Personal Log for 40977.4

Posted on 21 May 2021 @ 7:34pm by Lieutenant JG Elise Auray

Bells, wreaths and holly were never out of sight from any angle. Traditional music was playing, and various scented candles and incense were burning. There was a sensibly sized, brightly decorated tree stationed in a corner, with a small scattering of ribbon-wrapped gift boxes beneath. It was at least in theory a model presentation of a stereotypical Earth Christmas decorating frenzy. Elise Auray had, along with much of her crew, been exhausted from the recent Boston adventures in Shaya Shi’kwai, but she had managed to finish the entire room's worth of decorating over the course of the last several weeks. It was a holiday that demanded she go all out, even if her family and man were light years away. For anyone on the ship seeking an overly festive change of scenery, Auray's small quarters might well have been one of the best alternatives to the holodeck.

Having concluded her filling Christmas dinner in the lounge courtesy of Lieutenant Kilrai, Elise moved on to playing hostess to an impromptu film screening with another friend. Though now hours passed, it had featured classics such as "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and "The Christmas that almost wasn't but then was". She was grateful for Lieutenant T'Char's agreeing to watch them, but in such antique presentations the concepts of Christmas were often delivered in extraordinary ways. Elise found herself coming up short when it came to explaining Santa Claus' elves, or the reasons for Rudolph's exclusion from reindeer sporting, or why she was able to sing along with every single performance. The Vulcan's complete drunkenness complicated the understandings, and Elise's own inebriation at the start only slowed things even more considerably. Both had been upset for their respective reasons on that day, and both had been vocal about it in the ship lounge.

But as Christmas came but once a year, Elise could ill afford to let it be drowned in sadness and wines. While T'Char had been determined to become utterly drunken, the human had reluctantly ceased to drink much earlier on in the evening and had mostly sobered up by the time they parted ways for the night. The various films had given her a few ideas. Now alone again, she struggled to try to fix a pair of plush reindeer antlers to the head of the U.S.S. Boston's pet cat. He was determined to escape from being made into a prop in a photograph. Elise had other plans.

"Would you please.. sit! One picture, that is all! We'll look really- Halifax!"

He was being strangely resistant, considering his typical desire to be the centre of attention. He had been lured easily enough by the dangling pompom of Elise's red stocking cap. But when she tried to place the horns around Halifax again, he swatted with his paw. Fortune favoured the furry, as Elise's sleeve had fallen from around her arm. It allowed Halifax to score a direct hit in raking the lieutenant's arm. Elise yelped more in frustration than pain, and then scoffed at the uncooperative feline. It had been enough to leave a duo of scratch marks upon her skin.

"Zut! Okay fine! If you hate them that much we'll forget about it.."

She lightly rolled Halifax off of her lap and heard him padding the floor beside her. Perhaps he had become upset by the strong smells filling the rooms from the candles and burners. Or it may have been due to him being second to the attention of the movies played earlier. Elise knew she could attempt this with Luna later. For now, she decided to lay back on her bed and fumble with the horn set idly. She called out to the ship's computer.

"Computer! Erase that log I made this morning, and start a new personal log for tonight,"

The confirmation chime sounded off, and Elise began.

"Log for Stardate 40977.4,

This Noël is my third onboard the Boston. The second one in a row since leaving Earth. I would still prefer to be at home for it. For more reasons than usual this time. But like before, the wonderful people of this ship have softened the harshness of it."

She winced as she felt Halifax hop from the floor up onto her stomach. She tried to ignore him, and so he pawed his way along until he was poised and staring down at Elise expectantly. Obliging, she did reach up with both hands to begin scratching his furry face. But she had also snuck the reindeer horns behind his sight.

"As we have been operating in Shaya Shi’kwai for some time now.. It was necessary for us to attempt to contact Starfleet once again. The things we have done here, and seen, must be reported on at last. We did succeed at that! The ship will be well on it's way to proper assignment, and we received many of our awaited transmissions and mails. Since it IS a special day, I'd rather not discuss recent events. And since I promised myself I would not spend any more logs talking about longing for love, we will skip that too.."

The ship's cat looked about, but Elise kept the horns carefully just beyond his seeing. He was quick, and might have caught them on another day. This time, though, his interest immediately became the prospect of receiving pats and scratches.

"So that leaves me with the usual circular thought patterns. About my career, and about.. life, in general. It is as though something will reach out and remind me every few steps of the way. This time it was when my shot appeared to destroy a ship instantly. We later learned that it was a false vessel, but I can't deny how paralyzed I felt by the thought until then. I still want to speak with the counselor and confess my uncertainties. I want to speak with the Commander, and the Captain, to tell them much the same. But, I'm afraid to. Like usual."

Halifax began to lay down as he grew comfortable with the scritches, but with his guard lowered he was powerless to prevent Elise from successfully slipping the reindeer horns on to him at last. Before he could leap to freedom, she swept the cat up into her arms and pushed herself up into sitting. He didn't make a sound, possibly thoroughly ashamed of having fallen for it.

"Should I ever muster the courage.. there are a number of options for schools. Remote, on Earth, and elsewhere. And there always is the Academy again. Now that we have communications again maybe I can ask T'Pora which institutions live up to their reputations.."

Elise glanced across her room at the specialized vase atop her dresser. The Piraktan flower had become a longtime fixture, but newly added was the ragweed bouquet from Solas. All of these plants were being kept alive through advanced means. But she considered what she had done to receive both. Reminded of the instrumental use of Halifax in the recent situation, Elise sighed and carefully removed the false antlers from the cat's head.

"Papa told me I could reach the captain's chair if I can find out my strengths and press them. There isn't a long list of those.. but I need to do this. It is practically crying out to me. And the fact the nickname never followed me here from the Academy is a sign that I can and must do more! Computer, end log.."

The ship's cat mercifully chose to forgive his guardian for the attempted misuse of his image, and conveyed this through licking at her fingers. Rather than try to force him into any holiday photographs, Elise snugly clutched Halifax to her chest and nestled against her many pillows. In spite of the sense of loneliness that perpetually lingered in the back of her mind, she was ready to face the long 'winter' onboard the ship. Gradually the end of Christmas night came to her, and she drifted to a restful sleep. The restless Halifax was now free to swat at her cap tassel to his heart's content.