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CNS office - Kane meets the counselor

Posted Feb. 17, 2019, 12:59 a.m. by Ensign Kalani Kāne (Science Officer) (Kate O'Neill)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Royal Sinclair (Counselor) in CNS office - Kane meets the counselor

Posted by Ensign Kalani Kāne (Science Officer) in CNS office - Kane meets the counselor

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Royal Sinclair (Counselor) in CNS office - Kane meets the counselor
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻
snip

Sinclair laughed out loud and smiled broadly. “Well, I’m glad you do Ensign. It’s good to be liked. And you are free to come vent anytime. Unfortunately for you, we do spend the whole time talking about you. That’s kind of how this whole thing works. So… I am going to ask you a somewhat difficult question, but I need you to be honest with your answer, all right? And remember… what is said here stays here.”

Sinclair, CNS

“Absolutely,” she said in a spunky tone as a response to his question but then added quickly, “but that is only because the box,” she drew an imaginary one int he air with her fingers, “says you stuff me in it and check all the other boxes on your chart. Me…I prefer spheres. They are fluid and dynamic and a rollaway at the first sign of trouble. Little hard to get that square rolling,” she joked. Not sure if the counsellor would appreciate her humor or not, Kalani finished her turn talking with, “hit me. My dad was a counselor so all my life I have had to talk and share. His puppet phase was the worst so as long as you don’t bring out a cloth puppet of the captain I think we are good,” indicating she wasn’t worried about what he had to say.

Ensgin Kalani Kane science

“No, no puppets.” he said sincerely. His face grew somewhat serious and he paused for a moment before speaking. “How often do you find yourself thinking about that event? And do you ever find those memories intruding in unbidden?”

Sinclair, CNS

“Not any more than expected. I mean I can’t say I think about it but it is not like it changed my everyday life,” Kalani tried to keep an even tone. *I mean I haven’t dated since then and I am not so sure my confidence can’t take another hit from a homicidal boyfriend but other than that I am right as rain,” she gave Sinclair a smile. “I am belittling it some but what else can I do but,” she said immediately perking up. “I did get one positive thing from it. Permission to show you,” Kalani asked setting her coffee down on the desk in front of her.

Ensign Kalani Kane science

Sinclair looked a bit concerned, but said “Of course.” and he leaned back and watched the Ensign closely.

Sinclair, CNS

Kalani reached down into her backpack pulling out a ball of fur that was about the size of a wadded up sweatshirt only it slowly revealed a head with two flat ears, four legs and a tail. “This is Ralph,” Kalani said setting the sleepy fox in her lap. Ralph stretched like a cat but clearly was not one. His interest in the room quickly took over any sleepiness he felt. Ralph’s eyes became bright as he looked all around the room. There was so much see and so much to investigate Ralph began squirming to get down. “I sorta adopted him on that mission. Think of him like a therapy fox,” she said. There were no real rules about pets on ships but if they were therapy pets then they could pretty much go anywhere. Kalani didn’t need Ralph to quell any anxiety attacks but it sounded good when and if people questioned why he was out and about on the ship and not in her quarters.

Ensign Kalani Kane science

Sinclair didn’t move for a moment, just looked. After his initial pause, he looked away from the ‘Ralph’ to Kane. “Therapy animals have a long history of use across many cultures and races. But that term usually goes along with a psychological need for support. Do you think have such a need?”

Sinclair, CNS

“Weellllll yeeeessss,” she drew out the word not expecting that response. Playing the therapy animal had always been an ace in the hole card. Few people questioned it and usually, the counselor’s ate that up when she said it. It was not that it was a total lie. Ralph did make her feel good and she always felt better when she talked to Ralph. Whether she needed Ralph daily from the moment she woke until the moment she went to sleep was a moot point. Kalani didn’t have the heart to lock him up and needed for Ralph to have unfettered access to all the places she was permitted to go. “I mean that colony thing traumatized me,” Kalani tried to keep her voice neutral as she lied her butt off. “However for fun maybe you can show me one of those psychological need for support documents. I am wondering if my form is up to date or not.”

Kalani Kane ensign

Sinclair cocked his head to the side, a sparkle forming in his blue eyes as his suspicion was confirmed. “Well, psych eval’s aren’t supposed to be ‘fun’, per se, so we will have to save that for later. In the meantime… you do know that transporting life forms off their homeworld without the proper permissions is an offence that could, hypothetically of course, put one in a prison colony. Right?”

Sinclair, CNS

“Of course,” she looked slightly offended. “I mean that is why native populations on a planet get overrun with aggressive species but Ralph came with papers. Check my file.” In her file was a letter stamped and certified by a Starfleet counselor proclaiming Ralph as an official therapy pet. “I know before you say anything that this seems a bit hinky,” Kalani admitted. “And it is to an extent. Fennec Foxes are not endangered but tend to not make the best pets. However, when you remove them from their kits too early they typically have a hard time reassimilating into the environment. I did not take him first. Jonas group did. With as prevalent as the foxes can be you just can’t dump him off into the wild without training. It was either take him or have him die on the planet. My thought was to bring him out and then renaturalize him but I am not sure that is going to ever happen. I got attached and so did he. I couldn’t save his litter back at the camp where they were slaughtered but i could save him. Seemed like a fair balance,” Kalani said.

Kalani Kane ensign

Sinclair looked at Kane with a cocked eyebrow. “ ‘Hinky’ is a good word for it, Ensign.” and he shook his head. “But the real issue you are going to run into isn’t Ralph. It’s the fact that you, instead of addressing him as a non-salient rescue, made him a therapy pet.”

Danger Will Robinson! Danger A voice sounded off inside her head. This counselor apparently listened and read things which were not two things she wanted to have in a counselor.

” Had you listed him as a rescue, you probably could have received special permission to keep him due to the bond he obviously has for you and the inability to return him to the wild.” and he chuckled good-naturedly and added “But you got clever. Now, as he is listed as a ‘therapy companion’, that means you have to have two things in your personnel record that you don’t have.

Please let it be that I am clearly crazy and that you are a too busy to do anything but pass it through, she thought almost wanting to clasp her hands in prayer. She knew it was a futile attempt but at this point, she had boxed herself in and there was no way in getting out.

“The first is a diagnosis of an emotional or mental complication that would require the use of a therapy animal.

Yay you got the crazy. Can we go with a trifecta and say I am getting that signature without coffee talk for the next six weeks, she cheered silently in her head.

“The second is a continuing record of counseling and treatment for that complication.” and he held up the PaDD in his hand with her record on it. “You don’t have either one. So… either you have an issue that you haven’t told me about but that…” and he looked at the PaDD and scrolled back a bit, “… Lieutenant Borensing knew about and failed to document when they signed off on Ralph, which is going to land them in a whole heap of hot water; or you tell me that you want to keep Ralph and you will do so the right way and I’ll put in a good word for you in that regard because I mean look at that guy.” and the big Scot smiled broadly at Ralph and wiggled his finger… but well away, just in case. “But if you want to keep him as a ‘therapy companion’, you are going to have to tell me why you have him. And then you and I will have to have regular counseling sessions to address the issue.” and he leaned back and placed his hands in his lap.

“I’ll leave the choice up to you, Ensign. I’ll work with you however I can. But if you need Ralph as more than a pet, it’s going to mean a whole other line of discussion between you and I. And a whole lot of training and certifications for Ralph.”

Sinclair, CNS

Kalani thought long and hard about her choice which for he lasted all of ten seconds in her mind. “My entire camp was slaughtered by smugglers. They shot everyone but missed me because I got caught up in the tent material. Actually, they shot me in the stomach and missed hitting me in the head. I woke up and found Ralph was the only other thing left in the camp but me. But....Buuuuuuuuuut,” Kalani held up a finger, “I am 100% psychologically vetted. I have zero issues from the event. I am an optimist by nature and don’t dwell on anything negative. Just get up, pull on your boots, and start each day fresh.” Kalani ran through her practiced litany with the vigor and determination that showed she was okay. “That should negate any need for therapy because the odds I am going to get caught up in tenting material on the ship is pretty much nil. As to Ralph…the therapy pet thing is just a pass for me to cart the little guy around. Jarred is building an enclosure but Ralph has never been left alone in the six months I have had him. He doesn’t like to be alone. Ask Jarred? I have not been anywhere without him except for that shore leave with Alindor and then it was only for a weekend so I can leave him but Ralph hated it,” she rambled. “So if you can just sign those papers the little guy will stay happy and I will be out of your hair,” she said proudly.

Ensign Kalani Kane.


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