Loathing and Devotion

Posted on Fri 27th Apr, 2018 @ 7:00pm by Purulence Addams

968 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Brushfires
Location: The Addams Place, Deck 1554
Timeline: MD 1, 2030

When measured against the decks of a starship, Starbase 109 was immense. When measured against the surface of a planet, however, it was miniscule. Even Tivoli Gardens' perceived size was mostly a trick of landscaping and a high overhead. Chlamydia Addams, still wearing her black and blue uniform, took only a few minutes to walk from the riverside, through the woods, to her home. She paused at the edge of the miniature forest, looking at her house. The hedges needed looking after, she thought. They were looking far too orderly. The neighborhood association had repaired the streetlight again; she'd have to find her slingshot.

She crossed the cobblestone street, walked through the wrought-iron gate which opened before her. Her Zeta Reticulan spider, Thing, lept from her shoulder and scuttled away in the gloom. Addams walked up the stone steps to her front door, enjoying the light coming through the stained glass panels. Her ancestress looked out at her from the flames of one of her burnings at the stake, and Chlamydia smiled, touching the glass flames before opening the door.

"I'm home," she called, closing the door behind her.

Looking up from the real estate listings she was perusing, Ischemia declaimed dramatically: "UNDER the wide and starry sky, dig the grave and let her lie; . . . There she lies where she long'd to be; Home is the sailor, home from the sea, And the doctor home from the Sickbay."

She smiled at her sister and asked, "Cut up anyone interesting today?"

Purulence was nowhere to be seen, at first. She was in another room, painting, and had been there all day. But she heard Ischemia and Chlamydia talking and set aside her paintbrush long enough to go into the parlor and greet Chlamydia. "Hey, good to see you! I just noticed what time it is. You're only just now getting home? What happened?"

Without explanation, Chlamydia leaned over and kissed Ischemia on the forehead, then went over and engulfed Purulence in a hug. The Addams were not generally a physically affectionate family, but Chlamydia had long known that her littlest sister and their father were the best for hugging.

Purulence hugged Chlamydia back. A lifetime had taught her that, delicate though they seemed, neither Chlamydia nor Ischemia would break from a hug, though Purulence always marveled that they didn't.

Uh-oh. Something's up, Ischemia thought. "What was that about?" she asked, trying to sound amused and not betray her concern to either of her sisters.

Chlamydia thought about telling her sisters about the day she'd had; about the wounded she'd triaged on the quay; about the morgue full of bodies, and her last patients, the Besm clone which had lost half its members. Instead, she sighed, releasing Purulence, and announced. "I utterly loathe you both, and am unable to think of anyone in all the galaxy I would rather have secretly plotting my untimely demise."

"Hm," Purulence said, "I certainly think the two of us could at least come up with an unusual and inventive method of achieving it. Just don't let on to that Lt. Michaels up in Security, because he already thinks I'm strange--told me so, himself!" She smiled. "So what would you two like for dinner? I've been slaving over a hot painting all day; I'm ready to do something else for a while. I've been thinking about baking some hamantaschen, but using biscuit dough instead of cookie dough, and using a ground lamb and Worcestershire sauce filling so they'd be kind of like Pernese meatrolls."

Ischemia coughed. "I was thinking of going over to that little Japanese market in the Village and getting some yakitori with tare and perhaps ... yes, okonomiyaki, but without the sauce. So, Chlamydia, you have a choice for dinner, it seems." Despite Chlamy's sweet words, she was not reassured. One thing she knew, you couldn't drag anything out of her if she didn't want to share. With a sigh, she shut down her PADD and placed it on the table.

"Or we could all go see the ladies at Pearl With a Chainsaw, I suppose. You cooked last night, Pru. I'd think you are becoming positively domestic, if I didn't know better. Must be the nesting genes," Ischemia teased.

"They always put gooey fruit filling in pastry hamantaschen, and I hate that," Purulence said. "I'm cool with Japanese or Chainsaw. I wouldn't mind some sushi or gyoza."

Chlamydia shook her head. "I cannot face more Besm today," she said quietly. "And I have dined on fish and chips. I believe I shall retire, perhaps to read for a time, and then, to sleep."

The room was silent for a moment, both sisters looking at Chlamydia and then at each other. Finally, Ischemia said softly, "You do what you need for you. We're big girls and will work something out."

"Good night, then, wicked and loathsome witches," Chlamydia said, turning to exit the room. After a moment, the sound of her uniform boots clomping up the stairs could be heard, then the creek of her bedroom door opening and closing.

"Well, wicked and loathsome sister, shall we adjourn to the kitchen where I watch you prepare this thing that is neither fish nor fowl, and discuss what is going on with the third in our Addams coven?" Ischemia asked Prudence, once she was sure that Chlamydia was staying upstairs.

"The hamantaschen can wait for another night," Purulence said. "If we want to find out what's bothering Chlamydia, we have to go where the Besm are." She glanced down at her shirt and sighed. "How in the world do I get all this paint on myself? I'd better go change."

Acknowledging her sister's wisdom, Ischemia merely said, "I'll wait right here."

 

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