Creature of the Desert

Creature of the Desert

By JennaTripped

Rating: G
Disclaimer: Enterprise belongs to Paramount… yada yada yada.
Summary: Another T’Mir ficlet. 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trip jammed another vegetable into the processor with a frustrated grunt. The damn thing was broken again! He’d just fixed it last week. At this rate it would cost them less to just buy a brand new one. With a sigh, he shut down the appliance’s power supply and took it apart. The vegetables really weren’t that tough; they shouldn’t be jamming it like this.

He slipped his fingers delicately between the sharp blades, feeling for obstructions. When they landed on something promising, he gently extricated the material expecting to find a bit of carrot or ice from the juice he’d been making. Instead, he found a stick.

“T’Mir! Come in here please!”

Trip leaned against the counter, palms down, and tried to button down his irritation before his daughter made it into the kitchen. She was only five, she was only five, she was only five…

He heard the sound of silk sliding across the hardwood floors and turned around.

“Yes, Daddy?”

Trip couldn’t help it; he had to laugh. T’Mir stood before him in her robes, which T’Pol had insisted she get used to wearing. The hood was up, and dropped down comically over her eyes. T’Mir tried to clear her vision, but the sleeves were so long her hands couldn’t reach out to grab the garment.

Trip knelt down in front of her and pulled her hood back, revealing a petite little girl with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and distinctly pointed ears. He began to roll up the sleeves of her robe. T’Mir stood patiently, entirely still.

“Mira, did you put sticks in the food processor again after Mommy and I asked you not to?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Why did you do that T’Mir?

Trip finished rolling her sleeves and held her by the waist. She regarded him quietly before leaning in close to his ear.

“It was hungry…”

Trip looked at her, honestly puzzled.

“What was hungry, Mira?”

“The creature in the yard. Isach found him a long time ago and I think he is hungry.”

Trip frowned. Isach was T’Mir’s sehlat. If there was another animal in the yard it was more likely to eat it than bring it to his tiny daughter.

“What kind of creature?”

T’Mir shrugged her shoulders, shaking out the folds in her robes.

“I do not know. I tried to look up the species in Mother’s book of animals, but I could not find it!”

“I still don’t understand why you’d put sticks in the food processor.”

“He is a vegetarian, Daddy. Like me and Mother. I think he’s a baby.”

Trip laughed and tweaked T’Mir’s nose.

“And you saw me and Mommy put food in the processor for Lorian?”

“It was logical that I do the same for my new pet, Daddy. He is a baby, like Lorian is a baby. His food must be prepared.”

T’Mir gave him one of her practiced long-suffering looks and raised both her eyebrows. This only made Trip laugh harder, and he swung his tiny daughter up into his arms and walked outside into the yard.

“Okay, T’Mir. Show me your new pet.” T’Mir pointed to a corner of the yard where Isach lazily rolled in the sand. Trip walked over, T’Mir still secure in his arms. He set her down and let her call the giant bear-like animal away from that area of the yard.

“Come here Isach! I will give you a treat if you come with me.”

Trip resisted the almost overwhelming urge to snatch his baby girl up again when the huge carnivore lumbered over to her and slid to a stop inches from T’Mir’s nose. She smiled and offered him a bit of meat from a trunk next to the house.

Trip looked into the corner and saw nothing.

“T’Mir, I don’t see an animal back here.”

“That is because he is very small.” T’Mir scampered over to Trip’s side and lifted the edge of a large rock. “See?”

Trip peered beneath the rock. “Oooh, T’Mir, look at that!”

T’Mir, interested by the awe in her daddy’s voice, leaned closer and whispered to Trip. “What is he, Daddy?”

“He’s called a sand piper, Mira. There aren’t very many of these little guys around.”

“Is he a baby? He’s very small.”

“No, that’s about as big as they get.”

T’Mir looked at Trip expectantly. “Shall I feed him twigs?”

“Yep, you were right. He only eats leaves an’ veggies.” Trip edged forward and lifted the little animal onto his hand. It was about the size and of an Earth gecko but was more snake-like in the way it moved. “Go gather some sticks from the yard.”

T’Mir rushed off to do what her daddy said. “Here, I have them.”

“Okay, go ahead and put one right in front there.”

Trip paused and T’Mir gingerly laid a small green twig across his fingers. The little creature immediately grabbed it and began breaking it up into more manageable pieces. Trip watched the look of wonder on his daughter’s face and smiled.

“May I keep him?”

“No, Mira… he’s a wild animal, not a pet. Why don’t we leave him some twigs and roots and leave him alone now.”

“Okay.”

Trip took his daughter’s hand and led her back into the house.

“So, no more twigs in the food processor, okay Kiddo?

“I promise, Daddy.”

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

AwwwWWWWW! How cute is that?!? I love it!

So cute. excellent job!

Cute. *Very* cute, and well written :-)))

AAAAAW! I think I'm about to die of cuteness overload. My cousin just took her first steps and now this.

Thats cute! little kids do the darnest things! Sticks in a juicer that had me LOL! Of course I could tell you all a good one about my niece, but I wont. Great little fic! Can we expect more of these soon?

Awwwwwwww that is so cute

so adorable

Okay, I was expecting the "Trapped" series, but this "Cute as a Button" series you're doing is adorable! And baby Lorian too! : D

Just great !

Great. Trip is so good with kids and I loved the image of T'Mir in the oversized robe, I don't think I could have kept a straight face either. Ali D :~)

Loved it!

fantastic! and awwwww

aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhwwwwwwwww soooo very very cute

that's adorable! SHE'S adorable, you're adorable, everything's adorable!