Ensign Lyra Voss: Daughter of the Sixteenth House
Sarah Terry
((Ohmallera Memorial Park, Ohmallera District, Starbase 118))
They continued through the park together as the conversation turned to family. Lyra found herself wondering if any of the crew actually had a nice, uncomplicated relationship with their parents. Maybe that just wasn’t a thing?
Voss: ::with a grim laugh:: ~Oh I’m well acquainted with parental expectations. The last thing my mother wanted was for me to be a scientist. As a daughter of the Sixteenth House, we’re all supposed to be performers or orators or something along those lines. She cried when I told her I’d been accepted by the Academy.~
She could still remember it so clearly - her mother had a habit of playing to the holocameras, even when they weren’t actually around. The quivering chin, the first few tears drawing light mascara lines down her cheeks, gripping Lyra’s father’s hand as if there’d been some tragedy - everything her mother did was dramatic.
Kel: ~Then you and I have something in common. Parents who built a future for us before we even had a chance to imagine it ourselves. But… you chose your path anyway. That counts for something. More than something, really.~
She shook her head softly, still remembering the wounds from that conversation. How she’d set her jaw and told her parents she’d already signed and returned the acceptance letter, then turned on her heel and stalked out of the room to find Azenor and Kellis eavesdropping. How they’d immediately hugged her close, and she’d never been more grateful for her siblings. An enormous pang of homesickness cut through her.
Kel: And for what it’s worth… I’m glad you chose it. The station… and the rest of us... are better for it.
She looked at him with surprise. She wasn’t sure she’d done much to make anyone better off yet, but it was a kind thing to say. For all the consternation it had caused with her parents at the start and the difficult time she’d had her first years at the Academy, reaching Starbase 118 felt like a victory. She was proud to be there.
Kel: ~ Earlier you said you’re the daughter of the Sixteenth House…~
Ah… that was the thing about communicating telepathically, wasn’t it? There was an immediacy to it that didn’t give you room to hide anything, even the things you had sorta/kinda decided not to talk much about. And obfuscating just didn’t come naturally to her.
Voss: ::with a small laugh:: ~ I did say that, didn’t I… ~
Kel: ~ I mean... what is it actually like? Being part of a Betazoid House. My mother’s line is distantly tied to one, but it’s so far removed it’s more trivia than identity. I grew up on Trill. The customs… I was never really part of that world.~
It was difficult to know where to start. She tried to restrain what she was sure was a flood of complicated thoughts and feelings about House membership.
Voss: ~ It… it’s strange. I mean, hereditary nobility is just so arbitrary - it really feels… it’s kind of baffling that the whole system still exists in the first place. And we have the Government Council and the Reconciliation Forums, so it’s not like the Houses are in charge as they once were. Not that you’d know it, the way some of them act.~
Kel: What does it mean, to you?
Her steps slowed as she tried to put it into words. Her first defense was to try to make a joke.
Voss: ::trying to laugh:: ~Well it means I can never fit my full name and title on any Federation forms - “Lyra Dehladora Voss, daughter of the Sixteenth House, protector of the Mutable Eye and heir to the staff of Arla” is way too many characters. ::a small, more vulnerable sigh:: It mostly means that, to my mother and grandmother, I was never doing the right thing. The Sixteenth House is the House of Eloquence, and the Vosses are the senior line. My mother is an actress, my grandmother is a playwright. They tried endlessly to craft me into an elegant, charming performer, and instead they got an awkward scientist who’s terrified at parties. And I’m a first daughter. I’m supposed to be a Matriarch someday. I’m sure that fact must keep them up at night…~
Kel: ?
Voss: ~ I could give up the position… My name would be struck from the family tree, but that’s mostly a legal formality - not a mandated shunning or anything. But then it would all fall to Azi - she’s the next oldest - and I just don’t know if I could do that to her. Though Four know, she’d be so much better at it. I don’t know. ::a weak laugh:: Most days, I try not to think about it. I mean, boo hoo, I grew up in a sprawling historic manor with every possible luxury, oh no. ::shaking her head:: Nobody should be shedding any tears for me. I… I’ll figure it out. At some point. ::shuddering and shifting topics:: But… what was it like growing up on Trill? I’ve never had the chance to visit. ~
Kel: ?
Their walk continued down the park’s winding paths as they settled into a companionable rhythm.
Voss: ~Did you know any other Betazoids? Besides your mother, of course. ~
Kel: ?
Voss: ~ It must have been strange for you and your brother. What does he do now? Do they all still live on Trill?~
Kel: ?
She was about to pepper him with another question, when she could have sworn she saw the color of the sky shift a bit, and she pulled out a PADD to quickly check the clock. The performance’s curtain time was getting closer, and she still didn’t have any idea just how long it would take her to get to the station’s Klingon district from here. She had also already formulated six or seven excuses for L’Rana as to why she couldn’t go, but… an idea struck her, and she turned to Kel with a curious look.
Voss: ~Hey, how do you feel about Klingon opera?~
Kel: ?