Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Deck 4 Garden- Perspectives

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Deck 4 Garden- Perspectives

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Deck 4 Garden- Perspectives
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Faye watched her friend and knew he spoke from experience. She might not always be able to read people well, but she did know Alex. Shifting her position, she nestled herself next to him and rested her head against his shoulder. “I think… I think I’m scared I gave too much away to him and there’s nothing left for someone else. I’ve searched for that same feeling and not yet found it. Daggum might be closest, but for obvious reasons things with him are… complicated. So how do you know if you’ve actually found it?”

~Faye Calloway

Alex smiled, more to himself than Faye. “You don’t. That’s why falling in love is scary. And you didn’t give too much away, Faye. You have a lot of love to give; and somewhere, right now, there is someone who is worthy to receive it and give you of themselves in return. Thats the key. Love has be reciprocal… but it won’t always be even. Sometimes you’ll give more than you get… sometimes you’ll take more than you give. But as long as you are honest… open… and willing to put in the work for the other… love can be an amazing thing.” and he fell silent and his brow furrowed.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Faye just inhaled deeply and let it go, deflating against him.

“Faye, you say this thing with whats-his-name… the other Orion… is complicated. It’s really not. Not unless you and him make it that way. Love is just love. Everything else is just testing to see if you’re serious about it.”

Cochrane

Laughter burst out of Faye and she up again and looked at him, genuinely amused. ” Oh yeah, lots of testing going on here.” She jabbed her thumbs towards herself. “I mean, BPD Girl here, whose record of imploding relationships was notable enough for one of my therapists to pick it up as a topic of discussion. And then of course there’s the whole across the galaxy thing.” Her expression softened into something of a lopsided grin. “But it sure makes it worth the extra effort of making sure our communications through the wormhole make it to their destination.”

Pushing herself to her feet, Faye felt tired. She gestured down the hill and across the garden. “The mushroom house is technically done. I think I might go do some digging. But want to see this grand gesture of his?” Faye was curious herself to see it complete and more than just specs. All that was left was the starter fungi. “And maybe as you do you can tell me about your first love,” she added.

~Faye Calloway

Alex looked at her with a fake-stern look. “Fine. I’ll go look. But no reminiscing about past loves. One a day is my limit.” and then he smiled and gave her a wink. Standing up, he let her lead the way through the garden. It really was amazing, and Cochrane kicked himself he hadn’t had Faye take him through before.

Faye elbowed him gently. “Fine. Raincheck. But don’t think you’re getting off so easily, Mister.”

“Faye, if I ever get to retire, I’m going to hire you as my groundskeeper. This place is absolutely fantastic.”

Cochrane

She smiled and this time it was almost serene, or as about as serene as Faye Calloway could get. “Yeah, it is,” she said with a slow nod. “I mean, I can’t take all the credit, but I will take a hefty dose of it.” She eyed Alex. “And I could be your groundskeeper. That actually sounds like fun. Garden by day. Universal encyclopedia by night!”

Stepping off The Hill using the far set of stairs, she led him down the wide main path towards the back corner where the greenhouse and compost area was and also now served as home to the partially belowdeck mushroom house. It was just a trick of the eye given that the entire garden was built raised above the deck to accommodate all the infrastructure and dirt.

To her right, the mushroom house came into view. She had simply passed the specs and materials along to the rest of the team and they had gotten it constructed. Faye stopped in her tracks. “Wow,” she said softly, venturing closer. Though she looked over her shoulder at Alex. “Not your typical sort of romantic gift, but then again I’m not your typical woman,” she said with a wide grin.

~Faye Calloway

Alex looked at her confused for a moment. “Wait. Have you not seen this yourself? A guy goes through all the trouble of designing and sending you a mushroom house all the way across the galaxy and you are just now seeing it?” he asked with mock incredulity. “Typical.” and he pushed her softly towards the door.

“Hey, don’t I get a pass for the last couple weeks being hell?” At least she had avoided rolling her eyes at him, but she imagined he’d simply tack on the gesture as a given. And she wasn’t being flippant with her comment either. Between the award ceremony, the stuff with Luke, Blue’s arrival and working through things with her mom she had been tapped out. Even if she had had a chance to really check this out herself earlier, Faye wasn’t sure she’d have the presence of mind to fully take it in.

As Daggum had designed, the outside resembled the architecture of Faye’s home world, down to the color on the door. The fake windows vented air out and brought fresh in, and the whole thing sat two-thirds below the surface of the rest of the surrounding garden. The door was in a cut with four stairs leading down. Alex motioned Faye to take the lead and followed close behind.

Cochrane

Her fingers dragged along the sides and a shiver crept down her spine. “This is what our houses looked like on Tracken,” she said softly, though she smirked. “But not underground, of course. Still, it’s a strange detail and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I almost feel like the people I knew are going to suddenly show up.”

Holding open the door for Alex, Faye slipped down the stairs into the dimly lit space. It smelled of the earth and Faye breathed it in deeply. She grinned. “Amazing. Just think of all the awesome cooking we’re going to do with what grows in here.” As she spoke though, her eyes were tracing every surface.

~Faye Calloway

Alex looked at the curve of the room and the size of the door, then looked back out confused for a moment. Then he said “Wait. Did… did he…” and he looked out an then in and out and in, “… did he spiral the inside? That’s… well… thats bloody brilliant, actually. Maximize interior space without the need for more exterior to take up space…” and he nodded approvingly. “So I take it this guy is smart, then?” he said to Faye, knowing that she wouldn’t have feelings for him if he were anything but.

Cochrane

“Incredibly,” Faye said softly as her eyes began to search the surfaces. “People underestimate him all the time. We have that in common,” she added with a smile.

Moving through the air exchange doors to the next room, she pointed out the carvings on the beds. “He included symbols to represent the majority of the homeworlds of much of the crew.” She pointed to the mechanical system for the bed. “We can raise and lower the beds to easy access and it gives us way more growing space.”

As they moved through, Faye’s awe was abundantly clear, but it reached new heights when she came across the bed with the two figures seated at the table with two ships separated by a tunnel. She sucked in a breath and her fingertips traced it. “Ohhh…” she whispered, breaking into sobs. She doubted anyone else would have seen it unless they were looking carefully, and even then it likely meant nothing to others.

~Faye Calloway

Alex looked at her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Faye… what’s wrong? What’s the matter?” he asked softly. He had seen her cry before, more than once. But this seemed different.

Cochrane

Hand rested on the side of the bed, Faye’s head bowed and the sobs intensified. She felt like she was drowning in overwhelm it wasn’t necessarily the bad kind either. “He… us…” Faye moved her hand so Alex could see the carvings more clearly. “The tunnel… is the wormhole. Even when we’re apart we’re together,” she said, sobbing harder, ugly tears running down her face.

~Faye Calloway