#when I was at home I dug out this small toy beetle I had when I was 4 years old

[ryuki-blogs]

Don't talk to me or my son ever again

[bisexualstokes-archive]

Ten Across

Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 3468 Characters: Nick Stokes, Gil Grissom Summary: Nick has a last minute emergency at work, and asks Grissom to babysit his kids, Madison and Parker, who ask Grissom why their dad doesn't like ants. Notes: Something to make up for the angst-fest that was Hellbound.  GSR implied, Nick's partner is left up to the reader!

@hands-christian-handersen @deltajackdalton, this your fault specifically, @impossiblepluto, @altschmerzes, @dannilea, I just feel obligated to tag you three in any nick and grissom friendship fics I write.

Read it on A03

“Uncle Grissom’s here! Uncle Grissom’s here!” Madison screams, running down the stairs towards the front door. The six year old was clutching two books, one on grasshoppers and one on hummingbirds.

“Uncle Gil’s here? Awesome!” Parker shouts from the couch. The nine year old was too busy playing his video game to turn his head towards the door.

“Daddy, Uncle Grissom’s heeeeeeeere!”

“Yes, Maddie, I heard you the first time,” Nick laughs as he continues to multitask, writing down names and phone numbers, packing up his backpack, trying to adjust his tie. He rushes out of the kitchen, nearly knocking into his daughter and dog (who surely would have told him “Uncle Grissom is here,” if he could speak english) to open the door for his former boss.

Grissom must have heard Madison’s shouts, because he is smiling as Nick welcomes him in.

“Hey, Gris, thanks again, man, I know it’s...last minute,” Nick seems to linger on those two words, his brow furrowed as he keeps trying to adjust his tie.

“My pleasure, Nick,” Grissom replies as he pets Sam, the dog with one hand, while the other is pulled by Madison.

“Uncle Grissom, look at the books Daddy gave me! This one’s about hummingbirds, and this one is about grasshoppers--I mean, Acri--Acridim…”

“Acridomorpha. That’s very interesting, Maddie! I brought some books of my own, for you to look at, until bedtime, of course,” he added, winking at Nick. He pulls a book out on atlas beetles, showing it to Madison, who beams brightly.

“Beetles! Did you know that the lava is capable of biting?”

Nick laughs at Grissom’s look of bewilderment.

“That’s larvae, Mads!” Parker beckons from the couch. “Dad told you a million times, jeez! Hi, Uncle Gil!”

“Hello, Parker.”

“So my son gets to call you ‘Gil,’ but I don’t?” Nick pouts, waving Grissom into the kitchen. He pours himself a cup of coffee from a pot that’s still half-full. “Coffee?”

“Thank you. And yes, he does, he helps me with my crosswords.”

“Pfft, so did I...once or twice...I think. Anyway, here’s a list of emergency contacts, they both just had dinner--I gave them desert already so don’t let them tell you otherwise. Madison goes to bed at 8, Parker at 9. I shouldn’t be long, I’ll try to be back as soon as I can, I swear--”

“Nick, it’s okay, you know I love spending time with the kids.”

Nick smiles, patting Grissom on the shoulder before running out the back door.

“They love you to, you know. Maybe even more than me.”

“I highly doubt that, Nicky, my boy.”

Nick leaves, still grinning, and Grissom has a moment’s silence, before the energy of the house rises to a frenzy. Sam circles around with a toy in his mouth, begging Grissom to play with him. Madison is jumping up and down, reciting facts about all the books in Grissom’s briefcase. Nick’s birds are chirping, disturbed by all of the sudden noise. Parker turns the television up a bit louder, scoots himself closer to the screen.

The energy reminds him of the lab, the buzz of voices talking, people rushing through the small building. It also reminds him of a much younger, clean-shaven Nick Stokes, playing video games with Warrick Brown, excitedly talking about birds, cranking up the music playing in the DNA lab as he hangs around with Greg Sanders.

So, in a situation where he would suffer a migraine, he was smiling, because he expects nothing less from the Stokes residence.

The initial chaos dies down after a few minutes, and everyone is at peace until Madison’s lower lip begins to tremble, mid-rant about the parrot that was currently squawking in the corner of the room, and she falls silent.

“Maddie, what’s wrong?” Grissom asks softly, noticing the young girl’s sudden silence.

“I...I m-miss Daddy!” she begins to cry.

“Pfft, I don’t,” Parker mumbles.

“It’s okay, Madison, he’ll be home soon enough,” Grissom comforts her, shooting Parker a warning look. Parker gulps and falls silent, he’s got Nick’s anxiety Grissom briefly thinks. He places a hand on her shoulder, lifting her chin gently to look into his face. “When you wake up in the morning, he’ll be here.”

“P-promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay…” she sniffles, but Grissom can sense that their promise offers little comfort. He glances towards his briefcase, noticing that only three of the five books were taken out and placed on the floor, before Madison got distracted by the bird.

“I think there’s some more books in my briefcase, if you wanted to take a look at them.”

Madison’s tears faded away, and she grinned. Grissom can’t help but see how much her smile reminds him of Nick’s. She gets up and runs back towards the case, and Grissom sits down on the couch, beckoning Nick’s dog to jump up on his lap.

Parker throws down the controller in frustration, running his hands through his hair.

“Ugh, I’m terrible at this game! I just died, again, and now I have to start all over!” he whines, beginning to pace around the room.

“Maybe a fresh start will help you see things in a different perspective,” Grissom told him. “Like a puzzle.”

Parker sighed, throwing himself next to Grissom on the couch.

“Yeah...or maybe I just need a break.”

Grissom dug out a piece of folded paper in his pocket, and handed it to Parker.

“Here, I brought this for you. I think it’s time you try it on your own.”

Parker unfolds it, it’s a crossword puzzle.

“You think I’m ready?” Parker asks him, his eyes shining bright. Determined eyes, just like Nick’s.

“I know you’re ready, Parker.”

Parker grins, and runs off to find a pencil. Grissom turns off the television, still stroking Sam with his right hand. There is peace for the next hour, bedtime is growing closer and closer. Parker seems to have moved to the kitchen table, Grissom can hear him reciting the clues, thinking out loud.

Madison, however, is suspiciously quiet, which Grissom knew wasn’t a good sign.

“Uncle Grissom!” she suddenly wheezes behind him, startling both him and the dog.

“Yes, Maddie?” Grissom asks in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Daddy’s never told me about this bug!”

Grissom’s heart sinks as he stares at the book Madison is holding up. It’s a book on fire ants.

“He doesn’t like ants at all, I don’t know why, I think they’re cute,” Madison keeps talking. Parker looks up from the table in the other room, and Grissom can’t help but see a younger Nick, a haunted look etched all over his face. Did Nick tell Parker what happened, why he doesn’t like fire ants?

“Sometimes one will crawl on me and I’ll talk to it, but then Daddy brushes it off me,” Madison keeps saying. Parker makes eye contact with Grissom for a moment, a worried look on his face, before he shakes it off and looks back at the puzzle.

“He told me they bite, but they never seem to bite me.”

“Hey, Maddie, I think it’s getting close to bedtime,” Grissom tells her, gently lifting the book of ants out of her hands. Madison pouts, but starts to walk up the stairs. Grissom follows behind her, standing awkwardly in the hallway as she brushes her teeth and changes into her pajamas in the bathroom. When she’s ready, Grissom guides her into her bedroom, and reads her a story about a woodpecker. She sits, listening very intently, but a yawn escapes her body as Grissom finishes the story.

“...the end.”

“Aw, can I have another story? Five more minutes, pleeeeeeease?”

“Remember our promise? The sooner you go to bed, the sooner you’ll get to see your Dad.”

“Fine. But..can I keep the fire ant book?”

Grissom thinks for a minute, torn between wanting to let this curious young girl learn more about a topic she is very interested in, but worries as to how Nick would react if he found out about it.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Maddie, because your dad really doesn’t like ants, but I’ll tell you what, the next time you’re at my house, you can read it all you want.”

Madison hugs Grissom’s waist, before hopping into bed, pulling the blanket over her.

“Can you put on the nightlight?” she asks in a worried whisper, as Grissom begins to walk out of the room. He smiles and obliges.

“Goodnight, Madison,” Grissom says to her, turning off the main light to the bedroom.

“Goodnight...Uncle...Cisco…” Madison breathes as she drifts off into dreamland.

Grissom walks back downstairs, where Parker is still sitting at the kitchen table, but the crossword is blank. He seems to be lost in thought, his eyes dark, his thick eyebrows furrowed. It’s a look Grissom knows all too well, one that is usually accompanied by the word “why,” spoken by another Stokes mouth.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Grissom asks the young boy. Parker looks up at him, licking his lips.

“Why doesn’t Dad like ants?” Parker asks.

“I...don’t think that’s for me to answer.”

“Why not? I’m nine years old, I’m not--I’m not a baby like Maddie!”

“Have you tried asking him?”

“I did, and he just gets...sad.”

“Your father will tell you when he’s ready.”

Parker huffed, crossing his arms, and clenched his jaw. Another look, that Grissom knew well.

“That’s not the only thing on your mind, though, is it?”

“He gets mad with me...a lot. Almost took my video games away yesterday.”

“Oh? What did you do?”

“Well, the first time, last week, I had gotten out of bed in the middle of the night, I was so close to beating this level that I just wanted to try, one more time, and he caught me sneaking through the house--I think I scared him, and...he had something behind his back though, and he wouldn’t show me. He always shows me what he’s doing, but instead, he just...told me to get my ‘ass’--oh, sorry, Uncle Gil--’butt’ back in bed.”

Grissom fills in the blanks of the story. Didn’t take a forensic investigator to realize, how worried Nick must have been, to hear someone walking through his house at night. He pictures a troubled Nick, gun drawn, walking cautiously through the halls, eyes fixated on the ceiling above him, before being startled by the young boy.

“The second time we were at the park, when Maddy was playing with the ants a-and he told us to stay away from them b-but I just wanted to look at them and I found the ant’s home and was playing around with it until he told us we were going home cause I wouldn’t listen, he didn’t yell but he just got...sad again, like he was...disappointed.”

“And the third time?”

Parker falls silent for a moment, and his lips begin to quiver, just as Madison’s did earlier. His eyes grow damp, and Grissom’s heart rate rises to a dangerously high amount, worrying about what he’s about to hear.

“Me and Mads were--were playin’ a-and I, I didn’t mean to hurt her, I suh-swear…” Parker begins to mumble, his voice shaky, his accent thickening. “We...we were playin cops n robbers and I was the cop and she was the robber, and I c-caught her, so I had to put her in jail and…”

He falls silent again, Grissom can sense the tremendous amount of guilt and shame from the young boy. He feels bad, allowing this innocent boy to relive an experience that has apparently caused him a lot of grief, but he knows that if he truly is Nick’s son, talking it out with Grissom would help him in the long run.

“I pushed her into th-that closet, over there!” he cries, pointing to the small closet in the living room area. The door is open, Grissom can see that it’s just barely enough standing space, not to mention all the coats and shoes littered inside.

“It was just part of the game, but it--she--it was so dark and she’s scared of the dark and she started yellin’ at me to let her out, an-and then she started screaming a-and Daddy came runnin’, threw the door open and yelled at me…”

Grissom’s mouth tightens to a frown, and reaches for Parker’s hand in an effort to comfort him. It seems to work, the boy’s tears stop and he sits up straight, wiping away his face with his free hand.

“He...He ‘pologized to me later, even let me stay up late that night to play my game...but...I thought I heard him cryin’ when I walked by his room on my way upstairs...Why won’t he tell me what’s wrong? Is-is it because he doesn’t like me?”

“Your dad...your dad’s been through a lot, Parker, I won’t lie to you,” Grissom sighs. He struggles to think of something to say, flipping back through flashcards of phrases to use when talking to the families of victims, but none of them seem to tell him how to address the son of one of his closest friends, who just wants answers to questions Grissom’s not authorized to answer.

“But he loves you, more than anything in this world, okay? You’ll never disappoint him, even if he gets angry with you sometimes. You know, he used to get angry with me sometimes, too.”

“He did?” Parker asks, his eyes wide in shock. He lets out a small giggle as Grissom nods.

“You just have to be...patient with him. He’ll tell you about the ants, when he’s ready.”

“You think so?”

“He told me,” Grissom replies, matter-of-factly. “You know what else he told me? That your Aunt Sara once got sprayed by...a skunk and she still smells really bad.”

Parker bursts out into a fit of giggles, and Grissom knows the hard part of his job is done. The easy part is giving Parker a special treat, chocolate covered grasshoppers. Helping him with the crossword, even though he claims he’s “got it” without Grissom’s help. Grissom educating him on some of the more complicated words, with Parker listening to him as if it was the most important lesson in his life.

The hour came and went, almost too quickly for either of their liking, but they only had a few more to go…

So Grissom lets him stay up, just “a few more minutes”...which was an hour ago.

“Okay, Parker, it’s time for bed, I let you stay up long enough.”

“Aw, but Uncle Gil, I got one more!”

Parker’s back is to the door, he doesn’t seem to notice as Sam runs to the door eagerly, scratching. Grissom can just barely see Nick’s smiling face on the other side of the door, gesturing for silence from Grissom with a finger on his lips as he gently opens the door. Grissom winks at him, as Parker continues to be undisturbed at the sudden commotion from the excited dog. Nick silently steps towards his son, crouching down and hovering next to him.

“Hmm...10 across, ‘what cows drink.’”

“That, my boy, would be ‘milk.’” Nick says, startling his son and making Grissom burst into laughter.

“Wha--Dad!” Parker blurts, nearly falling out of his chair. Nick joins Grissom in laughter, and Parker pushes him back playfully.

“That’s not the answer! It’s ‘water,’ cows produce milk!”

“Oh! Of course they do!” Nick exclaims, playing dumb to appease his son. He ruffles the kid’s hair. “Whoa, looks like you finished your first crossword! I’m so proud of you!”

Parker beams up at him brightly, as Nick lifts him up into a tight embrace. Grissom winks at Parker as Nick spins him around, making Parker giggle.

“But now, it’s time to go to bed, buddy,” Nick sighs as he sets his son back on the ground.

“Okay…” Parker mumbles, but runs around the table and gives Grissom a tight hug.

“Thank you, Uncle Gil.”

“Your welcome, Parker.”

Parker runs up the stairs, clutching the finished crossword puzzle, and Sam follows behind him. Nick sits down at the table, where Parker previously sat. He saw the small bag of chocolate covered grasshoppers, and smirks knowingly at Grissom before grabbing a handful.

“They weren’t too much trouble, I hope. Maddy’s been fighting bedtime, lately.”

“They were great, Nick, no trouble at all.”

“Parker’s been, uh...a handful lately.”

“So he told me.”

“Guilty conscience, just like his old man, huh?”

Grissom chuckles, and the two sit in silence for a few moments, before Nick takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes with his hands.

“Did he tell you about the closet thing?”

“Yeah,” Grissom sighs heavily. He suddenly feels a phantom pain in his shoulder, one he hasn’t felt in over a decade.

“Man, I was so...sometimes I wonder, you know, if I’m…if I’m not...messin’ them up somehow...”

“Nick,” Grissom begins sharply, trying to steer Nick away from any self-depreciation, before softening his tone. “Look, I know that I’m not the most...educated person on this subject matter, but for what it’s worth, I think you are an excellent father of two bright, wonderful children, who are proud to call you their father.”

Nick’s lips curl into a smile, and he sniffles.

“I’d say you know a lot, man, you basically were like our second dad, back in the day, you know? You gave us advice, you set us on the right path, you were so patient and...you listened.”

Both men sit in stunned silence, at the sudden realization of the true nature of their relationship, which had, until now, been solely unspoken. Nick clears his throat and gets up from the chair, awkwardly asking Grissom if he wanted anything to eat or drink, before Grissom mentions he needed to get going, because Sara should be coming back home any minute now.

Nick reaches his arm around Grissom’s shoulder, as Grissom sticks out his hand for a handshake, and they clash in a clumsy embrace.

“Thanks again, Gil!” Nick calls out to him as he walks off of the Stokes’ porch. Grissom looks back at him, shaking his head.

“No."

“Still?” Nick winces.

“Respect your elders, Nick.”

Nick laughs and watches as Grissom drives off. He does a sweep of the house, checking all the doors and windows before shutting off all the lights and heading upstairs. He checks in on Madison, surrounded by stuffed animals, he can see a smile in the faint glow of her night-light.

He checks in on Parker, who is doing a poor job of pretending he’s asleep, as Sam lays curled up at the foot of the bed. Nick enters the room, sits on the bed. He adjusts the blanket to cover his son’s body completely, and gently removes the comic book and flashlight from underneath his pillow.

“He still doesn’t like me calling him ‘Gil,’” he sighs to his son, whose eyes are shut tight, but Nick can see his ears twitch upward at the mention of his favorite uncle.

“I...I know I said it before, but I really am sorry for what happened yesterday. You didn’t know, what you were doing and, uh…”

He takes a deep breath, and strokes his son’s hair out of his face.

“It’s my job, you know, to catch bad guys, put them in jail but...sometimes...the bad guys win. We catch them, but it doesn’t take away the bad things they’ve done. Sometimes they get away with it, but the...things they do to hurt people, it doesn’t go away. And one day, when you’re older, I’ll tell you all about those times, where I….why I...But, it’s…”

Another deep breath, Sam whines slightly, placing his head on Nick’s lap.

“You know, I was nine years old, just like you are, waiting for my...mom to get home and I-I want you to know, Parker, no matter how angry or sad I get, I will never stop loving you, okay? You can always talk to me about anything you want.”

He places a soft kiss on his son’s forehead.

“I promise.”

He gets up and walks out of the room, wiping his eyes as he takes one last look at Parker, who, for all Nick knew, did genuinely fall asleep. He smiles in disbelief, what did he do to deserve these two little angels? He shuts the door gently behind him, leaving the flashlight and comic book on the ground, knowing that Parker will need them for his nightly adventures later. He’s completely unaware, of the four words spoken in a whisper from his son’s lips as he drifts off into a blissful dreamland.

“I love you, Dad.”

[boldlysinning]

Chapter One: Open Air and Latinum Stars

A Star Trek OC fic, featuring my Ferengi characters through various steps of their childhood following them through the years to early adulthood. Each chapter shifts perspective and takes place a few years after the previous one.

Rating: T for language Word count: 5147 What to expect: Two Ferengi kiddos head out to the market on their own for the first time, because breaking the rules is fun! An overall lighthearted read with a small glimpse into a young girl’s struggle with society’s extreme limitations of her rights, and her painful awareness of it.

Spheina’s father liked his breakfast promptly on the table a half hour before he had to leave for work. For the last six years Spheina had been the one to prepare all the meals, not just breakfast, ever since her mother passed away leaving her as the only female in the house. It was a lot of responsibility for someone so young, starting at age seven to her current age of 13, but she performed it as dutifully (if begrudgingly) as she always had since her mother was alive. Because it took such a large chunk of time to make the meal she had to get up well before both her father and younger brother so everything would be ready in time. When the food was done and her father had showed up to eat she would go to wake her brother, then they would eat together while father studied the day’s stock projections. Usually the two children were still eating when father bid them goodbye and left for the day, leaving Spheina to care for her brother, Druhk, alone. On top of keeping the house in order that included helping him memorize the Rules of Acquisition.

Normally it was a mother’s job to help a boy with his Rules, but Mother wasn’t here and much to Spheina’s dismay her father had refused to remarry. This meant that she had, unfortunately, been forced to adopt the roll of a mother on top of the chores a daughter usually had. Adding housewife to the list, since there was no actual wife in the house now, and that made three hats she was forced to wear. Her head was big of course, but even all this was a tight fit, especially at her age.

It didn’t help it was hard to keep Druhk focused. Six year olds really didn’t enjoy sitting still and quizzing over stuffy old rules day in and day out. Especially when his older sister liked to read ahead and refresh her own knowledge regularly then got impatient when he couldn’t remember. Spheina would get annoyed, Druhk would whine, Spheina would insult, Druhk would whine louder and they’d have to start over. They would only get a little farther before she also tired of the experience and they would pretend to be space pirates instead (Father didn’t need to know that).

This particular morning Spheina had decided to implement a devilish idea she’d been planning for a few days, one that they would only be able to execute once their father left for the stock exchange. Oh, how very clever she felt, and she just knew Druhk would agree. Because he always agreed, a quality she had carefully cultivated over his short life. Father never let her do anything fun, so she would use Druhk as a vehicle to get away with more than she was normally able to. And he was always willing to make mischief with her, bless his scheming little soul. If she couldn’t use her cunning as she was meant to, she’d use him as a means to an end. After all, what else was family for?

With this idea brewing in her head and the table set she scurried to her brother’s room, passing Father in the hallway with barely a “Good morning.” She was just short enough to make it through the door without ducking, even at full sprint. She leapt from the threshold directly onto Druhk’s bed and smothered him in his blankets, cackling loudly. Druhk screeched like he did every morning (you would think he’d be used to this by now) and attempted to fight her off, though compared to her he had the strength of a fly. Spheina picked him up, blankets and all, and deposited him on the floor, prodding him with her foot as he tried to escape the tangle of fabric.

“If you’d get your lazy butt up sooner this wouldn’t happen,” she jeered, snickering as his little hands swatted her legs.

“Why can’t you just wake me up like a normal person!?” he squealed in protest, crawling out of the blankets and giving her a final swat before straightening his pajamas.

“Because I’m not normal and neither are you, grubworm,” she said, giving one of his ears a flick, which caused Druhk to renew his unhappy swatting.

Spheina managed to grab his arms and lift him off the floor enough to carry him, dangling and flailing like a beetle over a stew pot. Druhk attempted to kick her for a short time before he tired of the attack and hung limp, defeated and annoyed. She finally let him down and they finished walking the rest of the way to the table; Father didn’t like seeing Spheina jostle Druhk around so she had to keep their horseplay out of sight. After Spheina had chewed Druhk’s food they ate together with their father in silence. It seemed like ages before Father finally finished his reading and kissed them goodbye, off to work for the rest of the day. Druhk continued to eat and Spheina beamed at him, her plate already clean, sharp teeth bared in excitement to share her plan for the day.

Eventually he noticed her and paused, gaining a look of suspicion, “…You didn’t poison Father, did you?” his voice was as serious as a small child could manage.

“What? No! Where would you even get that idea!” Spheina tried to laugh it off, but she remembered some words said secretly in the heat of anger after Father got rid of an offworld book she had managed to acquire through the bribery of a neighbor boy. What had really pissed her off in the end was that she’d kissed his stupid ugly face for nothing. “No, not that,” she reaffirmed, “If I did that and he died we’d probably end up homeless. I’ll wait till you’re old enough to take care of me to do it.”

Spheina laughed but Druhk did not seem pleased with her joke. He gave her a wary look, “So why are you smiling so creepy, then?”

“Today we’re going to go to the marketplace,” she tried to say matter-of-factly, but her excitement got the better of her and she smiled again.

“Ha ha! Stupid, you can’t go outside alone, you’re a female. And I’m too little to go with you, just you and me,” Druhk shook his head, smiling. The look on his face said something along the lines of ‘You’re so dumb it’s cute’ and Spheina didn’t like it.

“Don’t you ever call me stupid again, dung breath, or I’ll poison you instead!” she said angrily, grabbing one of his lobes and twisting it until he screeched, “I get enough of that crap from Father, I don’t need you doing it, too! You can’t even remember 10 of the Rules of Acquisition and I can remember 100, so just shut up!”

“I’m sorry,” Druhk said, rubbing his mistreated ear, tears brimming in his hazel eyes, “Father tells me not to let you talk like that, about going outside the garden or acquiring things, because females aren’t supposed to. But I know you’re not stupid, Sphee…”

Spheina immediately regretted causing her brother the amount of pain she had, her anger cooled quickly and she pat Druhk’s head and sighed, “I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you. I should have known that was Father talking and not you,” she kissed his forehead and wiped the tears from his eyes, “I’m sorry I twisted your lobe. And you’re not stupid either. I couldn’t even read when I was six, so at least you’re farther than I was.”

Druhk sniffed loudly and wiped his nose on the sleeve of him pajama shirt. Spheina made a face, though she tried to repress her innate disgust. Sometimes children could be entirely too gross for her, especially when she was the one always cleaning up after them. This was why she had decided never to have any, not even if a man paid her father a million bars of gold-pressed latinum. Raising her brother had been enough and her father could posture and threaten all he wanted, but she knew even he wouldn’t be that cruel.

“Do you want to go to the marketplace or not?” she pressed, pushing those thoughts of the future aside- despite her young age they twisted her guts up with fear, though she’d never admit it.

With all his hurt passed Druhk gave her an incredulous look, “I still don’t’ know how you’re gonna do that. Soon as someone sees us they’ll make us come home and we’ll get in big trouble.”

“No, see, I found one of Father’s old cloaks, with a hood and everything! I’ll show you.” Spheina bounced from her chair and scurried to her room. Druhk protested loudly behind her as he tried to climb off his chair without help. “Just wait there!” she hollered over her shoulder. Maybe he really was stupid, he acted like he had to be within 5 feet of her every waking moment or he’d die. It was incredibly annoying, especially when she was trying to clean and kept tripping over him playing with his action figures exactly where she needed to step.

She made a direct route for her bare closet, stuffed mostly with old toys Father hadn’t gotten around to getting rid of, and dug around the back beneath the biggest container. The cloak came billowing out, unfurling in such a way that it blocked her line of sight as she turned to hurry back to the dining room. Unable to see anything in front of her for a few moments Spheina missed the little boy as he appeared like an uncloaking starship directly in her path and smacked full force into her. His head rammed sharply right into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to fall back and ball up in a split second of terror as her lungs refused to work.

Thankfully her lungs recovered fairly quickly and she immediately untangled herself from the cloak and sat up, slamming her fists on the floor, “Damn it, Druhk, I told you to wait!” she shouted, baring her teeth, face flushed crimson red.

Druhk laid curled on the floor, holding his head and moaning pitifully, “Owwiiiee,” was all he managed in return.

“You’re fine! Stop being such a baby,” Spheina grunted. She tossed the cloak onto her bed and proceeded to scoop up her whining brother; she kissed his head where he had been holding his hands and hugged him, “Why didn’t you wait, I was coming right back.”

He clung to her like she’d been gone for a year, “I’m sorry, I don’t like to be alone, Sphee.”

Spheina rolled her eyes and suppressed a groan, “I know, but I was only in the other room!” she gritted her teeth, swaying back and forth to soothe him despite how annoyed she felt, “When you get older I can’t always be around, you know, you need to get used to that.”

Druhk only grumbled into her shoulder, apparently unwilling to concede that someday he’d have to actually go places without her. Spheina rolled her head back and gave a throaty groan of aggravation. She didn’t have time for this, there was only so much time in the day to go out before they risked getting caught by Father. “DO YOU WANT TO GO OUTSIDE OR NOT?” she yelled at the ceiling.

Druhk raised his head sharply and frowned at her, “I’m right here, stop yelling!”

She laughed derisively, resisting the urge to just drop him right on his rear. He’s only six, Spheina, she kept telling herself, You don’t want to be a slug in your next life, so behave. You can beat him up properly when he’s older if he keeps being annoying enough.

“Go pick out what you want to wear today,” she said darkly.

As their eyes locked Druhk must have sensed her patience wearing thin and when she put him down he sprinted from the room to do as he was told. This calmed her down a bit, it pleased her to still see a healthy bit of fear. She was the boss of at least one thing in her life for now and the longer that lasted the happier she’d be. The day he could rightfully tell her to sit down and be quiet was quickly approaching and she was dreading it. Thankfully, that day was not today.

Spheina then proceeded to run to her father’s room. The cloak wouldn’t be enough, she needed to wear clothes underneath as well or one stray breeze would completely blow their cover. His clothes were much bigger than she could reasonably fit into unaltered, so she grabbed a matching outfit and hurried back to her room. There she folded and pinned the extra fabric so that is looked a bit less clownishly huge on her bony frame and did the same with the cloak so it wouldn’t drag on the ground. As she completed the temporary modifications Druhk reappeared in the doorway, struggling to pull his shirt down. The collar had gotten stuck on his wide head and his arms waved wildly in the sleeves, unable to get good purchase. Spheina could hear muffled complaints but didn’t bother to listen as she pulled the shirt down for him. “Not bad, grubworm,” she said as she smoothed down the fabric.

When Druhk didn’t answer she cocked her head and raised a quizzical brow, only to find him staring at the clothes she was dressed in. “You look like a boy!” he cried out, somewhat distressed. She realized he’d never seen her in clothing before, not once in his short life.

“That’s the point, stupid,” Spheina said with a smile. She stood and cupped his face, lifting his chin so that he’d look her in the eye, “Listen carefully, alright, because if we get caught I’ll get into a lot of trouble.” She had to stress that she would be the one punished, not him- Druhk would be too scared to go along with her plan if he thought Father might yell at him. That and she wasn’t looking forward to the verbal lashing she would face if they were found out. Father knew full well Druhk would never break a rule so big and scary and convince Spheina to accompany him. Maybe in some strange alternate universe, but not here, meaning she was obviously the culprit.

“When we’re out there I’m not Sphee and I’m not you’re sister. We’ll get caught if you call me that. We’ve got to play pretend when we’re out there. So we’re going to pretend I’m your uncle. No one should ask our names, but if they do I’m Spad.” Druhk suddenly broke into a fit of giggles, apparently now feeling the intoxicating giddiness of doing something against the rules.

Spheina squished his cheeks and laughed as well, pressing her forehead to his and furrowing her brows mischievously, “Sh, sh! Listen. We’re going to buy a book or two, but you’ve got to do the talking because I can’t fake a man’s voice at all. If someone asks why, you have to tell them I’m sick and can’t talk. Tell them that’s why I have the hood up, too. Not that I’m wearing the hood because I can’t talk, but because I’m sick. Uh, you get it, right?”

“Yes!” Druhk said confidently.

“Good!” Spheina turned, grabbed the cloak, and dramatically twirled it around her shoulders, feeling charged with power as she clasped it in place at her throat. “And the illusion is complete,” she proclaimed, putting the hood up and grinning.

Druhk bounced excitedly and gave her a toothy smile before suddenly squeaking and pulling on the hem of his shirt, “How are we going to buy something? We don’t have any latinum!”

Spheina puffed out her chest and threw back the hood, “I stole some from Father!” she proclaimed proudly, “Not much, just a few slips every so often so he wouldn’t notice- I bet he thought he just miscounted. I hid them in my pillowcase.”

She then proceeded to walk to her bed and turn her pillow up-side down so that the slips of latinum came tumbling out in a clatter. Druhk cried out in amazement and climbed onto the bed, eyes sparkling, “There’s so much!”

“Not really that much- here,” she separated a small pile for him, “count that one and we’ll see how much there really is.”

In the end they came up with 25 slips and Spheina dutifully poured them into her pockets and took Druhk by the hand and led him to the living room, “We can’t stay out too long, I’ve got chores, but it’ll be worth it. You ready?”

“Yes!” Druhk said excitedly, squeezing her hand and taking the lead, tugging her towards the front door.

Spheina felt her confidence slowly wither away the closer they got to the door, and when it slid open she frozen in her tracks. She’d been outside before, of course, but only in the garden flanked by high walls where no one could see her. She hadn’t been out farther than that and sometimes even going to the gate was an intimidating feat. But Druhk had been outside the walls a few times now- sometimes Father took him places and during those times Spheina seethed with jealousy and bitter anger. Those feelings weren’t so much directed at Druhk as they were at her situation in general, he couldn’t help he was the son and got the rights that entailed. Even so, as much as she wanted to escape the cage of her life just for a short while the idea of the world outside was as frightening as it was alluring.

“What’s wrong?” Druhk’s voice broke her out of her frozen state of panic.

She looked at him and smiled nervously, “I’ve never been outside the garden, remember?”

“So? It’s fun out there,” he said, looking perplexed. It must be nice to be so young and innocent. And male. Nary a care in the world about where you could or could not go, because there were very few places you couldn’t go. It was hard not to envy him, but it wasn’t his fault.

“So… I’m… going to look pretty stupid without shoes, but I guess we can say my feet need to breathe as part of my illness. I don’t know, maybe no one will notice if I keep my cloak down. I need to be a sick old man after all,” to avoid more nervous rambling she hunched over and made a grumpy face, jutting out her jaw so her bottom teeth protruded from between her lips. She grunted and squinted her eyes as she leaned in close to Druhk, breathing heavily, “How’s this?”

He shrieked with laughter and pushed her face away, immediately causing her to lose character and laugh as well. Caught up in the absurdity she pushed her fear aside and hurried forward, over the threshold and out into the muggy open air. Stray droplets of rain sprinkled here and there and Spheina turned her face up to meet them as Druhk lead her by the hand to the exit gate at the side of the house. The garden was conquered, next she’d conquer the street, and then the market, some day she’d conquer Ferenginar, too. At least in this moment it felt like she would.

Spheina put up her hood and they exited the gate, only to stop again as Druhk paused and looked around. “What is it?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t remember how to get to the market,” he replied, looking uncertain.

After admonishments, ear flicks, and a short bout of smacking from both sides the two found someone and Druhk asked directions; they were out one slip because of it, but Spheina knew information wasn’t free. It wasn’t as far as she had thought it would be, but relying entirely on Druhk’s guidance when he was still fairly illiterate was difficult. She dreaded being led somewhere where she might be found out, or to the wrong location again and again until their small window of time had run out. However, the fact that she was outside surrounded by men who weren’t her family was exhilarating. She could have been anywhere, surrounded by anyone, aliens or Ferengi, and it would have felt the same. She liked the feeling of the wet stone under her feet and the sound of chatter and barter. She wished she could be here every day.

It took them some time to find a store which sold books of any kind, and once they arrived they stood outside the door a moment before Spheina realized in cost money to enter. “Robbery,” she hissed, but the Rules of Acquisition were beginning to make more sense.

“How much is it, Druhk?” she whispered.

“Um…”

“Oh, for- Look at the collection slot.”

“UM-”

“URG!” she lifted the rim of the hood slightly so she could get a quick look and found there to be no indication of the price, “Sneaky…” she said with a hint of admiration.

She pulled a slip from her pocket and inserted it into the collection box. After waiting a moment and finding the door still firmly in place she inserted another. If it didn’t open after two she wasn’t giving this leech anymore before even seeing the merchandise, they’d find somewhere else. Luckily the door finally slid open and she and Druhk quickly walked inside.

There was a Ferengi sitting behind a circular desk in the middle of the room, all around there were hundreds of books, both Ferengi and offworld, in glass cases with tiny collection boxes below the doors, apparently someone would need to provide a slip to get the case open. The man behind the desk welcomed them but Spheina waved him off and grunted as much like an old man as she could manage. Druhk picked up on the signal effortlessly, “Uh, my uncle just wants to look for a bit.”

“Hmph, take your time,” the man replied, seeming somewhat annoyed at the cold reception.

Spheina aimed to do just that, she went to the nearest bookcase and leaned in close, holding the rime of her hood up so that she could see. She kept her sight low so that she wouldn’t mistakenly lift her head too much and reveal an ear, or straighten her back too much and look a bit too healthy. She moved through the shelves slowly and at one point she caught the proprietor at the desk watching her suspiciously. Given her experience with her father and the boys she tempted for favors from the gate, suspicion was a normal state of being for Ferengi. It made her smile, though she hid it so she didn’t actually merit suspicion.

After about five minutes Druhk began to squirm at her side, apparently getting bored. She prodded his side with a stealthy finger and made him giggle and squirm more. “Patience,” she whispered.

When her eyes returned to the bookshelf they seemed drawn to a familiar spine, it was as if it suddenly leapt out at her now. Without hesitation she took a slip from her pocket and inserted it into the collection box. The glass door of the bookshelf quietly whooshed open and Spheina gently slid the book from between the others. Seeing the title her stomach felt like it was full of fluttering moths. It was the same book, the one her father had gotten rid of- not just the same edition, but the very same volume she had had in her possession. She flipped open the front cover and saw the messy scrawl from the neighbor boy, Thanks for the kiss. She nearly laughed, but held her giddiness in as she closed the book and grabbed Druhk’s hand, tugging it lightly so he’d lead her to the desk.

He did just that and she placed the book on the desk and patted it quickly with a quiet grunt to signify this was the one she wanted. “Ah, a fine volume. Twenty slips,” the man said pleasantly.

Spheina shook her head and leaned down to Druhk, whispering almost inaudibly, “Tell him I know it’s used and I won’t give him any more than seven.”

“Uncle knows it’s used and won’t give you any more than seven,” Druhk repeated resolutely.

“Fifteen,” the man countered, firm but still pleasant.

Spheina snorted and whispered to Druhk again. “Ten and not a slip more,” Druhk repeated with as intimidating a voice as a child could muster, pointing a finger at the proprietor for emphasis.

The man laughed heartily, “Deal. You’ll make quite a businessman when you’re old enough,” he said to Druhk as Spheina placed ten slips on the desk and picked up the book. She looked at Druhk warmly and pat his head, she was very proud of him, he’d played his part well. She whispered to him once more and he smiled at the man, “Uncle thanks you.”

“Have a nice day,” the man said, sweeping the slips front the table top into his palm as they turned and walked away.

The door remained in place as they stood and waited for it to open. Finally Spheina growled and took two slips from her pocket, placing them in the collection box. Damn, if Druhk ever got his own store (or maybe if things changed and she could own one, a lovely fantasy) they’d have to implement this clever idea. It was pouring outside now and they shuffled a little faster back home, at times the coast was clear of other Ferengi and they ran full tilt, as fast as they could.

When they made it home Spheina could barely contain her joy as they entered the garden. She released Druhk’s hand and threw her hood back, letting the rain drench her face and laughing as they came to the threshold of the door. She unclipped the heavy waterlogged cloak and let it fall to the floor and Druhk came running in behind her, flinging water droplets around as he tried to shake off the rain. Spheina placed the book on one of the tables with decorative sculptures and grabbed her brother, lifted him up, hugged him close. She spun around holding him tight and laughing until her head was light, and he laughed just as breathlessly while he clung to her. Finally they toppled to the floor, dizzy, and Spheina thought she saw stars drifting in front of her eyes as she looked at the ceiling.

They’d done it. She was drunk on the rain and the air and the sound of people and she wouldn’t forget that for a long while. And Druhk had played his part flawlessly, the best little accomplice she could have asked for. She kissed his head and squeezed him in a hug, then sat up and kissed his face until he pushed her away, but his giggling never stopped. She had cleaning to do, the clothes to dry out, the book, latinum and cloak to hide again, lunch and dinner to make, but it all seemed like a lighter burden after their successful adventure.

***

That night Spheina quietly tip-toed through the dark house. Her father was asleep and so was Druhk, but she stealthily slunk into his room and climbed onto his bed. She patted his shoulder gently and whispered to him and he stirred with a quiet groan. She picked him up and he clung to her even while half asleep as she carried him outside. There was a lattice on the opposite side of the house from the gate and after shifting Druhk to her back Spheina climbed it and slipped gingerly onto the roof, careful not to cause the ceiling inside to shift too much and risk waking Father.

She sat down and deposited a sleepy Druhk on her lap, all the while working to wake him. “What? Why are we here?” he whined with a tinge of grouchiness.

“Did you notice it wasn’t raining?” she said, petting his head.

“So?”

“So, look up.”

Druhk rubbed his eyes and turned them skyward where she was already looking. Above them the sky had cleared up enough to see past the nearly permanent ceiling of gray. The stars blazed through the thin wisps of clouds, and oddly they seemed even brighter than she remembered. She glanced down to find Druhk staring with mouth agape; he’d never actually been up late enough to see the stars, especially since the sky was usually thick with clouds. She rested her chin on his head and looked at his awestruck face with affectionate amusement. “Before you were born, when it was just me, I came up here a lot when I was supposed to be asleep,” Spheina said, “Sometimes I’d watch the sun go down, or just look out at the other houses and just wish I could go out there. But now I know that the stars are the only place I could go if I want to do whatever I want.”

“There’re so many,” Druhk said, leaning back and forcing Spheina to lift her chin and glaze up again.

“Do you remember Rule of Acquisition number 75?” she asked, locking in on the stars.

“Um… not really,” he said, sounding ashamed.

“It’s ‘Home is where the heart is, but the stars are made of latinum.’ You’ll get it, don’t worry,” she said, giving his head a reassuring kiss.

“Are they really made of latinum? The stars, I mean,” he asked, clearly amazed by the concept.

“No, I think they’re made of fire or something. I mean if they were really made of latinum they’d all be gone, because we’d have mined them centuries ago.”

Druhk nodded in understanding, “You want to go to the stars? Can you do that?”

“They say I can’t, but I will whether they want me to or not. Someday,” she turned her eyes to the sky again, “The galaxy’s too big and we live too long for me to be stuck on one planet making tubegrubs for Father or some other man forever.”

“I’ll go with you,” Druhk said matter-of-factly, “I bet there’s a lot of profit up there.”

“Yeah. Probably more than we could ever earn. And I like that idea. We’ll go together and make more profit than Father ever did. He’ll see he was wrong. They all will.”

“We’ll be the richest Ferengi in the galaxy!” Druhk exclaimed, his hands balling into fists and lifting towards the sky.

“Definitely!” she said, clasping her hands over Druhk’s fists and grinning, “We’ll make our own home in the stars somewhere, so it’s not too far from the latinum.”

[creativeskull95]

Well, this is finally done. Didn’t mean for it to take so long, but Christmas happened, and then some other stuff, and then I couldn’t figure out how to end it.

But hey,at least I did get it done eventually, so hopefully y’all like it.