Highland Games II: You're a long time deid

Posted on Sat Jul 28th, 2018 @ 6:52pm by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Commander Fiona McCray
Edited on on Sat Jul 28th, 2018 @ 7:29pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Future Tense
Location: McCray Ancestral Home, Eilean Donan, Scotland
Timeline: 2285
Tags: Scotland

Char turned slowly to see just who had come upon them so quietly... but the voice was a dead giveaway. She knew that voice, because she'd grown accustomed to it at a similar pitch, but a slightly different intonation. The accent was perhaps a bit lesser, but there was still no mistaking it. This would be the matriarch of Clan McCray.

The woman standing there was a handsome creature, fine boned and regal, who wore her age well. Her thick red curls were woven into a practical 'up do' and threaded with thick veins of white and silver. She was dressed in a plain grey pair of well tailored trousers and a thick turtleneck of a paler silver. A tartan shawl was slung around her shoulders and she was flanked on either side by a pair of enormous shaggy grey dogs.

Clear feline green and gold eyes took in every inch of Char's being and Bonnie McCray's lips pursed. "You know... you really could have called ahead. We would have sent a hover," she said sternly to Fi's back. She looked both women over critically. "You've both lost weight."

"Hullo Mum..." Fiona said quietly, "I'm home."

At those words Bonnie McCray simply opened her arms and her daughter went to them, like a magnet to steel. She smiled slightly over the top of Fi's head and prompted sharply, "Well, girl... don't just stand there like a lump... come here! And where's little Selune?"

"She's doing some simulator time Mum... she may be along in a day or two," Fiona mumbled from inside the hug.

Uncertain of how to proceed, Charybdis walked over and extended her hand. "It is an honor to meet you ma'am..." she began before the matriarch gave the extended hand a light slap and drew Charybdis into a tight embrace. "Oh, bollocks to that!" she said sternly. "We're nae formal here."

The startled scientist took the hug, then returned it, settling into it. This was not her own mother, lost to the decades and distance and destiny, and she was still a bit apprehensive, but in that moment the full weight of what she hadn't realized she had been carrying since they awoke in the present lifted from her shoulders in the arms of a mother, and she sighed, relieved of a burden she hadn't even been conscious that she bore.

Such was the power of a mother's embrace.

"Thank you," she managed to squeak out amongst her sniffles.

Bonnie held on to both young women for a long moment then let them go with a sharp sniff of her own. "Alright... there should be breakfast inside. These two brutes are Oberon and Puck. Don't let them intimidate you." The wolfhounds sat in the same place they'd been in since Char had turned around, "they're really just big babies."

Mopping at her eyes Char nodded. Was this why the Vulcans avoided emotion? So that they could prevent feeling awkward in social situations? She somehow doubted it, but it was certainly a possibility in her mind right this moment. She knelt down to look one of the massive hounds in the eye, and the dog looked at her indifferently. She held out her hand and the canine did not appear to care. When she moved to scratch his muzzle, the dog began to growl.

"Whist Puck!" Bonnie ordered sharply, "Don't be afraid. They haven't bitten anyone yet, but you have show them who's boss every now and again." The elderly woman still had one arm around her daughter and with them standing close together Char could see the family resemblance despite the elder McCray being several inches taller than her elfin offspring.

"Talk to them like you would an unruly ensign," she encouraged.

She glanced up at the matriarch, then fixed her gaze on the dog and knitted her brows together. "Dowwwwn," she intoned in her voice of command, and the hound did not budge. "Down," she repeated, and when the dog did not lie down she swept his front paws out from under him with one hand and set the other atop him once he was down to keep him there. "Good down." she said, and stroked his back.

She looked to Oberon and raised an eyebrow. "Down," she said, and he settled himself down easily. "Good dogs!" she exclaimed, then stood up and snapped her fingers, "Arright," she expressed and they sat back up cheerfully.

"Breakfast actually sounds divine, ma'am... apparently Starfleet believes that one egg and a strip of protein bacon and a cracker constitutes breakfast," Char expressed, and began to head toward the smell of eggs, bacon, ham and pancakes... and coffee. She had really missed coffee, she suddenly realized as she double-timed off faster than Fiona could keep up.

They had crossed the galaxy and two decades just to see one another again... Charybdis wanted to give them their privacy for a few moments. She did not know what they would have to say to one another... but it was not for her pointy ears to hear.


"It's good to have my girls home..." it was pitched loud enough for Char to overhear. "I had stopped believing in miracles a long time ago." The rest of the conversation dipped lower and the captain lost track of it as she entered the open door of the main keep, but it seemed she was welcomed... and that was a miracle in and of itself. She was beginning to see where her friend got it from, and she was feeling much better about having accompanying her.

The foyer was almost big enough to park a shuttlecraft in. The floor was weathered wood, polished to a smooth luster and piled with thick rugs of varying ages. The walls had been plastered over and were painted a mellow golden shade somewhere between taupe and yellow. The furnishings were well cared for but slightly shabby around the edges from having endured centuries of McCrays. Halls led off on either side of the foyer To the right through an open archway was a library, in which Char could smell pipe tobacco and books. To her left she heard voices and the air was redolent with the mingled aromas of cinnamon, coffee and bacon.

Tobacco and books was intriguing, but Starfleet had been starving her, and she really wanted to eat a small country right now in revenge, so she followed her nose. At this point she would have been satisfied with just a pot of coffee, but it smelled like much more was in store for her...

The first room through the left hand arch was evidently a family sitting room. There were overstuffed chairs and a brown leather couch with a throw on it. The floor had a scattering of children's toys on it and a rough hewn stone fireplace took up half of one wall. The rest of the wall space contained bookshelves, paintings and a wild assortment of hand to hand weapons including what had to be a Klingon Bat'leth.

An open double door led to a large dining room, where set a table which looked like it would seat about 30 in addition to the cluster of about 20 people already gathered at the end closest to this room's fireplace. There was a sideboard filled with covered dishes that a short line of people were helping themselves to- evidently the McCray's were early risers. Most of them were most definitely McCrays- they had the signature red curls and feline eyes of her friend.

Seated at the head of the table attempting to spoon food into the mouth of a curly haired moppet was a barrel-chested man in a tweed jacket, deep ivory colored turtleneck and a kilt. His hair and beard were almost totally white and his face was craggy with wrinkles. But Charybdis could tell that in his youth the man had been, as Fi would put it, dead sexy. Even now as he made ridiculous faces trying to get the infant to eat his moosh, he had an aura of quiet strength about him. Evidently he'd been keeping one eye on the door because the moment Char stepped over the threshold he looked straight at her and grinned broadly.

As she had been seeing a version of that grin every day since she had bumped into the wee engineer on the vessel that was to change their lives, she had become quite familiar with that expression. "Don't joost stan' there like a lump, gurl!" he boomed. "Grab a plate and shove tha big louts outta yer way or ye'll have nae sausages!"

At that, every head turned towards her... it was, in truth, a bit intimidating. But after having encountered Fiona's rather impressive mother, she was somehow less disquieted by anything else that her best friend's clan might offer. She waved broadly and smiled her most winning smile, then expressed in a voice that she knew would carry, "Hail the hall!" It might not have been the proper etiquette, but it at least showed them that she was no shrinking violet.

Her greeting was returned with a hearty multipart harmonied, "Failte!" and a somewhat longer, "cad mle filte!"

Apparently not as far off as she might have thought, and she grinned her lopsided grin... what would work for Fiona apparently would work for her kith and kin. A somewhat slightly built male version of Fiona came over to her with his hands outstretched, "Don't let us spook you, we don't bite unless asked nicely," he said with a warm and gentle smile, "You must be Chary, I'm Wallace."

For the life of her she couldn't remember if Fiona had ever mentioned him... which was rare, given that her memory was a faithful recorder, but she was a bit out of sorts right at the moment, so she just smiled and nodded. "I must be... not too many pointy-eared alien types about, so I'm a pretty safe bet for the smilin' Vulcan!"

"Don't let Da intimidate you, he growls..." Char found herself swept into the serving line a plate pressed into her hands. Several of the smaller McCrays immediately surrounded her acting as impromptu sherpas under the guidance of "Unca Wally." They bickered and jostled like a bunch of good natured puppies all talking at once, and it was almost impossible to follow the flow of conversation or to tell them all apart. Her plate became plates as everyone was determined that she try a bit of each of their favorite dishes, and she didn't want to disappoint- besides, she really could eat a horse right now if it came with a cup of coffee... then she got her coffee and a large glass of milk and a glass of orange juice to boot.

There was nearly a scuffle over whether or not she was going to have to have cider as well but she indicated quite clearly it wouldn't be breakfast without it, which made some happy and some were put out. Wallace waded in and sent the combatants scrambling to the table with her 'extrys'. He was obviously fighting back a grin at her expense. "It's a bit like feeding time at the zoo," he said quietly, "and we're nae even full force yet... Fi didna warn ye did she?" For a moment he paused, his jaw worked and he swallowed hard blinking moisture out of his eyes. "Sorry," he muttered, "It's... joost... laird"

While she may not have known the man and she could barely conceive of what he was feeling, she knew that her best friend loved these people more than life itself. "I'm sorry Wallace... I know it has to be hard... I can only imagine, really." She stroked his back with her hand and squeezed his shoulder. "I wish I had something better to say but... all the way here I tried to practice what to say to people but... what can be said?"

Wallace cleared his throat, "It's no yer fault, lass," he said softly then chuckled, "we gave ye a fine send off, ya shuid have been here. Twas truly grand."

His words made perfect sense, but they struck a chord within her. This huge family... and all that she could imagine was what they had gone through losing one of their own, and now she was putting them through this. The future was fine for her... but this was the damage that their accident had caused. She had to fix it. Surely there must be a way... if travel forward was possible, then she should be able to reverse it...

Apparently her thoughts made their way clearly across her face, because from the way that people were looking at her she must have appeared rather miserable.

 

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