=A=

“Hmm I’d say it’s a throbber alright.” Beverly mused as she fought off
the pathetic hands trying to swat her away. Releasing the eyelid on the
bloodshot eye she was examining, she took in her patient.

“Go oway. Leef mee anone” He ordered in effectively, trying to swat her
away as the doctor snapped off her fine torch light, and placed it back
into it’s kit.

“What I want to know Will. Is how did you get this way?” Skimming the
readout of her tricorder, she dialled up a hypo and pressurised it into
his bloodstream. And not without her patient once more trying to swat
her away like a fly. “You know, for someone in need of medical help,
you don’t exactly look thankful.” She grumbled.

“Your professional diagnosis Beverly?” Picard asked, picking up a
bottle of once treasured Chateau Picard. “Even though it’s obvious.”

“Well I’d like to expand on it, but there’s nothing to expand on. A
hangover in a medical sense is just that, a hangover.” Beverly sat back
on her heels after lowering a blanket once more over Will’s inebriated
form. Her emergency ice pack about to slide off his sweat peppered brow
once more. “Though I do have to ask, did Deanna say anything when you
got here?”

“Nothing more than, Touché.” He raised an eyebrow. Both the captain and
doctor had been sharing their usual breakfast when the call came in for
Beverly. The Betazoids casual call suggesting that her friend bring a
medikit to Commander Riker’s quarters when she had time. Picard had
headed right then and there while Beverly had raced down to sickbay for
her kit, before meeting him there.

With legs sprawled in every direction, a few empty bottles and glasses
strewn around him, to her, Will Riker had seemed pretty comical until
she’d seen the storm brewing on Picard’s face.

At the gentle clearing of a throat, she turned back to the present,
shaking her head. “Well we can either let him sleep it off or drag him
into the shower for a nasty awakening.” She suggested. Though her back
was wishing to leave him be.

“I would prefer to know why my first officer was lying here, with his
uniform tunic tied around his head and his socks hanging off his ears.”
He mused with a great straight face.

“It might have been me.” A familiar voice announced. “Well, actually it
was me. But he did all the drinking himself.”

“Counsellor?” Picard raised an eyebrow.

Facing Beverly without a hint of sorrow, Deanna moved in from the open
doorway, allowing the quarters to become once more closed off from
prying eyes. “Do you remember the poker game last night?”

Who couldn’t. Thought Beverly, noticing the table still strewn with
Will’s winnings and a few sundry glasses.

“Well sometime after you sensibly left, Will decided to open a bottle
of the Captain’s wine to share. Maybe he was tired, maybe he’d missed
dinner, but the alcohol went straight to his head, and before I could
stop him, he related the tequila problem I had back on Earth with
Cochrane.” She paused. The captain nodded, and Beverly looked a little
sheepish. No doubt she’d passed this little awkward moment in her life
onto her breakfast partner.

“The more alcohol that he, Worf and Geordi drank the worse the stories
got, until he started to tell all about our past…well he tried.” She
coloured a little. “The others eventually left, and I couldn’t help
myself.”

“Well I don’t see any eyebrows missing on him, so what did you exactly
do to him?” Beverly pushed. The large man’s moans starting to get
louder, the more conscious he became.

“Under the circumstances I can understand your compulsion Deanna, but
you do realise that it is an offense to drug or delay an officer of his
duties.” It wasn’t a formal reprimand, just a notation to alert Deanna
to the fact that if she was behind Will Riker’s present state, she had
better have a better excuse than petty grievances against a drunk mans
tellings.

“Well it started out with me trying to sober him up, but I guess my
mischief took over.” She blushed taking a seat down beside her victim.
Straightening up his icepack, she traced his sweaty jaw. “I got him to
play poker, and for every hand lost, the loser had to scull the entire
contents of their refilled glass. What I didn’t tell Will was that I’d
taken a hypo against the effectiveness of alcohol, and the more he
drank, the less he won. Until….” She indicated the sorry state of her
Imzadi.

“You played him?!?!” Beverly laughed out loud. Nearly laughing again
as Will rolled over in agony from her shrill laughter.

“I guess it was revenge.” She shyly announced.

“I’d say it was counsellor.” The Captain added with a twinkle in his
eye. “Normally I’d have to report this Counsellor, but seeing the
Commander get his comeuppance for betraying the secrets of a lady, I’ll
let it swing this once. But in the meantime I’ll expect you to repay
your misdemeanor by attending to his recovery.”

“Aye sir.” She replied with a small smile.

“And go easy on him Doctor, I believe Will Riker had learnt his
lesson.” He winked before leaving his first officers’ quarters.

“Go easy?” Beverly giggled. “What say we play a little music?”

“Beverly!” her shocked friend whispered. “Then again we could play
maybe a tune or two. How about night bird.” She winked before letting
fly, peals of laughter.

“Ewrghhh.” A moan chorused.

“You ok Imzadi?” Deanna asked as Beverly wandered off to order a glass
of water from the replicator. Will’s eyes squinting tighter as the
doctor clinked and shifted the various glasses on the replicators
matrix pad ready for recycling, before ordering up the glass of water.

“I love you Imzadi…” he mumbled.

Deanna’s fingers stopped their circular motion over his forearm, and
Beverly nearly dropped the glass she was carrying over.

“…but you suck at revenge.” He added as he slowly opened one eye and
glared at her with one red orb.

“Do I just.” She smiled. “Computer. Play Night bird, full volume.”

As her victim, and soul mate, rolled around the floor in a fetal
position, hands clamped down hard on his ears, Beverly murmured she’d
never cross her friend for sure.

“Computer. Stop music.” Beverly ordered. ‘The captain said repair him,
not scar him.” She mothered, supporting Will’s neck and getting him to
take a sip or two of the water she held to his lips. “And besides, I’m
sure Lwaxanna would like you to leave him alone, so she can have a
go.”

Will groaned, hearing the doctors comment. “Just kill me now.”

“No Will. We promised the Captain we wouldn’t do that. Although I know
he didn’t look too happy at seeing his precious wine cast about so
freely.” Beverly said, letting him rest back down to the floor.

“I’m sorry alright. But you’re the one who taunted me during poker by
sending erotic thoughts. “he groaned out, sitting up unsteadily, and
eyeing the slanted angle of the room. “Man I could do with something
greasy about now.”

Bursting out laughing at his comment, the old hangover cure of the 21st
century on his lips, the doctor rewound a word of two in her mind. “She
was taunting you to start with?”

“Yeah why else do you think I let a full flush get past me in the 3rd
hand. She started flashing images from the Jalara jungle at me.” He
grimaced as his stomach twirled with the floor’s see saw effect.

“You started it?” She twirled on Deanna seeing the blushing Betazoid
before her. “So you brought up the subject of your past with
Will…first.” She eyed her suspiciously. “OK own up. How long has this
taunting one upmanship been going on for?” She queried.

Looking like two naughty children they both spoke at the same time till
Beverly cut the air with her hands for time out. “So this has been
going on for three weeks?!?! Why?”

Will shakily glanced over to Deanna looking a little green. “Can it
wait till one of you help me up to the bathroom. I don’t feel so well.”
He admitted, as his green tinged clammy skin became whiter and whiter.

Beverly moved forward, pulling the weighty man up till he was nearly
shoulder height, urging him to lean on her as she helped him sway
towards the cool tiles of his bathroom retreat. And it didn’t take long
for Deanna to hear progress, nor feel it too.

“Feeling everything he is?” Beverly enquired from the archway to Will’s
bedroom.

Deanna nodded greenly. Swallowing hard as she felt another wave of
nausea break. “I thought you gave him something for the nausea?”

“The hypo I gave him earlier was for intoxication, but he drank a hell
of a lot of wine Deanna. His blood alcohol content was extremely high.
Dangerously high.” She hinted. “I thought you too were finally
snuggling back into each others embrace?”

“We were. But someone was having erotic thoughts about Ambassador
Dorialla on Narlun IV.” She admitted.

“She was a bloody Delvian Deanna. How many times do I have to tell you
that it wasn’t all me.” Will muttered angrily as he brushed past
Beverly, leaning in the doorway, and crashed out on the couch.

“Ah Will,…they do sign a celibacy pact when they join the federation.”
Beverly corrected.

“Like I said.” Deanna fumed.

With an arm thrust over his eyes, the long legged Commander lay like a
shipwrecked wretch. “Well this one hadn’t. Surely you could feel her
swaying just about every male in the room.”

“Not every male.” She pouted.

“But not just me.” He mumbled, sounding tired of the argument. “It’s
not like anything happened.” Deanna sniffed loudly in disdain.
“Especially not when I was going to propose to you that night.” He let
out, almost as an after thought, as his body still dull thudded to a
nasty alcoholic beat.

The silence was deafening.

“I’d say maybe your little game finally came to an end.” Beverly
suggested quietly to her friend before packing up her gear and walking
out.

“Will?” Deanna spoke, her voice filled with tremors of fear and delight.

“I’m dead. Go away.” He muttered.

Deanna lifted up his forearm, unblocking direct sight with his
bloodshot eyes. “You were going to propose?”

Recognition of his slip up made him close those same eyes and sigh
deeply. “I was until I found you still didn’t trust me.” Dropping his
arm he looked up and faced her. “I guess I didn’t want to take the
chance of being knocked back. Ruin our friendship I guess.”

“Of all the stupid male things not to do!” She swore coldly.

“Well I didn’t do so well in Female studies at the academy Deanna.
What’d you want me to do? Pick up a little telepathy on my last mission
and see the “I just want to be friends” phrase as just a ploy to see if
I really really wanted you?” He lay back again into the cushion and
crossed both arms across his chest. “Now if you’ve finished screaming
at me, I have a few brain cells to repair after last nights Deanna
prank.”

Slipping down with a soft thud, she rested with her back against the
couch, very much aware of him suffering behind her. “I am sorry
Imzadi.” Rubbing her brow, she tried to block out Will’s hangover.

“Yeah me too.” He owned up. “I guess we’re still just a pack of love
deranged teenagers.”

“Well mother always told me men never grew beyond the age of 14 in
intelligence. And I’m starting to think the same of me.” She sighed.

He chuckled lightly until it hurt too much. “Ow, you really do pack a
wallop when you’re angry.” Slipping the ice pack back into place.

“Must have been a good attempt of revenge if you’re still hurting after
seeing Beverly.” She sniggered.

Silence pervaded for a moment until Will dropped an arm over her
shoulder and offered an open hand. ‘Truce?”

“Only if you marry me Will Riker.” She said slipping her hand into his.

“Done.” He grinned, shaking her hand in agreement. “Now if You’ll
excuse me, I have a headache to see too.” Looking to the right, he
caught her wide eyes and laughed. “Well surely you didn’t expect me to
be breaking out the champagne straight away?” he egged.

“Smooth Imzadi, very smooth.” She grinned. Moving up to lie across his
laid out form. “Well when you’re better…wake me…the special way.” She
winked before snuggling up under his chin and nodding off to sleep to
the wonderful warm beat of his heart.

The hic end
21/2/05