Cousins

Posted on Sun Aug 29th, 2021 @ 1:28am by Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai & Lieutenant Sovaan

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Mission Day 2 at 1100

There was a line. Or a waiting list. Or a queue. Whatever you might call it, there was a small group of officers waiting in Sickbay for physicals. There were never this many people in Sickbay at once outside of an actual medical emergency. The word bustling bubbled to the top of Emni's mind as she worked.

Her effort to secure the new Chief Engineer's physical that morning had slowed them down and while she was still happy with how she had handled the encounter, she couldn't help a silent wish that it had taken place in Sickbay as planned. It certainly would have helped with the backlog.

"You should be all set," she advised a slim woman who was sliding off of biobed 1. The officer had identified herself as one of the team of scientists aboard the ship, eager to get out into the wild fronteir fo the Delta Quadrant. Emni had done her best to maintain a solid bedside manner, but already the rapidity of each appointment was pushing the lines for remembering personal details--something the Romulan woman typically prided herself on. The onslaught of anticipation, anxiety, and urgency that came with a new crew and a new ship was also wearing as she worked to keep her emotional defences high.

Sovaan entered, initially surprised to see the line ahead of him, then quickly settled into an "at rest" stance, hands behind his back. After a moment of scanning, he caught sight of Emni floating about. "Hm," he vocalized to himself with a slight smile. He had almost been looking forward to physicals, as he hadn't had much opportunity to interact with her since the party.

Emni had picked up Sovaan's particular emotional signature before he entered Sickbay. She had been glad to have the Vulcan on her roster for appointments for the day, interested in getting to know him even a small amount more after meeting him on Risa.

Risa was beginning to feel like years ago rather than mere days and so it was that Emni let her emotional defences drop just a touch as Sovaan took notice of her. The shift in his emotional signature caught her attention and she looked up from the notes she had been entering, meeting the man's eye across the room.

"Lieutenant," she said by way of greeting as she set down the PADD she was working from and crossed the room. "You're right on time. Biobed 1 if you would. Shirt and jacket off please."

Sovaan complied wordlessly and sat straight as a board, steepled hands resting in his lap. He rolled his muscled shoulders to release some tension as he waited.

"I imagine these last few days must have been rather full for you," he noted. " I can't say I envy the medical staff of larger ships, having to oversee physicals for crews several times this size. Not to say your job is easy, but the human expression "It could be worse" comes to mind."

Emni picked up the tricorder running it's sensors over Sovaan as he sat. He had conveniently chosen to roll his shoulders allowing her a chance to take mental notes on his musculature as he did so.

"Ah," she said knowingly as she set the tricorder aside, stepping up to stand in front of Sovaan where he was perched, "my ship before this, the Adelphi was a larger ship. So I suppose in that sense you're right. Although I wasn't CMO during her shakedown and haven't had orders to rapidly re-evaluate the crew before. So this is a touch of a new experience, albeit a repetitive one."

Nodding to the Vulcan's arms she continued, "arms up and straight out from your sides if you would. I'm going to put pressure on them. Stop me from moving them." She demonstrated holding her arms straight out then moved to put pressure on Sovaan's triceps, pressing downward.

Sovaan complied. "I imagine so. Your drive to complete the daunting task is impressive. You have the patience of a Vulcan, the resilience of a Klingon, and the grace and sensitivity of a human. Unusual, to say the least," he added with a small smile, folding his hands in his lap in a Vulcan fashion.

After a quiet pause, he ventured, "I met with Ensign Gonzalez yesterday. He is quite a remarkable young man; I can't say I've encountered many minds like his in my time. I have a feeling that the captain will have a need of his unique skill set on this mission. If it is not too bold to say, Doctor, I can't help but notice that you share a bond with him. I read of your...shared experience during your previous mission, and for my own edification I was curious to hear more, but he was, understandably, reluctant to speak of it."

Emni raised an eyebrow of surprise at the Vulcan's compliments as she worked, quickly replaced by a small furrow in her brow as he brought up the time she and Ezra had shared locked into a cell with Lieutenant Oliveria by the Vidiians. She thought a moment, directing Sovaan through the motions for the next two checks as she did. Finally, setting the rod she used to test reflexes to the side, she replied.

"Our experience with the Vidiians was... unpleasant to say the least," she began. "But of all of the crew who were held captive by them Ensign Gonzalez and I encountered the least physical trauma. Having said that, we were aware of the trauma being inflicted on our crew mates, and the Vidiians leveraged the suspense of not knowing when they might take you as well. It has been...an emotionally taxing recovery for us both. I'm glad we've remained assigned together."

"No breach of confidentiality is intended, of course," Sovaan said matter-of-factly. "Nor is it my intention to provoke an emotional response from either of you. It is simply in my nature to be curious. I do not need to know much of anything about someone in order to do my job to protect them, but I have often found that a relationship built upon shared knowledge of oneself helps to strengthen my motivation. I offer an apology if I have struck a nerve."

Emni shook her head, "Not at all and no apology necessary. It's just, despite a distance of some months, still a fairly fresh experience." She smiled then, attempting to clear the anxiety that thinking about the Vidiians evoked. "Would you stand, walk to the other side of the room and return back please?"

Sovaan complied, then returned to the biobed. "Thank you for the enlightening conversation, doctor," he said. "Don't worry. I will not press the issue any further with either of you. I believe we will have enough stress to go around without adding an inquisition to it."

Emni nodded. "It's not a worry either way, but I appreciate the consideration," she noted, as the Vulcan resumed his shirt and jacket. The anxiety of thinking of the Vidiian's as she ran through the last two tests, chit chat light between herself and Sovaan as if the two were dodging the topic very deliberately. As the man made is way out of Sickbay she let out a breath fighting her immediate instinct to go find Karim and talk. Of course, Karim wasn't here. So she shook her head instead, picking up the PADD and moving on to the next patient.

=/\= A Mission Post By =/\=

Lieutenant Emni t'Nai
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Sovaan
Chief Security Officer