An Unexpected Fan

Posted on 14 Mar 2016 @ 7:41am by Ensign Xavier Hernandez & Ensign Elisha Cherno

4,613 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: Outbreak

Elisha was always the first person to leave a party. It was the curse of being mostly introverted. Tonight was no different, of course. After spending a few more minutes with the rest of the cadets, she decided that she'd had enough social interaction for the night and bid them all goodnight. Within minutes of her singing debut- well, not counting all the recitals when she was a teenager- she was on her way to the quarters she shared with another cadet.

Xavier had chosen not to sing or play his sax as the young cadets took turns at karaoke, but he had admired the young cadet with the honey blonde hair who was clearly terrified to sing. Yet, she had sung and he marveled at her voice and poise while she did so. When he saw her leave, he picked up his saxophone case and waited a minute before he left the lounge after her, just in time to see her headed for a turbolift. He picked up his pace a bit and arrived at it a moment after she did and gave a friendly smile. "I think you should have stayed for an encore," he said, his Spanish accent light, but definitely affecting his words.

Elisha blinked up at the man who had entered the lift just behind her. Wow. He was... hot. "Uh... no," she said, smiling nervously. "No, that was a one-time thing. It's never happening again."

"A shame," he said. He wore a dark button up shirt that had the first three buttons undone, a pair of black pants and soft soled dark shoes. "I would love to hear you sing more, but I must admit, my manners are lacking." He gave a slight bow to her. "I am Xavier Juan Hernandez, at your service." He pronounced his first name as hav-ee-AIR and gave her a smile as he straightened back up.

"Uh, Elisha Cherno," she replied with a nervous grin. "It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Cherno," Xavier said. "What role do you fill on this ship other than a soother for my ears?"

"I'm, um, in Stellar Cartography," answered Elisha. "Oh, uh.... deck five," she ordered the lift. She'd forgotten it was waiting for their orders.

"I am the Security K-9 handler," he said. "I was wondering why you made me see stars when you sang. Now I know."

Elisha laughed nervously, feeling heat rise to her face. She glanced up at him again, but could not think of anything witty to say, so she latched onto the K-9 part. "So, you have a dog?" she asked. "I mean, obviously he's Starfleet's dog, but... he lives with you, right?"

"Yes," Xavier said. "He's just a puppy right now, but he is growing fast. We stay together almost all the time so he recognizes me and the commands I give him. His name is Pequeño. Would you like to meet him?"

This time, her smile was genuine and without a trace of nervousness. "Absolutely!" she exclaimed. "I mean, if you have time. I don't want to inconvenience you."

"It's not an inconvenience at all," he assured her. "He gets upset if I don't introduce him to new people."

"Well, then, by all means," she said as the lift stopped and the door slid open. "Are you on this deck, too?"

"Yes," Xavier said. "And don't worry, he may look like a bear cub, but he's not." Smiling, he led the way down the corridor at a comfortable pace until he came to his quarters and entered his access code. The moment the door opened, a short yip was heard before a black ball of fur erupted from the couch where it had been laying and charged. "Pequeño! Sit!" he ordered and the pup immediately came to a halt and looked up at both of them. "This is Elisha, Pequeño. She is not the enemy."

"Oh, my goodness!" squeeled Elisha, kneeling to greet the puppy. "He is so cute! Hi, Pequeño! How are you today?" she asked, holding out a hand for the puppy to smell.

The puppy looked up at Xavier and he gave a nod, then stepped forward to sniff at her hand before giving it a long lick and wagged his tail.

"I think he approves of you," he said. "The last person he met didn't fair so well, but he's usually a good boy. Right, Pequeño? No more peeing on senior officer shoes."

Elisha laughed and scratched the dog behind the ears. "Well, he just senses that I'm a good person, isn't that right?" she cooed into the dog's face as she continued to scratch and pet him. "Yes, of course it's right! I'm a good person because I loves aminals!"

"So do I," he said as Pequeño lavished her with adoration and tongue washing while he set his sax case down. "I was raised around them and grew up wanting to base my career around them. Now I'm a K-9 handler and in a position to both help people and properly train animals."

"That's so cool," she said, now sitting cross-legged on the floor and scratching and petting just about every part of the puppy. "I suppose, if I'd known that was an option, I'd have gone for it, too. Yes, I would! Of course I would! For a sweetie puppy like you!" She switched between talking to the man and the puppy so quickly, it was almost hard to know which was which, save for the baby voice.

Xavier watched her and the pup and noted how comfortable she had made herself; it was almost as if he were no longer present, but he was happy to see that she was comfortable enough to forget him and simply enjoy being with Pequeño. "I think that if you keep that up, he may not listen to me, but it's good for him to be a puppy at times, too. I should let you watch him when I have other duties that call me away from him when I'm off duty."

"Oh, I'd be happy to!" said Elisha, finally looking at him again, all smiles. "He's such a good boy. Aren't you? Yes, you are! You're the bestest doggie ever!" And she was off again, all of her attention on the dog.

He smiled and went to the replicator. "Pequeño supplement number four and treat twelve," he requested and waited until the food and treat appeared. Going back to her and the pup, he knelt down. "Pequeño, sit up."

The puppy immediately obeyed him and came to his haunches and looked up expectantly at him.

"Three," Xavier said.

Pequeño yipped three times in response without moving and Xavier set the food down for him, then handed the treat to Elisha. "He gets this after he finishes everything, but he may not take it from you. Still, he seems to really like you."

"Like I said," said Elisha, taking the treat after barely looking at him, "animals like me. My brothers used to call me 'Doc' which was short for Doctor Doolittle."

"Doctor Doolittle?" He asked, unfamiliar with the reference. "Is that a veterinarian where you grew up?"

Elisha giggled. "No, he's a fictitious veterinarian who could actually talk to animals," she said, watching the puppy enjoying his dinner. "And they talked back to him. Literally, not like me when I pretend they're responding."

"That sounds interesting," Xavier said. "It would come in very useful in training animals. Do you want something to drink, Miss Cherno?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you," answered Elisha, still watching the puppy. "I used to pretend my cat could understand me and that I could understand her. I held conversations with her. My oldest brother thought I was mad for awhile, but dad told him I was just pretending. Which I was, of course. I was seven at the time."

"I think they understand context by inflection of our voices when combined with associated actions," he said as he sat down on the floor near the puppy. "Like how I taught him that three means to bark three times in order to get his food. He has different barks which mean different things and I act accordingly towards him, also."

"You're the Doctor Doolittle here!" she exclaimed, finally turning her full attention on him. "You really CAN talk to them."

"Not really," Xavier said. "It's just a lot of training, but it does take a certain affinity to be able to reach a level of mutual understanding. When Pequeño gets older, he'll understand a lot more commands, and I'll be able to understand him more, too. There's a lot to be learned from body language from them that I have yet to master, but the more common ones are easy."

Now Elisha was actually paying close attention to him. He was good-looking, yes, but that wasn't enough for her. Rather, what he was saying was of interest to her, too. "Like what?" she asked, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Take a dog that has one paw raised for example," he said. "This is very cute but the dog is not happy and does not want to be petted or bothered. She or he is worried. It's a sign of insecurity and mild stress."

"Is it?" said Elisha, surprised. "I never knew that. What else?" Now she was hanging on his every word. One couldn't go wrong with the subject of animals when it came to Elisha Cherno.

"There is half moon eye, which is where you see more of the whites than the pupil. It means they want to be left alone. It's usually given when they're feeling anxious and don't want to be petted, hugged or held against their will," Xavier told her. "When you see a dog doing that, it's best to leave them alone."

Elisha was eating this up. "That's amazing," she said. "I would have thought that an anxious dog wants to be petted and reassured. You know so much about them."

"It's partly due to my training and part natural understanding from being raised around them," he said. "If you see a dog turning its head away, hiding behind person or object, barking and retreating or rolling over on its back in submissive way, it means they feel anxious and want to remove themselves from a situation. There's plenty of body language signs to look for when being around them. They speak louder with their actions than through vocalization."

"Well, I mean, I've been around cats and dogs my whole life, but I don't know near as much as you do," replied Elisha. "I guess that's because it's your job. And you probably took classes at the academy or something."

"I did," Xavier admitted. "But I also said I was raised around them."

Pequeño finished his food and sat on his haunches as he eyed the treat that the young biped had in her hand, but he knew better than to go for it or whine until he was given it.

"Oh, yes, I nearly forgotted!" said Elisha, reverting to the silly baby talk as soon as she noticed the dog again. "Has he got to do anything for it, or do you just give it to him?"

Xavier looked at the pup. "Up, Pequeño!" he said in a commanding voice and snapped his fingers sharply. Pequeño immediately looked up at him and stood up on his haunches a bit unsteadily but held the position. "Now hold it above his nose. He should know to wait three seconds before taking it, but he won't bite you. If he doesn't take it, don't drop it; it just means that he knows not to accept food from anyone but me or another K-9 handler."

Elisha held the treat up over Pequeño's nose and sure enough, he just looked at it. "Oh, my goodness!" she exclaimed, watching the dog's self control. "What a smart doggie he is! Yes he is! So smart!" And she was off praising the puppy again. "Oh, here," she said absently, handing the treat to Xavier. "You'd better give this to him."

He took the treat and held it in front of Pequeño and three seconds later, the puppy gently took it and sat on his haunches to enjoy his tasty snack.

"Good boy, Pequeño!" Xavier said as he reached over to give the pup a scritch between his ears. He looked at Elisha. "I'm glad you didn't get upset that he wouldn't take it from you. I've been working on that for a week with him."

"Nah," said Elisha. "He not supposed to take it from me. He's well trained."

"He is," he agreed. "When he is full grown, then I will be fully trained."

Elisha suddenly had nothing else left to say. She realized that walking into a man's quarters like that, without knowing much about him was probably stupid, but he seemed trustworthy. Besides, she knew some great self-defense moves that could take down bigger men than Xavier, so she wasn't very worried at all. "Well," she said, almost pointlessly. "I suppose I should get out of your hair..."

"May I ask where you learned to sing so beautifully?" Xavier asked her as Pequeño decided to crawl into her lap.

Elisha felt the color rising to her face again. "Oh, it's not all that good," she muttered, absentmindedly scratching the puppy behind the ears. "I just got a lucky song, is all."

"Your voice says otherwise," he insisted. "Besides, I have taken music classes and know a trained singer when I hear one."

She opened her mouth to answer, closed it, opened it again, lowered her gaze and snapped her mouth shut. She watched the puppy falling asleep in her lap for half a moment, then said, "mum made me take voice lessons," in a very matter-of-fact way.

"I think you exceeded her expectations, Miss Cherno," Xavier said with a smile. "Would you like to hear me play my saxophone?"

She shrugged. At least it wasn't talking about her singing. "Sure," she said.

Xavier got up and retrieved his saxophone case, opened it and spent a moment getting the reed and mouthpiece set before he gave a little experimental start. Satisfied with the sound, he requested the computer play background music to Morning and began to play as he watched her and the puppy.

The music was soothing and Elisha was comfortable and sleepy. She thought that she should go back to her own quarters in the Cadet's barracks, but she was trapped under a sleeping puppy. She leaned back against the sofa right behind her and resigned herself to listen, at least for awhile. And maybe just rest her eyes a bit...

He finished his sax and looked over at her and noted that she had her eyes closed. "Miss Cherno?" He asked softly. When she didn't respond, he clicked his tongue twice and the puppy opened tired eyes and crawled off of her lap. "Well Pequeño, what do we do now?" He asked the puppy, who didn't have an answer. "Should I wake her or put her in my bed?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elisha stretched and yawned as she woke up. She always woke before her alarm and today was no different. Almost at once, though, she realized something was wrong. The bed was far too big. Her own bed was a twin, but this one was at least a full size. No, it was a queen. She blinked up at the ceiling, which was too far away. She had the top bunk in the cadet barracks and this was definitely not the top bunk. In fact, there was no top bunk.

She sat up and looked around. This was not her room. Her eyes went suddenly wide with horror. She hadn't been that drunk! But a moment later, she relaxed. No, she hadn't been that drunk. In fact, her clothes were still on and she was alone. She breathed a sigh of relief and flopped back onto the bed. Well, at least she hadn't gone completely insane.

But, now what to do? Her roommate would want to know where she was. How was she supposed to say that she fell asleep in a man's quarters without the other cadets thinking she'd slept with him? She'd have to figure that out on the way.

She threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. She found her boots at the end of the bed and hurriedly stuffed her feet into them. She had no idea where Xavier was, but she soon found him asleep on his sofa. She tried to sneak out, but Pequeño gave a couple of yips and ran towards her. "Shh!" she told him, kneeling to scratch behind his ears. "Quiet. Daddy's sleeping."

Xavier opened his eyes sleepily when Pequeño yipped and gave a smile when he saw Elisha. "Buenos días," he murmured before he remembered he wasn't speaking to a Spanish crewmate. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I mean good morning. Do you want breakfast?"

"I know what Buenos Dias means," Elisha pointed out, still occupying the puppy. "I... I don't want to be any trouble. I mean, I already took your bed for the night..."

"It's no trouble at all," he assured her. "I didn't want to wake you, so I gave you my bed and took your boots off. I hope you don't mind."

She shrugged. "Not really, I guess," she said, still wondering how to explain this to her roommates. Maybe she could pretend to have fallen asleep in the holodeck.

"Are you sure you don't want breakfast?" Xavier asked with a grin. "We're past the first date stage."

Elisha blinked, alarmed. "First- first date?" she squeaked nervously.

"I'm joking," he told her when he saw her alarm. "I gave up my career as a comedian to join Starfleet. Comedy was in my blood, but they said it was a shame that it never made it to my act."

Elisha relaxed immediately and grinned. "Well, I guess breakfast wouldn't hurt," she said. "My roommates are already going to think I've been up to something. Why not just give 'em a little more time to stew?"

Xavier laughed and went to the replicator. "That's the spirit. Computer, chorizo scrambled eggs and toast number four with an orange juice." He looked at her. "What would you like?"

"Oh, uh... tea blend #16, and a banana muffin," she replied. "And yogurt."

"Any particular flavor of yogurt?" He asked as he replicated the muffin and tea, then a morning breakfast for Pequeño.

"Peach," answered Elisha, finally standing from her position next to Pequeño. "No, sweetie, it's time for breakfast," she told him when he continued to jump next to her ankles.

Once he had the yogurt, he handed it to her, then knelt by Pequeño. "No. Sit." The puppy gave a whine and sat down, then gave a yip. "No. Three." Dutifully, Pequeño barked three times. "Good Pequeño!" he set the bowl down and then looked up at Elisha. "If someone came in here right now, they would think that I was proposing to you."

She laughed nervously. "Yeah, with- with yogurt," she said, holding up her little dish of yogurt. "And- and dog food."

Xavier stood up. "Don't forget the chorizo scrambled eggs and toast," he laughed.

"How- how could a g-girl say no?" she said, still trying to joke, but failing miserably at levity.

Going to the table, he set his food down. "Exactly. My Abuela says that the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach. Of course, she'll also try to feed everyone, but she is a good cook. Care to join me?"

"Uh, o-okay," stammer Elisha, taking her yogurt to the table and taking the seat across form him.

"So how do you like your assignment so far?" Xavier asked her after taking a bite, chewing and swallowing his food.

"It's nice," said Elisha with a small smile. "I hope I get to stay after graduation. I mean, I know not a lot of Cadets do, but, there's always a chance..."

"The training cruises never last very long and it's rare to stay on the same ship you trained on," he said. "However, the circumstances in which we find ourselves may make it difficult to effect a transfer. It would mean, though, that I would have more time to hear that lovely voice of yours."

Elisha grinned, but dropped her eyes shyly. She chose to ignore the comment about her voice, though. "Yeah, deep space assignments are hard to change," she said. "In fact, I know a lot of times, cadets in deep space don't make it back for the ceremony. They might just opt to leave us here. Or at least in this sector."

"If that's the case, I'd be more than happy to help set up a graduation ceremony in the holodeck for you and the other cadets on board," Xavier offered. "It's a very important time for a cadet and I wouldn't want any of you to miss it."

"Aw, that's so sweet," said Elisha, giving him a genuine smile this time. "I'm sure we'd all appreciate it."

"Starfleet might be able to do a subspace relay to make it official, but there's about a two hour delay between here and the Alpha Quadrant," he said. "Still, it would be worth it. Have you ever practiced saying Ensign Cherno in secret?"

Elisha giggled. "Captain, actually," she said. "But, I'd make a lousy Captain. M-maybe Chief Science Officer."

"I've actually practiced saying Admiral Hernandez," Xavier admitted. "It has a nice ring to it."

"It does," she agreed. "You'd probably make a better Admiral than I would Captain."

He laughed. "Not really. Not much call for an Admiral in a specialized department like mine. However, I could see you as the Captain of a science vessel."

"N-no," she disagreed. "I'd be miserable. I never want to be in charge of a whole ship. I'd rather stay in sciences."

"Think of it as setting the pace and making decisions on what you want to study next," Xavier said. "A Captain doesn't do everything themselves; they have executive officers and department heads to help them in the day to day operations while they sit back and say 'Make it so' and 'Engage'." He deepened his voice and tried to look stern at the last two 'commands'.

"Somehow I feel like there's more to it than that," she laughed. "Like, I feel like the Captain is always on call. And if anything goes wrong, it's all, 'Captain to the bridge!' The Captain basically gets no free time."

"You have a good point," he conceded. "Put that way, I'd be more than happy to hide in the lower ranks."

"It's all a conspiracy," she agreed. "They convince us all that being Captain is the ultimate. Otherwise, they'd have to force people into it."

Xavier laughed, a rich sound that was full of life and humor. "Let's find a nice Jeffries Tube when it's promotion time."

Elisha laughed along with him. "Sounds like a plan," she agreed.

"Now for us to come up with a good story about the wild night you had," he said. "What do you think the other cadets would say if you came back in some guy's clothes? I have a couple shirts that you could pick through to wear back."

"Uh, n-no," she said nervously. "I don't think I can do that. I'll just tell them the truth. It's easier that way."

"You know they won't believe you," Xavier said. "So make it nice and wild so they don't believe you. After that, you can tell them the truth."

She had to admit that his plan did sound like fun. But, it just wasn't her. "It's no good," she said. "I'd get three sentences in and chicken out."

He got up. "Wait right here," he said with a smile as he went into his room where she had spent the night. When he came back, he was holding a large black t-shirt with red lettering that read "Risa Gets a Rise Out of Me" on the front of it. "Wear this back and make them wonder."

Elisha burst out laughing. "No!" she gasped, still laughing. "No way! I am not wearing that!"

"C'mon," Xavier said as he held it out for her. "It'll get a rise out of them and you don't even have to say a word. Let the mystery be enough."

"No, I'll just stick with the truth," she insisted. "I- I mean, it's funny, but... it's just not me."

"Okay," Xavier said. "I give. I shouldn't have pushed you and I apologize."

"No need to apologize," she said, feeling the heat in her face again. "It really is funny."

"Does that mean you'll take the shirt?" he said. "I'd offer you a pair of sweat pants, but you'd probably be swimming in them."

Elisha hesitated. "Oh, all right," she said, taking the shirt. "I'm going to be swimming in this. I can't imagine how I'd look in a pair of your sweatpants."

"Done!" Xavier said with a smile as she took the shirt. "You can use my sonic shower if you want. I promise not to activate the shower cameras."

"You'd better not," she said, heading towards the bathroom. She quickly changed into the shirt and went back to the table. "What do you think?" she asked, twirling for him.

"Looking good!" he said as she twirled around. "Footloose and fancy free. It would be even better if you worse just a pair of shorts under the shirt so it looked like you weren't wearing anything." He laughed to show that he was teasing her.

She grinned, hanging the shirt she had been wearing over the back of one of the chairs. "I'll leave this here," she said. "Yanno, in case you have any buddies over and want to brag to them," she joked.

"Now to get the rest of your clothes here, too," Xavier said with a wink.

Elisha couldn't tell if he was teasing or flirting, so she just laughed nervously. "W-we'll see," she shot back.

He laughed again. "I like you, you're funny, Miss Cherno," he said. "You always make it seem like I make you nervous, then you get me right back when I least expect it."

She decided not to point out that everyone made her nervous. "Y-you can call me Elisha, if you like," she said instead.

"Then call me Xavier by all means, Elisha," Xavier replied with a smile. "After all, you already have one of my shirts and my pup likes you."

She ginned. "I'm coming back for that one later," she said, nodding at her shirt still slung over the back of a chair. "I'll- I'll see you later... Xavier," she said.

"Okay," he said as he followed her to the door. "I'll sleep with it under my head so you'll have something memorable to remember me by."

She waved at him as she stepped through the door and headed towards the Cadet Barracks. Now to see if she could keep a straight face while spinning a yarn.

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