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CNS office, Kaia's Check-in

Posted March 24, 2020, 8:38 a.m. by Lieutenant Commander Zef Rollo (Counselor) (D Grisham)

Posted by Ensign Kaia (Engineering Officer) in CNS office, Kaia’s Check-in

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Zef Rollo (Counselor) in CNS office, Kaia’s Check-in

Posted by Ensign Kaia (Engineering Officer) in CNS office, Kaia’s Check-in
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
A few minutes before her appointment time, Kaia arrived at the Counselor’s office, slinking in silently and with a slightly nervous expression on her face. The little alien found a chair and sat down, waiting. She glanced over at Dave and gave him a slight smile. The Yeoman smiled back. “I’ll let her know you’ve arrived,” he said softly.

She was here for two reasons. Firstly, she was part of the bridge crew. Secondly, she was somewhat of a regular around here, having visited the previous counselor regularly for help dealing with the various issues she found herself struggling with. Being the lone native of her planet in an entire quadrant was taking a toll on her, emotionally. Primarily, her file would note that she experienced her species’ equivalents of depression and ADD, and was on a twice-monthly program of meetings with a counselor to talk about how she was doing with her regimen of therapy.

Kaia, Engineer

The door to the Counselor’s inner office opened and a very pale humanoid appeared. She gave Dave an appreciative nod for alerting her that her appointment had arrived, then looked at the lone creature seated in one of the chairs.

“Ensign Kaia, I’m Cmdr Rollo. Please come in.” Zef had a well modulated voice—she’d worked on it for years until it became the natural way she spoke. Keeping her face schooled, not showing surprise at seeing a feline waiting, Rollo smiled and stepped to the side for Kaia to pass.

—Rollo, CNS

Kaia hopped off her chair and stepped into the office. “It is good to meet you, Commander. I hope you have had the time to read up on my file. If not, I can give you a summary,” she grinned slightly, glancing around and spotting the nearest seating surface and gravitating towards it without waiting for an invitation to sit. The tip of her tail flicked slightly, and she relaxed.

Ensign Kaia, Engineer

The office door closed automatically as soon as the Cmdr moved out of sensor range. She followed the Raka and took a seat too. “Actually, I have had time to read your file. Galdori sounds very interesting. I love meeting new species for the very first time.” Zef smiled. “I also saw that you kept regular appointments with previous counselors. How is that schedule working for you?”

—Rollo, CNS

Kaia nodded. “It’s working fairly well so far. I’m dealing with it fairly well, I think. The appointments are helping with my depression. It’s a constant battle though!” She chuckled softly. “As you probably read, my species has a strong empathic ability between ourselves. It’s like losing my sense of smell, being apart from everyone. Not having the joy and sadness of others around me is why I’ve been struggling with depression.”

Kaia, Engineer

Zef nodded. “I can understand that to a certain degree, as I have no one of my species around either. We don’t share an empathic ability, but we share an identity as a people. Tell me, are you taking or using anything to assist you in falling or staying asleep?”

—Rollo, CNS

“No, I am not on any medications or supplements,” Kaia replied, shaking her head. “I drink a mug of heated milk before I sleep and that generally does the trick. Fascinating, that Earth bovine milk is almost identical to the equivalent back home for me. Only a slight nutritional difference.”

Kaia, engineer

“I think its a lucky coincidence. I don’t drink it, myself, but I have had clients who swear by its sleep inducing qualities. How are things at work? Any problems or concerns that you’d like to discuss?”

—Rollo, CNS

“Umm… No. Not really. My DH is really good, and I enjoy working with the other engineers,” she said with a small smile, grabbing a tiny plastic sword from her pocket and sticking the pointy end in her mouth. The handle of the sword bobbed up and down as she chewed on the plastic.

Kaia, Engineer

The Counselor watched the activity with interest. “So things at work are fine, no problems with the job or the people, and you say you are dealing with your depression reasonably well too. All that is good to hear, Ensign. Have you made any friends that help keep the loneliness and feelings of isolation away?”

—Rollo, CNS

“Um, not really… until recently. I have been hanging out with Kiama Naim. She is really fun to hang out with,” Kaia said with a small grin. “It helps.”

Kaia, Engineer

“What kinds of things do you and Kiama do together?” She wondered if Kaia hadn’t made friends because she was hesitant to approach people or if there were another reason.

—Rollo, CNS

“We talk about our childhoods a bit. We’ve been going on Holosuite walks, exploring various environments together and having fun with the exercise,” Kaia said with a small smile. “We met because I accidentally entered her quarters when I got lost in the crawlspaces…”

Kaia, Engineer

“That must have been a surprise for both of you!” A version of the females’ initial meeting passed through Zef’s mind. The corners of her mouth raised in a silent smile before she continued. “It’s good the two of you are getting to know one another, but don’t you think it might be good to branch out and have interactions with other crew members?”

—Rollo, CNS

“It was quite a shock,” Kaia agreed. At the counselor’s second suggestion, the small ensign looked at the floor. “I have… I just do not really… I have tried. I have not been able to find anyone with whom I enjoy spending time, other than Ensign Naim. I find humans do not really understand me, and I struggle to understand them. Naim is different, she understands what it is like to feel the emotions of another being.” She spoke quietly, almost ashamed about her failure to make other friends.

Kaia, engineer

So, making friends was something the engineer needed help with. Rollo nodded. “I understand that being with someone who shares a deep understanding with you is very rewarding and makes things much easier when getting to know each other. It’s that way with most everyone—we like what makes us comfortable. But I’ve always found the differences between myself and others to be more interesting. To find out how and why they do certain things or believe a certain way is…enlightening at the very least.”

“Perhaps you could approach your next meeting with someone new with that sense of adventure?”

—Rollo, CNS

Kaia nodded slightly, then suddenly she did a very human action and slapped her forehead. “Of course, I forgot!!” she exclaimed, shaking her head slightly. “I do have another friend. Or kinda friend. We have not talked recently. Faye Calloway. We are building a garden greenhouse thing. I accidentally popped in on her too, come to think of it,” Kaia reflected with a giggle. “It seems to be my most successful method of discovering friends.”

  • Kaia

OOC: I may have forgotten Kaia has another friend.
- Miriam

Bump

OOC: Well, damn. I know I responded to this…hmph!

IC:
It was good to hear that Kaia had more than one friend. “A greenhouse? That sounds wonderful! I enjoy being around flora and fauna. I’m sure many people on the ship do too. Why don’t I give you an assignment to work on this week?” She was never sure how anyone was going to react to that phrase.

“When you spend time with your friends this week, try to learn something personal about them. Then try to share something personal about yourself with each one of them—something you wouldn’t tell just anybody. Later on, at your next appointment, you can tell me if you were successful. Does that sound like something you think you can do?”

—Rollo, CNS

Kaia scrunched up her face a little. “Um… I guess I could try that,” she said, a little unsure. She was good at talking about her people, about where she had lived, about her work and what she was doing in Engineering, but telling people personal things? It made her a little uncomfortable to be ‘assigned’ to do so, but she also wanted to try it, to see if it helped. “Okay.”

Kaia, Eng

OOC: Sorry for the late reply…I was sick all of last week. I had a digestive virus that kept me weak and ill.

IC:
It was easy to read the discomfort of the idea on the Raka’s face. “This is an exercise, Kaia. If you can do it, fine. If you can’t, then you haven’t lost a thing. Just don’t spend too much time worrying about it. It isn’t a test, its a suggestion.”

—Rollo, CNS


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