Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 16:58:42 +1000 From: "Catherine Allan" (kenandcath@earthling.net) Subject: ODOGEN: Bouncey Baby Blues (1/2) Disclaimer: Mine. Mine, mine, mine. And a bit of theirs. ObInfo: Yep, you guessed it, part *6* of the continuing story of a writer and several cobwebby ideas that coincidentally stuck together in a nice way. How'm I doing for humble? ;) Bouncey Baby Blues Catherine Allan Kira Veral didn't cry like a humanoid baby when he was irritated. He squealed. An eighty-decibel ululation that sometimes shattered small glass objects nearby. "Your turn," Odo managed, "He's probably just hungry." "Or tired," Nerys yawned and stumbled into a robe. "All that growing on his own must be taxing." She just made it to the door when Veral stopped. "There, now, little honoured one," whispered a young voice. "Are you afraid of the dark? Or are you lonely?" "Soshal strikes again..." "She means well," Odo got up. It was unfair on the rest of their informal family. He plodded over to the crib, now empty, to watch Soshal talking to his son. "Ah, you were cold, little honoured one," Soshal, unaware she was being watched, found another blanket to add to the crib. Then she turned and lost her charming little smile. "I - I... Forgive me, I didn't mean to wake you." "You didn't," said Odo. "Veral did it," supplied Nerys. "And since it's nearly Oh-Five- Hundred, we might as well be up anyway." Odo helped Soshal settle Veral down again. Somewhere along his tour of their quarters, he'd grabbed his rattle, and was hitting various objects with it. "Seems you're an early riser, too, eh?" Veral, having just been tucked in, wobbled upright and shook the rattle. His eyes watched how the coloured pieces fell, again and again. "May I prepare the breakfast, Ambassador?" Soshal looked a little rumpled first thing in the morning, yet she always managed to turn up at his offices neatly pressed and in pristine condition. "Very little is going to stop you," he noted. "Tell me Soshal, do you actually *use* those quarters we assigned to you?" "Yes, Ambassador; I do." "Nice to think they're not going to waste," Odo smiled, gave up on his son, and picked him up. "Come on, little noisemaker; let's help your mother with her shower." Soshal watched the Honoured Ones go, tidied the quarters, replicated the various breakfasts, then ran to her quarters. While her one dress was being cleaned, she dutifully filed her report to her Gods. _It is the second week after the little Honoured One was born,_ she wrote. _I find myself surprised that the Honoured One and his chosen mate still allow me to hold the little Honoured One. I make myself of use to the Honoured Ones as often as I can. I am proud to finally be of good service. _The Honoured Ambassador is teaching me to stop staring at my feet. I find this a hard lesson to learn, sometimes. He tells me I am doing much better, and I must believe. _Doctor Bashir informs me that the little Honoured One is very healthy. He says it is unlikely that he would catch any disease, since there are no hybrids like him, anywhere. I am still concerned. It strikes me that it would be more likely that the little Honoured One could catch something from his mother's *and* his father's people. _Forgive me for saying such a thing. The Honoured Ambassador talks in such ways, and it is above my station to copy him. He refers to all Honoured Ones as 'his people', and I find myself doing the same thing. _I have sinned and I am ashamed. _The little Honoured One is almost walking, and he shapeshifts so very well, that I hope you would be proud. The Honoured Ones who study here say that the little Honoured One is doing very well for an infant away from the Great Link. He is making noises beyond his crying, and may even be talking before the end of the week. _I swear by my hope of life undying that all I say here is true, _Soshal._ She sent her missive off, re-dressed, and scuttled to the Ambassador's offices in order to be there on time. Soshal was always in awe of Mora Pol, the Solid who had taught a Founder. She watched everything he did out of the corner of her eye, when she wasn't trying to anticipate the Ambassador's needs. Today, he had bought little Veral with him. Soshal hid a smile as she watched the infant Honoured One. Veral looked adorable in the little jumpsuits he wore, and always made the day more interesting by playing with random items within his reach. Why it never occurred to Veral to use his natural shapeshifting to cause more havoc mystified Soshal, but she was glad of it, nonetheless. As it was, the constant noise of his rattle was a reassurance that Veral hadn't found anything new to play with. Or, for that matter, change into. Veral's other latest trick was shapeshifting out of his clothes, then re-appearing, naked, in random and interesting areas. If left there for longer than a handful of seconds, he would start squealing because of the temperature. Perhaps he was squealing for attention. It certainly worked. Soshal let Veral's constant rattling slide into the background of her awareness so she could pay better attention to the wording of the latest trade proposal from Ferenginar. Official documents always took her hours to untangle. The elaborate wording made it easy for the writer to deceive the reader. Had Soshal known that trade proposals from Ferenginar were routinely rejected, things would have been a little different. Veral looked around, still shaking his rattle. Papa was busy, so was Grampa Pol and Aunt Soshal. He was bored. Everything that was possible in these rooms was done already. Maybe Mama had some fun things to play with. Mama didn't come in here though. Well, he could move about now, and he almost had that 'walking' thing down. It was the 'climbing' thing that he couldn't quite manage yet. He had to leave his clothes behind. Maybe if he kept moving, he wouldn't get so cold from the tables he got on to. That was the trouble with cold. He only felt it in his people-shape. Still, clothes were always there for him when he cried. Perhaps he shouldn't worry about it so much. Veral slid out of his crib, then under the door to the Big-Noisy- Place. It was the one place he was the most curious about. All the lights and colour and fascinating stranger-people. No-one saw a baby Changeling slither directly towards Quark's. Soshal was in tears as she searched everywhere. The little Honoured One was *gone*. She begged a tricorder from Mora, then scanned for Veral's DNA trail. She fell to her knees and wailed out loud. He was in the Promenade, a very dangerous place for babies. Of course, her unworthy noise alerted the Ambassador. He very rightly suggested they all look for Veral instead of sitting and worrying. Soshal could hardly stand as she followed the trail into the worst place on the Promenade. The Most Honoured Ambassador had warned her about that place. It was run by a gambler, a liar and a thief, all rolled into one man - Quark. She shivered as she stepped over the threshold - and into complete chaos. Quark heard the sound of shattering glass before he identified its source. Someone had let an infant in his bar, and it was now stress- testing his glasses by dropping them, one by one, onto the floor. To make things worse, it was as naked as the day it was born. A particularly expensive bottle was next to take a tumble, and the kid had the nerve to laugh. It crawled up to Worf, who hadn't seen it coming, and yanked hard on the Klingon's hair. Quark rescued the baby from Worf's clutches. "Now just relax," he told the Klingon. "He's just a baby - he doesn't know what he's doing." "That much is obvious." Worf growled before telling the child, "You have no honour." The baby expressed *his* sentiment in the way most infant boys do; by completely ruining Worf's uniform from a distance. Quark got a good distance away before sitting the infant on a spare crate. "Now *Stay* there, and Uncle Quarkie will get you something to wear, all right?" He came back clutching a towel, only to find the crate empty. Where in the mighty P'Lar's name could the kid have gone? "Hey, there's a baby on the Dabo table!" "That's good luck!" Quark saw it, just in time to watch the infant pick up the crystalline markers from the wheel, and bring them to his mouth. "NO!" Quark screamed and barrelled his way through the crowd. The infant's face melted, turning into changeling in order to absorb the markers. Someone screamed, and about twenty others took up the cry as the baby formed a gelid arc from one table to another. The spectacle, in turn, caused a panicked rush for the doors, and the jam caused a fight. The fight, of course, was causing damages and his profits were visibly draining away. The baby landed on a light fixture, as a rather amateurish bird, and watched the bedlam below. Quark hid under a table and called Security. He *knew* something like this was going to happen, now that Odo and Kira had a child. Unfortunately, there was no insurance against hybrid Changeling/Bajoran children. Soshal woke to a persistent whining. "Little Honoured One?" "Sorry," said Doctor Bashir, "It's a cellular regenerator. Veral's with his father in Security. How much do you remember?" "I was looking for the little one, in Quarks. Someone screamed, and there was a crowd all around - and I was punched in the face." Bashir sighed. "Looks like we'll have to upgrade that 'playpen' program. It was supposed to keep Veral in the office. "He went under the door." "That explains it. He's never used a door before." "May I go?" "Certainly. If you get any dizziness or distorted vision, report right back, understood?" "Yes, doctor." She started to go, then turned, "Doctor?" "Yes?" "I *liked* your pyjamas; that night when Veral was born. They were pretty." Soshal ran to the security office, so she could protect and serve. Odo smiled as he listened to the report. Veral was clothed once more in the very jumpsuit he'd abandoned earlier, he was also held rather tightly in place. Veral didn't seem to notice. He was fascinated by his rattle again. "Even if Quark chose to press charges, I don't think we could take little Veral in on much more than disturbing the peace and public indecency." Odo snorted. "I'm more concerned about the attitude the others had when Veral started shapeshifting. It's not right for people to run in panic when a *baby* acts like a baby." Boyajian shrugged. "I'm sorry, sir, I can't do much about public attitudes to Changelings. I'm afraid--" Odo never found out what Boyajian was afraid of, because at that moment, Soshal ran into the office and started babbling. "*Please* don't punish him! It was my fault. It was all my fault! If I had been watching instead of reading, none of this would have happened." Boyajian and Odo exchanged looks. Next: Hysteria, histrionics and more. Cath :) _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ Message: 16 Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 17:00:49 +1000 From: "Catherine Allan" (kenandcath@earthling.net) Subject: ODOGEN: Bouncey Baby Blues (2/2) Onward! "If you *must* punish someone, punish me. I insist!" "Miss, could you settle down, please," interrupted Boyajian. "Neither Odo *or* Veral are in any danger." "It was *my* fau--- what?" "We were just talking. That's all." Soshal stared at him. "In the Dominion, if such a thing had happened, the Jem'Hadar would have destroyed everything." "It's not like that, here," soothed Odo. "We have something called 'due process'." Soshal was looking at her feet, again. "Forgive me, Honoured Founder." Odo stifled a sigh. "It's an honest mistake. Anyone could have thought the same thing." Nerys was on the Promenade, he could feel her marching towards him - in a foul mood. _Ale'al?_ She stormed in through the Security Office door. "I just got a call from Security saying that *your* son caused a riot in Quark's." "*My* son? Let me explain the 'Spiders and Blooms' to you..." Soshal was crying again. "Please don't be angry with him. It was *my* fault the baby got loose. I wasn't paying attention." "Soshal," Nerys interrupted. "Yes'm?" "Could you just - *try*; to relax for five consecutive minutes? This isn't a life-or-death situation, okay?" "Yes'm." Soshal backed discreetly into a corner before wiping her eyes. "This is the second time today that Veral's been early for something." "Yes," Odo noted, "It *is* time we had lunch." _And went shopping._ _What, is Veral growing out of all of his clothes already?_ _No, not with the range Garak sent. I was thinking of a wardrobe for Soshal._ Nerys smiled. "Come on, Soshal, you can eat with us, today." "But, Ma'am --" "No 'but's. We're having lunch, and we're going shopping." "I wouldn't argue with her," Odo supplied. "It only makes things more painful." Mute and helpless, Soshal followed. She had very little choice in the matter. "What would you like?" Nerys asked her twelve-year-old charge. "A good Vorta only truly appreciates nuts and berries." "I asked you what you'd *like*," prompted Nerys. "I promise I won't tell." "Then - I'd; like to have a strawberry cheesecake, and some of that ginger tea, and maybe a hasperat?" Nerys ordered them from the replicator before idly saying, "That's an unusual choice for a Vorta." "I'm an unusual Vorta." "So Odo tells me. I bet there aren't many like you." "I'm the only one. I owe my existence to the curiosity of a Most Honoured Founder." Automatically, she took one of the trays in order to help Nerys. "Please don't tell the Ambassador, Ma'am; but he's the only one who's made me like my name." Nerys found herself frowning. "Why? What's wrong with your name?" "It means 'disgrace'." She manoeuvred her way to the table, where Odo sat, trying to keep Veral interested in staying there. "Look, Veral, it's lunch-time," Odo said, indicating the infant's canister of special formula. "unshhh..." managed the infant. "Nerys!" "I heard. Just typical, isn't it Veral. You don't try 'Mama' or 'Papa' like a good little baby, *you* try 'lunch'." "Unshhh! Unshh, unsh, unsh." Odo laughed. "They *are* natural sounds for a shapeshifter. I think my first attempt at a word was 'hurt'." "*I* was a good girl," Nerys smiled around a forkful of her meal. I said 'Mama' straight off." Soshal allowed a smile to show through. "My mother told me my first word was Vorta for 'God'; _Thoth_. I think I was trying to say my name, though." She savoured a forkful of strawberry cheesecake. "Our Founder was impressed, all the same. The first word I spoke was in homage to her." Veral drained his container dry. "Mmm." "Are you going to say 'Mama'?" Odo prompted. "Unsh. Mmm. Owrh." "More lunch?" Odo queried. "UNSH!" "That's it," said Nerys, "I'm disowning him. He's *your* kid." "He must have got the appetite from you," Odo smiled. "I've watched you eat." Nerys smiled right back. "Why is it that I married a smart-alec Changeling?" "Because you knocked me up?" Odo kissed her as he rose, "I'll get the next containers. If he's anything like you, he'll eat four." "*UNSH*!" "Yes, kitling," Nerys sighed. "Papa's getting your lunch." "You truly love each other," Soshal told her. "Even when you fight, there's this - edge; of laughter. My parents never had that." Nerys patted Soshal's arm. "It's alright. You don't have to feel ashamed here. *Every* humanoid on this station was born, and bred, just like you. Everyone is different because of that." "Ma'am?" "Starting today, Soshal, *you* are officially enrolled in the Kira Nerys class of Learning Self Respect." "Yes'm" "Lesson one. You don't have to call everyone by their title. We're *friends*. You can call me Nerys." "Yes'm." Nerys sighed. It was going to be a *long* day. End. Next episode: Baby's day out :) Cath :) Practicing her evil laugh.