Posted by Lieutenant Kiama Naim (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: Friends and good food -what else does one need?

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Side Sim: Friends and good food -what else does one need?

Posted by Lieutenant Kiama Naim (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: Friends and good food -what else does one need?
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Reaching across the table, Kiama placed her hand on Faye’s and looked her friend in the eye. “I’d be willing and honoured to help you in every possible. I can handle complicated, messy and unpleasant. And I know my own limits and when to ask for a break if needed.” She gave Faye’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Thank you for your trust. I know that I don’t even know half of what you’ve been through in your life, and that is okay, but I can imagine that it doesn’t come easy. Which makes your trust and our friendship even more precious to me.” Smiling softly, Kiama pulled her hand away and reached for a her glass as she let silence fall between them again. She had an idea how she might be able to help and she was willing to do, no matter how difficult it might be fore herself. She’d just have to prepare and put a few more of her own safety nets in place. Then she should be fine.

~Lt. Naim, CSO

Faye nodded and picked up her fork, digging back into the curry. For her, trust was shown in sometimes unusual ways. WIth Kiama it was typically exactly what had been happening here: sharing. “Not all of it was bad… that mission. I met some truly wonderful people, one of whom I can say without a doubt changed my life. He was an elderly Romulan man who taught me to meditate,” Faye said with a warm smile. “I miss him, and wish I could find out what happened to him, but if there is one thing I know for certain, it is regardless of the Federation’s relationship with the Romulans, I can never cross that border or my life is forfeit.”

~Faye Calloway

Kiama smiled softly and thought about that for a moment. Eventually she asked, “Could you try and find in a different way? Talk to someone with contacts if they can find out anything? Can I help in someway?” She assumed that Faye had already thought about those possibilities and at the same time it had been her experience that her friend sometimes had almost tunnel vision and saw only one outcome or solution a problem. So even she couldn’t personally do anything to find out, maybe asking those questions would be helpful.

~Lt. Naim, CSO

Faye nodded slowly. “I’ve asked but it’s… complicated. But if they say I can tell you more than I hope it’ll make more sense. The trick to it all is that my friend has a need to stay… hidden. It’s likely after my capture that he is elsewhere and given what it took to find him and his friends in the first place, well”-Faye grinned-“I would imagine that it would take a similar endeavour to find him once more.” If any of them were still alive. There was always the possibility that they were not.

~Faye Calloway

Kiama leaned slightly back in her chair and nodded thoughtfully. “I can see why that would make things even more complicated,” she replied and then added with a soft smile, “I hope one day you’ll be able to find out what happened to him and that you’ll get a chance to reconnect in some way.” She knew it was a tall order and as things were right now chances probably weren’t high that her hopes would come true. Yet in her opinion there was nothing wrong with hoping any way.

~Lt. Naim, CSO

Having gotten through most of her curry, Faye nudged her plate to the side and folded her arms on the table. “Me too,” she said. Faye shrugged. “But it is what it is. If there’s anything I’ve learned lately it that just have to go with things a little bit.”

Kiama nodded and smiled softly as she finished her last forkful of curry.

Faye considered Kiama fora moment, her eyes searching with an undercurrent of curiosity. “Do you find yourself to be a hopeful person, on the whole I mean?”

~Faye Calloway

“Yes,” Kiama replied without missing a beat. “There have been times when I felt hopeless and like I was in depth of despair. Or times when I get too much into my own head to see that there might be an outcome that isn’t total disaster. At the same time I rarely stay in that sort of head space too long.” Tilting her head, her dark eyes slightly narrowed, she pondered for a moment before she continued. “I was born with a lot of privilege and that privilege gave me a certain perspective on life. At the same time none of the things I really wanted were offered to me on a silver platter. I had to work hard for my goals and yet I also know that I always had a lot of support in one way or another. It made me believe for the longest time that if you work hard enough, you can reach any goal. To a certain degree I still believe that and I also know that it’s much more complicated and complex than that. Another reason, I think, why I have a fairly hopeful outlook on life is that I’ve made the experience over and over again, that no matter how difficult and traumatising things might be, it will eventually get better. Not necessarily good or a happily ever after kind of end, but better.” Dropping her gaze, Kiama inhaled deeply and for a moment pondered if she should continue or not as she didn’t want to drag the mood down. But Faye had shares so much with her that evening and she wanted to do the same, show the same trust.

Though Kiama wasn’t looking at her just then, Faye found herself nodding. That seemed to be how many people found their way through difficult things. Maybe it was the nuance she struggled with. Still she wanted to hear what Kiama had to say and kept any rambling thoughts to herself for the moment.

Looking up again, Kiama continued softly, “I was only 9 years when the Dominion occupied Betazed and yet I still remember every moment of it very clearly. The fear, the hopelessness, the anger for not being told what was going on. We lost a during that time. Not only buildings and people, we lost a part of who we are by the way we fought back. Our strongest telepaths, my mother and grandmother among them, used there abilities to fight back. Something that was unimaginable till then. It could have been even worse if the other plan hadn’t failed, but it was still bad enough. I could look at that time in my life and see only the negative. All the pain and the less than perfect outcome. Or I look at the fact that the Occupation ended and while not all was well and still isn’t, it got better and it’s still getting better.”

~Lt. Naim, CSO

“It changes you,” Faye said softly. “The violence. The fear. I don’t know what it’s like to live through an occupation, but I grew up with those that did. The fear of that happening to us is a lot of why we fought back, regardless of how murky it made things for the politicians. I know they were trying to keep a tenuous peace, but it felt very much like we were considered collateral damage. It’s hard to come out of that level of… devastation unscathed. As hard as it is, I think the place I’m coming to right now is that I am one of the few that survived so I am someone who can tell their story. Not the cut and dry one those who hated the Maquis liked to share. But the real story, about the real people. Like me. Like my mom. And on your side, like your mother and grandmother.” Faye scrutinized Kiama for a moment but held the next thought that came to mind and took a sip instead. Progress!

~Faye Calloway