And Around The Arboretum Tree

Posted on Wed Jun 17th, 2026 @ 3:51pm by Ensign Elira Vyn & Ensign Alecx Novis

2,137 words; about a 11 minute read

Location: USS Scharhorst, Arboretum

The first few steps were rather quiet as they figured out each other’s strides, but as happened in some very rare and usually special cases, they found it rather quickly, “So, about me?” Alecx asked the rhetorical question, “I grew up in the Argovia Province capital at home, two sisters, Evia and Jeslin, younger, older respectively, but no brothers. Parents are teachers, so they were always there. I was kind of the nerd back in school, science and all of that, but still had plenty of time for sports. Soccer star for my school, also did a couple others to wile away my free time.” He chuckled lightly, "Evia's actually in Starfleet Academy right now, a sophomore, wants to be an engineer when she gets out and she has a great touch with mechanicals, can get just about anything running if it's broken down."

"That was very direct, and thank you for that." Elira said, thinking that he must have wanted to impress her with being open and honest. A trait, she really liked. She knew she needed to return the favor and share information with him. She debated though, how much to share. She smiled for a moment, she knew she was stalling. But she always wanted to acknowledge the difficulty it must have been to share all that information to a person, that you barely know.

The silence was deafening from her in that moment and Alecx thought he'd done something wrong. No. It couldn't be that, not even he could have screwed something up that badly just yet. The truth was that when he was nervous, he talked, especially when he was with a pretty girl. That trait had cost him a few dates in the past, the one girl that had deigned to tell him his faults telling him that personal information like that ought to be for a second date. The first was supposed to be focused on them, not him. 'Patience, young man.' The voice came from somewhere inside. So patience he would have.

"Are you you just going to stand there? Don't we have a walk to begin?" Elira suggested, as she gently moved his arm forward, the one she was still holding onto. She could tell that he was nervous, how adorable she thought to herself. She started to walk away from the arboretum tree.

The gentle tug on his bicep got him back into motion and he caught up to her with a pair of long strides, "I could probably tell you about the types of trees in here?" He half-suggested, "Botany was interesting back when I was in the Academy, these are from Earth, but I'm sure you know that already. The one I found you under is actually a willow tree, while there's a maple tree up ahead, the leaves are very distinctive on that one."

Elira listened to him, and had a big smile on her face, before she decided to chime in. She wanted him to know that she too, knew a little bit. about the tree. She was not a botanist, but she had experience with the willow tree. "The Willow tree is pretty, but a pain to keep the branches uniform and looking pretty. Unchecked, they grow like weeds." Elira suggested to him. She had been around willow tree's before. As a child, it was one of her favorite trees to sit under. She used to think it was magical.

"That they do." Alecx agreed, then gestured to the artificial moon in the 'sky', "And in ancient human mythology are associated with the moon and sadness." He looked around and they were alone in here, no one else taking an evening walk, which was actually somewhat surprising, but now that his nerves were settling down a bit, "Not here getting over something that made you sad, are you? Something I can cheer you up from?"

"You being here is cheering me up." She simply said, knowing how cheesy that sounded. Elira barely knew him, and she wasn't ready to share everything. She smiled though as she squeezes his hand as they continued walking.

'Silence is golden, kiddo.’ One voice whispered in the back of his head as he squeezed Elira’s hand back silently. There was only one of his past hosts that ever used that term with him, but when they used it, he listened. This was just nice, holding her hand as they walked, talking could indeed wait. If this was a one-off thing, and he didn’t think it was, then it could still be soothing. If they found each other attractive, and he did find her that way and was reasonably certain she did the same, there was plenty of time to get to know each other better. Steady strength, that was what was called for. “I wonder if I could convince them to cycle through moons from other planets? Would be nice to see the ones from home.” His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Cycle through the moons?" Elira asked, hoping he would clarify his comment. She wondered what he meant by that. They continue to walk past the willow tree, as I started to head towards a spruce tree. She felt very comfortable in his arms, and she did appreciate the fact that he was trying. His earlier fumblings were almost forgotten at this point.

“The moon up there is Earth’s, I can tell from the crater pattern.” He pointed up generally, “I’m sure someone could put together a list of everyone’s homeworld and rotate the moon to project someone else’s every night, so we could walk under the moon of Trillius Prime one evening. Could you imagine that?”

"Oh I could imagine it, the next time I return home I plan on walking the beaches. Hey out of curiosity why do you think they program it with Earth's moon they can simulate any planetary system above the Arboretum why do you think they chose Earth Moon?" Elira ask, partially because she was curious if you knew the answer, because she didn't. And this was the direction of the conversation so she just wanted to make sure to make sure it went smoothly between them. She wouldn't tell him just yet, but she likes his attention.

“I think it’s because the majority of Starfleet is human. They have the wanderlust and near-suicidal need to explore the unknown no matter what the cost, and the rest of us races are along to make sure they don’t do something stupid like make two stars combine to see how big the explosion gets.” Alecx gave a laugh at that, “So they want to be reminded of their home on Earth just in case they can’t see it again. We Trill are no less nostalgic, but we’re also more likely to think before we leap.

"Then this might come to surprise you, I often book the holodeck to get a reminder of home. I wonder if Captain Kellan would object if we programmed other worlds’ night skies into the Arboretum night sky matrix program." Elira said, she knew she was a little ranking ensign, however she was hoping that the captain could see her request and the benefit it would have on other alien species.

“I’ll sign onto that too, maybe if a bunch of us petition the Captain, it’ll be considered faster or more seriously.” His eyes unfocused for a moment, then he shook his head slowly, “No, multiple moons from different worlds at the same time wouldn’t work, Reia, the lighting would be too different.” His eyes refocused again and he smiled down at Elira, “It wouldn’t hurt if we found one of the non-human senior officers to bring it to his attention as well. I’ll talk to my Lieutenant, she’s Bajoran and I think they have four… Maybe five moons of their own as well.” If it was important to Elira, and clearly it was if she had a program to remind her of home, then it was suddenly important to him to ensure it happened.

"It can't be that hard, it's a big screen on the ceiling it should be easy enough to adjust. You know I'm an engineer by trade right? My shift is set to start in an hour, so I'm grateful that you could be here with me today." Elira pointed out to him, knowing that later tonight she would have to go to work but was enjoying her time with him right now.

There was a twinge in Alecx’s heart as the words that she was going to be heading into work on the night shift hit. Less than an hour, then, until she had to go. He was going to have to get some sleep for his next morning’s shift, but perhaps… “Did you want to meet up for breakfast after your shift?” He asked suddenly, “There should be enough time before my own shift starts and after yours ends.”

"Presumptuous of you, but only if you promised not to trip over anymore willow trees." Elira suggested to him with a grin on her face. She waited for his reaction, as they continued to walk.

Alecx chuckled, “And to prove that I can keep that promise, how about we meet back here?” He suggested, “All you have to do is bring your..self and I’ll do the rest of the work.” He managed to catch himself from saying something that could be interpreted as crude. Saying ‘your pretty little self’ would have had maybe fifty percent odds of working, or creeping her out. ’Thirty at best’ an inner voice pointed out. “Is there anything you don’t like?”

"Well I can either bring a medical kit or a picnic basket?" Elira said with the warm smile on her face, liking either option. She like picking on him and he was a good sport about it. She felt so naturally and comfortable around him.

He snarked with a laugh, “Since I’m bringing breakfast with me, go ahead and bring that medical kit. We’ll see if I can bring something good enough that you’ll overeat, or all else failing, I’ll fall and get bruised up so you can worry over me with the regenerator.” He grinned brightly, “By the way, you aren't allergic to anything, are you? I don’t want to accidentally kill you with food.”

"I prefer to be killed with kindness but no I don't have any food allergies." Elira said with the warm smile on her face. She was a little surprised to hear him say bring a med kit. She assumed that he would appreciate the gesture of a picnic basket, but maybe it was his male bravado that suggested that he should bring it. she was okay with him taking on the chivalrous role.

“Excellent!” He smiled at her, eyes alight with ideas now. “Then you don’t need to worry at all about anything for breakfast. I don’t want to be too much of a distraction while you’re occupied with the real important things, like making sure the ship doesn’t blow up.” His smile slid into a sly grin, “And such dedication should be rewarded properly.”

If only Lieutenant Solwick trusted with that responsibility, she thought to herself. "Aren't you sweet." She said with a big humble smile on her face. She was really loving the attention that he was giving to her. "I could get use to all of this pampering." She pointed out to him with an approving nod.

"Then you've got nothing to worry about." Alecx raised her hand to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss, never losing eye contact with her, "We'll get through breakfast then and see where things go from there? In the meantime, would you like me to walk you to engineering? Right now, I've got nothing but time."

‘Someone's trying to lay on the charm.’ She thought to herself, and spoke out loud to him. She thought it was very smooth of him. Cheer up her arms in his gave him a gentle squeeze suggesting that they should start walking. "Lead the way, now I'm looking forward to the end of my shift."

“Then I’m doing it right.” Alecx agreed, altering their course towards the door leading from the arboretum, “And you’ll find that looking forward to doesn’t even compare to the actual event in the slightest, I hope.”

Elira smile that she took his hand, and they started heading towards engineering. The two had a light conversation,as the scene fades away.

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