[ussbansheec] First Date
- From: Andy Maluhia <CaptainAndy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 05 Dec 2005 11:52:24 -0500
_First Date
_by Kai Ecitsuj, Sarah & Nat Lynley, Alfred Talmadge, Aileas McKay
Ecitsuj, & 5 of 12
***thanks to Liz for letting me use Kai's mom : :-D
Ever the good son, Kai thought it wise to call home and let them know he
was going to be late. Yes, he was a grown man but he was also breaking
routine and didn't want anyone to worry. He smiled when he saw his
mother on the comm screen.
"Good and very fine afternoon, Mum," he began, wondering which of them
would answer.
"You sound awful happy, Kai," Aileas stated. "What are you up to?"
"I'm just letting you know I won't be home at my usual time, Mum," Kai
said. In a much softer voice, so soft that it almost was inaudible, he
added, "I've got a date."
He knew she'd hear him. Whether it was 5 of 12's implants or, as his
father said, just a mother's good hearing, she would definitely hear
him. He also knew that neither of his parents would tease him about
it. Who knew? Amaguq might've told her about their conversation
anyway. He'd glanced away a moment, to keep his face from coloring but,
when he looked back, they were smiling.
"This is the one that your father told us about then?" 5 of 12 asked.
At his nod, she hmmphed in satisfaction. Throttling the young woman for
hurting her son's feelings would have been satisfying but she preferred
to not have to do that. She and Aileas both wanted their quiet son to
be happy. They smiled at their eldest. "Then have a good time, Kai."
He would have kissed them on their cheek if he was home but he simply
offered her a shy smile and said, "Thanks, Mum."
~~~~~~~~~~
Thankfully, the weather in London was at least marginally drier than it
was in New York. Sarah had shyly offered him her hand as they left the
transporter depot. It felt small in his gloved one but it felt...right?
Comfortable? Whatever it was, he liked it. It kept him from getting
too worried about the looks he was getting from all the strangers.
"George's Dragon isn't too far from here," she told him as they started out.
"Is that the name of the place? My father would appreciate the
legendary connection in the name," Kai said with a slight smile. "He
says people don't expect it of an engineering tech but it's because he
is Ninitchik and they love Stories."
"That's what Coaimhe said, too," she replied. She looked up at him
curiously. "You should smile more often. You have a very nice one you
know."
He tried not to but the smile crept across his face anyway. "Thanks,"
he said shyly. "I'm not used to hearing that but I'm sure you are."
"You're sweet," Sarah said, a pretty flush climbing her cheeks at his
diffident compliment. "You're so very quiet but you're sweet."
~~~~~~~~~~
They'd reached the pub by then but rather than go in the front door,
Sarah lead Kai around back. At his curious, questioning look, she
squeezed his hand gently. "We always go 'round back here. It's sort of
where our private spot is. My dad used to let us do home work and such
back there when we were little."
"I understand. It's like we used the back door at home and visitors use
the front," Kai said, almost smiling again. "You do /not/ track snow,
mud, leaves, or anything else through the living room without expecting
to hear from Mum."
Sarah was giggling at his comment as they stepped inside but Kai was
struck silent by the large bearded man who was standing in the doorway
opposite the one they'd entered. His hair and beard might have been red
at one time but they were almost all white now. He looked at Sarah with
a fond smile but the eye he turned on Kai wasn't so friendly. Kai
didn't need to check his implant's readouts to know suspicion when he
saw it. This was a bad idea, Izzy, he told himself, a very bad idea.
"Uncle Alfred!" Sarah exclaimed as she bounced over to give the big man
a hug. "This is my friend Kai. He teaches maths at school. I've
brought him to have dinner with me here."
Alfred blinked just once. A bloody Borg? It's not my place to say
anything. "Welcome to George's Dragon then," he said gruffly to Kai.
Nodding toward Sarah, he wiped his hands on the towel tucked into his
belt. "I'll fetch your dad, Sarah."
The big man was still shaking his head when he stepped into the main
room and behind the bar to join his brother-in-law. "Natty boy," he
said as he dropped a large hand on the younger man's shoulder, "your
youngest girl's out back and she's got the oddest looking bloke I've
ever seen with her."
"Oh?" Nat asked as he put down the glass he was polishing. "What's
wrong with him, Alfred?"
Big shoulders shrugged. "You go see."
Nat raised a brow and headed for the back room, pausing in the doorway.
His youngest girl was talking to a dark haired man, laughing at
something he was saying. Then he caught sight of the right side of the
man's face. Ah, I see what Alfred meant. "Sarah, my pet, don't you say
hello to your dad any more?"
Again, Kai watched silently as Sarah embraced the man in the doorway.
This has to be her father, he thought. David looks just like him and
now she's pulling him this way. Wonderful.
"Daddy, this is Kai Ecitsuj, Coaimhe's brother. He teaches at Xavier's
with me," Sarah said by way of introduction.
Like David, he was taller than Kai and his eyes and smile lit of like
his son's, too. "Nathaniel Lynley," he said as he held out his hand.
"Pleased to meet you. Your sister was a joy to have visit."
"She's our wee one," Kai said with a smile for his baby sister. He saw
there was no hesitation from the man. No flinching from the obviously
Borg hand. "And it's the honest truth to say we loved having her
friends over, too. My oldest sister was home on leave and took great
joy in teasing David to no end."
"Brilliant then. He's used to that from his sisters at home," Nat said
warmly. He kissed Sarah on the cheek. "Why don't you and Kai sit and
be comfortable, pet? I'll bring what's on special. Kai, what are you
drinking?"
"Whatever Sarah's having will be fine, sir," he replied softly.
"Right then. I'll be back in a bit," Nat said, shaking his head.
Alfred meant well. The bloke's harmless.
Kai offered Sarah a crooked smile and shook his head. "I'm making a
mess of this, aren't I? I'm sorry, Sarah, I have no reason to be so
afraid of him."
"Relax, Kai, you've not made a mess of anything. Dad hasn't tossed you
out on the street," Sarah replied impishly. At his somewhat alarmed
look, she patted his arm. "I'm teasing, Kai. Daddy's a angel unless
you make him angry and you'd know if he was."
"Sarah, I'll be honest with you even if it makes me look like a fool.
I've not only never been to a pub before, I've never been on a date
before. If my sister Slaine and I could never leave home, we wouldn't,"
he said, eyes downcast, staring at his right hand. Then he looked up at
her and added, "I thought you would be worth it, though."
Sarah gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "That has to be the sweetest
and most sincere thing anyone's ever said to me. Thank you," she said.
"Now, tell me about you. I know you're a good teacher and that the kids
love you but, after all the walks we've taken, I don't know too much
about Kai himself. You're so very quiet."
"There's not much to tell, Sarah. Honestly, until I started at
Xavier's, I never went anywhere but to work and home. Maybe to the
general's lab with my mum if I had to. People..." He held up his right
hand again. "People are afraid of us, Sarah. They see monster. They
see freak and Borg. They don't see my wonderful, sweet mum. Or don't
see big brother Kai who helped baby sister Coaimhe and our friend
T'Cerys drop pumpkins from a tree. They don't see that Coaimhe used to
cry when she knew I was upset or if she heard people say nasty things
about our mum."
"And what did big brother Kai do then?" Sarah asked quietly, her hands
resting on his arm.
"I'd read her, Scott, and Slaine stories or tell them some of Amaguq's.
I'd take Coaimhe out for walks by our house when the little brats she
went to school with wouldn't come to our house to play. I think that
hurt me more than it did her," Kai said wistfully. "And our mum's
beautiful, the best mother we could ever ask for."
"And she has a sweetheart for a son, Kai," Sarah said as she gave him a
quick hug. "Now, Coaimhe told us about the pumpkin smashing bit. That
was a clever way to make physics fun."
He actually snorted in amusement at that. "Well, they would have done
it alone otherwise and it didn't seem too wise to let two seven year old
girls up a tree by themselves. I was picking pumpkin guts and seeds
from my hair for the rest of the day but you're right, it /was /fun."
~~~~~~~~~~
Whenever Kai thought about it later on, he knew it was a wonderful
evening. He and Sarah shared the simple fish and chips that her uncle
had on special that night. He got to meet two of Sarah's cousins,
Alfred's sons Simon and Benjamin. After a bout of mutual distrust from
all involved, Kai found them to be friendly and good natured, with Kai
defending his father's favorite football team and Simon promising to
teach him to play darts on his next visit. But it was Sarah who'd made
the whole thing worth while. She made him feel...happy. Somebody
outside his family made him feel legitimately happy.
Despite Kai's protests, Sarah walked him back to the transporter
depot. "We can't have you getting lost, now, can we?" she asked as she
wrapped a hand around his elbow. When they finally reached it, he
looked down into her eyes and she felt her pulse flutter. He was
handsome and he was looking at her just so...a look like that could make
a girl weak in the knees.
"I had a wonderful time, Kai. I hope you didn't mind my suggestion,"
she said softly.
"Mind? Och, no, Sarah, it was perfect. Thank you for letting me meet
tour family like that. I appreciate it," Kai said softly. He dared to
lift his hand, his right one, to brush her cheek with light fingers.
"I couldn't not, Kai. You're a fine man."
"And you're beautiful."
His heart was pounding in his chest and he was fairly sure his face was
flushed as he inclined his head to kiss her. Sweet, very sweet. And
soft. His arm slid around her waist as if it belonged there. Sarah felt
light headed. He was so very gentle and she returned the kiss whole
heartedly. He wasn't a freak or a monster. He was sweet, quiet Kai.
When he finally lifted his head, Kai knew he had to have the dappiest
smile on his face. "I'll see you in the morning, Sarah, but do you
think I could ask you out again?"
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," she replied softly, her arms still
around him.
"Good." He kissed her lightly once more before letting go of her.
"Good night, Sarah.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was late when he finally got home but Kai saw from the driveway that
there was a light on in the kitchen. He supposed he should have been
surprised but he wasn't really. His mother sat at the table nursing a
cup of tea.
"Mum, you didn't have to wait up for me," he said softly as he entered
the house then went to kiss her cheek.
"We did, too," she replied. "We worried about you, Kai. Did you have a
good time?"
"I did. She took me to her father's pub in London. We ate in the back
room, though. It was nice. We talked, she made me laugh. She...she
kissed me, Mum. She said I was sweet.. She held this hand," he said
wondrously as he wiggled the fingers of his right hand, "and said I was
handsome."
They were glad they weren't going to have to throttle anyone after all.
They could still smell the girl's perfume on him. More importantly,
though, she could see the smile on her oldest one's face. He was in love.
"And do you know what I told her?" he asked.
"If you were smart, then you told her she was pretty and sweet at the
least," they teased.
"Well, I certainly did at that but," and he hugged his mother from
behind, "I also told her that I've got the best and most beautiful mum
in the world. Thanks for waiting, Mum."
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