Star Trek: Starbase 777 - anglesey

On the island of Anglesey just off the north-west coast of Wales sat a large, old village called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, and within that large village with an equally large name was the Preston residence. The Preston residence was an old, brick-built white-rendered house, passed down from generation of Preston to generation of Preston. At least, that's what Oleander would have you believe. In fact, it had only been in the family for four generations, but despite that the house was build in the mid 19th century, with only minor changes and upgrades being made over the many, many centuries it had been stood there for. Surrounding the property were two beautiful, picturesque cottage-style gardens, with plants of all shapes, sizes, colours, and origins growing within. The majority of the plants were from Earth, but over the years since first contact was made the past owners of the house, as well as Oleander and Elwyn, had slowly collected some compatible plants that ultimately gave the gardens a more diverse appearance. Oleander, a roboticist by trade and an inventor by passion had personally upgraded the quaint little property countless times in the years he had so far lived there. Despite installing a new replicator, upgrading the climate control system and security system, as well as making the place more energy efficient, and even adding a top of the line personal assistant and automation system (including little helper robots), he had always made sure to keep the property looking how it did so many, many years prior. Not that he had a choice, anyway, it was Grade II listed.

Stood just outside the front door of said house at the bottom of a long, stone-covered path surrounded by flowering plants of all kinds was one Oleander Preston, awaiting the arrival of what he could only describe as his pride and joy. Dressed in his typical plain coloured shirt and trousers, accompanied by a seafoam green cardigan that Elwyn had knit for him when she was eleven, he couldn’t help but feel just a tad anxious as he glanced at the time on his chronometer, noticing that the Health and Safety Inspector was now running a fair few minutes late, which was generally not the case for her. He had always been a very protective father, from the moment he created his child during what was a very politically tumultuous time, to the moment they joined Starfleet, but since the day he was called to help after they were shot in the head during a security incident that protectiveness had quadrupled. Was he paranoid? Not particularly, but did he understand the risks of not only every day life, but Starfleet life as well? Absolutely. It was as his mind began wandering to the many potential worst case scenarios for why she could be late, all while his eyes wandered to track a butterfly scooting about the garden, that he suddenly heard the familiar sound of footsteps upon gravel. Turning to look up the path, a smile crossed his face as he saw who was approaching.

Elwyn had been planning her next shore leave from the moment her last one ended. She loved working in Starfleet, she loved her job, she loved her colleagues, and she loved Starbase 777, but she loved her Pa even more, and she loved visiting him and all of her family, as well as her old friends whenever she could. To some their next shore leave would be like any other, but for Elwyn, this one was going to be special, because she knew it was going to be happening just over a year since she had graduated and became a fully fledged Starfleet officer. That was why she had been planning it for months, and so when the day finally came she couldn’t have been happier. The plan was to board a shuttle especially chosen so it would arrive at the nearby shuttleport just before quarter to eight in the morning, so she could then take a quick stroll over to the transporter that took her to the old train station in Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, and then from there to home. But, like all good plans, you can’t always take into consideration the unforeseen, and it all went smoothly up until the last stretch of her journey. Elwyn being Elwyn and cats simply going about their day she couldn’t help but stop and pet them. Five, to be exact. And then of course there were also the dog walkers, all six of whom she stopped and chatted with, as well as gave their furry companions all the attention in the world. x_divider

01:55

It was roughly half way through her walk home that the android realised she was, in fact, running a little behind her schedule. Wanting to not leave her Pa waiting for her for too long and not wanting to worry him either, she started picking up the pace, turning her casual stroll into a power walk, and room there a jog, all while taking a couple of shortcuts to try and save time. Despite her intent to not be too much later than she already was, though, she still couldn’t resist petting the various cats and dogs she found along the way, and as such by the time she got to the end of the path leading up to the house she was twelve minutes late. Being an android she wasn’t even slightly out of breath, and so as she opened the slightly creaky metal gate, closed it behind herself, and then began walking down the path completely casually as if she hadn’t jogged a half mile prior, her walk turned into a skip as she saw Oleander waiting for her at the front door. “Pa!” She called out with a smile and a wave, scooting briefly around a low-flying bumble bee to avoid a mid-air collision as she made her way down the crunchy gravel path. In contrast to her father’s minimal colour scheme, Elwyn’s own attire was far more multi-coloured, with her pastel rainbow knitted sleeveless jumper, pastel yellow long-sleeve top, and pastel blue trousers, complete with matching shoes and her usual rainbow travel bag making her both stand out amongst the greens of the garden, as well as blend right in with the countless flowers. Once she got in range, the Starfleet officer practically engulfed Oleander in a very big, but yet all the same gentle hug, as she began speaking Welsh. “I missed you!”

Waving in response to his child’s own, Oleander was quick to embrace Elwyn the moment she pulled him into a hug, feeling a sense of relief that she was here, safe, and seemingly in high spirits. “Hello, flower! I missed you, too.” The roboticist greeted in return, replying in Welsh himself, a language he used what felt so frequently, and yet so rarely all the same. “How was your journey? I trust there weren’t any hiccoughs?” The man asked with a friendly, caring smile as he slowly moved out of the hug after a moment, his hands moving to gently rest on the androids outer shoulders as he looked down at her with an equally as caring and happy look on his face. Despite both him and Elwyn speaking fluent Standard and using it in their day-to-day lives as their primary means of communication, it always felt nice to have a conversation in what was in many ways their native language.

“Nope, none! I’m sorry I’m late, though. I wanted to be here on time but then I came across five cats and six people walking dogs and I couldn’t not stop and pet them, because they all deserved to be petted and if they didn’t get petted they might have been sad that I didn’t pet them, and I don’t want them to be sad because then I’ll be sad and I don’t want to be sad, so I had to pet them just to make sure everyone was happy and they all got the pets they deserved!” Elwyn answered and then explained, her tone quickly shifting from positive, to apologetic, to neutral, to sad, to positive all within the span of only a few seconds. “How have you been? Have you invented anything fun or exciting or useful, or all of the above?” She asked enthusiastically. Despite video calling with her Pa every day unless something came up to prevent it, the Health and Safety Inspector still wanted to ask how he was in case anything had changed within the past few hours. And despite Oleander always keeping her up to date with his latest inventions and endeavours, how was she to know he hadn’t suddenly conjured up something new overnight?

And despite video calling with Elwyn every day and always sharing his latest projects with them (which he knew they loved seeing and hearing about), Oleander couldn’t help but appreciate them asking either way - It showed him just how much they cared about the people in their life, including himself. And, as they mentioned stopping to pet the various animals they had come across on their walk he couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’ve been well, thank you. Don’t worry about being late, those animals certainly sounded like they deserved petting.” He reassured with a smile. “And no, I haven’t invented anything fun or exciting or useful, or all of the above. But I do have a few ideas brewing which I’m sure you’d love to hear about.” He then replied with a chuckle. “How about you, how have you been?” He then asked in return, his usual friendly and caring tone shining through, one that mirrored the Starfleet officer’s own, albeit one that was slightly less exuberant and generally more laid back.

“I’m good thanks! I’m super excited to be on shore leave! And did you say ideas for inventions? You’re right, I would love to hear about them!” Elwyn replied in a very excited and upbeat tone before immediately looking at a butterfly as it passed by. “Oooh, a Common Brimstone! Gonepteryx rhamni, specifically. And female! Very pretty!” They stated with a warm, happy smile as their eyes followed it to a nearby buddleia, before glancing around the rest of the garden as well, resulting in a three hundred and sixty degree turn on the spot as they looked at all colourful, luscious plants and the many happy insects and occasional birds going about their day, as well as one little robot that was busy watering a rose bush. Upon returning their gaze to their Pa, they spoke in a cheerful tone once again. “The garden looks so nice! The roses grew back so well after that mean disease tried to kill them. I’m glad you helped them in time!”

As Oleander stood upon the porch he listened to what his child said with a smile, enjoying the combination of her company and her infectious positivity as always. Watching her as she immediately identified the passing butterfly, before immediately going into greater detail about said butterfly, genuinely filled him with pride, because as much as it was entirely down to him that she had the ability to see and remember such things so well, it was entirely her that was the one who decided to retain all of that information, having learnt about butterflies and other insects at a fairly young age, and then subsequently taken an interest in them, as well as nature as a whole. When the conversation shifted to the many, many roses in the front garden his attention shifted to them as well. “I am, too. They looked really scraggly after I had to cut all of the infected bits, didn’t they?” The man replied with a chuckle. Despite how easy it was to actually treat them in the end, he was still glad he did so correctly and within a timely manner. His grandmother would’ve killed him if he hadn’t, her having planted the majority of them so many years prior.

“They did!” Elwyn replied in turn with her own, somewhat sympathetic chuckle, as she continued looking at the now very happy and fully in bloom colourful roses. “I felt really bad for them, but they’re looking really happy now so that’s all that matters!” She added with a happy grin, before immediately remembering something very, extremely, upmost-ly important that she had yet to mention. “Oh, oh, by the way!-“ Speaking as she unfastened her bag and reached in, the crafty little android was quick to bring out a metal, daisy-covered tin. She equally as quickly, albeit more carefully, opened it to reveal a freshly baked and sweet-smelling carrot cake, decorated with little fondant carrots and “Best Pa Ever!” written in orange icing. “-I baked you a present! I know it’s your favourite!” She said with an even bigger, happy grin spread across her face.

Watching as his child reached into her bag and pulled out the tin, Oleander immediately recognised it as her usual cake tin. Still, not wanting to make assumptions, it was only as Elwyn revealed the carrot cake within that his face practically lit up, going from his usual cheerful self to some joy far greater, as well as pure appreciation for her doing such a thing for him, as well as little message the cake was adorned with. “Oh, flower, you shouldn’t have! Thank you.” The man replied warmly, before gently pulling the android into a sideways hug, making sure to not knock the cake out of her hands as he did. After a moment he released the hug, his left hand coming to rest on her right shoulder as he looked at the Starfleet officer in a way only a proud parent could. “Come on, let’s go and officially start your shore leave with some of this cake.” He said with a grin, before beginning to guide his child towards the front door, his arm moving to wrap around her gently, and the ornate wooden door automatically swinging open to let them inside.

Elwyn grinned cheerfully as she saw that her Pa liked her tasty gift, happily accepting the hug she was given. She was absolutely thrilled to bits that her shore leave had already started off so well, and she was yet somehow even more thrilled to hear that she was about to have some of her home-baked cake, too! Fluffy animal petting times (and talking to dog walkers!), pretty gardens and insects, a happy Pa, and now fresh carrot cake? What more could she ever want! Walking alongside him into the house from the porch, the Starfleet offer spoke cheerfully once again. “I’m so happy you like it! I just hope it tastes nice. It should do, I baked it the same way I usually do!” She replied with a laugh. “This is going to be the best shore leave ever! We’re gonna hang out, eat cake, play games, do some gardening, I’m gonna visit the rest of the family, some of my old friends- Oooh, this is going to be so much fun!” As the door closed behind the two Prestons and they headed off to dig into the freshly baked cake, Elwyn knew this was definitely, without a doubt, going to be the best shore leave she had ever had.