Posted by Cadet P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in Counselor’s Office - Cadet Dawes Reporting on USS Challenger

Posted by Captain Grayson Rhodes (Commanding Officer) in Counselor’s Office - Cadet Dawes Reporting on USS Challenger

Posted by Cadet P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in Counselor’s Office - Cadet Dawes Reporting on USS Challenger
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
After her medical check-in and meeting with her new CO in sickbay, Dr. Frankenstein, P’Mala Dawes spent the time between appointments securing her quarters–rather unsuccessfully.

You’d think a ship this size would have… a concierge, or something, she thought, stalking Deck 6 and looking for her name on a door or something.

“Computer, where is Ensign Dawes’ room?” she asked.

=^=Unable to comply.=^=

When she teleported aboard the Challenger, she wasn’t sure where she’d be laying her head that night, though she’d sent her belonging in three small crates to storage in Cargo Bay two days before.

She had been somewhat nervous of sharing space, having had only one roommate before–and they’d known each other for years…

P’Mala brushed away the thought. It was almost appointment time already. She quickly traced her steps back to the turbolift. “Deck 3.”

=^=Deck 3=^=

Stepping out of the turbolift, all the rooms looked the same, except for the obvious gymnasium and the clearly-labeled life boats.

“If I were the Counselor’s Office, where would I be?” she said out loud.

“That would be the third door, that way, on the left,” came a voice from her right. Walking down the hall was a human woman of average height, Starfleet uniform clad in blue shoulders. Her dark hair was piled atop her head, held in place with a pair of wooden skewers. She smiled brightly as she approached, a box wedged under one arm and a PADD in the other hand. “You must be Cadet Dawes. I’m Lieutenant Commander Lofton, the ship’s counselor. It is a privilege to see you,” she greeted the doctor, switching to Vulcan at the end; her pronunciation was passable for a non-native, but she was clearly not a linguist.

“I had to pick up some things from ship’s stores,” she said, shifting the box slightly as she raised it, “so this is perfect timing. Follow me!” She continued down the hall in the direction past P’Mala.

“Would you like anything from the replicator?” she called over her shoulder. “I was going to have a hot chocolate.”

OOC: Hi Shaun! I’m Nathan and I play the counselor here onboard Challenger. Welcome to STF! The counselor thread is an opportunity for us to delve into your character background a little, feel out their motivations and desires, hit on some things that may help flesh out the great bio you’ve started.

One thing to keep in mind, we want to sign all of our posts; it makes it a little easier to distinguish one post from the next once we get into longer, multi-person threads. Character name and position or rank is all that’s needed. I use CNS Lofton for this character (CNS is our common abbreviation for counselor); I could also use Lt. Cmdr. Lofton - CNS or any other combination thereof. It’s a little freeform, just as long as it helps us decipher who wrote what in the thread. Since I also wrote a long-ish OOC note, I’m also going to sign my name, but that’s a personal thing. If you ever accidentally forget to sign (or misspell something, or any other number of reasons) use the handy dandy Edit button to add it! You can edit a post until someone has replied to it.

I can’t wait to learn more about P’Mala!

CNS Lofton / Nathan

Dawes was put immediately at ease by Lofton’s demeanor and the use of Vulcan language. She raised her hand palm forward, parted her fingers between the middle and ring finger. It’d been a couple years since P’Mala had made the gesture, but with her hands full, the counselor didn’t seem exactly prepared for the human handshake.

“The pleasure is mine, Lieutenant Commander,” she said, following. “Though I would be wary of the replicators. They were down in Medical earlier today, and I’m not certain if they’re functioning at their best. I haven’t chanced it myself yet.”

She paused.

“But if they do, a glass of water would be fantastic.” She’d been walking around the ship for a few hours and hadn’t ate or drank since the morning. Her stomach growled just slightly. “Actually, make that a glass of tomato juice.”

-Ensign P’Mala Dawes, Medical

OOC: Thank you, and nice to meet you! I forgot the sign off earlier–knowing about the editor button definitely helps! Thank you! -Shaun

Bump

OOC: Hi Shaun! Unfortunately our CNS has had to step away from the Challenger due to real life, so I’m going to step in and take over with an NE (Nameless Ensign, basically a side character that isn’t a rostered one) to continue this. Hopefully, we will have a new CNS arriving soon but for now, you’re stuck with little ol me.

IC: They reached the Counselors suite and entered the Office and, just as the drink that P’Mala had requested materialized on the replicator the Comm on the Counselors desk chirped and a voice came through. =/\= Counselor Loften, we have an emergency that requires your knowledge in Room 88, can you attend urgently please =/\=

Excusing herself, the Counselor placed the drink on the table beside P’Mala and slipped out the door, then motioned for one of the Junior Officers who worked in the Department to replace her. A thin man of around P’Mala’s height walked in and stopped slightly as the door closed behind him, and he looked up at P’Mala and smiled. He had short blond hair and a tidy van dyke beard that was of a slightly darker shade than his hair.

“Sorry about that, sometimes we get emergencies too. My name is NE Klein. Seeing as this was a boarding check-in, I can continue the session,” Walking around the desk he paused and looked to the replicator himself. “Would you mind if I got something as well? It’s been a long morning. Take a seat and make yourself Comfortable, please!”

NE Klein, CNS

OOC: No worries!

IC: P’Mala wished Lt. Cmdr. Lofton well and took a seat.

“Absolutely, Ensign Klein.”

“Thank you,” he replied and shortly thereafter, was returning to the Counselors seat with a tall ice tea. Half of it was gone before he sat down.

She took one long gulp of the tomato juice, then another. After meeting with her CMO and walking all over the ship, she was getting tired and hungry, but didn’t want to show it.

“I’m glad to meet you. What exactly does a boarding intake entail?” she asked as the ensign retrieved his beverage

Then I’m looking forward to finding my quarters and freshening up, perhaps having a meal, she thought to herself.

-Cadet P’Mala Dawes

“Oh it’s nothing serious, I assure you,” Klein grinned. “We aren’t trying to assess you for suitability in Starfleet, you just had four years or more of Academy training and we are pretty sure that, if there was anything stopping you, it would have been picked up by now and you wouldn’t have passed Starfleets’ entrance exam in the first place.”

Pausing, he picked up his glass and took another drink, then placed it back down. “Sorry, I’ve been thirsty all morning. Where was I? Oh, yes. The point of this is simply to get to know you better, find out what drives you and what you want to achieve now that you are out here,” he waved his hand around his head, he might have been indicating space even. “You’ve done your training, now it’s time to put it into use and see where you want to go.”

“So, enlighten me,” now he leaned forward slightly and the grin turned into a gentle smile. “Doctor Dawes, what was it about Starfleet that made you want to be here?”

NE Klein, CNS

P’Mala had thought about this question often.

“You know, counselor, I joined the Academy a little later than most of my peers. A lot of these cadets are still in their 20s. I’m 35,” she admitted.

“Really? I would never have guessed!” Klein responded with a look of surprise on his face.

She took a sip of her tomato juice, it’s nutrition taking away some of her hunger pangs.

“I’d already recieved degrees in xenobiology and medicine from the University of Kentucky, had worked for an ER, and I knew there was something more out there for me.”

She paused, a little hesitantly. “To be honest, shuttles and small ships make me a little motion sick, but I am deeply interested in other species in their sociological contexts, other planets–their plants and animals.”

Her eyes twinkled ruefully. “In another life, perhaps I would be an anthropologist or a diplomat. But medicine informs my perspective.”

She shifted in her seat. “How about you? How’d you end up in Starfleet, Counselor?”

-Cadet P’Mala Dawes

“I joined Starfleet to escape hitmen from the Orion Syndicate.” Klein said easily, then laughed. “Okay maybe not the syndicate, but I got into some trouble in my youth, made some bad choices and hung around with the wrong people. As a result, when the law caught up with me I had to spend some time in one of those seats,” he pointed at the seat Dawes was sitting in.

“Who knew that the experience of being counseled, would light a fire in me for being a counselor? I did my time in the seat, did my time in community service, then took night classes to get the grades and recommendations I needed to join Starfleet. I could kill two birds with one stone, I thought. Launch a career that would help me and other people, and take me places I would never see if I stayed around the wrong people.”

Picking up his glass, he finished the iced tea in one long, drawn out swig. “So you joined to see the galaxy, as it were? I guess you are looking for a position on an exploration vessel to see what is out there, or are you hoping for something closer to home?”

NE Klein, CNS