The First of Many

Posted on Sun Jul 19th, 2026 @ 12:50am by Ensign Henry Taylor & Tessa di'Orion
Edited on on Sun Jul 19th, 2026 @ 12:50am

2,358 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Valentine's Day
Location: Viewport Lounge, Deck 11

Henry was sitting on a comfortable loveseat, legs crossed, staring out the viewport to the stars. He had a drink in hand, and in front of him on a small table was a cubical, dark, cherry wood box. He heard the doors to the lounge open and glanced to the side, but didn't turn around just yet. "Hi," he said, quietly.

"It took me a few minutes to find you, I'm sorry." The almost musical tones of Tessa's voice was followed by a brief rustle of fabric as she moved through the door, "I made a stop by my quarters to change and to freshen up my looks, I wanted to look perfect for you, Henry."

"No, I'm sorry," he said quietly. "If I'd known you were back, I'd have let you know where I was sooner," he said. "And you already look perfect. Anything else is just trying to brighten a rainbow." He stood up and turned around, blinking and taking in the sight in front of him, now thoroughly glad he'd thought to change into his best suit.

She stood there in what could only be called an ethereal silver dress, bodice top and skirt in an opaque pale silver with sleeves and a full-length dress made of a sheer silver of the same hue. Strappy heels showed toes that had been painted a rose-gold color that went with the lipstick that had been more or less expertly applied (she'd been practicing). A delicate silver tiara with a bright blue stone in the center and droplets of sapphire hanging from her ears framed her face. Her hair was pinned so that it would stay together and had been brought forward to dangle over her left shoulder as she clasped her hands in front of her.

"Angel, I don't know what comes after 'perfection', but you're square in the middle of it," he said, softly, coming around the loveseat and standing in front of her.

She took the few steps between them and reached up to put her arms around his neck, "Sometimes I wish I were taller; it would make this a lot easier. I've been saving this for a special occasion and since this is our first Valentine's Day, I thought it was special enough."

He smiled at her, then immediately felt ashamed for how he'd been acting. "I'll admit, I was a bit upset that someone else got to spend Valentine's Day with you before I did. It wasn't my finest moment, and I'm embarrassed that I resented it." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Having you here, now, however, makes me realize just how ridiculous I was being." He held her close, dancing slowly with her in the silent lounge. "Think you can forgive me for being foolish?" he said with a slight grin.

“You make it sound like there’s something that needs forgiving!” Tessa leaned up as far as she could on her toes, actually leaving the floor to brush her lips against his in a very gentle kiss before settling her feet on the ground to keep dancing. She didn’t want to ruin the lipstick yet, “I was never going to not spend time with you tonight. I love you far too much. I certainly wasn’t going to let myself turn into a.. umm…” Her lips pursed as she tried to remember the reference. “A pumpernickel?”

Henry looked at her, completely confused, then realized the allusion and laughed. "Pumpkin, Angel. And, fortunately, it was only Cinderella's coach that turned into one, rather than her." They'd read Grimm's Tales not too long ago, and it had cleared up a lot of references for her, although he still had to explain several.

He pulled her towards the loveseat and sat her down, leaning down and kissing her cheek. He sat down next to her, the glow of the warp field and the streak of passing stars illuminating them, the small table with the box in front of them.

She didn't sit back, her eyes were on the box, the woodwork ornate even in it's simplicity. "What's this?" She looked at him, curiosity and maybe even some greed in her voice, "It's pretty."

"It's a gift. One of those many Human traditions we have," he said, smiling at her.

Tessa opened the box, the velvet interior cradling a heart-shaped bottle with an hourglass engraved into the front, the stopper in the shape of a phoenix, wings in the midst of opening. Inside the bottle was something... As she leaned the bottle, the contents shifted gradually, so not a liquid, more like... Sand.



Henry used her moment of distraction to get comfortable and pull out his guitar. He held it carefully and began to play a gentle, haunting melody. He watched the stars go by, and began to sing.

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
'Til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

He continued to play until the notes trailed off and carefully put his guitar back down before turning to look at her.

Tessa clutched the bottle to her chest as she listened to the song, tears making their way down her cheeks as he sang just for her. There were no words for what was filling her heart as she just watched him. He had done this for her and she'd abandoned him for a good part of the day. She didn't deserve him, she knew that now. As he wished her the blessing, she launched herself at him, not to knock him down, but to throw her arms around him and to be enfolded in his arms, "Oh Henry! That was beautiful, this is beautiful, you are amazing!"

Henry smiled at her, and practiced once in his head, before saying, "Hattime Valentine's amaurea, Tessa. Ni sinte sina na-onlime i minya er, mal -yes's er ni indóme eternallime ashteral."

"Tye eques tialan? Sesstame ovels as -yes? Lala, tye reallime eques -yes! Yare tye studime?" Her eyes opened even wider as he spoke her native tongue for the first time in her hearing. It wasn't perfect, by far, but it was better than she could could have imagined.

"Well, when you were practicing dance lessons to surprise me, I was practicing to surprise you. I told you I'd planned on learning your language to read your storybook, and when you decided to stay, I decided to learn it fully."

She squeezed him even tighter and pressed her head against his chest, "A little bit of home in the dark." She said softly, "I couldn't ask for more from you."

Henry's arms wrapped around her and held her tight. His earlier reservations and resentments evaporating like a glass of water on a sun. In the end, he'd gotten what he wanted, a First Valentine's Day they'd always cherish. But, despite that victory, he knew he hadn't handled it well, and he promised it was the last time he'd let himself act that way. Their first Anniversary would be special, no matter what they did. So would her next birthday, Christmas, and whatever other holidays they spent together.

He sat back as she turned around and leaned back against him, putting his arms around her as she held the bottle.

She brought the bottle out again, wiggling herself to get more comfortable in his arms, leaning herself up and back to give him a kiss on his cheek, leaving a lipstick mark on it, before looking closer at the bottle in her hands, "This is so pretty, I love it!" She reached up with the back of one hand to wipe the inadvertent tear tracks from one side of her face, "What is it?"

"Well," he said with a slight shrug, "Metaphorically it's the mythical sands of Time," he said, then grinned. "But I couldn't get those on short notice, so I just used granulated gold."

Unlike most places, gold was still a valuable precious metal on Tial, so her eyes still opened wide at the value of what was in there, "I'm finding a place in our quarters for this where we'll see it every day." She pressed her cheek against his, "But.. I didn't get you anything..."

He moved his hands over hers, and held her tighter, holding the bottle against her chest. "You got me exactly what I wanted: you here, in my arms, letting me show you how much I love you." He kissed her ear. "Best Valentine's Day ever, as far as I'm concerned."

"I'll make next year's better, I promise." Tessa said with absolute conviction, "Because next year it'll be just you and me, no one else. I'm going to learn all of your world's customs if I can, what makes each special day special." She managed to get one hand free and reached up to turn his face towards her and planted a kiss on his lips into which she transferred her passion, though it was a rather simple kiss. "I love you so much, Henry, you can't possibly imagine."

Henry smiled at her and leaned down, his forehead touching hers. "I can imagine," he said. "However, I regret to inform you: you're wrong. It won't be just us."

“Well, yes, but the rest of the people on the ship don’t count, silly!” She smiled into his eyes with a giggle, “And I’m not going to count my babies before they’re hatched!” She looked so proud of how she used the saying of the birds eggs in a bit of humor, but what were they anyways, penguins?

Henry paused, completely thrown. He wasn't sure if Tessa had understood him in that they'd have a child by then, or if she were once again mixing up an idiom. He laughed and hugged her, kissing her forehead. "Oh, I almost forgot," he said. "Since you said the human customs are best with food..." He reached down underneath the seat and pulled the box he'd stashed there, showing her the chocolate-covered strawberries Michelle had given him. "We really need to pay Michelle back for everything she's done," he said.

Her eyes lit up when he opened up this second box and plucked one out, delicately biting into it and moaning in pleasure at the sweet and tart all in one. She offered it to Henry for him to take a bite of it as she chewed and swallowed, "But what can we do for her? She's really nice, but she's never asked for anything... If we were back at home, I could give her anything, but here?"

"We could still give her anything," Henry said. "The key is to get her something meaningful. Something that means a lot to us, or would mean a lot to her." He held her and took a breath, at a loss. "We'll have to give it some thought tomorrow." He watched the stars go by and sighed contentedly.

Tessa finally and reluctantly slid off of his lap, never releasing Henry’s from when he had reclaimed it, tugging it to get him to stand with her. She turned to face him and smiled lovingly at him, “I think we have just enough time before midnight for this. Computer: play it.” The speakers began to play a soft piano intro, followed by drums and guitars which faded out as a voice began to sing.

Some say it's just the nature of the beast
When you love somebody so passionately
Time has a way stealing
That raging fire you're feeling
Leaving the ashes laying at your feet

Those fools of little faith will never know
Those higher places two hearts can go
Where time is standing still
And love will burn until
The heaven and the earth have come and gone

This fire inside for you is constant as the morning star
And you will be forever in my heart
As long as there's a river searching for an endless sea
I will always love you... faithfully

Tonight we'll raise a glass to lovers, across the ages
We'll hold each other and toast to the day
When history (is) said and done and we'll still stand as one
Some things were never meant to fade away

This fire inside for you is constant as the morning star
And you will be forever in my heart
As long as there's a river searching for an endless sea
I will always love you ...faithfully

This fire inside for you is constant as the morning star
And you will be forever in my heart
As long as there's a river searching for an endless sea
I will always love you... faithfully

Throughout the song, Tessa danced with Henry, first from a few inches away, then up against him with her head on his shoulder. Ever since she had come back from Tial, they had always been on the same page and while she hadn’t sung to him, she’d wanted him to know just how much she loved him. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Henry,” she whispered.

And as the chronometer changed over to midnight, Henry smiled.

 

RSS Feed