Quinday, Bertzia 1st 067.M42

Maddy and I went to the Atillan noodle place at Central on Primoday. I've never been there before, I've always been a little bit concerned about Atillan food. My old scrumball mate Boyle loves it and he's always going on about these incredibly spicy dishes, how hot they are and how impressed the Atillan owners of the restaurants he goes to are that a guy from a Malfi family can handle their spiciest food. I'm not good with spicy food, I don't really like it that much. I'm not really a fan of food that causes pain.

So I was a little bit reluctant, but Maddy assured me that Boyle is an idiot (which… okay. I can't disagree with that. As evidenced by the time he pretended to hit on the Saint's Arms Fullback to put him off the ball, and the bloke actually took him up on the offer) and that if you let them know you're not used to spicy food, they're actually really accommodating. And I'm glad I listened to her. I have no idea what most of the things I ate were, but it was delicious! These little dumpling-y things with soup were extra nice. We ordered three bowls of those, and then there was some noodles with grox strips and a sauce that was a little tiny bit spicy but not too much, and another stewed meat with some grain to sop up the gravy. We had some liquor to go with it - again, I'm not sure what she called it but it was clear and it kicked like an angry range-strider. And it went well with the dumplings.

We talked a bit more about our families, hobbies, things we used to do in schola or for fun. She used to play softball before she had to leave schola - she showed me a scar on her knee where she said she'd slid over one of the bases and torn it open after I explained how I broke my nose. I noticed a few other scars on her leg too, one looked like a nasty burn scar, a stripe across the side of her calf and shin. But she didn't offer an explanation so I didn't ask. She loved reading as a kid, loved looking at numbers and working on arithmetic problems - I could have guessed, given how good she's been with the data so far. And she said that she's a really huge fan of Deep Sector Seven. I almost didn't believe her, it's like how many girls actually like DSS? She must have seen the doubt in my eyes, because then we got into an argument over who was the better Captain. She maintains it's Captain Sheridan but I'll defend Captain Sinclair to the end of time. Sure, that first season was a bit rough, but seriously - Sheridan's an arse.

It was a really nice night, and I had a lot of fun. And she seemed to as well. If we didn't have a fifteen hour shift the next day, I would have invited her over to come watch some DSS. We could start from the beginning and just… binge it. But she said she had to head home, her Mum was expecting her, and with her magrail and walk she had a fair bit further to go than me. So I walked her back to her platform and waited with her until the next train. And this time I kissed her.

The next day at work was good. We saw each other again at work, continued our discussion about DSS in our break. She said that she can understand why I like Sinclair, but that Sheridan was just the more capable Captain, Sinclair was just a figurehead and a plot device. She wouldn't listen to my argument that Sheridan wasn't any better. Then Krittenden weighed in (thanks for the Sinclair love, buddy!) and it kind of started a thing now, and there's a bit of a tribe thing developing on the floor. You're either Pro-Sinclair or you're a dirty Sheridanist. Lines are being drawn, and we will drive them before us!

But then the next morning after that I woke up to find a message from her on my slate. She'd sent it through some time really early in the morning, she said her Mum had been taken ill and she'd had to rush to the infirmary for her, and that she'd need a few days off of work. Scribe-Master Warders was not really pleased about this, but I had to point out that Maddy's been performing better than nearly everyone on the floor - even during the double shifts, sleeping in the office she only made three mistakes in the whole period, and one of those was an error caused by someone else's faulty input. Thank the Throne she performs so well and I was able to use that to gain her some clemency. I don't want to think about having to turn around to her and tell her that she was going to be terminated if she didn't show up.

I was honestly pretty worried. I didn't know if I should go to see her and talk to her. Warders is fair, but she's also a dedicated Adept. She's not going to be eternally lenient. But thankfully I got another message from Maddy this afternoon, she says that her Mum has responded well to the treatment, in the end it was a relatively minor illness that came across with some pretty scary symptoms, but that she should be back at work tomorrow if everything goes well. I've got her Mum in my prayers, and I hope that I will get to see her smile again when I walk through the door tomorrow morning.

Thought for the Day: Sheridan is a monster and an egomaniac. Sinclair is the one true Captain