PNPC Ensign Cheylla Thonn - Gaining Perspective

[Anath G'Renn]

((Counseling Offices - Deck 9, USS Constitution-B))

 

A new client was in her office. Cheylla stood up and stretched a bit as he found a seat and got comfortable.

 

Spears: Ed Spears. It's nice to meet you. And no need for the 'Commander'. Especially not if we're going to work together like this.

 

Thonn: oO Ed, got it. Oo

 

Thonn: Ensign Cheylla Thonn. Can I get you something to drink before we begin?

 

She already had a mug of hot chocolate sitting on her desk and wasn’t about to not offer something to Commander Spears. While he made up his mind she also searched for his record on her desk monitor, sending it to her PADD. 

 

Spears: I wouldn't mind a cup of tea. Darjeeling? Nothing in it.

 

Once he requested a cup of tea she walked over to the replicator. She gathered the request cup of tea and offered it to Spears. Cheylla sat down in a large rattan peacock chair, leaving a few spaces between herself and Spears to give him his personal space. She set her drink on the coffee table and skimmed over his service record while looking for the best route into what seemed like a tangled web of emotions.

 

Thonn: If you’re not sure where to begin, then let’s start with something simple. The here and now. You’re here in my office for a reason. What was it? Why are you here?

 

Spears: There have been a lot of changes in my life, so I guess I need to figure out where to start unpacking that.

 

Thonn: Maybe it’s some specific trigger that you wanted to talk about or just something in general that’s weighing on your mind. It might even be a sudden impulse as you were walking by the office door. Whatever it was that brought you here, that’s where we’ll begin.

 

A career in Starfleet provided no shortage of reasons to visit the counseling department on top of normal life stresses. Especially after a stressful mission like the one the senior staff seemingly had. However, there was also a year-long absence from Starfleet on the lieutenant commander’s record that had only just ended. Perhaps that, or the cause of that leave, was what he wanted to talk about?

 

Spears: Well, despite this being a walk-in, I have been meaning to come by for a while. It didn't help that I walked back onto the ship after a year away and then got marched right back out onto a mission to save Jalana…

 

Thonn: Just adjusting back to Starfleet life, or something else?

 

So, the year away seemed like a big source of the inner turmoil. Not unexpected, but she needed to drill a bit deeper down to get a better idea of the precise issues. Which might be greeted by some evasiveness.

 

Spears: Have you ever experienced a life-changing moment? SOmething where your view of reality is fundamentally altered?

 

Cheylla shifted in her seat a bit. Self-disclosure was something that seemed like a natural inroads to helping a client feel the counselor’s empathy. Sharing similar experiences fostered a sense of a shared struggle. Which was fine for friends empathizing with a friend’s plight. Not so much for a counselor. She tried to dig a bit deeper without starting to talk about herself.

 

Thonn: It’s… not something that everyone goes through. Depending on what’s been shattered, it can take a long time to rebuild what’s been lost and realign your life. But, sometimes, people take the opportunity for change with zeal and use it as a springboard for changing their life. It is different in every case.

 

He had asked about it for a reason. She adjusted in her chair and looked at Edward.

 

Thonn: Why do you ask?

 

Spears: I know, you're the one who's supposed to ask things. But that shift of my view on the universe happened a few times over the past year.

 

Now they were getting somewhere. Something happened in that year-long break from Starfleet. Something that broke the commander’s frame of reference for the galaxy. That sounded like a great place to dig in.

 

Thonn: Well, that sounds like a wonderful place to start. I was looking at your record and took note of your year away from Starfleet. Tell me about it.

 

Spears: I guess I should just start at the beginning, with when I left the fleet…

 

Thonn: What was it that made you decide to leave?

 

Cheylla opened a fresh file in her PADD, ready to type up session notes. She kept it angled away so Spears couldn’t see the screen and silenced the auditory feedback of typing so as not to distract him.

 

Spears: Response

 

Thonn: And was that what you’re talking about, stepping away because you felt like you needed to refind your place? What happened when you got back home?

 

Not to undermine the difficulties of the situation… but it didn’t strike her as the kind of worldview-shattering catastrophe she sensed.

 

Spears: Response

 

Thonn: ::She sipped from her hot chocolate.:: Out into the great unknown… Sounds like quite an adventure. It definitely sounds like the kind of place that would give you a new perspective. Even moving from one world to another in the core of the Federation can do that. That had to be quite the change.

 

Spears: Response

 

There was more there. Cheylla knew that it was there but needed a bit more. She said only three words before leaning back and giving the silence a moment to help Spears organize his thoughts. And to get to the heart of the matter. Her hand hovered near the PADD, ready to continue typing her notes.

 

Thonn: Go on, Ed.

 

Spears: Response

 

 

Ensign Cheylla Thonn

Counselor

USS Constitution-B

 

===as simmed by===

 

Ensign Rachel Flores

Engineering Officer

USS Constitution-B

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