STF

The Return to Duty (Open)

Posted May 16, 2021, 2:47 p.m. by Lieutenant Commander Renveer (Executive Officer) (Ben Z)

Posted by Lieutenant Bethany Kovra Gadi (Counselor) in The Return to Duty (Open)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Renveer (Executive Officer) in The Return to Duty (Open)

Bethany scooped Luna up off the ground. “Alright little girl, you’ve played enough. I have work to do. Come on.” She made her way to her office. She palmed the lock and stepped in. Her desk was OVERFLOWING with PaDDs, they were falling and sliding. She placed Luna in the small pen and opened the door to her cage. It was clean but the water and food needed replacing. She took care of that, ordering water for herself as well. She sat down at her desk, picking up the PaDDs that had slid off into her chair. She started with that stack…and she sighed. She stood up again and cleared every flat surface from table to chair to the top of Luna’s cage, and began to sort the reports. Some were yearly evals, others were from continued therapy sessions, to incident reports. She had a small staff so that meant that appointments, evals, and emergency evaluations were still done but she had to read them all and sign off on them. So each stack got put in date order…and then she sat down to read again. 10 minutes later she was blinking and rubbing at her eyes. She stood up, walked over to the replicator, “Coffee, Forgrave’s brew, extra large.” Forget the sugar, she just need to wake up. She returned to her chair, “Computer play some blue grass, level 2.”
Lt Gadi, CNS

Renveer paused outside of the office that used to be his own. He had some regrets about his first meeting with Lieutenant Gadi in the room, where he had been… territorial. But now that they had both had time to get settled into their new roles, Renveer was feeling significantly more at ease with the fellow counselor. And although he wanted to be careful not to seem patronizing, he also wanted to check in and make sure she was doing alright, genuinely.

The executive officer paused to appreciate the music emanating from behind the door before pressing the chime to request entry.

(Lt. Cmdr. Renveer, XO)

Bethany looked up and then around, blinking tired eyes. Her coffee was cold and she had a stack, behind her desk, of cleared PaDDs. She squeezed her eyes shut briefly, pinching the bridge of her nose. She stood up to get the blood flowing. “Come in!” she called, not sure who would be coming to her office today, but the interruption was welcome. As the door opened she finished rolling her shoulders to release the tension. “Cmdr Renveer. What can I do for you?”
Lt Gadi, CNS

Renveer ducked through the doorway and hesitated before sitting down in the chair across from Lieutenant Gadi. His eyes wandered for a moment and he even turned in the chair to take in what changes the new counselor had made to his old space. Then he returned his attention to Gadi, careful not to let too much time pass as to make his response awkward. “It looks like you have plenty to do already,” he said knowingly, jutting his chin at the stack of PaDDs. “I don’t intend to burden you further. Hopefully, the opposite.” He offered a friendly smile. “I just wanted to check in with how things have been going since you came aboard the Dresden. I know it’s a new type of posting for you, I guess I was wondering how you’re liking it now that you’ve gotten into the rhythm.” Renveer folded his hands in his lap as he cross one leg over the other at the knee. He was still feeling a bit bashful, but his dark eyes conveyed his genuine interest when the counselor responded.

(Lt. Cmdr. Renveer, XO)

Bethany watched him sit down and raised a brow as she looked around the room. She hadn’t done much with the space before she left. She’d opted to change things slowly. After her first meeting with Renveer and the extensive case load she was talking over, she’d opted to keep things the same. If the counselor was different, and that was enough of a stressor, that was no need to shock the system with a new space. Luna’s cage was the most notable change. She had several other things, but she’d have to go find Stores, now that she was back, and get them brought to her office.

“The crew is amazing. They have their hiccups but have made all of us new people feel welcome.” She could have stressed the word crew, made it a point that they had welcomed her and the other new transfers where the command staff had not, but Bethany wasn’t one to do that. She was trained to do so, but it wasn’t her way. She was there to help people not manipulate them. “Have I found a rhythm? I would say no, but more because of my sudden recall than anything. The work has carried on in my place and that’s good. I’m enjoying the chance to work long term with people rather than averting crisis after crisis. It requires a different dissemination of my skills than where I was. I’m not sure enjoy is the right word to use. To say I enjoy my job would imply that I take pleasure in other people’s pain and sadness. I guess a better word would be purpose. I find great purpose in my work, and I wouldn’t change that.”
Lt Gadi, CNS

Renveer’s eyebrows flickered upward at something Gadi had said, but he controlled his expression quickly. He was here to make nice with the counselor, not discuss personal philosophy. But the that end, he found himself at a loss for words. Renveer wasn’t sure how to go about connecting with the Lieutenant. He had read her file of course, but just chit-chatting about hobbies seemed like it would be a forced conversation. Maybe he hadn’t planned out this conversation well enough in his head before arriving.

An idea appeared in Renveer’s head, much to his relief. “I’m glad to hear that, counselor,” he said to acknowledge her feelings. “Purpose is one of the most important things a person can have.” He paused for a natural transition to a slightly different topic. “In my perspective, you and I share the role of moral officer on the Dresden. The well-being of the crew is both of our responsibility, that’s why we share the yearly review process after all. But I was wondering if you might have any ideas of some kind of special activity, on the holodeck or otherwise, that might help the newer members like yourself integrate with the ship’s culture. Working alongside other officers of course helps with camaraderie, but I think a more social setting would help as well. I’d be happy to collaborate with you on some sort of event.”

(Lt. Cmdr. Renveer, XO)

Hadn’t the man just said he wasn’t going to burden her further because she had plenty to do? She looked around at the piles and piles of reports needing her signature and approval and feedback. Social events? “There is always the standard gathering in the lounge, live music and food. Given the nature and purpose of the crew perhaps a martial arts tournament, a formal dance, chess tournament, book club, painting classes, cooking classes, a large crew picnic on the holodeck and everyone can bring a dish, baseball or foot ball game, a beach party, scavenger hunt?”
Lt Gadi, CNS

(OOC: Sorry about the delay, I moved across country last week!)

Renveer didn’t need to be an empath to pick up on the counselor’s unspoken emotions. He took a deep breath, willing a flare of frustration to subside. He was trying to help, after all, trying to share the burden of caring for a crew with some deep and complex wounds. And trying to show his openness to collaboration.

“Those are all excellent ideas,” Renveer began, “and I’m partial to the martial arts tournament myself. I’ve been practicing boxing. I mean, I’m by no means an expert. But it might be fun to face off against a real person, rather than a hologram. And I think that would add some excitement and tap into a skillset that the crew rarely get to show off to each other in a non-life threatening situation. Of course their are the potential downsides… what do you think?” He watched Gadi’s face as he pondered whether she was considering the same downsides as he was.

(Lt. Cmdr. Renveer, XO)


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