Who: Leonard McCoy and Elizabeth Weir… and Joanna McCoy (NPC) When: Mid January Where: Elizabeth’s Place What: Movie Date Rating/Warning: Low/None Status: Complete
Elizabeth stopped, finally and looked around the house she’d been cleaning frantically for the last few hours. She ran her hand through her hair and heaved a deep sigh before nodding in satisfaction at how pristine the house looked after her efforts. She couldn’t believe how nervous she was for having Leonard and Joanna around to hers for the first time. She wanted it to be perfect. Normally she would have breezed through this sort of encounter, but right now she was feeling quite on edge. The casserole she had made was keeping warm in the slow cooker on the side and smelled really good and the films she had rented out as options for them to watch sat on the coffee table in the front room.
McCoy and his daughter were arguing about her cell phone as they headed up the walk toward Elizabeth’s front door. Their voices could be heard from the other side, muffled, but sounding angry. There was a firm knock a moment later, and the voices went quiet as they waited for her to answer.
Elizabeth smiled at the sound of their voices outside her front door. Putting her hand on the doorknob she took a deep breath and smiled before opening the door and standing in the doorway in front of them. “That is definitely the sound of my two favourite people arriving for a peaceful, relaxing evening,” she said with a gentle smile.
Joanna looked angry, but her face softened at the sight of Elizabeth. “Dad’s just being unreasonable, as always.” She said, and then gave Elizabeth a quick hug on her way through the door and into the place. Joanna was keen on investigating.
McCoy looked rattled. “I’m not being unreasonable,” he called after his daughter. Then he stepped up to Elizabeth and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, tightly, and pressed a kiss into her hair.
Elizabeth smiled as Joanna hugged her and returned it, rubbing the girls back gently and looking over her head to grin happily at Leonard that she had. She let go of Joanna as the smaller girl pulled away and moved to wrap her arms around Leonard’s waist. She hummed in contentment at the feeling of his lips against her hair. “What are you being seemingly unreasonable about?” she asked, pulling away with a quick kiss to his lips before urging him in so she could shut the door behind them.
“Her mother bought her a smart phone. A smart phone. At eleven. Honestly.” He said, and released her so he could nearly stomp into the house after his daughter. “She wants to take it with her to school. I told her that it wasn’t appropriate for a child to have a cell phone at school.”
“I’m not a child.” Joanna called from her explorations of the house.
Elizabeth chuckled at the pair of them, putting a hand on his front and back, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek as she moved to the kitchen. She leaned to one side to see Joanna walking the corridor to the bedrooms and called to her. “Watch out for Sam’s room, god knows what gizmos and gadgets she’s got lurking in there,” she joked, half serious. She turned back to Leonard as she rounded the kitchen island approaching the fridge. “Wine?” she asked him with a grin. “And then you can tell me all about the phone dilemma.”
Joanna poked her head into Sam’s room, and gave a loud, playful “Ooh, what’s this thing do?” And pretended to turn a switch or something. But she simply chuckled and came back out to the living room to flop on the sofa and wait for dinner and movie.
“Yes, please.” McCoy said, following Elizabeth into the kitchen. “It’s really not that big of a deal. I think her mother wanted to be able to keep better tabs on her. I think the thing should stay at home. Not school. Both Joanna and her mother are ganging up on me.” As was their way.
Elizabeth laughed a little at Joanna’s antics as she pulled a bottle of red from the wine rack on the side and started to open it. “Feel free to find something for us to watch Joanna, DVD’s and everything are in the far cupboard by the window,” she told the girl, looking over to see her sitting on the sofa. She pulled out two glasses for them and poured the wine for them, handing one over to him before coming to stand close to him and talk quietly. “My poor set upon baby,” she teased with a little pout, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing his cheek to mollify his comeback somewhat. “Why don’t you make a deal with her? She’s not a little girl anymore, she’s growing up as much as you don’t want her to,” she said gently, stroking her her thumb back and forth against his stomach. “Make a deal that says you are trusting her to use it responsibly and she can keep it so long as it doesn’t interfere with her lessons or her homework. She’s a smart kid, I’m sure she’ll see what’s best for her,” she smiled up at him gently as she offered her advice.
“You don’t have any DVDs in that rack that she shouldn’t be seeing, do you?” McCoy asked, playfully and somewhat flirtatiously.
“EEW, DAD, I can still hear you!” Joanna called out from the living room. She made a fake retching sound, then moved over to look at the dvd collection.
“I’m pretty sure it’s against school rules for her to have it at school, anyway. It’s pretty much a moot point. They’ll take it away from her before I have the chance.” He added, leaning back against the counter while she poured the wine. “Maybe we can work out something to do with her grades, but… she’s only eleven. It’s not like she’s a teenager.”
“Oh yeah babe, I’ve got porn all over the place,” Elizabeth grinned as she teased him in a low voice and nipped at his neck playfully. “But for the record, the naughty stuff is in the box under my bed,” she whispered in his ear, pulling away with a satisfied grin. “Deals are a good way to work I figure,” she shrugged. “Works for countries,” she told him with a smile. “But she’s a good kid, Just talk to her about it if you’re worried, compromise is a wonderful thing,” she smiled at him.
McCoy chuckled. “I don’t for a second believe that you’ve got porn in a box under your bed.” He whispered back, then went back to whatever it was he was doing. Preparing dinner? Making popcorn? Both things sounded good. She was pouring the wine, after all.
“I found one!” Joanna called out, triumphantly, from the living room. “The Princess Bride!” A classic.
“You have no idea what I have under my bed,” Elizabeth teased quietly with a grin as she went to take the bowls and garlic bread out of the oven. She bumped him with her hip as she moved past him and set the plates out on the side near the slow cooker. “Princess Bride is great, Joanna, would you mind setting it up while I bring the food through?” Breaking up the bread, she dropped the pieces into one of the bowls and handed it to him. “Could you take this in there for me?” she asked, indicating the front room before taking the lid off the slow cooker and serving up three bowls of casserole for them all.
McCoy chuckled. "I'll find out soon enough." He said, then moved out of the way so that Elizabeth could have the run of the kitchen. He accepted the bowl and nodded, then took the bread into the other room to set on the coffee table.
"Yeah! Sure." Joanna said, and she moved over to the dvd player to get the movie ready to play.
McCoy came back into the kitchen to grab drinks and silverware while Elizabeth dished up the food.
Elizabeth grinned at him as he came back in the room. “Here you go, grub’s up,” she handed over a bowl and spoon to him along with the glass of wine she’d poured him earlier. “Joanna, what would you like to drink? I’ve got juice, squash, lemonade, what’s your poison?” she called into the front room.
“Lemonade?” Joanna called out from her spot on the sofa. She was clicking with the remote to get the movie ready to play.
McCoy gave Elizabeth a gentle “thanks” then headed into the living room to sit down on the sofa. He sipped his wine, then leaned back on the sofa. “...pause it,” he instructed his daughter.
“Duh, dad. I know the rules.” She said, and set the remote down. The movie was started, but paused, waiting for Elizabeth to come in.
Elizabeth laughed as she came into the room with Joanna’s dish and drink, handing the dish to the young girl and placing the glass on a coaster on the table. She hurried off to grab her own dish then came back to settle down on the couch, picking up her glass and raising it. “Ypa*!” she toasted in Russian.
Joanna laughed at the word, and then repeated it before sipping from her glass enthusiastically. She clicked the remote to play the movie.
McCoy grinned, sipped, then leaned back on the sofa and started in on his dinner.
Elizabeth grinned over at the girl happily then set her glass back down on the table. She sat back on the sofa, grabbing a couple of pieces of garlic bread as she did. She looked up at Leonard with a happy smile. There were some times when she couldn't believe how lucky she was.