A Modest Proposal

 Episode Name:  A Modest Proposal

   Written By:  Spider/Vimes

         Cast:  Caeli, Erika, Spider and Vimes.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Spider

     Aired On:  Wed Jul 23 22:47:44 2003

     Stardate:  53382.6

Time: Wed Jul 23 21:31:45 2003

Stardate: 53382.5

In the station security office, a nervous Ensign John Vimes confers with Lieutenant Caeli; the former appears nervous as nervous can be, while the latter is quite the opposite: one can see the effects of the invisible Mischief Maker's Hat that's obviously been shoved down on the usually benignly chipper Bolian's head. On the console can be seen the authorization from Commander Ghorev to use the stationwide comm for personal use...

Caeli gleefully stands with index finger poised above the button. "You're /sure/, right?"

Taking a breath to calm himself, the Ensign nods once, "Yes. I'm sure. My mind's made up. Let it fly, Zip."

Caeli nods curtly, and draws a deep breath, taking his time to control the nearly irrepressible giggles of delight. He stabs his finger down on the comm button, and the the double chime sounds in the room as well as every other on the station as the Bolian begins to speak. "Now hear this. Now hear this. All hands, stand by for continuation of message from Dispatch Officer."

A double chime sounds before Caeli's voice comes over the stationwide intercom, in an official, serious tone. "Now hear this. Now hear this. All hands, stand by for continuation of message from Dispatch Officer."

Another double chime sounds on the station's intercom before Vimes can be heard clearing his voice, "This is Dispatch Officer John Vimes of station four-one-nine's security branch. If I could have everyone's attention please, I have an urgent message for Ms. Erika Patterson." and then a pause, "Erika Patterson, will you marry me? If so, then please proceed to the Observation garden on deck 19. Thank-you."

Caeli slumps his shoulders as he looks to Vimes with disbelief. "That's /it/? No flair, no style? Great /Bird/, John." Still, he's grinning from ear to ear as he makes for the door. "Come on, we have to get there before she does!" And in a flash of blue, he's gone.

Steadying himself against the security desk, Vimes looks at Caeli as his face turns a pale shade of green, "Is that it? Do you have any idea what it took for me to say this?" and takes another breath before racing after the Bolian out the doors and to the lift.

Caeli's comm badge chirrups, and a voice says, "Lieutenant JG Valen to Lieutenant JG Caeli."

Tapping his comm badge, Caeli says, "Sorta busy, Jylo. What's up?"

From Caeli's comm badge, Valen says, "Please report to Ops, Lieutenant."

Caeli's comm badge ends its transmission.

Caeli taps his comm badge, "Lieutenant JG Caeli to Lieutenant JG Valen."

Over Caeli's comm badge, someone says, "Valen here. Come up to Ops, Zip... I have to talk with you."

Into his comm badge, Caeli says, "That transmission was completely and totally authorized by Commander Ghorev, Jylo, and if that's what this is about, I'll show you the order authorizing it when I'm done here."

From Caeli's comm badge, Valen says, "Oh... by all means, then. That /is/ what I wanted to ask about. (she sounds relieved)"

Into his comm badge, Caeli laughs, and his breath sounds rushed, as if he's moving quickly. "Not a problem. Caeli out."

Caeli reaches up and taps his comm badge, ending transmission.

Across the station, mixed reactions to the Ensign's reaction...

In the infirmary...

Javits peers up at the ceiling, blinking a few times, then a broad grin creeps across his features. Chuckling, he shakes his head, "Well that sly devil. I'd say Ensign Vimes just pulled one of the best proposals yet." Looking to Vala, he beams, "Now I'll bet that the lucky Ms. Patterson is either racing to the garden or collapsing on jelly legs, perhaps both."

... and in the Warp Core Coffee House...

Absyn shakes his head, "They bother everyone on the station and distract people from their work for such a petty announcement...." shakes his head and finishes his coffee before he starts to stand and move to get his coffee till he spots Kireth, "Ah hello."
Kireth waves to Absyn, then turns to Idrani, smiling softly. "That's so cute."
Idrani inclines her head. "Cute and romantic, yes. Professional and appropriate use of Starfleet resources, no. I won't file a complaint, but I can't imagine that Station Command is going to appreciate it."
Kireth trills soothingly in the back of his throat. "Young lovers, Jaylas. I'm sure you can sympathize."

... in the shuttle bay...

"They usurped my comms system for that?" Harris grumbles in mock frustration before a chuckle escapes his throat. "Good show."
Va'tol quirks his brow - again. He shakes his head lightly. A personal announcement using the Station's intercom? Didn't sound well to the anal-retenctive Vulcan.
O'Carroll rolls her eyes, "Aye, go and get everyones stomachs in a knot, why don't ye?" she asks the voice that can't hear her. She drops her attention back to the Lieutenant near her, "Aye, good show. Lets be hopin' they stay all happy-like an' not be gracing us with another message like th' about their breakup." a pause, "But I 'spose they may feel th' need to be anouncin' the little ones that come about?" she raises a brow, pondering everything to the finest detail as always.

... finally bringing us down to the Observation Garden, where a pair of Andorians are passing out of the hedges as the Security officers run into it; the antennaed civilians dodge and, in the course of doing so, nearly upset an Axanari merchant who's just dropped off a shipment at one of the shops on the lower mall...

Displaying his utter lack of athletic coordination at the moment, Vimes manages to trip against one of the carts and plunges headlong through the air, letting out what could have been spectacular string of expletives before landing in a heap in the center of the plaza. Groaning, he gathers himself up and then leaps to his feet, "I'm Ok!" and bounces on his feet as he exhales sharply, trying to keep from hyper-ventilating as he waits.

Caeli breaks into a fit of hysterical giggling, displaying a modicum of ability as he turns the sharp corner through the hedges and comes to a skidding stop at Vimes' side. "Okay, okay. Deep breaths. Pretend you're waiting for a duty roster or something boring like that."

A pair of Terran civilians and the NCO that they're visiting (clearly their child, if body language is any indication) turn around to watch the clatter as Vimes slams into one of the carts; once he declares himself all right, they go back to their conversation with assorted shakes of the head and soft comments on people who really should learn to /walk/ instead of /run./

Vimes just keeps trying to keep himself together as he stands there. Looking at Caeli, he furrows his brow though, "You know, shouldn't she be here by now?" and starts to pace again, "I mean, unless there was a delay with the turbolift, right?"

Erika comes into the garden through the hedge.

Erika has arrived.

A pair of Engineering NCOs -- a middle-aged male Trill and a younger Napean female, who bear all the marks of an odd-couple pairing from the way they sit close and murmur to one another -- eating lunch in the Garden turn their attention after a moment to Vimes and Caeli. The pair are /obviously/ the topic of the whispers that are traded between them.
"Is that... ?" The Napean asks, rubbing a hand across the leaf-shaped ridge on her forehead.
"Must be, Kirta," the Trill answers, appearing a bit more apathetic about the whole thing.
"Well, which one, do you think?" The thus-named Kirta is curious, and then after a moment appears to have her answer from simply waiting and feeling for reactions, as her eyes fix on Vimes and a wide smile decorates her putty-colored face. "Oh, that's just sweet," she murmurs to her companion, and goes back to nibbling at her lunch contentedly, sighing every so often at the sweetness of it all.

Erika comes into the gardens looking more than a little bewildered, excited, and maybe just a touch confused. She looks around, looking for Vimes, ostensibly. When he's spotted, she takes off at a run at him. Once she gets close enough, she leaps at him, throwing her arms and legs around him, and starts kissing his face. Most might assume that that's a 'yes'.

Caeli follows with his eyes the hunting human as she stalks her prey, smiling delightedly. As the moose must fall before the wolf, so must Vimes fall before Erika, and the idea that maybe he shouldn't be a meter away at a time like this never even crosses Zip's mind. "Yesssssssssssssssssss!" A blue fist goes in the air, channeling his elation as his voice carries throughout the garden. "Congratulations, John!"

Grinning wide at the sight of her, Vimes starts to laugh as she runs at him. Catching her, he returns the kisses and holds her to him before burying his face into her neck, mumbling out a barely audible, "...thankyou..." After a few moment, he pulls back and kisses her again, "I asked Lieutenant Dakin if he'd make the request for Captain Balin to perform the ceremony." as he sets her down while reaching into his pocket. Dropping to one knee, he reveals the velvet box in his hands. Opening it slowly, he shows her the golden band with the diamond set in the middle.

She can't help eavesdropping, poor Kirta. Even more "poor Kirta," her companion seems to be studiously ignoring the whole thing. What? Cuteness and light? From his expression, one might think that the male in question is just praying /he/ isn't expected to come up with a proposal anytime soon. Possibly ever. A quietly wounded and disappointed glance from Kirta to her late-shift meal companion as she realises his trepidation before she goes back to sighing over the sweetness of the scene before her (not to mention the obvious jubilation of the Ensign's Bolian friend.)

Erika reaches out for the box. Her hand is shaking so bad she can't even take the box into her hand. And then, the tears start. They were inevitable weren't they? She barely whispers, "You put it on, John. I can't." She looks at him and smiles. "Our parents are going to die."

Vimes bites his lip as he looks up at her. Taking the ring from the box, he takes hold of her left hand and slowly slips the ring around her third finger. Squeezing her hand in his, he then says, "I'm more worried of my dying when your mother finds out and takes a swing at me. But Zip here says he'll have sharpshooters at the ready, with their phasers set on stun...just in case." Of course he's going to try making her laugh.

. o O Erika thinks "Oh my God! I can't believe the lug finally got up the courage to do it!"

. o O Caeli thinks "Hee! I get to be Best Man at two weddings! I should probably get my dress uniform fixed from that scuffle after Gwen's."

Caeli nods, grinning, and points to three locations on the upper mall ring. "There, there, and there. Camouflaged."

. o O Erika is absolutely elated. If happiness could make balloons pop out of your head, then Erika wouldn't just have balloons coming out...it'd be balloon animals. She just could not be any happier. Pure joy.

Erika does start to laugh. "She won't hit you! She was more likely to hit you when I moved all the way out here to be with you." She looks at the ring on her hand. "It's beautiful, John." She turns her gaze back to him then hauls off and punches him with her right hand. "Now, how long have you had this planned?" She's laughing as she hits him, but that doesn't mean it's just a little tap.

. o O Vimes thinks "Please don't let this just be a dream. I'll pinch myse...ow...yeah, this is real."

The Napean NCO just can't stop staring, though she tries not to. It's just all too sweet, the emotions so overwhelmingly positive (unlike the stiff discomfort from her Trill companion). "Aren, stop," she finally murmurs tiredly. "I'm just enjoying it." And she goes back to doing so, now trying very hard to ignore Aren.

Vimes grunts as he gets hit before pulling her close to him again. Then, he nods to Caeli, "Planning to ask you to marry me? For a while now. Planning to do it like this? Since yesterday. It was Zip's idea. He made it all possible. He'll also be standing next to me when Captain Balin performs the ceremony." and then adds, "Standing to my right that is. You'll be to my left, in the dress and heels. Not Zip."

That's right. The dress and heels get stuck on Zip for Donavon's wedding, though he has no idea yet what lays in store for him /there/. He's just doing the 'maybe if I smile like an idiot, it will get even /better/' thing.

Erika smiles at the Bolian, her grin just about as big as his usual big ole smile. "Well, I'll let you wear your dress uniforms men. Unless of course you like the idea of a puce tuxedo?" She bats her eyelashes and looks oh so pretty and innocent.

. o O Caeli feels elated, joyous, and bubbly. It could only get better if it was his wedding. Or maybe if someone gave him a Sovereign class for his birthday.

Judging from the look on Vimes' face, that last suggestion isn't going over too well with him. Shaking his head, he comments, "Nah. Stick with the dress. I'm sure you'll be able to find more than one woman on the station willing to help you shop for it."

Caeli just shakes his head, the smile not subsiding. "We're officers, Ms. Patterson. I think there's some rule or other that we're supposed to wear our dress whites."

... and so as the discussion of details and planning begins, as Kirta watches moonily and Aren tries desperately to ignore the sweetness that's invading his lunch break, the station continues to spin and the gossip begins. Did she accept? Didn't she? The scuttlebutt has begun...