The Shape of Home - Part II
Posted on Wed May 20, 2026 @ 10:36pm by Commodore T'mpest Michaels & Commander Tayanita 'Tay' Lio'ven
1,624 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Jubilee
Location: Sickbay, Deep Space 5
[PREVIOUSLY]
A quiet laugh touched her voice. “She’s sensitive. Always has been. She feels the room before she walks into it, then tries to carry half of it home with her. I keep telling her that healing people doesn’t mean taking every ache into your own bones.”
Her smile grew smaller, fond. “She listens. Mostly. Then tells me I’m one to talk.”
[CONTINUED]
Tay glanced down at her mug, thumb brushing the rim. “She sounded tired when we spoke, but happy. Like she knows she’s where she should be, even when it’s hard.” A beat. “That’s enough to let a mother sleep a little easier.”
T'mpest nodded. "Yes. She sounds lovely, just like her mother. You should be proud."
Tay’s smile softened at that, and for a moment there was no doctor in it at all.
“I am,” she said. “Of all of them.”
She looked down at her tea, thumb resting against the warm curve of the mug. “They’ve each found their own way. Some close to mine, some not at all. That’s how it should be, I think. You raise them, you teach them what you can, and then one day you have to step back and let them become themselves.”
A small, fond laugh slipped out. “Ailani just happens to be the one most likely to call me and gently tell me I’m not taking my own advice.”
Her eyes lifted back to T’mpest, warm and quietly proud.
"She sounds lovely." T'mpest loved her mother, but she was definitely more like her father in many ways.
Tay smiled softly. “She is. Though she’d probably argue she’s far too practical to be called lovely.”
She took another sip of tea, then let the conversation settle into something gentler.
“You mentioned wanting a family with Lasuma,” she said, her tone warm rather than prying. “Is that something you’ve thought about for a long time, or did this place bring it out of you?”
Her expression stayed open, kind. “You don’t have to answer if that’s too personal. I’m just curious what changed.”
T'mpest considered that for a moment. Not that she hadn't already, but because the answer deserved thought.
"I have been in relationships before, on other ships. Most did not last long. The last one was several years ago. I think he wanted more, but he wanted me to fit into his world, his career path. I honestly never thought of raising a family with him. It did not feel...right." She paused for a moment, thinking of Orin for the first time in a long while.
"But with Lasuma..." She smiled softly, her eyes focused beyond Tay, remembering. "We went on a picnic on Pangaea not long after I arrived. I imagined us bringing our children to that spot. Of building a cabin on the planet. Of permanence."
She turned her gaze back to Tay. "What changed is I met someone who filled the part of me that was missing. Someone I want to build a life--a future--with. I found a home here."
Tay’s smile softened, genuine and easy.
“That’s beautiful, T’mpest,” she said quietly. “Really.”
She let the warmth of it sit for a moment, not trying to pull it apart or make it into something larger than it already was.
“I’m happy for you. If he makes you feel that settled, that sure… then I hope you get all of it. The cabin, the children, the future.” Her eyes warmed. “You deserve that.”
A small, knowing smile followed. “Commanding a station like this is hard enough. You spend half your life carrying other people’s storms. You’re allowed to have something bright waiting for you when the doors close.”
"I hope so." Although she wasn't sure if she deserved it. But she wanted it. "Relationships take time, and ours is relatively knew, as is my time here." She couldn't hold back a smile. "But I am definitely hopeful."
She paused for a moment, remembering their first meeting. Their first picnic. "Lasuma Enterprises is vast, and it takes up much of his time. But I am pleased he chooses to spend so much time here."
Then she changed the subject. "And you? Have you found a home here?"
Tay looked down at her tea for a moment, thinking about that properly rather than reaching for the easy answer.
“I’m beginning to,” she said.
Her smile was small, but real. “For me, home has never really been a place. Not only a place, anyway. I’ve lived in too many of them for that. Villages, ships, stations, cities that don’t exist anymore.” A quiet breath. “The walls change. The sky changes. Sometimes even the names change.”
She lifted her eyes back to T’mpest.
“Home is people. The ones who make you breathe easier when they walk into a room. The ones you start looking for without meaning to.” Her smile warmed a little. “So yes… I think I’m beginning to find that here.”
A faint flicker of humour touched her expression.
“And Sickbay has only tried to eat me twice this week, so that feels promising.”
"Only twice?" T'mpest smiled. "That sounds like progress. From what I read in the logs, sickbay has failed to eat a doctor yet. So, there is definitely hope it will not succeed. Perhaps that is a demonstration of its affection for you?"
She shook her head. "I agree that people make a home, but this station, and the planet, almost have a personality, a presence, of their own."
Tay laughed softly into her tea. “If Sickbay’s showing affection, I’d rather it brought flowers. Or gave me five quiet minutes. I’m not fussy.”
Her smile stayed for a moment, then softened as she thought about what T’mpest had said.
“I know what you mean, though,” she said. “Where I grew up, we didn’t really believe anyone walked through life alone. You carry people with you. Family. Teachers. Old loves. Even the ones who hurt you, until you learn how to put them down.”
She glanced toward the office door, beyond it to the station outside. “A place like this is full of that. Everyone arrives with something. A memory, a hope, a ghost they don’t talk about.”
Her eyes returned to T’mpest, warm and thoughtful.
“And Pangaea…” Tay paused, searching for the plainest way to say it. “I haven’t spent enough time there yet, but it feels close. Like the quiet things aren’t buried very deep.”
A small smile touched her mouth. “So yes. I understand what you mean. Some places feel full, even when no one else is in the room.”
"Yes." It was only one word, but T'mpest let it become more through the silence, building on all that Tay said and adding to it. "This place has seen life. And death. And life again. That changes both people and places. And, here, it makes them...more."
Tay nodded slowly, letting the silence hold for a moment before answering.
“It does,” she said softly. “Some places are just walls and floors. Others remember what people have survived inside them.” Her gaze stayed on T’mpest, warm and steady. “Maybe that’s why people settle here. Not because it’s easy, but because it feels like it understands becoming something more.”
T'mpest let that sink in. Fill her. "Yes. And it takes you as you are. No judging. No expectations. But it is the type of place that will not leave you there, either."
Tay smiled, but didn’t add to it right away. Some things didn’t need more words laid over them.
After a moment, she reached for her mug. “I’m glad you came,” she said. “I know your free time doesn’t exactly sit around waiting to be used.”
Her eyes warmed, the humour returning gently. “Next time, though, let’s not do it in my office. We should go somewhere on the Promenade. Tea, food, something with too much sugar if we’re feeling reckless.”
She lifted her mug slightly. “No reports. No patients. No station business unless the station catches fire.”
A small, sincere smile followed. “Just two friends taking an hour for themselves. I think we’ve both earned that.”
"Yes." They could both use the escape. "Somewhere we have yet to visit." T'mpest would like to say someplace no one knew them, but that was unlikely. Still, they could find an out-of-the-way place. "I will definitely make time for that. And you."
As much as she'd enjoyed the break, she knew this idyll had to come to an end. For now. There were reports and people waiting for her. "This has been a lovely respite. Thank you. But responsibility is calling." She stood and picked up her mug. "Soon," she promised.
Tay rose with her, and once T'mpest was finished reached out to take the mug with an easy smile.
“Soon,” she echoed. “I’ll hold you to that.”
She set the mug aside, then looked back to T’mpest with a warmth that had nothing to do with rank or duty. “Thank you for coming by. It was good to see you like this.”
A small glint of humour touched her eyes. “Now go before Command sends someone to retrieve you and ruins the peace.”
Her smile softened again as she walked her to the door. “Take care, T’mpest. And when you find that place on the Promenade… call me.”
A post by
Commander Tay Lio'ven
Chief Medical Officer
Deep Space 5
Commodore T'mpest Michaels
Commander
Deep Space 5
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