Chapter 15
"Any discomfort?" Melgara asked, as she had Brick lying down and a system rigged up to his head. The big green grogax was twiddling four thumbs while the blindfolded stellari adjusted a mish-mash of metal and electronics on his head, held together by tape and the rim of a metal barstool.
"It's a little uncomfortable," Brick said, "but I've had worse."
"Perfect." Melgara began to work as thumping resounded from upstairs. She paused, and Brick did, too, both of them expecting it to end shortly. It did not. If anything, it built in intensity until the door to their room began rattling.
"I think that's the captain… and Lily?" Brick said.
"How astute," Melgara said plainly. "I think it is in all of our best interests if we let them continue to enjoy each other’s company."
"Is that what we're calling it now?" Brick had a massive shit-eating grin stretched across his face.
"That was my attempt at tact," Melgara answered, a small bit of emotion flashing through her eyes before it was gone. The system she had connected to his head whined for a second before Brick twitched as it shocked him.
"That hurt," he stated.
"It was supposed to," Melgara said without looking away from her system.
"I thought this wasn't supposed to hurt," Brick said.
Melgara shrugged. "It's always going to be uncomfortable. I have to pass a fair amount of voltage through your head to get the full picture of what's going on. You did want me to complete this examination, correct?" she asked pointedly, and Brick nodded.
"Good. Now, hold still." She twisted a knob, and Brick tensed as the machine shocked him enough that he was having trouble keeping his legs still.
"What's the point of this again?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"This will give us a good mapping of your brain. If we're to see the level of damage done to it, we have to get it mapped first. Well… if it works. I made it out of a toaster and one of those cobbled-together blasters."
He swallowed audibly, and Melgara twisted a dial as the thumping upstairs resumed, louder than it had been moments ago.
Melgara found herself pausing and glaring at the ceiling.
"Jealous?" Brick gasped.
Melgara twisted one of the knobs, shocking him into silence. "Sorry, that was unprofessional," she apologized. "However, don't ask stupid questions during medical procedures."
Brick wisely went quiet. As Melgara continued to work, however, it seemed he wasn't destined to stay that way.
"You know, your reaction says a lot," Brick told her.
"And what does it say?" Melgara asked, a bite in her voice.
"Jealousy is the first word that comes to mind." Brick cried out as pain surged through him while Melgara cranked the dial up, adjusting the apparatus on his head to get different angles.
"Careful. It seems the more you open your mouth during this procedure, the more it might hurt," Melgara observed.
Brick rubbed at his head and scowled at her. "That's strange. I've never heard of any medical procedure doing that before."
"Well, this is entirely experimental," Melgara offered.
Brick's eyes went wide. "Experimental?" he stuttered.
"Well, what else would you call it when I have to build the equipment on hand?" She shrugged.
"Is it safe?" Brick asked, now frozen like a statue beneath her ministrations.
Melgara paused. "Safe enough. I doubt you'd pass away from this examination. However, if you want a full liability report, then I'd have to be honest."
"We like honesty," Brick said quickly.
"Yes, well… in full transparency, the worst that could happen is that you move as I go too fast and cripple your executive function. Perhaps I might remove your ability to learn new things. There's a very rare chance that I turn you completely into a vegetable."
"But you're too good of a doctor to do that," Brick offered, wanting her to agree.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence. I am rather certain there will be no ill effects. Otherwise, I wouldn't have attempted this procedure," Melgara agreed.
Brick relaxed.
"However," she continued, "continued interruption could pose more difficulty than I expected."
Brick curled his lips inward and bit down on them while she went back to work.
Melgara smiled and turned her attention to a tablet that was receiving the data and running a small program to give Brick a visual.
"Good news. The plasticity of your mind is fully intact," Melgara told him and flashed a screen in his direction that he clearly didn’t understand.
Brick twitched, then froze.
"Please don't nod," Melgara reminded him. "You have a number of charged nodes attached to your skull.”
“So, the gambling didn't do any permanent damage?" Brick asked.
"No. From what I can see, your neural pathways are still flexible. That said, it will be a force of will for you to remain in complete control." She watched as Brick's mood soured.
"Meaning I have work to do," he said, crestfallen.
"Good news is, even for a grogax, you were only briefly exposed to gambling. While it might be as difficult as leaving some particularly powerful narcotics, it is something you should be able to overcome." She paused. "That said, allow me to give you some motivation, Brick."
He hadn't been here before, but he'd heard more than a few stories from others who'd wandered into gambling. "Is this the part where you threaten me?"
"Astute. Yes, Brick. You may consider a properly heavy threat placed against you should you result in us being stuck on this planet.
" The stellari stared at him from above, though the glare was somewhat softened by the blindfold and the distractingly continuous thumping overhead.
It was hard to take the woman too seriously while that was happening in the background.
"I will endeavor to never do it again," Brick responded. "It was quite uncomfortable. The loss of control, more than anything."
"And your current view on gambling?" she asked pointedly.
Brick held his hands up in surrender. "That's a waste of my time and money.
After all, the odds are always going to be against me.
I mean, I mathematically understand." He continued, "One of the lessons I had to do was sitting down and doing the math.
I understand that the more you play, the more you lose, and the more the house earns. "
"This all would have been a little easier if you had understood that sooner." Melgara sniffed.
Brick grumbled under his breath, and the machine attached to his head began whining.
"What was that?" Melgara asked.
"Nothing, nothing at all. Just marveling at how put together you look today." Brick beamed at the light smile on Melgara's face and let himself take a breath.
"It would be best if you kept those things to yourself. However, I am flattered by your appraisal," she said mechanically, and Brick bit the inside of his cheek, nodding along.
The thumping overhead continued, and Brick paused. "Do you think they realize how much noise they're making?"
"With certainty, Lily does," Melgara answered. "Whether or not she cares is another matter." She tilted her head to the side, and Brick wondered, with the blindfold on and pointy ears, if her hearing was better.
"Right now, I would argue that she doesn't care much if we hear. At least, if she's going to continue like that." Melgara tried not to let any of her feelings bleed through to her voice, though some of it must have, judging by the way Brick tilted his head curiously.
"They are obnoxiously loud, are they not?" Melgara pressed, returning her gaze to Brick. "What else have these lessons been teaching you?"
He shrugged, fine with the change of subject. "Mostly things I think we all already know or realize. A couple of comments on common advertising being misleading."
"I only wish to understand what it is you are consuming, so that I may be of assistance if necessary or reinforce any pertinent behaviors," Melgara told him.
"It's fine," Brick said, his eyes glancing up at the apparatus attached to his head. "When do I get this off me?"
"When we're done speaking." Melgara smiled, and Brick shivered. "Besides, your brain is quite interesting." Melgara tapped away at her machine.
***
I woke up the next morning to a delightful surprise. Lily's lips were wrapped firmly around my cock, squeezing tight as if she was trying to suck every drop from me. With every bob of her head, I shuddered in bed, grabbing her hair with both hands and holding on as she applied the perfect pressure.
"How did you get so good?" I grunted. "It's been a single night."
Lily smirked at my praise, pulling me deep within her throat, sealing me tightly into place, and finishing me off in moments of focused attention.
I twitched and spasmed inside of her, and as she drained what little I’d recovered since last night, she wore a look of sheer satisfaction. She wiped at her lips as she pulled off with a wet pop.
"Thank you for the meal, Captain," she stated proudly.
I could do little more than lie there, staring up at the ceiling. "Uh-huh," I mumbled dumbly.
Lily had a grin of smug satisfaction at my difficulty speaking. "I just want to remind you of the joys that I can deliver," she said.
"Consider me reminded," I answered, lying in bed, knowing I was giving her great satisfaction. I got the sense this equated in her mind to a successful morning hunt.
***
"Keep your guard up!" Violet snapped at me from the side as I blocked my latest opponent’s hits.
Sweat was beating down my forehead as I twisted to block the eight-year-old's saber, stepping back as my arms felt heavy.
The kid had boundless energy, and never before had I realized how much of a difference that would make in a saber fight. He spun the weapon around in ways that should have hit himself with the blade and yet managed to swing it at me effortlessly.
Meanwhile, I was doing my best to keep my form rigid, to block and parry as Gallicard had coached, with a few of Violet's moves added in.
I paused, stepping back and wiping at my forehead.