Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in side sim - Dinner with the Songz’s

Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in side sim - Dinner with the Songz’s

Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in side sim - Dinner with the Songz’s
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“It’s special, isn’t it? Grandparents and the children. I’m glad your mother was able to come for awhile. I admit I miss my father a lot.”

Shedda

“I miss mine too,” Sair said. She waited till Kel was running the bath and sighed a little. “It’s been good having her here. We’ve had a strange relationship over the years. I all but grew up at the hospital and we’ve always had our work in common, but beyond that we are very, very different people who see the universe differently as well. It’s been hard at times.”

~Sair Songz, CNS

“It is good to have some common ground. My father and I haven’t spent a lot of time togerher since I left for the Academy. Never much time to explore how we are different. It must be scary for your mother to see everything you went through, knowing the inevitable outcome and then to have Koro and know his life will be so different.” Shedda paused, “I don’t want to over step, I know I really can’t understand, but my heart goes out to the three of you. As your mother said earlier, it’s hard to let go of that fear and sense of finality.”

Sair nodded. It was even more so lately.

“How are you holding up?”

Shedda

Sair took Koro’s half empty plate and set it on her own empty one and realized she wasn’t sure. “I don’t know. I’ve always felt a bit torn but at least with my work everything was much clearer.” She took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Before Koro, before I decided to actively try to have a baby, I went about life very differently. For a period of time I was carefree. I had had the treatment and I knew that my children would be free of this madness. And so I sought companionship with, well, reckless abandon,” she said with a deep smirk. She wasn’t embarrassed by that fact either. “I thought I would have as many children as possible and everything would be great. But… having Koro, getting to the point of a child in my arms was so much harder than I imagined. I had watched others go through it, had a brush with that pain myself, but I never thought that would be my story. And now I look at Koro and wish I could give him a sibling, someone he could have in his life when his mother dies. But I’m not sure that that is realistic. Because let’s face it, I’m a single mother with a much lower life expectancy than any partner I might have out here and that, coupled with the mess that is our fertility is a whole set of complicated variables. Not to mention I can’t forget that genetics matter. A half-Kobliad child, if that is even possible, might not help my people much after all. We’re still at risk of extinction in two hundred years of we don’t massively turn things around. No pressure, right?” she said rather matter-of-factly.

~Sair Songz, CNS

A soft shake of her head followed Sair’s response. “The struggle between seld and society.” Shedda quietly contemplated what Sair had said. “I have read what is available in the database in your people. Given the fertility of your people and your distance…would a genetic donor be possible if you wanted to have another child?”

Shedda

Sair nodded and was momentarily distracted but a squeal of delight from Koro as he splashed in the bath. She smirked and returned her focus to Shedda. “Reproductive health is a very important area of our health care system, for obvious reasons. Genetic matches are essential, so even couples who want to form life bonds tend to want to ensure genetic compatibility for the best chances. The easiest and most logical thing would be for me to use the same donor that I used to have Koro. Even though there are no guarantees, it would give me the best chances as well as give Koro a related sibling.” She shrugged. “It’s not the only option, but it is a complicated one, because I am here and it would mean needing to be on Kobliad, which is not an option.”

“It may be that a solution will present itself in time.”

“I think that is what I’m hoping for,” Sair said.

She stood up to gather up the empty plates. “Ready to make some ekal? It takes a little bit of time so we can chat while I make it.”

~Sair Songz, CNS

Shedda stood with her and helped to gather the various pieces. “I can’t wait. I can’t promise I’m a lot of help but I will try.”

Mal’athar, XO

“It’ll be an experience,” Sair said with a smile. Moving dishes to the replicator. She didn’t have actual cooking appliances but with the replicator’s help she could get help with some of the steps and still make the drink herself.

She passed a bowl with a fine mesh metal strainer resting on top to Shedda and a fine mesh cloth. “So if you can line the strainer with the cloth, I’ll get started on the nut,” Sair said moving to grab a container of roasted nuts that she had chopped and sprinkled on the yualra earlier. She also grabbed a a deep stone vessel and a short blunt club-shaped object that nestled easily into her palm.

Shedda took both and unfolding the cloth she placed it over the strainer so that it was covered, and just a bit was folded under so when the strainer was set on top of the bowel the cloth was secure and wouldn’t slip when…whatever it was for, was poured into the strainer.

“You know this drink has not changed much in over six hundred years. Originally it comes from Mornee near the polar region as was traditionally made to keep people warm on colder nights. But the nuts came from an arid region in Kaidlo. There is so much about our society that shifted after the war with the Amrayans and Kobliad is define set in its ways but one of the things I always thought was beautiful was the adherence to traditions. Ekal is made the same way as it was back then, if we exclude my use of the replicator to help with steps,” Sair explained with a grin.

~Sair Songz, CNS

“Well the only way to probably make it that way is to borrow the kitchen in the officer’s mess and a tyrant lives there and doesn’t know how to share,” Shedda grinned. She thought about the book and the oven in the kitchen. “In all honesty though, Chef Harv would probably enjoy learning about your traditional meals. My understanding is that he is quite skilled at preparing traditional dishes from many species. I don’t know if he would give over his kitchen, but…” she shrugged. It was always worth asking, and according to the tyrant himself he enjoyed cooking for others and it was all he had left. Sair was feeling out of place as well. “I do know that most of the food is replicated and then prepared. I’ve seen the inventory requests. We don’t have that much fresh food on board.”

Shedda