Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Rest and Relaxation?

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in Rest and Relaxation?

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Rest and Relaxation?
Posted by… suppressed (35) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Aasrel nodded. His hair ended up, as he’d predicted, a little shorter than he liked, but all the same length and it looked good. His PT was hard that day but easier in a way with the emotions surrounding his limbs suppressed. He remembered to ask about his vacation.

Later, they were landing on Betazed. Aasrel was lounging in the seat next to Bethany’s pilot seat, a caged Luna on his lap. He seemed to have taken a liking to the bunny. “Are we there yet?” He asked jokingly, grinning at Bethany.

~ Izei, CMO

Luna had taken a liking to Aasrel as well. It amused Bethany, but she loved it. She shook her head, “Wait for it…” She held up three fingers and slowly lowered them on by one. As the last went down, the shuttle dropped out of warp, and there before them, filling the view was the lush beautiful orb of Betazed.

“There’s home,” Aasrel said to the little bunny, grinning. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Bethany hadn’t seen it in years, not since they left when she was a child. She had thought maybe the sight would make her feel like she was going home, like seeing Earth did, but there was only mild curiosity.

=/\=Shuttle Athena this is Betazed Star control. Please verify registration and passangers.=/\=

=/\=Betazed Star Control, this is the Athena, OPNOR-04. Two Passangers: I am Lt. Cmdr Bethany Kovra Gadi, and I am transporting Lt. Aasrel Izei. Both of Star Fleet ship USS Asimov. Transporting flight plan and pre-approved itinerary.=/\=

There was silence before the comms crackled again. =/\=Athena you are cleared to begin decent to land at Pasa landing. Enjoy your stay.=/\=

=/\=Aknowledged Star Control, coordinates and trajectory received. Thank you. Athena out.=/\= The shuttle began it’s controlled decent through the atmosphere. The weather was preparing for a storm but the turbulence wasn’t too bad. Soon the shuttle was on solid ground and powered down. “Alright Rel, it’s your show now.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel stood from the seat and hopped out of the shuttle, still carrying Luna’s carrier. Once they were finished with the shuttle, he turned to Bethany, “Want to head straight home and put our things away or do something else?”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany watched as he took Luna’s carrier with him and grinned. She shoulder a backpack and a duffle. “You’re the guide, Rel. But I know you are excited to get home.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel nodded. “Let’s go into the space port,” he said. Inside, he found a somewhat quiet place to sit down and dial his family’s comm signal. It was a moment, and then a woman’s hopeful voice answered, “Aasrel? Is that you?”

“Keyana, hey,” Aasrel said, a little awkwardly, but he was smiling. “Think you can get mom to give Bethany and I a ride? We’re still at the main space port.”

“Are you kidding? She’ll be there before you know it. She can’t wait to meet Bethany.” The girl laughed and the comm line disconnected. Aasrel grinned at Bethany. “I think they’re on their way.”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany grinned at his sister’s enthusiasm. She slipped a piece of fresh papaya into Luna’s carrier as she listened to the conversation. “I think they have missed you. They are just excited. Are you? How do you feel about being here, finally?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“I am.” He replied after a moment. “A little nervous, but not like before.” He frowned for a moment, “It’s like… you know when there’s something at the back of your mind gnawing at you? Except I know what it is, I remember, but I can’t reach it. Which is a good thing, because I don’t know how I’d feel if all that emotion weren’t muted.”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany nodded. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.” She felt that way about her grandfather. Right now she had more immediate memories to deal with. Nothing looked familiar here, she wasn’t sure she wanted to find it familiar or not. “Space is good. This trip will be even better.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

A while later a young woman with Aasrel’s wavy brown hair, except long, cascading down her shoulders and back, came around the corner and pointed, “Here they are! Mom! This way!” Then she came towards Aasrel and smiled. “Reli! You’re home!” Aasrel stood as she hugged him. Then she turned and hugged Bethany tightly. “You must be Bethany.” She smiled. There was curiosity, joy.

Then a petite older woman with the same hair but greyer came around the corner. She hugged Bethany and then hugged Aasrel so hard he thought he’d explode. “Aasrel, I thought I’d never see you again!” She exclaimed happily. She was full of happiness and love. She turned to Bethany too and took her hand and pulled her into an equally tight hug. “You must be Bethany. Welcome back to Betazed.”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany wasn’t a hugger, but she was adaptable enough to act like she was. She returned the first two hugs, but the third surprised her and was a bit uncomfortable, though it showed as amusement. He must not have ever brought a girl home.

“Yes, I’m Bethany. Good thing for him too, or he would have some explaining to do,” she grinned cheekily. She looked at the younger woman, “And you are Keyana. It’s nice to meet you, and you as well Mrs. Izei. ” She didn’t respond to the welcome back, though she appreciated the sentiment behind it.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Keyana feigned shock, “So you’ve heard about me!” She grinned, “Don’t worry, I have all the embarrassing stories to get revenge with.”

Mrs Izei ushered them out towards their ride back to the house. “Everybody in. Go on! In! Your dad is waiting for you. And somebody else, too.” She said, and winked. Aasrel gathered from her thoughts that it was his brother. “Masas is home, too?”

She smiled, “He heard you were coming and managed to pull some strings to take a trip home, too.”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany shouldered the bags as they left and then set them by her feet in the slider after getting in. Luna was quiet, curled in a corner of her carrier, despite the jostling and exuberant noise. She grinned at his delight over his brother. She was glad they were making such a fuss over him coming home. He needed it after everything.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

It wasn’t long before they were there and being ushered towards the home. It wasn’t overly large, but nice, with his sister’s gardens all over the property. The house was stately, as if old, but not quite like anything one would find on Earth. Stone built the bottom of the building, the top built with something like wooden siding. Large windows were built into the sides of the home, letting in a lot of natural light. The door looked like solid wood, with a stately knocker in the middle of it. It was decorated with a Betazoid flower. The petalia, signifying peace, comfort.

It was stately, but nothing like on Earth. The architecture was familiar in that she had seen similar as they traveled to the house, but not personally. The gardens were beautiful, but Bethany didn’t have a green thumb as Kian would put it. She recognized a couple of the plants by name, a few others were distantly familiar.

The door opened and a man who looked much like Aasrel but a little older and broader grinned at Bethany. She was given another big hug, and so was Aasrel. “Reli, I wasn’t sure we were gonna see you again!” He said, and hugged Aasrel again. A second, older man came out of the house and smiled at them both. “You better have brought your appetites, your mother has been cooking all day for the two of you.”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany returned the hug, but kept her feelings and her thoughts tightly to herself. It felt very odd to her. She studied his father with concealed curiosity. Subconsciously making comparisons. She nudged Aasrel with a grin. “You’ll be in a satiated food coma then. You’ve talked about your mother’s cooking endlessly.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“So will you. I sent her the recipe for your favourite meal.” Aasrel grinned. All of the Izei family were quite strong telepaths, they spoke to make Bethany feel more comfortable, knowing that although she was now telepathic, she was not raised that way. His father stood with arms crossed but a friendly smile and soft black eyes that looked a lot like Aasrel’s remaining natural eye. He seemed somewhat reserved, but not malicious, nothing like Bethany’s father.

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany looked at his mother and smiled, “That’s very kind of you. Replicators are fine things, but nothing compares to real food. I look forward to it.” His father’s reserved demeanor reminded her of her uncles. Kind but the strong silent type. They didn’t miss much. They spoke little and listened a lot. She felt much more comfortable towards him than she did the rest.

There was a soft digging sound from the carrier. “Aasrel,” she nodded toward it, “it’s been a long trip for her too,” and opened the door, while he kept it still. Luna needed to ‘be walked’. Bethany lifted her out and held her close as she looked around for a safe spot to put her down, away from the immaculate flower beds. She would set up a cage as soon as she could. Luna hopped a few feet and disappeared under a low growing bush.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Oh!” Aasrel set the carrier down where Bethany indicated. “Guys, this is Luna. She’s an Earth rabbit.” He said, and suddenly everybody was quietly crowding around, watching the little animal and feeling it out empathically. When they felt like they were stressing her, they backed away some.

~ Izei, CMO

Luna was not stressed at all. She was simply a very proper lady and did her business in privacy. Bethany found it funny and cute. The bunny hopped back out from under the bush and right back to the people. She went from one person to the next and sniffed them. Her ears twitched back and forth in curiosity. When no one offered to pet her or giver her treats she stopped right in front of Bethant and sounded her feet on the ground, clearly showing her displeasure.

Bethany knelt down with a grin and pet her. “She’s very friendly and doesn’t scare easily. She’s different than most rabbit’s that way. She likes attention and will demand it if it isn’t given freely. You can pick her up if you like. Just support her back feet, like this,” Bethany demonstrated. “Her back feet are very powerful, so if you don’t support them, she could kick and cause real damage.” She stood up with the rabbit in her arms and handed her to Aasrel.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel held her carefully. There was a sense of curiosity and awe and everybody must have found her very cute because that hung in the air around them all. Aasrel went over to Keyana, handing her the bunny. She picked her up awkwardly, supporting the feet and laying her against her body. “Uh, Reli, is this right?”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany smiled gently, “Try this way.” She carefully adjusted Luna so she was laid against Keyana’s chest, Luna’s head under her chin. She put one of Keyana’s hands under the rabbit and one on her back. “There, now you can see each other.” Luna was quite curious but patient as if sensing Keyana’s nervousness. Then she stretched her nose up and sniffed Keyana’s chin, the twitching of nose and whiskers tickling. Her ears flopped over and Bethany grinned. “Floppy ears mean she’s comfortable.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“I can tell,” Keyana said, that same way Aasrel said it sometimes. She gave the bunny some scratch, carefully. “She’s friendly.”

~ Izei, CMO

Ah yes, she needn’t explain things, but the similarity between the siblings was sweet. “She is, and very demanding. I’ll keep an eye on her so she doesn’t get underfoot.”

The entire Izei family was being polite, or trying to, by relying less on empathy and telepathy with Bethany, even though they were aware she could communicate that way. Masas was more like their father, standoffish and quiet, but not in a malicious way. He watched Bethany carefully… watching out for his brother. But he quickly felt there was no reason for that. The woman cared deeply for Aasrel. It was obvious.

Bethany didn’t need to be any kind of ‘pathic’ to know Masas was watching her and making assessments. It endeared him to her, that he was protective of his brother. She wished Aasrel had come home sooner. She was certain his healing would have been better if he had.

“You know, you can ask whatever you want,” she said to Masas. “Like I told Aasrel, I’ll tell you, and if I can’t I’ll say I can’t.” She winked at him with an impish grin. She wasn’t worried about offending him, Betazoids were notoriously blunt and honest. If Masas wasn’t, she would apologize.

Masas crossed his arms and leaned against the outside of the house, giving him a brooding look. He spoke telepathically, in a way so only Bethany would hear, You had best take care of him. Gods know he’s been through enough as is.

Aasrel must have learned the look from Masas. It was the same look Aasrel gave her when she was being particularly stubborn but wasn’t going to win. It also gave her butterflies. Masas doing it, did nothing for her. Except to make her wonder what it would be like to have her own siblings.

Bethany wasn’t comfortable with the contact, it was clear even though she didn’t fight it. She didn’t have the skill to communicate specifically with only one person. Even if she did she wasn’t comfortable ‘talking’ to anyone else. Her expression turned serious, “I intend to, that’s why we’re here.”

His expression changed slightly and he nodded. Then he smiled.

“Thank you for letting me stay, I hope it doesn’t cause an inconvenience,” she spoke to his parents. Her uncles would spontaneously appear if she forgot her manners, but the sentiment was genuine.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“None at all. As long as you’re with Aasrel you’re part of the family.” His father said, smiling at her. “Come in, I’m sure you’d like to put your things down. Aasrel, your old room is ready for you.”

~ Izei, CMO

“Again, thank you. I wouldn’t even know where to pick to stay.” Bethany handed Aasrel his duffel and then picked up Luna’s crate and followed them into the house.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Vexi and Aazod are inside, cooking while mom got a chance to say hi and meet Bethany,” Masas said as they all headed in. Sure enough, another Betazoid woman smiled at Bethany from the kitchen, it was a roomy open floor plan. You must be Bethany. Nice to meet you. She said. A curiosity and polite interest floated about her.

Bethany’s shields were strong enough, no one felt her flinch at the voices. Aasrel would know though, the way her mind latched to his. The only anchor in a universe that was suddenly frightening for her. She smiled though, “I am. And you must be Vexi. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Voices, please,” Aasrel said softly, politely. A couple of “Sorry”s came out across the room. He reached over and squeezed her hand gently.

“No need. It’s alright.” It was natural for them, and she wasn’t offended, but she wasn’t comfortable with it at all. With Rel it was different.

Aasrel felt bad, he could feel her discomfort. This was all so natural for him. It felt like being trapped between two worlds in a way.

Don’t. I have to figure it out. Trapped between two worlds is exactly how she felt. Always had. Just for different reasons now.

Aasrel took his things down the hall to his room. “Bethany, you’ll be in here with me. With everyone here, there won’t be spare rooms.” Not that she’d want one anyway.

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany turned and followed him. She didn’t mind sharing a room with him. At this point it would be uncomfortable not to do so. Once inside she set her pack on the desk and took out a water bottle and food and attached it to Luna’s crate. “Where do you want me to put her crate?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Anywhere.” The room was neat and orderly, with a bed that looked like it had probably been Aasrel’s since he was a teenager. There was a bookshelf full of books and movies. His desk was organized, an older PaDD laying on top. His closet full of his old clothes. It was nostalgic, but also weirdly foreign to him, as if he’d walked directly into his own memories.

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany watched him as she put the crate against the wall where they wouldn’t bump into it by accident and Luna could get in and out easily. She walked over to him, standing slightly behind him and slipped her arms around him, hugging him. “What are you feeling?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel smiled and leaned back into her. “I don’t know. It’s weird, being home. I’m just glad I don’t have… Those other things to worry about, too.”

~ Izei, CMO

“I’m glad you don’t either.” She kissed his neck and then laid her head against his back for a moment. “Come on, they want to see you, hug you, make sure you are in one piece. Let them. You need it, and so do they.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel smiled slightly and then shrugged. “It makes me feel weird. I don’t know.” He looked back at her and sighed softly, then took her hand. “Together, right?”

~ Izei, CMO

“For as long as you’ll have me, Doc.” She gave him that playful look before moving around in front of him and dropping her arms over his shoulders. “And don’t worry about me so much. We both knew this trip would never be easy for me. Telepathy or not. It’s not going to kill me. One day I’ll wonder at the fact my life wasn’t always like this.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“I know.” Aasrel looked at her with that adoring look in his eyes. “I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable. I wish I could help.” Then he grinned, “So.... What did my brother say to you?”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany laughed, “Oh what I expect is typical big brother behavior. He told me I had better take care of you because you had been through enough. It was quite firm. I applaud him, his intent was quite clear.” She kissed him once, “You’re lucky Rel. I envy you, having so many people who care so deeply about you.” He should have come home sooner.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Aasrel shook his head. “He is overprotective. Besides, I have no idea what he’s referring to.” Obviously he did know, he just didn’t want to think about it. He kissed her back, “Now you have just as many.”

~ Izei, CMO

She smiled and leaned in close. “I bet your brother has all kinds of stories of you as a kid where you gave him cause to be over protective. If I play my cards right, he might tell me,” she grinned at him. “Your family seems really nice.” She kissed him slowly and then sighed dramatically as she pulled away. “I suppose we should go out there before Luna gets free and starts causing mischief just because she can.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Kay’d handle her.” Aasrel replied, pulling her closer. “But I guess you’re right, it would be rude to close ourselves off right away.” He gave her a mischievous look. “I’ll bet he does. But whether he tells you…” He shook his head and grinned. “Good luck.”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany loved being that close to him. He made everything that came before worth it. “You can have me all to yourself later. It would be poor manners to keep you to myself when I’ve had you for almost a full year.” Shebstepped back reluctantly and tuggedbhisbhand, “Besides, your sister already said she would tell me stories.” She grinned wickedly over her shoulder as she dragged him out the door.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

As they headed back into the house, Vixi and Aasrel’s mom were still in the kitchen. Masas played a game with his son. Keyana read a book at the table. When she saw Aasrel and Bethany, she smiled. “Are you settling in, Bethany? I’m sure you are.” She elbowed her brother. “Aasrel was always a share-er.”

~ Izei, CMO