The Joy of Formalities {Open}

[Ensign Tsalea]

She had arrived on the ship that morning and been given the basic tour and shown to her quarters, now for the rest of her day starting with the mandatory check-up in sick bay. It was just more unnecessary wasting of time, but she wasn't allowed to go to work without checking in with the medical staff. So she exited the turbo lift at the appropriate deck and headed down the corridor towards her destination. It was a place she knew eventually she would visit on enough occasions. Engineers were notorious for extensive sick bay records.

She had already changed into her new uniform and was quite set to head straight to engineering the minute she was cleared for duty. She was more than ready to actually get to work. Of course she kept telling herself to be patient and that things would work out just fine. She'd be to work before she knew it and wouldn't have to see the inside of sick bay for a good while. Well, she hoped not for a good while. She hated nothing more than plasma burns.

She held a small data module in her hand as she paused only briefly outside sick bay, waiting for the doors to swish open. Stepping inside she moved over to an empty bed and hopped up to sit on the edge of it, hands folded in her lap, the picture of patience as any Vulcan should be. Of course on the inside she was practically vibrating with excited and impatient energy. The red of her uniform made the faint greenish tinge to her skin all the more noticeable. Her hair was slicked back into its customary knot revealing her tell-tale ears to any and all.

As much as she wanted to call out to someone, anyone so she could get the last of her formalities out of the way, she knew better. It would be her turn whenever one of the staff completed their current task, and she could wait until then. Her needs were not urgent. While she waited, she toyed idly with the module in her hand. It contained all of her medical records from the Academy as well as from the doctor aboard the Renaissance and even her birth records from Vulcan. All of it was there in a small node no bigger than a walnut. She’d always wanted to take one apart just to see if she could put it back together and have it function properly. While she was thus distracted, she caught movement out f the corner of her eye and looked up as a blue shirt approached.

[Ensign Zilla]

Ugh! What was so great about being a doctor? If you asked that question to Redulio S. Zilla he'd tell you that there was absolutely nothing great about it. His parents had pushed him into that division and because of them he was now working aboard the USS Enterprise helping people identify sicknesses and cure the ones they already knew of. While discovering alien illnesses and disease was an exciting part of some of the medical officer's day it was nothing but boredom for Red. Without the proper motivation for such duties it would not be an exagerration to say that the young man was not a very well ranking medical student. But that by no means meant that he wasn't good at his job.

It was just who he was, he had to be good at everything he did, his problem was that he just really didn't care too much about these diseases or the patients. For nearly three hours he'd been in the sick bay, running back and forth making sure that everyone who came through was being taken care of properly. Dr. McCoy was the Chief Medical Officer so that meant he had other things to do at this time, but he was still overseeing his crew, thus meaning Red had to be on his best behavior. For only a few minutes he had decided to slip out of the sick bay and stretch his legs alittle, as well as catch a glimpse of the more interesting parts being played on their starship.

Red glanced at his watch with a groan, he'd been gone for too long now. e would have to hurry and get back to the medical wing, the sick didn't heal themselves after all. He ran a hand down his face to try wiping his bored expression away, no one wanted a doctor who looked tired. Once Red deemed himself presentable he turned around and headed back to the sick bay. The elevator ride was short, as always, and he soon was walking through the swishing doors of the room. His eyes fell on the closest person, a female. Judging by her ears she could have possibly been Vulcan, or an elf. Red snickered to himself as he approached the woman.

"Hello, Miss. I'm Medical Ensign Zilla, what can I do for you today?" Proper introduction, followed by the request of her business (or sickness rather) for being there. Red stood with his arms folded as he waited on her reply.

[Ensign Tsalea]

She really hadn't been sitting there too long when the blue shirt appeared in her peripherals and she looked up, alert dark eyes meeting those of the young man before her. Taking in his tone and posture, she felt a brow inch up ever so slightly and she held out the small data module in her hand. It was made to fit into a tricorder and download with ease, form there it could be transferred into the ship's main medical database. All in all it was a very efficient process that on some level fascinated her.

"Engineering Ensign Tsalea." She responded in kind to his own introduction, inclining her head to him politely. "I am reporting in to deliver my medical records and get my pre-duty check up so I can be released to work aboard the ship." Her tone was dry, letting on to the perceptive listener that she wasn't the most thrilled about having to wait for someone's approval to go to work. Actually when thought of that way, it was downright degrading to her and she almost scoffed at that.

"I am sure you have quite a few better things to be doing than this. I will be as cooperative as you need to expedite this less than entertaining process. I do not see why I need to be told what I already know, that I am perfectly healthy, but protocol. It is there for a reason, but that does not mean we have to see the logic in it all the time, no?" Returning her hands to her lap after he took the data module, she remained the picture of patience until one looked at her eyes and therein lay the truth. She was just as annoyed at having to go through this as he likely was at such a menial task.

“More than likely I will be spending enough time in here as it is, so extending my visits would be highly illogical.” Rarely was it she had been accused of being logical, but she was Vulcan, she did have her moments. “Perhaps to make up for bringing you such a dull task, I can make it up to you with a game of some sort to make up for the life I am sucking out of this portion of your day.” Her particular brand of dry, sarcastic humor was fully evident in that last statement and she even gave the barest hint of a smirk.

[Ensign Zilla]

Well at least there was an upside to him having to come in and do the boring work that he'd been forced into: his patient was too alien or butt ugly. Maybe it was just that Red had been around humans for far too long and he had a cultural based idea of attractive, and some of the aliens aboard the ship did not meet that criteria. As rotten as that may sound. Seeing this Vulcan woman was enough to put him at some degree of ease at least, and that was goof enough for the medical officer.

He accepted her module with a short nod, eying the piece of technology as he moved across the room. Those things were so highly advanced, it made your trip though the sick bay really quick. Imagine having to provide sheets and sheets of records, or worse; account them from memory. This way no one was hassled with a large work load. Placing the small contraption into the tricorder he waited for the contents to be downloaded into their system. It only took a few seconds. Following the format to register and check all of her pass illnesses or allergies began with the clicks of many buttons. Though he was focused on his word Red could still hear everything Tsalea was saying. Her name was repeated a few times in his mind, to get the pronounciation just right, before he opened his lips. "I'll try to get you outta here as soon as possible, Ensign Tsalea."

She was an Engineer, what were the odds? First he meets a girl who had an interest in engineering, and now he meets one who was actually in that field. Red smirked to himself before turning around to face the woman sitting on the bed with a straight face. It was pretty evident that Tsalea didn't want to be there, that made two of them, she was just anxious to begin her duties. Thats what Red wanted, a career that would have him so interested that he'd rather not waste time with check ups, even if that job meant he'd end up in the sick bay often.

"Surprisingly, no, I have nothing better to do." He laughed at himself, but it was the truth of the situation. He had plenty more hours of doing the same thing to different patients. Highly illogical. Yeah, she was a Vulcan. Tilting his head at a small degree Red eyed her lips, she had been completely stone faced before but now she held a mild smirk. While the machine behind him continued its run through her records Red walked over to her and places his fingers at the side of her neck. "Physical," He explained himself as he tried to feel for any abnormalities. "So what kind of game will you repay me with?"

[Ensign Tsalea]

His reassurance to get her out of there with all due haste was met with an approving nod of her head. He even pronounced her name, well the part that humans could pronounce, correctly. That in itself had her lighten up around the man and relax while she listened to him speak. Hearing he had nothing better to do earned a very slight chuckle. Must have been a pretty dull day. She was sure doing diagnostics all day would have her in a very similar mood.

She started at the sudden touch, even though she had seen him approach and gritted her teeth. This was why she hated physicals. She sardonically thanked her brain for not reminding her of that fact. His hands were warm to the touch and his touch itself was firm, but at the same time gentle as a doctor's hands should be. Vulcans were touch-telepaths and she had to do everything not to read his thoughts as he gave her the exam. Instead she turned herself to the thought of a game.

"Do you play Velocity? I haven't had a decent challenger in far too long." Her voice came out as only slightly strained and her eyes would not meet his just to be safe. "I am more of an active player. The challenge and adrenaline are what appeal to me the most. Perhaps if the chance arises you would be willing to go orbital diving with me?" Both were intensely adrenaline-driven activities, Velocity was a game of wit and quick reflex, while orbital diving was considered pure insanity by many.

Unfortunately she made the mistake of looking at him and the reading came through clear as a bell in her head. “You don’t like being a doctor. It feels menial to you. There just aren’t enough challenges to…” Catching herself, she looked down, brown eyes wide and full of apology. “I am so very sorry. I try not to do that. Last time I informed my nurse that the child she was carrying was indeed not her husband’s. I just….touch-telepath.” Looking back up at him, she gave an apologetic smile. “I hope I haven’t offended you too much.”

[Ensign Zilla]

He didn't want the woman to think he was going to hurt her but with these examinations there needed to be a degree of pressure in his touch. To keep his focus on where he was touching Red kept his eyes off of Tsalea, making sure that he'd catch anything out of the ordinary if his fingers happened to catch it. It had been many years since humans found that they weren't alone in the universe, but Red was still astounded by how similar many alien races were to them. His hands moved slowly to Tsalea's right shoulder and then her left, before gliding over to the top of her chest.

Red wasn't sure what kind of games she'd be interested in, or even if this woman seriously wanted to repay him for 'wasting his time'. A game could be fun though, Zilla would be all for it. "Velocity? Honestly I haven't played in a while now." He looked down at her, figuring that she only didn't look at him because she'd feel weird while getting her physical done. "Raise your arms, please." He would then move on to checking her ribs and her back, making sure everything with her body was in top condition.

Orbital Diving. That peaked Red's interest much more than Velocity did, most likely because he'd never actually done it. Before he could answer Tsalea had turned her head and was now looking directly into his eyes. She spoke words that were true, words that she really shouldn't have known about him, and then she quickly averted her eyes. Red grinned as she looked back at him, her smile a small one. "No, its okay. You're right." The man let out a soft sigh, his hands falling away from the woman's body. "I'm only here because of my parents. They're doctors, so of course they want their little boy to follow in their footsteps." Which wasn't fair at all, but as of now there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"But," His words seemed to pick up as his grin returned, turning away from the Vulcan female to retrieve her module from the large medical processor. She was cleared and her records were now recorded into the ship. Returning to Tsalea he handed her the module, "I'd love to do a little Orbital diving with you." It was clear that she felt bad for getting things from his mind, but Red wanted to wave that off and make her feel better.

[Ensign Tsalea]

Hearing that he wasn't upset with her was a great relief she hated how things like that could hit her and she was not so good at keeping her mouth shut. Perhaps she could ask Commander Spock about that and see if he had any ideas on how to essentially tape her mouth shut. She made a mental note to ask him about it later. Feeling she had to offer something to the situation to make him a bit more comfortable.

"My parent's wanted me to go into the Science Division. I think it is just something parents do. They of course couldn't get me to stay a science console without tying me there and eventually they stopped trying and encouraged me to follow what I wanted to do." She gave him her best attempt at an understanding smile and then turned that into a grin when he accepted her offer for Orbital diving.

Finally someone who was up for a little adventure. She had been concerned that such a thing would not work out for her on this ship. Only a few of her friends back at the Academy had even done the stunt with her. She accepted the data module back and stood up from the table. "Orbital diving it is then. As soon as we are somewhere favorable consider it set. I look forward to going diving again. I have not done it since the beginning of my last year at the Academy. I should be off then as I am cleared for duty, I take it? I do hope we cross paths again soon. I think we might have some interesting conversations."

She smoothed out her uniform and inclined her head to him. “Thank you for your quick and efficient completion of my physical. If I may be so bold, you do make an excellent doctor Ensign Zilla. Should you ever feel the urge, come look me up in Engineering or even the mess hall. I’m currently on second rotation. Peace and long life, Ensign Zilla.”

{Tsalea out.}