Vice Admiral Quinn Reynolds - No Place Like Family
Quinn Reynolds
((Personal Quarters, USS Gorkon))
The Admiral’s quarters fluctuated between two statuses; the neat order her precise mind favoured, and the utter chaos her children inflicted. Today it was the latter, Amelia’s toys spread out across the floor, Dylan’s discarded jacket and PADD scattered on an easy chair, a pair of his shoes left by the door.
She sat among it all, sharing tea and conversation with the ship’s counsellor. Conversation had turned to family, and to Corliss’ father and Erin’s shared love of botany. Sometimes Quinn flirted with the idea of restarting her own plant collection. The loss of her last one had been hard to bear; it was more than her fondness for botany, but the personal meaning many of the plants had held. Gifts from departed friends, souvenirs from special times, acquisitions from rare opportunities. Maybe if she started with little, common things that she could just enjoy tending to.
Reynolds: And how’s Brommel? Still roaming the frontier as a Ranger?
Corliss grinned and sighed, shaking her head. Quinn smiled in return, familiar with the sentiment underneath, though it wasn’t one she shared with her siblings. These days, she barely spoke to her brother or sister; Sean lived his life with few thoughts of his little sister, and Siobhan was still fuming about her son’s Starfleet career, and Quinn’s refusal to interfere with it.
Suffice to say, the sisters’ fractured relationship had splintered into razor shards after Ryan’s experience on Darime IV. Quinn’s ears were still ringing after the comm call which had followed, accused of being heartless, betraying her family, and being the exact awful person Siobhan had always suspected she was. It hurt, but less than she had expected; perhaps the years had numbed her to their broken relationships.
Fortune: Yes, he’s engaged to Ravenna Carter? They keep meaning to finally tie the knot, but it either ends up with her on a mission or him, both just narrowly missing each other. ::She sighed, tutting.:: So goes love while you’re on different ships, I suppose.
Reynolds: It does.
She knew all too well. In many ways, she was fortunate; Walter was aboard another ship, but it was part of the same taskforce, and the Triumphant often escorted the Gorkon. They had more opportunities to spend time with one another than a lot of married Starfleet officers—and the time they both needed apart. So far, the balance had worked well for them.
Fortune: Mostly he’s fine, otherwise. Keeps wanting to bother Loxley by being a ‘model annoying big brother’. I think one of his crewmates has put him up to that, honestly! Other than that, we trade mission stories. You’d think him out and about it’d be quiet, but absolutely not!
Quinn smiled at the exuberant description of mischief, wondering what it would be like to have a brother interested in her life. Sean and Walter had met a few times, but it had been brief, both guarded and terse around one another. Her brother simply wasn’t interested, and her husband had no time for someone who had no time for him. It was probably the best outcome, now that she thought about it. Stiff silence was better than a raging argument.
Fortune: Claimed that last week, every time someone ordered coffee, it would spray out some viscous black goo that was, by all means, inedible to any functioning creature. Made me think of Jo, honestly. I think she’d solve the problem faster than they did if it happened here.
Corliss chuckled and Quinn joined in, though hers was a little more faded. She missed and worried for her friend. Her family issues paled compared to the ones Jo was dealing with, and somehow she doubted the blond was getting much support from her older brother. What the younger one thought of it was something Quinn would have to ask when the time was right.
Fortune: How’s Jo been doing, by the way? I hadn’t seen her about lately, figured she would be searching for another race to be had. That last one was great fun!
A pause hung in the air, only the hiss of the air recyclers filling the void, while Quinn took a couple of moments to consider how to respond. A lot had happened, far more than the gregarious blond liked to discuss with anyone, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. The truth, she decided, but not a detailed version of it.
Reynolds: She had some personal business to attend to, and she’s taking a little time to decompress after getting back. But she’s knocking around, if you wanted to catch up with her.
Fortune: Response
Reynolds: It’s been strange without her around, hasn’t it? ::She shot the counsellor a wry grin.:: Quieter.
Fortune: Response
Plenty of people had moved through Quinn’s life as a Starfleet officer. Many she had lost contact with, including some she thought she’d count as friends for life. Tildaen, Kyros, Nick... Even Lily could be hard to get hold of these days, though she supposed it was hardly surprising that a Starfleet admiral and the Federation’s Secretary of the Exterior had schedules which were hard to align.
And so she treasured her friendship with Jo, who appreciated her wry sense of humour, who celebrated her need for speed, who knew how to time a joke to crack her out of an overly serious mood—and who’d corral the entire senior crew to scamper off on a rescue mission if she thought her friend was in trouble. Found family, and making a believer out of Quinn.
Reynolds: You know, I never used to put much stock in the idea of a crew feeling like a family. Maybe because I moved around so much in my early career. ::She smiled slightly.:: But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel it now.
Fortune: Response
Commanding Officer
USS Gorkon
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