An (un)Welcome Change

Posted on 15 May 2015 @ 6:11pm by Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy & Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D.

2,347 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 4, Oren's Office
Timeline: MD01 1500hours

[ON]

Dru studied the PADD in her hand as she chewed her lower lip in concentration. Her conversation with Tuula had shook her up, leaving the counsellor feeling drained but she still had a job to do; one which couldn't be ignored.

The woman did what came naturally to her, throwing herself into crew personal files, trying to bring herself up to date on patient's whom Prudence and the staff who had left had taken on. Some didn't need immediate attention but there was others whom couldn't be ignored. One in particular...a civilian science officer, Oren Idris.

It was this man whom had lead Dru to wander the ship's decks, trying to tie down his offices as she needed to have a chat. Her bosses notes indicated that the man was a big concern in that he had suicidal thoughts. So far he had shown no inclination to act on the thoughts but Prudence had felt that it needed close monitoring.

As she came to the door she needed, Dru pressed the chime as she hoped that the man was here. If he wasn't, it was going to require more leg work to pin him down.

"Enter."

At the command, the doors opened to reveal an office that looked more spacious than it actually was, due to the lack of desk and chair. Instead, in the middle of it was a small pile of pillows and on top of them, laying down with his face turned towards the ceiling, was the man Dru was looking for.

Oren laid there, with his hands resting against his stomach, his fingers linked and his eyes closed. When he heard the other person enter, the lids lifted to reveal green eyes that immediately went to the door.

"May I help you?" he asked, his voice high and clear.

Dru was abit taken aback for a moment at the condition the room was in. She was used to such a set up in personal quarters but not necessarily in a place of work. "I don't suppose you are Mister Oren Idris?"

"That's what the sign on my office says," Oren replied, then gave the woman a small smile before sitting up. "I am," he added, pulling his knees up to rest his arms on them.

Dru hesitated a second as the man didn't move to his feet. Normally she might move forwad to offer a handshake but she wasn't certain what to do here. "I apologise for interrupting....I just wanted to introduce myself."

Giving a curious and slightly confused look, Oren finally pushed himself to his feet. His eyes taking in the woman's appearance head to toe, Oren moved closer to her.

"Alright," he said uncertainly. His eyes fell on her shoulder. Teal...but she's not a scientist. Medical then...Counselor.

As his mind came to that quick conclusion, Oren looked up to meet the woman's eyes. He felt more cautious now, guarded.

The change in the man's body language was easy to see. On the floor he'd seemed somewhat laid back but now standing his guard had gone up. "I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Drusilla McCarthy. I'm uncertain if you've heard but Prudence was recalled by Starfleet and as a result, I am taking over her caseload."

"I have heard," Oren replied, struggling to keep his arms at his sides, denying them the instinct to curl around his body as if to shield him. The news of Prudence's departure had distressed Oren and made him feel like what little solid ground he'd had to stand one was swept away. The only way he'd managed to cope was to try and put it out of his mind completely and focus on other things.

Looking around the room, Dru's eye settled again on the cushions on the floor. "Do you mind if I sit? I don't want to take too much of your time, I'd like for you to get to know me a little better before our sessions start. I understand how difficult it can be to loose someone you rely on and see as a steady support. How difficult it can be to replace them for another."

"To tell you the truth, that's becoming a trend in my life," Oren admitted, moving over to the big chair he kept against one of the walls. "You can sit here, if you'd be more comfortable." He made a move to pull the chair closer.

Dru looked between the chair and the floor before smiling over at Oren. "Honestly...the cushions look extremely comfortable. There's only so much you can take of sitting in chairs all of the time. Would you mind if I sat down on the floor with you?"

"Be my guest," Oren said, returning her smile with a small one of his own as he made his was back to the center of the room. Once there, he settled down onto the cushions in one fluid, clearly practiced movement.

Dru moved to the indicated area but wasn't as easy with her seating motion. As she placed her hand against the floor, she misjudged her weight and ended up falling more than seating into place. "Oh...guess I'm less used to lower seating arrangements than I judged." As she said the words, the counsellor looked over to Oren with a smile and humor in her eyes.

Oren just grinned widely at her, enjoying the moment. There was a lot to be said about his seating arrangements, or lack thereof, but Oren liked it. It was a way to break people out of the seriousness that they were forced into every day on the ship. No matter rank or position, clumsiness and awkwardness had a habit of putting everyone on the same level and Oren embraced it.

He crisscrossed his legs and settled, facing Dru. "So, Dr. McCarthy, what do you want to talk about?"

Dru could see the tension starting to drain from Oren as she wriggled a little against the pillows, trying to get them to mold to her body so as she would be comfortable. She was aware that he would possible go back on his guard once the subject of her being here was brought up. "Genuinely I just wanted to meet you. I have your notes from Prudence but I prefer to look beyond the notes to whom the person is."

"Well," Oren smiled, trying and failing to look put out. "With that agenda, I have to offer you a drink now." He stood up again, heading to the replicator. "What would you like?"

"Um..." Dru thought about it for a minute, "....how about a sweet tea? I find that the sugar rush picks me up sometimes."

"Alright." Going to the replicator, Oren typed in their orders. As they materialised, he took the two cups of sweet tea and brought one over. "One sweet tea." Settling down on the pillows once more, he faced Dru again.

"So, you wanted to meet me. Here I am."

Taking the offered cup, Dry smiled her appreciation as she took her first sip and considered what she would say. The man infront of her seemed very genuine and on one hand she didn't want to upset him given what Prudence had said in her reports but on the other hand he seemed in a good place at the moment and she didn't want to disturb that. "As I mentioned earlier, with Prudence's departure I am taking over the caseload in relation to the crew's mental health. Yours was one of the files that she highlighted with me during the hand over."

Oren smiled into his tea, though it was a fake smile. Not that the stranger could probably tell. "Yes, my file tends to be the kind one highlights," he admitted, putting the cup on the floor next to them.

"I feel better. Well, about some things."

Holding her cup between both hands to warm them, Dru studied Oren more closely as she tried to understand if she should be surprised or not. "Do you want to talk about the things that you don't feel better about? As I mentioned before, I don't make judgments on what I read, I want to get to know you first."

"Hmm..." Ore took another sip of his tea, looking down at the space between their bodies now.

"Not sure what to say on the matter," he admitted. What could he say, after all? It's hard to come to terms with inevitable loneliness? That even if all things go well, it was all temporary? No matter what Oren did in his life, he knew that it would all eventually slip away due to his long lifespan. Everyone he knew would eventually die, and he would be the only one left. Alone, once more.

How do you put those feelings into a coherent sentence?

Watching the man carefully, Dru put her cup to one side as she pulled her legs in under her in a lotus position. "Well do you want to tell me what the matter concerns?"

"Living almost a millennium while everyone around me doesn't."

"That must be the hardest part of being an El'Aurian." Dru moved her legs again, but this time to pull them to her chest and rest her chin against her knee. "Have you lost many people?"

"A few," Oren said, knowing that it probably wouldn't sound like much compared to that of the older members of his species. "No one I was particularly close with, but it's a reminder that...well, eventually I will lose those I care about too."

Studying the man from the perch on her knees, Dru waited a moment before answering, "Now of us are immortal, no matter how long our race designs that we will live. Some of us will die sooner than others but that's something we all need to learn to adjust to and be able to move on from."

"Really? You think it's that simple?" Oren challenged, studying her. "Just accept it and move on?" By his tone it was clear the El-Aurian was less than impressed by her statement.

Dru smiled a little as she observed Oren's first show of true emotion. Before this she hadn't been sure if his happiness was fake but this emotion he showed now was quite obviously raw. "I didn't say that...a body can die but the feelings and emotions centered around them don't. But in order to keep living ourselves, we need to be able to move on from death. Death has a way of dragging a person to the edge, an edge they can't hover at for the rest of their lives. A person needs to be able to know how to keep living and how to cope with the loss."

"That's all well and good in theory. Yes, death is a part of life," Oren conceded. "But, when you live surrounded by people of your own species, you grow together, and you die together. Sure, with some it's a year or a decade sooner or later, but you aged together. Lived together." He paused, then met Dru's eyes, his own momentarily betraying his age, offset by his youthful features.

"I don't have that. And I never will. Everyone I know will eventually grow old and die. Then I'll have to start again. Then they'll die. It'll happen over and over...and you're telling me to just accept it."

"What else can you do if you don't accept it?" Dru's eyes stayed on Oren as he spoke and she replied, she could see that in her terms he might be old but in his race's terms he was still very early in his youth. On one hand she wouldn't experience what he was describing of outliving generations of people but on another she had, and would continue to, experience loss and what loss meant.

"Mmm." Oren nodded, looking her up and down for a moment. "I think we've met now. You should leave," he told her suddenly.

As Dru heard his words, she hesitated for a minute before moving to her feet, gathering up her cup as she moved towards the replicator. "You can only run away from the truth for so long before it catches up on you. You already know what the truth is...life goes on after death no matter what happens. You have something precious in your hands, your own life, and you choose how to life it. You can bury yourself in the sand and wish it away or you can get up and keep moving again because always in life, no matter how long you live, you will have people who care for you."

"Yes, yes, life moves on. Cherish those you know before they die. I got that. Believe it or not, you're not the first therapist who has said that to me," Oren told her, shaking his head as he sipped his tea. Unlike Dru, he didn't move to stand.

As she recycled the cup, Dru smoothed down her uniform jacket before moving to the door. Before she left, she looked back for a moment to the man behind her. "Maybe I'm not but you'll soon realise that I'm the therapist you finally listen to. I don't give up on people even if they try to push me away, weather they like it or not."

"Well, I'm sure I won't like it, so good luck with that, Doctor," Oren replied, leaning back to rest his weight on one hand as the other brought his cup of tea to his lips.

Dru smiled at this, "I'm not a Doctor, haven't got the qualifications. I'm just plain old Dru I'm afraid and next time we see eachother, we can work on how you feel about it." Without waiting for a response, the counsellor activated the door release and moved away from the room before Oren could reply within her earshot.

[OFF]

Oren Idris, Ph.D.
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Assistant Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

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