Working Through The Night [Open]

[theboywhowaits]

Who: Rory and Molly, Everyone
Where: Med Bay
Summary: Rory takes his daughter to work with him, works on supply lists.
Warnings: None


He had been trying to spend as much time with his daughter as he could, fearing another interruption that would make him miss things or give her time enough to forget him.

For the moment, he was doing an amount of boring bust work that any sane man would have balked at. Surprisingly, the recent events had left much undone.

It had also left an emptier infirmary in its wake.

Molly burbled, half of her hand pushed into her tiny face, bouncing in her chair. She had gotten bigger, and it had only been a month- two?- hard to tell in pod sleep, he had slept and Molly had grown and things had happened.

It would take time to sort it all out again, time to fix things.

He hoped he could fix things. "I doubt that foot tastes very good, little miss Molly, are you sure that's your meal of choice?"

His daughter laughed, reaching for him, and he let her steel his off hand, making faces at the baby and letting himself be distracted from his task.

He needed this too.

Comments

[governorkang]

It was a little disconcerting for Kang, how similar to Mei-Xing the baby smelled. Not quite; Molly had other scents, other people's attached to her, but the base was the same. She was barely over two feet, the best he could tell, and if he had to guess, he'd say she was no more than eight months.

He'd really only dealt with human babies in memories, and rarely.

The bozak couldn't help a small smile at the sight, staying quiet and watching for a moment.

[theboywhowaits]

He realized someone was watching him after a moment, even as distracted as he was with his daughter. His free hand automatically dropped for the gun under his desk before he recognized the Draconian in the doorway. "Kang." He let himself relax, offering a smile and a nod. "You're not injured, are you?" He gave Kang a brief once over, concerned. Social calls were preferred to friends coming to visit with injuries, but the ship had barely settled from the last attacks. Anything was possible.

Molly burbled, making her chair bounce, trying to see who might be visiting.

[governorkang]

"Nothing new. I just need to get this checked and cleaned again," Kang extended his right wing a bit to show the rough, almost-healed hole in the membrane. It was a bit too close to his torso for him to reach and take care of himself.

"This is the first I've seen her."

[theboywhowaits]

"Ah, no problem, I can help you with that." He pushed away from his desk, leaning to kiss his daughter's forehead as he reclaimed his hand.

"Really? Ah, I hadn't realized. Things have been a little intense since we brought her home. I've been lax, my apologies." He smiled down at his child, turning her chair a bit so she could indulge her new-found curiosity. "This is Molly, my daughter, Molly say hello to the Councilor."

His daughter reached out with both hands, giggling.

That sealed it, she was about as uncertain of aliens as her mother was. Oh well. His child safety locks would simply need to include something to keep her from wandering off with the first charming alien to land in their backyard.

[not_the_philistine]

Goliath doesn't frequent the medbay, thanks to his stone sleep. But during this patrol circuit, it occurs to him that he's not on casual terms with any of the doctors, and if he ever has to return to the medbay to visit Elisa there, he'd like to know who is treating her. Now that he can.

The baby is a surprise, once he strolls in, and he peers at it curiously before turning his attention to the doctor. Experience tells him to ignore the infant, lest his attention be construed as threatening. Experience, again, tells him that most any action from him will be construed as threatening, this close to human young. The humans of Wyvern never willingly allowed the gargoyles within reaching distance of their infants.

"Pardon my intrusion," he says politely, to get the doctor's attention.

[theboywhowaits]

"It's no problem, med bay is for everyone. It's hardly an intrusion." He paused for a second when he finally looked up, eyes more curious than alarmed. "I'm Nurse Williams, are you injured? I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before." He carefully untangled his hand from his daughter, making a soft soothing sound when she fussed a bit to settle her as he stood up.

Molly returned her hand to her mouth, chewing on her entire fist as she watched him.

[not_the_philistine]

"My kind heal with sleep, but thank you for asking. We have no need for doctors aside from emergencies."

And when gargoyles had needed them, they usually hadn't been avaialable. In the middle ages, medicine beyond the field doctoring one gargoyle might use to preserve another's life before dawn did not exist. And in the twentieth century, when gargoyles weren't supposed to have existed, Goliath was not sure there was a human doctor alive who could swallow their anxiety at suddenly finding out one did in time to save their lives.

"A friend of mine was brought here once to recover. Much as I hope never to see her here again, I think it is not unwise to meet the people who will be treating her if she is."

'If' was a slight stretch. It was more than reasonable to assume, given the frequency of injuries on this ship, that Elisa would end up in the medbay at least a few times more before this war was at an end. But realistic or not, it was not a thought Goliath liked to entertain.

Though he was curious about the infant, he kept his eyes respectfully on the doctor. He had firsthand experience, after seeing Angela nearly die at the hands of human hunters, of the anxiety that came with a threat to one's child. He had no wish to cause anyone that same fear, but in his experience on Earth, he didn't have to do much more than exist in the same area as a human and their child to do this.

[theboywhowaits]

"Useful." Interesting ability, and interesting species. He wondered if there was an evaluation file.

"A friend? Ah, that's no problem then. Would you like to have a look around the facility? It's fairly high tech and we've nothing going on right now. I find it makes it easier to have some understanding of how something works." And he didn't mind showing people around, it was relaxing at times.

Med Bay had been quiet this last week, after the chaos that had followed the most recent attack on the ship. He hoped it would stay that way.

He leaned down, unbuckling Molly from her seat and settling her in his arms. Predictably, his daughter grabbed his shirt for balance and turned to peer at Goliath, still sucking on her hand. "Sorry, eventually she'll stop staring whenever someone new comes around. I'm sure of it."

[muteadin]

Nehaalista had entered the infirmary with the quiet click of hooves that regularly announced her passing. The alien technology didn't have the same oomph of rightness healing with the Light (in so far as Nehaalista could heal, anyway, which Lovisa had a good chuckle at, once upon a time)but even sore legs needed something. So Nehaa had prayed that perhaps there would be some sort of pain killer to keep her from grimacing through another round of training in the morning.

The baby's laughter startled her a bit, and she paused to observe Rory, her tail's tip tapping against her leg.

[theboywhowaits]

Rory glanced up at the sound of - hooves? He was half expecting to see a horse, in the part of his brain that remembered Rome, but instead it was a woman.

A somewhat familiar woman, though they had never spoken. "Ah, Councilor Nehaalista. Was there something I could help you with?"

He stood up, carefully untangling himself from Molly and offered her respectful silence.

[muteadin]

Nehaalista looked down at Molly and smiled, respectfully keeping her fangs covered.

Humans didn't like fangs much.

[I was hoping for a painkiller of some sort, but am I interrupting you and the young miss?] Her fingers flew, and her necklace took a pause as it translated into something more understandable. [She reminds me of my son, a bit.] Except not adorably blue with tiny hooves. The ears were right, though.

[theboywhowaits]

"Oh, no. I brought her to work with me today. I'm still on shift, things have just been quiet." He also didn't like the idea of leaving her in the city, or being away from her for long. Something else might happen. This ship was making him more paranoid. "Councilor, this is my daughter, Molly."

Molly smiled back, waving her hands at the newcomer happily, she giggled again, watching curiously.

He smiled in response to that statement. "She's a special little girl, it's nice to have her here." His face shifted, more serious. "How badly are you injured, Ma'am?"

[atadiscoverer]

Someone comes around the corner. One of the new doctors from the latest pop, Dr. Carso Beckett. He seems a bit engrossed in what he's reading on his datapad, and doesn't notice Rory and the baby right away.

Up until baby noises distract him and he looks up. "Oh. Hello, there, little one." He walks over. "Are you here by yourself?"

[theboywhowaits]

"Ah, no Doctor, she's with me. Sorry, is she bothering you?" He turned from the readout he'd been studying, masking his curiosity.

Emptier and full of people he didn't know, it would take time to build the connections again. "Sorry, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Nurse Rory Williams. This is my daughter, Molly. Her mum is busy so I just brought her with...after recent events it felt safer."

[atadiscoverer]

"No, of course not." Carson smiles. "I don't mind." He walks over, offering his hand. "Dr. Carson Beckett. Nice to meet you."

His voice has a pleasant and friendly Scottish accent, and he's still smiling. "She's beautiful, I will say. How old, if you don't mind me asking?"

[theboywhowaits]

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Dr. Becket. I've missed a few of the new faces." It was interesting to hear the familiar accent so far from home. "What part of Scotland are you from, if you don't mind my asking?"

He smiled, pleased to discuss one of his favorite topics. "She's around five months, as near as we can tell. It's difficult to keep track on the ship."

[poorlycopingstrategist]

"Uh - 'scuse me."

The young man hovering in the doorway looked as though he hadn't slept properly for a very long time, but from the looks of his left hand he had bigger things to worry about anyway.

"I just wanted to see if I could get someone to take a look at this," Jamie ventured, holding up the appendage in question, which was bruised, swollen, and looking generally painful. He hadn't really wanted to come down to the infirmary at all since he'd injured himself toiling down in the hangar, but the swelling was making it difficult to work, and he'd figured it might be worth the hassle to see if they could patch him up so he could get back to what he'd been doing as quickly as possible.

How bad is he hurt? Also, he's like 14, isn't he?

[theboywhowaits]

Rory startled, staring at the injured kid for a full minute before rising, moving to guide the youngster deeper into the infirmary. "What happened? Do I need to inform security?" He motioned Jamie to the bed, indicating that he should sit down.

Molly fell silent, eyes wide at the tone of her father's voice and watching the proceedings.

"What landed on it?" He couldn't tell it was broken, he'd need to scan the bone to get a clear picture, but it looked bad. He swore the kids on this ship were trying to give him gray hairs, no matter how competent they might seem. "What's your name?"

Not too seriously, just a bad sprain. And he's actually 18.

[poorlycopingstrategist]

Jamie recoiled a little under Rory's scrutiny, but let himself be led over to a bed, on whose edge he obediently perched. He gave the baby a passing glance, but in general he was about as interested in small children as any other chronically depressed eighteen-year-old boy, which was to say not at all.

"Security?...no, I just caught my hand in an access panel on one of the machines in the hangar while I was working on it. Wasn't being careful." Well, smashed his hand was more like it. Those panels could be deceptively heavy. "Wouldn't've bothered you but it's getting kinda hard to do anything with it like this.

"Jamie Hemeros. My file should be on record."

[couldputitback]

"Good evening, Rory." Faiza came in, smiling at father and daughter. "Salaam walekum, Molly." She tended to greet the baby in Urdu because she was young, so she would pick up language quicker. "I imagine her foot must taste better than the slop, wouldn't you?"

[theboywhowaits]

"Good even, Faiza." He laughed, smiling at his superior. "I dread trying to convince her that the slop is food, we've stayed in the Sensoriums the times we've tried her on solids. She's going to be sure we're trying to poison her."

Molly reached for Faiza, uttering a happy squeal in greeting.

[couldputitback]

"You can always practice on me. I'm not convinced that slop is food in the least. But at least I know it's not poisonous." She looked at Rory, then admitted, "Though that's mostly because I ran several scans on it beforehand."

Faiza grinned, walking over to pick Molly up. "Goodness. How have you gotten so big?

[drakewayne]

Seeing Tim without his mask on was still a fairly rare occurrence; without it, it usually meant he wasn't (overtly) working, which it seemed people had figured out was his pastime of choice.

But as much as he hated to admit it, he needed to get out of his costume and do some more passive work for a short time. Most of him had healed, but that still wasn't saying a lot. He was aware that, at least, some of it still showed on his face-- his hair a little more uneven, some redness from burns. He hoped that would go away eventually, but he wasn't much of an optimist.

So he could spare a few minutes do some undercover patrolling, check to make sure nothing needed his attention. It definitely didn't have to do with him wanting to see anyone in particular. He'd have to deny that.

"Nurse Williams," he said, with an equally polite nod of his head. Then he managed a faint smile and added, "Molly."

[theboywhowaits]

Molly made an excited noise, reaching for Tim from her chair with tiny chubby fists.

"Tim, it's good to see you." He didn't correct the Nurse Williams for once, scanning Tim from head to foot for any sign of new injury. "You've been taking it easy, haven't you?" There was a hint of sternness in his voice.

He knew Tim, by now, knew that Tim would push himself.

[drakewayne]

"The same to you," he said, and reached a hand out to Molly's, touching her first gingerly, and watching her intently, even while he spoke to her father. "It's... welcome back, I guess."

Tim frowned though, and for a second turned his eyes up to the man. "I've been doing well," he said plainly and, if nothing else, at least there were no fresh injuries to speak of. He returned his attention to the baby. "No need to worry."