01-17-2026, 11:19 PM
The lake carried sound differently up close. Laughter stretched and softened across the water, broken occasionally by the rhythmic dip of a paddle or the distant call of earth based avianss she couldn’t name. The breeze coming off the surface was cool against her calves, gently lifting the hem of her sundress as she drifted nearer to the gazebo, sandals dangling loosely from her fingers.
Hally took them in one by one in the way she had learned to do years ago. Details first before words. The way Mara occupied all the space around her like gravity itself, Robin’s small frame animated and smooth, much akin to the easy flow of speech that flowed from her. Aeryn’s careful, practiced nurturing ease, still scanning around her to make sure everyone had what they needed.
My people, she realized, with a quiet certainty that surprised her.
For weeks, her thoughts had circled the same hollow truth: they hadn’t saved anyone. No miracle. No late-breaking reversal. Just loss measured in the reports too simply. Numbers and cold logic for some, emotion and feeling for others. The truth of the tragedy they'd stumbled upon somehow worse than war or environmental catastrophe. But standing here, the ache loosened. Not gone, mind but no longer as sharp. As isolating.
Hallowette stepped closer, bare feet sinking slightly into the grass as she approached her friends. The smell of grilled meat and smoke cut through the last of her tension, softly smokey, warm and comforting in a way replicated meals never quite managed. Her stomach gave a small, traitorous growl, and this time she didn’t ignore it. She smiled soft and unguarded as Aeryn caught her eye.
“Thank you for doing this,” she said lightly, voice warm but unforced. “I didn't know how much I needed to see you all.” She looked towards Robin, lifted her arm, and her smile became a sheepish thing, "Better than ever Doctor." Those among her Midshipman colleagues had looked at her post surgery wrist with awe, a real life injury sustained in the line of duty, but Hally had just been glad to have it repaired and back to functionality. It was a reminder that she wasn't quite as invincible as she had told herself she was - and that the reality of her service in Starfleet could cost her everything at a seconds notice.
"I'll always have a good reminder to strap in when I sit at a console, deckplate isn't as forgiving as the movies like to suggest." The injury may have been exacerbated on the planet, but Grants after action assessment had been unabashed about her initial injury being her own fault. "Yeah, I'd love to get a plate, after you!"
She drifted toward the tables, fingers brushing the edge of a cooler as she passed, feeling the cold bite of condensation against her skin. For a moment, she watched Ardanna out on the water, the kayak a thin blue line cutting across the lake’s surface, steady and purposeful. Something about it felt reassuring. Seeing Pearson moving near the edge, openly flirting with her caused something in her to joyfully ache. Luckily Mara's ribbing distracted her from the feeling, though she had little context for what she was referring to, "Survive was the goal, and I did thanks to you." Her freckled face swept across everyone, "To everyone here." Her face scrunched, the light bajoran crest above her nose seeming to be the only part that didn't move, "I'm just glad I didn't embarrass myself too badly, but it was a good lesson that I still have a lot to learn." She left off the part that circled in her mind - that these people were so much more advanced and capable than her. She was a good pilot, yet, but her particular shade of green was bright and far from faded.
Hallowette exhaled, slow and deliberate after the group moved on. She wasn’t fixed, and certainly wasn’t finished processing what she’d seen in the nebula or the lives that had slipped through their fingers. But she was here, among friends, under an open sky, feet on real ground instead of a deckplate, and that mattered more than she’d been willing to admit.For now, it was enough.
Hally took them in one by one in the way she had learned to do years ago. Details first before words. The way Mara occupied all the space around her like gravity itself, Robin’s small frame animated and smooth, much akin to the easy flow of speech that flowed from her. Aeryn’s careful, practiced nurturing ease, still scanning around her to make sure everyone had what they needed.
My people, she realized, with a quiet certainty that surprised her.
For weeks, her thoughts had circled the same hollow truth: they hadn’t saved anyone. No miracle. No late-breaking reversal. Just loss measured in the reports too simply. Numbers and cold logic for some, emotion and feeling for others. The truth of the tragedy they'd stumbled upon somehow worse than war or environmental catastrophe. But standing here, the ache loosened. Not gone, mind but no longer as sharp. As isolating.
Hallowette stepped closer, bare feet sinking slightly into the grass as she approached her friends. The smell of grilled meat and smoke cut through the last of her tension, softly smokey, warm and comforting in a way replicated meals never quite managed. Her stomach gave a small, traitorous growl, and this time she didn’t ignore it. She smiled soft and unguarded as Aeryn caught her eye.
“Thank you for doing this,” she said lightly, voice warm but unforced. “I didn't know how much I needed to see you all.” She looked towards Robin, lifted her arm, and her smile became a sheepish thing, "Better than ever Doctor." Those among her Midshipman colleagues had looked at her post surgery wrist with awe, a real life injury sustained in the line of duty, but Hally had just been glad to have it repaired and back to functionality. It was a reminder that she wasn't quite as invincible as she had told herself she was - and that the reality of her service in Starfleet could cost her everything at a seconds notice.
"I'll always have a good reminder to strap in when I sit at a console, deckplate isn't as forgiving as the movies like to suggest." The injury may have been exacerbated on the planet, but Grants after action assessment had been unabashed about her initial injury being her own fault. "Yeah, I'd love to get a plate, after you!"
She drifted toward the tables, fingers brushing the edge of a cooler as she passed, feeling the cold bite of condensation against her skin. For a moment, she watched Ardanna out on the water, the kayak a thin blue line cutting across the lake’s surface, steady and purposeful. Something about it felt reassuring. Seeing Pearson moving near the edge, openly flirting with her caused something in her to joyfully ache. Luckily Mara's ribbing distracted her from the feeling, though she had little context for what she was referring to, "Survive was the goal, and I did thanks to you." Her freckled face swept across everyone, "To everyone here." Her face scrunched, the light bajoran crest above her nose seeming to be the only part that didn't move, "I'm just glad I didn't embarrass myself too badly, but it was a good lesson that I still have a lot to learn." She left off the part that circled in her mind - that these people were so much more advanced and capable than her. She was a good pilot, yet, but her particular shade of green was bright and far from faded.
Hallowette exhaled, slow and deliberate after the group moved on. She wasn’t fixed, and certainly wasn’t finished processing what she’d seen in the nebula or the lives that had slipped through their fingers. But she was here, among friends, under an open sky, feet on real ground instead of a deckplate, and that mattered more than she’d been willing to admit.For now, it was enough.