Lucas scowled at his EUO issue duffle bag. It was the same one he had since he arrived on the ship. Although it was scuffed and falling apart, Lucas refused to replace it. There were too many memories in each ragged edge. But now, it was just too full, something would have to stay, or the frayed seems would burst.
He eyed up the laptop poking from the top, trying to escape, "no way, you are coming with me. I am not about to be stuck with my folks for two weeks without a computer."
"Come on Luke!" Tony snapped, leaning into the room, "we're the last ones here. Unless you wanna walk to your dad's, we gotta go."
Lucas sighed, and pulled a thick sweatshirt out, giving him enough space to zip the bag. He was still struggling into it when he stumbled into the corridor.
Tony smirked, "uh, we're in Florida."
"Yeah, so?" He replied defensively, finally pulling it down over his stomach. "In an hour, I'll be on a plane to Buffalo. It's cold there."
Tony tossed an insult to Lucas' masculinity over his shoulder, and scurried away before the teen could thwack him with the heavy bag. They were still squabbling as they reached the airlock, screeching to a halt as they nearly crashed into Dagwood, cleaning the steps.
"Hey Dag, why are ya still here?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "Ya know, when the maintenance crew gets here, they're just gonna track sand and grease everywhere anyhow."
"I will keep it clean." Dagwood answered proudly.
Tony blinked at him, "you're stayin'? We got shore leave."
"My room is here." Dagwood said uncertainly.
Lucas elbowed his friend, "where is he going to go?" He whispered harshly, hoping Tony would take a hint for once.
He did not, "but, you have family… kinda."
"My brother, and my creator…" Dagwood started sadly.
Tony finally saw his misstep, "no, um… there's other ones… right?
Lucas decided to stop the conversation there. "Hey, Dag, I uh… oh! I got you a present." He pulled the laptop out of his bag and handed it to the large GELF. "It's programed to automatically hook up to the ship. I'll give you a call and walk you through anything you want to use it for, ok?"
Dagwood looked at the device, and slowly took it. It seemed to shrink in size as soon as he held it. Lucas fished around until he pulled a power cord out. "Just click on this," he awkwardly opened the laptop balanced on the large hand, and pointed to a glowing icon. "I'll be able to talk to you."
"Thank you Lucas," Dagwood said in wonder, the light from the screen reflecting off his multicolored features.
"Yeah, uh, it's from both of us," Tony interjected.
In a moment of grace, Lucas was able to keep his eyes from rolling. "Merry Christmas, big guy."
Once outside, Tony slowed and kept looking back at the ship. "I kinda feel like a heel."
"You look like one."
"No, I mean it, honest. He's stayin' alone on Christmas, or Cha… Han… uh… the other one, or whatever GELF's do." Tony was still balking beside the dock.
Lucas groaned, "yeah, it sucks, what can we do?"
"You get a Christmas." Tony pointed out snidely, "and what I hear, your folks can afford an extra person hanging around."
"No," Lucas snapped, hosting his bag.
Tony stared at him, starting to get irritated. "So you're only friends on the ship?"
"Oh shut up, no. Not like that. Look, my parents decided to have one Christmas with me this year. Normally I'd go to their houses separately. They said some bullshit about wanting me to have a normal holiday. But they just don't have the time to try and outdo each other this year."
Lucas snarled slightly, "I don't want Dag there because I'm friends with him. Even if it's only a few hours, I'm not going to subject him to that."
Tony finally closed his mouth, "oh."
"Yeah, oh. I can plug headphones in and ignore them, but Dag… he'll get hurt. They won't be nice to him. I know it." Lucas shook his head, "he's better off alone. And I will give him a few calls."
He paused, looking around, suddenly aware that he had just loudly vented his annoyances on a very public dock. "What about you? Why don't you invite him home?"
Tony snorted, "in my neighborhood? If my family don't scare him off, the drunk PTA moms will go after 'im with a pitchfork."
"He's better off alone." Lucas repeated, not fully believing himself.
Dagwood carefully set his gift down on a counter in Sea-deck, still open. He didn't think this large fingers would ever be able to fly across the keys like Lucas' did, but he promised himself he would try. After Lucas called him, he would try to use it. For now, he didn't want to chance breaking anything, and left it just as his friend had. The last thing Dagwood wanted to do was make Lucas and Tony think he didn't like their present.
He crossed to the moonpool and softly called out, "Darwin?" He reached down and slapped the water the way he had seen Captain Bridger do. A few seconds later, a silver nose poked up, squealing.
Gently, Dagwood reached out and patted the smooth beak. "Merry Christmas." A jet of water was his answer, startling the large man. His look of shock was quickly replaced by a wide smile, and he jumped into the water fully clothed.
Every other crew member was worn-out after only playing a few hours, Darwin couldn't believe his luck that this one, the one that Lucas called Dag, was still going. He wouldn't admit his own tiredness though, it was simply too much fun. They played sponge ball, and tag, and swam through the tubes together. Dag didn't to need to even stop to breathe very often.
He was, however, hungry. Darwin tried to inform his partner, but it seemed that the talking box was not working. He squealed in frustration, attracting the man's attention. They rose to the top of the pool. With a combination of chittering, and spraying water, Darwin finally conveyed his meaning.
Dagwood crawled out of the pool, splashing water across the floor. He opened the cold case that held fish, but stopped with his hand on a large mackerel. "Captain Bridger said these were only for treats. You find your own food."
The next jet of water was less effective than it normally would be, considering the overall wetness of the room and his target. Dagwood blinked away the salt water, trying to decipher the whistles. "I guess you get a Christmas present too." He tossed the scaly treat, and it disappeared down Darwin's gullet in a blink of an eye.
Dagwood tried to remember what he knew of Christmas. He knew there were many stories and traditions about where it came from, and why people celebrated it. But, he had never had his own. There was one tradition he seemed to recall, concerning dinner and treats. Normally cookies and sweets, but in reality, it could be anything someone enjoyed. He tossed Darwin another fish, before jogging out of the room.
The large walk in refrigerator in the mess hall was his goal. It was surprisingly empty however. Dagwood knew that Captain Bridger had explained that the crew would be leaving for a couple weeks, and there would only be enough food for a few days. After that, more would be brought by the people fixing the ship so it wasn't in danger of spoiling. Unsure of what Darwin would like, Dagwood began to scour the shelves. A large covered platter caught his eye. When he opened it, Dagwood could only stare at the bright, slightly wiggly contents.
It wasn't easy to transport everything he found, but Dagwood was determined to create a proper Christmas dinner for his friend and himself. Darwin watched with interest as the large GELF piled pineapples, oranges, bread rolls, cleaned fish, and corndogs on the counter. The last item, the covered platter, Dag lovingly laid down, next to a large spoon.
He arranged it all, similar as he could make it to what he once seen in a movie he watched with Tony. Dagwood smiled at the dolphin, bringing him an orange. Darwin carefully touched it with his tongue, before shaking his head side to side. This was not a flavor he liked. He looked at the fish longingly, but kept his patience.
After the fruit and bread was denied by Darwin, Dag gave up, tossing him another fish. He sat, just outside the tank, and ate what Darwin had snubbed. They chattered to each other, somehow connecting in a way that was more than verbal. Dagwood told Darwin about wanting a home and a family, and wondered if it would be the same as on the ship. Darwin… well, Darwin waited for more food, but listened very politely.
Finally, Dag stood and brought the tray to the pool, his eyes shining with excitement. "I've had this once. I remember it." He opened it with a flourish, showing the large red dome of gelatin. Darwin couldn't see that it was red, and he didn't know the bright color had enthused Dagwood enough for the man to want to share his prize. But he did smell it. It smelled…. sweet, but good. The unmistakable sent of protein sparked his interest further.
He pulled a large piece off with the spoon for himself, slurping it down in one mouthful. As for the rest, Dagwood set the tray in the pool, where it floated. It took Darwin a few tries, but he was able to nibble on the treat. This treat was quite good, if different. After a few bites, he pushed it back.
When they were both full, and sleepy, they rested. Dag stayed in front of the pool, as Darwin drifted beside him. Dagwood started to tell stories of his life before SeaQuest, he seemed to remember stories were an important part of Christmas. Darwin waited until he was done, and tried to teach him the true names of the constellations. Not the silly names the humans came up with.
Lucas finally escaped his parent's squabbling long enough to duck into his father's office. Upon seeing him without his constant computer, they both promised to buy him a new one, each trying to outbid each other. Of course, they needed him to pick it out, and for whatever reason, believed whomever got him to go to the store would win. Lucas made the excuse that he needed to research the models, which they should have known was ridiculous. Sitting at his father's desk, he sighed a breath of relief.
He felt horrible for abandoning Dagwood alone, and planned to call him and invite him there. Lucas wasn't sure about the logistics of getting the GELF onto a plane and to his parent's house, but decided to call Captain Bridger if he needed help. He logged onto the computer, and waited to link up to his laptop.
Worried that Dagwood wouldn't be able to remember how to open the program, Lucas simply hacked into his own system. It took a matter of seconds. He just hoped he wouldn't startle the man too badly when he popped on screen. But what he saw dumbfounded him.
It was the sea-deck, empty orange peels, corn dog sticks, and what looked like a mangled pineapple littered the floor. Dagwood was sound asleep on the floor, a wide smile on his face. In the moonpool, Darwin was bumping up against a floating tray, trying to lick the last small pieces of red goop.
Lucas grunted in extreme eloquence, "huh."
Author's note: Did you know dolphins like jello? I thought that was interesting.
Have safe and happy holidays everyone!