The dinner had turned into a party. At least it appeared so to Burgundy,
though he wasn't sure when it had happened. He was, however, sure about
the fact that he was standing up, as were the others. Well, he was
reasonably sure that he was standing up, anyway. The world kept moving
no matter how still he tried to be.
There was also music. Who turned the music on? he thought idly. Another
sound was there in the background, and he imagined it had been there for
some time. A monotonous droning that made him want to bash his own head
in.
He turned around to face his department head. "Would you please for a
minute just shut the fuck up?" he asked, as sweetly as he could muster.
"You've been yabbing on forever with that robot voice of yours!" He
looked around for a drink, only to realise that he was holding one and
he had just spillt some of it on his shirt. Damnit. He'd forgotten
something, too: "Sir," he added to Perdita, before taking a couple of
quick and unsteady steps away from them - and directly into someone
else. Someone rock solid, as it were.
Somewhere between the champagne and the generous amount of brandy that
had been poured into his coffee at dessert Harun found himself in a
state of inebriation he hadn't enjoyed since his father had first
introduced him to kanar. He rose, albeit slowly, from his chair and
paused as he felt the room roll beneath his feet as if he were aboard a
sea borne vessel rather than a star ship.
He closed his eyes, letting his natural awareness of his surroundings
compensate for the fact that his eyes and the fluids in his ear canals
were deceiving him. Once he felt steady he opened his eyes again and
began to pick his way around people and furniture. He was just about to
clear the table when he heard a noise just behind him. Turning he was
just in time to catch the mouthy science officer barreling into his
chest. Automatically, his arms closed around the man while he did
everything in his power to remain upright.
They ended up standing there, in a quiet embrace, for several seconds
while both tried their best to not tip over. It took a little time for
Burgundy to understand who was hugging him. He wanted to push the man
away, but that was likely to make them both fall down. "I... am not a
hugger..." he mumbled. The awkwardness was palpable; he was stiff as a
corpse, and had even forgotten about the drink he had held in his hand
(an empty glass now, its contents spread across the floor).
"And yet," Harun said in a warm, suggestive tone that had more to do
with his intoxicated state than his actual feelings, "you decided to
bury your face into my chest." The Cardassian dropped his arms now and
took a moderate step back before tilting his head down to look at
Burgundy with sardonic smile, "I am beginning to get mixed signals
Ensign."
Harun of course had no intention of making good his flirtations with the
bulbous Burgundy but the man was so delightfully easy to bait. That the
'Cardy' from earlier that evening made Burgundy fair game for whatever
he had coming to him in Harun's eyes.
The ensign wriggled himself loose in a bout of mild panic. He pointed a
finger at the Cardassian, then at himself, then back at the Cardassian
again. This to-and-fro continued arythmically while his mouth was trying
to make sounds. His brain hadn't yet figured out what kind of sounds to
make, leaving the mouth to move randomly in silence. "You!" he
exclaimed finally, his finger pointing at himself. "I!" came next, his
finger now waving about in the air. "I and signals! We don't mix!" the
words came out sluddered in exasperated bursts,
He turned to face the crowd, even though nobody was paying attention and
he could hardly be heard at all through the music. "You are all crazy!"
The statement felt definite. It was longer and more eloquent in his
sober imagination, but had roughly the same content. Deflated, he turned
back to Harun. Again his mouth moved long before he had words to say.
"Why are you here?!" he blurted out. "You," his movements could indicate
that Harun was in fact just a part of the wider 'you' of the room, or
indeed the ship. "Are inflicted on me!" Proud of his choice of words and
eager to end while, in his own mind, on top he grabbed Regina and
pushed her surprisingly gently towards Harun, as if to shield himself.
She had been hovering nearby, no doubt to see if the Cardassian needed
another refill. She objected to his manhandling, although maybe not to
its direction.
The Cardassian caught the woman, seeming to immediately sober at the
prospect of a face full of hair. Much like with Burgundy, Harun closed
his arms around her in an attempt not to topple over though it did
nothing for the liquor that now sloshed upon his tunic. Taking a quick
assessment to ensure Regina was alright his eyes once again fixed on
Burgundy and narrowed.
In Cardassian culture older members of the species were revered, seen as
sources of strength, wisdom and power. So for Burgundy to toss the much
older Regina at him as if she were some cheap Orion slave girl struck
Harun as deeply offensive. The look he gave the science officer was, to
put it bluntly, murderous. “Apologize,” he said in a dark and frigid
tone that held the unmistakable hint of command. “Now.”
Regina looked at the ensign expectantly, with a smug smile on her face.
Burgundy looked back at the two (four, to his eyes) of them. He snorted
defiantly. "Sorry," he muttered insincerely. His attention turned then
to finding the exit. He'd had quite enough of the current company. As
soon as he'd located the door, he walked unsteadily towards it. He
didn't mean to make it look like he was escaping, but he walked quickly.
It wasn't just that he wanted to get away from Harun, Regina and the
rest of them; his stomach was telling him other things wanted out too.
Years of living with two younger sisters had taught Harun to know an
insincere apology when he heard it and his expression darkened further.
He was about to pursue the abhorrent Ensign for the purpose of dragging
him back by the neck and making him apologize properly when a hand
touched his shoulder and he turned his head to see Regina looking at him
solemnly and shaking her head.
“Its not worth it dear,” she said and then returned her attention back
to watching Burgundy’s hasty exit. Harun knew that she was right of
course, strangling Burgundy in front of the senior staff would do Harun
no favors, but he decided that punishment would come eventually.