Wedding Plans

Posted on Tue Jan 2nd, 2024 @ 5:45am by Captain Samuel Woolheater & Consul Andrinn Orin

Mission: Season 6: Episode 4: Memory Lane
Location: DECK FOUR - SMALL LOUNGE AREA
Timeline: MD04 - EARLY AFTERNOON
3001 words - 6 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

"You're better at this than I am. And we both know it" Samuel said as he sat next to Andrinn at the small table in the corner of the mini lounge area on the quiet end of the bar. Sam was trying to help. "My favorite color is red...or green. I like chicken...but beef steaks are fine. I'd rather have the ceremony and the thing...the wedding party...thing...in the same spot. Arcadia Bar is fine with me. And putting coconut on anything is just...wrong" he said as he was trying to help.

"Hey, hey. You're going into a tailspin and overthinking this whole thing. This is why I wanted to bring you here and take you out to start thinking about the wedding planning. I wanted to make sure that our wedding was the best one that could possibly happen for both of us, not just one of us, okay?" Andrinn replied, taking Sam's hand into his own and using his free hand to stroke Sam's cheek. Andrinn could tell that Sam was going round and round in his head about what to include and what not to include within the wedding. But, Andrinn had to keep both of them grounded to make sure that they didn't lose their minds or go stir crazy with the minor details for their upcoming wedding.

He took a deep breath and exhaled it out relieveing some of the stress too. He looked at Andrinn and squeezed his hand back, "I know. I'm sorry. It's just...its hard to think about this whole planning when we have so much other stuff going on. Y'know? Bad stuff. Potentially bad stuff" he corrected himself. Having his cheek stroked felt really good. It just felt good to be touched. Andrinn always knew just when to do that too. Sam thought about how easy he must be to read if everytime Andrinn knew exactly what would work. He caught Andrinn's hand against his cheek and kissed it and squeezed it tenderly. "Thanks, I needed that." He picked up his drink tumbler and drained the last bit of synthahol from it.

Andrinn chuckled as he reached down and took another swig of his own drink, quickly finishing it up as he thought about the various parts of their wedding planning that they had already completed, but the various parts that they hadn't as well. Andrinn and Sam had only been engaged for a little bit of time, but there was a lot to go into planning a wedding, no matter who was getting married. Andrinn looked over at Sam and said, "I just can't believe that we're getting married. It felt like just yesterday that we met and started to fall in love. I'm glad that you and I met, and that I got to transfer onboard before the Elysium got thrown deep into outer space."

Sam nodded, "Yup! I remember the first time I laid eyes on you. At the Commodore's wedding. I said to myself, 'Oh hubba-hubba and a ding, dang, dong. Couldn't wait to meet you. The next day we went on that hike. I love living in the outdoors and hiking. The mountains the lakes. I'm glad that you like that too. I'm trying to remember when, exactly it is that I fell in love with you. Y'know? I liked you from the moment we met. And I was so damn horny for you before that." He smiled and grinned mischieviously. "I don't know...but I think it was when I saw you, in the shuttlebay. Remember? We were being deployed to the surface to Popsicle One? Remember? The blast barrier separated us. There was hardly any time. There was no way to tell you what was in my heart. But I was worried about you the whole time the ship was damaged; then...there you were. Standing there on the other side of the shuttle bay barrier worried about me. And...I guess...I knew then that I loved you."

Andrinn smiled as he listened to Sam talk about the first couple of months that they knew each other. "I just remember a certain young 1st Lieutenant that was cocky, a sweetheart, and one of the best dressed in the entire wedding. I just knew that I had to meet this fella and make sure to snatch him up. I was worried that he wouldn't swing my way, but he did and I'm glad that he did. I'm just glad that he's still around and I get to call him my husband soon," Andrinn said with a chuckle, remembering everything that had happened over the last few months to a year and a half since he joined the crew. So much had happened to several people and Andrinn was glad to still be onboard to make a difference.

Sam grasped Andrinn's hand again and brought it to his lips, "Me too!" Looking at the list on Andrinn's PaDD he asked, "Do you want to have a big wedding? Like, lots of invited people? Or do you like something maybe smaller? Fewer people but close friends?"

"Maybe somewhere in the middle? Plus, would we want to wait a little bit to see if we can make it back to our own galaxy before too long, so that we can invite family and friends from back home? Or did we want to go ahead and get it done now, so that we could be officially married? I'd rather get it done sooner rather than later, but I wouldn't mind waiting a little bit to see what happens," Andrinn asked, curious to see what Sam thought about the whole thing.

He thought about it a second and said, "Yeah. Sounds good. Well....we could do two. Double the number of gifts for us."

He nudged Andrinn a bit at his joke.

Andrinn couldn't help but chuckle when he heard Sam talk about doubling up of the gifts. He leaned over and whispered, "Maybe, we don't our families back home that we got gifts yet and see what they get us." He jabbed Sam's ribs a little bit to try and play into the joke, but Andrinn could tell it didn't land entirely perfect.

He smiled and guffawed and rolled his eyes. He was only teasing. Sam continued, "Here in Circinus we could do an 'elopement'? Kind of a smaller affair just for well...whomever wants to come? And when we get back home then we can tell everone else. But, I'm happy with whatever you want. I just want to see you happy" he grinned back playfully at Andrinn and put his feet up on the seat of the chair opposite. He crossed his arms over his chest as he set back in the chair and said with some satisfaction, "My old man thought having a Marine for a son was bad. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees you and me together." He snortled.

"What? Does he think that two guys that are dating would come in, twirling like ballerinas? Cause, I can do a good ballerina act if he wants me to and I could even do a twirl for him if that would make him feel any better!" Andrinn replied, chuckling at the mere thought of anyone hating on one another, especially in this day and age.

Sam got a good laugh at the idea, "You'd look good in tights!" He grinned back at him, "We'll put that idea in the 'maybe' pile?"

Andrinn had to think back to the time when he was younger and that people thought that offworlders were the devil back on the Trill homeworld when Andrinn was a young man. That's why Andrinn tried to make light-hearted efforts at making life better for those around him with little bits of joking around like that.

"I think...honestly...that my dad and my mom, my family, they will like you. Right from the start. It may take a little getting used too though. My mom wants grandkids like...when I was twenty-one. I'm doing a great job of fulfilling her wishes huh?" Sam reached for Andy's hand, "What else is on your list?"

Andrinn squeezed Sam's hand and thought about what else there was to do to plan for the wedding, as well as everything that went with it. "Well, we'd have to see where we could do it, especially if we're getting eloped first and then having a truly grand wedding later on. The food for the guests and ourselves are big. Plus, we've got to think about the whole traditions of Earth, El-Auria, and Trill for weddings. I know, that's a lot. Any ideas on that stuff?" Andrinn asked, curious as to see what Sam wanted and what would make him happy.

"Hmmm...I don't know. I want to help. But, I don't know those other traditions. And I don't want you to have to do all the planning. Elope is just an idea. I just..." he looked at Andy and their eyes met, "...I just want to make you happy. Before - - before anything happens to either of us. We're going to get home man. I believe it. I know it. I trust the Commodore and the XO. We're getting home. I would be happy with just us, the Commodore or the XO and a few witnesses you know? I want to marry you Andrinn Orin. I want to marry the hell out of you."

Andrinn just couldn't help but smile before leaning over to kiss Sam gently. After leaning back and savoring the moment with Sam, Andrinn replied, "We're going to make it out of all of this. Nobody is going to end up as some slave on some distant world, or worse. We're going to make a difference in a far off land and save some people in the process. How does that sound you big goof? Especially for a wedding present!"

"Mmmm...yes sir Consul sir. Sign me up for that!" he said as he returned the kiss.

Andrinn slapped Sam on the stomach before going back to thinking about the whole wedding. He kicked his feet up and looked back over at Sam before replying, "It would be nice to just have the wedding beforehand and have something with the people we truly care about onboard. It doesn't have to be large or small. I just want the people in our lives onboard to have some part of it first and everyone else have their moment once we get back to the Federation. You know?"

"Yeah man...zzzzactly what I'm sayin'. I do know. People going to be like, 'Well...I know Andrinn. I mean look at him; who wouldn't want to know that beefy stud. And they'll be lookin' at me like; 'Why is the waiter up there too?'"
He looked over at Andrinn and said, "Yeah...yeah...don't roll your eyes at me Andrinn Orin. And I also know that with all the people that you know on the ship, your side of the aisle is going to be standing room only" he was grinning playfully as he noodled Andy.

"Dude, shut up before I have to kiss you to make you shush it, and that's an order mister," Andrinn said in a teasing way as he finished up the last bit of his drink.

"You want another?" Sam asked as he rose to his feet to get another round of drinks.

Andrinn just shook his head in the affirmative as Sam took the empty glasses to the replicator to recycle them back for extra power and all that jazz. Andrinn wasn't an engineer or an ops officer, so he wasn't sure exactly what happened when the replicator was used, except for that it offered up many, many things to people who used it.

Placing the empty glasses into the replicator and pressing the 'recycle' button caused the replicator to dematerialize the drinkware. Sam keyed in Andy's previous drink and it appeared. For his own beverage he said, "Coffee, black and strong." And automagically a mug complete with USS Elysium logo materialized. Sam took it and sipped it on the way back over to the table. "Here you go..." he set Andy's drink down and then sat next to him. "OK, so. Medium sized, with lots of our friends and whoever feels like coming. So, where? How about the arboretum? I know that it got pretty messed up when the ship hit the filament. But, I saw it yesterday and its looking really good. Unless you feel like we should use the holodeck? Arboretum is free. No power drain other than lights and air." He took a sip of his coffee as he settled back into the seat and put his feet back up on the adjacent chair.

"Well, we could do it down there, but the holodecks have their own independent systems. So, the holodecks might be able to help keep the drain off the main systems. However, they wouldn't have to worry making extra oxygen down there, since the trees are down. How many of the trees were left intact down there? Do you know?" Andrinn asked as he took a few sips of the drink that Sam brought over to him. Andrinn thought about all the places that the wedding for the group could be done, so that everyone could have the best possible seat, the best food, the best....everything possible. So many questions, but Andrinn wanted it to be dang perfect for Sam.

Sam shrugged, "I'm sure that most of the trees survived. I'd have to look back in the logs but I don't think it even decompressed. Yeah, I remember reading one of the reports that they had to go through the arboretum." He took a swig of his coffee and said, "What setting would you pick if we did the holodeck?" he asked. Sam's accent was slight and hard to place. Sometimes he sounded lik ehe had a transpacific accent. But when he said "holodeck" and it sounded like a south eastern accent from Earth with "holladeck" - - he wasn't even aware he had an accent. "I mean, if you could pick anything, anywhere at any time?"

"Know something that could be cool for our wedding, if we do it down in the Arboretum?"

Sam wrapped an arm around him and rested his head against Andy's shoulder.
"Tell me. What would be cool?"

"If we had the people that came pick a tree sapling or seed to have planted, so that it could replace the ones that were lost? Make that apart of our wedding gifts to help the ship back out, alongside the regular gifts that they might want to give to us or something?" Andrinn asked, curious as to what Sam might have to say about his corny idea.

"Yeah...oh hell yeah! I like it. I wonder if we could plant any of the seeds that the Botanists collected? The ones we got from 'Popsicle One' when we first arrived?" Sam shivered as he thought about the cold that was constantly biting at him. He remembered the overwhelming tiredness of being constantly cold. He took another gulp of coffee to chase the cold and the memory away. Then he kissed Andrinn on the cheek, "I think the idea is bitchin'. Let's do it."

"God, you truly are younger than I am. I don't think I've heard anything like that in quite some time," Andrinn replied, chuckling a bit to himself as he heard the way that Sam talked for a moment. Andrinn kissed Sam back on the cheek and whispered, "I'm glad that we're getting married and we get to plan something smaller before the whole bigger thing happens."

"You aren't that old. I've seen MRE's older than you bud!" Sam teased back.
He looked back at him with love in his eyes, "And me too. You make me very happy" he said as he looked back at him. Sam lifted his right hand and lightly touched Andy's chin. The computer chimed at them with it monotone voice, =A= The time is 16:00 hours. =A=

"I have to report for duty in an hour" Sam said as he reached for the PaDD on the table in front of them. "OK, so. We have a location in the Arboretum - maybe - gotta get the OK from Operations I assume? We'll run the plantings idea up the flagpole and see if that's OK. Who's coming? Should we just...make our individual lists and then merge them?" He said as he started making a list of the things he had to do.

Andrinn's COMM badge beeped, =A= Operations to Consul Orin =A=

Andrinn tapped his combadge and replied, "This is Consul Orin. Go ahead."

=A= Sorry to disturb you Consul Orin but the refurbished conference table is finished and ready for your inspection and approval. =A=

Andrinn just chuckled and replied back, "Well, give me a few minutes and I'll be up there to check it out." Andrinn tapped his combadge again to close the comms before looking over at Sam, kissing him before saying, "Well, looks like I've got a conference table to check out as well. Would you want to meet up for breakfast in the morning before I head in for my shift?"

He nodded, "Yeah, sure. I could eat. Just let me know when you're off and I'll meet you. Wherever you want. It's been a while since I been on Deck Ten anyway." Sam gave Andy a hug, "Have a good night, sleep well?" Then he asked, "Uhm...Is that the same conference table that we...y'know?" then he made a sound like two pieces of wood rubbing together on a rusty spring mattress, "Rrrr--eeeee---rrrr---eeee---rrr" he asked him as he drained the last of his coffee.

[OFF:]