PNPC Lt. Pershan — Telling Teashells
Nolen Hobart
((Pershan Quarters, Deck 14, USS Khitomer))
Lieutenant Pershan possessed a variety of what many people described as “oddities.” He preferred to think of them as “fun little details,” or, in a pinch, “quirks.” To the untrained eye, they seemed like natural hiccups from a disorganized mind but the truth of the matter was that Pershan had, over his fifteen decades of life, discovered that a lot could be discovered about his patients if he kept them on their toes and disoriented them. And being that it was far more humane to disrupt social expectations than, say, involuntarily drug them or release ravenous predators to roam the corridors of a starship, he saw this as a perfectly reasonable end of a spectrum of professional conduct that could very quickly tend towards abuse.
He'd spent the better part of an hour trying to decide which large, discarded mollusk shell would maximize the value between improbability of application, and actual usefulness for the task. He decided on a large spiraled thing, concluding that its garish coloration would do some heavy lifting, while its many reticulated chambers would serve to store a considerably large amount of tea without risk of spilling or sloshing.
With the shell-mug tucked under his arm, the El-Aurian counselor made for his doorway, as the night shift in the counseling suite beckoned. As he approached it, it opened generously to allow him to leave, whereupon he discovered a familiar someone who appeared to just be leaving.
Pershan: Ayemet…?
Ayemet: Oh Doctor, right ::stopping as she tries to think of an excuse.::
It was strange to see her down here, and not just because she was standing in the middle of the corridor, facing away from him like a child caught sneaking into the pantry. She and Lt. Commander Dewitt resided in the senior officer quarters a deck above him. He suspected that her presence outside his door wasn't an accident. Or personal.
He stepped back and gestured with a wave of one open hand.
Pershan: If you like, I can close the door and you can press the chime. ::smile:: I always like that part.
She finally turned to face him and, still looking remarkably like a caught child, hustled herself through his doorway and into his quarters.
Pershan: Sure! Have a seat.
Ayemet: : I: :a moment’s hesitation as she gives in to the inevitable: I needed to see you.
He nodded as the doors closed behind them. Then his eyes landed on his sofa, which had an array of giant, colorful, oddly shaped seashells spread atop his cushions.
Pershan: Not there, though. Those are my shells. For tea. My “teashells.”
She collapsed in an armchair and out of habit Pershan headed straight to his replicator. He'd treated Ayemet before, briefly, and recalled her beverage preferences. He keyed in the command for a hot chocolate.
In a mug.
A Dewitt: I’m sorry this is inappropriate.
Pershan: ::carefully handing over the drink:: I'll have to take your word for it, because I don't even know what this is.
A Dewitt: I need to talk to you about :beat: about my capture by the Sheliak. About what they did to me. :beat: About what I did to them.
His eyebrows bounced involuntarily. That's what this was. And, sure, it was a little inappropriate. But not the worst of all possible scenarios. Though depending on what she “did” to the Sheliak, he might be obligated to report some of their conversation to Captain Shayne. But at the very least none of this seemed marital in nature, and he counted that as a blessing.
He sat down on the armrest of his couch, the only part of it that wasn't host to the exoskeletal remains of ocean life.
Pershan: Alright, Lieutenant. Lay it on me.
Ayemet: Response
He smiled his most comforting smile. Cold feet were common, but she’d already taken the plunge and now the main thing was to keep her talking. That she was a counselor herself changed nothing.
Pershan: Why don’t you start with what happened today that made you want to talk about it? We’ll work backwards from there.
Ayemet: Response
Pershan: I can’t imagine it just came out of the blue. What got you over the hump?
Ayemet: Response
TAGS/TBC
———
Lieutenant Pershan
Counselor
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
as simmed by
Lt. Commander Nolen Hobart
Executive Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
A240001NH3