Mess Hall / Commissary

[SilverRider]

Spoiler:

<Kitchen area>


Swanson cringed a bit and shifted on his feet, giving Claire a swift look.
“Yeah, it’s about them… I sort of tried to help out… and let’s just say that Major Ashwood didn’t really appreciate what I did… I just thought they might need some help and… Well, what’s done is done and I’ll have to stay down here for a while, out of range of Ashwood and her infamous zat.” He shrugged and went silent for a while as he continued doing some more bread.
“No big deal, I’ll live…” He looked back up at Claire with a twinkle in his eyes and a small grin “I hope!” then decided to change subject “and I see that you got your appetite back lieutenant. Good! Finally realized that you can’t live on just coffee, uh?”


NPC - Chief Master Sergeant Henry Swanson

Kitchen Area -->> Mess Hall

Claire gave a snicker, at the mental image of Kim trying to zat Swanson into tomorrow, then sighed, "God! You and Bellano are playing with fire," she shook her head, "According to Valentine, so am I. If we are going to get the zatting of a lifetime we might as well make it worthwhile for getting zatted"

Seeing few base personals arriving, she looked at the clock. Five more hours, she thought were left of her as a SG-1. That is if Blue actually approved of the transfer in the first place. Feeling the pain of it she pushed it down and heard Swanson's coffee line just as she snapped out of her thoughts.

"Thanks for the reminder," she nodded, "I'll need something to keep me awake," she was out of the kitchen before Henry could stop her, pouring a mug, she randomly found a seat and sat down. Leaning on the wall, with her back she zoned out right till she was lost in memories of the past 6/7 months of her time as SG-1.

[max_omega]

(from Ladie's Locker room)

Astra strolled into the mess hall heading straight for the food. She spent several minutes deciding what she wanted while the staff behind the counter waited for her to make her decision. Astra was a little nervous about her first day with her new team and hoped everything would go alright and she wouldn't screw it up. She was looking forward to the day despite the nerves she was feeling.

'It would be good to be off Base for a while. Be out in the fresh air and sunshine,' she thought, chewing her lower lip.

"I'll have the bacon, eggs, sasuages, a bit of tomato with toast please. Too drink I'll have some early grey tea with milk and two sugars please," she asked.

Astra tapped her foot while she waited and smiled broadly when the man placed her breakfast on a tray and slid it across to her.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

The linguist turned around to look for a seat and spotted John the CO of their team. She strolled over and sat to his right.

"Morning," she grumbled, tucking into her breakfast.

John looked up to see Astra standing than taking a seat to his right, "Morning, I think I will get me something to eat also now. Be right back." He stood up and walked over to get him some breakfast, even though he wasn't much of a breakfast eater. He decided on some biscuits, sausage, gravy, with a side order of pancakes.

He took a seat next to Astra, "So how was your day yesterday? Were you able to work more on the translation?"




((Slightly uninspired, but wanted to post something))

[Stargate78fan]

(no problems about the post. Can relate to muses not working properly)

Astra watched amused to what John considered breakfast and shook her head, chewing on her bacon.

"No I didn't get much translating done. Its slow process and won't be translated anytime soon. Its a very old dialect and there isn't much refrences we can use to help translate it. We have a couple of linguists and an archaeologist working on the translations, so its a group effort. I didn't think a military guy as yourself would be interested in something that a linguist was working on? I spent a fair bit of time in the infirmary, not as a patient, but my boss wasn't well, so I spent some time with him. I had to fill in a report and stuff since I found him," she said.

She chewed silently for a few minutes and then she realised something. "You wouldn't know a Dr. Ezekiel would you?" She asked John.

[max_omega]

John took a drink of his coffee after taking a bit of his pancakes, "oh you would be surprised at home much i know about archaelogy, my mom was one. She used to take us kids on digs when my dad was out on shipment. Those were the days, getting in trouble in a foreign country. " He took another bite of his food. "Sorry to hear about your boss that is rough."

"Dr. Rachael Ezekiel, yeah I know her." He smiled, "She is my sister. Why did you meet her, or do I want to know?"

[Stargate78fan]

Astra galnced at John surprised. "Your mum was an archaeologist? Do you know or remember what her areas of espertise were? What places did you go to with your mum? Sorry. Probbably shouldn't be asking you that personal stuff. I got shipped off to boarding school when I was old enough, or it was the grandparents I went and stayed with when my parents moved around a lot. You've probably read in my file they were Air Force and so were my brothers, all six of them," she said.

"Dr. Ezekiel is your sister? Should have known by your last names. You're lucky to have family here, Major," Astra said, sipping her tea. "We met when I found David. David will be fine, just gave us all a scare since he hasn't be well recently. I may have kind of yelled at your sister as she was in the lab with David," the linguist mumbled the last bit. She suddenly found her last remaining piece of bacon very fascinating.

[max_omega]

<Mess Hall>

John smiled at her comment, “Specialty, pretty much almost everything. She didn’t really have one; she had multiply degrees in what exactly I don’t remember Rachael would. We went all over the place. I do remember spending a lot of time in Egypt though, over the summers, especially when my dad was stationed in the gulf.” John took another drink of his coffee, “Boarding school, yeah I can understand that, military school.”

John shook his head for a second, “Let me guess she was unaware of everything going on around her, seeing as she was completely absorbed in her work. Typical Rach, she um…well she has a few quarks about her. I don’t get involved with things such as that, if you had a good reason to yell at her, she is a grown woman. I am not going to jump down your throat for that, it’s not my place.”

He looked at Astra, “Lucky, sometimes, family is family.” John looked out at the crowd that was beginning to appear than back at Astra, “Take it from me you didn’t hurt her feelings.”



((OOC- Would of posted last night but was really tired.))

[Stargate78fan]

"I dabble in a bit of this and in a bit of that. Though I have a love of Celtic and Egytian cultures. I tend to try and forget boarding school, as I hated it," she replied. "I'm both archaeology and linguist, a the moment my language skills are the ones being used the most. I think people around here tend to forget I have a background in archaoelogy as well, not that its no big deal for me. Though I have no idea why some call me Owens when it is just simply Owen." Astra shook her head.

"Well thats good about not jumping down my throat," Astra said relieved. "Though I should control my temper a bit more and should of just asked, and not yelled at your sister. Though she did take my temper tantrum pretty well. You know it is a scientist quirk to do that when they're working on something, and I'm no different about that either, probably just as bad. I have a tendency to forget what time it can be and forgetting to eat, when it comes to working on any of my projects."

"Its good I didn't hurt her feelings. I don't always think before reacting, must be the Irish in me," she mused. "Lucky sometimes or not, Major. Its more then some of us have here on Base," she said with a small smile.

Astra finished off her breakfast and drank the rest of her tea. She felt more awake and alive now.

[max_omega]

John looked over at Astra, "Yeah my mom dabbled in all sorts of things, even wrote a book The Mystery of the Lost Pharoah by Dr. Veronica Adams Ezekiel, it was about I think the mythology of the Egyptian culture as protrayed by one of its lesser know Pharoahs." He took a bite of his food, "Don't ask me anymore about it, I never read it. I think the library may actually have a few copies of her other books, she wrote several but that one I remember her writing. What is your favorite Celtic myth?"

"Well there is one think you should know about Rachael, she can deal with tempers, and trantums. I don't know how she deals with them, but she was always amazing when it came to dealing with my son when he was at that age. Its like it just doesn't phase her. I think it might have something to do with the fact that she never really was a kid." John began, "She never had a normal childhood like our brother Josh and I did."

He looked down into his coffee cup, "Its funny you should mention being lucky and having family, I don't really feel that I deserve to have family alive. I feel as if someone else deserves it way more than I do. I wish other had what I get to have."

[Stargate78fan]

"You know I wouldn't be surprised if Daniel had your mum's book in the library at the SGC. I can't remember if I've read it, as I've read heaps books," she told John, wondering if she should go for another cup of tea. "It sounds like something he would of had in his collection."

"King Arthur and the knights of the round table," she replied, blushing. It had always fascinated her as a child and something her grandmother read to her at night before she went to bed. "There was also Hercules, but that's not Celtic," she added.

"I have. Had three kids so understand about your son, for my kids weren't any different. Brian always said he had four 'cause he always counted me as a kid. My youngest daughter Nuala was a lot like me and had the same temper as well. Trashed her room maybe once or twice, didn't faze Brian at all. Its a wonder we didn't send him grey before he was thirty," she said a small smile across her lips. "You have a brother as well?" Her eyebrows arched with surprise.

"Don't ever think you don't deserve not to have your sister here, John. Make the most of what you have here with your sister, its more then some people here have," she said softly, giving him a smile, she squeezed his hand briefly to reassure him its okay not to feel guilty about having his sister on Base.

(OCC: I hope that last paragraph makes sense to you, MO. I'm not sure how else to reword that.)

[max_omega]

John smiled, "Well I have seen the linguist library on earth and it was well a mess to be quiet honest. I didn't see how anyone got any work done in there. So I am sure there are probably some of my mom books around there."

"King Arthur one of the most facinating people of old, the myth that surrounds him is probably a whole lot more interesting than he actually was." John said. "I remember on a trip once to England my mom had us visit his grave site." He finsihed up his panckaes and began working on the biscuits and gravey. He smiled, "My son loved the Disney movie of Hercules, he said he was going to grow up to be just like him."

"My wife, Cleo, said our son Roman, was just like me. Couldn't shut the kid up for anything. I can be some what of a talker sometimes." John smiled, "Plus she said he had a nack for taking things apart just to see what it looked like on the inside . Apparently he took her vacuum apart at the age of 7, I was off in middle east. I secretly think she like it, gave her an excuse not to clean."

Johhn at first was a little shocked to see her grab his hand than said, "I guess I just feel guilty to have had someone in the program as well, and than to have been offworld when things happend. I wasn't even sure Rach was alive till after I got back to Beta, and than no one could confirm it to me." John took a drink of his coffee, "I promise I won't feel guilty about it, but I wish everyone had someone close to them still alive. But I guess with the dynamnics of a team, we can become like family for each other."



((SGF- yeah it made sense. I liked your post too. Its getting to be a deep converstation.))

[Stargate78fan]

(Glad you got it and you like the post. It is becoming deep conversation. Once she feels relaxed and comfortable around someone she doesn't mind talking about stuff, and I guess its a good way for them to get to know each other.)

Astra withdrew her hand when she realised what she’d done. “Oops, sorry,” she said, blushing a nice rich red colour. “I think you’ll find that the team will become family over time. I got that vibe from our first meeting here in the mess hall. I believe we will work out very nicely, as a team. Yes don’t feel guilty at all,” she told him. "I was off world with a team and when we went to dial Earth to head back home, we found it wouldn't work. So we came straight here to find out what happened only to be told that Earth had been destroyed," she said quietly. "I've been here ever since."

“Our library at the SGC wasn’t messy, John.” She paused trying to find the right words. “It was organised chaos that only a linguist/archaeologist could get through. It may have looked like a mess to an outsider but believe me it wasn’t a mess.” She grinned, twinkle in her eyes.

“That’s probably why I love the myth about King Arthur. Who knows what is real and what wasn’t about him? My fave Arthur movie would have to be Sean Connery in First Knight,” she admitted.

Astra smiled when John mentioned his son wanting to be Hercules. “My girls wanted to be fairies,” she said with a sigh. “I suppose that wouldn’t be a bad thing, as long as they were good fairies and not bad ones. Enda and Nuala had fairy outfits too, including wings that my mum sent them, along with wands. That’s cute Roman wanted to be Hercules.”

“I’m in agreement with your wife about the vacuuming. I hated it and procrastinated long enough so that Brian would do it. Nuala was very artistic and loved anything to do with art. We often had to clean the walls from when she decided to use it as a canvas, and believe me when I say glitter can be hard to get off the walls, it is. Enda was more into things like puzzles. Owein was only six months.”

It still hurt a little talking about the kids, but it felt good to talk to someone who understood what she'd lost when Earth had been destroyed.

[max_omega]

John looked at her and smiled, "Its alright," he looked down for a second, "I hope we can become like that, a family." He couldn't say anything else, nothing else seemed to fit. "I was on a mission for the Tok'ra, hadn't had contact with earth for over a month."

"One of the things I liked about working for the SGC it allowed me to spend more time at home in between missions. We actually had bought a house in Colorado springs." He smiled, "It was nice."

He could see her easing up as she talked about her kids, yet he knew the pain all to well. He took a drink of his coffee than realized it was empty now. He just stared at it, "Your girls wanted to be fairies, they had wings. I hope they never tried to fly." He couldn't help but shake his head at his own thought. "Although if they were anything like you, I think they might of just found a way to do it."

He looked up at her, "That was meant as a compliment, you seem very strong willed and determined to get what you want."



((Yes I enjoy getting to dig deeper into my muse to find Johns voice, and surprisingly it has been pretty easy right now, I am just having a problem figuring out what to do with Rach right now.))

[Stargate78fan]

“Motherly instinct in me I guess,” she said, and gave him a small smile. “Family would be good and I believe that we will. We all seemed to get along alright during the first meeting. I haven’t been on to many teams where you get that family feeling. The last team I was on wasn’t too bad.”

“I must have been the opposite too you at the SGC. I was off world a fair bit or working with Daniel a lot. So whatever time I did get off I spent with Brian and the kids.”

“Nuala probably would have if she was given the chance. She was very strong willed, stubborn, and if she wanted something she got it. Like I said, she was a lot like me. Enda was pretty laid back and did things her own way, in her own time, which could be a pain when you wanted her to clean her room or do things like that. The girls were pretty close to each other and went to the same day care centre, along with their brother. We were looking at buying our own home before Earth’s destruction and had one picked out.”

“Yeah I guess I am strong willed and determined. I was the youngest of seven kids and had six older brothers. All who were much bigger and taller then me. They were sometimes mean to a little girl who just wanted to play with them and their stuff. They wouldn't let me join in their games or play with their toys. So if I wanted something I had to be stealthy, determined, or go to the old man,” she said, smiling. “Never really grew up like most normal girls I suppose.”

"My parents hadn't been too keen for me to be an archaeologist and study dead bones and cultures that were no longer living. In the end I convinced them that it was in their best interests to let me. Never liked flying or planes of any kind, actually kind of scared of heights. Didn't help when your brothers told you we were all gonna die 'cause the plane we were on was going to crash," she confessed. "Tell anyone and I'll bury your body where they can't find it," she joked.

"What made you pick me for your team, John? There's quiet a few other linguists around Base? What was special about me?" She asked curiously.

(Same here for Astra's voice, digging deep into hers and exploring it)

[max_omega]

"My last two teams were great, only got on one missione with the last one before the major team resuffles." John was enjoying the converstation very much. "Be right back," he said holding up his empty coffee cup, he refilled it and came back.

"I was going to be having another kid, little girl, never got to...well you know." John said just leaving the thought unfinsihed. "Growing up with my brother was great, we got into more trouble than you can image. And the sad thing is Rachael was normally the cause of it. Her and her crazy ideas, she once got us to make a catapult, at our grandparnets house, the neighbors never knew what him them."

"Well you should be pretty though having six older brothers," John stated, "My dad was thrilled when my brother and I told him we were going to the academy, most people thought I would join the navy like, but instead I joined the marines. Always wanted to be a sniper, never thought I would end up going to another planet."

"Why did I chose you," John restated her question, "Well it was more out instinct, than anything esle espically after meeting you. You know you can only read so much about a person, but when I met you I knew you would be great." He took a drink of his fresh coffee, "Plus I thought you would work well with the others who were assigned to my team." He than look straight at her, "Why did you except?"

[Stargate78fan]

“Speaking of teams,” Astra started to say, not sure how to ask her question. “You know I’ve been lucky enough to have other women on the team and have had no worries about sharing tents, and all that. I’ve noticed the lack of other female occupants on our team. So who’s um, tent will I be sharing?” She was positive her face was flaming red right now.

“I was closet to Darcy my youngest brother,” Astra said. “Darcy was about six years older then me, the others had about two to three years age gap between them. I was apparently a bit of a surprise to my parents who weren’t expecting to have any more kids. They also assumed I would be a boy too.”

Astra wasn’t sure what to say when John said his wife had been pregnant with their second child when Earth was destroyed. She nodded. “Owein was the surprise for Brian and I. The girls were pretty excited about mum having another kid.”

“I don’t like boats of any kind either, tend to get a little sea sick. I can use a P90 and 9m, but it’s not that crash hot. It’s enough to keep me out of trouble I guess, but I still tend to fire at times with my eyes close and hope it hits the mark. I did have basic training at the SGC but not a lot of it, and most of the military there weren’t to keen on teaching a civilian how to use a weapon. I prefer things like zats as I’m more comfortable with those.”

“Excuse me a minute,” Astra said politely. The linguist went and grabbed a bottle of juice instead of a cup of tea. She was still feeling a little thirsty. She came back when she had her drink.

“That was pretty big going on any intuition you had about me, considering I insulted you by calling you a vulture in our first meeting,” she said with an amused smile across her lips, she took a sip of her juice.

“I suppose I get along with most people and would let you know if I didn’t. I haven’t really socialised much outside of the labs since being here. You can usually find me in the linguist lab or the library.”

“Why did I ask? I guess I was curious to know your reasons behind picking me, seem as I’m not military. So, think you can handle my temper?” Her last question was tongue in check of course.