A post about nothing

Posted on 26 Feb 2016 @ 12:09am by Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D.

927 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3 - Sickbay
Timeline: MD20: 1400 hours

[ON]

"I guess you just thought I'd never find out, huh?" Olsam said very loudly the moment he rounded into Main Sickbay. He'd been expecting Tuula to be alone, so his eyes were immediately drawn to the patient sitting on the biobed. Panicked, he tried to correct himself, "Yes! Find out about...those... Those new medical tricorders!" He picked up the nearest tricorder off a medcart and shook it in the direction of Tuula and her patient. "Thought you could just keep them all to yourself, huh? Well! I think you know we need to talk about that. In my office. Uh, Allyndra's office. After. After the patient."

"Veri!" gasped Tuula, quietly cursing the name of the overly talkative Deltan nurse. Her little encounter with Jynn was supposed to be between the two of them, and Mott was the last person she wanted to find out. For a brief moment, anger flashed before her eyes. She would have to have a little conversation with Veri, one that would be very painful and possibly involve handcuffs and a bone saw.

"Why, of course, doctor," called out Tuula before looking back towards the crewman. "Drink this, and call me in the morning if you have any persistent discomfort" she said, pressing a test tube full of thick pink liquid into the man's hands. "And next time you order Thai food, try not to order it extra spicy, okay?"

Dejected, the man took a swig from the test tube, the pink liquid absorbing the spicy oils on his tongue and giving him some relief. "Thank you, doctor," he replied as he turned and headed out.

Turning back towards Allyndra's office, Tuula saw Olsam just standing there, staring at her, with a cross look on his face. She let out a sigh as she pushed herself towards the office.

Olsam tried to open his mouth, but before any sound came out, Tuula was already talking. "Look, Olsam, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. It just happened so fast, and it's been so long... I have needs, Olsam. Needs! And after the dinner with the Klingons, I didn't know you felt the same way." She looked up at Olsam with puppy dog eyes, tears beginning to well up. "I'm sorry, Olsam..."

Olsam tried to recall what might have occurred after the dinner with the Klingons but his mind drew a blank, as it so often did. Hadn't they been talking about Saurian brandy or something? The thought sparked the memory of his lovely bottle of 2378 Saurian brandy, sitting back in his quarters, practically enshrined in its casing, just waiting to be-

Olsam gasped.

"You drank my brandy? You drank my brandy! Oh, tentacles and sea tanglers, you drank my brandy! You broke into my quarters, you violated my inner sanctum! Why, Tuula? Why?"

"Relax, Olsam, nothing was violated," replied Tuula, more confused than irritated by his reaction. Though, if he was so upset over the brandy, perhaps he didn't know... and, Tuula figured, perhaps it would be wise not to overconfess.

"I didn't drink your brandy, though I am enjoying that bottle of rum you gave me as a thank you gift for pretending to be your wife for weeks on end." She sighed longingly, fondly remembering those times, at least, as fondly as one can possibly remember interacting with 47 Bolians. "Why don't you calm down and tell me what's wrong?"

"I am calm," Olsam said, huffing and pacing. "Well. Lately you haven't been acting like yourself, so... I conducted a medical investigation. Mostly because Gyce wouldn't let me track your movements. Anyway, I compared comprehensive medical scans to your medical files, cross-referenced them with historical data, and then... I thought to check your sister's files. For genetic comparison." His eyes widened knowingly.

"My sister's files..." Tuula's eyes widened, shocked more at the invasion of Jaana's privacy than her own. "No, Olsam, you don't understand..."

"I'm literate!" Olsam objected. "I understand perfectly well. Mostly." He seemed to waver a moment, became hesitant, and then asked, "What don't I understand?"

"I... don't know," replied Tuula, coyly, hoping that perhaps Olsam had forgotten what he had barged in here to talk about. "What don't you understand?"

"How am I supposed to know what I don't understand if you don't tell me what it is that I'm not understanding, Tuula? I think it's perfectly clear."

"But Olsam," protested Tuula, "how am I supposed to know what you don't understand if you don't tell me what you don't understand? What's perfectly clear?"

"It's perfectly clear that... Well. I think it goes without saying, really, doesn't it?" Olsam asked, eyes shifting from one side to the next. He'd played into the moment with such commitment that he'd actually forgotten not only what it was he'd discovered but what they'd been talking about in the first place.

"Yes, it does," added Tuula, staring up into Mott's eyes. A long pause later, she broke off the little staring contest and sighed, turning towards the office. "If that's everything, I have to send a medical advisory to the mess hall regarding spicy foods."

"That's a good idea, the food has been far too bland lately," Olsam concurred, completely missing the point. He shuffled in place for a moment and then waved a hand with an air of authority, a wave that was shortly interrupted by hand colliding with medcart. "Well! Yes. Carry on, Dr. Voutilainen."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Olsam Mott
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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