Are The Bridge Cookies OK?

Posted on Fri Jun 2nd, 2023 @ 3:01am by Doctor Teagan Ceja

1,218 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Sim Logs
Location: Ceja's Quarters

Are The Bridge Cookies OK?
A JL between Teagan Ceja and Ezrin Ezee.
((Thanks Ezee!)


Ezee skipped along the halls of the Potemkin, halting before the door to Ceja’s quarters and cheerfully pressing the chime to request entry.

Inside the quarters, Teagan was sitting, with a PADD on her legs, and reading. The soft glow of the lantern hung in the window shone across her favourite spot on the long window seat. She uncurled her legs at the sound of the chime, put the PADD to one side, and padded barefoot across the room to the door.

As it slid to one side, she smiled. “Ezrin, how lovely. Come on in. I think I have some of that juice you like left from the dinner party last week. Do you want some?”

“Ezrin says we would be liking this, gratitude,” Ezrin replied with a bright smile, hopping into the room when invited to.

Teagan headed to her kitchen, and got out a jug of a dark purple liquid, and two glasses. She brought them over to her seating area. Placing the glasses on a small table, she poured for them both.

“Sit wherever you want,” she said, and resumed her usual spot on the window seat. “What brings you to my door?”

Ezrin settled on the edge of the couch, their left leg immediately beginning to bounce with their usual insatiable energy. “Ezrin says we are not knowing how to be saying. Ezrin says we are having learnings, but we are not being as good at speakings as we are wanting to be.”

“Well I wouldn’t worry. You’re being careful, which tells me that you’ve been thinking about it. How about we make this a safe place to speak.” She tilted her glass towards Ezrin a little. “Unless you’re about to tell me that the last batch of Bridge Cookies was terrible. If you’re going to say that, then break it to me gently.”

She sipped, and waited.

Ezrin smiled at the joke, but they did not laugh as they usually would have. Instead, they thought for a long time, trying to translate what they wanted to ask. “...Ezrin says we are wanting to be knowing if you are being mind-emotion-safe?” They tried.

Teagan couldn’t help herself. She blinked once, then began to laugh.. Waving a hand in the air, she giggled for a moment or two after the initial burst of merriment.

“Oh my dear friend,” she said, her voice full of warmth. “I have to undergo certain required tests routinely to ensure that I am not compromised. More than anyone else on the ship, in fact. Including the Captain because I have to be able to evaluate even him. I am up to date on it all. Why do you ask?”

Ezrin shook their head. “Ezrin says beings can be having bad-thought-mindings and being able to be doing ship-home-job at same timings. Ezrin says we are knowing you can be doing, or you are not being here, and we are trusting you to be knowing when you are needing to be having spacings. Ezrin says we are being worried for...” they paused for a moment, trying again to find a translation for what they wanted to say, “mind-under-mindings, where thinkings are happening without knowings.”

“My subconscious self is speaking louder than normal?” Teagan asked, wondering what her friend was seeing. “Not to be surprised, given my Starfleet career and all the places I’ve been. Ezrin, my dear friend, tell me what you have seen that has you so worried.”

Ezrin thought again, this time on their phrasing. Ultimately, they decided on their usual bluntness, though they did try to make their tone gentle. “Ezrin says we are seeing you protecting your sidings, whenever we are finding deceiving-minds-proud-thoughts-Romulans. Ezrin thinks you are not knowing you are doing.”

Teagan’s hand strayed to her left side. She glanced down and shook her head, a wry smile on her face. “I see,” she said simply.

She decided to speak. She told Ezrin what it had been like in the camps after Romulus was destroyed. How angry the Romulans had been. How desperate. She spoke about the final day when the doctors were pulled out for their safety before the gangs arrived. And she told Ezrin Ezee about being caught in one of the halls, because there was a little girl who needed surgery and she missed her spot on one of the shuttles and had to wait until the next one.

She did not tell of what the word was that was carved into her skin. That was private. It was ironic that she had chosen not to remove it all these years.

“I am not scared when I meet new Romulans. Nor am I re-traumatised. But I do think about that little girl and I wonder where she is. I hope she is well.”

Ezrin hadn’t been expecting a happy or pleasant story, so they were not disappointed. They just listened with a kind, soft expression, almost as if they had listened to stories like this before. When Teagan finished, Ezrin nodded in understanding. “Ezrin says we are understanding now, and we are being happy you are being okay.” They hesitated a moment before saying, “Ezrin says, if you are wanting to be finding small-being again, we are being happy to be helping.”

Teagan looked briefly wistful. “I never knew her name. But I knew that I saved her life. So there’s that.”

She swung her feet down from the window seat and stood up, heading over to Ezrin. She bent down and hugged her friend.

“Thank you for asking,” she murmured. “Thank you for noticing and asking. That’s what makes you a good soul.”

Ezrin hugged her back warmly. “Ezrin says we are caring for friend-beings.” They replied, simply. “Ezrin wonders...were resultings worth the happenings?” They asked, softly.

“Romulus was burning. We had to do what we could do to help as many as possible. In that timeline Starfleet showed up to help because it was the right thing to do.” Teagan shrugged, “So yes, it was worth it all, in the end.”

She smiled, “Alright, change of subject. What shall we do for our next bridge crew dinner? What theme do you think we should have for next month?”

Recognizing that the previous discussion was over, Ezrin grinned brightly, all their usual enthusiasm returning in a rush. “Ezrin thinks we should be trying water-tastings! Ezrin says on Armellia-planet-home, beings are not having deep-scary-waters to be taking tastings from and we are wanting to be trying!”

“Oh that could be so interesting. We could pair that with light foods. Everyone brings a bottle of their favourite water and something to eat with it. Good idea!”


The pair then spent a merry hour planning. As Ezrin skipped down the halls on their way back to their quarters, they thought about what Teagan had told them, and about it’s similarity to many other stories they had heard. It only tended to reinforce the balance, in their mind, between those who lived with integrity, and those who lived without it. With very few exceptions, Ezrin knew they lived with the former. They began whistling as they skipped.

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