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(A/N: For anyone reading, feel free to use the first names I give these characters in your own writings if you want. Heck, use the head-canons and backstories too if you like them. Or even any ideas in general. They're pretty open-source.)
Medical Mishap
Most everyone on board Aurora had been picked out of a Corporate pool, but there was no denying their capabilities. Not many stood out, but a few had caught Hollister's attention. The one that had done so most, though, was Chief Medical Officer Thomas Danby. No one knew what to think of Danby when he arrived on board Aurora with the rest of the medical staff. Corporate selected, yes, but not Corporate. Hollister had been anticipating his arrival. He had met Danby near the start of the whole selection process along with Ozzy and Keen. The doctor was an unusual one. Carried himself like a man with something to hide, Ozzy had claimed. Hollister had almost outright rejected him on the basis of that alone, because Ozzy's sense for people couldn't be beat. However, doctors willing to take on voyages this long and this potentially dangerous were few and far between, and Danby had been nothing if not persuasive. He was, in fact, the only crewperson in the roster who Hollister agreed to that didn't meet his one-hundred percent criteria. At best, Danby reached seventy on the captain's radar, so it was a miracle Hollister agreed to take him on at all. Danby only slid in by virtue of being slightly less sketchy than any other qualified medical personal Corporate put forward. By about point one percent. And that was only achieved by means of Danby's 'bonus points', so to speak, in charisma and persuasion. The man had been convincing. Exceedingly so.
Hollister, Yu, and Keen stood close together, watching the new medical officer warily. "Are we sure we want him along?" Keen asked.
"We have no other choice. Every other pick corporate put forth for CMO was even worse," Hollister said.
"So tell them to go back to the drawing board and put together a new batch," Keen said.
"There's no time anymore. We're already started," Hollister replied. "It's Danby or nothing."
"Very well, but I don't like this," Keen said.
"Neither do I," Hollister replied as the Chief Medical Officer approached them.
"Captain Hollister, I'm Thomas Danby," Danby said, offering his hand.
Hollister eyed the hand warily before meeting the newcomer's eyes and taking it. "A pleasure," he said.
Just then there was a loud bang and a shout of alarm. Startled, they all turned towards the sound quickly. Hollister, Yu, and Keen's eyes widened. "Robinson!" Hollister hollered as other nearby crew screamed in shock.
Subnautica
Thomas Danby, still in the process of shaking the Captain's hand, blinked blankly at the sight he'd just beheld. It happened so fast he could barely process what had occurred. The crewman they called Robinson had just flown passed them like he'd been fired out of a canon. The Captain raced towards his injured man, as did many of the mingling crew, and Danby just heaved a sigh. This was not a good sign of things to come, he determined. Begrudgingly he approached the limp body, blatantly unimpressed. Why now? Why so soon after his arrival?
"Robinson, Robinson, get up. Open your eyes," Hollister pled.
"Captain, please," Danby said, kneeling next to Ryley and checking for a pulse. Basic first aid was fine. Basic first aid he could do. "He's alive. Pulse strong. Let's get him to medical bay. I'll have a look at him there," he said. Hollister was quick to pick the wounded man up, and Danby started in surprise. He honestly hadn't thought the older man had it in him. He was a little taken aback, but it certainly made things easier to manage. Hollister carried his wounded crew member straight to medical bay while the Second Officer and Chief Technology Officer stayed behind to greet the rest of the arrivals.
Danby looked around at the instruments available in med bay. Everything he could possibly need was here. Good. He wouldn't have to stumble bum his way through or ask questions about what anything was if he didn't recognize it. "On the table if you please," Danby said. Hollister laid Ryley down looking immensely concerned. Danby huffed and hooked the injured crewman up to the machines. If he'd known the crew would be this high maintenance right off the bat, he would have asked for more pay or argued harder for someone else to go in his place. "I trust this isn't going to be a regular occurrence with your staff?" Danby said somewhat patronizingly.
Hollister frowned. "No, it's not," he answered.
Danby typed in some commands on the machines and turned to observe their work, taking notes to keep up appearances. The readout came and he snatched it, skimming what it said. "Multiple ribs cracked but none thoroughly broken say for one. He also has a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm, a broken leg, and a punctured lung, because why not? Doubtless due to the one rib that broke all the way through."
"Can you help him? That's all I want to know," Hollister said.
"I can manage," Danby replied. "Then after he's told me how this sorry incident happened, I'll be sure to give him a lecture he won't soon forget."
"He won't be able to answer you, if you don't know sign language or have a pen and paper handy," Hollister said.
"Excuse me?" Danby asked.
"Ryley Robinson was born mute. He communicates through sign language. If the one he is conversing with doesn't know it, he writes it down instead," Hollister said. "Each voyage we take he teaches an impromptu class to help any new crew understand him. This time he has only been permitted to teach the staff he heads up. Whoever else might be interested in learning will have to sneak themselves in. Given the heavy presence of corporate, I doubt many will go out of their way to do so. Especially given Alterran views of the even mildly disabled."
"Well, this gets better and better, doesn't it?" Danby said. "Very well. Don't worry about your man. He'll be back on his feet in no time. The machines can handle the procedure easily enough."
"I intend to stay to make sure they do," Hollister said.
"Does he not have other friends who would like to be told of his accident?" Danby asked.
Hollister was quiet a moment before huffing and heading out. "I'll be back, doctor."
"No doubt," Danby said, watching after him. As soon as the man left, he turned to Ryley and pursed his lips, then went to the computer and began to input commands. He heard a pained groan and glanced over in annoyance. The man under his care was stirring. "Welcome back to the world of the living, but I'm afraid you're going to have to go right back under if this is going to go at all smoothly," he said.
The man, Ryley Robinson, looked dazed. Confusedly he looked over at him and made a questioning sound. "I'm going to assume you're asking what happened and not who I am, since that would be a ridiculous question to ask after finding yourself waking up in a medical bay. Ryley blinked blankly and flushed a bit. Danby's eyes narrowed, unimpressed. "Medical Officer Thomas Danby," he coldly articulated. "You're as lacking in common sense as I thought you might be after seeing you fly across a room and cracking against a wall." Ryley winced. Danby sighed. "Apologies. It's been a long day. Now to the question you should have asked. Multiple cracked ribs, one broken all the way through that punctured a lung. Broken arm, broken leg, dislocated shoulder. None of the above procedures needed to fix these things will be pleasant for you, so I'm afraid, Mr. Robinson, that we must say goodnight." Ryley made a sound of protest that Danby could only assume was supposed to be 'wait', but he ignored it completely in favor of pressing the big red button so he could get this over and done with as painlessly for his patient, and himself, as possible.
In only moments, Ryley was under. Danby turned attention back to the computer, finished inputting the commands, then initiated the procedure, quickly leaving the room so as not to contaminate it while the machine operated. He locked the door from the outside and waited for the Captain to return with whoever else might be interested in this particular crewman's survival. Hollister returned with one person, which was just about the saddest thing Danby had ever seen, but he didn't comment on it. "Ozzy, this is Medical Officer Thomas Danby. Danby, head chef Ozwald Jones."
"How's Ryley?" this 'Ozzy' immediately questioned as he offered his hand for a shake, visibly concerned.
"He'll live," Danby answered, shaking dutifully. "Some broken bones, some cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a punctured lung. The punctured lung is being addressed first of course, followed by the rest in whatever order the computer decides to do it in. All that mattered to me was that the lung was prioritized. Surprisingly enough, no head trauma. Though I half suspect he's already had plenty of that." Ozzy snorted a bit, lips quirking up in a worried but good-humoured smirk. Danby smiled a little as well, but it soon disappeared. He turned to Hollister. "In all seriousness though, really question that one's common sense. For his own sake."
"Hey, he has bad moments, but all in all the guy's pretty practical," Ozzy defended. "Least where it matters to be."
"It doesn't matter to be practical around potentially lethal tools?" Danby challenged.
"T' be fair, the propulsion and repulsion canons are virtually identical," a new voice said. Danby looked curiously over as another man and a woman entered the room. It had been the man who had spoken, and he looked particularly guilt-stricken, so Danby could only assume he had something to do with this. "He's familiar with the propulsion canon. Not so much the repulsion one," the newcomer continued.
"And you are?" Danby asked.
"Victor Huggins. This is me cousin, Josephine Fournier," the man greeted.
"How's Ryley?" Fournier questioned in concern.
"He'll pull through," Danby replied. "If you would like to wait, take a seat. I have to make sure the robots are behaving appropriately instead of turning into butchers," he said.
"Wait, what?" Huggins asked.
"If you'll excuse me, all," Danby said, ignoring the question and giving them a curt nod before turning to the window.
"Now wait just a minute!" Ozzy protested.
"Ozwald, at ease," Hollister ordered. Ozzy glanced at him, grimaced, then relented, bowing his head and nodding. Together the group of four sat, waiting for the report.
Subnautica
Danby watched the machines working, in awe of them. It was really quite something to observe the precision with which they operated. They were impressive and always had been. He took in every detail. He'd always liked to watch them at their work and wonder if human surgeons had ever been even half as good. Then, during his practicum, he had seen that some were even better. Those, however, were few and far between. The only reason he'd ever viewed or assisted a doctor in cutting open a patient themselves at all, was because it was required for said practicum. He had gleaned enough to be able to tell when an error was made and how to fix it if it was mild, but precious little else.
As luck would have it, about five minutes in there was an error. Moderate. He sighed through the nose, bowing his head and shaking it hopelessly. Of course it would be moderate. There was a chance he could stumble his way through that based on rote, he supposed. The machine began to beep and quickly stopped dead. "What's happening?" Ozzy immediately asked, standing fearfully up.
"A complication the computer can't compensate for. I'm going to have to go in and manually deal with it," Danby said.
"What's that beeping? It sounds bad," Ozzy said.
"His vitals are dropping, so if you'll excuse me, I need to act quickly," Danby said, starting to suit up. What the devil had those bots done? Quickly he entered the room and approached his patient, checking on the situation. The broken rib was the cause of this, he determined. It wasn't what he'd call a moderate error himself though. Closer to mild. He supposed it had only pinged as higher because the robots had decided it was too much a chance for them to take with something they couldn't accurately measure. Of all the times for something like this to happen. He knew what to do, if barely, so he'd gotten lucky this time, but if this was going to be a common occurrence, he couldn't guarantee his luck would hold out.
The truth was, it had taken him a week too long to determine he couldn't hack medical school. Not because he was unintelligent or lacked the capability, but because he was simply too lazy and too impatient. He had always preferred immediate gratification to long-term satisfaction. He had trouble focusing at the best of times, his attention span was probably shorter than was normal, and damn it all, if he'd come to that conclusion only a little earlier, he could have dropped out and taken the majority of his investment with him! Unfortunately, the deadline had already passed and he'd been stuck in it. Disappointing his parents was the last thing he had wanted to do. He'd told them since he was a little boy that he would be a doctor like mother was. He'd taken all the appropriate courses through high school, he'd watched his mother and learned from her, he'd done part time work as a paramedic which meant he'd taken advanced first aid courses, but medical school? It had proven to be beyond his capability. Rather, beyond his motivation. He just didn't see the point to it! Doctors these days didn't even use skill to deal with patients. The robots did it all for them! Computers and AI read your vitals, ran their tests, and spewed out a diagnosis all within an hour, maybe two, then the patient was sent off to a treatment room where the robots cared for them there as well! For the most part at least. He'd always wondered what the point of medical school was anymore, so naturally he'd done what his young brain told him was best at the time. Cheated. Learning to cheat hadn't been easy. He'd never been very good at lying and hadn't been raised to view it as acceptable either, but in the end, it was all a matter of trial and error. Sometimes it worked but sometimes it was costly. He'd only narrowly avoided being expelled from Medical School about four times within the first few months. He was nothing if not a fast study though, and with each mistake he made that almost cost him, he learned a little more and never made that same mistake again until he'd mastered the technique. Looking back, if he'd put half the effort he spent learning to lie and cheat into actually studying, he would have graduated top of his class legitimately. That, however, hadn't been his lot, so here he was.
He fixed the problem quickly, carefully dealing with the bone hindering progress, stabilized the vitals which he probably should have done first—was that right or no? Shouldn't one get rid of the problem causing the destabilization before stabilizing?—then started the machines again, because damned if he tried to repair a collapsed lung himself. He'd probably just end up killing the poor young man. He stood back, arms folded as he watched from inside the room. Now that he was suited up, he might as well. It gave him a better view of what the bots were doing anyway.
"Will he be alright?" a voice asked over the room intercom. The Captain.
"As I said before, Captain, he'll be fine," Danby replied.
Subnautica
It took about half an hour before the machines had completed their tasks. They'd fixed the dislocated shoulder, properly set the broken bones for later casting by yours truly, repaired the lung, and repaired the ribs as best they could manage. It would only be a matter of healing now. Robinson's work, whatever it was, would have to be taken slowly until then. When the machines stopped moving around, Danby entered a side room, stripped off all contaminated equipment, washed thoroughly, and entered the procedure room again to set to work with the casting. He hoped to complete it before Ryley woke up. He had mostly done so when the man began to stir and return to the world of the living.
"Welcome back Mr. Robinson. Can I trust this won't be a regular occurrence?" Danby asked, finishing up the arm cast. The man turned dazedly to him, looking confused, then grimaced and honestly shook his head. Danby was less than impressed by the answer. "At least you're honest about it," he said with a sigh. "Do me a favor and try though, why don't you?" Ryley nodded in agreement. "You're lucky. The robots ran into an issue. I had to correct it. For a moment there it was touch and go," Danby said. It was true, and he hadn't exaggerated the situation, but he hadn't downplayed it either. He'd learned early on in medical school that you didn't really need to. The imagination did that for you. The fine line to dance was how to discover the perfect balance between vague and detailed to make yourself seem more skilled or knowledgeable than you actually were.
"Was it that bad?" Ryley signed. Danby stared blankly at him, sighed, then retrieved a paper and pen, shoving them into the man's hands. Ryley frowned and wrote down the question, handing it over. Danby read it through, considered spinning a yarn, then rejected the notion because why bother? There was no reason to try and talk himself up or make himself seem grander than he was. Frankly he barely even cared about that anymore. It had faded more and more as he grew older.
"No. It wasn't," he answered, handing the paper back. A fragment of bone the computer calculated was too risky for a machine to compensate for. A simple fix. Nothing to write home about." Ryley scribbled something else down. Danby read it. "You were on the verge of crashing, yes." He said, handing the paper back. Ryley wrote something else. Danby frowned, annoyed by this, and decided maybe taking that sign language course wouldn't be such a bad idea if Ryley was going to be one of 'those' patients. He sighed, reading it through, and started, staring for a moment. Soon an amused smirk pulled at his lips. "Yes. I suppose I did save your life," he replied, handing the paper back. "Really though, it was nothing. Anyone with basic to moderate first aid could have pulled it off." Ryley wrote something down. Danby read through it. "If you want to consider it a big deal, I'm hardly going to argue. It's just more credibility in my pocket." Ryley wrote something down. Danby read it, and ever so slightly he shifted, starting to feel uncomfortable. "I… well, you're welcome. I suppose. Really it was nothing. You don't owe me anything, I assure you. Now your friends are waiting for you on the other side of that window." He pointed it out. Ryley looked over curiously. "Captain Hollister and Ozzy, I believe the other's name was. Also a Victor Huggins and a Josephine Fournier. Maybe by now there are a couple more, but I hardly know the state of your social life." Ryley frowned a bit and wrote something down. Danby glanced at it and huffed a laugh. "Nonexistent, is it? Believe me, I know the feeling. Was it work or, well, other issues?" He didn't need to state what he meant for the implication to be clear. Ryley looked sadly down. "Pretend I never asked. My apologies," Danby said, a note of sympathy slipping into his voice. Ryley shrugged a shoulder and scribbled something. "Partially your fault too, hmm? Introvert?" Ryley nodded. "So am I, but in my case, I never had much use for friends." Mostly because the majority of those he might have befriended would have also been the only people who could have discovered what he really was. Namely a fraud. He… half suspected a measure of guilt had kept him from making other companions outside school and the profession. Besides, if you had no friends or family, you had nothing to lose if you were ever exposed. "Now, what happened?"
Ryley took back the paper and scribbled his answer. Danby read through it. "You were testing a new tool Huggins was showing you and it backfired horribly," he read out loud. Huggins winced hard and sheepishly looked over at the others, who were glaring at him angrily.
"I take the blame for this. I should have known better, but I won't claim t' be the brightest bulb in the bunch," Huggins said.
Ryley snatched the paper, wrote something else, and showed it to Danby. He read it. "It says: Neither am I, but in my case it's just general carelessness and recklessness negating any common sense I otherwise have." Danby looked at him. "Fortunately for you, it's my job to stop people that lack common sense from being casualties." Ryley signed something at him.
"He says you delivered in a big way," Fournier translated for Danby.
"Yes, well, back to the report," Danby said. He looked back at the paper and continued to read. "To be fair, I didn't realize the kind of power it had. Enough to do some serious damage to something flesh and blood, but not enough to punch a hole through a plasteel sheet. To be fair again, I thought it was a propulsion canon."
"Repulsion that one," Huggins sheepishly said.
Ryley frowned and signed: "What moron designed them to look virtually identical anyway?" Danby raised an eyebrow.
"He asked what moron designed them to look virtually identical in the first place," Huggins translated. He looked at Ryley. "A repulsion canon is technically an upgraded propulsion one." Ryley signed something again. "He says: 'You'd think there'd be a better hint of that than a colour swap.' Unfortunately for us, there isn't." Ryley signed once more and Huggins smirked a bit. "He says maybe he was also a little too close to the plasteel sheet he was aiming for."
Ryley nodded then took back the paper. He wrote something else down and handed it to Danby. Danby cleared his throat. "After firing the canon, he realized he was flying backwards. The next thing he realized was that the stupid thing had been cranked up to ultra instead of standard. He claims it wasn't your fault. You never adjusted anything on it. The third thing he processed was the sickening sound of his own body cracking against a wall. The fourth was the searing agony of breaking bones and the fifth his sudden difficulty breathing. The last thing he processed before blacking out was alarmed shouting." Danby looked at him. "I would highly suggest you think twice in future, Mr. Robinson, before testing any new fancy tools on yourself." Ryley sheepishly nodded. "Good. You're free to go."
Ryley tentatively sat up, feeling around his tender, now wrapped ribs. "You're going to have to take it easy for a while when it comes to work," Danby said. He looked over at the viewing window. "Hollister, make note of that!" Ryley frowned a bit. "Don't give me that look. It's for the best. The faster you heal, the faster you get back to your job," Danby said.
"He's correct, Robinson. Don't disregard the doctor's orders," Hollister firmly said over the intercom. Ryley winced, then sighed and nodded in agreement.
"Good. Captain, Ozwald, Huggins, Fournier, you may enter now," Danby said. It wasn't long before the door opened, and the four in question approached. Danby quietly left the room to give them some space.
Ryley watched after him then looked at his friends. "I like the guy," he signed. "I really like him."
"To be fair, you got off to a good start. Danby just saved your life," Ozzy said. "No one else is very fond of him. There's just somethin' about that one… I can't place it."
"Keep an eye on it. Whatever you can find out, let me know," Hollister said. "He doesn't sit right with me either." Ryley frowned, confused by their unease, and looked curiously at the door Danby had exited through. The next morning the Aurora set out on its long voyage, all crew and passengers say for the ones they'd be picking up on board.
Subnautica
One month into the expedition, it was clear to Danby that Ryley would indeed be one of 'those' patients. He ended up in medical bay at least thrice a week, and his arm and leg were healing much slower than anticipated, which was a concern. "What are you doing that's getting you so damaged all the time? Preventing you from properly healing as well? I told you to take it easy with your work," he finally said to the younger man, unable to keep quiet about it anymore. Ryley stayed silent. "Robinson, please," Danby said with a frustrated sigh. Ryley frowned at him and looked around for a piece of paper. "Use your sign language," Danby said, rolling his eyes. "After about your sixth visit I took to slipping into your little classes and picking up what I could." Ryley started, looking at him in surprise and seeming almost touched. Danby shifted uncomfortably. There was something about the young man, amongst other choice few people on this ship, that made some small, hidden part of him wish he was a better person than he actually was… "Just… keep it basic. I'm struggling a bit with it."
Ryley nodded. "I can't get them to follow direction if they don't respect me as their head janitor," he signed.
"You mean Non-Essential Systems Maintenance Chief," Danby said. Ryley gave him a look. "I know, I know. It's basically the same thing. However, one affords you a bit more dignity at least."
"Does it? The point is, getting them to do anything is like pulling teeth. I'm mute, so they figure I don't deserve to head them up, so they vanish, and I have to work because if I don't, this entire ship falls into disrepair," Ryley signed.
"I think I understood the gist of that," Danby said. "Have you reported any of this to Keen or Hollister?"
"Keen won't give a flying… never mind. Hollister is too busy to bother with something this small," Ryley signed back.
"If you won't report it, I will the next time one or the other of them comes in for a checkup. They know you're supposed to be taking it light. You can't keep this up, Ryley," Danby said. "Not if you want to recover properly."
"No. I'm fine. Don't worry. Please, just don't say anything. I worked too long and too hard for this position to make them think I can't handle it," Ryley signed, standing up after Danby had finished dressing a burn. He left agitatedly while Danby frowned worriedly after him and sat back to consider the situation.
Subnautica
"I notice Robinson hasn't been healing well. Is something the matter?" Danby asked Keen as the man came in for his biweekly physical.
"No. Not as far as I'm aware at least. He's said nothing about it, Ozzy's said nothing, Yu hasn't seemed to notice anything awry, Hollister hasn't mentioned a concern… Why?" Keen suspiciously asked.
"As I've said already, Keen, he isn't healing well. Not nearly as fast as he should be. That tells me he might be straining himself, but I haven't a clue why. He understood perfectly well that he should be taking it easy. If he isn't, I'd like to know the reason," Danby replied.
"It's probably because he's a defiant little…" Keen began before sighing in frustration. "I'll look into it and let you know what I discover."
"Thank you," Danby said, saluting. Keen nodded, saluting back, and strode out of the room.
Subnautica
True to his word, Keen really started living up to his name, keeping a close and constant eye on Ryley. It wasn't long before he began to notice some troubling patterns. Patterns such as Ryley continuing to carry on with his duties and work despite all the opposition from the opinionated Alterra drones surrounding him; Ryley taking on the jobs of three different people all at once and going until exhaustion just to keep things on the ship running smoothly and on time; Ryley struggling to keep up with all the work being piled on the janitorial staff because getting them to listen to him was next to impossible. They pretended he didn't exist most of the time, not even bothering to look his way. If he confronted them, they claimed they couldn't hear his orders in clearly mocking tones. Keen heard them poke fun at their boss, heard them muttering about how a mute had no place on board a ship like this, and inevitably, the SO snapped and put his foot down. He put it down hard, and in some cases up the backsides of particularly defiant and ornery staff who dared try and argue with him.
"You will treat your commanding chief with all the respect afforded to him or so help you gods!" Keen roared at the terrified janitorial staff as Ryley gawked at him from behind in disbelief, eyes wide. Roughly Keen threw down the man he'd been on the verge of scourging in front of them all. Instead, he'd settled for a literal kick in the ass. A hard, hard kick in the ass that was going to send the guy straight to Danby.
Ryley couldn't say he was surprised, honestly. Chain of Command was extremely important to Keen. It kept things orderly. It kept things controlled. It kept things running smoothly. The SO was obsessive compulsive like that. When Keen saw that said chain wasn't being followed, to say he was royally ticked would be understating it. Ryley wasn't sure when the guy had started observing him, but he knew full well what set him off. Ryley had been trying to sign out orders to his subordinates to get them to do something and give him an opportunity to actually start healing up properly. They took to pretending not to see him or understand anything he was signing. 'Speak up' had been one of their favourite taunts. Needless to say, Ryley's frustration and dismay was mounting steadily, and he was bracing for a long day of doing the work of an entire janitorial staff alone, but just as he was about ready to give it up for lost, Keen had made the scene.
Ryley hadn't noticed at first. He only realized something was up when a hush fell over the mocking staff. He'd frowned, puzzled, and turned around only to catch his breath, startled. Keen had been approaching like a predator, eyes dark and dangerous. Ryley could only stare as the man came up next to him and stood at his side, glaring down at the staff below. There had been an awkward silence before Ryley turned back to them and began signing his instructions again. He'd almost jumped out of his skin when Keen loudly and clearly began to translate exactly what he was signing so there would be no question at all of what had been ordered. It forced the staff to pay attention, but they still hadn't listened. Instead, they'd tried to get defiant again, in particular the guy who had just gotten his backside literally handed to him by Keen.
"If I catch wind of a single act of defiance displayed towards Non-Essential Systems Maintenance Chief Robinson again, I will see you all dismissed at the next station and replaced! Go! Do your jobs as you were instructed and get that sorry sight to medical bay," Keen venomously spat, pointing at the man in question. Immediately the staff split to do their jobs and obey the order.
As soon as the last one cleared out, Ryley let out a breath of relief and turned sheepishly and a bit guiltily to the man. "Thanks," he signed.
"There will be no defying chain of command under my watch," Keen sternly replied. "It keeps things orderly, it keeps things running smoothly, and the moment it breaks, chaos ensues." Ryley had to resist rolling his eyes, because at this point he could pretty well recite Keen's little speech by heart. The man babbled on about chain of command a little longer before at last wrapping it up, and Ryley made sure to put on a smile and nod like he hadn't heard it a dozen times before. Keen glared at him, looking unimpressed, so clearly he'd noticed his audience's eyes glazing over in boredom and his head robotically nodding or shaking as needed. Ryley sheepishly grinned. Keen harrumphed. "I intend to remain with you the rest of the day to ensure these degenerates heed your commands and make no further fuss," he announced out of the blue.
Ryley's grin immediately vanished. "Sir, that won't be necessary," he quickly signed.
"It decidedly is. They have grossly disrespected you for long enough. After today, they'll never dare to do it again. Come now, don't be like that. It won't be so bad," Keen said, looking mildly annoyed. Ryley hesitated a moment, but then again maybe he could use the help. Hey, maybe it could even be a step towards a friendly relationship with the SO. Looking back at Keen, he nodded tentatively in agreement. Come the end of the day, the janitorial staff was no longer talking back, mocking, or ignoring him anymore
Subnautica
"I know you said something," Ryley signed to Danby during his physical. One of the rare times he wasn't in to see the man for an accident. "There'd be no reason for Keen to keep watch on me otherwise. Yu is my immediate supervisor."
That said, Yu spent most of her time with the engineers and technicians. Janitorial staff was low on her list of priorities because she'd figured out fast that he was good at what he did. In lieu of that, normally she didn't check up on him. She trusted him to get the job done one way or another. He hadn't mentioned anything to her anyway, and each time she asked, he just played it off like everything was okay. He probably shouldn't have. She likely would have rung them through the ringer worse than Keen, but he'd never intended for anyone to learn what was going on. He'd certainly never told Keen, or even Ozzy despite Ozzy sensing something was up. Danby had been the only one on this ship to notice that something was wrong and not just take him at his word that he could handle it. Of course, he'd never told anyone as much about it as he'd told Danby either. A part of him almost regretted doing so, but a bigger part was massively relieved and grateful to the man.
"My concern is seeing my patients properly healed. You weren't healing properly. I needed to get to the bottom of it somehow. I didn't tell Keen anything you told me. I made mention you weren't healing as well as expected and asked if something was wrong. He did the rest," Danby said.
"What about Doctor-Patient Confidentiality?" Ryley signed.
"In the depths of space where every untended injury can cost you your life? Don't make me laugh. Of course the policy still holds, but there will be exceptions from time to time. There always are, circumstance depending. I'd say this particular one called for it," Danby said. "You're healing much better now I notice. By next week, we should have you out of your casts. Our last stopover before we reach deep space is a Mongolian port where we're slated to pick up an Emissary for whatever reason. Presumably a guarantee of smooth passage and good diplomatic relations. By then you should be able to go off and buy the things you need to resupply one last time before we begin the bulk of our journey, so I would say it's a good thing I set Keen on you when I did."
Ryley nodded and sighed. "Thank you, Tom. You're a real one," he signed.
Danby's cheek twitched ever so slightly, and he shifted uncomfortably again. Awkwardly he cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I'm pleased you think so, but don't," he said.
"Why shouldn't I?" Ryley signed, looking incredulous.
"Because then when I inevitably end up disappointing you or failing someone, you won't be completely disillusioned," Danby dryly replied.
"I mean, no one's perfect," Ryley signed.
"I know. And I'm the farthest you can get from perfection," Danby said quietly, watching the ground solemnly.
Ryley frowned in concern and tapped his leg. Danby glanced up. "Are you okay?" Ryley signed.
Danby sighed and leaned back in his chair, contemplating how to answer. "Maybe one day we can talk about it, but not today," he said.
"Alright, but I'm always around if you want to tell me what's happening. I owe you two now," Ryley signed, looking concerned.
"I know, Ryley. I know," Danby defeatedly replied, guilt written across his face. He smirked weakly. "You literally can't help but hang around medical bay." Ryley nodded, too worried to chuckle or defend himself, then offered a reassuring smile, stood, squeezed the man's shoulder lightly, and left. Danby stayed put, silently watching after him and feeling more conflicted than he had in a very long time…