you see any future in this story (or this relationship??)... just talk to me:))
Not fifteen
by
Miranda
Beverly stared blankly ahead.
"If this is too difficult a question for you right now, I can come back later."
Guinan's face was earnest and sympathetic, but the humour in her voice was unmistakable. Beverly blinked in confusion.
"Uh... what? Oh... I'm sorry, Guinan, I suppose I was little distracted. Just a pineapple juice, please."
"Going for the risky choices, are we?"
"Right, I'm going to make this a wild night." Beverly sighed and smiled ruefully. Then she glanced over her shoulder at the deserted Ten Forward.
Placing a glass in front of her, Guinan said: "Don't worry, he'll be here any minute. I'm sure nothing could keep him from attending to this date."
Beverly looked surprised for a second, then shook her head. "Of course, I always forget: you know everything. Well, almost everything. I have a piece of information for you: he's NOT coming."
Guinan raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"
"It turned out there was this big meeting of some of the gratest personalities in archaeologics. It's a yearly event, and since he is always invited and never gets the chance to attend..."
"I see."
"Yes. Funny though, he never heard a word about this meeting until an hour before we were supposed to meet. Hence the outfit." Beverly made a gesture towards the low-cut, long black silk dress she was wearing.
"You look very beautiful, Beverly. Jean Luc is missing quite a sight."
"Well, I hadn't really decided what I was going to wear. Promise you won't tell anyone, but I've been trying on dresses for practically two days. This was going to be a special night, you know? I mean, we see each other every day, we meet for lunch and for dinner, even for breakfast almost every day... but this was going to be different, a real date: we're on earth, and he was going to pick me up and take me to a real restaurant, with real waiters, not holograms, and linen napkins, we were both going to be out of uniform, and then maybe go for a walk, and - oh, isn't it stupid to still be dreaming about holding hands? I'm not fifteen anymore, for Gods sake!"
"There is nothing stupid about dreaming, Beverly. And there is nothing stupid about holding hands either. OR being fifteen, for that matter."
"But I am, I am SO stupid, Guinan! I should know better, damn it! After all these years, I should know better than to dream up a perfect moonlit night with Jean Luc Picard. He just doesn't work that way. I am all in a fluffy haze about this stupid date for days, and he sets me up for an archaeological meeting, guest star for the evening the lady-explorer who does the best disappearing trick in the galaxy: Vash."
Guinan said nothing, but a queer mixture of concern and amusement crossed her features.
"Right. He didn't tell me THAT little detail, of course, but it wasn't too difficult to find out."
"Maybe he didn't know she was going to be there."
"Maybe." Beverly sipped at her juice, not really tasting it. "But that doesn't change the fact that our date didn't mean that much to him in the first place. So many YEARS, Guinan, hoping, fantasizing, doubting - deluding myself that whenever I was ready, he was going to be there, and now..." She fought the tears furiously. She was NOT going to cry because her boy had forgotten to pick her up for the prom dance, she was not! Thank God everyone was out on shore leave (having the most perfect dream-dates, no doubt), so no one would see her red-rimmed eyes and drippy nose.
"Can I have a double scotch straight, Guinan, please?"
"Speaking of risky choices and wild nights..." Unruffled, Guinan prepared the drink.
"Will! What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Beverly. I'm glad to see you too." His smile was tired and cracking up at the corners of his mouth.
"Sorry..." She giggled in embarassement and blushed. As she turned her head, her hair fell over her cheek, and for a moment, Will Riker saw the girl Beverly Howard once had been, fifteen years old and going to the movies with a guy she really liked, shy about what she said or did, in case he thought she was dumb and didn't want to walk her home afterwards...
"I didn't mean to be rude, I'm just surprised to see you here. I thought you'd be camping under the stars by the Grand Canyon by now."
"So did I." The vision vanished. The woman facing him was definitely NOT fifteen. It would probably be illegal for fifteen-year-olds to be dressed like that. Will whistled mentally.
"Deanna changed her mind. She has already seen the Gran Canyon, she was only going for my sake, and then came this very sudden offer she just couldn't reject, so she said this experience would be much more rewarding for me if I went alone, to make this some sort of an introspective journey."
He finished his whiskey in two huge gulps and made a face. "Introspective journey. That's what she said."
"I'm sorry, Will." Beverly put a hand on his arm. "Maybe she'll come back in time... We still have two days of shore leave left."
"I don't care when or if she comes back at all", he snapped fiercely.
He was silent for nearly a minute. Then, staring into his empty glass, he said, stony faced: "She went to meet Worf's parents."
"Oh." Beverly felt a pang of sympathetic pain. He'd been in love with Deanna ever since Beverly first met him, and somehow he had managed to transmit to everyone else his confidence: eventually, Deanna and him would be together. Forever. They were meant to be. Period. But Deanna's choice to spend her shore leave with Worf and his parents rather than with Will indicated clearly that she didn't want him to hope for a reunion anymore, that she had made her decision. Beverly thought this was a rather rude way to let him know.
"Yeah." He shook his head, then looked up at her. "What about you?"
"Have I been stood up too, you mean? Affirmative. Jean Luc cancelled on me, officially to attend an archaeologists conference, unofficially to meet Miss 'oooh, Jean Luc, guess what, I have an ARTIFACT for you'."
"Vash!?"
"How did you know?"
"Your very accurate description, plus the special poisonous, sarcastic tone you reserve just for her."
She laughed. "Right! Who would have thought I could be poisonous and sarcastic, too, huh?"
"I for my part never doubted it", he grinned.
"Did you, now?" Suddenly, Beverly slapped the counter with her open hand, making both Will and Guinan flinch.
"What the hell are we doing, Will?" The fierceness in her eyes now matched the one he had shown a few minutes ago.
"Look at us! Moping about, lamenting, dark clouds over our heads, and why? Just because things didn't turn out the way we wanted!"
"Well, it's as good a cause to lament as any."
"No, it isn't! Can't you see, Will? For a great part of our lives, we have been hoping, imagining exactly how our future would be, living in a fantasy world. Never once did we stop to look at the real world, at the people we actually lived with. They are real people, with real lives, with their own dreams and goals, and those dreams evidently don't include us, at least not in the way we hoped. All this wasted time, Will, all this - energy invested in dreaming up a life that would never happen..."
Will just looked at her. She definitely had a point there, of course she hed, but that didn't make him feel any better. He felt more miserable by the minute, actually. Not only rejected, but a thoroughly pitiful excuse for a man, that's what he was.
Beverly must have noticed the expression on his face. She stood up resolutely and said: "C'mon."
"C'mon where?"
"We're getting out of here. We're going to find a place where the music is loud and vulgar, the floor sticky, the counter greasy, where the barmaids are top-less and synthehol is science-fiction. And then we are going to get hugely, disgustingly, gloriously drunk. What do you say, huh? Fuck fancy dinners, fuck prissy archaeologists, fuck introspective journeys!"
Will stared at her, dumbfaced.
"Oh, come on! Just come with me", she pleaded. "Aren't you tired, Will? Tired of being proper, of being polite, tired of sitting discreetly in the second row just in case someone notices you? What for, Will? What for?"
She stood before him, tall and slender, her head thrown back, her fists clenched. Will thought that any man would have to be stupid, blind, AND out of his mind to pass up a chance with a woman like that. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a memory flashed through him - a memory that wasn't his, and yet it lingered. He remembered almost nothing of the days he has served as Odan's host, only that he had been in pain, that it was difficult to concentrate - and that he loved Beverly. Odan had loved her, but it had been his hands, Will Riker's hands on her body. He didn't know if it was right, but he also knew that this was a memory he didn't want to miss. It was part of himself now.
He took Beverly's hand. "I bet I can make you pass out before get even half as drunk as me. I know places that are so sleazy, you'll drop on the floor just from the smell."
"Great! And after that, we can play a hand or two. I know just the place."
Giving him no time to react, she started to pull him towards the exit. "Don't wait up for us, Guinan!"
"I never do."