Star Trek: Starbase 777

Austin slowly placed down the loft gift basket. He had spent quite a bit of time working on the presentation. He thought it looked great and hoped Dagis would like it just as much. The gift was a representation of his homeland in many respects. One may be able to figure out who he was by such a pretense of everything being from the Seattle region but he figured it would make for a nice gift. The basket included a few different varieties of chocolate, mostly coffee flavored. Ofcourse he included some of the local coffee brands. Finally he included a replicator program for a multi course meal that he had prepared. It started with a appetizer of shellfish, followed by Dungeness crab (served with a classic butter sauce) and finally it finished with a cupcake for desert. He was hopeful that dagis enjoyed shellfish but she didn't have to use the program if she didn't want to. Finally, a couple of Austin's favorite books were placed ontop. Those books were: "The Oddyssey", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Les Miserables"

01:16

Finally after it was all placed infront of the door Austin he sprinted away. He was a fast runner so hopefully he could make it back to his quarters before anyone would spot him.

To: Jericho Giles From: Allan Allen Giles, No worries dude!! Life gets busy as hell, I tooootally get it. And of course, you're fr a Lieutenant Lieutenant now! No more of that Junior Grade bullshit. AND 27! That's fucking dope as hell, dude. And absolutely deserving of a whole cake. Which I'll totally get going for you, when would be a good time to give it to you? And the other gifts I still have here

On that note though, if there's anything else you need other than cake and birthday gifts let me know

Lovely to hear from you as well as always, Allan

To: Jericho Giles From: Allan Allen Also, for no reason at all, what's your favorite color(s)?

To: Jericho Giles From: Allan Allen Stay intrigued, then

✨️ at least for the next 24 hours - thanks for the info!

A present arrived for Giles: History of the Federation, as told by Andorian Shran Ch'chaannit; The Mystery of the Gorn, by John Smitty (A thriller novel written based on the loose descriptions of the Gorn race. Written similar to that of The Swamp Thing); 1001 Math and Logic Puzzles to Confuse Trills (A collection of various math proofs and logic puzzles that are written by a Joined Trill. Written in between puzzles are various anecdotes and thoughts that the writer had at the time of publishing. Through these small stories and thoughts, there is some brief history and facts about the species and what they are like both before and after fusion.)  These three books are neatly arranged inside a basket that had various small treats of various backgrounds, ranging from hard candies, to chocolate covered popcorn that were perfectly selected to be reading companions as they wouldn’t leave any residue on the finger. This is all packaged with some clear shrink wrap and a neat bow on the top in plaid red and green. There is a few white and red dog hairs that did get stuck by static to the outside of the wrapping. There is a simple note written stating, “Hope you enjoy all the best things this year has to offer, Stone.”

To: Lieutenant Dagis To Dagis, I am not really sure how to start this. I've been thinking for so long about sending you a letter but I would think of something to say and then decide not to. But it's Christmas, and I saw the news article about Section 31, so I thought maybe I should finally message you. There.is a lot I think of that I want to say, so I'm trying to remember it all, and they say putting bullet points makes things easier, so: • To stop you from wondering if I speak about something else first: I am okay. • I can't remember a lot of more recent memories. it's foggy • I don't think I can feel as much as I used to. I don't know if that's good or bad because of how bad I know it was before • I can't work yet. I can't be in my mother's orchestra because frontal lobe damage kills voluntary movement and organisational skills. I think that annoys her more than what happened to me • I don't think it annoys me personally. I don't like to think about what happened because it's a horrible thing, but I think I'm resigned to it • It's hard to tell. They're trying to repair damage so I understand everything medically but emotionally it's distant. it's strange • I can't work and I'll never practice medicine again. I don't think I like that the people who do recovery with me are who I'm meant to be • But we knew that already because of Starfleet • I know that I'm still annoyed at them for what they did. I think it's the strongest emotion I know • but I know that it's over and there's no changing it..so I'm resigned to it

23:41

• I know that I don't blame you any more. It's not fair what happened to me when you get off with what you did. but that's on the system, and not on you • I don't agree with what you did but I understand your reasons. If our family is everything to us would you not do everything to protect them • I cant remember all of it but I know we parted on bad terms. I know that's the strongest anger I had. but I don't have that now and it's not just because I can't feel it. it's because I know not to be angry at you • i know you're not a bad person. and I don't think I m a bad person. I think I just was not dojng sogood • and Im sorry for whatever I said. you wouldn't have deserved that • Imcsorry • and I hope you're w2llcand that you can find peace • and that starfleet keeps helping you more than they helped me • ephesians 4:32 • "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" • I understand if you would not want to forgive me and its selfish to ask. but if you would not want to forgive me, please know at least that I do forgive you. -- Vince Ferrufino.

[D] Despite having been on half shifts for the past couple of weeks it had been several days between Dagis bringing the gift basket into her quarters and her actually opening it. Her priority had been Jericho and the Winter Ball, so it was only after the ball and after catching up on her work that the woman actually thought to open it. Sat in her quarters on the sofa she did just that, her eyes studying every item she removed from the basket with a small smile on her face. Books, food, coffee, as well as a replicator program. All nice things, and all very appreciated. It was as she was reading some of the labels of the coffees, though, that the woman's attention was suddenly dragged away by her PADD notifying her of a new message. Curious, and very much so off duty, she put the coffee down and picked it up to see who had sent her what. As the Ferengi saw exactly who had sent the message she froze, completely unable to move as her heart rate increased and her mind kept re-reading and processing who the sender was. Vincent...? Dagis sat in silence, unable to even try to begin reading the message for several minutes before forcing herself to put the PADD down and just take a minute to breathe. After that minute, and feeling a little calmer, she began reading the message, her legs now curled up on the sofa as she did. Abd as she did her body and heart were filled with so many different emotions. Guilt, sadness, happiness, bitterness, the lot. He was okay, he was recovering, he didn't blame her anymore, he understood her reasons for what she did, he's not angry with her, she isn't a bad person, he was sorry about what happened. He forgave her. x_divider

16:46

Dagis re-read the message over and over as she desperately tried to process everything that he had said. Her PADD was still protected with the case he had given her, and so it was after a few minutes that she finally broke down into tears, clutching her PADD against her chest as if to hug it as she closed her eyes and let herself feel all the many emotions she was experiencing. Be yourself, feel however you want to feel. The Ferengi sat there curled up and crying for over ten minutes, occasionally re-reading the message again as she processed being forgiven by the first friend she had made since first being assigned to the starbase. The first friend she had made since being forced to work for the Section, even. Some time passed as the remained on the sofa, her mind processing things and replaying horrible memories, but also knowing Vincent didn't think she was a bad person. Her Secret Santa's gifts were appreciated immensely, but what she appreciated even more was the gift of forgiveness. And it was with that in mind, combined with the time of year, that she started to slowly compose a reply, tears still running down her cheeks as she did. x_divider

16:46

To: Vincent Ferrufino To Vince, I'm not really sure what to say in response to everything you said, in truth. I've never been good with words. But I think I'm going to borrow your bullet point formatting because it just works, and I'm going to try to reply. I'm sorry if this is nothing more than a ramble. • I've been coping with everything okay, I think. I haven't come to terms with everything I've done, but I'm learning to live with the guilt. I have someone in my life who supports me through it all. • I'm sorry you can't practice medicine anymore, I know how much that meant to you, but I'm glad you're okay. • I'm sorry you can't work yet, and I'm sorry your mother is more annoyed with you not being able to work in her orchestra than what happened to you. • I hope you recover more, you deserve to recover. You don't deserve what they did to you. No one does. • I hate what they did to you, and I hate them for everything they've ever done to hurt people including you. • I know hate is such a strong feeling but I do genuinely hate them, but I'm trying to use that hate for good. • I wish I could tell you about recent events but they're classified to within Starfleet only. I'm sorry. But I'm doing what I can to stop them. • Thank you for not blaming me. I'm still sorry you got the outcome you did. You didn't deserve it. • I don't agree with anything I did either, but I appreciate you understanding my reasons. My family means everything to me.

16:46

• We did part on bad terms, but I don't want to be on them any more. I've never wanted to be on them. • You're not a bad person. You never have been. You never will be. • I'm sorry for everything that's happened. I'm so sorry. • I'm trying to find peace, and I hope I will. I hope you find peace in everything as well. • Starfleet are helping me more than I could ever thank them for, but I'm trying to earn their support and help by doing right by them and everyone in the Federation. • I won't stop trying until Section 31 are powerless and unable to hurt anyone anymore. I promise you none of this will be for nothing. • Rule of Acquisition № 88: It ain't over 'til it's over. • I forgive you, and words can't express how happy you've made me today by forgiving me. It's the best gift I could ever ask for Christmas. • If you want to keep in contact I would like that, but if you don't I understand. But I would like to keep in touch. I would like to have you in my life again. Thank you, Vince. - Dagis

It wasn’t difficult to find out what time Dagis was working until. Most crew rosters and rotas were publicly available, and it didn’t take much of a guess to work out she would be on alpha shift – that was what the senior staff worked for the most of the time. How lucky it was that his own being discharged from the medical bay (he liked to class it as escaping, but technically speaking, he had been voluntarily let out) lined up rather perfectly with the last half an hour of the alpha shift. It meant that he hadn’t too long to wait – eight minutes, forty-seven seconds – until the end of the alpha shift… And he had already checked Dagis’s schedule (that had taken a little more work) to ensure that she had nothing arranged after the shift, which likely meant that she would head back here. He could have asked the Computer for what deck she was on so he could predict exactly how long it would take for her to walk here as well, but that felt a little extreme. Instead, he just sat here waiting, having taken up residence on Dagis’s – no, their sofa - gosh that felt odd to think about – with his newly acquired in-re-training service dog sat beside him. What normally would have been nervousness had been replaced by an excited anticipation – eager for Dagis to walk in and find him here, free from the medical bay after what had been well over a month, and hopefully free of the dire conversations they had had and just… Happy, and as back to normal as possible as things could be again.

Since the Winter Ball and much smaller New Year get together Dagis had slowly transitioned herself back from half shifts to full shifts, having decided it best to not overwhelm herself and instead try to balance out the load better than she had been previously doing. It was as one of her full shifts finished that the woman had made her way back towards her quarters at a leisurely pace, feeling quite relieved to not have anything else scheduled as she had been on her feet all day going from place to place in order to either observe various maintenance projects or perform various other duties of her own. From the promenade to the parkland to the Engineering section, she had been everywhere today and was very much so looking forward to kicking her boots off as soon as she got in the door. And it was as the Ferengi got back to her quarters that said doors slid open and she stepped in with a relieved sigh, her eyes fixated entirely on the PADD that she held in her hands as she bent down to take her boots off. It was as she stood up again, though, that she caught a glimpse of something on the couch in her peripheral vision, at which point she looked away from her PADD screen and towards whatever it was. It was only as her brain properly registered both a person and an animal, though, that she actually jumped in shock accompanied with a sharp inhale, nearly dropping her PADD in the process as her eyes widened and heart rate increased, only for them to relax a moment later and her mind to calm down as she realised just who was sat on her couch... Or, well, it wasn't just her couch any more, was it? x_divider