Posted Nov. 30, 2021, 12:15 a.m. by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) (Jennifer Ward)
Posted by Lieutenant Miranda Martel (Chief Engineer) in Kindred Souls - Tag: Martel
(snip)
Taking a seat at the table, she unpacked the tray once more. It smelled wonderful, and was still plenty warm with the heat condenser at the bottom, suffusing heat all up through it. “So do you bring every strange girl you meet back to your place,” Miranda jabbed lightly, a little playful. In some ways it was an attempt to lighten up the mood. But she also sensed that people didn’t see these quarters too often. Or at least she guessed. And in many ways, out of the mess hall, she was more relaxed. It was safer here.
Idly she took a quick spoonful from the soup testing it, and then nodded. She’d had a little better, but this version was pretty good. Warm, rich, flavorful, good salt content. The potatoes and onions would be filling, along with the added chives. Potato soup could do a lot for the soul, even if it was stupidly simple.
Lt Martel, CE
The never faltering grin on Bethy’s face widened a bit. “Nope, not really. But here lately it feels like this place is Grand Central Station.” She jerked her head toward the coffee pot. “People keep findin’ out I’ve got real coffee. This keeps up and I won’t have enough to last this mission.” She joked in return allowing Miranda to lead the conversation and tone. In truth Bethany controlled everything in this room. She didn’t really care if people saw where she slept or ate or spent her free time. This was just a room in a hotel. It was her shuttle that she never let anyone on, but it wasn’t here, she couldn’t bring it. So some of that huge degree of privacy she required now carried over to her quarters. But like she said it felt like Grand Central in here the last couple of days. She took a bite of her food, it was still warm and she grinned at the similarity. Cheesy potatoes for herself as a side rather than a soup, and Polish sausage. The only thing it was missing was her mother’s baked apples.
Gadi, CoS
The food Gadi had smelled wonderful and looked just as tasty. With the sampling of her own soup plus what Gadi had out, her appetite roared back to life with her stomach beginning to settle. “Real coffee, eh? I can see why this place would be popular then. I tend to prefer tea, but I’ve been known to enjoy some of the black swill from time to time.” She gave Bethy a small smile then, crinkling up her nose for just a split second then dug into her soup some. It trailed warmth down and in that.. .in it’s own way was comforting and helped chase away some of the dark specters haunting her mind and heart.
“Well I always have a pot of hot water if you prefer your tea to coffee. That’s easy enough to get from the mess, I suppose, but sometimes a warm drink away from the crowds is more soothing.” Bethany ate but at the same time she was carefully watching the woman across from her. She didn’t expect her to be alright but she wanted to make sure she wasn’t in a free fall either. “My last posting had an incredible ops chief that took the homemade coffee brew of the security chief and programmed the computer to make it. Once you tried it, you never drank anything else.”
Not all of them went away, but some. As she sat and ate, she reflected a little. The big black knot in her chest where her heart resided was still there. But it wasn’t as tight now. And while she didn’t know Gadi from Eve, in that moment she didn’t’ feel quite so alone. And yet realized just how alone she’d been feeling. Yet desperately she didn’t want to go back to that. Sure, ‘the life’ was moving from post to post, in many cases. But part of her craved stability. Somewhere she could just be for a while, and make real connections, real friends. Maybe eventually find someone she could call hers. But for now? Just somewhere to be where she felt she belonged was enough. And where … others might have her back as much as she had theirs. Part of her hoped Gadi would. It was a security type’s job to be a shield. But… the variables of the moment could dictate things change at any moment.
Martel was mulling things over, chewing it over in her mind, her uncles would say. She was trying to decide if she could trust Bethany, she wanted to, but wasn’t sure she could. It was times like this that Bethany was grateful for the counseling training her mentor had insisted on. It worked wonders in the field, but it also allowed her to help others, people who mattered, people who were innocent, or were trying to do the right thing, to make the best impact. It didn’t balance out the scales, but it helped.
Her gaze traversed back up to the officer across from her. “So … as much as this all brings back some bad memories… you look ready to bolt, or knife someone. You mentioned earlier you don’t want to be here. At the risk of destroying blissful ignorance… what has you so rattled?”
Miranda Martel
Bethany took another bite of her food and then washed down with her drink. “We’ve been assigned a security liaison, some sort of bad cosmic joke, karma, what ever you want to call it. I know him, and everything in me tells me to run, to get the ship as far away from his as possible. But the mission…will continue. No one knows him like I do, and I can not in good conscious leave ship and crew with him around. Despite knowing walking away is the best thing for all of us.”
Gadi, CoS
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