Posted by Civilian Karilan Massat (Owner, Quill and Parchment Books) in The Quill & Parchment- Second Chances

Posted by Civilian Rafael Torres (Resident) in The Quill & Parchment- Second Chances

Posted by Civilian Rafael Torres (Resident) in The Quill & Parchment- Second Chances
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Karilan laughed a soft and surprisingly melodic laugh. “If you for a moment even think you are alone in that, Mr. Torres, you are sadly mistaken. In fact, I have found that to be rule rather than the exception, not knowing what o e wants to do or be.” and she laughed again. “The vast majority of the people of I know didn’t know what they wanted to be growing up. Oh, some had dreams, as children do from time to time. But except for a few very driven individuals, everyone I k ow simply fell into what they became. Or they had a talent that dictated where they would focus. I knew one woman at the Academy who was the one of the single greatest mathematicians I have ever seen. A truly gifted mind when it came to physics.” and she leaned forward. “And after all her training and years of work and dedication to physics and joining Star Fleet and all that? She quit after three years and is now a concierge at a hotel on Risa.” Sje looked at hom and smiled. “Not knowing what you want to be isn’t a bad thing, Mr. Torres… and actually? It keeps your options open much more than many others.”

Karilan

He nodded slowly. “I’ve gotten in trouble making plans too far down the road. Given my… issues, focusing on the now tends to be a smarter path. But you asked me what I wanted out of all of this. The truth is much simpler. Do more than just stay alive. Anything else? Just a happy bonus.” He might have lived a complicated life but he sort of thought of himself as a pretty simple man.

~Rafael Torres

The food was brought to their table and drinks refreshed. As the server left, Karilan lifted her glass to Torres. “To living… not just surviving.”

Karilan

Raf lifted his agua fresca and gave a nod. “To living,” he said, even if he felt uncertain. But wasn’t that the whole point on all of this? He was trying something different in his life because what he had been doing so far had not been working. He sipped the drink and nodded with appreciation. “Not bad,” he said softly.

Digging into his meal, Torres fell silent, at least for a few moments. “What about yourself? What is it that you want in your life?”

~Rafael Torres

Bump?

“Happiness. Stability. Love. The standards for most.” she said without hesitation. “I just want to live a life I enjoy, with people and friends I enjoy and who bring more positivity than negativity into my time. That is all. The rest? The books, the engineering, the everyday things that go along with existing.... those are just steps towards the good stuff.”

Karilan

“Those are good things to want,” Raf said. “Except maybe the books for me. Never been much of a reader,” he said with the barest hint of a smirk. There was some irony to the fact that he was hired to work for a bookshop owner, and his engineering skills were the least of what he’d been hired for. At least at first. He was rather eager to work on rebuilding that ship. Now there was a project he could get into and if he were honest, he hadn’t had anything like that to focus on since his certification courses.

~Rafael Torres