Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Vora Zorell (Scientist) in Zorell Quarters- Family Matters, Redux

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Vora Zorell (Scientist) in Zorell Quarters- Family Matters, Redux
The next day, Vora woke up with a smile on her face. yes, there were things they needed to sort out and practicalities to consider. But since they weren’t going the elopement route, Vora knew her and Johann, and Jerrin, had time to figure things out.

She had to be on duty later (Ensign Riggs was sick and she said she’s cover her shift), but that did mean she had the morning to visit with Deacon a bit more and then to see Cassidy. There was news to share.

She was so excited she might burst! But at the same time there was a part of her that wanted to keep things quiet. Vora knew that that impulse was borne out of a life full of disappointments, that knew better than to expect a good outcome. So that was why she knew she would tell the people closest to her as soon as she saw them.

For his part, Jerrin seemed okay this morning. A bit pensive, but he had smiled at her earlier. An honest smile too. That made her motherly heart warm. While there was bound to be a bit of conflict with Johann and Jerrin and the role Johann would play in his life, she knew well enough that her son respected Dvorak quite a bit. She could see it in the way they interacted and how Johann was able to diffuse Jerrin’s stronger spurts of emotions. It boded well, especially since she and Jerrin had the ability to really bounce badly off each other at times. Johann would very likely be a tempering presence in their collective lives. As a family.

As she moved to the airlock to greet Deacon, she paused and was stunned nearly into tears. A family. They really would be, wouldn’t they? Huh.

Deacon was waiting for her and his initial look was one of amusement.

Vora managed to wait all of two sections down the corridor before she told her oldest and dearest friend her and Johann’s news. They were nearly the same height, but Deacon easily swept Vora into a massive hug. She just laughed.

“I am so happy for you,” he said, meaning it entirely.

“I know,” Vora replied, radiating joy. “it’s complicated already, but… I’m happy. We’re happy. And I’ve been that way for a long time now. I didn’t even realize how use to it I’ve gotten.”

“Hold on to that with everything you have,” Amhurst said intently.

Vora simply nodded, knowing it would be key.

Stepping into her and Jerrin’s quarters, Vora noted the bag slung over Deacon’s shoulder and suspected that it was the surprise he had for her son.

Jerrin was sitting on the sofa reading a PADD, his face scrunched up as he processed something he wasn’t sure about. Glancing up, he didn’t say anything but had a questioning look.

“Jerrin, this is Deacon. Deacon, Jerrin,” Vora said.

Jerrin sat up and nodded. “Ahhh, Mom’s rescuer.”

Deacon looked slightly amused. “Nope. I didn’t rescue her. She rescued herself,” he said adamantly as he cast a fond glance at Vora.

“Well, I did need help. Quite a lot of it,” she pointed out with a slight laugh.

“Everyone does sometimes,” Deacon replied.

Jerrin just looked between the two. So this was the man she talked about who helped her get off Tenra. He was curious about the famous Captain Deacon Amhurst. She had said quite a bit about him, but this was the first time they were meeting face to face. He was… different than he expected. Less intense? Jerrin wasn’t entirely sure what he really was expecting but Deacon seemed more easy going than he imagined a Starfleet captain who had been essentially stationed at Tenra for years to be.

To be continued…

Lt. (j.g) Zorell, Sciences

Deacon sat in the chair adjacent to the sofa where Jerrin was and pulled out a plain blue paper wrapped object and set it on the coffee table.

“What’s this?” Jerrin asked, with both hesitation and curiosity.

“A gift for you. You see, when I was helping your mom after her rehab, we spent a lot of time working through her experiences and I wanted her to both find control over her anger, and also find a way to express her emotions,” Amhurst said.

“You mean the rock climbing?” Jerrin asked, having heard about how Deacon would make her scale small rock faces until she stopped feeling angry and trying to lash out at people.

The captain nodded. “That was one way. But I also gave her”- he turned at the hips and searched for the object and pointed to the guitar in the corner resting on its stand-“that.”

“It was so I could try to find my own voice,” Vora said fondly.

Deacon beamed at her and then looked back to Jerrin. “Now, your mom has been telling me about how you like to figure things out and need challenges, and I thought that this might be interesting to you. Or not.” He shrugged. “Either way, it’s for you to figure out.”

Jerrin looked almost embarrassed as he reached for the parcel and discovered that it was quite a bit heavier than he expected. Setting it carefully in his lap, he untied the ends of the fabric, which fell to the sides. He peered at the object and was, simply, mystified. It was a basic cube of dark metal, but had bits sticking out of it and there were places were lights might be if they were on. He looked up at Deacon with a frown. “What is it?”

He grinned. “A Lytasian puzzle.”

“And that is exactly what?” Jerrin said, not entirely impressed with the lack of info.

Amhurst laughed. “That is the point. Only the people who figure it out find out its purpose. It’s one hundred percent safe, so you don’t have to worry there,” he said shooting Vora a knowing glance. She just raised her brows. “I figured it might suitably pique your curiosity.”

And indeed it did. Jerrin gave a small smile. “Thanks.”

“You’re very welcome.” He knew that the relationship between Vora and Jerrin was still awkward in some ways, but he seemed to be doing quite well. “Your mom told me about her good news.”

Jerrin nodded. “Weird, that.” He shrugged. “But a good kind of weird.”

Vora couldn’t help but snort. “Not just for you. As happy and excited as I am, there’s a part of me that hasn’t actually processed that I’m apparently going to be getting married. Never thought that would happen.”

To be continued…

Lt. (j.g) Zorell, Sciences