I Have a Gift

Posted on Sun Jul 11th, 2021 @ 11:07am by Dixoho Saa (*) & Micheal Robertson

Mission: Mission 13: Stowaway
Location: SS Mary Rose, Dixoho Saa's Quarters
Timeline: MD 08, 21:00
1661 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Now that the issue with how to deal with the pirates was decided, Micheal was able to concentrate more on Dixoho. After grabbing both his gauntlet and Rebecca's mobil disk, he made his way to the quarters that belonged to the woman he loved. Once he arrived, he made sure that he looked presentable, then reached up and pressed the door chime.

Dixoho had no idea who would be bothering her when everyone was rushing around trying to work out a way to trick the people who wanted to take someone from them as well the paycheck. She knew they were desperate. “Come in.” She called.

The door to her cabin slid open, and Micheal stepped in. "Di?" He called out to her, not saying that it was him, as he knew she recognized his voice.

"I am just in the bath." She called having woken up and decided that she needed to clean up from just lying around all day. The pools in the chiefs quarters were amazing compared to the old rickety showers she used to have on her parent's cargo ship. If everything was going to be over for her soon she was going to enjoy every aspect of her life.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, suddenly worried that he was disturbing her. "I'm sorry, honey! I just wanted to bring you something that I know you'd love, maybe help tale your mind off of things?"

The woman smiled a little and ducked under the bubbles for a moment enjoying being under the water for a moment and the emptiness it offered before answering him. “Come in.” She prompted softly. It was not like he had not seen stuff before; they had spent enough time in each other’s quarters last few weeks.

Slowly, he stepped into her bathroom. He gave her a soft smile. "Hi..." he stepped into the room. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?" He made a conscious effort to look just at her face and eyes, and not at the bubble bath that she was in. They had not been intimate yet since he had returned to the ship and he would not force anything. He did, of course, hunger to be with her. However, things would go at her pace.

The woman smiled more at his discomfort. "Not bad. Thought I would enjoy the bath seeing its a senior crew member perk." She was not going to tell him about the palliative drugs she now had to manage the pain and keep her steady.

He gave her a warm, loving smile. "I'm glad you are able to get comfortable." His eyes drifted over the tub of bubbles, then turn his head away, blushing. "So," he began, trying to change the subject. "I..uh...i have something for you, that I thought you'd love." He pulled a small cube from his pocket and placed it on the deck, in the middle of the room. Stepping back, he then pulled out a small control wand and pressed a button.

Suddenly, the entire room transformed into a reduced representation on a vast star map. "I give you, The Andromeda Galaxy. Or, more aptly, where I traveled i. The Andromeda Galaxy."

Dixoho gasped as the colours and stars that appeared around her brightening the room from the dull darkness that she had her bathroom set in. It was beautiful and so unexplored. "It is beautiful despite how dangerous it seems to be." She could not stop her eyes darting around.

Nodding slowly, remembering his time there, he replied. "Yes. There certainly were some beautiful sights there. Like here," he pointed to a purplish-red nebula. "I hid out in there for a week. The spatial radiation that washed over my shields created a resonance that, inside tge shuttle, sounded like a soft lullaby."

The woman squinted just making out the purple and red nebula. “I love nebulas when they do that. We used to go into this nebula when the young crew members had a rough week to calm us all down.” She said fondly before sobering up trying to focus on other things there. It was a wonderland for her.

Micheal smiled. Turning on the pointer setting of the control wand, he drew a line between two points. "This was the path I took, the first time I had become lost in Andromeda. As you can see, it's pretty barren. It was sheer luck that I stumbled across the USS Elysium when I did. They had been pulled there by a group of aliens and were about to be sent back. I managed to convince the new CO, Lalor, I think her name was, to allow me to hitch a ride home. Had she not...we never would've met." He looked down into her beautiful eyes, his own, full of love and devotion."

Dixoho nodded she had heard the story before but her eyes were darting all around the charts trying to take it all in. It really was the best present for someone who thrived on maps and planning the best routes. “One day your luck is going to run out, Michael.” She said quietly.

The Texan nodded his head slowly. "I thought it did a few times, this second time around." He drew a new, longer, more circuitous line. "This was my recent trip. As you can see, it goes through several dense systems. There are races there that make the Klingons, Breen and Jem'Hadar, combined, look like first graders. I was captured once, nearly sold into slavery. Only thing tgat saved me was another race of slavers attacked the ship I was on. In the confusion, I was able to escape. Unfortunately, for the rest of my time in Andromeda, both races hunted me." He had a haunted look un his eyes.

"I thought I'd never see you again, Di." His eyes were filling with tears as he spoke. "Can you forgive me for leaving? I only did it to keep you safe. I'm so sorry that I wasn't here when you needed me, Di."

Dixoho's eyes narrowed just a little bit as she shook her head. "I can forgive given some time but you need to understand that in proper relationships where there is two adults you are meant to face issues together. You can't protect me from the universe." She murmured.

Micheal nodded his head sadly. "I know, honey. And I am trying to change. It's part of the fun, being in a relationship with a Texan. You never mess with a Texan's woman." He gave a weak chuckle. "But I do understand what you're saying, Di. I just hope we have time for me to rectify my idiot mistake." He paused, not voicing his fear that she'd chosen not to. Instead, he looked back up at the map. "You'll find that you can zoom in real close to any point on the map here." He manipulated the wand and zoomed in close to a lush green world with seven moons. "Ah, Freln. I hid out here for about two weeks. The natives were extremely friendly, and brilliant engineers! They actually had my damaged warp drive completely rebuilt in three days. Oh, and they looked like giant teddy bears!"

Dixoho had not wanted to say that she might not have time but had he had voiced it before she had time to put it into more delicate words. It was the truth, she was already on borrowed time and there was not much time for much anymore. "Nice. Cannot say ever seen a creature like that before." She admitted leaning back a bit moving under the water to see it over her head.

Michael watched as Dixoho submerged herself under the water. He then averted his eyes, giving her at least a modicum of privacy.

The woman noticed his look and shook her head. The bath was so full of bubbles that everything was covered and to be fair he had seen her naked even if it was only a few times. Lieddem had never been shy but maybe it was his species and Michael was human. “Pass me the towel please. We can sit and look at this all properly.”

Micheal stood and, after grabbing the large body towel, he moved to the side of the tub, holding it open, so Dixoho could just step out and into it.

Dixoho glanced at him for a long moment before she stood stepping into the towel wrapping it around her. It swamped her but was a nice change to have someone helping when she was becoming tired. "Thank you." She said simply.

Though his eyes never left hers as she stood, with his periphery vision followed her spots, each individual shape already etched in his heart and soul, from her forehead down to her feet, and over everything in between. His heart begged for this woman.

Once he wrapped the towel around her, he turned her gently around to face him. His eyes, full of love and desire, he said, "Di, I love you. I always have and I always will." Swallowing hard, he decided to take a chance. Closing his eyes, he leaned in to kiss her.

Dixoho accepted the kiss for a moment before pushing him back with a patient smile. "I know." She said simply moving to get a towel for her hair. She knew how deep his feelings went and hers were deep but it was confusing how she felt.

Micheal felt conflicted. While Dixoho had accepted the kiss, he also felt that she no longer fully felt the same way that he did. He knew that he only had himself to blame. He really screwed things up when he left. And now, the woman that he loved, was dying. He had lost so much time. All he could do was take as much she would give him. He did his best to keep all these thoughts from showing on his face.