ReacquaintancesAndy Maluhia, Joseph Swiftwind S'Ghaladriel, Evelyn Hale and Victoria McEntire"Err... I have met the Cap, you know Hawk?" Evy said as she was dragged up the corridor by her hand, with a silly grin on her face. "Ah yes, but that was First Lieutenant Evelyn Hale meeting Captain Analu Maluhia. This is Evy, the woman I love, meeting one of my best friends," Joseph informed her as they finally got to the CMO's quarters. Ringing the chime, Joseph wrapped his arms around Evy and kissed the side of her face. "Plus I get to see Victoria's face when she finds out too." At the sound of the chime, Andy looked up from
his very relaxed pose on the couch. His boots were off and his jacket
hung neatly on one of the chairs. "Are we expecting somebody,
Victoria?"
Peering up from her cross-stitch, Victoria shook her head and climbed to her feet. As she opened the door, she beamed up at Evy and her heart did a somersault at the man holding her so closely. "It's Evy and Hawk," she gasped and then squealed. "Together!" "Hey there, lil bit," Evy said with a grin. "Can we come in?" Laughing brightly at the way Victoria grabbed her hand and yanked her inside, she glanced over at Andy and blushed. "Evening, sir." Joseph waved around. "Hiya Andy! Thought we'd drop round and annoy you." "Well, now, which of you is going to annoy me
more?" Andy asked as he stood up and gave a leisurely stretch. He
grinned and said, "You've seen what my dad does when people annoyed him
at home, Hawk."
"This is a bad idea," Evy muttered as she tried to turn around. "Sure thing, Cap, but you know you love me anyway," Joseph winked as he forced Evy to go and sit on the couch. "Andy, my friend, I know you've met Lieutenant Hale, but now I'd like you to meet my e'lev." Andy grinned widely. "Ku`u ipo, eh? You hear
this, Victoria?"
Squealing even louder, Victoria hugged Evy tightly. "You kept this quiet! Baby girl, how could you not tell me?" A crooked smile grew on Evy's face. "It kinda sneaked up on me." Beaming at Andy, Joseph felt like the world was just getting to be perfect. "Isn't she gorgeous?" Then he laughed brightly at the look of sheer embarrassment on Evy's face. "Hey, I think you are." "Mm-hmm and I'm sure the Cap is more than enamoured with the littlest Mac to even notice," Evy teased. "You got that right," Andy said brightly.
"These eyes don't stray."
Victoria stroked Evy's cheek, still smiling. "So how did you meet? How long's this been going on for?" "Met about a week ago, maybe less," Evy said, trying to figure things out in her head. "Just kinda started chatting in the Mess Hall, he was all annoyingly interesting then kept being interested in me, so I just kinda fell in love to shut him up." Evy winked at Joseph, who beamed even brighter. "I ever tell you about the spark of recognition when a Rihannha meets their e'lev for the first time? It's like BAM," he clapped his hands together, "and it hits you. That's what happened," Joseph finished with a shrug. "That won't work," Andy said with a grin . "He
would make a wonderful storyteller."
"Huh?" Joseph blinked. "What d'you mean, it won't work?" "Tell me something, with the exception of
anybody with white hair, when did you ever miss a chance to not open
your mouth if you could?" Andy asked, the impish smile spreading across
his face. He nodded at Evy and said, "Wouldn't dare be disrespectful
to the white haired folk and he let them talk instead of the
other way around."
"Err..." Joseph had the distinct impression that he was being put upon and then suddenly his face lit up and he said, "I don't talk nearly as much whenever Moria's around. Hummingbird can talk the hind legs off a donkey." "Hey," Victoria hit him playfully on the arm. "That's my sister you're talking about." "And my cousin," Evy grinned. Waggling his finger at them, Joseph raised his eyebrows and said, "But am I wrong?" "Part of her job, y'know," Andy told him.
"Face it, Hawk, you're outnumbered."
"So I talk too much, so what?" Joseph slumped down on the couch, feeling and looking very petulent, until Evy pulled his arms around her and he grinned. "But I still fell in love, you can't deny that." "Nothing wrong with that," Andy said as he
wrapped an arm around Victoria's waist. "If your mom is going to tear
me to shreds, what's your Nanna Lindsey going to do to him?"
A tiny flicker of pain flashed through Evy's eyes and she saw instantly that Victoria had caught it. In a voice full of her normal bravado, she said, "Eat him alive, of course. Serve him up as the main course and you'll be dessert, sir," she teased. "I'd rather think it would be the other way around." Cuddling Evy close, Joseph cackled at Andy. "He is bigger'n me." "And you're the one marrying her little girl," Evy said. "And I'm much sweeter than you, Hawk," Andy
teased.
At Evy's initial _expression_, Victoria had frowned but the word 'marrying' wiped that off her face and she beamed. "A double wedding!" Bouncing up and down on her seat, she turned to Andy and said, "Oh it would be beautiful. Two weddings on one long stretch of sand. What do you think?" "The more the
merrier," Andy said easily. "We have plenty of sand and there's not a
spot on Kauai that isn't beautiful. Besides, it'd make my grandmother
very happy."
"Gotta keep grandmothers happy, especially this one. They are worrying, dangerous things," Joseph said sagely. In fact, he was extremely fond of Andy's grandmother, having spent much of his time at the Academy split between Kauai, California and Oklahoma when he wasn't studying. "You realise that we may have to have two ceremonies, if not three." "Three?" Evy gaped. Counting out on his fingers, Joseph said, "Earth for all the Swiftwinds, Maluhias and my Uncles. Dorvan V for the rest of the tribe. And ch'Rihan for the House. It's gonna be great!" Andy sniffed in
amusement and said, "Victoria, your cousin is going to want to elope."
"I said that! Did I not say that?" Joseph stared pointedly at Evy. "Yes, sweets, you said that," Evy chuckled fondly. "I wanted Grace to do it right now!" Joseph was bouncing as if he was on something. "But Evy and Moria won't let me. It's not fair." "I swear to God, you're just a big kid sometimes Hawk." Victoria rolled her eyes. "Besides, how would
your folks feel? You know they say sometimes the ceremony is really
for them. You're young, man, be patient," Andy told him.
"You know," Joseph said ruefully, "there's a reason they call me Charging Hawk: I like to charge headlong into things." "Without thinking first?" Evy rolled her eyes and smirked. "He always been this impatient?" she asked Andy. Andy dropped back to
the sofa, holding his arm out to Victoria in invitation. "Now the
Z-Man can verify this because he was there, but when I say wait til the
water's clear then it's best to wait. Those weren't deep spots in the
water now, were they, Hawk? Sharks like the taste of people..."
Victoria, eyes wide with a little fear for Joseph, got up and moved to snuggled next to Andy. "You live so they can't be all that fond of the taste of Romulan." Blushing bright emerald, Joseph tried to hide his face behind Evy. "No," he groaned, "I just swim very fast." Andy laughed
outright. "Shark's are very fair that way, Victoria. People are
people so food's food," he said as he put his arm around her. "Then
again, I'm thinking the discussion one particular Romulan had with the
biggest one of them might just have scared them off anything with green
blood."
Perking an eyebrow, Evy said, "Do I even want to ask?" "Not him," Andy said,
nodding his head at Joseph. "This one's no bird. He's a carnivore
cat, a tiger. You know who I mean, Hawk."
Nodding very slowly, Joseph said, "That would be the Enarrain. Scary, scary, scary man. The only reason the sharks ran away was because they can recognise a bigger predator when they see one. My Ri'nanov and father were on the same ship as them for a while, I was born there actually. Papa said he liked the man but only from a distance, Ri'nanov refused to have anything to do with him." "A good man to not
have angry at you but he's not as fearsome as it sounds but it was
funny. My uncle thought it was pretty neat--punching a shark in the
nose," Andy explained.
Evy gaped, her jaw dropping so low it was touching her chest. "Can he come to our wedding?" At the look of shock on Joseph's face, she laughed deeply. "He could whack my mother everytime she gets out of line." "He either can't or
won't leave Earth, Evelyn," Andy said. "Some people older than me know
why but he won't say."
"I always wondered if it was similar to my Uncles. One's on Earth, the other's on Vulcan, but not because they have to be. They choose to stay with their families, like Ri'nanov when Nightwalker insisted we all go back to Dorvan," Joseph explained. "You ask
him," Andy said with a snort. "He was pretty neat to have around when
we were kids but nosy questions from little kids got 'the eye' and that
was it. Now...I know Baya knows and Aunt T'Aris. Probably your
uncles, too."
Joseph barked out a laugh. "No way, man, as nice as the guy is with my Uncles, he really wouldn't appreciate an overly chatty hawk trying to get it out of him. And you know that none of those guys would tell a soul." "Victoria, if you
thought the orchid tattoo I got looked painful, you should the one that
guy has. It goes from wrist to elbow on the inside of his forearm.
Lot of detail and color," Andy said. "That had to hurt."
"You've never seen my Ri'nanov's tattoo, man." Indicating on Evy, he held out her arms and said, "It starts on her upper arms and winds underneath then over the top of her breasts and covers most of her body from there down to halfway down her thighs, even on the inside leg. It's the most beautifully intricate and artistic piece of work I've ever seen." A small note of pride entered his voice as he said, "My papa did it before they were married." "Must have hurt," Evy said, looking down at the areas of her body that Joseph pointed to on herself. "How many sittings?" "He did it all in one." At Victoria's hiss, Joseph added, "Without anesthetic." "My Great Grandfather
and one of my uncle's friends did it, Victoria. Z would appreciate the
art," Andy told her even as he hugged her at her sympathetic noises.
"As beautiful as my orchid is, I still think it's barbaric without anesthetic," Victoria mumphed as she leaned closer to Andy. "Your orchid?" Evy blinked then frowned. "I never thought you'd be the type for a tattoo, Vixxie." "Well, why not? It's
beautiful," Andy said, obviously trying to keep a straight face.
"And pink," Victoria said wistfully. "A lovely, pretty pink." Evy just stared at her, shaking her head. "It's not on your ass, is it?" "Hawk, you let her
kiss you with that mouth?" Andy asked, winking at Victoria as he stood
up.
"Only because she's beautiful, sweet, loving, wonderful, generous, kind," Joseph would have gone on except he found his mouth busy when Evy pushed her lips against his. Grinning into the kiss, he pulled her tighter, running his fingers through her hair. "And if you're not careful, my cousin won't be able to get out the door because of the size of her head," Victoria chuckled. Surfacing for air, Evy blushed but turned back to Victoria. "Seriously, where's the tattoo? I wanna see where my pure lil cousin got herself all marked." Andy was laughing
even as he pulled his uniform shirt off over his head. Joseph knew
about the tattoos already and so did Evy but neither of them had seen
the orchid. Pointing at the orchid on the upper left part of his
chest, he said, "It's right here. A ka `okika for my ku`u ipo."
"You realise the only reason I didn't just tell them was because I like any reason to see you without your shirt on," Victoria observed. "Vixxie!" Evy gasped. "Damn, girl, what's gotten into you lately? You sound as if you're losing the pole up your ass." Giggling brightly, Victoria stood up, wrapped her arms around Andy's waist and hugged up. "He has." "But this was for
her," Andy said softly," since all the rest of the 'aina and ohana are
here."
"Gotta be love," Joseph grinned, kissing Evy's cheek. "I know the feeling." "Well, of course it
is," Andy said, his hand rubbing Victoria's shoulder. "Good thing she
had the guts to say something because I was too blind to see a good
thing when it was right in front of me all these years."
Joseph coughed, trying to smother the laughter. "Man, you have no idea how much that woman was pining after you. I wouldn't call it pitiful nor desperate, but it was like this deeply sweet and painful thing to watch. There was no way I was gonna tell you, though, not if I wanted to survive my next physical. I could have booked it with the other doctor, but he's even scarier than Vix at full dudgeon." Andy simply kissed
the top of Victoria's head. "Yeah, well, I got my vision corrected
now, don't I?" he asked with a chuckle. "But isn't that your own
cousin you're talking about?"
"Yeah, sorta. I mean, he is my cousin, it's just we're not all that close. We bumb into each other occassionally and Tab invited him to dinner the other night, but we're not what you'd call friendly. Tab seems to like the guy, I just don't get him." Joseph shrugged. "He's a bit too stiff, even for a Vulcan hybrid." "He's a lovely man," Victoria said primly. "We get on very well, he and I." "He's scary," Joseph countered. "Like, all the scariest bits about being Rihannsu mixed in with all the weirdest bits about being Vulcan." "How long did you spend on ch'Rihan, sweets?" Evy asked innocently. The raspberry she received in return made her giggle. "I don't know that
I'd call him scary. Reserved,maybe. Refined. I haven't heard
anything bad about the guy," Andy said.
"I like him," Evy said evenly. "If Vix weren't my cousin, I'd go to him without any problems. He's got this wicked dry sense of humour, he's great." "You've been on the ship five minutes," Joseph humphed. "I had to have my first physical with him, on account of being related to the only other fully qualified doctor. He's cool." "Gee, now I wonder if
you picked me on purpose so you assistant couldn't do my physical,
Victoria," Andy said, teasing gently.
The blush on Victoria's face was all at once deeply funny to Evy and also painful. "Personally, I'll take your assistant every time, he's a hell of a lot easier on the eyes." Then she squealed when Joseph poked her. "Hey, you know you can give me a physical any time." "Okay, that's it," Victoria hmphed jokingly. "No more smut in this cabin." "Which reminds me: is
Smith still dragging his jaw off the floor, Evelyn?"
"Ohmygod!" Evy burst into a fit of giggles at just the memory of it. "That poor boy, he was sure pair of you were going at it for real. That boy is such a mark!" "Mission accomplished
then," Andy said with a grin.
Joseph gaped from face to laughing face and frowned. "Huh?" "You explain it, Cap," Evy said through her laughter induced tears. "Victoria came down
to my office to,ah, discuss something..." Andy began.
"They were having a row," Evy explained. "Just a very, very quiet one. Smithie had a glass to the door until I took it off him and he still didn't hear anything." "We were not having a row," Victoria objected, "we were merely having a civilised disagreement." "Yeah, s'what I said, a row." "Stow it, will ya?
Some of us can disagree without having a fit," Andy told her in a mock
affronted tone. "So, Victoria and I, having settled said disagreement,
were discussing morale and we wanted to lift it up for some people,
considering the situation we're all in."
"What did you do?" Joseph grinned mischievously. "Staged the best
stereotypical Marine vs. Starfleet fight that we could. Loudly, at
that."
"He threw me over his shoulder and told them he was taking me to the brig," Victoria giggled. "Yeah, where did you take her, Cap? I mean, you were gone an awful long time," Evy prodded innocently. "Home," Andy said
deadpan. "I had a headache."
"As long as Vixxie kissed it better," Evy responded with the same lack of _expression_. "She is a very good
doctor," Andy said with a wink.
Evelyn exploded with laughter, the sound shocking Joseph, who sat there and grinned. "That the kind of doctoring Evy gives when I get a bad back?" At the poke from his still chuckling love, he added, "A massage and a cup of tea, of course." "I can do that sort
of thing with my Marines,"Andy said as he sat back down. "They know
what I expect from them and they get back what they give. I owe them a
bit of a morale boost."
"Captain Maluhia the Masseuse?" Evy asked curiously. "With these?" Andy
asked, holding up his rather broad hands. "No, I meant create a
diversion."
"It worked too, we were laughing at Smith all afternoon. He took it well though, teased back. He's a good kid," Evy said. "Good, I'm glad it
worked," Andy said, grinning at the mental picture of Smith's face.
Smiling from Andy to Evy and Joseph, Victoria said, "Evelyn, why don't you and I do something for dinner? Maybe I'll teach you how to not burn everything." Climbing to her feet, Evy stuck her tongue out but followed Victoria into the kitchen area without further protest. Once she was out of earshot, Joseph looked over at Andy and said, "What do you think of her?" Andy reached for his
shirt and pulled it back on. Smoothing it straight after tucking it
in, he looked at Joseph, his elbows resting on his knees. "We've had
our differences but she's good people. You might be good for her
actually, might settle that temper some."
"She's amazing and not what everyone thinks when they judge her on what they see on the surface." Joseph's eyes drifted to where Evy was following instructions from Victoria. "I think there must be a lot of people who think she's as shallow as they are, just this angry, hot-tempered woman who takes nothing seriously." "Oh, no, she's
definitely not shallow, Hawk. That much I do know," Andy told him. He
didn't dare mention the incidents with James or Siobhan. If she hadn't
told him about it then they'd be one huge surprise. "Hot tempered,
yes, that's a given but she's fierce about her family and I can
appreciate that."
"She's fierce about everything," Joseph chuckled. "It's like she throws herself into all things with a passionate fervour. I can't believe I missed her before now, I can't believe I've spent so long without her." "And you have the
nerve to call me blind?" Andy asked with an amused snort. "But keep
your nose out of Marine business if it ever comes down to it, my
friend. In that situation, she will be just that: a Marine."
Joseph swung his dark, fathomless eyes back to settle on Andy, one brow raising in the Vulcan-like fashion and his _expression_ becoming like chiseled marble. "Ie, I am adept at compartmentalising my life. I have been in Starfleet long enough to know how to do that, believe it or not, Andy. And just as I'd take exception to you treading on Flight Ops affairs, I know how not to tread all over Marine. If she gets in trouble, I pick up the pieces in our own time. Ssuaj-ha." "Calm down, will
you?" Andy said mildly. "I never said you couldn't deal with but you
never had to before, either. That was just a word of advice from your
friendly neighborhood Marine, who's been in a lot longer than you have."
A grin cracked the perfect facade, softening Joseph's eyes and bringing a spring-green flush to his cheeks. "Sorry, I've never really been in this kind of situation before, where my girl's under the command of one of my closest friends. It's kinda weird. But I'll deal, no worries." "No problems. It
would have been irresponsible of me if I didn't say anything," Andy
said gently.
In a soft voice that no one but Andy could hear, Joseph asked, "You think I'm gonna screw this up?" "Hawk, I'm the wrong
man to be asking for advice on romance," Andy began, leaning forward
slightly, "but on people I can tell you. It comes down to respect I
think. Respect for her as a person, for what she wants out of life,
for the relationship itself. It's one of those things that just
spreads through everything."
"I've never had this before and now I'm petrified I'm gonna lose it coz I hold on too tightly or she feels smothered or I say something wrong or..." Shrugging, Joseph ran a hand through his hair. "Well, you get the picture. You think I can do this?" "Calm down, Hawk.
You're too wound up. I guarantee you will say something wrong or do
something stupid. The thing is to own up to it and deal with it," Andy
explained. He put a warm hand on Joseph's shoulder. "You remember my
Great Aunt Akeneki?"
A very fond smile lit Joseph's face and he nodded. "Of course I do." "Then, in her words:
quit thinking so much, boy. She'd either go on people for not thinking
enough or too much," Andy said with a chuckle.
"You know, "Joseph observed, "you sound just like her when you say that." "She was wise and
beautiful," Andy said with a fond smile. "That can't be a bad thing."
Joseph grinned, his eyes flicking from where Victoria was teasing Evy about how she chops onions to Andy's smiling face. "I wouldn't call you beautiful exactly..." "All Hawaiians are.
It's a known fact," Andy said with a smug grin.
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