A gift that means 'sister'
Their connection didn’t end when the cameras stopped rolling. Brooks reveals a small but meaningful gift Lofton gave her that symbolized how deeply he’d embraced her as part of the DS9 family. "And then he gave me [a scarf] for an interview," Brooks said during the same sit-down.
"He gave me this, and it means ‘sister,’ I think, in the Ethiopian culture, which he is, and it's meant so much to me. He's just so giving, so selfless. He’s funny as f**k. He's funny as s**t, like there was no way I could have done that without him. I like to be honest, there was no way I could have done that without him."
It’s a gesture that layers a real-world cultural bond over their in-universe relationship, tying Lofton’s heritage directly into the way he chose to welcome Brooks into the fold. For a show so rooted in legacy and lineage, that personal symbol of sisterhood fits right alongside Starfleet Academy’s on-screen story of torches being passed.