Gaining Ground

Posted on Tue May 26th, 2015 @ 2:58pm by Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Chance & Eli's Quaters

* * * Eli & Chance’s Quarters * * *

The milkshakes at Java had been delicious - all three of them. Where caramel and chocolate were concerned, Eli seemed to be a bottomless pit. Finally, even he had given up and refused another. His next stop was home. He was anxious to call his parents and give them the good news. He was also curious about the emotional weather regarding Chance and so he was hoping his father would be the one to answer. Crossing his fingers, he opened a channel and waited for it to go through.

Knowing he would be a distraction, possibly a negative one, Chance said he was off to study with Aurora and Vor.

When Eli's call was answered, the screen blinked from the Federation's symbol to his dad's face in a split second. "Hello? Is this working?" The man looked a touch befuddled, but that cleared up. "Eli! Imagine, a call from you, all the way from that Federation!"

“Hello father.” Eli smiled at the image of his father. “How is everything at home?” It was a vague question. He was definitely fishing.

"I am well. Your mother is... your mother," he smiled. "We have been informed by the powers that be that you are no longer an outcast."

“Yes! I just left Commander Kh’ali’s office and she gave me the news.” Eli smiled ear to ear. “Can you believe it? I thought they would never agree. Have things changed that much on Enara Prime?”

He shook his head and looked mildly bemused. "It did not seem as if things were changing, son, but then we received this news. It appears that, perhaps change can come to Enara Prime."

“And mother? Has change come to her as well?” It was a hard question and Eli realized he was dreading the answer.

"She loves you and worries about you. She would like to see you; I would as well." He didn't answer the question.

Eli sighed inwardly. He hadn’t missed the emphasis on ‘see you’ either. “You’re avoiding.”

"It is difficult, Eli. Your... relationship is," he spoke slowly, thinking of each word individually, "...different from traditional relationships." At least he'd avoided the 'unnatural' word. "She wishes for grandchildren. I do, too."

Grandchildren? Eli blinked in surprise. “Umm, I’m twenty. That's sort of a long way off thing to worry about. I’m not finished with the Academy yet and then who knows where we will be stationed or what we will be doing.” He’d shifted to ‘we’ without a thought.

"Perhaps this is a phase, as I told her. She is okay with that," he said. "Will you visit us now?"

Anger choked Eli at his father’s words. “I thought we covered this.” His voice was tight and he fought down the urge to simply close the channel and walk away. “You know it’s more than that. Or is this what we are allowing her to believe so she can hold her head up in public?”

"Is it so bad to let her believe that? In years to come, she will accept what is instead of what is not."

“Maybe.” Eli took a moment to brace himself for the reaction to what he was about to say. “Kh’ali says I need to come back there to finish up some official business. We have a few things to finish up first, but we will be on our way soon.”

"That is wonderful! I will prepare your mother and we will," he stopped, his eyes narrowed and he leaned in before asking, "Are you bringing your friend with you? Or by 'we', do you mean this Kh'ali and you are coming?"

“Kh’ali is the Chief Diplomatic Officer and no, she won’t be coming. This is a formality and doesn’t require her presence on Enara Prime. So yes, Chance is coming with me. This concerns him as much as it does me and he wants to be there with me.” Eli looked up from the viewscreen and spotted his drawing of Chance hanging on the wall. He smiled immediately. His father’s voice, however, drew him back.

"Very well," he sighed. "We will make arrangements for your accommodations here." He smiled and perked up, "I am very happy that you are coming home, Eli. I look forward to seeing you."

Those words, along with his father’s smile, eased his anger somewhat and he nodded. “It’s been crazy, and hard on you two I know. I’m sorry for that.”

"You are my son and I love you. Safe travels, Eli. We'll be waiting."

“Thank you for….at least trying to understand,” Eli answered, his voice soft. “I’ll let you know when we are leaving.”

"Good. I will talk to your mother about you and... Chance is his name?" He knew it was. "I'll let your friends here know as well."

“Good. You take care and we’ll see you soon.” Eli closed the channel and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. Behind him the door opened and he knew Chance stood there.

"Hey, how'd it go?"

“Well...it could’ve been worse I suppose.” Eli looked over to Chance and passed to him in an instant a replay of the conversation.

"Huh. Yeah, I suppose that could have. Could have been worse, too." He shrugged and laid hands on Eli before kissing him. "Think they'll let us stay in your old room?" There was a definite sexual overtone in his question.

“I don’t know. We’ll likely be lucky she lets us stay in the same house.” Eli smiled up at Chance, then kissed him in return. “But she has no idea how many times I sneaked out of my room.”

"Ah, parents... Seems like they universally think they know everything, but, just as universally, are clueless." He laughed. "How about getting in some alien anatomy studying while we're Iggy-less?"

“Yeah, I need to so we can knock out that exam before we leave.” Eli smiled once again as he looked at Chance. “Just think...before long we’ll be on our way.”

"Yes, we will be! I'm excited Eli and I don't think all of that is coming from you." He smiled broadly and pulled Eli to their "studies".

******
Cadet Eli Ziyad
Cadet Chance Conradi
Excitement Multiplied

Maran Ziyad
Proud Dad