Posted by Lieutenant Commander Hilo (Counselor) in CNS’s Office- Cadet Stadi Psych Eval

Posted by Cadet Dael Stadi (Engineer) in CNS’s Office- Cadet Stadi Psych Eval

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Hilo (Counselor) in CNS’s Office- Cadet Stadi Psych Eval
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
After what he’d call a successful settling in, Dael picked up a PADD in his quarters to see what was next on his agenda. The briefing before being sent to the Challenger had brought up the fact that alongside reporting for duty to his immediate superior, a psych and medical evaluation were required whenever coming aboard a new vessel. Dael had already made his introductions with his Chief by this point, and hoped he had made a good impression. Vulcans can be so hard to read, even for Betazoids. Gazing at his PADD, he noted that he should probably see if the ship’s counselor was available. To his surprise, upon opening the planner file on the PADD, he already had an appointment scheduled in a few hours. Things move fast on a starship he thought as he checked the time. *Not enough time to swing by Sickbay first, so I’ll make sure to do that after. Maybe a little time to go over the Challenger’s specs though.” With that final thought, he turned to the replicator.

“Computer, Jestral tea, hot.” The hum filled the room, followed by the familiar and warm scent of the tea. Dael sat down in a nearby chair, cup and PADD in hand. “Computer, play music mix, classical, ‘Largo al factotum’ then… well just shuffle after that. Maybe something Andorian.” He leaned back, breathing in the tea as the sounds of the baritone came through the room, singing how much his work is needed.

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An hour later, Dael made his way out of the turbolift and proceeded down the hall. He wondered if others felt anxious going to discuss their interior lives with someone. It was much of a non-issue among his species. When most can read your mind, or at least your thoughts on the surface of your mind, discussing your personal feelings and struggles came easy. Though he did admit himself to be not completely at ease, after all, this wasn’t a family member or friend, but a superior officer he was going to potentially open up to. Great, just find reasons to make yourself nervous Dael, that always works. He passed a few crewmen on his way to his destination, their calm surface emotions piercing through the cloud that was forming in his own mind. Breathing in deep, he pressed the door chime and awaited the signal to enter.

The door to the counselor’s office slid open automatically, obviously expecting Dael’s arrival for his appointment. The room inside was of decent size by dimension, but was filled with an assortment of furniture, art, and lots and lots of plants. In the primary space, a high-backed armchair sat facing a loveseat couch, both adorned with a warm brown cloth fabric and designed for comfort when sitting for extended periods. The loveseat was flanked by two intricate end tables made of dark wood, each of which had an arrangement of little statues, candles, and a tissue box. A hemp rug bridged the space between the two seating options.

There was a desk pushed up against the far wall, but it was almost obscured by an indoor jungle’s worth of potted plants on that side of the room that hung from the ceiling, stood in large vases, or sat on shelves with dozens of other specimens. The plants, in combination with the earth tones of the furniture and the slightly yellowed lighting in the office gave the space a tropical atmosphere. Indeed, the plant life might even make the air feel be a bit more fresh, to those with keen senses.

Dael took a look around the quarters, and for a moment thought he had come to the wrong place. It seemed more like a hydroponics bay in here than someone’s office. He noted the chairs which he expected to see in a counselors place of business so concluded he was correct. Still, it was a lot more… green that he had expected.

Among the plants, a tall man with tanned skin and pushed-back brown hair turned to peered through the foliage as the door to his office opened. A small circular symbol sat on his forehead, indicating that he was from Risa. He grinned as he maneuvered through the organic maze. “Cadet Stadi! Welcome! I’m counselor Hilo. Please, come in! In fact, come over here,” Hilo said as he motioned toward the jungle, leaving the seating area ignored for now. “I was just in the middle of pruning some of my plants. Would you mind lending a hand for a moment before we begin?”

“Counselor Hilo, pleasure to meet you” Dael said as he tried to navigate the different plant life around him. He took in the features of the officer, and noted his Risian origin. He hadn’t realized that Risa was an export of Starfleet officers, but he supposed statistically there had to have been some over their years in the Federation. He made it over to the counselor and looked apprehensively around him. Even as a Betazoid people could elude him a bit, but plant life was a whole other world for him entirely. “I suppose I can try sir, though I’m not that good with things without EPS conduits.”

Hilo stopped in front of a shelf that had three plants sitting in plate-sized pots. One housed a Christmas cactus that was spilling over the edges of its container. Another, a hydrangea that seemed to be at the end of its blooming cycle. And the last, a sage plant that had grown too big for its allotted soil. Hilo looked over his shoulder and offered a pair of clippers to Dael. The man’s face was friendly and inviting, encouraging him to take his pick of plant to preen.

The counselor’s surface-level thoughts were congruent with his welcoming personality. He was genuinely excited to meet Dael, and was naturally friendly and upbeat. If he pushed a little further, Dael might be able to sense that Hilo’s invitation to prune the plants wasn’t quite as spontaneous as he was indicating. Likely, Hilo was using it as an excuse to do something other than immediately sit and talk to help the cadet feel more relaxed.

(Lt. Cmdr. Hilo, Counselor)

OOC: Welcome, Griffin! Sorry this took me a bit to get to, I’ve been getting settled into a new job! I’m excited to write with you! I’m looking forward to learning more about your character. In this thread, we’ll discuss your character’s personality and backstory. It looks like you already have a detailed bio, which is great! Cheers!

Ben

Dael took the clippers in his hands and looked at the plants, then back at the counselor. His senses noted the man’s open personality and he seemed generally pleasant, something Dael expected from a counselor and a Risian. He felt like the choice in plants might be some psychological test, like the old inkblot tests he had seen humans use. The sea of thoughts in the air told him it was a planned encounter despite the counselor’s laid back manner, but it seemed it was rather to put him at ease rather than glean something from his inner self. Dael considered the plants and took to the sage plant. It seemed the simplest of the three to deal with. One looked aggressive with it’s quills, and the other had a lot of color and flowers and Dael already felt out of his depth. The simpler, just green plant seemed a good pick. He walked over to plant, raised and opened the clippers, then paused. His black eyes darted back to the counselor as Dael dropped the clippers and ran his hand into his dark hair.

“I’ll admit, sir, I’m not quite sure where to start. Plants aren’t exactly my strong suit, I can sort of tell between an uttaberry from an Andorian tuber root, but that’s the best I can do.”

OOC: No problem! I look forward to writing with you and working on improving my posting and character.

-Cadet Stadi, Engineering

Hilo waved a hand dismissively as he moved to tend to the hydrangea. “I appreciate your honesty cadet, but I promise you won’t hurt it. It’s overgrown, after all, so as long as you’re reasonable with you pruning, you won’t hurt it.” The counselor motioned for Dael to continue before focusing his gaze on the other plant.

“Okay, so as long as it still has some green left to it, it’ll be fine then. I can work with that I think.” Dael replied as he observed the plant in front of him, less like a phaser set to overload now, and more like a tricorder in need of reassembly. You can do this… besides he’s got a jungle in here, if he loses one to a cadet he knows doesn’t do plants, it’s not the end of the world. I hope. Dael started to trim the sage plant cautiously with the clippers.

As the counselor worked, he said “Sorry to put you to work so soon, I know you’re just getting situated. How are you feeling about the transition to a real ship, it’s a big one!” The risian was stooped over so he could carefully consider his cuts, his lanky frame bending in a smooth arc.

Hilo was focused on the plant, but likely he was an experienced plant owner who had done this many times. Inspecting the flower so precisely was being done for Stadi’s benefit, since Hilo had seen that the cadet was feeling inadequate. It was an easy task, but Hilo was prioritizing making Stadi feel comfortable, rather than being efficient with completing the chore.

(Lt. Cmdr. Hilo, Counselor)

OOC: Betazoid characters are some of the most interesting, but also the most challenging characters to play in STF. In my experience, you have to let other people tell you what your character would sense from another crew member. Some people might give you a lot, and some people might give you a little or none at all. But, it’s important to only work with what you’re given, even if you feel like your character should know more about another person’s thoughts than they do. You can also ask for more detail from the other writer if there’s something in specific you want to see if you can read. Does that make sense? How would you plan on approaching that in the future?

Ben

Dael glanced occasionally at the counselor, mimicking his movements at times as he pruned the sage plant in front of him. He could feel in the surface of his mind that the counselor felt at ease and calm with his task despite the care he was taking. It seemed he put a lot of work into these plants but he was an old hand at this sort of thing. Dael on the other hand was just really hoping the plant in front of him didn’t suddenly turn brown and die with every well-intentioned cut.

“It is quite a large ship, lot’s of people around, especially coming from our muster onto the Challenger. You didn’t have to be from Betazed to feel the energy coming off everyone. I’m hoping to get into the swing of things, I’m from a colony towards the edges of Betazed space but it was a decent size so being around a lot of new people isn’t too strange for me. Though the proximity is a little daunting, despite the size of this ship it seems like there’s always someone in the halls.”

OOC: I agree, I had wanted to challenge myself a bit with creating a crewmember of this species, and so far it has been interesting to try and get into the mind of a telepath and how they view the world. Going forward, I think either picking up with whatever the other person is willing to type out and give me through their roleplay and not making a huge deal about his telepathic readings may be key. As well as any out of character questions if I wanted to have picked up on something specific. I want to be careful not to step on anyone’s toes RP-wise and also keep both character’s interactions fluid and true to themselves.

-Cadet Stadi, Engineering