#i feel like edessa would like wearing them too

[otterknowbynow]

Altean Home Economics (17/?)

Goo is great, but Hunk sure would feel better if they had kitchen access, even if that does mean figuring out some extraterrestrial foreign substances and ending up with a lot more than he bargained for. Set between 2x07 "Space Mall" and 2x08 "The Blade of Marmora," stretching time a little bit.

all chapters in this tag | full work on ao3

“We don’t know who sent the signal yet,” Lisanne says for probably the third time, but Elian is pacing the center of the council chambers, not anywhere near being a reasonable person for the moment -- if he ever is, Yeskia thinks. 

“If this is some kind of prank, we’re going to have to reopen the prison chambers specifically for whoever pulled this stunt.” Elian sniffs in a way Yeskia can only interpret as haughty; she keeps from rolling her eyes, but only just. 

“Nil said it was in the medical sector,” she says tightly, trying not to give away too much. She and Elian have butt heads plenty of times over the cycles, but there’s no reason to openly antagonize him in the middle of a crisis. “I think it’s safe to assume this isn’t a prank -- someone will be back soon with more information, and we’ve sent for an engineering representative already.” 

“It’s never safe to assume,” Elian says, pausing in his pacing to fix her with a withering stare. Yeskia keeps her face pointedly neutral, though she can see Lisanne roll their eyes from their seat at the council table and lay their head in their hands. 

“Well, then it’s not safe to assume the worst, either,” Yeskia says simply, her tone light. Elian doesn’t respond to that, just returns to his pacing after giving one last sniff in her direction. Yeskia takes that as at least an admission that there’s no point in panicking or turning against their own people. In any case, she has a pretty good idea of who might have sent that signal, or at least why. She and Lenida have started showing symptoms just when Hilvra is worsening -- they’re lucky it hasn’t affected Zoric yet, but if things have gotten worse since she left the house this morning, she can’t imagine her spouses have felt there was any other option. And if anyone should be making the call in this case, of course it should be medical, though she’s not sure why they used the citizens’ array...unless…

“Zoric.” She says it aloud before she can stop herself, and even though her voice is quiet, it cuts through the silence of the council chambers perfectly clearly. 

“I’m sorry?” Elian says, stopping his pacing again, this time at the far end of the chamber. He projects his voice as if he needs to in order to be heard, loudly enough that it’s actually more difficult to parse his words. Yeskia clenches and unclenches trembling fingers in her lap; she can feel her face heating up. 

“I need to disclose something to both of you, councilors, though I feel I must emphasize that I haven’t put either of you at risk,” she says, looking vaguely toward Lisanne without making eye contact.

“At risk for the disease?” That’s Lisanne, who still sounds calm and collected. As she nods at them, Yeskia can see Elian approaching them in her peripheral vision, less calm, less collected. He stops several yards from the councilors’ table, mouth agape. 

“What do you mean you haven’t put either of us at risk? Why would that be a question?” His voice has lost its haughtiness, but gained a sharp edge that she doesn’t like any better, and his eyes are wide behind the tiny half-moon spectacles perched on his nose. 

Yeskia swallows before continuing. “Lenida tested positive for UAD -- the new sickness that’s been circulating. They’re calling it Unknown Altean Disease, but trying to use the initials as much as possible, because, well…” she trails off, lifting one slightly shaking hand to gesture in circles. 

“People won’t love that,” says Lisanne, nodding. 

“Not love it? They’ll hate it,” Elian adds, incredulous. “Can you imagine? Naming a disease after the very planet most would give anything to return to --” he cuts himself off, clapping a hand over his mouth. “-- I’m sorry,” he adds, speaking through his hand now. “You said Lenida tested positive?” 

“Yes, and I imagine the reason the citizens’ array is activated is likely because Zoric has tested positive as well.” She stops speaking, swallowing past a bit of a cough. She takes a drink from her vessel, and as she does, Lisanne continues seemingly for her. 

“...and he wouldn’t want to risk the two of them having to go activate the personnel one,” they say, frowning. “Speaking of which, we really ought to amend code on that, to allow personnel to have their respective alerts in their homes. It seems like it would have been best for us to know immediately that this alert came in a professional capacity -- assuming, of course, that you’re right, Yeskia, which I imagine you are, I mean -- you know your husband.” Yeskia nods, looking pointedly at Lisanne.  

“Updating the codes is something to handle when we’re not in the middle of a crisis, perhaps, though it’s a good point,” she says diplomatically. Lisanne looks a bit sheepish, but nods in turn. Elian sniffs, bringing the others’ attention back to see he’s apparently recovered from this bit of news, at least enough to have opinions again.

“Why didn’t you share this information immediately?” he asks, and this question at least Yeskia supposes is unavoidable. 

“Because we didn’t know enough,” she says. “They’re still working on their report, and so far we’ve had no fatalities -- it didn’t seem worth disclosing until things came to a point where we had something coherent to share and could use official channels.” 

“Or until we got into a crisis,” Lisanne says, and their jaw is set in frustration also, which Yeskia is pretty sure is unfortunately directed at her. 

“Yes, and we probably should have foreseen that, what with Hilvra’s decline.” She takes a deep breath. 

“Is there anything else you might need to disclose?” Lisanne asks, waving away the rest of what Yeskia intended to become a true apology. 

“Oh, it goes along with --” 

“-- Hold that thought, councilor,” says Elian, raising a single finger toward her as he looks at his now frantically beeping wrist communicator. “We should take this.” Yeskia darts a look at Lisanne, but they’re frowning toward Elian, their focus shifted completely, and in a split second Yeskia realizes why. Elian hasn’t once interrupted a council discussion to take a call -- Yeskia may have only been on council for a half-dozen sun cycles, but if there’s one thing Elian has, it’s a reputation for observing decorum. 

“Elian, good,” says a voice from the communicator as soon as he presses the release. Yeskia shakes her head to be sure of what she’s hearing, but that’s absolutely Zoric’s voice coming out of Elian’s wrist, and a moment later her husband’s holographic form appears, wearing a strange strip of fabric across his sickles. She frowns as Zoric continues. “Yeskia’s not picking up. Is she with you?” Elian shoots her a look of disapproval before answering.

“Yes, of course she’s here, medic.” Yeskia pulls up the sleeve of her jacket to find her communicator flashing bright red -- three missed calls, all from Zoric. She feels the heat come to her cheeks as she realizes that with the trembling in her hands she hasn’t felt the vibrations. Quietly, Yeskia takes off her wrist communicator and puts it on the council table in front of her, the better to monitor it. 

“Good, good.” Zoric sounds exhausted, and from what she can see of his holographic form from a couple meters away, he looks it as well. Yeskia feels a sharp pang in her heart -- this kind of open wilting isn’t like him, she thinks. It’s not like any of the three of them. “You all need to know that we had a fatality this morning -- the first one from UAD.” He pauses as all three councilors breathe in sharply in unison, then continues. “You also need to know that I’ve sent Renturin to set off the off-world signal -- he has both keys and it should have gone by now --” 

“-- it did,” Yeskia says, standing up and moving to stand by Elian. The communicator won’t pick her up as a hologram, but it will take her audio. “But it’s the civilian one, Zoric -- why didn’t you send him to the personnel --” 

“I did,” Zoric says slowly, and she sees his hologram face frown. “And he had Edessa with him -- from the market --” 

“Yeskia,” Lisanne’s voice cuts in, and Yeskia turns to see them nodding toward her communicator on the table, which is buzzing so frantically it’s skittering across the surface. She steps over to it quickly and picks it up, hitting the release without bothering to look at who the call is from. 

“She’s getting a call,” Elian says primly to Zoric’s tiny hologram, and Yeskia doesn’t see or hear how he responds to that, because in front of her is a hologram of a woman who’s such a fixture of the market that Yeskia feels instantly comforted, despite the frantic nature of this whole day so far. 

“Edessa,” she says warmly, holding the communicator as steady as she can so it will capture her hologram properly. “Are you with Ren? What --” 

“I’m sorry to cut you off, Councilor, but we’ve got some rather strange news -- Ren asked me to call Zoric, but he’s not answering, and we need to tell someone --” Her voice cuts off as Ren’s smaller one cuts in. 

“-- we couldn’t set off the real one, Mama, the one Papa wanted us to.” He sounds frantic, and Yeskia feels a tug at her heart, barely resisting the urge to race out of the building and across the dome to him immediately. “It wouldn’t open; I don’t know why -- so we did the other one, the citizen one? The one you said I should only touch in an emergency, but Papa seemed clear that this was an emergency, so --” 

“-- You did the right thing, Ren bird, you did,” she says as comfortingly as she can, trying to keep her face clear of her own distress, her free hand trembling more than it has been all morning to compensate. “Don’t worry -- we’re figuring out how to respond now, all right?” 

“All right, Mama,” he says, and there’s some relief in his voice, at least. She can see the hologram of Edessa move her arm to hold a bag out of frame, and she’s filled with a swell of affection for the baker for whatever comforts that bag might hold. When Ren speaks again, his mouth is clearly full. “Should we -- go -- home?” he asks, chewing. Edessa’s eyes crinkle with amusement and she turns back to speak to Yeskia again. 

“I’ll take him home if that’s where we should be,” she says. “Unless there are other missions we need to complete here?”

“We need to know why the personnel one didn’t work,” Elian says sharply from behind her. Yeskia turns to see his communicator is closed and away now. She frowns, hoping he at least relayed to Zoric what happened before he hung up. 

“Well, of course, Councilor.” Edessa says formally, and Yeskia nearly laughs at her not using Elian’s name when she’s easily twenty cycles his senior. Edessa’s on friendly terms with everyone, nearly. 

“Actually,” Yeskia says suddenly, because it’s true, Edessa is on friendly terms with nearly everyone. “You can probably help us with that, or, well -- Jenis can. We sent a page to find them nearly -- well, a while ago -- and if they’re not both back yet --” 

“Jenis must be nowhere to be found,” says Edessa, smiling warmly at Yeskia now. “That I can help with. Give us a few ticks. Say bye to your mama for now, Ren.” 

“Bye, Mama!”

“Bye, Ren bird,” she says softly as the communicator clicks off the call.

[melrose1124]

I found this on my other blog. It looked like fun.

50 questions

1: What would you name your future daughter? - I have a thing for “E” names. I think Edessa and Emily would be cute names.

2: Do you miss anyone? - My family, sometimes.

3: What if I told you that you were pretty? - No I’m not.

4: Ever been told “it’s not you, it’s me”? - Not really. It’s usually me saying that.

5: What are you looking forward to in the next week? - Hopefully starting at my new job, quitting counseling, and my roommates will be finishing up school so we can do stuff like small road trips and cookouts.

6: Did you go out or stay in last night? - Stayed in

7: How late did you stay up last night? - Maybe 2:30-3am-sh?

8: Honestly, has anyone seen you in your underwear in the past 3 months? - Yup.

9: What were you doing at 12:30 this afternoon? - Either talking to my roommates or watching Switched At Birth

10: Have you ever told somebody you loved them and not actually meant it? - Haha yeah >.<

11: Could you go for the rest of your life without drinking alcohol? - Probably

12: Have you pretended to like someone? - Happens all the time.

13: Could you go the rest of your life without smoking a cigarette? - Yup

14: Is there one person in your life that can always make you smile? - Yes. :) <3

15: Is it hard for you to get over someone? - Depends on the someone.

16: Think back five months ago, were you single? - Yup! :)

17: Have you ever cried from being so mad? - Yeah. I kind of always cry when I’m mad.

18: Hold hands with anyone this week? - Yup :) <3

19: Did your last kiss take place in/on a bed? - Nope

20: Who did you last see in person? - My roommate is in the room with me right now and I can see him out of the corner of my eye.

21: What is the last thing you said out loud? - “Maggie sounds like she’s dying.”

22: Have you kissed three or more people in one night? - Yeah. Shit happens.

23: Have you ever been to Paris? - Nope. I wish though!

24: Are you good at hiding your feelings? - I used to be. Not so much anymore.

25: Do you use chap stick? - Only when my lips need it.

26: Who did you last share a bed with? - My boyfriend

27: Are you listening to music right now? - Nope

28: What is something you currently want right now? - Chocolate

29: Were your last three kisses from the same person? - Yeah.

30: How is your heart lately? - Pretty shitty. I need a transplant.

31: Do you wear the hood on your hoodie? - Sometimes

32: When was the last time a member of the opposite sex hugged you? - I think I hugged my roommate yesterday? If not, I hugged my boyfriend goodbye the other night.

33: What do people call you? - Melissa, Mel, Missy, Squibling

34: Have you ever wanted to tell someone something but didn’t? - All the time.

35: Are there any stressful situations in your life? - My heart sucks, I’m hooked up to a machine, and I have no money and no idea when I’m starting my new job.

36: What are you listening to right now? - Maggie talking on the phone. Ben also just chuckled at something, so I heard that too.

37: What is wrong with you right now? - See #35.

38: Love really is a beautiful thing huh? - Yeah :) <3

39: Do you make wishes at 11:11? - Every once in awhile.

40: What is on your wrists right now? - Nothing

41: Are you single/taken/heartbroken/confused/waiting for the unexpected? - I’m taken.

42: Where did you get the shirt/sweatshirt you’re wearing? - Free t-shirt from my first high school

43: Have you ever regretted kissing someone? - Yeah.

44: Have you hugged someone within the last week? - Yeah. My family, roommates, and boyfriend.

45: Have you kissed anyone in the last five days? - Yup! :D

46: What were you doing at midnight last night? - Laying on the couch

47: Do you miss the way things were six months ago? - Fuck no! I was in the hospital and could barely move!

48: Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone? - With someone else. <3

49: Have you ever been to New York? - Nope

50: Think of the last person who said I love you, do you think they meant it? - Yeah. :)

[otterknowbynow]

Altean Home Economics (14/?)

Goo is great, but Hunk sure would feel better if they had kitchen access, even if that does mean figuring out some extraterrestrial foreign substances and ending up with a lot more than he bargained for. Set between 2x07 "Space Mall" and 2x08 "The Blade of Marmora," stretching time a little bit.

all chapters in this tag | full work on ao3

Edessa isn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't this. The quarters they enter aren't nearly as...sterile as she would predict from a couple of medics and their councilor wife. Renturin leads her into a front room set with somewhat mismatched comfortable-looking furniture -- with the small heat stove in the corner, it looks downright cozy. 

"You can sit down," the boy says, gesturing an arm in a way that encompasses the whole room and makes it clear she's free to choose her seat. Edessa nods and makes her way to a round-backed chair with wide armrests, framed out of some kind of strong dried brown plant matter, but cushioned with blue-green pillows. It's near the heat stove, and when she lowers herself into it, she's pleased to find the cushions are just firm enough to be comfortable with her back the way it is.

“Now, your papa and sasha --” Edessa begins, but she cuts herself off at a clatter from further inside. 

“Ren?” a voice calls warmly. “Is that you?” 

“Yes, Papa,” the boy calls back. “Wait here. You can’t -- well, anyway, just wait,” he adds to Edessa, and disappears down the hallway further into the house. Edessa frowns, looking around the room and considering her options. She could stay here, sitting in what is admittedly a highly comfortable chair. She could leave -- that doesn’t seem likely, there’s much too much interesting going on. Besides, Renturin -- maybe he did prefer Ren -- came to find her on purpose, even if he was a bit shaken at the time. She could follow, which does admittedly seem like the most appealing option, even if she’s not usually one to overstep -- there’s a child involved, and he had said his parents were sick. 

She’s saved from having to follow through on such an endeavor by Ren’s return. He’s picked up a face covering somewhere, which stretches across the bridge of his nose, covering the sickles on his cheeks and securing around the back of his head. It looks almost like a bandage, and the curious nature of its appearance causes Edessa to take a moment to realize he’s holding another similar covering out to her. 

“Put this on, please,” he says. “It’s...you need it. Papa says.” 

“Alright,” Edessa says slowly, taking the covering from him and holding it across her own sickles. She frowns as she tries to figure out the straps, and Ren flaps a hand at her to get her to kneel so he can reach to secure it around her face. She thinks about asking him what it’s for, but it seems to her the child’s been through enough this morning already, and presumably if she gets to see some adults -- she wishes she could remember the medical attendings’ names -- they’ll be in a better position to explain. Leading her down the hallway, Ren runs one hand along the wall beside him, which Edessa notices is made of some kind of light brown paneling, rather than the usual smooth white metal. The opposite wall is mostly windows, letting in plenty of morning sunlight filtered through the dome. They pass a number of doors, where Ren seemingly automatically hops his hand off the wall and back on again. All the doors are shut, with command panels next to them just like the ones she’s seen in her own stays in the medical sector. No labels, but then, they wouldn’t need any in a home, she supposes. 

“Sasha’s asleep, but Papa’s up, or at least awake. I told him you’re here, and he said to bring you back and he’ll explain better -- inform you about precautions.” Ren stops for a moment and looks back up at her. “I think he means about the face things.” 

“Alright,” says Edessa, nodding. She’s still holding the small bag of tarts, and she wishes she’d thought to bring more, since their dwindling supply won’t get them too far if they need to be nursing two sick adults all day. Still, if at least one of them is conscious, that’s a good sign. The hallway is long, but the door at the end is open, the panel glowing with a soft white light, unlike the six or so they passed -- Edessa had lost count when Ren started talking. 

As they approach the open door, she starts to hear the low hum of machinery over the rest of the background sounds of the house, and Ren leads her into a neat modest bedroom. The bed in the center is made of the same kind of plant fiber as the frame of her chair in the front room, with one figure curled up under its ocean of blankets. This in itself immediately strikes Edessa as odd -- it’s quite warm in the house -- but she’s distracted by the other figure in the room, who must be Ren’s father. He’s tall by Entuk standards, wearing one of the same face strip coverings that Ren brought her, and would cut an imposing figure if not for the warmth in his eyes and the smile on his face. 

“Edessa, a delight to see you, if anything especially given the circumstances,” he says, and Edessa keeps from slapping her own forehead to try to remember his name, but it’s a close thing. 

“Likewise, medic,” she says, hating it as soon as it’s out of her mouth. There are only so many people at the outpost, and one of their head medical officers shouldn’t be a difficult pull. 

“Zoric,” he says, tone still impossibly kind. “I wouldn’t expect you to know -- Lenida’s usually the one who gets all the press, so to speak. Speaking of which, she’s, well --” He stops and gestures toward the bed, where the figure under the covers stirs and rolls over back into the pile of pillows. “She’s not doing as well as the rest of us, I’m afraid.” Zoric doesn’t look like he’s doing so well, either, if the bags under his eyes or the shaking in his hands are any indication, and Edessa is pretty sure if it weren’t for Ren’s return and not wanting to frighten the boy, he wouldn’t have made the effort to get out of bed. 

“You should probably lie down also,” Edessa says firmly. “Or at least sit -- you can talk as well from sitting, Zoric.” She may have only met him on a few occasions, but Edessa has dozens of sun cycles of experience more than the good medic, and that’s enough to lend her some authority in this situation, she hopes. 

“You’re --” Zoric cuts off to cough into one white-sleeved elbow, grimacing. He nods, and moves to an armchair in the corner by the headboard of the bed, nearly identical to the one she sat in in the front room. The furniture in here is far better coordinated than it is out there, Edessa notices. It’s not until Ren appears by Zoric’s side with a small silver pouch and a straw that Edessa even notices he left the room, but Zoric takes the pouch gratefully and pierces it with the straw with trembling fingers, taking a long drink before speaking again. “I don’t think we imagined we would all come down with it at the same time,” he says. “What do you know about this sickness, Edessa?” 

“I know it started a few moons ago,” she says slowly. “I know a number of people have recovered from it, and there have been no deaths. I know transmission seems to be somewhat limited, though we haven’t quite figured out how yet.” She takes a deep breath. “And I know Councilor Hilvra took ill a few days ago.” 

“All accurate, though it’s also true we’ve been learning more with every new case that arises,” Zoric says. “Unfortunately, medical has had a time trying to get any solid data on how to treat it apart from treating symptoms...like you said, that usually works, but in Councilor Hilvra’s case, we haven’t been seeing much of an improvement. Lenida and I have been staying with her as much as possible, running any tests we can think of and trying to treat her symptoms. Unfortunately, that seems to have come around and bitten us in the ass.” He smiles ruefully at her. 

“Papa, language,” Ren says, so sternly it takes Edessa until Zoric laughs to realize he was joking. 

“Anyway, the thing that’s truly maddening -- and I tell you this in confidence, Edessa -- is that Lenida found some texts last week, ones that seem to indicate --” He’s cut off by a series of demanding beeps, and he frowns down at his wrist communicator. “Oh -- I need to take this,” he says, putting his hands on the arms of the chair to go to rise. 

“No, stay here,” Edessa says. “I’ll take Ren out, if you need us to leave.” 

“Oh, it’s not that, he says, I need my -- yes, thank you, Ren.” The boy moves quickly and nearly-silently, Edessa thinks. He’d make a good scout. In any case, he’s brought Zoric a small tablet and stylus, which the medic balances on his lap as he brings his wrist communicator up to his face and presses the release. A small hologram appears in front of him, and Edessa feels a jolt of surprise as she recognizes it as Councilor Hilvra. A Councilor Hilvra that looks more tired and shaky than she’s ever seen, but Councilor Hilvra nonetheless. 

“Zoric,” the councilor says hurriedly, and Edessa is partly relieved to hear she still sounds like Hilvra, even if her appearance is more disheveled than she would ever appear in public. “It’s time. It must be.” Zoric, who had apparently been preparing to take notes, drops his stylus in surprise. 

“Are you sure, Councilor?” he asks, eyebrows lowering as his kind face transforms into a frown. “We haven’t exhausted --” 

“We have,” the tiny hologram interrupts. “We lost Lim this morning. It’s all over the sector. I hope Yeskia and the others have heard, because --”

“-- we can’t waste any time. I’ll handle things with the Councilors,” Zoric says. “You rest.” He hits a button on his communicator to cut off the transmission and turns to his son. “Ren, I need you to go to the lab; there’s a box in the corner --” 

“-- with the alarms, I know. But which one --” 

“-- take the key from Sasha’s hook, and mine, here --” He passes the boy a small silver key. “And take Edessa, you need to activate the off-world signal. We’re not getting through this alone.”