Lt. Alieth - The Human Equation

[Alora DeVeau]

OOC: @Alieth and @Geoffrey Teller both have a way with words.  Alieth has a particular skill for infusing the ability to connect to a person that is supposed to have tight rein on her emotion - and yet she's so emotive.  I just adore this pair.

 

IC:

 

((CMO's Office, Main Sickbay, deck 10, USS Thor))

 

Teller:  We're in trouble, aren't we?  ::Geoff tapped his temple::  Both of us.  

 

Their gazes met, and he folded his arms across his chest. The young Vulcan kept her features carefully in check as she regarded him, but eventually she let out a soft sigh and provided him with as much of a response as she could.

 

Alieth:  I cannot answer that, Geoff, not now, but whatever it takes, I will sort it out, he can count on me :: She gazed into his eyes earnestly, her concern well hidden behind her impassive mask :: And so will you.

 

He took a moment to speak again, as if lost in his own thoughts. She could not blame him, he was, in the end, human, and until a moment ago that alien, shambolic brain of his had housed not only his own being, but two others...and...whatever it was they had found in there. Either a disruption, a commingling, a melding, a folding, or simply the strong memory of someone who had left a mark on Teller's innermost being as much as his skin.

 

Geoff finally blinked and seemed to focus on reality once more. The Vulcan doctor could only tilt her head to the side. 

 

Teller: I'm not sure how many sets of memories I have in my head at this point, but all of them tell me to trust you Alieth.  ::Geoff forced a grin, if for himself if nothing else::  We'll sort this out, together.  Sern's kinda like family to me at this point, and I'd hate...well, you two have been through enough.  So, now what?  ::Geoff held his hands up defensively::  If you say another mind meld I'm getting a phaser.  And a helmet.  

 

The prospect made a smile dance in her eyes, even more so now that she had a vague idea of how this endeavour might end.

 

Alieth:  We shall see, but for the time being I think you should have some rest. And in the next few weeks just... make sure you stay out of trouble. And for once play it safe, troublemaker.

 

Geoff snorted, which prompted her to allow a tiny curl of one of the sides of her lips, barely a hint of a expression, just an early draft of one. Geoff looked back to Alieth's desk,  at the small package and had been lying there, forgotten all that time.

 

Teller: That reminds me....you should really open that.  

 

She furrowed her nose faintly in feigned frustration, barely concealing the curiosity she felt as mild vexation.

 

Alieth:  You know that there is no jubilee, no human or Vulcan festive observance that would mandate a... :: waving a hand gently to flag the package:: ...a gift.

 

That smug smile of someone overly confident about himself (and in the sheer GENIUS of all and every one of his disastrous ideas) appeared again on his face, this time, at least, without the extra of his former crooked nose.

 

Teller:  Well, you can call it whatever you want, I mostly consider this a warning for others.  

 

Alieth:  Be careful what you are up to Geoffrey John, or else….

 

She didn't finish the sentence and, instead, took the present and deftly unwrapped it with a couple of concise movements. When she pulled the paper aside, it revealed a piece of duranium that she instantly recognized, largely thanks to the traces of yellow on one of its jagged edges and the lingering smell of bog which not even months and a thorough scrubbing had managed to wipe away.

 

She ran one of her thumbs over the polished surface, over the sixteen words in two languages that the piece encased. Despite all her effort, a faint green blush tinged the tips of her ears and even dared to reach her cheeks, a sign of how the human's emotionality still lingered in her.

 

Chief Medical Officer Alieth

Professional Troublemaker

USS Thor

 

 

 

She took her eyes off the plate and shot him a stare that she had long nursed to terrify patients and health professionals alike away from HER sickbay. Of course the Thor's First Officer was not affected in the slightest.

 

Teller:  I figure you can leave that on the desk, at least give your patients a heads up.  

 

She clutched the piece of metal tightly in her hands

 

Alieth:  this is fallacious, outrageous and utterly inane... And dishonest.

 

Her voice was blunt and dry, yet a glint in her eyes and a slight relaxation around her mouth hinted the truth. As did the fact that he never let go of the plaque.

 

Teller:  If that was a thank you, you're welcome.  ::Geoff rose, finally confident he could make it to the turbolift without hitting the ground::  I think I'm going to head back to my quarters and sleep for a week.  You need anything else from me? 

 

Alieth looked at him for a moment and at last tilted her head, to inquire about something that had disconcerted her at the very end of the meld.

 

Alieth:  What is a ‘ Silas’ ?

 

Teller:  I'm not sure what worries me more...that you know to ask that question, or that you're not even sure about the answer.  I'll try to explain...Silas...another time.  

 

Alieth:  ::With a light tone:: All right, keep your secrets Geoff. ::softening her expression a bit:: And rest well.

 

Geoff smiled weakly and beat a hasty retreat out of sickbay.  She followed him out with her gaze and, as the door closed behind him, she indulged herself in a tiny smile, prior to clearing a place of honour on her overcrowded desk to display the cautionary plaque. As he surveyed it and her eyes trailed the complicated spirals of her name in her native tongue, that secret smile melted from her face and morphed into a gesture of concern, as the realization of the danger in which the author of the nameplate and the katra of her most cherished friend found themselves, dawned upon her.

 

She scowled and made her way to the replicator in the office in order to grab a soothing cup of tea before she made any decisions about what to do next.

 

For some reason, the contents of the cup she replicated were not what she expected.... but rather black, steaming hot, bitter coffee.

 

[[END?]]

=================================
Lt. Alieth
Chief Medical Officer
USS Thor NCC-82607
E239702A10  
Image Collective Facilitator /Art Director
=================================