Posted by Lieutenant Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in Eela’s Apartment- Compelling Things to Grow

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Eela’s Apartment- Compelling Things to Grow

Posted by Lieutenant Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in Eela’s Apartment- Compelling Things to Grow
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Eela chuckled. “Much like the painting itself, I was compelled to do something rather… unexpected,” she said, gesturing for Sharah to follow her.

The room next to Eela’s Den/Office was a bedroom she had converted into an exercise/rehab room. The wall opposite the door was an exterior one and was floor to ceiling windows covered in white sheer curtains. There was a recumbent bike, a large mat on the floor, and a folded massage table leaning against one wall. To the left, the sliding door to the closet was open revealing shelving full of equipment for strength training and stretching. On the right wall was the painting: an abstract fractal in blacks, greys with hint of pale yellow.

Dasca stepped in and moved over to the corner where a little table held a power cell charger. “This was also a good excuse to pop a new cell in before the the one I’m using died completely,” she said, lifting the side of her shirt and lifting a discreet opening where the slim power cell was housed. A quick exchange and there was a tiny beep to tell her the fresh cell was connected properly.

Sharah grinned widely, “I bet Jal’na adores this room.” She looked around, taking in the space. “It’s also quite serene.”

Eela matched Sharah’s grin. “I did get a grunt of approval and a comment that she hoped I didn’t think she’d go easy on me just because I had a nice set-up.”

She moved across the room and gazed at the painting, though she had gotten used to it and it didn’t elicit quite the intense emotions as it did when she first saw it. “The Governor told me Oed had a way of revealing the truth, sometimes in brutal ways. I’m finding it more and more true,” she said softly.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Sharah wasn’t sure what to say to that. It felt true, but the truth could be a tricky and a frightening thing. “How are you settling in, Eela? To the job and the place? I know it’s been a whirlwind of a week.”

Fayth, SFCMO

Dasca drew in a drew breath, allowing her gaze to skim the painting again for a moment before she focused on Sharah once more. “Overwhelmed, but not all of it is bad. But there are things going on in the background that are requiring more of me than I expected so soon. High stakes matters. Stuff that makes running a starship feel like children’s play time.” She shook her head ruefully. “But that all being said, I like it here, and like feeling like there is work t be done that I can do. After the last few years, it’s great feeling.”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

A slow exhalation of breath was Sharah’s only physical response, but her emotions swirled in understanding and confusion, and several other things. “Oed is…different. Not bad, but very different than anything I have ever experienced. I’ve been here just over a month, and it is the first place I have ever felt…at home.” That had a lot to do with Markus, and Sharah knew that. Anywhere with him was home, but something about Oed and the people gave her a larger sense of that. Cpt Rende had done her a great service.

Fayth, SFCMO

“That I understand all too well,” Eela said softly. “Come, let’s check on that tea.”

Back in the kitchen, Eela grabbed a couple delicate tea cups, the outside marked with cross hatches that once glazed created an interesting texture under fingertips. Everything was softened. She poured a cup each and carefully removed the insert, setting it in the sink and moved over to the small dining area. The round table had three chair around the part closest to the kitchen island and the side next to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the patio was a curved. Eela set a cup to one side and then took the opposite chair so they could both enjoy the view.

“You know the last place I truly felt at home was on the Steadfast. After losing my parents years before I really allowed my shipmates to become my family, so that no matter what happened in my personal life, I could be grounded, connected. And I kept that through my years as a first officer and then a captain. To suddenly be in the hospital and going through a long recovery was disorienting, especially once it was clear I couldn’t go back to starship duty. And life in the Diplomatic Corp was too fickle, too unexpected to create a similar feeling. Being in San Francisco with Cory felt like I was walking a tightrope, and even after our separation Paris was just a place I was in sometimes.” She took a sip of the fragrant tea, the rich jestral coming alive with the mint and orange peel. “But here? I think it’s a combination of my being ready to be in a place, and something unique to this colony. And that is more than a little exciting, even if as I said things can be overwhelming some days.”

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

It was a lovely sentiment. The crew being faily. It was a concept that Sharah embraced wholeheartedly. However, it didn’t always work for her. Sharah needed quiet and solitude to recharge. She gave all of herself to her work and the mental chaos of the hospital, that there wasn’t much left for her to give after. So Sharah had made very few deep connections over the years. And everyone always seemed to leave. “I love medicine, but there is something different about practicing here. I think, maybe, if I had been assigned to a hospital ship I would have felt more…fulfilled before. Here…I know I make a difference. Not that I didn’t on a starship, but here…it’s different.”

Eela nodded in understanding.

Sharah picked up the tea and inhaled the scent. It made her a little melancholy, a yearning for things she would never have or wouldn’t have again. Then a feeling of resolve after quietly sipping the tea, savoring it. She gave Eela a smile. “This is lovely. I’ve never had it like this.” Her gaze flicked out the large windows to give a view of the colony. “You are right though, Oed is exciting. So much promise…the people hum with it.”

Fayth, SFCMO

Dasca simply sat with Fayth and the fluctuations of emotions, of ponderings. “They give me hope,” she said softly.

Fingers wrapped around her cup, she let them sit in silence for a few moments until a thought bubbled up to the surface. “I miss it dearly… Starfleet. More than I can express some days. I was given a choice, but it didn’t feel like it at the time. It felt like an ultimatum and I know myself well enough to know that I don’t take to them very well. And the way it was done…” Eela shook her head and gazed out the windows. The indignity of it all sat in her gut along with the anger she worked hard to keep a handle on. She acknowledged the presence of both (denying them did her no favours) and just let them be.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.