Morning Misunderstandings

Posted on Sat Feb 27th, 2010 @ 5:57pm by Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti

Mission: Episode 1.1 - "Now Boarding"
Location: Counselor's Suite
Timeline: MD04, 0711

Myrin was starting to get worried, very worried. He checked with the computer: 0711. He could have sworn that the counselor had set their appointment for 0700, but maybe he was wrong. He leaned back against the corridor bulkhead and whistled a tune-less melody as he watched the counselor’s closed and locked office door. He placed one foot, flat against the wall and nodded to a passing ensign, throwing her a smile and receiving a very approving one in return. She proceeded down the hall and Myrin’s eyes followed her as he dropped his foot and placed the other in its place. After a few minutes he crossed his arms.

“Computer, locate Lt. Andet-“ He stopped as the lift door far down the corridor opened and the counselor slid out. She looked . . . tired and rumpled. “Computer, cancel query.” He was smiling with the unusual sense of one catching his flat mate on the walk of shame. He stood straight and approached her, hardly able to hold off a smile. “Good morning, Lieutenant. Are you alright?”

She glanced at him – it was obvious she did not feel like discussing it. She rubbed her head and slinked towards her office.

His smile disappeared, only to be replaced with a cheek-splitting grin. This was just too delicious and he put the pieces together without assistance. When the counselor and Commander had disappeared from the lounge, only after he’d thrown a drink on her, he thought it was a bit odd, but this explained everything. The odd tension that had been between them, the drink, his leaving the table only a very calculated three minutes after she had . . . you didn’t have to be a counselor to put the psychological pieces together. The fact that he was desperately trying to avoid the ‘gossip’ label only marginally marred his joy.

“So,” he changed his tactic and his hands met behind his back. “You had an . . . interesting night?”

She didn’t respond, instead reaching to press her entry code into the pad beside the door.

“You and Commander Earlond, both, I mean.” His grin was as blatant as his tone and he watched her from the corner of his eye.

“Ensign!” She didn’t sound much like the cheery self of last night. The door opened and the Lieutenant hurried in, making directly for the replicator. He stood just inside the door and watched as the coffee appeared and the counselor sipped it with a look of relief. She paused and her posture straightened as she turned to him.

“I had a very tiring night.” She said it as though she were trying to break the truth to him gently and he threw his head back and laughed

“Yes, I gathered that.”

The look she gave him was deadly over the top of her coffee cup. “The commander was helping me with a problem,” the ensign’s grin began to spread again but a sharpening of the counselor’s look made him subdue it. “A professional problem and I had to finish some reports for him.” She paused and sipped her coffee, continuing to study him. “I’m not going to regret you coming on board, am I, Myrin?” She still looked hard but her voice was more casual.

That turned his smile off right away. “No sir, I’m sorry.”

“Good.” She sipped her coffee again and then slowly approached her desk. “Now, I owe you an apology, Mr. Nezar. I haven’t been very professional this morning. I did have a rough night, but not in the way you’re thinking I did, so I’m sorry if my professional standard is not quite up to snuff on your first day.” She smiled and he was surprised as she finished the last gulp of her coffee. He’d never seen anyone drink a cup of coffee that quickly before.

“Thank you, m’am.” It was the only thing he could think to respond with. She wasn’t quite making eye-contact, but he was going to give her the benefit of the doubt on this one. Anyways, even if she was lying about it all, he couldn’t afford to annoy his new boss.

“It’s Hannah, Myrin.”

The Lieutenant motioned to the seat across the desk from her. They sat together.

“So what’s on the agenda today, boss.” He grinned and she picked up a PaDD with a playful smile. Her eyes were still heavy behind it.

“I’ve only got a few appointments, all regulars, so you don’t have any patients unless we get some walk-ins.” She looked at him over the top of her PaDD. “There always are a few when a mission starts and you won’t be at a loss for work once we get started.”

He nodded, grateful that she was going to let him perform his own sessions right away, but didn’t say anything.

“I have a staff meeting at 0800, so you can grab some breakfast if you'd like, but I’m going to take you through the filing system and any reports you’ll need to complete, and hopefully there will be time for a look around.” She looked back at her PaDD. “Do you have any questions?”

“Nope.” It was true. He had been an assistant counselor long enough to know the drill.

She grinned. “That’s gotta be a first.” He smiled too. “I do have a personal favour, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, Hannah.” Here they came, the personal errands that he would have to run, the ‘private favours’ without which he would be transferred elsewhere. The story was the same everywhere.

“Well, maybe personal isn’t the word for it.” She put down the PaDD and folded her fingers together. “I have a friend . . . a patient who’s been having some trouble with dreams and unusual memories. It’s possible that he’s recently been involved in a temporal anomaly and we might want to bring them up so that he can consciously deal with them.”

Well, that was interesting. The ensign leaned forward in his seat.

“I’m not sure where to start looking and I thought if you have the time you might be interested in giving me a hand with some research.”

At least it was going to be an exciting personal errand. “Of course.” He said again. “That sounds interesting.”

“I’m glad you think so.” She smiled. “But I’d ask that you keep this particular research project quiet.”

He looked serious and nodded. “Of course,” he said for a third time. “I have a feeling you have a lot of secrets that I’m going to need to keep.”

She studied him for a fraction of a second before she smiled. She had obviously never considered that before. “I think most counselors have a lot of secrets.” She was still smiling, although her voice was serious. “Just remember to keep them all.”

[OFF]

by

Lieutenant jg. Hannah Andeti
Chief Counselor
USS Pandora

and

Ensign Myrin Nezar
Assistant Counselor
USS Pandora
(played by Lt. jg Andeti)