Posted by Civilian Astrid Rousseau (Chief Justice) in Dasca’s Apartment- The Comfort of Friends

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Dasca’s Apartment- The Comfort of Friends
Eela had been careful about how much she checked messages. Cort had put out an announcement about her time off so that people weren’t surprised by her absence in the office, but that didn’t mean her inbox wasn’t just as busy. Fortunately, her staff flagged the things that they knew she would want to see or were urgent and Eela had filtered her messages to show just those.

The message from the Chief Justice checking in on her had made her smile and Eela sent a reply saying that she was doing her best to manage but would be happy for some company. And so they arranged for Astrid to come over for a little while. Eela could manage tea or coffee just fine, even if she was still moving slower than she would have preferred.

When Astrid arrived a block and a half from the Government Tower, she found a modern and clean building with the security desk set to the left in the large open lobby. From there, one could see the sets of lifts, with one set farther at the back on its own. To the right was a hallway and large windows that showed a glimpse of a pool. The junior grade Lieutenant working the desk, a Denobulan female greeted him and seeing that he was on the approved list, did a very quick screening. “You’re all clear. The Lieutenant Govenor’s apartment is on the twelfth floor and that back lift will take you straight up there. We’ll let her know you’re on your way up.”

Up the lift, Rousseau stepped out into an entry way in front of a large door that was flanked by two CCDA agents. The small upper floor had only the one penthouse apartment.

The door opened and Eela appeared in her grey mourning outfit (sans hooded scarf), offering a tired but sincere smile. “Astrid, come on in,” she said, stepping to the side and using her cane for stability.

She smiled softly and entered as bidden. She had not had cause to visit someone else in a long time. Just being in another person’s space was a nice change. A person’s home could say so much about them that she was eager to see how Eela decorated hers.

She wore a simple pair of linen slacks in a shade of cornflower blue and white silk tank top tucked into the waistband. A dark blue belt with a pretty little enamel red cardinal bird belt buckle. Her dark chestnut soft curls
hung over her shoulders but a small part of one side was clipped back with a matching cardinal barette.

Her apartment was essentially a giant rectangle broken up into visible and hidden spaces. Iven was standing in a large foyer, which had a closet to the right and another door on the left that led to a storage room. But there were also two comfortable arm chairs in a floral pattern on either side of a console table. On the walls were a couple of art pieces: a delicate pencil drawing of some sort of shop with jars of items on shelves behind the counter, and a watercolour style painting of an aurora sweeping over the night sky, illuminating a lush looking hillside. The sight lines from the front door looked right into the open plan dining room, which held double doors amongst the span of floor-to-ceiling windows and led onto the large patio that spanned two-thirds the length of the penthouse. There were no buildings right beside hers that blocked the view, so one could see the central part of the colony in and around the Government Tower.

The dining room had a solid wall on the left (the kitchen was on the other side, and it was divided from the living room on the right by two smooth pillars and a transparent fireplace. A long hallway bisected the entire place, passing in front of the foyer. The hard floors were a black matte stone with white veining, and the walls were painted a light taupe that added warmth.

“I thought we could have tea or coffee on the patio if that would work for you?” Dasca said.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Astrid smiled as her eyes traveled over the space, taking in the layout and decor. “Yes please.” She said, her soft French accent adding a musical lilt to her voice. “You have a lovely contemporary home Eela.”

Rousseau. HOTj

She smiled. “Thank you. I really like the space but you should have seen it when I moved in. Everything was so stark and plain. I’m not sure if the last Lieutenant Governor just didn’t like decor or if they returned the penthouse to a blank slate after they left, but it did give me a chance to make it my own.”

“Come, let’s make coffee in the kitchen. I could use a hand carrying things out to the patio,” Eela said, waving her cane for a moment before she moved left down the hall.

The right side of the available wall space was taken filled with framed images that documented the six decades of Dasca’s life. Family, friends, three quadrants of travel- the highlights of much of her life where there. The images on display were deeply important, like those of all her grandparents and her late parents, or her promotion ceremony when she made Captain. But nothing from her wedding, and there was an obvious hole in the gallery of photos where one no longer hung.

On the left side of the hallway was filled with recessed bookshelves entirely full of books with protective doors. Some looked newer and many appeared old. There was poetry and many volumes of literature in a myriad of languages. This all seemed to be works of fiction.

The hallway led to the side of the apartment with the spare rooms, her office and the family area that included the kitchen, that was open plan to a small casual eating area and a cozy U-shaped sitting nook with a sectional sofa and a coffee table. She hung a right at her office and stepped into the large and well appointed kitchen that was along the opposite wall from her closed office and had a large island in between.

She set about turning the kettle.”What would you prefer, coffee, tea? I have a collection of tea blends, some of which I crafted myself from Haliian herbs, but I also have great coffee I get from the Quill and Parchment. Karilan, the owner, would be appalled if I used subpar coffee beans,” she said with a fond smile that seemed to soften some of her weariness.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.