[USS Charon, Holodeck One]
"And I could indeed be persuaded, … Brent." She inclined her head slowly and gracefully, but there was a fair amount of good humor in her level, melodious voice.
After all, the man could claim what none other on the crew could, notably having spent several hours in the young Vulcan's bedroom. Of course it had been to watch over her during her healing-trance, but that alone made it seem rather pointless, if not illogical, to insist on formality now.
Not to mention she was still quite grateful for his help.
He had tied the horse to a nearby branch and gestured towards a patch of grass that offered a splendid view of the river bend, and Sakarra found the ambient temperature sufficient, so she settled down without hesitation.
"They are rather lively, yes?" she motioned towards the twins who obviously seemed engaged in chasing a small, hopping creature across the mud "I must compliment you for being able to look after both with such patience. From what my father tells me, trying to care for my cousin and I at this age was rather … exhausting. The phrase 'You turned my hair gray within a year' has been repeatedly employed by Rel Tyrax regarding this matter."
"Sakarra," Brent said with a smile. "Is that a Betazoid name or a Vulcan name? I have never been very knowledgeable about either so forgive me if it's like John or something," he said with slight smirk. "Either way it is very pretty."
Brent watched as the children began to splash water at one another while searching for the newts and frogs. Eventually Nnoil found one and offered it to Ael, who seemed to make a face like she was disgusted at it. The boy kept it then and began to play with it on the shore while the little girl tried to catch fish with her bare hands.
Brent sat down on the grassy shoreline near the riverbank, picking up a flat rock and skipping it across the water. Away from the little girl. "I used to love coming here; my brothers and sisters were always down here after we were done with our chores on the farm. Cooling off, splashing one another, dunking the others under the water and holding their head down." Brent sighed before he laughed at the memory. "Gods we were terrible children weren't we?"
"It is Vulcan, or rather what Federation Standard makes of the original form. Apparently, the ancient Golic is somewhat difficult for many species to pronounce. The meaning is quite far from 'John', however." The young woman abandoned her attempt at fixing the new hairstyle Nnoil had graced her with and decided an all new start would be called for.
Slender fingers undid the last intact braid and then ran through the waterfall of black tresses to smooth out the extraordinary amount of tangles.
"Terrible? I should think exuberant behavior is only to be expected in young ones, and it would be a cause for concern if it were otherwise. I distinctly remember my father falling asleep from exhaustion more than once, and at one time it was only the vigilance of an old friend who took it upon himself to search the hills of Kir that prevented me from remaining stuck in an old Indu'kah tree for the remainder of the day."
The shadow of a smile played at the corners of the young woman's lips when she remembered Warya's indignant huff at seeing the little one with the torn dress sitting amongst dry, gnarled branches.
"Since my cousin was engaged in leading every available adult of the house on a chase across the gardens, it fell to the Sehlat to notice my disappearance and retrieve what he still tends to think of as a most unruly cub."
"How kind of Federation Standard to give us your beautiful name for us to pronounce. I suppose it is though regarding children," Brent said with a smile on his face. "Did you spend most of your childhood on Vulcan or on Betazed? Brent stretched out a little bit; he had kept an eye on the kids for some time now. He wondered just if he would be doing this more for the Captain now that the children's father had arrived. Either she would want more alone time, or perhaps the father would want more time? Such things were to be thought about later though.
He grinned looking over at Sakarra. "You the most unruly cub? Did you make a lot of trouble when you were younger Sakarra? I suppose I find that hard to believe. But then again I was always in detention in school for getting in trouble for one damn thing or another."
"I was born while the Dominon still occupied Betazed." The young Vulcan stated levelly, her fingers still combing through black curls. "As a result, I spent most of my childhood on Vulcan or the Bellerophon. However, my paternal grandmother refused to leave her home even and especially after Betazed was retaken and my father found it prudent to assist in the rebuilding efforts. In addition, my house Matriarch decided it would be beneficial for me to experience the Betazoid culture as well. Therefore, I spent most of what you would refer to as 'adolescent years' in the Lady Lhorexa's house on Betazed."
Ael had abandoned her fishing efforts and was occupied with examining some interesting stones under her feet, but Nnoil was standing in the mud, head canted to one side, with an expression Sakarra knew all too well. 'What can I get into next?'
"Observe." The young Vulcan murmured in Brent's direction, lightly pointing her chin towards the child without pausing in her own fluid movements of disentangling another strand. She gave it about 2.3 seconds.
In fact, it took only half that for Nnoil to sneak up to his sister and try to push her headlong into the shallow water, but the girl was quick on her feet. A leap and a smirk later, the boy was chasing after Ael who wisely went for higher ground. As long as they remained within sight, the young Vulcan saw no reason to interfere and returned her dark eyes towards the human seated next to her.
"Difficult to believe? Vulcan children are renowned for their endurance and in many cases, a quick temper. Though I will concede that my cousin and I are still remembered as the children wreaking a disproportional amount of havoc. It is the Vulcan's insatiable curiosity combined with a child's poor judgment and a complete absence of healthy fear that makes our offspring so … challenging at times."
"It sounds like you had a interesting childhood. Mine was much more bland by comparison. I grew up on Gilgamesh 9, we had the run of the farm. Even after the planets rediscovery by Starfleet most of the colony is devoted to food production and ways to make that food production easier. I think they consider it tradition, after 300 years I guess some things begin to endure. Most of those who hate to farm take off and around 99% of those go into the Marines. If I ever do go back home I think I'll be a sheriff or something like that. Maybe just a local policeman, I had my fill of farming after the first eighteen years of my life," Brent made a face at the idea of farming any more.
Apparently Nnoil caught the look and giggled at it, attempting to mimic it a few times at his sister. To Ael's credit she immediately snapped back that if he kept that up his face would stick like that as Mr Warren had said. He rewarded his sister's words by flinging mud at her.
"Well if I was opening a daycare service then I'd be leary of taking in Vulcan children. But fortunately I'm not, as this is just a way to keep the Captain's mind at ease while she is on duty." He winked at Sakarra and her description of Vulcan children. "So what is your plans Sakarra? I mean are you going to stay in Starfleet until you are grey haired and Captaining a starship?"
"Bland?" Sakarra briefly paused in her efforts and canted her head to the side "I suppose that depends on one's point of view. Most Vulcans consider farming anything but bland, and the few I know who have chosen this occupation are not only highly respected, but appear to be deeply satisfied with their lives. However, as you said, not everyone obviously considers it equally appealing."
Keeping an ear focused on the giggling children, the young Vulcan studied the Marine's face, slowly disentangling the last stubborn knot – apparently Nnoil had intended to sculpt something vaguely resembling an antimatter explosion.
"While I certainly intend to remain in Starfleet for the foreseeable future, it has never been my ambition to captain a ship. As for the gray-haired …" the child had been nothing if not thorough and Sakarra gave a small amused huff at how difficult it was to undo his creation "Even considering my hybrid nature, it should be another twelve decades, if not more until that occurs. A great number of things will change in that time. Perhaps some of my plans as well."
She brought the still knotted strand of black curls in front of her face and quirked a brow "Fascinating."
"Yeah. I know those kinds of people back home. They love tilling the dirt and making something grow out of their hard work. They can make almost anything grow out of any soil. I admire them for it, but I don't quite have their dedication to the cause of heavy gravity wheat," Brent smiled ever so slightly even at the name of the plant that they most grew back home.
Brent watched the children play together getting thoroughly soaked as they splashed and threw mud at each other. He was almost envious of their youthful enthusiasm. Maybe he should make his Marines come down to this place and throw around the mud and have a swim. They could use the relaxation.
He looked back and saw Sakarra still fiddling with her hair and suppressed a chuckle, but only barely. Brent moved over close to her and reached out with his hands ever so gently taking the knot from her. "Maybe he's trying to be a maritime sailor? I hear they had to tie all kinds of knots like this." He slowly began to undo the knot in her hair, casting his looks towards the children for half a second to her hair to focus on what he was doing and occasionally to steal looks at her eyes and smile. After only a few minutes he had the knot undone and he let go of her hair, letting it fall down into her hands. "There. My father insisted that we know all kinds of knots for work around the farm. Didn't actually think it would ever come in handy."
[To be continued...]
Brevet 1st Lieutenant Brent Warren
Marine Commander
Lt Cmdr Sakarra Tyrax
Chief Helm Officer
USS-Charon
