Every Dok has a doctor...or at least a doctor's son

[shut_up_wesley]

Who: Wesley and Dok
What: A rather curious, if worrying reunion
Where: Dok's house
When: Mid-Afternoon
Rating: PG
Status: Incomplete/Closed

Comments

[ridokulous]

The night before, Dok had arrived home. The only thing he knew as he stood in his driveway, peering up at his house, was that it felt like it had been a while since he'd seen the place. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? Hadn't he just returned after a long day of exploring the town? That was what he assumed, at least, and it felt plausible, so he didn't dwell too much on it. Of course, if he had, he would find no memory of doing any of that. The truth was that he hadn't been in Aternaville for months -- three to be exact

[ridokulous]

The entire time that they embraced, Dok didn't for a moment wish for anything else. Just him. Just this. Nothing more, nothing less

[shut_up_wesley]

"Of course I mean it! I mean..." A slight blush returned to Wes' cheeks, not long enough to really be noticed-- he hoped. "If you wanted to. The truth is, I've sort of been working on plans for a space ship and I just don't have the equipment or the expertise to fly it on my own." It would be a little expensive and suspicious, even for a town like Aternaville, if Wes just bought some second-hand planet-hopper and modified it.

"So, I was hoping once you're better you'd like to work together. You being gone for a while gave me time to draw up plenty of designs, and I think I might have found one that would work." It was based off of a hybrid of a Peregrin fighter and a long-distance shuttle, both designs he knew by heart thanks to his training.

"Besides, something tells me you'd fit right in." Wes added with a slightly lop-sided smile.

[ridokulous]

And for the first time, it crossed his mind that he had actually died and ended up in Heaven, which is the only place that he could imagine something like this actually happening.

That thought lasted all of five seconds before his internal monologue piped up with an unmatched bitterness -- "Like you would end up there..."

All of the elation and acceptance that he felt to hear Wesley make that offer -- much less to hear him say that he thinks he'd fit in there -- came crashing down with the implications of that passing thought

[shut_up_wesley]

There had been no doubt in Wesley's mind that Dok would agree, but still, the brief hesitancy felt out of place. Living around Betazoids had taught him to recognize mirco-expressions, those little quirks of expression that are almost automatic when something is wrong.

'Well he did just spend several months Cochrine knows where and doesn't remember a thing...' He reminded himself

[ridokulous]

Dok couldn't hide a fond smile as Wesley began talking so quickly, but as always, he hung on to every word. It was a worrisome thought that he'd been on bed rest as much as it seemed, but with his adventurous nature, it wasn't exactly surprising. In fact, if he thought about it that way, it was kind of endearing.

"I can't think of anything I need off-hand, but you're more than welcome to go retrieve your homework," he said before an embarrassed laugh, "I'm sorry about that, by the way," he said, his sheepishness matching his companion's.

"Actually! To make it up to you, there should be a box by the couch marked 'Notes'. If you bring me the black binder in there, I've got something that I'd like to give you."

[shut_up_wesley]

Wes nodded, dark bangs loose and flopping a little as he did. "I'll be right back."

The truth was there was a second reason for him wanting to go back to the house, which was to use his tri-corder and scan every step Dok walked the other night. If there was any residual energy or strange readings that could account for Dok's memory loss, he'd be able to pick them up. Recalibrating a few things, Wes took his time when he got to the door, doing as sweeping a scan as he could manage. Right as he was about to give up, something blipped.

A muddy footprint. The make-up of the soil was very weird. Scrapping a sample off the carpet Wes stored it for later. Finally, he made his way to the couch, grabbed his homework and the box marked 'notes' in a familiar scrawl.

'Don't worry, Dok. I'm going to find out what happened to you, no matter what.'By the time Wes returned to Dok's bedside he was smiling again, all traces of the previous determination gone. "Sorry that took a while, wanted to make sure all the other doors were shut. So what is

[ridokulous]

Dok never suspected a thing, but had he known what Wesley's true motive was, there would be no words to describe his honor and adoration

[shut_up_wesley]

It was all Wes could do not to laugh aloud looking through those pages; a smile he couldn't exactly control swept over his features, engulfing whatever worry might have been left, in a dark eye, the corners of his mouth...all was replaced by an awed, giddy amazement.

"Dok, this is incredible! And you did this with 21st century technology?" No, no, judging by the formulas and theories applied, it looked like it could come out of Starfleet R&D. "I don't believe it...I just don't believe it!"

'But it would work!' Wes thought happily. 'With just a little modification. It would work!'

"Do you have any idea of the kind on impact on interstellar travel this could have, if I could perfect this and bring it to my own time? It would change everything we know. Dok, you have to help me get back home with this...you'd get full credit of course, for the theory, I'd never dream of taking that from you but..." Wes' mind was racing. Not only did he have the one man back in his life who cared so deeply for him...but now he also had an absolutely

[ridokulous]

Wesley's praise was nothing short of humbling, Dok couldn't help but think as he realized that he was blushing.

"I-It's nothing, really..." he stammered modestly, "It was just a way to deflect bullets and the like. We had done a lot with quantum mechanics beforehand, so I didn't really think much of it during it's conception, but if you think it's that revolutionary, you're more than welcome to do as you like with it. Credit doesn't really matter one way or another, but I'll certainly help you in anything you need."

"Pick-me-up is right..."Dok couldn't help but laugh; a genuine, carefree laugh that he was surprised still existed. There was a light behind his eyes that spoke of true happiness, too

[shut_up_wesley]

Wes was getting better and not feeling too embarrassed when Dok came out with lines like, "you're so cute" but he'd been concentrating so hard on the notes the comment caught him off guard and he flushed brightly for a second or two.

"Well, it's just...this is really incredible, I mean, I don't think you understand...this is something we're just starting to understand four hundred years from now, and all the answers are sitting in my lap." Wes wanted to make sure Dok understood, because in all of his travels, this was the last thing he ever expected. "And this was just to deflect projectiles?"

'Overkill much?' But it made sense: any form of shield that worked off of the principle of using a flat or convex surface or force to deflect something could always be broken-- but if the 'shield' in question was essentially a cylinder--a worm hole event, even--destabilizing it became an entirely different matter

[ridokulous]

The blush only caused Dok to laugh a little more, fighting the urge to reach over and ruffle his companion's hair.

"No, no, I do understand," he chuckled, "It's just...you should have seen your face. You should actually see it now! It's a lot cuter now," he grinned, enjoying being able to tease him like this. It was a great distraction from his thoughts, and a miraculous reprieve from wherever it was that he'd been.

"Really, though, I'm speechless that you're so thrilled about it. It means the world to me to hear this from you of all people."

When questioned about projectiles, he hesitated a moment before responding. "Well, not exactly...projectiles were only one of the things we meant to deflect, but some of them were larger than your usual handgun. If I recall correctly, it was cannon fire that actually broke it, but that's only because I wasn't given enough time to perfect it. My employer was in something of a rush," he said with a roll of his eyes and no spare amount of distaste.

"You sound like my mom."There were a lot of

[shut_up_wesley]

Far too used to such teasing Wes laughed along--he'd always get over-excited at the thought of a new project, and immediately he was working out why a canon ball could have collapsed the shield.

"Sounds like whatever you were using to hold in all of that mass didn't have a stable gravity feild. If you generated a graviton beam and used that to brace the structure..." Wes jotted down a few equations in the margin of his homework and passed the paper over to Dok, "like that, then it should be able to hold no matter what passes through, the only catch being the size of the wormhole event can only be as large as the matrix the beam is able to support. And, I probably have the spare parts for a generator in what's left of the garage if you want to test it

[ridokulous]

Dok couldn't help the swell of affection that followed the fact that Wes was laughing too. Always taking the teasing in stride. Although, he would be wrong in the assumption of cannon balls -- while they had indeed been shot from a type of cannon, the rounds themselves were explosive bullets rather than pure iron spheres. Nothing about what they faced had been normal -- nor was anything that they employed -- so he would likely need to do a lot of explaining when he went into detail