Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dagen Thor (CE) in Side Sim - His Quarters - Ancestor’s Day

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Reia Shandy (C Intelligence -Comm Officer) in Side Sim - His Quarters - Ancestor’s Day

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dagen Thor (CE) in Side Sim - His Quarters - Ancestor’s Day
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Dagen had left shift early having put engineering in the capable hands of Angel. Once back in his and Reia’s quarters he set out to arrange things. He ‘thought’ he may have told Reia about this at some point but he may have been mistaken. It was probably a ‘next year’ is Ancestor’s Day that Trill celebrates. It used to be something that clans held individually but it soon became apparent that that simply disrupted things far too much and the governing elders created that day - that day to commemorate those who had gone before them.

It was not a formal tradition that everyone kept to such as some on Earth that held the same tradition in each family group to commemorate a single event. It was more like the Earth tradition of Halloween or Christmas in which each family unit celebrated in their own way. Ancestor’s Day was very informal but solemn in its own fashion. The clan leader per se would designate the family Ancestor to celebrate - though this would be from each side of the family. In his case Dagen’s father had chosen Dagen’s grandfather Burle. For Reia, who was not Trill, she could choose anyone; it was not so tight as to have to be specific unless it was once a decade where the elders would include a noted Trill personality. This was not the case.

Dagen fussed some by setting up the coffee table with candles, a bottle of not just wine but of a certain Trill brandy that his grandfather favored. On a small raised centerpiece he set Burle’s ring. It was a clunky affair of a somewhat tarnished silver like metal and topped with a flat cut green stone with red veins. On earth they would call that a bloodstone.
- Dagen

Reia was fairly oblivious to the events taking place in her quarters when she walked in late as she remembered. Seeing everything set as it was she had some dim memory of Dagen reminding her of the event.

“Oh, right, I think I have some things in the other room I should probably set out with yours. Is that the way it’s done? What is this we’re celebrating again?”

• Reia

A small frown crossed Dagen’s face and he bit his tongue; this sort of holiday was a rare event outside of Trill and usually quite private. Mixed families were rarer in Dagen’s case. He remembered his father’s words in their conversation about this and he nodded to himself. “Something like that,” he said to her first question. “A celebration of the past isn’t that regimented,” he said. “Families customize what they do. In this case they are recent ancestors and can be very personalized.” He hoped that he had kind of answered her question. “It is a remembrance of the past and an appreciation of the present and future.”

He stood up and moved to give Reia a tight welcoming hug.
- Dagen

“I’m sorry for being such an absent-minded dolt sweetheart. Just give me a minute. I love you.”

Reia walked quickly into the other room and slipped out of her shoes. She reached into the bottom drawer of her nightstand and pulled out a small package she had wrapped and set aside just for this day. Appearing in the other room she sat on the couch, unfolded the package, and laid out several things next to where Dagen had placed his. She also set out a small framed picture of herself at around 5 years of age and a 15 year old girl who, even without white hair and dark skin, looked similar to Reia.

While Reia was in the other room Dagen was replicating various foods. It was mostly Trill. Snack foods including local almond and walnut like nuts, some cheeses that tended to the sharper side on thin, darker, triangular cracker like creations that were crunchy and salty. Meat dishes tended to to be finger food with one being more Terran in nature - a stack of ginger beef. To the side he placed a bottle of wine and another, smaller, unmarked bottle of a greenish liquid. He was fussing with the arrangement when Reia came back in, speaking.

“This is my aunt Sandy. Most of my relatives come in this weird family mess because they have come down to me through my grandparents. If you remember, I wasn’t raised with or by my mother after the age of three. Sandy was the closest to me in age coming from my grandfather’s relative, I don’t remember which one. We were kind of inseparable until she passed a few years ago.”

Dagen saw what she was carrying and quickly made room for it on the table.

From the small package Reia laid out a blue hair comb with Crystal in it.

“When Aunt Sandy thought she was going to get married she got all of her traditional wedding trappings together, old, new, borrowed, blue and this is the hair comb that she was going to wear that day. The wedding didn’t happen but that’s actually not important to the story. We found it when we were shopping together and, when the wedding didn’t happen, she gave it to me. I will always remember that day, it was one of the most golden days in my life.”

• Reia

“Did she eventually get married?” Dagen asked. He was dressed informally in loosefitting traditional Trill clothing - trousers thin with some volume to them, his shirt a wrap around not unlike the old formal Starfleet wear of a century past, but in softer more comfortable fabric, both being in patterned greys. If Reia would not have seen it before she’d have thought they were pajamas. He greeted Reia again by pulling her close for a long, soft kiss. His fingers worked at her ‘work’ shirt to slip it off her. “Informal night, my love. I hope you’re hungry.” One thing Dagen tended to do was over prepare things like foods, even with Reia’s voracious carnivorous tendencies.
- Dagen

Reoa allowed Dagen to help her out of her work shirt. Luckily she was wearing something Lacey and blue beneath.

Dagen paused to survey his wife. Rather ‘non regulation’ wear, that, he thought even as he carelessly tossed her work tunic to the corner of the couch. Idly he thought that if they did engage in a little ‘marital entertainment’ that night he would have to ensure that her com badge was not under them. He could just imagine that being broadcast out. Smiling he said, “That, my love is quite not regulation wear.” His tone was teasing and he wondered why he didn’t notice her putting it on that morning.

“Yes, I am absolutely famished as usual. You know me so well sweetie. No, Sandy never got the chance to get married. It just didn’t work out and I never really asked why. I really wanted to know but it wasn’t quite my place.”

“I thought you girls asked those kinds of questions,” he asked. In his experience, barring Angel, the engineering girls were gossip central over any and anything happening especially relationship based. Chuckling he disengaged from her and picked up a small plate for her and him. He knew that that would not handle a ‘famished’ wife but with enough helpings it may. “Where is she now?” He asked, taking up a chip.

Sitting down she arranged the items on the table and after a bit decided she couldn’t help herself or wait much longer. The snacks were just too tempting.

• Reia

Ray I took a moment and thought. It had been a tumultuous time in aunt Sandy’s life and she didn’t know all the details, struggling to recall them was a little painful but she loved Sandy dearly and tried.

“She was getting ready to marry and ambassador, I think his name was Colin. Their engagement broke off rather suddenly and I don’t remember why like I said. After that she drifted for a while and ended up somewhere out there. She came home for a while but passed away rather mysteriously. Mysterious deaths are kind of a family thing. Weird I know.”

Dagen paused to look closely at Reia. “Hmmm,” he said after that pause. He found the element of mysterious to not, in the end, to be nice. He had had enough of mysterious back on OP42 when he was immersed in the underworld searching for his sister. “I wonder what her path was that led her to that. A lot of ‘drift’ in there.

Taking some time to eat, Dagen casually admired his wife, while settling his mind on the nature of the day and of his grandfather whom he had admired and revered. His ring fit him and Reia knew he wore it now and again. It was heavy and quite obvious; to him it was magical in a way. “Any problems today on shift?” He asked, reaching for some of the beef but stealing a kiss to her neck as he did so. Her knew that her pheromones were about and after this long he could recognize them and, like a shot or two of a drink, he could know it was there. Or he could ignore it and run with it. Tonight was a little of both. “I love you my wife,” he said softly, looking at the ring. Life was fragile and too short. “I’m so happy that you are a part of my life. Really.”
Dagen

Reia laughed and smiled a bit as Dagen kissed her neck and took some beef.

“My shift was pretty inconsequential. I am unfortunately studying ancient Bolian for my comms. Do you think I could get bats assistance with some of that? This crap is going to drive me crazy if I don’t get some outside intervention.”

• Reia

“Must be nice,” Dagen said with a chuckle. “I had a subsystem cascade loop in the environmental. If that had been in the primary it would have had it snowing on the bridge. Software updates. Always a horror show.” He helped himself to the beef and chips and cheese and an assortment to heap onto a plate. “Ancient Bolian? As though today isn’t hard enough with multiple alien cultures to navigate?” He shook his head as he chomped a chip. “Bat would be happy to help. More than. You know how he gets when he gets on a roll though. That may drive you more crazy. I have no idea how Angel puts up with it. You know that she is actually softening up to him? Can you imagine it? Bolian and Vulcan? I see liberal use of the nerve pinch happening.” He reached out and squeezed her leg. “Hey, if you are in need of crazy intervention I’m here too.” He took a bit of the beef and thought that even with it replicated it wasn’t bad. He just didn’t like how it ‘followed the nutritional guidelines’ of the user .. seemed cheating and not right to him.
- Dagen

Reia laughed at the thought of the Vulcan neck pinch being used on Bat. Perhaps she should study up on it before asking for his assistance in this matter.

“All of this talk reminds me, there is a local as in country, holiday, celebrated in Australia in the calendar month of January and my grandparents kind of like to do it up right. Bonfire on the beach with real beef and all the like. I guess we’re trying to do a family thing this year and if we’re in the area what say you and I put in an appearance? It’ll be the first time you’ve actually met them in person and if there’s any extended family I think they would love to meet you also love. What do you think?”

• Reia

Dagen paused only momentarily in his touch of Reia’s leg, then caressed if a caress might be considered thoughtful .. January .. where where they might be on mission then? Could they be totally tens of light years away from that? Her leg was warm to his touch. She was a very warm woman, he noted, but then it could just be his cool hands, or her Orion nature, or both. His mind snapped back to where he was. It was very easy to be so distracted by Reia .. her pheromones were a constant presence (most of the time fine) .. but so too was it easy to be distracted. This was a start of those times which his mind recognized. “I think that would be great,” he said. Truly, family and extended family was a big thing for Trill, and to not have had such a meeting before now was unheard of. “You can parade me about and I can be the idyllic creature to them,” he said with a wink. “Well then there is the spots, but you can say they are yours.” He was curious totally though. “How many will be coming?”
— dagen

Reia pretty much knew where dagon’s mind was and it wasn’t exactly on ancestors day. She smiled and snuggled in a bit closer to him.

“Well, they are mine aren’t they? I mean the spots of course. I don’t know how many will be coming it varies from year to year. Some of my family is getting on a bit in yours so maybe dwindling a bit but I really hope not. I’m really looking forward to you meeting a lot of them. I will arrange with Magnus for the leave so don’t worry about all of that bit love.”

• Reia