010 ⌥ VOICE [backdated to wednesday, i'm so sorry]

[femshep]

[This is posted from Kaidan's communicator, not that she makes it obvious. Hers is still somewhere in the dome. She has yet to requisition a new one.]

I'm alive.

[And she has answers. But she's not sure how much to say on the network. How much the Authorities don't already know she knows. So she'll tell them how to find her, and hope they think to ask their questions in person instead.]

Hospital, south wing, and if Alenko's got any say in it, I'll be here for a while longer.

Telepaths, psychics, or whatever the hell you want to call the people that crawl into your head... You're going to want to see this. [Yes, that is a free pass into her skull. No, don't get used to it.]

Comments

Action!

[femshep]

Jocelyn.

[At the greeting, her pacing slows to a stop, and she turns to face the telepath. Shepard can't help it--she's looking the woman over, for injuries or bruises or any signs of damage. Because the raid got the better of all too many people.

Eventually, she settles on asking.]

How are you?

Action!

[abetterway]

[Jocelyn looks tired, more than anything. She's been overworking herself since returning from the trade mission. Still, the smile she offers is genuine.]

I'm doing well enough.

[She's still wearing that gun, strapped to her thigh.]

How are you holding up in here?

[femshep]

[Shepard notices the gun with a conflicted sort of pride, but keeps that to herself, instead addressing Jocelyn's question with a wry almost-smile in return.]

Physically? I'm fine, to hell with what these local docs have to say. [Which isn't entirely fair of her--'trust me, I'm just goddamn fine' isn't nearly as convincing as you'd think, especially because they don't know a thing about her cybernetics or advanced rate of healing.

But 'physically' isn't the problem, and Shepard's pretty sure it's not what the telepath was asking, either.

So she shakes her head a little.] 'Stir-crazy' doesn't even begin to describe it. The locked door can probably tell you all you need to know. [If she weren't fighting tooth and nail to get the hell out of here, they wouldn't have bothered to lock it.]

[abetterway]

[Jocelyn smiles at that, just slightly.]

It does imply a certain stubbornness. [She can't lecture, really; she doesn't take well to being bedridden herself. Doctors, she's found, tend to make awful patients.]

Perhaps if I make a recommendation? [She's not exactly on staff, but she's been working with them since the aftermath of the stampede.]

If you're certain you're all right, and this isn't just a soldier's natural bravado.

[femshep]

I'm fine. [Her voice is calmer, more certain, and her gaze is steady. Frustrated as she may be, she knows that frustration won't get her out of this room.]

[abetterway]

[Jocelyn considers her for a moment, before nodding.] I can't promise they'll listen, but I'll do my best.

[femshep]

[But now that that's decided, her thoughts return to the reason for Jocelyn's visit to start with. And as fantastic as the glowing reccomendation is, the fact stands:]

But that's not what you came for.

[Remember?]

[abetterway]

No.

[She gestures to the bed; this will be easier with Shepard in reach, and safer if she sits down.]

Have you ever done this before?

[femshep]

Yes.

[Probably not the answer Jocelyn was expecting, what with how fervently Shepard's usually against it. Then again, that might be exactly why she'd be expecting it.

Either way, Shepard sits down.]

[abetterway]

[Her eyes widen slightly, and her next instinct is to ask if she did it consensually - but she doesn't.]

Then you'll know something of what to expect.

[She wheels closer to the bed, before raising her hands.]

Relax, as much as you're able. Calm your mind.

[femshep]

[Technically, her two points of reference were with an asari (which doesn't just read your mind, it temporarily joins your minds into one) and with the missing Charles Xavier (who pretty much pitched a tent in her motor cortex), so she doesn't have any experience with this exact thing, but it's close enough.

Meanwhile, she doesn't reply, letting out a slow, deep breath as her gaze drops from Jocelyn's to a spot on the bed beside her. She's clearing her mind as best she can--whether or not 'clear your mind' and 'calm your mind' are the same thing, though, is almost irrelevant, since she's having a hell of a time doing either one. But she's trying.]