Unlike certain less emotionally developed species in the Federation, the Deltans do not attach a sense of permanency to love. The concept of marriage, like all attempts at labelling the act of union is considered unnatural. Polyamorous unions are common, making the average kinship group quite broad. Paros was born into one such familial grouping.
His biological father, an Ambassador Puram, had been stationed on Sol III as a permanent representative to the Federation, not long after Paros’ birth. Making the task of child-rearing the sole responsibility of his mothers Inaia and Oona, both of whom had at one point served aboard Starfleet vessels in different capacities. Of course, the concept of “child-rearing” was quite different on Delta IV, the adults finding it difficult to interact with creatures who were not yet emotionally and sexually mature. Thus, children were rarely if ever fretted over. Left to explore themselves and the world around them in relative freedom.
The examples of their parents drove Paros and his siblings to careers that would be unlikely to fulfil their emotional and physical needs. Jeliel had taken a diplomatic posting on one of the Deltan moons, ushering in functionaries and visitors from other Federation planets who were not allowed entry into Delta IV for reasons of their own safety. Sefira on the other hand, had been admitted into the Academy’s Division of Arts & Sciences, a few years earlier than Paros himself. Although, she found the ordeal to be extremely draining and dropped out after a couple semesters. For even in the Academy the Oath of Celibacy had to be strictly enforced. Sefira would in time find her calling creating stellar holographic programs, some of which were widely used on Starfleet vessels by Deltans yearning for home.
Paros’ stay at the Academy seemed to be much smoother than his sister’s, who’d travelled all the way to Sol III in order to attend classes in their main campuses at San Francisco. Paros elected instead to go to Betazed where the Academy had a large satellite campus, connected to the famed University of Betazed which allowed offworlders to sit in on a variety of lectures. The transition from the lush archipelagos of his home planet to this continental world had been jarring at first, but he soon came to appreciate its natural beauty. The empathic abilities of the Betazoids had also been helpful in buttressing the inevitable agrophobia that resulted from a Deltan being disconnected from their own kind for extended periods of time.
