Lt. JG Quentin Beck - Own Your Story

[Kirsty L. Carpenter]

You know how in wrestling there is the concept of "putting over" your fellow performers for the good of the whole? @Quentin Beck is so, so, so good at putting over his fellow simmers. Every character and situation they interact with always come away better, this latest sim with my character it just the latest example. 

 

((Intensive Care Unit, Infirmary, Promenade, Deep Space 9.))

Beck: New idea. You wanna keep the scar, let's make it look good. This is gonna be a lot more primitive, but will give you more what you want, I think. Real frontier medicine.

Carpenter: You had me at "primitive". What do you have in mind, Q?

His gut feeling had been a correct one, confirmed by her wolfish grin and quick response. Leaning down to open up a small compartment, he slipped his hand inside and pulled out a needle and some medical-grade thread. Quentin pretended not to notice the attractive way her cheeks and neck flushed completely at this suggestion.

Beck: I stitch this up just a little too tight and you'll have a brand new railroad scar. It'll take longer to heal, and it'll sting like hell, buuuut….

She nodded maybe a little too quickly at that, and although the red had mostly faded from her face, her cheeks were still a little rosy in that way that betrayed some excitement.

Carpenter: You ain't gonna break me, Doc.

He had to bite back his initial response, which… definitely would have been way too forward, even as a joke, and very likely would have brought the color back to her face and neck again. Grinning, Quentin unspooled a little bit of thread so he could slip it through the needle's eye, then moved closer to her. 

Beck: This is gonna take a little longer to stitch up, too. Hope that's okay.

Carpenter: I got nowhere to be. Plus, gives me more time for my answer, I suppose...

His eyes glimmered with amusement at that response, his brow arching keenly as he looked up at her briefly before focusing his attention once more on the split in her side that he was supposed to be stitching up. He laid his good hand against her skin, fingers slightly spread, to keep the scar tissue that already existed from bunching up, and after carefully lining up the needle, he pierced through the lower portion of healthy skin and then through the higher portion, pulling the thread gingerly but allowing it to have a little bit of slack so he could make the first throw.

Beck: Sounds to me like you're stalling for time, Carpenter. :: eying her again with a smirk:: Then again, I've already started. And I always intend to finish what I start. 

The fingers of the prosthetic hand moved deftly, not faster than his original hand would have but perhaps a bit more precisely; Ohnari had been right, it hadn't taken much time at all for him to get used to the interface. It was almost like he hadn't lost the hand at all. He made the second throw, then the third, cut off the excess thread, then looped it through the needle to repeat the process a little further up the split. He pierced the needle through her skin again.

It was impossible not to notice the way she shuddered with the way his hand was pressed against her side.

Carpenter: No, I ain't welchin'. You held up your end, I intend to hold up mine. It's just...I ain't sure where I should start.

Beck: Most people start at the beginning. Sometimes you can start at the end, but then you've got to start cutting to flashbacks and that can get pretty convoluted pretty quickly, y'know.

She snorted.

Carpenter: Yeah, thanks, smartmouth. If'in that's how you wanna do it, I should start by sayin' a lotta people didn't believe me at first. And also didn't realize how much I could hear in one'a them....::she twirled her free hand impatiently:: what're they called? The tank things?

He paused in his work, arching a brow as he looked up at her curiously, then rolled his eyes upward thoughtfully.

Beck: A hibernation chamber?

Carpenter: Yeah, that's it. It all started with them talking about me like I wasn't there…

Quentin finished the second suture, cutting the thread again and lifting his hand from her back so he could thread the needle again while she started the story. He listened intently, very curious to know more, though he kept the majority of his focus on the sutures he was delivering.

His fingertips traced gently and slowly up her side as he worked, making sure to keep the skin as flat as he could so he could bring the tissue together as closely as possible; he also made sure to do as promised, the third throw always just a little bit too tight, but not so much the stitches would start to pull.

Comparatively speaking, Quentin's life had been boring as all hell in comparison to just this story; he was a little surprised Kirsty was willing to open herself up like this for something that had obviously grown to define who she was as a person, what her goals were, what justice she sought. And while there was a part of him that did think she was a little crazy for wanting to keep the scars, and another part of him that did think she was very brave to face something like that and somehow stay on this side of sane… mostly he thought he understood her reasoning.

The stereotype was always the Chief of Tac/Sec was a hardass who bore their scars as reminders of past victories, of challenges overcome; and while Kirsty certainly qualified as the former, he could see right away that these scars were not trophies, meant to trumpet those she had defeated in battle. 

They were an epitaph.

By the time she was through, he'd completed nearly all of the sutures. She'd been focused enough on telling the story she hadn't shuddered the same way throughout, which left him feeling both relieved and maybe just a little disappointed, but he was honored she'd felt comfortable enough with him to share… that. That deep, dark secret of herself that didn't show up in her medical logs, wasn't available in any notes. He figured she was careful about what she let doctors do as it would be a lot easier to avoid questions in the first place rather than having to pick and choose what to say, and how to explain it. It left him feeling warm in his belly.

Carpenter: So, from then on, any time I had something significant happen to me, I kept it there. My body, my truth. Nobody was going to tell ME what I had gone through ever, ever again.   

He nodded slowly, teeth scraping his lower lip.

Beck: You decided to be the author of your own story, and you were gonna take what they did and make it your own.

Her head dipped slightly in a shallow nod and when she finally looked at him again, he could tell it hadn't been easy for her to share that with him. Even if he'd somehow earned some measure of trust from her. 

Carpenter: And it's all I have left of them. 

Quentin was silent for a moment as he studied her, not quite sure what to say. He wasn't sure there was anything he could really say to comfort her, if that was even what she needed.

Beck: I'm sorry you went through all of that. And sorry there's crummy enough people out there to try to pin it all on you. That's not fair in the slightest. ::a beat:: Y'know, I already had a helluva lot of respect for you, Kirsty, but hearing that and seeing this… I can't begin to tell you how in awe I am of you.

Carpenter: Response

He turned his attention back to her side, teeth worrying the corner of his lip as he laid his hand against her so he could deliver the next suture. He hesitated only briefly before piercing the skin again and since she wasn't distracted by the story anymore, she shuddered as she had for the first suture. 

Beck: ::voice soft:: You okay there, Chief?

Carpenter: Response

The corner of his mouth twitched a little wryly before he shrugged slightly, tongue wetting his lower lip thoughtfully.

Beck: I just couldn't help but notice you seem to be… enjoying this a little more than most of my patients would.

Carpenter: Response

He snickered.

Beck: No judgment. Just making a mental note to always put up a privacy screen for you if you need stitches again. And make sure I've got plenty of needles and thread on hand.

Carpenter: Response

Tags/TBC

 

Lieutenant JG Quentin Beck

Acting Chief Medical Officer

USS Ronin NCC-34523

A238810SA0

 

Original Link: https://groups.google.com/g/sb118-ronin/c/XVx6Dx5pOaM