STF

Deck 4 Garden- Wedding Bells

Posted Sept. 2, 2022, 11:29 p.m. by Chief Warrant Officer Walker Darach (Chief Operations Officer) (Steve Johnson)

Posted by Lindsay B in Deck 4 Garden- Wedding Bells

Posted by Civilian Revna Freya McKenzie (Diplomatic Attache) in Deck 4 Garden- Wedding Bells

Posted by Lindsay B in Deck 4 Garden- Wedding Bells
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Nadine gave them their moment, smiling, and then caught Faye’s gaze and winked. “Your turn, Sister.”

Carefully rising from her chair and careful not to step on the delicate pale green net of her skirt, Faye made her way to the podium, glass in hand. Her and Daggum had left the poignant words till now and she still thought keeping the vows simple had been the right move, but after each speech concluded she realized that she would be a mess by the time it was her turn. Oh well. Today she was allowed.

Revna watched as Faye walked to the podium, just like everyone else was. And like everyone else she was watching to see if Faye did become overwhelmed. It was okay if she did, today of all days it would be expected. Faye didn’t like getting overwhelmed, but here was a safe space for her. Revna was overwhelmingly happy for her.

Setting her glass down, she inhaled deeply and gazed out over the large table of guests. She should be nervous. After all, Faye Calloway did not like being the centre of attention. But for a reason she couldn’t quite figure out just now, she wasn’t, and for one simple reason: her mind was calm. There were no multiple tangents of thoughts going on, no multi-layered problem solving. Instead her mind was filled only with love. Love for Daggum, and all these people she never expected to have in her life. That thought made her eyes blur. Great. She blew out a breath and began.

“I shouldn’t be here. The odds say I should have died at numerous points in my life. Sometimes it felt like I had. But I come from a family of brave and tenacious women who are survivors. We survive, we make it through. But… as I have had the privilege of learning, there is surviving and there is living. When I first came to the Manhattan I was determined to do this thing called living. But I didn’t know how. And right away I met Dag, and that meeting stuck in my brain too”-she shot Daggum a grin-“and for reasons I’m still not entirely sure of I let him in. Just a little bit. And by letting him in, I became open to letting others in too.”

Focusing on Daggum as if he were the only one there, Faye just beamed at him. “Star Man, do you know what the odds are that you and I both lived to be here together in this moment with all these people here to support us? I could try to write a computer program to calculate them, but by my estimate it would only be accurate within a standard deviation of five…”

“Six actually,” Shara chimed in with a smirk.

Faye’s brows rose and she snorted. “Thanks, Teach.” She gabbed a thumb in her mother’s direction. “She taught me AP calculus and has more of a math brain than I do, so I suppose we’ll let her have it.” Shara just laughed, leaning back in her chair to rest against Micah.

“The point is that I think I believe in Fate. It’s Fate that you and I had this chance. Yes, we did the hard work. Yes, certain variables worked in our favour. But I will go the rest of our lives believing you were made for me, and I for you. As a scientist such a statement is floofy and nonsensical, but… I guess, when it comes to us, I have faith. And I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone. And with you I feel calmer, centred. I know it won’t always be easy, but if there is anyone who has the capacity to make it through and deserves an incredible amount of happiness, it’s us my love.” She blew him a kiss and then focused her gaze outwards over everyone else.

“I’m not sure I have words for how grateful I am to have all of you in our lives. But I’m going to try, because if I don’t do it now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to later. Cause right now I at least have waterproof mascara on.” That comment drew chuckles as Faye turn towards Cochrane. “Alex. We’ve been slowly getting things out while we have the chance, trying to finds words to explain this weird and wonderful friendship we have. As an adult, I’ve never had a best friend until I met you, and once I learned I could be a good friend, I found other people were my friends too.” Faye paused to gather herself but she felt dangerously on the edge of full on tears. “I deflect. I make jokes about my messed up neurotic scientist brain because I know that not everyone has the capacity to… tolerate what comes with it. But you taught me that I was valuable and worthy of love and belonging simply because I existed. You helped me see my quirks not as the deterrents and flaws I was always made to feel they were but as strengths and and signs of my character. They are good things. I owe you a great deal, and though we don’t keep score, Dag and I both are very aware that we could not have happened if you had not been the person you are to me. I love you my friend. And I wish you as much happiness as I have found. Because you deserve it too.”

“Today I like to think we’re celebrating happiness and love. And Dag and I aren’t the only ones to have found it recently. In particular I’m totally going to embarrass my Mom and Micah because they went and eloped and I never got to do this properly.” She lifted her glass. “So, Mom, I know we’re still figuring this all out, but already I’m learning a lot from you again. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall from that rather… unorthodox ceremony, but seeing you with Micah and seeing the shift tells me all I need to know. Pops… there was a part of me that was still very angry at my father for his choices, and though I forgave him that night of our wake on the holodeck, it took a while for my heart to trust that someone else wouldn’t break it again. I know it’s taken me a bit to warm up to the idea of having another father in my life, but I’m so grateful to you for all you’ve done me, for Nadine, for my mom. You are the unexpected glue in our family. Who would’ve thought, huh? So I toast you two right now, and celebrate the example you’re setting of what it is to hold tight to the thing you know is right for you.” Faye sipped from her glass.

Faye inhaled deeply and blew out that breath, steading herself. “As for the rest of you, some I just met, the rest I’ve known for awhile and have been an important part of my life for one reason or another. I have an uncle and aunt and cousin here today that I’m so excited to get to know better because I went from being entirely on my own to having this big group of family and friends. I don’t take that for granted. Walker…” Faye grinned at the COO. “I knew you were my people that crazy ass day I was crawling at a mad pace through the jefferies tubes. You gave me the benefit of the doubt, you reached out and helped me when I was in a terrible spot. You gave me hope that maybe something would be okay in the aftermath. For that, I thank you.”

Walker raised his glass towards Faye as he silently laughing thinking back on that day.

“Revna, you made my crazy feel okay, that it was okay to be overwhelmed and feel like I was falling apart, even after I had picked up all the pieces. You didn’t negate my fears and concerns and helped me find a bit of perspective even as you made it okay for me to just… feel. So thank you too.”

Revna smiled and raised her glass to Faye. “Faye, your kind of crazy is beautiful, and everyone here agrees.”

Faye grinned and gave Revna a half nod.

“Kiama (OOC: Silke and I agreed she would definitely be here), you are one of the kindest hearted people who ever tossed themselves in my path. For better or worse,” Faye said with a chuckle. “I like to think that being friends with you has helped me understand what having a sister was like, so that when Nadine appeared in my life I was ready for it. You are a sister to me and I hope you feel the same way.”

“And last but not least, Nadine.” Faye fixed her gaze on her half-sister with a bit of awe. “I’m glad I listened to Micah that night and called you. I think we understand each other more than we realize. We’ve both had such huge hurts that we can hold space for each other. I’m glad you came all this way and get a glimpse of the life I’ve had out here. I know you’re on your own path of searching and I hope with all my heart you find it.” Nadine pressed her hand to her heart and nodded.

Faye lifted her glass again. “I propose a toast to family. For you are all mine and Dag’s family now, whether you like it or not. To family,” she said before drinking from her glass.

Revna raised her glass, and “To Family” went around in a rush from the assemblage and they all drank.

Returning to her seat, she grinned at Dag. “Too much? It’s your turn now too, Star Man.”

~Faye & Co.

Revna looked at Faye and sighed. “See, now you’ve gone and done it Faye. You said we’re family.” Revna pushed her seat back and stood. Her voice carrying easily across the space without the help of a mic. “When Faye first told me she was getting married we talked a long time about what her wedding would look like. What traditions were important to her and Daggum, and what new traditions she might want to start. We talked about family and how we find them, and how surprising that can be.” Her eyes twinkled and she laughed, “And as we girls tend to do we gossiped and gushed about the men in our life.”

“Faye, I am honored to call you family, and as such my family, my clan, well we have traditions too. One of those being I’m required to sing at your wedding, and I know you love to dance.” Revna moved over toward the piano and sat on a stool. She pointed a finger at Faye, “You claimed me, so this is all your fault. And this had better not end up on social media. I’ll never hear the end from my husband.”

Brows raised, Faye just grinned in curiosity. The lovely thing about an event like this was that it wasn’t all rehearsed and planned out to a T. Yes, she had planned how it would flow, but at the end of the Day Faye was happy to let things unfold as they would. At the mention of loving to dance, Faye rose from her chair and stood behind Daggum, her hands resting on her shoulders. Whatever this was going to be, she was ready. O so she thought.

The lights dimmed over where Revna was sitting and the lighting over where Faye and Daggum were sitting brightened a little. Then Revna began to sing, a soft techno beat starting in accompaniment and quickly turned to strong dance rhythm.

I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me
I still feel your touch in my dreams
Forgive me my weakness, but I don’t know why
Without you, it’s hard to survive

‘Cause every time we touch
I get this feeling
And every time we kiss
I swear I could fly
Can’t you feel my heart beat fast
I want this to last
Need you by my side

‘Cause every time we touch
I feel this static
And every time we kiss
I reach for the sky
Can’t you hear my heart beat so
I can’t let you go
Want you in my life

Your arms are my castle
Your heart is my sky
They wipe away tears that I cry
The good and the bad times
We’ve been through them all
You make me rise when I fall

‘Cause every time we touch
I get this feeling
And every time we kiss
I swear I can fly
Can’t you feel my heart beat fast
I want this to last
Need you by my side

‘Cause every time we touch
I feel this static
And every time we kiss
I reach for the sky
Can’t you hear my heart beat so
I can’t let you go
Want you in my life

‘Cause every time we touch
I get this feeling
And every time we kiss
I swear I could fly
Can’t you feel my heart beat fast
I want this to last
Need you by my side

Faye grooved to the music, standing next to her husband, a blissful expression on her face. Was it utterly strange to be dancing like this in public? Absolutely! And yet, she didn’t care. Wonders never ceased.

The music faded and Revna returned to her seat and raised her glass. “To Faye and Daggum. May you always fly together.”

Revna McKenzie (special thanks to Cascada Every Time We Touch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_osW9OINIA)

Faye clapped hard, beaming at Revna. “Thank you for that lovely surprise,” she said, feeling overwhelmingly giddy right now. And she couldn’t even blame that on alcohol since any in her glass was entirely neutralized.

~Faye

As Revna sat down, Walker pushed his seat back and stood up.

“If I may, I wanted to propose a toast to the happy couple. And I promise you won’t have to listen to me sing,” Walker said with a chuckle.

“Faye, you spoke of fate bringing the two of you together. But fate also brought you into all of our lives. While I could do with a few less electrocutions or phaser blasts , I think I speak for us all when I say that we can’t imagine a life without you in it.

“Daggum, while we have not had much of a chance to get to know each other yet. Anyone who can keep up with Faye though even half the stories she’s told us either has to be insane, or madly in love. Either which way, I saw a sale on body armor at our last stop, I think you are going to need it,” he said with a laugh.

Picking up his glass, Walker held it up. “To Faye and Daggum. May you have fair winds and following seas in all of your adventures.”

Finishing off his glass Walker sat back down.

  • Darach

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