A Silver Lining

Posted on Sun Oct 2nd, 2022 @ 4:56am by Ensign Alexandra 'Lexi' O'Connery & Lieutenant JG Calanthe 'Cal' Diaz

Mission: Sojurn
Location: Personal Quarters
Timeline: Day 300 23:00
2232 words - 4.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Boredom, more than perhaps anything else, was Calanthe's 'Achilles heel'. Impulsiveness often got her into situations, and a passionate confidence made for fiery interludes at times, but lack of meaningful pursuit left her feeling anxious and tense, the veritable caged animal left to pace and grumble at the outside world. In better circumstances, she had so many side interests and hobbies that it was very unlikely that she ever went too long without something to keep her occupied, and she was typically prone to exceptionally good health, which ensured she had very little practise at being a good patient. Ever since her conversation with Ben, however, her retreat into drawing had slowed up, fear of eventually running out of supplies making it only feasible to pick up her pencils when yet another odd dream prompted a desire to attempt to record its details.

The only other thing she was currently in a position to indulge also featured the risk of finite resources. She had inherited a love of jewelry making from her maternal grandmother, who had taught her granddaughter an impressive amount before her passing, and there was enough benefit to its tendency to require her to sit still and focus that finding room for the tackle box full of wire and pliers and beads and charms had been worth it. Her father, the military expert, had cautioned her to seek ways to expand her mind when the physical confines of deployment meant that the scenery didn't often change. She had him to thank for her preparation.

Maybe one day, sooner rather than later, she'd get an opportunity to.

It was late, later than was probably sensible given that she had an appointment in the morning to seek clearance for a return to duty. Sleep didn't seem inviting, not when an attempt to nap away the previous night's interruptions had only resulted in more unnerving dreams. Instead, she sat at her desk, bent over beneath the direct light from the lamp to twist an intricate pattern into the wire she was working with. Eventually, the piece would be necklace. Right now, it was a frustration at best.

Lexi hasn’t told anyone yet about the fact that she had been proposed to all that she had accepted without a moments hesitation. She knew the captain knew but no one else did least she was aware. She had not told anyone and she suspected that William had not either. Not that there was a secret that was he wanted to hide but it was just nice to have something on the ship that was solely hers for a little bit. But she needs to share with someone especially the woman who was her best friend on board. She pressed the chime and waited to be let in.

"Open."

It didn't take any kind of clairvoyance to know who the visitor likely was. After all, Lexi was really the only person who visited Cal's private quarters of her own accord and there wasn't any medical follow-up scheduled that might explain a personal visit. The absolute lack of late-night caller had been the subject of more than a few conversations when work was slow, though only Lexi had been successful in solving that particular conundrum. Cal preferred not to linger on her attempts. The mentality of marines had a lifespan of a couple of weeks, at best.

"Hey," she said without looking up, poised over a particularly finicky twist.

“Fiddling again I see.” Lexi commented with a smile as she glanced around the woman’s quarters taking it all in to see how the woman was faring. You could tell a lot about someone by the mess or lack of mess in someone’s living space. “No marine I see.” She teased sitting down on the edge of the bed.

It earned her a look, just a glance but aimed with enough deadly precision to leave a scorch mark. "You might as well stop trying to find them hiding under my bed. I took a short stroll down that path and decided the scenery wasn't for me."

“There is no way you would be able to fit any marine male or female under that bed.” Lexi said with a smirk at her friends expression towards her. “And why exactly was it not for you?” She wondered interested by the phrasing that she used.

"The conversation wasn't very compelling," was all the brunette would say. It wasn't probably a fault of the job itself, but more just an incompatibility with the specific marines she was stuck 150 years away from any alternatives with. "We have a pretty sparse barrel here, Lex, and you already scraped the bottom of it." The teasing, at least, was more reminiscent of the woman's usual humour. Even as she twisted a bead into place, Cal smiled at her opportunistic jab at Will when he wasn't there to defend himself.

“Ohhh catty… maybe you need a lack of conversation tonight.” Lexi said grinning at the woman’s humour at that time of night. She did not mean it at all the way that anyone else would have taken it. “William won’t take offence to me scaping the bottom of the barrel as he asked to get me forever as of last night.” She revealed with a grin on her face as she finally shared it all.

Leave it to a Communications Officer to muddle a message to the point of requiring translation. Having set aside what she was working on to be a better hostess, Cal swiveled in the chair and frowned at her friend, thoroughly confused, until a delayed revelation shot her eyebrows immediately skywards.

"What, what?"

She was on her feet then, across the room to grab the blonde by the elbow and propel them both towards the bed to sit on its edge. Cal was forever lamenting the lack of space to properly gossip, and wasn't beyond forcing her best friend to actually lie down together, staring up at the ceiling, just so they could gossip in comfort.

"Speak. I need details."

"What is there to say he asked and I said yes." Lexi teased just a little leaving the woman in the dark for a little bit longer. There really was nothing more to it, she did not need a big gesture when it was the little things in life that made everything perfect.

"Yes, but how did he ask?" By sheer contradiction, Calanthe wasn't much more complicated in her expectations of her own romantic life but that was not a simplicity she extended to others. Reaching across, she grabbed at both her friend's hands. "Is there a ring yet?" It made very little sense, they weren't exactly near any reputable jewelers, but logic was exceedingly boring.

“Course there isn’t a ring. Not exactly something you carry around is it?” Lexi said laughing as she pulled her hand back and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “He just said he did not want to spend another day without me in his life.” She admitted know it would not go much further as than them as she was her best friend.

It struck a chord, evoked a pang, and came very close to triggering an association that Cal would have had to scrabble to cover up. As it was, she clamped down on her mind's current insistence on wandering off on its own and, through the metaphorical grit of her teeth, managed to grin instead. "Then he's defied all odds and actually come out of all this smarter than he started."

It felt good, to lean forward and wrap her friend in a tight hug. To know that, somewhere in the midst of all this, good things were happening to good people. It made it easier to bear the load of whatever her own head was attempting to do, especially since it once again brought home the reminder that it could very easily have been Lexi in her place. When they'd decided to divide and conquer, there had been no real reason for Cal to be the one to head to the Messhall, after all.

'So," she declared, pulling back, "we have a ceremony to plan!"

Lexi smiled at the hug and hugged her back tightly taking comfort from the simplicity of the gesture. Her memory was returning enough that she was craving contact again with people. Maybe she would be okay after all? “Whoa… hold those horses, Cal.” Lexi laughed. She had not even considered the when or where yet as her and William had not spoken much since he asked her as there was still so much clean up to.

"If I had a horse, I'd refuse to let it go," Cal agreed, having long lamented her distance from her mother's stables. "In fact, if Voltaire was here, I'd put a bow tie on him and he could give you away." The less said about her beloved gelding, the better, since evoking wishful-thinking wasn't likely to help matters. "But if we focus on actual possibilities for a minute, you're getting married." It was the first time since Smith's attack that Calanthe's features had been dominated by a familiar grin. "There's nothing wrong with tossing ideas around."

“I have no idea where to start.” Lexi finally admitted to her friend trying to imagine her with a horse. she had thought that they could have something simple but the way Cal lit up it might be exactly what the ship needed maybe a party or something. She will need to talk to William about it properly but the woman was right there is no harm in tossing around ideas.

"Are there traditions on either side to take into account?" It seemed a reasonable place to start, even if they were very limited on what they could actually do.

"Not from me... I really need to talk to William about his side but I cannot imagine there is knowing him." Lexi commented thoughtfully to herself. She would be happy with anything he suggested. "Not like we can do much on the ship now can we?" She laughed.

"You hush your mouth!" Flicked playfully with the back of Cal's fingers, Lexi was then afforded a rather haughty, pointed look, for all it was a little heavy on the pantomime. "They said we couldn't play tenpin bowling on board either and yet we did it." Granted, it had been with rows of condiment bottles and had involved far more moonshine than was sensible, but that had been early on when spirits were less ground down. Before certain engineers had died and the distance between here and home had only seemed to stretch further and further. "This is your wedding, Lex, you don't need to downgrade all the way just because we can't hire an entire alpine resort."

“I am thinking of the resources onboard.” Lexi answered quietly looking at the floor. “It is a lot up in the air I guess. Not like it is anything normal or anything we just have to do with what we have.” Which was not much in her estimation but she was just happy to have found a man who was not like David and wanted her to thrive even out there in the ass end of the universe.

"We'll recycle what we can," Cal assured, remembering something that Ben had said. "If we ask around, we can get enough to make you a dress. I've got enough supplies here to make you whatever jewellery you want. Hydroponics might be able to grow a bouquet, I think there was talk of some flower seeds amongst those in storage. They just haven't prioritised anything that's not edible. As for a cake..." That was trickier, Cal wasn't convinced that algae-based baked goods would really work. "We can cross that bridge when we get to it. When do think the ceremony will be?"

“Not sure. We have not decided anything yet. The Captain is not aware. You are the only one that I have spoken to.” Lexi admitted with a blush. They had not pinned anything down yet as it was just so new.

"Ugh, you are such a tease."

The tone was playful and, finally, defeated. An exaggerated roll of her eyes culminated in a beaming smile as Cal placed a gentle arm around her friend and drew her close enough to plant a kiss atop her head. Then, resting her cheek against blonde tresses, Calanthe sighed. "What the hell am I meant to do if you decide to get all boring and responsible?"

“I was always boring and responsible.” Lexi commented with a grin. Boring and responsible was safe and keeping out of trouble to the best of her abilities. It kept her alive.

"That is not a reassurance," Cal protested in good humour. Flopping back onto the bed, she stared up at the ceiling in silence for a while. So far, her recovery had become an isolating experience, mostly because of her own stubbornness in not confiding in even Lexi about just how bad things had become. There was something reassuring about proof of happiness beyond the gloom.

Her gaze roamed the ceiling.

"I am going to be the best aunt."