The Gift of Time

Posted on Sat Jan 23rd, 2021 @ 12:22am by Lieutenant Aurelius Davis & Lieutenant Samantha Leyton

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: D Deck
Timeline: After the Christmas Party
1308 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Samantha walked down the corridor towards her quarters, with her arm locked around Aurelius' arm after the Christmas party. She had had a great time with Aurelius during the party and was enjoying his company. The party had been exactly what the ship needed at this point after being stranded and the constant running and fighting with the Vrav. "Did you enjoy yourself?" she asked.

"Yeah. It was a nice party all things considered. Gotta look on the bright side of things, happens to be my job." He grinned. "I got to spend the evening with you, after all, that's pretty high on my list of pleasant things."

Sam smiled at Aureilus. "Well, you do your job exceedingly well and yeah, I am pretty nice to spend time with, aren't I?" she giggled.

"You're adorable so yes. Do you want to come to my quarters? You know, just to talk?" Aurelius asked hopefully. " I may have a surprise for you. "

Sam paused, wondering what Aurelius had planned. "Um, sure, lead on," she said, gesturing down the corridor. "So, you may have a surprise, huh? Did it run away?" she teased.

"It's a possibility! I've been debating for a while whether or not to give it to you. It's something I made so . . . keep that in mind." Aurelius nervously replied as the approached his quarters. The doors opened. "Have a seat wherever you like." He went to get the item out of a drawer.

Samantha glanced around Aurelius' quarters before moving over to his bed and sat down. These quarters were the crew's own private space--tiny as they may be. She often wondered if the Atlantis would forever be their home. For over a hundred days they had been aboard ship, living, surviving, and fighting. She turned her attention back to Aurelius, watching him retrieve her gift.

He returned with a small box. "Don't get too excited. I actually made it from small pieces I found around the ship that I asked not to be recycled. In a way they were recycled, just not something that we will reuse again, I hope! And I'm babbling again, anywhere here."

Samantha opened the box and her eyes fell on the silver necklace with a heat that had been made out several different small components. "Wow, it's lovely! So you made this yourself?" she asked, as she looked up from the necklace at Aurelius

"Yeah," He said nervously. "I wanted to do something with my hands, to stretch them out and show myself I could actually do something so I scavenged and took a lot of time on it." He shrugged.

"It's beautiful," she commented before leaning in to kiss Aurelius. She was genuinely impressed by the work Aurelius had put into the necklace.

""I'm glad you like it," he smiled. "Merry Christmas Samantha." Their relationship was new and a bit awkward. In the back of his mind he always felt like maybe this wasn't real, he wasn't sure why he felt that way.

"Merry Christmas, Aurlieus," she replied, returning his smile. I'm sorry, I haven't really had the time to get you anything, but I will soon. Promise."

"Nah, I don't care about presents. We could just spend the evening together. You know, talking or something?"

"Sure, I'd like that," she said, continuing to smile. "So, what was Christmas like at your home?"

He thought about how to answer that. "My family was kind of . . ." he didn't want to say cold but they weren't exactly all warm and fuzz either. "Stiff. My parents are kind of aloof and focus on achievements rather than presents and holidays. What about you?"

"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied. It was hard for her to understand how family could be mean to one another. "My family usually tried to all get together for Christmas. Usually have a big dinner, listen to my dad and grandfather tell tall tales about their time in service. Last Christmas ended in a huge food fight. My grandmother ended it by hitting my grandfather with the turkey," she laughed as she recalled the hilarious night.

"A food fight! Seriously? Wow. I wish I could meet them, that would totally be awesome." He looked up at the ceiling almost wistfully. "The most exciting thing that ever happened in my house was the maid using bleach instead of water on the houseplants."

"You had a maid? And why did she use bleach instead of water? You make her angry or something?" Samantha asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"My parents are kind of weird, and old fashioned. They had people work for them. I never liked it, felt so . . . . stuffy to me. Nah, it was an accident apparently, I don't know he details I was a small kid, but I remember the plants dying and the maid crying about it."

"Wow," she replied. "Did you family keep the maid around afterwards?"

"Yeah. It was just an accident. My parents might have been odd but they weren't cruel at least. Let's talk about something else, I'd rather hear about your family."

"Oh? What would you like to know? Most of my family have always served in the Earth military and then Starfleet," Samantha replied, with a slight shrug.

"Did you always want to follow in their footsteps? Why not choose your own path?" He asked curiously, taking off his shoes and pulling his legs up on the bed.

"Well, my grandfather got me interested in flying, even performing at air shows sometimes in place of my grandfather," she stated. "Starfleet seemed the best choice as it was the only place I could get a chance to fly the most advanced craft."

"See. that's why you deserve this job more than me. I wanted to fly because it could get me far away. You wanted to fly because you loved it." He smiled and took her hands. His were rough, the skin having healed over his injury a little unevenly and he'd asked that it remain that way. No corrective surgery. "Uh what kind of . . . . courting traditions does your family have?"

"Um...the usual I suppose," she replied with a shrug. "Dating, and then if all goes well, engagement, and then marriage. My family was never big on such traditions--they only cared that each person respected the other. Though my sister tried more than once to set me up with guys," she laughed as she recalled those horrible dates.

"Uhuh," Aurelius said thinking it over. "Well, at least you didn't find someone. I mean," he quickly explained. "Then you might now have come, not that I want you stranded out here. But if you hadn't come we wouldn't have met and that would have been a real shame."

Samantha couldn't help but smile at him. "I suppose that's true. So what about you? Any courting rituals on your side?"

"Nah, my family tend to have big weddings, obviously that won't be a problem for us. I mean uh, you know if we get to that point. Otherwise, nope, just normal humans who get to know one another by dating."

Aurelius' comment made her raise an eyebrow before noticing that it was getting late from her chronometer on her nearby desk. "So," she paused, looking at the deck and then at Aurelius. "Are you staying the night?"

Aurelius coughed at the unexpected question. He didn't know why but Samantha made him nervous. "Uh, do you want me to?"

"Only if you're sure about it and us," she said looking at him.

"Let's . . . let's just sleep if that's okay. There's the whole birth control issue and being so far away from Earth. I dont want to have to think of any of that. Cuddling with you and sleeping sounds wonderful."

"Sounds good to me," she replied, smiling.