Ups have Downs

Posted on Tue Feb 8th, 2022 @ 5:49pm by Jerant van Rijn & Lieutenant Xavier Leiko

Mission: With Gleaming Eyes
Location: Shuttle, triage site
Timeline: MD3, 1400 hours
1536 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

The spilled drink was still not cleaned up, the cup of tea long since forgotten. Jerant was leaning back in the chair at the front of the shuttle, his eyes half closed as he stared outside. He had one of the blankets wrapped around his body and was thinking that perhaps a hot bath might make him feel better. Knowing deep down their present accommodation had no such facility, the Betazoid twisted to look at his companion in isolation. "You know... we have cots but do we actually have other... sanitary facilities? Sonics maybe?"

He blinked slowly, reaching up to wipe a strand of hair from his glowing and sweaty face. "I feel like I really could use one right now."

Xavier half-smiled. "Can tell you never went to the academy," he said in as light of a tone as he could muster. "These shuttles were built for speed but definitely not comfort. There's a drawer basin above the toilet or you can have a "transporter-shower", that's how us officers stay clean in long shuttle away missions."

"Transporter shower?" Jerant blinked, "dare I guess on how that works? Though...don't you think we are kind of...barred from even using those controls right now? What if we get delirious and decide to beam out to lord knows where?" He even dared to guess they probably wouldn't even be able to open the hatch for some fresh air. "I'll use the sink...when I have the energy again to walk over there..." He offered a similar half smile back. "Maybe they can send us a tub and hot water," he chuckled.

Xavier shook his head in mild amusement. "Do you always follow the rules?" He asked. "And don't worry about the controls, I shut down all primary systems, we're safe and no harm to anyone but each other."

"That's a relief then, that we can't do anything stupid by accident." Jerant gave a small chuckle, echoing the amusement. "Generally, I do follow the rules yes, or at least I try to. As for harming each other... let's put that off as long as possible hm? I'm sure that even in this small space, we can give each other the space we need, when we need it. Still..." He eyed the transporter and shuddered. "A random transport just to get clean....somehow feels frightening. Then again, if we can get clean, can't that thing filter that virus from our system? Can't the biofilter not mean something for us?"

Xavier grinned. "Trust me, when you're on a three-week survey mission with three other officers, you don't turn your nose up at a transporter-shower and they wouldn't be happy if you did. The air filtration can only do so much, if you get me? In regards to using the transporters to make us better, it's a bit more complicated than that. You need to isolate the exact genome before you can even begin to programme the transporters. Even matching previous bio scans with current ones isn't an exact science. I can programme the transporters with the exact correct data, but would need a bio-technician and medical expert to help too."

"Oh..." The other man's disappointment was evident. "So how does this work then, in terms of getting clean?" Jerant worked himself up onto his feet and make for the transporter. "It's perfectly safe, right?" He felt worried, though Xavier's grin was certainly brightening his mood a little. "Wanna help me with this? I'm no technician... Most technology is well beyond me...I'm a simple linguist..."

"You're not a transporter-phobe, are you?" Xavier asked, raising a slight eyebrow. "They have been around for hundreds of years and actually malfunction less than you would think, considering how often they're used anyway."

"I'm not afraid of transporting from A to B, but I'm not thrilled about being put in the buffer and getting kind of recycled in the same space." He cast his friend an exhausted smile. "Nor do I trust myself to pull this off alone, not when I'm less than well.. all here. I trust you more, than I do myself right now, if that makes any sense." With the necessary effort, he worked himself up onto the pad and waited, leaning heavily against the side.

"Who's expecting you to do it alone?" Xavier asked. "Do you even have access codes?" He added in a mocking tone. He watched as the man climbed on the pad and turned a bit red. "You have to be naked for a transporter-shower." He wasn't sure if he was amused or embarrassed but either way, Xavier could feel his cheeks growing warmer.

Though raised on Betazoid values regarding nudity, and that it was nothing to be ashamed of, Jerant was still briefly taken aback by the suggestion. "Oh...I thought it'd clean the clothes in the process" he finally said, his own cheeks warming up a little. "No I don't think I have any access codes for that," he added as he slowly proceeded to disrobe. Though he couldn't sense the other man's embarrassment, his training still caused him to pick it up since body language was still something he could see. It took a while, including a few near tumbles with losing precarious balance, but finally he stood naked. To spare his friend some further embarrassment, he did turn around so he was faced the other way. "I'm ready..."

For the first time since he had become infected, Xavier was happy that the pair couldn't sense each other's thoughts. He spun around in his chair, his back to Jerant, facing the computer. He pressed a few buttons to bring up the transporter sub-menu. Finding the programme he wanted, he did a final check. "Energising," he said as he activated the transporter beam. The small room was filled with the familiar sound and light of the process beginning and then ending. Xavier didn't turn around straight away, he wanted his friend to have time to get dressed again. "That wasn't too bad, was it?"

Getting dressed took a little longer too, as Jerant was just exhausted and he did want clean clothes. "It was less frightening than expected," he admitted as he unsteadily got over to the replicator to get himself some clean items. "It feels good to be clean again though..." He grimaced as he lost his balance getting his pants on and bumped his shoulder hard against the bulkhead. On his part, he was glad Xav wasn't sensing how much that actually hurt. "You can turn back again," he announced after several minutes, the gratitude of the brief offer of privacy plain on his face. Given his precarious balance, he had opted not to get any socks on and simply slipped his feet back into the slippers he had replicated earlier. "If you show me how, and trust me with this...you can have one too?" he offered as he slowly inched forward, using the side consoles and chairs to keep himself up.

"Don't worry civvie," Xavier said grinning. "I have set the transporter on auto, you can sit back and enjoy the view." He got up out of his seat, a little too quickly, his head started to spin and he had to grab ahold of the bulkhead to steady himself. "I'm okay," he said quickly, already knowing what Jerant was going to ask.

Unconvinced, Jerant gave a small nod anyway. "Okay..." He shuffled forward, keeping close to the wall just in case. "I got you something clean too," he said, putting a bundle of items on a nearby seat. "I'll give you some privacy too, I'll just go stare out the window for a minute." If he wouldn't fall asleep in the process first.

As Jerant went to walk away, Xavier grabbed him by the hand and pulled him gently closer. "Thank you," he said softly. Xavier wanted to kiss the man, but without his empathic senses he didn't know if he could trust his instincts, and so he didn't.

Equally 'blind', Jerant just smiled and reached up to touch the other's cheek. "We look out for each other," he said simply, "just be careful. That transport left me a little disoriented." He pointed forward. "I'll be there if you need me." He looked him right in the eyes, as if searching for something. "Unless you want me to stay close... just in case?"

"I'll be okay," Xavier lied. He wanted Jerant to stay close, he wanted to dive into the man's head and share their secrets like only two Betazoids could, but that's wasn't possible right now and keeping himself busy was all he could do to not fall into the pit of despite he felt whenever he thought about his handicap.

Xavier stepped onto the pad and order the computer to begin the sequence. It felt exactly the same as a regular transport, except when he rematerialised he felt much cleaner and much weaker than he did before. Extremely weak. He tried to steady himself on the bulkhead again, but the world felt upside down and unfamiliar. He stumbled, tripped, and the the last thing he remembered was seeing the floor rushing towards his face, then nothing.