Ensign Tess Evinrude - What color is empathy?

[Tess Evinrude]

((The 47 Lounge, Mid-Level, Deck 3, U.S.S. Ronin))

Evinrude: Good idea, we can scan while we walk.

T'Fearne: Your suggestion is logical, but you don’t have to accompany me. I’ve interrupted your meal, please continue your dinner.

Tess smiled, and shook his head. The recent - frankly adorable - sight of her sticking out her blue tongue and trying to talk amplified that smile into a grin. He abandoned his tray of food without a second thought.

Evinrude: I don't mind, you seem to be good company. ::He quipped her own words back at her as they strode towards the stairs.:: And I like getting to know who I’m protecting onboard the ship.

((Time Skip, Sickbay, Deck 11, USS Ronin))

Tess stood next to the biobed as a tall, lavender-haired Antosian nurse on duty readied her medical equipment while excitedly asking questions. T'Fearne had given her their tricorder scans and notes taken on their walk to sickbay, and Evinrude had confirmed with his own observations, as well as the bowl of offending fruit itself. As the nurse, whom he had learned was named Wyla Avae, questioned T'Fearne, his focus was on an internal struggle - "leave sickbay" was currently losing the fight to "stop being weird and stay near T'Fearne."

Avae: What happened?

T'Fearne::: Explaining to Avae:: The initial tricorder scans indicated it’s a fruit of Bolian origin. I know from experience a component in Bolian blood reacts badly to Vulcanoids and can cause chemical burns. But I don’t know anything about what effect their food would have on my physiology. :: Before Avae could ask:: Yes, I’m a hybrid. Vulcan and Betazoid. :: Glancing at Evinrude:: No ensign, I didn’t just read your mind, I can’t do that.

Tess' eyes focused back to the present, and he turned to look at his new Vulcazoid acquaintance. She hadn't mentioned whether or not she had any empathic sense. It didn't upset Tess - she, of course, wasn't required to share that sort of information about herself. But it did momentarily make him wonder if she had picked up on the way he had been feeling during their entire encounter. He felt a touch of embarrassment, and then wondered if she had picked up on that feeling too.

The man hadn't been around many empaths - or telepaths, for that matter - but he took a breath and focused on just...acting naturally. Much like any other type of social encounter, he wanted to project his true self to others, and let them decide whether or not he was someone they wanted around. No need to unreasonably stifle his inner thoughts of attraction, embarrassment, or even his apprehension at entering sickbay.

Avae: Well, you may not be full Vulcan but that doesn’t mean that the same things that harm or otherwise irritate a full blooded member of the species won’t affect you the same way. In some cases yes, it depends on which parts of you are recessive and which are dominant. ::She held up the tricorder:: Now, open your mouth please. How long ago did this happen?

Nurse Avae held the tricorder in her right hand while she activated a small torch in the other and used it to illuminate the interior of her patient’s nose and mouth. Poor T'Fearne was very blue.

Evinrude: Not long, Lieutenant...20 minutes? We were having dinner--well, a meal together, and the reaction began almost immediately after T'Fearne took a bite. A minute or two later, we started our walk to sickbay.

T'Fearne::: Pulling at the collar of her uniform away from her neck:: It was about 30 minutes ago, I attempted to order a Macchiato from the replicator on Deck 4, but it only gave me this instead:: pointing at the fruit:: then I went up to the first mezzanine floor, met ensign Evinrude up there and decided to try the blue fruit.

Tess indicated his agreement with her full assessment, and mentally noted the time of malfunction for his eventual replicator diagnosis. With some inner amusement, he noted that, with this particular replicator, it was now personal.

Avae: This isn’t the first incident involving the replicators. If I didn’t know better I’d say this was payback from Deep Space Nine for the way we left the station. And you should no better, Ensign. If you order something from a replicator and it doesn’t give you precisely what you asked for, you report it and don’t eat the strange fruit! ::she looked at Evinrude:: Did you have any of the fruit?

Evinrude: No, though I did have a few bites of food that replicated correctly, from the same unit.

The operations officer wondered, briefly, if he had also been affected, but leaned back on his knowledge that the replicators had - thus far - only produced toxic results when synthesizing certain recipes. He turned to T'Fearne when she spoke, and noticed she was blushing slightly.

T'Fearne::: Wincing:: You are right. I will be more careful in any case. I did assume the replicators were calibrated to serve safe… :: To Avae:: No, no, what are you doing? Don’t eat that!

Any curiosity at what the Vulcazoid was feeling disappeared as he turned in alarm to Nurse Avae. He opened his mouth to speak, but the medical officer interrupted with a mouth-full explanation.

Avae: Excush you, Enshign? Thish ish perfectly shafe for me to eat. ::She held up the scan comparison she’d just taken of herself by facing the tricorder towards T’Fearne:: I made sure it was okay before I did. Besides, I just spent five days in the isolation chamber with the plague so I understand risk. ::she giggled innocently::

There was a brief, stunned silence.

Evinrude: The...plague? Which plague? Are you alright?

T’Fearne: Response

Avae quickly waved off their concerns with another blue fruit in hand, as if she were a teacher reprimanding with a ruler.

Avae: I wouldn’t be out here when we have an isolation chamber if I was a danger to anyone. I got to test the isolation chamber first and it was really great because we needed to make sure it was working properly and since the bubonic plague is mild I only needed to be in there for a few days and it was so refreshing to be able to infect myself with something even if it was basically just a cold for me. It’s been too long.

Her excited smile quickly faded as she noted the expressions on the faces of the two ensigns.

Evinrude: ::He looked back and forth between T'Fearne and Wyla.:: The bubonic plague, scourge of my species several hundred years ago...is like the cold for you? ::Then he shook his head.:: Actually wait, the more important question here is that you find it refreshing to infect yourself with diseases?

T’Fearne: Response

Avae: Antosian immune systems are considerably robusht. ::She said mid chew of another fruit:: Part of our studies include exposing ourselves to numerous diseases so we can experience the symptoms firsthand. Helps us to understand how patients feel through each stage. But it also means we recover considerably faster than others. Anyways, the swelling looks to already be reducing. I’d estimate that you should be back to normal within a couple of hours. Though you’ll probably have a blue tongue and lips for a few days. Maybe a week...how many did you have?

T’Fearne: Response

((End scene for Wyla))

Tess had learned something about Antosian medical practice that day, and found it strange...but impressive. He was also glad that the nurse's prognosis was mild. As Avae bid them good day and bustled off to, presumably, record her experience with the literal Black Death, he turned back to T'Fearne.

Evinrude: A blue tongue for a few days isn't so bad. ::he said with a relieved smile.:: I remember being a kid on the Astraeus, and an officer who worked with my dad gave me some candy he'd acquired on shore leave. It turned my mouth black for almost a week. ::He laughed.:: Any medical officer who talked to me in the corridors nearly fainted.

The ensign suddenly looked around sickbay, noticing that - for now - no other medical staff were present. The assessment board's words rang through his head again. "Should you be found unfit for duty...

oO "If someone spots me, will I be called in for an exam? Oo

Evinrude: Are...you ready to leave? Thinking of...that candy made me hungry again. ::That last sentence was a fabrication, but his next was genuine, touched with care.:: Oh...will you be able to eat, or does it still sting?

T'Fearne: Response

They strode out of sickbay together, and he walked them a few more paces down the hall before he answered. The decision had to be made, here and now - let the assessment board's words give rise to paranoia, or stop it cold and trust someone.

Evinrude: I...was uncomfortable in there, yes. But not because of you! Like I said, you're good company.

T'Fearne: Response

Evinrude: ::A small laugh.:: No, no, though her Antosian disease resistance is fascinating...and mildly concerning.

By this point, they had reached the turbolift. Tess clearly had more to say, and took a breath.

Evinrude: T'Fearne, would you like to continue our meal somewhere?

T'Fearne: Response

[Tags/TBC]

--

Ensign Tess Evinrude

[he/him]

Operations Officer

USS Ronin

R240111TE1