TITLE HSU Files: The Long Road Home
TIMELINE During "Call of Duty"
AUTHOR Dean Caeryn
RATING PT (Paddington Therapy)
SUMMARY Did you know Paddington has a PhD. ?
ARCHIVE I truly am not worthy, beloved Empress Darry...
DISCLAIMER Well, if you stumble by our fic archives, great GKL, I am already incriminated so what the hell... BITE ME!!!
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The resoundingly firm thud of the door at her back was music to the overwrought Ho's ears. Biting her lower lip to stop the insidious trembling, Caeryn paused for a moment to bury her face once more in Paddington's fur, inhaling the faint scent of musty bedclothes that always seemed to accompany him...in addition to the slightly acrid smell of plastic rain coat and new wellies.
Paddington, to his credit, did not grumble or gripe, despite having been thoroughly drenched earlier that morning in the study. A bit of sunbathing while his moody mistress was out impersonating--unsuccessfully--a nun, had dried him out nicely. He just hoped his unpredictable owner didn't notice the tan line at the top of his wellies.
With a deep breath, Caeryn looked up into Paddington's large brown eyes, suppressing a guilty twinge as she realised she wanted them to be teal...drowning teal.
"I'm sorry, Paddington. I know you just dried out. I don't mean to be a wuss, but I can't help it."
Paddington looked on, unblinking.
With a sigh, the tired Dean hugged her faithful companion to her chest and dejectedly walked over to the bed. Plumping up some pillows and laying them flat, she lovingly set the bear atop his little throne to supervise her packing.
Paddington was very good at packing. He instinctively knew if she was forgetting something.
Kneeling down on the deep piled rug thrown over the ornately patterned hardwood floor, Caeryn reached under the bed for her suitcase.
They were going home. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. As much as she missed her office and her school, she wasn't sure if she was ready to face the twisted mess that was the only remnant of her once exquisitely ordered Database. Sniffing loudly as the tears once more threatened to break loose, the distraught Ho savagely threw the battered piece of luggage on the bed, and spun to attack the closet.
Paddington noted with a bit of worry that if she bit her lip any harder to keep it from trembling that it would start bleeding. He decided prudently that this might be the time to keep quiet.
Grabbing a bunch of clothes and yanking them off the hangar, Caeryn shuffled back to the bed and dumped them unceremoniously in the suitcase before returning to the closet for another load.
It didn't take long to empty the tiny alcove...she hadn't bought that many things with Bob's cards. Only a few sun dresses, some underwear, three pairs of flannel jammies, and some sunglasses for Paddington...well, and three pairs of matching flannel pj's for him. In addition to the few things she had grabbed before their flight from campus, it made for a very meagre showing of a wardrobe.
Unfortunately, wadded clothes never fit in a suitcase, as any frequent flier will tell you. With a heartfelt sigh, she released her lower lip and flopped down on the bed dejectedly, absently reaching for Paddington and pulling him to her chest.
Wrapping her arms around his yellow clad tummy, she rested her chin against the squeaky plastic of his matching hat.
"What am I to do, Paddington?"
Paddington had a few thoughts on that.
"I'm not talking about the packing...I mean the General."
Paddington was certain if she squeezed him any harder his stuffings would start coming out his ears.
"He ruined my computers."
One red wellie fell off of Paddington's stubby leg as his innards were displaced out of proportion, revealing his distinctive tan line.
"Oh my, Paddington. I didn't even think about that. Next time you should remind me to buy you some sandals."
Paddington would be happy if he could just stay on her bed or in her office back at the campus for the rest of his natural life.
"Well yes...I miss the school too. And I suppose the computers can be fixed....it's just...."
Paddington waited patiently.
"He broke trust with us. I know Die went to George behind his back...well, yes, in his office too, but still...it's not like he's never made any mistakes. He didn't have to lock us up and say all those nasty things."
Paddington was getting decidedly dizzy with the influx of stuffing to his head from his squeezed midsection.
"But it was downright irresponsible of him to destroy school property like that."
Paddington would have laughed were it not for the alarming spots swimming in front of his eyes.
"Oops, sorry."
Relief filled the short bear as Caeryn released her strangle hold slightly.
"It just upsets me that he didn't think it through before he acted out like that."
As his stuffings resumed their proper placing, Paddington relaxed slightly.
"Well, yes...I know Jedi are taught to act on instinct, but they're also taught that anger is a path to the dark side...you remember Yoda's whole spiel..."
Paddington remembered quite a few other things about Yoda too.
"Well...the message is basically the same...even if he is smoking weed while giving it."
The stalwart bear was quite relieved to hear his mistress' slight giggle.
"Yes...I suppose I should finish packing. But that still doesn't tell me what I should do about the General."
Paddington pondered that for a moment.
"He needs to be reigned in just a bit."
The mental imagery associated with that statement was enough to send a lesser bear into hysterics. As it was, Paddington was familiar enough with his owner's mind to allow him to maintain some nominal composure.
"I didn't mean like that, Paddington! Not that I would mind...it's been a while..."
If it had been at all possible, Paddington would have rolled his eyes. Unfortunately, they were sewn firmly in place, negating the possibility.
"Okay, okay...no more wuss stuff. So how do we keep the General humble?"
The squeak of the plastic raincoat sounded suspiciously like a small snort.
"No...it's not likely that we could stop swooning over him...I'm pissed as all hell at him and I still wanna fuck him cross-eyed."
Being a very proper type of British Bear, Paddington objected to that particular choice of words.
"Well, I'm sorry, but it's the truth."
Why oh why were his eyes so firmly attached as to permit no expression of exasperation.
"If we can't stop falling over him, then we have to think of a way to negate his influence in other areas."
Paddington's imagination shuddered away from speculating on the areas she was referring to.
"The hormone thing is quite bad enough, but that whole Jedi mind whammy thing is absolutely intolerrrr....."
Paddington felt a smug glow begin deep down inside as his mistress pondered his diffident suggestion.
"Paddington!!!! That's brilliant!!!! You are a genius!!!"
Here we go with the squeezing again. Paddington was quite happy with Caeryn's cuddling and adoration, but he could definitely do without the suffocating squeezing.
Bubbling with excitement, the ecstatic Dean reached across the bedside table and grabbed the phone, almost reverently replacing the stalwart, one wellie clad bear on his throne. Stooping to retrieve his lost boot from the floor, she stood up to finish packing as the operator finally picked up on the other end.
"Yes....I need the number for a good pet store on Myrkr...yes, I'll wait."
With an evil grin, the administrator attacked her jumbled clothes while she waited impatiently for the woman on the other end to retrieve the number. Setting aside a pair of flannel Pj's for her and Paddington to wear on the ship--they were so much more comfortable--she began painstakingly folding the clothes to allow them to fit in the suitcase.
Finally, the evil elevator music was replaced by the operator's rather nasal voice once again.
"No pet stores...well, yes...I guess that will do. Connect me please."
Rolling her eyes as the woman whined a bit before completing the call, Caeryn managed to shove the last of her clothes in the beat up case. A polite masculine voice picked up on the other end as she began stripping to change into the waiting flannel pj's.
"Myrkr Zoological Society? Yes, I was wondering if you could direct me to someone who could secure a shipment of, say....20 Ysalamiri for my institution. Oh...you can do that. Great. Yes, I am the Dean of a University, and we are looking to establish some wildlife in one of the arboretums...20 will do just fine for now..."
His next words caused the Ho to break into an evil grin which she tried to hide from her voice as she answered.
"Yes...I am quite aware of the effect they have on the Force...."