CHISTMAS ON THE VALKYRIE
By Stith
This takes place after the Titan journey in some alternate universe where Preed
Hasn't died. Stith has her first Christmas, but Preed has something planned for her.
Please r+r.
'Twas the night before Christmas as the Valkyrie flew throughout space . Stith was sleeping on the gunnery station. Her shift of night watch just began, and already she was ready for bed. Visions of choking Preed danced through her head. "Mmmm…...gonna getcha" She said in her sleep. Preed snuck up on the bridge with a gift wrapped with care in his hands. "Oh Sti..oh." He said when he saw the slumbering Mantrin. He gently wallked over to her and hid the present behind his back. He tapped her shoulder with his free hand while his other concealed the gift. "Oh Stithy. Wakey-wakey." He gently said. Stith immediately drew her gun and aimed in his face as she turned around "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Preed yelled as he stared down the barrel of Stiths' gun. She aimed her gun up and retired it back to the holster "Sorry Preed, you know I don't like people sneaking up on me when I'm asleep." She said. Preed wiped off the beads of sweat that rolled down his face "I'll remember that next time." He said trying to act cool "What do you want?" Stith asked "Well, first off I just wanted to wake you up before the captain catches you sleeping on your watch, you know he doesn't like that." Preed told her, shaking his finger at her "I know, I know. But Cale isn't bad of a captain as Korso was." She said while rubbing the tired look out of her face. Preed revealed the present from his back "Secondly, I wanted to give you this. I hear it's Christmas time around New Earth. You know Christmas right?" Stith looked at Preed "Uh, yeah. Akima told me all about it." She said. This was her very first Christmas she had ever celebrated. Stith was never around as many humans, so the tradition never really rubbed off on her. Stith was also a little shocked that Preed would actually give her something. "Well, don't keep me waiting. Open it." He said calmly. Stith took the present from his hands and looked at it for a second "Okay, what did you rig to go off in this box?" She asked. Preed placed a hand on his chest in an attempt to act shocked "Why Stith, you actually think I would do something to you in this festive time of year? If you are so afraid, then let me open it for you." He said. Preed reached for the box, put Stith pulled it away from him "I'm not afraid!" She shouted, "Okay, if you are not afraid, than open it." He said. Stith sniffed the paper but couldn't detect anything. She slowly ripped it open to reveal a white box; she opened it to reveal a plant. "Uh, Preed. What the heck is this?" she asked. Preed took the plant and lifted it over their heads "It's mistletoe! Never heard of it?" he said "Yeah I've heard of it, what's so special about it?" she asked, pointing to the plant "Well, when two people are under the mistletoe, they have to kiss." He said with a mischievous grin "What!? No, that's a total lie!" Stith exclaimed while getting up. "Hey, it's tradition." He said "I am not gonna kiss you because of some stupid missile…" "Mistletoe." "Whatever! The answer is no." she said crossing her arms. Cale came on the bridge "Hey, what's all the ruckus about?" he asked. "Cale, am I supposed to kiss him under the missile whatever?" Stith asked "Mistletoe? Yeah, it's an ancient tradition. There's an old saying that if this tradition is broken, you get seven years of bad luck." He said while walking off. "Seven years!?" Stith exclaimed. Preed smiled "Yep, unless you kiss me."
Cale walked into the hallway next to the bridge where Akima laid in wait with a camera. "Did she fall for it yet?" she whispered. Cale shrugged "I don't know." He whispered back. "Seven years of bad luck? That was lame." She said, her voice kept low so no one could hear. "Hey, Stith doesn't know about it. And whatever she doesn't know can't hurt her." He said. Cale crouched near Akima "Why does Preed want to do this anyway?" Akima asked him "I don't know. He wants us to do this for some weird reason, and he practically annoyed me all day to help him take a picture of him and Stith kissing." Cale replied "You think Preed has a thing for Stith?" Akima asked inquisitively. Cale shrugged "I think he…wait, look." He said, pointing to the two.
Stith weighed in the two possibilities as Preed continued looking at her "Kiss Preed, risk seven years of bad luck, kiss Preed, risk seven years of bad luck. This is harder than it sounds." Stith thought to herself. Stith was always superstitious, and seven years of bad luck didn't sound too appealing "Ugh, fine. This is gonna be one of the most painful experiences of my life." She said. Stith closed her eyes and puckered up "Don't worry Stith my dear, I'll make it worth your while." He said before pulling Stith's head towards his and making mouth-to-mouth contact. Preed extended his tongue and slowly massaged Stith's tongue with his. Stith's eyes widened as Preed did this, but closed her eyes knowing that it would be over in a second. Preed pointed to Akima and Cale. "There it is! That's the signal!" Cale said to Akima silently, she nodded. Akima stuck her head and the camera out, aimed the shot and snapped the picture. Stith opened her eyes as the flash went off and saw Akima shooting her picture. Preed quickly pulled out of the kiss "Thanks Stith, bye!" he said quickly before running off, Cale and Akima followed close behind. "Preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!" Stith yelled in rage. "Whoa, she's really pissed at you!" Cale said as they ran "Yeah, give me the memory stick!" He asked. Akima took out the memory stick from the camera and handed it to Preed. "Thanks, I'll see ya tomorrow, Merry Christmas!" Preed said as he entered his room and quickly locked his door. He started his computer "Come on, come on, load damn you!" he said as the computer turned on.
Stith ran after the three with fire in her eyes. She knew that Preed wasn't to be trusted, seven years of bad luck sounded a lot better to her now. She noticed Preed's door was closed. Stith banged on the door "Preed! Open the door or I will kill you!" she demanded "You'll kill me anyway if I do!" he said as he loaded the pics into his computer as hurriedly as possible. Stith stopped for a second, he was right; she would kill him either way. "Oh well, I don't care anymore." She said as she drew he pistol. "You have three seconds to open the door before I blast it down!" she screamed. Preed finished saving the pictures to his computer "Yes!" he said. "Three!" Stith shouted then fired at the door, blowing the handle off. She kicked it in "Hand me the pictures now Preed!" Stith demanded. Preed cowered in fear "Okay, okay, just don't hurt me!" he pleaded. Preed grabbed the memory stick from out the computer and handed it to Stith. She immediately threw it to the ground and stomped on it till it was in the littlest of pieces. "Why did you do this Preed? I thought it was just a meaningless tradition!" Stith yelled "It was my Christmas present, I was gonna frame it and cherish it." Preed said. Then Stith felt kind of sad "Why didn't you ask for my permission? I would have if you just could've asked." She said. Preed shrugged "I was gonna give one to you tomorrow." He said. "You even dragged my friends into this. It's no wonder why no one likes you Preed." She said. Stith walked to the door and turned to face Preed "Merry Christmas." She said coldly and left. Preed smiled as she left "Merry Christmas." He said in a mocking voice "I'll show you." He said and got back on his computer. He opened the picture up, wrote a message under it and clicked Print. 100 copies. Preed slightly laughed as he was about to put his plan into action "Merry Christmas indeed."
Akima woke up bright and early according to New Earth time. She turned over to Cale and shook him awake "Cale, come on! It's Christmas!" she said excitedly. Cale woke up slowly "Don't you ever grow up?" Cale asked "What do you mean by that?" Akima replied "You act like a hyper active kid who stayed up all night just to see Santa Claus." He said with a slight laugh. "Oh come on, get into the Christmas spirit!" Akima said as she hurriedly put her slippers on "Okay, okay." Cale said, getting up "I'm gonna need a lot of caffeine." He said to himself. They walked outside and were stunned to see flyers lining the wall everywhere. It was that picture they took of Preed and Stith. "Oh my…"Akima said. She ripped one off the wall and read it:
STITH + PREED
Together forever
"Oh God, Stith is gonna freak once she sees this." Cale said. Akima shook her head "I didn't think Preed was going to do this with the picture, or I would have never had helped. I feel awful." Akima said "We can't let anyone else see this. Come on, we gotta take them down." Cale said as he began ripping down the flyers. Akima nodded and they both went to work. An hour later, they did a final check of any flyers that they missed. Akima and Cale went to the mess hall with a bag filled with the flyers they'd taken down. The couple sat down around their make shift Christmas tree that they set up in the mess hall, which was a small 4- foot tree with a few lights and ornaments and a bright star at the top which completed the ensemble. Akima sighed as she seated herself "That Preed is really messed up, Has he no respect for any one of us on this ship? This is Stith's first Christmas for Pete's sake! I'm gonna go settle his hash right now!" Akima said as she got back up "No, wait! Akima, I got an idea." Cale said with a big grin across his face.
Stith woke up about an hour later. She got her casual clothing on and went outside. Akima, who looked like she was ready for her "Hey Stith, guess what day it is?" she asked. Stith rubbed her face and looked at Akima "Christmas?" she said. Akima nodded happily "Yep. How did you know?" she asked, tilting her head to the right. "You have only been telling me about it for the past month and a half." Stith replied tiredly. Akima smiled "I'm just a big kid inside. Come on, lets go to the mess hall, everyone's waiting." She said. Akima grabbed Stiths' hand and tried to drag her to the room, but Stith's large legs stayed in place "Uh, I'll think I'll join you guys later." She said while trying to pull her arm away from her "Come on! Don't worry about Preed. he won't bother you. He's not even gonna be with us, he went to go do something and didn't tell us." Akima informed her. Stith let out a breath of relief "Well, I don't know. Okay, I guess." She said. "Great! Let's go!" Akima exclaimed as she dragged Stith and actually pulled her "Whoa! Akima!"
The two walked into the mess hall. Gune and Cale was already there "Can we open?" Gune hurriedly asked as they appeared "You'd be surprised how much I had to restrain him from opening them early." Cale said. Akima and Stith laughed "Yeah, he's like a little kid. Go ahead Gune." Akima said. Gune dived to his present and opened it, it was a box filled with junk "Oooooh! This is cause for happiness! I can finally finish my invention!" he said, and then laughed in that eerily high-pitched laugh he has. Gune rushed out of the room with the box "Dear Lord, what have you people done?" Stith joked. "He's the most easiest person to buy for, he'll take anything." Cale said and laughed. "Alright Cale, your turn." Akima said as she went over to the brightly lit tree and grabbed his gift. She handed it to Cale, and as curious as Cale was, he shook it. "Can't wait to see what it is." He said. Cale opened the box and revealed a picture of Akima in a nice wood-like frame with an inscription on the bottom. It said: To Cale, from Akima. TLA. "Oh, cool!" he said. Akima smiled "Now you can see my face whenever you want." Cale laughed "This is a great present Akima, just perfect." He said still looking at the picture. He didn't really want anything, but Akima managed to pull one off. Cale carefully set the picture down and got up "Your turn Akima." He said. Cale looked at Stith, who was admiring the scene in front of her. Cale reached under the tree and grabbed a box relatively medium in size and handed it to Akima. Without saying a word, she ripped the colorful Christmas paper and opened the box. She looked inside and her jaw dropped "Frozen burritos?" she said. Cale laughed right off his chair "Very funny, wise guy." Akima said, then realized that the burritos were under something. She pulled them out to reveal her true present, a small black box. Akima looked at the box and grabbed it. She opened it to reveal a ring with a medium sized diamond in the middle, which glimmered as bright as the tree. "Akima, will you marry me?" Cale asked as he got on one knee. Akima put her hand over her mouth and cried "Oh Cale, yes!" she said and tightly hugged him. Stith smiled "Congratulations Akima." She said as the two embraced. Akima wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed Cale "You made me so happy, I couldn't of asked for anything better." She said, then realized that they were leaving Stith out of the picture. "Oh, we're sorry Stith, we didn't mean to forget about you." She apologized "No, it's perfectly all right." She replied. Akima released her hug and went over to the final present that was for Stith. She picked up the small present and handed it to her "It's yours. Go ahead and open it." She said. Stith nodded and grabbed the gift. She ripped the paper off and took the cover off the small box "A blindfold?" Stith said as she picked it up "Yep, cause your present is much too big to fit under the tree. Put it on and we'll show you." Cale said as he held Akima in her arms. "Uh, okay." Stith said as she fit the blindfold over her eyes.
Stith was led down towards the bridge. They set her in the room "Okay Stith, you can take off the blindfold." Akima said. Stith pulled it over her head and looked down. Preed was bound and had a rubber ball in his mouth "We are so sorry about what we did to you Stith. Preed was going to put flyers of that picture of you and him kissing all around the ship. So we figured that our gift to you is Preed, your official slave for a month." Akima said. "Huh?" Preed said, then looked at Stith whos face was painted with the most evil grin he'd ever seen. He screamed, but the ball muffled the sound. Stith turned around to Akima and Cale "Thank you guys so much. I forgive you two. Preed, you are a different story." She said. Stith hugged the two and unhooked Preeds leash "You've got a lot of work to do." She said to him. Preed mumbled for help "Stop fidgeting, worm!" Stith said as she gave Preed a slight kick in the behind. They both left "Well, he got what he deserved I guess." Cale said. "Yep, and I know someone who's gonna get what he deserves right now." Akima said coyly. Akima gave Cale a passionate kiss "Merry Christmas, Cale." She said "Merry Christmas to you, Miss Cale." He replied.
BUT WAIT, OUT STORY ISN'T OVER YET!
Stith relaxed on the bed as Preed massaged her shoulders. "Preed, Why haven't you tried to run away from me?" She asked "mmphmhmpph." Preed replied. Stith took the ball out "Cale made me sign a contract that if I don't do what I'm told by you, I gotta do this for another month." He replied. Stith moaned in relaxation "That's reassuring." She said. Stith turned around "Did you get a present yet?" she asked. Preed shook his head "Nope, not from anyone." He said slightly disappointed. Stith smiled "Well, I've got one for you." She said. "Oh? And what's that?" he said, smiling finally. Stith ran her finger up Preed's chin "Me." She said coyly, then kissed him. Preed looked up, no mistletoe. As they broke the kiss, Preed raised his head "But, I thought you didn't like me anymore." He said "Preed, 'Tis the season as those humans say." Stith said. They once again went into a kiss. The picture of her and Preed kissing laid on her desk.