Revising Help, Part 2
Posted on Thu 26th Aug, 2021 @ 5:22am by Lieutenant JG Kellian Michaels & Makila i'Hartelhai
Edited on on Sat 14th May, 2022 @ 7:47am
1,143 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Waging Peace
Location: Manila i'Hartelhai's quarters
Timeline: MD -5, 1910 hours
Previously...
"'Fraid so," Kellian said. "Born and bred in County--I mean Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Man, I am tired."
Continued...
Makila's eyebrows raised as she gazed at him, feeling the lie for what it was and the explanation for what it was as well. The correction gave him a sense of safety that she was loathe to take away from him by challenging its veracity. She'd learned that sometimes, lies had a purpose, despite how they felt to her. "You must be at that."
She sounded the tiniest bit skeptical, to Kellian's ears. He noted it but knew he could never acknowledge it--not unless he came to feel much closer to her than he currently did--which was closer than he usually let himself feel for a woman he was interested in. Danger, Will Robinson, he thought.
At the same time, irritation welled up in him--not at Makila, but at the whole stupid situation. Here he was, a grown man with a woman he liked, and he dared not tell her something simple, like where he was born. Or even his real name.
Or could he?--No! Absolutely not. He couldn't do that to her.
"You know, I came over here to help you study," Kellian said aloud, "But I think you've studied more than enough, today. You need a break. You need some time to relax--unless you've got some horrible examination tomorrow?"
"No, I have nothing at all on tomorrow's schedule. I might use it to clean up the disaster my home has turned into. I am almost embarrassed to have allowed you entry at all in its chaotic state" A bright smile formed on her lips, even as her eyes were closed against the monumental task.
"I don't mind the chaos," Kellian said. "My rooms at boarding school and the Academy could get just as bad before mid-terms and finals--worse, because I usually had a roommate who was studying, too. So why the frantic studying if you don't have an exam or rounds tomorrow?"
"I don't have much in the way of...free time as you noted before." Makila offered him his own words back in a sweet tone. "I have near perfect recall, but it doesn't do me any good if I can't get through all of the material I have to read. Then you have to piece things together so you can use the information that you plant in your head."
"Makes sense." Kellian sipped from his tea. "You have to--know how to use what you learn from the books. You have to apply the book-learning to what you do in clinic with the patients. Is that what you're saying?"
"In part." she answered with a chuckle. "It's not just putting the pieces together, but seeing the things that you've only read about in books on an actual person. Getting the reality from the words on the page is just as important as knowing the words on the page. Did you know for example something as simple as eczema can look like two totally different things on a Betazoid verses a Human? And even differing skin tones change its fundamental appearance."
"I know tattoos and scars can look different from one species to another and even in variants of the same species," Kellian said. "I've come across things like that during crime-scene investigations. It can sometimes cause you to make mistakes if you don't know how scars on different species change color as the scars age."
"That's not something I ever thought of." Her brow furrowed at the idea of looking at the bodies of the dead in an investigatory way. "That part of your job is not so palatable to me."
"I wasn't sure I would be able to handle it when I started out," Kellian admitted. "I had nightmares about it for weeks before that particular forensics class started. I almost changed my major. Luckily, the reality was not nearly as bad as the nightmares. That helped me get over the dread and be able to do my job."
"That's almost clever," she acknowledged, her voice quietly impressed by his ability to overcome his fears. "I do think that even if the reality had been as bad as the nightmares you would have endured it. You're not one to give up, I've seen."
At that, comment, Kellian chuckled. "Well, the nightmares were pretty unrealistic, so I knew the reality wouldn't be that bad. I just had a few nights when I decided that cello practice was better than sleeping." He rested his gaze on her face for a moment and smiled. "And when the goal is worth not giving up on, I don't."
"I bet your roommates hated you for that." she teased gently, amused at the image of him up playing his cello at all hours. No wonder he was so good.
Kellian snickered. "If I'd practiced in the barracks, I wouldn't be alive to talk about it now. I used to take my cello down to the basement if I wanted to practice late at night. It was easier once I started my AIT* at Starfleet Music School. There, I was with other musicians. Before I went to the AIT course, though, I'd pay for those late nights the next day. The DIs always seemed to know when I did it, so I'd get extra duties or exercise." Kellian gave Makila a wry look. "At least that meant I'd be too tired to dream much that night."
"Well, I suppose that you deserved it in that case." she chuckled absently. "Your exhaustion was rightly earned."
"It certainly was!" Kellian smiled and looked her over. "But right now I'm more concerned about your exhaustion. I know Addams smiles like she's about to eat people alive sometimes, but I don't think she or any other doctor would want you to run yourself ragged."
"I've been meaning to ask her about becoming a resident. I've not made time for it, and it is a required part of my education." Makila smiled back, charmed by his concern for her. It was unfeigned, and it warmed her.
"Dr. Addams would be an excellent choice," Kellian said. "If you apply to work with her, I hope she'll take you on."
"I do too."
"What doctors are you looking at, aside from Addams?" Kellian asked. "You need something like three for Match Day, right?"
"I do, but I need a primary first. That can guide my path further. I am hoping that perhaps Father can count as one, even though the announcement of my degree will be a surprise." She grinned wickedly at the idea.
"I'm amazed that you've been able to keep it a secret for so long," Kellian told her. "Why keep it such a secret?"
* AIT: Advanced Individual Training
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