Posted by Lieutenant Séan Iven (Counselor) in Side sim: Pernicious Consequences

Posted by Civilian Thyr Th’arialat (Resident) in Side sim: Pernicious Consequences

Posted by Lieutenant Séan Iven (Counselor) in Side sim: Pernicious Consequences
Posted by… suppressed (54) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Since the day Thyr had called Séan, he’d never missed a meeting of theirs. His dummy was set up in his house, but the transference of his angry habits to punching the dummy wasn’t going perfectly smoothly, so not a lot of progress had been made in their four sessions since then.

Today was their agreed upon meet day. But as the agreed upon time came, Thyr was nowhere to be seen at their meeting place. The time came and went, no sign of the Andorian. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

~ Thyr

Séan waited for nearly an hour, his worry increasing the longer he waited, before he got up and left the meeting place. He walked towards Thyr’s shop with long steps that ate up the ground quickly. He arrived and tried the door to see if it was unlocked.

Counselor Iven

The door was unlocked. That should worry Séan. A paranoid criminal would never leave his door unlocked under normal circumstances. Thyr was impulsive and hasty, but not stupid. That door was always locked unless it was business hours.

Upon entering, it looked as though nothing had been taken care of in a while days besides regular business. The shop probably hadn’t been open at all in at least a day or two. Jezem had stopped by once already, but not done any more than the bare minimum.

Heading up the stairs to Thyr’s apartment (which Séan hadn’t seen yet) proved much the same. The unit was furnished with stylish pieces, all the basics but nothing more. It was a little messy, but apparently Thyr wasn’t a total slob. In fact, it looked like it was probably usually kept neat, and only gotten messy recently.

Thyr himself was in the bedroom, in bed. He was rolled over toward the wall, the blanket pulled only halfway up his body. He wasn’t wearing a shirt.

~ Thyr

Séan stood close-ish to Thyr’s bed. Well out of arms reach but close enough to observe. He knew he wouldn’t like it if someone was towering over him in bed. He had given the living unit a cursory look over and didn’t think Thyr would have picked out this decor personally. Jezem’s doing then? He shrugged the thought off and focused back on the sleeping Andorian. With a sigh he called out. “Thyr.”

Counselor Iven

Shivan turned with a small start. “Séan?” He asked. He was sweaty and flushed, shaking with chills. His breathing was slightly shallow. “What’re you doing here?”

~ Thyr

“You missed our meeting. I wanted to come check on you. Sorry for coming into your bedroom but your shop’s front door was unlocked and I wanted to be sure you were okay. You seem fine… sort of. Do you have a cold or something? I’m unfamiliar with Andorian physiology.” Séan said as he looked at Thyr with a hint of concern.

Counselor Iven

Shivan grunted and shook his head. “I don’t think so.” He sighed and shifted the blankets. “Jezem. Poison. Don’t know how.” He looked at Séan and grinned, “Don’t worry. It was revenge. I got him first.”

~ Thyr

Séan noticed a chair nearby so he grabbed it and pulled it close to the bed and sat. With a soul weary sigh he said with some exasperation, “Poison? What is wrong with you two?”

Counselor Iven

“Isn’t that your job to figure out?” Shivan apparently had the energy to joke, at least. He looked miserable. He rubbed at his arms. His body was achy. “Jezem… dared me. Said I couldn’t poison him. So I did. This is his revenge.”

~ Thyr

Séan sighed again. “Have you thought to shower? Unless you drank or ate something before the symptoms presented it’s likely that the poison was introduced topically. I’d get it off your skin if I were you.”

Counselor Iven

Shivan nodded. “I’ve showered. It didn’t help that much…” Then he shook his head. “I’m too weak to get myself to the shower now. It should wear off in the next few days.”

~ Thyr

“I’d offer to help you take another shower but… yeah, no.” Séan said with a chuckle. “I guess you’ve made the bed you have to lie in. Since it was Jezem I suppose you’ll be very uncomfortable for awhile but you shouldn’t be in any danger.” He looked at Thyr with a complicated expression. “So if Jezem dared you to jump out of an airlock would you do it like a fool?”

Counselor Iven

Shivan scoffed. “No. Why does everyone think I’m stupid?” He nodded then to the previous statement, “He wouldn’t try to kill me, so if this was him, I won’t die. He loves watching people suffer though so… We’ll see how long this lasts.”

~ Thyr

“If it was him? You’re not even sure?” Séan asked with a look at Thyr as if he was stupid. “You’re going to the hospital.”

Counselor Iven

“I’m pretty sure,” Shivan said, “But I haven’t figured out what he put it on or in yet. Or when. But… I knew he would get revenge.” Then he shook his head. “No. No hospital. I can’t.”

~ Thyr

“I get that you’re in hiding, and I respect that, but you’re just as likely to get discovered at a bar brawl, walking down the street, or even at your shop. You’re registered under an assumed name and any medical attention you’d receive would be under that name. If your cover is as solid as you said before then be just another patient. If the Syndicate hadn’t followed whatever trail you may have left to find you here then the chances they’d find you at the hospital should be just as much as anywhere else.” Séan tried to reason.

Counselor Iven

“It’s not the Syndicate I’m worried about.” Shivam coughed weakly into his elbow, turning away from Séan to do it. “It’s Starfleet. That hospital is crawling with officers. If they figure out who I am they’ll arrest me and the Syndicate will find me in jail and have me killed.” He paused to breathe some. “And a poisoning will bring questions. An investigation. My identity is solid, but that doesn’t mean I want to test it by sending colonial cops sniffing around. And I don’t want Jezem in trouble either.” Not to mention he’d had to do something illegal to acquire the poison he’d used on Jezem.

~ Thyr

Séan sighed for what felt like the millionth time today. “If you won’t go to the hospital then how about bringing a doctor here? My superior was a doctor first before she became a counselor. She’d be discrete though you’d have to fend off some very obvious questions. At the very least she can give you a med scan and identify if this poison will kill you.”

Counselor Iven

“It won’t,” Shivan said with confidence, “but if it’ll make you feel better you can call your friend.” Partially because he thought it was funny to make Séan lie to his superior, partially because maybe a doctor could lessen his symptoms a little. And for a third reason, it might make Séan feel better if he said yes. One doctor that was definitely Starfleet, but that knew and would trust Séan was better than a bunch of maybe Starfleet doctors that he had no way of controlling.

~ Thyr

“Alright good.” Séan nodded and reached into his pocket to pull out his comm=badge. =/\=Iven to Mika. I’m with someone who needs some medical assistance. It’s not convenient to move them at this time. Would you be willing to come by with a full medkit and assess their condition please?=/\=

Counselor Iven

=/\= On my way, Séan. Where are you and the patient? =/\= Mika’s voice came through the comm a moment later.

Séan gave detailed instructions as to their location.

Mika was already back at her quarters. She stopped by the hospital to get a full med kit (she had a med kit but just in case, she wanted to be prepared), then headed towards their location.

About fifteen minutes later, Mika arrived to the door of the shop and knocked.

~ Mika

“Happy?” Shivan asked, readjusting slightly in his spot. He rested his head against his pillow. His body hurt with aching muscles and it was worse just then. His forehead damp with sweat from his fever.

~ Thyr

“Not really, but it does help ease my worry.” Séan said with another sigh. He got up and headed back down into the shop after he heard the knock. Moving quickly to the door he opened it and let Mika in.

Mika smiled, giving him a playful look. “Calling me to strange places off the clock now, are we?”

“Tandra, thank you so much for coming. Just a word of warning, the patient believes he was poisoned, so take extra care to not come in contact with anything.”

Counselor Iven

Mika’s look shifted to one of confusion and concern. “Poisoned?” She frowned, hoping Séan wasn’t caught up in anything that was going to get him into trouble. “Depending on what it is it might be hard to treat outside a hospital. Let’s hope he’s wrong.”

~ Mika

“He doesn’t think it’s going to kill him but I don’t want to leave that to chance. He is vehement about not going to the hospital, so you were my only hope to get him checked. Again, thank you for coming.” Séan smiled to try and allay her fears a little while not going into any specifics.

Counselor Iven

Mika nodded, following Séan up the stairs. She knelt by Thyr’s bed and opened the med kit, starting with a medical scan. His vitals were okay, not stellar. She looked over the rest of the scan. Mika’s brow furrowed in concern. “Poison would be consistent with these symptoms.... I would be more comfortable if you would go to a hospital though. These scans are… a little concerning to say the least.” She said gently. “What’s your name?”

~ Mika

Shivan shook his head. “No hospitals. I… I’m scared of them.” Like Jezem, he didn’t like telling people his fears. But that wasn’t a real fear. He just needed a legitimate excuse to not go. “Thyr.” He answered her question.

~ Thyr

“Is there a chance to neutralize the poison or at least alleviate the symptoms?” Séan asked softly. He didn’t offer any information about Thyr, especially in front of him, but would leave it to him to keep his cover intact. Plus this meant he wouldn’t have to lie to Mika.

Counselor Iven

Mika did another scan with the tricorder. “Whatever it was, it doesn’t show up on a standard tox screen.” She toyed with the tricorder for a minute, then shook her head. “I’d need a full medical lab and a hundred hours to test for every uncommon poison this might be. I can’t neutralise it without knowing what it is.” She looked at Thyr, “Do you know how you were poisoned, Thyr?” She asked. “Or why?” Everything about this seemed a bit… shady. But Mika couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe she’d ask Séan later.

~ Mika

Shivan shook his head, sighing softly. “I don’t know.” He took a second to consider the second question, pretending he was just resting. “I had a… disagreement with someone who’s known for poisoning.” Shivan shrugged. “I don’t think they would want me dead, and I don’t think they’ll do it again. I’ll be fine.” He wished Jezem were here. Jezem was so much better at this than him. Then again, if Jezem were here, he could just tell them how to cure it.

~ Thyr

Séan shook his head where he stood but kept his desire to smile helplessly off his face. He also wanted to mention he’d likely get poisoned again if he took Jezem’s challenge another time. Oh well. “Can you do anything about his symptoms? Putting in 100 hours in a lab is a bit much of an ask and I won’t be asking it of you.”

Counselor Iven

Mika grinned and looked back at him. “I dunno… Might not be so bad if I had your help.” Then she rummaged in the medical kit for a moment, loading a hypo. She pressed it gently to his arm. “There. Fever reducer and pain reliever, I’ll leave the hypo so you can dose yourself. Leave at least six hours between doses.” Then another hypo, which she put back into the med kit. “Something to help you sleep. I can’t do anything about the muscle weakness.”

She closed the med kit, offering Thyr a small smile. “I hope you feel better soon.” Then she stood and looked at Séan. “I can’t say whether it’ll kill him or not. His vitals are steady now, but there’s no telling if he’ll get worse or not. Honestly, he should go to the hospital, we could give him something to alleviate the anxiety, though it’s best to work on that with a counselor…” She looked at Séan, “I suppose he’s another of your after hours cases?”

~ Mika

“Thanks, doc, but I’d rather stay here.” Even the worst and dumbest of criminals knew to be polite and not piss off the doctors willing to help them. And she was Fleet. Shivan was on his best behavior. The pain reliever was already starting to help. He looked at Séan as if hoping he wouldn’t leave when his doctor friend planned to. He knew Séan would have to leave at some point, but maybe he’d stay a little longer? The Andorian criminal didn’t like to be alone when he was sick.

~ Thyr

Séan noticed Thyr’s look of neediness and knew he wasn’t going to leave with Mika. He looked at Mika and gave a soft smile. “Yeah. I happened to meet Thyr in a bar, oh that one I mentioned where a little scuffle happened, and I wanted to make sure he was okay. I talked him into meeting me once a week to talk and I’d like to think it’s been going well.”

Mika nodded. “That’s good. I’m glad he’s getting help if he needs it.”

He looked to Thyr and grinned. “I’m going to see Tandra out but I’ll come back up and we can talk some more.”

Counselor Iven

“If you need anything else, Thyr, don’t hesitate to call. And you know, we don’t bite at the hospital,” she said and smiled again. Then she let Séan escort her out.

~ Mika

Séan led Mika back down the stairs and towards the front door. He stopped and turned to look at her with a look of appreciation. “Thanks for putting my mind at ease with this. Let me take you out to another dinner so I can show my appreciation. We can maybe plan it on a mutual day off where we won’t have to be in uniform.”

Mika smiled, “I’d like that. Let’s plan it tomorrow while we’re at lunch.”

“Sounds great. You have a great rest of your night and I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.” Séan smiled at Mika then locked the door after she left.

Thyr yawned and nodded. He waited for Séan to come back sans the doctor and then grinned tiredly. “Dating the good doctor, are we?” He asked.

~ Thyr

Séan returned to bedroom and took the seat again. He looked surprised at Thyr’s question. “No? Tandra and I aren’t dating but we do have a good working relationship.”

Counselor Iven

Shivan snickered. “Do you want to date her? She’s so into you.” He shifted slightly again, settling into bed. “Thanks, I guess… Whatever she gave me is really helping.”

~ Thyr

Séan nodded his head without any hesitation. “I would but she isn’t into men, so I’m not sure how into me she is.” He was not going to tell Thyr how he botched a compliment the first night they met. “You are absolutely welcome. I’m glad what she gave you is helping.”

Counselor Iven

Shivan gave him a look. “She’s not into men? She was flirting with you so hard I thought she might kiss you right here.” He was having fun with this, clearly amused. “Jezem is going to be so mad you ruined his torture.” He said with a little laugh. “So… Do you want to talk about something… relevant?” He offered, by relevant meaning relevant to therapy, to the meeting he had missed earlier.

~ Thyr

Séan shook his head and smiled wryly. He wasn’t going to let Thyr confuse him into having himself thinking he had a chance. She was very clear that night after all. The perceived flirting is just Mika being friendly and he appreciated that. He moved past that thought and answered his question. “Yeah, I got some time to talk. Do you have a replicator or something around here? I can make you something simple to eat.”

Counselor Ivan

“No replicators, you spoiled fleet officer you, but Jezem left self heating soup bowls in the pantry.” Shivan said, unable to pass up the opportunity to harass Séan even though he appreciated the offer of food. “You can have one too if you want it. Would be rude to eat and not offer food to a guest.”

~ Thyr

“Hey, I grew up on replicators. Neither my dad or I did any cooking.” Séan said as he got up from the chair and moved to where he assumed was the pantry. “He preferred the liquid diet and was on the sauce most of his waking moments.” He called out while he kept looking. “Found them!” He grabbed two soup bowls, rummaged for some spoons, then came back into the bedroom. He held out one bowl with a spoon on top to Thyr.

Counselor Iven

When he came back into the room, Shivan gave him a look of mock disgust. “Jezem would have your head,” he said, jokingly. “Hates replicated food.” He pulled himself up, slowly and sufferingly, into a sitting position, resting against the bed’s headboard. Then he took the bowl of soup and opened it. He ate a couple of bites in silence, eating slowly, and then, “…You know, if I get found by those who are after me, you and Jezem aren’t the only ones in danger. That girlfriend of yours, they’d hurt her too, just to hurt you for helping me.”

~ Thyr

Séan was silent for a few long seconds before he answered quietly. “I know.” He ate a few tasteless spoonfuls of soup before he added some more words to his response. “When I realized the full extent of how deep you were in the shit, believe me I thought about it.” He gave Thyr an intense look at this point. “If I were the only one at risk when interacting with you, I could accept that because being a Starfleet officer comes with risk that we all accept. I can not accept others being at risk for my actions, so you better damn well not be found.”

Counselor Iven

Shivan nodded. “I’m a spreading cancer. The more that interact with me, the more are in harm’s way when I’m found.” He ate another bite of his soup, and then shrugged. “Sometimes I wonder if I should get the hell off this rock, get far away, and then let them find me. Then they wouldn’t know you or Jezem or anybody else here helped me.”

~ Thyr

“You can stop with the self-pity. You’re in a bad situation but let’s not talk about you giving yourself up. Besides, do you honestly think Jezem would let you? He may be a lot of nasty things but he is invested in your survival and I’m pretty sure he would never let an investment go to waste.” Séan rolled his eyes. He would never talk to a patient like this normally but his normal patients weren’t on a hit list with the Syndicate.

Counselor Iven

“He wouldn’t. But if I made a run for it, I wouldn’t exactly go checking with Jezem first.” Shivan set the bowl of soup on a side table and then sat for a moment. “Now that the shop is turning something resembling profits, I’m setting up safe houses, check points, escape strategies. Some Jezem knows about, some he doesn’t. He think I’m an idiot, I know. But I was with my previous employers before I met Jezem and I continued to work for them after Jezem left.”

“I can’t verify whether Jezem thinks you’re an idiot or not. He keeps much of his thoughts private except the ones he wants you to know. So if you think that’s what he thinks, then I would bet that was his goal all along.” Séan pointed out.

“My crime against them was serious. A betrayal. A breach of loyalty. Not just not paying my dues. The price will be severe and my bounty is so high the only person who could pay it is Argam, and he wouldn’t do that, nor would I ask him to. I will try, try not to get found, both to protect you and Jezem, and to avoid whatever horrible death they have in store for me, but they will find me. They are patient and they don’t give up.”

~ Thyr

“Jezem and I had a talk about how best to keep your cover intact and the biggest point was to stop going to shady bars and getting into fights. He didn’t say don’t go to bars at all, but go to ones in better neighborhoods that have normal civilians.” Séan said part of what he’d talked about with Jezem.

“I get kicked out of those ones,” Shivan said sheepishly. “My anger gets worse when I drink. I haven’t been anywhere like that here because getting kicked out would be worse than going to a shady place.” Or so he thought, anyway. “I’m living a life I hate to avoid a death I’m too cowardly to face. It’s pathetic.”

~ Thyr

Séan threw his fork at Thyr. “Stop that. It’s not cowardly to do everything you can to stay alive. It would be so much easier to end it yourself or wait for death to come for you. You’re doing what you should be doing.”

Counselor Iven

The fork collided with Shivan’s shoulder sideways, tumbled down his arm, and landed on the bed. He feigned hurt. “Ouch!” He set the fork on the side table. “Trust me, I’ve considered doing it myself. They don’t like people taking the easy way out. I do that and they find out, they’ll hunt everyone I’ve ever known down and give them what I deserve. So while I’ve thought a lot about that, it would be worse.”

“But if I stay here, I’m endangering every single person I befriend or work with. I don’t have any family left, that’s not a concern, but… If I were to give myself up and they never knew I came to Oed, everyone would be safe.”

~ Thyr

Séan gave Thyr a look. “You say something like that again and I’ll tell Jezem then ignore that you’ve got more injuries the next time I see you.”

Counselor Iven

“I deal out as much as I receive. Jezem just has the ability to go get dermal regeneration at the hospital.” Shivan said, as if defending his ability to fight. He sighed then, “Fine. I’ll drop it.” He wouldn’t, really, the idea was still stuck in his mind, but he’d pretend to have dropped it. “My shop is doing fine. I haven’t been to a bar since I started figuring out how to poison Jezem. I just need things to occupy myself with, I guess. And not some lame hobby. I’m not starting a garden or collecting useless trash.”

~ Thyr

“I’m not sure what collecting useless trash even is.” Séan said with a shake of the head. “Don’t let my lady friend know you’re not interested in gardening. I suspect she’d drag you to hers and make you appreciate it.” He was going to be in that predicament soon.

Counselor Iven

Shivan grinned. “Have fun with your plants. Better pretend you like them. Lucky I’m not the one that wants to date her.” He picked the bowl of soup up and took another bite of it. “I don’t know what I do want.”

~ Thyr

“I can’t help you with what to find for a hobby but I can help you with the getting angry while drinking problem. That way you might be able to go to ‘regular’ bars and make some friends.” Séan said with a slight shrug. He could point a direction for Thyr but he couldn’t drag him to it.

Counselor Iven

“Then let’s do that.” Shivan said. He didn’t think he’d make any normie friends but he was supposed to be trying to learn to control his anger and while drinking was part of that. Not that controlling his anger while not drunk was going that well. The dummy Séan had given him would prove that.

~ Thyr