Backpost: Family is Forever

Posted on Wed May 31st, 2023 @ 1:19am by Lieutenant JG Nezuko & Lieutenant Talia Johnson

1,124 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Descent
Location: Counselor's Office
Timeline: After "Surprise News" and "Will They Suffice?", before arrival at Gamma Zednor Station

ON

It was late in the day, just after the end of the primary shift, and Nezuko wanted to see a friend. The computer told her that Talia was still in her office, so maybe she could catch her there. She swung past her quarters to pick up two small gift bags that she'd replicated at lunch and went to the office with it.

The Counselor’s Office door was unlocked, so Nezuko walked in and gently tapped a table to get Talia’s attention. She gave her friend a warm wave.

“Nezuko!” Talia smiled warmly as she looked up at Nezuko. “It’s nice to see you again, please grab a seat! There’s plenty of room to lounge about in here.”

Nezuko nodded, but stopped at the replicator first. She tapped on the console above it and a glass of water materialized, with a small straw. She brought it to the couch and got herself comfortable, feeding the straw into a small slot in the bottom of her re-breather for a quick sip.

She set her PADD on the table and displayed a quick message that she'd written. How are you? How was your honeymoon? Aside from the crew briefing, Nezuko hadn't seen much of Talia since she left Risa early and went and got married.

Talia smiled. “The honeymoon was wonderful, we enjoyed what time we had. As for me...I’m fine, actually better than fine.” She grinned. “I’m three weeks pregnant!”

Nezuko bounced excitedly for her friend. Thomas had told her earlier, when they had met on the bridge.

As if prompted, Nezuko put her two gift bags on the table in front of Talia. One of the bags was pink and black with a sign that read Congratulations on getting married!, while the other was cutesy, with pictures of teddy bears on it and a sign that read Congratulations on the new baby! Nezuko didn't understand why humans used images of predators to appeal to children, but it was common among a lot of Federation species so Nezuko could only shrug.

Talia looked at Nezuko in surprise as she looked at the labels on the bags. “You didn’t have to bring gifts! But thank you all the same.” Picking up the pink and black bag she carefully opened it and pulled out a pink babydoll piece of lingerie, she grinned as she found there was no bottom. “Naughty but I love it! Thank you Nezuko.” She looked at the other bag. “Did you have an inkling about the baby, or was this just picked up by chance?”

After Talia's comment on the lingerie, Nezuko made a circle with her left thumb and index finger and suggestively put her right index finger through it, and then gave her friend a wink.

She thought for a moment on how to describe how she knew about the baby. Commander Johnson had no distinguishing marks she could easily mime, so she gestured with three fingers to her collar (Commander) and then reached across and gently tapped Talia's wedding ring (Married).

“Ahh I understand.” Talia grinned as she picked up the teddy bear bag, opening it she found a small stuffed animal which looked cow-like but she didn’t recognise the species, it was attached to a teether. “Ohh Nezuko! It’s gorgeous, thank you!!”

Nezuko nodded and gave her friend a thumbs-up. She took back her PADD and retrieved an image and showed it Talia. The picture was of Nezuko with a boy her age hugging her tightly, with two girls that looked a bit younger, along with two older adults. They all had similar featured — two-tone hair, light skin, vibrant eyes. None wore re-breathers, and so their sharp teeth were plain to see in their smiles. This was a picture of Nezuko’s family, taken on Amphei Prime. It was captioned Nezuko returns home after graduation. Tanjiro missed his sister greatly. Family is forever!

“That’s a lovely photo of you and your family, you must miss them very much” Talia offered her friend an understanding and caring smile. “Do you get to see them much?”

Nezuko shook her head. She gestured with her hand that they were very far away. It made her sad that she couldn't see them much, but this was the career she chose.

She showed Talia another file on the PADD, a short article she'd written about her time on Risa, formatted as a letter to her family. It mentioned the Captain's wedding, various new friends -- naming Talia specifically among them -- and a few warnings about activities suitable vs unsuitable for an Amphea. From the table of contents on the side margin, it was clear that this was just the latest of many things she'd written for her friends and family.

“You keep your family regularly informed of your trips to different worlds.” Talia smiled warmly. “I think that’s wonderful, it’s something for them to treasure as they follow your progress.”

Nezuko nodded, and then pointed to Talia. She hoped the topic of family plus her thoughts and feelings would get the message across: Tell me of your family.

Talia smiled as she nodded to let Nezuko know she understood. “My family? Well my parents are both Starfleet officers, as is my older brother Jason. I’ve also got a Cousin I’m quite close to her name is Sky, she serves aboard the USS Resolution.”

A whole family in Starfleet! Nezuko was impressed. Starfleet was one of the most amazing organizations she knew of, and was very proud to be part of it. But she had only been part of it for a few years. She wondered, did Talia grow up on ships? She thought really hard about a child on a starship.

Talia concentrated on the images Nezuko was relaying to her. “Starships? Did I grow up on Starships? Actually I did, in-between periods of hospitalisation for stress I travelled aboard Starships and also stayed aboard Starbases as well. You know the starfleet life, forever moving around.”

Nezuko’s next thought was more complicated, so she wrote it out. We didn’t move around on Amphei Prime. Transit was excellent so we could visit anywhere on the planet. Now I move all the time!

Talia smiled. “I certainly hope you won’t be moving away from the Tokyo anytime soon? It’s nice having a friend here I can spend time with.”

Nezuko simply nodded and sipped her water, content to be spending some time with her good friend Talia.

OFF

A Posting by:

Lieutenant jg Nezuko
Chief Operations Officer

and

Lieutenant Talia Jansen
Chief Counselor

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