[Alexei, Exposition time.]
The door chimed, and the doctor walked in. Alexei steeled himself slightly for more tests to be ordered, and his tail started to flick nervously. He probably didn't need to worry overmuch, but it was still there in the back of his mind. He was willing to help, no doubt about that, but he couldn't shake the doctor's introduction at the party. Though, in retrospect, he was glad that it was the doctor that approached him first. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation with Zolar in the slightest.
"Good morning, Alexei. I trust that your physical exam went smoothly?" Keller asked with an air of informality.
"Yes, sir. You have a great staff here," Alexei said, truthfully, ears up.
"Good, I'm glad to hear that. T'Shara is one of our finest staff members here. It's why I could entrust her with handling the operation of this clinic while I await the arrival of a new MO." the doctor said, simply.
"Anyway, in know your time is valuable and you're probably wondering why I've kept you here," he said, judging by the Caitian's slight discomfort. "I just wanted to take a moment to clear the air between you and I and all of this nonsense about some mother needing help with a child that you have not even met before, and why people around here, including me I must admit, have been seeking you out in particular even though you just got here," he said, trying to make light of the awkward first few days Alexei had probably gone through.
Alexei
did have to admit that the last couple days had been more than a little awkward, but he also was in a unique position to assist, and could do so with virtually no harm to himself. He would be remiss to deny that service to someone who was apparently a very confused mother, and he had resolved to help in what ways that he could. Still, the doctor was offering some useful information, both about the state of the station, and the state of the woman and child that he was to help, so he listened intently.
It began on the station, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. They'd gotten word of a lost bynar vessel, and had sent their attached vessel out to find it before the Romulans did, apparently leaving themselves open to an alien incursion, and infecting a number of their crew. "...One of the infected, the Security Chief Ra'zii, died a horrid, painful death - right in front of my eyes, and there wasn't a thing I could've done about it..." The doctor looked down for a moment, in thought, and Alexei noticed Keller's right hand forming a fist.
Alexei reached out to touch the doctor's shoulder, but pulled back as his hand left his legs. Though he wanted to comfort Keller, he knew that such a touch would be inappropriate, and, as he'd told his parents, he didn't want to mix his business and personal lives just yet. Keller continued the story, and Alexei merely sat still, ears up, listening attentively. Katarina, it seemed had been stalking around the station, though for what reason, Alexei couldn't guess, and Keller either didn't know, or wouldn't tell him. It was, Alexei supposed, of little consequence.
The story continued, Katarina was tortured, in ways that gave the doctor pause. Alexei frowned, his tail slowing. What kind of injuries would give the doctor pause like that? They had to have been bad, because he had mentioned that it had taken all his skill to keep her alive. Alexei wasn't a doctor, but he knew that there were only a few injuries that could kill that quickly, that were so difficult to repair.
"...we learned that there was a lifeform that was growing inside of her uterus at an incredible rate - a child!" Alexei's ears perked. It was like something out of the stories he'd read as a kid -- good born out of an act of evil, if such a thing were possible. "Falyn, Katarina's daughter, was a product of the sheer brutality of the Necrodryads. This is why things are the way they are," the doctor said, with a sigh.
The doctor continued, telling about the the birth, how he removed the implants controlling the child, and how both were safe. With that part of the story complete, he began to wax on about the mental and moral fortitude of Katarina, who took on the child born of rape. Though part of Keller's exposition gave him pause -- the child
had to have been the mother's at least partially. Where else would the human half come from? Still, Alexei had to give her credit: she was a strong young woman, and deserved what help he could offer. Evidently, Keller felt the same, as he continued: "However, I can't find myself sitting idly by while she goes through those challenges. But I'm only one man, and a man with no experience in fatherhood and in child-upbringing to boot, let alone teaching a Caitian child the fundamentals of her kind."
'
Fundamentals of her kind?' Alexei thought, '
I don't know why he's asking me.' But he held his tongue as Keller came to the meat of the story, and the fundamentals of his request.
"That, I suppose, is why I have been looking for better solutions for the two so that their burden might be lessened. That was why I was eager to approach you about it, because your situation is similar to Falyn's. However, I do not want you to think that I am ordering you to help me with this - far from it. Rather, I merely appeal to your good conscience to consider this struggling family. You won't need to be too involved with helping Kat and Falyn - all I ask is that you be open to advising her whenever the need arises. So, what do you say?"
It took a little while for Alexei to find the right words. Of course he would help, that was a given, there wasn't any other choice to him. At the same time, though, he was grateful for having been given the opportunity to voice his choice, and for having been given the information that he was almost afraid to ask after. "Of course," he said, simply, ears back slightly with some surprise. "But you need to understand a few things, doctor." He paused, collecting himself, "You have, by now I'm sure, read through my files. I was born and raised on Luna, my life was spent among humans, for the most part. Any knowledge that I have of caitian culture is fragmented at best, and almost all second-hand. I can't teach Falyn to be a caitian."
He chuffed, his tail flicking languidly, he was finding himself distinctly at ease with this doctor. "Nor would I presume to have her ignore her human half." he shrugged, "She's going to be raised by humans, and that's probably all to the better. There are many on Cait that would shun her immediately. In my 26 years, I've never met another hybrid like myself -- my brothers were both adopted." Alexei gave a wan grin at that. "What I can do is help teach Falyn how to interact with humans and possibly, to a lesser degree, caitians. I can teach her how to control her ears and tail, so she can't be as easily read by others. To never strike with claws unless there is no other option," he held his hand out, palm up, flicking his claws out, then back in, almost theatrically. "And how to use them as the tools that they are."
He looked at the doctor, "I will offer what help I can," he said, "You have my promise on that. I will offer what wisdom I can to make their lot easier. But," he held up a finger, "There will be hardships," Another wry chuckle, tinged with bitter memories of fast affairs, none of which ended particularly well, "When you figure out how to tell a child that they will almost always be seen as a curiosity, let me know."
EDIT: Minor cleanup, picking up some dropped thoughts.
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SO Ens Alexei K'rorrovich Lisenov - Valdivian Station/USS Trinity
Player: Soren Alder
Mukavich@gmail.comEdited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2018 11:54PM by Mukavich.
