Posted by James Sinclair in Officer’s Mess Kitchen- Food for a Crowd

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Officer’s Mess Kitchen- Food for a Crowd

Posted by James Sinclair in Officer’s Mess Kitchen- Food for a Crowd

(snip)

Daggum looked at the women and chewed slowly for a long time. Finally he swallowed and, pushing another piece of bread to wards Faye without looking, said “I can understand that. A lot, actually.” and he took a drink. “I’ve thought about going back to Orion sometimes. To see it. And my friend Paul has been back a few times. He said nothing has really changed. And that’s kinda heartbreaking.” and he ate some soup.

If there was one place that Faye would avoid for as long as she could, it would be Orion. Going there would be too much, and knowing that it was much the same? It wouldn’t make her feel better.

“But I’d also think that, at some point, someone would want to restore it’s true meaning, though. Community. Hearth. Home. Family. I mean, I don’t want to belittle what happened at all… but I also don’t understand why the people who love the place would want that to be it’s legacy. From everything I have have heard you say about it… both of you… it seems that there is something more to it than just the war. It had an identity before that… maybe it should have that after as well. I dunno… I never really had a home to lose. So maybe I’m oversimplifying it. If I am, I’m really sorry to you both. I just…” and he took a breath. “I just think you both deserve your home back. Not just in people… that place was and is special to you. And I’m sorry it was taken.”

Daggum

Faye didn’t have an answer to that. Her life was still very much before her and would likely take many turns before she reached a similar point, but for Shara, things were a bit more clear. At least for her. “You’re not wrong. It does deserve to have new life and both Faye and I deserve to have a home that we feel connected to. But here’s the thing Daggum, Tracken Two is a world, a planet, just like so many in our galaxy. And the things that made it special , worth fighting for were the people. We came together to build a beautiful vision of what life could be. We wanted something different, something couldn’t find elsewhere. But the thing is that we could have built that anywhere. It didn’t matter that it was Tracken specifically. What that place is for me, and I think for Faye too, is what the people there gave of themselves. A place can call to us and we can feel connected to it in a visceral way but at least for us, the legacy is the love we all had for each other.” She looked at Faye, though she was still talking to Daggum. “In Faye I can see my math classes, and Edward’s ability to break down a machine and put it back together. I see T’Lora’s deep love of living things and her insight into Faye’s remarkable mind, I see Jaris’ quiet reflection and sense of honour. I see Cameron’s youthful whimsy, and Grant’s dark sense of humour. I see a belief in self-reliance and making do with what you have. I see an appreciation for beautiful things, even if they are fleeting. I see resilience and determination.” She shook her head and looked back at Daggum. “Don’t you see? Faye is Tracken for me. There’s a Terran saying ‘Home is Where the Heart is’. And it sounds like wishy-washy nonsense, but when you’ve lost the physical home you threw yourself into more than once, you learn that home is less tangible. It’s a feeling. And it’s up to each person to find that feeling in other places and people.”

Faye stared at her mother in shock, momentarily ignoring the tear that slipped over her cheek. Shara Calloway was not a wordy person, and not prone to speeches but there she was, saying more, giving more than she had ever known her to. Her mother was about action, not words, and so in yet another moment where she felt everything had shifted, she smiled shifting her gaze to Daggum. “That. All that. Dag… when I stepped into your hotel room after a month of confessions and shared secrets, and we had that first kiss? I felt I had come home. There’s no other way to explain it.”

~The (Unusually Wordy) Calloway Women

Daggum looked from woman to the other and back again. Then he said to Shara “Well… Im not sure I grasp a lot of what you said. I just don’t have a reference for it… at least, not yet.” and he reached over and took Faye’s hand. He looked in her eyes and smiled. “But what you said? That I understand. Because thats what I felt, too… I just didn’t have the word for it.”

Daggum

Faye beamed at him. “Home is the place where you can be yourself, as you are, and feel safe while doing so,” she said, squeezing his hand.

“Speaking of…” Faye said with gleam in her eyes. “How’s the boyfriend. He coming to our shindig?” She tossed a wicked grin as Daggum and point to her mother. “Her and the Fed Security man,” she said with a wink.

Shara rolled her eyes. “I told you before, I’m a little old to have a boyfriend, and yes, he’s coming. I’ve asked him to bring some ‘shine, given he seemed to have a supply of it I’ve not bothered to question.”

~The Calloway Women