Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Chief Science Officer) in Empathy and Plants

Posted by Ensign Tabris Asam (Engineering Officer) in Empathy and Plants

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Chief Science Officer) in Empathy and Plants
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Tabris had wanted to go to the arboretum after parkour. Sharah had been fine with that. Sharah had returned to her quarters for a change of clothes. Tabris had done the same but Sharah also knew he’d gone to see if there was any letter from Neltus yet. Sharah was so excited for Tabris. She knew he would be a good father. She had to admit, at least to herself, she was a little jealous. She and Joseph had talked about having children and though she’d been worried she wasn’t anymore. They were going to have an amazing life together. Joseph was due to transfer to Ark Angel very soon, and though she had more than enough work to keep her focused during the day, she found herself eagerly and impatiently counting the days during her off hours. She’d found herself researching Earth wedding customs and put a stop to that quickly, with very little success. From the looks of it, her parents wouldn’t make it. This whole thing with Betazed was making her mad. Her people knew better. Fear only inspired fear to spread and feed of itself. Sharah sighed as she entered the arboretum and began to wander around. She knew better than most telepaths/empaths how emotions fed and grew if not tempered with perspective and compassion.

When Tabris entered his quarters the console on his desk was flashing. There was a message from Neltus along with one for every day he had missed so far. “Hi Dad! I miss you! I got ALL your letters. Our subspace communicator broke again. I’ve been writing I just couldn’t send them. I haven’t heard from the judge yet. I hope we get something now that messages are getting though again. Ms. Karra LOVED her robot and it works really well! Vedi and I had to had some hydrolics to it. It didn’t reach quite high enough for her to use to store things in the pantry. But after you showed us how to make the first set work it only took us a couple days to put the new ones in. I can’t wait to see you again. Is your ship really that big? I’m afraid I’ll get lost. Love you, Dad.” There were several more messages attached all about his days that Tabris had missed out on during the radio silence.

Tabris’s eyes lit up! He had been worried about what Neltus thought given that he hadn’t heard for a few weeks. He read the letter over and over with a smile growing wider as he delved through the back log. He loved hearing about how the robot was helpful, how he cut his toe on a nail in the floorboards, a test he got high marks on, all the little things that made him proud. He sent back a response that was heartfelt. “Hey kiddo! Glad to hear it was just a glitch and not a problem! It’s been fairly quiet, here but I’ve missed hearing from you! How are you healing up? Has Vedi given you any more trouble about leaving? The Ark Angle is indeed really big, and I’ve gotten lost myself so you’ll be in good company. I’ll make sure that you have a way to get a hold of me. There are many other children on board too! Hope to hear from you soon. Love you son.” Tabris referenced a few letters ago that talked about Vedi being a little prickly about his best friend leaving and Neltus took it rather personally.

There was also a message from Karra, the house mother. “Hello Mr. Tabris. I’m sure you’ve heard from the judge and I am so happy for you and Neltus. I have not told Neltus. Our patron is bringing, Santa, to the orphanage this year. He is going to be brining Neltus his letter and then, as we spoke before I know you don’t have any time off, she will be brining Neltus to you by shuttle. I thought this would be a wonderful surprise for him for the holiday. School gets out a couple days before and I will be able to send his completed records that way. I hope you are well and you will be seeing your son very very soon. - Karra, House Mother.”
Lt jg Fayth, CSO
Karra, House Mother
Neltus, Tabris’s Son (he just doesn’t know it yet)

Tabris read over the letter and took a deep breath in and let out a sigh as a tear formed on his face and dropped to his desk. He had indeed heard that the judge had granted the adoption but until he had heard it from Karra it hadn’t sunk in yet. He sent out a message “I think that sounds like a lovely plan, I’m sure he’ll be as happy as possible! I look forward to meeting your patron.”

It has been half an hour and Tabris tapped his badge ,=/\= Sharah I am so sorry! I um… I got caught up in personal matters, I’ll explain later. Tabris out =/\= He headed towards the arboretum at a brisk pace he was rushing through the corridors and walked into the arboretum and smiled as he saw Geoff and called out, “Sorry for my delay Sharah, I had finally gotten my back log of letters from Neltus.”

Tabris Asam, Eng

Sharah had been wandering the arboretum. It wasn’t often she got to come here to just enjoy anymore. Her work keeping her very busy, which was a good thing, but this time she was getting to really see it. To see the results of the staff’s hard work. She still wasn’t sure what to do about the animosity of the Frost Lily. She suspected that the poor thing was lonely locked up in it’s habitat, but it was too dangerous not to have locked up and it would never survive the extreme, relative, heat outiside the enclosure. She found her way to her flower bed, the one that was solely hers. She’d not checked on it in at least a couple weeks. She felt bad about that, but it was doing very well. And the new roses she’s created looked to be doing very well. She spent a few minutes there when she heard Tabris’ voice over the comm. She smiled, from here she could already ‘hear’ his excitement. She made her way over to Geoff and that’s where she was when Tabris finally made it to the arboretum. “See, I knew there was something simple going on. Well what did his letters say? Don’t leave me in suspense!” Sharah already knew though, but Tabris needed to tell it and Sharah was more than willing to let him.
Lt. jg Fayth, CSO

Tabris was visibly joyful as started to explain, “So I guess their subspace relay was down so I had been sending them but it was just radio silence till they got it all working and he got flooded, and same with me. He had been writing them but knew it wasn’t working so he just saved them. You know, it’s weird. He was telling me all about the little things, like a good score on a test or an injury that he had and it was just nice to read about his day to day life, even if I’m not there. He even started his letters off with ‘Hi dad’ which warmed my old heart let me tell you!” Tabris stroked Geoff’s branches a little as he spoke and looked at his old friend, “You’re going to have a little brother soon!” Tabris said totally seriously, “So he has been having some trouble with Vedi because he’s leaving right? So Vedi doesn’t want him to go and is being kinda mean to Neltus but… Sorry, Vedi is his roommate and best friend he’s 8 as well, anyways so Vedi has been making fun of Neltus and he’s taking it personally. See the thing is, I’d love to adopt Vedi and his two siblings but they have to say yes and I don’t know if they will and.... I’m sorry I’m rambling…”

Tabris Asam, Eng

Sharah smiled, extremely happy for Tabris. “See I told you it was nothing!” She listened as Tabris recounted his letters from Neltus. She understood the importance of them. For a year that’s all she had from Joseph was their letters. Once in awhile they actually got to talk in real time, but not as often as she would have liked. They’d had two, all too short, visits together. It wasn’t enough when you loved someone. She missed her brother and parents like crazy too, and Ashlyn, who she didn’t hear from anymore. It hurt more than she wanted to admit. She just wanted to know Ashlyn was okay. That things were getting better, but her letters wouldn’t even go through. She turned away for a moment getting her own sadness under control. She was happy for Tabris. “So he hasn’t said about the room yet obviously. But let me know what he says.” She glanced at Geoff and laughed and the drum roll that seemed to come to the front of the flora symphony of the arboretum as Tabris touched Geoff’s leaves, like Geoff was purring. “Well I can understand why Vedi would be sad. They go through a lot together don’t they? And why would you have to adopt 3 more kids?”
Lt. jg Fayth, CSO

Tabris gave Sharah an annoyed look channeling his inner teenager as he said, “I know I know… I worry too much.” Tabris smiled once again and said, “I don’t know if the images of the room will even load given what they have to work with out there, and maybe it’ll be a surprise for him. And I’d adopt Vedi and his two siblings who are 4 and 3 because they were all found together but the kicker is that Vedi and his sister are Cardassian, and the youngest boy is Bajoran. Vedi shared with me that he thinks they’ll grow up in the orphanage and that breaks my heart because no one wants to adopt mixed species orphans. See here’s the thing, I don’t give too hoots where your genetics are from, I worked on Bajor during the occupation and helped the resistance, but I knew great people, both Bajoran and Cardassian, and I also knew terrible of both as well.”

Tabris Asam, Eng

Sharah settled more comfortably next to Geoff and watched Tabris rant for a moment. “Tabris, you know you are trying to convince yourself of something, but you’ve already decided. So out with it. What’s got you so worked up?” Tabris was usually so stead and calm, this was amusing to watch him get worked up. But it was over kids and she was pretty sure she’d feel the same way. She and Joseph talked about having kids. And she did want to have them, but could they adopt too? So many children without families....She could feel the memory Tabris had of feeling Vedi’s struggle and it broke her heart…and then. “Whoa! Tabris! What’s with that. Okay so I am ALL for you adopting 4 kids, but are you letting your empathy control your decision? I mean I get it. I would too, but you should at least be aware of it. Right, because otherwise when they are bad they will walk all over you. Having empathy and kids is tricky. You said something about empathy earlier and not knowing what to do.”
Lt. jg Fayth, CSO

Tabris had kind of expected this response once Sharah read his thoughts but he didn’t know that she was going to so quickly deduce exactly what he was thinking. “Well I was going to respond but I see you already know.... and no it’s not official yet, at least I don’t know if it is or not. Neltus’s adoption went through and that was guaranteed. But I talked to the judge and the house mother about adopting all 4 of them, and I recorded a message… well here just listen.” Tabris said as he tapped his comm badge and said, “Computer would you please play Tabris Message 323 to Delotha? Thank you.” The sound of his voice came through the comm badge a little crackly, almost like an old radio:

“Vedi, Mecona, Julin, if you’re hearing this message then I want you all to know that in the brief window that I was here to get to know and adopt Neltus that I realized how much of a family he has with you three. Vedi you are the wise brother who cares for your siblings and that you two are basically inseparable. I also know from our conversations that you have a wonderfully caring soul and know that, even at such a young age, that sometimes hard decisions need to be made. I understand you were ready to make the hardest decision of your life. Mecona, Julin, I know that you idolize both Vedi and Neltus, they’re your big brothers and you want to stay with them because that’s what family does, and you want to grow up with them, even if sometimes they can be annoying. Kids I want you all to know that with deep consideration I approached Judge Arroz and House Mother Karra with an idea. That it would be wrong to split up siblings, and that it would be inappropriate for any of those siblings to have to be split apart. I asked them if I could adopt you three as well. Not just because you see Neltus as a brother, but because I love each of you in your own way. Vedi, I love you because you’re a sweet compassionate boy who cares deeply for what’s right even if it’s hard to do. You make sure that your siblings are cared for even if it is at your own detriment. Mecona, I love you because while I’m here you’ve been a constant companion when you could, curious and inquisitive, asking all sorts of questions because the world is a new place and you trust me to teach it to you. Julin I love you because you’re just a little ball of energy that would shoot through the ceiling if you weren’t held down by gravity! You let me play with you and your giggle brightens my day when I make your robot talk or toss you in the air. If you’re hearing this, then that means that their answer was yes, but it’s up to each of you to decide if you think I’ll be able to be a father to each and every one of you.”

He turned to Sharah and said, “Well I fear that you may be right. Vedi came to me on the second trip and told me he was going to ask Karra to split them up so they could be adopted. He thought the little ones wouldn’t remember, but he’d be hurt the most. I just… I couldn’t stand that thought, that’s what I’m sure you felt as I replayed that memory.” Tabris said as he nodded a little and leaned on the tool crate close by, “So I wanted to talk to you about my empathy because on Earth my parents didn’t even tell me I wasn’t human till I was 19. El-Aurian kids grow at a similar rate to humans but by the time they reach around 20-25 their aging basically slows to a crawl. Whenever I would tell my parents that ‘I thought someone felt sad’ they would say I just had good intuition. So I basically never have practiced or honed my ability to feel other people’s” he paused to look at Geoff and stroke a leaf, “Or thing’s feelings. Where should I start?”

Tabris Asam, Eng