Posted by Lieutenant Commander Vanessa Lofton (Counselor) in Counsellors Office - McCall checks in

Posted by Cadet Alex McCall, MD (Doctor) in Counsellors Office - McCall checks in

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Vanessa Lofton (Counselor) in Counsellors Office - McCall checks in
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Alex checked his PADD, scrolling his way through the briefing material provided until he reached the section he was looking for.

“Ah here we are, 16:30pm shiptime, appointment with Counsellor.” He muttered to himself, glancing between the included deck plans and the door he was stood outside of to double check he had the right place.

With a check of his uniform and after running his hand through his side parted sandy blonde hair one last time, he decided to bite the bullet and hit the door chime.

Cadet Alex McCall, MD

“Enter!” came through the door panel, and the doors opened on a large sitting room. The room was mostly open, with a large L-shaped sectional sofa across from the door, upholstered in blue. The wall behind the sofa was a darker blue, while the carpeting in the room was a lighter shade, all complementary and clearly designed with a calming effect in mind. Above the couch hung a painting of a human couple - a barefoot woman in a red evening gown and elbow-length gloves, and a man in a tuxedo - dancing on a wet beach, as a maid and butler stood nearby holding umbrellas.

A dark-haired woman stood near one end of the sofa, holding a watering can to a set of white daisies in a red vase. She turned as the doors opened, the bun holding her hair atop her head wobbling slightly, and smiled brightly. “Hi! You must be Alex. Please, come in!” She set the watering can down in the space under the side table. “I’m Lieutenant Commander Lofton, but please, in here, call me Vanessa. Have a seat!”

As she gestured to the sofa she walked to the other end of the office, where a small desk sat beside a replicator in the wall. “I was going to have a hot chocolate; would you like anything?”

OOC: Hi David! I’m Nathan. In the counselor thread we’ll dive a little into your character’s backstory, their motivations and desires. Little things that will maybe help flesh out your bio. I look forward to writing with you!

CNS Lofton / Nathan

OOC: Hi Nathan, nice to meet you (and Vanessa)!

IC: “a hot chocolate would be lovely, thank you.” Said Alex, his attention mostly drawn to the painting. Alex stepped in to the room to get a closer look, flicking the fringe of his side parted sandy brown hair out of his eyes with the fingers of one hand as he did so, in what was clearly a habitual gesture.

“This is a lovely piece Vanessa, a Vettriano if I’m not mistaken?”

Cadet Alex McCall, MD

“You know your Scottish painters well!” she replied with a laugh. “Two hot chocolates,” she ordered from the replicator, and was shortly walking two mugs over to the couch. “I love the sense of motion, of joy and love it conveys in those lines.” She set the two mugs down on the low table that sat before the couch, then looked at the painting with Alex. “I’ve loved it since I was a kid.”

She let them take in the painting for a few more moments before she seated herself on the sofa, lifting the mug and tucking her legs beneath her. “This is a very informal session,” she began, then took a sip of the cocoa and hummed. “Mostly a ‘getting to know you’ session. How are you settling in?”

CNS Lofton

“It would be strange if I did not recognise it, being an Edinburgh man myself…. I think it was more unusual at one point to see student accommodation that didn’t feature a print of the Singing Butler when I was at the university.”

“Well then, to students with good taste,” she raised her cocoa mug in a mock salute with a smile. “I imagine he would be pretty popular in Edinburgh.”

Alex took the offered mug with a smile and settled himself on to the sofa, his posture relaxed.

“So, Vanessa, what exactly would you like to get to know about me?”

Cadet Alex McCall, MD

She rolled the cup between her palms as he spoke. “The kinds of things I won’t find in your files,” she replied, gesturing toward her desk terminal with her head. “I have reams of data on your psychological profile, your scores in every class you’ve taken, projections on scores in classes you didn’t take… but I’m more interested in what’s not there.”

She sipped the cocoa. “So let’s start with the easy stuff - what do you like to do when you’re not in class, or working? Any hobbies, interests?”

CNS Lofton

Alex cradled the mug in his hands, feeling the warmth of the chocolate as he considered the last few years of his life.

“Hobbies… to be honest I haven’t really had time for much outside of work and my studies the last few years… medical school….residency…the academy….” Alex paused, and glanced down, inspecting the carpet of the office

“I’m sure you, as a fellow medical professional, can understand how all consuming it can be? Studying, shift work, constantly needed to keep up with the latest developments and research? Doesn’t leave a lot of time for macramé or learning to surf does it?”

Cadet Alex McCall, MD