The Magic of Brownies (and squishy friends)

Posted on Fri Apr 25th, 2025 @ 7:20pm by Teresa Forrest & Wilhelmina Vermeulen

Mission: Shackles
Location: Lounge
Timeline: Post Complications
2115 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Will looked around the lounge until she saw the person she had been on the hunt for. In the tall woman's hand was a little tin, the base of which was slightly warm. She had ordered the contents extra hot from the replicator, and now it was the perfect temperature. It was an old recipe. One of the first ones she had spent time working on, but it always made her feel better. She was hoping it would work on the woman she had spotted earlier, who had looked decidedly distracted. She had only really just started to getting to know the crew, but she was certain that something was bothering Tree. She hadn't even looked up as they passed in the corridor and had looked deep deep in thought. Will hadn't bothered her then and there, but she had started hatching a plan, and like all great plans it started with chocolate.

"There you are." Will came to loom over Tree and gave her an easy smile. "Been looking for you. You got a sec to do me a favour?" Before she waited for Tree to answer her she slid into the seat next to the engineer and slid the tin of warm brownies over to her. "Here, try these." Will already knew they were nearly perfect. Crisp on the outside, gooey in the middle. The only thing missing was the ice cream but she hadn't been entirely convinced she would be able to find Tree quick enough before it melted.

Tree did her best not to show that she'd actually been startled out of her miserable musing, totally not having noticed the taller woman approaching. "Guh - " was all she could say before Will set down the tin. Noting the contents Teresa raised an eyebrow, glancing from the finger food to Wilhelmina and back again. Thoughtful, even dour expression replaced by a tired smile as she reached for one. "Brownies? Dunno what I did to deserve this, but I'll gladly do it again."

Will chuckled and shave a laconic shrug. “Nobody deserves brownies, they are too pure for this universe, but you did look like you needed cheering up.” Will leant back in her chair and studied Tree a moment. “So want to tell me what’s got you looking so serious? I’m almost a hood a listener as I am a baker.” She stretched out her long legs and settled into her chair more fully, clearly not going anywhere until she had made sure Tree was okay.

“Is it personal or professional?”

"Personal," Beat. "Professional. Pro-ersonal. Perfessional? One of those," Tree waved dismissively in mild annoyance at her own inability to figure out words. "You will have noticed the red alert we just had. And by now must've heard what happened. Orions showed up, stepped up, then blew up. I - " Teresa heaved a deep sigh, still idl;y toying with the brownie before leaning back and finally taking a bite. Her expression instantly softened when the flavor hit her, when she felt just the perfect amount of gooeyness on her tongue.

"I was on the bridge of it. On shields. I watched them blow up, Will," Now her eyes fixing on Wilhelmina's. "I was part of blowing them up. Still not sure what happened, we didn't hit them that hard, but apparently their shields fell right before we did? I scanned the debris field for survivors. None. Hundreds of bodies, bodyparts - no survivors."

"This is not who I am, Will. I'm an engineer. I fix things! Sure, some times those things are shields. Or weapons. But - I fix things! I don't blow up ships! Ships with hundreds of crew ... "

“Mmmhhh…” Will listened with a serious expression. She tapped her lip deep in thought. She could see why such a thing would weigh heavily on Tree. “I am glad you are the kind of person who takes such a thing to heart. It should not be easy for the soul to witness loss of life to that extent. Even for those trained for such situations. You are a good person Tree. If there had been another way I know you would have taken it. You were not to know that would happen.”

Will then seems to consider something. “It is strange, I have been looking through the specifications of the Mary-Rose at Kali’s suggestion. It does not make sense that a warning shot could cause such devastation.” There she gave Tree a reassuring smile. “It raises many questions, when something unexpected has such serious consequences. If I had a big clever, engineers brain I may be tempted to puzzle them through. Was it our weapons? Was it their shields? Could some other force be at play? Did anyone have something to gain by making it appear that the Mary-Rose used undue force? Or something to gain from not maintaining the Orion vessels shields? Could this be deliberate or a terrible accident?” Will leans back in her chair.

“The hardest question to answer of course, is what could I have done differently to prevent such a loss?” Will scootches so she is sitting beside Tree then reaches out a long arm and slung it over the smaller woman, pulling her in for a sideways hug. She suspected there was nothing the woman could have done differently with the information available to her at the time, but that would be something that would take time to make peace with. “You are a good person Tree. You were before this and you still are after it. Even if it feels like the galaxy has fundamentally shifted I know that much is still true.”

"Wasn't a warning shot though, we were shooting to try and bring down their shields. Get them to stop firing at us. Ship's also been upgraded way beyond original design spec," Tree muttered, her voice muffled in the embrace. "Mmmm, comfy~" though eventually Teresa moved to sit upright again - not minding the proximity or touch. A moment's contemplation as she consumed another bite from that amazing brownie that made her melt.

"See, this is why I became an engineer. Something goes wrong with a system or a computer, just - run a diagnostic, patch the software, update the drivers, flash a new bios, tune a few settings or replace a part. There, good as new. That ?I can deal with. Machines are simple," She muttered. "People, less so. Especially when burdened with existential angst and mental anguish of the struggle-with-mortality and the frailty-of-life flavor."

“Benefit of having giant squishy friends. We give good hugs.” Will squeezed Tree’s shoulder before letting her go so she had space to eat. “Warning shot or not, you didn’t intend for that outcome. It doesn’t resolve us of the responsibility as a crew but there is solace in knowing that at least.”

She then snorted. “Machines are simple. Hah, I suppose in a way they are. I like to think people are not so complicated either. Often there is more connecting us than keeping us apart. The uncertainty of our mortal existences for one. Even long lived species grapple with what happens when their many years of existence fail.” Will then studies Tree’s face for a moment. “We all have a duty to each other Tree, I am sorry this has rattled you, but I am grateful to have befriended someone who values life so.”

"Listen, Lady - I'm on to you. I can see what you're trying to do - " Tree said pointedly, poking Will in the shoulder. " ... And it's totally working. Thank you. I'm starting to feel a little bit better," she added with a tired smile, though that didn't last long. "It's going to be a while until I've moved past this, though. Put it all behind me. Guess you're just gonna have to deal with a gloomy Tree for a while." Beat. "A weeping willow."

Will snorted at that, always appreciative of a good pun. “A willow and a Will huh? Seems apt.” She then prodded her back. “I am glad you feel better. There is no rush to put it behind you, carry it with you, learn from it.” Will then nudged the smaller woman with her shoulder gently, conscious of their differing size. An overly enthusiastic body check would likely send the smaller woman flying and that definitely wouldn’t help. “At the very least just know you don’t have to be sad alone, or pretend to be happy when you are not.”

Despite their size difference Tree was strong and toned for her size, not so easily put off balance. Courtesy of putting more than a little effort in keeping her standards of fitness up. She scrunched up her nose at Will's last remark. "Perish the thought! I don't pretend anything. What you see is what you get, with me," Beat. "Well, most of the time, at least."

“Yeah I figured.” Will chuckled. “You seem like the sort to wear everything on your sleeve. I mean that in a good way. But even so, always here for a chat if you need it. And various chocolate based recipes. Sometimes that’s the most important thing.” Will snorts and quirks an eyebrow. “You got a favourite kind of cake or something? I like being able to make stuff for people so it’s no bother whipping something up if you do.”

"Cheesecake. But you really shouldn't feed me too much sugary goodness, I'm trying to watch my weight," Tree offered, finishing the brownie, closing her eyes as she savoured the taste. "Sooo good. Sooo tempting. Sooooooo bad."

Will let out another throaty chuckle and patted Tree on the shoulder. “I promise to use this new found information for good only, and restoring my offerings to emergencies only.” Will hadn’t worked on a good cheesecake recipe for some time, so she would have to have a dig through her recipe data to see.

Tree licked her fingers, to savour every last bit of flavor from that excellent brownie. "As long as you're flexible on what constitutes an emergency," She mused. "Thanks. For coming by, cheering me up. I've still got a lot to work through, but - .. I do feel better. So. Thanks."

Will gave the woman an easy smile and a shrug. “Of course, anytime. You ever need to talk I have two willing ears and a book of recipes. It’s no hardship to dust of either of them in service of a friend.”

"I'll make sure your personal replicator has priority over the others," Teresa half joked. She then snickered, before bursting out laughing. "Reminds me of the time I set a helmsman's personal replicator to output only dogfood. The wet kind. He kept hitting on me in all the slutty ways despite me making absolutely sure he knew I wasn't interested," Beat. "Of course the logs lead back to me and I got chewed out, but for one glorious day it was funny as heck."

Will gave. A laugh that came straight from the gut. “Honestly? It sounds like he got what he deserved but remind me to stay on your good side. I only want special treatment if it means I can keep eating people food.” Despite her words, Will shot Tree an impressed look. “I would have liked to see his face though when he realised what was happening.”

"Heh, yeah. Well, he learned an important lesson that day; when your continued existence and level of comfort relies on the continued correct functioning of intricate and sophisticated equipment, it's not a good idea to piss off the person maintaining that equipment too much," Tree smiled, though it was clear the whole ordeal of the battle still weighed heavily on her. "Speaking of maintaining equipment, I should get back to work. The list of tickets isn't getting any shorter." As she rose to her feet.

Will laughed again, glad some of Tree’s fighting spirit had returned at least. She was certain food had a magical quality in that respect. Perhaps that was why it felt so good to share it when you could. “Yes of course, go get ‘em! And hey, you need another chat, you know where I live right?” She gave Tree a thumbs up and then stood herself. She probably should get back to her own work, she was still familiarising herself with the ship specs and the various upgrades it had undergone throughout the years. Until she knew that by hard, many of the calculations for possible routes would take her longer to work through.