A Short Break

Posted on Fri Apr 10th, 2026 @ 6:57pm by Civilian Kerilia Dosivi & Civilian Teevs Dosivi & Commander Kyle Reece

Mission: Interlude
Location: Primary school classroom A-2
1061 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

It was surprisingly exhausting to share the same material over and over with people. Teevs learned to keep water on hand, because his throat would get dry from speaking so much. Due to the extensive repairs and cleanup, he was only able to take about 20 people at a time for these little talks about his people. He started with the senior staff and the diplomatic team, and had been working through the manifest someone was generously able to provide him with. As the most recent "cultural etiquette" presentation came to a close, Teevs looked at that list and crossed off the names of people who attended as they trickled out.

He had a short break until the next presentation, so Teevs took the opportunity to simply sit down for a breather. He took a sip of water, swirling it in his mouth a little to rehydrate before swallowing. As much as he wanted to be helping with the cleanup, he knew Phoenix wanted zero problems when Elysium visited his homeworld. One civilian phrased it as 'no kerfuffles,' though Teevs had no idea what the hell a 'kerfuffle' was. He did make up for it a little by offering a couple hours of manual labour whenever he was done with presentations for the day, even though he knew it wasn't required of him.

Kyle decided to stop by the school, during one of his ship patrols, to collect his adopted children Zhavna and Jasric. While he was waiting for them to be done with their last class, he saw Teevs taking a break from his latest briefing class. Moving over to sit next to the other man, Kyle greeted him with a smile. "How's the informative lectures going, Mister Teevs?"

Glancing up, Teevs returned the smile, though it couldn't hide the mild exhaustion. "Well. People are asking questions, which is good, and it seems like some appreciate the break from the clean-up work. I never thought I would be repeating the same things as much as I have," he responded with a chuckle.

This caused Kyle to chuckle softly. "You could record most of your information to be played for the groups, then save your voice and energy for any questions that would arise."

That made Teevs think for a few seconds. "That is not a bad idea," he finally responded. "I already put the common questions on PADDs, but maybe a recording will be easier."

Kyle gave hid smaller friend a warm grin as he nodded his head. "See? Glad I stopped by and was able to help."

As he finished speaking, his two adopted Orion children, Zhavna and her younger brother, Jasric, exited the school and came over to him, embracing him warmly. Kyle returned the hug happily. Afterwards, Zhavna looked up at him and asked, "Father, would it be okay if I went over to Kerilia's tonight? We have a big history exam coming up and I wanted to help her get ready for it. Mrs McTaggart did say that she wouldn't hold Kerilia too close to the grade right now, as she is still learning about us, but, I wanted to help her get as good a grade as possible."

Kyle felt his heart warm for the the behavior he was seeing in his daughter. He leaned down a gently kissed her forehead, then nodded. "I am very proud of you for offering to do this for her. It is fine with me. However, you also need to make sure its alright with her father as well." They both looked over at Teevs, as Kerilia stood next to him.

Teevs noticed Kerilia come in with the other children and smiled as he gave her a hug. He was glad that he put her in their school, because not only did she learn about them, she also made friends. She had come out of her shell here, and even began to show bravery by helping the teachers with the younger kids during the second attack. It was a gift from this ship that he wasn't sure he could ever match. "Of course," he responded with a smile to the children.

Kerilia smiled and gave a little 'yesss' before she looked at the Orion children. "The replicator is still broken from the attack, so if we want snacks then we should get those first."

Kyle grinned as he replied. "You can use our replicator for the snacks. Your brother and I will help bring them over," he said to Zhavna.

The young teen smiled brightly as she hugged Kyle. "Thank you!" She said into his chest as Kyle returned the embrace.

Kyle looked over at Teevs and asked, "Shall we say...we'll come over in an hour?"

Teevs checked the time on a PADD before nodding. "My last presentation of the day is in a few minutes, so that will work out." He thought for a couple seconds before adding, "isn't it a Human thing to 'un-spin' after a long day?"

"Unwind, Dad," Kerilia corrected with a chuckle.

Glancing to Kerilia, Teevs smiled at the correction before looking back to Kyle. "What she said. They can study, and we can unwind, if you're interested."

Kyle considered it for a couple beats then nodded. "Sure thing. Maybe I could teach you a few card games while the girls hang." He then looked at his young teen son, and asked, "What do you say, Jasric? Feel like hanging with the two old guys and playing some cards?"

The young boy looked up at his father and grinned, "Sounds great, father!"

Kyle chuckled and gave Jasric a warm embrace. He then looked at Teevs and said, "Alright
We'll be over in an hour."

A couple people started to trickle in. Teevs gave Kyle a nod before taking one last quick sip of water. "See you then, Mister Chief of Kyle!" He then went to instruct people on where to sit and handed out PADDs while Kerilia went ahead to go pick up the quarters. It only took a few minutes for the classroom to be full, again, and soon enough he was back at the front of the classroom. "Thank you all for coming. As you may be aware, we will be at my homeworld in a couple weeks. I've handed out some of the common questions. We'll start with..."