Rays Of Morning Sunshine

Posted on Tue Nov 25th, 2025 @ 4:37am by Lieutenant Nyxala Valentine & Lieutenant Nezuko

2,044 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Return
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: 0700

The breakfast of champions. Or more importantly, the fuel for another day of possibly major occupation in the line of duty. Bacon, sausage, ham, a hearty spinach and mushroom omelette, fried potatoes with peppers, tomatoes and more bacon mixed in, toast with jam and that most important aspect: Coffee. Most people would look at the overflowing plate, then at Nyx and wonder where she was going to put it all, but her thought was: ‘Am I going to need more?’ Gigi, her drakeling, was seated next to her, eyeing Nyx’s breakfast with apparent longing, head extended above the tabletop.

The dark spots under her eyes were obvious, as she’d only snatched an hour of sleep here and there during the night of watching over the patients in sickbay, but she’d replicated a new uniform at least to replace the blood-stained one from the previous day. This one wasn’t as comfortable, but her personal settings hadn’t been downloaded yet and she felt all stuffy and promised she’d replicate something more suitable for her morning run after she checked back in with her minescule staff after the morning meal.

That time came sooner rather than later, because after a quick check of the patients, with no issues going on in their recovery in the forty minutes since she’d left, Nyx had changed into a tank top and running shorts to go along with her running shoes and taken off. There was a purpose to her run, not just to work up a sweat and burn off at least a tithe of the calories she’d just consumed, but a new ship needed to be learned. She’d taken some time the night before to review the schematics of Tokyo, where the dead ends were, medical kits were located, even likely evacuation routes, but knowing where they were and actually seeing them were two different things. Besides, on this particular run, she had another motive. She didn’t want to live in the CMO’s office, so she’d need a set of quarters, especially for when her luggage arrived. That itself had elicited a sigh of relief that her clothes and other Knick-knacks hadn’t been lost in the destruction of Kanna, because they had been delayed in transit.

As she ran, the drakeling flew behind her, mostly coasting on the turbulence Nyx left behind her, with the occasional wing flap to keep up. The ponytail that she’d put her hair up in for the run waggled behind her as made her way through the corridors, her mind ticking off the distance until after about eighteen minutes she altered her path, taking a turbo lift while jogging in place to the amusement of an Ensign, taking back off as the doors opened on deck 7, where the Operations Officer was supposedly at in the computer core location. As she approached the door to that particular room, Nyx slowed to a walk and let the drakeling catch up to a landing on her shoulder, claws gripping the thin strip of fabric on her shoulder to steady herself. Nyx ran one of the terrycloth wristbands she wore across her forehead to wipe the sweat away in a futile gesture, then walked into the room.

The computer upgrades were being implemented, and upgrades such as these needed expert supervision. Ordinarily the junior officers could be trusted with such matters, but these were different. This new software suite was a gift from a literal god. Advances in capabilities that no one in Starfleet dared imagine.

It behooved Nezuko to make sure it happened properly.

The most extensive upgrades would need dedicated hardware, which she and the team would need to build, some parts of which would need to be machined specifically for this project. It would take time. But some of these new capabilities could be implemented within existing systems. Some team members had been working through the night. Nezuko woke up early to oversee some of the hardest parts.

A new face presented itself in the entrance of the computer core chamber. Along with a…reptile of some kind? A flying one. A fellow apex predator. A creature worthy of her respect.

She waved to the new person, smiling behind her respirator.

“Hello!” Nyx greeted the woman in front of her cheerfully, wiping her face again while shaking out her legs so they wouldn’t potentially cramp up, “You must be Lieutenant Nezuko, or at least you’re where she’s supposed to be!” She moved forward hand outstretched, “Lieutenant Nyx Valentine,” She pronounced it ‘Veil-en-teen,’ “I suppose I’m the new ship’s doctor, since my former assignment.” She cut off with the self-reminder of Kanna’s destruction.

Nezuko lowered her head in thoughtful respect for the loss of the Kanna. She had heard tell of the arrival of the new CMO through this tragic circumstance.

She pointed to the flying reptile, as if to seek detail on the delightful creature.

"Oh, her?" Nyx gestured to Gigi on her shoulder, "This is Gigi, she's a Drusselian Drakeling from the world of Drussel. She's a 'pet sized' version of what used to be their war mounts back in their 'Iron Age' and that general period. Mostly found in the wild, but they can be domesticated, though it can be difficult and are constrained primarily to the royalty and high nobility." Nyx reached out with a couple fingers to run them across Gigi's crest to a chirrup of happiness. "Would you like to hold her?"

Nezuko nodded excitedly. She extended her arm forward, holding it aloft as a perch.

Nyx gave a two toned whistle and reached out with her arm and a flick of a wrist and the drakeling climbed out along the arm towards Nezuko, wings close to her back, clearly eyeing the Amphean with interest, cocking her head sideways to get a better view of her. "She's not that heavy, about nine kilos, but she's still growing, will top out at about fifteen and about half again her size. She's pretty well trained and can distinguish between friend and prey, doesn't nibble on people unless commanded to, but it's a very specific command."

The smile behind Nezuko’s respirator widened. Magnificent! She watched as the drakeling made itself comfortable. She moved her other arm closer to support the weight and it curled up, rolling onto its back.

With a free hand she signed what she’d thought a moment earlier. {Magnificent.}

"Isn't she just?" Nyx smiled as the drakeling made herself comfortable in one of the few vulnerable positions for one of her kind. A predator recognizing another predator that wasn't seeking any harm, "One thing's for sure: She likes you! I've only ever seen her do that with a couple others, but it took them a few weeks of her getting used to them. She's partial to belly rubs, but watch out for her claws: I keep them ground down most of the time, but they're constantly growing and she uses them to climb, so I can't reduce them too far." Nyx could go on about Gigi for a long time. She may only have had her for three, three and a half years was it? But they were rarely, if ever, parted.

Nezuko tried to reach for her speaking PADD but with her arms in use it was impossible. So she tried a couple of signs, her hands just mobile enough for slightly more complicated ones, and hoped the new doctor could understand. {How can I help you?}

"Oh, that? Right." Nyx absently signed her words, something subconsciously turning on as the Ops officer signed to her, "I came by because I need a set of quarters... As big as possible and as close to sickbay as possible. I have a fair amount of baggage coming soon."

Oh good, she did understand the signs, at least a little bit, Nezuko thought. She gestured with her arms for Nyx to come and take the lovely drakeling from her.

Obediently and without less than a smirk on her face as she collected Gigi into her own arms, to the annoyance of the drakeling until she ran a few fingers down the soft belly of tiny dragon, eliciting a squirm from the dragon before she righted herself in Nyx's arms and made her way to her accustomed place on the shoulder.

Freed from her new little friend, Nezuko picked up her PADD from a nearby surface. In one window she brought up the ship deck plans; in another was her verbal communication application. “One set of quarters suitable for a senior officer is available on deck four, only two sections away from the sickbay main entrance. I will take you there.” She quickly typed a message in a third window, this one a messaging program, to notify the junior officers she was working with that she was stepping away. “Two decks up. To the turbolift.”

"I appreciate it." Nyx said as she signed still, then realized what she was doing and chuckled, "Old habits die hard, I suppose? We used sign back in the teams when I was still wearing green. But I'm about to betray my ignorance... Clearly you aren't human, but I can't place your species, even though I know I should."

“Amphea,” Nezuko’s PADD said. She smiled at the explanation of why the new doctor had been signing. It wasn’t her same language, but Federation Sign Language, FSL, a language she was fluent in and would use occasionally if it made an interaction easier. For now though she would use her PADD. “Kindly review my species profile before my next physical. Ell-Oh-Ell.”

"Amphean, which means you need a mix of nitrate and um..." Nyx couldn't place it, but it was a noble gas if she remembered it right, "I'll definitely have that looked up by the time you come and see me as well as your complete profile and former examination results." She was embarrassed that she didn't have the information directly on hand, but there wasn't that much she could do about it at this moment.

They reached the turbolift, and Nezuko inputted their destination on a touchscreen near the door. Just a few seconds later they emerged on Deck 4.

Nezuko pointed to a door just to their right, which Nyxala would have recognized as sickbay. She then guided the newcomer a very short distance in the opposite direction, stopping at a door to a crew cabin. She took a second to cross-reference the room number with what was in her PADD and nodded.

"Nice and close to where I'm going to be the rest of my time on the ship?" Nyx asked Nezuko with a laugh, "I think I can handle this. She placed a hand on the console and let it read her palmprint and fingerprints, watching the door slide open, "Want to come in and discover my quarters together? I suppose I should ask if I'm going to find any surprises that a previous occupant left, or will I be getting random gifts from Gigi here for a while?"

Nezuko followed Nyx into her new cabin, which was empty except for basic furniture. "Quarters cleaned out by Ops crew. If you or Gigi find something, please report. If you need something to make it more like home, please ask."

“Will do, Nezuko.” Nyx agreed, with a brief whistle and Gigi launched herself off of her shoulder and began a leisurely flight around the main room, head swiveling around on the long neck as she searched for anything interesting. “I’ll probably switch out some of the furniture with some specially designed stuff that’s more flame resistant and has cubbies for her to play with, but I won’t bother you for any of it.” She spin in the middle of the room, most definitely more luxurious than her old quarters, mostly just more space, but that was valuable to her too, “This is wonderful!”

“Glad you approve.” Nezuko nodded with a smile and waved goodbye.

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