Hidden Away [OTA Tag Rose]

[beta_five]

"So, you want me to come out now," Gary Seven responded incredulously. The problem with having an Aegis cat was when that cat was so protective she wouldn't let him go out when he could have been of help

Comments

I couldn't resist :)

[punchitpike]

There's another person on the promenade, dressed in Starfleet gold and leaning on the railing, looking out at the stars. The view is completely unfamiliar to Pike, but for a man who has spent so much of his adult life out in space? It is still a welcome sight.

Lost in thought, Pike thought he heard footsteps behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he realised he wasn't the only one on the promenade. There was a man...and was that a black cat on his shoulders?

Curious, he turned around.

"That's a nice cat you've got there." He'd always had a fondness for cats.

[beta_five]

He glanced over at the officer, sizing up the uniform. Old Federation, Kirk era. That man and his Vulcan ravaged history, sent him on dozens of wild goose chases and clean-ups in their wake.

But they had helped him when he needed it.

Isis didn't hesitate to think, though, she hopped down from her master's shoulders and daintily strolled over to Pike, put her paws on his knee, and looked up at him with pleading eyes just begging to be picked up and paid attention to.

"She knows what she's doing," Mr. Seven said with a sigh, watching his animal ham it up to the officer.

[punchitpike]

Cats were clever like that, and Pike bent down to pick her up. "Hello there, little lady," he said, scratching her behind the ears.

And because it wasn't polite to pick up a stranger's cat without introducing yourself, he nodded in the man's direction. "Christopher Pike."

[beta_five]

"Gary Seven," he responded, not offering a hand at the moment because knowing Isis, she would keep Pike's hands full. Which she had every intention of doing. Isis purred and leaned her head into the scratches, blinked her eyes slowly, and bumped her head into his cheek.

"She's an incorrigible flirt," he delivered dryly. And he knew that name, come to think of it. "Starfleet?" he asked conversationally.

[punchitpike]

"I can see that," he said with a smile, stroking her fur. But then, Chris Pike had always been a sucker for dark hair and pretty blue eyes. "What's her name?"

He looked up at the mention of Starfleet, slightly surprised. "Yes. Are you from the Federation?" This Gary Seven didn't look like your average Federation civilian - but then again, he looked like he might fit in anywhere.

[beta_five]

"No. I just know some officers... I get around. Her name is Isis..." He indicated her with a raise of his chin, and she lifted her own to rub against his fingers. Her little motor of a purr shaking her little body.

"You look a little out of sorts, Mr. Pike. I take it either you don't get around a lot... or you at least prefer to be the one in charge of it happening." Those stars, even strangers, still looked inviting. With their own little histories and swirling timelines, possibly civilizations. He went to stand by him and look out the window, wondering over them.

[punchitpike]

He nodded, absently scratching under Isis' chin. "You are quite right on that account, Mister Seven," he said, turning to look out at the stars.

"I've been in Starfleet for most of my adult life. Out there," and he inclined his head in the direction of the glass, "on various missions, discovering new worlds." He fingered the braid on his sleeve. "I've recently been promoted to Admiral - but after all I've seen, it's hard to get used to riding a desk instead of that center seat."

Pike wondered why he was telling Seven all this - a complete stranger - when he wouldn't even consider unburdening himself on people like Bob or Jon. Hell, he probably wouldn't even tell Phil.

Maybe it was the fact that Gary Seven was a complete stranger. And he could tell that the man was a good listener.

[beta_five]

He looked straight ahead, and indeed listened. To Pike, to the rhythmic purr he was drumming up, to the thoughts appearing in his head from the cat giving her opinion. He did understand slightly. As the head Supervisor he was less involved. Privy to more information, but in less contact than he used to be.

And Pike didn't seem like the type that would want to be an ambassador. It required too much talking.

"No... You went from exploring to having someone bring the stars back to you." Mr. Seven sighed, chest heaving and then loosely locking his fingers behind his back.

[punchitpike]

"Now don't get me wrong," he added, continuing to pet Isis, idly scratching behind her ears. "Jim Kirk's a good kid, and he'll make an even better captain, given time. I couldn't think of anyone more suited to command the Enterprise."

And yet, Mister Seven was quite right - from now on, he'd be reading about their missions, instead of being there.

[beta_five]

He abruptly laughed, that mournful, exhausted demeanor vanishing. He was the previous captain of that ship, and knew that Vulcan.

"I'm sure he will..." he said, looking over to Pike and that grin holding. "And you're no Admiral here. Maybe if you ask the AI system it would let you look out for the ships. My computer is always a pain... but she's usually pretty intuitive."

[punchitpike]

Pike didn't find Seven's comment about Kirk surprising - the young captain and the rest of his command crew had gotten extensive coverage in the press, after what they were now calling the 'Narada Incident'. Anyone who turned on a holovid (himself included) would have been bombarded with stories and images of the Enterprise and her crew for weeks on end.

Of course, he didn't even stop to think whether they were referring to the same Kirk, or even the same Enterprise.

"You know, I just might," he said. "I've been at loose ends, ever since I arrived here." He paused. "Hell, I don't even know where 'here' is."

[beta_five]

"It's nowhere," he said, smile drifting to something melancholy. "I've seen the beginning, I've seen a thousand ends, I've seen stars rise and stars fall... And I've never seen this. If it had been somewhere, I would have known about it."

Isis mewled up at Pike, almost piningly. As if she were trying to tell him all about her concerns in a sweet little feline whimper. And then, just to make him feel better, gave his cheek a good rub with her own.

[punchitpike]

Pike chuckled, giving the top of her head a good scratch. "Alright, little lady. I'm not usually this melancholy, you know." And you couldn't stay blue for long, not with your arms full of purring feline.

Something about Seven's words, though....
He glanced, up, curious. "You're not exactly human, are you, Mister Seven."

[beta_five]

He shrugged slightly, giving Pike something of a resigned look. "No. Human. Just lucky. Usually good enough to find a way out of these situations. I just can't this time.

"But it'll either be a vacation or a challenge. We'll see."

[punchitpike]

"Oh. It's just..you sounded like you'd seen more things than it was possible for a normal human being." He shrugged. Maybe the man was just extraordinarly well travelled.

"I'm thinking of it as a kind of shore leave. My doctors keep telling me to take some time off, so I guess they got their wish." He continued to stroke Isis - the little cat's purr was incredibly soothing. "Although I have to ask. Is it normally like this around here?"

[beta_five]

"Didn't say that I was a normal human being, but I have the standard twenty-three chromosomes. I'm just... Lucky."

Always like this? "Well, I've not been here long enough to really know. I do know when there was finally some action I could possibly help with, I ended up locked in my room and unable to get out whatsoever...."

Isis meowed petulantly, argumentatively. Mr. Seven just glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, gaze full of blame.