Posted Sept. 23, 2020, 5:20 a.m. by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Engineer (Consultant Researcher - Yellow)) (Sharon Miller)
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Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in Counselor’s Office - Nakuto drops by
Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Engineer (Consultant Researcher - Yellow)) in Counselor’s Office - Nakuto drops by
“No bother at all. I can only pretend to work at crew evals for so long before I get bored of staring at the screen.” Casela grinned. There were other things she could have found to do, but after the last mission she had tried to stay near her office to be readily accessible. A lot of nightmares and sleepless nights for the crew after Sandman. Herself included. “I would love some friendly conversation. Have a seat.” She took in the tone and slight sound of anxiety. And apparently Cobb was rubbing off on her. She turned to the back of her office and opened a panel revealing a safe. She opened, took something out, closed it up and walked over to her desk. She poured a large glass of Klingon Blood Wine for Nakuto, and picked up her own cup of coffee from her desk. She moved about the office and to Kara’s side and handed her the glass. Then she casually took a seat in an adjacent chair and relaxed back into it.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNSKara accepted the glass with the attitude of a woman being handed water after a week in the desert. Settling herself onto the couch, she remained in silent contemplation of the red liquid for several seconds, before taking her first, long drink.
“Counselor,” she declared as she wiped at her lips with the back of a hand, “if this is how you conduct your therapy sessions then I shall have to attend them more often.”Casela raised her glass in acknowledgement of the compliment and an indication that Kara is welcome at any time she would like. But Casela sensed that silence was the better part of encouragement right now.
In a heartbeat her expression grew serious, brown eyes misting over with the pain of tortured memories. “It has been a while since I have been offered such open kindness. I am…more grateful than I could put into words.”
“Then, I am happy to be able to offer it.”
Would she also fail to lend words to the reason for her visit? Did she retain the strength to revisit her darkest moments and describe them anew for another? The bloodwine was doing much to increase her confidence, but only speaking aloud would reveal if it was enough.
“Does it appear strange to you, Lieutenant, that a woman who once commanded a starship would transfer to you as a nondescript researcher? Or that one with such obvious Klingon heritage would come to you now with such weakness?”
- Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)
Casela sat in silence for a brief moment, contemplating. “No, it does not. Some of us need to change who we are, in order to find…well some of us will never find peace, but at least a less violent existence.” Casela motions around her office and the stores of weapons hidden there. “would it surprise you to find an operative turned counselor? Or that a Betazoid would have a life so full of blood and battle it would make a Klingon warrior jealous?” That last part may be an exaggeration since Klingon’s don’t like subterfuge, but close enough.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS
Nakuto smiled broadly at Synthi-er’s response, having expected no less from this seemingly kindred soul.
“Ordinarily? Yes,” she replied with a grin, “but having spent several minutes now in your company, I already have the impression that nothing about you would surprise me, Counselor.”
But there was a truth to Casela’s words that she had not previously considered. Some of us need to change who we are, in order to find a less violent existence. But at what cost to those around us?
“It was meant to be the pinnacle of my career,” she risked tentative exploration of the subject aloud, eyes lowered to stare into her bloodwine and the familiar dance of fluid shadow. “My own command. My own vessel. I remember the night of my arrival, how the shuttle’s pilot had been furious at his orders. I presumed, at the time, it was the area that seemed to terrify him. Bad business in that sector on a previous voyage, perhaps? But then I saw the ship with my own eyes.”
Thick, sticky heat against her lips. The familiar course of flame along her throat and down to the pit of her stomach. She had hoped for a tranquilising effect to soothe the constant churn within her core. But the blood of Kahless himself would have been impotent against this tsunami of harrowing recollection.
“Have you ever had that feeling, Counselor? You are walking, perhaps, through a crowded room, minding your own business. Your thoughts are on trivial matters, what to have for lunch, or who to meet for drinks that evening. Nothing about the room, or the people within it, seems out of the ordinary. But then suddenly, you feel it. Impossible to express in words, maybe, but the sensation is etched all over your body. The stiffening of the joints. The shiver as tiny hairs ripple across pimpled skin. The tightening, like a vice, around your guts to induce almost destabilising nausea. And an immediate, and irresistible, need to flee. You can not pinpoint why you feel these things and yet you know, with every atom of your being, that something in the room is very, very wrong.”
Nakuto sighed and swallowed the remainder of her wine in one gulp.
“That is how I felt when I first saw the Viking. My ship.”
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