Lt. JG Alix Harford - Hello and Goodbye
Meri
((Alix’s Quarters, Room 146, Deck 14, USS Khitomer))
Settling in on the Khitomer was going well. Alix had enjoyed the few days exploring Deep Space 33 and checking off the standard list for new arrivals. She’d even taken Amelia up on being her neighbor, which she was sure she would come to regret, but she was trying to do things differently. The Alix of before would have preferred to be closer to Sickbay and further from people. Stepping out of her comfort zone meant letting people into her life and there was one in particular that she knew she was putting off connecting with. It had been a few months since she’d last spoken to Charles outside of one failed call to the Khitomer.
Laying sprawled on her bed, cuddled with Pickle, her huge green axolotl plush, Alix Harford tried to muster the resolve to go and find Charles. The last thing she wanted was to leave it to chance and run into him on duty or randomly galavanting around DS33. She also knew he would have heard of her arrival by now, and didn’t want him to think she was avoiding him.
Harford: Pickle. Why does the universe keep pushing us together? There must be some purpose to it all. ::sigh::
((Sickbay, Deck 12, USS Astraeus))
((3 months ago))
Alix sat at the desk in her office of Sickbay, brow furrowing in frustration. This mission- everything about it, was getting under her skin. Things just didn't sit right but she couldn't put her finger on what it was exactly about the Al-Leyan’s, the bombs, Lael’s involvement. Nothing felt on the up-and-up. Eyes stinging from pouring through notes on her console screen, Alix turned her hair to one side and stretched.
Harford: Maybe signing some orders will give my brain a chance to process.
She reached for a stack of PADDs and began signing… medication dispersal, signature, lab orders, signature, supply request, signature, file transfer, signature, more med dispers-
Harford: File transfer? Hold on.
She grabbed the PADD she'd just set on top of the completed stack and read through it more closely.
Harford: By order of Starfleet Command… blah blah blah, the USS Khitomer… blah blah blah, Requesting the medical file of Lieutenant Charles Matthews…
Her heart sank. Confusion. Anger. Sorrow. A full spectrum of emotions fought for her attention. Without thinking, which was very uncharacteristic of the Doctor, she rose to her feet, palms pressing down against the smooth, cool surface of her desk before grabbing the PADD she’d already signed. Her feet began hauling her through the Sickbay Office Suite, down the corridor, and onto the turbolift all while her mind still battled to process what she’d read and what she was feeling.
((Security Department, Deck 5, USS Astraeus))
It wasn’t until she rounded the corner and burst through the doors to the Security Suite on Deck 5 that she realized what her subconscious had put into motion. A single hand raised to silence the crewman manning the desk and her eyes flitted across the hilariously painted sign affixed permanently to the Chief’s door, paying it no mind. Before she knew it, she stood in front of his desk, face contorted with a whirlwind of unprocessed feelings and all that managed to escape her was a single pathetically confused and choked sounding word.
Harford: Charles?!
C. Matthews: Response
To say their last one-on-one conversation had been awkwardly tense would be a dastardly accurate understatement. They’d almost fought and sort of come to an agreement in the Arboretum that day, but nothing of any emotionally relevant consequence had really been resolved between them. Alix had no right to expect anything from Charles. She had no right to be standing here questioning him, and yet she couldn’t be anywhere else.
Harford: ::passing him the PADD:: You’re leaving?
C. Matthews: Response