Posted by Lieutenant Commander Vanessa Lofton (Counselor) in Counsellor’s Office: Cadet Ven Miya reporting for check-in

<snip>

The counselor nodded and approached the food slot. “One water, chilled, and one hot chocolate.” A moment later, after he whine of the replication process had ended, she lifted the glass and mug on saucer and carried them to the couch. She handed Miya’s glass over and sipped her own chocolate, relishing the spreading warmth for just a moment.

“I noticed quite a few more psychology and mental health courses than normal in your transcript,” she began. “Are you going for a mental health certification?”

OOC: BTW, how is Miya pronounced? Like ‘Maya’, or is it ‘Meeya’, or some other way I’m not thinking of? lol

Lt. Cmdr. Lofton - CNS

(OOC: It’s ‘Meeya’ - thanks for asking! :D)

Miya reached up to take the chilled water, condensation already beginning to mist the outside of the glass. “Thank you, Coun - ah, Vanessa,” she corrected herself quickly and took advantage of the counsellor’s enjoyment of her hot chocolate to sip at her own drink.

The woman’s comment didn’t surprise her; after all, Lieutenant T’Saie had made a similar remark during their first meeting just a short time previously. “Yes - in time, I would like to undertake more mental health qualifications, but I have to finish my medical training first,” she added, to ensure the counsellor knew she was aware of the first steps she had to undertake. “The courses I took at the Academy built on my earlier role before I joined Starfleet; I wanted to learn more about psychology and associated areas so I could work towards my eventual goal, which is to become a counsellor.” She glanced quickly around the room before returning her gaze to Vanessa, a shy but proud smile touching her lips. “And fulfil the will of the Prophets, of course.” She didn’t feel any reluctance to share that information with the counsellor, unlike her earlier meeting with T’Saie.

[Cadet Ven Miya]

Vanessa’s face brightened with a smile. “Wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that. We need all the help we can get out here,” she laughed. “Now, this is a very informal session,” she continued, crossing her legs. “If Starfleet didn’t think you were ready, you wouldn’t be here; this is for me to get to know you, and how we can best help you succeed in your time aboard the Challenger.”

She folded her hands on the top knee and bounced the dangling leg a couple of times. “Tell me a little bit about growing up in a household with two vedeks,” she said, curiosity evident on her face. Vedeks were the second highest rank in the Bajoran church, so not precisely common, and to be raised by two of them… to say Vanessa was interested in Miya’s views on the experience was putting it lightly.

OOC: Let’s talk a little bit about snipping or trimming posts. When a thread starts to get long, we can trim some of the excess posts, as I did above. We want to be careful to leave enough in that context is still evident, but take out anything that isn’t necessarily needed for this post. For a two person conversation, I find that leaving in three posts is a good limit - I delete anything with four >>>> and higher. Once you get to that level, you’ll notice that the system stops displaying who the posts were by, anyway, and says

(X) Posts Suppressed by the Post Ghost (?)
or something like that. You’ll notice that’s what I did here - I left three posts, one by you, then me, then you again.

For conversations with more than two people, a good rule of thumb is to include at least the last post by every participant. It can be a little tricky trying to figure out when and where to trim, but it can really save on scrolling so much lol. That’s a big reason we sign our posts - it’s much easier to tell who write what in a trimmed post that way.

Lt. Cmdr. Lofton - CNS

(OOC: thanks for explaining the snipping process - I’d been wondering how that worked! Hope my snip was correct.)

The counsellor’s reassuring words, allied to her friendly and open demeanour, brought an answering smile to Miya’s lips. She knew, of course, that this was all part of Vanessa’s role, but after the stress of meeting her new department head for the first time, it was pleasant to engage in a more relaxed conversation.

Vanessa’s question about growing up with two vedeks was so unexpected that she laughed. “Well, to me they were just my mum and dad! They were both ranjen when I was born - that’s the level above a prylar, which was the rank that I held before … before I left for Starfleet. My mother became a vedek first, then my father, but I was still quite young at the time and didn’t really notice much of a difference, except they were called away more often to minister to people or to settle disputes.” Miya shrugged; that had been normal to her - it wasn’t anything special. Like the Prophets themselves, the existence of her parents’ roles was simply part of her life.

She frowned slightly, recalling when the situation had changed. “I suppose their rank had more impact when I joined the priesthood myself. You probably know that our faith is at the centre of Bajoran life; it sustained us during the Occupation and helped us fight against the invaders.” Miya’s tone grew colder as she mentioned the terrible events which had changed Bajor, and its people, forever. “When I was given the chance to serve the Prophets by becoming a prylar, my parents also became my superiors in the faith. But we agreed that, whenever I was at home, we would avoid our ranks and simply be family, linked by love and by faith.” Her fingers gently brushed the d’ja pagh earring which dangled from her right ear, a reflexive gesture.

“I serve Starfleet now, and the Federation, but I also serve the will of the Prophets. And, through them, I honour my parents. It’s … it’s just who I am. Who we, Bajorans, are.” Miya offered Vanessa a half-embarrassed smile. “I’m sorry, you probably didn’t want all these details. I can get quite enthusiastic when I start explaining our religion - it’s probably why I don’t talk about it too often!” She ducked her head, taking a long swallow of water to counteract her dry throat.

[Cadet Ven Miya]