Settling down

Posted on Fri Apr 12th, 2019 @ 11:31pm by Lieutenant Commander Angus Murphy

Mission: The Fool's Odyssey
Location: Marda III, common town
Timeline: 2+ years after getting stranded
972 words - 1.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Weeks had passed since he'd fallen ill with a local children's disease. In that time, he had passed a few tests, gathered a wider array of local fauna and...to him his greatest accomplishment.. had found a woman he loved, and wanted to spend more and more time with.

Stef waited patiently for Svara to clear her office and lock the door, then offered her his arm. "How was your day?" he asked, as he always asked when picking her up to walk her home.

Today, Svara wrapped her arm inside of Stef's and leaned her head on his shoulder a bit as they walked down the path. "Hard. Romay really isn't doing well. Her one hundredth anniversary of birth is coming next month, but I don't know that she's going to make it. It weighs on my heart and I wish there was more I could do. She was my mentor for years and years."

"I understand." He crew her a little closer to him, without really thinking about it. "I know very little about how long one's natural lifespan is on this planet, but it sounds like she had a long and good life, does that not mean anything?"

"She wants to leave me her home, but it's far too big," Svara dismissed with the shake of her head. "It's a beautiful property with a lot of land, but it should really be for someone with a family."

"You could always rent it out," Stef suggested, "or..." He stopped walking to be able to look at her. "Or we go and live there. Our respective homes are too small to live together, especially with the array of animals I keep." He paused, realizing that this may be a little too soon and he had imagined this to be going quite differently. He turned, taking her hand between his own, looking her straight in the eyes. "Among my people, it is normal for two people who match well, to marry," he stated, though he felt far from calm now. "Long periods of dating, are not customary. I do not know what protocol is here, and I may go about it very wrong but..." He drew in a deep breath. "Will you be my wife?"

The fingers of Svara's free hand touched her lips as she let out a small gasp at the question. She nodded and smiled before throwing her arms around Stef's shoulders and embracing him tightly. "Yes, yes, of course I will."

Returning the embrace, Stef found himself exhaling in relief. This had gone better than he'd anticipated. "Can you tell me about local wedding customs? Though I have been here some time now, I must admit I have not attended any. Is there anything I need to adhere to? Anything I really should not do?" He paused. "It is Human custom for a groom not to see his bride the day before the wedding, however I am not Human. I am Vulcan. In Vulcan custom, the couple is telepathically bonded, however I do not have the skill to do that." He paused a second time. "While my twin sister was alive, neither of us had any telepathic talent or skill. We could not engage in what we call mind melds. When I was nineteen, my sister was killed when her ship was boarded. I mean, the ship where she was assigned. And out of nowhere, my telepathic ability was unlocked, therefor I know how to meld, but I do not have the skill to bond us."

She loved listening to him ramble on a bit and, really, a lot of it went over her head--- or so she let him think it did, truthfully, she suspected talking about his past sometimes was upsetting to him so she never asked many questions. He was so unlike anyone she'd ever met. "You've never been to a wedding, because they're very private ceremonies," she took his hand and continued walking but looked over at him and couldn't help but do anything but smile. "There's no prescribed way it should be. It's just a little ceremony wherever we choose where we pledge our love to each other."

"Where would you choose?" Stef asked her, wondering where he would choose if he had any say. Now that he thought about it, he actually didn't have a clue. For several seconds he pondered his own question while listening to her. Likewise, he loved hearing her talk about her work, and her dreams.

She thought about it for a second, but then it hit her out of the blue. "What about under the old gum tree where we had that picnic last summer? Remember, you made those lovely finger sandwiches and that dish... what did you call it?"

He thought long and hard, then smiled. "Local variation of plomeek soup?" He asked. "The tree should be in bloom by now should it not? I really like that suggestion." He remembered the tree and remember how the air smelled with the blossoms in bloom. It was a special place to both of them. "When would suit you?" He didn't want it to interfere with her duties.

"Plomeek soup, right," Svara giggled a little at that, "I remembered it was a funny word, it just completely escaped me." She thought about then when question for a moment. "Maybe next week? We could take a few days afterwards and go to the shore?" She raised herself up on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. "I'm so in love with you, Stef. I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together."

Stef held her to him. "I would love that," he answered. "I am very excited about this and I am very much looking forward to being your husband."


Stef
Local trainee

Svara
Local resident