Judgement – GenMed shift
by (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton
Post Details
::ON::
The morning had started off quietly enough before Kaelin came running in, nearly bumping into Bridget on his entrance. He quickly grabbed the woman to steady them both, and looked over at the chronometer. "Oh, thank goodness!" he exclaimed. "I thought I was going to be late," he said, finally a smile adorning his features as he saw he had arrived five minutes before his shift began. "So sorry Bridget!" he told her sincerely, straightening out her uniform collar.
She mutely allowed him to do so, still somewhat surprised at his explosive appearance. When he finished with her collar, a small smile curled the corners of her lips. "Good morning, Doctor. No worries."
He gave her an apologetic look that made him appear much younger than he was, showing that despite appearances, at the age of thirty-one, by Deltan standards, that's exactly what he was. "Sorry again, Doctor," he said, mortified that he'd slipped up earlier by calling her by her first name. He looked uncomfortable now, which, again, was what he was.
She felt a bit uncomfortable, herself, and glanced away, embarrassed for his embarrassment. She recalled their conversation the previous evening, and how he'd quipped at her and then walked away, without so much as a goodbye. Maybe social skills were tough for him. Maybe it was his medication. But whatever it was, she still harbored some unsettled emotions, and that made her distant.
After the long pause, she said, "Doctor Adams isn't here, just yet. so it'll be about fifteen minutes before the morning meeting." She gestured toward the hardworking replicator. "Care for a cuppa?"
"Sure," Kaelin nodded with a small smile. "Thank you," he added, going with her to the replicator. "I'm sorry. Again. Okay, I'll stop apologizing," he said all in one quick breath. "I was just worried I'd be late. I only woke up about fifteen minutes ago and had to rush to my quarters to get dressed before running here," he explained.
She gave him a puzzled look, her hand poised just above the machine. "You had to rush to your quarters?"
Kaelin nodded. "Last night I went to see Ai'lani. And I spent the night. Unfortunately, being a freelance photojournalist means you have no schedule, and no alarm to wake you up in the morning. Luckily for me, Ai'lani is a very loud walker and I'm a light sleeper, so I woke up just in time."
The cups had materialized while he spoke, Bridget having remembered how Kaelin liked his coffee. She handed him his cup and turned to lean a hip against the counter. His predicament had softened her somewhat, and the situation made her curious.
"I thought you had a date last night that wasn't a date." It sounded funny in her ears, and she chuckled slightly. "You know what I mean. I thought you were avoiding Ai'lani on purpose, and that he just wanted to be friends."
"Well, I did have a date that wasn't a date," he said with a laugh. "But I just couldn't shake off thinking about Ai'lani the whole evening. I mean, I had a really great time, but I just couldn't concentrate fully. So, when I found out Ai'lani was in his quarters, I went to see him. Brought over some blackberry and banana frozen yogurt, so we ended up talking and I ended up spending the night. And Ai'lani does just want to be friends."
"It sounds complicated." Bridget thanked her lucky stars that she didn't have to go through the dating scene all over again. "Aren't you worried that your feelings for him are just going to grow, the more time you spend with him?"
Kaelin looked down at his coffee for a moment before taking a sip as he seemed to think things over. "I don't know. I'm not worried. I...I like being with him. I guess I'd rather have him as a friend than in no way at all, no matter how cliche that sounds," he admitted.
~If this were one of my kids, what would I say?~ It wasn't that he'd asked for advice. But sometimes the right questions or just acknowledging their situation can help a person think through things. She sipped her coffee and changed position, allowing her time to think. Besides, the counter was making her hip uncomfortable. A bit of arthritis creeping in.
"I can see what you mean about liking being with him," she began. "I just met him once, and I liked him. ...Well, a lot of that was pheromones, but you know what I mean," she waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, it would be hard to be in your position, I guess. It's not like there are a lot of Deltans on board for you to develop intimate relationships with. But, if you don't have some good, strong friendships that keep you grounded and help fill that gap, then it would make you more susceptible to jealousy when Ai'lani goes out with other people."
Kaelin looked down at his cup once again. "I know. But, let's face it, there aren't exactly a lot of people onboard who are comfortable enough around Deltans to be close friends with me," he explained.
"Now wait a second," she countered. "Does Ai'lani have a lot of friends?"
"No, not really. He has a lot acquaintances that he spends more or less time with. No close friendships with anyone. Like I said, people are uncomfortable around me, let alone an unmedicated Deltan."
Bridget nodded. "You're right, it is uncomfortable. I'll grant you that. But I suspect that it's uncomfortable for two entirely different reasons. If you had asked me out last night instead of Ai'lani, I would have said yes."
Kaelin let out a slightly bitter laugh. "Exactly," he said, looking up to meet her eyes. "You're uncomfortable around Deltans. When I'm medicated, I'm not Deltan. Not really," he explained. "It's...a bit xenophobic, to be honest," he said carefully.
"I can see what you mean from your perspective, but part of learning about people is to see things from both sides if you can. Consider my perspective: if I had gone out with Ai'lani, I may have ended up embarrassing both of us. Pheromones are an extremely powerful thing, and they can influence behavior that would otherwise not occur. His pheromones were already driving me crazy, and I'd only been in his presence for five minutes. If you added alcohol to reduce my inhibitions, and dancing to induce my endorphins, there was a chance that Ai'lani would have had to beat me back with a stick. I wanted to save both Ai'lani and myself the awkwardness of that possibility, by saying no."
She shifted her stance to one leg, gesturing as she spoke with the opposite hand. "It's not xenophobic, it's knowing one's own limitations where it comes to certain stimuli, and choosing to censor oneself accordingly."
"Perhaps. But, you could've chosen not to dance or drink and given Ai'lani a chance. Deltans can control the output of our pheromones," he countered, sipping his coffee.
"Oh, believe me, I thought of nearly a half dozen ways I could have adjusted or balanced the stimuli, after I left work last night, because I was thinking more clearly by then. You hit on two of them. I could have also checked to see if there was a medication that would lower my estrogen level temporarily. There isn't one, I looked this morning. I could have asked friends to go with us, so they could help keep me accountable for my behavior. I could have said yes to the dancing but no to the drinking. I could postponed the date until a night Ed could go with us. I even could have done some or all of those things in combination. It's not that I don't want to give Ai'lani a chance. And I didn't know that you could control the output of your pheromones. That would have been nice to know."
Kaelin nodded. A silence fell over them before he spoke again. "I'm sorry for pushing this issue on you. I'm still a bit on edge with Ai'lani here again. Deltan relationships are very complicated," he supplied with a small shrug.
She tipped her head to the side, an unconscious habit when she was analyzing something. "I do appreciate the profuseness of apology this morning, and I can understand how your world kindof got turned upside down with his reappearance. After all, you'd made mental and emotional adjustments to the idea that he was going to be gone for awhile. And I've had just a little taste of how complicated those relationships can be by talking with you."
She paused before moving on, taking a sip of her coffee. "I'm saddened in a way that you have to medicate yourself, that somehow it makes you feel that you are less of who you really are. But on the other hand, I have to applaud you for doing it, because your motives are good - you do it so that other races would be more comfortable in your presence, and can interact with you without the stress of sexual arousal. So is there anything holding you back from pursuing new acquaintances like Ai'lani does?"
Kaelin shrugged. "I've never been that social in the first place," he admitted, finding his coffee very interesting all of a sudden. "And I went through some emotional problems a while back that I never really got over, despite what my therapist says. So, I guess I tend to isolate myself," he explained.
She nodded. It wasn't an uncommon problem, to recoil after a painful psychological injury. "You said that you get along pretty well with your roommate's girlfriend, over there," she inclined her head in the young nurse's direction. Everyone was standing about talking in small knots of people, as they awaited the CMO's daily briefing.
Kaelin followed her gaze. "I do. But I try not to spend too much time with her. Phillip would probably think I'm trying to steal her away and report me to Command for Oath violation," he pointed out. He wouldn't put anything past Phillip. The man simply didn't like him and he couldn't figure out why.
"Ahhh," Bridget nodded in understanding. "Alright then. When are you going to ask me to dinner?" She shot him a wide grin; sometimes it was hard work getting to know people, but she was willing to give it a try. Aw hell, she thought. "And bring Ai'lani - but tell him to tone himself down a bit."
Kaelin let out a laugh despite his bad mood, feeling a little better at the release of tension. "Why, Doctor Stapleton, do you think your husband would approve?" he asked in a mock-shocked, teasing tone.
"Why do you think we're eating at the Box, where he can keep an eye on me?" She joked, sharing his laughter. "Seriously though, I didn't know you guys could adjust the amount of pheromone you emitted, and maybe that will make all the difference. Besides, with you as a chaperon, I'm sure you'll help keep me accountable. You wouldn't want me flirting with your boyfriend, now would you?" She laughed again.
Kaelin's jaw dropped, "He is not my boyfriend. We're just friends," he informed her with a half smile.
"Don't be so serious! I'm only teasing you." She grinned and bumped her shoulder gently against his arm, not enough to slosh their cups.
"I know!" Kaelin bumped her shoulder back affectionately. "How about we meet tonight? I'm having lunch with Ai'lani so I'll tell him about it. And if you say I spend too much time with him, stop right now because I don't think there is such a thing," he said, sipping his coffee.
She grinned, appreciating the effort he was making at reaching out. She reminded herself to be careful - budding friendships like this were as delicate as new shoots from a seed - easily bruised or crushed. Yet with good care, it could flourish and become strong. She sensed that was something Kaelin needed in his life - strong trees to hold the soil together, so that his heart wasn't eroded by the ravages of life.
"Tonight would be great. Ed's working all night, so I'm sans a dinner partner. You two would fill the bill nicely."
"Wow, Edward must be quite a man if you need two Deltans to fill the void," Kaelin teased, giving her a mischievous smile to rival Ai'lani's.
"You don't know the half of it," Bridget returned, a wide grin spread across her face.
Kaelin laughed, giving her sly smirk. "You know, I have a feeling you're a lot less innocent than I thought you were," he informed her.
"Not true, not true. Innocent as the day is long," she grinned, all wide-eyed.
"Oooh...well that sounds promising," he said with a wink in her direction.
She laughed, and glanced at him, in appreciative appraisal. "You're less stuffy than I thought, yanno. You seemed so - uptight before. But now you're relaxed. I like it."
Kaelin laughed, then made an effort to look insulted. "I am never uptight, doctor. I am merely appropriately formal around people I don't know very well," he explained before his face broke with a grin once again. "But, I admit, I have an ulterior motive as to why I want you to relax with me. So...what's going on with you and Murdoch?" he finally asked, hoping it wasn't going too far.
Her merry expression fell like a stone in the unguarded moment. Her eyes hardened, even though she made a faltering effort to regain her smile. "Why... why would you ask?" It sounded lame in her ears and she was sure Kaelin saw right through her dissembling.
"Because...I work here. And I'd like to consider you a friend. And when my friend's locker is found stinking up half of the infirmary, I think I should ask why that happened?" Kaelin tried his best to explain.
"Oh. It was that bad, huh?" She didn't realize the smell had permeated quite that far, and in spite of her lack of responsibility for the incident, she felt embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess it was that bad. After a little while, I didn't notice the smell anymore." Her chagrin deepened, along with the flush on her cheeks. She recalled the moment from the night before, when she realized she herself smelled like fish oil, and it had attracted the Ferengi's attention like a carp to chicken livers. Hmmm. Pretty appropriate analogy, now that she thought of it.
"It wasn't my fault. Seriously. You know how Murdoch can be. He thinks he's His High and Mightyness, and that everyone else should cow-tow around him. Well, I for one am not going to put up with it." She realized her voice had risen and a few heads turned her way. She continued in a harsh whisper, "He was scaring the hell out of a patient who was in pre-op. I confronted him about it and he treated me like a first year med student. Pissed me off. I refused to play his little power game, so he pulled a couple of pranks on me because of it. Changed all my patient records to "Doctor Big Nose", and then did the fish oil thing to my locker."
"Okay. That isn't surprising. Murdoch is a complete asshole. Ignoring him is what I do. He's a great doctor, but a horrible person. So, I just ignore the person," Kaelin rationalized.
Getting it off her chest helped. A bit. She'd already talked with Edward, but his sleepy comments were single syllables this morning. So just hearing Kaelin's affirmation that he felt the same way about the Chief Surgeon was ... comforting.
"That's what I ended up doing - ignoring him. Well, actually I take that back. I ignored him and went about my job with the patient. And that's what set off his petty little pranks. But dammit, where it comes to one of my patients... someone mistreating them gets my 'mama bear' up and I get protective over my cubs."
Her ire was growing again, and so was her tone. She checked herself, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry - I don't mean to be dumping this on you, Kaelin. But I really do appreciate that you asked about it. I am hoping against reason that this will be the last of it, but I wouldn't hold my breath. And I hope it doesn't splash back on you for being my friend, either." She gave him a concerned look. She wouldn't put it past Murdoch to do something infantile to one of her friends in retaliation, if Murdoch continued to think that she was resisting his will.
Kaelin nodded. "Don't worry about it. You just need to relax! I mean, do you think Murdoch actually cares? That some little prank war with you actually gets to him? Because, it doesn't. So you getting all riled up about this is doing no one any good. Especially not you. Don't let inferior people get to you," he advised.
She paused, looking down into her cup. He was right, of course. "You're right. I'm not going to dwell one more minute on this. You are surprisingly sweet, you know that? Ai'lani doesn't know what he's missing." She grinned up at him, beginning the change of mental state with changing the subject again.
"It's surprising that I'm sweet? Ouch." He gave her a pout.
She chuckled in reply. "Very surprising. But pleasant. So what are we going to have for dinner tonight - I'm hungry already. And I bet you didn't eat any breakfast this morning, mister run-down-the-corridor."
Kaelin shook his head. "No, I was too busy trying to get here on time. Ai'lani offered, but the food he eats is really not healthy so I declined," he explained.
"Chocolate fudge muffins with glazed walnuts?" She guessed, thinking of something horribly fattening and high in sweeteners, adding a wicked grin to the suggestion. Only it backfired and made her hungrier just to picture it in her mind.
"Oh hell no. That's one thing Ai'lani and I have in common. There is no way we will EVER eat anything sweet for breakfast. Sweets are for dessert."
"You just really don't know what you're missing, now," she grinned wider, eyes twinkling at the memory of an intimate moment with Edward and chocolate.
"Wow, I am so glad I don't have visual telepathy because those feelings you're reminiscing about are really vivid."
Bridget's jaw dropped open in surprise. "How did you.... what..." she stammered, a furiously red blush climbing up her neck.
"I'm Deltan, Bridget. I'm empathic. I can read your feelings," Kaelin explained.
"It could have been just the chocolate," she murmured, her voice very small. ~I forgot all about the empathy thing!~ Rolling her eyes at her own reaction, she chuckled ruefully. "I guess I won't be lying very effectively around you, will I."
"No. But Deltan's generally don't lie either. At least to one another we don't. We have an extraordinarily open society. Lying and hiding who you are is just...pointless."
"Hmmm," she hummed noncommittally. Usually she agreed and valued truthfulness and openness. But sometimes it was better to keep one's feelings to oneself. If people were able to do what Deltans do, it could cause all sorts of relational catastrophes. "In contrast to Deltans, Humans must seem like comically complicated beings," she mused aloud.
"You have no idea."
::OFF::
Ensign Bridget Stapleton
Doctor (General Practitioner) - DS5
Ensign Kaelin
Pathology Resident - DS5
by (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton
Post Details
| Title | GenMed shift | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton | |
| Posted | Mon Feb 28, 2011 @ 2:05pm | |
| Location | Sickbay | |
| Timeline | SD37 0600 |
The morning had started off quietly enough before Kaelin came running in, nearly bumping into Bridget on his entrance. He quickly grabbed the woman to steady them both, and looked over at the chronometer. "Oh, thank goodness!" he exclaimed. "I thought I was going to be late," he said, finally a smile adorning his features as he saw he had arrived five minutes before his shift began. "So sorry Bridget!" he told her sincerely, straightening out her uniform collar.
She mutely allowed him to do so, still somewhat surprised at his explosive appearance. When he finished with her collar, a small smile curled the corners of her lips. "Good morning, Doctor. No worries."
He gave her an apologetic look that made him appear much younger than he was, showing that despite appearances, at the age of thirty-one, by Deltan standards, that's exactly what he was. "Sorry again, Doctor," he said, mortified that he'd slipped up earlier by calling her by her first name. He looked uncomfortable now, which, again, was what he was.
She felt a bit uncomfortable, herself, and glanced away, embarrassed for his embarrassment. She recalled their conversation the previous evening, and how he'd quipped at her and then walked away, without so much as a goodbye. Maybe social skills were tough for him. Maybe it was his medication. But whatever it was, she still harbored some unsettled emotions, and that made her distant.
After the long pause, she said, "Doctor Adams isn't here, just yet. so it'll be about fifteen minutes before the morning meeting." She gestured toward the hardworking replicator. "Care for a cuppa?"
"Sure," Kaelin nodded with a small smile. "Thank you," he added, going with her to the replicator. "I'm sorry. Again. Okay, I'll stop apologizing," he said all in one quick breath. "I was just worried I'd be late. I only woke up about fifteen minutes ago and had to rush to my quarters to get dressed before running here," he explained.
She gave him a puzzled look, her hand poised just above the machine. "You had to rush to your quarters?"
Kaelin nodded. "Last night I went to see Ai'lani. And I spent the night. Unfortunately, being a freelance photojournalist means you have no schedule, and no alarm to wake you up in the morning. Luckily for me, Ai'lani is a very loud walker and I'm a light sleeper, so I woke up just in time."
The cups had materialized while he spoke, Bridget having remembered how Kaelin liked his coffee. She handed him his cup and turned to lean a hip against the counter. His predicament had softened her somewhat, and the situation made her curious.
"I thought you had a date last night that wasn't a date." It sounded funny in her ears, and she chuckled slightly. "You know what I mean. I thought you were avoiding Ai'lani on purpose, and that he just wanted to be friends."
"Well, I did have a date that wasn't a date," he said with a laugh. "But I just couldn't shake off thinking about Ai'lani the whole evening. I mean, I had a really great time, but I just couldn't concentrate fully. So, when I found out Ai'lani was in his quarters, I went to see him. Brought over some blackberry and banana frozen yogurt, so we ended up talking and I ended up spending the night. And Ai'lani does just want to be friends."
"It sounds complicated." Bridget thanked her lucky stars that she didn't have to go through the dating scene all over again. "Aren't you worried that your feelings for him are just going to grow, the more time you spend with him?"
Kaelin looked down at his coffee for a moment before taking a sip as he seemed to think things over. "I don't know. I'm not worried. I...I like being with him. I guess I'd rather have him as a friend than in no way at all, no matter how cliche that sounds," he admitted.
~If this were one of my kids, what would I say?~ It wasn't that he'd asked for advice. But sometimes the right questions or just acknowledging their situation can help a person think through things. She sipped her coffee and changed position, allowing her time to think. Besides, the counter was making her hip uncomfortable. A bit of arthritis creeping in.
"I can see what you mean about liking being with him," she began. "I just met him once, and I liked him. ...Well, a lot of that was pheromones, but you know what I mean," she waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, it would be hard to be in your position, I guess. It's not like there are a lot of Deltans on board for you to develop intimate relationships with. But, if you don't have some good, strong friendships that keep you grounded and help fill that gap, then it would make you more susceptible to jealousy when Ai'lani goes out with other people."
Kaelin looked down at his cup once again. "I know. But, let's face it, there aren't exactly a lot of people onboard who are comfortable enough around Deltans to be close friends with me," he explained.
"Now wait a second," she countered. "Does Ai'lani have a lot of friends?"
"No, not really. He has a lot acquaintances that he spends more or less time with. No close friendships with anyone. Like I said, people are uncomfortable around me, let alone an unmedicated Deltan."
Bridget nodded. "You're right, it is uncomfortable. I'll grant you that. But I suspect that it's uncomfortable for two entirely different reasons. If you had asked me out last night instead of Ai'lani, I would have said yes."
Kaelin let out a slightly bitter laugh. "Exactly," he said, looking up to meet her eyes. "You're uncomfortable around Deltans. When I'm medicated, I'm not Deltan. Not really," he explained. "It's...a bit xenophobic, to be honest," he said carefully.
"I can see what you mean from your perspective, but part of learning about people is to see things from both sides if you can. Consider my perspective: if I had gone out with Ai'lani, I may have ended up embarrassing both of us. Pheromones are an extremely powerful thing, and they can influence behavior that would otherwise not occur. His pheromones were already driving me crazy, and I'd only been in his presence for five minutes. If you added alcohol to reduce my inhibitions, and dancing to induce my endorphins, there was a chance that Ai'lani would have had to beat me back with a stick. I wanted to save both Ai'lani and myself the awkwardness of that possibility, by saying no."
She shifted her stance to one leg, gesturing as she spoke with the opposite hand. "It's not xenophobic, it's knowing one's own limitations where it comes to certain stimuli, and choosing to censor oneself accordingly."
"Perhaps. But, you could've chosen not to dance or drink and given Ai'lani a chance. Deltans can control the output of our pheromones," he countered, sipping his coffee.
"Oh, believe me, I thought of nearly a half dozen ways I could have adjusted or balanced the stimuli, after I left work last night, because I was thinking more clearly by then. You hit on two of them. I could have also checked to see if there was a medication that would lower my estrogen level temporarily. There isn't one, I looked this morning. I could have asked friends to go with us, so they could help keep me accountable for my behavior. I could have said yes to the dancing but no to the drinking. I could postponed the date until a night Ed could go with us. I even could have done some or all of those things in combination. It's not that I don't want to give Ai'lani a chance. And I didn't know that you could control the output of your pheromones. That would have been nice to know."
Kaelin nodded. A silence fell over them before he spoke again. "I'm sorry for pushing this issue on you. I'm still a bit on edge with Ai'lani here again. Deltan relationships are very complicated," he supplied with a small shrug.
She tipped her head to the side, an unconscious habit when she was analyzing something. "I do appreciate the profuseness of apology this morning, and I can understand how your world kindof got turned upside down with his reappearance. After all, you'd made mental and emotional adjustments to the idea that he was going to be gone for awhile. And I've had just a little taste of how complicated those relationships can be by talking with you."
She paused before moving on, taking a sip of her coffee. "I'm saddened in a way that you have to medicate yourself, that somehow it makes you feel that you are less of who you really are. But on the other hand, I have to applaud you for doing it, because your motives are good - you do it so that other races would be more comfortable in your presence, and can interact with you without the stress of sexual arousal. So is there anything holding you back from pursuing new acquaintances like Ai'lani does?"
Kaelin shrugged. "I've never been that social in the first place," he admitted, finding his coffee very interesting all of a sudden. "And I went through some emotional problems a while back that I never really got over, despite what my therapist says. So, I guess I tend to isolate myself," he explained.
She nodded. It wasn't an uncommon problem, to recoil after a painful psychological injury. "You said that you get along pretty well with your roommate's girlfriend, over there," she inclined her head in the young nurse's direction. Everyone was standing about talking in small knots of people, as they awaited the CMO's daily briefing.
Kaelin followed her gaze. "I do. But I try not to spend too much time with her. Phillip would probably think I'm trying to steal her away and report me to Command for Oath violation," he pointed out. He wouldn't put anything past Phillip. The man simply didn't like him and he couldn't figure out why.
"Ahhh," Bridget nodded in understanding. "Alright then. When are you going to ask me to dinner?" She shot him a wide grin; sometimes it was hard work getting to know people, but she was willing to give it a try. Aw hell, she thought. "And bring Ai'lani - but tell him to tone himself down a bit."
Kaelin let out a laugh despite his bad mood, feeling a little better at the release of tension. "Why, Doctor Stapleton, do you think your husband would approve?" he asked in a mock-shocked, teasing tone.
"Why do you think we're eating at the Box, where he can keep an eye on me?" She joked, sharing his laughter. "Seriously though, I didn't know you guys could adjust the amount of pheromone you emitted, and maybe that will make all the difference. Besides, with you as a chaperon, I'm sure you'll help keep me accountable. You wouldn't want me flirting with your boyfriend, now would you?" She laughed again.
Kaelin's jaw dropped, "He is not my boyfriend. We're just friends," he informed her with a half smile.
"Don't be so serious! I'm only teasing you." She grinned and bumped her shoulder gently against his arm, not enough to slosh their cups.
"I know!" Kaelin bumped her shoulder back affectionately. "How about we meet tonight? I'm having lunch with Ai'lani so I'll tell him about it. And if you say I spend too much time with him, stop right now because I don't think there is such a thing," he said, sipping his coffee.
She grinned, appreciating the effort he was making at reaching out. She reminded herself to be careful - budding friendships like this were as delicate as new shoots from a seed - easily bruised or crushed. Yet with good care, it could flourish and become strong. She sensed that was something Kaelin needed in his life - strong trees to hold the soil together, so that his heart wasn't eroded by the ravages of life.
"Tonight would be great. Ed's working all night, so I'm sans a dinner partner. You two would fill the bill nicely."
"Wow, Edward must be quite a man if you need two Deltans to fill the void," Kaelin teased, giving her a mischievous smile to rival Ai'lani's.
"You don't know the half of it," Bridget returned, a wide grin spread across her face.
Kaelin laughed, giving her sly smirk. "You know, I have a feeling you're a lot less innocent than I thought you were," he informed her.
"Not true, not true. Innocent as the day is long," she grinned, all wide-eyed.
"Oooh...well that sounds promising," he said with a wink in her direction.
She laughed, and glanced at him, in appreciative appraisal. "You're less stuffy than I thought, yanno. You seemed so - uptight before. But now you're relaxed. I like it."
Kaelin laughed, then made an effort to look insulted. "I am never uptight, doctor. I am merely appropriately formal around people I don't know very well," he explained before his face broke with a grin once again. "But, I admit, I have an ulterior motive as to why I want you to relax with me. So...what's going on with you and Murdoch?" he finally asked, hoping it wasn't going too far.
Her merry expression fell like a stone in the unguarded moment. Her eyes hardened, even though she made a faltering effort to regain her smile. "Why... why would you ask?" It sounded lame in her ears and she was sure Kaelin saw right through her dissembling.
"Because...I work here. And I'd like to consider you a friend. And when my friend's locker is found stinking up half of the infirmary, I think I should ask why that happened?" Kaelin tried his best to explain.
"Oh. It was that bad, huh?" She didn't realize the smell had permeated quite that far, and in spite of her lack of responsibility for the incident, she felt embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess it was that bad. After a little while, I didn't notice the smell anymore." Her chagrin deepened, along with the flush on her cheeks. She recalled the moment from the night before, when she realized she herself smelled like fish oil, and it had attracted the Ferengi's attention like a carp to chicken livers. Hmmm. Pretty appropriate analogy, now that she thought of it.
"It wasn't my fault. Seriously. You know how Murdoch can be. He thinks he's His High and Mightyness, and that everyone else should cow-tow around him. Well, I for one am not going to put up with it." She realized her voice had risen and a few heads turned her way. She continued in a harsh whisper, "He was scaring the hell out of a patient who was in pre-op. I confronted him about it and he treated me like a first year med student. Pissed me off. I refused to play his little power game, so he pulled a couple of pranks on me because of it. Changed all my patient records to "Doctor Big Nose", and then did the fish oil thing to my locker."
"Okay. That isn't surprising. Murdoch is a complete asshole. Ignoring him is what I do. He's a great doctor, but a horrible person. So, I just ignore the person," Kaelin rationalized.
Getting it off her chest helped. A bit. She'd already talked with Edward, but his sleepy comments were single syllables this morning. So just hearing Kaelin's affirmation that he felt the same way about the Chief Surgeon was ... comforting.
"That's what I ended up doing - ignoring him. Well, actually I take that back. I ignored him and went about my job with the patient. And that's what set off his petty little pranks. But dammit, where it comes to one of my patients... someone mistreating them gets my 'mama bear' up and I get protective over my cubs."
Her ire was growing again, and so was her tone. She checked herself, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry - I don't mean to be dumping this on you, Kaelin. But I really do appreciate that you asked about it. I am hoping against reason that this will be the last of it, but I wouldn't hold my breath. And I hope it doesn't splash back on you for being my friend, either." She gave him a concerned look. She wouldn't put it past Murdoch to do something infantile to one of her friends in retaliation, if Murdoch continued to think that she was resisting his will.
Kaelin nodded. "Don't worry about it. You just need to relax! I mean, do you think Murdoch actually cares? That some little prank war with you actually gets to him? Because, it doesn't. So you getting all riled up about this is doing no one any good. Especially not you. Don't let inferior people get to you," he advised.
She paused, looking down into her cup. He was right, of course. "You're right. I'm not going to dwell one more minute on this. You are surprisingly sweet, you know that? Ai'lani doesn't know what he's missing." She grinned up at him, beginning the change of mental state with changing the subject again.
"It's surprising that I'm sweet? Ouch." He gave her a pout.
She chuckled in reply. "Very surprising. But pleasant. So what are we going to have for dinner tonight - I'm hungry already. And I bet you didn't eat any breakfast this morning, mister run-down-the-corridor."
Kaelin shook his head. "No, I was too busy trying to get here on time. Ai'lani offered, but the food he eats is really not healthy so I declined," he explained.
"Chocolate fudge muffins with glazed walnuts?" She guessed, thinking of something horribly fattening and high in sweeteners, adding a wicked grin to the suggestion. Only it backfired and made her hungrier just to picture it in her mind.
"Oh hell no. That's one thing Ai'lani and I have in common. There is no way we will EVER eat anything sweet for breakfast. Sweets are for dessert."
"You just really don't know what you're missing, now," she grinned wider, eyes twinkling at the memory of an intimate moment with Edward and chocolate.
"Wow, I am so glad I don't have visual telepathy because those feelings you're reminiscing about are really vivid."
Bridget's jaw dropped open in surprise. "How did you.... what..." she stammered, a furiously red blush climbing up her neck.
"I'm Deltan, Bridget. I'm empathic. I can read your feelings," Kaelin explained.
"It could have been just the chocolate," she murmured, her voice very small. ~I forgot all about the empathy thing!~ Rolling her eyes at her own reaction, she chuckled ruefully. "I guess I won't be lying very effectively around you, will I."
"No. But Deltan's generally don't lie either. At least to one another we don't. We have an extraordinarily open society. Lying and hiding who you are is just...pointless."
"Hmmm," she hummed noncommittally. Usually she agreed and valued truthfulness and openness. But sometimes it was better to keep one's feelings to oneself. If people were able to do what Deltans do, it could cause all sorts of relational catastrophes. "In contrast to Deltans, Humans must seem like comically complicated beings," she mused aloud.
"You have no idea."
::OFF::
Ensign Bridget Stapleton
Doctor (General Practitioner) - DS5
Ensign Kaelin
Pathology Resident - DS5