Healing Massage

Posted on Wed May 11th, 2016 @ 11:58pm by Commander Angelica Fairchild & Maica III 47

Mission: Talosian Perversions
Location: CO's Quarters

Seeing as how she was barely able to work or take care of herself, Angel had no idea why she'd agreed to entertain Maica III, whatever Enalia had meant by that. But since her cabin was on the same deck as Enalia's and only a short walk away, she'd decided that a visit might be manageable. It took considerably more time to walk there than she would have liked, and to her dismay she was actually out of breath by the time she reached Enalia's door. Recent surgery or not, it was mildly distressing to her to be struggling so much just to exist. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she tapped the door chime button and waited to see if anyone would answer.

Maica III had been bored out of her subroutines for some time since Enalia had left. She could roam the ship, but that only got her so far. She was still new to the crew and rarely had anyone else to actually interact with - especially after they found out she was the captain's lover. When she heard the door chime sound, rather than getting up to answer the door, she just relocated her holographics to the door and pressed the controls. "Oooh Commander Fairchild! Please, come in. Can I get you anything to eat or drink?"

"Maybe just some water. There's not a lot I can keep down just yet." Angel wasn't sure how much Maica III knew about the extensive surgery or the baby, but she figured Enalia would have at least mentioned the long stay in sickbay. "Enalia asked me to make sure you weren't getting too bored while she was gone."

Maica III headed to the replicator and punched up a pitcher of ice water and a glass, bringing it to the coffee table and motioning to the newest piece of furniture in the room - a massage table. "May I offer some massage therapy then? I heard you got hurt in your last away mission."

"That does sound nice..." It also sounded mildly awkward, coming from someone who Angel knew was sleeping with one of her friends. "But I can't take a lot of pressure on my leg or shoulder. They're supposed to be healed and well... they still hurt."

"I'm skilled in many techniques that'll aid in healing. Medical technology can only rebuild the tissues and bones but your body needs time to integrate them. And muscle... even repaired, that takes a while too." Maica III said as she flipped a few switches on the massage table, the stones and the table itself starting its warming cycle. Then she patted the table invitingly. "No sexual stuff, I promise."

Angel thought about it for a moment. Some of the nurses she'd had while in sickbay had encouraged massage and heat as ways to aid in restoring proper blood flow, and the few times she'd been in remarkably little pain had been during guided meditation with Sinek or when Sinek rubbed her shoulders until she feel asleep. "I suppose it can't hurt. But yeah, no sexy stuff."

"Hop up here then, face down." Giving Angel time to get settled on the table, Maica III opened an oil incense vent in the table, the scent of myrrh wafting from the table's heaters. Then she set the music in the room to a recording of Tibetan singing bowls.

'Hopping' was not something Angel was fully capable of at the moment, but the table was low enough that she could climb up on it relatively easily. Her shoulder protested as she shifted to lie down, forcing her to pause for a moment for the twinge of pain to fade before she settled down in a comfortable, belly-down position. She was still a slight bit wary of how awkwardly sexual a massage could get, but she wanted to trust that Maica III was being honest with her.

Maica III started with tender massages around Angel's injured shoulder first - slow circular motions working as deep as she dared. "So I hear you have a wedding coming up. Excited?"

Angel smiled a little. "Yeah. We hadn't really talked about it until we found out that Sinek's parents were bringing T'Zal with them, but it just feels right."

"Enalia is more than excited. She's been looking forward to performing her first wedding for a long time now. That's why she went to get supplies for it personally, you know." Maica III said as she kept the massages up.

"I'm sure she is. I think she's been waiting for this for a long time." If Angel had to guess, she'd guess that Enalia had started planning the wedding the day she found out that Angel and Sinek were dating. "But it won't be just us. Amelia and Ven are getting married too."

"Mmhmm. And a double wedding is double excitement for her. She's been researching how to perform one since she left." Maica III moved to Angel's neck with her massages.

Angel flinched slightly, the muscles across the back of her neck stiff and sore from how tightly and gingerly she'd been holding her sore shoulder. "She'll figure it out. She's clever like that."

"That she is, though sometimes too clever for her own good." Maica II said as she deftly popped Angel's neck and massaged any further tension away.

"Tell me about it," Angel replied dryly. "I've no idea how I've survived her pranks up to this point, let alone survived being her first officer."

Maica III chuckled softly as she massaged on Angel's back. "She trusts you completely and she'd never do anything to actually hurt you. You know that, right?"

"I would certainly hope that the near-death experiences are not intentional!" Angel giggled a little at that. She'd never once thought that Enalia actually meant her any harm, but the missions this woman got them involved in were either deadly or more deadly.

"I may not be the best judge of her yet, having only been aboard for a short while, but I wouldn't even be here if she didn't have the best interests of her crew at heart." Maica III said as she kept up the massage.

"She's one of the few on the ship I'd trust with my life." Angel didn't know if Maica III would understand the significance of such a statement or the weight it carried.

Maica had a decent idea of the import of those words. "And she trusts you with hers and the lives of the entire crew."

Angel knew that and yet somehow it was still surprising to hear it come from someone else. "Well. I was her chief of security before I ended up as her first officer. That might have something to do with it."

"I noticed that and a slew of promotions in your public records. Impressive, to say the least." Maica said as she pressed downwards and cracked Angel's spine, putting a couple vertebrae back in place.

"One of which was posthumous until Starfleet realized I was not, in fact, dead." The realignment of her back had hurt, and Angel flinched slightly. "Those bastards named a starship after me too. But not a cool one. It's basically a transport ship with a few phasers on it."

"That sucks. At least you weren't named after a subroutine though." Maica said as she placed several hot stones on Angel's back in key points.

"Okay you might have a point. But still. The thing can't even fight off a dilapidated early 23rd century bird of prey. It's piti-- holy crap those are hot." Even through her shirt, Angel had a fleeting thought that the rocks might leave burn marks on her back. She couldn't imagine how they would feel against bare skin.

"Yeah they're supposed to be right under the temperature that causes first degree burns. Promotes healing and circulation." Maica said as she started massaging Angel's feet.

Angel didn't know much about medicine or science in general, but she'd been in and out of sickbays often enough to have heard that explanation for heat therapy before. "I know what it does. Just didn't expect it to be that hot."

"Most people don't but it'll help you feel a lot better after a bit." Maica III added.

"Hmm." Angel eyed the tray of hot stones that was just barely within her reach. The stones on her back did feel nice, and she had to wonder if their heat would be enough to ease some of the pain in her leg. Deciding to try it, she carefully reached over and plucked a stone out of the tray and tucked it under the sore bone and muscles, wincing for just a moment as she adjusted to the heat it gave off.

Maica nodded at the placement of the hot stone and kept massaging Angel's pressure points in her feet. "Something similar is next."

"I'm almost afraid to ask." So far, Angel had nothing to object over. Other than the innate awkward feeling that came with any sort of touch-based therapy, things had been fairly neutral and nothing to worry about.

"No need to worry. I just need to finish with these pressure points." Soon Maica III was finished and she started placing the hot stones on the backs of Angel's knees and a few along her thighs and ankles. "There we go," she said as she placed a few on Angel's butt as a finishing touch.

"...you're funny. That's something Enalia would have done." Angel had to admit that the heat did feel nice, even if having rocks placed on her butt was a little bit weird.

"Do you mean the three stones at the base of your chakra?" Maica III asked as she sat down to wait a while on the stones.

"Yeah. I'm sure there's a health-related reason for it, but she'd have done it to be funny." So much heat from the various stones actually made Angel's head feel a bit light and swimmy, but the sensation was otherwise pleasant.

"Maybe," Maica simply said with a smile. "Let me know if you feel faint or need some water. Your blood is being thinned a lot and you're sweating so you'll need to re-hydrate soon."

"I'm a little dizzy, but it's not that bad yet." Then again, Angel didn't do the girly 'going to the spa for a massage' thing very often and didn't really know how dizzy was too dizzy either.

"I'll get some refreshments then," Maica said as she stood and headed to the replicator, leaving the sounds of the Tibetan singing bowls in her wake as she punched up a fruit and ice drink with hints of honey.

Alone with the Tibetan bowls for a moment, Angel made a mental note to see if the computer had a recording of their sound. It was a comforting tone, one she thought might be helpful later when she was trying to sleep. Feeling just a bit too warm now, she shifted to pull her sleeves up, sending a few of the stones clattering to the floor. "Whoops."

Maica chuckled softly as she set the drink aside and started moving the stones back to their home. Soon she had Angel unburied and was helping her sit up, placing the drink in her hand. "I think that's enough for your first session. You did better than most."

"Thanks." Angel took the cold drink and drank a few sips of it, careful not to drink it too fast and make herself sick. Almost instantly her head felt better, even though she still felt very warm. "I might be able to skip one of my pain meds tonight. This really helped."

"Come by every day for the next week and we'll have you as good as new." Maica III said with a soft smile. "Are there any other services you'd like to avail yourself of? I'm quite skilled in many things and can be an engaging conversationalist."

"I'm not sure I need any other other skills." Angel smirked a bit, sipping some more of her drink. "But I will happily take advantage of your massage therapy skills. And maybe some conversation... I don't have terribly many people to talk to."

"Fair enough. Just please no sexual requests - those are reserved for Enalia." Maica III said with a knowing wink.

"I have Sinek for that anyway. And I think he's doing an admirable job." Angel snickered a little, nearly spilling her drink with how amused she was at her own stupid joke.

"I noticed." Maica III said with a soft giggle as she started shutting the table's elements off.

Angel glanced down at her still rather flat belly, curious as to how Maica III would have noticed until she remembered that she wasn't talking to someone made of flesh and bone. And that it was also entirely possible that Enalia had been telling people about the baby. "Won't be long before everyone can tell I'm sure."

"In a few months, yeah. If I hadn't heard it from Enalia, I would have only noticed during your massage." Maica III said non-nonchalantly.

"I'm pretty sure she thinks this is hilarious, now that I'm not in any danger of dying. Not the pain obviously. But the baby. She's going to make fun of me the whole time I'm pregnant... and I'll let her because that's the type of dorky friend she is." Angel sighed a bit theatrically, though her faint grin made it obvious she didn't mind if Enalia did poke fun at her for months.

Maica was solemnly silent for a moment. "You might find her a bit more compassionate on that front. She did have half the bridge and several other parts of the ship remodeled because of her symbiont, you know."

"...right. I forgot about that." Angel was so used to Enalia's quirkiness that she'd forgotten that a lot of those quirks came from a critter living in Enalia's belly. She was quiet for a moment as she finished her drink. "I suppose being joined would be a lot like being pregnant. Little critter living inside you. Whims and cravings that aren't really yours. Decreased bladder capacity..."

"...which she can be sensitive about." Maica said, taking the now empty glass and setting it back in the replicator for recycling. "A lot of her personality comes from it as well. You wouldn't have recognized her before the joining."

"Maybe she won't be as big a troll for a few months then. She gets it." Angel had no doubt she wouldn't recognize a pre-joining Enalia. Hosts changed a lot, especially with the symbiont's first joining. "I never paid much attention to how she changed the bridge or how much time she spent in the ready room instead of being on the bridge."

"Indeed." Maica said, sitting back down. "And don't plan on any away missions for the next year."

"I don't want to go on any for a while anyway. I'm in too much pain to be running for my life, and my balance still isn't how it was before that concussion." Angel shook her head slightly. She really did like away team duty, but this last one had banged her up so bad she was actually content to stay on the ship for a while.

"That means Enalia or Commander Sinek will be leading them." Maica III replied. She knew she was stirring a pot with that comment, but she figured Angel would have something interesting to say about it.

"I will stun that woman if she attempts to go on another dangerous away mission. She got possessed by a non-corporeal alien with delusions of grandeur last time!" Granted, Angel didn't like the idea of Sinek going on said dangerous missions either, but Sinek didn't have a history of said possession.

"I'll hold you to it," Maica II said with a pleasant chuckle. Yes, she definitely saw why Enalia liked this woman so much. She liked her herself. "So it may be early, but have you thought of any baby names?"

Angel shook her head. "Not yet. Most of our time's been spent with more immediate issues. Plus I don't think it's really sunk in yet. I mean, we know it's real and all that but it was such a surprise."

"Ah yeah, there was that fight with Commander Sinek's betrothed and that mess with his family." Maica III said thoughtfully.

"His mother is nice. His father might warm up to me eventually." Angel didn't really want to comment on the fight with T'zal. She hadn't wanted to fight the woman, but at least in the end it had been beneficial. Sort of. "I didn't tell Sinek but I'm pretty sure I sprained my ankle and dinged my collarbone the first time in that fight. And I didn't have time to get it looked at before we were thrown into a crisis."

"Yeah I can imagine that didn't help any." Maica said. "Thankfully you're still here with us and everything turned out just fine for the most part, right?"

"Yeah..." Angel still felt guilty about losing Wang and Hawke, no matter how many people told her it wasn't her fault. But most of the team had made it home.

Noticing the seemingly morose look on Angel's face Maica III took a guess at why. "Not that this will be any comfort coming from a self replicating immortal hologram, but people in Starfleet die in the line of duty every day and everyone knows the risks. Yeah I'm sure it's not something you should get used to or anything, but it does unfortunately happen regularly and as a Commander and prior security yourself, you should know this and be prepared for it none the less. Sorry if I'm assuming too much... It's just that I think Enalia is going through the same thing." Standing and heading over to a painting behind Enalia's desk, Maica III pressed a button and the painting slid upwards to reveal a second plaque with a long list of names hand carved into the platinum sheet. "I just wish she had a better way of dealing with it."

"I know all that. But it doesn't change how I feel. At least when I was in security I could go shoot things on the range until I was okay. I don't have that option anymore." Angel sighed lightly, wishing it was appropriate for a ship's first officer to lock herself in the range or a holodeck and shoot at things for a few hours. "What's that?"

"It's a list of all the people she's lost under her command. She carves each one by hand into this sheet of platinum. It took her about twenty minutes per name for Hawke and Wang." Maica II spoke reverently as she stared at the list of names. "It may speak a lot about her doing this, but it says a lot more that she's using such a large piece of platinum and carving the names so small. It's like she expects to lose her entire crew at some point."

"If you count the names you'll find we've lost more people in a short amount of time than most ships lose throughout their service. I think only the Enterprise has more losses, and only because Starfleet counts the D and E together. Same captain, mostly the same crew." Angel hopped off the bed she was still sitting on and went over to the sheet of platinum, running her finger down the list and pausing by each name she held some sort of responsibility for. Nearly all of them. But Enalia made no distinction for anyone's responsibility except her own. "Most of these people died because of mistakes I made."

"And Enalia would claim that they were her mistakes." Pressing the control, Maica III let the photo slide back in place, leaving them staring at a replica painting of Peter Paul Rubens', Consequences of War.

"Okay, so maybe she has poor judgement sometimes when it comes to choosing to send an away team. But once the team is underway, they're my responsibility... or whoever leads the team. It can't be her fault if she isn't there." But Angel knew that Enalia was a lot like herself in that regard. Whether she was there or not, she felt the blame was hers to bear. "And frankly a lot of those missions... there was no way we could have ever known what was waiting for us."

"No one could have foreseen a fire breathing assimilated Gorn," Maica III said softly, turning to face Angel and taking the Commander's hands into her own. "You did the very best with what you could do and got the mission done with survivors. No one can ask for more."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me." Angel knew it was true, but that didn't make it any easier to shake off her own feelings of guilt.

"I'm here for you. If you need someone to talk to, just come see me any time, ok?" Maica III insisted.

Angel nodded slightly. "Yeah. I can do that. Thanks."

Maica III smiled brightly and pulled Angel into a hug. "Thank you."