A Matter of Growing Up
Posted on Fri Feb 20th, 2026 @ 8:05am by Civilian Kerilia Dosivi & Civilian Teevs Dosivi & Lieutenant Vise [Sthilg] Kesahl
Mission:
Interlude
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Morning after "Defining Home" (~1.5 weeks before arrival to Niea IV)
1680 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure
It wasn’t like Kerilia to wake up before her alarm. It also wasn’t normal to wake up in pain either. Her head hurt so, so much. Groaning, she rolled over, aiming to bury her face into the pillows and fall back asleep, but that only seemed to make things worse. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes before gently touching where her head hurt. As her fingers ran across her forehead, she could feel the faintest of bumps, along with searing tenderness. Did she bump her head in the night? Standing, she intended to visit the bathroom to look in the mirror, but the door to her bedroom barely opened before the pain increased again, stabbing into her skull with a force she had never experienced before. In hopes of trying to ease the pain, she gently pressed a palm to her forehead, but it seemed like any contact just made it worse. The touch was so painful that she leaned into the doorframe for support. Why was her forehead so sensitive?
Teevs looked up when Kerilia’s door opened, confusion settling across her face. She wasn’t usually up this early. “Kerilia?” He was up from his chair in an instant when she put her hand to her forehead and leaned into the door frame, rushing over to her. “What’s wrong?!”
“My head hurts…” she answered, feeling him nearby. “Really bad. I wanted to see if I hit my head while I slept, but it… it just hurts. It got worse when I stood up.”
“Come sit down, and let’s take a look.” He guided her to the couch and helped her take a seat, then gently guided her hand away from her forehead. A frown settled onto Teevs’ expression as he inspected her head, only seeing the type of redness associated with irritation. There wasn’t anything that might indicate she had hit her head, though; no bumps or bruises, just redness. Did she have a fever? “Tell me what it feels like, pheya.”
Kerilia closed her eyes after taking a seat. At least the lack of light seemed to help slightly. “It hurts like a really bad headache. Closing my eyes seems to help a little. There’s pressure…” she gestured to where the pressure was, then hissed and flinched when he gently put the back of his hand on her head. Her hands clenched her pajama pants tightly as she breathed through the pain.
That hurt? He barely touched her. Teevs pulled his hand away quickly, not wanting to cause her pain. Then, realization dawned on him. “Were you able to feel a bump, or something like it, where it hurts?” When she nodded, a sense of excitement came over him, but he tried to keep it contained because she was in pain. He asked the computer to dim the lights in their quarters, watching her relax slightly in response. It’s happening! he thought. “Let’s go visit the doctor, but I think you might be developing your ridge.” Grabbing his communicator, he pressed it and called Sickbay while helping Kerilia get ready. Concern hit his gut when he saw tears already starting to form in her eyes. "Teevs to Sickbay, I'll be there shortly with Kerilia. She's in some pain this morning and seems sensitive to light." Once acknowledgement came through, he helped Kerilia up and guided her out of their quarters.
Vise was the doctor on duty and was currently getting herself a coffee when she saw Teevs and Kerilia coming through the front door. Walking over she gave them the warmest smile she could muster. " Hello there, i'm Vise, and i'll be your doctor this morning. You're suffering from sensitivity to light and some pain?" She said as she lead the two towards her own office.
By the time they had arrived to sickbay, Kerilia was on the verge of tears and shielding herself in Teevs' shirt as much as she could. The walk to sickbay was only minutes, but for her it felt like hours. Her head felt like it was splitting open, the throbbing synchronising with each light they passed under. Her breathing was shaky, as if breathing too much would tip her emotions over the edge. She managed to squeak out a muffled 'yes, it hurts' in response to the doctor, keeping her face buried. Everything was too bright... the fabric of his shirt was too rough... it was... it was just too much!
Teevs had an arm protectively around his daughter, his other hand hovering over her head to try and block out some of the light. He had been quietly muttering assurances to her when they arrived, and he looked up toward the voice who had spoken. His eyes had that paternal concern, but also a hint of potential recognition. "It's ok, pheya, I'm here," he murmured when he felt Kerilia's grip on his shirt tighten. "The doctor can help, come on." He gently guided her to follow Vise.
Vise leads the pair into her office, indicating for Teevs to place his daughter on the biobed. Closing the door, she dimmed the window and adjusted the light, bringing the small room into a soft blue glow. " There we go, that should be easier on your eyes." she said as she picked up her scanner and started taking readings.
Kerilia felt like she wanted to throw up, the pain was so bad. The warmth from Teevs’ body helped slightly, as did the darkness, but she had never felt something like this before. When she felt Teevs try to pull her away, she tightened her grip. “No, please, Dad… I… I can’t…”
Teevs was just trying to get her onto the biobed. “My love, it’s ok. The room is darker. Let’s get onto the biobed and then I can sit with you.” After a couple seconds, he felt Kerilia shift out of his grip, and he braced his hands on her sides before lifting her so she could get onto the bed. Keeping true to his word, he joined her, adjusting to find a comfortable position.
The whole time, Kerilia had tears sliding down her cheeks, wanting to touch her forehead but knowing that it would only make it worse. Once Teevs had settled, she cosied back up to him, his arm around her providing security more than comfort. The dim lighting helped, but not by much.
As she got as comfortable as she could, Teevs looked toward Vise. "She woke up earlier than usual and came out of her room holding her head," he explained, his tone soft so it wouldn't be harsh on Kerilia's overwhelmed senses. "Her forehead seems very sensitive. I went to check her temperature and she reacted to the touch. She did say that she felt a bump where it hurts."
Vice looked at the incoming results and began nodding to herself as she listened to Teevs. " I see i see. Well, little one it looks like you're undergoing puberty. A rather bad case, it would seem. You have extremely elevated pheromone levels, which is causing rapid growth of new cartilage along the frontal bone."
Teevs nodded, a hint of excitement mixing into his concern. "That was my suspicion," he confirmed. He let Kerilia squeeze his hand, wincing only slightly as her grasp mashed his fingers together. "Every Lonian goes through this. The cartilage growth becomes our ridge and takes about 8 days to fully develop. But what concerns me is that she's quite young, this usually happens during the fifth cycle, and she's still in her fourth."
" Well, we should be able to take care of it." Vice replied a smile on her face as she headed for the medical replicator. " We can give you a hypospray which will lower the pheromone levels. "
"Just make it stop..." Kerilia muttered, her voice muffled by Teevs' shirt. "It hurts so much..."
Teevs gently stroked her back as he watched Vise. "Will that impact the ridge development at all? Could there be complications from this starting at such a young age?"
" I don't think so. I'll send the data to Sthilg i'm sure he'll be able to nip any complications before they happen." Vise replied, coming back with a holo spray and some ice packs. " Here you go." She said softly as she injected the hypospray into the girls neck before applying the ice pack to her head.
Kerilia flinched at the sudden cold, then accepted its presence as whatever was injected worked its magic. Gradually, her distress waned, and after a moment she was able to pull her face out of Teevs' shirt, sniffling and wiping her eyes.
Teevs waited for her to move when she was ready, then looked down at her and used his thumb to help wipe some tears away. "How do you feel, my love?"
"Better," Kerilia answered quietly, her voice trembling slightly from all the crying. She looked to Vise while using a hand to touch the ice pack. "I still feel it, but not as much. What was that that you used?"
" Mostly Xenoril with a mix of a few others. Should bring your phermaone levels down to normal levels." She replied warmly with a smile.
"How long will it last? Should we get her a prescription?" Teevs asked.
" Most likely a few days until her levels stabilise. I'll send the prescription to your replicator." Vise replied with a smile.
Teevs gave her a nod, then glanced at Kerilia. She had calmed down and was starting to look a little tired from the ordeal. It was understandable; growing up took a lot of energy. "We appreciate it, Doctor. Is there anything else we need to do while we're here?"
" No, just make sure she get's plenty of rest. " the trill replied.
With another nod, Teevs thanked the doctor before sliding off the bed. He made some calls to her teachers as they left, briefly explaining what was going on. Given the circumstances, a day off from school probably wouldn't receive pushback.
