Of Books, Greeks, Vulcans, and Walks in the Forest

Posted on Sun Jul 20th, 2025 @ 12:18am by Lieutenant Xavier & Lieutenant JG LuAnn Lovegood

1,885 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Preservation Instinct
Location: Mess Hall | USS Ontario

ON:

Xavier entered the mess at dinner. They would soon be arriving at Eden and he wanted to have a peaceful meal and read but the hall was....disgustingly full. He looked around desperately hoping to find a quiet table but there was nothing quiet about this place. The sound was grating on his Vulcan ears. He'd been just about to turn around when he noticed a woman with hair like it had been kissed by Artemis and her moonlight. She was sitting at a corner table by a window eating and reading.

He sighed. A fellow reader, this could work. He got his food and a drink, tucked his book under his arm and headed her way. It took some bobbing and weaving and side stepping but he got there. "Excuse me. I am looking for a bit of a refuge while I read may I impose on you to take the empty chair across from you?"

LuAnn looked up and smiled. "Help yourself," she said, indicating the other side of the table. "Hi. I'm LuAnn. You're the new pilot, right?"

He gave a nod. "Indeed." Xavier wasn't that familiar with the crew yet. "LuAnn..." From her uniform he could make some guesses. "You are in medical?"

"Counseling. I know who you are because I heard about your ravens." LuAnn smiled. "I think that's awesome."

His mouth tugged up a little. "They are emotional support ravens but I haven't quite figured out if they are emotionally supporting me or I them."

She shrugged. "Or both. It can be a mutually beneficial arrangement. What do you and your crows think of the Ontario so far?"

He thought a moment. "Deimos, I am assuming, neither likes it or hates it. He is content. It seems to be his approach to life. Phobos does like it. He's been to the bridge, he has developed a rather annoying habit of learning to open the door to stroll down the hall, he enjoys flight on the holodeck. As for me I am...adjusting. I am not one for change but it was a necessary change."

"Sometimes necessary change is a relief, and sometimes it's hard. But with your emotional support birds, I think you'll do just fine." LuAnn smiled. "Besides, this is a quirky ship. You'll fit right in."

"Indeed. I am still...on guard. My previous ship was none too pleased with the fact that I wear eyeliner or that have these." He pointed to his pierced ear disks. "This ship has been somewhat...eerie in its acceptance. I keep waiting for, as Humans say, the other shoe to drop."

"You weren't here for Lieutenant Mizuhara, who liked to join briefings by dropping in from an access hatch in the ceiling. Seriously. Or Lieutenant Percy Bálor who grew any number of exotic plants. But you probably will as he's only away on TAD." LuAnn leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Then there's the junior counselor who tells people to go skinny dipping on the holodeck to reduce stress." She laughed and sat back. "As I said, you're in good company."

He smiled. "I have met Mr. Balor. When I came aboard this ship he gave me forget me nots as a welcome gift. It was the first gift I've ever received ... He seemed like a very nice person." He paused. "As for the hatch drop I have some experience with that. One of my former captains used to do that all the time just to scare the crew." He smiled a little. "She...was...a special soul so I am assuming that Lieutenant Mizuhara was too."

"Yes. Yes, she was." LuAnn smiled. "And so is Percy. I like him and look forward to his return to the ship. So, what do you and your ravens like to do when you aren't on duty?"

"The Ravens like to sleep, well not Phobos he likes to get into trouble. I like to read, swim, write, play music, and study. I also read my cards, they are a comfort."

"All noble activities. Reading and writing...and nature." LuAnn cocked her head to one side. "What sort of cards do you read? Are you a fortune teller?"

He smiled. "It is not fortune so much as clarity in chaos. I read the Tarot, an old deck based on the Ancient Greek Gods of Earth."

"Interesting. And why the Greek gods over any other pantheon?" She was honestly curious why he picked that one.

He sighed. "That is a difficult question." He took a sip of his drink. "I guess that when I was a child, my parents were... followers of Surak. My father, a Romulan, had given up his home, people and everything to follow Surak. All my siblings as well but I never quite fit in. The Romulan way, it wasn't my way, the Vulcan way and the Vulcan Gods never spoke to me." He shrugged. "I was trapped between this place of not believing and wanting to believe."

"When I was young, like my brothers before me I participated in the Kahs-wan, a Vulcan coming of age ritual. It is...not one that Vulcan speaks of often to outsiders. The short version is we are taken to the L-Langon Mountains and then released in the dessert below for 10 days with no supplies or food or water and we are meant to survive and come in first. My brothers all survived and thrived placing first or second, however I, almost did not survive."

He took another sip of water. "I remember I was bitten by a Melshk, a snake like creature. The poison was fast acting. I kept thinking I would be another fatality in the Kahs-wan but surviving and being last in the competition was less honorable then being a fatality." He sighed. "Vulcans are more brutal then the galaxy gives them credit for. Romulans...are far more nurturing and gentler then they are given credit for." He shrugged.

"I must have passed out but when I woke up I remember a place...with white columns that had gold on them, green vines...there was running water and two people, a woman with silver hair and silver eyes, a man with long curly hair and blue eyes a big beard. They were dressed in white robes. They held staffs with snakes on them and I swear I saw the snakes move. They spoke to me, told me I would survive I would be happy, find a new life. I remember a drink...it was bitter but when I drank it I could breath. I asked their names and they said Asclepius and Hygieia. I passed out, again. When I woke again, I was in the desert, the Melshk that bit me was in my hand dead. I remember standing up and I headed across the dessert. I crossed the finish line, last, I was listed as a fatality but when they saw me stumbling in I was taken to the medical center the doctors were...stunned. The Melshk was poisonous and I should have been dead but it was as if the venom had no effect on me and they could not tell why. There were traces of it from the bite marks and in my blood but it was as if my blood rendered it inactive. I researched my...dream? Hallucination? I did not know what it was and found that Asclepius and Hygieia were Ancient Greek Gods of healing. They were names I didn't hear of before that day. I began to research them and in that pantheon and I found my faith. So, when Vulcans, those brave enough to pray to the old Vulcan Gods, pray to them I put my faith in the Ancient Greek Pantheon?"

He shrugged. "It sounds strange but it has meaning for me."

"There are more things in heav'n and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. That's a quote from Hamlet by William Shakespeare. He was an old earth author and poet. I like him." LuAnn shrugged. "There are a lot of things that can't be explained. What matters is that you were bitten and you still live."

He studied her. "You know, you are the first person I told about this. Not even my best friend knows this story."

She smiled. "Thank you for sharing that with me. Maybe you should see it as a sign that you are now where you were meant to be and you should see the path that brought you here as a rite of passage."

He studied her. "Thank you." There was a pause. "What about yourself Lieutenant. What are your hobbies?"

"Me? I like to read. I like moonlight swims." She smiled at that. "And I like nature. The arboretum is nice, but not the same as a planet." She cocked her head to one side. "I also like people watching."

He looked over at her book. "May I ask what you are reading?"

"It's a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. It doesn't have the same charm as the original, but I'm going to see if it gets better. I found one retelling called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? that was fun to read."

"Fascinating. I am fan of the original, although I find it hard to understand whether Elizabeth or Darcy fit the Pride role. They both have too much pride and they are both prejudiced against one another. I also thought he could have been a tad more romantic when he realized that he loved her. There is no excuse for lack of romance."

"They say that is how people--at least minor nobility and the well-to-do behaved in Victorian England." LuAnn grinned. "But I agree with you. I much prefer a little more emotion. Not as much as a straight romance, but enough so I feel like they earned their happily-ever-after. That's why I read more fantasy and fantasy romance. The plot isn't just about two people falling in love--but there's still a love story."

His lips twitched. "You have excellent reading tastes." He studied her. "You are also a very dangerous counselor. I cannot understand how much I told you."

She chuckled. "Not enough, I assure you. But counselors don't share secrets, so you're safe. I won't even tell your ravens."

Xavier noticed the time. "I should go. Perhaps we could have coffee again." It had been a long time since he'd tried to make a friend. Perhaps this was a start.

"Yes." LuAnn smiled. "We should definitely do that." In fact, she would enjoy talking with him again. He was quirky, but then, so was she, and without Percy, she would appreciate another friend.

He smiled then, something other Vulcans didn't do. "I shall introduce you to my Ravens. They are quite the characters as well." He stood and bowed. "Thank you again for speaking with me."

LuAnn stood and bowed back. "Any time. I look forward to meeting them." She, too, needed to get back to work. She put her book in a pocket and cleaned up the table before following Xavier out of the hall.

A post by


Lieutenant JG LuAnn Lovegood
Counselor
USS Ontario

&

Lieutenant Xavier
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Ontario

 

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