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Reed's Armory -- A Malcolm Reed Fanfiction Archive .. |
Title: Halloween
Author: RoaringMice
Author's e-mail: [email protected]
Fandom: Enterprise
Rating: PG-13
Category: Gen
Summary: It's Halloween. Malcolm has had better days. So has Hoshi. Set in season one.
Comments: Swears, Angst, Depression. My thanks to Solferin for a fabulous quote, which I've used in the story. Thanks also to Impress for her Halloween challenge, although I've twisted it from her intentions.
Archived to Reed's Armory on 11/11/04.
Hoshi and Travis stood to the side of the food table, drinks in hand.
"This seems to be going well." Hoshi raised her glass to indicate the swirl of the party around them.
"Yeah," replied Travis. "This is my first Halloween party. It's kind of fun," Travis laughed, squeezing himself out of the way of one of his crewmates who was trying to access the food on the table. "Crazy, though."
"Yeah, we never had Halloween in Japan." Hoshi used her head to motion him to move further away from the busy table. Travis grabbed a napkin and a stack of orange, pumpkin-shaped cookies, then followed her further into the room. Hoshi continued, "we do have something sort of similar, the O-Bon festival, where we celebrate the memory of our dead relatives." She took a sip of her drink. "But that's a bit more, um, respectful than this." She quickly stepped back, out of the way of a running Trip, who was dressed as a ghost and chasing several crewmembers around the mess. "No running ghosts," she laughed.
Peering at Travis, Hoshi asked, "Can I have a cookie?" As he nodded and handed one to her, she continued. "I did do Halloween once, when I was on exchange to a school in the States. I went trick or treating with the other international students in my dorm." She took a bite.
Travis interrupted, "Um, isn't that for kids?"
Hoshi swallowed. "Yeah, we were kind of old...but we were obviously foreign college students. It was fun." Hoshi got bumped from behind, and moved the hand with the drink quickly away from her. "Let's see if we can find some place to sit down."
Nodding, Travis took another bite of cookie, peering over the heads of the crowd as he looked for an available table. Spying one occupied by Malcolm, he used his free hand to indicate it to Hoshi, and they headed over.
Trip, half-empty drink in hand, fell into an empty chair at Malcolm's table, breathing heavily. "Damn, that was fun," he said, slamming his glass down on the table's surface. "Kind of reminds me of Halloween at home. How 'bout you, Malcolm?"
"My 31st October experience usually consists of trying to ignore the trick or treater's doorbell-ringing, or shouting 'sod off!' through the window," Malcolm muttered. He took a deep swig of his drink, finishing off the glass.
"Ah...right." Trip peered at Malcolm. "Enjoying the party, are you?" he joked, softly, considering Malcolm carefully.
Malcolm looked up at Trip apologetically. "Sorry, just being a git." He sighed, running one hand through his hair and shaking his head slightly. "I'm kind of tired." He smiled slightly, "and if you can't guess, I don't love these sorts of events. Except for the drink," he raised his empty glass, cocking his head to one side. "Get you a pint, Trip?"
"Yeah, sure, Malcolm," Trip replied. "Beer's great."
Nodding, Malcolm walked through the crowd towards the drinks dispenser. Trip watched him go, concern wrinkling his forehead.
"Trip, mind if we sit here?" Travis said, interrupting Trip's thoughts. He turned towards Travis and Hoshi and smiled, pulling the chair beside him out.
"Sure, have a seat," Trip replied. Hoshi slid into the offered chair, with Travis in the seat next to hers.
Spying the cookies in Travis' hand, Trip smiled. "Watch out for those cookies..." With his most evil grin, he continued in an eerie voice, "...they can be deadly!" He grabbed one and stuffed it into his mouth, laughing menacingly.
"Hey, Malcolm," Hoshi said as Malcolm slid into the seat on the other side of Trip, a drink in each hand. Malcolm nodded in greeting, taking a sip from his pint.
Trip turned to Malcolm and smiled ghoulishly, showing a mouth full of cookie. Malcolm gave him a wry look, and slid his beer over to him. "Very nice, Trip," he said sarcastically, looking back to Hoshi and raising one eyebrow.
Trip took a sip of his beer and leaned back in his chair. "Aaah...that hits the spot. Nothing like cold beer and cookies." Turning back to Malcolm, he continued, "never did get you Brits and your warm beer."
Malcolm looked down at his drink, his face stormy. "Not warm," he said, swirling the dark liquid in his glass, then downing a large gulp. "Best served just under room temperature," he continued, then finished his pint. Looking at his now-empty glass, he tilted it from side to side, then looked up. "I could use another...anyone?" he said, standing. He took a step, then he swayed, catching himself with one hand on the back of Hoshi's chair as she grabbed his arm.
"You all right, Malcolm?" Hoshi asked, looking up at him with concern.
"I'm good, just all cack-handed," Malcolm replied, sliding out of Hoshi's grasp. "Think I could do with some nosh, though," he said, steadying himself, then heading off towards the drinks.
Looking at Hoshi and Travis, Trip grinned and said, conspiratorially, "I'm buzzed, but I think Malcolm might be seriously cocked."
Travis looked at Trip, confused. "Cocked?"
"Cocked, you know," Trip explained. "Hammered. Sloshed. Um..." he took a sip of his beer.
"Do you mean inebriated?" Hoshi asked, sweetly, all-innocence.
Trip looked at her, deadpan, shaking his head. "Well, if you want to be all proper about it..." Trip stopped suddenly, surprised by the nearby sound of breaking glass.
Hoshi turned to look behind Trip, and saw Malcolm, a surprised look on his face, his broken pint glass on the floor in front of him. Malcolm swayed and looked over at her, then down at his glass. Looking back up at Hoshi, he grinned, and shrugged. "Oops," he mouthed, squatting down to pick up the glass.
Hoshi stood quickly. "Malcolm, don't do that, you'll..." she moved towards him just as she saw him tumble slightly forward, his palm falling firmly on the broken glass. She gasped as she saw a large chunk of glass pierce his hand. Malcolm froze, his hand on the glass.
"Fuck," Malcolm said flatly.
Hoshi stepped towards Malcolm. As she reached him, he fell back, sitting down forcefully, pulling his hand away from the glass. Blood streamed from his wrist and palm. "Brilliant," Malcolm sighed, hunched over his arm.
Hoshi squatted down next to Malcolm, carefully placing her hand under his injured one, helping him support it. She noticed several minor cuts, but two that looked bad--one on his palm, the other on his wrist. She could see glass still embedded in his palm, but his wrist looked clear.
Hoshi looked up at Trip and Travis, grimacing, blood dripping over her hand and down her arm. "Travis, could you get doctor Phlox, please?" Hoshi asked stiffly. As Travis nodded and moved away, she looked to Trip. "Could I have some of that..." Hoshi indicated the trailing cotton strips of his ghost costume. Trip nodded, wordlessly ripping off several strips and placing them in her free hand. Hoshi took the wadded fabric and placed it over the wound on Malcolm's wrist, pressing hard to try to stop the bleeding. Malcolm flinched at the pressure. His arm trembled and she could feel his breath on her shoulder as she leaned over his arm. Very quickly she felt warmth, then moisture as his blood seeped through the cloth and started dripping onto the floor. She glanced at Trip, seeing the concern on his face. She pressed harder.
Malcolm drew a sharp breath between clenched teeth. "Isn't drink supposed to be anesthetic?" he whispered sharply.
Hoshi chuckled and turned her face towards his. Malcolm was grimacing, his eyes dark, his shoulders stiff. Seeing her look at him, Malcolm's expression softened and he smiled slightly. Then he turned his eyes from hers, and she looked up to see Phlox, with Travis in tow, kneel beside them.
Phlox carefully took Malcolm's arm as Hoshi moved aside. Trip and Travis both stood, doing their best to shield Malcolm from onlookers. Hoshi stayed close, settling at Malcolm's shoulder, as Phlox gingerly lifted her make-shift dressing and assessed Malcolm's injuries. She saw Phlox frown, his head down, examining the wounds. Then he looked up, his normal smile back in place. He gave Malcolm a reassuring look. "You'll be fine, we'll just get you to sick bay." Turning to Hoshi, he added, "If you could help me, please."
Hoshi waited in sick bay, away from the curtain which surrounded the area where Phlox was working on Malcolm. She could hear Phlox's voice, and Malcolm's occasional response, as Phlox repaired the damage to Malcolm's hand and wrist. She walked closer to where they were working, peering through the bars of Phlox's bat cages, trying to see the new baby bats. She caught part of their conversation.
"...injured frequently, even for someone in your profession. I find this to be cause for concern..." Hoshi cocked her head to the side, listening to Phlox's voice. "I believe you are taking needless risks. Perhaps you are pursuing self-destruction..."
"This is not my business," Hoshi thought, moving quickly away from the cages and out of earshot.
Several minutes later, Phlox pulled the curtain back, smiling at Hoshi. "You can go in," he said brightly, moving toward the sink. Hoshi nodded at him as he passed her, and she looked over at Malcolm, who was sitting stiffly on the bed, his head down, one arm bandaged. Both of his hands were gripping the edge of the bed, his knuckles white.
Hoshi walked over to the bed. "How are you feeling, Malcolm?"
Malcolm's head shot up, his eyes flashing coldly. "I've had better days."
Phlox walked back towards the bed. He turned to Malcolm. "You can go, but you're off-duty until at least tomorrow afternoon. And I expect to see you back here in the morning, as we'd discussed."
Malcolm nodded sharply and jumped off the bed, heading towards the sickbay doors. Hoshi scrambled to catch up with him as he strode down the corridor and entered the lift. The doors closed just as she reached it.
Hoshi stood in front of the doors to Malcolm's quarters, her hand poised above the door chime. Straightening her shoulders, she rang the chime. The doors opened and Malcolm stood there, still dressed in the bloody outfit he'd been wearing in sick bay. He looked surprised to see her there.
"Can I come in?"
Malcolm looked at her closely, then shrugged. He moved aside to let her pass, then entered the room, shutting the door behind him. He leaned against it and Hoshi turned towards him.
Before Malcolm could speak, Hoshi pressed on. "Could we sit down, please? I'd like to talk to you." She smiled nervously, and indicated the desk chair with her hand. Malcolm sat, and Hoshi settled nearby on the edge of his bed, tense. She took a deep breath and began, softly, leaning towards him. "Malcolm, I heard part of what Phlox said to you..."
Hoshi heard Malcolm's sharp intake of breath. She interrupted him before he could argue, holding out a hand, placating. "I'm sorry, I was nearby, and I heard..."
Abruptly, Malcolm stood, his chair scraping over the floor. "I think you should leave," he said coldly, walking to the door and opening it. Hoshi stood. She walked up to him, pausing near the doorway and placing a gentle hand on Malcolm's injured arm. He flinched. "Malcolm, I'm afraid for you. I need to know if you're going to be all right."
Malcolm stood stiffly, his arms crossed, holding himself tight. His face was impassive, his eyes flat. Suddenly he pulled away from her, walking the few steps back to his chair. He stood, his back to her, grasping the chair's back. The room was silent. He rubbed his eyes with his injured hand. Then he turned back towards her, blinking, his eyes shining in the light.
Hoshi walked towards him, stopping just out of reach. She asked gently, "Do you think you're doing it on purpose?"
Malcolm's gaze drove through her. "No," he said sharply. He spun away from her, sitting on his bed, staring down at his bandage. Seconds passed, and he didn't look up. Then he laughed, viciously. "I'm not sure...no."
Hoshi moved towards the bed and settled herself carefully beside Malcolm. He didn't move. "If you aren't sure..."
Malcolm looked at her, his eyes blazing. "No." He shook his head, standing. "No," he repeated, firmly, walking towards the door and opening it. He stood at the side of the door, not looking at Hoshi, waiting for her to leave.
Hoshi stood. She walked towards the doors, pausing just in front of Malcolm. She could feel the hostility and anger radiating from him. "Malcolm..." she began, before Malcolm cut her off.
"No, Hoshi," Malcolm said forcefully. He was looking directly at her, his face immobile, his eyes desperate.
Hoshi looked at him, hesitating for a moment. Then she turned and left, the door closing firmly behind her.
Hoshi lay in her bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She thought again of the incident with Malcolm, groaning. "That went unbelievably badly," she thought. "Happy freakin' Halloween. Jesus, I wasn't expecting..." She sighed and rolled over, trying to still her mind.
Hoshi turned over again, restless. "If he won't talk to me..." Exasperated, she shot up, walking over to her padd and keying it on. "I don't care what he says. I can't leave this."
Hoshi started typing into her padd.
"Malcolm--Any time, any hour. I'll listen."
Hoshi hesitated, and re-read her message. She hit "send", then stood up, going to the window and looking out. Staring out at the stars, she hugged herself, shivering in the cool of her cabin. "Fuck," she said flatly.
~the end~