[sb118-khitomer]Lieutenant Charles Matthews - Optimal Chief and Ultra Magnets!
Shakeel Hussein
((Beta Module, Commercial Sector, Roberto’s Robotic Curios, DS33, Alpha Isles))
Matthews shimmied, wriggled, and moved himself away from the Doctor once he’d freed his shoulder. Turning away from her, he found a cabinet full of weird mechanical gizmos to focus on, and stared at them, trying to figure out what each one might actually do. In the end, with him deciding that they all looked like can openers, he let his head drop with a sigh.
Charles: I’m--- sorry, Doc. I don’t mean to snap.
Ohnari: Charles, I am sorry. Clearly, I overstepped. You would think a Haliian would be better at "reading the room"....I blame the shinies.
Charles: Maybe they’re still there--- the feelings. I don’t know.
Ohnari: I am sorry. For pressing, and for the fact that it still seems to bring you pain. ::sighing mournfully:: I get a little over invested in people I consider friends, comes with the job of asking the uncomfy questions on the regular. More about the burning sensations and why they aren't normal...but that shouldn't be an excuse. Whatever happened between you and Dr. Harford seems to be still pretty fresh.
Lifting his head, he turned to face the Chief Medical Officer.
Charles: To use your analogy, I held the door open for Alix. At the Academy, we--- you know--- and the next morning I wanted to discuss being more. I opened that door and she walked through it, only the direction was out of my quarters and back to her own dorm. When I left the Astraeus, I decided the past stayed with it. I had to…
oO Good God, dramatic much?! Oo
Ohnari: ::rough exhale:: Ouch...that is...wow.
Charles: ::nods:: Yeah. Wow just about sums it up.
Ohnari: ::brightening:: Hey that Torado is pretty cute, right? And she didn't run screaming when you threw up breakfast in front of her, considering she's a marine...that probably wasn't anything other than a regular Tuesday. ::bouncing on her toes a bit:: If things with Alix are good and truly uh...finalized...maybe...::catching the look:: You know what? I think I've stepped in it enough already. ::turning suddenly:: Oh look! Marionettes!
Charlie frowned at the good Doctor mentioning the name Torado. A tiny bit of him was pleased the conversation had diverted away from Alix but talking about Alene wasn’t much better, and this fascination with his romantic life was somewhat concerning. He started to get the impression that Talia would try and set him up with any eligible female on board the ship; despite the fact that most of the time he’d spent with Lieutenant Torado wasn’t even on the ship.
oO So, you vomit in front of someone, they see you get sucker punched by a hologram, you run to an ice cream parlour and have an ice cream together, and that, is in some way, enough for others to insinuate a more than professional or platonic connection? I’ve been doing this wrong for years(!) Oo
He smirked.
Charles: I don’t know a Torado… ::shrugs:: I suppose she isn’t uneasy on the eye.
Matthews let his voice, and the line of conversation, trail off as he watched the grey eyes of Talia staring at something intently. Following the direction with his own brown eyed gaze, he let his eyes settle on what she was focusing on; small marionettes, propped in some sort of display, some wearing Starfleet uniforms and some wearing casual clothing, but all of them looking like the kind of inanimate puppets that would come to life to wreak havoc.
Ohnari: ::whispering:: Why does it look like the eyes are following you...
Frowning, Charlie tapped at the side of his leg, just at the spot where his phaser would be, but sighed when he realised that no uniform meant no phaser.
Charles: It’s… it’s just going to be the mechanics in their heads…
oO Bloody better be or I am off! I am not dealing with possessed dolls. Oo
Ohnari: Oh right...uh...mechanics. Heh. Ooh is that a dancing mushroom! I have got to get that for Ras. Have you met our towering Kressari doctor turned scientist? We just collabed on a replacement hand...and I may have made more than a few puppeteer jokes...
Charles: ::laughing weakly:: I have met Lieutenant El’Heem. The puppet jokes seem a little insensitive…
oO They’re funny though. Oo
Charles: … but if you want to make the little dancing mushroom more accurate, you’d slice off one of its arms.
Ohnari: Response
Charles: I know, right? It seems a little hypocritical now you mention it. I blame you and the crew, it’s your influence rubbing off on me.
With a smirk curving at his lips, Charles continued his jaunt around Roberto’s establishment, making sure to give a wide berth to the creepy, potentially satanic, marionettes that Talia had found just a moment ago. With a step or two around another display, the dolls were out of sight and he found himself staring at some colourful contraptions just in a similar way that Talia was staring.
Ohnari: Response
Lieutenant Matthews leant down to inspect the items closer, shifting his gaze to read the equally colourful display labels before standing back upright.
Charles: They’re something called Transmorphers… Optimal Chief? Megaton. Ultra Magnets? ::shakes head:: It’s junk. Moving on! ::pause:: Actually, wait, are you getting anything specific from here?