"Oh, for the love of…" Sara Lance stared at the cheerful red paper heart affixed to the freezer door, then ripped it down with a frown. She yanked open the door and rooted around until she came to the container with the ominous label: Property of the Captain. Touch this and die a slow, painful death. (And you KNOW I can do it!) Satisfied by the weight of the container that no one had been trespassing, Sara selected a spoon and took a seat at the table, scowling when she realized that the only napkins available were printed with little hearts and cupids.
"Gideon! Tell Ray that if I find any more of this Valentine crap in common areas, he's on KP for the rest of ever!"
"Yes, Captain."
Sara pried the lid off the container and smiled at the sight of her personal supply of mint chip ice cream. She'd only gotten a few spoonfuls deep when Amaya appeared in the galley.
"Is there any place on this ship that Ray hasn't decorated?" she complained.
"I told Gideon to tell him to knock it off."
"I'm sorry, Sara. That was uncalled for."
"Uh, no it wasn't. You live here, too."
Amaya rummaged in the refrigerator, coming up with a bowl of strawberries. "I don't think I'll ever get used to having summer fruit out of season," she confessed.
"Perks of living on a futuristic time ship," Sara replied, shoveling in another spoonful of ice cream.
"May I join you?"
"Sure."
Amaya slid into another chair with her berries. "I'm sorry. I know this is a happy holiday for a lot of people -"
"And a really crappy one for a lot of other people. Because there's nothing like getting beat over the head with the fact that you're alone."
Amaya sighed and selected a berry to eat. "Last year, Rex gave me a Valentine. It was so pretty, with cut paper lace around the edges. It was the first time he ever did anything to…well…"
"Demonstrate his feelings?" Sara asked, with a small smile..
Amaya nodded, blushing slightly.
"When my sister and I were in high school, we both got dumped by our boyfriends, right before the big Valentine's Day dance. We made a pact that we'd always exchange Valentine's, so we'd always get one from someone who really loved us. Well, that didn't work out so well…" Sara sucked in a deep breath and tried to plaster on a smile. "Can I have one of those?" she asked, reaching for a berry.
"Of course. Can I -?"
"Sure. Grab a spoon."
"This is really good," Amaya said, with a delighted smile.
"Best medicine in the world," Sara agreed.
"But what about you? Don't you have someone waiting for you, somewhere? I mean, things are so much more…"
"Liberated?"
"Well, yes."
Sara looked wistful. "The last person I had those kind of feelings for…he died, saving all of us."
"Sara, I'm so sorry."
Sara smiled a little. "And he'd have had a good laugh at Ray covering this whole place in stupid decorations. He wasn't exactly the hearts and flowers type."
"Doesn't mean he didn't care, Blondie," Mick Rory rumbled from the doorway.
"Eavesdropping much?" Sara drawled.
"Hey, two broads alone on Valentine's Day with a gallon of ice cream. It's not too hard to figure out what yer talking about." He opened the fridge, garnering cringes from both women, once they noticed that his favorite Christmas gift was perched on his shoulder. He turned, with a beer in one hand and a bit of cheese in the other.
"For what it's worth, Sara, I bet he woulda stolen something real nice for you."
"Thanks…I think."
