Infinite Combinations

Posted on Sun Jul 17th, 2011 @ 3:06pm by Lieutenant Commander Aral Aix & Ensign Andrexi Callai MD

Mission: Too Close for Comfort...
Location: Swimming Pool, Deck 3, USS Arizona
Timeline: Following 'Fractured Introductions'

Aral Aix joined placed his hands palms together and raised his arms above his arms above his head as he lined his feet up together and bent his knees. With one deft movement the Trill had cleared the diving board and was engulfed in watery depths of the pool. Light duty had left him at a loose end and doctor's orders had explicitly excluded hoverball Aral's sport of choice, the gym was also out too for obvious reasons. It was therefore with surprise and delight that he had discovered the rarely used swimming pool on Deck 3.

Aral surfaced inhaling deeply and brushing his dark hair back. The physical exertion and adrenaline rush from the dive had been exhilarating. He adjusted is position in the water and slipped into a front crawl. The pool was not large and Aral had soon completed a length, touching the tiled side with his right hand he turned his body and set off in the direction he had swam from. The exercise felt good; it went some way to dispelling the mental haze that had hung about him since the incarceration and following nights of heavy drinking.

"I'm, uh, not sure... whatever kind of dive that was on the list of things you're cleared to do," an amused voice said from the poolside. Aral looked up to see the amused expression of the young doctor, shaking his head and looking down at him. "But it was impressive."

The Trill swam over to the poolside and began to tread water. Between the Commodore and Sickbay he would have been elated were he never to be presented with another list again. He observed the doctor was dressed to swim, a towel draped over his spotless shoulder, "Unusual attire for a house call doctor."

"Unusual patient," Andy said with a chuckle and a wry grin. He nodded toward the water. "May I join you?"

"If you like," replied Aral, feeling unable to demand the entirety of the pool to himself.

"How's the water?" the doctor asked as he selected a chair at the side of the pool to deposit his towel.

"Perfect... but Trill have a lower body temperature than humans. You might find it cold." Aral remembered how many humans had commented on his coldness.

"I'm not human," Andy chuckled quietly at him over his shoulder. He kicked his shoes off, squatting to run his hand through the water, smiling down at the commander. "And your chest? Has it been giving you any trouble?"

"It's tense, a little sore, but it's a good type of pain." Replied Aral running his wet fingers over the area, the water on his chest sparkled in the light.

Andy slipped smoothly, gracefully into the water, swimming submerged for five meters or so. When he surfaced again, he ran his hand through his brown hair, slicking it back. The temperature clearly didn't bother him. In fact, his smile seemed even broader than usual. "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've been in a pool?" he asked as he tread his way lazily back toward the commander.

Aral lazily supported his weight by a hand on the side. "A while, perhaps?" Aral had always enjoyed swimming, but few starships tended to have swimming pools.

"Since the Academy," Andy said with a nod. "We didn't even have a holodeck at my last post. Very spartan." He cocked his head as he regarded the commander, a mirthful grin passing across his face. "Well, I guess that answers that question..." He gestured toward the man's shoulders, where the the Trill's purple-brown series of spots cascaded from his neck to his chest and down his sides.

"Oh," said Aral, "Yes... all the way down." He remembered how a young Betazoid had once been mesmerised by Zalia's markings. He made as if to continue with his swim, "I thought Trill anatomy was a compulsory at the Medical Academy."

"Oh, it is," Andy said with a nod. "But in multi-species medicine, we tend to focus more on internal anatomy for species with such similar external structure and features. And," he shrugged, "let's face it, Humans, Betazoids, Trill, Vulcans... there's not a whole lot of structural difference externally speaking." He leaned forward, taking in the sight of the spots. "I like them. They're very... unique, aren't they?" His mouth twisted in thought, then he chuckled again. "Better on you than me. I don't think I'd look good in spots."

Aral paused to regard the young doctor. As dazed as he had been in Sickbay, the pain in his ribcage and the anaesthetic, he couldn't help but notice the irregularity of the doctor's name. "Andrexi Callai." He rolled the name in his mouth, "that is not a human name... it's closer to Betazoid." And yet his eyes were far from the eerie black that species held.

"Well," the ensign nodded, his head quirked to the side to regard him in curious amusement, "that's probably a good thing since, uh, I am Betazoid."

Aral moved forward a couple of steps and grabbed the Ensign's chin with his right hand and carefully examined his eyes. "And yet you have grey eyes." He released the doctor's chin and returning to a respectable distance. He smiled, "Infinite diversity in infinite combinations."

Andy smiled to himself, a slight redness flaring into his cheeks. "Everyone always wants to know about the eyes," he mused softly. "It's a... family trait. We don't produce the black pigment most Betazoids have," he said with a vague gesture toward his eyes.

Aral nodded, "You could pass for human," he paused, "until the wedding albums came out." Aral smiled and swam off.

The younger man's amused smile deepened as he watched the commander swim away.