Is This Revenge for the Duck a la Orange I Had The Other Night?


4-29-99

You head towards the Medical Bay.

Medical Bay
Even the circulation of air can't quite keep the antiseptic smell from this room. Immaculately clean, the tiles of the floor are the same pristine white as the walls. Gadgets and gizmos abound. The highest medical technology available for all the races that might conceivably come to the station are present. A pair of beds near the door provide places for emergent cases, their bioscan devices ready for monitoring. Doors lead to rooms for surgery, short-term care, and long-term care. (OOC note: To set your room doing, try 'I'm <doing>'.)
Contents:
Jay, standing by the door.
Obvious Exits:
Short Term Care Chief's Office Elevator Lounge

From his desk, Jones glances up with an affable nod and rises to his feet, settling his labcoat. "Evening, sir. Can I help you?" he offers.

Jay rubs absently at his arms, looking a bit sheepish as he glances toward the female nurses on duty. "Um, could I see a doctor type? Or better yet, a Clara doctor type? In private?"

Jones blinks down at himself to see if he's wearing a sign saying 'chopped liver', but nods rather tentatively. "She's here...but the Doc's also off duty. I'm Dr. Jones...maybe I can help you with something?"

Jay coughs, lowering his voice so only Jones can hear. "Um, I've got some bites that got infected... hurts like hell."

Gotta give Jones credit, he's at least completely unflappable. "Aaah, I see. Hrm...perhaps you would rather see the Doc, then? At least her office is a bit more...circumspect." His words are quiet, thankfully.

Jay nods gratefully. "I'd really appreciate that, Doc."

Jones nods pleasantly and leans over to tap a comm on the desk and murmur into it for a moment. Finally, he nods at it, then starts down the hall. "This way, please," he explains, leading to the proper door and opening it a fraction.

Jay follows, giving Jones a nod as he passes. After a last glance toward the nurses, he murmurs thanks once more and steps into the office.

You walk towards the Chief Aleron's Office.

Chief Aleron's Office
Bright and airy, this fair sized office is far from pretentious, but instead useful. A large wooden desk faces the doorway, a pair of pointillism paintings in soft pastels flanking either side of the wall behind it. A second desk adjoins to the first, branching back from one side, upon which a terminal and keyboard rest. A pair of fairly comfortable chairs face the desk for visitors, wooden with soothing sand colored upholstery. On one side of the door is a simple brass coatrack, and on the other a bit farther down the wall is a full sized synthetic human skeleton. Along the right hand wall, a low couch covered in brown velour looks frighteningly comfortable, graphic print depictions of Stilvani and Edreeni internal anatomy framed neatly above it. Across the room is a single bioscan bed, much like the ones outside, just as the easily cleaned white tile flooring is unchanged.
Contents:
Clara
Obvious exits:
Medical Bay
You walk here from the Medical Bay.

Clara is already rising from the couch and refastening the clip in her hair while pulling up a smile. "Jay? Jay, what's wrong...? Are you all right?" She murmurs her thanks to Jones as he shuts the door.

Jay gives you a warm if sheepish smile, halting just inside the door for a quick glance around. "Ack. I didn't mean to wake ya up, Clara. It's just a minor thing, really."

Clara chuckles, waving a hand at the biobed dismissively. "Grab a seat there if it's physical, or there," she adds, sweeping her hand at the couch, "if it's mental. I wasn't asleep, though. I had surgery earlier, and am always keyed up for hours after that."

Jay nods, accepting that, and heads over to hop onto the biobed. Unbuttoning his sleeves, he notes, "You should gimme a call in times like that. I'm a better conversationalist than the coffee pot. Really."

Clara chuckles, rubbing at her eyes for a moment before snagging the medical belt from her desk and snapping it about her hips absently. "So's your cousin, when he's awake. I tried telling it all to my drums, but gave up. Sousa would turn over in his grave if he knew how I'd trounced the Liberty Bell. Now...what's the problem?"

Jay's eyebrows arch. "Eh? Oh..." He rolls up his sleeves to reveal a mass of small, circular bruises on his forearms, none large enough to have been inflicted by a sentient being. In some places, the skin was broken, and some of the resulting cuts have become obviously infected. "Like, I said, it's nothing major..."

Clara's eyes widen at the various lesions, and she snaps on her scanner to begin running it over them right away. "Good heavens, Jay! What in the world happened? Either you got in a fight with a really -ticked- Stilvani child, or something attacked you!"

Jay ignores the blush that creeps its way up his face all the way to the tips of his ears. "I, uh, got attacked by a flock of ducks in the park," he says with an attempt at quiet dignity. "Just FYI, they peck /hard/."

Clara blinks for a long moment before disolving into utter laughter as she reaching for her sonic cleaner. It's been a long day, otherwise she'd be good and not laugh. "Oh, Jay...I'm so sorry. I shouldn't laugh. But see...when Corvil's ship went down, Riley and I were out at the ravine...and this duck kept attacking us for food. You have to feed them."

Jay smoothly slides into the crimson range. "Don't apologize, please. I'd laugh at me too. See, that's what I was doing. Well, we were trying, anyway. See, the big ducks kept the ducklings from getting the breadcrumbs, so I picked 'em up. The ducklings, that is. Well, one of the big ones- I assume it was the mother- went nuts on me. So I went to set the ducklings down again, forgetting I had the bread bag in my hand, and the rest of 'em went after /that/. It was a roiling mess of ducks all around me, some of which do not aim well."

Clara finally gets her laughter under control, but not without turning oddly red and making strange choking noises to hold it in, and she continues cleaning out the wounds smoothly. "Well...at least you were generous? That was very kind of you indeed. Very kind, yes, yes."

Jay's lips twitch into a wry grin. "The girls love seeing a guy feed ducks. I do it from a tree now."

Clara's lips quirk good-naturedly as she shakes her head and reaches for a packet, tearing it open and pulling out a sterile cloth soaked in antiseptic, and continues cleaning carefully. "Aaaah, yes indeed, it does. So...which young lady were you impressing this time?"

Jay shrugs a little, trying not to interfere with the operation by moving. "Whichever one happened to come along? In this case, it ended up being Ali. Which is cool, cause she's nice, though not somebody I'd go after. I can just see Rhys complaining to Riley about his cousin, y'know? Anyway, she did take me back to her cottage and cleaned me up a bit, but apparently soap and water wasn't enough."

Clara lifts her brows at that, trading the spent cleansing cloth for a resonator, then shaking her head in vast amusement. "Rhys wouldn't need Riley, my friend. Rhys, for as short as he is, is -not- someone I'd want to cross, that's for sure. Mainly because he can pick me up and toss me over one shoulder. I know. He's done it," she explains with a grin.

Jay's eyebrows shoot up. "He has? Well, I can see the temptation..." He grins. "You're right, though. I'm a lover, not a fighter."

Clara rolls her eyes, wrinkling her nose in a grin. "Rhys and I went to college together. He's an old friend, is all." She pauses briefly in the resonating. "Aaah. Well, Riley's usually the opposite...but not always. I'll bet you could hold your own. Any hand to hand combat training?"

Jay lifts a hand, tilting it back and forth briefly before dropping it again. "Just what was required for the Navy back on Kashid. Not my best subject."

"I had fun with it, so long as I didn't have to hurt anyone," Clara offers, continuing on with the resonating until done. She moves to a small counter by the bioscan and starts to prep a few hypos. "It's almost like dancing in some ways."

Jay eyes the hypos a tad warily. "Yeah, you could say that. Personally, I like working out with a woman who outmatches me by far. I usually get a little... sympathy... afterwards."

Clara glances back from her preparation, pushing back a curl from her eyes with the back of one hand. "I'll work out with you, and even be sympathetic," she offers affably. "I do sympathy real well." She's had a long day. Give her a minute and it'll click what she just said.

Jay just /blinks/, and peers at you in disbelief.

Clara turns back with the hypo to regard the look for a moment, starting to be baffled before...click. Likely, the people in Airdrie can see her blushing, as neon as it is. "Uh...I meant -medical- sympathy. Professional? My job? You know what I mean? I mean, I wouldn't...I couldn't...not, I mean..." All this comes out in a tumbled stutter.

Jay nods, fighting down the grin that threatens to burst out. He manages to keep it to a crooked smile, and kindly passes by the potential teasing. "I'd be happy to work out with ya if you need a partner now and then."

Clara leans back against the counter for a moment and takes a deep breath to try and control the blushing, laughing quietly. "Good heavens...sorry about that. Yeah, I'd like that though. You're a closer to my size that Riley is, and he'd trounce me as easy as a kitten, anyway. Tilt your head, please."

Jay blabs, more to put off the inevitable hypo-ing than anything else. "Yeah, but he /wouldn't/. Least, I don't think he would. He'd be horrified of hurting you. I know I would be. Hmmm. Maybe I oughta get a written promise from him not to trounce /me/ if I bruise ya a bit. I can just see trying to explain that one to him." Running out of words, he reluctantly tilts his head to the side, only then coming up with a deadpan, "Do kittens trounce you often?"

Clara folds her arms, head tilted to one side as she listens to the evasion speech, recognizing it for what it is with amusement. "Riley's not going to pound anyone that bruises me, silly," she assures, reaching to deftly administer the hypo with a faint hiss. "And no, actually, they don't. The only kitten I've seen recently is Niko and Ela's. Actually, no one will spar with me. I can't imagine why."

Jay winces just slightly. He's a brave man, a very brave man. Really. "That is why, silly," he snickers fondly. "I'll chance it, cause I think you're right- he wouldn't pound me. Toss me in the brig, yes. Pound me, no. And I can survive a few hours in the brig until you explain things." He pauses, snapping his fingers. "Niko. Haven't seen him since the ball. How's he doing?"

Clara bursts into laughter, shaking her head as she moves to dispose of the spent hypo before pulling bandages from a drawer in the side of the bioscan and starting to cover the worst of the resonated cuts and bites. "I'm a big girl. Riley knows I can take care of myself. Niko's fine," she adds with a bright grin. "He and Ela are getting married at the end of the month. Corian and I went shopping with her for her dress the other day."

Jay's eyebrows arch. "Married?" He shakes his head mournfully. "Poor guy. Anybody throwing him a bachelor party?"

Clara blinks up, for once completely clueless. "A what?" she asks amiably. "And he's not a poor guy. He ranks even with me, and I don't make bad money. Besides, Ela's about as wonderful as a person can be."

Jay chuckles quietly, shaking his head. "Wasn't talking about giros. A bachelor party. Usually the best man arranges for a party the night before the wedding. Guys only. They're a lot more fun than wedding showers, I've heard."

Clara tilts her head, repeating the words 'bachelor party' to herself subvocally, then shaking her head as if the words were entirely foreign to here. "A party would be good, certainly. Why in the world wouldn't you want women there, though? I thought you liked women."

Jay pauses for a long moment, trying to find the right words. "Er, well, for one thing, I guess it's a fairness sort of thing. Women get wedding showers- men get bachelor parties. Besides," he starts casually examining his fingernails, head down as he continues in almost a mumble, "Most women probably wouldn't, ah, appreciate the entertainment provided."

Clara ahs softly, as if it's starting to make sense now, still bandaging carefully. "I can see that. Most women really aren't interested in football or hockey. Kind of boring, actually. I can mention this to Riley, if you like? He'd probably enjoy something like that."

Jay coughs, shoulders starting to shake. His voice is choked with laughter. "Yeah, you should do that, him being Niko's brother and all." Jay will, of course, hide at that point.

"I will, certainly. Riley's been around here for a fair while. I'm sure he knows all the good entertainment spots in the Steading. I'll have him give you a call, and maybe the two of you can round up the rest of the men in Security, and some of the guys from Medbay," Clara suggets, then blinks up, puzzled. "What's so funny?"

Jay just nods, and now lets out the laughter since it's obvious he's not hiding it too well. "Cha'leket..." He shakes his head, starting to get down to snickers. "I'm not really sure I can explain it. Worse, I'm not sure I could explain to Dr. Jones out there why you keeled over from a fatal blush from me telling you."

Clara has her head tilted, watching you with a mixture of confusion and bemusement. "I can make some coffee and you can tell me all about it? Why ever would I blush? I'm a doctor, for goodness sake. It takes a great deal to embarrass me." Look out for lightning.

Jay's mouth quirks. "Coffee? I can settle for that, I suppose. Only had a dozen cans of soda so far today. Alright then, I'll tell ya, but I take no blame for the result."

Clara crosses over behind her desk to start the preperations, then pauses. "I also have tea, both Darjeeling from Terra and that type Riley and Corian like from Kashid. I think I have a few sodas, too?"

Jay perks up at that. "Soda's even better. Tea..." He winces slightly. "Tea and I don't get along." The hacker gestures to his arms, then toward the floor, asking plaintively, "Done with the TLC? This bed isn't the most comfortable thing..."

Clara grins and continues setting up the coffee maker. "Sure am. You can take the bandages off and toss them tomorrow evening. You're welcome to go grab a seat on the couch, if you want. Orange or red can?"

Jay hops off the bed, rolling his sleeves back down as he moves to plop onto the couch. "Orange soda? Isn't that sacrilege?" His eyes twinkle with amusement though. "Red, please. Tomorrow night, gotcha."

"Orange soda is the true and glorious use of carbonation," Clara avows firmly, but snags a red can from her tiny refrigerator and pours herself a cup of coffee before taking both to the couch. She offers the can while lowering down as well. "Now...what was so funny?"

Jay grins, taking the can and tucking it into his lap as he rebuttons the sleeves. "Do yourself a favor first. Take a drink of that, and swallow it. /Then/ I'll tell ya. Don't need coffee spewed all over your nice clean office."

Clara lifts a brow at you dubiously, but compliantly takes a long sip of the stuff before carefully setting it to one side. "Caffeination in progress. Fire when ready, Smedley," she quotes with a grin.

Jay snickers, popping open his can, and turns to face you. (The better to get a look at your blushing face, my dear.) "Okay. There's three main forms of entertainment that are traditional for a bachelor party. One is, uh, dirty movies. Usually softcore porn, sometimes hard. The second is hiring a stripper to come in and, uh, dance for the groom-to-be. And the third we'd probably have to go into the Underground for- strip club."

Clara's smile rapidly fades, replaced by widening green eyes as she leans back against the arm of the couch, blinking owlishly. Yes, the blushing occurs, stage by stage until she's radiating nicely. Anyone have marshmallows? "Movies. S-s-s-str-... Ah. Club. Ah." She blinks owlishly several times, voice completely gone until she manages to squeak out, "And men -like- these things?" incredulously.

Jay /grins/. "Absolutely. Well, lots of 'em do. I know /I/ do."

Clara's gaze slides towards the floor, still wide and staring in shock in the midst of a brilliantly crimson glow that nearly matches her hair. She folds her arms about herself, shaking her head. "And here I thought lingerie would be laughed at," she muses. "This is not football or hockey," she observes in a small voice.

Jay perks up mid-sip, and nearly coughs. "Lingerie? Lingerie is a /good/ thing." He grins sympathetically, shaking his head. "Not that kinda sport, no."

And then the other shoe drops as utter horror filters into Clara's gaze. "And Riley is a man, and Niko is his brother, and he'd be going to this...party. And, and, and..." She closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, replacing the dismay with a serene smile. "I'm sure all of you will have a very nice time."

Jay holds up a hand. "Whoa there. That's /if/ there's going to be a party, for one thing."

Clara gestures easily before reaching for her coffee. "Why in the world shouldn't there be? If this is something enjoyable, then it is to be enjoyed." She tilts her head thoughtfully, still completely affable...and still the color of a fire engine. "I do not think I would care to go to such a party."

Jay gestures slightly. "Told ya. But I'm not sure that Riley's the type to enjoy something like that. Niko, I have no idea."

Clara nods slowly over her mug, taking another long sip as she fights valiantly to control the blushing. "I really don't know either. That's not exactly something Niko would discuss with me, nor would Riley, for that matter, actually. But I'll still tell him...it might be something he thinks is a good idea."

Jay nods, keeping a straight face. "I'd love to hear his reaction."

Clara exhales a soft sigh, but manages a brave smile, hands wrapping about her mug. "I rather am interested in seeing what he has to say as well. But then...I know Kashidian culture is rather more...ah, -relaxed- that what I'm used to."

Jay chuckles a bit. "You could say that. Still, again, he's a gentleman." He cheerfully shrugs, taking a sip from his can. "Then again, ya never know."

"True enough," Clara agrees, really trying to be objective despite nearly thirty years of over-propriety on the subject. "I rather thought he'd object to or laugh at lingerie. Surprises can occur." She must be tired, to even have admitted that.

Jay shakes his head. "Naw, now /that's/ not a surprise. You're his a'trezla."

Ah, a word she understands. A ridiculously adoring smile touches Clara's lips as she nods slowly, leaning against the arm of the couch. "I have no idea how I got so lucky, either."

Jay gives you a look of mock-disbelief. "Well, I don't claim to read his mind, but I can't say that I blame him for falling head over heels for you."

Clara blushes again, ducking her head to take another sip of the coffee and shrugging. "Are you kidding? A groundpounder with an overbearing, pretentious Terran family? Heck, Jay, I even got called Ice Princess in college. I tell bad jokes, and worse puns, and the man -still- loves me," she muses wonderingly.

Jay wags a finger. "That was college. This is now. You are a lovely, kind, gentle, wonderful lady. And puns are good, even when they're bad."

Clara manages to tilt a wry look at you. "College wasn't all that long ago," she notes with a quick grin, then sighs happily and leans back into the couch. "But thank you. Thank you very much. I've tried to overcome the spoiled brat I was at seventeen."

Jay nods firmly, slouching a bit. "You've succeeded wonderfully, from what I've seen."

Clara glances from side to side, as if to make sure there's no one else in the office, then ducks her head. "Jay...you're a man. Do men really like women to be...oh...as forward? As a stripper or someone like that? Is that a good thing?" She exhales a gust of breath, almost hiding behind her mug. "I can't believe I'm asking this."

Jay smiles gently. "It's okay, really. Some men do. Some don't. If you mean Riley, I couldn't hazard a guess. I suspect he'd appreciate the forwardness, taking it as sure proof that you want him."

"Proof?" The word is incredulous from Clara as she blinks, startled out of embarassment. "Proof. Good heavens," she muses, astonished. "Proof." She shakes her head, nonplussed, muttering something about cold showers.

Jay grins at that. "Like I said, it's just a guess. Honestly, I have no idea. It's not something we ever discussed, y'know? Me, personally, yeah, I like that forwardness, if it's not hard."

Clara stifles a soft, almost nervous laugh with another measure of coffee. "Perhaps...I can learn a little bit. A tabby can't change her stripes too, too much." She tilts her head thoughtfully. "Hard? How so?"

Jay gives himself time to think up an example by taking a drink of soda. "Mmmm. Hookers. They come on hard. Course, that's business for them, but it's the style I'm talking about. I don't like it when they get crude. 'They' being girls in general."

Clara sets her cup aside, starting to consider this as a psychological puzzle and therefore far more objectively finally, steepling her fingers. "Hookers...prostitutes? I know what those are. There were a few bordellos in Jamaica. So...the key is to find a proper mix of assertiveness and still remember to be a lady?"

Jay beams. "Exactly!"

Clara mulls this over for a long moment, rising to drain her mug and take it back to the other side of her desk. She snaps off the coffee maker, then leans against the desk. "I know how to be a lady. I don't do it often, but I know how. Well," she decides, shaking her head with sigh and a grin. "Enough to think about for one night at least. Thank you, Jay. I...I appreciate you answering my questions."

Jay smiles, pulling himself to his feet. "And I appreciate your tending my wounds." He bows, and adds when he straightens back up, "You look tired. Go home. Go to sleep."

Clara half smiles, but inclines her head in return and nods wistfully. "I'm afraid it kinda hit me all at once," she agrees. "This happens after I operate. Adrenalin rush, then crash. Let me know if those wounds act up further on you, okay? C'mon. I'll walk you to the stairs."

Jay grins, standing aside to let you precede him out. "I will indeed, most lovely of angels. And I think it's more the other way around. I live on this floor."

"I live up one," Clara explains, probably needlessly, stifling a yawn. "With Riley. But he's asleep right now," she adds. "He had a long day."

Clara walks towards the Medical Bay.

You walk towards the Medical Bay.

Clara heads towards the Second Floor Elevator Lounge.

You head towards the Second Floor Elevator Lounge.

Jay nods agreeably. "All the more reason for you to join him there."

Clara considers this, then nods with a sleepy grin. "Unless I want to sleep in my office, yes. And I really don't want to sleep in my office. Goodnight, Jay. Thank you," she adds, reaching up to squeeze your shoulder before heading up the stairs.

Jay smiles, bowing once again. "Anytime, cha'leket," he calls softly, and he turns to head toward home.

Clara walks towards the Spiraling Stairway.

You head towards the General Housing Hub.


Q-HTML V2.1 (evaluation copy) by Craig Cockburn created this page on 30-Apr-1999 at 14:51:50