Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side sim - The Holo Library

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side sim - The Holo Library

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side sim - The Holo Library
Posted by… suppressed (28) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
Achilleas shook his head and laughed ruefully. “I certainly hope so. I’m not yet to the stage of practicing with a dancing program. I know doing is better to learn an activity than to read about it, but I like to familiarize myself with the theory first. Do you know how to dance?”

CSO Petrakos

A small chuckle escaped Solal before he could stop it, and he said, “No.” He’d tried it once - or rather been made to. But he didn’t really get the point, nor did he understand what exactly one was supposed to do when dancing. Realizing that his answer may have come across as unkind or rude, he added, “It’s… never really been my thing. I do like to read about things before I do them.”

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“Oh, we have that in common then. The reading about something before doing it.” Achilleas’ face brightened as he took in this kindred spirit. “There’d been a number of things I’ve studied extensively before taking the plunge and doing it. Some worked out pretty well and others failed spectacularly. Dancing hasn’t really been my thing either but I want to learn and be good at it if it will bring her happiness. I’m willing to push my comfort zone to bring her some joy.”

CSO Petrakos

He nodded again. “Seems logical. I read about everything before I did it. Except, oddly, Star Fleet.” He said. The biggest decision of his life and he’d honestly just leapt in without looking. Something he’d never done before and never intended on doing again. He even read about the ships he was posted on if he could.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas tilted his head as a quizzical look came over his face. “You didn’t look into Starfleet before joining? How did you end up deciding what department you were going to go into? Actually, which department are you in anyway?”

CSO Petrakos

“My parents were doctors on Earth,” he said with a shrug. “I chose based on that. I’m a doctor, in a junior officer position, with a double specialty of immunology and oncology - the immune system and cancer.” To him, the choice had been more logic-based than anything. Had he not gone into Starfleet, his family would’ve guaranteed him a job. When he did choose Starfleet, he was sure he’d have a job. He wasn’t completely sure why he chose starfleet, technically the Earth job would’ve been better. But he knew he’d rather be here than anywhere else.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“My parents were olive farmers on Earth.” Achilleas remarked as he nodded slowly. “I’m the department head of the science department. I remember seeing you in the science lab during the whole fungal deal, but uh, I wasn’t exactly in full control of my faculties then. Would you have had the same specialties had you not joined Starfleet?”

CSO Petrakos

“I believe I would. I chose them well. One of my parents was an oncologist, but neither studied immunology. I don’t think he ever expected me to be like him, considering I wasn’t much like them at all, actually,” he explained. He cracked a small grin at the mention of the lab incident. “That was… quite an interesting way to meet one’s new Chief Science Officer.”

~ Lt. JG Solal, Doctor

With a groan Achilleas covered his face with his hands out of embarrassment. “It was something alright. We just wanted a tea party.” He pulled his hands away and grinned at Solal. “I heard after the incident that our little party was by far the tamest of the different activities that happened. I mean cake, tea, and hats. Apparently when out of our minds there wasn’t any darkness rising to the surface. With both of your parents being doctors and one in oncology, then what did the other specialize in?”

CSO Petrakos

“I heard much the same. Fortunately, I was unaffected by the fungal infection. The other was in emergency medicine. Head of Emergency Med at his hospital.” He replied. Marcel had been thrilled to hear Solal’s choice of career, meanwhile Julien had been… a little more apprehensive. That had been a hard conversation. But when he said he was certain, the Segals stood behind him, like they always had.

~ Lt. JG Solal, Doctor

“Would’ve been nice to have been immune to it.” Achilleas muttered not all that quietly. “Emergency medicine sounds like a hectic field to go into. I think most shipboard Doctors have to have some experience with it, but I imagine it would rattle a podiatrist to be thrown into an emergency situation. Were you ever interested in that aspect of medicine?”

CSO Petrakos

“I was. In fact, I nearly chose it over oncology, considering that’s not likely to come up on a starship. But I figured I would get plenty of exposure to Emergency Medicine anyway. I may even gain a third specialty in it down the line. And I’ve taken classes and read about it.” Solal said. “Out of curiosity, don’t you specialize in a branch of science?”

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“Yeah. I specialize in astrophysics and my area of expertise is in the interaction of dark matter with spacetime and whether it might be the cause of premature novae. Trying to explain why a seemingly stable star will explode with little or no warning.” Achilleas said as passion was clear from his energetic movements and rushed words.

CSO Petrakos

Solal nodded. “I see. It does sound like an interesting topic.” He said. Science had always interested him, though he had to admit medicine was better to him. “And a good reason to be on a star ship.”

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“Though not necessarily a medical ship right?” Achilleas said with a grin. “What are the chances that a medical ship will stumble upon an anomaly or end up in a different dimension? A lot greater than you’d think. Shortly after my joining the ship we ended up in a different dimension and had to ram our way back through a tear in space. It’s what led to that Ogawa being scrapped and the new one we got.”

CSO Petrakos

“Is that so? Unfortunate that I missed it. I joined the crew while we were still waiting for the new ship to arrive.” He said. “After the tea party incident I can’t wait to see what kind of trouble the actual ship gets into.” Though he’d been with the crew for a while now, they’d only just gotten the ship, and he still felt pretty new.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“Well I’ll be counting on you if I end up contracting a strange sickness or space cancer.” Achilleas chuckled. “I’m fine with us staying out of trouble though, but if past experience has taught me anything it’s that I’m not going to hold my breath. The universe is a dangerous place at the best of times.”

CSO Petrakos

Solal nodded. “My specialties won’t be… particularly helpful to you. They mostly have to do with your body’s own malfunctions more than those inflicted upon you by the infinite maladies of the universe. However, I will be looking to you next time we encounter a rift in space-time. A much more likely scenario, surprisingly.”

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“But what if space radiation causes my body to malfunction? I could have tumors or encephalitis.” Achilleas asked while putting a hand to his chin in thought. “Though you are right that some weird space time anomaly is more likely. Unless, I put on an EVA suit and take long walks along the ship’s hull. Maybe frequent exposure would do the trick.”

CSO Petrakos

Solal suppressed a chuckle, failing to stop a small grin from gracing his face. “I’m not sure the conditions I treat are worth having me as a doctor, though I’m sure a few walks along the ship’s hull would do the trick,” he said, shaking his head.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas nodded in amusement. He then sighed. “You said you were made to do dancing? Did you get any good at it? I’m honestly a bit nervous that even after practicing that I’ll mess things up or look like a fool.”

CSO Petrakos

“My parents thought I’d fit in better if I did things like dance class. It was rather counterproductive.” He stated with a shrug. “But I do remember what I was taught… mostly ballroom dances. I’m sure you are better at it than I,” he said, recalling the disaster that was that class. It had gone… not particularly well. Young Solal had no rhythm. That had been made painfully clear, in a series of… incidents.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“I can’t in any way say I’m better than you, I haven’t even tried!” Achilleas objected a little loudly, then looked surprised at his own reaction. He took a calming breath. “Are there any tips or tricks that you could share? Maybe a demonstration if it isn’t too much to ask?”

CSO Petrakos

The half-Vulcan raised an eyebrow. “I can try,” he said. “But I cannot guarantee you’ll learn anything useful.” He stood from the chair, moving away from the table. The aisles in the library were fairly wide, certainly wide enough for them to have some space for a quick demonstration.

“The French do love a traditional dance. So, generally, the male leads. In a same-gendered relationship, the more dominant personality usually leads, but it can go either way. You put your hands out like this.” He raised his arms in front of him. If another person were standing there, his left hand would be just under the partner’s shoulder blade, his right, connected with their right. He looked at Achilleas, checking if he was still following.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas likewise stood and followed Solal toward the aisle. “Hmm… okay.” He said with a nod and closely observing the posture and positioning of the hands. “I know you’re not supposed to look at your or their feet but how do you do so without stepping on each other?”

CSO Petrakos

“Muscle memory. At first, you often step on each other, but as both partners become more practiced, the crushed toes become less and less frequent. When you’re doing this, you’re supposed to keep your core muscles tight. It will help with balance.” He explained, dropping his arms. “Let’s see you try it,” he said, partially because he was up here making a fool of himself, he wanted to see Achilleas do it, too.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas nodded eagerly and pantomimed the posture that Solal showed, but… he wasn’t getting it right. It looked somewhat similar but his posture wasn’t lining up. “How is this? Does it look correct to you?” He asked hopefully.

CSO Petrakos

“Tighten your core. And your hand position is off… It’s easier when you’ve got a real person there.” He instructed, watching. “But it’s not awful, for a first time.” He added. The real hard part was once you started actually moving while trying to hold posture. He was never any kind of pro at it, but he’d been made to take it for two years. He picked up a thing or two. Got to love high-class boarding schools…

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“Tighten core, tighten core.” Achilleas muttered to himself as he flexed and held his stomach muscles. He was having a difficult time multitasking holding his posture correctly and his hands positioned where they should be. For one thing he had no one to put his hands on and there was the dissonance of seeing Solal but thinking of Ria’s particular height and build. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask if he was doing any better.

CSO Petrakos

As a six-foot-four half Vulcan, Solal was significantly taller than a lot of woman. During his class, he had been twelve, and already getting taller than his classmates. He had not been the most desirable partner. Most twelve year old girls weren’t exactly jumping at the chance to partner with a green-tinted pointy eared weirdo who had a good 5 inchest at least on them. “The holodeck can probably summon a dummy for you to practice on,” Solal pointed out, watching Achilleas’ hands shift between something similar to his height, and the positioning for a height much shorter than he.

~ Lt. JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas sighed and let his arms drop to his sides. “Computer, change program to a dancing hall and create two dancing partners. One female at about 5 foot tall and the other…?” He looked at Solal questioningly. If he was going to have a holographic dummy to try dancing with then so was Solal. In for a penny in for a pound anyway.

CSO Petrakos

Solal gave Achilleas another eyebrow raise. “Female, six foot. Preferably of Vulcan descent.” He said. Thankfully, Vulcans didn’t really blush too much, but if Achilleas were to look close, Solal’s face might look greener than usual. The program changed, becoming an elaborate dance hall. Currently, no music played, but a few holographic couples practiced dancing around them. Near Achilleas a five foot tall woman appeared, standing still as she waited for him to begin dancing. In front of Solal, a six foot tall Vulcan woman.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor