Unexpected but welcome developments (Part 1)

Posted on Wed Jul 12th, 2017 @ 5:39am by Commander Talia Varen

Mission: A Day in the Life
Location: Various

A tall curvaceous figure in medical blue, paced around the empty primary sickbay. It was low enough census in the area that Talia Varen had sent most of her staff home for an extra day off. They had two patients in the pediatric section, one down in obstetrics, , two in surgery and another two in for routine physical therapy. All she'd been seeing all day was minor minor injuries- a laceration here, a sprained ankle there. She kept an eye on a few people, including her high security patient, who was once again sedated for his own safety. She remained on duty because unlike them she had no one waiting for her to get off of her shift. What was an extra few hours of time in the silence for her? A flicker of self doubt crept through her, but Talia was able to keep it firmly behind her shields, as she took up a watering sprayer and walked around watering the herbs and plants that occupied niches in her sickbay.

Leo had been hard pressed to focus as report after report came in, complaints, delays, staffing issues, one problem after another and Leo was starting to gain a new annoying companion. A migraine.

Being Betazoid on a station was not easy, so many emotions, it sometimes came in strong currents that you could surf and hope they ended soon or bash his way through them. It didn't matter which he chose as a headache would always follow, a risk he new coming to the station would pose but this was an opportunity in his career he couldn't ignore. He looked at the time and saw he had but a short time till his shift ended, perfect time to see Sickbay about perhaps getting something for it and or something to help him sleep better at night.

When he left his office he handed over the reports he'd read which could be filed or sent to anyone else that needed to see them and took the Turbolift to Sickbay where as soon as he walked in he noticed the unusual air of quiet, solitary quiet. "Hello?" He called out to the large Sickbay.

Setting the sprayer down beside a peppermint plant from earth whose scent was quite pleasing. A spiky knot of pain had entered the room, she could feel it through her shields which was quite impressive. When a male voice called out, she was quick to answer "Hello." coming out into view she approached the newcomer. "What can I do for you Commander?"

Leo at first didn't see the voice but then saw the female appear into view. Striking woman he had to admit and one he had yet to meet. "Commander Luciano, Leonardo Luciano." His voice thick with the Italian accent as he held his hand out in greeting. "I hope I am not intruding?" It was always during moments like this, even in his role, that just when everything settles something happens and in this instance....it was him.

"Not at all, please..." she gestured to a biobed that was currently in a 'chair' confirmation designed to support the shoulders and the head. The tension in him, that she could see made her wince inwardly in sympathy. "Doctor Talia Varen." she said quietly, recognizing the name of the XO of the Station "What brings you to my slice of heaven?"

Leo wondered if she was the 'don't touch' types or one of the many people he had met over his long career that didn't shake hands. In a medical situation it was easier for him to shrug it off. "A pleasure." His accent almost musical in flow and tone. "A headache or migraine, or both competing for living space I am afraid."

An absentminded gesture that drew the brilliant scarlet lock of hair away from her face, also had the effect of revealing one pointed ear. Talia had needed the gesture to hide the shiver that had gone through her when he'd begun to speak. 'Be professional!' she reminded herself sternly as she indicated he should sit. "Have a seat and we'll see what's going on?"

'The ears' Leo thought to himself. 'Vulcan for sure.' The ears were not missed by Leo, honestly he should have already known this having read the senior officer jackets when he got on board, so how did something as race slip by him now of all moment. He tried to not let his thoughts wonder, being Betazoid it was not the first time his inward voice had sparked a feeling or two that landed him in hot waters.

That in mind he maintained his mental barriers as best he could, even if his mental state was in chaos. Leo sat down and with a sigh of relief at the remarkable comfort of the chair he closed his eyes for a moment and waited.

The whispering hum of a handheld scanner traced over him from head to foot. Nodding, she set to looking at his neurotransmitter levels. Serotonin and Dopamine were on the low side, but not bad, but the Psilosynine was very high. "Any sensitivity to light, or sound?"

"Bit of both actually." Now that she mentioned it the Turbolift did seem a little bright. His black eyes opened and squinted a little, no doubt because he was partially looking up at the lights at the time.

"Computer dim lights 50 percent." the lights above him winked out, reducing illumination In this pod dramatically. Her dark nearly violet eyes caught his, and held them for a long moment. "Any visual disturbances? Sparkles, rainbows, anything out of the ordinary?"

"No." He replied though he caught her gaze with one of his own. There was a moment of confusion, a Vulcan with those eyes...then it struck him almost like a slap in the face, he remembered now reading she was only part Vulcan, the rest Betazoid. Thus explaining the eyes and ears. He felt almost ashamed by not remember, a steller start to his tenure as First Officer.

"Good." Talia murmured absently, her eyes flickering back to her display. Cortisol and adrenaline levels were high as well, and she heaved a sigh. "Where exactly is your pain Commander?"

"Temples mostly with sweeping waves of discomfort forward to the eyes." He explained. With the added comfort in the room because of the lowered lighting levels Leo began to relax a little. "I hope the day you have had has been far easier than mine?" He asked, his voice, a native trail to Italians was ever so slightly highier in pitch to normal men, he also had to remember that at times he needed to slow down his talking speed otherwise some could get confused.

"Mmm." she hummed in agreement with his question "It's been remarkably uneventful down here today. Your appearance has been the highlight of my day. " Her lips curled upwards in a playful smile as she watched what his body was telling her. "How about your neck and shoulders?"

"Stiff." Leo spoke. "I tried to move about while at my desk reading reports but one turned into another and then it snowballed into more. Before I know it I was sat at my desk long enough for two cups of Coffee to be unfinished, ignored and go cold." He answered her.

"Any vigourous activity in the past 24 hours, exercise, holodeck or sexual?" was her next quiet question as she took a small handheld tool that had a hollow area on the end of a handle. She pressed it to one temple and swept it over his forehead to the other temple. It released a cool mist, that would calm his migraine down to levels manageable by analgesia.

"None, none and...." A slight almost embarrassed delay. "None." A stark reminder that he really did need to get into his usual workout routine every day. His eyes closed as the device ran over his brow feeling the easing effects almost straight away.

Talia's close proximity to him was enough that she felt the embarrassment. "When was the last time you had a proper meal?".

Leo was unaware that his mental barriers were not strong enough to block everything, a joy only the Ferengi enjoyed it seemed. "Proper meal I would say yesterday, early dinner I would guess." Which meant he skipped breakfast. "Half a salad sandwich for lunch today, the rest was joined by the first cup of ignored Coffee."

Talia gazed at him for a long moment and then continued quietly "If you don't take proper care of yourself, these migraines and tension headaches will keep coming back. How do you manage stress in your life?"

"Not well." Leo replied. It was hard to handle stress when often a good nights sleep was stolen from him by the nightmares from his past. "I try my best but it's not enough, the Holodeck used to help, then addiction set in. Took a long while to get over that."

"Well we'll have to work on that." She made a note about a stress relief program for him, perhaps in conjunction with one of the massage therapists. Talia wondered- a smidge too loudly, with attraction coloring her tone if he would think it inappropriate if she were to ask him to join her for dinner.

"I'd be honoured." Leo replied without thinking. Then it dawned on him, he didn't hear her verbally talk and yet he answered. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I didn't mean to pry I just...heard you." A shade of red flushed Leo's face at what he'd done. Any moment now his mind was about to land him in trouble again.

A rich laugh sounded in his head ~That Greek place on the promenade? I get off in 30 minutes~. A hypospray pressed to his neck and hissed delivering the analgesic and caffiene combo that should help ease his pain.

Leo laughed as he explained to her that it was not often he got to communicate telepathically, as a result it sometimes landed him in trouble. ~30 minutes, well if you don't mind, I could wait here and we could go together?~ Leo was slightly surprised by her forwardness, then again his involvement with women was next to none outside of formal events and official duties.

She smiled at him, which transformed her face to a striking beauty that the cool Expression of a Vulcan didn't usually allow. The scanner whisked over him again and Talia nodded. "Pain level now?"

"Much better, thank you." Leo replied with a smile verbally, it was actually good to flex the telepathic muscle again, surprisingly too it not landing him in trouble. The funny thing about Doctors, they are ethically bound to do no harm....they can however inflict as much pain as they like.

A chuckle escaped her lips. "I could be heard by every telepath on this station if I took my shields down, by nature of biology. I'm not surprised you heard me if I wasn't guarding my thoughts.".

"I also sensed how you felt when you thought that too." Leo spoke, hinting at that tone of attraction it held and the wisp of pride he felt too. "Nature of biology." He returned using her words against her playfully.


"Indeed so." Talia smiled gently at him and then took up a stylus to record this in his medical records and cross-check his labs with earlier ones. She was a touch embarrassed that he recognized her fierce attraction to him. He was after all an extremely well put together man.

Leo couldn't help but feel slight surprise at her forwardness from earlier, when it came to duties he was confident in his abilities to get the tasks done but women.....they were something else entirely. Then to walk into Sickbay with a headache and asked out to dinner, while not what he was expecting was however welcome. "So, since I have 30 minutes, why not tell me a little about yourself?"

"Let me get my end of shift paperwork filled and we'll see how long that leaves us to chat". She said with another little smile before she disappeared around the corner into her office. Talia'd never gone from thinking pretty things about someone, to a date so swiftly before. It was a little disconcerting, but they'd mentioned when she was young that sometimes things progressed in unexpected ways.

"Of course." He spoke as he watched her curvaceous frame disappear with an appreciative smile. Comfortable in the dim lit room as the medication worked it's magic on him. He was mildly surprised at the turn of events but he wouldn't complain about it. It was however a welcome change that not only did his mental abilities not land him in trouble but also communicate such after so long was refreshing.

Talia worked as quickly as possible to get the end of shift report done and the update of the commanders medical records. Her stress releif program she would discuss with him at dinner. That was serendipity at it's finest. While she couldn't quite believe that her complimentary thoughts had ended up getting her a date she wasn't displeased with the idea.

Leo patiently wait, enjoying the moment of comforting ease provided to him from dim lights and medication. At times he tried to uphold his barriers, while this one slip may have resulted in dinner with a fine and attractive lady it could just as easily gone wrong and backfired on him.

A smile hovered at her lips as she leaned back in her chair. Dropping her mental barriers just slightly she directed her mind at the Sickbay and was pleased to feel contentment coming back to her.

As Leo sat waiting he looked back on things, how they shaped him into what he is now, what he lost out on to pave the road of his career. He smiled as soon hed be enjoying a meal and pleasant conversation with Talia.

It took her about 10 minutes then she officially handed the watch over to betashift. When she returned to Sickbay she found him with his eyes closed, but a smile on his lips. "Shall we?"

Opening his eyes still holding the smile he nodded. He stood up and like a gentleman offered his arm should she wish it or ready to follow if not. "Lets."

Her eyebrows raised at the courtly gesture, before she slid her hand into the crook of his elbow. There was no skin to skin contact so she wasn't at risk of accidentally sharing her thoughts.

"Im afraid l am still learning my way around, you may have to lead the way." Leonardo spoke as he admitted he would be somewhat lost if he lead the way. "I have not been here long."

"Nor have I but I always scope out the food pretty quickly.". She laughed softly, her freshly braided hair with its streak of scarlet twining through the braid. "I believe humans call people like me...foodies?"

Leo smirked. "Some have trouble understanding me with my accent. They look at me confused but too polite to say anything." He remarked. "As for food....well you already know about that."

"It's like a tragedy forgetting to eat. There can be such delight to be found in a properly prepared dish.". Blue Violet eyes found his and her cheeks darkened softly " Your accent is Italian? This is a place on Earth?"

"It is. I was born on Betazed but my Father was a design architect and a high profile project fell on his desk. Next thing l know a wide eyed young boy is living on Earth surrounded by unfiltered emotions. It took some getting used to." Leo explained as they walked but yet again, her gaze didn't go unnoticed.

"I bet it did. ". She muttered with a wry shake of her head. "Idve been lost. My parents had to use a telepathic inhibitor to get us to speak verbally at all...if we'd been there on Earth wedve gone mad."

"You were the first to speak to me like that in a very long time." Leo revealed hoping it would cause a shock. He pressed the button for a Turbolift and waited.

She raised an elegant eyebrow at that in surprise "Why?". They stepped on to the lift and she spoke the directions "Promenade 2nd level."

"As you noticed in Sickbay I picked up on your thought about dinner, I reacted without properly thinking of my actions and answered. Not only would some people view that as an invasion of privacy but on the other side of the coin, I have no idea if it was me you were thinking about or someone else." Leo replied. "It has in the past landed me in a difficult situation and honestly, my interaction with women has been limited to duties and formal events, nothing more." He concluded which revealed much, which meant Talia was making a great many firsts for him.

END PART I