STF

SB 157 The Last Post Lounge Meeting Dr. Grayson

Posted Aug. 11, 2020, 1:09 a.m. by Ensign Dr. Mariah Lee Grayson (Psychiatrist) (Lori Miller)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ever Zeanar (Chief of Psychiatry) in SB 157 The Last Post Lounge Meeting Dr. Grayson

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ever Zeanar (Chief of Psychiatry) in SB 157 The Last Post Lounge Meeting Dr. Grayson

Posted by Ensign Dr. Mariah Lee Grayson (Psychiatrist) in SB 157 The Last Post Lounge Meeting Dr. Grayson
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Dr. Mariah Lee Grayson. Human, female. Average height etc,. Born on Earth. Funny how humans claimed that right to call their planet that exclusively.  Ever scrolled through the PaDD, glancing at the woman’s childhood history. Normal, more or less. No one had a perfect childhood. Introvert? Maybe, maybe not. And again, not unusual for a psychologist. Or was it psychiatrist? Scrolling quickly to Grayson’s education section, Ever stopped. Medical doctor and a background in forensic psychology. Well, they had that in common at least. Glancing through the remainder of Grayson’s record, Ever let out a low whistle. Pretty impressive service record.  She was more interested in the whys, why nots and hows behind the report. What made Dr. Grayson tick? Ever blew absently across the top of the steaming mug of coffee before taking a small sip. 

Technically, Ever wasn’t expected to report for duty yet and still had a few days on leave left to burn. Though she had planned on extending her holiday on OED, taking in the local sights, once she had dug up the box, leaving quickly had seemed a safer option. Hidden away, locked with an encryption code only a former intelligence officer understood, Ever relaxed knowing the secret remained hidden and undisturbed. Sneaking it onto the Ogawa would be much easier since the ship was docked. Sense the Ogawa was nearly empty of crew and not ready for departing Ever was without an office. It had taken a bit of tracking down a way to contact Mariah, but she had managed in the end to extend an invitation to her junior officer to meet her for a cup of coffee and an informal meet and greet with the department in general.  

Sat at a table for two as far away from the the bar and door as possible, Ever sat wearing a loose fitting grey long dress that extended to her ankles and sensible shoes. The bar itself was ironically named. Loudly coloured decorations covered every inch of bulkhead space. Strings of multi-coloured lights darted back and forth across the overhead. Candles with false flames mixed with them providing the only lighting in the room. Ever rubbed her eyes wishing someone would increase the illumination. Shifting her foot, she accidentally kicked one of the many oddities that served as decor. Strewn throughout the bar were objects objects that appeared to be from every known culture in the quadrant. Furniture was equally mismatched. Two of the chairs at the table next to hers looked like the had been stolen from a Klingon warship bridge. The place looked was a mess and looked like many people had arrived, dropped their belongings and left them behind. Oh well. Rumours of having the best coffee on the starbase had proven to be completely true.  Ever sipped her coffee loudly, watching the door intently. 

Lt. Commander Ever Zeanar, COP

It took some help from the computer, but Dr. Mariah Grayson eventually found her way to the Last Post Lounge where she had been invited to meet Dr. Zeanar. After hearing its name, Grayson was met with another twinge of regret that she hadn’t done more to explore the starbase. With names like that, there had to be a story worth exploring. Still, she’s always found the stories of people to be more compelling than even the stories of places, which is why she found herself working more than exploring.

Except, of course, now, when work actually allowed her to cross paths with interesting people and places. As she entered the lounge, her senses were overwhelmed with all she saw, the randomness of it. She found herself wondering about the proprietor and the people who contributed to the decor, assuming this wasn’t an intentional design choice by the owner.

Making a mental note to inquire about that further later, she searched her memory for the picture of the woman she had seen in the file she had reviewed before arriving and she did her best to scan the face is in the room as unobtrusively as possible. Spotting, finally, the familiar face further in the room then she expected, she approached with a polite but sincere smile. ” hello. Dr. Zeanar, I presume?”

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, Psychiatrist

“And you must be Dr. Grayson,” Ever said smiling warmly. She had her coffee mug down and waved for Mariah to take a seat with one hand and waved at the waiter for attention with the other. While she waited for the woman to take a seat, she bent forward slightly and pulled the hem of her dress down and pushed her shoe around until it felt a little more comfortable. Pretty shoes on a shelf rarely were comfortable. That never stopped Ever from collecting more and wearing heels, flats, sandals or boots whenever she had the chance. “Did you have trouble finding the lounge? I know its a bit out of the way and kinda.....weird looking, but I promise the coffee is well worth the trek.”

As if on cue, a waiter with a small vertical stature appeared quickly behind Mariah. What the man lacked in height, he made up for in the most incredible moustache to be seen probably in any galaxy. Reddish brown in colour, it was hard to tell where it began and ended as it seemed to be a pinwheel of circles within circles that covered where his mouth should approximate and extended out past his face on either side for nearly 15 centimetres. If he had a matching beard, well, Ever wasn’t certain of gender, she simply had no idea and relished the idea of discovery. Sat just above the jungle of a moustache and a rounded nose from which the ridges joined stopping just short of a hairline. Two piercing blue eyes sat circled by round, raised flesh coloured dots which also outlined the two extending nose bridges. His, or her, or their wavy long hair parted in two sections from the crown of the head and stopped just above the shoulders. As pleasant as the waiter or waitress was to behold, their scent left trails that reminded Ever of walking through a citrus orchard on Bajor. “Another Janeway special for you Dr. Zeanar? And how about for your guest?”

“Yes please Sheezaeh,” Ever said handing the exotic alien her empty mug. Sheezaeh spoke in two resonating frequencies at once, one a deep baritone and the other a lower pitch that seemed to harmonise in a feedback. The effective was hypnotising. Stealing her gaze away, she turned towards Mariah. “I highly recommend the Janeway.”

Zeanar, CoP

“No real difficulty at all once I consulted the computer,” Grayson replied in answer to the other woman’s question. She offered a small chuckle as the fellow psychiatrist mentioned the strangeness of this place and added, “I appreciate your sense of adventure and have no problem with the surroundings. As a matter fact, they have piqued my curiosity and I find myself wondering about the people behind this place… Occupational hazard I suppose.”

“Hmm. Yes. I had not considered that was what drew me to the place as well. Well, that and the coffee. It is a rather unique and wonderfully weird place, I will give them that. Makes me wish I could ‘read’ objects and find out the mysteries behind why people just left their things behind,” Ever said as she tapped the tabletop. “Guess I should have led with an explanation. Apparently, this room was a ‘lost and found’ room of shorts. Security just started filling the room with things they had found laying around or lost on the station.  Not sure how or why or even who the original proprietor was that turned the place into a coffee shop. Curiously, all I could find out was that it just appeared one day. It isn’t listed on any register on the station, which is why I had to give you the directions to the closest listed space. Only by word of mouth. I heard about it from this young Bajoran guy who was drawing pictures in the main promenade.”

No sooner had Grayson slid in her seat did the server approach the table. It was only because of Mariah’s professional and practiced demeanor that she was able to keep her expression inscrutable as she regarded the new arrival. While the facial hair she saw was striking in its own right, Grayson found herself particularly drawn to the person’s piercing blue eyes. It seemed the establishment’s decor wasn’t the only interesting mystery it presented. Lost in the visage before her, it took her a moment to register The question she had been asked. “Sounds good. I’d like to try that, thank you.” Grayson generally preferred Klingon coffee for its strength, but she was not averse to trying new things and she was so distracted, she was embarrassed it had taken her this long to answer.

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, Psychiatrist

Sheezaeh bowed deeeply, and either winked at Mariah or their eyes sparkled quickly and briefly, before leaving the women. Ever watched Grayson’s reaction to the unusually waiter, chuckling silently to herself, not sure were the doctor’s curiosity stopped and started. Each to their own, Ever thought. ” Since we are going to be working so closely together and spending probably more time with each other than a spouse or partner, do you feel comfortable on being on a first name bases when we are not in a crisis at least? ” 

Without a word or sound,  Sheezaeh appeared once again with two steaming mugs of coffee. The cups were mismatched, but without chips or cracks. Ever’s looked like it had been made by a small child in an art class and had the name “Rosie” scrawled across the top with a heart underneath. Mariah’s cup was the complete opposite and appeared to be made from some sort of fine bone china like material. Decorated with gold and pink flowers, the dainty cup sat on a matching saucer. Two blue bowls sat in the middle of the table. One was white and looked like it might have been milk or cream. The other was a light brown coloured liquid. Ever poured some of the white liquid into her cup and a splash of the other liquid and stirred it slowly. Lifting to the cup to her lips, she blew across the top of the coffee before taking a sip. 

Lt Commander Ever Zeanar, CoP 

OOC: Feel free to add whatever details about the lounge as you want. I just totally made it all up —Ty

00C: I love it!

Amused by her own surprise at the server and the environment, Mariah found herself smiling at the unusual looking waitress once more. If the woman was uncomfortable, she certainly didn’t show it and that endeared her to Grayson even more. Anyone who could offer grace and find joy so easily was worth knowing. In fact, the whole place was growing on her even before she had tried the coffee. Yes, at first the surroundings seemed jarring and even garish, but admiring her tea cup, the psychiatrist had to admit the place was growing on her with its unique beauty.

Turning her attention back to the conversation, Grayson replied, “I would be most comfortable with that. I was never one who focused too much on rank or position, and was always most interested in making sure the people in my orbit were cared for properly. Honestly, given my age, I have trouble seeing myself as a junior to anyone,” she added with a chuckle.

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, Psychiatrist

“Your age? I think we are about the same in years, but you look like you are in your mid twenties. What’s the secret?” Ever asked as she sat her cup down and added more sweetener. Stirring the dark liquid slowly, counter-clock wise, she tapped off the excess coffee before laying the spoon on the saucer. 

Sheezah appeared once again silently out of nowhere and everywhere at once. Ever wondered if the mysterious waiter (waitress) had a personal transporter or was some vaporous form. She looked up at the silver tray held by Sheezah’s two webbed dark hands and smiled deeply. To her delight the tray was layered with stacks of cookies, finger sized cakes and decorated with chocolate heart shaped pieces. Tarvokian powder cake, icoberry tartes and chocolate fudge were the only ones Ever immediately recognised. The others were arrays of colours, textures and shape of which no doubt held in equal measures a variety of flavours. Towards the front of the tray facing Grayson were two fortune cookies. 

“Well this is a treat. Might have to do some extra laps at the pool later. Thank you Sheezah.” Ever said as she selected a small piece of cake that appeared to be layered with orange and red berries and cream. Sheezah bowed deeply and left again in the blink of an eye. Turning her head slightly to the left, Ever did not even see a trace where the waiter had just been. “I think someone likes you.  This is at least my fifth time in here. Never seen anyone get cakes.” 

Zeanar, CoP

Hearing the compliment about her youthful appearance, Mariah practically blushed. She didn’t exactly consider herself to be particularly baby faced nor did she see herself as particularly ancient. In truth, she didn’t spend much time or energy considering her appearance at all, often focused on her work and her relationships with others outside of herself. “You are right. We are very similar in age with similar experience. I suppose I just feel more ‘ seasoned ‘ at times, especially when I meet people fresh out of the Academy,” she added with a chuckle.

By now, Grayson had become somewhat accustomed to the sudden appearance of their unusual server. When the psychiatrist spotted the enticing offerings, she was almost overwhelmed by all of the choices. Naturally, she found herself drawn to the chocolate items on the tray and she served her self a piece of fudge and a piece of cake with delectable dark chocolate frosting. She smiled her thanks for for turning back to her companion. “Well,” she said half seriously, “I was going to tell you my youthful appearance could be attributed to healthy eating and exercise, but then the goodies appeared, and as you might guess, my face and my eyes tell a completely different story.” When they were once again alone, she added conspiratorially, “I think our server is just that good at recognizing my weaknesses, at least.”

Before diving into her newly found treats, Grayson asked, “I was excited to meet you today. I wanted to get to know you better and also to find out how you might want to divide the workload? Are there any particular areas you believe I can be particularly helpful?”

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, Psychiatrist

BUMP


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