[JP] Lieutenant Charles Matthews & Lt JG Alix Harford as Alyssa -The Hits Just Keep Coming, Part One
Shakeel Hussein
((Personal Quarters, Room 149, Deck 14, USS Khitomer))
((OOC - Scene takes place following on from Charles returning to his quarters after the end of the mission))
((Time Skip; 9 Hours Later))
Charlie was now awake; his eyelids were firmly shut but he was. His slumber had been interrupted by noise. A familiar one but, given that he’d been for a mere matter of seconds, he just couldn’t place what the irritating and repetitive tone was. Still in his uniform from the previous day, and still in the position he’d plonked himself down in the night before, and with his tired brown eyes still closed, he finally lifted his head from the pillow that his face had been squished into.
Charles: ::yawns:: Computer… are we under attack?
Computer: ::beeps:: Negative.
Charles: Is someone at the door?
Computer: ::beeps:: Negative.
Lieutenant Matthews sighed as he finally opened his eyes with some fast, fluttering blinks, giving his vision a few precious seconds to adjust to the change in lighting. Though perhaps, given the state of his quarters, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be able to see anything anyway. With his brow furrowed, the bridge of his nose crinkled, and a streak of saliva running down his mouth and across his cheek; Charles pushed himself up, rotated and swung his toned legs around, perching himself up and now sitting on the edge of his dishevelled bed.
Charles: Do you want to tell me what that damn noise is, or do I need to start yanking out wires??
Computer: ::beeps:: Lieutenant Matthews, you have an incoming transmission.
Charles: Ugh… what time is it?
Computer: ::beeps:: It is zero-six-nineteen hours.
Charlie felt his brow furrow that little bit more, and his eyes narrowed as he wiped away the drying saliva with the back of his right hand.
Charles: ::looks at his hand:: That is grim. ::swallows firmly:: Well, it can’t be Kieran. It’s way too early for him to be bothering people…
Gingerly, the Tactical Officer stood up from the edge of his bed and glanced around the room. His furrowed brow was soon replaced with a grimace, and he quickly realised that he might have been better served tidying up some of his quarters before sleeping. Taking a step away from the bed, Charlie tilted his head in an attempt to zone in on the continuous alert and carefully stepped over various scattered pieces of clothing and parts of a drawer unit that had broken into several pieces upon its impact with the floor. Determining that he was more hot than cold in his search for his PADD, he slowly moved down to his knees, supporting himself with his stronger arm and angled himself at the waist so that he could look underneath the bed he’d just been sleeping on just seconds ago.
After the obvious spot under the bed had proven to be fruitless, Matthews raised his head but twisted his body, placing his back against the mattress and bedframe and let his breath out in a huff. Sitting on the floor, his predominant thought was to just let the transmission end. Whoever was attempting to get in touch with him would do so again if it was that important. If not, he would get back to them. Eventually. Probably. Maybe. As he sat there, just listening to the repeating chirp, Charlie noticed a dim light shining from underneath an upturned drawer and shook his head.
Charles: There it is.
Remembering that he’d placed the PADD on his chest of drawers before the events in the Lagoon Nebula, Charles kicked out at the empty drawer and smirked as what he’d been looking for had finally been found. Whoever was trying to contact him was definitely persistent, the ringing continued, and he lazily slid the PADD towards him with his foot before picking up with his left hand. Eyes widening as he saw who was attempting to speak with him, he quickly pressed the accept button before his sister gave up entirely.
Alyssa waited an abnormally long time for her little brother to answer. When the call finally connected, she stopped pacing and began speaking, one fist propped on her slender hip before really taking in the scene displayed on her PADD.
Alyssa: ::disapproving tone:: You know, I expect the run around from Kieran, but you always answer my calls rather promptly…
Finally really seeing the state her brother was in, the oldest Matthews sibling’s tone changed quickly to one of concern.
Alyssa: ::concerned:: Charlie, what has happened? Are you alright?
Charles: ::shrugs:: Oh, nothing out of the ordinary.
Oliver: What's wong wif your hair, uncle Charwee?
Charlie felt his eyes widening at the sound of his nephew's voice. It had been a long time since he'd seen him, and life in Starfleet meant he would be different each and every time they did get to spend time together. The Lieutenant smiled weakly as he pressed at his head with his free hand, instantly noticing that parts of his hair were sticking up like the upturned wing of some exotic bird.
Charles: I was asleep, Oli. Mommy woke me up.
Alysaa laughed even as she attempted to shoo her young son away. The ostentatious four year old was not so easily dissuaded, however, and continued to speak rather loudly with his face mashed closely to the screen.
Oliver: Uncle Charwee, why you break your stuffs? Did the bad guys do it?
Charles: ::laughs:: You can see that? ::pause:: The bad guy was gravity. Gravity broke my stuffs, Oli.
Alyssa: ::to her son in an excited tone:: Oliver, did you know there is juice in the kitchen. Go and tell your sister to put some in your sippy cup and let mommy talk to Uncle Charlie for a moment.
As the toddler excitedly ran off to find his sister, Alyssa turned her attention back to her little brother on the screen.
Alyssa: His name is Oliver, Charles, not Oli. You know how I hate that.
The younger sibling rolled his eyes.
Charlie: How is it any different than you calling me Charlie? It's the same thing.
Alyssa: No, it is not the same as calling you Charlie at all, not in the least. ::waves hand:: Now, tell me what has happened over there. You look nightmarish and your belongings are in shambles.
Secretly, the eldest sibling was worried about her brother’s temper. Their father had often gone into a fit of rage and destroyed things. No one would have believed it, as he was such a controlled man in his professional life, but the Matthews siblings had lived it first hand and Charles was often the recipient of the worst of their father’s anger. Now, seeing the state of his quarters, Alyssa wondered if that trait had left more of an impact on her brother.
Charles: “Nightmarish”? Wow. I'd have accepted pretty much any other descriptive but you went with the stuff of bad dreams? ::smirks, shakes his head:: We had issues with the ship's power, which resulted in us losing artificial gravity. When I got back to my quarters… ::gestures:: …it was like this.
Alyssa: That sounds like a massive pain. I suppose you’ll spend the day tidying.
It wasn’t a question, Alyssa had taken a motherly role in Charlie’s life after the accident that robbed them of their mother and youngest sister. The tone she used now held a weight of expectation just as it had a dozen years ago when she prompted a younger Charles Matthews to clean his room or properly stow his football equipment.
Quickly returning to the same dynamic they'd had as younger children, with Alyssa looking out for Charles and telling him what to do, Charlie couldn't help but add a twinge of sarcasm to his response.
Charles: Oh. I thought I'd leave it this way. I kinda like it(!) ::pause:: Of course I'll clean it.
Alyssa: Good. An untidy space lends to an untidy mind.
Knowing what was coming, the Tactical Officer spoke up at the same time as his sister.
Charles: An untidy space lends to an untidy mind… I knew you were gonna say that.
Alyssa: Well, if I had said it enough, it wouldn’t need repeating.
Alyssa shook her head, sometimes it was hard to shake the habit of parenting her younger brothers. There was a fine line to walk between nurturing maternal figure and supportive older sister. She ran one hand through her dark hair and then wrung her hands together in front of her. It was an absent minded gesture that Alyssa had picked up from their mother before her passing and, just as it had with their mother, it showed that she was trying to hold herself back from something she really wanted to say. In this instance, she wanted to check up on how her brother was doing in life, not just in this moment, but Charles was famously averse to overbearing affection. It was usually better to let him come to her with questions than to push him to open up.
He felt his tone change as he watched his sibling through the screen on his PADD.
Charles: ::sighs:: God, you're so much like mom.
Alyssa: ::voice soft:: I miss her.
Charles: So do I…
[To Be Continued…]
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Tactical Officer
USS Khitomer NCC-62400
A240012CM1
Alyssa, Oliver & Sophie
written by
Medical Officer
USS Khitomer NCC-62400
D240104AH2