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“He’s coming!”
Mezoti and Harry have just finished tweaking Tuvok’s holoprogram of the Temple of T’Panit. The changes they’ve made aren’t too big and Tuvok can reverse them easily if he wants to, but Mezoti hopes he won’t. In her opinion, the program is much more fun now than before.
Harry wanted to make the monks recite Ferengi limericks, so they did that. Mezoti had the idea of replacing the big statue of Surak with a clay sculpture of her making of Tuvok. It might be even better than her Seven sculpture. They’ve also added some balloons and cats because Harry says cats can make everyone smile, which prompted Mezoti to add sehlats as well. Maybe Tuvok’s got some fun memories attached to them that will make him laugh.
Now, Tuvok is entering. Harry tugs at Mezoti’s hand and pulls her down with him behind a big box, hardly containing his laughter. Honestly, he’s acting like more of a little kid than Mezoti, but she’s having a great time, too.
They can’t really see Tuvok. “Ensign Paris?” he asks, the annoyance audible. Harry makes a shushing noise at Mezoti. Tuvok sighs, very un-Vulcanly.
“Ensign Kim,” he guesses then, correctly. Mezoti’s getting really curious to know if he’s laughing yet so she peeks out above the box. Tuvok raises his eyebrows. “I don’t believe you single-handedly altered this program,” he says, but if anything he seems pleasantly surprised.
“She had some help,” Harry agrees, standing up next to her.
“I could report you for violating holodeck privacy protocols,” Tuvok says. He looks at Mezoti. “This is your second offense.”
Somehow, she’s not convinced he’ll actually report them. Mezoti crosses her arms.
Tuvok looks over at the sculpture. “It is…competent,” he says. A strange look appears on his face. “My children once collaborated to create something similar.”
“Well, did you report them?” Mezoti asks.
“I did not. You may go.”
Once they’re out of the holodeck, Harry turns to Mezoti with a giant smile on his face. “I think he actually smiled a little bit! You pulled it off, Mezoti!” He picks her up and twirls her around in the corridor, making Mezoti giggle. It’s a weird sensation, but she likes it.
Harry puts her back down. “My friend would be proud of you,” he says and he gets the same strange look as Tuvok just now, as almost everyone on the ship when they talk about the planet called Earth.
“Do you miss your friend?”
“Yeah, I do. We all miss someone here. But we’ve formed a family together, and I’m happy you joined it.” He pats her shoulder. Mezoti wonders momentarily what it’s like to be so far away from home, then remembers that in a way, she already knows. She guesses the other ex-Borg children are kind of like her family.
“Me too. I’ve still got some time left until our next class and I promised Naomi to teach her how to do a braid like mine. Do you want to come with me? Seven says we should have adult supervision at all times.”
“I’ll be glad to provide it.”
In the mess hall, Harry brushes Mezoti’s hair with his friend’s brush because it got all mussed up thanks to all the running around the holodeck. It’s a very nice brush. Naomi likes it too, as well as the braid she’s got in her hair by the end of Mezoti’s free time. It’s a shame Harry’s hair is too short for braiding.
Seven comes to pick Mezoti up and notices that Harry’s looking at her fondly. When asked about it, he says, “She’s a good kid. I’ll be happy to help you take care of her and the others.”
The hairbrush gains a special place next to Mezoti’s alcove.