First Introductions [18+]

Posted on 15 Oct 2018 @ 12:10am by Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri & Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant

2,360 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 5, Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD -178 - 2200 hours

[ON]

"Ah," vocalized Lake ir-Llantrisant, as he glanced back over his shoulder. The Romulan counselor had made it halfway down the corridor from the turbolift to the observation lounge, when he thought he heard exactly whom he was looking for. "Lieutenant Plumeri, may your day be filled with peace," Lake said politely. "Thank you for meeting me here" --and he waved a hand at the doors to the lounge-- "my staff and I haven't quite sorted our scheduling quite yet."

Lieutenant JG Plumeri, chatting with a few other new transfers let out a belly laugh. Perhaps a little too loud at this time of night. He heard his name called and stood up from the couch in the corridor. He saw a Romulan LT in the same department teal color uniform walking towards the Observation Lounge. It wasn't long before he was confirmed in his belief that this might be his late night appointment. He excused himself from the people he just met and Matthew greeted the officer, "Yes sir. Lieutenant ir-Llantrisant?, Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri, reporting for my required introductory evaluation, sir" he said crisply.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Lake said. His own response came out in a rounded timbre, almost informal. Raising an arm out to indicate the short distance remaining to the observation lounge, Lake said, "You can call me Lake. I want to thank you for meeting me here" --in the relatively public space of the observation lounge-- "and now. We have more counselors than office space. With the whole crew to meet, we haven't found our scheduling harmony yet."

Falling in step with the Counselor, Matt replied, "It's not a problem sir. Everyone is busy with their duties." He walked alongside and said, "Usually its the other way around. More office space than counselors or patients." The lounge doors parted and they entered. The Lieutenant looked either Vulcan or Romulan. The phrase that the Counselor greetind him with, "May your day be filled with peace" sounded like a Rhiannsu proverb. If he remembered it correctly, it had a second part to it. Matt decided to venture forth on a hunch and finished the second half of that blessing, "And may your year be filled with Love."

Pivoting his head from side to side, Lake was searching for an empty table. He was being careful to select a table the would be out of earshot from the other crewpeople in the lounge. Lake walked slightly ahead of Matthew, and the searching movements were useful to hide the cringe on Lake's face. Lake still found it surprising whenever he encountered some semblance of home in the Federation. Surprising, and surprisingly unwelcome. He had never managed to put his finger on why he felt that way. With his condescension mostly hidden, Lake asked, "Where did you learn that, Lieutenant?"

He answered, "It was on a napkin, I think? At the hotel bar in San Francisco. The...uh...the Marriott Towers I think. Or maybe it was in a fortune cookie...?" he wondered aloud now.

"How enterprising of you to remember it," Lake said, a little enigmatically. He debated asking the Lieutenant if he was the first Romulan he had met, but it sounded argumentative in his head. Rather, Lake asked, "How are you getting settled aboard the ship?" As he did so, he raised a hand towards an empty table in the far corner. The view wasn't as good as some angles, but it offered relative privacy.

Taking a seat, Matt answered, "My head is full of useless facts, quips, anecdotes and sayings. I don't have my quarters yet. OPS is busy and out and about around the ship I guess? For now, I'm sharing enlisted quarters on Deck Four. I've got my own room though small as it is. Nah...I don't need much space. I feel a little lost; at least the ship isn't that big. I've got, y'know...the 'new guy' jitters but I'll get that hang of things. Thanks for asking."

After accepting Matt's thanks with a small nod, Lake swung a leg over the back of his own chair and sunk onto the seatpad, in what some history books call the Riker maneuver. Lake reached out to Matt, as if he was going to put his hand on his thigh, but his hand stopped on the low table between them. "I'm curious," Lake said, his dark eyes studying Matt's face, "wouldn't the tension of new guy jitters be released with the knowledge that we're all new guys here?"

He considered that idea for a moment, "Maybe. But not everybody. I read the reports - the ones that were made public - about what happened. About the crew that were...killed...lost. That has left its mark I'm sure. So yeah, in that sense there will be a lot more new crew. But also a lot of the crew already know each other so...there's that. Oh, no worries about it. I'm not going to let it bother me. It's just how I feel today. New. Kinda lost. Wish I knew more people. But that will change and I'll feel better as time goes on." He noticed that the Counselor seemed not to like his Rhiannsu observation. Maybe he didn't like the reference? Plumeri made a note. He also made a note that Lake was pretty buff. Matt would ask him about where the ship's gym was in a moment.

"I'm hearing you talking about feeling the jitters; feeling lost and maybe a little lonely," Lake said, summing up the personal aspects of what Matthew had shared. Tilting his head to the right by just a couple of inches, Lake asked, "I'm curious about how you cope with the kinds of stresses that come with change?"

Considering the question a moment, "I think...first choice is the gym. It helps me clear my mind and the physical workout helps me sleep. I like music, stories, I have brought music from home and a few dozen holodeck stories I like." He thought some more answering honestly as he could, "Sports is good. Like the gym it helps me focus, clears my head to be engaged in something that uses all my muscles. Sex. I like sex. Not just the act, but getting a connection with someone and then having fun you know? Sex though, with a lot of Federation people...it gets complicated and people get hurt. So, it makes forming a sexual bond more difficult. Humans have a lot of baggage about that sort of thing."

"People are complicated creatures," Lake said in agreement. Clearly, he was speaking from his own lived experiences as much as his awareness of what Matt and other patients have said to him before. His eyes went wistful for a moment, his gaze wandering, but only for a moment. "We can barely be honest with ourselves about our contradictory impulses, let alone others," Lake said, clearly in awe of the beauty of free will.

Digging right in, Lake asked, "How have you gone about navigating forming connections and sexual bonds in Starfleet thus far?"

Matt's eyebrows went up as he relived a lifetime of memories in a flash of time, "Well..." he thought for a moment. It seemed to last longer than a moment; a hush, a quiet contemplation as he stared at the table. "It's easier to just...sleep around. I mean, I like that. Of course I'm careful and I always get my shots and the sex is always mutual and all that. No strings attached and friend with benefits. Some people are easier about that too. People say that's the starfleet way. A 'lay' in every port of call. And when your partner is on that same wavelength then things go really well. 'Cause you both know that anything can happen. So enjoy each other's company, companionship, enjoy each other's bodies as long as you can because...space doesn't care if you're here or not." He looked up and searched Lake's face before leaning back and continuing, "Where I come from people do that. Men and women, men with men, women with women and yeah, sometimes things go...sour. But it's what we do and we make it work. You end up with lots of friends and Humans call us shallow. Well...that think that I'm shallow. That I just...fuck around and sleep with whoever so I can just get my rocks off or...whatever. But, it makes looking for that one special person all the more rich. Because...its a bonding that I want. That everybody wants I think. That one person who makes all of this worth it. Anyway...you asked how I deal with it. One day at a time. One day...I hope that I'll find the person that...and then I won't need to look anymore."

Holding out his hands like the scales of justice, Lake raised one and then the other as he spoke. "I'm hearing you say it's easier to find people for sex and companionship within the nomad lifestyle of a Starfleet officer," Lake said, "and I'm also hearing that you're looking for singular person for bonding." Lake clasped his hands together and lowered them into his lap. "I'm curious about," Lake asked, "what does it look like when you're looking for a bondmate? And how does it look different from when you're looking for sex?"

He squirmed a little uncomfortably in the chair and took a deep breath. "You know...the trouble with you counselor's is that you unpack all this...stuff about how I feel and what I'm thinking as if I now what I'm doing. And I don't. Not really. I'm just trying to make it one day at a time, you know? And I'm lucky if I can see what I'm going to be doing an hour from now. Much less know what I want out of a relationship or...whatever. You 'help' me unpack all this and lay it out all bare and naked in front of us and when the time is up; I have to pack it all back up again and take it home and live with it. All the uncertainty and all of the annoyances of being reminded that I'm just...one...small...insignificant...talking monkey with a 1400kg piece of pink jelly to try and navigate through this life." He looked away, frustrated and answered, "I don't know. I don't have a formulae, all I know is that...I want it. And I don't know how or where or if I even deserve to expect that I get to have that." OK, now he was frustrated and mad, "I know this sounds arrogant; people see me and they like the body. How I look and they want that part of me. But just that. And...OK...I do that too. Because it feels good and for a little bit I can...anesthetize the idea that this is just another roll in the hay. But, I know there's more. But I don't know how to get from being just a good lay to being...more. Like a whole person."

He was done now. Looking at the floor, averted eyes. Done. "I think...I don't want to talk about this anymore. OK? I have to pack all this...shit...back up and deal with it. I don't want to talk about it anymore. OK? I hope that...y'know...you can check whatever the fuck checkbox you need to check off and..." He stopped and sighed. "Are we done man?"

"We can stop. We don't have to continue this conversation," Lake replied in a measured tone. He spoke slowly to choose his words carefully, and to watch Matt for micro-expressions of understanding. "We're not done. We're going to speak again next week. The work of managing your mental health is a full time job and, I agree, it's your job to do. Not mine. I'll leave you with emotional labour, surely. The same way Doctor Allyndra can't feed your healthy food, and the dentist can't brush your teeth for you, most of the work of mental health is your work to do."

He nodded, made a face, "Great. Well. Here's a thought, since I'm the one that has to do all the work and I'm the one that has to live with the outcomes, your input and participation seems somewhat superfluous now doesn't it? Help me understand, Counselor, if these are my problems, my working them out and my responsibility, what is your part in this?" He was pissed and really did not like these feelings.

Through each of Matthew's exclamations, Lake maintained an impassive mien. He only blinked when Matt sounded especially heated and he nodded only when Matt made a salient point. "That depends on what you need," Lake said to begin his explanation. He described his duties as he might to a passing admiral, rather than a distressed crewman. "For some I can offer guidance towards a fresh perspective or a strategies for coping with stressors," Lake said. "For others, I diagnose neurological and psychological illnesses, and I prescribe appropriate treatment." --Lake put a hand on his own chin-- "...I can't yet see what you need."

The moment was tense; Matt said nothing. And then, "Am I dismissed? Counselor, sir?"

For that moment, Lake squinted at Matt; otherwise, he smiled vaguely at the handsome young officer. A moment later, Lake sat back heavily into his chair. He started at Matt, started right at him. Then Lake raised a hand and languidly waved in the direction of the exit. "You are dismissed," Lake said, "Lieutenant."

Not taking his eyes away he returned the stare; the pissing contest. He stood up to go and left with an icy stare. It would be hours before Plumeri could unwind from the encounter with Lieutenant ir-Llantrisant. He went to the gym and a workout did him a world of good.


[OFF]

Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo-A

&

LTJG Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer/Historian
USS Galileo-A
NCC-80010

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