Posted by Lieutenant Commander Collin Harding (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay

Posted by Ensign Stargazer (Security Officer) in Sickbay

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Collin Harding (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻 Posted 18 June 2018 - 9:14pm by Lt. Cmdr. Collin Harding (Chief Medical Officer) (Charles Gilmore) <snip> : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Star growled out something that sounded like he was speaking a strange language, he was, but curses. Might raise the hair on Harding’s neck because of the growling, that instinctive alarm to being near a predator. “Wonderful…lets get that over with first Yes? I apologize in advanced if my claws score the bed or if I hurt your ears.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Collin did his best to suppress his evolutionary response to the Ensign’s growl. His Earthly propagation mixed with his African upbringing to make him rather wary of angry large felines. For a moment he pondered medicating Stargazer, but it really was unnecessary and medical ethics were pretty clearly against the unnecessary use of medication. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “The bed can be fixed. My face cannot, so feel free to target the bed with your claws,” he joked. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “Where I come from, hurting healers is the highest taboo, trust me…I know better and would prefer not to be cursed.” He said with a smirk. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : His blood would be an interesting study as well, antibodies for all sorts of things from, what would look like poisons to sickness drifted around, most of which would be unknown to the computer. The way his bones and muscles worked allowed him to walk upright or on all fours, which meant that till his shoulder healed he would basically have to limp around upright for a bit. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : —Star : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Collin moved swiftly. One hand just above the Ensign’s elbow, the other behind his head, and then a quick pop. The pain would be shooting and intense, but subside within seconds leaving a dull ache. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Star snarled loudly, baring his quite pointy and lethal pearly white teeth, the sound of tearing fabric could be heard and his claws flexed in the hand of the arm he was putting back where it belonged. However, unlike a wild animal he didn’t lash out at the one trying to heal him. He panted a little and licked his nose anxiously, his long tail flicking as he looked the man over as best he could to make absolutely sure he hadn’t done anything he’d regret. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “Alright, that was the hard part,” Collin said as he motioned over a nurse to place a sling. “Now to your ankle.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Harding, CMO : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Star sighed with relief “Just bind it with some firm bandage, or give it to me and I can do it. Something to blunt the teeth gnawing on my body would be fantastic and a hot spring… The last I know is an impossibility, but one could wish, right?” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : —Star : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “I can do you one better. This may not feel like a hot spring, in fact, if anything it will feel cooling, but it will dramatically accelerate the healing of the tendon in your ankle. As long as you don’t run and jump for the next 24 hours, you should be good.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “I plan to be resting as much as possible, so no leaping or jumping till I get the green from you.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : The small device Collin held in his hand emitted a soft, blue light over Star’s ankle. The whole procedure would take about five minutes, so Collin asked a question of the utmost importance. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “You say hurting healers on your planet carries some form of curse? It sounds like doctors are almost revered. I’d sure love to hear more about that and any thoughts you may have for evangelizing those beliefs to the rest of the Federation.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Harding, CMO : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Star made a sound part sigh and part purr “Mmrr, yes. Just because you heal us, doesn’t mean you have to be nice, you just don’t cause ‘harm’. Our healers have a similar duty to do no harm. So say you make a healing drink, well, it doesn’t have to taste good…in fact, if you were say…passionate enough in your ire, you might make it taste absolutely vile. That, is the curse you see. Besides that, you know how to put us back together, you know all the ways it can be done and thus you can make bed rest or things take a very long time. Healers and cooks are very highly praised in my culture as well as mothers, for a lot of the same reasons.” : : : : : : : : : : : : So there was an element of fear. Collin could live with that. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Star was much more relaxed and content with his lot in life now that the pain was gone. “As for how to make it stick, start with the children. Children have big imaginations and are the best to train when it comes to childhood mischief. You cannot do much with adults except make them rue being a pain in the tail, eventually…it will stick.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : —Star : : : : : : : : : : : : “Ah, true, it’s good to start with the kids,” he mused. “I’ll keep that in mind Ensign. As to your own recuperation. No need for bed rest, I promise. And I won’t drag it out any longer than is necessary. Be aware of it for the next 24 to 48 hours. Don’t stress your ankle, and it should be fine.” : : : : : : : : : : : : Harding, CMO : : : : : : : : : : Star grinned “I know, I’ve not done anything to warrant it. You’ll have children soon enough, a ship like this encourages breeding, it is a pity the famlies and children from the refugees won’t be staying with us. It is good to hear the laughter of children in the halls.” : : : : : : : : : : —S : : : : : : : : Collin grimaced, “Did you spend much time in the Cargo Bay? One child’s laughter is cute, I suppose, but a cavernous cacophany? Not my favorite experience.” : : : : : : : : Harding, CMO : : : : : : Star laughed and grinned “Oh yes, I did, seems I have a way with young things and managed to provide a worthwhile distraction. I used to mind my siblings back home, though by now they are not still nursing at the teat. Being unique has its advantages, even if you spend a lot of your time willing to give up anything to be anything but. Besides, being able to growl has quite an effect on them and they tend you mind you expertly, the group I watch over is a pack of smart kits, they…sadly are orphans. I do not have a mate so I do not consider the idea of adoption, but…they make me wish I could take in the whole lot of them.” : : : : : : —Star : : : : —Casually claws— : : Collin laughed at the thought of growling, “I imagine growling does help keep the kiddos in line. My own mother had a pretty good growl, although she’d probably be offended to hear me describe her that way. Tell me more about the pack you watch over. Orphans?” : : Harding, CMO Star made a purr of pleasure “Mothers are both kind and terrifying, it is only right she would be so.” He sighed softly his green eyes seeming to look past the doctor “Miki, Jessian, Fallar and Rik. The four of them together had been a mess of mischief with the other watchers on duty. I got saddled with them because I was the only one who hadn’t done a shift down there and they tried to pull a joke on me by giving me a group that they considered difficult. The boys just miss their families and misbehave because they look at the adults who are unfamiliar as trying to take their places, which isn’t true. Yes, they need eyes on them and yes, they do need discipline, but once I explained the distinction between what we are doing and what they had with their family they stopped acting out trying to rebel against what they saw as an invasion.” The feline Ensign chuckled “They are all the same age, all eight. I take them to the holodeck when on duty because they need something to focus on so… I teach them to track, to hunt, things my father taught me when I was younger. Gives them something to concentrate on and I slip in other kinds of lessons too, the sim is part school, part hunting lessons. You can’t keep a child sitting in a chair if they aren’t suited to keeping still and they have the worst case of the squirmies I’ve ever seen in humans. I just… Well, I’ve grown attached to them.” Collin followed the Ensign’s description with a mix of awe and trepidation. The thought of one unruly child caused him a level of anxiety he didn’t appreciate. The thought of eight bordered on terrifying. It was going to be hard to see them go, much heartache on all sides and he worried they would go where the adults couldn’t adapt to their uniqueness. The sim he had come up with played to their strengths as a whole, adapting so that things got gradually harder in lesson and game. “Are you and your mate considering children Doctor?” —Star
Collin glanced away for a moment, a pause hanging in the air as he transitioned from Star’s story, to how he could frame his own. He thought the simplest answer to be the best.

“I’m not married.”

Harding, CMO

OOC: Not yet! LOL!

Star blinked and then shrugged “I forget you humans make the distinction between things differently. To my kind, mate and paramour are one in the same. We are a monogamous species, but whether you share a bed for a little and whether you decide to keep together and have offspring, love is love to us. I am sorry if I ruffled your fur…”

He didn’t mean to poke his nose where it might get nipped, so he felt bad and apologized for it.

—Star

“No fur ruffled. I promise.”

Collin knew that were he dating anyone other than Shirazi his response would have been different. He wasn’t used to having a relationship with political necessities, but he understood and respected them.

“Honestly, I don’t mind your way of looking at things. Marriage is important to most humans but it isn’t the end goal for everyone. It is a way to make a promise. A big promise. Haven’t had the luck there yet.”

Harding, CMO

Star’s whiskers twitched, a light smirk “Count your blessings then Doctor, at least in regards to the galaxy as a whole, you have far more possibilities of finding that person than I who is far away from his own kind. Honestly, I am rather jealous some. Truth be, I would settle for a simple companion at the very least even if I didn’t share my furs.”

—Star

Collin wondered if he would feel the same in Star’s situation. While interspecies relationships were hardly abnormal, after all Shirazi wasn’t human, there were certain species more closely related to each other.

“Friendships are one thing, but I can’t say I’d feel complete without a romantic impulse. How long have you been away from your people?”

Harding, CMO

Star sighed softly “It feels like thousands of years, but it has merely been a decade or so. I have had a paramour or two, but…nothing lasting, which doesn’t satisfy and thus I stopped taking the invitations. I seek a mate, not a lover and when most are only interested in the exotic.”

—Star