Big news and an even bigger surprise

Posted on Tue Dec 11, 2018 @ 8:44am by Lieutenant JG Logan Hunter & Commodore Michael Aravan & Lieutenant Commander Kelani Tetanal

Mission: On Slippery Ground
Location: CAG's Office
Timeline: MD 1 || 1145 hours

Logan sat in what was now his new office, still only known by himself and the Commodore. Even his promotion to Lieutenant, junior grade was not yet common knowledge. He had wanted to swing by and give Kelani the news, but the Commodore expected his proposal noon at the latest. It slipped his mind that he was supposed to meet Kelani at 1130 hours for lunch until the office door opened and he saw her standing there.

Kelani was puzzled and a bit worried. Logan had never been late for their dates, but this time he was. She decided to go search for him, and found him in the CAG office. Puzzled, she waited until he looked up and saw her.

“Is everything all right, my Logan?” she asked. “It is unlike you to be tardy....”

Kelani's appearance in the office doorway was a bit of a startle for Logan. It was a moment before he processed what was going on. His eyes widened. "Lunch, right, 1130 hours. I must have lost all track of time." He turned his head to look at the proposal draft he'd been working on all morning, revealing the new rank pip on his collar.

Kelani saw the new rank pip on Logsn’s collar and her eyes widened, then a delighted smile appeared.

“You have been promoted!” She exclaimed. “This is wonderful!” She paused for a moment, then asked, “You have new duties, yes?”

Logan nodded as he touched the two rank pips on his collar. He then gestured at the computer screen. "Commodore Aravan asked me what I thought would be the best way to resolve the air wing's problem of manpower shortages. I gave him my opinion and he pretty much promoted me on the spot. He said to submit my recommendations, that's why I missed our lunch date." He gave Kelani an apologetic glance. "Sorry about that."

Kelani smiled, saying, “We can change it to a dinner date, perhaps? You must finish this, and then we shall see.” She moved to Logan, gently touching his hand as she told him, “When you finish, contact me and we shall decide what we shall do for dinner, yes?”

Logan gave a gentle squeeze of Kelani's hand as he nodded. He smiled and winked at her. "I've actually already planned on dinner tonight. I made reservations for us at that restaurant you like and scheduled some holodeck time for us afterwards."

Kelani smiled and squeezed Logan’s hand in return. “That sounds wonderful my Logan.” She sighed and released his hand, saying, “I must return to my duties also. Contact me at the end of the shift?”

Logan held on to Kelani's hand. Their lunch hour was nearly half over, but there was still time to at least grab a snack at one of the kiosk stands on the Promenade deck. Maybe even hold to his deadline too. His free hand reached up to tap his combadge. "Commodore Aravan, this is Ensign... I mean Lieutenant Hunter, could you please meet Lieutenant Tetanal and I on the Promenade deck. I have the proposal prepared for your review."

In his office, Michael blinked when he got the message from the new squadron commander, then raised an eyebrow. He tapped his combadge and tried not to let the irritation he felt enter his voice. =^=Mr. Hunter. I'm very busy at the moment. It's also standard procedure to enter it via computer and send it to me. Aravan out.=^=

Logan held his breath for a moment as it donned on him he had made a serious gaffe in contacting a flag officer over a personnel reassignment issue directly.

Kelani tried to keep the surprise from her face as she listened to Logan make the call to the Commodore. Once he finished, she asked, “Are you sure, my Logan? I do not wish you to feel pressured by me....”

"I was just looking over it when you walked in the door anyway." He sent a copy of his proposal from the work terminal to the main server for the Commodore's review as he sent a courtesy copy his PADD as he linked his device to the terminal. "Another few minutes would not have made a difference anyway."

Kelani nodded slowly, saying, “As long as you are sure—I must admit that I would like to spend some small time with you....”

Logan smiled at Kelani as he rose from his chair, pulling the duty jacket slung on the back of the chair. He gave a slight spin to the jacket as he slid one arm into the right sleeve and a small black felt box fell out of the pocket and right on to the middle of his desk. He froze in position, one arm in the jacket, the other arm hanging out.

Kelani’s eyebrows rose as the black box landed on Logan’s desk. Her puzzlement deepened st Logan’s reaction.

“What is it, my Logan?” She asked, concerned. “You seem—taken aback—by that box appearing....”

Logan slid his other arm into his jacket before picking up the box. He took a deep breath as he looked into Kelani's eyes. "Um, I wanted to do this tonight, but I guess there's no time like the present." He sank to one knee as he flipped the lid open on the box to reveal a gold-pressed lantinum ring set with a large Pacifica Sea Crystal setting. "I have been wanting to ask you something for a while now. Seeing how happy the Colonel and Major were on their big day got me to thinking how much I really wanted to ask you, so...Kelani Tetanal...will you marry me?"

For a moment, Kelani could neither breathe nor speak. Logan had dropped to one knee and asked her the one thing she had hoped for for a long time. Then the sight of the ring stunned her—it was absolutely beautiful....

She smiled hugely as she felt tears of joy welling into her eyes as she found her voice.

“Yes, my Logan,” she told him as she tugged him to his feet and hugged him tightly. “A thousand times yes!!”

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly.

Logan felt a bit light headed from the kiss, but Kelani had always had that affect on him since the day they had met in the antique shop. He kissed her back in a gentle but lingering manner.

Kelani felt as if she were weightless—her happiness knew no bounds.

As their kiss ended, she watched as Logan slid the ring on her finger, her happy tears finally spilling over.

“I cannot say—I haven’t the words to tell you how happy I am.” She told him. She smiled then, telling him, “I hope that I will be able to concentrate for the rest of this day.”

"You'll do fine." Logan stroked a stray lock of hair from Kelani's cheek. "You're the most talented and amazing woman I know."