Lt. JG Natasha Cole - Dress-Up Days and Daddy Issues
Natasha Schell
((Elysium - Main level, Deck 6, USS Artemis))
Natasha had just finished her security shift, which was, depending on your point of view, mostly uneventful. She had changed into a pair of leggings and a dress not too dissimilar to that of female officers would wear during Pike and Kirk's tenure as Captains.
She found herself a table and sat down with her PADD. She still hadn’t sent that message to her father. Maybe she never would, but there was some catharsis putting her thoughts down.
/// Unsent Letter - Earlier Draft \\\
/// Dad,
I know this is overdue. Not just the message. All of it.
I’ve spent most of my life trying to prove I didn’t need your approval. And maybe I still don’t. But I think I want you to understand the woman I’ve become and not just because I stopped carrying your name. \\\
She hovered her stylus over the next line, unsure how to continue. Something in her chest clenched, a familiar mix of resentment and longing. She sighed and started typing.
/// I’m serving aboard the Artemis now. It’s… challenging, in ways I think you would respect, even if you’d never say so. My CO trusts me. My crewmates trust me. Some days I still don’t know if I trust myself, but I’m working on it. I thought you should know that. \\\
She stared at the words. No, that was too vulnerable, too exposed. She deleted the paragraph with a sharp swipe and started again
/// You always said surviving wasn’t the same as living. I’m starting to understand the difference. \\\
She stopped again. Now that sounded like an admission he didn’t deserve. She sat there for a long moment, and added one last line, more out of habit than hope:
/// I don’t expect a response. \\\
Natasha caught movement out of the corner of her eye as she was looking over her PADD, glancing up she saw Lieutenant Storm standing there in a fuchsia wrap-around dress that hugged her in all the right spots with a pair of three inch heels. Storm’s dress reminded her of a top she has.
Storm: Mind if I take a seat?
Cole: Absolutely ::gesturing towards the seat:: Be my guest. : I was just drafting a letter to someone.
Natasha watched as Lieutenant Storm lowered herself quite regally into her seat.
Storm: Thank you. I had something I wanted to talk over with you, if you have a moment.
Cole: What’s on your mind? If it’s dating related, I’m afraid I don’t have the latest round of gossip.
Storm: Oh. No, actually I wanted to talk work, but ::Alex leaned in:: did you ever have one of those days where you desperately needed to dress up and feel like a woman?
Natasha smiled at Alex’s question, in all honesty it was something she genuinely enjoyed doing when she could. She went to set her PADD facedown and must have subconsciously hit send, because it made the message sent sound. In spite of her trying not to, she grimaced for just a moment, before resigning herself to the fact that the Universe was bent on her dealing with her father.
Cole: ::Smile returning:: Yes, I love those days. I didn’t always have that luxury, so I try to enjoy them whenever possible. Especially if I can on the holodeck.
The thought of her and Bancroft from their Miami misadventure popped into her head, the two of them in their 1980’s pastel suits and their silly characters. She smiled with a slight laugh to herself.
Storm: Response
Cole: Oh that, that was a message I wasn’t planning on sending, if at all. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ll deal with it later. ::glancing at the PADD annoyed at it’s betrayal::
Storm: Response
Cole: ::leaning back:: Let me guess, you need me to inventory the armory?
Storm: Response
Tags/TBC
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Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
Writer ID A240205NC4