Outdoor Festivities, Part 1: Eight Crazy Nights / Christmas

Posted on Thu Dec 21st, 2023 @ 7:48pm by Commander Chalan Kendri & Lieutenant Commander Jorel Torin II & Lieutenant Commander Jason Elliot

2,301 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Mission Zeta: An Eerie Evening
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: 1900 hours

Out in the lobby, Feeva and Kas stepped in the door, two young children with them. Feeva was wearing a sweater printed with cats wearing Santa and Elf hats, a long black skirt, and plaid flat shoes. Leena was wearing a red and green plaid party dress. Kas stood next to the small woman and her child, he looked at his daughter Keena in her emerald green dress with red trim and smiled at the look of wonder on her face. He was wearing a dark red suit with white Christmas trees decorating the jacket, he had a cream-colored shirt and green ascot. At Keena’s insistence, he was wearing a Santa hat and they both had red and green ribbons woven into their rope braids in their hair. Feeva greeted Sarah and Sar.

"Hello! I hope it was ok to bring the kids here first, they wanted to see snow," she said.

Sarah smiled. "It is fine," she said. "This celebration is much more of a family thing than Halloween was," she said. "You four look great! Very festive," she said. "The children will enjoy playing in the snow, and later, they will be allowed to make their own ornaments and things for the Christmas tree," Sarah said. "The bar has eggnog and soft drinks, and soon, they will have some cookies and food!"

"We hope you feel welcome, Commander.. Counselor", Sar said to the officers. "The holiday would not be a celebration without your presence."

Bella Rodriguez walked in behind the parents and smiled at the ribbons in her boss's hair, then she moved over to Fee and whispered. "Careful with the spiked eggnog we don't want a repeat of Halloween."

Feeva laughed. "I promise," she said. "Luckily, I don't even like eggnog," she said. "I think it's meant for the kids."

Kas gave Bella a stern look, "I'm sure we can handle things just fine."

Fee laughed. "It's ok, Kas. Have a good evening, Bella," she said.

Sar looked towards Leena and Keena, bending at the knee to lower himself. "And welcome to you as well, young offspring. I hope the holiday celebrations prove most festive."

Leena looked seriously at the Vulcan. She was a bit too young at only four to understand the cultural differences in Vulcans and her mixed-heritage, mostly-human self. "What is an offspring?"

Feeva chuckled. "It is a word that means child," she said. "Thank you, Ensign Sar," she said. "If you'll excuse us, I think the girls would enjoy getting a snack and playing in the snow," Fee said. Luckily, her husband's family was from a place on Earth that experienced snow, so she had thought ahead to bring a warm jacket and boots for each girl.

Sarah nodded. "Of course. Have a good time! Stay warm!" She said.

Keena moved closer to Sar, the child put a hand on his shoulder and touched her forehead to his in a traditional Quath'Mar greeting. "Thank you for your greeting."

Kas smiled at his child's manners and looked to Sar for his reaction. He knew Vulcans weren't often fond of physical touch.

Sar leaned forward into the forehead greeting. He seemed somewhat surprised, but did not pull away. "I am honored to have met you. I hope your time in the snow is most enjoyable."

Feeva smiled. "Excellent manners, Keena," she said. Leena had been polite but questioning for a four year old, and she was glad that the older child could be a good example. "Are you ready?" She asked Kas. From the bag she carried, she extracted the coats and boots. "Put these on. Snow is cold," she said, pulling the children aside so they could dress.

Kas smiled, grateful for Feeva's good planning. Snow wasn't his favorite thing, so he was glad to let her handle things. Bella had told him there were winter garments in the lodge for the adults, so he'd be able to get to Keena if she wanted him to play, but he was more than happy to stay indoors.

A jingle of bells preceded the entrance of a man dressed in a blue velour suit. White fur framed the collar sleeves and hem of the long shirt's waistline. A thick, black leather belt was wrapped around his waist with a silver buckle. Ryhl only wore a wide grin, no beard, as he entered to find the group in transit to the apres-ski bar.

"And a Happy Holidays to you all." Ryhl found Jorel first. "Hello, Mister Torin! How does the evening fair you? I've really been looking forward to this."

"Well, it's an interesting Earth holiday. I've studied some of the old Earth traditions and have been enjoying learning about this and various other Federation holiday traditions," Jorel replied, nodding his head gently at the Captain.

Paisley turned to Jason. "Let's go check out the other rooms, she said. Maybe there'd a private place they could steal away for a moment.

Jason took her hand, "Let's go." giving it a squeeze as they walked away.

Paisley led him towards the "house" setting. They could cuddle on the couch, if nothing else, she figured.

The small 'house' was more of a shelter with a small wood stove and a padded bench, he sat down, "Let's just enjoy the moment."

Kobi watched Paisley and Jason walk from the bar area and led Kendri in the opposite direction. They walked beneath the Hanukkah display-Kobi looked up in wonder at the menorah.

“I’m not sure why, but I did a little reading before coming. Think I felt guilty about not being with the rest of you for the Halloween festivities. Wanted to be more present and connect with our shipmates. Anyway, this Festival of Lights commemorates a miracle at an ancient temple. A supply of oil that was only supposed to last one day lasted for eight days. Hence the eight candles on the display. This lighted display is beautiful,” Kobi said.

Tomm turned to face Kendri and repeated, “Just beautiful, Kendri. Wouldn’t you agree?”

"It is lovely, and it's been nice to see the crew members bringing different holidays and traditions to life. There's a committee now, it will likely be a regular thing. Holidays and traditions from various worlds, not just Earth," Kendri commented. She had her arms crossed, although the temperature was moderately comfortable, something about the fireplace and the winter setting gave one the impression that you should be chilly and snuggled up somewhere.

“You look like you could use some warming up. Come on. Remember the thing I wanted to talk about? Now’s as good a time as any,” Kobi said.

"Okay..." Kendri held out a hand gesturing toward some couches.

The two made their way to the holographic fireplace and found a cozy spot to sit together. “Thank you for….joining me. I’m sure you’ve realized by now that I enjoy being with you and the things we’ve done together. Springball, coffee, our lunches. I’ve tried to convince myself that this was a bad idea. I like you, Kendri. I like you very much. I was hoping that you may feel the same way about me. I’ve always thought any …..relationship with a fellow officer, let alone my Commanding Officer would be unethical and strictly against regulations. We’re senior officers. We should be able to keep our personal and professional lives separate. I’m sorry if this catches you off guard, but I had to tell you how I feel.”

"Here?" Kendri laughed nervously and looked around. She let out a breath. "Kobi, it's a bit more complicated than that. How about we just try to enjoy the evening for now?"

“I was attempting to simplify it for us, but, alright….we can do this later. Just try to think about what I said? I’m being sincere. I see my buddy Kas over by the bar. Let’s go say hi.”

Kas walked over to the bar to order a drink, he made sure to stay near a window with a view of the children playing in the snow. The Hybrid smiled watching Keena and Leena helping a group of children build a snowman. He chuckled Keena got her love of cold weather from her mother, he hated the cold.

Feeva stood near the window, too, next to Kas. She was sipping tea, and watching the children. "Build a snow person!" She called out. "Leena has been to the snow once before, just after she was born," Feeva told her friend. "I don't think she remembers it, but we were visiting Eion's family back on Earth whilst on family leave," she said. "Where his family is from, in the former United Kingdom, it snows from about September to March. I hated it; Vissia is mostly temperate. We don't get extreme weather in any direction," she said.

"I grew up in space on vessels with climate control, we visited some planets during their cold weather. Due to the Klingon part of my heritage, I don't have a natural tolerance for cold. My stepbrother Tura and Keena's mother used to tease me about that." Kas paused and stared out the window. He'd gone so long without speaking about his past that it was still strange to you. Even after months of counseling.

Feeva nodded. "Yeah, I forgot you Klingons don't do the cold. The Cardassians, too. We'll have to set up some heat lamps and a rock for you to bask in," she said. She watched as the girls played in the snow. Some other families had started to join in, too, as well as the holographic people. The whole thing was very "Dickens" and she liked it. It was...charming.

"I don't like heat lamps, I prefer steambaths, especially after dealing with the cold." Kas chuckled.

He smiled watching the girls out the window, Keena had Leena on her shoulders so she could the top hat on the snowperson's head.

Fee laughed. "Well. You can enjoy your sauna," she said. "It sounds positively disgusting," she said. "Soaking in your own sweat?" She shivered. "Is Keena ok?" She asked.

The Hybrid put a reassuring hand on Fee's shoulder. "It's alright Keena doesn't lift more than she can carry. She's stronger than she looks."

Feeva nodded. "Alright...I hope those boys aren't up to trouble," she said, watching the two youngest Turner kids playing roughly.

"They'll be alright," Kas chuckled. "I'm more concerned about the Ensigns throwing snowballs so close to the children. Do you think I should ask them to move their fight farther away?"

Feeva considered. "Perhaps? I'd feel better, but I don't want to cause problems," she said. For now, the children were fine, working with the Turner boys-who were actually good children, just a bit prone to roughhousing-and had nearly completed a snowman, replete with sticks for arms and a fake carrot nose.

Kas smiled as one of the Turner boys helped take Leena off Keena shoulders. Keena looked puzzled at one of the children who was making a snow-angel on the ground. As Keena looked up at the young Ensigns who were having the snowball fight. One of the balls of snow missed its mark and hit Keena square in the face.  The little girl dropped to her knees holding back tears.

Leena was giggling as Peter Turner helped Keena to take her off of Keena's back. Peter was ten, and bigger than the girls, and kind of acted like sort of an "older brother" figure. He had just set the younger girl down when he heard Keena cry out. He looked around, and noticed one of the adults that had been playing with snowballs standing nearby.

Leena bent down and patted Keena's back. "Mommy!!" She called out for Feeva. "It'll be OK, Keena. My mommy is coming with your daddy."

Kas turned and ran for the door, he put on one of the heavy parkas and gloves that were at the door. He headed out into the snow. 

Feeva watched in horror as a snowball hit Keena in the face, and the look on the young Ensign's face as it made contact. While Feeva knew it was an accident, she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. People needed to be more careful around the little ones. Following behind Kas, she stepped into jacket, too, and into her boots, which she'd brought along, and trudged out into the snow. She snatched Leena up. "Are you ok?"

Leena nodded. "Yes. Keena got huwt," she said.

"I know."

Kas ran and crouch down next to his Keena, and began wiping the snow from the child's red face. “Are you alright ’Little Star.’

“Get them Papa!” Those are girls said with determination and a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Yes my ‘Little Star’ this cannot go unanswered.” Kas looked up and noticed that these careless Ensigns had not even noticed the damage they had caused. “Keena, make six snowballs and then help the smaller children inside. It's time for them to get hot cocoa. They can watch from the large windows.”

Feeva watched a moment. "I'll get the kids inside," she said.

Keena giggled and began making the snowballs.

Feeva waited for Keena, and then ushered her, the Turner children, and Leena indoors. She took a post by the window again, as Keena and Peter helped the younger kids get their chocolate.

>> To Part Three >>

Captain Rhyl th'Zheles, (Sar)
Commanding Officer
USS Columbia

Commander Chalan Kendri
First Officer
USS Columbia

Lt. Commander Razka Kas, (Keena, Isabella)
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Columbia

Lt. Commander Paisley F'Rar, (Feeva, Leena, and Sarah)
Chief Engineer
USS Columbia

Lt. Commander Kobi Tomm
Chief Security Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Jason Elliot
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Columbia

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