Posted by Captain Dira Myqian (Commanding Officer) in Side-sim: Time well spent?

Posted by Lieutenant Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side-sim: Time well spent?

Posted by Captain Dira Myqian (Commanding Officer) in Side-sim: Time well spent?
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Achilleas smiled as he refilled Dira’s glass. In his buzzed state he didn’t fill it full but it was more than half this time. He set the bottle back down before he leaned back and took another sip. “They do both actually. The olives do get preserved and placed into jars for distribution but they also press it for olive oil.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he leaned towards Dira conspiratorially. “I brought a large jar of olives and fresh olive oil back with me on my return.”

CSO Petrakos

She grinned. “I bet that will make for a lovely meal. I don’t cook, but I do enjoy eating many different things. My father is a great cook, and I can manage a little bit, but thankfully there are replicators to save the day.” No one wanted to be subjected to anything more than the very basics of whatever she prepared outside of a survival situation.

Captain Myqian, CO

“My grandmother has taught me a few things regarding cooking.” Achilleas said as he relaxed back into the couch again. “My family’s home doesn’t have a replicator so either my grandparents and or parents cooked for the whole family. A lot of my siblings and I helped out pretty frequently when we were old enough to be helpful and not a nuisance.” He smiled at a thought. “I remember one of my first times helping out with some baking. The flour got everywhere! Haha, but my grandma was amused and very graceful about the whole thing.”

CSO Petrakos

She laughed. “It sounds familiar, but replace food with art. My father is an artist and his home was utter chaos and more often than not he just encouraged everyone to join in and add to it,” Dira said with deep apparent fondness. “And he does multimedia art, so you never knew what material would be employed that day.” It reminded her that she should check in on him again soon. He had sent a lovely message about her promotion but they hadn’t actually spoken in awhile.

Captain Myqian, CO

Achilleas chuckled and took another sip of his wine. “I’m not any good at artistic ventures but I think I’d enjoy something chaotic and random. Which my dad got mad at a few of us kids when we got into an olive fight one time in the vineyards. I mean olives are the perfect projectiles to throw at a sister who had been making faces at you all morning. But once the first olive is thrown it turns into an all out war. Our mom had to intercede or we might still be lined up listening to his lecture on not wasting the fruit of our labor.”

CSO Petrakos

She laughed as she leaned back and sipped from her glass. “I can imagine olives being not the nicest thing to be pelted with, but there were a few paint wars with the neighbourhood kids. Now that is not fun to clean up, though my father would give me a wink now and again. He was never mad, but he too did not like me wasting supplies. Then again, his definition of waste was vastly different, especially given he’s particularly fond of found materials.”

Captain Myqian, CO

“So being an only child was it the neighborhood kids that your father would invite for, like a paint workshop?” Achilleas asked curiously. He had always had siblings to pester him, confide to, and turn to for comfort so the idea of not having a sibling was strange to him. “Tending to the olives weren’t the only activities my siblings and I got to do. Quite a bit of the work could be finished in a few hours of concerted effort, so on the days that it was wonderful weather the whole family would go sailing.”

CSO Petrakos

“Oh, I don’t know that invite is quite the right word. More like we would go off scampering through the woods near his place, where I lived about 75% of the time and we’d go back to my place because it was either closest or we just had a bit more freedom there. And my father loved having all the kids about and it was easier to put us to work creatively then fight the chaos we brought.” She shook her head. “It’s a huge part of why I think my parents decided to divorce. My mother is not the chaos inviting type of person, even if she loved observing it.”

Achilleas smiled at the thought of ‘controlled’ chaos but then felt saddened by Dira’s last revelation. He reached over and patted her knee in what he hoped was a consoling gesture. Had he known her better he would’ve pulled her into a warm hug. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Do you keep in touch of either of them?”

She smiled at him and shook her head. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, truly. My parents made a sensible choice and didn’t stay together for my sake and become miserable. They are good friends and have an excellent relationship. I lived with my father predominantly because my mother is a neuroscientist and her research and career took her off world quite a bit. It was just easier and more stable for me. And I’m very close with both of them though obviously my own career creates it’s own distance.”

Achilleas nodded in relief. “I honestly don’t know how I’d feel if my parents separated or divorced. I guess if I look at it objectively my family has always been a bit on the traditional side, so my parents taking that option would shock everyone and I’m pretty sure wouldn’t be as amicable of a separation.” He shrugged lightly. “I could be completely wrong though. Now that I’m out of the household they wouldn’t need to keep up a pretense and could just part.”

“I’ve done a lot of outdoor activities, and I love being on the water, but I’ve never been sailing. Is it something you still do?”

Captain Myqian, CO

“Oh every chance I get. I’ve got a holoprogram set right on the coast of Greece in the Aegean Sea that has a smaller sailing boat that can be run by a single person but can carry up to six comfortable. My last time using it was actually take Solal fishing. I thought that it was a low effort, non-physical activity that he would not get tired doing and it’s peaceful.”

CSO Petrakos

“ I can see that,” Dira said. “If you enjoy the motion, just being on the water itself can be lovely. I will find ways to relax too but I often went into the outdoors for higher activity. Being a therapist could be quite stressful. It was important to have my own releases.”

Captain Myqian, CO

“Heh, well sailing a boat can be very physical. You’ve got to keep your balance as it crests waves and gets pitched about. There are motors to help trim the sails and move the boom but it’s best to know how to do it by hand. If you get caught out in a tropical storm, or heaven forbid a hurricane, reliance on technology can mean your death. Realistically you could get emergency transport but sometimes atmospheric ionization can disrupt transporter locks. Right after I turned 18 my parents deemed me ready for a solo sale out into the ocean. Weather forecasts were good and I prepared supplies for a seven day round trip out and back. I had a fishing rod too in case I wanted fresh food to go with the rest of supplies. Well four days into the trip I was on my way back when I got caught up in a tropical storm. The best thing to do in that situation with fast winds and high waves is to completely furl the sail so that the winds don’t jerk the boat around or the boom for that matter. I was working on getting the sail secured when the wind caught it and spun the boom around right into my arm. Which really hurt because it broke it and launched me into a railing.” Achilleas put on a mock grimace at the memory but laughed and took a drink of his wine.

CSO Petrakos