Tuula meets Caymen

Posted on 05 May 2016 @ 2:26pm by Ambassador Caymen Greener & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D.

1,554 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 11 - Divinum Mundi
Location: USS Galileo - Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD4, 1700hrs

[ON]

After a long day in sickbay, Tuula was more than relieved to be off-duty. She had been finding all the regulations particularly stifling as of late, especially with Holliday coming down to sickbay and making a point of enforcing them. So, the instant she got off duty and back to her quarters, she changed into something much more comfortable.

Comfortable for her, that is.

Rolling into the lounge, she looked like something out of a horror holo-program. Her outfit was a mish-mash of torn fishnets, spikes and chains, and did little to conceal her many tattoos. She had put her hair, mostly black with only a few subtle coloured highlights, back up into a mohawk, to reveal her multiple ear piercings and the tattoo on the back of her neck. The outfit was topped off with one of her favourite pairs of boots – the black knee-high leather pair with many silver buckles and platform soles – and of course, a leather spiked collar.

As she entered, her outfit turned a few heads, but most of the regulars on the Galileo had learned by now to be less than surprised at Tuula’s odd fashion sense. She sighed as she approached her table. She had wanted to have a quiet snack and maybe a drink while she read some fascinating articles on Klingon anatomy and a radical new surgical procedure. But here was someone sitting in her spot, an older man who she didn’t recognize, who was deeply enthralled in his PADD.

“Excuse me,” she said, pulling her chair up to the table across from him, the only “seat” in the room that didn’t have a chair bolted down in front of it. “This is my table,” she added, pointing to the plaque with a picture of a wheelchair on the corner of the table.

Greener looked up from his padd - he had been studying the Celes system history and going over as much data as he could, including artificial intelligence that he had been receiving in preparation for the mission. He might not be hugely involved, but he needed to be prepared.

The woman in front of him, her chair rolling up, was a fascinating specimen of human culture and design. Caymen had not seen many examples of this in his time, especially on a Starfleet vessel, and especially not in the backwoods of the planet Xatria where he claimed home for 8 years.

"Apologies," the diplomat said, setting his padd down. He looked down at the chair he was in and then back up at her. "Perhaps we could share? It does get tend to get crowded on a ship the size of the Galileo."

"Of course!" exclaimed Tuula, placing her PADD on the table. While her clothing was dark, her attitude was anything but. She glanced over at the replicator for a moment. "I was going to replicate myself a little snack; can I fetch you anything to eat? Some sushi, perhaps?"

Greener shrugged at the mention of food. "Never been a huge fan of sushi. Perhaps if it's cooked?" He would have winked or smirked in his younger years, but not for food these days.

"Cooked?" replied Tuula, wrinkling her nose at the thought. Why would anyone want cooked sushi when they have a choice of so many exotic flavours, from raw salmon to Klingon octopus? She sighed, before a light went off in her head. "I suppose unagi is cooked; how do you feel about eel?"

Caymen breathed in and exhaled audibly. "Cooked, I'll try it." He smirked in acceptance. "And, some hot tea would be lovely to go with it." Greener motioned to the device with his head, letting her take the lead. So much for chivalry... although she suggested everything, after all. "So... who might you be?"

"Doctor Tuula Voutilainen," she repled, the name drifting off her tongue naturally -- much more naturally than any non-native Finnish speaker could muster. "But you can just go by Tuula. And yourself?" she added as she rolled towards the replicator, "you must be new here; I haven't come across your medical file yet."

"Ambassador Caymen Greener," he said, watching her work the chair like magic. "And yes, just about a week so far. I did most of my medical wellness checks as I was being re-incorporated over the last few months. The file should be in your stack at this point."

Caymen chortled. "Nothing out of the ordinary - fairly healthy, maybe slightly higher than normal blood pressure or cholesterol or both. And no, I'm not having my eyes laserbeamed."

"Awww, but it's such a simple procedure," protested Tuula, a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to perform eye surgery. "Are you sure? It's not painful at all, and if you're uncomfortable for some reason, I can use the environmental controls to increase the airflow in sickbay so you don't smell the laser burning your eyeballs." She paused and looked over at the replicator. "Computer, give me some sushi. For two. A unagi roll, Klingon octopus sashimi, and a couple pieces of spiny lobe-fish nigiri. Oh, and a pot of green tea with two glasses."

"Thanks." Caymen waited for the tea which appropriately came first. He took the liberty of grabbing the pot at the table and pouring the two cups. "I happen to like my spectacles," he said, setting the pot down. He could smell the tea steaming up away from the colder air. It was synthesized, but it was still good. Afterall, tea was a fairly simple item to replicate if one was not terribly picky.

"Taking a razor to your hair is a simple procedure as well." Greener waited for her to look over and he tried to give a tad bit of a smirk.

"I've considered the Deltan look," replied Tuula as she pulled herself back up to the table, "but I should probably figure out exactly what sort of design I would want for a scalp tattoo first," she added as she reached for a piece of sashimi with her chopsticks.

Greener admired that she took his joke in stride. "It might suit you," he said, not really knowing if it was a true statement or not. "So, doctors Mott and Warraquim - I've heard of them actually. Must be an honor to work alongside them, no?" He sipped his tea as he motioned for her to take her cup as well.

"Oh yes," replied Tuula, having swallowed the first piece of raw fish. "Allyndra is such an accomplished physician and researcher and Olsam..." Tuula let out a sigh. "He's just so dreamy..."

Caymen grinned, taking a piece of the cooked items in chopsticks - he used them well. "I shall assume as such for Doctor Mott." He took a bite, which had a very pleasant result. He was not a huge sushi fan, but this was good.

"Do you have areas of specialty? I've not memorized the roster yet." He continued with a bite to finish the piece of sushi in his chopsticks.

"Well, I'm still working on my residency right now," replied Tuula, "but I'm specializing in surgery. There's just something about going in there and getting your hands dirty..." She paused for a moment, realizing that perhaps this was not the sort of thing that one may want to discuss while eating, and that she should change the subject to something a little less gory. Such as antiques and collectibles...

"I love my job," she continued in an upbeat tone as she reached for a piece of nigiri with surgical precision. "I even collect antique medical instruments. I should show you my bone saw sometime..."

"Antique instruments," Caymen repeated as he sipped more tea. "Not sure I'd want to see the bone saw in action, but that might be fascinating to see." He put his cup down and took one more piece of the cooked sushi. "When do you normally serve in the medbay?"

"Alpha shift," replied Tuula with a smile as she turned over a piece of sashimi in her chopsticks. "Though I sometimes hang out in the evenings and work on my research there. I just find medical facilities to be so warm and comforting, especially after we redecorated it with the dark walls and the portraits of skulls." Tuula took a quick sip of her tea before continuing. "It's nice... I think sometimes my sister doesn't like it when I decorate our quarters."

Alpha shift. She said that already. "I'll stop by... if only to hear more about skulls and bone saws." He sipped his tea as the small porcelain cup emptied.

"Well," he said in an obvious transition tone. "Perhaps that's a sign." Caymen looked up from his cup. "I shall take my leave for now, if that's ok with you?"

"I suppose," replied Tuula, as she reached for her little mug of tea. "Cheers."

Greener gave a bow as he stood, grabbing his padd. "Next time though? Write your name on the table." He gave a wink, as he well knew the table was setup for a wheelchair, although that was a rarity on most ships. Of course, probably as rare as his eye glasses.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Ambassador Caymen Greener
Diplomat, USS Galileo

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