STF

Peace Offerings

Posted May 6, 2021, 1:19 a.m. by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) (Jennifer Ward)

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Medical Research & Development) in Peace Offerings

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) in Peace Offerings

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Medical Research & Development) in Peace Offerings
Posted by… suppressed (14) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
When she said the guy that had treated her like crap had also been her boss, and that the bastards hadn’t told her before she was ‘recruited, he snorted derisively, but not at her. At the ones who did the recruiting. He was all too familiar with their tactics to get what they wanted… who they wanted. But when she said she wanted to stay, he just nodded and said “Good, I’d like you to as well.” and let the whole thing drop.

He opened the wine and poured her a glass and then himself one. He then leaned and looked under the table at the dog. “None for you. You’re too young.” and reached down stroked her neck softly a few times. “And I’ll make sure she eats, ok?” Kane had always liked animals. It was people he had issues with.

Frigga leaned into the scratches as far as possible, without actually moving away from Alexis. She was trained to recognize and react to distress. Alexis was distressed, or she had been,she was less so now. And she, Frigga, hadn’t done anything about it. But this man was not the cause of Alexis’ distress so Frigga had no problem with him. She stared into his face as he talked like she understood. She nosed his hand as if agreeing. Then, as if no longer concerned, she laid down, head on Alexis’ shoe.

Leaning back up, he looked at Alexis and said “So about those tattoos of yours…” and he gave her a half-smile.

Kane, R&D

Alexis accepted the glass but didn’t drink it. She had taken classes once about wine, just like cooking, dancing, warp core theory, botany, and many others. Simply because she needed to learn something, to do something, to let her mind focus on something to prevent boredom. Though the aroma was appealing she knew she shouldn’t have too much on an empty stomach. For in fact she’d skipped both breakfast and lunch that day. She knew what Frigga’s soft whine had been about, but it surprised her that Kane did as well. Her mind worked that over the training Frigga had received and what she thought she knew about him. He’d worked for NDFD, of that she was certain. Perhaps she had experience with working dogs…He was talking, and her mind had wandered, trying to solve the puzzle. But thankfully she didn’t miss anything, obvious by the fact her face turned a shade of pink. “What about them?”
Lt Bonner

Kane saw the blush. Shes kinda cute when she does that. he thought. “Relax, Alexis. Im not asking to see them or anything.” and he laughed quietly. “Just making conversation.” At that moment one of the bar staff came over and set a plate between the two of them. On it was an assortment of meats, cheeses, fruits, and crackers. “Didn’t know what you liked, so I got a variety to start. I saw you skip lunch again. You gotta be careful with that. Hypoglycemic index will make you miss things in your research. Maybe keep some glucose bars in your desk.” and he took a drink, but his eyes stayed focused on her.

Kane

She made herself relax. This encounter couldn’t get more stressful than how it started. Alexis took an assortment not really giving what she grabbed a lot of thought. “I’m not picky. As long as it has actual nutritional value and is safe to consume, I’ll eat it.” Did she need to put it that way, probably not but that was how she thought about it. She ate a cracker and a slice of fruit. She nodded in agreement, “From a medical stand point you are right, of course, low blood sugar is a concern. Causes all kinds of problems with orientation, balance, the ability to process and analyze. It changes the blood chemistry. Which probably gives off a different scent. Probably how Frigga knows when I haven’t eaten. I know dogs can be trained for such things. To detect high or low blood sugars, chemical changes for seizures, respiration and heart rate changes in cardiac patients. Usually trained for a specific person though. Frigga wasn’t trained for any of that though. I wonder though, each person has a different body chemistry, but the fundamentals are the same…if there is a base scent that dogs could be trained to recognize.” She looked down at Frigga who had raised her head at her name, “You may have to come to the lab.” Frigga huffed and put her head back down. Then seeming to come back around to the conversation. “No food and drink in the labs.” She had gone on for several minutes but hadn’t eaten anything else.
Lt Bonner

Kane listened to her go. Her mind was wholly different than anyone he had ever known… save one. And she was Vulcan. The thought of T’Aria made a shadow cross his face, but was swiftly gone. Kane reached over and put a piece of cheese on a cracker, topped it with a piece of meat, then a piece of fruit. He set on the tray near her and said “Try that.” and the made the same for himself. One of the abilities Kane learned was how to make food taste good. Growing up on the streets of a slum city, you had to do what you could with what you had. Given fresh and tasteful ingredients? Kane could make a plasma conduit palatable.

Alexis picked it up and bit into it. Her brows raising slightly and the flavor. She finished it with a sip of the wine, and then began, automatically, to make another. She liked it.

“So can I ask you a personal question?” he said after he had slowly chewed and swallowed. He took a sip of wine and his eyes searched her for… something.

Kane

He kept looking at her like he was trying to make sense of her. It made her nerves dance. She put her hands in lap and nodded. “Sure.” He said he wanted to know her outside the lab and she’d stayed. But there really wasn’t anything to tell.
Lt Bonner

“How does you mind handle things like this?” and he gestured between them. “I’ve seen it at work… but that’s all you seem to do. Work. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’ve known someone else like that. Just… curious… how you handle it.” He made another bite, different from the first, and set it on her side before repeating again for himself.

Kane

How did she handle it? She hadn’t really thought about it. Did she process relationships differently than other people? She didn’t know. “Are you asking if I recognize that physical attraction is a series of sympathetic chemical responses between two people? Yes, I could even give you the complete chemical breakdown and how it works.” But oddly enough she didn’t begin spouting off the biological treatises on the subject. Instead she was quiet. “If you’re asking if I have feelings, yes I do. I’m human I’m not a machine. I understand the psychology and sociology behind it but it’s not some social experiment. It’s not that I don’t understand or can’t engage in social interactions…” She went quiet thinking. She didn’t have an answer. She picked up the next bite but put it back down untouched. “I have feelings I know why events cause me to feel a certain way. I know why I react a certain way based on those feelings.” Her brows knit together, her mouth pursed in confusion. The question had effectively paused the nonstop running in her mind as she tried to figure out the answer.
Lt Bonner

Kane watched her face as she ran through the gymnastics in her head. He listened… more out of being intrigued than politeness. He watched her as she grew quiet and thought and then he said “Is work all you want to do? Or do you want something outside of that?”

Kane

Alexis sighed. That was how she got into all that trouble with Solis in the first place. “Life should be more than work. I would love that but no one would put up with me that long.” She wanted to shrug like it didn’t matter, but it did. A furry head thrust under her hand and she looked down. “But you do, don’t you Frigga.” She ruffled the dog’s ears. She picked the bite up that he’d placed next to her earlier and ate it. “My mind never stops. Without something to focus on I become frantic going from one thing to the next as they occur to me. They feel like I don’t pay attention, but I do. So…I have my work.”
Bonner

Kane looked at her intently, his gaze predatory at first glance… but there was a kind of questioning that softened it if one looked hard enough. He was quiet for a long time, just looking at her and then he said… very quietly…

“So how about you focus on me for a few minutes? Take your mind off work. I think I can distract you… if you like.” The statement wasn’t aggressive, it wasn’t an innuendo… it was a legitimate offer to help her quiet what he could plainly see on her face. “Or… we could go for a walk and you could tell me everything about everything you see. Either way…” and he half-smiled at her.

Kane

She was surprised, not shocked, just surprised by the offer. She obviously had not expected that, and jsu as obvious she wanted to accept the offer. She didn’t want to walk though and tell him everything her mind went through. The way her mind jumped and made connections wasn’t always clear and her thoughts came off rude or seemingly inappropriate because no one saw it the way she did. More than that though it was too similar to what Solis had done. Letting her ramble and then taking notes on her ideas. She didn’t think that was what Kane was doing but she didn’t want the similarity to be there.

She duplicated the bites he’d made, and instead she chose to focus on him. “What does it say? On the hair clip. I couldn’t see all of it earlier, but it looked like a type of writing.” She began to eat, slowly, keeping her gaze focused in his direction.
Bonner

Kane nodded once in acceptance that she had decided to at least try. He reached back and grasped the hair stay, a hollow pewter cylinder, a pulled it free causing his hair to fall back down over part of his face. “Its Mandarin… old Earth dialect of Chinese.” he added, knowing she probably already knew that… if not actually speak it as well. “It says ‘You Can’t Go Back’.” and he handed it to her. “Don’t worry, I washed my hair before I came.” and he gave her his half-smile. “That was one of the first pieces I made after I… got settled here. Replicators are wonderful things.”

Kane

Alexis took the cylinder and examined the writing. Chinese calligraphy was beautiful and took a lot of effort. The slightest wrong flick of the wrist could change the meaning. She gazed intently at them her mind wanting to examine the characters for such details. He was talking and she looked away from the piece. Even though she would hear him anyway. He’d washed his hair? He was joking, sort of. She looked back at the piece contemplating the effect the natural oil in his hair would ha eon the pewter. Recalling the chemical composition and process to create pewter. With effort she pushed that thought away as well. “She wanted to ask him if he would go back if he could. But he’d already said he wouldn’t tell her about it and the reminder written on the piece she was holding made the question moot. “Do you make a lot of pieces? You like to create?” She flipped the paper over that he’d left for her with their hands and the cards.
Bonner

He looked at the drawing and said traced a line with his fingers. Through the hair , he said “Drawing relaxes me, helps me… get ‘un-angry’, if that’s a word. I draw a lot, but I don’t share much. I usually draw for myself, not others. People tend to irritate me. And I don’t get along with most. I’ve been told my bedside manner is lacking more than once, that’s for sure. Probably why I never filed the documents to become a doctor on paper… someone did that behind my back. I liked being a PA. And I liked Emergency Medicine… I have no idea how I’ll do in ‘Research and Development’, whatever the hell they mean by that. But… we shall see, I guess. Besides…” and he looked up at her, “… I did get to meet you, so it hasn’t been all bad.”

Kane

She set down the bite before actually eating it. The drawing was unique then. He’d given it to her and she had…she chose not to dwell on her misunderstanding. “It’s beautiful.” and it was. He was very talented. It even had exact replicas of his tattoos. She was extremely curious about his tattoos. Her eyes lit up. “You’re a doctor?” She grinned at him, “No one likes my bedside manner either. I adore family practice especially being able to see how my patients changes over time. I was too analytical though. You said someone filed your papers for you? So do you…” She didn’t want to be rude she was just curious. “So you wouldn’t have chosen to be a doctor on your own? What would you have done?” The food totally forgotten in favor of his answers.
Bonner

Kane say back and said “So do I what? Go ahead and ask. And no, I wouldn’t have chosen to be a doctor. I would have stayed a PA. Less.... politics. But it is what is. I did enjoy Ship Tactical Systems Training, though. Maybe if I didn’t do medicine, I’d have done that. Or both. Blow up the bad guys ship, patch up the wounded. It’d be job security at least, right?” and he smiled at her.

Kane

She understood about the politics. “I don’t know how to play the game with politics.” She left it at that. He knew they’d maneuvered her into the work, so no point in repeating it. He told her to ask. “Do you regret becoming a doctor?”

“No, but I regret being good at it. If I sucked, those gray suited jackasses would have left me alone, I bet.” and he chuckled.

Her finger tapped the picture, thinking about the cards the day before. “Same boat, right?”

She laughed, genuinely. Her eyes danced, riveted on him. It was a horrible joke and went completely against a doctor’s code of ethics, but she laughed anyway. “That’s horrible, but it’s true.” Frigga’s head popped up looking at Alexis with dog like confusion and then looked at Kane and the food and back. Alexis patted her head and picked up the bite. And after a moment she slipped at the until now forgotten wine glass.
Bonner

Kane looked at Frigga and said “So tell me what’s up with this dog.” and he took a piece of thin-sliced roast beef and held it under the table. “I know she’s a therapy dog, but why do you have her?” he asked.

Kane

Alexis grinned as Frigga’s tail wagged, thumping against Alexis’ leg, at the sight of the roast beef. She waited until Alexis gave her permission and then very gently took the treat. Frigga was a very well behaved dog but not above trying to get more. She slowly inches her way over till her nose was resting on his shoes, waiting with puppy eyes for more.

“She wasn’t a therapy dog when I got her.” She looked away momentarily, “It’s embarrassing. The counselor on my previous ship made me get her. Said a dog would make me be more present, help me focus on something other than my work. She was right though. Frigga was bored though. So I started bringing her to Sickbay with me. She kind of made up for my lack of bedside manner. She was happier and so I had her trained so she could officially work with patients. She seems to enjoy it, having purpose.”
Bonner

Kane chuckled and looked under the table. “I bet between the two of us we could probably get her to take a whole day off… in about five years or so.” and he slipped her another piece of beef.

Frigga thumped her tail happily in agreement and took the beef. But instead of moving back to Alexis afterwards she laid her head across his foot.

Sitting back up he looked at her. “So has that helped? Having her? You still seem pretty well engrossed in your work. I mean, I did see you walk into the side of the door at the lab yesterday while you were reading and walking.” and he half-smiled again and gave her a wink.

“She does. You didn’t see me before I had her though.” She looked under the table at her dog that was contentedly resting against him. “She takes care of me more than I do her. Sometimes I think she’d be happier with someone else. But I’d be lost without her.”

He made another bite and slid it over as the server cam back by. “So what do you want for dinner, Alexis? Or should I take a stab at ordering and hope I don’t screw it up too bad?”

Kane

Another smile. “I’ll let you order.” She picked up the bite savoring it. Now having eaten all the ones he’d placed in front of her, probably not aware he was keeping his promise to Frigga to make her eat.
Bonner

Kane looked at the server. “Two ribeye steaks, medium rare, baked potatoes with everything but on the side, grilled asparagus and dark bread, please. Thanks” and he looked back at Alexis. “How’d I do? I figured if I missed the mark, I can give the steak to the pup.” and he winked.

Kane

It was much heavier a meal than she would ordered on her own, but she didn’t object. Her mind raced over the nutritional value and then landed on the protein value and then jumped to the protein sequence she’d been manipulating on the 3D imager. He’d see, if he was watching, the difference in her gaze as it flashed back to her work, her attention split. It lasted a moment before she fought with herself and give him her full attention again. “It sounds delicious.” She ripped her head to the side. “Are you bribing my dog?” Then her gaze glancing over the picture. “How did you do that? Pick the same card every time?” She was focusing on him, “Will you tell me about the tattoos on your hands? Or do you just like them?” Her gaze returned to him. “What have you been doing all week? What would you want to research if you pick anything? How did you make the last two cards show up like that?”
Bonner

Kane grinned. If it wasn’t in her head, it had to go somewhere, he guessed.
“Ok, let me see if I got all that. Yes. Years of practice. Also and I’ll tell you, but some aren’t nice.Most I like, some weren’t put on by choice. Studying up on current events. How to make the definitive best cup of coffee. I didn’t, they just did.” and he took a breath.

“How’d I do?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

Kane

That would be a first. No one ever answered all her questions. She grinned her gaze not just on him but she was watching his eyes now. “Why are you bribing my dog?” He said he never drew for other people, “Will it bother you if I keep my picture? Will you teach me how to shuffle the cards like that?” She was building on his answers but she was also asking about things he had said earlier and asking those questions too. “You really think meeting me wasn’t a bad thing? Would you remove the ones that aren’t nice? Or are they important, why? How do you like your coffee?” She reached over touched his hand, “What does this one mean?” She blushed softly at the heat in the touch.
Bonner


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