John entered the gym and looked around. It was a large establishment, taking up more than half a deck. Divided into numerous smaller sections, there were dozens of different activities available, from weightlifting equipment to swimming to rock climbing, mats for yoga and stretching, and many other activities. If Ten-Forward was where the crew went for their emotional well being, then this was where they came for their physical health.
As John was looking around, he noticed a small display to his right. Walking over, he realized that it was a directory. This place was so big, it needed a map to tell you where everything was!
He casually glanced at the list of activities, and was about to head to the basketball court to shoot some hoops, when towards the bottom of the list, something caught his eye; Parrises squares.
John had heard it referenced on the show several times before, but he had never seen the game in action. So he found where in the gym the courts were located and went to check it out.
When he got there, he saw two courts side by side. One of them was empty, but the other one had four players in teams of two battling it out.
He watched for a while, and was finally starting to figure out how it was played, when one of the player's comm badges chirped.
"Ensign Smith, Report to Astrometrics on the double."
Ensign Smith's shoulders drooped as he bid his playmates farewell, and went to change back into his work uniform.
The other three, missing their fourth player, looked like they were about to toss in the towel themselves, when they noticed John standing there.
"Hey, you wanna' play?" a tall black man with bulging muscles asked John hopefully.
"No, thanks," John said. While he would like to play, he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of these people with his lack of skill.
"C'mon man," a reedy redheaded man said. "We need a fourth player."
"Well, it's just that I've never played before," John admitted.
The expressions on the faces of the other three fell. But then the black man turned to the other two and talked quietly for a minute. There was some whispered arguing, and then a moment later he turned back to John. "That's no problem. We can show you how to play, and go easy until you get the hang of it."
John thought it over for a second, before he agreed to play.
"Great," the black man said. He stuck out his hand, then realized it was drenched with sweat and retracted it. "I'm Toby," he said.
"I'm Mark," the redhead said.
"I'm Susan," a lithe blonde woman, the third person in their group, said as she flashed John a smile.
"I'm John," John replied.
"Nice to meet you John," Toby said. "Go suit up so we can get started."
As John headed for the men's locker room to get changed into a Parrises squares outfit, his heart thumped excitedly in his chest. This was going to be fun.
John groaned as Doctor Crusher prodded his left leg with her fingers. "Definitely a pulled muscle," she said as she looked up from her medical tricorder.
John shot Toby, who had helped him down to sickbay, a dirty look.
In response, Toby shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
Doctor Crusher picked up a hypospray from a nearby tray and put it up to John's leg. "This will help with the pain," she started, "but you should avoid any strenuous activity for the next few days."
As the hypospray hissed it medicine into John's muscle, he felt the pain instantly diminish, before dying away completely a few seconds earlier. He'd have to seriously consider sneaking some of that stuff off the ship. Last time he pulled a muscle, he'd been in pain for days.
"That's it," Doctor Crusher said as she put the hypospray back onto the tray.
"Thanks, Doctor," John said as he hopped off the biobed.
He walked over to where Toby was leaning against the wall.
"Hey, John, I'm sorry," Toby said for the seventh time in ten minutes.
"Yeah well, I know you didn't mean for it to happen, and I'm not in any pain anymore, so don't worry about it."
Toby's frown disappeared and his eyes lit up as he smiled at John. "Thanks, man. Hey listen, next time we'll…"
John cut him off. "No offense Toby, but I don't think there'll be a next time. I think I'd just as rather stick to basketball."
"That's fine," Toby replied. "Parrises squares isn't for everyone. No offense."
There was a few seconds of awkward silence before John said, "Well, I'm gonna' head back to my cabin and take a shower. I'll see you later Toby."
"Alright John, See you later."
As John exited sickbay and headed for the turbolift, he rubbed his leg with wonder. There was no pain at all.