Cold Feet, Warm Welcome
Posted on Wed Dec 24th, 2025 @ 5:35am by Lieutenant Commander Zuub & Ensign Nyx Calder
2,530 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
On the Trail
Location: SS Adelaide, Sickbay
Timeline: After mission completion, en route to Valiant
Nyx Calder wasn’t afraid of Sickbay. She just didn’t like it.
There was something about the smell — all steriliser and recycled air — that made her feel like trouble waiting to happen. The hiss of the doors as she stepped inside didn’t help either; too much like a trap closing.
As she entered, the nearest LCARS panel pulsed gently to life, displaying departmental details: Chief Medical Officer — Dr. Zuub.
The place looked exactly how she’d imagined: spotless, organised, and humming with quiet efficiency. People moved between biobeds and consoles with the calm precision of professionals who’d long since stopped being impressed by anything that bled.
“Right,” she muttered, tugging the hem of her uniform jacket straight. “Check-up. Routine. Quick in, quick out. Easy.”
She made it about five steps in before a passing medic looked up. Nyx flashed her most harmless grin — the one that usually got her out of parking fines and into VIP lounges.
“Hey there,” she said lightly, thumbs hooked into her belt. “Ensign Calder. I’m supposed to check in for a medical before starting duty. Any chance we can just pretend I look fine and skip to the part where I leave?”
The medic gave her a polite but unimpressed look. “Doctor Zuub will want a full baseline scan, Ensign. Please have a seat — she’ll be with you shortly.”
Nyx sighed dramatically, flopping onto the nearest biobed with theatrical defeat. “Of course she will. Wouldn’t want to deprive the good doctor of quality Calder time.”
She kicked one heel idly against the bed’s edge and muttered under her breath, “Bet she’s an absolute delight.”
Zuub walked into the room. The Andorian was tall, lanky, and slightly awkward in her gait. Though Calder would not have expected it, the Andorian had apparently heard what Calder said. Though her face lacked express, her antennae were leaning forward, hinting at her emotions. If Nyx did not know better, the antennae were trying to do something else but through some form of effort, the antennae stayed leaning forward. Zuub's in her soft, wispy voice said, "Indeed. I would very much enjoy quality Calder time and I do believe that I am delightful."
That statement having been uttered, Zuub's left antennae started to wriggle. The Androian's eyes ventured upwards before it leaned forward again.
Nyx’s foot stopped mid-kick when she heard the voice behind her — smooth, calm, and just a little too close for comfort.
She turned her head slowly, finding herself face to face with the tall Andorian she’d just been muttering about. Pale blue skin, white hair, uniform so crisp it probably stood to attention on its own. And those antennae — tilted forward like they were listening harder than the rest of her.
For half a second, Nyx froze, caught in the act. Then the grin came back — crooked, unapologetic.
“Oh,” Nyx said, blinking once before the grin crept back. “Well, speak of the devil and she beams in.”
A beat passed. She lifted her hands in mock surrender, eyes glinting with amusement.
“Alright, Doc. You got me. I’m all yours — scans, pokes, moral judgement and all. Go easy though, I bruise easily… emotionally.”
"I am no devil, at least I do not believe that I am," the doctor responded. "Then again, I've yet to meet one. Though, if I did, I have no doubt that it would be interesting." Zuub's antennae started to writhe a little at the thought. "But if you wish to be all mine instead, I have no objection." Her antennae writhed more suggestively as her last statement was being uttered.
Nyx blinked once — not in shock, but in the delighted oh we’re doing this? kind of way.
Then the grin bloomed wide, slow, and wicked.
“Oh-ho,” she said, crossing one leg over the other on the biobed like she’d just been upgraded to VIP seating. “Look at you, Doc. Coming right out the gate with the spicy bedside manner.”
She wiggled her brows, matching the Andorian’s antennae tilt with an exaggerated head tilt of her own.
“And here I was, thinking Sickbay was gonna be the boring part of the ship.”
Her tone stayed playful, flippant — but controlled, never actually crossing into disrespect. Just enough flirt to kick the ball back across the net.
Nyx tapped her fingers against the biobed, eyes glittering with mischief.
“Well, since we’re trading declarations—” she drawled, “—if you wanna claim me as yours for the next twenty minutes, at least buy me a hypo first.”
She leaned forward a bit, conspiratorial. “But fair warning: I bite if startled.”
A beat passed and then a grin formed on Nyx' face.
“Alright, Doc. Show me where you want me.”
Zuub's antennae started to whirl and then moved into an excited twitter. "My initial scans are revealing an increase in your heart rate and increased blood flow. Such symptoms could imply a number of different maladies."
Her antennae twittered more quickly before writhing again. "I think the only solution to this is for you to come into the back, perhaps my office, for a private screening."
Nyx’s grin didn’t falter — if anything, it sharpened.
“Ohhh, Doc,” she said, tapping two fingers over her own chest as if checking her pulse. “You pick up on everything, don’t you? Must be those fancy Andorian sensors you keep wiggling at me.”
Zuub’s antennae writhing like excited punctuation only made her lean back on her hands, eyes bright and absolutely unbothered.
“Increased heart rate, elevated blood flow—yeah, that tracks.”
She winked.
“I walked in here voluntarily. That alone is enough to spike anyone’s vitals.”
The offer of a private screening made her snort softly through her nose.
“Oh, you’re trouble,” Nyx said, but it sounded like a compliment. “The fun kind. The kind that gets quoted in medical ethics briefings.”
She slid off the biobed with a catlike hop, brushing imaginary dust from her trousers.
“But sure, Doc. Lead the way. You can poke, prod, scan, scold — whatever the full Zuub Experience includes.”
She took one step toward the indicated direction, then added over her shoulder:
“Just remember: if I pass out, you carry me. Big Andorian muscles and all.”
A smile. Sharp. Playful. Entirely Nyx.
“After you, delightful.”
Zuub's antennae continued to writhe. "I'm only thinking of your health, Ensign. I want to make certain that you're well taken care of. After all, if I did not take care of you, what would hte Captain say?"
She lead the ensign towards her office, her antennae occasionally moving backwards to make certain that the Ensign was following her.
Nyx trailed after Zuub with an easy saunter, hands in her pockets, grin firmly in place. “Oh, I’m sure the Captain would have opinions,” she said lightly. “Imagine the paperwork if I keeled over because my doctor didn’t give me enough attention. Total scandal.”
Zuub’s antennae flicked back toward her again, and Nyx answered it with a quick, exaggerated thumbs-up. “Don’t worry, Doc. If I was planning to run, you’d already be chasing a Calder-shaped blur.”
She slipped into step behind the Andorian, eyes bright. “Lead the way. I’ll try to behave just long enough for your scans. No promises after that.”
"Promises are boring," Zuub answered in return, as she opened her office door.
Nyx glanced around the office — shelves lined with crisp medical texts, a few strange Andorian artifacts, a terminal humming softly on the desk. Everything was orderly, precise.
Nyx rocked on her heels once, then wandered toward one of the visitor’s chairs without really waiting to be told.
“Nice setup, Doc. Very official. Very ‘no-nonsense, take your vitamins, stop getting into bar fights.’”
She dropped into the chair backwards — arms folded across the top rail, chin propped on them — casual as a lounging cat.
“So,” she said, eyes bright and teasing as she tilted her head at the Andorian, “what happens now in the non-boring part of my check-up?”
"My office is does not see me a good deal. All of my experiments are out there. I have a good deal of them. Medical discoveries do not wait for us. If you ever want to be a part of them, I'm certain that I could make the arrangements for you to be my, what's that rodent on earth...? Guinea pig?"
Nyx’s grin faltered just enough to show the flash of absolutely not behind her eyes.
“Whoa there, Doc,” she said, holding up both hands like she was slowing down an enthusiastic targ. “Let’s not jump straight to me being your guinea pig. I’m adorable, sure, but I’m not exactly signing up to grow a third lung for science.”
She leaned a hip against the chair, still smirking — but with a wary edge. “Look, I’ll take the scans, the pokes, the lectures about hydration… but the second you start mixing glowing beakers and saying ‘hold still,’ I’m running for the nearest airlock.”
A beat. Her smirk softened into mischief again.
“Besides — I break enough things all on my own. No need to give me experimental help.”
"Now," Zuub said, as she made certain that all of her office was darkened from outside eyes, "I do need to do your check up. However, I cannot do it when you are, well, clothed. Would you kindly remove them from your body?" The Andorian's antennae slowly wriggled in anticipation.
Nyx froze.
Not embarrassed.
Not shy.
Just blink, blink, what the hell, Doc?
Then she lifted one finger in that “hold up, let’s rewind” gesture.
“Okay, okay,” she said slowly, eyebrows climbing, “I get that you need access for medical scans and all that jazz — really, I do — but you gotta pace a girl before you hit her with the ‘strip for science’ line.”
She hopped back to perch on the edge of the chair, arms folding loosely across her chest.
“Tell you what,” she continued, tone still playful but edged with a very real boundary, “you walk me through exactly what scans you need, which parts of me you actually need access to, and what I’m signing up for… and then we negotiate how much ‘clothed’ is medically inconvenient.”
A beat. She pointed a finger at Zuub’s gently wiggling antennae.
“And those things stop doing… that. Because that feels less like Sickbay and more like a very specific holodeck program.”
Nyx smirked — light, teasing, but firm.
“You want cooperation? Cool. You want the whole show without warning? Not how this works, Doc.”
Zuub's writing antennae started to warble unsteadily. Had she misread the signals? She did not think so. The ensign did still seem like she wanted to play and play was what Zuub was all about. "I assure you that this is not a holodeck program," Zuub responded simply. "May I ask what are wrong with my antennae?"
Nyx lifted her hands in a little “don’t shoot” gesture, grin softening but never disappearing. “Hey, nothing bad, promise. I’ve just never seen antennae do… that.”
She tilted her head, eyes glinting. “Didn’t know if it was for me, or just standard Andorian firmware kicking in.”
"What was for you?" Zuub asked as her antennae whirled unsteadily while starting to lean in forward.
Nyx raised both brows, letting her gaze flick from Zuub’s face to those eager, wiggling antennae.
“Oh, y’know…” she said slowly, tracing a vague circle in the air with one finger, “the part where your antennae start doing the tango at me right after you ask me to take my clothes off.”
She leaned back in the chair, smirk widening.
“Where I grew up, Doc? That’s usually a pretty strong hint it’s for me.”
A beat. Tilted head. Grin sharpened.
“Unless your antennae flirt with everyone you tell to strip.”
"They do not," Zuub confirmed as the antennae slowly started to writhe again. "They only do that when I find someone or something interesting to play with and as far as I can ascertain, based on your vitals, the opinion is mutual."
Nyx’s smile turned slow and deliberate as she rose, fingers hooking the zipper of her jacket.
“Oh, mutual… good to know.”
She tugged it down just a few teasing inches — enough to shift the air between them.
“Alright, Doc,” she murmured, eyes locked on Zuub’s. “Tell me what you need.”
Zuub's antennae twittered and then wriggled suggestively. "I am going to have to require you to stand still for a few moments while I explore your body for abnormalities. Do you think that you can do that?"
Nyx let out a soft laugh — low, amused, a little wicked — and stepped closer until she could feel the faint chill radiating off Zuub’s skin.
“Stand still?” she echoed, tilting her head as if considering an impossible challenge. “Darlin’, that’ll be the hardest part of this whole exam.”
She slid the jacket the rest of the way off her shoulders, slow but confident, letting it hang in her hands.
“But for you?”
A grin — sharp as a switchblade but playful as a firecracker.
“I can behave… for a minute.”
Zuub allowed her hands to roam freely. At the same time, there were small, wet kisses on various parts of Nyx's face and neck. Perhaps more interestingly was that as Zuub's face came near Nyx's skin, her antennae would lightly touch Nyx's skin tentatively, as if probing or kissing, as well.
Nyx sucked in a slow breath, the grin still there but tempered now — playful, alert, in control. One hand came up, not to stop Zuub, but to rest lightly against her wrist.
“Okay,” she said softly, voice warm but steady. “That’s… distracting. Effective, sure — but distracting.”
"Which part?" Zuub asked, her hands moving southward.
Nyx huffed a quiet laugh, shoulders easing instead of pulling away. “Okay, no—yeah,” she admitted, tilting her head so one antenna brushed her skin again. “Weird as hell… but not in a bad way. More like my brain’s buffering and forgot what it was supposed to be doing.”
She glanced up at Zuub, grin crooked and honest. “Didn’t see that coming. Kinda like it though.”
"Just kind of?" Zuub asked, as she playfully bent in towards Nyx and allowed her antennae to keep touching Nyx's skin softly.
Nyx let out a soft, breathy laugh, eyes half-lidding as she leaned just enough to meet the touch. “Alright… more than kind of,” she conceded. “It’s distracting in a ‘my brain just dropped its clipboard’ sort of way.”
She tipped her head again on purpose, smirk lazy and warm. “So yeah. If that’s your definition of interesting, Doc… I’m not complaining.”
"Good," Zuub answered simply. "I would rather you enjoying...."
FADE TO BLACK
A Joint Post By:
Lieutenant Commander Zuub
Chief Medical Officer
USS Valiant, currently on the SS Adelaide
Ensign Nyx Calder
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Valiant
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