In the family quarters where Sair and her son Koro resided, Kel Songz stood there, hands akimbo, and gazing hard at her daughter sitting on the couch. “You’re sulking.”
“I am not,” Sair said softly.
Kel ran a hand over her dark hair. “Paskaja!“
Sair’s eyebrows rose for a moment she even looked amused. “Hey now, swearing at your child isn’t required.”
“I call it as I see it, just as I’ve always done.” Kel moved over and sat with her her daughter. “You came out here for a reason, yes?”
Sair nodded and inhaled deeply. “To spend more time with the living rather than the dying.”
“And how is that working out for you?”
She shot her mother a glare and shook her head, shifting her gaze elsewhere. Sair wasn’t sure what to say to any of it and she wasn’t sure how she was even feeling. She did her job, but it lacked… something, and even with all her new skills as a therapist, she was struggling to examine her internal landscape.

Kel looked around the quarters. It had the appearance that Sair has ‘settled in’ in such that there were a few decor items and it was obvious there was a child living here, but it lacked… warmth. It was hard to see the usual bright cheeriness of Sair softened, even a little. “I’ve been a nurse for a very long time and I’ve seen all kinds of health issues, both physical and mental. Sair… maybe you should consider that you might need some extra support, either from another counsellor or from the medical team here. Just a thought.”

“You think I’m depressed?” Sair said incredulously.
Kel shrugged. “Maybe. I think it’s worth considering. I mean, when’s the last time you played your prizar? Have you even played it at all since you got here?”
Sair opened her mouth to say something but just shook her head. She was going to remark that she had been busy settling in, and then preparing for Koro and Kel’s arrival, and then work. And that was all true, but after a little while she knew she hadn’t been drawn to the instrument as she normally was.
“What about this dinner that you were talking about, so we could meet Captain Cochrane?”
“I don’t want to bother him. He’s a very busy man.”
Kel stared at her daughter and shook her head. For several moments, she just mulled over what to do and then coming to a decision, she rose to her feet, gesturing to Sair. “Come on, up you go. You go send a message telling the Captain that you, Koro and I are going to have a picnic in the garden by the pond and he’s welcome to join us. Koro will be up from his nap anytime now, so it’ll be a good time. If he’s free, he’s free. If not, we get a fun outing. Now, let’s go pack food and bring the prizar. Koro likes it and I bet he misses it,” she said pointedly.

There was no use arguing when Kel Songz made a decision and in this case Sair was even a little grateful.

An hour later, after sending the captain the note, the family was set-up with a large blanket nestled under the large trees and overlooking the pond. Koro was poking at the edge of the water with a stick and Sair was close by, keeping a cautious eye on him. Kel was setting out a wide variety of foods they they had been experimenting with, since there were only a handful of Kobliad foods in the replicator. They weren’t members of the Federation but there had been enough cross-over with the medical exchange program that some accommodations had been made they didn’t have the wide variety they might be used to. But that usually meant fun trying new things. Kel suspected that it was the culmination of these tiny changes that were quietly overwhelming her daughter since the novelty of working on a Starfleet facility had worn off during Sair’s first stint with the exchange program.

Beside Kel was a hard dark brown case about the size of a Terran zither, closed and secure.

~Sair & Family