As the sliding door of Med Bay slid open with a familiar rush signalling the arrival of her next patient, Doctor Lexi T'Perro smiled conspiratorially to herself without looking up from the email that had just arrived in her omni-tool.
To: Lexi
From: Peebee (the spy)
Subject: Operation Lick Test
Hey Doc,
Confirmed.
It's not just rocks anymore.
;)
Lexi grimaced slightly at her fellow asari's...wording before schooling her face into a more neutral, professional expression. Did she always have to be so vulgar? Whilst relations between the two of them has somewhat relaxed over the past few weeks (featuring several awkward conversations with a Pathfinder more than one century her junior), it would appear they were not quite on the exact same level just yet.
The discerning Doctor wasn't sure they ever really would be; no matter how much fonder she had become of the rebellious scientist, Peebee's level of hyperactivity mixed with emotional detachment couldn't be psychologically healthy. Lexi certainly had no desire to emulate it.
But that was a quandary to ponder another day.
With a few deft swipes across glowing orange Lexi had the incriminating email closed before the soft approaching footsteps came to a halt next to the console she was hovering around whilst attempting to look distracted by "work". The hologram of the exalted Angara (now Kett) was illuminated unnervingly to her side against the back wall of the med bay. She couldn't help the occasional flick of the eye to check it hadn't miraculously reanimated, the image made her feel nervous but also held a hidden wealth of knowledge that could be invaluable, so she would have to deal with her discomfort. She had no idea how Ryder and the ground crew faced those things daily, let alone the reports of some of the wild creatures in Helius and what the Kett had mutated them into. Fiends alone...
"Good Afternoon Lexi" Suvi's familiar Scottish lilt rose and fell through the atmosphere almost musically, filled with genuine enthusiasm that only she would have for a routine crew check-up, and gently lifting Lexi from her reverie.
With a well-practiced clinical smile Doctor T'Perro raised her gaze to greet the approaching woman as if she had only just noticed she had a patient at all, and hadn't spent the last few days attempting to spy on her in preparation for this meeting.
"Suvi" Lexi greeted the science liaison with reciprocal warmth, and ushered her to sit on the edge of one of the unoccupied med bay beds with a sweep of her arm, "I trust you have refrained from ingesting any Helius plants since we last spoke"? Lexi raised her brow expectantly at the inquisitive human as she obliged her request and rested on the side of a bed, looking up at the asari.
"Have you not read my report?!" Suvi asked with strained excitement, "I sent it to you yesterday, I'm certain this time" she began to gesticulate animatedly as her argument gained momentum, "If I could just isolate part the chemical composition of that plant Ryder found on Havarl..."
"No" Lexi deadpanned.
"But she-"
"No" Lexi affirmed, a bit sterner this time. She brought up her omni-tool to scan around Suvi's mouth, "Your tongue has only just recovered from the last attempt"
Lexi had to hold back a grin at the mention of the incriminating organ. This quickly morphed to dread as she considered all the ethical implications of recruiting Peebee to snoop on her patient. She would have to ask Peebee how she managed to garner the information later this evening. Although, she wasn't sure she really wanted to know; the specifics of Suvi's romantic adventures were not crucial to her evaluation, the knowledge that they were happening were enough.
Lexi had started to get suspicious that something was happening between Suvi and another member of the crew when the human's psych reports had suddenly started to improve without any given reason. In fact, they had started going in the opposite direction of the rest of her patients, who had all started to show the cracks and strains the Doctor would expect from such the high pressure and dangerous environment that Helius presented.
There was only one thing she knew from experience to have that sort of immediate effect; the rush and hormones of a new relationship. At first Lexi was annoyed with herself; surely she should have been observant enough to see this happening? She wasn't much of a psychologist if she couldn't catch two of her patients openly flirting with each other.
She'd toyed with the idea of it being someone from the Nexus, which would explain why she hadn't noticed, but had eventually conceded it must one of the other members of the crew, simply because they didn't spend enough time with anyone else. She had been able to narrow it down further by the fact that nobody else was showing the psychological improvements that Suvi was. That meant it was probably one of the ground team; the immense stress they were under would easily counterbalance any gains the new relationship would have had on their mental state.
It had become a sort of game for Lexi to try and work it out without directly asking anyone, almost as a way of redeeming herself for missing it the first time round. She managed to cut a large portion of the crew out of the running based on sexuality alone. She knew Suvi was openly gay. That left very few contenders in the race.
Of the remaining women on board, Cora was easily discounted as she wasn't interested in the same sex (despite the haircut which would suggest otherwise). That left only three likely candidates; Peebee, Vetra, or Ryder.
Lexi had quickly laughed off the idea of Suvi and Vetra; Suvi would be too initially intimidated by Vetra and Suvi was too superficially soft for Vetra. That only left Peebee and Ryder.
At this point in her investigation, Lexi had admitted that she would have to speak to one of the two options. Lexi didn't want to believe that Suvi would be foolish enough to give in to Peebee's tawdry charms, but the proximity of Peebee's quarters to the flight deck made her worry that the pair had simply got bored and hooked up. She wanted to think better of Suvi, but Peebee could be quite convincing when she wanted to be. Something about that pairing didn't sit right however.
Then there was Ryder. Ryder was a bit of an enigma to the Doctor. The human had attempted to clumsily flirt with her when they first met, so she knew that her preferences were not a problem (the asari were mono-gendered, but Lexi knew their outward appearance counted for something). Aside from that Ryder was affable, enthusiastic, eager…the young human was somewhat reminiscent of an energetic puppy at times. She certainly seemed like more of an intuitive match for Suvi, but Lexi wasn't certain that Ryder would risk getting involved with a member of her crew when she had only just recently inherited the command of the Tempest.
In the end, Lexi had chosen to speak to Peebee, knowing that her fellow asari was immune to embarrassment and her question was unlikely to damage their relationship (whereas she could foresee the same conversation with Ryder turning rapidly awkward). As a bonus, if Peebee wasn't the culprit, she would definitely be able to find out, and quickly.
Lexi clearly remembered how that conversation had gone,
"Pfft"
"Peebee please be serious"
"I wish" Peebee had laughed, "I don't think she'll be going zero-g with me anytime soon"
"What do you-"
"Anyway, have you not heard the sickening way Ryder speaks to her? It's gross" Peebee had almost sounded jealous, but mainly disparaging.
"So they are…close?"
"Want me to find out?" the younger asari's eyes had widened in excitement, "What's it worth?"
Lexi made a mental note to transfer the agreed credits over to Peebee later.
"How I am I looking Doc?"
Suvi's earnest question broke Lexi out of her thoughts and dragged her back to the present. Lexi walked over to a stray data pad and pretended to read over some information to stall for time; the problem now was how to broach the subject with Suvi without revealing that she already knew the answer.
"Very well" Lexi inflected in false surprise, "Physically you're healthy, but psychologically you're thriving" the asari made a show of flicking through the data on her screen, as if she hadn't properly read the numbers until now and was seeing the results for the first time. She looked up in feigned shock, only to see the redhead smiling back benignly. It was clear she wasn't going to volunteer the information up freely, "Is there anything you would like to tell me?" Lexi ventured, walking closer and sitting next to the human on the bed to try and create a more amicable atmosphere.
"I guess it's just the excitement of it all" Suvi smiled wistfully, "There's so many new discoveries, it's a scientists dream! Only yesterday I was working my way through one of Doctor Aridana's reports, and the soil samples alone-"
It was touching how worked up Suvi got about her job. Lexi always found the human so endearing, but she wasn't the best at taking a hint. Huffing ruefully, Lexi attempted a blunter angle of approach.
"I mean anything new?" Lexi interrupted, her eyes widened expectantly, "Anything that might have given you a bit of a boost?"
"Sorry, I do tend to get carried away" Suvi excused herself, "Like what Doctor?" she asked sweetly.
Lexi was worried she was going to have to bludgeon a confession out of her patient if she didn't get the message soon.
"Like…a change in circumstances" the Doctor worded carefully, "Something positive or, unexpected?" seeing no flash of understanding in Suvi's eyes, she decided to opt for a full-frontal assault, "Perhaps a shift in a relationship?"
She bit her lip as she waited for a snap back, afraid she had overstepped her professional boundaries. But Suvi barely seemed to react; it was almost if she hadn't heard her.
"Sorry Doctor, it just must be the change of pace" Suvi smiled coyly as she stood up, "But you'll be the first to know if I get any news" she nodded, "Now I think Kallo needs me back – unless?" she ended nervously.
"No that will be all" Lexi closed, defeated.
The Science Officer seemed to suddenly be in a rush, and proceeded to scurry out of the med bay. Lexi couldn't help thinking she'd spooked her; the conversation had not been as successful as she had anticipated.
"She's hiding something alright" Lexi muttered to herself, "I'll have it out of her in a week".
