Lunchtime!

Posted on 03 Jun 2018 @ 5:14pm by Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen

1,821 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Last stop before deep space
Timeline: MD 105, 1200 hours

During the last stop before deep space, the crew of the Galileo had a chance to stretch their legs on Outpost 608 while the ship stopped for maintenance and to take on supplies. Inside, Tuula took advantage of the replimat, only to find it to be crowded with chairs everywhere as she looked around to find a table.

Spotting a familiar face at one of the tables, she decided to roll up. "Mr. Vansen," she called out, recognizing her from the boarding physical a few days before, "mind if I join you? It's kind of crowded..." she added as she rolled up to an open space in front of the table.

Constantin smiled as he looked at her, his hair now tied back from his face. It wasn't so long it breached uniform code, but he had taken a small elastic band to keep it back. "Sure," he said and nodded, holding her eyes. He remembered her. It was difficult not to, with the chair. It had surprised him but he had managed to keep the surprise away from his face when he first saw her. He pulled his tray closer to him, to give her some more space across from him. His hands busied themselves for a moment with rearranging what he had, the fork and knife, the glass of water, the plate of food.

"Thanks," replied Tuula, placing the tray on the table before tucking herself in and activating the brakes on her chair, locking herself in place. "So," she said, looking up at the slightly younger crewman she had remembered from the Galileo, "Guess this is our last stop before heading out," she added, referring to the long, deep-space undertaking that the Galileo crew would soon be undertaking.

"I guess so," Vansen said with an easy smile that made him seem more approachable, reaching for the water. "I am looking forward to it. Space feels a lot more like home than a planet. Even so...I guess everyone will be a bit nervous in the beginning," he added as an afterthought. He wasn't, but he was reasonably pragmatic when it came to the universe.

"Me too. It's exciting, heading out off into the great unknown," said Tuula. While she wasn't necessarily looking forwards to being cooped up in sickbay for the duration of the assignment, she hoped to at least get some exciting away missions or gather some interesting samples to look at. "I am going to miss my sister, though..." she added.

"Where is your sister?" Vansen asked as he held her eyes, a look of interest on his face. It was nice to talk and get to know people and he liked it when people offered personal information. Especially about family.

"She's in San Francisco, on a research assignment out of Starfleet Headquarters," explained Tuula, a hint of pride evident in her voice. "It's kind of her dream job. I'm so happy for her..." after trailing off, she took a sip of her coffee, thinking of Jaana back home, plugging away at her research. "Do you have any family?"

Constantin hesitated for a moment. With his father dead and no idea about where his mother was -dead or alive- he just shook his head. "No," he said and shook his head. "No, I don't. But that's just fine if you ask me. Means more time for myself."

"Ah..." replied Tuula, taking another sip of her coffee before continuing. "Sounds like you've got a lot of time in space, then," she added. "I guess I won't be treating you for space sickness?"

"Depends what you mean about space sickness," he said lightly, raising an eyebrow before holding his hands out to the side, shrugging with them.

"You know, the nausea, headaches... seems like every species in the Federation has different reactions to being up in space. Of course," she added, continuing, "that makes it difficult to treat. I'd recommend a sauna, but those aren't exactly standard issue on Federation starships. And the Andorians probably wouldn't appreciate it either."

"Well, with low level radiation and the psychological effects of space travel, I am not surprised. But no. I get more gravity sickness than space sickness," Vansen admitted openly with a small smile, gesturing with a graceful hand. Because. Well. She could always look into his medical file if she needed to.

"Ah, must be from a low gravity environment then," mused Tuula, "I know--"

Freezing mid-sentence, Tuula's eyes darted over to one side and then back towards Constantin. Staring directly into his eyes, Tuula's breath got shorter and deeper, and she clenched her teeth tightly. "No..." she managed to utter after a few uncomfortable seconds of this. "Not here..."

Vansen looked at her, watching her closely before he reached out, to touch her hand. "What is it?" he asked, swallowing. "Should I get help?"

"Just... follow my lead..." she whispered, closing her eyes for a moment and clutching his hand tightly as she took a deep breath.

When Tuula's eyes opened, her demeanour had changed. Still holding Vansen's hand, she let out a hearty laugh and looked around. "Ah, that's hilarious," she said loudly, placing a hand on Constantin's shoulder. As she did so, she was interrupted by a voice she hoped to never hear again.

"Hello, Tuula," said a Bolian who looked to be about the same age as Tuula. "Imagine seeing you here, out at the furthest edge of Federation space..."

"Hello, Zuwtt," replied Tuula, her voice suddenly taking on a deadpan tone. "This is Constantin, my fiancee. We were just talking about his last fight -- he's a boxer. I had to spend hours with the bone knitter just to fix up the other guy."

The words hit Vansen with surprise but he followed her lead. His posture changed and he lowered his head, his hair falling forward a bit. He was serious as he looked at the Bolian, eyes narrowing slightly and his jaw tightening. He tried to look aggressive. "I don't like you talkin' to other men, sweetheart," he muttered and eyed the Bolian, running his eyes over him. "That I don't know."

"I... I..." stammered Zuwtt, his eyes darting around, realizing that perhaps he had gotten himself into a bad situation. "Erm... I like your tattoo," he stated, his eyes having fallen on the ink on Tuula's neck.

"There's more where that came from," shot back Tuula, "not that you'll ever get to see them, am I right, dear?" she added, pulling herself closer to Constantin with one hand and slowly reaching for her steak knife with the other.

Vansen's hand went to cover Tuula's, pulling it away from the knife. He looked at Zuwtt before he smiled and stood, to be face to face with the man. "You know, many cultures take offence when someone...stare at their girl. I try to be an easy going guy. But thing is..." he leant closer, unblinking, just holding his eyes. "I got a temper problem. So. Best thing for you to do is to...walk on. Turn around. And walk away from her."

Holding up his hands, Zuwtt stammered and took a few steps backwards, stumbling into a chair and nearly falling down. As he recovered, he took one glance back up at Vansen before turning and exiting the mess with an alarming alacrity.

As Zuwtt finally left, Tuula took a deep breath. "Thanks," she said, looking up at Vansen. "That was Zuwtt, my horrible, horrible ex. I know I took the Hippocratic Oath, but I really hope he dies in a shuttle fire."

"Not to judge, but you don't wish that on anyone," Vansen said quietly with a frown and looked at her. He sighed and sat down, if only to make sure he didn't return. He hadn't really seen the issue, she seemed a capable woman to chase away her ex anyway.

"Normally I wouldn't, but for him, I might make an exception," she explained, before letting out another deep breath, trying to let her emotions dissipate. "The things he did to me, it's just..." she clenched her fists in anger. "Urgh. Sorry. I'm sure there are much more pleasant things to talk about than him," she added, saving a little venom in her voice for the word 'him.'

He watched her for a long moment, his body relaxed, but he did not look particularly impressed. He had never felt hatred like that and seeing it so clear on someone was...difficult for him. He couldn't understand it. "I..." he sat back, taking a deeper breath. "Maybe you should...talk to a professional about it?"

"I'll feel better as soon as we're a few light years away from him," said Tuula, a little defensively before taking a deep breath and a nice long sip of her coffee. "So... what were we talking about before we were so rudely interrupted? Something about the mission?"

"No," he said after a moment before he shook his head. "We were talking about...well, I suppose me and my medical history. But I am sure that file will come across your desk at some point."

"Yes, I'm sure it will," added Tuula before taking a sip of her coffee. "Regularly scheduled physicals... keeps us busy in sickbay, and gives us a chance to get to know everyone." She let out a little chuckle thinking about some of her patients. "Of course, you know how some Starfleet officers are, desperately trying to avoid sickbay for some reason. I'm not sure why; I've tried to make it nice and homey by putting in little knick-knacks like my bone saw and skull mug."

Constantin watched him for a long moment, considering the words, weighing them up carefully. He could guess what a bone saw was. And a skull mug. So he wasn't sure how homey those things would be in a sickbay. She seemed a bit...strange. At least compared to most people he had met, but it wasn't a bad thing. Not necessary anyway. But maybe she'd do well of seeing a psychiatrist anyway. "Not an officer. And I practically live at Starfleet Medical whenever I am Earth-side. I am not afraid of...sickbay. I just spend enough time in one to know I do not enjoy it."

"Well, hopefully you won't mind our sickbay too much," replied Tuula, trying to steer the conversation towards something more positive. "We don't bite... well, except for Allyndra. And only if you're into that sort of thing," she added.

"She didn't seem like a biter to me," Vansen said easily before he chuckled. "I won't mind it. I never mind it in that sense. Not a bad thing really. It is just another room..." he winked and sat back.

"Good," said Tuula, leaning back in her chair. "You know, this mission might be fun after all..."

OFF:

Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen
Operations

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Assistant Chief Medical Officer

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