snip

“You know, back on the Draco I had a pet. I got it not long after hearing of Burle’s passing. It was a Bribble. A ludicrous thing really. A combination of a tribble and a rabbit. A round furry trilling mess with floppy ears and small legs. Named it Burle.”
- Dagen

Reia sat for a few seconds trying to imagine the animal he was describing. She was certain she had never seen one, not even a picture of one. The thought of it just made her want to laugh again but it seemed inappropriate. Still, she couldn’t help but smile at the thought of it.

Dagen could see she was struggling so he quickly disengaged from her and picked up a tablet not far away. Moving slowly back while holding the tablet with one hand, his other swishing and tapping at the tablet he plopped down beside her. “Here. This is Burle in all his furry floppy eared cuteness.” There were more than one photo. In fact there was a whole album of pictures of this little beast, be they here and there over quarters that had seen better (or tidier!) days, or on Dagen - the size of a small cat, if round - it didn’t take up that much room, nor did it seem to travel that far, but it was cute.

“Well, I don’t know whether that is absurd or sweet. Well let’s just call it both. Adorable. Would you like another pet? I’ve actually been thinking of that recently to tell you the truth. It sounds like you needed companionship. I don’t think I’ve had one in quite some time. A pet that is.”

• Reia

“Burle helped me through a difficult period in life, yes,” he said, “but was also something at home when I got there.” He looked sidelong at her and raised a brow. “Oh? A Bribble? A Centauran Rainbow fish? A Betazed Parakeet? I hear they are somewhat telepathic too and parrot out your thoughts. Could be fun in the bedroom.” His brows rose and fell quickly before finishing with a wink.
- Dagen

Reia laughed and shook her head. She picked up the pad and looked at it and smiled softly. The little creature was absolutely adorable, and so was her husband.

Dagen looked at the image then swiped over to a short video of them where Dagen was dressed in a worker’s coveralls in a rather cramped looking beat up shuttlecraft. He was seated in a very dated black swiveling chair and his feet up on the console where this was being recorded from. Burle was on his shoulder. Dagen was eating something cereal like which were like small sugar cube wafers. Every few wafers he would reach up and give one to Burle who happily ate it and gave out very tribble like trills. All the while Dagen was balancing an old style engineering periodical in his other hand reading. Dagen was trimmer in that shot even with the coveralls, and his hair not flecked with salt and pepper like now.

“Absolutely positively no beta is in parrot parakeet or other bird. I don’t like cleaning up after them and I definitely don’t need a telepathic pet of any kind, especially if you want to keep it in the bedroom. You are a twisted twisted man. I think that’s one of the reasons I love you so very much. Did your grandfather have the same type of sense of humor? No, I was thinking of a rabbit of some kind. Apparently someone used to keep them here on the Genesis and there’s quite a colony.”

• Reia

Grinning at her assessment of him he leaned in to kiss her neck at a particular sensitive spot that always elicited a reaction in her. “That is more dad with the humor. The wicked twisted part I got from mom.” He leaned back in the couch with his arm around Reia, gazing out the window to the stars. “Burle had a different humor. It was not in funny jokes or turns of phrases. But boy could he tell a story. He was the defacto bard in the family, story telling and keeping alive memories of our ancestors. But out of those he could weave a story that would have us all laughing till we cried.” Chewing his upper lip he continued. “You know, in my first summer break at my second kick at the Academy I went back home and spent the whole summer with Burle. He was getting on in years even then. I was recently joined. And as I did things with him I had him tell his stories again, as many as he could remember. I recorded them and,” Dagen pointed to where Thor was, “and he remembers them too. The symbiots aren’t just there for them to get a free ride and experience things, but we get something out of it too. A kind of immortality of memories of our ancestors. For Thor he gets those memories, the good, the bad and,” Dagen winked at Reia, “the wicked.”
- Dagen