Are you okay?
Posted on Saturday 18 June 2022 @ 18:55 by
Mission:
Disaster!
Location: USS Pegasus/ SB 21
Timeline: MD 1 On Styx Station
3278 words - 6.6 OF Standard Post Measure
Beep Beep Beep, there was an indication of a message coming through to Gregor. In her room on SB308, Avelina was waiting nervously hoping that she could reach her boyfriend. Would he answer, will he be answering? There had been word from her father that something had happened to the Merlin and that ships had been sent out to aid the ship. What that was she didn't know. And her brother was also there as well. Avelina waited for Gregor to answer.
Gregor woke to the sound of an incoming message tone on his computer and sat up. " Computer, lights at forty percent. " As he got out of bed and quickly pulled his pants on and sat down at the table and tapped to open the screen. " Hello my love, I was just having a nice dream about you and a picnic at a lake shore, and now your here on my screen. " He stopped and looked at her face showing signs of panic and worry. " Is everything all right Avelina? You look worried sick, did something happen there? Is everyone alright? I do not like seeing you troubled so my love, tell me what's wrong? "
A definite expression of relief crossed her face, as Avelina gazed at Gregor. "I.. I heard that something happened, my dad told me and I didn't know what to think." giving another lingering gaze. "What happened?"
Gregor chuckled and shook his head. " That's not a surprise at all. I figured your father knew about it. A piece of space dust can't cross this sector without him knowing. There's still an official investigation going on, I can tell you a few things that are unclassified. We ran into a quantum filament which heavily damaged the ship. We lost six or seven crew members. " He held up his hand before she could ask a question. " And before you ask, Mathias is fine. There was no one amongst the dead that you knew, but their loss is still tragic nevertheless. The Merlin is being taken to Deep Space 21 for repairs, after I'm cleared I should be able to borrow a shuttle to and head over to Star Base 308 to check in on the woman who owns my heart, Does that sound acceptable to you? " He asked teasingly.
"I am glad that Mathias is doing fine, but don't bother making plans to go to SB308, I'll be going to SB21 instead. I have a wedding to go to for one of my friends, and who knows I may look into expanding the franchise of the tea shop. I am thinking it would be a good business venture and also perhaps get out on my own. I can actually hire some people to help run the shop." Avelina replied.
"I guess that will save me a trip going over to SB 308 then. You are full of surprises today, now I find out you've got a friend getting married at DS 21. So I assume that you'll need a date for the wedding? " He asked with a grin. " And I'll take care of the accommodations while we're on DS 21. I'll send a request ahead for a visiting officers quarters and get the paperwork going. I'll have to attach your name to the request, but with who your father is, there will be no problem getting you vetted for clearance. " He stopped and stared into her eyes for several seconds. "How do you manage to get more beautiful ever time I see you? " He inquired of her. " I am so looking forward to seeing you again."
Avelina blushed, "I don't know why you think that I have become even more beautiful, I am the same as I was when we first met." stars in her eyes. "I too can hardly wait to see you in person. Just be prepared to get a rather tight embrace." giving a bit of a giggle. "You are still as gorgeous as when we first met." she added, "I am agreeable to the arrangements you are making. I can scarcely wait to see you. To... kiss you." Avelina going quiet as she gazed at Gregor, just relishing seeing him.
" I am looking forward to that promised embrace. " He said as his gaze lingered into her eyes. " Your fiery red tresses are softer then silk, and your emerald eyes I could lose myself in them forever. I had discovered one truth that I can state for certain with unwavering faith, Is that I love you more then anyone else in this galaxy and I don't want there every be a time in my life when your not apart of it. So what I guess I'm saying is...... Ms. Avelina McPhee, Will you be my wife? " He watched her expression for any hint of what her answer might be.
Avelina felt she just went into a daze... did he... just ask her to marry him? He was so handsome, made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She sat there, for a few moments allowing what he had said settle through her mind. "You just asked me to marry you?" her voice filled with wonder. "Yes, yes yes, but dang it I can't sweep you into my arms and kiss you. You will have to ask me again when we meet face to face. Oh my gosh!" she squealed and twirled around in her chair hugging herself. "A thousand times yes!!"
Gregor felt relieved and was able to breathe again once Avelina answered. He didn't know that waiting for such a simple answer could make him so nervous. " I'll have to ask you again when I see you at DS 21, That and I have something that should keep at least one of your fingers warm. Mathias and I are aboard the Pegasus and should be docking there in under eight hours. I am looking forward to seeing you there Mrs. Morgan. " He said grinning.
"Okay... Mr. Morgan. I am looking forward to seeing you, my love. I am so excited I can scarcely hide it. I think I need to go finish packing. See you then my love." Avelina blowing a kiss towards Gregor.
" Alright, I'll see you when the ship arrives at DS 21. I love you Avelina, I shall see you soon. " The screen went dark as Avelina went to pack her bags. Gregor sat there for a few minutes and then sent out the request for VOJ quarters on DS 21 along with the background material that went with said request. Satisfied that the paperwork had been sent in correctly and with all the proper forms, he had the thought to inform one other person and sent a visual recording to Mathias McPhee. " Hey Mathias, Just talked with Avelina and asked her to marry me, She said yes and will be waiting at DS 21 when we arrive. I didn't want to disturb your time with your loved one , so I sent this. Your sister is the most wonderful person I've ever met and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with her. Talk to you later. "
A return message came back to Gregor. "Congrats!"
SB21
Avelina was clothed in a light green summer dress, she was pacing back and forth waiting for Gregor to show up. Her red tresses were loose and she pushed back a strand tucking it behind her hair. She watched as people were disembarking from the Pegasus, craning her neck to see if she could see him. Finally she just found a chair and stood upon it to get a better view.
Then she saw him and jumped off the chair and ran towards Gregor and leaped into his arms, almost knocking him over...
Gregor staggered back a step and caught sight of a red blur as he caught her midair and spun around with the momentum of catching Avelina. She was kissing him before he had a chance to say anything. After several seconds he pulled back and gazed into her eyes. " Does this mean your happy to see me? " He asked with a teasing tone in his voice. He set her gently upon the floor and then took a knee in front of her and all that were milling past them as they disembarked from the Pegasus, He pulled a ring box from his pocket and opened it. " I'll ask you properly this time. Ms. Avelina McPhee, would you be my wife? " He asked her once again. She had already answered him before over the ships com channel, but he still felt nervous yet again.
This time there was no hesitation, and she squealed out, "Yes I will marry you!" holding out her finger for the ring to be placed upon it. She hoped it wouldn't be a diamond as her favorite stone was an emerald would make for a perfect engagement ring.
The ring was a band of white gold with a carat and a half Emerald, ringed by eight pieces of worked amber. He slid it onto her finger and then stood up. " I guess I'm going to have to thank Mathias for this. One day he walked up to me and said Just remember, Avelina likes emeralds. and walked away without another word. I remembered those words when I went out shopping for an engagement ring. I always wondered at the time why he said that, but I'm sure glad I listened. " He then leaned in and kissed her tenderly. Gregor became very self conscious of his surroundings as well wishers congratulated them and applauded them. He had forgotten that they were even there as his entire focus was on Avelina. He waved and thanked them and turned to Avelina. " Shall we go see if they have our room ready? " He asked her.
Avelina giggled, "Yes let's do so." wrapping her arms around him for another embrace then took Gregor by the hand and walked with him to where they were going to be staying.
Hotel Room
Looking around at their room, Avelina oohed and aahed, "Oh this is rather lovely. And Mathias is the one who dropped a hint to you? I wonder how he'd know that this might be coming about..." pursing her lips and placing a finger on them as she thought over things.
" Mathias and I have talked, while we're serving aboard the Merlin. I've told him that I have very strong feelings for you and he seems to approve. To be honest I thought that you've mentioned to him before what your favorite gem was, So I didn't think much of it after that. " He talked as he unpacked his luggage and stowed the suitcase in the closet. " I do understand why you like emeralds. " He said as he gently caressed the side of her face. " They are beautiful like you are and they match your eyes perfectly. " Stated Gregor as he was drawn in by those eyes. " I am the luckiest man in the galaxy to have such a loving and beautiful bride. "
"I do have question, how long do you want to wait before we set a wedding date?" Avelina asked, "Though I will tell you this, Mathias is engaged to be married as well, he's... probably going to get married soon." giving a light laugh.
Gregor walked over and sat down in the corner of the small two seat sofa and patted the space next to him. " That is something we are going to have to discuss together and decide what we will do together in our future. "He thought for several moments before speaking again. " As long as we're together, I'm going to be happy and do everything I can to make you and our family as happy as I can. As far as I'm concerned, If you want to get married in the next fifteen minutes, I'll do it. If you want to wait for a year, I'll do that as well. If you want to do a double wedding with Mathias and his wife to take the stress and strain off your parent, Then I'm good with that as well. The only thing that's important is that we're together and we love each other, the rest is just window dressing to me. " He looked at Avelina. " Now I have a question for you. You said you and Evelyn want to expand the business that you have. Are you going to stay on the station and run the business or come on the ship, That's something I'd like to know. "
Avelina looked at Gregor, "What would I do on the ship, love. I maybe with you once in awhile on the ship, but I am a civilian and I think it best that I stay on the station. One of the stations that is, unless something changes to where I am needed on the ship. You will be on missions, maybe worry about me not being anywhere safe. So here we are... at a cross roads." her demeanor changing to one that is rather serious. "I do know that Mathias and Caroline will be raising their child here. Who knows. I don't even know what the childcare details are here either. I have to be free to do things Gregor. If I feel trapped somewhere and feel imprisoned then it won't be a good thing." walking over and sitting next to Gregor. "I am just worried and it is a common thing to be worried, with what happened to the Merlin." leaning her head upon his shoulder. "I know it is dangerous, heck we had dealt with a bombing on SB 308!" she murmured softly.
Gregor pulled Avelina close and stroked her hair and gently kissed her forehead. " I know it's natural to be scared of change, That's normal. And yes it is dangerous anywhere you go, It really doesn't matter if your on a ship, a space station or even a planet, regardless where you are something bad can always happen. Yes the ship got hit with a quantum filament, and yes a bomb went off on SB 308. Even if your on a planet there are all kinds of natural disasters that can occur there, They are things that are beyond our control and we can only respond to them when they happen. But as long as I have you by my side I'll take on the universe if I have to. " He hugged and held her for several moments without speaking.
" You asked what you could do aboard the ship." Gregor continued. " Right now your expanding to open a second store on DS 21. One store for you and one for your sister, But do you plan on more stores in the future? What if it grows to eight, ten or even twenty stores? you can't be there in every store can you? Your going to have to hire people that you know and trust. Most interstellar commerce is done over sub space communication. You can run your business, do inventory, your books. place orders for supplies and anything else you could right here on the ship. But on the ship you'd also have access to childcare and schools for the children, medical centers, holodecks and kitchens where you could test out new recipes and a host of other things. you'd be able to see new places and do things you've never done before. " He pulled her closer and closed his eyes. " I don't know what the future may bring us my love, but the one thing I do know is that I'll always love you, no matter where we are. "
"As I said earlier I am just looking into it, you know spread my wings and fly more. I just have to go slow, I suppose to just think things over more and if I decide to go visit my other shop or shops I will do so, if I want to. As they would be mine and my sister's shops. Very used to being independent." Avelina replied. "I am sorry, its just that I guess I need to bring that up. You won't have any trouble with my going places without you would you?" Avelina asked.
She placed a kiss upon Gregor's lips. "I do like the idea of what you suggested, getting to know the ship, what I can find to do on the ship. I do plan on traveling with you though especially during our first year together. And as for getting married, I don't want to have a big wedding, and its Mathias's big day that is coming up. I don't want to take away from his day. A simple wedding, you and I could elope. What do you think?" giving an impish smile.
Gregor chuckled as he stroked Avelina's hair. " Spread your wings? you mean you and your sister haven't done that already? " He laughed. " You've got a successful business on SB 308, The two of you are going to be opening another store here on DS 21 and you'll be scouting for more locations in the future. And of course you can travel out on business, as long as you come back to me." He said softly. " I wouldn't want anything happening to the most important person in my life. "
It was Gregor's turn to be surprised, he pulled back and looked at Avelina'a face to see if she were serious. " I don't mind something small with a few friends and family. That and as long as we can record it and send it to my family I don't mind. But are you serious about us eloping? You don't want just a few of our friends and have a quick service, But if that's what you really want..... So just the two of us run off somewhere and get married? wouldn't your folks be upset if we did that? "
"Well... if we elope with them and we get it done that would work too. Oh I don't know, let's at least wait until Mathias and his lady love get married, then we can get married. How does that sound?" Grabbing Gregory and giving him a rather spicy kiss.
After a nice long and passionate kiss, Gregor looked deeply into Avelina's eyes. " It really doesn't matter to me if we have a large or small wedding. As long as your happy and we're together, we can take on the universe. There isn't anything we can't do together, if we set our minds to it. " He pondered for a minute. " So you want to get married after Mathias does? Ok, that leaves us some time to make some plans. " He had a thought and asked. " I hear they're letting people go down to the planet below us, do you want to go down for a day or two? "
"I most definitely would love to do that. It would be marvelous and fun I think." Avelina stated with a smile. "Lets plan on doing so. For now though..." pulling him in for another kiss. "I think we're going to be just a bit occupied..." her smile going rather seductive. "We've got some other personal things to attend to."
" I love the way you think, And I think your right about that. " He said with an impish grin and swept her up in his arms.
" Computer, Lights to thirty percent. " He nibbled the side of her neck as he exited the living room area and into the bed chamber. " Now what was that you were saying about being occupied? " He asked, as the door closed behind them.
○● Lieutenant JG Gregor Morgan
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Merlin
Avelina McPhee
Civilian
NPC: Mathias
