Magdala Strelitz's Links
The baby girl she never thought she'd want. Magdala was over the moon (literally) when Freyja turned out to like space flight and exploration as much as she did. It was like having a Mini Mag around--with just as many of the same problems her parents had with her. Her girl was, and still is, as rambunctious and eager as Magdala was. It always made going out with her without a solid leash a bit of a risk. She had to slow her life down a lot because of her daughter, but if she had to do it all again she wouldn't change a thing.
She is somehow both the most badass and the most embarrassing person Frey has ever known. Her mom never let her get nearly as good with fighting and weaponry as she was, but Frey didn't mind the restrictions all that much growing up. At least, not after a while. Too many people hurt or dying for her taste. She doesn't know how her mom did it, especially while carting a kid around half the time--but she's glad she did. Growing up was an adventure.
Basically her adopted son. She didn't plan for him and Frey to become best friends, but it worked out real nice, didn't it? Only her old crewmates know where she found Leandros, what he was doing, and who he was associated with--things they all swore to take to their graves. He was just a kid, the same age as her baby girl. He deserved a second chance.
She's the only one who knows where he came from, because she's the one who found him there. His new name, his admission to flight school, and his room and board up until graduation all came from Magdala. Unconditionally. She is unquestionably the kindest person he ever met as a kid and is, to this day, the closest thing he's ever had to a mother.
Although he has an opposing personality, Magdala is more than a little fond of him. He's stuck with her through it all and that's saying a lot. She takes risks and can be a bit..."whimsical" as her parents put it. But he takes it all in stride. Going through that asteroid field? Yeah, he can make that work. Got in a shootout when negotiations went south? Whatever, just give him a gun he's got this. Unplanned pregnancy she decides to keep despite all the reasons it'd be a bad move? He starts clearing out a spare room for the nursery before you've even finished the conversation. Want to find the baby daddy but don't even know what species he is? Don't even worry about it, the Fleet has a list, we'll find him. Baby daddy gets kicked out by his parents and has nowhere to go? He's already making up a spare bed, baby daddy can stay as long as he needs to and his parents are assholes. He sees solutions where other people see only problems. Mag loves that about him. He's her best friend and most trusted confidant.
Initially met Magdala after she came to work on the same ship. She didn't mind his extended silences that others would try to fill with meaningless small talk, so she grew on him pretty fast. When their captain retired, she got her own ship and asked specifically for him to join her. She *needed* him on her crew. He was "essential" (her words). So needless to say he fell in love with her immediately. Well...in his own way. Of all the crew members that came and went, he was consistently by her side. He never went to work for another captain until Mag decided to retire. He's in a better way with people now, but he's never been as loyal to anyone as he is with Magdala.
A small floof that yells at strangers and gets herself lost under the couch at least twice a week. A good birb.
The One Who Feeds
A little puff of stealth, sass, and anger. She knows he'll tangle himself in her hair if she takes a nap, but she still lets him because he's a good little anger puff.
Naptime Partner
Adair is unlike any other creature Magdala has ever met. She seems to pop in and out of existence in unlikely places, never ages, and knows more about the workings of time, space, matter, and existence in general than anyone has any right to know. But Mag thinks that's pretty cool and hasn't bothered to pry. At least, not *too* much. She met Ada on her first ship assignment and has had her as a member of her own crew several times throughout her career. She counts her as one of her oldest friends, even if it is a little weird knowing she'll probably be around for lifetimes after she's gone.
Mag is one of the good ones. She's not freaked out by Adair's...inconsistencies...which makes her *actual* friendship material. People like that are hard to come by. Usually Adair has to cut her losses and run before her friends realize something is wrong. Without that being a problem, Ada has had decades to spend with Magdala. She's seen her start her career, forge lifelong friendships, sow the wild seeds of youth, get pregnant, start a family, get older, see her kid graduate and start her own career, forge her own lifelong friendships, retire....get older.... In causing the other to truly feel her own mortality (or lack thereof), these two are evenly matched.