| Pincushion Therapy |
| Summary: | Evandreus gets his first acupuncture session and McManus gets questioned about his credentials. |
| Date: | 14 Mar 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | Pins and Needles and Tea |
| Players: |
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| Sickbay - Deck 10 - Battlestar Cerberus |
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| Being able to accommodate combat casualties requires room, and the Sickbay has it. Beds line each side of the room with privacy curtains strung up and readily available. Large vaulted lockers hold access to the supplies at the far end of the area. Nearer the front, a Petty Officer sits ready to dispense simple items like ibuprofen and aspirin. Further to the rear is an area prepped twenty-four hours a day for emergency surgery. To the side are a set of double doors that lead to the Recovery Ward where patients can recuperate. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #381 |
"Oh, man." Evan leans the back of his head back against the wall, over where he's settled into a seat in the waiting area. Eyes rove sideways toward Paul. "Don't talk like that. You're making me giddy, and I'm too sleepy to be giddy. Or maybe I'm giddy from being sleepy. Short Kal just would -not- go to sleep last night. I think the Raiders were secretly just prepping me to be an awesome big brother. Who needs sleep?" he chuckles. "Any second now that condition three bell's gonna ring, and then we're high-tailing it over to the bar for a lad's night with the guys, how about that? I still owe you that declension beer," he grins.
It's a few minutes before the shift's due to change, and McManus is early, hence sitting with Evan in the waiting area. "I can almost taste it," the big man notes with a half smile. "But if you fall asleep in your pint, I reserve the right to mock you mercilessly."
Emerging from the recovery room, Cameron pops his head and looks about before espying Evandreus sitting next to McManus. His hand lifts in a friendly greeting to the medic, his eyes resting then on Evan and greeting, "Hey there. Ready to get stuck with pins and needles? I got a sewing project to do, and you look like you'd make a good pin cushion." He wouldn't normally joke about it with a patient new to acupuncture, but he already knows that Evandreus has done this before and is comfortable with the not just the idea, but also the reality of the experience. No fears need be allayed. "Hey Paul," he offers in turn, "you're here early…"
"I'm sure you'll find something else to mock me mercilessly over, even if I don't. Abs has brought up carrier landings as an appropriate Condition Three party game," Evan hmphs in a manner that would be derisive if it weren't quite so fondly delivered. "I'm what you might call -bad- at those, and will probably land on my head at least once in the course of the evening. Hey, Doc," Evan closes up his magazine as the doctor arrives, tossing it over his bag to join the others. More delighted than off put by the joke, he laughs brightly, but doesn't say anything further, letting the doc and medic chat.
"Please tell me it's clothed carrier landings," McManus ventures hopefully, colouring just a little. "Equal opportunities for the ladies and all that, after all, and naked gives the gentlemen an unfair arrestor hook advantage." At the doctor's entrance, he rises to his feet, brushing himself down with one hand. "If you're not five minutes early, you're five minutes late, sir," he quotes. "Anything new for me today?"
There's a faint air of bemusement about the doctor as the conversation at hand sails over his head and lands squarely in unfamiliar territory. But being a civilian on a military ship, he's starting to get used to that. Generally he sticks to a policy of S&N - smile and nod. Turning to McManus, Cameron tilts his head and asks in what must seem like something of a nonsequitor, "What are your lab skills like, Paul? You do a lot of microscope and slide work? Any scientific research in your resume by any chance?"
Evandreus crosses his legs a little further, face contorting as if in preemptive pain at the very notion of the maneuver Paul is describing. "Gaaah," he comments. "I think… that I would gladly waive that advantage, thanks," he chuckles painedly, slowly, then perks both eyebrows upward as the sudden shift in conversation.
McManus frowns a little, shaking his head. "Not a great deal, sir, but I'm always willing to lend a hand and learn where I can, if you've got the time to teach. My expertise is mostly in post op and post trauma care, physio and PT. Lab work's not exactly my forte. I leave that to the scientists."
Nodding to his response, Cameron notes, "Well, it might be a case where beggars can't be choosers. I've got a lot of extra work coming my way in the BioChem Lab and it's getting the point where I really need to choose an assistant to take on some of the load - run some of the more basic tests and such. I'll let you know," he offers with a quick smile. "Course, can't blame you if you decide you're not interested. It isn't glamorous work and it's not like we aren't already all worked to the max these days." Turning to Evan, Cameron waves his file and asks, "You ready?" Glancing over at McManus, Cameron notes, "If you two want to keep talking, you're more than welcome to come along so long as Evan here doesn't mind? We're just going to have an acupuncture session."
"Beggars can't be choosers?" Evan quirks a wry half-grin. "Way to make a guy feel special, doc," he teases him, threading his arm under the strap of his bag and thumbing it up over his shoulder before he uncrosses his legs and stands. "I don't mind the company. Or if you guys need to talk business, well—- I don't mind, either. Listening to people talk is soothing. Too much quiet makes my mind go chase its tail." Evan's mind is a dog, obvs.
"I know my place," McManus admits to Evan with a grin. "I'm the sadistic one who forces people to bend and stretch places they didn't know they had, not the nice guy in the lab who makes it all better with a magical pill, or the surgeon with a knife and needle while you're happily snoring away under anesthesia. I'm the cheerful face of your nightmares." He nudges open the door, holding it for the pair.
Chuckling softly, Cameron notes, "Well, it's not like he said, "I have a specialty in biochemistry and lab research and then I said that, now is it?" Still, Cameron does shoot McManus a sheepish look and adds, "No offense intended, of course." Laughing softly at the medic's own assessment, Cam notes, "Yeah, that's true. You get all the bitching and griping after I've stitched them back together. Though lately I've been doing some of the PT as well, so what goes around comes around." Glancing back to Evan, Cameron notes, "Oh, I always have music playing during acupuncture sessions. You need to have something to distract the mind and soothe the soul and help the whole relaxation process I find…" He passes through the door that is graciously held open for them and leads the way into a dimly list exam room that has a special table laid out and waiting. "Go ahead and strip down to your boxers or whatever," Cameron notes to Evan, and make yourself comfortable on the table?" For the sake of privacy, he pulls a curtain over while he waits with McManus.
"Hey, now," Evan ambles on past Paul as he holds the door for them. "Back home I knew plenty of sadists who were also really nice guys. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive." He slings down his bag next to the door and pulls the scrubs and thermal top up over his head, tossing them on top of the bag for safe keeping. "And, hey, weren't you saying you wanted to use the military to get into medicine? Looks like you still can," he points out warmly, "After all," appended a little more darkly. He wedges his feet out of his sneakers and heads to the table, leaning against it and down as he pushes the scrubs trousers down and steps up out of them, actually taking the time to fold them, which is more than he ever did for that top over there.
McManus politely looks away as Evan undresses, finding the curtain particularly interesting. "I'm not going to pass up the chance to learn, bud, but I think it's only fair to give the doctor fair warning. Lab work and I don't always get along too well. One of the reasons I never made it to med school in the first place."
Evandreus knows well enough by now that nakedness makes Paul less than comfortable, and, as accustomed as he is to going about the way the Lords made him, this may well be the reason he leaves his regulation boxer-briefs in place and pushes himself up onto his toes and onto the table, reclining on his side with his knees slightly tucked up and his arm extended under his head, resting his hair in the crook of his elbow. "I'm sure the Doc will start you out on the lab equivalent of bedpan detail," he chuckles. "And you'll get the hang of it. You just need to focus, eh?"
"Bedpan detail," McManus echoes dryly. "You certainly know how to sell the job to me." He remains staring at the curtain, just in case, as expected, Evan's stripped off completely. "Aren't there civilians on the Elpis with experience, sir?" he queries, glancing back to Cameron. "I'm sure we had some on the list."
While Evan gets himself comfortable, and McManus pretends to be somewhere else, Cameron puts on some soft music lilting in the background - quiet and soothing and, for those familiar with such things, traditional music from Aerilon. The room has been warmed up a little so Evan doesn't feel cold through the procedure and washing his hands Cameron waits until Evan has made himself comfortable before pulling the curtain back. "Okay then, so I'm going to start by figuring out which points in particular are meaningful for you as well as targeting some of the traditional spots. Just relax and remember to keep breathing and take nice deep breathes." It's probably a good thing Cam doesn't know that McManus has issues with naked bodies, or there would be all sorts of cracks and comments made at the man's expense no doubt. Why would one get into medicine if they can't handle that? He runs his hands lightly over Evandreus' form at first, pausing here and there to press thoughtfully, experimentally, learning him like a blind man reads Braille. He presses on a few specific acupressure points with his fingers, just holding there for a moment before releasing. Holding and then releasing. After hitting the main target points he turns to the side and pulls over the tray with the needles in ready and begins to insert them one at a time. "Keep breathing," he reminds liltingly as he works.
Evandreus gives Paul an oh-so-helpful smile, which, of course, the fellow can't see. His other arm sort of flops in front of his stomach and on the bed. "Equivalent. Although, hell, I've sent enough urine samples to the lab in the last six months, it may actually be the same thing," he chuckles softly, then bobbles his head in a nod and begins to focus on his breathing, slowing it down, listening to the music. Cameron must feel some antsy desire in the Bunny tensing in his muscles to ask whether he ought to be giving some sort of feedback— as he's guided to keep breathing he actually finds himself to have half-held his in worry about what he ought to do. And so he returns to counting his breaths.
McManus cautiously looks back towards the bed, relaxing visibly as he spies the underwear still on. "If we have to remind our pilots to breathe, I worry for us all," he adds wryly. "Just think happy thoughts. Like that thought about buying me a beer. That's a thought which always cheers me up, at least."
"Everything okay?" Cam asks, noting the tension in Evan's frame, but not knowing the cause. "Let me know if anything feels odd to you or uncomfortable? If you have any sensations that seem odd or unexpected. Breathing helps your body remove the toxins in your system, but that doesn't mean you can't talk if you want to," he assures the patient before him. "I want you to feel as much at ease as possible." There's a soft snort at McManus' commentary on the matter noting, "Cheering up and relaxing are not exactly the same thing…"
"No, no… s'fine, I'm good," Evan assures, voice drawing just slightly as if catching on his lips and struggling to escape. "I didn't know if I was supposed to… say something. I don't really know what you're looking for, or… what I should be looking for," he explains his momentary unease. "What do you mean?" he goes on to wonder, gentle-voiced, at Cam's distinction.
"Settle back and enjoy it, I think," McManus responds, clearing his throat quietly. "Like a massage, I would assume."
"Not dissimilar," Cameron concurs, "though I personally enjoy massage more than acupuncture. They often have a similar final effect, though acupuncture is more effective on nerve damage and problems of the nervous system, while massage is more effective for muscle tissue issues…" His lips curl into a small smile at the change in Evan's voice. "You can just relax and let me do all the work," he assure the pilot as he traces out other points and inserts the pins one at a time." His head tilts at the question, Cameron answering, "Well the most crude example that comes immediately to mind is having sex. It certainly cheers me up, but I'm certainly not 'relaxed'. Least, not until it's all said and done. But there are lots of things that are 'cheering' like a good party or a dance, but they don't necessarily foster a sense of relaxation."
Evandreus closes his eyes, letting his head roll forward just a centimeter or two, mouth settling into a mild, unforced smile. His ribs are alive beneath the doctor's searching hands, moving with a steady rhythm underneath flesh. "Hmmmmmm," a long noise emerges in lieu of a laugh at the example. "It does feel… restful. Or maybe I'm just telling myself that it does. Either way, right?"
McManus colours considerably as Cameron gives his crude example, switching his gaze to the ceiling. "And on that note, I should get going. I've got a long list of patients to get through, hopefully none of whom will proposition me today."
Evandreus' lips are tickled with a smile. "Go get 'em, tiger," he tells Paul, by way of farewell.
"Well this is generally pretty relaxing, though it depends upon the person, naturally. Those with aversions to needles, or who are new to the experience, are generally a bit too keyed up and/or curious to truly relax. But you work with what you got and go from there." Inserting the last needle, Cameron draws his hands back and rests them lightly upon his hips noting, "Okay, time to just hang out for a bit and let your body realign its lines of ki…" Glancing at the clock, Cameron nods to McManus and notes, "Have a good shift. I'll catch you later I'm sure…" He's curious and amused at the large man's seemingly shy and blushing reaction to the mention of sex, one brow quirking curiously as he watches him go. Definitely something to pester Evandreus about at some later date when he isn't practically dozing off.