Posted by Lieutenant Commander Daggum Hammor (Chief Operations Officer) in Chuy’s On the The Station - Working Out The Kinks

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Chuy’s On the The Station - Working Out The Kinks

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Daggum Hammor (Chief Operations Officer) in Chuy’s On the The Station - Working Out The Kinks
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Hammor watched her for a moment and then said “You don’t like talking about yourself, do you? Like… at all. That’s fine, and I’m not saying you have to. But it does lead to lop-sided conversation.” and he smiled and took a sip of water. “Survival class my third year sucked. I was teamed with a Bolian. How is that fair? He can literally eat anything! Bastard kept picking up gravel and tossing it in his mouth and making Mmmm- hmmm noises. I almost tossed him in a ravine.” and he laughed.

Hammor, Ops

Viyara laughed with Daggum. “No, that definitely isn’t fair.” She shook her head and fell silent again, becoming uncharacteristically silent. There even was a small frown on her face. And not the ‘I’m concentrating hard’ type of frown. For several moments she just nibbled a little at the mozzarella. As if she was trying to make up her mind about something.

Eventually she looked up again and when her mismatched eyes met his, there was a fire in them. “I don’t, no. I never learned how to, I guess. And if I were to let people get too close …” She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Let’s just say it’s not only through boxing and martial arts that I learned to defend and protect myself.” Reaching for her glass, she took another sip of water without breaking the eyecontact.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Daggum’s eyes didn’t leave hers. He held the contact and said “You keep protecting yourself when there isn’t something attacking you, you’re bound to have pretty lonely go of it. And Im the last person to judge someone for their past… but it sounds like you have one.” He took a drink, but kept his eyes on hers.

“Don’t we all?” Viyara asked with a soft sigh, choosing not to reply to the first part of what he had just said. He was right, of course, and she knew it. But there was a difference between knowing something deep within you and admitting it to yourself and to other people.

“But one thing I can say with absolute certainty… your past doesn’t have to dictate your future.” and his head cocked to side and he smiled a warm, friendly, wholly accepting smile.

“Or your present.”

Hammor, Ops

Without meaning to, Viyara snorted and shook her head. If only that was true. But for her, her past did dictate her present and most likely her future as well. She was good at hiding it, even from herself, but deep down within her, hidden behind smiles and her extroverted and flirtatious nature, she was still a frightened little girl. Part of her, a part that seemed to slowly become bigger since she first set foot on this weird ship, wanted to open up to someone and maybe Daggum was the best person to open up to, but the larger part of her was still afraid. Though she just kept telling herself that she wouldn’t even know where to begin and that no one would be able to follow anyways if she didn’t.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Big shoulders shrugged and he shook his head and smiled knowingly. “Hey… you do you.” and he leaned back as Mario arrived with a large tray.

In front of Viyara, he sat a plate with round, stuffed pastas. “Portobello and goat cheese stuffed ravioli on spinach noodles, and a chicken marsala for the main.”

“That looks amazing,” Viyara said enthusiastically as a wide smile lit her face up again.

In front of Hammor, he set a massive plate. “Lasagne. Chicken Parmigiano. Fettuccine Primavera.” He the set two bottles of wine between them. “House wine. You’ll love it. Trust me.” and he walked off.

Hammor’s eyes widened at the sight, and he lifted a bottle and said “Yes or no?”

Hammor, Ops

“Oh, definitely yes,” Viyara replied without missing a beat. “Don’t tell anyone, but I do appreciate a good wine,” she continued with a wink.

Daggum winked back and said “Me too… your secret is safe with me.”

Lifting her now filled glass of wine, Viyara said, “To new beginnings.” After taking a sip she added, “Maybe I’ll tell you my whole story some day. I get the feeling that you would be able to understand and not look at me differently.” Spearing a ravioli onto her fork, she popped it into her mouth and chewed slowly. Letting herself really taste it. After she had swallowed, she said softly, “Let’s just say that my scars are on the inside and when I was sixteen I just couldn’t bare it anymore. Fending for myself had to better then … home.” At the last word her voice became suddenly harsh and anger flared up in her eyes. But she quickly added just as softly as before, “And it was.”

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Hammor nodded. “New beginnings.” and he took a drink and smiled. “Damn. That is gooooood.” he said with a chuckle. He took a bite of the lasagne and his bobbed in approval while he chewed and swallowed.

“If you ever need to unload, I’m your man. I learned really early in life… you don’t judge people on thier pasts. You can’t. I don’t know what weights you carry, but I would put real money on the fact they are justified.” and paused as he took a bite of the chicken. A drink, and he kept his eyes on his plate as he spoke. “But I didn’t learn until just a while back that even justified weights only serve to weigh you down. The people that harmed us don’t suffer because we carry them… or we do.” Another bite and another sip of wine, all without making eye contact. His voice was sure, steady… and contained no judgement or pity.

Viyara nodded thoughtfully here and there while eating more of her dish. He was right. She knew that. But breaking habits and patterns of behaviour and thinking was hard. And she wasn’t even sure if she was willing to give it a try.

“But I am luckier than most. I had a few people in my life that gave a damn. Couple of ‘em didn’t even know me, really… but they cared. Helped me work through a lot. The offer is there for you, if you ever need it.” He then smiled at her and slid the plate towards her.

“Thank you and I’m glad you had people like that in your life,” Viyara replied sincerely.

“If you don’t try that lasagne, I will never speak to you again… yeah, that good.”

Hammor, Ops

“I could never let that happen,” Viyara laughed and then reached over with her fork to help herself to some lasagne. Before eating it, though, she said, “You do have to try these ravioli as well. They are divine.”

Stabbing one with his fork, he popped it in his mouth and just mumbled “Oholygods…”

As the lasagne touched her, a soft sigh escaped Viyara’s lips. After swallowing that bite, she asked, “Do you think we could kidnap the chef and have them cook on the Athena?”

Hammor laughed and said “I’m down to try if you are.”

“Sure,” Viyara grinned, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

For several moments Viyara ate in silence. Thoroughly enjoying every single bite along with the delicious wine. When she finally spoke again, she looked straight at Daggum with a mix of fear and pain, but also outright rage, maybe even hate in here eyes. “My …” she started and then hesitated again. “Father, for lack of a better word even though he doesn’t deserve being called that, has … had, I don’t even known if he is still alive, a terrible temper. And my … mother, wasn’t any better. Sometimes they just yelled me or fought with each other. But often it didn’t stay at that.” Her voice broke suddenly and she looked away. Down at her plate and then at the glass of wine, wishing she’d have something much stronger. Like one of Marishka’s concotions that would help her forget.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Hammorr listened and ate. As Viyara looked down, Hammor began talking, almost nonchalantly, and his eyes were fixed on his food.

“The first owner I had that I remember… I had two prior to that… used to use me as bait to lure targs out of their chutes. I was… oh… maybe two? Three? I’d hang there, suspended from a rope tied around my ankles, staring down this dark god awful smelling tunnel, and just… stay scared about what was gonna happen. Was the targ going to charge? Or was he gonna move quiet and then leap from the dark? Would it catch me this time? Would the handler drop me? All these unknowns rolled through my little kid brain. And I think that was the worst part… not knowing what was coming next. Never knowing if it was a safe day… or a pain day.”

He looked up at her and smiled a half-smile. “Tales a special kind of cruel to do that to a kid.”

Hammor, Ops

Viyara simply nodded, clinging onto the anger she felt so she wouldn’t end up crying. Tears were not an option. Not even in private, but especially not in public. Swallowing hard, she looked finally up again and met Daggum’s gaze. “Not knowing was often worse than any pain they caused. The pain always fade, even if it was only a little. But the fear was always there,” she whispered, the fork in her left hand trembling rather noticeably. “Their mood and temper could swing from one second to the next and a good mood didn’t mean that even in those moments there mightn’t be pain.” Reaching with her free hand for the glass of wine, she drank a large mouthful.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Hammor nodded. “Yeah… it was a special kind of hell, I’m sure. But on the plus side, there’s a special kind of hell for those that do that, too.” and he gave her a wink and reached out grasped her shaking fork hand and gave it a single and surprisingly gentle squeeze before he went back to his food.

As Hammor placed his hand on hers, Viyara closed her eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath. Funny good such a small gesture could feel.

“I’m telling you… if we had food like this on the ship, we’d never have a shortage of crew. Like… ever.”

Hammor, Ops

“I bet,” Viyara laughed. “Everyone would want to be stationed on the Athena if there was food this good. Though the drinks Marishka makes are absolutely fabulous as well,” she grinned knowingly.

“Of all the places you’ve been to so far, which one did you like best? And where else do you want to go?” Viyara asked before eating another forkful of her lunch.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist