Posted by Civilian Kenzo B’tren-Hyrushi (Governor) in Eden Café- A Lunch Catch-Up

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Eden Café- A Lunch Catch-Up

Posted by Civilian Kenzo B’tren-Hyrushi (Governor) in Eden Café- A Lunch Catch-Up

(snip)

Kenzo nodded in understanding. “You have a firm.grasp of yourself right now, Eela… despite the instability you have encountered. That is very… impressive. And I am pleased to see you navigate these waters with such aplomb. A better leader for the colony I can’t think of.” he said with a half-smile. “However the futures moves you… be that Roger, Mr. Jones, or some as of yet to be named entity… I sincerely wish you the best. But no matter what happens… you are not allowed to quit. I am afraid you are here for the duration.” and he chuckled.

Kenzo

“Till death do us part?” she deadpanned with a quirked brow. A joke, yes, but it was both a recognition of the danger they joked about plus knowing that Oed had captured her heart and she didn’t see herself living anywhere else, even when her time as Lieutenant Governor was up.

“Be that in fifty years or fifty seconds from now. You are… stuck… with me.” and he, finally, gave her a full smile, however brief it was.

She chuckled.

Eela inhaled deeply and let that breath out with a sigh. “You know, as frustrating as it is that I have those psychology degrees and years of experience as a therapist and I couldn’t see the signs of what was happening, it’s all proving very useful in this… aftermath. It doesn’t make me feel better or make it less painful, but I can look objectively at the situation and see the variables and consequences. And yet, I also know that my connection to others is the one thing truly helping me find a way forward. Having you, and everyone else, supporting me, holding me up when it’s just too damn hard has been so important. It’s made a difference, so just know how grateful I am and how much it means to me,” she said, her warm smile matching her deep affection for the man before her.

~Eela

Kenzo shrugged slightly and said “Professionally, you and I both know that proximity is detrimental to objectivity. You didn’t fail in seeing the behaviors, Eela. You were too close to be able to have perspective. You weren’t ‘wrong’… you were simply too involved in it to be objective. That isn’t your fault… objectivity is one thing we must sacrifice when we devote ourselves fully to another. Yet another reason that, for individuals like us, it is a scary thing to do.”

Kenzo

“Betrayal blindness,” she said, before sipping the last of her lemonade. “It’s a safety mechanism, and it’s hard not to do after forty years, but that’s why I have a therapist,” she said with a bitter chuckle. When her hazel eyes lifted again to her friend, Eela felt the strange weight but also relief of Roger’s revelation. “The fight going forward is for me to trust myself around others, to not second-guess every action and decision. Because, as Roger pointed out, consider how much my ex had to have hidden his true self from me and how much deception there really had be to hide from an empath and touch-telepath. And now I’m in this role here where perception really does matter and…” She shook her head. He understood, of that Eela was certain. “It’s so hard, Kenzo. I’m trying to be my authentic self, whomever that is, and trying to protect myself at the same time. At it does sometimes feel like those two things are at odds with each other.”

~Eela