Tabris had been up most of the night, his irritation had turned to some self loathing and following that it was acceptance. He had been a jerk, and even if he didn’t intend to he felt terrible about it, but soon after he realized that he needed to accept that his thoughts were like talking outload to some and even if he didn’t know that ahead of time it was still his responsibility to take ownership of the results. After all, Sharah had said that she wasn’t ‘probing his mind’ and if he had said those things verbally he’d be responsible for them, so why shouldn’t he be responsible for his thoughts too. In all the years of his life Tabris was dealing with something new and he didn’t know how to handle hurting someone like that. He had to be diligent and careful, not because he wanted to be closed off, but because he wanted to be kind.

He reflected on what he had said last night while buttoning his uniform, chastising himself for being so dismissive and rude even if no one was there to ‘hear’ him. He took a cup of coffee with him in a favorite mug of his, an enameled tin cup with rainbow polkadots, to Engineering to start his day. A meeting, a refresher, then her quarters. The meeting was about as exciting as watching a middle-aged man eat tapioca pudding in a grassy field, and the refresher course was like taking that previously described scene and imagining it being described to you by someone with the speaking ability of middle schooler with stage fright being asked to give a presentation at the next assembly.

Gathering up his tools and loading a cart with replicated bits Tabris headed towards the Lieutenant’s quarters. He had made a decision, he wouldn’t try to talk about it, he wouldn’t be upset by it, he would just try to think clearly that ‘I’m sorry for what happened last night’. Would this be successful? Only time would tell.

Ensign Tabris Asam, Eng