Judgement – Vulnerabilities
by (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek
Post Details
OOC: I apologize for the length of this post, but I honestly couldn't find a good place to cut it in half. Hope you enjoy either way - M
::ON::
As Getal left and the doors closed behind him, Arrienye let out a shaky breath, closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she opened them once more. They were glazed over with tears from the sharp pain that were cascading up and down her entire body. She wanted to lean forward and bury her head in her hands, but knew it would do more harm than good, so just stayed where she was, sliding forward in her chair to keep any pressure off the wounds that covered the back of her thighs.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there before being jolted into the present by the sound of her door chime. Looking up, she used a small handkerchief to make sure there were no more tears in her eyes. “Enter,” she called, taking padd to look busy when tr’Dor walked in.
He looked her over for a moment, admiring her strength before giving her a salute. She stood, returning it.
“Yes, Arrain?” she asked, her hands holding the padd in front of her.
“It is time for the weekly surveillance report and you said that you wished to look over the summarized recordings yourself,” he explained and t’Merek nodded.
“Yes, I did,” she confirmed before straightening her uniform gently and making her way out of her office. As tr’Dor went to follow his eyes caught something on the back of t’Merek’s uniform that made him call out for her to stop just as the doors of her office opened.
She looked back at him, slightly shocked at his sudden exclamation.
“Is there a problem, Arrain?” she asked, confused.
“Yes, Arrain. I have forgotten to tell you something,” he replied.
Arrienye looked him over for a moment, “You can tell me on our way to the control room,” she said, turning to leave again.
“No, I can’t,” he said firmly. “It’s very important, Arrain,” tr’Dor said, meeting her eyes and Arrienye could see the urgency in them. Looking out of the office for a moment, she walked back in, passed him. As she walked by the man, she heard him sigh quietly in what sounded like relief.
Turning on her heel, she looked down at him. “Well?” Suddenly, the soldier in front of her appeared uncomfortable, but only for a moment or two. Then he took a deep breath.
“It’s your back…” he began tentatively, and the minute his words left his mouth, he saw t’Merek’s gaze darken. How dare he bring this up?! Just as she was about to tear into him he said something that made her stop in her tracks.
“It’s bleeding. There’s a stain on the back of your uniform,” he explained, his voice betraying no emotions. Unsure of what to say, Arrienye suddenly looked so vulnerable tr’Dor felt it necessary to look away, giving her a private moment to compose herself while putting his hands behind his back. He hated having to bring this up, but he couldn’t just let his superior officer walk out with that black spot on her back for everyone to see.
Arrienye had never felt so embarrassed her entire life. She glanced up at tr’Dor, expecting to see a smug look on his face, but was surprised to see him looking away, his face too natural to look faked. Her opinion of his grew in those few moments of contemplation until she finally found her voice.
“Thank you for letting me know,” she said quietly, trying to keep what authority she could in her tone. tr’Dor nodded simply, a reaction she was happy to see, if unexpected.
She stood there awkwardly, unsure of what she could do to rectify the situation. She couldn’t leave the room for fear of others seeing. She didn’t have a replicator in her office that would make her a new uniform jacket. But most of all, even if she had those things, her wounds would still bleed through unless she changed the bandages, and she couldn’t do that by herself. Suddenly feeling incredibly alone, she lost herself in thought, forgetting for a moment that she wasn’t alone in the room.
tr’Dor watched the Head of Security run through her thoughts, observing her face for a few moments. Even in moments like this, she still seemed so confident in what was going on, not letting a little thing like being ashamed get her down. He’d been in her situation, albeit several years back, so he understood completely. Except, he couldn’t remember himself so calm. Or this solitary.
Arrienye, for her part, knew she couldn’t call Ma’erlit, that would just be humiliating, but she couldn’t see any other options at this point. Suddenly, she was brought back into reality for the second time in the last half hour, by the sound of tr’Dor’s voice.
“I will get the necessary supplies. You get comfortable,” he told her confidently. Arrienye blinked in surprise at his boldness.
“Excuse me, Arrain?” she asked him, wanting to make sure she’d heard right. He looked at her, keeping his composure as always.
“Your bandages need changing. You cannot do it, you cannot leave this office, and from what I’ve observed, Arrain, I think you would want this to be kept as discreet as possible. I have experience in dealing with these situations. I will gladly aid you,” tr’Dor explained, and Arrienye still watched him carefully, trying to find his motives. But whatever they were, they weren’t to be found on his face or his body language, so she had to rely on his words.
“Why?”
tr’Dor glanced away for a moment before meeting her eyes. “May I speak freely, Arrain?”
“I believe you’re off to a good start,” Arrienye stated.
He sighed, glancing around once again. Arrienye understood his reluctance. Even when one spoke ‘freely’ to a senior officer; it was a very restricted form of ‘free’.
“You and I both know the state of this Consulate,” he began, and Arrienye nodded. There was a lot of gossip going around about what was going on with the Ambassador. Arrienye was happy to know it was all just filled with stupid speculations nowhere near the truth, but rumors and gossip went a long way.
“You are the Head of Security, a fellow soldier and a leader,” he explained, taking a step closer but nowhere near her personal space. “We have other Consulate staff barging in and out of here all the time, despite our best efforts to keep ourselves discreet. We need a point of strength here, alongside the Ambassador. That’s you, Arrain,” he told her seriously, then dropped his gaze for a moment before resuming.
“As a responsible Security officer here, I can’t allow you to be seen like this. I know you’re far from weak, but you cannot even appear to be at this point,” he said firmly. “That’s why I’m going to get some supplies and come back here in ten minutes for our weekly meeting,” he told her, though his tone at the end was more questioning than demanding.
Arrienye tried to take in everything he’d said. She’d always known tr’Dor to be an incredibly reliable officer, one she considered an equal in the Consulate, even if her position of Security Chief put her above him. But she still wasn’t sure if he could be trusted with such a delicate matter. But, like so many things in the past few days, what options did she have?
So, she nodded. “I understand. Go,” she allowed, motioning to the door with her head. tr’Dor bowed his head respectfully and left.
**** Fifteen minutes later ****
Arrienye was getting worried. She’d heard nothing from tr’Dor since he’d left and part of her wondered if he’d planned this. She’d taken time to actually confirm the stain on her back, and he wasn’t lying. It was big, too, a couple of inches across.
She cursed Getal under her breath. If she hadn’t tried so hard to appear nonchalant around him despite her wounds, they wouldn’t have broken. Of course, she knew this was way too early for her to even be spending so much time moving around, but that couldn’t be helped. As tr’Dor had said, she needed to look strong. Some people in the Consulate, quiet as they tried to be in the gossiping, were having doubts about the Ambassador, and while Arrienye joined them in part, she knew it wasn’t a good sign.
After another ten minutes, the door to her office chimed and Arrienye stiffened. What if it wasn’t tr’Dor and she’d already made herself ‘comfortable’ as he’d put it. But it was. He walked in, carrying a large piece of equipment she vaguely recognized as the log which held the surveillance footage. “You’re late,” she just stated, looking down at the box-like item. He just looked up at her and apologized calmly before opening the top. Instead of the usual logs, she saw it filled to the top with some medical supplies. Suddenly, she felt nervous.
“Are you ready, Arrain?” he asked as casually as he could given the circumstances. Arrienye nodded, reaching for the front of her uniform jacket. She hesitated, looking up at him to see him looking away. She’d taken off her black shirt, but had put her jacket back on top of the open-back undershirt. Slipping it off now, she watched him take the jacket away and place it over the desk where a fresh one was placed, along with a new shirt. Arrienye ordered the door to lock before sitting backwards on one of the chairs, not saying anything. What could someone say in this type of situation?
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw tr’Dor pull up the other chair and placed it behind her. Pulling out the supplies, he finally took off his own jacket and rolled up his sleeves before sterilizing his hands. He glanced up to see t’Merek looking at him over her shoulder, a position that didn’t do her back any favors. He met her blue eyes, and saw the discomfort in them, but decided to ignore it. Hell, who would be comfortable in this position?
“May I begin?” he asked her to make sure. She nodded, still looking at him. He allowed himself a small, slightly amused smirk and Arrienye frowned, her eyes questioning. What the hell is he smiling about?
He reached up and as gently and respectfully as he could, moved her head so that she faced forward. Her earlier position was making the bandages wrinkled, and more difficult to take off. Taking a cutter, Arrienye felt tr’Dor begin to slice into the bandages along her left side. He worked quietly, something she was very thankful for.
As he began removing the bandages, he suddenly stopped with an unintelligible sound escaping his lips. “What?” Arrienye asked. He hesitated.
“Um…Arrain, have you…have you ever had experiences with dressing these wounds for someone else?” he asked as diplomatically as possible and Arrienye raised an eyebrow.
“No,” she admitted and heard tr’Dor sigh.
“Whoever dressed these hasn’t either,” he told her. “They used the wrong type of gauze, Arrain. It’s…it’s stuck…”
“Stuck?” Arrienye asked, hoping he didn’t mean the kind of ‘stuck’ she thought he meant.
“They’ve stuck to the open wounds. Removing them will be,…painful, but I will try my best to alleviate the pain,” he explained, his voice quiet as he looked her back over. “I have an idea,” he said after a pause. “An anesthetic…”
“No,” Arrienye said defiantly.
“Hear me out, please,” he said, surprising Arrienye once again with his bold attitude. “It’s a 100% natural. A plant, the Southern gold magnolia. It’s root, when ground releases a juice that acts as a mild, local anesthetic. You will still feel pain, but it will not be as strong. It’s not cheating,” he told her. Arrienye stayed silent. She’d heard of the plant before, actually had one in her quarters. It had incredibly beautiful yellow leaves. “Alright.” The minute the word left her mouth, she felt tr’Dor stand up. “I will go get one,” he said before leaving her once again. A few minutes later, she saw him coming in with another box. Opening it, she saw him take out a Southern gold magnolia, bigger than the one she had. It seemed fresh. Opening her mouth to ask, he seemed to read what she would say and spoke before she had a chance.
“I had one in my quarters,” he explained, cleaning the root quite expertly, she noticed. Putting it into a small bowl, she watched him mash it just as deftly before pouring some water into the bowl, letting it soak. Then he took another, larger container of water and poured the contents of the bowl into it. Then he shook it hard before taking his position behind Arrienye once again.
A tense moment passed before t’Merek felt a warm stream of water go over her back. Uncomfortable at first, it began to feel more calming. The bandages on her back were soaked thoroughly.
She watched tr’Dor then reach for the small pincers he’d brought. She swallowed, knowing this would hurt, even as she felt the root’s anesthetic kick in.
“Ready?” he asked and as she nodded, he began pulling on the first piece of gauze. At the painful pulling sensation shot through her, she closer her eyes. It hurt less than she feared but much more than she’d hoped for. tr’Dor’s movements and gestures were indescribably gentle, but Arrienye paid no notice. She just tried to keep her mind focused on something else.
tr’Dor, seated behind her, had a very focused look on his face. He pulled the bandages as gently as he could from her exposed flesh, wincing slightly as he reached places the material had nearly fused to the dark green it covered. A good fifteen minutes passed before he reached the last strip of gauze and he couldn’t help the growing admiration he felt towards the woman in front of him. She hadn’t let out a single sound and only the rare shiver at the occasional, less than caring pull from him at a stubborn piece of gauze. But he’d saved the worst for last. It was where the instrument of her torture had broken the skin just on top of her right shoulder blade. He moved in a bit closer to her and poured a bit more anesthetic over the material to soften it as much as possible. Pulling gently at it, he found it necessary to give a firmer tug, causing t’Merek to actually gasp, and he could imagine the pain it had caused.
“Shh…it’s almost over,” he said, and Arrienye felt something in her upper abdomen tighten at the sound of his voice and the warm feeling of his breath against her shoulder when he spoke. There was nothing condescending in his tone, no smug superiority at having her owe him for this. It just felt…soothing and as warm as the heat that she suddenly noticed radiated from his body so close to hers as the man tried to pull the last piece of gauze out and succeeded. He then pulled away and the warmth left her, making her give a small shudder she hoped he would blame on the pain. Arrienye blushed at what she’d just experienced. It was incredibly inappropriate! Especially in this situation.
She heard him work behind her and braved a look over her shoulder. His head was tilted down to what he was working on and she couldn’t see his face clearly. “That’s the last of it. That last bit was a little stubborn, but I got all of it. Do you need a minute?” he asked, finally looking up and Arrienye looked him in the eye. He obviously wasn’t expecting her to have turned, fully engrossed in his work, but when he realized she did, he merely gave her a small smile that reached his hazel eyes. They stayed liked that for a few moments before Arrienye’s brain caught up, making her remember she’d been asked something. Awkward, she looked away again.
As she did, tr’Dor blinked a few times. When he’d looked up to find her face so close, he couldn’t find his voice. It seemed to be stuck in his throat and he found himself staring back into her eyes, all intelligent thought lost in that moment.
“No, carry on,” she just barely managed, wondering what the hell was going on with her. He didn’t comment and she could almost feel him nodding as he reached for an antibiotic ointment from the box of supplies. He cleared his throat, hoping his voice might come back, but in the meantime, he turned his attention to the wounds. He applied some more anesthetic before putting in the ointment, taking care to place a generous amount of key areas.
The effect of the antibiotic was cooling but Arrienye didn’t even notice, still trying to decipher what had just happened. She could still feel the remains of that tightening sensation in her stomach, and while it was slightly unsetting to experience, she couldn’t label the feeling as unpleasant at all.
tr’Dor kept quiet, trying to focus on the aid he was applying. Finally, as he took out some gauze, he spoke.
“This type of gauze won’t stick. When you reapply your bandages, it will simply slide off. I’ll apply two layers just in case,” he explained, but he could feel the level of professionalism had either considerable dropper or risen. He couldn’t be sure, as he felt t’Merek tense up since their ‘moment’. He scolded himself internally. It was incredibly stupid, not to mention inappropriate to stare back the way he did. She was probably freaked out by it. He held in a sigh for the rest of the procedure.
“You need to stand up so I can apply the bandages,” he said quietly and Arrienye complied without words. He’d chosen a wide bandaged, which was stretchy to accommodate t’Merek’s figure, giving her a flexible fit. He needed to step closer to her for this, and they both felt the tension rise between them as they worked together to get the bandage around her torso, with tr’Dor muttering the occasional ‘excuse me’ and ‘sorry’ whenever their skin came into contact and t’Merek seemed to flinch away, not that he could blame her.
With the bandage in place and secured, tr’Dor stepped away and looked to the side, giving her a moment in private to get dressed as he went to gathering up the supplies he’d brought, packing the bloodied bandages in a special container. When he finished and looked up, he saw t’Merek setting her uniform harness in place.
Their eyes met once again and he could see she was uncomfortable with what they’d just shared. He swallowed hard, and hopefully unnoticeably, and then spoke up.
“Are you comfortable? We could loosen the bandages if…” but she cut him off with a swift “No,” and he nodded in understanding.
“It’s fine,” she clarified. “Thank you,” she added, this part said more quietly as she looked away, still feeling vulnerable.
“It wasn’t a problem, Arrain,” he said with a respectful bow in her direction. She deserved it, after all, for everything she’d done and went through. Those who knew about her punishment, and the apparent reason, however quiet it was kept between them, knew t’Merek didn’t deserve what had happened to her. But she took it, without any argument at all, for the sake of keeping stability. And no one respected her more for that than he did. Helping her here was the least he could’ve done.
“I will go back to my duties and will send you the video summaries within the hour,” he explained, deciding to go back to normal, work related issues. She seemed to appreciate this as he noticed her relax slightly.
“Yes, alright. Good day, tr’Dor,” she told him, moving towards her desk, signaling him that this was it for the day. He nodded once again towards her.
“Good day, t’Merek,” he replied before leaving. An unspoken agreement passed between them. This would stay between the two of them.
Arrienye let out a deep sigh she wasn’t aware she’d been holding and moved to sit back down onto the chair, which she found was still warm from tr’Dor. Feeling uncomfortable at the thoughts this seemed to give her, she stood up and sat on her own chair. Swallowing the lump that seemed to have formed in her throat, she leaned back in her seat. The bandages around her were a bit tight for her comfort but she refused to let tr’Dor handle them again. The first time, she embarrassingly found herself flinching lightly every time he touched her skin with his hands. The quick contact felt like electricity each time, with her skin oversensitive from the pain it had gone through. And he’d stood so close. Of course, it had been quite necessary, but she could feel him standing close, feel his warmth, his breath, she could even smell him and that last made her feel even more unsettled as she realized his scent was incredibly pleasant, even intoxicatingly so.
Blinking to break herself from those thoughts, she stood up once more and took up her padd, trying her best to focus on whatever was on them and to keep it as far away as possible from the man she’d spent the last hour with.
::OFF::
Post by
Arrain Arrienye t’Merek
Head of Security – Romulan Consulate
with
Arrain Amarik tr’Dor
Head of Surveillance systems – Romulan Consulate
(PNPC by Maja)
by (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek
Post Details
| Title | Vulnerabilities | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek | |
| Posted | Tue Jan 18, 2011 @ 2:25am | |
| Location | Romulan Consulate - t'Merek's office | |
| Timeline | SD36 - 11:30 |
::ON::
As Getal left and the doors closed behind him, Arrienye let out a shaky breath, closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she opened them once more. They were glazed over with tears from the sharp pain that were cascading up and down her entire body. She wanted to lean forward and bury her head in her hands, but knew it would do more harm than good, so just stayed where she was, sliding forward in her chair to keep any pressure off the wounds that covered the back of her thighs.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there before being jolted into the present by the sound of her door chime. Looking up, she used a small handkerchief to make sure there were no more tears in her eyes. “Enter,” she called, taking padd to look busy when tr’Dor walked in.
He looked her over for a moment, admiring her strength before giving her a salute. She stood, returning it.
“Yes, Arrain?” she asked, her hands holding the padd in front of her.
“It is time for the weekly surveillance report and you said that you wished to look over the summarized recordings yourself,” he explained and t’Merek nodded.
“Yes, I did,” she confirmed before straightening her uniform gently and making her way out of her office. As tr’Dor went to follow his eyes caught something on the back of t’Merek’s uniform that made him call out for her to stop just as the doors of her office opened.
She looked back at him, slightly shocked at his sudden exclamation.
“Is there a problem, Arrain?” she asked, confused.
“Yes, Arrain. I have forgotten to tell you something,” he replied.
Arrienye looked him over for a moment, “You can tell me on our way to the control room,” she said, turning to leave again.
“No, I can’t,” he said firmly. “It’s very important, Arrain,” tr’Dor said, meeting her eyes and Arrienye could see the urgency in them. Looking out of the office for a moment, she walked back in, passed him. As she walked by the man, she heard him sigh quietly in what sounded like relief.
Turning on her heel, she looked down at him. “Well?” Suddenly, the soldier in front of her appeared uncomfortable, but only for a moment or two. Then he took a deep breath.
“It’s your back…” he began tentatively, and the minute his words left his mouth, he saw t’Merek’s gaze darken. How dare he bring this up?! Just as she was about to tear into him he said something that made her stop in her tracks.
“It’s bleeding. There’s a stain on the back of your uniform,” he explained, his voice betraying no emotions. Unsure of what to say, Arrienye suddenly looked so vulnerable tr’Dor felt it necessary to look away, giving her a private moment to compose herself while putting his hands behind his back. He hated having to bring this up, but he couldn’t just let his superior officer walk out with that black spot on her back for everyone to see.
Arrienye had never felt so embarrassed her entire life. She glanced up at tr’Dor, expecting to see a smug look on his face, but was surprised to see him looking away, his face too natural to look faked. Her opinion of his grew in those few moments of contemplation until she finally found her voice.
“Thank you for letting me know,” she said quietly, trying to keep what authority she could in her tone. tr’Dor nodded simply, a reaction she was happy to see, if unexpected.
She stood there awkwardly, unsure of what she could do to rectify the situation. She couldn’t leave the room for fear of others seeing. She didn’t have a replicator in her office that would make her a new uniform jacket. But most of all, even if she had those things, her wounds would still bleed through unless she changed the bandages, and she couldn’t do that by herself. Suddenly feeling incredibly alone, she lost herself in thought, forgetting for a moment that she wasn’t alone in the room.
tr’Dor watched the Head of Security run through her thoughts, observing her face for a few moments. Even in moments like this, she still seemed so confident in what was going on, not letting a little thing like being ashamed get her down. He’d been in her situation, albeit several years back, so he understood completely. Except, he couldn’t remember himself so calm. Or this solitary.
Arrienye, for her part, knew she couldn’t call Ma’erlit, that would just be humiliating, but she couldn’t see any other options at this point. Suddenly, she was brought back into reality for the second time in the last half hour, by the sound of tr’Dor’s voice.
“I will get the necessary supplies. You get comfortable,” he told her confidently. Arrienye blinked in surprise at his boldness.
“Excuse me, Arrain?” she asked him, wanting to make sure she’d heard right. He looked at her, keeping his composure as always.
“Your bandages need changing. You cannot do it, you cannot leave this office, and from what I’ve observed, Arrain, I think you would want this to be kept as discreet as possible. I have experience in dealing with these situations. I will gladly aid you,” tr’Dor explained, and Arrienye still watched him carefully, trying to find his motives. But whatever they were, they weren’t to be found on his face or his body language, so she had to rely on his words.
“Why?”
tr’Dor glanced away for a moment before meeting her eyes. “May I speak freely, Arrain?”
“I believe you’re off to a good start,” Arrienye stated.
He sighed, glancing around once again. Arrienye understood his reluctance. Even when one spoke ‘freely’ to a senior officer; it was a very restricted form of ‘free’.
“You and I both know the state of this Consulate,” he began, and Arrienye nodded. There was a lot of gossip going around about what was going on with the Ambassador. Arrienye was happy to know it was all just filled with stupid speculations nowhere near the truth, but rumors and gossip went a long way.
“You are the Head of Security, a fellow soldier and a leader,” he explained, taking a step closer but nowhere near her personal space. “We have other Consulate staff barging in and out of here all the time, despite our best efforts to keep ourselves discreet. We need a point of strength here, alongside the Ambassador. That’s you, Arrain,” he told her seriously, then dropped his gaze for a moment before resuming.
“As a responsible Security officer here, I can’t allow you to be seen like this. I know you’re far from weak, but you cannot even appear to be at this point,” he said firmly. “That’s why I’m going to get some supplies and come back here in ten minutes for our weekly meeting,” he told her, though his tone at the end was more questioning than demanding.
Arrienye tried to take in everything he’d said. She’d always known tr’Dor to be an incredibly reliable officer, one she considered an equal in the Consulate, even if her position of Security Chief put her above him. But she still wasn’t sure if he could be trusted with such a delicate matter. But, like so many things in the past few days, what options did she have?
So, she nodded. “I understand. Go,” she allowed, motioning to the door with her head. tr’Dor bowed his head respectfully and left.
**** Fifteen minutes later ****
Arrienye was getting worried. She’d heard nothing from tr’Dor since he’d left and part of her wondered if he’d planned this. She’d taken time to actually confirm the stain on her back, and he wasn’t lying. It was big, too, a couple of inches across.
She cursed Getal under her breath. If she hadn’t tried so hard to appear nonchalant around him despite her wounds, they wouldn’t have broken. Of course, she knew this was way too early for her to even be spending so much time moving around, but that couldn’t be helped. As tr’Dor had said, she needed to look strong. Some people in the Consulate, quiet as they tried to be in the gossiping, were having doubts about the Ambassador, and while Arrienye joined them in part, she knew it wasn’t a good sign.
After another ten minutes, the door to her office chimed and Arrienye stiffened. What if it wasn’t tr’Dor and she’d already made herself ‘comfortable’ as he’d put it. But it was. He walked in, carrying a large piece of equipment she vaguely recognized as the log which held the surveillance footage. “You’re late,” she just stated, looking down at the box-like item. He just looked up at her and apologized calmly before opening the top. Instead of the usual logs, she saw it filled to the top with some medical supplies. Suddenly, she felt nervous.
“Are you ready, Arrain?” he asked as casually as he could given the circumstances. Arrienye nodded, reaching for the front of her uniform jacket. She hesitated, looking up at him to see him looking away. She’d taken off her black shirt, but had put her jacket back on top of the open-back undershirt. Slipping it off now, she watched him take the jacket away and place it over the desk where a fresh one was placed, along with a new shirt. Arrienye ordered the door to lock before sitting backwards on one of the chairs, not saying anything. What could someone say in this type of situation?
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw tr’Dor pull up the other chair and placed it behind her. Pulling out the supplies, he finally took off his own jacket and rolled up his sleeves before sterilizing his hands. He glanced up to see t’Merek looking at him over her shoulder, a position that didn’t do her back any favors. He met her blue eyes, and saw the discomfort in them, but decided to ignore it. Hell, who would be comfortable in this position?
“May I begin?” he asked her to make sure. She nodded, still looking at him. He allowed himself a small, slightly amused smirk and Arrienye frowned, her eyes questioning. What the hell is he smiling about?
He reached up and as gently and respectfully as he could, moved her head so that she faced forward. Her earlier position was making the bandages wrinkled, and more difficult to take off. Taking a cutter, Arrienye felt tr’Dor begin to slice into the bandages along her left side. He worked quietly, something she was very thankful for.
As he began removing the bandages, he suddenly stopped with an unintelligible sound escaping his lips. “What?” Arrienye asked. He hesitated.
“Um…Arrain, have you…have you ever had experiences with dressing these wounds for someone else?” he asked as diplomatically as possible and Arrienye raised an eyebrow.
“No,” she admitted and heard tr’Dor sigh.
“Whoever dressed these hasn’t either,” he told her. “They used the wrong type of gauze, Arrain. It’s…it’s stuck…”
“Stuck?” Arrienye asked, hoping he didn’t mean the kind of ‘stuck’ she thought he meant.
“They’ve stuck to the open wounds. Removing them will be,…painful, but I will try my best to alleviate the pain,” he explained, his voice quiet as he looked her back over. “I have an idea,” he said after a pause. “An anesthetic…”
“No,” Arrienye said defiantly.
“Hear me out, please,” he said, surprising Arrienye once again with his bold attitude. “It’s a 100% natural. A plant, the Southern gold magnolia. It’s root, when ground releases a juice that acts as a mild, local anesthetic. You will still feel pain, but it will not be as strong. It’s not cheating,” he told her. Arrienye stayed silent. She’d heard of the plant before, actually had one in her quarters. It had incredibly beautiful yellow leaves. “Alright.” The minute the word left her mouth, she felt tr’Dor stand up. “I will go get one,” he said before leaving her once again. A few minutes later, she saw him coming in with another box. Opening it, she saw him take out a Southern gold magnolia, bigger than the one she had. It seemed fresh. Opening her mouth to ask, he seemed to read what she would say and spoke before she had a chance.
“I had one in my quarters,” he explained, cleaning the root quite expertly, she noticed. Putting it into a small bowl, she watched him mash it just as deftly before pouring some water into the bowl, letting it soak. Then he took another, larger container of water and poured the contents of the bowl into it. Then he shook it hard before taking his position behind Arrienye once again.
A tense moment passed before t’Merek felt a warm stream of water go over her back. Uncomfortable at first, it began to feel more calming. The bandages on her back were soaked thoroughly.
She watched tr’Dor then reach for the small pincers he’d brought. She swallowed, knowing this would hurt, even as she felt the root’s anesthetic kick in.
“Ready?” he asked and as she nodded, he began pulling on the first piece of gauze. At the painful pulling sensation shot through her, she closer her eyes. It hurt less than she feared but much more than she’d hoped for. tr’Dor’s movements and gestures were indescribably gentle, but Arrienye paid no notice. She just tried to keep her mind focused on something else.
tr’Dor, seated behind her, had a very focused look on his face. He pulled the bandages as gently as he could from her exposed flesh, wincing slightly as he reached places the material had nearly fused to the dark green it covered. A good fifteen minutes passed before he reached the last strip of gauze and he couldn’t help the growing admiration he felt towards the woman in front of him. She hadn’t let out a single sound and only the rare shiver at the occasional, less than caring pull from him at a stubborn piece of gauze. But he’d saved the worst for last. It was where the instrument of her torture had broken the skin just on top of her right shoulder blade. He moved in a bit closer to her and poured a bit more anesthetic over the material to soften it as much as possible. Pulling gently at it, he found it necessary to give a firmer tug, causing t’Merek to actually gasp, and he could imagine the pain it had caused.
“Shh…it’s almost over,” he said, and Arrienye felt something in her upper abdomen tighten at the sound of his voice and the warm feeling of his breath against her shoulder when he spoke. There was nothing condescending in his tone, no smug superiority at having her owe him for this. It just felt…soothing and as warm as the heat that she suddenly noticed radiated from his body so close to hers as the man tried to pull the last piece of gauze out and succeeded. He then pulled away and the warmth left her, making her give a small shudder she hoped he would blame on the pain. Arrienye blushed at what she’d just experienced. It was incredibly inappropriate! Especially in this situation.
She heard him work behind her and braved a look over her shoulder. His head was tilted down to what he was working on and she couldn’t see his face clearly. “That’s the last of it. That last bit was a little stubborn, but I got all of it. Do you need a minute?” he asked, finally looking up and Arrienye looked him in the eye. He obviously wasn’t expecting her to have turned, fully engrossed in his work, but when he realized she did, he merely gave her a small smile that reached his hazel eyes. They stayed liked that for a few moments before Arrienye’s brain caught up, making her remember she’d been asked something. Awkward, she looked away again.
As she did, tr’Dor blinked a few times. When he’d looked up to find her face so close, he couldn’t find his voice. It seemed to be stuck in his throat and he found himself staring back into her eyes, all intelligent thought lost in that moment.
“No, carry on,” she just barely managed, wondering what the hell was going on with her. He didn’t comment and she could almost feel him nodding as he reached for an antibiotic ointment from the box of supplies. He cleared his throat, hoping his voice might come back, but in the meantime, he turned his attention to the wounds. He applied some more anesthetic before putting in the ointment, taking care to place a generous amount of key areas.
The effect of the antibiotic was cooling but Arrienye didn’t even notice, still trying to decipher what had just happened. She could still feel the remains of that tightening sensation in her stomach, and while it was slightly unsetting to experience, she couldn’t label the feeling as unpleasant at all.
tr’Dor kept quiet, trying to focus on the aid he was applying. Finally, as he took out some gauze, he spoke.
“This type of gauze won’t stick. When you reapply your bandages, it will simply slide off. I’ll apply two layers just in case,” he explained, but he could feel the level of professionalism had either considerable dropper or risen. He couldn’t be sure, as he felt t’Merek tense up since their ‘moment’. He scolded himself internally. It was incredibly stupid, not to mention inappropriate to stare back the way he did. She was probably freaked out by it. He held in a sigh for the rest of the procedure.
“You need to stand up so I can apply the bandages,” he said quietly and Arrienye complied without words. He’d chosen a wide bandaged, which was stretchy to accommodate t’Merek’s figure, giving her a flexible fit. He needed to step closer to her for this, and they both felt the tension rise between them as they worked together to get the bandage around her torso, with tr’Dor muttering the occasional ‘excuse me’ and ‘sorry’ whenever their skin came into contact and t’Merek seemed to flinch away, not that he could blame her.
With the bandage in place and secured, tr’Dor stepped away and looked to the side, giving her a moment in private to get dressed as he went to gathering up the supplies he’d brought, packing the bloodied bandages in a special container. When he finished and looked up, he saw t’Merek setting her uniform harness in place.
Their eyes met once again and he could see she was uncomfortable with what they’d just shared. He swallowed hard, and hopefully unnoticeably, and then spoke up.
“Are you comfortable? We could loosen the bandages if…” but she cut him off with a swift “No,” and he nodded in understanding.
“It’s fine,” she clarified. “Thank you,” she added, this part said more quietly as she looked away, still feeling vulnerable.
“It wasn’t a problem, Arrain,” he said with a respectful bow in her direction. She deserved it, after all, for everything she’d done and went through. Those who knew about her punishment, and the apparent reason, however quiet it was kept between them, knew t’Merek didn’t deserve what had happened to her. But she took it, without any argument at all, for the sake of keeping stability. And no one respected her more for that than he did. Helping her here was the least he could’ve done.
“I will go back to my duties and will send you the video summaries within the hour,” he explained, deciding to go back to normal, work related issues. She seemed to appreciate this as he noticed her relax slightly.
“Yes, alright. Good day, tr’Dor,” she told him, moving towards her desk, signaling him that this was it for the day. He nodded once again towards her.
“Good day, t’Merek,” he replied before leaving. An unspoken agreement passed between them. This would stay between the two of them.
Arrienye let out a deep sigh she wasn’t aware she’d been holding and moved to sit back down onto the chair, which she found was still warm from tr’Dor. Feeling uncomfortable at the thoughts this seemed to give her, she stood up and sat on her own chair. Swallowing the lump that seemed to have formed in her throat, she leaned back in her seat. The bandages around her were a bit tight for her comfort but she refused to let tr’Dor handle them again. The first time, she embarrassingly found herself flinching lightly every time he touched her skin with his hands. The quick contact felt like electricity each time, with her skin oversensitive from the pain it had gone through. And he’d stood so close. Of course, it had been quite necessary, but she could feel him standing close, feel his warmth, his breath, she could even smell him and that last made her feel even more unsettled as she realized his scent was incredibly pleasant, even intoxicatingly so.
Blinking to break herself from those thoughts, she stood up once more and took up her padd, trying her best to focus on whatever was on them and to keep it as far away as possible from the man she’d spent the last hour with.
::OFF::
Post by
Arrain Arrienye t’Merek
Head of Security – Romulan Consulate
with
Arrain Amarik tr’Dor
Head of Surveillance systems – Romulan Consulate
(PNPC by Maja)