i'm not calling you a liar

[ethnobotany]

WHO: Beverly Crusher
WHERE: Starting outside House 20, Inn, hospital, and anywhere outside in both villages
WHEN: March 4-10
OPEN TO: All!
WARNINGS: To be determined. Will update as needed

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March 4th

Mist isn't usually a bad thing on most planets Beverly has been to. On her home planet, Caldos, it's usually very lovely, especially in the mornings. But if there's anything that exploring the galaxy, and especially being trapped here for so long, has taught her it's that mist is an unknown. Mist can be bad.

So one morning, when she first spots it rolling through the area, she watches it from the front porch of the house with no small amount of wariness. She's suspicious of it and now on high alert. With any luck, it will prove to be simply the good doctor developing a sense of paranoia after all these months of being stuck here.

She makes her normal rounds through the Inn to make sure nothing's amiss and then heads out to the hospital for her normal shift.

March 5-10

It may have taken her over a year to figure it out, but she's definitely avoiding the Inn for a while. At least until she can tell that the effects have worn off. The last thing she wants is to be stuck in there again while she's like this, spewing out the actual truth for all to hear and shattering the Prime Directive while she does. She's got enough trouble trying to juggle it as is; she doesn't need this.

For all that she isn't normally the type of person to keep herself isolated, she's been trying to avoid the vast majority of people. She does still show up for her time in the hospital mostly because she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't make herself available and someone needed her. But she tries to keep to herself and doesn't say much unless prompted. There are far too many ways this could go terribly wrong.

Eventually, she starts avoiding people in the mornings, keeping herself inside House 20 and eventually taking walks around both villages, in an effort to see where the mist has permeated and whether or not she's the only one who's been affected. She still mostly keeps to herself, her arms wrapped tightly around her body and a frown of concentration and worry on her face. If anyone tries to catch her attention like normal, she won't turn them away, but they might find that she has some... interesting things to say.

Comments

[ethnobotany]

Honestly, Beverly doesn't normally mind the company, but she almost grimaces when Steve catches up with her. She knows what's going to happen and if she can't manage to politely shake him off, things might get... interesting.

"It seems the Observers took away my brain to mouth filter," she says with much more brutal honesty than she usually offers. She seems almost annoyed at herself. "I can't seem to stop myself. It's very frustrating." A slight pause follows that, and then she offers almost apologetically, "Sorry in advance."

[super_seal]

At first he frowns, not exactly sure what she means, but it only takes a second before it clicks and he nods. "Right. So no asking you any personal questions. Got it."

He can understand why she would be frustrated, he'd be damn frustrated himself. Especially if someone started asking about his time in the military as most of that's confidential. It's why he'll do his best not to ask her anything as well. If it was him though he'd have found a place to hide away from everyone until it passed.

"With any luck it won't last long. Did it just happen?"

[ethnobotany]

"It started a couple of days ago.Knowing them, it will last a couple of days at the least, a week at most." That seems to be the time frame for most of the Observers' little games. If it's anything longer, she may have to throw a fit over it. "Starfleet is going to have fun with me when I get home. After Temporal Investigations has their debriefing."

She is really not looking forward to all of that. Going home sounds great. Facing Starfleet's debriefings will not be fun.

[super_seal]

The frown returns and deepens, causing a crease between his eyebrows. "That's far too long to hide yourself away. Especially considering your profession." He pauses, mostly to consider his soon to be question in order to make sure that it's not anything that can be taken as too personal, or hopefully lead to that. "Anything I can do to help?"

Nodding, he can't help but agree. "I don't even want to think about the debriefings once we get back. For me it'll be the Navy... They won't believe any of this but they'll still want to do threat assessments." Partially on his sanity and ability to keep classified the secrets he has in his head. If they even remotely believe him, they'll likely attempt to figure out some way to use this to their benefit. That's not a pleasant thought either.

[ethnobotany]

"Believe me, I know," she says dryly, though she appreciates his concern. She's been spending her normal shifts in the hospital, though she's also been trying not to talk to too many people if she can help it. This has had mixed results with her fellow doctors. "Thank you, but I think I just need to wait it out. The Observers never make things easy."

And with her luck, she's going to run her mouth at half the village before they let the effects wear off.

"Starfleet doesn't usually have threat assessments, but... given the events near Deep Space 9, they might start thinking I've been tricked into spilling our secrets to the Dominion. Temporal Investigations is going to be bad enough and yes, it is exactly what it sounds like."