Doubt: It's What's for Breakfast

Posted on Fri Apr 26, 2019 @ 7:48pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

1,494 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Plaga Navis
Location: Camille's Quarters

Nicole sat at Camille's table, a hot mug of coffee in her hand. She heard a familiar yawn and picked up a second mug and carried it to the other room, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She watched Camille's eyes flutter open and smiled. "Hey," she said, holding the second mug out. "Still piping hot, so be careful."

Camille rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, looked to Nicole holding the precious gift of coffee. She smiled widely. “Merci, mon amour,” she said, taking the coffee, blowing on it softly, and taking a sip. “My glasses are on the table, can you please pass them to me?”

Nicole sprang up and walked quickly to the table, retrieving them and coming back to the bed. "So...tell me last night really happened and I didn't just dream it all up...?" She hid behind her mug, peeking out over the rim.

Camille set her coffee down on the night stand, gently took Nicole’s hands in hers, lowered her coffee away from her face, and lightly kissed her lips. “Last night really happened,” she said as the kiss broke. She took her glasses from Nicole and put them on, and then retrieved her hot drink. She brought the coffee up for another sip and giggled when her lenses fogged from the steam.

Nicole's shoulders slumped as she let out a breath. "Oh thank Providence," she said. "If that was a dream I'd lose my mind." She smiled at Camille's morning fog and took another sip. She savored the aroma and the silence for a moment, then looked up. "Breakfast?"

Camille simply nodded. It had been a while since she’d eaten, and a bit of breakfast sounded perfect.

"Good, I'm famished," Nicole said, swinging her legs around and jumping out of bed. "I was tempted to bring you breakfast on a tray but I didn't want to overdo," she said over her shoulder, winking.

“Another time, perhaps?” Camille suggested as she pulled herself out of bed, with a big grin on her face. “It might’ve been overdoing it this morning, but I do like a romantic gesture or two. Breakfast in bed...a dozen roses...being swept off my feet in my love’s embrace.” Her smile went from wistful to wicked. “Some sexy new lingerie for me and her both...an orgasm before getting up...” She playfully stuck her tongue out at Nicole.

Nicole's cobra-like hand whipped out and snagged Camille's tongue. She pulled the other girl close and let her go before leaning in and kissing her deep. "I'll keep that in mind," she said.

“So what is for breakfast?” Camille asked, approaching the table.

"Well since my cooking skills are only limited by the replicator," Nicole said, "the options are nearly limitless." She grinned. "I could use a hefty dose of protein, so I'm thinking steak and eggs. What does your stomach desire?"

“That sounds perfect,” Camille said as she took a seat at the table. “Nicole, once we’re in uniform, I’d like to record a short message to my family, introducing you to them. I haven’t had a chance to speak with them since coming here, but after last night...I want them to know how happy I am since coming here.”

Nicole blushed, her cheeks growing less pale. "All right," she said, smiling. She walked over to the replicator, keying up their food along with sides, some fruit and another pot of coffee. She brought it over to the table and set it all down. "Suppose I should do the same," she said, grinning and picking up her fork. "My mother appreciates when I send her advanced notice of my surprises."

She paused, mention of her mother reminding her of another parent she had to deal with. "What...are your impressions of my father?" she said, taking a measured bite of breakfast potatoes and chewing thoughtfully.

Camille paused to think as she was cutting into her meat. “He’s brilliant, for one,” she began. “I found some of his publications after I checked in with my staff. Starfleet said they’d send us the leading mind and they did. He takes risks, but tries his best to mitigate them. I find him easy to work with, which is helpful. I, ah, noticed a few little things that you do that he also does.” She left out some other things, like how she found herself thinking he was quite personable too. Likable, even.

"Certain behavioral traits are naturally passed on genetically," Nicole sniffed, her eyes focused on her cutlery. "What I need to know is whether or not he's honest."

"I think so," Camille answered. "When we had dinner, he answered some hard questions in ways that acknowledged his flaws."

Nicole sighed. "He...he told me that my mother and he argued about her leaving. That it was a 'trial separation' that wound up going past the trial stages. She didn't just pack her bags and go, he knew what she was going to do."

Camille considered the information. "Well, it makes some amount of sense, right? She may have had her problems with his lying about your creation, but that was a single act after many years of what I assume was a happy marriage. But I don't know her. What do you think about this new revelation?"

"Well...have I been lied to by my father? My mother? Or did I somehow fill in blanks and lie to myself for two decades? I don't know what to think anymore," Nicole sighed.

"It's a shame we can't call your mother directly." Camille noted. "But I don't think it's any of those extreme options. It's possible your father is being honest, your mother decided not to burden her daughter with the entire truth, and you've drawn some lines yourself. That's not lying to yourself. That's working from incomplete information, with no way to correct it."

"Not sure I could handle a call home anyway. What would I say?" Nicole said, upping her accent. "Hello, Mother! Hope you are well. How're your experiments going? Oh, by the by, was everything you told me a decade-and-a-half ago complete tosh?" She made a face, taking a bite.

"You still harbour feelings of resentment for him creating you at all," Camille observed. "Your words to me the other night: he created something unnatural, unwanted, and dangerous. Words I still disagree with, but we'll come back to that another time. Let's assume your mother told you the same truth as your father. That she didn't run because of the violation, but she left under mutually agreed terms and he agreed to keep his distance. Would that have affected your opinion about your creation? Tabernack, if your mother told you Thomas was an angel sent from God on high with nothing but purity in his heart, would that have affected your opinion? Probablement non, which means you'd have no reason or desire to talk to him and have your mind changed. And that's okay."

Nicole ate silently for a few minutes, then put her fork down, wiping her mouth with her napkin and sitting back. "I suppose," she said slowly, "what she said doesn't change what he did. Still, I'd rather she have told me everything." She smiled and took Camille's hand. "I appreciate the wisdom though."

Camille smiled. "I'm not as good as Cass, but I have my moments."

Nicole squeezed her hand. They finished their breakfast and Nicole recycled the dishes, then stretched. "All right," she said, gathering herself and putting on her Doctor Hat. "We should go rescue the Professor and let him get some sleep, and review the final prion trials. If these have failed, we're back to designing another batch of trials."

She sighed. It was slow going, but their failures had at least gleaned one piece of hope: prions were affecting the virus. That reduced the failures from 'dead end' to 'just a matter of time.' Still, the longer they took...

"Let's just hope the Captain hasn't decided to have me committed over my numerological ramblings..." she said, wincing thinking about the previous day. Between doubts and fears, a vague memory of some scribbles she'd brought to the Captain's attention started to nag at her. She pushed it aside and sighed.

"Numerological ramblings?" Camille asked curiously.

"I'll tell you about it in the shower," Nicole said, a wicked gleam in her eye as she stalked up to her prey, swept her up and kissed her.

Camille let herself be taken away, returning Nicole's kiss with passion and hunger. Their feelings, both for each other and for their situation, had been brought to the fore. These were two women facing extremely difficult challenges, but together and in love. Camille laughed as she was carried to the shower to enjoy un peu d'amour before their duty shifts began.

 

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