C6 / Smith

Posted on Sun 13th Jan, 2019 @ 6:11pm by
Edited on on Wed 23rd Jan, 2019 @ 11:34am

991 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Location: Scent of Love
Timeline: Shortly after Great-Grandmama arrived on-station.

It was… a Torii gate, perhaps, or a megalithic trilithon rendered in jacinth. A clear and obvious demarcation at the top of a ridge, separating one realm from another. Dawn Addams paused. “Do not release each others’ hands,” she reminded her companions. With a look of determination, she took the last few steps to the ridge, and passed through the gate.

The Echos had been designed to be the perfect spies and assassins. In embodied life, they had simply known what those around them knew; understood their needs and desires and purposes. In the moment when the Witch, her matrilineal descendants, and their friends stepped into the valley they had closed, the Echos turned their attention their way. In that moment, they knew who had arrived, and why. They considered the Witch’s purpose, understood her points, reluctantly agreed.

There was a flash of light, and time was rearranged, reality was changed.

---

When the chime of an entering customer brought Flavia to the front of the shop, she exclaimed with pleasure, "Dr. Addams! And you've brought Six with you, too. Hello, Six, it is so nice to see you. Don't you look pretty with pink checked ribbons tying up your long pony tails? Gloriana and Claudia will be so sorry they missed you."

"Thank you," Six said solemnly. "Thing tied them for me."

"Ms. Smith, I wonder if you have any aconite today? Or perhaps some nice foxglove?" Chlamydia glanced around the shop, as if hoping to spot the 'beautiful but deadly' section.

"Interesting choices. Wolf's bane and Digitalis purpurea," Flavia mused. "A patient with heart problems, perhaps? If you want growing plants, I'm sorry, I don't have any. That more or less lets them out for treatment purposes, unless you are willing to wait a year or more for the first blooms. I do have seeds of both, and I have several aconite roots from plants which I've divided. That will be faster than growing them from seed. Beautiful flowers." Looking at Six, she added, "Don't you touch them, honey. They are highly poisonous, in spite of their beauty."

Six smiled, the kind of smile which implied she knew exactly how toxic the flowers were, and how to prepare the toxins for maximum advantage. Chlamydia shook her head. "I would never use a biological ingredient for therapeutic purposes. There are too many variables to be sure of getting the dosage correct."

"Might you consider larkspur, then? While still of a deadly nature, and still purple-blue in color, they will flower in the first year. Unless conditions are perfect for self-seeding, they'll require planting every year, however," Flavia said. She hoped flowers were the main idea, if the doctor didn't plan to formulate her own medicines.

Chlamydia made a thoughtful noise. "We're looking more for something we can take home to grand-mère today." She looked to her child. "Do you have any thoughts, chérie?"

Six wandered about the store, looking at flowers. When she came to the wastebin and saw some wilted roses within, she said, "What about these?"

Suddenly, Flavia was reminded of the first time she'd spent any time with Six. It had been the child's fifth birthday, she remembered. By then, Chlamydia, Six and Thing had made the Queen Anne in Tivoli Gardens a home, albeit a rather unusual one. Thing, unusual all by himself, of course. The party was a mix of Starfleet children, diplomats' children, and a few offspring of business owners, including Flavia's own Gloriana and Claudia. It had been a happy mix, and it was the first time Flavia had seen Six smile. Six had been wearing black jeans that day, with a red fitted shirt, her hair in braids with red and black ribbon ties. Somehow, those colors looked remarkably good on Addams females.

She moved toward the child now and peered into the bin. "Oh, Six, I think those are long past saving, but I do have some fresh ones in a dark red. Rather thorny, of course, but I don't suppose you'd mind that." Thoughtfully, she added, "I believe I could dye a few carnations black to go with them, though I'm afraid Baby's Breath doesn't take well to dying."

"So few do," Chlamydia answered.

Six looked up solemnly. "We need not be concerned with death, for while we exist, it does not, and while it exists, we do not."

"So, mon petit amour, what do you think? The wilted ones, or shall we have Ms. Smith lop the heads from the others, and take arrière grand-mère a dozen delightfully thorny stems?"

Six closed her eyes, thinking. "These," she said after a moment's consideration, pointing at the wilted blooms. "And have you any hemlock?"

Thoroughly confused by now, Flavia quipped, "If I did, I'd probably drink it."

She looked around the shop, trying to think what might look good with the half dead roses. "What about this?" she asked, pointing to a spindly, thorny plant about a foot tall. "It's a special order, some sort of succulent from M-113 ... and, no, I have no idea where it is, but it's apparently a desert world and this," she nodded at the plant, "is one of the few things that grows there in enough quantity to be exported. It wasn't picked up, so it's on the market now. Plenty of thorns, as you can see, but no foliage. I'm told if cared for properly, it blooms quite nicely ... but that probably isn't important. And I'll throw the black carnies in for free. That should make an ... uh, an appropriate gift for your ... did you say grandmother?"

As the florist waited for an answer on the flowers, she wondered, Just what kind of woman would an elderly Addams be? She really couldn't imagine.

"Great Grandmama," Six corrected. "Our eldest ancestor." She considered the thorny plant, and then nodded. "That will do; thank you very much."

 

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