Hello, Kitty! - Part 2

Posted on Sat Jan 10th, 2026 @ 12:57pm by Commander Scarlet Blake & Civilian Lily Blake & Petty Officer 2nd Class Khlynt Medan

1,476 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Prologue: To Boldly Go
Location: Lounge
Timeline: Day 13

[PREVIOUSLY]

"I knew it!" she smiled with delight before taking the plate carefully, biting her lip in concentration. "Uncles like sugar...I bet Daddies don't..."

[CONTINUED]

Khlynt chuckled softly and replicated her a small glass of juice, plus tea and a slice of loaf cake for himself. "Let's sit down," he said and led her with him, sitting down by the view. "Well...when I was a Daddy, I...spoiled my daughter. I was away a lot. Her mother...she was the one who would mostly tell her what to do. And her teachers."

"What's her name?" the girl asked with open curiosity, her legs swinging lightly where she sat as she dragged a finger through the soft, pink icing...the quickest delivery method for getting delicious icing into her mouth.

He sipped his tea, the mint fresh in his mouth, removing the taste of ash. He put the cup down and glanced at her. "Aurea. Her name was Aurea," he said softly before he shook his head. "Is the icing nice?" he asked and broke off a piece of his loaf cake to eat.

"Mmmmm...." she nodded, eagerly scooping up more before giving him a brilliant smile. "The bestest cakes are my Aunty Aria's. She makes the biggest...fluffiest...scrummiest cakes! 'Specially if she's saying sorry...I think cakes are the best sorry..."

Khlynt chuckled as he looked at her, his eyes shining with the smile. He smiled back. "Sounds like you are really lucky, to have a good baker as an aunt. I am more for...making savoury things. But..." he watched her and then shook his head. "I used to bake these biscuits many, many years ago."

"Biscuits? I love biscuits!" Lily leant forward to rest her arms and chin on the table, watching him with wide, blue eyes. "Can you make them? Can I help you make them?"

He looked at her with surprise before he took another bite of his loaf cake. "How about we ask your mother?" he suggested, his eyes gentle. "She does not know me yet. And it is important that a mother knows the people her child spends time with."

"But she's your boss..." Lily tilted her head with confusion, her face the picture of a child who couldn't understand why something so simple wasn't obvious.

"Yes but..." he smiled gently, his eyes gentle as he watched the girl's confusion. "She doesn't know me yet since it is such a big ship. There's so many people here and I am...well, I am new to her. So, it is important that she gets to know me, especially if I am going to spend time with you. Same way that she would have met and talked to your teachers."

"Teachers are nice," she grinned before scooping up more icing, her legs swinging faster with contentment. "Thought they'd be...big, scary, wicked wizards, but they're smiley clever wizards."

He gave her a small smile at that, nodding as he sipped his drink. "Teachers have a lot to teach," he said as he looked at her. "I'm glad that you like them." He wanted to tell her to think for herself. To not trust all she was being taught...but she was so young. And it wasn't his place.

"I can't *wait* to tell them all my stories," she grinned, leaning forward eagerly to watch him with wide, blue eyes. "I have soooooo many! The unicorn and the dinosaur...the knight that was purple...the mean old goose...Nelly and the space dragon...the happiest star...the tasty cloud..."

Khlynt smiled as he listened, his eyes warm with it. The joy of the stories, the clear imagination this little girl kept. He nodded, slowly, searching her eyes. "There's so many stories out there," he said softly. Some were just stories, full of joy. Maybe he'd tell her one of those, one day. Nothing with a moral beyond joy...stories like the scorpion and the frog did not belong in this girl's world. He glanced up as he saw Captain Blake walk over, sitting back slowly with a small smile.

"Lily, you know full well you're not meant to leave the quarters on your own..." Scarlet settled her arms into a folded position across her chest as she advanced to the table, watching her with a barely concealed sigh.

Lily looked to her with wide eyes, biting on her lower lip. Because she was right, she did know that. "But...cat..."

Khlynt looked over at Lily, at the worry on her face, and stood, looking at Blake with a small and disarming smile. "Lily was concerned she heard a cat and that it was lost," he said, meeting her eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Blake."

Scarlet let out a long, tight breath, her arms dropping as she willed herself to let go of the concern and frustration. "Counsellor," she nodded lightly towards Khlynt, knowing who he was from his file. "Cub, it couldn't have been a cat, and even if it was, that's no excuse to go wandering off alone..."

Lily pursed her lips with regret, pretty sure it was a telling off. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth, her legs swinging a little quicker. "Sorry, Mummy..."

As another sigh escaped Scarlet, the last of her concern and frustration drained at seeing the girl's worry. She leant close, kissing the girl's hair reassuringly. "It's okay, Cub," she whispered, squeezing her shoulder. "Thank you, Mister Medan, for rescuing our wayward traveller..."

"Khlynt...please," he said as he met her eyes, a small smile coming to him as his eyes went to Lily. "And it was a pleasure, although...I don't think she needed rescuing as much as a spot of company on her adventure."

"And snacks," Lily's grin had returned with the confidence of a child that realised she was out of trouble.

He laughed warmly at that, nodding as he sat down. "And snacks. Blood sugar is very important for adventure..." he said before he gave Blake a nod. "Perhaps you'd like something to drink, Captain?"

Scarlet hesitated, unsure for a moment. She knew there was a certain distance required of the Captain, and she also knew her temptation to be pulled into the Counselling sphere would be exacerbated by spending time with Khlynt. Still, there was no real harm to be done...and then there was Lily, staring at her with pleading eyes because she hadn't finished her sugar mountain yet. "I'm fine, thank you," she took a seat all the same, pulling it closer to her daughter. "Besides, it seems like Lily has cleared out my sugar ration for a year..."

He smiled at that, nodding as he looked over at Lily. "I am sure a quick run back to the quarters will help burn some sugar," he said, but teasingly to Lily. He couldn't stop it, a tug on his very being to make the little girl smile feeling almost overwhelming for a moment.

"Or find that kitty cat..." Lily grinned, reaching eagerly for the lavish drink, pulling it close. She wrestled with the straw, finally managing to get it to bend to her will without froth going everywhere.

"Cub, there's no cat," Blake repeated firmly but with patience, shaking her head with a soft laugh at the insistence. She looked to Khlynt with a helpless shrug. "Usually it's dragons or unicorns...sometimes even knights or warlocks...but a cat is a new one."

Khlynt chuckled softly, shaking his head at that before he winked to Lily. "Cats are clever creatures," he said softly. He met Scarlet's eyes, taking a deeper breath. When he spoke, his voice was soft...the voice of a storyteller. "Ships have had cats for as long as humans have been sailing on the seas. It was good luck, if a cat chose your ship to live on....an omen of fair waters and travels..." he looked at Lily before he chuckled. "Although a starship is a bit more difficult to get on than a ship on the sea."

Lily watched him with awe, her eyes wide with curiosity as she kicked her legs lightly. "Ooo...you have stories...I like stories...will you tell me stories?"

"If your mother doesn't mind...of course," he said with a small smile, looking over at Blake. "I can tell many stories of faraway worlds. Of princesses and princes...not many dragons though. Not met one yet."

Blake couldn't help a slight smile at the way he had put it. He was good with her. It made her look at him in a new light. "So long as you're prepared to tell a lot of them," she warned, and she wasn't joking.


OFF:

PO2 Khlynt Medan
Counsellor
[PNPC Hanlon]

Commander Scarlet Blake
Commanding Officer

Lily Blake
Civilian Child
[PNPC Blake]

 

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