Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

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Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

January 08, 2022, 10:55:11 PM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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It was a silly thing, a ridiculous thing, as Alistair returned to his temporary (but soon to be permanent) quarters, but he couldn't shake it. Reflecting on the insanity of the past few weeks, everything that had happened, had started an itch in Alistair's brain. He knew how illogical it was, knew that it was a baseless concern, but the worry persisted. Frustrated with himself, Alistair took a shower to distract his overactive mind, but instead he found himself checking his body anyway.

Is the skin discoloured there? It kind of looks a bit grey in this light...no, no way, I'm imagining it... Standing in the spray, Alistair ran a hand over his face, baffled at his own hypochondria. By reflex he even checked his chest...no extra musculature...well, maybe a bit? Was his phallus bigger than usual? That had been a sign back on Betazed, but he didn't feel like he did then, right? Right?

"Fuck!" Alistair swore loudly, looking upward in frustration as he realised that there was nothing for it. Thoroughly annoyed with himself, Alistair dried himself off and put on his uniform, leaving his quarters in a distinctly sour mood. It wasn't hard to find Sickbay, but when he entered, Alistair just stood there, looking (and feeling) rather foolish as he waited for someone to notice him.

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #1 – January 10, 2022, 06:01:03 AM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

Usually, Sarah would be grateful for another quiet morning, it meant no accidents, no fighting, and nothing malfunctioning enough to cause harm..but it meant she was a touch bored. She'd already finished her patient check-in and had charted any updates, there being only a few this early into shift change, and had sat back down at the nurses' station with a fresh cup of Kava tea as she began the long and time-consuming process of braiding and re-braiding her hair. She had used to hate it- having once upon a time been happy enough to have thrown it in a sloppy ponytail and be done with it, but more often than not her mother would sit her down in a chair and stand behind her as she brushed and braided for what felt like hours. It made her want for the sensation of a brush gliding across her scalp suddenly.

But the pang in her chest drew focus to the fact that she maybe missed it more than she realized.

Missed what? She thought with a sudden hitch of malice to her thoughts. The ice? The never-ending snow? The same five-hundred-odd people that'd lived there their entire lives? Even picking a lover had to be done with charts- like any island that was closed off, you didn't exactly want to kiss your cousin- and the selection of men to choose from was third rate at best.. She gave pause, her huffy internal dialogue interrupted by having realized she'd braided the left loop wrong. She would have to start over. Giving a verbal drag of a sigh, she shook her head clean of her annoyance as she slipped quick fingers through the braid, letting the light blonde waves hang back down as she regathered them evenly. It was an odd sensation to have come up from such a small memory, after all, she'd left Lofoten nearly seven years ago now. There was never any going back, there was no way she'd ever be allowed to show her face on that island again. She was shunned out..so what was the point of trying to remember, or even mourn those memories?

A hiss of compressed air from the sickbay doors brought her out of her musings as a tall Human male approached the waiting room with what looked like great intent and purpose. 'Musn't keep him waiting long..' She thought with a touch of alarm. Standing up with an almost hop to her step, she brushed a quick hand over the front and sides of her uniform dress to smooth it out from any wrinkles that may have formed from her sitting down. Putting on her sweetest smile, she left the nurses' station, quick to grab one of the sickbay PADD's before she did so, and stepped into the waiting room where the tall male stood at attention, apparently waiting on her.

"Good morning~" She cooed politely, giving him a small smile as she approached. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?" ler]

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #2 – January 10, 2022, 11:48:29 PM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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Alistair greeted the nurse with a wave and an embarrassed grin that entirely belied his serious appearance. "Hi!" he said rather too brightly, before wincing at his over-exuberant tone and sobering slightly. The nurse was a complete stranger, just like almost everyone else on the ship, but she had a nice calming smile, at least. "Look...uh, I'm having a kind of weird moment here. Hypochondria. You know, with all the stuff I've been through during the last few days, it...uh...it's playing on my mind, you know?"

Still grinning nervously, he added "I'm Alistair, by the way. Alistair Leavitt. New...uh...transfer, I guess from the Eclipse. I know it's an inconvenience, and you've probably still got casualties to take care of after the battle, but could you...uh...run a few scans? Just to put me at ease? I mean, I know that I'm a new transfer so you...probably...need...to...for the records..."

And it was only then, in an impressive facepalming moment, that Alistair realised he had just talked himself into a full physical examination, his fifth in the past six weeks...or second, depending on the timeline? Had the Relativity been temporally grounded? As it was far too early in the morning for temporal mechanics, Alistair decided that he didn't care. He sighed, rubbing the back of his shaved head, even more embarrassed than before, especially as the nurse looked criminally cute. "I can come back another time, if you're busy. You know, make an appointment. I've got paperwork to do, anyway."

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #3 – January 11, 2022, 01:16:50 AM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

A hypochondriac perhaps, but he had more visible anxiety than anything for sure with the way that he chattered back and forth, talking himself in and out, and back in again to an exam. She watched him with careful eyes as he explained what might be perhaps the root cause of it all, a battle allegedly? That must have been before she has transferred from The Oneida, otherwise, she'd have a lot more trauma patients than she did right now.

"Nonsense!" She quipped right back, holding up a small, pale hand to stop him from talking himself back out of the exam or leaving. It wasn't as if she were doing anything else, and with all the beds checked and the charting updated, it might do her some good to freshen up her skills. "You are in luck, sickbay is quite caught up, so I have all the time in the world for you, Lieutenant Leavitt.~" Her smile bordered on playful as she stepped away from him, her mind made up, and began to head back towards one of the exam beds, gesturing for him to follow her with a pull-forward of her pointer and middle fingers. "Happy to meet you despite the unfortunate circumstances. I am Nurse Sarah..do not bother trying to pronounce my last name- not many people can do it I have found out." She joked with a breath of a chuckle on her tone as she guided him.

A quick pat of the flat of her hand against the biobed wordlessly ordered him to sit on the edge as she jerked a white curtain behind them, cutting him off from view of the rest of sickbay. A few soft clacks of her pink-painted nails on the glass screen of the PADD brought up a new patient file to be filled out at her leisure. She could add less important information as she went, but for now, she would only need the basics for an exam. "So tell me? What sort of scans do you believe you need? Is there something in particular that is bothering you? A certain area to focus on? Or would you like the all-inclusive package and just have me test everything?" Though it sounded somewhat like she was teasing, she was being quite serious. "Do not feel as though you were being over-worried. If you feel something is wrong, I can test you back to back until night shift comes."

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #4 – January 11, 2022, 01:50:27 AM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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When the nurse responded so playfully, Alistair visibly relaxed, his body releasing tension that he hadn't even known he'd been carrying. As foolish as he felt, it was vindicating to be taken so seriously (if also so cheerfully). It only then occurred to him that given all the insanity that the Theurgy had been through over the past few months, such check-ups might not be so unusual. This was no normal starship.

Alistair duly followed Sarah, smiling awkwardly the whole way. He initially stood beside the biobed, but at Sarah's rather insistent pat, he resigned himself to the inevitable and perched himself upon it.

Damn it, I'm 38 years old. I've been in the service for years. I shouldn't feel this weird sitting on a biobed!

Nevertheless, weirdness crept in anyway, and when Sarah asked her questions, Alistair wasted no time answering them, looking her in the eye. "Honestly, be as thorough as you need to be. I had a check-up a couple of days ago, but those were...er...special circumstances. They had more advanced technology than we do, but they were also suffering from temporal psychosis so they might have made mistakes, and it's not like I have the medical report with me. That'd be a violation of the Temporal Prime Directive, technically."

Realising far too late that he was spouting nonsense, Alistair facepalmed. "Okay, long story. Really long story. Sorry." He lowered his hand and looked at Sarah, shrugging helplessly. "I guess the bottom line is that I fought the Borg a couple of days ago. I mean, well, I say 'fought'. They just grabbed me and held me for a while. I want to confirm that there are no nanoprobes in my body, or any other Borg stuff. I know that I'm not assimilated, but the Borg we encountered were abnormal. They might've done something. Sleeper nanoprobes, programmed to only activate and replicate after a certain time has passed or certain conditions have been met. That sort of thing."

Alistair sighed. "Or more likely, this is all in my head and I need more coffee, but it's best to be sure."

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #5 – January 11, 2022, 03:26:16 AM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

Sarah listened intently as Alistair explained his situation, her green eyes focused on his bright blue ones as he rambled. Initially, she had tried to interject with a 'who?' in reference to his mention of 'they had been under temporal psychosis-' but he'd just as quickly explained it away that she felt comfortable enough to nod and for him to carry on. Had she not been informed of the trials and tribulations that Theurgy had experienced in the last few weeks, Sarah wasn't so sure she'd have so easily believed him. "Gods alive, no wonder you are feeling some sort of way." She responded softly, nodding a bit as she encouraged him to finish his story. With how crazy it all has been and with the overabundant proof that they were indeed telling the truth about Starfleet Command..this might as well happen too she supposed.

"I will do a full workup for you. Blood, a tricorder and a detronal scan, a visual exam, and if you are willing, I can put a neurocortical monitor on you and link you the update feed so you can check up on yourself when you are feeling..how you say..squirrely?" She hummed in response, walking past him to grab a tricorder from the far wall. "There is no shame in fearing for your well-being after the trauma you have seen on Theurgy. If a small thing like a monitor would keep you from running to sickbay for exams five and six times, I would even recommend it." Her words were almost in tandem with the hollow 'clack clack' of her heels hitting the metal of the sickbay floor as she walked back to him, though this time she stood much closer to his front, looking down as she programmed the tricorder settings. Though as soon as she started, she stopped, looking up to Alistair with a surprised expression at her coldness. "That is not to say I do not want to see you in sickbay! I had only meant for your inconvenience of having to come down."

Her cheeks dusted a light shade of pink before she physically shook her head as if dismissing the entire thing.

"Ah, at any rate? Lieutenant, before I begin, maybe you would like something for anxiety? The tests could take a good bit for the extensiveness that I would like to go for you. It could make your time here more..relaxing." She tilted her blonde head slightly to the left as she looked up, the pink of her lips pressing smoothly into a smile, though her brows betrayed her as she looked more pitying than anything. "Even if nothing is wrong, I cannot imagine you enjoy the unease of waiting for answers, ja?"

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #6 – January 11, 2022, 03:29:32 PM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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Reassured by Sarah's own bashfulness, and rather liking her accent, Alistair chuckled under his breath. "Oh, that's alright, thank you. I don't mind waiting for answers. I work with time travel. Patience is sort of part of the job description, strange as that may sound." He paused, smiling. "I, uh, appreciate the thought, though. The nurse on the Relativity was nowhere near as compassionate and...uh...I mean..."

Shut up, Alistair.

"I guess you don't have my medical records, and I can't see Starfleet sending them, so I probably would've had to come here anyway." Alistair rolled his shoulders idly, still smiling. "So...uh...go for it, Sarah. Have...fun? Is it fun doing this?" He shrugged. "We can figure out if the neurcortical monitor is necessary afterwards, I suppose."

As he waited for Sarah to unleash what was in her medical arsenal, he added thoughtfully, "So, uh, have you been on the ship long? I know that the crew have been through all sorts of medical weirdness. The Niga pandemic, then that god who made everyone...well, you know, then that evil dreadnought from that alternate future, and the Savi changing so many people's species. I'm still not sure I believe all of it. I can't imagine how you've been dealing with all that."

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #7 – January 11, 2022, 10:36:03 PM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

As he trailed off about his nurse on the Relativity, Sarah gave a small, wordless hum in response, unsure how to feel about another nurse being so hands-off when it came to patient care. Offering him another wry grin, she began to wave the tricorder around his head and shoulders slowly, the soft beeping of the scanner filling the otherwise quiet chatter between them. "It is not so strange..only unfortunate. You know, there is a saying that if you love people- you become a nurse. If you love playing flesh Jenga with people parts, you become a doctor. Sounds like your former nurse should have stayed in medical school a few years longer, no?" She joked. Perhaps a tad morbid, but gods if it wasn't nearly the truth.

Her hand went lower, nothing had shown up on the scans of his head, throat, and shoulders with some relief to her stature as her petite shoulders slumped a bit in a relaxed gesture. "Stretch your arms out for me?" She asked softly, and once he'd done so, she began to slowly wave the tricorder over his left hand, moving inward towards his forearm and biceps, chest, his right bicep, forearm, and ending with his right hand. The movements were slow, not making any excuse for the Lieutenant to believe she had half-assed this exam- though if she were honest with herself, it was also due to her admiring the girth of said arms. Not that she would say as much, she was a professional and would adhere to her code of ethics like it was a lifeline..but she was entitled to private thoughts, right? If he wanted thorough, he would get thorough and she would thoroughly enjoy every minute of it. Though thankfully, nothing else was showing up on the tricorder screen that was of any concern despite her otherwise unprofessional thoughts.

"No sir, no records on file. But I was intending to make a new patient profile for you and would ask questions to fill it out as we went through the motions of the exam as it were. Your situation is very unique, I am sure the CMO will understand the need for a new chart. Though on that note, what is your birthday and where were you born?"

Further down still she went. Waving the tricorder across his chest, ribs, and stomach, stopping only for a moment to circle him and to scan the length of his back as well. "Ah well..it is fun. Perhaps not on the same plane as ice skating or hiking, but it is fun all the same to see new people, new injuries, new bodies. Theurgy has been a wild ride with all three of those- I have only been here for two days..so I cannot say that I have been present for ah..any of that. So 'dealing' with it has been more akin to getting what gossip I can from the other nurses.. But I am open for a story if you feel inclined?" She asked, stepping back around to his front to start scanning once again.

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #8 – January 12, 2022, 12:39:23 AM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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"Khajit Colony, stardate 22567," Alistair said, increasingly at ease as he followed Sarah's instructions. She was certainly being thorough and professional, far more than he'd expected. "The basic stuff is on my service record, at least, and I know the Theurgy computer has that. It just doesn't have my medical data."

As more time passed, Alistair even found that he was enjoying himself a little. Gentleman or no, he was still a man, and being subjected to intense scrutiny by a beautiful woman, especially such a cheerful one, was hardly unwelcome. At Sarah's suggestion of a story, however, Alistair sobered somewhat.

"Story," he mused. He felt his chest tighten at the thought of talking, yet somehow, it didn't seem quite as impossible as it had only two hous prior. Rhys really did work some magic. Alistair sighed and looked at Sarah's startling green eyes. "I guess I do have stories, just not the fun kind," he said, his good cheer dampened. "I've been through a bit lately. Time travel into a post-apocalyptic future wasn't really something I dreamed about as a kid." He paused, then shrugged with a self-conscious laugh. "Oh, who am I kidding, of course I dreamed about it. It was just less fun in practice than in fantasy."

As Sarah continued her scans, Alistair thought back further than he had since returning to 2381. "Well, I suppose...alright. A couple of days after my ship got yanked into the future, crew morale was low. Rock bottom, low. Our XO decided to do something about it, so he arranged a competition, but he made it interesting. Five people could enter, plus him, and they'd all dance in the cargo bay. The person voted the best dancer got a homecooked meal by our chief engineer; he was a real maestro. The worst dancer...well, a recording of their dance would be displayed all over the ship, including the Bridge viewscreen."

Alistair chuckled. "The thing is, the XO, Commander Cak? He was a Xindi-Insectoid. I don't know if you've ever seen a Xindi-Insectoid dance, but it's the most hilarious thing you can imagine. He was doing all the weirdest dances, like the chicken dance and the worm, and all the others were actually taking it seriously. Cak lost, of course, so everyone on the ship got to see him on their screens. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard in my life."

Still grinning, Alistair shook his head. "He did it on purpose, of course. Cak was an amazing XO. Great guy. He saved my life twice. I...I wish I'd known him better."

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #9 – January 12, 2022, 01:47:53 AM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

Sarah supposed he hadn't needed a little shot of something for anxiety after all, guess he just needed someone to talk to. Her expression became one that embodied endearment as blonde brows lifted up and her eyes squinted a bit at the edges, the apples of her cheeks making room for her delighted smile. She nodded intermittently to keep him going as he rambled on about his former ship and crew, even laughing along with him at the idea of a Xindi-Insectoid doing the worm of all things- An Earth dance where they sprawled and wallowed about like a worm dug from the dirt.

"They sound like they are such an interesting bunch!~ Did you join in on the competition as well? You look like you could dance yourself into a knot~" She teased as she settled down onto her haunches, though her knees stayed closed with her thighs swept off to the side as she began to wave the tricorder over his hips, thighs, shins, and feet..though the hip area was a bit awkward, she said nothing to that effect, simply keeping the conversation going so she didn't think about scanning a Lieutenants' privates.

"There is always a chance to meet him again? Just because you are here on Theurgy now does not mean you always will be..especially if you are not originally from this time. You will eventually have to go back, yes? Perhaps when you do, you could take the opportunity to thank him, spend time with him and indulge yourself in his friendship~"

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #10 – January 12, 2022, 02:11:07 AM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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Alistair's pained expression was enough to stop Sarah in her tracks. Even as strange as their position was, with Sarah's tricorder aimed squarely at his nethers, the severity of the conversation overrode any awkwardness. Instead, after a moment, Alistair smiled sadly.

"So...er..." he said awkwardly, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry. I should've been more clear. I'm still getting in the habit of explaining all this; somehow I keep expecting people to just...know, as ridiculous as that sounds." Alistair ran a hand over his scalp and sighed. "I'm not from the future. I'm from...er, the present, if that makes any sense. The same timeline as you and everybody else. A few weeks ago, the ship I was on, the Eclipse, got yanked through a wormhole six years into the future. It's an alternate future, not the one we're going to see, but...uh, suffice to say that it was bad."

After Sarah was done with her scan, Alistair got back to his feet, stepping a couple of paces away before coming back to Sarah. He considered her carefully, hands working in nervousness. "Look, please don't feel bad, you had no way of knowing, but most of the crew I served with are...uh...dead. Or assimilated. I got lucky. I got rescued by some...um, people, and I was returned to 2381, so that I could help the Theurgy crew save Qo'nos." He smiled again, still sad, but with more conviction. "I know that your first instinct is to comfort or offer sympathy, but please, don't. I'm fine. Or, I will be fine. I'm dealing with it, talking to a counselor and everything. Weird as it may sound, I was actually trained for this. Sort of. The Department of Temporal Investigations is a weird place."

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #11 – January 12, 2022, 08:51:25 AM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

Stopped in her tracks was quite a light way of putting it. Sarah was totally and utterly horrified by the faux pas she'd cornered herself into with her big mouth. She'd only been trying to make polite conversation, relaxing him with sweet talk and easy details so that the tests would not have an underlying spike of anxiety that might alter the results. But here she was, likely making any negative feelings he'd had before even worse! She could smack her face if she weren't sure it'd worry him. She watched as he slid off the biobed, her normally smiling lips downturned softly into a small frown..she felt horrible. How could she have been so thoughtless, acting as if she knew what he was going through, or what he even had to look forward to.

"I.. I do not know what even to say. I am so sorry, I did not mean to bring it up but.. I know now and will not do it again. I promise." She whispered, her voice a bit strained as she watched him stand and begin to pace back and forth before finally approaching her. She had to crane her head a bit to gaze at him, he was not as tall as most men she saw, which was a relief in and of itself, but she still felt mousey and flushed under his scrutinous blue eyes. Though even despite his words not to do so, the need to apologize roughly eighty more times still stung the tip of her tongue, she somehow managed to not simply embrace the tall man and beg his forgiveness which, as it sat, was allegedly a given.

She finished her scan and stood back up to her full, if not diminutive, height with a quick sigh, tapping on the screen for a full-body result to complete once it had compiled the data. "We are still friends I hope?" She asked, giving him a wry smile as she waited for the tricorder to beep with its finished result. It was good humor she'd said that, but making friends with someone who obviously needed one was not the worst idea in the world.

A soft 'click' of the screen loading an anatomy chart came on, pointing out only one small issue with a red, bleeping dot. "You have a small strain in your trapezius muscle, maybe from bending over too much? But physically- there is nothing out of shape. You are a fully grown, very healthy Human male~ But just to be sure, I will get blood labs on you.. Will you sit for me again?" Her eyes quickly darted to the biobed, her unease at him looming over her beginning to become apparent as she hugged the tricorder a little closer to her chest, curling in a bit in on herself.

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #12 – January 12, 2022, 09:43:05 PM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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"Oh yeah, we're definitely still friends," Alistair said slightly too earnestly, grateful for the out. He had a sudden and irrational urge to hug Sarah, hating to see her upset, but he quashed it. That wouldn't be appropriate, even if he and Sarah were now 'friends'. They might have only met a few minutes prior, but Alistair found himself taking an instant liking to her all the same. She wasn't just cute; she was impossibly sweet too, as genuine as they came. It was the sort of positivity that Alistair had sorely missed over the past few weeks...and months...

...Years? Had it really been that long since he'd met someone so...bright?

Shaking off the errant thought, Alistair merely smiled back awkwardly as Sarah explained her test results. "The trapezius?" he said with bewilderment, thinking back to a dull Academy classroom of ten years prior. "Oh, the back of my neck. That makes sense, it's where the Borg drone held me during....uh..." He cleared his throat, not wanting to dive down that particular rabbit hole, and sat back down as Sarah asked. "No nanoprobes, I guess, or you'd have mentioned that. That's good to know."

Seeing how uncomfortable Sarah was, Alistair sighed, hating himself in that moment. "Sorry. So much for a fun physical, huh?" He smiled ruefully. "So, uh, what's next besides the blood test?"

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #13 – January 13, 2022, 07:23:14 AM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

At his affirmation, Sarah once again brightened, if only by a small increment. Though her real brightness shone once more to a fuller degree when he'd finally sat himself down on the biobed like she'd asked, and that way they were more or less the same height, give or take a few inches. "Good~ Now, about your Trapezius which is indeed the back of your neck- well, more like between your shoulder blades. But either way it is only a very small strain. A good soak and a massage would fix it. When have you last even relaxed? Nothing else is strained per say but you are..very tense. I do not even have to look at the tricorder to tell." She replied with a slight quirk of her lips.

"After all is said and done, you will go to the holodeck and soak, yes? Bath bombs, bath beads, bubble bath, vanilla buttercream candles, whatever you must do to make it bearable for you to stay mostly submerged in hot water for at least a half-hour..please do that. Whatever your flavor of relaxant is.. No alcohol." She added as an afterthought, not wanting the Lieutenant to end up drowning in a holodeck hot tub.

"But no, no nanoprobes are present..but I will also be doing a visual scan, a blood battery, and a detronal scan. A detronal scanner scans the entirety of your DNA and can find any variables within minutes. Variables that Borg nanoprobes would alter." Putting the tricorder away into her lab coat pocket, Sara headed over again to the far wall to grab an antiseptic wipe, tubing, vials, and a hypospray that looked a bit different from the rest. Instead of a button that pushed inward to inject, there was a switch that flipped backward..likely to withdraw. It only took her but a moment to set all of the supplies on a metal tray, don gloves, and walk back over to Leavitt, the subtle clack of her heels filling the otherwise quiet space between them.

"Are you able to roll your sleeves up past those big forearms" She cooed, her pink-tinted smile returning in full glamor as she set the metal tray next to him on the biobed and began to attach one side of the tubing to the would-be hypospray, while a vial was on the other end, but clicked into place against the hypo. She looked up from her work to gaze at him gently, unsure of how much she liked him being so quiet.

"Not scared of needles, are you?"

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #14 – January 13, 2022, 05:03:13 PM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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The observation about the last time Alistair truly relaxed drew a tiny sardonic smile. "Okay, you've got me there," he admitted ruefully. "I'm not good at relaxing. There wasn't much time for it in '87. We always had Borg ships on our long range sensors, so we were constantly on alert. The Eclipse was just a small ship anyway. No holodecks or anything like that. We didn't even have the water option for our showers."

He shrugged. "Even before then...I mean, we had a beautiful wormhole in front of us. We could barely drag ourselves out of the labs to sleep, never mind anything else. I guess it's...uh...been a while since I've done anything casual." As Sarah began rattling off suggestions for how Alistair could relax, his mind immediately rebelled, visualising himself doing such things...relaxing in a bubbly bath, pleasantly warm candles alight around him...but he wasn't alone. The mental image of a wet and very naked Sarah in that bath tub with him made Alistair wince, and he furiously banished the fantasy from his mind, colour filling his cheeks.

Fantasising about beautiful nurses was a centuries-old cliche among humans, but that didn't make it any more permissible or appropriate. Sarah was taking the time to help him; she didn't deserve to be ogled and fantasised about as she did it. Mentally swearing at himself with considerable viciousness, Alistair kept his mouth shut from that moment on as Sarah worked.

Time passed as she first explained the next exams, then prepared some tools. Alistair very deliberately looked anywhere but at Sarah as she walked away, determined not to satisfy his curiosity about her (almost certainly) perk behind, and he congratulated himself on his discipline after she returned. Sarah's question about his 'big' forearms made Alistair do a double take, and it took him a few moments more than it should've to respond.

"Er..." he said, glancing at his sleeves as if they were some great unfathomable problem, then Sarah asked about needles, and finally, Alistair laughed, his tension broken. "Well, yeah! Everyone should be scared of needles! Who isn't worried about getting stabbed with a sharp metal implement? Plus all those diseases in the 20th and 21st centuries that were spread by improper use of those needles! The development of non-penetrative injections in the 22nd century has to be one of the most important inventions in Earth's history."

Alistair stopped himself then, wincing. "Oh. Sorry. Too much." After a moment's consideration, he shrugged. "Hang on, this will be a bit easier." With that, he unzipped his uniform jacket, neatly laying it on the biobed beside him. The gold shirt clung snugly to his frame but not for long as Alistair unzipped it too, pulling off the shirt and laying it down next to the jacket. He still wore a loose vest, his shoulders and (admittedly) large arms bared, a large scar visible on his right forearm.

"Okay Sarah, I'm ready when you are," Alistair said with a good-natured grin.

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #15 – January 14, 2022, 08:07:48 PM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

It was hard. It was so hard not to stare.

As his uniform coat and undershirt were dutifully unzipped, folded, and laid at the side of the biobed, Sarah took a moment to admire the muscles she had been sure were lying in wait beneath the thick Kevlar-like material of his jacket. She only ogled for a moment before the polite smile she naturally wore pressed back onto her lips, nothing seemingly amiss.

"I was only joking, I know they are not used here. A lot had changed in medicine in just the last hundred years..but where I am from, they still have them. Medicine on that island sometimes, in retrospect, feels a lot like it was more veterinary care than medical practice!~" She chuckled, looking up at him as she took hold of his wrist gently with small, incredibly warm hands, moving his arm outward and exposing his inner forearm. "They did what they could and hoped for the best, but it did not always work out so well." She sighed, her eyes averting from his own as she gave a quick shake of her head, lost in either amusement or resignation.

"But I do miss offering stickers to the little kids. I helped at the clinic before Starfleet on the little island of Lofoten..that is in Norway on earth. I was sixteen..I had almost no training and they let me give shots..can you believe?" She murmured, and without warning, pressed the tip of the hypo into the skin of his forearm. A small click sounded off, and the vial at the end of the hypo began filling with deep, crimson blood.

"Your blood looks good! Very deep, very rich, you must eat a lot of meat and greens, yes?"

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #16 – January 14, 2022, 09:48:47 PM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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Alistair frowned, eyeing the very normal blood with some skepticism, before he shrugged, smiling. "Oh yeah," he said with a dash of playful irony. "Only the very best replicated food and combat rations for me. I accept no substitutes." He paused then, thinking. "And really, if you have the knack for it, why not give shots at sixteen? Training only gets a person so far. I've only known you a few minutes, and it seems like you have a real talent for calming people down, making them feel safe. That can't be taught, not really."

Alistair absent-mindedly rubbed along the scar on his forearm as he pondered. "You know, it's weird. I never thought of communities like that still being on Earth." Realising that additional explanation might be required, he added, "Uh, I'm a colony kid. My homeworld is way out on the frontier. When I was sixteen, I was up on the space station in orbit, trying to make that evil station computer behave. We all thought of Earth as being this shining jewel, you know, this great advanced utopia, and everyone there was sort of...entitled, elite, completely different to us primitive colonists. It's odd to meet someone who breaks that stereotype, but...uh, in a good way, I guess?"

Realising far too late that he was rambling, Alistair promptly shut up, although the friendly smile remained. He realised in that moment that he hadn't felt so relaxed and comfortable in...how long? Before Betazed? The wormhole? The Eclipse? Vulcan? Longer? The thought was somewhat troubling, but Alistair decided to simply enjoy the moment while it lasted.

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #17 – January 15, 2022, 12:29:31 AM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

His sarcasm did not go unanswered as Sarah leaned forward and gave a genuine cackle in response, enough that her small shoulders shook from the effort. Thankfully there was no needle to jostle as she moved. "Oh I do not know! There is something to be said for those curry and rice rations!" Those are not so bad~" She teased. It should be noted that the curry and rice rations are the worst ones and everyone who'd done any sort of field training in the academy knew it. Once the vial had been filled to its brim and Sarah had settled down enough to speak plain she pulled the hypo away with another click as the suction seal broke, leaving Alistair a vial of blood less, but none worse for wear despite it.

"Yeah? You think so?" She asked softly, unclasping the vial of blood out of the hypo and setting it atop a clear monitor nearby with a subte 'clack' of glass on glass. With a few taps of her pink nails on the console screen, a bright blue light shone vibrantly up and around the vial, engulfing it in the ocean-colored light. "Thank you for saying so, Lieutenant~ But you make it easy to be so indulgent. I do not often meet officers with such good senses of humor." She offered back just as jovially. She was quiet as he explained his background, her blonde head-nodding occasionally to keep him going. All the while, she took hold of a detronal scanner, the small black-and-white device shining a purple light out onto the floor as she powered it on with a soft switch of a button.

"Earth is like that in a lot of ways, yes. Good people, plenty of resources, no one is hungry or hurting. They have definitely rounded off a lot of what used to be wrong..but unfortunately, there are still pockets. I would not have gotten the help I did, nor do I think I would have gotten into Starfleet without the help of Earth's powers that be and catchalls in place.. But at least what I have heard, no one thinks of colonists as dirty though..I certainly do not." She replied with a curt nod of her head as if deigning it more true because she believed it to be. "But when you say evil station computer..what do you mean? You were sixteen and fighting an overtaken station computer?"

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #18 – January 15, 2022, 01:15:49 AM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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Alistair chuckled, shaking his head. "You make it sound so much more dramatic when you say it like that," he said with bemusement. "It wasn't really evil or infested with malware. It was just a century old computer taken from an old Starfleet ship. The computer was jammed into a big hunk of metal up in orbit and everyone called it a space station. The thing is, Starfleet computers are the absolute worst for that sort of thing. They're tailor-made for the ships they're built into, which means that if you take them out of those ships and put them somewhere else..."

Alistair paused, thinking. "It's...uh...like if someone asked you to run a diagnostic on the Theurgy's AI core, or asked me to treat someone with third-degree burns. We might be amazing at our normal jobs, but we're so specialised that we wouldn't be too good at doing the other thing. The same was true of that computer. The thing was terrible, constantly messing up simple tasks, reprogramming itself without being told to, giving false sensor readings, trying to go to red alert for no reason. The station didn't even have any alert lights or sirens fitted. The only way anyone knew it was red alert was if all the normal lights went out." Alistair facepalmed at the memory. "Trying to convince that old computer to work properly felt like some huge battle at the time. It seems silly now."

Lowering his hand, Alistair smiled self-consciously as he looked at Sarah, plainly embarrassed with his cheeks flushed. "That's my convoluted way of saying that I was just a 16 year old scrawny nerd who spent his nights in a cramped room on a smelly space station, trying to reprogram an old computer. I still am that nerd, really, appearances aside. It's nowhere near as impressive as what you do for a living, dealing with injuries and illnesses and emergencies."

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #19 – January 15, 2022, 02:04:46 PM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

Sarah could at least understand the basics of engineering, though she wasn't a 'computer person' by any real means. She knew her way around medbay, and could program any scan or test needed on a body, but usually, that was about the extent her knowledge needed to go, anything else was far-reaching out of her scope. As she listened along to his words, and with the detronal scanner now powered up, she took a step back away from the tall male and began to slowly wave the purple light across him, crossing off his body into quarters to scan more thoroughly.

Starting with his upper right trunk, she slowly scanned him up and down in line, the numbers on the screen correlating to strands of DNA. They were going by so fast she hardly was able to pick out a number- but going strand by strand was an excessively slow process, it would be a few minutes before a final result came on-screen.

"It is hardly silly, but it does seem that you have learned your first set of Operations skills in a trial by fire. If not for that stinky space station, how else would you have learned such patience for the finesse of computers?" She offered back softly, her eyes not quite meeting his as she moved over to begin slowly scanning his left trunk.

"There is nothing wrong with being a nerd, though it is hard to imagine you scrawny~" She chuckled. "And my job is hardly as impressive as yours..you perhaps mistake me for a doctor? I follow orders and do as I am told, I do not have the experience needed to lead teams for surgeries or dire emergencies. Though maybe someday that will change, ja? I want to be a combat medic one day."

Her words held an air of a lofty goal, but with her now aligned on a ship like Theurgy, it's a possibility that a specialization like that could fall right into someone's lap. "Forgive me for asking, time shenanigans are not my forte.. But when you came back to the proper time... The here and now. Are you further along in the timeline than when you left? Or sooner?"

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #20 – January 15, 2022, 05:46:32 PM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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As Sarah ran her scan, Alistair listened patiently, rather enjoying the sound of Sarah's voice. There was a nervous buzz in his belly as Sarah moved the scanner over his chest, but Alistair tried to ignore it, focusing instead on the surprisingly engaging conversation. Sarah was an interesting woman, and Alistair nodded in acknowledgement when she mentioned her desire to become a combat medic. Although he hadn't been injured himself during the war, he had often visited injured friends in hospitals. Particularly after a major battle, the front line hospitals had often been overcrowded and understaffed, the floors slick with blood as new casualties were beamed in, the cries of the wounded and dying filling the halls.

Even years later and after everything that had happened lately, the memory of those horrible places still haunted Alistair. He would take firefights with Jem'hadar in wrecked corridors over those awful hospitals any day. The idea that Sarah actually wanted to work in such environments elevated his respect for her considerably. When she asked her next question, Alistair responded very seriously, his belly butterflies temporarily forgotten.

"Further," he answered, looking at Sarah evenly. "The Relativity beamed me back about six weeks after the Eclipse was pulled through time. That day, we were getting news reports that the Theurgy had attacked Starbase 84, and that Task Force Archeron was pursuing them into the Azure Nebula. We were worried that Starfleet would pull us from our assignment to join the hunt. Then I come back to find that there's been some galactic explosion in the nebula, a Borg invasion has been stopped, Paris has been wiped out, and the Federation is now at war with the Romulans."

Alistair chuckled, though without mirth. "A lot can happen in six weeks, I guess." He paused, considering Sarah for a moment as she worked. "Uh...can I ask you a personal question?" he said hesitantly. "As best as I can tell, most of the crew didn't have much choice here. They got caught up in events and had no choice but to fight. You didn't, though. If you transferred from the Oneida, that means you volunteered. Why?" Alistair shifted on the bed awkwardly, painfully aware of how serious the question was, and hesitant to risk the comfortable rapport that he and Sarah had developed. "I mean, there isn't much proof that the Infested control Starfleet. Volunteering is...uh, it's a huge sacrifice. We're all traitors now. Rebels, technically. Insurgents. What made you decide to risk everything and join up?"

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #21 – January 17, 2022, 08:18:00 PM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

There wasn't much of anything showing up on scans red line. The neck strain was likely a little painful but he didn't seem visibly bothered by it- perhaps he was simply used to the ache by now. This was relieving to see however, despite how fast the code was passing by, there were no shots of red-coded DNA shooting by one screen that indicated a defect. Lowering the scanner, she focused on the bottom left side of his body, slowly waving the wand across him as she watched the screen with intently-focused eyes.

"Oh absolutely. It feels like ever since the reports of Theurgy came through- it's been months and months of speculation and rumors, firefights and lost lives. But I think at best it's been, what, a month? At best?" She shrugged softly, not quite meeting his eyes as she gazed at the screen. Though at his question, bright emerald eyes dipped upwards to look at him in a bit of surprise. It wasn't an odd question per say, she'd actually had much of the same conversation with Nurse Vojona. But it always felt at odds to describe her reasoning.

"Well, I-.." A pause. "Hm." She found trouble collecting her words suddenly, switching sides and scanning his lower right side as she found the correct thing to say.

"I guess it is perhaps childish, but it felt unfair." She reasoned, taking a step closer to keep the scanner in range. "You are Starfleet officers, there is no reason why you would go against the grain if there were not an exceptionally good reason to. And I just.. I have friends onboard Theurgy..several of them. I know them well and I believe them. It did not feel right to pass judgment on an entire crew without knowing all the facts, without hearing both sides. And aside from that, Theurgy needed medical staff. There are so many hurt and dying and not enough hands to care for them. What sort of nurse would I be if I allowed anyone to suffer when I could help?" Her normally soft expression changed to furrowed brows and a firm lip line as she worked, the quiet of sickbay dotting her words with a breathless silence.

"I do not have any family on Earth anymore, so even if I did pick wrong the wrong side, I have no one to disappoint." She gave a small smile then, pulling the scanner up and clicking off the light beam with a small click of a button. "But I have very strong gut instincts on people.. I am never wrong, so I am confident in my choice. Are you not, Lieutenant?"

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Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #22 – January 18, 2022, 03:14:34 AM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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Alistair listened to Sarah's answer attentively, reading her expression as she spoke, and he smiled with melancholy at her last. "I envy your certainty," he said quietly, speaking more somberly than he had so far. "For what it's worth, your instincts are dead on. The Theurgy is on the right side of this. I've met the Infested, two of them. I barely survived both times." He lifted his right forearm pointedly, the scar still visible; the wound was less than two days old. "They exist, they're every bit as dangerous and evil as you've heard, and they have to be defeated. Everything depends on it. I've seen what happens when they win."

Alistair sighed, rubbing between his eyes wearily. "Thank you for indulging me. I'm just trying to figure people out, why they...uh, why we choose to fight, and why we choose to keep fighting." He glanced at Sarah with a trace of embarrassment. "I...uh, I signed on to Starfleet for selfish reasons. I wanted to indulge my curiosity about the universe, nothing more. I never wanted to do any of this hero stuff. I'm terrible at hero stuff. I keep looking round, expecting to see someone properly qualified standing next to me who'll take over and send me back to my normal boring job while they save the galaxy. It's not happening, though."

After a moment, Alistair shook his head before looking at Sarah again. "I didn't have much of a choice with this; I was...uh, volunteered, rather than given the chance to volunteer. I keep asking myself, if I had the opportunity to choose this fight, would I have said yes, or would I have turned away?" He paused, frowning. "I think I would have said yes. I hope that I would've said yes, like you did, like so many others have. It's irrelevant anyway, since I'm making that decision every day that I stay here. I do wonder, though."

Alistair winced then in realisation. "Oh crap. Sorry Sarah, I'm rambling. I do that too sometimes, I'm prone to that." Thinking back, he added with an awkward smile, "Uh, you can call me Alistair, by the way. If you like, that is, if you...erm, prefer. It's the same number of syllables as 'lieutenant'. I never like being called by my rank, even when working."

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #23 – January 21, 2022, 08:33:23 PM

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff

Sarah nodded grimly at his explanation of the infested. She had never personally seen them, only heard tales, but of what people were willing to tell- it didn’t sound like anything she wanted to experience first hand. But now that she was aboard Theurgy, there was a far higher chance she wouldn’t be getting that wish. “You are a lucky man. Escaped death twice with no permanent wounds to show for it. But I wonder if the counselor would find anything.” She hummed in response, a quick tilt of her head and a lift of blonde brows indicating she was mostly serious. “You are going to therapy however, yes? I have met Lieutenant Ashby, if you need to start, she is really lovely. I think you might enjoy sessions with her.” She offered, finally putting the scanner down next to one of the medical conns, allowing the screen to connect and pull the information up onto a holoscreen nearby. The data whipped past at lightning speed, uploading with blurs of letters and numbers. Thus far, all the code was green.

“Hardly an indulgence Lieutenant, I have enjoyed the conversation too~ But I wonder why you think it so wrong to be selfish? No one in their right mind wants to die, and if fighting even a losing battle means another day alive, then people will persevere for even the chance.” She replied back, heading over to the blood vial scanner to pick up the results. “Hah, I think the term is “voluntold”, no? Perhaps my opinion is of little use, having only known you a solid, what, twenty-five minutes? But you seem the type to have said yes to this. Maybe you do not think yourself a hero, but you do want to fix things. It is what you are good at. So my logic being sound- fixing..” She made a random gesture with her hand, indicating the ship, the universe, the fight. “-All of..This? Would sound like a job that no other could match.”

She picked up the attached PADD monitor and unclipped it from its charging node to bring it back over to Alistair so that he too could read the results. Though, the results were not exactly as she had expected. Another test or two might need to be run. Scanning the toxicology screen, her brows furrowed once more, her steps back towards him a bit hesitant.

“Your toxicology screen shows you have a positive trace of the Niga virus, though there is not enough to cause a full-on infection. This might be some cause for concern if this is not monitored. Have you had a full case before, Alistair?" She asked, handing him the PADD for him to look over as he wished.

Re: Day 02 [0930 hrs.] Shaking That Itch

Reply #24 – January 21, 2022, 09:51:39 PM

[Lieutenant Alistair Leavitt | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @SarahBerry

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Having listened to (and rather appreciated) Sarah's affirmation, Alistair waited patiently for her to finish checking the test results. He glanced around the curtained area with the same inquisitive boredom of any patient, though Alistair resisted the urge to fidget, feeling faintly ridiculous as he sat on the biobed. He hadn't felt so odd the last few times, but then again, those check-ups had come immediately after major traumatic events. Hell, he'd still had blood under his fingernails when the Relativity medical staff had examined him.

It didn't help his sense of dignity that Sarah was right there, providing an ample visual distraction that Alistair tried hard not to focus on. Even so, he couldn't help the occasional covert glance or goofy little smile whenever she looked back at him. After everything that had happened lately, the death and destruction and horror, he couldn't deny how reassuring it was to meet someone so simply...well, good.

By the time Sarah returned, Alistair was mentally thinking over the report he would have to start writing soon, but when Sarah started speaking, he frowned in confusion. It was a strange mental exercise, to think back before that final insane day on the Eclipse, as if it had been another lifetime ago rather than just a few days.

"Woah," he said quietly, shaking his head. "Uh...yeah, Sarah, I was infected by Niga. I almost forgot, as bizarre as that may sound, with everything that's happened." Alistair sighed, looking away. "The circumstances aren't...uh, that important. I was infected around...er...six days ago, my timeframe. Man, what a euphemism, 'infected'." He laughed bitterly, but fighting his natural instinct to shy away, he forced himself to look Sarah squarely in the eye. "The infection process wasn't complete. I, uh, you know, finished," (he added a weak fist pump for emphasis, looking profoundly uncomfortable) "but I was rescued before the transformation process really got underway. The ship's EMH was able to halt the process and purge the virus from my body because it was so early."

Alistair exhaled. "He said that it was a complete success and there was no further danger. I've no reason to doubt him, really. It's not like I've had any symptoms." He thought back to his worries in the shower, but then immediately quashed the thought. He'd rather jump into the warp core than say to Sarah, "So I think that my penis might be bigger than before. Could you check it, please?"