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Counselors Office, Checking in - Ens. Ben Wilkinson

Posted July 11, 2020, 9:43 p.m. by Ensign Lydia Ayeka (Counselor) (R Smith)

Posted by Ensign Ben Wilkinson (Security Officer) in Counselors Office, Checking in - Ens. Ben Wilkinson

Posted by Ensign Lydia Ayeka (Counselor) in Counselors Office, Checking in - Ens. Ben Wilkinson

Posted by Ensign Ben Wilkinson (Security Officer) in Counselors Office, Checking in - Ens. Ben Wilkinson
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

SNIP

Ben was ushered into the counselors office. The counselor was like no one he had ever met before. “Ensign Wilkinson, just reporting aboard.” He managed to stammer.
Ben JSO

“WHAT?” Ayeka screeched before realizing that she had shouted at her next appointment. “Ooh!” she blushed. “Sorry, my first day isn’t going very well,” she added with a nervous laugh that made sound as if she was here as a patient instead therapist, and that image hit too close to home. The truth was that Lydia Ayeka didn’t fit in on the laid back, touchy feely world of Risa, and the less said about spending time on Haven, AKA Betazed, the planet with no privacy that better. Ayeka’s study of psychiatry was a natural result of spending so much time with therapists as a child and her career in Starfleet was a natural outgrowth of her obsessive-compulsive tendency to want things disciplined and organized. “But we’re here for you,” she smiled guiltily. “Um have a seat. Do you want anything?” she asked as she gestured to the food replicator installed in the back wall.

Counselor Lydia Ayeka, finally posting

“Yes, please, if I could get just a coffee, hot, black I’d appreciate it.” Ben managed to get out. He didn’t know why, but coffee had a calming effect for him, unlike most other people. He hoped this session went well, he really needed to get to work, and wanted to fully explore the ship, also to familiarize himself with at least the various department heads, and with other personnel as time allowed. Ben realized he had yet to meet the Captain or the XO, hopefully those meeting would go well also.

Ben JSO

“Coffee, hot,” Ayeka said to the replicator. A white cup of black coffee appeared in a shower of sparks. The cup was atop a saucer and a friendly trace of steam rose from it as the lavender haired counselor gingerly picked up and brought it over to the young human. Briefly she considered asking for something alcoholic after the pasting Valeris had given her but she decided on having tea with sugar instead.

“I’m Lydia Ayeka, ship’s counselor,” she introduced herself in what she hoped was a professional, but casual tone. “I’m new too,” she admitted with a bashful grin. “Pleased to meet you Ensign,” she chirped as she extended her hand.

Lydia Ayeka, ship’s counselor

OOC: I’m sorry to interrupt, but are you guys still in the holodeck? or are you in the counselor’s office now?

D…

OOC: I believe we should move this to the counselors office, I was kind of wondering why we were still in the holodeck.

Dave

Ben took the cup from the counselor, “Thank you very much.” Ben took the counselors outstretched hand in his and marveled at how small, warm and soft it was. “Glad to meet a fellow newbie, so where do you hail from ?” Ben asked, then realized he was still holding the counselors hand

“Oh, I grew up on Risa,” the young councilor blushed. For woman who was tired of the laid-back, touchy feely denizens of Risa, Ben Wilkinson was very attractive. It wasn’t just his flashing green eyes or his youthful features, what Ensign Wilkinson had was harder to pin down.

It was his body language. His taut athletic body moved… well there wasn’t anybody on Risa or Betazed who moved quite like him. Instinctively Lydia Ayeka recalled a line from the old holonovel “Androids of Death.” He moved like a hunter. Yes. That was it. She had met, and even dated men who moved like a dancer but never one who moved like a hunter. Suddenly Lydia understood the appeal of the brooding antihero as a romantic figure amongst Klingons, Terrans, and Andorians. She giggled nervously as her heart fluttered.

He released her hand, “sorry about that, I’m a little nervous, and you’re totally different from what I was expecting.....er, I meant that in a good way of course.”

“Oh um yes,” she gulped as she attempted to regain her composure. “Yes, yes of course.” Ben was a client, not a romantic fantasy. He was a real person with real problems and it was frightfully immature for Lydia to saddle him with romantic expectations out of a tacky holonovel. She had to get her feet planetside and become Counselor Ayeka, not Lydia Ayeka from Paradise Island, Risa. “Let’s sit down,” she suggested timidly.

Ben finally took a sip of the coffee and sat it down on a small table. “Now what ?”, he asked.

Ben – JSO

“Well, let’s talk about you, Ben,” Ayeka proposed in what she considered her ‘counselor voice.’ “Tell me about yourself. I understand you had a rough time in the Academy.”

Counselor Ayeka, trying to stay professional.

Ben took another sip of his coffee, and cradled the cup in his hand. “The Academy itself was great, I loved every minute of it. The first part of my last year my parents were both killed in a shuttle accident, and I can accept that. They were both Astro-physicists and there is a certain risk involved in running around examining exploding stars and collapsing worm holes, and I realize they both died doing something they both loved, and they died together.” Ben sighed and took another sip of coffee. For some reason he felt at ease in the presence of this strange girl. “What I think I’m having a hard time accepting is the death of my brother a few days later from the same accident........, He was two years younger than me, and we were more than brothers, were best friends as well. He was home from school on vacation and since I was at the academy he accompanied my parents. They told me he was in an environmental suit that was damaged and leaking when they found him.” Ben drained the rest of the coffee and set the cup down on the table. “They told me there was a chance he might survive, but his lungs were too damaged and the machines were all that were keeping him alive. My parents were gone, he was too young to have any kind of advanced directive, so I was the one who had to make the decision to stop life support. I stood there and watched as his body shut down and held his hand when he took his final breath.” Ben took a deep breath, and his shoulders shook as he looked up and the tears streamed down his face. “All I could do was watch him die, I couldn’t help him. I was the one he always came to when he had a problem, but I was helpless in the end.” Ben’s shoulders shook again and a soft sob escaped him.

Ben - JSO - Trying to get his head on straight.

When Ayeka was studying psychology, all of her classmates thought that her empathic abilities would give her a leg up, but in reality it could become a quite a burden. Now that Lydia was no longer focusing on herself, the young Terran’s feelings were coming through with maddening intensity. The lavender haired lady had to blink away the tears and assume a calm demeanor, but her passionate and expressive nature made that a challenge.

This was the difficult part of her job. It wasn’t possible to try to fix anything, not this quickly. It would take time for Ben to make new relationships to help fill the void left by the family he lost. And although the pain from that loss might fade, it would never go away completely. All Lydia could do now was to help him go through the grieving process. Warrior cultures like Terrans and Andorians often felt it was unbecoming to display grieve unlike Betazoids and Risans. At least Ben was allowing himself to weep and not letting the uniform get in the way of that.

“It’s all right to grieve,” Ayeka said as she moved to sit next to Ben and pat his knee. “I’m sure wherever they are, they understand.”

Counselor Ayeka, facing the realities of her job


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