Fishesandkids

Participants:

hunter_icon.gif medes_icon.gif

Scene Title Fish and Kids
Synopsis Hunter and Medes meet up in the fishpond where the two sprogs get in trouble.
Date

Arboretum


Over there by the goldfish pond there is a little boy. He is two, perhaps two and a half by the looks of him, with subtle ridges on his nose, dark hair, and hazel eyes, and he is lying on his stomach with his hands propped on the edge of the pool and his chin on those hands. Wearing a pair of short pants and a shirt in earth tones, he kicks his sandaled feet up into the air. One of his hands comes up to tug at the earring on his right ear before he tucks his hand back under his chin. Kick, kick. Medes sits on a bench a short distance away, reading a PADD and scratching absently at a cheek as she reads.

"Come on, Mama!" There's a clear, young girls voice, adn then a sigh following that as a blonde little imp of a five year old comes into the goldfish area, decked out in capris and a t-shirt, followed by her off-duty mother. "Honestly, Bethany, they aren't going anywhere…" Hunter says, shaking her head as the girl quietly makes her way next to the younger boy, and Hunter traisl over to the bench. "Room enough for me?" She asks, peering back at Beth. "Behave!"

"Hunh?" Medes glances up from her PADD, startled a little bit perhaps, and then laughs a little. The diminutive Engineer scoots over a little bit, waving to the rest of the bench. "Of course. Please." She glances over at the kids and smiles a little, absently. "She's adorable," she offers, adding, "I'm Thea." Across the way, the little boy looks up at Bethany with solemn wide eyes. "Fishes are hungry, but I gots no foods," he informs her very seriously. He's at that stage where r's come out like w's. "Did you bring foods?"

Hunter grins and then waves a hand. "Elisabetta; Liz for short. That's Bethany." She says. "I didn't know anyone else on the ship had brought their families, t'be honest… " She then shrugs as Beth pulls out some fish food and solemnly holds it in a cupped hand. "I bring foods." Beth affirms. "Though mommy says I'm only sup'posed to feed, not play with them." Leaning back against the bench, she then smiles. "Do you know any other families on board, yet?"

The tiny woman nods her shorn head and offers, "It's great to meet you, Liz. My full name's Alethea; only my husband calls me that." A glance off toward the fishpond and she smiles again. "I can't imagine not bringing them." Her attention turns back to Hunter then, and Medes shakes her head. "We only just transferred aboard, to be honest. I've barely had a chance to take a breath. I just needed to get Nar out of our quarters for a while so that Kusto could unpack." And across the way, Nar pushes up with his arms and sits up to look up at Bethany. "Yes. My mommy says no touching fish 'cause then their scales come all off and they /die./" He stubs a thumb at his chest and informs the other child, "I'm Medes Nar." Then he points a forefinger at Bethany. "What's your name?"

"Bethany Hunter! My mommy is the chief diplomatic officer. And your mommy is right; it would be bad to have dead fish." Beth says, proudly, pointing towards Liz, then shakign her head over the fish. "You don't have to tell /everyone/ that, Bethany. It sounds like bragging." Liz scolds, and then she chuckles. "At least you have a significant other to help you unpack? I … don't." She says, and then grins. "Bethany's been after me to let her explore the ship, so I figured I'd give her a treat before I start getting to busy." Liz explains, sighing.

The little boy tugs on his earring for a moment and then says, "I like fish, Hunter." A pause. "You have really yellow hair. Can we feed the fish?" He stays seated on the ground and adds, "My daddy is a Prylar and my mommy is an Engineer." He thinks again. "She has tools. In a box. I am not a'posed to touch them. What's a diplomedix officer?" Medes offers Hunter a sympathetic glance, and then offers, "Well, I'd loan you mine to help you unpack, but I'm afraid he'd end up decorating the place for you." She nods her head in understanding. "It's a big ship. I'm glad this place is here, though. Holodecks are nice, but there's no substitute for actual fish ponds."

"Me too. Cept my mommy won't let me have any." Bethany pouts at this, hugging herself, and then shakes her head. "Mommy talks to people so they won't fight. That's what she is." It's a rough enough version, but she does give over half the food, then sprinkles some in the water. "Here, you can feed the rest!" Bethany says, proudly, then starts doing her side. Sighing, Liz shakes her head. "This is true… and Beth was just getting used to Earth-life when I got my promotion and re-assignment here, so it's nice there's soemthing like this to cheer her up with."

The little boy nods solemnly. "Fish belong in public places for everybody," Nar informs Bethany with the serious officiousness only achieved by children repeating something they have been repeatedly told. He takes half the food, closing it up in one fist slowly losing its baby chubbiness. "Thank you." It takes him a second to figure out how to get to his feet without spilling the food, but he manages it, albeit by rolling onto his knees and grinding dirt into the side of his pants. He flings all his food in one big handful and then starts smacking his palms together to get the flakes off. "It's sticky!" Thea nods in understanding. "Nar was born on one station, and grew up on another. The concept of 'home' being one place in the galaxy one day and then another place in the galaxy another day will probably take some getting used to, once he actually cares about where home is other than 'deck ten.'" A pause. "What deck are you on, anyway?"

"Yeah, but it would be nice to have some at home." Bethany says, almost wistfully before she moves around, dusting off the rest of the fish food before standing back a bit. "It is sticky! I dunno why. Momma, do you?" Bethany calls back. "I'm afraid I don't, honey." Liz says, grimacing slightly, and smiles. "I was on the Defiant when I got pregnant, and was reassigned before the birth; I was on the Explorer for four of her five years, then Earth-bound, and she really liked it down there, it's where she has most of her memories. We're on deck eight; captain's right around the corner."

"The food's probably sticking to your hands, Nar," Thea calls, "Because your hands are sweaty. Wash them off in the water and dry them on the backs of your knees." Spoken like a true Engineer. "And 'wash them off in the water' means 'rub them together like you're warming up to pray,' not 'splash the fish or your new friend.'" Nar gives his mother a Look, his mouth screwed up a little bit. If his nose weren't pre-wrinkled, he would wrinkle it at her. Darn moms, always telling you not to splash like they knew you would do it if they hadn't told you! Thea raises an eyebrow and Nar stomps a foot before kneeling down to wash his hands off in the water. Somehow, he manages to defiantly wash his hands, frowning all the while. Thea turns her attention back to Liz, lowering her voice enough to say, "He's as stubborn as his father." A shrug. "The Defiant? No kidding. We were on Deep Space Nine for a few years while Kusto went to seminary."

Hunter shakes her head, grinning. "Sisko was one of the most excellent captains I've ever worked with as a diplomatic aide just out of the academy." She explains. "One of the most interesting experiences I've ever been in, as well, especially with the DOminion War and such things that they dealt with." She leans back against the bench again, shaking her head. "Got pregnant with Bethany there, and due to the high level of danger, I was recommended, put in for, and received the transfer out." She explains further. "Bethany, no splashing either!" Glaring at her mother, BEth sniffs, and splashes herself while washing off the fish food.

Nar darts a glance over to her mother, and when he's convinced himself she's not looking, he stops rubbing his hands together and splashes a little bit over at Bethany, grinning. He can't hide the high-pitched giggle that escapes him when he does that, though it quickly tapers off to a little snicker. Thea nods her head slightly, answering, "I should have liked to have had the opportunity to meet the Emissary," and then she shrugs a bit. "We transferred there well after the war was over, sadly."

Bethany gets splashed, gasps semi-loudly, and promptly splashes Nar back. Liz, ever the diplomat, lowers her voice as Bethany enjoys herself. "Don't look twice- don't look at all - but I believe they are splashing each other, not that I really mind." Then she resumes talking, and grins. "Ive got my only two medals for the war, not that I'm complaining.. it was rough."

He can't help but giggle, and he splashes her back more than a little this time, both toddler-hands raking through the water and flinging it at Bethany. Squee! The tiny Engineer's mouth screws up just a little bit, and she frowns, but she doesn't look. "I don't mind, except I told him not to." She raises her voice just enough to say, "Medes /Nar,/" and then continues on talking to Liz as if nothing had ever happened. "I didn't get any for the war, really. We were out on the edge of the Neutral Zone, and I saw plenty of action, but… " she shakes her head. "Yeah. It was hard." A shrug. Nar does stop splashing, but he stops splashing to glare at his mother and ball his hands up at his sides. That kid has got a mighty scrunch-face on him, and he stomps his foot. When Thea doesn't look at him, he stomps his foot again. Then the other one.

Hunter rolls her eyes. "It never does any good - see?" She points out, pragmatically. "Bethany, behave." Bethany sulks, stares at her mom, then … sits down in the fishpond, much to Liz's horror. "Oh Bethany Anne!" She calls out, standing up quickly. "You did not… oy… kids."

"You have to set clear limits with him," Thea answers with a shake of her head. She pushes herself up to her feet as if to respond to the foot-stomping. Nar looks like he's working up to a good stompy-fit of toddler defiance, and then Bethany sits down in the pond. His eyes go all wide, and he points a finger at Bethany. "Hunter! You gonna be in BIG TROUBLE!" It's a combination of geniune horror and 'ooooooooo, you gonna be in troooouble!' Kids. "NOW YOU HAVE TO HAVE A TIME OUT!"

Hunter grins. "The thing is, though, I told her not to splash." HAnds on her hips, she makes a firm hand motion and Bethany comes over to stand by her mom, dripping wet. "I didn't tell her she couldn't sit in the pond… so not only do we have to set limits, but we also have to catch our own words so that they can't go around us."

"They're more creative than we are, I think," Thea answers with a shake of her head, offering to Nar in a calm voice, "Medes Nar, when someone else is in trouble, it is not your business. Come here. The fish pond is not for playing in. It's for the fish to play in." He drops his hand to his side and stomps one more time just to make it clear that he is 'coming here' under extreme protest, but Nar does obey. "I think we had probably head home and see if Daddy needs any help, don't you think? Say goodbye to your new friend, and maybe we'll go swimming in the holodeck soon, and we can splash all we like." A glance at Liz, and Medes offers, "It's later than he's usually out."

Hunter grins. "As long as they don't splash the captain, eh? Bethany already adores him and most of the other people on the ship…" She then sighs, and giggles. "C'mon, Beth. Time to get you home, dry, and do your homework." Immediately, the young girl starts setting up a protest. "But momm- " "No buts, young lady, or no holodecks for a week." There a pause, then a sulk. "Yes, mommy. Bye!" She offers, starting for the exit.

Medes Nar turns his head into Thea's thigh, and she sighs, reaching down to heft the little boy up onto her hip. He mumbles something that might be 'bye Hunter' into her shoulder, stuffing his face into the side of her neck. Thea sighs and shakes her head, patting his back. "Tired boy," she offers, and then chuckles toward Liz, "Take care." With the little boy swinging his feet, she heads for the exit, too.

Hunter grins. "G'night, you two." She offers, and grabs Bethany's hand to lead her out, talking in a low, scolding voice on her way out.


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