“Nefertiti.” Jim sat back, looking smug, before giving up and laying down again.
“Ooh,” Scotty praised, raising his glass as if in salute to a fallen comrade. “We may have a winner there, boys.”
“No, hold on, hold on,” Bones and Sulu both protested, predictable as two men could hope to be. Sulu held out his hand, insisting on going first.
“Nike,” he finally said, and everyone had to admit a Greek goddess was a good match for an Egyptian queen.
“Ah, that reminds me of the common Russian girls name Nika,” Chekov butted in to even more groans. "What? It is a very beautiful name."
“They come from the same Greek root, actually,” Mama cut through the heckles and everyone quieted themselves, shoving and shushing each other. “Nike is the Greek word for ‘victory.’ So they made her the goddess of it."
"The Romans called her Victoria,” Bones murmured to her left, just loud enough for everyone to hear. Spock stared at him, willing him to be quiet. Len glared right back above Jim’s head, and continued to stroke his hair. Jim, sunk deeply into his trip, mewled a little and stretched like a cat. Mama smiled indulgently at all three idiots.
“But that doesn’t start with an N, Leonard.”
"You're much more suited for Greek, at any rate."
"Am I not sophisticated enough for your Latin?"
"Naw, Latin’s just too stuffy and academic. Lacking the right spice." He grinned her way, flaunting a joke everyone knew originated between them in the kitchen. Spock pretended to ignore the conversation; more for his own sake as no one else believed his act.
"Spock," Bones called out, and if anyone had still been spaced out they focused now. These two never failed to put on a show, slinging sharp words like arrows with hardly any remorse. "You gonna offer your suggestion? Or are you content to let Jim hold the title of Most Clever?" Instead of replying to Leonard's bait, Spock thought for a moment.
"Nienna," Spock said, not looking at Len. His attention was much better spent elsewhere. Her reaction did not disappoint: the faint flush on her cheeks, a slight dilation of pupils, the heightened awareness of breath. Spock had successfully elicited an emotional response, and he rewarded himself with a smile her direction.
It was obvious from the looks everyone else sent his way none of them were aware of Mama’s start in linguistics. It pleased something deep and unrecognized in him to know she never shared that story with the others. It represented something all their own. Spock treasured it silently.
“I like that, Spock,” she said. Len scoffed. Of course the slippery bastard had an ace up his sleeve.
“What nationality is that?” he asked, grasping for something.
“Elven,” Spock said, like that was a perfectly normal response. Chekov tittered behind his hand, finding. But Mama smiled back at him, and Leonard watched the exchange with amusement.
One by one, they all turned to look at him. He let them spend a long minute in uncomfortable, expectant silence before finally barking: “What?”
“You’re the only one who hasn’t guessed, Leonard,” Mama explained as if he didn’t know perfectly well. If only Jim were awake to appreciate the act of kindness he was about to commit. The romantic would never let him live it down. Thankfully, Jim had tried some new mushroom today and it put him right under. He’d never get to tease him for turning into such a softy.
“Naomi,” he said slowly, relishing Mama’s face as she dared him to continue. The words unfurled from memory. “Do not call me Naomi, she told them; call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.”
“I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty,” she replied, eyes full of ancient fire. Well, he thought, second place isn’t so bad after all. “But, Len…”
“I know,” his eyes twinkled with shared mischief, “still doesn’t start with an N.”
“I’m afraid you’re disqualified,” she agreed. Mama N turned to Spock—and the game was over. The winner talked to the lovely lady, Scotty helped Chekov and Sulu clean away the cups and plates, and Chris and Len grabbed Jim from underneath the elbows and carried him up to Len’s room. The moment unraveled as each moved away, and they rejoined the frenzied pace of the Haight once more.
--
“I was awake, you know,” he mutters into the warm skin. “At the end, there—I was most definitely awake.”
“You’ve got some drool, there, on my shoulder,” is his reply. Then: “I know you were.”
“I know you know, because your leg muscle tensed up. We really gotta work on your relaxation.”
“You know what’d be relaxing? If you went ba—”
“Does she know you know?” he gets a chuckle for that sentence, which he considers his greatest achievement of the day (so far).
“Be more specific, kid.”
“Does Mama know that you know her real name?”
“I—it isn’t—how do you know?”
“I have my sour—” fingers begin to unpleasantly poke him in anatomically precise spots, “—okay, okay, you told me when we smoked the dragon.” There’s a pause, then a long sigh.
“Of course I did.” The wheels of the mind slowly turn, and he raises his head. “Did I… I didn’t, uh…”
“Nope," he says before starting his exploration of this very convenient collarbone, "I shut you up. Your secret remains between you, her, and whoever you bribed to tell you.”
Leonard doesn't express his gratitude. They both know Jim didn't do it for Mama.
“Ooh,” Scotty praised, raising his glass as if in salute to a fallen comrade. “We may have a winner there, boys.”
“No, hold on, hold on,” Bones and Sulu both protested, predictable as two men could hope to be. Sulu held out his hand, insisting on going first.
“Nike,” he finally said, and everyone had to admit a Greek goddess was a good match for an Egyptian queen.
“Ah, that reminds me of the common Russian girls name Nika,” Chekov butted in to even more groans. "What? It is a very beautiful name."
“They come from the same Greek root, actually,” Mama cut through the heckles and everyone quieted themselves, shoving and shushing each other. “Nike is the Greek word for ‘victory.’ So they made her the goddess of it."
"The Romans called her Victoria,” Bones murmured to her left, just loud enough for everyone to hear. Spock stared at him, willing him to be quiet. Len glared right back above Jim’s head, and continued to stroke his hair. Jim, sunk deeply into his trip, mewled a little and stretched like a cat. Mama smiled indulgently at all three idiots.
“But that doesn’t start with an N, Leonard.”
"You're much more suited for Greek, at any rate."
"Am I not sophisticated enough for your Latin?"
"Naw, Latin’s just too stuffy and academic. Lacking the right spice." He grinned her way, flaunting a joke everyone knew originated between them in the kitchen. Spock pretended to ignore the conversation; more for his own sake as no one else believed his act.
"Spock," Bones called out, and if anyone had still been spaced out they focused now. These two never failed to put on a show, slinging sharp words like arrows with hardly any remorse. "You gonna offer your suggestion? Or are you content to let Jim hold the title of Most Clever?" Instead of replying to Leonard's bait, Spock thought for a moment.
"Nienna," Spock said, not looking at Len. His attention was much better spent elsewhere. Her reaction did not disappoint: the faint flush on her cheeks, a slight dilation of pupils, the heightened awareness of breath. Spock had successfully elicited an emotional response, and he rewarded himself with a smile her direction.
It was obvious from the looks everyone else sent his way none of them were aware of Mama’s start in linguistics. It pleased something deep and unrecognized in him to know she never shared that story with the others. It represented something all their own. Spock treasured it silently.
“I like that, Spock,” she said. Len scoffed. Of course the slippery bastard had an ace up his sleeve.
“What nationality is that?” he asked, grasping for something.
“Elven,” Spock said, like that was a perfectly normal response. Chekov tittered behind his hand, finding. But Mama smiled back at him, and Leonard watched the exchange with amusement.
One by one, they all turned to look at him. He let them spend a long minute in uncomfortable, expectant silence before finally barking: “What?”
“You’re the only one who hasn’t guessed, Leonard,” Mama explained as if he didn’t know perfectly well. If only Jim were awake to appreciate the act of kindness he was about to commit. The romantic would never let him live it down. Thankfully, Jim had tried some new mushroom today and it put him right under. He’d never get to tease him for turning into such a softy.
“Naomi,” he said slowly, relishing Mama’s face as she dared him to continue. The words unfurled from memory. “Do not call me Naomi, she told them; call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.”
“I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty,” she replied, eyes full of ancient fire. Well, he thought, second place isn’t so bad after all. “But, Len…”
“I know,” his eyes twinkled with shared mischief, “still doesn’t start with an N.”
“I’m afraid you’re disqualified,” she agreed. Mama N turned to Spock—and the game was over. The winner talked to the lovely lady, Scotty helped Chekov and Sulu clean away the cups and plates, and Chris and Len grabbed Jim from underneath the elbows and carried him up to Len’s room. The moment unraveled as each moved away, and they rejoined the frenzied pace of the Haight once more.
--
“I was awake, you know,” he mutters into the warm skin. “At the end, there—I was most definitely awake.”
“You’ve got some drool, there, on my shoulder,” is his reply. Then: “I know you were.”
“I know you know, because your leg muscle tensed up. We really gotta work on your relaxation.”
“You know what’d be relaxing? If you went ba—”
“Does she know you know?” he gets a chuckle for that sentence, which he considers his greatest achievement of the day (so far).
“Be more specific, kid.”
“Does Mama know that you know her real name?”
“I—it isn’t—how do you know?”
“I have my sour—” fingers begin to unpleasantly poke him in anatomically precise spots, “—okay, okay, you told me when we smoked the dragon.” There’s a pause, then a long sigh.
“Of course I did.” The wheels of the mind slowly turn, and he raises his head. “Did I… I didn’t, uh…”
“Nope," he says before starting his exploration of this very convenient collarbone, "I shut you up. Your secret remains between you, her, and whoever you bribed to tell you.”
Leonard doesn't express his gratitude. They both know Jim didn't do it for Mama.
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