Hangover Cures

Trektober 2024

Kira wakes up in Dax's quarters after a long night of drinking.

Fandom(s): Star Trek DS9
Character(s): Kira Nerys, Jadzia Dax
Tags: Domesticity, Pancakes

Rating: General Audiences
Content Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 1418
Type: Oneshot, Standalone

Collection: Trektober 2024

trektober-challenge

Trektober Day 27
Prompt: "Domesticity"

Notes:
Worf is trapped in a continuity error somewhere, idk.

Kira woke up with a headache to an alarm that she did not remember setting.

"Stop alarm," she said drowsily, with the intention of going back to sleep. But something didn't feel right. The pillows were too soft, and the sheets were a different texture than they should be. She squinted her eyes open, then sat bolt upright. This wasn't her bed.

She looked quickly to either side of her, and her panic subsided just a little. At least there wasn't someone else in the bed with her. But still, she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there.

Quietly, she got up out of the bed and stepped towards the door, not daring to turn on the lights. She realized when the cuffs of her pajama pants pooled around her feet and got caught under her heels that the pajamas she wore also were not her own, but belonged to someone much taller.

She opened the bedroom door quietly, and tip-toed through the dark living space, guided only by starlight.

A light snore came from the couch, and Kira froze. She squinted at the sprawled figure, and after her eyes adjusted to the low light, she relaxed. It was Dax. Kira was in Dax's quarters.

Kira started putting the pieces together. She was in Dax's quarters. Her throbbing headache suggested that she had gotten drunk. Most likely with Dax, considering where she had ended up. Why had she been drinking so much? Kira thought back to the day before.

Oh. Right.

Kira had found out certain things about her mother that she wished she had never had to learn. She cursed Dukat, first for taking her mother as his comfort woman, and second for calling her and bragging about it, and on Meru's birthday no less.

Ugh. No wonder she had gotten so drunk.

"What did you say?" Dax slurred groggily from the couch. Kira realized that she must have said some of that out loud.

"Sorry," Kira said. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"S'okay," Dax said. "I usually get up around this time anyway."

"Your alarm went off only a few minutes ago."

"Did I forget to turn that off? I'm sorry," Dax said, sitting up and stretching her arms over her head as she yawned. "I guess I was too drunk to remember it."

"Well, I was too drunk to remember where I was, so I can't blame you," Kira said. "Thanks for letting me crash at your place. I'll get out of your hair, now."

"Stay for a bit," Dax said. "I'll make breakfast. And you sound like you can use a hangover cure."

"Oh, I couldn't—"

"You're not imposing," Dax said. "Besides, I always make too many pancakes for one person. You'll be doing me a favour by sticking around to eat some."

"Well, alright," Kira said. "As long as you let me help."

"Deal," Dax said. "You can do the dishes."

"That's just dumping plates in the replicator for recycling."

"My least favourite part," Dax said, then looked up to address the ceiling. "Lights."

The lights came on, and both Kira and Dax flinched and yelped. Dax hissed like a vampire exposed to the sun. "Lights, fifty percent!" The lights dimmed to a tolerable luminosity. "Sorry about that," Dax grumbled.

"S'alright," Kira said.

Dax walked over to a high table against the wall by her replicator, and switched on the portable cook top that she kept there, then went to her replicator and started listing off ingredients.

Kira walked over. "Let me guess, you're in the camp that thinks replicated food tastes different than the 'real stuff?'"

"Yeah," Dax said. ''And let me guess, you're in the camp that wrongly assumes there's no difference?"

"There isn't any difference," Kira said.

"There's just something a little bland about replicated food," Dax said, pouring ingredients into a mixing bowl.

"Well, when you grow up eating nothing but gruel and thin soup, nothing ever tastes bland ever again." Kira said. "Maybe that's why I think replicated food is just fine."

"That must be it," Dax said. "I'll give you a pass, given your upbringing."

"Thanks," Kira said. "So what can I do to help?"

"I was being serious about the dishes," Dax said, ladling out smooth batter onto the cook top. "But if you really need something to do, you can replicate us some orange juice."

"What, you don't squeeze the oranges yourself? I would have assumed replicated juice wouldn't have been good enough for you," Kira teased.

"Oh, I've tried," Dax said seriously. "You'll never believe the mess it makes. Totally not worth it."

Kira chuckled, then stopped when it made the pain in her head flare. She went to the replicator to procure the orange juice.

With two tall glasses of juice in her hands, Kira glanced around at somewhere to put them. Her eyes fell on a small table against the wall that had two chairs tucked under it and nothing but a PADD and an empty mug atop it.

"Should I set the table?" Kira asked.

"Sure," Dax said, flipping over some pancakes. "That'd be great."

Kira set the glasses of juice down, then picked up the empty mug and put it back in the replicator. She had it replaced by a pair of plates and two sets of cutlery, which she set out on the table. Kira didn't like it when people moved her things, and she wasn't sure if Dax felt the same, so she just pushed the PADD to the side of the table instead of trying to find another place for it.

Kira was sneaking a sip of orange juice when Dax came to the table with a big plate of pancakes.

"Ah ah!" Dax scolded Kira. "Trust me, you're gonna want to save that juice until after your hangover cure."

"I thought this was the hangover cure," Kira said, putting her glass down.

"Ha," Dax said humorlessly. "No." She went to the replicator and requested two of something she called 'Doctor Dax's potion number nine,' and passed one of the small cups over to Kira, who eyed it suspiciously.

"What's in this?" She asked, tipping the cup back and forth slightly. "It looks... thick."

"I'll tell you after," Dax said. "No tasting it, no sipping it, just drink it as fast as you can, okay?"

"I'm not liking the sound of this."

"On three," Dax said. "One, two, three!"

Kira didn't have time to decide not to, so she matched Dax in chugging down the suspicious liquid. They both finished and slammed their glasses down at the same time.

"UGH!" Kira said, gagging. "What was that?"

"Two raw eggs, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice, Greek yogurt, pickle juice, and lokap melon," Dax said.

"Oh, disgusting!" Kira said, gagging again. "Why would you make me drink that?"

"Give it two minutes," Dax said. "You'll feel like you didn't drink eleven shots last night."

"Eleven?" Kira asked, incredulously.

"And a couple Black Holes," Dax said, sounding impressed. "Gotta say, I didn't think you could put away that much."

Kira groaned. "Can I have the orange juice now?"

"And the pancakes," Dax said, forking a few of the fluffy disks onto her own plate.

Kira chugged down half of her orange juice, trying to erase the memory of Dax's awful potion. But when she took her first bite of Dax's pancakes, her eyebrows shot up.

"Mmm!" She hummed. "These are really good!"

"Better than replicated ones?" Dax teased.

"I mean, probably," Kira said, wondering if she should admit that before this, she hadn't ever had pancakes, replicated or not. "What's in these?"

"Chocolate chips,'' Dax said. "And I put jumja syrup right into the batter. That's the real secret ingredient."

"They're delicious," Kira said.

"Thanks, they're my specialty."

They ate breakfast in silence, and Kira enjoyed herself even more once she realized her headache had been chased away by Dax's concoction. When all the pancakes were gone, Kira gathered up their plates and cutlery and empty glasses and returned them to the replicator.

"Thanks for doing dishes," Dax said.

"Thanks for making breakfast," Kira said. "And for making me drink that awful hangover cure. And for letting me sleep here last night. And for going out drinking with me."

"Hey, it was fun " Dax said casually. "We should do it again sometime."

"Sure," Kira said. "So long as next time doesn't involve any revelations about my mother."

Dax smiled. "I'll make a note of that."

also posted to:
AO3
Ad Astra