Parental Approval

Posted on Tue 11th Aug, 2026 @ 12:39pm by Makila i'Hartelhai & Lieutenant JG Kellian Michaels

2,965 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: [MAIN] From The Ashes
Location: Hangman's Noose
Timeline: Prior to the explosion.

Makila settled herself down in between reports and took up a PADD. She opened a text communication, and addressed it to the PADD of LT. Kellian Michaels and wrote a note in her flowing hand.

'Papa says he approves of you'

Kellian replied a few minutes later. 'The feeling is mutual. I have a lot of respect for him. His life has not at all been easy.' A few moments later, he added, 'Are you pulling any overtime tonight, with all these Xir'Kai patients onboard?'

'I've been on the research implementation side of that. I threw an idea at the combined minds of the researchers and they sent me to implement it. If it even works... How did you come to meet Papa and linger long enough for him to approve? This sounds like a tale I would enjoy.' The gentle smile that hovered on her lips was born out of love for both of the men that she was referring to. Her stylus idly drew a Romulan symbol on the PADDs margin that it pulled through to his.

Kellian wrote back after a few minutes. 'Sorry to take so long; I'm trying to piece a skull together. Your father and I met in the food court, and he invited me to share his table for lunch. I figured it was as good a chance as any to get to know him a little better. I'm glad I did. The researchers liked your idea? Fantastic! What is your idea?'

'One of them did. A Doctor Rapisarta. He came aboard with the new chief, but I've yet to meet him. My idea was cobbled together from ancient Earth, the therapies they used for shock, while archaic are still functional. I'd rather hear about your skull puzzle though- new case?' Makila was genuinely interested in the things he did, and knew from the gossip there were some things going on in the bowels of the station that weren't necessarily above board.

Another few minutes later, Kellian texted back. 'Shall I tell you over dinner--or maybe after dinner? Does Orchids & Jazz sound good to you, or maybe the Noose?'

'I'd like that. I've heard the Noose is catering to Romulan tastes as well these days. Do you want to try some Romulan food?'

Kellian texted back. 'I'd love that. Noose it is, then. I'll come by Sickbay about 1730.'

'See you then' . The soft smile lingered on her lips, and kept her cheerful for the rest of the day despite how much work she had to do. 1730 came quickly enough as her day was insanely busy. She looked tired but pleased to see him when he arrived to pick her up. She stretched up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek as he arrived. "Hi."

Kellian hugged her and brushed his lips against her cheek in return. "Hello! I was looking at the Noose's menu on the way here, and I might be bad tonight--or order part of it to go. How was your afternoon?"

"Interesting, but not something I can talk about yet" Makila's smile was impish and amused as she put one finger to her lips in a gesture of silence. Then she tucked her arm into his. "What's on their menu today? I might just be inspired to also be bad."

"They have on their menu a dish called Toad in the Hole, which I love, but they also have hlai tikka masala, which must be some kind of Romulan-Earth fusion dish. Tikka is a kind of spiced yogurt sauce covering the meat, which is cooked in a tandoori oven. The yogurt helps cool down the spices a bit. Do you like spicy food?"

"Most of the time, I do." Makila agreed with a chuckle. "What if you get one, and I get the other and we share?"

"But what would you like?" Kellian asked.

Unable to help herself she giggled "Let's be bad."

Kellian laughed as well. "I'm for that." He slid an arm around her waist, and they headed to the turbolifts. The Hangman's Noose Pub and Inn was located on deck 610 of the Promenade, which was a brief tram and lift ride downstation from Sickbay. At this hour of the day, the Promenade was crowded with other people wanting to eat supper after a day at work. The air was fragrant with the spicy aromas of Romulan, Klingon, and Bajoran food as well as Earth food. The scent of warm, cinnamon pastries mingled with that of roasting meat at a Trill eatery.

"I could walk through here and just drool," Kellian muttered as they walked. "They could bottle these scents and sell them."

"You know there's a shop near to the Spa that does just that?" Makila teased him, her arm sliding around him in a way that conveyed their easy intimacy. "I've considered buying one of their roll on scents. Though I couldn't decide which scent I would want to wear to get a rise out of you."

"Makila, just being around you does that," Kellian said and kissed her hand. "Shall we go there after dinner and pick out some scents?"

"I'd like that. " she murmured, casting a warm gaze at him. "The shop, it's called the Veiled Lady, and it's run by an Addams."

"Oh, really?" Kellian grinned. "Which one? I haven't seen any of them since the wedding."

"The one with a floral name. Bouganvilla I think it was. She's otherworldly."

"Bougainvilla...I think I remember her," Kellian said, "she was memorable. Was she the bald one?"

"Yes. The time I was in there first she was wearing a lace almost headscarf looking thing. It was beautiful. Apparently she decided that she wanted to stay because of the joy the plants have here. Green magic or something along those lines. "

"Green magic. That's a new one on me," Kellian said. "But, hey--Addams. Unusual comes with the territory. I'm glad the family isn't completely gone, even though Dr. Addams isn't the CMO anymore."

"I recall, though I didn't bond with them the same way you seem to have done." A smile ghosted over her lips, as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I was never sure she truly approved of me, even though I passed my boards."

"If she let you work for her, she approved of you," Kellian said. "I got acquainted with them over a seance and a murder case. One of the sisters would make a good police sketch artist."

"A seance?" Makila's squeak was one of pure and utter surprise. "Like the spirits of the dead kind of seance? Truly?"

"Yes, but I wasn't actually there that evening; I was on duty," Kellian explained. "I had to visit Dr. Addams' house the next day and question the witnesses. They saw something at midnight, and a dead body turned up the next morning. The Addamses are...different. Weird things like that happen around them."

"Strange is, the main character in their story arc I think" she murmured using a literary metaphor that seemed to fit.

They arrived at The Hangman's Noose at this point and waited at the hostess stand to be seated. The waitress, Lifiaden, took them to a booth that had recently been vacated and handed them menu PADDs. "What can I get you to drink?" she asked.

"I'd like a Bass shandy," Kellian said.

"What's your favorite drink?" Makila asked the waitress, wanting to try something new.

"When I want to be indulgent?" Lifiaden asked. "For a cold drink, I like a beverage called egg nog, which is a sweet, thick, creamy drink, served chilled, or hot buttered rum when I want something warmer."

"You serve egg nog at this time of year?" Kellian asked.

Lifiaden nodded. "It's an off-menu item except at Christmas, but you can still request it. Also, it comes with or without bourbon."

"I might have some for dessert," Kellian decided.

" I just wanted something different, but I haven't ever tried either one. Though right now I'm partial to something warm." Sick Bay and the offices tended towards the cool side she was not designed for long periods of being cool.

"All right. A hot buttered rum for you," Lifiaden said to Makila, "and a Bass shandy for you," she added with a nod to Kellian. "I can take your food orders now or give you a few more minutes to look over the menu."

"I'd like a Toad in the Hole," Kellian said.

"The hlai tikka masala, please. Extra yoghurt on the side and a side of saffron rice." She tucked a wayward curl behind her head, a smile comfortable on her lips.

"Toad in the Hole and hlai tikka masala, yoghurt and saffron rice on the side, coming right up," Lifiaden said and transmitted their order to the kitchen before moving on to the next guests.

"You said you were interested in the skull I'm working on," Kellian said. "I know you're a doctor, but how strong is your stomach? I'm serious, and I'd like to finish talking about it before we eat, if you don't mind."

"I am interested. I can handle anything you lay before me love" she answered honestly, her fingers resting gently on his hand. She was remembering the baby shed found and called him in on its dead kidnapper.

"Okay. A few days ago, a body was found in a refrigerated stasis unit in the Garden District," Kellian said. "Pre-mortem, the guy had been injected with something that spread through his bloodstream and destroyed his DNA. Then something was administered to him that turned his remains into the consistency of stew. No fingerprints. No dental records. The bones are...soft and pliable. The skull is like unbaked clay, very easy to distort out of shape, and it was already being distorted before I got it, just from lying on the autopsy table. I've never seen so much effort being put into making identification impossible."

"What sort of compound could do something like that?" Makila's grimace at the idea was one more akin to fear about the compound than the disgust inherent in the imagery.

"The nearest I can figure, the perp used some kind of cytolytic enzymes," Kellian said. "They can be created as a natural function of viruses or bacteria, but in this case, instead of being byproducts of a disease process, they were administered to the victim somehow. I've never seen anything like it. I can't tell if the enzyme was delivered by injection or by nanoprobes. I haven't seen any evidence of decayed nanoprobes in the remains, but then, would I, when the remains are grossly liquefied?"

"I've never heard of nanoprobes doing so. Even if they destruct themselves you normally find byproducts of their passage, so yes, it stands to reason that you would find them in some quantity. " Makila licked her lips, chewing on the corner of her lower lip as she thought.

"So probably not administered post-mortem, then," Kellian said. "I hope we catch whoever did it, but I doubt we ever will, because everything about this case says it was done by one or more professionals. There wasn't a single fingerprint on that refrigeration unit. It's not everyone who has access to cytolytic enzymes."

"True, it seems an unlikely choice for someone in a panic over the issue." she tapped on her lower lip absently, shuddering at the thought. "I wonder if torture was part of your methodology here."

Kellian winced. "I hope not. The case is bad enough, as it is." His expression cleared slightly. "But there weren't any signs of restraint on the body, which was still intact and photographed when the unit was opened. That doesn't mean there was no torture, but that makes it less likely."

"What else about it troubles you?" Makila asked quietly, sipping the water glass in front of her.

"Mainly just the fact that there was a killer--or, more likely, a killer with an organization behind him, on this station in the recent past," Kellian said. "Also, I just like to solve my cases. I don't want to leave this one hanging, so I'm looking up places where a person could get cytolytic enzymes and what sort of people buy them. The list is pretty short."

Lifiaden appeared at the table again. "Here are your drinks," she said as she placed a glass mug containing an amber liquid topped with creamy foam sprinkled with nutmeg and adorned with a cinnamon stick in front of Makila, "--and a Bass shandy for you," she said to Kellian as she placed a pint glass filled with amber lager in front of Kellian. "I'll be back in a few minutes with your meals."

"Great, thank you," Kellian said. He sipped from his beer and looked at Makila. "What's been happening in Sickbay lately?"

"Right now, not a huge amount. The new chief is fitting in well, I think. He's..." she searched for the appropriate term "fair to the point of ridiculous, but I appreciate it. He looked at me and didn't first see my Romulan side."

"Hm." Kellian rested his chin in one palm and regarded her. "Is that your left side or your right side? They're both so lovely, I've never been able to tell which was which."

Makila snorted a laugh in response and put her tongue out at him. "I've never mapped my genome enough to actually find that information out. Which side of me is more Romulan versus more Betazoid. I tend to think more Betazoid, honestly with the increase in telepathic energy as I age. I did once check to see if we would be biologically compatible."

"Are we?" Kellian asked and gave Makila a direct look. "As in, the two of us?"

The nod that answered him was both shy and hopeful, her eyes flickering from his face to the glass in front of her and back again. "We are, if that's something you want..."

Kellian smiled at her. "I'm glad--if that's something you also want "

"It wasn't, until I met you. Now, though? Yes. I also think I can balance all the things, provided the Chief continues on his current trajectory."

"What is he like?" Kellian asked. "You said he bends over backwards to be fair. What does he do?"

"It's not so much what he does, as he hasn't really done anything yet. Its the read of him that I get, I got close enough to him to brush the surface so to speak. He is devoted to truth and fairness, as well as the patients under his care. It's refreshing, he's not trying to hide anything that I would consider major personality flaws. He did get court martialed by his last captain for insubordination, but it's telling that both doctors that served with him came with him here. "

Kellian raised his eyebrows. "That is telling. So he isn't insubordinate without good reason--or you can figure he tried everything short of that, and insubordination was his last resort. He must have had one lousy CO."

"I havent looked into it. I should ask him, hed probably answer if I did." A chuckle escaped her lips as she contemplated that "The reaction might be entertaining. "

Kellian snorted. "Maybe wait until after work to try that." He chuckled. "I can't even imagine how I'd react to that question, If I were him."

"Oh I can just imagine." a giggle escaped her as her eyes crinkled at the corners "I could just read the official transcript, if I really wanted to know. I'll do that, before I ask him about it. " There was a brief pause as she pulled the cinnamon stick from her drink and licked the creme from it. "If I ask him about it."

"Now that I think about it, he might be very willing to tell you how awful his former CO was," Kellian mused.

The scent and sound of sizzling food alerted them that their waitress was returning with their meals. Lifiaden set a plate in front of Makila that contained her hlai tikka masala with rice and a yogurt salad, and she placed a crockery bowl containing something that looked like sausages partly buried in cooked dough, and the whole of it drizzled with a brown onion sauce in front of Kellian. "Enjoy your meals. Is there anything else I can get for you?" Lifiaden asked.

"Could I get a pot of tea? Yorkshire would be great," Kellian said.

"Certainly." Lifiaden glanced at Makila. "Would you like tea also, Ma'am?"

"Not yet, maybe after the meal. " Makila answered, as she glanced at the drink she already had, and had barely touched.

Lifiaden smiled at Makila, "All right; just wanted to check. If you need anything during your meal, let me know. Enjoy your suppers." The waitress left them to dine in peace.

Kellian took a deep swallow of his shandy and gave a contented sigh as he dug into his sausages and the batter that envelopes them. "This is so good. Here's to being bad. I'll do the push-ups tomorrow."

"I do have alternative suggestions to working off this meal" Makila's eyes twinkled and she cast a suggestive glance at him from across the table. Her fingertips brushed over his arm, as she reached to get the cup of yogurt so she could drizzle it atop her dish.

Kellian's eyes glinted with answering interest as he smiled back at Makila. "That sounds like exercise that will actually get done," he said. Kellian interlaced his fingers with hers. "Maybe we should get our desserts to go?"

"I think that's a brilliant idea." Makila purred, pulling his fingers to her lips and kissing the fingertips softly.

 

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