Not My Sharona

Posted on Thu Apr 8th, 2021 @ 7:13pm by Senior Chief Petty Officer Sharona Deluna

Mission: S2:3: Snow Drift
Location: USS Resolute Med-Bay
Timeline: Immediately after 'Hard Contact'

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued by this particular patient. This tall, slender female with eyes the colour of ice-cold arctic waters under a clear sky. Those delicately pointed ears hidden amongst long strands of silver hair. She reminded Murray of the winnowy elves in his daughter's storybooks, but his curiosity was coloured by concern for her very well-being right now and not rooted in any misplaced lust or romanticism. He'd also heard on the Canopus grapevine that she possessed a certain talent, one which intrigued him greatly.

"Here," Murray said, walking beside her towards the bio-bed in case Sharona needed any physical assistance. "Take a seat, and I'll run some diagnostics okay? Just want to be sure I'm giving you the right dosage. You're a Selelvian, right?" He'd checked her file to grab that piece of information back when he'd first become aware of her existence on the station, as he had with many other key players in this particular M4 theatre.

"I am," the pale elf like being said as she sat on the biobed with a little effort. "And no, I have known medical ailments or complaints. Until now."

"First one I've met," noted Murray with a wry smile, keeping close to help as needed. "Lie down if you need to," he added, with a gentle tone. "So, is radiation something you're particularly susceptible to, or were you just unlucky and in the wrong place at the wrong time on the bridge right now?"

"I don't know," Sharona said honestly. "I was fine and Captain Ingrams was giving orders and that stupid woman was saying sound wasn't audio...and then things turned weird."

Murray nodded as if that made perfect sense (it didn't) and studied the screens above the bed for a moment. "Something to do with the way they're running the shields right now then," he said, reaching for the infuser and changing its settings. "Stupid woman?" He asked, having missed that bit.

"Nevermind. Am I going to die?" she asked.

"Not today," Murray promised, and pressed another dose of a heady cocktail of anti-radiation drugs into her pale skin. "You might itch for a while, have some unusual reactions to taste, smell... emotions." He offered a wry smile, then added. "Whatever normal usually feels like, expect some changes. I guess we'll find out together exactly what those are."

"That's all?" Sharona asked jokingly. "Nothing out of the ordinary, then?"

"Well," said Murray, playing the genuine curiosity card now. "I wouldn't say anything about you was ordinary, Senior Chief." He grinned. "I've... y'know, heard some things."

"What sort of things?" she asked.

"Something about a Shishimi and a knack?" Murray asked, outright, then deliberately frowned and added. "But that might have been drunken ramblings by some station personnel..."

Sick feeling or not, it was amazing how fast Sharona jumped off the biobed and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Don't say the name!" she hissed in his ear as her eyes darted towards the door.

Murray's gaze followed Sharona's towards the door. He didn't resist her touch, but confirmed the absence of anyone besides the two of them before nodding firmly and then raising his right hand with a firm thumbs up to indicate he understood.

She removed her hand and looked at the door again. "Sorry," she said as she stepped back. "The last time that happened," she shuddered. "A being fell in love with me."

He grinned. "No apology needed," Murray said. "You're saving lives, right?" He winced as she mentioned the L-word and rested a comforting hand on Sharona's shoulder. "Of all the things that could have happened," the Rish medic noted, with a genuine sympathy. "That has to be the worst." He raised one eyebrow. Then Murray just went for it. "So, how does this Knack work?"

"It's a form of mental manipulation," Sharona said since her people's power was documented. "A sort of post hypnotic suggestion to get others to do as I wish."

"Huh," noted Murray, the word a placeholder for the sheer amount of mental consideration this new nugget of information created. "Does it work on everyone?" He asked, then the inevitable follow-up questions. "Can you get people to... hurt each other? Kill for you? How far does it go?"

"It doesn't work on all species, at least not the way one would expect," she said. "It's more of what the person would be capable of doing. Like I could give you the suggestion to hurt a patient, but your medical ethos may conflict with that and make you unable to do your job at all for fear of hurting someone."

Well, that was... interesting indeed. Alliteration set to one side, Murray considered the pale elven female with deep curiosity. He had no desire to fall in love here and now like the other poor bastard, but there was definitely ample room for a loophole in that medical ethos of which she spoke. "Is he still madly in love with you now?" He asked. "Can you switch this ability and its effects off and on at will?"

"It's technically ended when the person affected completes what the desire was," Sharona said. "If you can't complete it...you do it until you do or...die."

"Technically?" Murray asked, eyebrow once again arched with his question. He chuckled warmly. "Okay, Puppetmaster," he said, that grin mixing amusement and intrigue. "So would I know if you'd whammied me or would I just wake up in some corner of the ship totally oblivious?"

"You wouldn't know," the Selelvian said. "You'd just have a desire to do what I want until it was fulfilled and then it would be done and no longer think about it."

"Desire..." Murray exhaled the word as he regarded the Selelvian coolly for the hundredth time today. Yeah. That was a whole other playground. "You look and sound like you're feeling a bit better," he verbally observed. "Skin's the right kind of pale, pupils look normal and I say you're sounding like yourself, but," he smirked warmly. "I don't really know you that well just yet."

"It doesn't matter," Sharona said and gave him a direct look. "Do you want a sample?"

"Nothing murderery, ok. But, yes," said Murray, a little too easily. In the future, when he'd overthink this moment, he'd tell himself that she was already whammying him. Honestly though, it didn't really matter, he'd have been in either way.

He was handsome, rugged and definitely someone she'd be interested in. However, she wanted to know if he wanted her and decided not to use The Knack. She stared into his eyes and gave a seductive smile. "Make love to me," she said as if it were more than a suggestion.

Green eyes met arctic blue and Murray's face broke into an honest expression of pure wonder coloured with happy. That big stupidly open grin was a rare glimpse into the impish reality behind his friendly medic cover-story. There was no second-guessing, no hesitation and no holding back as he answered. "Right here, right now?" His right hand reached out to cradle her perfect face, long fingers rough against Sharona's cheek as they tucked behind those elven ears.

Sharona knew he could continue with or without The Knack, which she hadn't used on him and he was either a man who would sleep with anyone, or he believed himself to be under her influence. She brought a hand up and cupped his cheek in return. "I didn't use it on you," she whispered.

"So," countered Murray. "That wasn't a question, then?" He stepped back, trailing fingers lightly across her jawline as he put a little distance between them now. "A trick? A test?" He queried, gently and without malice.

"Just a little fun," she said. "But would you like to make love to me?"

He canted his head to the side and regarded Sharona for a moment, trying to gauge any dual meaning in the simple question. It was an easy answer - it had been a while - but Murray hesitated only in considering the fact they were standing in Med-Bay dealing with the aftermath of radiation poisoning.

"Yes," he said, honestly and then for the benefit of the other medical staff in the wider room, Murray added. "I think I should do a full examination, Senior Chief, then walk you back to your quarters, make sure you're well.. rested."

"I thought you'd never ask," the Selelvian said and then used The Knack as she leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "Tell Ingrams he's infected with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis."

Those words tickled as she spoke them in hushed tones, and Murray frowned lightly as they dropped into his brain. While he couldn't resist her power, there was one question his mind needed to ask. "Right now?"

"Later," she said. "For now....check up."

"Later it is," confirmed Murray, then he gave Sharona an upward nod and a wonky grin. "Your quarters or mine?"

"Why not both?" Sharona asked with a sexy little smile.

"Both is good," Murray returned, with a clear and overt enthusiasm for this idea. "Yours first," he suggested, thinking that while he was thinking about what he was currently thinking about, it was far too much of a long way to take them both to the Rish Enclave.

"Let's go," she said as she got off the biobed.

"Doctor?" Ingram's voice buzzed from a vocoder built into the chin of suit's helmet. "How is Miss Deluna doing? I assume she is not physically able to join us on the away mission?"

With an expression that suggested he wasn't a big fan of the interruption, Murray swiftly responded to the direct question without letting that look influence his tone of voice. His gaze remained focused on the slender female form now standing before him. "Senior Chief Deluna's on required medical leave for 24hrs," he said matter-of-factly while his eyes caught a keenly direct brightness. "I'll reevaluate her return to duty after that time."

Sharona gave a smile at that and looked at Murray. "Shame," she whispered. "Lying to the Captain like that." She clearly enjoyed his small deception.

"I'm a terrible person," said Murray, with a wry half-smile. "But he's a tough guy, he'll survive I'm sure. You," he continued, "on the other hand, need constant supervision and a very thorough physical..."

"Then let us go," she said. "For I do not feel well..."