Thoughts of home
Posted on Mon Sep 9th, 2024 @ 2:53am by Lieutenant Commander Victoria Cross
Queensland, some five months ago, near Auburn River National Park at sunset. The sun reflected off of the green/stoney steam of the Auburn River, and standing on the edge, Victoria stood in a bikini and shorts, a towel wrapped around her waist, a long head of bright blonde hair dangling to her shoulders. "You know what's funny?" She asked, looking over her shoulder, the sunlight catching in her sunglasses, "I've never actually been to this park before. Isn't it like the Cliffs of Surak, kinda?"
Her wife T'Kass emerged from a tent and cracked her back, stretching some in the process. "No. Anything resembling the Cliffs here is remote at best." She grabbed a lot of firewood for their campfire and rather effortlessly ripped it in half lengthwise, creating two slender pieces for the fire. Her dark eyes caught Victoria's, who blushed, curling a few strands of her hair around her fingers before composing herself.
"I mean vibes, Mrs. T'Kass. It's peaceful. Romantic." She stepped towards the Vulcan and planted a kiss on her cheek. "All this natural splendor and it's just the two of us."
T'Kass crouched, setting up their campfire. "There were considerably more than the two of us at the cliffs, dear. The wedding had our families, honored guests." Her voice never changed from a calm lilt. Stuffing some dry grasses into the fire pit, she soon ducked back into the tent to search for an igniter.
"You're being contrarian. Are you mad at me?" Victoria asked, crossing her legs and sitting on the floor by the fire pit. "Is this about my assignment? I thought we had gone over everything."
The Vulcan emerged. "I would be lying if I wanted to suggest I am fine with it. I do not want to retread on old arguments. I will miss you a great deal and miss moments like this." She knelt, aiming a phaser into the base of the kindling and starting a fire with a low setting.
Victoria removed her sunglasses, setting them in the string of her bikini between the cups. T'Kass sat, and Victoria approached with a scoot, leaning into her lap, peering up at her face. "I'm going to write and message every day. Send pictures, the whole deal."
"Five years is a long time." T'Kass said quietly, combing her fingers through the blonde's long hair, her free hand resting on Victoria's stomach. "It is going to make me sick."
Victoria waved her off. "No, no. Think of it this way. Five years from now, I'll be back home, maybe even well on the way to get my Captain pips. We'll get an assignment where you can teach on a ship I serve on, maybe one where they don't mind a few ankle biters with pointed ears."
T'Kass smirked. Victoria's hands covered the one over her navel. "Maybe you could take a Academy assignment here on Earth or Ni'Vahr? That way the children can grow up with ground under their feet?
"Little T'Prina and Maxwell." Victoria snorted and laughed. "Oh, they're going to run the house. Do you think your parents are going to lord over us about them?'
"We are not naming a girl T'Prina. It is the name of one of my grandmothers. To answer your question, my mother is going to be greatly insufferable. She will insist they go to a proper academy." T'Kass murmured, looking into the fire for a moment.
"I met you at a 'proper academy', so it can't be that bad." Victoria grinned, reaching up to rest a hand on the Vulcan's cheek, before gently toying with the point of her ear.
"I want our children to experience a life of both worlds. They need to see they are the result of beauty from both of our homes." She said assuredly. Victoria, red in the cheeks, leaned up and kissed her. The two tenderly embraced for a moment, before Victoria pulled away.
"Such a romantic. Remember when you would read me Vulcan love poetry - What was it, Theta Enceladus Four? I remember, you were smitten with me, and were going off what you'd read of human courtship,"
"Flowers were difficult to find in season. I brought you a bouquet and prepared a sonnet. I know you had a choice between suitors, but-" T'Kass' rigid expression wavered for a moment. "I knew if I did not try, I would be unable to forgive myself."
"Not very logical." Victoria purred, batting a wink up at the Vulcan.
"Romance does not typically adhere to traditional logical thought."
"So... Love at first sight, then?" Victoria rolled up to her knees and stood, reaching to help T'Kass to her feet. T'Kass stood and smirked, gazing into Victoria's eyes, her arms folding around the small of her back and pulling her close.
"I can't think of a better term for it, so yes." She said in her usual rigid tone. Victoria snickered.
"Look at you, using contractions! Wow. That's what, the seventh time in our relationship?"
"I am full of surprises." The Vulcan quipped.
"Why do you think I married you?"
Aboard the USS Sojourner, Victoria sat in her private quarters, going over shift scheduling for the Operations department. Leaning back in her chair and tapping her lips with the end of her stylus in thought, her eyes caught the painting above her desk for the first time. It was a painting of the Sojourner.
"Computer." A chirp. "Change the painting above my desk to impressionist Savarek of Ni'Vahr's 'Cliffs of Surak at Dawn."
The computer chirped. A familiar image appeared. Victoria smiled.
