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You say "Oh, Niko...hello, Niko. Are you there? Speak to me, oh executive officer supreme... It's Clara, by the way." into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and announces "Hm? Clara? Don't know any Clara." Yes, he's joking, he's not been working -that- hard. "Are you selling something? I could use some cookies." in Niko's voice.
You say "Hmmm...as a matter of fact, I am. All for the low, low price of your annual physical, you too can have a chocolate bar! But -wait-, that's not all! In addition to this amazing chocolate bar of wonder, you get a happy gold star in your official file!" into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and announces "Ack, it's not time for that -already-, is it? I've got an idea! I could give -you- the chocolate bar, and you could let me put it off for a while. That sounds like a good deal." in Niko's voice.
You say "Nice try, tiger. I have all the chocolate I need, although that does remind me that I need to make a run to Johensen's this afternoon. C'mon, now...aren't you the one always telling Riley that the annual isn't such a bad thing?" into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and says "I could go to Johensen's for you? And it's not such a bad thing, but I'd rather wait. After all, I'm going to be in better shape once Ela and I get back from the trip. Waiting til then wouldn't be a big deal, right? It's not very long. And it's not like I'm going to be able to use this excuse ever again." in Niko's voice.
You say "Nikolaos Casymed, -don't- make me learn how to pronounce your first name, mister. You're in fine shape now, to my knowledge. Or...oh, no. You didn't break yourself again, did you?" into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and says "Not to my knowledge. And I'm generally aware of that sort of thing, though there was that one time--but it doesn't count, I was only six." in Niko's voice.
You say "Very good. Then you can come let me give you a physical. Well, whenever you're available that is. Wouldn't it be nice to get it done and over with -before- the wedding? That way we can assure Ela that you're all in one piece." into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and says "Ela already knows that. Trust me." Hey, maybe he'll get out of it if he causes enough blushing. "Why can't I just wait, Clara? Is it that big a deal?" in Niko's voice.
You say "*sigh* I guess not, Niko. I didn't think it would be, at least. Okay, fine. When you get back is good, I guess." into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and announces "*pause* -Is- it okay? I mean, Riley ducks them all the time." Quack. See? He's just taking after his brother. "It's just a hassle, Clara." in Niko's voice.
You say "No, Riley doesn't duck them. I did nab him for his annual, actually. Look, you just let me know when -is- good for you, okay Niko?" into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and announces "He doesn't? You did? Wow. Hey... listen. Horses, four of 'em. *sigh* Okay, I guess if he does it, I can, too. Uh, when's good for you?" in Niko's voice.
You say "*chuckle* At this point, I'm almost at the point of saying that I'm on vacation and everyone just has to wait. Whenever's good for you, though. I'm not the physician on duty right now, so anytime today is fine, and I have tomorrow off, so that's good too." into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and says "Is everything okay, Clara? And I'll be over in a few, I guess--just want to finish something." in Niko's voice.
You say "Oh, sure. Everything's fine. Take your time, though. I'll be in my office most of the evening." into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and says "If I'm going to do it, though, might as well get it over with, I guess." in Niko's voice.
You say "*laugh* There's the spirit. I promise to make it as painless as possible, honest." into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and says "Hey, as long as you keep the regenerator away from me, I'll be fine. Those things're evil." in Niko's voice.
You say "Hey, its what you gotta expect around here. That's just the breaks of life." into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and says "-Ow-. Ow, Clara! That's almost as bad as a regenerator. Okay, I finished up that RY-47. I can come now, if you want to be a vampire?" in Niko's voice.
You say "*snicker* Thank you, thank you. And for my next trick, we will continue in that vein. C'mon in whenever you're ready. I'm in my office." into the communit.
MEDIC> Niko, mumbling something about -really- bad puns, heads over to knock on the door to Clara's office.
MEDIC> From within the office, a voice calls out, "Welcome, bien veniue, wilkommen, c'mon in!"
Niko walks here from the Medical Bay.
Niko, hands in his pockets, lopes into the room. "You can do anything you want to me," he says, with a grin, "But no more puns, -please-."
Clara is over by the bioscan unit by the wall, already preparing the various instrumentage and hypos. "Niko! Why, such a surprise! Whatever can I do for you?" She snickers at the greeting and sighs theatrically. "I'm so unappreciated. Hop up on the bioscan."
Niko heads over to the bioscan and hops up as directed. He even pauses to hop, bunnylike. Maybe he's being literal today. "Very unappreciated," he replies. "But, hey, at least we haven't had any exploding desserts. I'm still working on that."
Clara smirks at the actual hop, shaking her head as she leans to the side to start clicking on the various monitors on the bed itself. "This time make it chocolate pudding? That smells better than butterscotch."
Niko nods amiably. "Sure, I can do that. Ela wouldn't agree, though," he adds. "But variety is good. Chocolate pudding, exploding. I'll make a note somewhere."
Clara shakes her head, turning back with the hypo of doom. "Tilt your head, please. You can wear the butterscotch cologne you got last year for your birthday, then. Actually, I'd just rather you fellas didn't get blown up at all. Or fall down stairs. Or get shot. Or turn green..."
Aieeee, the hypo of doom. Niko doesn't seem to realize it's doomfulness, though, as he just tilts his head obligingly. "I'm good at stairs, now," he protests, with a quiet snicker. "I haven't fallen down 'em since that time. I'm all in favor of no more accidents, though."
"Oh, please don't tell me you've actually been skating down stairs," Clara pleads, the hypo hissing as it collects the sample. She turns to feed it into the wall behind her desk before returning to claim a flat instrument. "Put your hand on this, please."
Clara closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, then shakes her head with a sigh and peers down to check the readings on the instrument. "And here I was telling Julie just how bright you are and how much I value your help on the research snags we run into. And you skate down stairs," she declares, actually amused as she turns to make a notation in the chart on the desk.
Niko is all innocence. "But, Clara, it's a -good- thing for me to skate down stairs. If I'd had practice stair-skating, I wouldn't have broken myself that one time. It's to prevent further injuries." Really. -That's- why he's doing it.
"Mm-hmm. Sure. I'll remind you of that next time I get commed to come rescue you from the bottom of some set of stairs," Clara decides, albeit with a flash of good-natured grin. She picks up scanner and gestures at you. "Jacket off, please." She pauses for a moment, brow furrowing. "Did you sleep in your uniform, Niko?"
Niko unbuttons the jacket and tugs it off, putting it next to him on the bioscan. Today's shirt is slate-blue, with the odd (and I do mean odd) yellow stain here and there. It reads 'Experiment with a Chemist', and does look like it's been used for some form of chemistry experiment. "I'm not going ot fall down any stairs," he retorts amiably, before peering at the uniform. "What? Oh... yeah. Laundry's being evil."
"I'm surprised -Ela- isn't being evil if you're sleeping in your uniform," Clara exclaims, hooking a stethoscope in her ears and warming the disc before setting it to your chest. "Take a deep breath, please."
Niko is effectively cut off from replying to that by the need for deep breaths. His shoulders lift in a brief shrug, though.
Clara continues to listen at various intervals for a few moments, then moves around to repeat the process at your back. "Okay, breath normally now," she suggests. "How is Ela anyway? You two just about ready for the wedding?" she asks, picking up a scanner and clicking it on.
Niko shifts back to rest his weight on his braced arms. "Just about, yeah. There really isn't all that much to do, though--we're both big on the simplicity thing, not making it involved and all."
Clara half grins, regarding the scanner readout as she moves it along joints and limbs. "Simplicity's a good thing," she agrees. "You talked to Riley much lately?"
Niko shakes his head, watching the scanner almost warily, as if he's waiting for it to reveal something bizarre. "Work stuff now and then, but not much beyond that. Why, everything okay? I should probably talk to him about wedding stuff soon, now that you mention it."
Clara's brow furrows at the scanner for a moment, and she clicks it off, but only to exchange it for apparently a heavier duty model. This gets turned on and moved slowly past one ear. "Mm-hmm. Everything's fine, to my knowledge. I just didn't know if he'd mentioned...er, the wedding. I know he's looking forward to it."
Niko looks definitely wary at the arrival of the second scanner. "Okay, I -know- I didn't break my ear," he mutters. "Would've remembered that. And he's not mentioned it, no. I'll nag him about it later, maybe."
Clara makes a noncommittal sound of agreement, eyes still focused on the scanner blandly. "Your ear's not broken," she assures blandly, circling the scanner around the back of your head. "Tell me, Niko, about how many hours of sleep a night have you been averaging?"
Niko mumbles something about not breaking his head recently, then pauses to think. "Average? Maybe... five, six hours? Something like that."
Clara snaps off the scanner and moves to collect a printout from her computer and peruse it thoughtfully as she returns. "Mm-hmm. Well, at least I can see why you didn't want to have your physical until after vacation. Niko, sleep deprivation does -not- make you a better security officer. It'll fry your aim, make ducking all that much slower, and scramble the numbers on reports."
Niko makes a brief gesture with his hands, almost one of futility. "I can't sleep any later than I do, Clara. I've tried, it's just not going to happen. I was hoping to get back on track somewhat while Ela and I are gone, though. Assuming the families don't keep us hopping," he adds, with a quick grin.
"Have you tried going to bed maybe a little earlier?" Clara asks, still scanning the results of the bloodwork before she glances up with a faint smile. "You've been skipping meals and eating junk food, too."
Niko's head bobs in a brief nod. "Sometimes, yeah. It doesn't help much." At that last, he looks a bit sheepish. "Do me a favor and don't mention that to Ela? She, uh, wouldn't be thrilled by that. Food's important."
Clara tilts her head at the former, vaguely concerned. "You're having problems sleeping at night? What's happening? Insomnia?" A faintly amused sigh follows as she nods. "I won't tell her, no, but you have to promise me you'll try to do better, all right?"
Niko nods once more. "I'll do better, yeah, promise. And it just takes me a while to wind down at night, that's all. Maybe if I start working out at night, 'stead of in the morning. Or maybe both, I don't know."
Clara acks softly, and reaches up to open a cabinet and rummage for a moment before withdrawing a small bottle and offering it over. "Vitamins. If you're going to work out twice a day, not sleep, and eat crud, you'll need them. Please tell me you're going to relax considerably during your honeymoon, right?"
Niko takes the bottle with a murmured thankyou. "I'm not going to eat crud, though," he says. "I promised, after all. And, yeah, relaxing is the plan. Don't know about when we visit Ela's family, but there's not much -to- do in Mathraki. Maybe some fishing, that's relaxing."
Clara nods with a small smile and gestures at the coat with a pen before she makes a few more notations in the chart. "Other than that, you're as healthy as can be. On target for weight according to height, well recovered from the mishaps over the last year...the whole nine yards."
Niko pulls on his jacket with a quick grin. "That's good to hear, at least. Do you need anything else, or can I go back to work?"
Clara flips the chart closed and waves it at the door with a wry grin. "You're free to go, but back to work? Up to you, but it's five thirty nearly. Isn't it about time for you to kick off for the night?"
Niko eyes his chrono. "Just about, yeah. Got a couple more things to finish up, though, before I go. It won't be too much longer." He hops down from the bioscan. "Wasn't so bad. Thanks, Clara."
Clara waggles her brows with a grin. "Of course it wasn't. I'm saving all the truly evil stuff to do to you next year," she promises cheerfully. "Take care of yourself Niko. Tell Ela hi for me."
Niko rolls his eyes. "Hey, if this year's anything like last year, you'll do plenty evil to me before the next annual. And I'll do that, both of 'em. Say hi to Riley, if you see him before I do." With that, and a lifted hand, he heads out of the office.
Niko walks towards the Medical Bay.
[Later, in the bakery]
Kyara walks here from the Java Quarter.
One arm balanced against the edge of a counter, Clara half leans down to peer at the contents inside with a rather intense frown of concentration, as if by staring at the various cookies they would get up and dance.
Kyara spots Clara, passing behind the doctor on her way over to the donuts. Casting a glance toward the objects of Clara's scrutiny, she murmurs, "Yeeeesssss, you want them..."
Thud. That would be the sound of Clara hitting forehead first into the glass before backing away to straighten and rub at the thunked spot. "Ow." She blinks down and grins lightly, slightly puzzled. "Kya? Oh, hi, yeah. Actually, I do, I'm just deciding what kind."
Kyara winces at the thunk, chuckling quietly, and turns to gaze at the cookies herself. "Chocolate, of course. I'd recommend the Dutch cocoa ones." She points to those. "They stay soft for/ev/er."
"Thing is, nothing lasts that long in my fridge if it's made out of chocolate," Clara responds with a laugh, returning to regarding the various confections. "I'm lucky if a dozen cupcakes make it to morning. How're you today?"
Kyara oooohs. Cupcakes. She turns slightly to gaze thoughtfully at those. "Except for taking the morning shift, today's been just fine so far."
Clara glances over with a wry grin before looking up to murmur an order to old Mr. Johensen, who goes about scooping some of said cupcakes into a box. "Morning shift's a bear until you get used to it. I'm direly tempted to go home and nap for a while when I get done here."
Kyara glances over at you, a bit of a startled expression in her eyes. "Nap? You? Are you feeling alright, Clara?"
Clara glances over from taking both the bag and a cup of coffee from the vendor, and hands over her ident in return to be swiped. "Me? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired is all." A grin touches her lips. "It does happen, Kya, I promise."
Kyara cocks her head. "Of course it does, as much as you take on yourself. I'm amazed you two have any time to yourself."
Clara shrugs and moves to settle into one of the chairs by the window of the small shop and sample her coffee. "Sometimes we don't," she agrees affably. "It happens."
Kyara blinks, and shakes her head at herself. "You. You don't have any time to yourself, I meant." She trails along, hesitating before she gestures toward the opposite chair. "May I?"
Clara gestures at the chair with a warming smile and nods. "Please do, certainly. And that's why I'm taking the afternoon off, actually. I may skip out of work early tomorrow too, although I haven't decided yet. What about you? How are you?" she asks, almost hesitantly.
Kyara sits, gratefully. "Wow. I half-wondered if he was joking when he said everybody was going to be working less. Oh, I'm fine, I suppose. I just had to get out of my quarters for a little bit. Waiting hand and foot on an injured man can get very frustrating after a while."
Clara shakes her head with a faintly amused laugh, swirling the coffee in her foam cup before taking another sip. "I can imagine so. He's not really all that hurt, though."
Kyara grimaces. "Maybe, but he doesn't act like it. Maybe I'm just spoiling him. I do believe he can fetch his own drinks, even with a cracked rib."
Clara's brows scoot up at this, eyes dancing despite the dark circles beneath them. "Is that so? Did he tell you that his rib got resonated? It's not cracked anymore."
Kyara blinks, then flame erupts in her eyes. "Ooooooh, that... that... that /man/!"
Clara bursts into laughter, albeit of the kindly sort and gestures with her cup. "Don't break him again, Kya. I'm tired enough right now that I'd accidentally resonate the wrong bone. Then Dr. Foster would point and laugh at me."
Kyara shakes her head ruefully. "I'll just make sure he can do things for himself from now on. Hmph. I bet Riley wouldn't do that to you, or Nick to Ela."
Clara rubs at her eyes with the thumb and index finger of her free hand, grinning somewhat. "Oh, depends on what's wrong. But no, Riley for one -can't- do that to me. It's hard to fool a doctor. Dunno about Niko and Ela."
Kyara hmmms. "You've got a point there." She shakes her head after a moment. "Nick wouldn't. He's Galahad. Galahads don't take advantage of their 'babe'." Just a touch of sarcasm on that word. "I need to get me a Galahad for a while."
Clara quirks a brow, then nods sympathetically. "I'd have to agree with that, Kya. And you're not a babe. You're a grown woman. Nor are you a chick, or any of those other terms," she adds with a hint of asperity before wincing. "And that was my clue to go home and hide. When I get gripey. Sorry 'bout that," she offers sheepishly, starting to climb to her feet.
Kyara smiles a little, shaking her head, and rises as well, though she turns more toward the baked goods than the door. "Not your fault. Have a good nap, if that's what you end up doing."
Clara stifles a yawn, then offers a sleepy smile. "Thanks, Kya. Sleep sounds wondrous right now." She turns towards the door, then pauses at it for a moment to offer a grateful smile back. "I'm glad you don't seem to be angry with me anymore," she adds, then the doorbell jingles as the door closes after her.
You walk towards the Java Quarter.