Posted by Lieutenant Kaia (Chief Engineer) in Koro and Kaia - Kitwatching

Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in Koro and Kaia - Kitwatching

Posted by Lieutenant Kaia (Chief Engineer) in Koro and Kaia - Kitwatching
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Kaia walked through the corridors with purpose and stopped at a particular door. She tapped a few buttons on her URI, and the wireless device connected to the door chime and made it ring. She waited, anxious to see how Sair was doing… and happy she could take a bit of the woman’s stress away by watching Koro today.

Lieutenant Kaia
Chief Engineer USS Manhattan

“Come in,” Sair called out. Koro was sitting quietly, flipping through books in Kobliad and Federation Standard.

She gave Kaia a smile- small but genuine. “Hello, Kaia.”

Koro looked up and the preschooler smiled, remembering their meeting at the night on the holodeck with the movie. Well, mostly he remembered the treats, but he did remember his mother’s friend.

~Sair Songz, CNS

Kaia did a rare thing for her and reached out to grasp Sair’s hand in both of her small hands, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting go. She spoke some soft words in a language that wasn’t automatically translated into Federation Standard.

“A greeting to the grieving in my culture. ‘Heart stops, breath slows, but the… memory remains. Rest in her shade, she watches over you.’ Memory and Tree, the words are very close, we have life trees that represent us through our lives and remain after we’re gone…” Kaia rarely touched anyone, preferring the Galdori greeting to traditional handshakes when meeting folks. Her hands were small, the palm of her natural hand rough and calloused, her prosthetic being cool to the touch. Her words to Sair expressed as well as she could, Kaia turned to Koro.

While Sair didn’t get each exact word, the thought behind them was conveyed not just in the eventual translation, but in Kaia’s physical gesture. Though Kobliads on the whole were a people who valued personal space and didn’t touch people they didn’t know, this was different. They were colleagues and (she felt) friendly, if not outright friends. They were still getting to know each other. “Thank you,” she said. “And I appreciate you coming.”

Kaia approached the preschooler, not having to crouch to get to eye level with the lad. “Hello, Koro. I’m Kaia. I’m an engineer, which means that I help make sure this whole ship keeps flying through the stars. Did your mother tell you that you will be spending the afternoon with me today?”

Lieutenant Kaia
Chief Engineer USS Manhattan

Koro nodded and looked back at his books for a minute. He looked back at Kaia, eyes brimming with curiosity. “Where are we going to go?”

~Sair & Koro

“Well, I was thinking that we could go meet some animals,” Kaia said, “What do you think of that?” She’d already discussed the possibility of taking Koro to a simulated petting zoo on the Holodeck when Sair had asked her to watch the Kit for an afternoon, and Kaia hoped Koro would enjoy the idea.

Lieutenant Kaia
Chief Engineer USS Manhattan

Koro’s eyes widened and he clambered to his feet. “Really? What sort of animals?” Behind him, Sair almost broke into a smile and she gave Kaia a small nod that she had his attention. Right now, distractions would help him process the moments where he had to stop and work through difficult emotions. She didn’t want Kel’s death to be all about sadness, entirely a terrible thing. Life was to be celebrated, and that was in part what she was going to be working out while Koro was out. Her and her father would deal with the heavier things and then get Koro to give his thoughts on some pieces of the remembrance that she felt he could handle at his age.

He almost immediately crouched down and stacked his books in a pile next to the coffee table. “Ready!” he said a moment later.

~Sair & Koro

“All sorts of animals,” Kaia replied. “Animals from Earth, and from Vulcan, and Bajor, and Galdor, and Betazed…” She trailed off, letting Koro’s mind fill in the gaps. The joy of a holodeck program was that it was pretty much infinite, limited only by what was programmed in.

They walked towards the door, but before they reached it, Kaia gestured to Sair. “Don’t forget to give your mom a big hug before we go,” she said softly to Koro.

Lieutenant Kaia
Chief Engineer USS Manhattan

Koro ran back and all but threw himself at Sir, making her laugh. She hugged him tight and whispered in his ear. Koro nodded and ran over to Kaia after she let him go.

Koro stepped out into the corridor. “Where do we see the animals?” There were many places on the ships, many decks and he knew a few of them, but he wasn’t sure which one had the animals.

~Koro

“We’re going to the holodeck,” Kaia admitted, walking alongside the youngster. “It’s hard to fit that many animals on a little ship like the Manhattan. Do you know the way to the Holodeck?”

Lieutenant Kaia
Chief Engineer USS Manhattan

“Which one? Mira and Mirane went to all of them, but I like the big ones!” Almost as much as the garden, but not quite. Though animals were something the garden didn’t have.

~Koro

“We’re going to deck ten,” Kaia replied. With just the two of them (and her wanting to keep a close eye on Koro), there was no need for a full-sized simulation room. Just the small holosuite would do the trick.

“Okay,” Koro said, moving towards the lift since he knew they had to go there before they could go anywhere else on the ship.

Kaia ‘followed’ Koro to the turbolift, then let him say the deck number. Pretty quickly, although with a little wandering and a detour to the mess hall to get a chocolate-chip cookie for Koro, they found their way to the Holosuite. “Now, I have to warn you, a petting zoo is a loud and stinky place. If the smells and noises start to be too loud or too stinky, just let me know and we can find a quiet place or pause the program. Okay?”

Lieutenant Kaia
Chief Engineer USS Manhattan

Koro nodded. “Have you been to a zoo before?” He hadn’t so he wasn’t quite sure what to expect but he did like animals almost as much as building things.

~Koro