Ensign Lyra Voss: Like a Normal Person
Sarah Terry
((Outside Evan Ross’s Quarters, Upper Habitat Section, Starbase 118))
Lyra was not a stranger to bad habits. She was infamous for never putting things back where they belonged. She never remembered to turn off the lights when she left her quarters (though at least the computer would do it for her after a certain amount of time). Her sleep schedule was always off in one direction or another. But one of the things about her that annoyed her the most was her tendency to talk herself in circles and become absolutely paralyzed with indecision over the smallest things. Silly things. Like whether or not to get a gift for a friend.
So when she’d had the passing thought that it might be nice to get Evan something small to celebrate his recent promotion, instead of just… you know, *doing that*, like a normal person… she’d agonized over whether or not it was a good idea for several days. Would it be weird? Was it too much? Were they friends like that? Would he read too much into it? Or maybe not enough? And what did that mean anyway? And just, generally, what was wrong with her and her brain?
The answers were unclear. But damn it, she liked giving gifts. Giving gifts was a regular thing. She wasn’t showing up with violins and roses - she was just being friendly.
She had mostly convinced herself it was all going to be okay by the time she came up to his door, wrapped package in hand. He knew she was coming - she’d already called and asked if she could stop by for a minute - so she wouldn’t be showing up out of the blue. She rolled her tense shoulders one last time before she activated the door chime.
It didn’t take long for the door to slide open. Regardless of her nerves, seeing him immediately made her smile.
Voss: Hey there!
Ross: ?
She took a few steps into the apartment, but didn’t stray too far from the door - she wasn’t planning to stay long.
Voss: Oh I don’t want to disrupt your plans or anything - I just wanted to drop something off. ::that much was obvious from the package in her hands:: It’s nothing too… I just thought… we went kind of directly into a crisis after the last awards ceremony, and it was a rough one, so this is a little late, but I wanted to… to get you something. To celebrate your promotion.
She handed over the gift in its dark purple wrapping paper. It was a mostly flat rectangle, maybe 20-ish by 30-ish centimeters.
Ross: ?
Lyra was unable to stop herself from doing that thing people sometimes do when they give a gift - immediately start trying to downplay it as the recipient opens it.
Voss: It’s not… I mean, I just thought it would be funny. Just something small. Lt. Commander is a big deal, so…
He tore off the paper to find… a clipboard. But for a clipboard, a pretty fancy one. Brushed stainless steel, with Ops’ logo inlaid in gold on the front, and “Lt. Commander Evan K. Ross” and the award ceremony date engraved in small, neat letters near the bottom of the back.
Ross: ?
She grinned.
Voss: I mean, you said you loved clipboards, so I kinda had to. You may be shocked to hear that the replicator doesn’t have many pre-existing patterns for “fancy clipboard” ::she shrugged:: but after some trial and error, I think it eventually came out all right.
Ross: ?
Voss: Well anyway, that’s all I… I have to get back to packing, but I didn’t want to forget to actually give that to you before I head out. Are you doing anything fun for shore leave?
Ross: ?