Posted by Lieutenant Commander Serena Stone (Executive Officer) in Arboretum 3- A BIt of Honesty

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Serena Stone (Executive Officer) in Arboretum 3- A BIt of Honesty

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Arboretum 3- A BIt of Honesty
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It was not her garden. Nothing else ever would be… until she made another one.

Faye turned in place and surveyed the third arboretum, arms akimbo. It wasn’t bad, actually. It was halfway between an arboretum, which was a green space dominated by trees (hence the arbor in arboretum), and a multipurpose garden. All arboreta were gardens, but not all arboreta were gardens- a distinction that matter to almost no one, except botany experts and people like Faye.

She had sent a message to Commander Stone a little while ago and requested a meeting about a personal issue. They had agreed on this time to meet and Faye suggested down here. She looked over the several garden beds that the crew used and tried really hard not to redesign the entire space. Faye was only a tiny bit successful.

~Faye Calloway, CIO

A moment later the doors retracted allowing the slightly taller redhead entrance. Taking in the space she slowed from a brisk walk to almost a stroll. The change in humidity was different, compared to the canned air of the rest of the ship. The air was fresher too, and filled with more of the scents of life she associated with being planetside. The holodeck had a way of replicating that, but it still was never quite the same. Making her way in deeper she spotted the brunette.

She made her way closer, but held off about three meters short, outside of double arm’s length, but just at the edge of easy conversation distance. “You wanted to see me…” She shook her head. “I just realized I have no idea how you’d prefer to be addressed, Commander. My apologies.”

Stone

Faye had turned at the approach of someone and offered Serena a small smile. “Technically my last name is hyphenated by not only is it a bit of a mouthful but it’s not very practical. I’m fine with Calloway. I’ve been that all my life. But right now, you can call me Faye. This isn’t work… exactly,” she said, gesturing to a bench nearby that looked over the beds and was set against one of the pathways that led into the more traditional arboretum setting.

The redhead nodded and took a seat, folding one leg under her, but left her other foot on the floor. “Alright, so what’s going on,” she asked, her tone softening a bit.

Sitting cross legged, her grey-green eyes swept over the plants people were growing. “I miss my garden on the Manhattan,” Faye said softly. “Well, it wasn’t my garden, but I designed it for the crew and helped build it. My best friend and former captain sent me a holodeck recreation of it so I can be there whenever I need to, but it’s not the same. Not quite. And I guess in some ways it just reinforces that I’m not there anymore and that I’m struggling to adjust to the Athena. I knew it would be hard, but I didn’t think it would be this hard.”

~Faye Calloway, CIO

Serena nodded, listening intently. There was, of course, some idea where this was going, but for now it was best to let her come to whatever she wanted to actually ask on her own and not assume. “Keep going,” she said with a small nod. A little encouragement could go a long way.

Stone, XO

Faye inhaled deeply, relying on the steadying yogic breath she had practiced for years now. She turned her eyes on Stone. “For someone like me, struggling is usually a euphemism for my mental health issues acting up. I’m still on my meds and I have a therapist here, plus I have the immeasurable support of my husband but it’s not always enough. And so… I think I might be dissociating again. It happens mostly when I’m under a lot of pressure. The stress makes it so if my mind gets just one more overwhelming trigger it pulls the ripcord and goes where it feels it’s safe.” Faye shrugged. “But I will admit that it’s not showing up quite the way I’m used to so it’s possible it’s possible it’s a different issue or a new presentation.”

~Faye Calloway, CIO