Captain's Call
Posted on Mon Feb 2nd, 2026 @ 3:55am by Lieutenant JG Kally Kellerman & Ensign Henry Taylor & Captain Calypso Skyie & Tessa di'Orion
Mission:
Lower Decks
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Consecutive with "Smug as a Bug"
Captain Calypso Skyie, Mistress of all she observes on the good Starship Chimera, was just...walking. She'd gotten bored on the bridge and decided that anywhere was better than where she was, but that wasn't all that abnormal. Then an idea hit her and a wide smile crossed her face. It would be one of those itches that could get scratched in the middle of the day, and those were always good. And so she went down to sickbay, where her actual girlfriend worked. She reflected on that for a moment as the turbolift whisked her down a couple levels; she HAD a girlfriend, even if it was an awkwardish relationship. They hadn't talked about it much, but that was still in character with who they each were, not wanting to limit the other.
As she walked into the medical bay, her eyes flicked around for the blonde or blondes, as the case could be if Tessa were in her company, but the only one in sight was a tall young man with dark hair that she knew, well at least by name, Henry it was, but not one that she’d had known by… Other things. Even she didn’t have enough time to get through the entire crew, yet. Cally gave a hacking cough, one that just sounded a bit off of normal, "Hello," She croaked intentionally, "I was looking for the Doctor? I think I'm sick." She repeated the hacking cough.
Henry looked up from his station and saw the Captain. He raised an eyebrow and stood up. "Captain," he said by way of greeting. Well, better than her last fake cough, he thought to himself. "Unfortunately, Doctor Kellerman is not here at the moment, so you'll have to settle for a nurse."
She walked towards him, clearing her throat for good measure, glancing him up and down like she had with so many others on board, “Well, I’ll never turn down a cute nurse,” She mused with a voice that most certainly hadn’t been coughing for the last couple of hours, “You’re Henry, if I remember right?” The Captain’s smile turned a bit more sly, “I’m sorry I haven’t really introduced myself, I don’t come down here very often except for ummm… Official business, you see.”
"I understand," Henry said, technically being honest. He was well aware of Kally's "official" business with the Captain, et al. "And yes, I'm Nurse Taylor. It's a pleasure to officially meet you." He felt his cheeks burn at the accidental innuendo from the word 'officially'. "Is there some way I can be of service until she returns?" He did his best not to rub his eyes at his own phrasing.
“You know, there might be..” Cally’s walk turned into more of a saunter as she approached him, “I’m in need of a fair bit of distracting and you may be just the guy for it. I’ve never been one to really enjoy getting all my scans done, but your boss has me getting into the habit now and it would never be a bad thing to get a second opinion, like for physical exams?” She waved her face and tugged at the zipper of her flight-suit style uniform, pulling it down several inches, revealing a more than a small bit of cleavage, “But you all sure keep it hot in here.”
Henry was going to comment on the fact that the ship's temperature was at human standard comfort level, but given how he was suddenly sweating, he wondered if she wasn't actually correct. "I um...Captain if you're unwell, I can arrange a private room and call Doctor Kellerman. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to assist." He kept his hands behind him and backed slowly towards his console, which was, unfortunately, only a few inches behind him, affording him little room to retreat.
“As you say, she’s not here at the moment.” Cally’s eyes brightened with amusement as she continued to advance on him slowly, “I really could use a good going over, which is something you’re certainly qualified to do, having gone through the Academy and everything. One doesn’t get made a Head Nurse just on good looks after all.” She’d approached to within two feet and cocked her head, “Why bother Kally when you’re right here?”
"Captain, with all due respect," Henry said, trying to buy some time, "you're very attractive, but I'm in love with someone, and I have every intention of being with her until the day I die. So, I'm sorry but there is nothing you could possibly offer me that is going to steer me from that course." By the time he was done talking, he'd found his voice, and actually managed to drag his eyes up to meet hers defiantly.
That just wasn’t right. People didn’t just...do this with her, and she’d checked to make sure that there wasn’t a ring on his finger, so he wasn’t clearly taken yet, she did have her standards after all. But he had someone already, “I don’t know…” She said in a breathy loud whisper. “You don’t know what you’d be missing?”
"I know what I'd be keeping," he said, simply.
The doors to Sickbay slid open and a playful laugh came from it as Tessa finally snagged the PADD from Kally as they walked back in from the work they'd been doing. Her eyes flickered over to where Henry was, cornered by Lady Skyie, clearly in distress. Her hand automatically went to where her sword would have been on a normal basis, but she couldn’t just bring it here now. Her hand tightened instinctively as the laugh in her throat died and eyes like lasers locked on Calypso.
Kally read the room quickly, saw Cally's uniform half undone and immediately sprang into action. "Tessa, I'm sorry. You were too late," she said, sighing dramatically. "He's already gone blind." She snickered and nudged Tessa playfully. "Mister Taylor? You have the wrong blonde." She walked over and pulled Cally to her, kissing her. "This one's mine," she said as they broke apart.
Tessa’s hand had found the emergency medpac that was snug on the waistline of the medical uniform she wore and her eyes never left Cally as her free hand rummaged without looking, “Blind, Kally?” Her eyes opened more as the anecdote about men and self-pleasure and going blind, “I’ll have to give him more attention, My Lady.” At least her hand withdrew from the medpac in a fist. Whether that was good or bad was yet to be seen.
"Here's what I assume happened," Kally said, looking at Cally. "You came in here all hot to trot, thinking you'd surprise me, wound up surprising Henry, and before you could get your shirt back together, we interrupted you and saved Ensign Taylor from blushing so hard he turned permanently red. That about sum it up?" She kept her back to Tessa, giving Cally a look and raising her eyebrows, silently hoping she'd go along.
The look on Kally’s face sobered the cocky grin on Calypso’s face as the Captain understood what Kally was talking about, but she shook her head slightly, giving a light facsimile of a cough as she covered her mouth, “Actually, I had a bit of a cough and I was really itchy on my stomach and Nurse Taylor here was about to inspect the area for a rash, I ummm… My choice of uniform didn’t really give much of an option to access the area? Right, Henry?”
Henry licked his lips and tried to compose himself. "She did come in complaining of a cough," he said, looking at Kally.
Tessa looked from Calypso to Henry then back to the Captain, “Of course it’s all right if there is a medical reason, My Lady.” She gave a chin nod towards the biobed, “He can go ahead and examine you.” The unspoken words of ‘If you don’t have something…’ hung in the air.
"Now that Doctor Kellerman is back, she can take over examination duties," Henry said, stepping away from Cally.
"It's all right." Tessa repeated, "It IS part of Henry's duties, is it not?" She took a half-step forward.
"He's right. My sickbay, my preference," she said to Tessa before turning back to the Captain. "Cally? My office. Now." She looked back at Henry. "Why don't you two go double check the inventory numbers from yesterday," she said, giving Henry a look.
"Yeah," Cally nodded and moved towards Kally's office without saying a word, feeling Tessa's eyes on her and felt a shiver run down her spine.
Henry nodded. "Yes, Doctor," he said. He took Tessa's hand and pulled her close, steering her towards the storeroom.
Kally let out a breath as they left and turned to head to her office. As she stepped inside, she shut the door behind her and locked it, looking at Cally. "You are playing with fire," she said.
"I didn't think it would be THAT much of a reaction, besides I wasn't really serious about going after him." Cally showed her open hands to Kally, "He was saying no and I was going to honor that, I promise!”
"I believe you," Kally said, sitting down on her couch next to Cally. "But given she broke bones in me just for mentioning sleeping with him...'that was not smart for someone in love and in a society where ‘violence of varying regimes IS the answer.’” Kally said, handing Cally's own words back to her.
“Okay, I deserve that.” Cally had the grace to admit her mistakes, usually, “But you know I just like to have fun and messing with people and all that. Besides, why are they special?”
"They're in love," Kally said, running her hand through Cally's hair. "That sweet, young love, the kind that two innocent kids have." She smiled. "It's cute, really. Nauseating when they're sitting there, staring at each other during their coffee break, just marinating in their puppy-eyed looks, but cute nonetheless." She snickered and leaned in, kissing Cally. "Next time? Just contact me directly when you need 'an exam,'" she purred, wrapping her arms around Cally's neck.
Cally put her own hands around Kally’s waist, “I’ll give you fair warning, I promise.” Then she lost herself in her girlfriend as Kally pulled her to lie down on her couch, finishing unsealing her top.
As soon as the two 'allys were out of sight, Tessa whirled on Henry and her eyes demanded information. "What did she try to do to you?"
Henry stopped in the corridor between Sickbay and storage and sighed, looking around to make sure they were alone. "Humans would call it 'flirting,' although her version is rather aggressive. The Captain has a reputation of being...amorous. She tends to connect with her crew through physical intimacy." He put his hands on Tessa's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "And I turned her down flat."
Her eyes searched his, making sure he was telling the truth and came away satisfied that he had been and her shoulders relaxed and she sagged in relief. She took a deep breath and relaxed the fist she’d had since seeing the Captain, holding it palm up, the handle of the laser scalpel visible in it. “I was so angry, not at you, but at her. I don’t plan on sharing you, Henry.”
Henry took the scalpel out of her hand and put it safely in his pocket. "And I have no intention of sharing or being shared," he said. He took her hands and brought them to his lips, kissing each palm and then holding them between his hands. "I promise."
“And since you can apparently see again,” Tessa smiled up at him, “I’ll do my very best to make sure you don’t go blind anymore!” She said cheerfully, almost too cheerfully, “Which means we should inventory quickly,” The young blonde spun and pulled Henry bodily with her. “Then we can take a long lunch while Lady Skyie occupies her.”
"I like your thinking," Henry said, following her into the storeroom.
