PNPC Lt Commander Lori Lux - Sometimes it's the child that needs to be healed
Ava Munro
((Counsellor's Office - Counselling Suites - Deck 7 - USS Artemis-A))
Tho'Bi: ::focused on glass:: When I was a kid… I had to be very careful when I played with the other children.
He sat back and looked towards her. The conversation had taken an unexpected turn.
Tho'Bi: I was stronger. …a lot stronger.
She maintained eye contact towards Tho'Bi as he spoke to show that she was listening. This was something common that her clients would bring up when interspecies integration occurred. Culture clashes, biological differences, language errors and temperamental incidents were commonplace amongst integrated communities within the Federation and beyond. She had noted on Tho'Bi file that he was raised on a multicultural Federation station.
Strange that he would consider himself uniquely stronger on a station with countless different species, and this made her wonder where this was coming from? Somewhere deeper, more rooted to how he viewed himself? Or more specific to his personality type?
Lux: It is difficult when you're forced into a very intense situation, on your first mission as well. It's going to bring up a lot of emotions for you.
He looked away from her, she wasn't sure if this was a sullen thing or he needed a break. His emotions were extremely heightened.
Then, seemingly spoken from a distance as if he was caught in a memory. Or the past?
Tho'Bi: ::distant:: Yeah… that makes sense.
And just as suddenly he kicked heels. She sat up straight on her own chair. The Andorian looked around. Silence. Seconds. Seconds stretched into tens of seconds. Finally, he looked towards her. She met his dark blue eyes calmly. She nodded her head slowly to urge him on.
Tho'Bi: ::quiet:: But Andorians are built for danger… for life or death… for war. ::shakes head:: Everything is calmer, clearer for us in these moments.
The words surprised her and were as directly at odds with the many Andorians she had met, friends and colleagues. At that moment she saw the engineer as he would have been, as a boy, struggling to fit in on a station far from his people. It made her heart weep for him.
She maintained her professionalism but she placed both her hands on the side of her chair and squeezed gently. Not enough that he would notice, but just enough to help her focus. A trick she'd picked up over the years.
She felt his pain and anguish. That was what it was.
Lux: Our natural instincts and responses are not always bad. Even if they feel like they should be. They come from a place of survival in this specific case. But we're getting abstract, I'd like to narrow our scope a little to how this has affected you?
Tho'Bi stood and began to pace. Lori was used to clients becoming animated, even aggressive in sessions but they normally came further into the relationship. Tho'Bi appeared to be deeply in crisis and everything was spilling out. She was glad that he had come here, and she now realised why the Captain had recommended he come here.
Tho'Bi: ::more animated:: It’s not supposed to bother me. It's not supposed to be a problem. ::looks at Lux:: I'm Andorian.
She raised her hands to motion calm and then lowered them to indicate that she would prefer that he remained seated for now. He took his seat and then shifted.
Lux: Having emotions is normal :: beat :: Even for an Andorian.
Tho'Bi: But it should bother me? Shouldn't it? ::finger pointing at chest:: I want it to bother me.
He seemed to slump back into a heap on the chair. Again, she couldn't help but see the boy he would have been. In many ways she was reminded of Romi, her older brother, who always seemed to be looking for a fight. Mostly he would find it in all the wrong places. Just a boy that was trying to figure out his place.
Sometimes it was the child that needed to be healed.
oO this isn't Romi Oo
She refocused on Tho'Bi and pushed all thoughts of Romi aside, that would be something she'd bring up in her own supervision.
Lux: It should bother you. It's healthy. When we repress emotions they tend to manifest themselves in other ways. Often more destructive ways.
Tho'Bi: Response
Lux: I can't answer that for you Tho'Bi, I wish I could, it would make my job a lot easier. When you feel this way :: paused to think :: this conflict between what you feel inside and how you suppose an Andorian should behave, what do you do in these moments?
She had seen some of that come out in this session with the erratic pacing, the fidgeting but she wondered if there was more.
Tho'Bi: Response
Lux: Have you ever tried meditative practice or some techniques? Is that something you'd even consider?
She waited, and watched keenly, his reaction to this suggestion.
Tho'Bi: Response
Tags/TBC
Lt Commander Lori Lux
First Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240004LL2