Captain Gar’rath stepped through the doorway of the USS Century’s Sickbay, his large frame taking up nearly the entire width of the opening to pass through. The Gorn plodded through the small reception area and made his way to the office of his Chief Medical Officer, who was seated behind her desk with a PaDD held in hand. Her eyes flicked upward after catching movement, which startled her a little given that she normally felt the presence of visitors’ minds before actually seeing them. Her visitors were usually some flavor of humanoid and not reptilian, which accounted for the absence of a telepathic presence at least.

“Did Abby suggest you pay us a visit?” Lieutenant Commander Odaim asked, setting down her PaDD to stand up to greet her guest.

“She did,” the Captain nodded as he fully entered the office, “It would seem that she was of the opinion that a visit would be appropriate. I wanted to confirm with you before I entered the patient areas that this was an acceptable time to do so.”

Reli couldn’t help but let a slight smirk form on her lips, “When she and I had discussed it, I wasn’t imagining it would happen the same day. She’s rather persuasive.”

“It was not something that required a great deal of pressure on her part. While my people are not the gregarious creatures that Humans tend to be, we are capable of shows of compassion when the situation demands it. She merely confirmed for me that it was prudent to pay my respects to our injured crewmen, it was not as if I hadn’t thought to do it at all,” Gar’rath explained.

“Oh…” the woman said, taken aback by the candor in her Captain’s words, “I guess we got that one wrong…”

“What ‘one’ would that be?” the Gorn inquired, though from the way his body didn’t shift in the slightest, Reli had a feeling he had some idea as to what that was already. The Betazoid took a few seconds to pick the way she wanted to go about explaining it before she finally responded.

“Neither of us are very knowledgeable about Gorn customs, so we weren’t sure you gave any thought to… token gestures of affirmation,” Odaim paused a moment, watching the large reptilian in front of her for a moment before continuing, “We thought there was some sort of cultural barrier to surmount when it came to this sort of thing. Wrongly so by the looks of it.”

A protracted silence flooded the office, so quiet that Reli almost thought she’d lost her telepathic abilities before a guttural laughed erupted from deep within the Gorn’s chest. Dr. Odaim hadn’t seen her Captain laugh before, and to say that the sight was disconcerting was the understatement of the day.

“Culturally, the Gorn are very solitary in their approach to things. As a people, we work together when we need to, but for the most part it is every Gorn for themselves, as Humans would put it. So from the more top down view, you two are generally correct. Showing others some manner of affection are seldom done and only in very specific cases,” Gar’rath remarked before holding up a single clawed digit, “But that’s just speaking of the Gorn in generalist terms. I, on the other hand, am no stranger to the customs that most of the crew are used to. I’ve even been paid a visit in Sickbay myself by the Captain I served with prior to being selected f0r Command.”

Reli nodded when Gar’rath mentioned his own experience, “I had a feeling you probably knew about. I just didn’t know you understood the subtle implications behind them. I said as much to Abby earlier.”

“The XO didn’t mention that,” the Captain said somewhat dismissively, “But it is not a surprise. You won’t be the last person I serve with to question how well I grasp contextual undertones of mammalian behavior.”

Odaim couldn’t help but chuckle in a self-deprecating manner, “No, I’m sure I won’t be. I apologize if you’re upset by that, though.”

“Hardly, Doctor. I am currently the only Gorn serving in Starfleet – I would be more shocked if you didn’t believe that our two species are radically different… because they are. I’ve had the fortune of being exposed to tens of thousands of examples of mammalians since joining Starfleet. You and most of the people I’ve met have only had maybe a handful of encounters with reptilians in your entire lives. And even the reptilians I’ve encountered in the Federation are still quite different from my own people, though it isn’t nearly as complicated to figure out their quirks as it has been to figure you mammals out,” Gar’rath retorted, waving off her apology.

Reli folded her arms across her chest and looked up at her Captain, “I’m just going to ask this, since we’re here and I’ve already put my foot in my mouth once or twice today. Do your people look at mammals like they’re prey? I know more than one person who has either thought that about your people or said it since I came aboard.”

Gar’rath mimicked the Doctor’s posture, though he looked a whole lot more threatening when he did, “If you’re asking about the Gorn as a whole? Yes, they do.”

Reli nearly fell backward upon hearing such a blunt acknowledgement, and actually found herself flopping onto the surface of her desk when she heard the follow-up.

“I, personally, have no taste for intelligent mammals. Seeing any of you as food makes my scales crawl,” Gar’rath’s maw curved downward in what could only be described as vehement disgust before he continued, “That might be due to my having lived among Humans on Cestus III during my formative years, and my long standing friendships and the bonds I’ve forged with the mammals I have served with over these last few decades. Or I could simply be an oddity among Gorn… however you wish to view it – no, Doctor, you do not look like prey to me. Just amusing little mammals flitting about doing little mammal things.”

Reli blinked several times before the tension in her body finally relaxed and she started laughing. It took her a solid minute to actually realize she was swinging her legs while sitting on top of her desk, looking every bit as childish as the Gorn has made her out to be just a moment ago. She slid off the surface of her desk and took a moment to regain her composure before looking back up at the massive figure standing in front of her.

“I didn’t mean to laugh at you, Captain, but I think that was probably the funniest thing I’ve heard in a while and I just could stop myself,” Odaim confessed apologetically.

“I had been aiming for you to laugh, Doctor,” Gar’rath admitted with a shrug, “I was told many years ago by a friend that I give off ‘big predator energy’. Most people look at me and just naturally fear what I might be capable of doing even if I’d never once taken a swipe at them with my claws. Humor, he said, was the best way to get people to forget that I’m two and a half meters of reptilian death paying them a visit.”

“Whoever that man was, he was right,” Reli said, nodding sagely.

“Now,” Gar’rath said, lowering his arms and assuming a much more casual posture, “Shall we go visit the patients?”

“Absolutely, Captain. Please, right this way,” Dr. Odaim said, moving swiftly around the massive Gorn obstruction to enter the corridor that lead from her office to the patient ward. As the two moved into the space, Gar’rath looked around, taking in the sight of his crew in various stages of care, putting names to the faces he saw as he did so.

“Well, Captain, this is…” Reli began before the Gorn cut her off.

“Lieutenant Griffith, how are you feeling?” Gar’rath asked, moving to the side of the bed opposite the Doctor as he spoke.

The young Lieutenant tried to push himself upright, only to be eased back down by a massive, clawed hand. Once he was laying back, the Captain lifted his hand from the man’s shoulder, though his eyes didn’t leave the young man’s.

“Ah… well… I’m still a bit stiff, sir,” Griffith replied from his reclined position, “But I’m feeling a lot better than when I came in here.”

“Good,” Gar’rath said, “I’m glad to hear that. You were part of the initial survey team, if I remember correctly. Tell me about your time on the surface.”

“Oh… yes… yes I was, sir. We were doing horticultural surveys, cataloguing plants with unique properties,” the Lieutenant began hesitantly at first before he started opening up about his time on the planet. He began recollecting about how it was his first long-duration away mission, and how it reminded him of camping with his family back on his home colony. For his part, Gar’rath stood quietly and listened to the young man speak, interjecting with questions when it was appropriate, or repeating something he said to indicate his interest in what the man was recounting.

Dr. Odaim took a few steps back while the Captain and her patient chatted, looking over to one of the nurses who had stopped in her tracks to marvel at the scene playing out. The reason Reli actually looked over was because of the ambient thought that had trickled to her from the woman.

‘I can’t believe he’s so friendly…’ was what had caught the Betazoid’s attention. It brought into sharp focus her own preconceptions. Sure, the Gorn looked intimidating… or if one wasn’t being so nice, terrifying would be the word for it. And yet, here he was, having an engaging chat with a wounded crewmen he’d probably never met before but still somehow had found the time to learn the name of. He’d made a personal connection with him, and for a moment, actually made the man forget he was laying in a sickbay bed convalescing after an injury.

Captain Gar’rath’s tour around the department followed a similar formula for the three hours he spent visiting patients. He was address them by name, he would encourage them to share their experiences with him, and he would make it seem like they were the only reason he’d stopped by, even if they knew otherwise in their heads. Sure, he’d made a token gesture, but he’d done so with a sincerity that not every Captain who’d ever commanded a starship could muster.

Dr. Odaim found herself back in her office with Captain Gar’rath, who had just finished visiting every last patient who’d been hurt during their away mission. The respect she’d developed for him was plainly visible in her expression as she spoke up.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a Captain visit a Sickbay I’ve been resident in with that much sheer presence in my career. I mean, I’ve watched plenty of visits but this was the first time I actually believed the Captain wanted to be there.”

The Gorn’s massive head tilted to the side in a puzzled expression, “Why would you not believe I wanted to be there?”

Reli shrugged her shoulders in response, “I don’t know. I guess it just always felt like it was a chore when other Captains would do it. Even when it was one of their senior staff laying on the bed, it just used to feel… forced. Even if they didn’t let it show on their face or say it outright in their minds, they just… didn’t seem committed to it.”

“As I do not know any of those Captains personally, I couldn’t say whether they truly were committed to it or not. I can only assure you that in my particular case, I was very much invested in spending time with my crew. Though I doubt you can look around in my mind to prove that,” Gar’rath’s maw drew upward in something of a smirk.

“No… no I can’t,” Odaim admitted, “Though for the record, I don’t think it would be necessary in this case. I will just take it on faith that you meant every word you said to them today.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” the Gorn said, his head dipping downward appreciatively, “That is a very meaningful gesture on your part. And please do give Abby a rundown of what happened today. I’m sure she would appreciate hearing about how things went.”

“I’ll do that, Captain,” Reli said with a wry smile, catching the emphasis he’d placed on her friend’s name.

“Now, I have to return to the bridge. If you will excuse me, Doctor,” the Gorn said, turning back toward the office doorway.

“Thank you again for stopping by, Captain. I truly believe everyone enjoyed it,” Dr. Odaim called out after him.