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“You sure you don’t mind looking after him while I’m at the conference? Data said he and Spot get along and offered to have him.” Beverly handed her black kitten aptly named Midnight to Jean-Luc. Midnight clambered onto Jean-Luc’s shoulder and eyed his mistress. Jean-Luc smiled and raised his hand to scratch the kitten behind his ears.
“We’ll be fine. How hard can it be? Just feed him and scoop his box, right?”
“Pretty much. He likes to sleep with me in bed and I left his favourite toy in your quarters for him. He likes to play fetch.” Beverly scratched her cat under his chin and addressed the feline. “You be a good boy for Jean-Luc.” She kissed Jean-Luc’s cheek. “Thanks again. Geordi said the shuttle will leave in an hour, I better finish packing.”
“I’ll come see you off. Let me just drop Midnight off in my quarters.”
###
It had been a rough day for Jean-Luc. Beverly, Geordi, Deanna, and Will were away at the conference for another two days which left him still dealing with their seconds. He got along fine with the Vulcan Doctor who was Beverly’s assistant, but he always dreaded having to speak with Barclay, Geordi’s assistant. Jean-Luc really didn’t think Barclay was suited for Starfleet and always thought it was a shame he couldn’t have put Wesley in the assistant role, but Barclay did have an engineer’s eye and was fairly decent at his job...when he wasn’t daydreaming or living out another life on the holodeck. Even worse was with Deanna gone, Barclay hadn’t had a therapy appointment in over a week and it was starting to show. Jean-Luc scrubbed his eyes and rose from his desk. Everything else could wait until the next day.
It was now well past midnight and all Jean-Luc wanted to do was have a quick bite to eat and go to bed. He remembered he had Beverly’s new kitten to look after, and he smiled on his way down the corridor. It had been nice having the feline for some companionship since Beverly wasn’t around and then he chastised himself because Beverly was not his personal form of entertainment, even if they did spend most of their free time together.
He quickly entered his quarters before the black cat could escape and saw the cat was stretched out on the floor, napping in a most peculiar position. He glanced in the corner of his living room and groaned. Midnight had managed to upturn one of the potted plants he kept near his ‘window’. It was a peace lily, and had been a gift from Sarek, the Vulcan ambassador. Suddenly, Jean-Luc froze as he moved the plant upright. There were teeth marks on the plant and a small bit of leaf missing.
He panicked. He knew lilies were toxic for cats, but he had completely forgotten about the plant in the corner of his living room, as had Beverly or he’d have moved it to the arboretum for the week. He glanced at the cat sleeping on the floor and wondered if he was ill. Jean-Luc scooped up the cat in his arms and rushed out of the room, tapping his badge. “Doctor Selar, meet me in Sickbay. It’s an emergency!”
He arrived and Doctor Selar was neat as a pin and cool as ever. “Captain, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. He’s not.” Jean-Luc indicated the small cat in his arms. If it was possible for a Vulcan to arch an eyebrow, Jean-Luc was sure Selar had.
“You called me in for a cat?” Jean-Luc nodded.
“Yes. He chewed on my peace lily. This is Beverly’s new kitten Wesley gave her. His name is Midnight and she loves him and I love her and if I killed him she’ll never forgive me because she trusted me with Midnight and—“ Doctor Selar interrupted Jean-Luc’s ramblings.
“I understand, Sir. Place the cat on the biobed and I will check him over.” Jean-Luc nodded and flushed, realising he had admitted his feelings for Beverly to one of the crew but then he soon relaxed as it was Selar who would keep his secret. He watched anxiously while Selar ran her tricorder over the kitten and paused to reach for a hypospray.
“What’s that?”
“It will induce vomiting. Once, Midnight, was it?” Jean-Luc nodded. “Once Midnight throws up the lily, he should be fine, but you should keep an eye on him for the next day or so and do not feed him any of the dry kibble for a few days. Switch him to Feline Supplement Ten and make sure he drinks plenty of water.” Jean-Luc nodded and squeezed his eyes shut as Midnight began to make horrible retching noises. He glanced at the biobed and saw a neat pile of green and shuddered.
“Sorry about that.”
“It is not a problem, we have had worse.” Jean-Luc grinned.
“If I didn’t know any better, Doctor Selar, I would say you just tried to make a joke.” Selar was tight lipped and gave no response.
“You may take Midnight back to your quarters....but get rid of the flower and any other toxic plants, first.” Jean-Luc nodded and tapped his badge.
“Picard to the Arboretum.”
“Yes, Captain?”
“I am looking after Doctor Crusher’s new cat while she is away and I have a few plants in my quarters that are toxic to him. Could you send someone to my quarters to take all of my plants away temporarily?”
“All of them, Sir?”
“Yes, all of them.”
“Of course, Sir.”
###
Beverly exited the shuttlebay and after waving goodbye to her travelling companions headed towards her quarters. The conference had ended sooner than they had thought, owing to the keynote speaker not showing up and Beverly was anxious to see how Jean-Luc had got on with Midnight. She wasn’t sure who she had missed more – her new kitten or her best friend. After checking the time and seeing it was 0600, Beverly decided to take a shower and then surprise Jean-Luc for breakfast.
She rang the chime, but he didn’t answer. Beverly wondered if he had needed an early start, but she used her override to get into his quarters and she stopped with her hand over her mouth at the scene in front of her.
The pillow and blanket off Jean-Luc’s bed was on the floor, with Jean-Luc using it. Curled up on him was Midnight. Next to him was a bowl of water, and a bowl of cat food.
“Jean-Luc?” He opened his eyes and sat up immediately dislodging the cat from his chest. Midnight complained and Jean-Luc carefully picked back up the black cat and cradled him in one hand. Beverly couldn’t help it and let out the giggle that had been building behind her lips.
“Beverly? I thought you were at a conference?”
“It ended early so we left. I thought I’d surprise you for breakfast, but I appear to be the one surprised. What’s going on? Why were you sleeping on the floor?”
“Ah....” Jean-Luc rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
“Sore?”
“A little.” Beverly smirked.
“That’s what you get for sleeping on the floor. Now tell me why you were on the floor with Midnight?”
“Ah, well....you see...I forgot about my peace lily and Midnight chewed on it.” He held up his hand to stop her reaction. “He’s fine now. Doctor Selar gave him an expectorant and he threw up on the biobed. But she said to keep an eye on him and to make sure he drank water, so I came out here to be with him. Uh....Sorry?” Beverly couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she lowered herself to her knees and pecked him on the lips lightly.
“Thank you for taking care of my cat.” She took Midnight from Jean-Luc and she was amused when the little cat rubbed her chin quickly and then moved back onto Jean-Luc.
“Well, it was kind of my fault. It had been a long day , and I think Midnight was feeling lonely.” Beverly snorted.
“He’s a cat. They’re used to being alone. But I forgot about your plants, too.” She looked around his quarters and was surprised not to see a single green thing in sight. “Where are they?”
“Arboretum. I asked them to keep the plants there so Midnight wouldn’t try to eat anything else...I didn’t know if anything else I had was toxic.” Beverly smiled.
“And I see he likes you.” Jean-Luc nodded.
“We’ve been getting along pretty well. It’s been nice to have his companionship.”
“He won’t want to come home with me!” Jean-Luc chucked and placed Midnight back on the floor to rise from the floor and then he flushed realising he was still wearing his pyjamas.
“Give me a few minutes to shower and get dressed and we can have some breakfast and you can tell me all about the conference.”
Over their simple usual shared breakfast, Beverly regaled Jean-Luc with the more humorous incidents from the conference. Jean-Luc couldn’t keep his eyes off of Beverly and during a lull in the conversation, he reached over for her hand.
“I missed you.”
“Missed you, too. Will Riker does not make a suitable breakfast companion.” Jean-Luc raised an eyebrow.
“Oh?”
“I never knew the man struggled to get up early. He always seemed so chipper at our meetings, but apparently he’s quite the grump early in the morning.” Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows and Beverly flushed.
“Alright. I’m a grump before my coffee. But the truth was....he wasn’t you.”
“Glad to hear it.” He lifted her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles, and she smiled. Midnight jumped into Jean-Luc’s lap and he released Beverly’s hand to stroke the cat.
“No cream for you this morning, Mister. Doctor Selar said only water and supplement number ten for you.” Beverly shook her head.
“So is that it then, Midnight? I go away for a week and you adopt Jean-Luc?” Beverly pretended to look annoyed at Jean-Luc, but she was smiling.
“Obviously, there’s only one solution. You’ll just have to move in here so Midnight has both of us.” Beverly’s jaw dropped.
“Are you...are you serious?” Jean-Luc reached across the table for her hand once more and nodded.
“I am. Beverly, I missed you while you were away. I know you might need to go away for a conference again or I might, but I quite like thinking that you would come home to me and I to you. Move in with me? Please?” A broad smile stretched across Beverly’s face.
“I thought you’d never ask.”