PNPC Crewman, 1st Class Cheesecake Watanabe - A Tail Tale

[Alora DeVeau]

OOC: I just love Cheesecake.  The dog...and the dessert.  But I especially love how this sim ended.

 

[[ U.S.S Thor, Deck 6, Senior Enlisted Mess Hall. ]]

 

The biped held the delicious thing in front of her for a moment but then, to Cheesecake's despair, he pushed it away. Even worse, he said the forbidden word. "No." Not only that but he repeated it several times.

This was, no doubt, a definitive verdict that condemned her to an eternity of not being able to taste whatever it was that the biped didn't want her to have, which was, to begin with, tragic, and to follow, unfair.

 

As every dog, Cheesecake was aware that rules were more like guidelines and so, they could be pushed a little in the right direction, namely, in the direction that would get her what she wanted, if she was a really good girl, and she pulled her ears back, put her snout down, and gave him THE LOOK.

 

Of course, Cheesecake had had to up the level THE LOOK since her handler was a pointy-eared biped and she had learned the hard way that pointy-eared bipeds required a LOT MORE coaxing. But she had certainly picked up the lesson very well, so the other biped who used to live with her handler always, ALWAYS fell under the spell of THE LOOK.

 

Of course, she proved victorious in the staring contest.

 

Kerr: Access favorite replicator options for Crewman First Class Watanabe.

 

Wantanabe: Boorf Boorf!

 

Computer: Crewman First Class Watanabe's list of food preferences, Cheesecake contains 1348 items, listed chronologically as:

 

Canine kibble number 33, socks, Vulcan meditation candle oil type e49b, miscellaneous bone remnants, cheese (non descripted), tofu, batbird soup Hasoor VII variety, medium quality paper, standard mid-sized padd, electronic components for medical tricorder parts 458 to 567, kibble number 45, cat kibble number 2, standard mattress stuffing....

 

Kerr: Computer, proceed with top recommendation.

 

Computer =/\= Unable to comply. Replicators offline. =/\=

 

The biped shook his head and Cheesecake tilted it. She took her job as a therapy dog to heart and she knew exactly when someone was down, so she was more than willing to help.

 

Kerr: Alright. Let me get this filter swapped out, and then we’ll get some lunch. 

 

Then her new best friend left the thing away from her, with all the gestures that indicated that he really wasn't going to pass it along because he wanted it just for him, and utter display that indicated that he didn't like to share.

 

Cheesecake pouted ruefully. She loved to share, sharing was caring. Especially if other people shared with her.

 

 

Kerr: We’re going to leave that there. (Slowly backing away.) Jussssst theeeereeee. That’s where it’s staying. It’s not going to be touched.  Agreed?

 

Wantanabe: soft whining

 

Then, the biped climbed on one of those things that bipeds used to reach places and... disappeared.

 

More or less.

 

But he kept talking anyway, so Cheesecake remained there, wagging her tail cheerfully every time the biped uttered a word.

 

Kerr: (Head deep in the filter unit of replicator two) Just got to align the cartridge.

 

There was a loud snap and click, and a tail wagged for a few seconds. 

 

Kerr: (Leaning further into the filter unit) Then twist and lock to connect the sensors. Got to use the hexkey to secure it and ...

 

Wantanabe: (In earnest) Woof Woof

 

A hand came out from a box with something that looked suspiciously like a stick and, for an moment, Cheesecake stood on all four paws, awestruck (and flattered) by the sudden session of FETCH.

 

Kerr: Gross!

 

No fetch. Disappointed whimper, rear on floor.

 

The scene played out over and over again for a few minutes until, finally, Cheesecake stretched out on the floor, rested her head between her forepaws and... she snoozed, the purpose of her mission forgotten, except for the fact that the biped somehow needed her support.

 

Only later, when the speakers in all the corridors blew an annoying honk and the lights changed in two different degrees of colours that, of course, a dog could not fully differentiate, Cheesecake woke up. It was then, and only then, that the big mastiff remembered a number of things:

 

That she had made a new friend, that really needed to have someone listen to him, so she was going to have to visit him more often.

 

That this noise meant work and that therefore she should head to a sickbay.

 

That she should remember to not get in the way. For real.

 

And that she had to help.

 

So, without dawdling for too long, Cheesecake barked a farewell and, just as she had entered, she left the mess hall.

 

Her surprise was complete when she found one of her favourite two-legged friends in her workplace, sprawled out on one of those things that moved bipeds around. And as one would do with good friends, she booped his hand to tell him that she was there and that, despite everything, he was not alone.

 

[[END]]

 

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Lt. Alieth
Chief Medical Officer
USS Thor NCC-82607
E239702A10  
Image Collective Co-Facilitator /Art Director
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