It was easy to understand why many of the species who have encountered the people of Abrbon liken them to the divine. They are the embodiment of an angel (or the alien equivalent) with their slim, statuesque appearance and luminous skin. Many an individual has half expected to see a set of wings securely folded on their backs. They were appendages of gossamer- not the feathered kind- as only they would suit the delicate, ethereal nature that the Abrbonians convey. Of course, there are those who would argue that, despite their appearance, their personalities and practises would suggest something along the opposite end of the scale. However, their supporters greatly outnumber their detractors, leaving Starfleet Command confident enough to offer up one of its premier ships when assistance was requested. Nevertheless, given that ship's propensity for trouble, and the possibility that the Abrbonians might want to stir up some of the same, it might not have been the best decision Command ever made.
Two Abrbonians, twins named Te'Bora and Ge'Ha, had taken quite a liking to one of the crew members, much to the amusement of some and the chagrin of others. A naysayer, if present, would have warned that the Abrbon taking a liking to you was wroth with danger, but, as none were aboard, the crew member in question was merely aggravated by the attention - more so when the two nearly bowled him over with their exuberant greeting as he entered the mess area. Brimming with excitement, they dragged him back to the table they had been occupying when he entered and sat him down so his back was to the other crew members before reseating themselves.
"Dr. McCoy," Ge'Ha greeted the man in question, her formal tone at odds with her bright smile. "We have a proposal for you."
"Or is it a proposition?" Te'Bora asked, his head tilted slightly in contemplation.
Ge'Ha flashed her brother a look of irritation over being interrupted; they had agreed that she would be the one to approach the man regarding their idea. Before she was able to continue; however, Leonard McCoy held up his hand to prevent her from speaking. This train of thought needed to be nipped in the bud. "No. Doesn't matter, just no," he said with a shake of his head.
Ge'Ha went from beaming to forlorn in an instant. "But we have not even told you what our idea is yet. How can you say no?"
A sad Abrbonian could move even the hardest of hearts, and Leonard, though gruff on the outside, was anything but hard on the inside. Pressing his hand against his temple as he this was happening to him, Leonard expanded on his refusal. "Look, not that you aren't both attractive, but this sort of thing is more up the Captain's alley. Alien princesses and" Leonard paused as he gestured between the two. "Princes. Maybe you should go ask him."
Te'Bora and Ge'Ha shared a knowing look, having become well aware of Captain Kirk's playboy reputation, even if they had yet to witness it. Turning back to the doctor with a slight nod, Te'Bora explained. "We did not mean that kind of offer. Had we not recognized that you are the type who is loyal to a partner and, therefore, would reject any overtures, we would have been making those already." There was a tone of disappointment in his voice.
"Our proposal does, however, involve your partner," Ge'Ha informed him before Leonard could make any denials about his alleged partner. The twins then leaned to either side of Leonard, to better see the individual assigned that role as he was sitting with the Captain and a few other officers at the very next table. Feeling their gaze on him, First Officer Spock turned his head to look directly at the two Abrbonians, raising his eyebrow in query to their actions. The twins, embarrassed to be caught despite the blatancy of their actions, snapped back to a more proper seating position. Both looked a little sheepish as they continued presenting their plan to their new friend.
"Partner?" Leonard finally asked, figuring it was worth a try to deny it. The relationship, if one could call it that, was being conducted in secret. There was no one to tell the Abrbonians, so it had to be a guess.
"Do not attempt to deny it as we are both aware of your understanding with the Vulcan and that he has encouraged you to be less than forthcoming about it," Ge'Ha said while Leonard rolled his eyes at her unwillingness to actually refer to Spock by name. The twins stubbornly referred to him as "the Vulcan" if forced to refer to him at all. They made his own early interactions with the guy seem downright friendly in comparison.
"He lost both a home planet and his mother in only the space of a few moments," Leonard explained. "That, along with one failed relationship with a fellow crew member, has made him the object of a lot of gossip: something he would like to avoid for the time being. I can't really blame him. I'd just as soon not have people talking about me either."
Not that Leonard had been able to avoid being the topic of discussion as of late. Thanks to the two individuals currently sitting at the table with him, he was starring in most of the scuttlebutt currently circulating around Enterprise.
"It is sad, what happened, "Te'Bora conceded with a shrug, "But after such losses, it becomes more important to celebrate when some happiness enters one's life. He should not hide it away as though it were shameful."
"And though you defend him, you are saddened to have to withhold such information from your friends," Ge'Ha added with a little huff. "But you want him to be happy, so you comply with his wishes."
Leonard started to speak, but Te'Bora held up his hand and continued the twins' case. "We have spent enough time with you to understand how important his happiness is to you and we are saddened that the same cannot be said about him."
"You've never spent any time with him," Leonard sputtered angrily, using their words against them. "How the hell would you know what can or can't be said about him?"
Ge'Ha shook her head sadly before continuing with the idea that they wished to present to the doctor. It was taking much longer than expected to put forward their suggestion. "If we were to give him his mother back, then he would be happier."
"And you're going to do that? Bring his mother back from the dead?" Leonard scoffed, his disbelief clearly written across his face.
"You are a doctor. Have you not brought people back from the dead?" Te'Bora asked.
"Yes, but we are talking death that lasted a few seconds or minutes, not months," Leonard reasoned. "And there is no body. It kind of went the way of the planet, into nothing."
"That could pose a problem," Ge'Ha admitted, referring to the lack of a corpse not the passage of time. "In this case, it would be more a matter of us preventing her from dying, not bringing her back."
Leonard snorted at the confidence in which this little change of plan was outlined. "And that would be no problem, even though this all happened months ago"
"Despite having fought enemies from the future, it is interesting that humans, most species, actually, still see time as a linear concept," Te'Bora mused, scratching his chin as he considered the contradiction. "Yet, such an event should prove that time is actually very malleable, and exploiting this flexibility will allow us to do just that."
Ge'Ha simply nodded to express her agreement.
"And the cost of such an undertaking?" Leonard asked, not really believing they could deliver, but curious to know why they would even offer to do so.
"Oh, a sacrifice will have to be made," Ge'Ha admitted. "But sacrifices come with rewards. It is something you should bear in mind when deciding whether or not to accept."
"I should? So I'm the one to make this sacrifice?" Leonard couldn't seem to stop himself from continuing the ludicrous conversation.
"Unfortunately, yes," Ge'Ha said with a little frown. "There must be a trade."
"A trade? What the hell? Am I dead?" Leonard tried to wrap his head around what the two aliens were saying.
"Do not be so literal." Ge'Ha chastened the human with a slight slap on the arm. "We have no wish for anyone's death, least of all yours. It is simply that he may have you in his life the way he does now, or he may have his mother back. You will still be known to each other, but only you would know what once was."
"So I don't get to forget?" Leonard sounded disappointed. He couldn't help but hope that, among other things, he could simply forget this conversation ever happened. He pressed the heel of his hand into his eyes. The topic was giving him a headache. He really should have gone with his first instinct and returned to his quarters after his shift, or stayed in his office to get caught up on reports for once.
"There would not be much of a sacrifice if no one remembers," Te'Bora asserted, puzzled by the doctor's tone. "But as Ge'Ha has said, the choice will not be without its rewards."