Meeting the Counselor

Posted on 21 Mar 2014 @ 2:37pm by Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc. & Lieutenant Teth Miir

1,731 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3, Counselor's Office
Timeline: MD 1 1430 Hrs.

ON:

Not one to shy away from duty or protocol, Elijah Williams had finished up his shift at 1400 hours, freshened up and now walked the corridor of deck 3 toward the counselor's office. He didn't mind seeing the counselor, Starfleet made it mandatory for a yearly exam and whenever one moved to a different assignment. He could see why it was necessary, it gave the counselor on the new assignment a chance to get to know the new person that boarded the ship. Though he didn't mind any of the counselors he had the pleasure of meeting over the years since he entered the Academy, he never willingly sought them out. For the most part, he was well-adjusted.

At least that was what he told himself.

Having learned the Galileo's layout and memorized where the key areas of the ship were, he easily found the office. It truly wasn't hard to get lost on a ship as small as the Nova-class but still, he liked to be prepared. He stood at the door, ran a hand down the front of his uniform jacket to smooth it out, then reached out and rang the chime.

Teth had decided to water a plant. By getting a glass of water to drink, and dropping it near a fern in a pot on the desk when the door chimed. Though it soon became apparent that his uniform got more water than the plan. The glass didn't break because Starfleet finally figured out that using traditional fragile glass and ceramic cups were hazardous on space vessels.

He delayed answering to pick up the cup to return to the replicator. Instead he set it on his desk ant took a seat.

"Enter."

The doors parted with a gentle hiss and Elijah stepped over the threshold and fully into the spacious office and listened for the doors to close behind him. His hands went to the small of his back and he clasped them together as he studied the office. The office was bigger than his quarters, or at least seemed to be. His attention came back to the Caitian counselor. "Hello, I am Lieutenant Elijah Williams, I am here for my mandatory psychological assessment."

"It's nice to meet you, I am counselor Miir." the counselor gave a half bow from his seat, intentionally avoiding handshakes whenever he had a choice.

"How are you doing today?" he decided to ask the obvious question for the occasion.

"Pleased to meet you counselor," Elijah said as he took a chair. "I am doing quite well thank you," he answered. Which was the truth, sure it was an adjustment to being on board a starship, but he thought he had done well so far.

"That's good to hear." the counselor said and wondered if he had answered honestly. He always gave it a fifty-fifty chance. He tapped at a PADD that he had on his desk, patient data files.

"So I see you're fresh from the academy. How do you like starship life so far?"

"Eh, I wouldn't say that fresh," Elijah said as he smiled. "But still very new to the fleet in general, yes." His gaze once again shifted about the office, the color scheme was muted, it allowed for the patients to be relaxed. Elijah was one to never relax. His gray eyes fell back onto the counselor. "It's an adjustment... to be here," he continued, "But I am sure I will adjust. Eight decks, after all, is not a lot of starship to go by."

"So where are you from, originally?"

"Athens, Georgia," he said. "It's not to far from Atlanta, Georgia." Most people he told had no idea about Athens, Georgia or knew where it was but knew about the major transportation and financial hub of Atlanta. "Not a lot of people there, small town feel to it, that kind of thing."

"Is your family still there?"

Elijah nodded. "They are," he answered simply. "I am the first in the family to not only join Starfleet, but leave Earth."

Teth's eyes widened at that statement. "They've never left earth? Not even to go visit the Lunar colonies?"

"Nope," Elijah shook his head. "My parents are... traditionalists," that was certainly a nice way of putting it. He had far harsher words to explain his parents. "They hold the belief that humanity had no business developing interstellar travel. This belief has been held in my family since the Xindi attack back in the 2150's. I guess it sort of just carried on from there."

"That is a very long time to hold a grudge. I see that you obviously don't feel the same way. How did they react to you joining Starfleet?"

"Not well," Elijah stated. "I haven't talked to them since I left for the Academy, so that's been uh..." he paused to think a moment, counting up the years, "close to eight years now."

"That's a very long gap in communication. How was your relationship with them before you joined Starfleet?"

"Strained I suppose. You learned rather quickly to keep your head down and mouth shut," Elijah said. There was no emotional reflection in his voice, it didn't cause him distress, but he didn't really talk about it openly either. "You know in every family there are good times and bad, happy and sad moments. My family had all those too, but bad times and sad moments always outweighed the good and happy times." He shook his head. "I have very few fond memories from my childhood, but what I do have I keep close."

"Were your parents abusive?" the counselor decided to cut right to the chase while maintaining a neutral tone.

Elijah again nodded. "My father mostly, physical and verbal. Mostly with a belt or a switch... the switch is kind of a southern tradition. You know, parents being traditionalists and all." He kept his gaze on the counselor, all the questions were standard ones. It wasn't a question he hadn't encountered before. "That is why I learned quickly to keep my head down and mouth shut."

"How did you manage to cope with all of that at the time?"

Elijah didn't say anything at first as he thought back on that time in his life. His answer was never an original one, the therapists always tried to probe but he didn't really budge. Simply because that part of himself, that life was now behind him. He had moved forward, though he was sure most counselors didn't believe him when he said that. "I hid in my room mostly, said yes sir and no sir, kept my nose buried in books. Withdrew into myself."

Teth nodded along, paying apt attention. He popped a knuckle in his thumb and leaned forward to speak. Something serious and of vital importance.

"What sort of books did you like?"

"Literature, the classics," Elijah said. "But my tastes aren't just limited to that, I like non-fiction, fiction, science fiction, fantasy, science manuals, anything I can get my hands on really. I much prefer it over the holodeck or other recreational activities."

"There is something to be said for using your imagination." the counselor agreed, "I think we are developing into very boring and uncreative versions of our previous selves."

Miir waved a hand as to dismiss his own observation.

"So you haven't had contact with them in a very long time. Do you ever have recurrent memories or dreams about the abuse?"

Elijah stayed silent for a moment, he had been wondering if the counselor was digging for something that really wasn't there. He shook his head, "I don't. Honestly, it's something I rarely think about anymore. I have come to terms that it is something that is apart of my past and I am not one to dwell on the past." He paused, then spoke again. "Though, I am keenly aware of how it has affected me. I don't really form friendships easily, I tend to keep to myself and I really don't talk about my past much even to people I do get to know."

Teth smiled. "I am glad to hear that. You seem very well adjusted. People can become very traumatized from much less than what you've gone through. So you don't form friendships easily. Are you currently in a relationship?"

"No, I am not currently in one," Elijah said. For a brief moment he felt like he was experiencing deja vu. It was the second time since he had boarded the Galileo that he was asked that very question.

"Is that out of preference, or have you just not found the right person?"

Elijah shrugged. "A little bit from column A and a little bit from column B," he said. "I guess I don't really actively look for one, I mean if I don't really seek out friendships it's hard to seek out a relationship." Truth was, he didn't really know how to seek any of those out. He kept that part of himself buried for so long, he wasn't sure if it was something to ever be uncovered.

Teth nodded along emphatically, wordlessly punching something into his PADD. It didn't have to be anything important, he just had to look like he was interested and very focused on the conversation. There's nothing worse than baring your soul to someone who can't be bothered to stay awake for the whole story.

"Have you had any auditory or visual disturbances since coming aboard?"

The question was a sharp left turn from where they had been. Elijah found it odd, it was like the question came out of nowhere. "Nope, nothing like that. In fact, I think I have started to adjust to starship life rather well. Though again, it will take some time getting used to the cramped layout but so far so good."

"Good. I just have to ask. You know, sometimes people do say 'yes' to that and then we have to begin down a road of testing, therapy, and trying to figure out whether they're still fit for duty. But I digress. Is there anything else you wished to discuss?"

Elijah nodded his understanding. "Nope," he shook his head this time. "I'm good, thank you for taking the time to see me."

OFF:

Lieutenant JG Elijah Williams IV
Geologist
USS Galileo

&

Lt. Teth Miir
Counselor
USS Galileo

RSS Feed