It had been only a little over a day since their return to Columbia, and to his surprise, Matthys had to admit he missed the ship. Their away mission, while mostly uneventful, had ended in far more drama than he would have liked – to return to the mundane routine of life on board their Galaxy-class vessel was a welcome feeling. 

Matthys had invited Bollwyn to join him on Holodeck three for their weekly mudbath, except he had changed the normal environment somewhat. Normally – there were other characters in the mix, with a background of noise to compliment the setting. Today he had arranged for fewer background characters, in their place was a small quartette of string players playing some relaxing classical tunes. The painting he had made to recognize his friend for his successful command of their away mission was contained in a floral-textured wrapping paper and placed on an easel to the right of the bath. 

Entering the holodeck, wearing just a T-shirt, shorts, and sandals, Bollwyn was surprised to see the more calming, serene scene before him. Hearing the music being played in the background, Bollwyn was intrigued to see what was going on and what Clark had planned. Walking around a bit, he saw the top of his friend’s head in between branches; he pushed his way through and saw their usual place of relaxation. 

Just as his friend had entered the holodeck, Matthys had stripped and was mid-walk into the bath. He smiled and waved at Bollwyn while he continued his descent into the hot and warm liquid. “Glad you could make it, Samwell.”

“As I told you, I wanted to do this after our little trip to that ocean moon,” Bollwyn remarked as he started to strip. He paused after kicking his footwear off and pulling his top over his head as he noticed the easel with the wrapped canvas on it. “What’s that?” He pointed at. 

“Oh, that…” Matthys wasn’t sure why he was getting butterflies in his stomach now. Not that gifting something personal like that was something he frequented but it was just that, a gift of friendship. “Well – I – I made it for you.”

“For me?” Bollwyn said, surprised at the gesture. “What is it?” He asked as he approached it and gestured if it was okay for him to unwrap it. After Clark gave him a nod, he carefully pulled the paper off it. 

“I know it’s not necessarily practical at the moment but it’s something you can maybe hang up when we get out of those bunks and into larger quarters someday.” Matthys watched intently as his friend unwrapped the painting. He had never shared with Bollwyn that this was his passionate hobby, nor that if he had the choice, he would give up his Starfleet career altogether at a moment’s notice if he could be an artist. 

Staring at the picture, Bollwyn was touched by his friend’s generosity. “Did you paint this yourself, Matthys?” 

“I did. It’s a portrait of the McAllister nebula to commemorate your command of that away mission.” Matthys looked at his friend closely, trying to read his reaction. He had painted this prior to their actual mission, so he was uncertain how he would feel about a reminder of how the actual mission had turned into a marooning on a hostile temperature moon. 

Grinning at it, Bollwyn thanked his friend one more time. “It’s great, and yeah, once we get our own quarters, I’ll make sure it’s the first thing I put up.” He took one more glance at it. “Matthys, you’ve got a real talent there. Why are you in Starfleet?” He asked half-heartedly. 

“Trust me. I would do that all the time if I could…” Matthys’ smile briefly faded, but only for a moment. He didn’t want to sour the moment with his own family drama and struggles.

“Well, don’t give up doing it,” Bollwyn said. “Perhaps you can show me? I was never really arty back on Ventax.”

“I would be happy to give you some lessons. Sounds like a date to me,” Matthys smiled but looked slightly panicked after his brain caught up and he realized what he had labelled the art session as. “I mean, it’ll be a fun connect – not a date like that – yeah.” 

Deciding he couldn’t wait any longer to get into the mud bath, Bollwyn removed his final items and jumped in beside Clark.  Straight away, the soothing feel embraced him like a tight hug. “This is perfection,” He sighed.

“It truly is.” Matthys closed his eyes and sighed in the embrace of the bath as well. “I didn’t think I’d want to be in anything warm after our time on that moon, but this will never get old to me.” 

“Are we still on for drinks later with Mkana and Nitala?” Bollwyn asked as he closed his eyes and sank further into the mud. 

“You’ve always got me in any phrase that has the word drinks in it.” Matthys opened his eyes and looked at his friend with a smile. “They did confirm earlier, so I think we’re a go.”

“At least this time, we don’t need to worry about drinking anymore, Kanar, to be diplomatic,” Bollwyn remarked with a slight smirk. “Here’s to hoping we have a boring few more months, no more away missions with other alien governments.”

“Speaking of that.” Matthys turned slightly and faced Bollwyn straight on. “Despite the fact I adore you. If you ever volunteer me for an away mission like that again. I will shove you out the nearest airlock without a moment’s hesitation.” He tried to maintain a serious expression as he provided the threat to his friend.

As he sank further into the mud, Bollwyn smirked. “Don’t worry, Matty. If I volunteer myself for an away mission any time, I’ll be shoving myself out of the nearest airlock without a moment’s hesitation,” he chuckled before quickly flicking some mud at his friend’s face.