Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Chief Science Officer) in Trenton Park - Parkour (open to all)

Posted by Ensign Tabris Asam (Engineering Officer) in Trenton Park - Parkour (open to all)

(snip)

“I can understand that” He said in reply as he tried to imagine what either of them dealt with. “I appreciate it! Don’t think it’ll work with the kid though” He said, totally not realizing what he just let slip. “I’m glad that you found that home, I hope that your quarters are still going well? Any other problems with the piping besides the leak I fixed last week? Didn’t think those pipes could!” Tabris finished as what he said finally hit him. If she was listening, she’d pick up that his mind was full of anxiety and worry. He had come to do the parkour to get his mind off of the worry.

Tabris Asam, Eng

“No more problems. Everything seems to be fine. I was a little worried about those panels EXR put up at first, but the kids did good with them.” She of course could feel the anxiety but she was trying very hard not to pry. Tabris had said it was fine, but the more she consciously let in the worse it got. “Someone want a remodel for one of their kids? I think this would be amazing. On a smaller scale.” She sat up straighter and looked around trying to see it as Ashlyn would. “So you could do the slide leading from the bed down to by the door. And do it half so they could climb back up, or leave it whole and build in foot and hand holds on the top. Take the junction for the bed and then either make the enclosed top into a sitting area or even place a couch like that above it. Make the dresser and cabinets into steps or hurdles to help climb up the other side. Bars to grab and swing across on the underneath side. Almost like a rectangular pattern around the outer edge of the room. You could even mount a floating platform in the middle of the room with a floor cushion and a low desk. I bet a kid would love that.” She was curious and wanted to know why Tabris was anxious about a kid’s room, but she figured he’d share if he wanted to.
Lt jg Fayth, CSO

Clearing his throat and swallowing hard he said, “Someone yeah, well, me.” Tabris said as he swallowed again. “I um… I just got confirmation that my paperwork went through. I’m adopting an El-Aurian boy named Neltus. I don’t know when he’ll be here, but I’m going to be a dad.” He thought about what she had said regarding the room and lit up, “I think that would be fantastic! I don’t know if he’s super athletic, but I think that’s a great idea!” Tabris’s anxiety was still there and he could almost touch it. “I’m sure my emotions are hard to deal with at the moment and I’m sorry, you came here to relax and take your mind off of this sort of thing.” Tabris shifted a little on the suspended couch before he lost his balance and tumbled to the floor with an audible groan. “Ok… that hurt....” Tabris said as he slowly rose up from the ground.

Tabris Asam, Eng

“Tabris! That’s wonderful! I think you’ll be a great dad.” She shook her head, “Don’t apologize for your emotions Tabris. Don’t worry about me.” And then he fell. Sharah clamored down. Ashlyn would have jumped, but Sharah had never been that brave. “Are you okay? Should I get the med kit?”

Sitting there for a moment he blinked and stood while rubbing his head, “No no I’m fine. And thank you Sharah I appreciate the vote of confidence, but it’s weird. This is the most scared I’ve been in a long, long time. Remember, I might not look it but I’m 417 years old. Do you know how many kids I’ve had in that time? None! I haven’t been an 8 year old boy since 1987! That’s before computers had voice input and you had to type things on what was called a keyboard. That was 6 years before the eugenics wars, 36 years before Earth’s world war 3, 76 years before humans broke the warp barrier, and a full 174 years before the Federation was even founded! I haven’t been a little kid in a very long time! And I’m going to be a first time dad!” Tabris said working himself up and up as he waived and expressed his anxiety vocally.

Sharah smiled. “Hey Tabris, there’s no reason to panic. It’s going to be okay. No one knows how to be a parent the first time. We can only do the best we can.” She cast around trying to find a way to reassure him. And before these thoughts might have made her panic herself, but not anymore, she wasn’t afraid. “Look at me. My parents had my brother first. But I’m unique and so was he. What works on one child isn’t going to work for another. And we won’t always get it right. My parents tried lots of things to help me. But you know, I always felt loved, even if they messed up. I never doubted that, and I was happy. Just love him Tabris. Even when it’s hard. That’s all you can do.”

Tabris smiled a little weakly as he listened, “I know Sharah that no parent ever gets it, and you’re right that I’m sure both you and Andrew were uniquely challenging, but they did adapt well and I’m glad you always felt loved.” He sat thinking of each letter he had received from Neltus over the last little while and he knew they were mostly positive, a few weird things he mentioned had happened. His roommate Vedi for example had a broken leg that just wouldn’t heal and no one could figure out why, but beyond that the tone was always encouraging. He was used to the boy calling him ‘dad’ over the course of the letters and he said, “I keep coming back to a moment when I snapped at him. It was right before I transferred here I went back for my second visit and he had gotten involved in a project, shirked his chores and ignored repeated requests and I raised my voice, had to take away what he was working on, and told him to get his chores done or he wasn’t going to keep working on this. He just glared at me Sharah. I mean later I went to see him and he needed to be comforted. That was the first time he ever called me Dad. It really made me question if I was the right person for him.” He said as he gulped “What if in the last month he’s changed his mind?”

After making sure he was okay she stood up. “Computer, create one child’s standard bedroom.” And then she proceeded to have the computer create the room she had described. When it was done she looked around. “What do you think? You could have the computer save images and then you could send them to him and ask. He can make changes and then when he gets here, the two of you could build it together.”
Lt jg Fayth, CSO

Tabris looked around and appeared to almost be a dear in the headlights with amazement. “Sharah this is amazing. I love that idea! I don’t know if they have computers that can render these on Delotha but I’ll do what I can.” He said as he ran his fingers through his hair looking around, a few tears welling up as he was starting to feel overwhelmed. “This is going to be wonderful” He said quietly as he turned to Sharah. “Ok, lets run some rounds to work this out of my system, he isn’t coming today or tomorrow so I think I have some time.” Turning to the room he said, “Computer, would you please send snapshots of this room to Neltus Omad, Pied Piper Orphanage on Delotha. C/O House Mother Karra. Thank you”

Turning to Sharah he said, “I’ve got some questions for you about being empathic, but let me work out my anxiety by stumbling and such first before I ask.”

Tabris Asam, Eng

Sharah nodded, “Computer, reset to Trenton Park, Beginner level hallway run. Configuration Beta.” The holodeck changed and Trenton Park appeared once more. The hallway was set with a series of blocks leading up like steps and back down. The highest being 4 feet up, but the steps were no more than 12 inch different in height. “We’ll run this one. It’s like going up and down stairs. We’ll do it over and over and try to increase your time. So start slow and get a feel for it.” Sharah took off, and brisk walk at first ascending and descending the stairs and kept repeating, Tabris following after as she increased her speed letting him decide how quickly he wanted to increase his speed on the course.
Lt jg Fayth, CSO

Tabris cleared his mind and watched as Sharah started the course and attempted to follow. He stumbled a few times on the incline, but nothing too bad as he started to move faster and faster. “I think I’m getting the hang of this!” He said with a smile as he tripped and nearly landed on his face. “Ok, starting to get the hang of this…”

Tabris Asam, Eng