01-21-2026, 02:31 AM
"Guilty. Little person, big appetite. And Mara's right, great job on your first away mission. If you want to go grab some food I'll go with you."
That drew a smirk from Mara as she tore into her second sandwich. She was still feeling a mighty need for food after everything she’d put herself through this morning.
Just for a moment, there was a flicker across the Security Chief’s face as she remembered why she’d been trying to lose herself in workouts, socialising and whatever else she could find to do. She frowned and shook her head to try and clear it. But what she saw in the cloning facility was going to stick with her for a good long while yet.
"Survive was the goal, and I did thanks to you. To everyone here." Hally’s words pulled Mara back to the present. "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."
On the spur of the moment, Calleja found a napkin to clean her hands with and then stepped down from the bench. There was a smile on her lips as she took the couple of steps to where Maxas-Darl stood and then held her arms out.
“I don’t do this… Well, ever. But you look like you need a hug, and right now, I kinda do too,” the Amazonian officer admitted, as she wrapped her arms around the redhead.
Her mind was absolutely racing at the simple gesture that pretty much everyone else present would have done without batting an eyelid. But for Mara it was a huge step into the unknown. Hugs weren’t a thing in her family growing up. They absolutely weren’t amongst her schoolmates either, and by the time she’d wound up on Earth, she’d never felt the need to offer and her stand-offish manner had put anyone else off offering.
I hope this is how I’m supposed to hug someone… I have no idea. Always thought I should be good at it though?
Between that and the surprisingly public admission of vulnerability, Calleja was getting perilously close to something that vaguely resembled a healthy emotional response to a traumatic experience. Because she wasn’t OK. But being here, surrounded by people that she would actually call friends, she felt safe enough to make that confession.
== Tags! ==
That drew a smirk from Mara as she tore into her second sandwich. She was still feeling a mighty need for food after everything she’d put herself through this morning.
Just for a moment, there was a flicker across the Security Chief’s face as she remembered why she’d been trying to lose herself in workouts, socialising and whatever else she could find to do. She frowned and shook her head to try and clear it. But what she saw in the cloning facility was going to stick with her for a good long while yet.
"Survive was the goal, and I did thanks to you. To everyone here." Hally’s words pulled Mara back to the present. "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."
On the spur of the moment, Calleja found a napkin to clean her hands with and then stepped down from the bench. There was a smile on her lips as she took the couple of steps to where Maxas-Darl stood and then held her arms out.
“I don’t do this… Well, ever. But you look like you need a hug, and right now, I kinda do too,” the Amazonian officer admitted, as she wrapped her arms around the redhead.
Her mind was absolutely racing at the simple gesture that pretty much everyone else present would have done without batting an eyelid. But for Mara it was a huge step into the unknown. Hugs weren’t a thing in her family growing up. They absolutely weren’t amongst her schoolmates either, and by the time she’d wound up on Earth, she’d never felt the need to offer and her stand-offish manner had put anyone else off offering.
I hope this is how I’m supposed to hug someone… I have no idea. Always thought I should be good at it though?
Between that and the surprisingly public admission of vulnerability, Calleja was getting perilously close to something that vaguely resembled a healthy emotional response to a traumatic experience. Because she wasn’t OK. But being here, surrounded by people that she would actually call friends, she felt safe enough to make that confession.
== Tags! ==