Summary: Cassie Ryder decides to share a special surprise with someone that has become quite dear to her.
a/n: Written as a gift for vorchagirl who has been especially encouraging and sweet to me this year. Thank you so much. I've enjoyed getting to know you better. Happy Holidays!
It's the Thought That Counts
-1-
Cassie Ryder stared at the image on her console, swiping it from side to side to inspect every curve, every angle for even the slightest imperfection. It was times like these when her perfectionism could be more a burden than a blessing. "This would be so much easier at the research station," she mused to herself as her eyes narrowed at the screen.
With an exhausted sigh, she stood and stretched her arms above her head. "Of course, then you'll also have to explain to the entire ship what you're doing," she added, continuing the conversation with herself. "And that would be far more sharing than I'd prefer to do just this moment."
She walked back over to her desk and polished up a few flaws she thought she saw here and there. Of course, once it was complete, she waited until the Tempest's night cycle, when the fewest members of her crew were awake and kicking around. It would limit the number of questions she had to answer. And the number of lies she might have to craft. Cassie really was the worst liar; it seemed her twin brother Poll was the only one of them to really have any skill in that arena. Pulling up the design on the main station in the heart of the ship, she gave it one more quick once over, wincing at a pointy bit here and a bump there. She took the extra time to smooth it all out.
"Pathfinder, I do believe that this would be considered a waste of Initiative resources," SAM stated.
"Mmhmm," she agreed. They'd already had this discussion once.
"Are you certain about this course of action?"
"What are you going to do SAM, taze me? Stop my heart, again? All for a little whimsy? Hmm?" she asked, the challenge clear in her voice.
She got no answer.
"Look, it's not like I'm a huge waster of resources. But this—" Cassie sighed, resting her hands on the edge of the round table. "I can't explain why, but it's important, SAM. Even if only to me."
A silence dragged on between them, it was kind of strange for the two of them. Cassie hoped it was because SAM might be considering what she said. "Is there some way I can assist?"
A smile tugged at her lips. "No, SAM. I think I got it. Besides … that's at least half the point. Crafting it myself."
It took almost no time for the simple, non-mechanical design to be produced by the machine. Once complete, Cassie put her real skills to the test and set to wiping the activity from the production log. Of course, she also knew that would raise questions about the supply levels when Vetra did her inventories.
"Another problem for another day," the pathfinder told herself as she scampered back to her quarters.
The pyjak, Ella was sitting on the edge of her desk, playing with the strands of red fabric she'd cut from a shirt. "Those are not for you, miss."
The primate just blinked at her. Since being sent to the Tempest, Ella had proven herself quite clever and ingenious; she also proved herself to be a quick learner. Sometimes it made Cassie wonder: if the 600-year journey allowed the krogan's biology to work past the genophage, what kind of evolutionary changes had occurred with Ella and the other creatures brought along by the Initiative?
Cassie relented, stowing her small sculpture in a drawer. "Okay, fine. One," she said, holding up a single finger.
Ella held one strand out to her and Cassie tied it around her wrist in a loose, yet decorative bow.
"Now, may I have the other one back." The pathfinder held her hand out expectantly.
The space monkey looked from her wrist, to the ribbon in her other hand and then hopped off the desk with both and took off down the hall.
The pathfinder didn't chase her, she just sighed and leaned back in her chair, glancing over at the space hamster, who had hidden aboard her ship somehow. "And this is why I cut extras," she mumbled toward the cage as if he might have some thoughtful input.
At least, he didn't seem to want to be festive as well. Taking the sculpture back out, she tied a red ribbon around the stem area. Then looped a longer piece through the eye in that same section.
"There," she said, holding the other end of the longest ribbon, her creation dangled, turning slowly.
"Nexus in sight." Kallo's voice chimed through her quarters.
She knew that single announcement would enliven the entire ship. Her own heart beat faster at the proposition. She tucked her treasure away once more, wrapping it completely in a bit more of the red shirt she'd made the ribbons from.
-2-
The onmi-tool chime echoed through the medical bay. Dr. Harry Carlyle clamped a hand down on his wrist. He knew exactly what that sound meant. In a moment, he tried to pull up the schedule Cassie had given him and match the Tempest's arrival to the alarm that just rang. Be it fatigue or just a hole in his memory, he could not reconcile it. Even still, he completed his task with attentive haste and completed the revival physical of a young engineer.
Just as Harry could be in his duties, Cassie was a creature of habit; she always stopped by the bridge to speak with Captain Dunn and ducked into SAM node before finding her way to the med bay or elsewhere. It was the latter where he hoped to catch her.
When his long-legged stride carried him through into main atrium of the habitation deck. A young, recently awoken crew member called out to him. "Dr. Carlyle. Doctor, over here."
Harry smiled and nodded, crossing toward her and a group who seemed to be her friends.
"I just wanted to thank you again for all your help."
"You're very welcome," he assured her. "You certainly seem to have found your equilibrium."
With a smile, she nodded. "Indeed. You were right …"
A flash of a particular shade of aqua shimmered in his peripheral vision. Harry's eyes darted from the young woman's face toward that familiar splash of color that stood out against the grays and blues of the Hyperion's interior. His eyes met a bright gaze, just a bit darker than her hair. Cassie peeked out from around a corner and flashed him the most inviting smile. She tipped her head and ducked out of sight. Her finger crooked in a come-hither motion he did not want to resist, before it too disappeared.
"I'm so glad to hear it," he said, touching her shoulder lightly. Then he began to extract himself form the conversation. "If you'll pardon me, I need to—" Harry couldn't come up with proper excuse to explain his rapid social retreat, but slipped out of the conversation without another word anyway.
With a curious glance, he rounded the same corner where Cassie vanished. He barely entered the corridor that led to SAM Node when her hands twisted in his tunic and pulled him near. His eyes sank closed when the velvety softness of her pliant lips met his. He wrapped her up in his arms, holding her body against his.
In that instant, he couldn't remember how long it had been since he held her like that. Of course, it didn't matter either. With her in his arms, it felt like no time had passed at all. She kissed him with abandon, like she too had forgotten they were standing in an open corridor where anyone could happen upon them.
As biology and necessity demanded, the kiss broke; far too soon for his tastes. But then, separations of all sorts from her always came too soon for his liking.
"And hello to you as well, Pathfinder," Harry said with a laugh as he looked down into her sparkling eyes.
"Hiya, Doc," she replied, that engaging smile of hers widening a hair.
"I could stand to be greeted like that far more often."
Her cheeks reddened, drawing a chuckle out of him. "Me, too."
"You know there are people right over there," he told her with a nudge of his head. Harry only just realized they'd both been whispering.
"I know. But …" Her gaze darted upward.
Harry's followed. At first sight, he wasn't sure what he was looking at, except that it was meant to resemble a plant of some kind. The oblong leaves contained small white and red berries as well. "What is that?" he asked.
Cassie poked him in the ribs, making him jerk away a bit. "It's supposed to be mistletoe."
That admonishment led his mind on a quick journey. "Is it?" he asked.
"It doesn't look that bad to be unrecognizable," she replied with a hint of a pout. And her inflection rose with a sort of unasked question.
It tugged at the corners of his mouth as he let out a soft chuckle. "No, I didn't mean the mistletoe," he said, stealing another quick kiss, since they were still standing beneath it. "Is it …" A part of him didn't want to say it. One of the biggest selling points of the Andromeda Initiative had been the idea of starting over, starting anew, a fresh beginning in a new place where none of the old prejudices should hold. But of course, no one had explicitly said that the plan included sloughing off old traditions.
"Christmas," she finished for him in a quieter murmur, nodding her head.
Harry cupped her cheek in one hand, guiding her lips to his once more, while pulling her body close to his once again in the process. "Well, then. Let me hope I'm the first to say Happy Christmas."
Her arms snaked around him. The sensation carrying the practical doctor off into the role of the most impractical lover. He didn't care that they stood in a barely secluded corner of a hallway kissing like teenagers between class bells. He clung to her. His lips only leaving hers in order to gasp in a breath here and there, which Cassie offered no argument to, nor did she discourage it in any way.
"This numbers among the most precious gifts I can ever recall," he finally whispered against her lips, his gaze holding hers.
He felt her smile against his mouth. "Mine, too," she agreed. Cassie pressed another tender kiss upon his lips.