Belling the Cat

Posted on Sun Jul 1st, 2012 @ 2:19pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Ignatius Reilly

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Oralia Zeferino's Quarters

"Hold still!"

Fuck! Watch where you are putting that motherfucked thing!, Iggy screamed, waving her legs in the air.

"Iggy, you can't even see what I'm doing! Stop with the legs," Oralia admonished her Goliath Tarantula. "And don't use those words!"

You would not be so quick to dismiss my concerns were you in my position! Said position was on her back, all eight legs pointed ceiling-ward, with Oralia between them, jabbing a needle into a swatch of cloth on Iggy's ventral prosoma. You know what happens if you damage my exoskeleton. I shall have to wait for another molt before it gets repaired.

"You think you'll have another molt?" The idea stopped Oralia for a moment. "Really? Good gods... I thought you were as big as you'd get." Ever since the incident with the Tholian crystal and Sakkath and Rhys, Iggy had already gotten bigger, without a molt. The idea that she'd move up another notch on the size scale was... daunting. Oz cast a glance at the terrarium in the alcove. Already, it was too small for Iggy to comfortably stretch her legs out. Maybe having a permanent cell for Iggy in the Brig wasn't such a bad idea; it was an idea that Darwin liked, since he'd suggested it.

No, I can already feel that another molt will happen. My abdomen is a touch tight. And, unlike you, I have nothing growing in my belly besides me.

At that comment, Oralia very nearly did jab the needle into Iggy's exoskeleton. Fortunately, she missed and caught only fabric. How...? Ah, crap... you read my mind again, didn't you?

Of course. You tend to not tell me things otherwise.

"Maybe it's all the beer you've been drinking," Oz muttered even as she inwardly admitted that she didn't tell the spider everything. She certainly hadn't considered telling Iggy about her most recent medical exam - the one she'd had just a bit ago. With the events surrounding the Summit and the bombing on the planet having settled down slightly and with Iggy out of the Brig and, for the most part, behaving like a civilized being, she'd had time to take off a day and tend to some personal things.

"Hey, doc," she'd smiled easily at one of Sickbay's many, many medical minions. He was returning with the results of a medical scan on her. "I think it's just a flu bug or ...something."

"You know it isn't, Ms. Zeferino. How often, really, does anyone get sick from a flu bug?" The doctor had raised a brow at her. "No, instead, you're suffering from simple hormonal changes. Your symptoms are a little unusual, but I assure you that neither Admiral Hawke nor Lieutenant Darwin normally make women want to vomit. What you've got is a simple case of pregnancy."

"Scuse me?" She laughed, thinking the Trill surely was kidding her. After all, pregnancy? Now? Talk about inconvenient. She felt a flush of panic race through her. "C'mon, surely you've had folks come in and complain about certain smells making them sick. This is just a ...a bug."

"Yes, I have," he nodded, "Pregnant human females and the occasional non-human species that really do get sick from certain smells. Ms. Zeferino, I assure you that this isn't a bug or some exotic food you ate. You're pregnant."

The rest of the conversation had been a blur for Oz and, now, she was still trying to distract herself from the news by sewing Iggy into a uniform - of sorts. The Security-gold cloth wrapped around the posterior part of Iggy's prosoma and bore two important things: one, a computer transceiver that would give Iggy access to certain levels via the turbolift and certain doors throughout the 'base, and, two, a Starfleet insignia and name patch that identified Iggy as belonging to Oralia. Oralia couldn't wait for those complaint calls to come in. "There's a very large spider roaming the halls! Why is the CSEC's name on its back!?" Yeah, fun.

How will the turbolift know where I am going?

"It won't. That's still in the works, m'dear. For now, the 'lift will take you to and from our deck, to the first deck of the Promenade, and..."

The Big Kahuna's deck?

"Ah... no, no, sorry, Iggy. You cannot go to the Admiral's deck alone. Especially not now that he's helped 'expand' your vocabulary." There was a distinct tone of disapproval in her voice.

Goddammit. But I fucking want to go have a beer with the Big Kahuna! The curse words sounded flat and strange coming from the spider.

"That! That right there, Ignatius! Stop talking like that!" Oralia was scandalized. "I can't believe he'd teach you those things! And get you drunk! Again! He's supposed to be responsible!"

He is! He is the Big Kahuna!

"No, he should be responsible, like ...like a...." ...like a father? Oh, no, not a father... thinking of fathers, where was Connor? Oh, she felt ill just thinking that. How could she be pregnant? That meant all sorts of messy, awful things were in her future. How was she going to tell him about this? Fear roiled in her stomach and she briefly touched her belly. "...a teacher!"

He has taught me many things.

"Sure, how to curse like a sailor and how to get drunk," Oz frowned at her spider's underside. "He hasn't taught you things you should know. We should be teaching you the good things about society: science; different races, cultures..."

Is cursing not part of the human culture? The Big Kahuna said it is.

Oz didn't have an answer for that; foul language ran as far back in human history as language itself. She sighed, "Just don't use those words, okay? They aren't... they aren't suitable for you, or anyone, really."

Are you saying that the words are cheap and unworthy of me?

The spider's wording on that surprised Oralia. "Yeah, I am."

Darwin told me the same thing.

Oralia gently rubbed the underside of Iggy's prosoma and abdomen and let the subject drop for now. "My sewing skills aren't the best, but I think this'll hold till we can figure out something else." The spider grabbed her hand and Oralia turned her over.

Tentatively, Iggy took a few slow steps across the table, testing whether the little vest hampered her movements. Yes. We will see how this works. For now. She turned back towards Oralia and rose up on her back legs, waving her front two at Oz. When Oz picked her up, she put a pedipalp against the human's cheek. Do not have fear, Oralia. I am here and you are not alone.



____________
Oralia Zeferino
Panicked

Ignatius
Belled