Page 11 of Every Almost

"Rounds," Reyna said.

"Ready, Captain. Three stops today. Medical. Dr. Pheras has no flagged items but will likely want to assess your cortisol levels personally." Reyna shot him a look. Torvax continued, not noticing. "The Habitat Wing. Selowen has submitted a temperature adjustment report for the Luminthra enclosure and would like you to observe the results."

"It sounds like it worked. I'm glad to hear," Reyna commented.

Torvax nodded once in reply. "And the Library. Orion has requested a brief discussion regarding the Pyrralon migration data he has been cataloguing."

"Brief, for Orion."

"I have allocated fifteen minutes. I anticipate needing thirty."

Reyna smirked. "Duly noted, Second. Let's go."

Their first stop was Medical, where her Chief Medical Officer, Kess Pheras, was running her usual battery of crew health assessments.

"I will wait here, Captain," Torvax said, stationing himself outside the door to the Medical wing. He understood, without it ever having been discussed, that Reyna's visits with Kess operated on a different frequency than the rest of the rounds. He had his datapad and plenty of tasks to keep him occupied. He could wait.

"Thanks, Torvax."

Reyna walked in and found Kess at the tech station in the Med Bay. Kess's own pale green hands were moving over a diagnostic panel with the precision of someone who had been doing this for decades and still checked every reading twice.

"Captain," Kess said without looking up. Her Kaelari silver-blue markings held their usual clinical neutral, the color of a sky just before dawn. "You look tired."

"I'm not tired," Reyna said with only a bit of petulance. Kess stopped what she was doing and turned toward Reyna.

"Your cortisol equivalent is elevated, your posture has shifted two degrees forward since yesterday, and you're doing the thing with your jaw."

Reyna's hand shot straight to her jaw, touching around to see if anything was wrong. "I don't do a thing with my jaw."

Kess raised an eyebrow. Her pale green eyes held an expression that was clinically diagnostic but also partly caring for her good friend. She was entirely unimpressed. "The thing where you clench it when you're carrying more than you want anyone to know about," Kess said. "You know, it's a good thing I love you otherwise all your secrets would be known by everyone on this ship."

Reyna gasped as she dropped her hand from her jaw. "You wouldn't dare..."

"Yeah, maybe I wouldn't. If everyone knew your secrets, they wouldn't be secrets anymore, would they?" Kess winked.

Reyna blew out a breath for the umpteenth time today. "I hate when you're right. You read me too well."

Kess's gaze softened at the words. "Maybe. But being your medical physician while also being your friend means I know you've been doing that little jaw move since..."

Reyna held Kess's gaze. "... Elena," Reyna finished for her, quietly and just above a whisper.

Most of the crew saw Kess as only the Medical Officer, and that was good. She was fantastic at her job, keeping the whole crew safe and healthy as though it was no work at all.

But Reyna knew this woman as her friend, probably her closest confidant on her ship. Kess was the one who had treated Reyna after the worst year of her life. The one who knew how much Reyna kept hidden now by watching how many walls the Captain had built going up, brick by brick, over thirteen years.

"Vondra assigned us three Aetherfin," Reyna said.

Kess's markings didn't shift. But her eyebrow did. "Three."

"In three weeks."

"And you're here instead of solving it because...?"

"Because I needed five minutes with someone who wouldn't ask me to solve their bread."

Kess laughed. A real one, short and surprised, and she pressed her hand to her mouth as though she could put it back. "Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "'Solve their bread.' That's a new one, even for you, Rey. I'm guessing it was Borran?"

"Vryx in the kitchen vent. He's been updating me every nine minutes."