Joint Personal Backlog - Ens Charlson & Noah Waterhouse - "When You Walk In A Dream, But You Know, You're Not Dreaming"

Posted on Mon Dec 29th, 2014 @ 1:07am by

3,425 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: All Hallows’

He'd promised the ensign lunch when she'd tried to take him back to her quarters after the masque. It was all he could do, to escape the company of his merry little pirate crew, but he eventually succeeded and showed up at the security offices just when the computer assured him Lily was due to take a lunch break. He entered politely, asked for Lily, and waited patiently by reading news feeds over his holographic goggles.

Lily walked out of one of the offices, intending to take a lunch break, and saw Noah waiting for her. "Hello again Noah, anything I can do for you?" She asked.

"I owe you lunch, as I recall," he said, standing up and holding a picnic basket up as proof. "Shall we?"

"I believe you do, yes. Where are we going?" Lily asked as she followed Noah towards the Office doors.

"It's a surprise," Noah insisted, offering his arm to her. "Do you trust me?"

"No, but still..." Lily said with a small wink and a slight smile.

"No?" Noah stopped and looked at Lily in mock horror. "Well, I just don't know then. I suppose I'll have to eat these sandwiches and drink this champagne all by myself."

"You could do, but I don't think you'd manage all of those sandwiches all on your own...and I don't think your sister would be to happy with you walking round the ship a little bit tipsy, now, would she?" Lily said, only half serious.

"Don't think that Pond scares me none," Noah insisted with a head shake. "And I've known her my whole life, I know where her blind spots are. Now, do you trust me?"

"Of course, silly." Lily said, wondering where Pond's blind spots were.

"Good," he returned with a grin, leading the way to the turbolifts. He whistled a quick tune, and the lenses projected from his bridge piercing disappeared as they walked into the turbolift. "Deck five."

"You really do like your masks don't you Noah." Lily said as she stepped into the turbolift, just behind Noah.

"Naw, these are practical. Keep me from getting lost, let me read news, inspect my artwork, you know, practical stuff," he explained with a shrug. "The amazing things we do with holograms these days, eh?" The turbolift hummed to life and headed upwards towards their destination.

"So where can I get myself some then?" Lily asked, intrigued.

"There were a gift, made custom for me by family. And... well, not all of the things they do are quite... legal," he admitted as the turbolift came to a halt. The doors slid open. "After you, to the..." He glanced at the junction number of the wall, thought a second, then continued speaking, "the left."

"You sure about that?" Lily asked as she took the left and waited for him to catch up.

"Both my Mum and Dad are fleet, a lot of the extended family is current or retired fleet, and the first twelve years of my life were on starships, I know a thing or two, let me tell you," he insisted. "Here we are," he added as they nearly passed the doors into the shuttle bay, and he caught Lily around the waist to spin her around and guide her in the doors as they opened.

"Ooh!" Lily gave a slight giggle as Noah spun her round and into the shuttle bay. "I hope you got permission to be in here Mr Waterhouse." She said with another small giggle.

"Permission?" he echoed with a chuckle, his eyes traveling over the shuttlebay before he figured out what direction to head. "No one's like to both me, not with you here," he teased, and guided her along towards a particular craft.

"Where are we going?" Lily said, unsure what the ship they were heading to was.

"I'd like you to meet my home, The Pelican," he said, indicating a small ship that sat in the shuttlebay. "A little firebird reminded me that 'tis the season, and suggested I pay a visit when I mentioned having to swindle Dad into helping me fix her up after the incident." He reached into the picnic basket, and pulled out a red and white gingham cloth.

"It's a very nice ship Noah, I wish I had my own ship." Lily said.

"I was thinkin' we could have our picnic lunch on her bridge?" he suggested with a grin.

"After you!" Lily said, standing behind Noah.

"No, ladies first, of course," he insisted, opening the hatch that lead inside the craft, and beckoning her in.

"If you insist, but you will have to tell me which way to go!" Lily said, stepping through the crafts small hatch, waiting for Noah to direct her.

"If you can get lost in this ship, you have no right being a security officer in the fleet," Noah teased as he followed her inside. They found themselves standing in the small bridge of the ship, and Noah looked around in wonder. "I don't think she's been this cherry since the day I got her."

"I'm fine on the big ships, it's silly really, it's a really good ship though." Lily said.

"Ivanova hinted they put The Pelican to rights for me, but she didn't tell me they gave her the whole nine yards," Noah said in awe. He set the picnic basket down in a chair at the helm station and waved the gingham cloth out to make it lose the wrinkles, then spread it in the middle of the floor.

"I didn't think a picnic was quite your style..." Lily said, taking a seat by the corner of the cloth.

"Why not?" Noah collected the picnic basket, setting it in the middle of the cloth. He folded himself so he could settle opposite from Lily with the basket between them, and started to pull out neatly wrapped sandwiches, cut vegetables, and a bottle of champagne.

"You just don't seem like that kind of person. I more thought of you as a guy who went for restaurants and burger bars. No offence." Lily said, look at the array of food that was coming out of the basket.

"I appreciate good food, wherever it comes from," he explained as he pulled a pair of champagne flutes out of the basket where they'd been carefully strapped to the inside. They were a deep cobalt blue with delicate etching that looked like constellations.

"They're lovely glasses!" Said Lily, as she watched Noah pour Champagne into both glasses.

"They were the practice for a wedding gift my sister commissioned me to do," he said, holding one of the filled flutes out to Lily. "The real ones, I had to make sure the constellations were accurate, for one of the recipients would have been able to spot if they weren't. These I just practiced the technique."

"Well I think they're amazing, although I don't know much about the constellations either." Lily said as she took the flute, and took a sip from it.

"I think I had half a dozen I cracked or broke in the process, before this pair came out," he admitted, offering her one of the ham and swiss sandwiches wrapped in wax paper. "The broke pieces got turned into a mosaic that my Gram uses as a stepping stone in her garden now."

"So do you usually use these, or are they just for special occasions?" Lily asked, taking the sandwich offered to her.

"My parents just gave the picnic basket back to me, and the flutes were in the basket," he explained. "I'm not sure why they grabbed the basket instead of more of their library, but it sounds like their quarters weren't disturbed during the civil war, so thank Flying Spaghetti Monster for that." He raised his glass as he said it.

"So have you been keeping yourself out of trouble then?"

"I hope you're not all business," he answered with a laugh. "What do you do with your free time?" Noah unwrapped the other sandwich as he asked, raising his eyebrow to punctuate the question.

"Only about 90 percent of the time!" Lily said with a wink, taking another bite of the sandwich. "These sandwiches, are they replicated or hand made?" She asked.

"You didn't answer my question," Noah returned with a shake of his finger. "You'll get yourself an answer if you give me one first."

"Free time? I usually go down to the holodeck to run a few of my programs, or relax with a good book. Apart from that sleep is always good. Now your turn!" Lily said, taking a more detailed look around the inside of the ship they were in.

"It's a custom replicator pattern, based upon my Gram's home made bread, and her favorite butcher's ham." Noah tried to follow where Lily's gaze was directed as he took a bite of his own sandwich. "What's your favorite book?"

"Now that is a hard one, I like a lot of books, but I don't really have a favourite. I'm reading Oliver Twist at the moment though, it's all about an orphan, who asks for more. Speaking of which, please sir, can I have some more?" Lily asked.

"I think my parents have a copy of that one, might even be a first edition? I didn't do as much reading as Mum wanted, so I didn't get to it myself," he explained, picking up the champagne bottle to fill Lily's empty flute. He then offered up the tray of carrots, celery, tomatoes, broccoli, and brussels sprouts arranged around a cheese sauce.

"Thank you. That's a very strange assortment there, although I am quite partial to brussels sprouts!" Lily said, picking up a few carrot sticks, a spoonful of sprouts, and a small spoon of cheese sauce.

"The replicator pattern for those came from Gram's garden. Before that, Dad swears there wasn't an edible replicator pattern for brussels sprouts available." Noah popped a couple of the little green ball shaped vegetables into his mouth before setting the plate back down in the middle of the picnic spread.

"What else have you got in that basket of wonders?" Lily said, intrigued.

"Just dessert, which comes after the rest of the meal," he insisted with a wink.

"Sounds good, can't wait!" Lily said, taking a few more pieces of carrot and dipping them into the cheese sauce.

"What made you want to be a security officer?" Noah was particularly curious about the answer, but he was careful to hide it, asking casually and keeping his focus on his food and drink.

"Well I've always liked the idea of working alongside big strong men!" Lily said with a laugh. "No but really, my parents were Security Officers aboard a ship when I was born, and it's always interested me. Plus I really love having power!" Lily said with another laugh. "So if you could do anything, what would you choose to do?" Lily asked Noah.

"I am doing it," he insisted. "I get to wander where I want, bring the noodley word to those who want it, and make good art. The stars call to me, the word needs telling, and I have a gift to be able to express it. That's not something I should keep to myself." He grinned wide. "So, power hungry and being surrounded by big strong men? Well, I'm certainly big."

"Ah, but are you strong?" Lily asked.

"I'm a man, and a quarter Klingon." He shook his head with a laugh. "For my size and genetic background, not particularly so... but I'm strong enough I suppose."

"Well I guess you'd pass!" Lily said with a wink. "But I don't think you're the man to settle down with someone are you?" She asked.

"Are you going to walk away from our lovely lunch if I admit that's not exactly in my plans yet?" He tilted his champagne flute towards her in a somewhat accusatory and mocking manner as he asked this.

"You don't get rid of me that easily now Noah, anyway, it's better than the canteen food!" She said with a chuckle. "Decided when you're moving on yet then?" She asked.

"I don't know what the plan is yet. I'm going to try to get Jonesy into rehab, if he'll cooperate, but that leaves me needing a new pilot. I also think my parents are a little uneasy with the idea of me going it with just a small crew, so I might not wander too far while things continue to settle," he answered with a shrug. "I think you have some leave on Earth before Vindi goes off to her next adventure. I'll have to see where things are at when she's ready to break port."

"Well at least it means we all get a rest before we head out, I might go down and visit some old friends." She said.

"I know I'll be seeing my grandparents. No matter how well I do following her recipes, Gram's cooking is always better when she does it... Especially her Christmas feast. Might have something to do with her staunch refusal to use anything replicated." His eyes lazily drifted over the vegetable plate and the empty wax paper wraps for the sandwiches, and he decided it was time for dessert. "I borrowed Pond's kitchen to make this, and though she doesn't know, I think she'll forgive me when she finds the one I left for her on her counter," Noah explained, pulling a covered dish from inside the basket. He opened it to reveal a small chocolate marbled cheesecake.

"Now you do know my weakness! I love chocolate! And if you do go to your grams then you must send me something back, I'd love to taste it." Lily said, eyeing up the cheesecake.

"There's no if for Christmas. If I'm within traveling distance of Earth, I'm expected to be there on Christmas day. There's not usually much in the way of left overs though." Noah neatly sliced the small cheesecake in two, and handed Lily a fork. "The plates that used to live in this basket turned up missing, but it's probably for the better... I was adjusting kiln temperature, and I hadn't quite got it right, so the reds weren't turning out right. Mum kept them anyways before I could break them and use them for something else."

"Probably for the best, what else have you made in the past then?" Lily asked, digging into the cheesecake.

"I try every art form I can, though I take to some better than others," he explained with a shrug, breaking off a fork full of cheesecake. "I did better with the glaze work than the actual making of ceramics, I was horrible at blowing glass the one time I tried it... though I'd probably get better if I gave it a chance. My first love was painting and drawing. I'll have to see if Pond'll let me show you the paintings I did she has in her quarters." He looked at Lily a moment and considered. "You'd be welcome, if you wanted to join me and my family on Christmas day."

"I'd like that, would Pond mind though?" Lily asked, slightly surprised by the offer. "And more to the point, would the rest of your family mind?" She asked.

"I think as long as you don't awkwardly ma'am her, or Mum, at the dinner table, it'll be fine," he insisted with a wink. "She, Mum, and Dad, will all want you to use first names when they're not in uniform. I think Pond mentioned kidnapping your Captain for Christmas dinner too, so I may have to do some sleuthing on your behalf on how Ivanova would prefer to be addressed..." Noah made a face and sighed. "This might be a little awkward because Pond swans around with your ship's command staff. I'll understand if you change your mind."

Lily put her hand on top of Noah's. "No, I'd really like it, my sister will probably be off on some mission, and I don't know who my parents are, so I never usually have anyone to stay with. I could use the company." She said.

"I'm glad to have you, and I know the rest of the family will be too," he answered, laying his other hand on hers and grinning. Then he made a face, as he realized what time it was. "When do I need to get you back, so you don't get in trouble?"

"I will let you know, I'll need to authorise leave with the Captain, but I don't see it being a problem!" Lily said, confused by the question. "Oh you mean now? I'm off shift for another fifteen minutes, but if you need to be somewhere then i'm finished!" Lily said, leaning back against the ships bulkhead.

"No rush, just don't want you to get in trouble... that's the best way to have Pond come down on me," he explained with a wink.

"So, any plans for tonight?" Lily asked.

"Having dinner with my crew, and we're going to talk about what to do once Vindicator reaches earth. It should be interesting, because Jonesy doesn't know yet I'm not keeping him as my pilot and I'm going to be encouraging him to go to rehab for his drinking problem," Noah explained with a sigh.

"So any ideas on a new pilot then? Or is that all secret?" Lily asked with a cheeky smile.

"I haven't even had time to consider where I'm recruiting from, and depending on how Jonesy takes the rehab idea, I may even consider waiting for him to finish cleaning up." Noah shrugged. "That probably wouldn't be a good idea, drinking rum is a part of the faith, and I hear that alcoholics just don't have control over how much they drink... so it's stop completely, or drink to the point of ruin." He frowned.

"Well, if he doesn't listen, then that's his own fault, not yours, just remember that!" Lily said.

"I know," he answered with a sigh. "I just try to do right by him, as I try to do for everyone."

"I know how that is, it's just some people can't be helped, and it sucks!" Lily said, thinking back to people she'd tried to help and had failed.

"After all, you can lead a pirate to pasta, but you can't make him eat," Noah said with a shrug.

"I bet I could..." Lily said.

"You sound just like my mother," he returned, then laughed as he realized what he'd just said.

"I'm not that old, thank you very much!" Lily said, only slightly serious.

"Mum's not old," Noah insisted, then chuckled. "Okay, she's two years older than Dad, but don't tell her I told you... Most people think Dad robbed the cradle. Klingon genetics are apparently fantastic in that regard."

"I didn't say she was, but neither am I!" Lily said.

"She was once your age," he protested, still chuckling as he stood up. "Let' s get you back before you get in trouble with handles. How'd your talk with her go, anyway?" Noah offered Lily a hand up.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to annoy her, but the meeting went ok, and they think I may be good department head material once I've done some training, so hopefully one day ill be able to give the orders without getting into to much trouble." Lily said as she took Noah's hand and got up. "So you were right again!"

"I'm glad my advice helped. Congrats on the opportunity. I hope the training goes well for you," Noah returned, offering Lily his arm to guide her out of the ship. He left their picnic spread on the floor of the bridge, as he intended to come back and investigate what exactly the phoenix Captain had told her engineers to do for his ship.

"Not going to clear up Noah?" Lily asked, puzzled.

"I'll be back after I walk you down to security," he assured her. "No one will disturb it, it's my ship after all."

"I'll let you off then!" Lily said, following Noah closely.

"Good. I wouldn't want you to have to toss me in the brig again," he teased with a chuckle as he lead her out of the shuttlebay.

"In your dreams!" She replied with a small laugh.

=/\= End Log =/\=

Lily Charlson
Security Officer
USS Vindicator

Noah Waterhouse
Pastafarian Minister and Artist
The Pelican

 

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