Taking Her To Meet Your Mother
Posted on Wed Apr 2nd, 2025 @ 5:44pm by Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke & Lieutenant Vura & Petty Officer 1st Class Marisol Puerta & Lieutenant Emily Dalziel & Titania (Nee' Jarot) O'Rourke MD PhD
Edited on on Wed Apr 2nd, 2025 @ 8:34pm
2,277 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Long Term Quarters - Habitat Ring - Deck 9 - Empok Nor
Timeline: MD003 1300 hrs
Titania had heard that the Pioneer was docked at the Station. She had yet to hear from Hermia or Edward.
Vura still was uncertain about this meeting. Why was Hermia so insistent on "killing two stones with one bird"? All that Vura wanted to do was assist Hermia with her father. Granted some answers may be here but why would Hermia not talk about them directly?
Arriving at Titania's quarters, Hermia pressed the chime.
"Enter." Came Titania voice.
Hermia entered. "Hi, Mum, its me she called?"
"Nice of you come see your old mother, my daughter." Titania said in a false old woman voice.
"Cut it out, Mum, we have company." Hermia said.
"We do?" Titania asked in her normal dulcet tones.
"Yes, pardon me," Vura replied, her bald head peeking in first, "Hermia brought me along. I hope that is not an intrusion."
"No, not at all, can I interest you in a cup of tea, its fresh, I only used the replicator to boil the water." Titania asked.
Delighted, Vura answered, "Please." She made herself comfortable, waiting for the tea party to begin.
"Good, good." She said and went to prepare the tea. "Since, my daughter has forgotten her manners, I'm Titania, and you are?"
"I'm Vura, the Chief Counselor on the Pioneer. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and may I say that you are an extremely beautiful woman. You might be confused for Hermia's older sister."
"Flatterer." Titania said with a laugh. "I like you, Vura."
The Counselor bent her head towards Titania as an acknowledgment. "I should look so good whenever I get to 35 years old, too." Of course, that was Vura's current age, not that she was willing to reveal that.
"There is going too far, Vura," Titania said bringing over the tea pot and pouring a cup for each of them.
"That might have been a little over the top, but the sentiment is not untrue."
"You, Vura strike as a woman that likes nice things, I have 3 metres of Tholian silk, that I have no use for, would you like?" Titania asked. "I'd offer it to Hermia, but she'd wear fatigues 24/7, if she could get away with it."
The Deltan laughed. "Well, I'm not completely certain of that assessment of Hermia, but you are not incorrect about my tastes. If you are certain that you have no use for it, I would not ever reject such a kind gift."
"Then its settled, I'll have the silk sent to your quarters on the Pioneer." Titania said. Then turning to her daughter, not very talkative today, my Hermia?"
"I haven't been sleeping, the stress of work." Hermia said.
"Yes, and I can sense you're losing control of your empathy, I wish you hadn't stopped our lessons." Titania said softly.
Vura sat and listened to the conversation, wondering where this was going and wondering what else she might learn about her friend.
"I know you thought of our lessons as invasion of your privacy, but I was trying to help you. Maybe my methods weren't right for you, I was just following my mother's methods. Just promise me, you'll find someone to help you control your empathy. I see with Vura here, you have some moral support." That said she moved over to Hermia knelt down on the deck and kissed eldest child on the forehead."
"Okay, I promise." Hermia said.
"Thank you," she said. Then changing the subject. "So, how long are you two on the station?"
Vura watched the interaction. Titania loved her daughter and cared about her but did not know how to reach her. Hermia, on the other hand, was somewhat rebellious towards her, which was not an unusual dynamic. The question was how to help them reach beyond it. Lost in her thoughts, Vura barely heard the question, and had hoped that Hermia would answer it, but when she did not, Vura hastily replied, "As long as Pioneer is on shoreleave."
"Good, I worked through lunch, so why don't I treat you to lunch, I know a quaint little cafe." Titania said.
This was becoming quite the interesting outing. Titania on a brief meeting seemed to really want Vura around and Hermia was being quieter than normal. Was she to be a bridge between them? "That's not really necessary," Vura answered politely.
"Nonsense, it's not every day, Hermia brings one of her friends to meet me." Titania said.
"Really?" She looked over at Hermia and then back at Titania. "I wonder why that is so."
"It's because I don't have many friends." Hermia replied.
"Why not? You're an amazing person, Hermia! We always have fun." The Counselor put a hand on her hip and said, "Well, now I know what I'm doing with you!"
"This is going to become some coming of age comedy, is it?" Hermia said. "Because, I'm telling you now, I'm not wearing yellow chiffon."
Vura laughed more boisterously. "I don't see you in yellow chiffon. Now, pink..." she continued teasingly, with a languishing last word.
Hermia rolled her eyes and followed the other two women out of the room.
"What?" Vura continued to tease. Would you prefer something transparent?"
"Definitely not, I prefer to leave something to the imagination," Hermia said.
"That's just your prudish human half talking, my daughter," Titania said.
"Yeah, that's why I don't show my private parts to all and sundry," Hermia said sarcastically.
"There's something to be said for letting it all be out there and also for having something that is left for the imagination," Vura responded diplomatically. "Certainly, leaving something for the imagination is fun for foreplay and teasing. However, at the end of the day, or is it night, the end result is likely ending in the bedroom, or wherever consenting folks wish to enjoy themselves."
"Well, I'm going to let my lover, whoever, they may be, see me naked." Hermia said.
"You have a lover?" Vura asked more interested. "Who is this person, Hermia, and why have you not told me about them?"
"No, I don't, I just meant that I'd share myself with my lover, if I had one." Hermia said.
"So, you would stay naked all the time when in the presence of your future lover?" Vura continued to tease. "That could be quite interesting if you were on duty with that person. The rest of the crew would get quite the show." The counselor giggled conspiratorially.
"You're being obtuse." Hermia said. "And would you just love that wouldn't you?"
"Which part?"
"Me being naked." Hermia said.
"All I could do is look and not touch," Vura replied morosely. "Nonetheless, it is always enjoyable to scan a menu."
Hermia rolled her eyes and Titania just laughed softly.
"Something else we should probably work on, then..." Vura observed.
Hermia wanted to shake Vura by the shoulders, until the Deltan's head fell off and rolled down the corridor. Unable to do this for obvious reasons, Hermia tore off her own clothes and stood there naked with her hands at her sides. "How's this for a menu, Vura?" She asked.
Vura's mouth dropped. She had not expected this response from Hermia. "Well," she teased, "there seems to be a little bite in all of the meal. Spicy definitely enhances an experience. Definitely worth the look."
"Why must you be so flippant about everything? Here I am exposing myself to you and you're still making jokes." Hermia said. "The only time you were serious, was when I kissed you, perhaps I should do so again."
The Deltan's joyful mood turned in an instant. "Don't you even joke about that, Hermia. It was reckless of you and I never want to be responsible for anyone's potential lack of sanity."
"So, it's okay for to pick away at someone's sanity, but to take in one go, is wrong?" Hermia asked.
"Excuse me?" Vura asked, wondering why Hermia felt that way.
"Seductress, demon, be gone from me." She spat.
Vura's eyes widened. What was going on? Hermia had never reacted like this before. If she was to have gone crazy from the two incidents, one which Hermia recklessly kissed her, it should have affected her long before now. She turned to Titania, "We need to get her to a doctor now. I'm not sure why she brought me to you, but I assure you that she was not like this before."
"Yes, I'm reading a presence in her mind, it's not clear, I believe its adept at hiding," Titania said removing her coat and wrapping it around her daughter. "Let's get back to my quarters, I'll call a doctor on the way.
"I don't know whether I'm relieved or upset to hear that, Titania. Your daughter was reckless and kissed me. I saw no signs of insanity but now...." Vura visibly shook.
"Its okay, its not your fault, Vura." Titania said.
"O'Rourke to Dalziel." Titania said into her comm.
"Dalziel here, what can I do for you." Came the culture English tones of Dr. Emily Dalziel.
"We haven't met, but my daughter is in my quarters and is experiencing what appears to be some kind of psychic attack. Could you please come quickly?" A little desperation leaked into the Betazoid voice.
"Of course, I'll be there shortly, try and keep her comfortable, Dalziel, out."
In Sickbay, Emily put together a medkit, and left Sickbay. This would be her first house call in quite a while.
Titania's quarters
Vura looked at Titania. "I don't know that my presence is going to help. Perhaps I should leave, or at least be out of sight?"
"Don't leave, she's going to need your support, once we get to the bottom of this. If you like you can take a nap in my bed."
"I don't think I can sleep at the moment. I'm more concerned about Hermia."
"I know, but maybe its best that you stay out of sight for now." Titania said.
"I will," Vura answered as she simply moved out of the room, worried about her friend.
The door buzzer sounded.
"Enter." Titania called.
A tall, blonde haired woman entered, dressed in Medical teal and carrying a medkit.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Emily Dalziel, where's the patient?" She said.
Titania led her to the sofa where Hermia sat, now wearing a blanket.
"Her name is Hermia, she just suddenly accused her friend and colleague of being a seductress and a demon."
Emily raised an inquiring eyebrow. Despite her only a quarter Betazoid, being this close to Hermia was making her uncomfortable.
Pulling out her medical tricorder, the doctor began to scan Hermia. For this she was rewarded with a snare from Hermia.
"Her paracortex is flooded with psilosynine, there is definitely some sort of psychic attack. I'll give her a psilosynine inhibitor, but it will take some time for the psilosynine to return to normal levels." Emily said.
"Has she had training in controlling her psionic abilities?" She asked.
"No, she refused, I think she thought if she ignored them, they'd go away." Titania said.
"We both know that's not how it works, and I'm sure she knows too." Emily said. "My medical advice, is get her training, to protect herself and others." She added as she prepared the hypospray and administered the medication. "She's going to need a lot of sleep, I also gave her an isotonic glucose solution to replace the sugars and minerals she's expended."
"Thank you, Emily." Titania said.
"You're quite welcome, Titania." Emily said. "I'll go now, but if her condition changes let me know."
"Of course." Titania said. "Bye."
Vura tentatively came out of the next room. "How is she doing?"
"The doctor gave her something to return her levels psilosynine to normal, but it's going to take some time." Titania said. "She's sleeping at the moment."
"I see. Should I just have her beamed to her quarters?" Vura asked not knowing what to do at this moment.
"That's probably for the best." Titania said. "Despite what happened, it was nice meeting you. You are a good friend to my daughter, don't let what she said and did under the effects of an outside force, damage that friendship, she loves you and needs you. After all her father and I weren't the best of parents, when it came to her." A tear appeared in the Betazoid's eye.
"One day, I'd like to discuss that with you. That actually was one of the things that brought us here, though I'm not entirely certain why she wanted me to meet you in person. None of that is for today, though. We need Hermia in one piece."
"I look forward to it." Titania said with a brief smile.
Vura tapped her commbadge and hailed the Pioneer. "Pioneer, this is Lieutenant Vura. I am here with Commander O'Rourke. Please have her beamed to her quarters in her bed on my orders."
"Aye, ma'am." Came the voice of CPO Puerta. "Prepare for transport."
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Vura
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke
Chief Medical Officer, USS Pioneer
Petty Officer First Class Marisol Puerta
Transporter Specialist, USS Pioneer
Titania O'Rourke MD PHD
Civilian, Empok Nor
Lieutenant Emily Dalziel
Medical Officer, Empok Nor
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