Posted by Commander Zef Rollo (Counselor) in A Day Off

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in A Day Off

Posted by Commander Zef Rollo (Counselor) in A Day Off
In the three weeks since the Manhattan had been on her new assignment, a few things had happen of some import. The ritual had gone smoothly with not a hitch in sight, Zef had found out a week later that she was, indeed, pregnant, and Anasera and and her husband had returned to Baj with the agreement there would be weekly updates from Zef so they could take part in the pregnancy too. Contracts had been signed for the agreements that had been made and there had been much discussion and finally an agreement that if the Manhattan wasn’t able to be reached at the time the baby was born, it would be looked after until it could eventually be handed over to Anasera and Brom Ghelfi, the rightful parents. During the first few days of the mission, Zef had moved some of her things into Alex’s quarters with his help, and she ‘d encouraged him to do the same in her quarters. The two of them were getting along much better now that he understood the Degansa and what the agreement entailed and she was extremely happy about that.

Zef had heard from her family on Baj and they were overjoyed about the Degansa and appreciated what it meant for all of them. Ganro Flag had relayed the displeasure that had reached him about Kalig and what he thought of the whole situation. He warned her to be careful, even though Brom’s word guaranteed her safety. Ganro didn’t trust Kalig as far as he could through the man.

All in all, Zef was pretty much floating on cloud 9. After such a horrible misunderstanding in the beginning with Alex, things were now looking up.

—Rollo, CNS

Zef woke up before Alex and threw on a silky, floral robe. She padded to the replicator on bare feet, put in her order quietly, placing the spread on a tray as it was produced. Orange juice, coffee, hot, buttered toast and a bowl of mixed fruit, with accompanying utensils and napkins. As she carried the tray back into the bedroom, she called out, “Time to wake up, Fyk’iri. I have a surprise for you.” Her voice wasn’t jarring, but just loud enough to encourage wakefulness in someone who was riding the edge of sleep.

—Zef

Alex stirred and blinked his eyes. Rolling over he sat up and said “Now this is the right way to wake up, I must say.” with a smile in her direction. “Good morning. And that is a very nice robe.”

Alex

Zef laughed and set the tray across his lap. “You would have me walking around here naked all the time if you had your choice. You can’t fool me with compliments.” It was a nice robe though. She ran a hand back through his hair and along his cheek before walking around to her side of the bed and opening the drawer of the nightstand there. When her hand withdrew from the interior, it held a small, blue box tied with a ribbon.

She gathered the robe up and situated herself on the bed by Alex’s side, facing him. “I made something for you…” The box sat on her open palm as she offered it to him.

—Zef

Alex looked at her, then the box, then back at her. Smiling, he moved the tray to side and moved further upright. He looked at the box again and then took it from her hands and said “I am sufficiently intrigued to set aside coffee, so that should speak volumes.”

Holding the box, he opened the lid.

Alex

As she watched him open it, Zef held her breath. She’d never made anything for him before and this was a necklace from a black opal. On the face was the image of a tarot card, ‘the lovers’, in gold. The back was the fire opal that showed through the cut out design of the image. The stone was black with bits of red, orange, blue, green and gold flecks in it—like a tiny, self contained galaxy. “I thought the blue matched your eyes…”

She’d made herself a matching piece, only the opal was different. It held pink, white, aqua, sky blue and mustard, the tarot image was made from platinum. It wasn’t an engagement ring, but it was a special offering from her.

—Zef

Alex looked at the pendant, eyes wide. “Zef…I… Zef its breathtaking. I… I love it.” and he took it out of the box and held it in his hand. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” He looked up at Zef and said “This is the most amazing… no one has done anything like this for me before.” and took her chin in his hand and kissed her. “I love you, Zef.”

Alex

She hadn’t known how nervous she was about giving him the necklace until he responded so positively to it. Then she grinned and leaned in to hug him. “I’m so glad. I wanted to do something special for you. The materials were in the crate we picked up at Event Horizon. I’d been playing with images in my head but it wasn’t until we had that horrible misunderstanding that I decided on exactly what I wanted to do.” She took the jewelry from his hand and fastened it around his neck to see how it looked. “Oh, I like that very much.” Zef leaned back across the bed and reached into her nightstand again to retrieve another small box.

Lifting the lid, she showed him the one she’d made for herself. “I designed one for each of us—something to connect us even when we aren’t physically together.”

—Zef

Alex took hers and helped put it around her neck. He settled the pendant on her chest and then allowed his fingers to brush against her skin along the edge of the robe. “Zef… these are beautiful. You are truly an artist. But even without these… we are connected. No matter what. And that temporary lapse in communication was just that… temporary. You are mine, Zef Rollo. And I am yours. Distance won’t ever change that.” and he leaned in and kissed her softly, and his hand slid inside the robe and around her; pulling her to him.

Alex