Title: Here Come the Ears
Author: Ster Julie
Codes:
Rating: G
Part 1 of 1
Summary: Is it the fever, or is Amanda just seeing
things?
A/N: Thanks, T'Sia, for thelovely
challenge. Lyrics and characters lovingly borrowed from "Here Come
the Brides."
--ooOoo-
Amanda batted away Sarek's hand.
"Stop that!" she ordered. "What's wrong with you?
Why are you dressed so strangely? And what's happened to your
eyebrows?" She gasped as she took a closer look at him.
"And where are you ears?"
Aaron Stemple chuckled at that last question.
He wrung cool water out of a washcloth and tried, again, to place it on the
aged woman's forehead.
"My ears are where they have always been,
"'
"Your name is
"
"And my name is Aaron Stemple," he
continued, ignoring that "get back to Earth" statement, because
clearly the crazy old lady had fallen farther off her rocker.
Amanda took a good look at the man standing next to her. She took in his
broadcloth suit, his long- sleeved shirt and bow tie. "Oh, I get
it," Amanda said suddenly. The Federation finally took my suggestion
that we have a costume ball. I must say, Sarek, that you look so amazing
in your 18th Century…"
"It's the 19th Century," Stemple corrected,
"and my name is not Sarek. It's Aaron."
Amanda took a deep breath, trying -and failing-to control her temper.
"You are Sarek cha Skonn cha Solkar
of the line and lineage of Surak, my beloved, infuriating adun,"
she snapped. "Why are you trying to confuse me?"
"Madame," Stemple retorted, "you are
doing an excellent job of confusing yourself. I am trying to help you
cool down, which is not an easy task considering how many clothes you have
on."
Amanda looked down. She wore a floor-length skirt and matching jacket, a
high-collared blouse, several petticoats, and high-top shoes. Her hand
flew to her throat where she found a large brooch pinned to her collar.
As she moved to remove her jacket, she heard the creak of whale-bone
stays in a most uncomfortable corset.
"Who put me in this getup?" Amanda demanded.
Stemple raised decidedly rounded eyebrows and lifted
his hands in defense as if to say, "Don't look
at me!"
Amanda slumped back against the chair and looked around the room. Had she
slipped into some kind of space-time continuum? She smelled the distinct odor of an oil lamp on the side table. There was no
evidence of electricity in use anywhere. The furnishings, like her
clothes, were terribly old-fashioned yet looked brand new.
Tear filled her eyes at her addled thoughts.
"Have I been sick?" she asked in a small whisper.
"Yes," the man replied.
Amanda reached out and embraced the man as her chin began to quiver.
"Will I get better?"
"In time," he replied as he gently stroked her back.
"And when I get better, will your ears go back to normal?" Amanda
asked as she broke out into a sweat.
"They will be as you have always loved them, Aduna," Sarek said.
Amanda reached up weakly and stroked Sarek's ears, reveling
in their pointed tips. She raised fever-bright eyes to her husband and
drank in the sight of him.
"I saw a man who looked like you," she related, "a human man who
looked like you but didn't seem to know me. Sarek, when our eyes meet I
know you are my one true love. I know it by your almost-smile and by the
look in your eyes. This man didn't look at me that way."
"You were hallucinating," Sarek confirmed. "Does
everything seem normal now?"
Amanda raised a finger and traced one upswung brow.
"Oh yes," Sarek," she whispered weakly as rested her head on his
broad shoulder.
"Welcome back, beloved," he crooned. "Welcome back."
-END-