STF

Counselor's Office - Ensign Dawes Reporting

Posted Nov. 9, 2022, 2:19 p.m. by Ensign Dr. P'Mala Dawes (Doctor) (Shaun Tee)

Posted by Ensign Dr. P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in Counselor’s Office - Ensign Dawes Reporting

Posted by Lieutenant Siennadye Nox (Counselor) in Counselor’s Office - Ensign Dawes Reporting

Posted by Ensign Dr. P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in Counselor’s Office - Ensign Dawes Reporting
Posted by… suppressed (13) by the Post Ghost! 👻
After the shuttlecraft landed, Ensign P’Mala Dawes watched the crew upload the small crate with the majority of her personal belongings until they carted it out of her room and presumably toward her quarters. Then, she turned to a wall panel and accessed the ship’s map.

Almost anywhere else, the tall Vulcan with short navy blue hair would stand out, but in her blue medical uniform, she camouflaged into the background of the busy bay as crewmen worked around her. Luckily it seemed similar to her last Discovery-class posting, the Challenger.

Currently she stood on Deck 6, where her future home in Sickbay sat just down the corridor. She knew that she had an appointment with the Counselor, Siennadye Nox, followed by a meeting with the CMO–but P’Mala most looked forward to getting her room set up nicely and learning the ship.

Two weeks of leave had been too much and not enough before being sent out to a whole new region of space for who knows how long–as was her duty. But she felt the thrumm of adrenaline, too–excited to meet everyone.

P’Mala walked to the Counselor’s Office and rang the doorbell and waited, her resolve strong but still coursing with thought and stimulation.

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, Medical

The door opened to a warm office. On one side, directly in front of the door, was the obviously well used desk. There were a few PaDD’s stacked neatly and a steaming hot mug of something that smelled of chocolate and caramel next to Sienna’s left hand. Her right had a PaDD, where she had pulled up the file on Ensign P’Mala Dawes. The counselor was briefly revisiting the information in preparation for their meeting.

On the other side of the room, to the right, was a comfortably furnished sitting area. It had a couch along a massive window open to the stars passing by. Opposite the couch was a coffee style table and two comfortable chairs. Along one wall was a beautiful sculpture, a long wooden tree limb was placed parallel to the ceiling. Lines of clear filament rope with colorful glass shards every few inches of varying sizes and shapes dangled from the limb. On the other wall, nearer to the door, a set of shelves with books and a small figure of the USS Korolev sat situated neatly in the middle.

Sienna looked up and smiled warmly. The woman was of average height for a half Betazoid. Her hair was dark as was her eyes. “Ah. Ensign. Please come in and have a seat. Would you like anything to eat or drink?”

Nox, CNS

“A water would be lovely,” P’Mala Dawes said, taking in the office. “What a lovely space you’ve made here! You must be Lieutenant Nox.”

P’Mala extended her hand for a shake. “I’ve only just arrived, and I hope I didn’t catch you in the middle of anything.”

She took the hand in her own and gave a firm but not overly so, handshake. “No, I am quite at your disposal.”

She stood in front of the Counselor’s desk and felt the briefest flutter of anxiety–another ship, her first real posting, and it was here.

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

She moved her hand from the other woman’s and gestured to the seating area while she turned to retrieve a glass of fresh cool water for the woman and a hot hibiscus honey tea for herself. Her throat had been scratchy all morning and it was time to sooth it.

Sienna cleared her throat. “As you guessed, I am Lt Siennadye Nox and this is my office. i must say I am not used to having Vulcans be so effusive. How refreshing.” She picked up the tray and placed it on the coffee table before them, choosing to sit on one side of the couch. She could tell, even without her extra senses, that P’Mala was excited. There was a flurry of other emotions too not at all uncommon for someone coming to their first official posting.

Nox, CNS

P’Mala took her seat on the other side of the couch and reached for the water –something to hold onto.

“I am actually half-Vulcan. My parents are a little… non-traditional. Add some good therapy and come coping mechanisms, and voila,” she said. “It sounds like a joke, but it’s true.”

She took a sip of her water. “So, Counselor, how do your intake appointments normally go? I admit that I enjoy learning about others’ medical practices and I consider counseling as part of a full-body health system. I’ll likely refer my patients to you as well.”

-Ensign Dawes, Medical

Sienna sipped her tea, letting the heat and honey sooth her throat. She wanted to know more about how Ensign Dawes’s parents were non-traditional, but for the moment, let the conversation be side tracked towards her own processes. “It truly depends on the person. I try to make sure that each intake appointment is as unique as the person I am interviewing. Sometimes I hold them in other places aboard the ship. Sometimes, the conversation is unusual and not typical Star Fleet regulatory questions. Honestly, I feel that those questions are overused and lead more to automatic answers than truthful and thoughtful ones. I prefer authenticity to rote indoctrination.”

“Likewise, Counselor. I always say that I was a physician before I became an officer.” P’Mala took a sip of her water. “You’d be surprised at how many find that… unusual.”

“Speaking of unusual. How were your parents non-traditional, aside from being a blended pair - Vulcan and Human?”

Nox, CNS

P’Mala sat for a moment, thinking on how to phrase it exactly.

“Well, first, they are both sociologists and academics on the fringes of Vulcan thought, believing that emotions are to be sorted and considered like objects, not repressed. No group is a monolith, really, but after the destruction of Romulus, oddly enough, their work has a little more support,” she explained.

“Mainly they write about esoteric religious traditions, publishing as Latok & Dawes. Their second book, Religious Murmerations on Delta-Vega and Lethe, and their third book, Lessons on Absolute Candor: The Qowat Milat and Surak’s Legacy are probably their best-known works.”

P’Mala felt a tension in her neck and rubbed it with her palm. “You could say I was not raised traditionally. When they left to study or interview or research, they took me with them and schooled me from home. I never had the full Vulcan Learning Center experience,” she said, a little ruefully.

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, Medical

It was unusual though not unheard of. The Vulcan’s had long since created enough learning modules that homeschooling would not be difficult for parents who were in space or on other planets. “Do you think you would have benefited more by partaking in the full Vulcan Learning Center experience?”

Nox, CNS

OOC: Sorry I was gone so long! I had to take a sudden health related LOA.

IC: “I do think that being around my peers would have… acclimated me to the ways of a more diverse group of other Vulcans.” P’Mala said. “From my studies, I know that adolescence is a key period and we often change our behaviors–even our accents–subconsciously in order to match with our peers.”

P’Mala peered at the doctor. “What are your thoughts, Counselor? I’m used to being the unusual Vulcan.”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

OOC: No worries.

IC: She shrugged. “I have not found your upbringing to be that unusual within Star Fleet. We are quite spread out and Vulcans do not always have the advantage of staying on their home planet for the schooling of their children. I could say that about any species within Star Fleet though. Within Star Fleet, you are not considered unusual in that way though you might be considered so by Vulcans on your home planet. Have you found difficulty in connecting to other Vulcans?”

Nox, CNS

“Yes, at times,” P’Mala said. “Sometimes on Vulcan and on Earth. In fact, that’s part of what drew me to Starfleet. Being a part of a team where I can just be P’Mala Dawes, you know?”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes

She smiled gently. “I absolutely understand. My parents are quite a team when it comes to wanting a specific path for me that I did not follow. I heard about it often.” She shook her head. “Well, I see no reason why you should struggle here. The Europa is an excellent ship and crew. You are approved for duty Ensign Dawes and may you find everything you are looking for.”

Nox, CNS

P’Mala nodded, grateful for the connection. “I look forward to working with you here, Counselor, and getting to know you. I’m about to meet my department head for the first time, and I admit that I am a little nervous to meet with Dr. Vock–thank you for taking the time to meet with me, today.”

“I am sure that will go smoothly. You seem to have a solid head on your shoulders and he will value that.”

She stood, made an awkward half-bow, and smiled back at Nox.

“If you’ll excuse me…” P’Mala reached out a hand for a shake.

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, Medical

Siennadye also stood, taking P’Mala’s hand in her own for a classic human gesture of the handshake. Her grip was not too tight and not too soft, a nice middle ground of pressure. When her hand pulled away, she walked the Ensign to the door. “Yes of course Ensign. Welcome to the Europa.”

Nox, CNS

P’Mala stopped at the door.

“Thank you again. I’m sure I’ll be back if something comes up–but don’t be a stranger!” she said, grinning at Nox. Then she straightened her posture and headed down the corridor feeling a bit more confident.

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, Medical

After what had just happened in the Chief Medical Officer’s office, P’Mala Dawes returned to the Counselor’s Office much faster than she’d originally anticipated.

Where she’d started the day crisp and neat, now she was definitely tired–emotionally exhausted, even. She pressed the button near the Counselor’s door and closed her eyes as the familiar chime droned.

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, Medical


Posts on USS Europa

In topic

Posted since


© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service

Version 1.15.9