So... Horatio is coming to grips with his human side... but what about Ehliena... She has something that she needs to tackle too...
Enjoy...
Oh Btw.... A slightly longer chapter today - and a Chris WP... Are you guys being spoilt or what?
Lucy
Chap 29
Ehliena smiled softly to herself as she slowly dipped her spoon into the ice cream dessert she had in front of her. Unlike her cousin Deanna who had a passion for chocolate almost bordering on obsession, Ehliena preferred the fruit flavours, especially strawberry, blackcurrant and mango.
However, today she had not chosen any of those; Guinan had talked her into trying out something new. A perfectly rounded ball of refreshing mint separated toffee caramel and wild cherry. The whole concoction was finished off with a generous amount of whipped cream.
Guinan watched carefully, scrutinizing the empath’s face for reactions as she slowly began to eat. Sometimes favouring just a single flavour, other times combining. “Well?”
Ehliena gave her friend a studied look as she carefully cleaned her mouth with the napkin. “The truth? All the flavours are divine – but I would prefer to combine the cherry with blackcurrant, or the toffee caramel with something nutty – or chocolate. I know Deanna will love it that way.”
Guinan nodded, but was not as interested in the two side portions as she was in the mint. “Tell me about it.”
Ehliena rolled her eyes, “What do you want me to say, you’ve seen the expression on my face, it’s fabulous… Quite possibly joining my list of favourites and you know how fussy I can be where ice cream is concerned.”
Guinan grinned, “So my experiment paid off.”
“Oh?”
“I asked the computer to increase the mint content slightly – to make it as refreshing as possible, but not to go too over the top on the flavour, some people just don’t like it. You have shown me that it is perfect. Thank you.”
Ehliena laughed, “Anytime Guinan, you know you can always trust me to give you an honest opinion where ice-cream is concerned.” Checking the time, she made her excuses; she had half an hour before her next appointment and wanted to check the availability of the holodeck for that evening.
Arriving at her quarters, she requested the information required from the computer and was just checking it when she sensed a person in difficulty. As she focused her attention on the source, a message clearly came to her mind.
‘What the hell?”She was confused for a moment and tightened her focus, when the next thought she received sent her running for the door.
“Dear God, someone, help me.”Running for the turbo lift, she didn’t think to ask anyone for help. The call had originated from one of the holodecks, the aura coming with it identifying the person as Horatio.
Arriving at the holodeck Ehliena didn’t think and tapped the door panel, running inside she was horrified to see Horatio struggling with some kind of skeletal monster.
The red-head was pinned to the floor, grappling with the monster which was obviously trying to kill him with a horrendous looking curved sword, serrated along one side. She ran forwards to try and help, only distracting Horatio further.
“Ehliena? What are you doing here?”
The monster was able to get more pressure on the blade and pushed downwards, almost coming into contact with Horatio’s throat. Ehliena grabbed the monster’s arm without thinking and was quickly thrown backwards, landing with a groan as her shoulder connected with a large rock.
Lieutenant Worf’s barked command was not lost on her, “Computer – Pause program.”
Sitting up slowly, Ehliena suddenly realised what was happening, she had inadvertently come in on one of Worf’s callisthenics programs and today Horatio had obviously joined him for a work out. As Worf helped her to her feet, she said an embarrassed goodbye and left quickly, leaving the Lieutenant confused at her abrupt departure.
She had barely reached the turbolift when she heard Horatio calling her name. “Ehliena, wait, are you ok?”
Ehliena sighed and blushed a little as they stepped into the lift, “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry to interrupt your workout.”
Horatio smiled softly, “Well I’m glad you did, Worf insisted I try out ‘level 2’, I have to be honest, I don’t think I would have survived much longer. Why did you come down?”
The counsellor’s colour deepened and she spoke softly, “You called me…”
At first Horatio was confused, staring at the look on Ehliena’s face he began to realise what she meant, “I called you? Telepathically?”
Ehliena nodded, unable to meet his eyes. Horatio chuckled softly, but when he saw the embarrassment on the counsellor’s face he stopped. “Ehliena, I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional. Mind you – I’m glad you did, you gave me an excuse to leave…”
When Ehliena said nothing Horatio sighed, “Ehliena, please don’t be embarrassed by your actions. If that’s how you react to a call for help… Then the person in trouble is extremely lucky. You never know who might be saved. A whole race on a doomed planet for example…”
The empath smiled and looked up slightly, “Well, I didn’t do so bad that time I guess.” She straightened up a little more as the lift reached her deck, “Thanks Horatio, though next time I’ll remember to call ahead to make sure that you’re really in trouble.”
The Ambassador chuckled, his eyes increasing in intensity, “You can call me anytime you like Ehliena, especially if you need to talk. I am descended from a race of listeners – remember…”
Ehliena swallowed, “How could I forget? If you weren’t Ambassador, I’d be worried that you were after my job.”
“Never Ehliena, you’re far too good at it.”
The empath blushed and smiled shyly at his reply, stepping out of the lift and walking to her office, she cursed her over-sensitive character. As she did so, a soft thought came into her mind.
‘Don’t ever doubt yourself Ehliena, we all love you just the way you are…’Walking into the room, Ehliena locked the door for a moment and leant back against it. Horatio’s parting words had stirred emotions within her that she had been trying to keep locked away. Despite her insistence that she was going to allow him to find his own character, she had noticed more and more that he was becoming like his 21st century namesake.
Taking a deep breath, she put her feelings back in her internal strongbox and unlocked the door, ready for her first appointment.