Flowers and Time II

Posted on Mon Jul 1st, 2019 @ 7:39am by Commander Dominic Aldrich & Crewman Recruit Zeria

Mission: For Whom The Bell Tolls
Location: Hydroponics Bay
Timeline: Following "Restless and Worn"
1111 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Dominic was sweating. All systems on the ship were working fine, but he was sweating and shaking as he walked to the Hydroponics bay. He stepped up to the door, took a breath and entered. The place was humid and had plants everywhere. Zeria had made it a beautiful place to be in just a few short weeks. Taking a few steps in he called out, "Zeria, are you here?"

"Yes," she said, recognizing the voice instantly. She smiled as she turned around but it drained instantly off her face when she saw him. "Dom! What's the matter? You look like you're going to faint. Sit down." She picked up a pile of pots off the chair and looked around for a place to put them. Once she'd thrown them aside she put a hand on his forehead. "Are you ill?"

Dominic nodded, "Yes, I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well last night that's all." He did lean against a nearby wall, but didn't sit. He was a little shaky, and tried to gain his nerve.

Zeria stepped back from him and folded her arms across her chest. "Okay," she said, not the least bit convinced that he was indeed well. But it didn't seem right to drag it out of him, he had to tell her in his own time. In the meantime she was getting really nervous. It could mean any number of things.

He took a deep breath and started slowly, "Zeria....when we were getting ready to come back to the ship I was asking you to join me. In that moment I said something that I meant, but didn't mean for it to come out like it did. In the five years I was on Marga with you I fell in love with you." He paused, swallowed dryly and continued, "Well, that hasn't changed. My blurting it out though is why I've been kind of distant the last few days. I get all nervous around you now. So, I came down here to resolve this issue." Looking her straight in the eyes and saying it somewhat rushed and awkward, "I would like to date you, Zeria. You have become my best friend in the last few years and when I'm down I think about your smile and I instantly feel better." He abruptly stopped talking, the social awkwardness of the moment playing on his worst anxieties.

Zeria really wanted to tell him how silly he was being but she didn't think it would be very nice to point that out. "This is what you've been all worked up about." She shook her head. "Do you think I would give up ever seeing my home planet again and follow you off to the ends of the universe if I didn't have feelings for you?" From nearly the moment they'd met she'd felt a pull towards him. He was so sweet, intelligent and curious. She'd spent a lot of time teaching him about Marga but also learning from him. "I'm not familiar with the word date, but I think you're asking about courtship. So yes." Zeria had been under the impression that he had already claimed her.

Dominic was both relieved and somewhat surprised. He had, of course, hoped that she would say "yes" but to actually hear it made his heart leap. He never really felt like a great catch for anyone being that he was somewhat socially awkward. He stood up straight, wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed her forehead. "I have something for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, oak-carved box. Opening it in front of her he revealed a small necklace. The pendant had a highly polished, purple stone surrounded by small diamonds. "This is a piece of the first high-efficiency dilithium crystal matrix I ever produced during my years as a research scientist. It is the greatest work of my professional life. I want you to have it because the greatness of that moment is nothing compared to this one."

Zeria's eyes widened. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen but she didn't know what to say. An unusual occurrence for her. "Dominic, it's amazing. But I do not require gifts. I only want a bit of affection and to give affection. Should you not keep it for yourself? If it's so precious?"

He shook his head, "That's exactly why I'm giving it to you. It is precious to me, and I've kept it locked in a box for fifteen years. It has done me no good just sitting there. Yet, to give it to you and to know how you have brought my own heart out of its box seems more than right." He undid the clasp and reached around her neck to hang it. Stepping back, he smiled. "Now it has a proper home."

She touched the pendant, feeling it against her chest. "Thank you, I will treasure it. I don't think I'll ever take it off." Zeria didn't know what else to say to him. She hadn't known he was in love with her but she had felt there was an attraction toward her. So, it had come as a bit of a surprise when he'd confessed everything and asked her to accompany him to Majestic. While Marga III had been the place she lived, it wasn't really her home. She'd never felt as if she fit in there, always the odd one out. So though she would miss the planet it hadn't taken much convincing to follow him. "Shall I make us some dinner? And then . . . I have something to ask you about." She reached out, offering her hand to him.

Dominic took her hand nodded, "Of course; that sounds like a good plan."

Zeria thought she might start the conversation while they walked. She was absentmindedly touching the pendant with her left hand. "So . . . my mother never told me who my father was. We were kind of outcasts on the planet, I don't know if you noticed that. I think he might have been human though, I have no proof of that. But I do have darker hair than the other people on Marga III. My ridges are less pronounced. I was wondering if you thought your doctor would be able to run a blood test and tell me about my ancestry? Will you go with me?"

"Absolutely I will be there," Dominic replied. "We will get you any answers you are seeking."

"Thanks," she smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Now what would you like for dinner?"

--Off--

Crewman Zeria
Hydroponics/Gardner

Lt. Cmdr. Dominic Aldrich
CSO