Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Officer’s Mess- Dinner with the Captain

Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in Officer’s Mess- Dinner with the Captain

Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Officer’s Mess- Dinner with the Captain
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Different expressions swept over her face: bewilderment, shock, understanding and then overwhelm. “Oh,” she whispered, her eyes welling with tears. Sair had been the kind of person to laugh and joke and show happy emotions easily. She had been bright and cheery and it had never been a facade. It had been real. She was less like this now, for a lot of reasons, but still when it came to the negative emotions she was very stoic. It was a part of being a physician and counsellor- your own crap never mattered when you were dealing with patients. It also meant that Sair was reluctant to show frustration, anger or sadness. She felt them of course but they just were there. She understood it wasn’t always healthy but she also had ways of privately dealing with her emotions.

Crying in public… it just wasn’t done.

As she tried to temper her feelings and focus on the reality of what he was offering Sair understood that this was something he could do for her. No one could change the fact that her mother was dying, but she could see that the man was keen on action when the opportunity presented itself. “Thank you,” she said softly as she swallowed, wiped at her eyes, and forced herself to take a deep breath. “My mother actually retired before she left, it was why she was flexible about how long she stayed. But I think my father would like feeling like he wasn’t shirking his obligations.”

“Thus the shifting of obligations.” Alex replied. “As new diplomatic partner to the Federation, it us important that more than just the diplomats interact. The perspective of the citizenry is important. So… there were are.”

Sair set the padd down beside her and met Alex’s gaze. “Honestly, a part of me wants to say no, because I’m not sure I can watch her go through it. But any time we and Koro can have with her is precious. And having my father here?” Her face lit up. “Oh, Captain, for us to be together again for a bit is a special gift, so I do mean it when I say thank you. It’ll be their decision, but if it’s what they want, I won’t stand in their way.”

“Speaking as someone who lost a parent in a most public and humiliating way, trust me.” Alex said softly with a glance down at the table. “Time is precious. Your time is positive… even under the circumstances. Don’t waste it. And you can tell your mother I said so.”

Her half laugh caught in her throat and Sair’s shoulder shook slightly. “I’m not sure she needs the reminder, but I’ll be sure to pass the message on. ” Never mind the fact that a person’s decline could be swift and regardless of speed it was not a fun time for anyone. Yes, they would have more time together, but how much of it would be quality before Kel was too weak and in pain for it to be enjoyable time was exceptionally hard to say. Perhaps though that just made his point about how prescious the moments they had now were.

“Now, are we still doing this dinner thing or has that idea passed?” Songz said, shaking her head.

~Sair Songz, CNS

Cochrane smiled and said “If we canceled, Harv would kill both of us.” A server approached at that moment and set covered dishes in front of both of them. Lifting the covers revealed a dish of small, bite-sized pasta topped with a red, herbal-scented sauce and strips of grilled meat. “Chef Harv would like you to enjoy this Andalusian tomato sauce over Tarkanian gnoche. The meat is seared Olloo cheek from Arcadia here in the Delta Quadrant. Bon appetité.” they said and retreated away.

“Looks interesting,” Sair said appreciatively.

Cochrane picked up his fork and said “I have never had anything of his that is bad… but sometimes I have to look and say ‘Wait… what planet is this from again?’” and he laughed.

Cochrane

Sair laughed as well. “Intergalactic menu items, I highly approve,” she said as she cut a bit of the meet and scooped up the little pasta puff with some sauce. She popped it in her mouth and her eyes went a little wide. Chewing, she sat back, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tried to evaluate what she as eating. “I like it… I’m just trying to figure out all the tastes.”

She eyed Alex for a moment , twirling her fork in her fingers. “So, I’m curious about something. I have my suspicions, but I’d like your take on it.”

“Why exactly did you invite my mother and I to dinner?”

~Sair Songz, CNS

Cochrane chewed a bite in silence and then set his fork down, interlacing his fingers and resting his hands on the edge or the table. “Becauee I knew something was wrong, and I knew that it was something significant. And I wanted to see if I could help.” He picked up his glass and took a sip. “This crew is not just my responsibility as their Captain, it is my family and friends. And that includes you, Counselor. Before I came to the Manhattan a few years ago, I memorized the name of all seven hundred and fifteen people aboard. I knew their names, faces, and what they did on the ship. As people have come and gone, I still make sure that I know every person assigned here. I do that because we are so very far from home. And even just that small act of walking past someone who has never met me in person and me saying ‘Good morning Dr. Rouse.’ or ‘Ms. Coglentin, happy to see you. How are your experiments with sub-space frequency harmonization coming along?’ gives these people a sense of stability and familiarity. Sair, I read everything I could about your people when you were selected for this position. I know of the war with the Amrayan. The biological weapon used against your people. The risks those initial individuals took to contact the Amrayan and ask for help. And that you specifically were one of the key figures in finding the way to save your people. The questions I asked at lunch yesterday were to allow your mother, who I knew was uncomfortable and scared of something, to talk about things she knew absolutely as fact… to give her and you a stable foundation that the three of us could build on so that you as my crew and her as our guest could feel more… at ease… in these surroundings, strange as they are.”

Cochrane

She set her fork down for a moment as well and studied him. “Her and I both believe in the same things, but we come at it from such different angles. Her life has been ruled by precision and regimentation. She thrives in those environments. Me? I always chaffed. I wanted to approach things creatively and not be restrained with how things have to be. I wanted there to be more coulds rather than shoulds in my vocabulary.”

Sair folded her arms on the table and leaned in a little. “I spent weeks split between seeing patients and sitting in a lab staring at cells, trying to figure out how to use my intense knowledge of the mechanics of our disease and figure out what we could safely alter without causing more harm.” This conversation wasn’t formal, so she mentally gave herself permission to let herself be more casual with him, though normally Sair’s upbringing told her that it should be who made that shift, not her. A part of her didn’t care though. “Alex, helping Kal Darvaana give birth that little girl…” She shook her head, momentarily overwhelmed with the happy emotions. “There will never be quite a moment like that for my people. It was truly the greatest honour, and I knew that if Kal could do it, so I could I. And it was the one of the few times that my mother was absolutely supportive. She wanted me to experience that intense joy of being a parent, and if my child could have a very different life? So much the better. It hurts her to know that I am staying out here, because for her devotion to duty is the next higher honour. It’s where we differ. We can’t reconcile that, we know that. So we are trying to accept that fact while now dealing with the inevitable. I wish she could be happy for me out here, but I would much rather know that she loves me enough to let it be.”

~Sair Songz, CNS