Sand and Fur

Posted on 21 Apr 2025 @ 9:09am by Ensign Emilie D'Astous & Lieutenant Maralen Seitha

1,948 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Shoreleave and Reassignment
Location: Elysia
Timeline: After 453 Caskets

Émilie swore under her breath as she reached for a hydro spanner to tighten the last bolt, and sealed the engine cover shut. She'd managed to scrape her knuckles raw again, and was leaving blood smears all over the cockpit of this ancient thing. But at least now she had hope of maybe getting it to fly again - not that it was meant to fly. This thing was unlike anything she'd seen before - kind of a cross between a catamaran and a jetski, but somehow different. Whatever it was, she was looking forward to taking it out for a spin when it was ready.

Chell, the Cygnus's former supply specialist, now a quartermaster on Elysia, had told her that this thing had apparently been abandoned in one of the old hangars for at least forty years, and no one had bothered to even look at it.

She slid out from underneath the thing, and got up to stretch her back. She picked a bottle of water from the replicator, and walked out onto the boardwalk for a short break.

Maralen stood just outside the dwelling he had been given, staring out at the ocean. Having grown up near the woods, he was not familiar with the beach setting. True, he had been to many types of planets during his time with the Realm, but his focus had been on his mission then. Likewidse, in his time with the MindShapers, he had visited worlds with many different climates, but he had not been focused on them at the time. Now, however, he was free to focus his mind on whatever he chose.

Free. That word still felt odd sometimes when applied to him. Even after seventeen years, it sometimes gave him pause. Like now.

A short distance away, he could hear Émilie working on something. Or rather, he had heard her doing so. Now, there was silence, but he could smell her scent on the breeze. Turning toward her, he took a second to just feel the breeze brush through his fur -- his 'clothing' consisted of covering for his lower regions held in place by black leather straps which disappeared in his fur. Only the gold fittings that held the leather coverings to the straps glittered in the sun. That breeze also brought with it vagrant grains of sand, which he could have done without, but what could he do. The stuff was everywhere!

"How is the work coming?" he called across to her with an easy manner. Thy were off duty, after all, and so there was no need to be formal. This was a chance for him to interact with his crew more... genially.

"It's coming..." Émilie hesitated. "Well at least it's not going, let me put it that way. Nobody really knows how this fracking thing works, it's been abandoned for decades, gathering dust and rust. Supposed to be some sort of hydrofoil." She took a sip of water from the bottle and poured some on the back of her neck. "I think this is going to be a long-term project."

Maralen chuckled softly at her statement that at least it wasn't going, an interesting play on the colloquialism. Witty. He liked that. Making his way over the beach toward her, he noted with annoyance that every step stirred the sand and got more of it in his fur. A mental sigh given, and he stopped a couple of feet from her. "Well, if you ever want any help, or just company, while working on it, let me know. I'm not an engineer, but I am very good at following instructions," he offered with a soft chuckle at his own expense. Oh, yes, he was indeed goodat that. He had learned it very young and had it reinforced for most of his life. "Also, I wonder if there's a way to keep this sand out of my fur..." he muttered, trying to brush some of the intrusive material out of said fur and succeeding, except that the breeze just brought more immediately to take its place.

"I'm not much of an engineer either," she snorted, a grin spreading to the side of her face. "At least not when it comes to modern systems. But my dad loved working on some of these old mechanical craft, and I learned a thing or two by watching him tinker around in his workshop. The smell of engine grease just..." She shrugged. "It reminds me of him."

Her mention of her father with such nostalgia made Maralen pause and let his mind drift back to his own childhood. A mental image of his parents and twin sister formed instantly, crystal clear as though it had been only yesterday. He remembered his father's kindness and warmth, remembered how hard he had worked and how much he had loved his family. He remembered the smell of his fur and its thick, luxuriant texture.

His mother had also been warm and kind, volunteering to help the people of the community. She had always smelled ever so slightly of flowers and baked goods, and her fur had been thick but soft like velvet.

And his sister, Larrynda... that memory sparked a twinge of pain that was different than that which came with the other memories. He and Larrynda had always had a very close relationship -- they had done everything together back then. The sudden severing of that bond when the Death Ships had come had left a hole in his mind and heart that he would never be able to fill because that space had belonged to the piece of her that he'd had.

But now was not the time for morose thoughts. He pushed that memory and its associated feelings away, burying it as he had learned to do so long ago under the Realm, focusing on the memories of his mother and father. Absently brushing more sand from his fur, he smiled at her -- no teeth. "I understand. I sometimes encounter smells that remind me of my family too. They passed a long time ago, but I still encounter this." He considered asking if her father was alive or had passed, but it seemed a rude thing to ask someone who barely knew him.

He brushed more of the sand out of his fur, shaking once hoping to dislodge most of it in one go. No such luck. "Sshrral!" he muttered under his breath.

Émilie chuckled. "You know there are villas up in the hills. Maybe you'd be more comfortable there. I can't imagine you're looking forward to a swim anyway."

Maralen sighed and then chuckled at his own expense. "I knew those were there. I chose this because much of the crew appeared to be here, and I thought this would give me more of an opportunity to get to know more of them away from duty," he admitted. "But you're right about the swimming. I'm not really fond of the way water mats my fur down. It's... uncomfortable." He offered another soft chuckle, then asked. "May I ask... why did you select this place?"

Émilie closed her eyes and spread her arms wide, turning her face up toward the twin suns. "The suns. The sea. Falling asleep at the sound of the waves. The sound of the Warp drive when we're running at top speed gets my adrenaline going, and that's a rush of adrenaline that I love. But the sound of the waves... It's just so restful. And romantic."

She opened her eyes and made a face. "Besides, I heard there's a species of monkeys or something up in the hills. I don't really care for those."

Maralen could definitely see her point about the sounds of the ocean being relaxing. He likely would enjoy them if not for the ever-present sand. And her reference to the hum of the engines made him smile and purr softly. It always felt as though the ship was purring at him. He knew that wasn't true, but it was a fun thought anyway.

As to the monkeys...

"Well, I don't know about monkeys, but my home was surrounded by woods when I was a kitten," he told her with a hint of nostalgia tinged with pain, though that was barely noticeable beneath the nostalgia... unless one knew what one was looking for. Come to think of it, maybe that remembered pain was a contributing factor to why he had not selected the villas in the woods.

"As to this," he motioned around them, "it is beautiful, and I can imagine how the sounds can be relaxing. Though I'm not sure I'm overly fond of the brightness of having two suns," he added with a soft smile, adding, "Cats are much better at dusk and dawn, after all."

"So I've heard," she said. "There weren't a lot of cats on Alpha Centauri when I was growing up, but a couple of my classmates had one. I'm afraid I don't know much about them."

Maralen nodded understanding. "Well, feel free to ask me anything you like," he offered, "about cats in general or me in specific. I'm pretty much an open book." It was true; he would tell her whatever she wanted to know, but there was a lot of his life she likely would not want to know. "But as to the brightness, cats' eyes are designed for optimal sight in low light. I mean, we have excellent vision in full brightness, but we definitely have an advantage in low light, though not so much in darkness." He shrugged slightly.

"Either way I'm sure it's an advantage when it comes to security matters. You don't have to fumble around searching for infrared goggles." She took another sip from her water bottle, and took a deep breath of the warm, non-recycled air. "So what are your plans for shore leave?"

Maralen nodded with a chuckle. "Very true. As long as there's even a little light, like say, from emergency lighting, I'm pretty much good." Her question about his plans, however, made him pause. He had not really thought that through, which was odd for him. Usually, he was very much a plans and schedules sort of Cat, but he had purposely foregone that this time, opting to try to relax when he did not have a rigid schedule. Not an easy thing for someone who had lived with rigid rules and demands all of his life, but he was trying to change his patterns for the better. This was a start... he hoped.

"Plans..." he murmured, absently brushing sand from his tail which was, for a change, not wrapped around his waist but rather just lazily draped over his right shoulder, its tip tapping his chest lightly as he thought. "I hadn't really made any," he admitted. "I'm trying something new. What about you?"

"Getting this clipper back out to sea would be a good start," she replied. " I'd love to take her out for a full day, do a little fishing, maybe even camp out on one of the outer islands."

Émilie took another sip from her water bottle and nodded to reaffirm her resolve. "Anyway. None of that is going to happen if I don't get back in there. Break time's over."

She smiled at Seitha and they parted ways, with her heading back into the hangar. She ducked back under the thing, which she knew she would have to name at some point, and tried to reassess her next move.

-----

A post by

Ensign Émilie D'Astous
Helm officer

And

Lieutenant Maralen Seitha
Chief Security Officer

 

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