"All We Can Ask"

Posted on 31 Jul 2012 @ 9:03pm by Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Chief Petty Officer Lucalin Mrina Ph.D.

2,139 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3, Counselor's Office
Timeline: MD07 - 1700 hours

Lucalin had never been one for putting off the inevitable, so when the memos came in to his PADD notifying him of his needing to report for mental and physical evaluations, he didn't dawdle. A physical evaluation would take time, he knew, because it would mean going through and explaining all his... eccentricities to someone who had a ninety-nine percent probability have having absolutely no idea what to do with his race, even if he had been a perfectly healthy specimen. So mental came first, which was fine. He rather liked counselors in general. Rather, he liked the idea of them. He hadn't spent much time with them, but they seemed generically conscientious and good-willed.

Flim Flam kept close to his legs, trudging along and occasionally bumping against him for some contact. Once he settled into his lab space, he could create a space suitable to her needs, but for the meantime, she had to stay with him. Either that, or she'd shred his bed and whatever belongings his as yet unseen roommate had left out.

His PADD notified him that he had arrived where he needed to be, so he pressed the chime and waited to be allowed inside.

The doors swished open and this time Delainey was right there to greet Lucalin. She wanted to be sensitive to his needs, but not overbearing, so she started simply. "Hello, I'm Delainey Carlisle. Please, come in."

"Hello, Delainey Carlisle," he answered. He couldn't tell what her rank was or even if she had one, but it probably wasn't relevant as she'd failed to inform him of it. Most officers who found that sort of thing important took the time to tell him right up front and that made things much easier. "I am Lucalin Mrina," he returned in the same simple tone as he stepped in to the room. She was right in front of him, he could sense the outline of her, so he kept his face pointing in her general direction for her sake. He never knew quite what to do in the face of mandatory counseling. Rather, he hadn't known what to do the last time, when he'd been sorting through his horror, but the fellow he'd spoken with had had the bright idea to send him to talk to his priests and that had worked out quite well. He supposed they all had their own bright ideas, so he should just let them do their thing. So it was that he stood there, a little expectant, head bouncing a little with a willingness to get on with things, but not entirely sure what 'things' were. Flim Flam, to her credit, had no need to remain stationary and helpful, so she set about roaming the room a little, snuffing at Delainey's feet for a moment before wandering off towards a chair to bury her nose in the seat, purring the whole way.

Delainey had read about Flim Flam ahead of time so she knew a bit of what to expect, but she was still surprised when she was approached. It was not every day she was sniffed in greeting. "Feel free to call me Delainey," she replied in what she hoped was received in the warmest and most welcoming tones.

She turned slightly and added, "I've put a chair about five steps in front of you if you'd like to sit for our conversation? Whatever you're comfortable with is fine. Please let me know if I can assist you." Carlisle was making an effort not to hover or treat the Chief as fragile or incapable, but also to show sensitivity to his unique needs. "Once you're comfortable, I'd be happy to get you something from the replicator if you'd like."

It was a difficult balance for Delainey to maintain. On the one hand, she knew how she would feel if someone treated her as fragile simply because she was human or female, but on the other, she knew Luca had been through a lot just to survive and that physically and perhaps emotionally, he was more vulnerable in some ways. The naturally protective and maternal Delainey just wanted to make sure he was comfortable and healthy in every way.

"Thank you," Luca replied, smiling in response to her inflection. She sounded beautiful; very warm and interested. Any small trepidation he might have felt fled. He clicked a couple times, verifying her directions with his ears and finding his way to the chair. Sitting was a relief, as it always was. A chance to use just a little less energy for a time. "I could eat a flock of mul'tans, but a cream pie or a bowl of boiled eggs would do just as well. Help yourself, too. It's not like I can see you," he added with a wry smile. He turned his head slightly finding Flim Flam by the sound of her pleased purrs as she kneaded the chair. "Is she okay there?"

Chuckling at Luca's self-depricating humor, Delainey replied, "One cream pie and some boiled eggs coming up, and I think some fruit salad with coconut and marshmellows for me." The Chief Counselor's first choice would have been a large dark chocolate brownie with caramel sauce, but she was making an effort to eat better.

On her way to the replicator, she glanced at the small furred animal. "She's not bothering me, but how can I tell if she's comfortable?"

"She barks when she's uncomfortable or upset," he answered, perfectly happy to explain Flim Flam's habits. They were a source of interest to him as well. "I've only heard her do that when she finds herself stuck in one place, however. For the most part, I've found she's quite capable of entertaining herself. And..." he paused, only to listen to the rolling purrs coming from across the room. Then it occurred to him, maybe the counselor couldn't hear them. He'd never truly assessed how much humans could hear as compared to himself.

Delainey returned to Luca with their orders, offering, "I've placed your food on the end table to your left," before sitting down across from him to stir her fruit salad. "I'm curious, how does Flim Flam help you, Luca?"

"Thank you," he said again. Her explanations of where things were weren't entirely necessary, but they did save him the effort of searching too much. He tapped the table lightly until his fingers found the crust of the cream pie. Careful not to spill any precious gooey drops, he lifted the whole of the pie from the table and dipped his fingers into it, slurping the caloric-rich center off his fingers shamelessly. "She is exceedingly useful in helping me map new areas, and reassess what has changed in familiar areas. Bireikara is a nation made of tunnels and our furnishings are carved out of the stone, so things are rarely shuffled around to confuse space for us. On ships - largely, I think, because of the primarily sighted species who operate them - most furnishings and equipment are mobile. People push past each other in the corridors. In the shuttlebays and labs, equipment tends to get left where it was last used. There's a litany of potential trouble I could get myself into. At home, we walk the unfamiliar tunnels singing and humming and there is no problem. However, I have found in my experience aboard ships and starbases that such vocalizations are considered unfit for crewmembers. It is important to socialize and blend in with the individuals one lives with, so I began to seek methodologies for making a smooth transition into accepted Starfleet protocols quite early. I taught myself to sense colors by using my thermal awareness to assess wavelengths. I worked with an engineer aboard Starbase 173 to build a PADD that would communicate audibly and also through raised symbols in the thermoflex screen. And I engineered Flim Flam's predecessor by hybridizing a variety of aurally sensitive creatures from the sector. Ticket was the first successful escalation of the hybrid to lifeform, then I cloned her, altered the DNA and RNA moderately for a hypothetically successful mating sequence, and eventually Flim Flam emerged, along with three other pups in her litter. The hekas - Hybridized Echolocation Aids, do you see? - have modified larynxes, which alternately dilate and constrict the glottis rapidly, creative a possibility for rapid air vibrations during inhalations and exhalation. Flim Flam emits these rapid air vibrations more steadily than her father or male siblings, at a rate of one hundred and twenty vibrations a second, which is far more than I am capable of in my limited capacity as mandated by social norms. She also stays close to me, at a constant level, so I am able to identify more of my path than I would be able to without her. And the purring of an animal is far more socially acceptable than the purring of a sentient lifeform, according to polls I took during my first few years with Starfleet." He licked his fingers. "Does that answer your inquiry?"

Delainey acknowledged mentally that such long-winded replies wouldn't endear him to some people, but she found herself fascinated by the information he provided. She also realized early on that his thoroughness was likely born out of a desire to please rather than to pontificate. "Yes, thank you," she replied warmly. "I get the impression from what you've shared you've worked really hard to be accepted by people. What has that been like for you?"

Lucalin slurped the cream filling of the pie from his fingers as he considered her next question. "Social theory is complex," he asserted finally. "Especially so, since the social protocols involved in Starfleet and by extension the races of the Federation are quite alien to my own. Many of these customs appear to be things one assumes others know and therefore, there has been very little education in the matter with me. And the writing I have found on the subject tends towards the pedantic and unlikely. For the first few years, I made a great effort to sublimate my own social norms to the accepted ones. Now." He licked his fingers clean, considering the point carefully. "Now I simply try not to tread on anyone's toes. I do not know what I do not know and therefore am helpless to alter it." He smiled and held the pie out, "Have you tried this?"

Delainey shook her head with a wan smile, suddenly aware of the in vivo opportunity to adapt to Lucalin's customs. "May I?"

"Please," Luca invited her, placing the pie on the desk for her. "We have a dish like this, in Bireikara, called mruka. The Terran cream pie is the closest equivalent I've been able to find."

Delainey carefully dipped her finger into the concoction and felt her eyes light up from within at the pie's simple sweetness. "Mmm...delicious." Carlisle looked thoughtful as she licked the remaining bit off her finger. "I'd be happy to meet with you regularly to discuss any challenges you face, Luca. I've found it's not life's struggles that make people unhappy so much as the absence of people with which to share them. You've overcome a lot, and though we are different in many ways, I hope you never feel lonely here. If I can prevent that in any way, I'm happy to do it."

Lucalin purred, pleased, then remembered to smile. "I would welcome an opportunity to learn more about your race and culture," he answered finally.

Digging her finger into the pie once more, she smiled in kind. "I've shared my concerns about your service here, do you have any of your own?"

The purr rolled around in his throat as he thought. "Not particularly," he answered after consideration. "I spend rather a lot of time trying to focus on the moment at hand. It is not easy, always, but important. To appreciate the gift of life second to second, rather than worry over what has been or fear what is to come." He clicked a couple times, his sightless gaze twitching like a cat's tail.

She decided that was all anyone could hope for. The truth was, she had more than minor concerns about Luca's service in the fleet, not because of his visual impairment, but because of his other physical vulnerabilities. He seemed incredibly fragile under optimal living conditions and she knew well that conditions never stayed that way. Still, his words were a poignant reminder that no one's life was guaranteed, and if one couldn't live as he or she chose, what was the point? Carlisle smiled. "I understand that more than you know, Luca. More than you know."

[OFF]

CPO Lucalin Mrina
Bioengineer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

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