Lunks and Lumps

Posted on Tue Jun 30th, 2015 @ 3:45pm by Lieutenant Nicolette De La Croix & Captain Melody Windsor

Mission: Prelude to War
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD01: 2000 hrs

Still seething from her meeting with the CO, Melody started making her necessary rounds on the ship to establish the necessary relationships she needed with the crew. She always established a rapport with the crew, she always did the work she needed to aboard the ship, but he was not her boss. Not by a long shot.

Screw him. Right in his pointy little head. Where did the CO get off addressing her like that? Like some sort of boot licking first year. She was a Marine Captain for god's sake. That didn't mean she'd sat in a ship and gotten pretty golden pips on her collar. Hell no! She'd earned her rank in damn hard combat, she'd forged her team into one of the best. That pompous ass wanted to treat her like that? Screw. Him.

She marched into Sickbay and was surprised to see two of her men suddenly stand up and bark "Captain on Deck!"

She cocked her head to the side and scowled, "What are you two dillweeds doing here?" She asked, brusquely.

"We... ah..." The first one trailed off.

"We were rough housing man," The other replied. She recognized him as Lance Corporal Howard, a younger man but well deserving of his rank. "Letting off some steam. I think I cracked my tailbone on a bulkhead, and Jennings cracked his hand pretty good on the wall. I believe he broke some bones. Quick patch up by the doc and we'll be fighting fit, though."

Melody sighed and rolled her eyes, a slight hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth, "I can't take you lunk heads anywhere, can I." She said, trying not to chuckle. "Where is the doc, anyway?" She asked, looking around.

"..Pulling up the files on your aforementioned lunk heads.." answered a dark haired woman from behind the nurse's stand. "Adrian, if you'll look at Mr. Jenning's hand, I think Jaela can handle the tailbone," she said, passing PADDS to both of the doctors that came to retrieve them. Once the other marines were whisked off to biobeds, the doctor leaned on the nurse's stand just a bit and looked at Melody, who seemed in good enough health. Angry, yes. Brooding, perhaps. "What can I do for you?"

"Melody Windsor, ma'am. Marine CO," She said, offering the doctor a hand to shake. "I wanted to make sure that all my boys get up here for physicals and general check ups before we hit any hot areas," She explained.

"Physical?!" Jennings whined from the other room, "But we just had those two months ago! It's not time yet!"

"Can it, Jennings!" Melody snapped, earning utter silence from the exam room.

"Nicolette De La Croix," the doctor said with a smile for Jennings's fuss as she shook Melody's hand. "I'll take good care of them. If you send me the names in your compliment I'll give them a week long window to come up on their own before contacting you for who hasn't reported in. Any time they walk in is fine. We're fully staffed up here so the wait shouldn't be long."

"Good, that works... start with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in there, eh?" Melody said, smiling deviously.

"You almost seem giddy, Windsor. I'll add that to the list of what needs to be done while they're in there. As for you.." De La Croix pointed back into the sickbay where there was one more biobed open, a mildly amused grin turning up the corners of her mouth. "You're in luck. We can get your physical out of the way, too. I figure that way you can stick around long enough to revel in their suffering and they can see how much better you take it when we find out if you're up to date on all of your vaccines. How's that sound?"

"Sounds fine by me, doc. But I warn you, my blood pressure is probably through the roof right now," Melody said as she headed toward the biobed, sticking her tongue out at her marines as she went.

Nica pulled up Windsor's information and transferred it to a PADD. She glanced over it as she followed after the marine, making careful note of the few past injuries highlighted at the top of the chart. "Why so? Did you get moved into a tinderbox sized corner of a lower deck? Pre-boarding junk food binge?"

"Met the CO," Melody replied, flatly.

Nica raised one eyebrow slightly. "Oh.." she said softly, obviously confused. I'm not going to stick my nose into it. Not my business anyhow, she told herself, but that wasn't what came out of her mouth. "Really? He seemed really formal when I met him, and maybe a little confused, but that's normal." Waving haphazardly in the direction of one of the watercolors on the wall over the biobed across from them. "I'm used to captains coming into my sickbay and saying what the hell. It's a parlor, not a sickbay. The psychology of color and form gets lost somewhere between 'what did you hang that on the wall with' and 'what's wrong with taupe'?" The doctor started running scans as she spoke, continuing on with her diatribe. "Taupe is fine for wedge heels on a fifty year old woman in spring, but it does nothing to soothe the mind and reduce anxiety."

"Oh, I'm sure he was fine with you," Melody replied, taking a deep breath in an effort to calm herself. "He's a typical fleeter when it comes to dealing with Marines... er... no offense," She said.

"Ahh, I see.. Then it's nothing that you haven't seen or heard before. Just let it roll off your back then, sugar. You're a big girl. And that's not the sort of thing that just up and goes away no matter what you try to do to play nice. It's like football rivalries with bigger guns and ethics committees." Between breaths Nicolette asked her relevant questions and took down notes, going through the motions as she spoke. "No new wounds or illnesses to report since your last check up, right?"

"None. Just my pride," Melody replied, crossing her arms as she stared at the ceiling. "Said I should just resign my post if I wasn't going to do everything he said, and that I needed to do it now, because leaving after we launch would make me a deserter, and that's a strong penalty. Asshole. Like I'd ever desert my post. Can you imagine that? Seriously."


The doctor whistled low. It was way too early in the way of things to start picking rivalries and getting panties in a bunch, Nica thought to herself. Then again, she didn't tend to get herself in a snit that often. If someone pushed her hard enough to spur the word hate into her mind, she didn't tend to forgive or forget. Hopefully those two wouldn't end up being just as stubborn. "So in other words I'm not to find myself stuck on a turbo lift with you two. Got it. Nocs are up to date. Your scans are pretty clean. Your last medic made some pretty concise notes with dates and times. I think you're good to go."

"Good. Thanks, Doc," Melody said, sitting up. She sighed and offered the other woman a small smile, "Sorry for venting... There's probably a reason you didn't sign up to be a counselor, and here I am acting like you are one," She said with a laugh.

De La Croix very nearly laughed. Instead, she smiled widely and shook her head. "I don't mind being ears for anyone, just don't ask me for advice. My particular brand of truth isn't exactly known for being delicate or even welcome. I'd be a terrible counselor. I will tell you, though, whatever's going on with the captain- I bet you credits that there's more to it than what you saw. Pick the scene apart. Give it time to fully unfold. If you can't figure it out, push it far out of your mind. We're headed into too much crap for there to be bad blood already and you two not working together means my morgue is going to fill up fast."

Melody hopped off the table and nodded her head, "Yeah... you're probably right... I don't know... I just don't like being talked to like that... I worked hard to get where I am," She told the other woman with a frustrated look. "Could be worse, I guess. He could be sexist, too. Last CO kept hitting on me every chance he got," She said, shaking her head. "He finally stopped when we made the mistake of doing it while we were off duty and I busted his lip."

The doctor raised one eyebrow slightly. She wasn't aware that anyone over eighteen still said 'doing it', but maybe that defined the quality? Sophomoric? A mistake? She didn't really want to know. "Well, feel free to terrorize any sexist officers that you find. I won't say a thing."

Melody laughed as she started for the door, "You got it, Doc. Give my boys hell, would ya?" She called back from the door.

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Capt. Melody Windsor
Marine CO

and

Lt. Nicolette De La Croix
CMO