Posted by Ensign Buddy Cullum (Security Officer) in Office of the Counselor: Psychological Evaluation

Posted by Lieutenant Mykl Najjar (CNS) in Office of the Counselor: Psychological Evaluation

Posted by Ensign Buddy Cullum (Security Officer) in Office of the Counselor: Psychological Evaluation
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
‘Cleared to return to active duty’ is what was written on his discharge from Starfleet medical. That should have sufficient, at least in Buddy Cullum’s mind. But one thing he knew, Starfleet loves a psych eval.

Arriving outside the door to the Counselor’s office, Cullum rang the chime.

-Ens. Cullum
Security Officer

Without missing a keystroke, Mykl called out “Come in.” She glanced over at the doors and saw her 1300 hrs appointment step in. “You must be Ensign Callum. Please make yourself comfortable, and I’ll be right with you.” In another two minutes she was done updating the file on the computer, so she swung away from the desk and headed for the replicator. “I’m having a glass of juice, would you like anything?”

Lieutenant Mykl Najjar
CNS USS Ark Angel

The doors slid open, and Buddy stepped inside—only to pause as he caught sight of the counselor. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it hadn’t been this. Strikingly poised and disarmingly beautiful, she radiated a calm authority that knocked his confidence off-kilter.

He’d had therapists before, but none who looked like this.

Never one to be at a loss for words, Buddy suddenly found himself fumbling.
“Oh, uh… I mean…”
Get it together, he scolded himself.

“I’d love a beer,” he said finally, recovering with a grin, “but that’s probably not appropriate, huh?”

Sliding into the nearest seat, he leaned back with practiced ease, his usual swagger returning.
“And please—call me Buddy. All my friends do.”

There he is, he thought, hoping he looked as cool as he felt.

-Ens. Cullum
Security Officer

She didn’t like using first names because it felt too familiar for the situation. Usually the people she saw in her office weren’t the ones she called ‘friend’. Normally, she called visitors, ‘clients’. It was also fairly easy to pick up on his tension and how it slid into a more confident tone once he was seated. “Well, you’re right, beer wouldn’t be appropriate at the moment and as far as calling you Buddy, why don’t we keep it professional for this first session?” She in no way was trying to embarrass Cullum, she just thought they should keep it on the up and up until they either became friends outside of her office, or until he became such a regular patient that they saw each other all the time.

Lieutenant Mykl Najjar
CNS USS Ark Angel

Buddy gave a small nod, the grin never fully leaving his face, though it softened at the edges. “Right. Professional. Got it.”

He sat forward a bit, resting his forearms on his knees, hands loosely clasped, the way he’d seen officers do in all those training vids about ‘engaging respectfully with senior staff.’ But he couldn’t help the bounce of his knee—or the way his eyes kept darting to every corner of the room like he was taking mental inventory of the escape routes.

“I guess I should start with the obvious,” he said, voice lighter than the weight behind his words. “I feel fine. Really. No nightmares. No flashbacks. No dark voices in the back of my head telling me to assimilate the crew.”

A brief pause. Then, with a smirk: “Too soon?”

-Ens. Cullum
Security Officer

Mykl smiled. He was someone who used humor to fit in, to ease any tension in a room and to make a positive impression. It was working too. Even though the counselor wasn’t feeling ill at ease, she still enjoyed it when someone wasn’t anxious in her presence. On the way to the sitting area, she stopped by the replicator for a small glass of orange juice, “Are you sure I can’t get you something?”

Once the drink(s) appeared, Mykl made her way to one end of the couch nearest where the Ensign sat. “Why don’t you tell me something that isn’t in your file?”

Lieutenant Mykl Najjar
CNS USS Ark Angel

It was rare for anyone to catch Buddy off guard—twice in one session was almost unheard of. His first instinct was to deflect, maybe throw out a joke to sidestep whatever came next. But something about Counselor Najjar disarmed him. She didn’t press, didn’t pry. She simply asked—and somehow, that made him want to answer.

“Not in my file, huh?” he echoed, leaning back in the chair. He took a breath. A memory stirred, and a slow smile crept across his face.

“My band had just finished recording our album, and we were gearing up for the release. The night it dropped, we played a concert at The Launching Pad.”

He paused to gauge her reaction. Anyone who’d spent time at the Academy knew The Launching Pad—the legendary, slightly disreputable venue where cadets ended up at least once, whether or not they remembered it afterward.

“The place was packed,” he continued, “just wall-to-wall bodies. The energy was electric. We’d just wrapped Chicken à la Rage—always a crowd-pleaser—and we slowed it down to roll into Dark Nebula of the Soul. And that’s when I saw her.”

He leaned forward, eyes locking with the counselor’s.

“She was… smokin’. But more than that. She was looking at me—you know? Not at me. Into me. Like she saw through the music, through the crowd, through everything. And I sang that whole song to her. It felt like I was performing a concert for one.”

His expression softened. He leaned back again, voice lower now, tinged with nostalgia.

“After the set, I jumped off the stage, pushed through the crowd trying to find her. Nothing. I asked around—no one knew who I was talking about. I ran outside, thinking maybe I’d catch her… but she was gone.”

“My bandmates were leaving for an after-party, giving me that ‘you okay, man?’ look. But I told them I’d catch up. I stayed at that bar until closing time, hoping she’d reappear. Never did. And I went back—almost every night that semester—hoping she’d show up. Nearly flunked my Temporal Mechanics final because of it.”

His voice quieted as he stared into some middle distance.

“I’ve never been in love,” he said flatly, the change in tone stark against the warmth of his story. “Not once. I’ve dated, sure. Thought I was in love a few times. But I don’t actually know what it feels like. I can sing about it all day long, but it’s a front. I’m just guessing.”

He chuckled again, the familiar grin returning to soften the edges.

“That in my file?”

-Ens. Cullum
Security

She listened as Buddy started to tell the story, and noted the change in his voice and mannerisms when the memory took hold of him again. It was personal and loss, even if it was only for that night. When he finished speaking, Mykl leaned toward him over her crossed legs. “Wait, you’re…” here she checked his file on a nearby PaDD. “You’re 30 and you’ve never been in love?” For a human that was practically unheard of. “No, I’m sure that isn’t in your file, but its good to know.” Every detail he revealed would help her understand him better and that was really all she wanted to do–help everyone be their best selves. “Do you have any family on the ship with you?”

Lieutenant Mykl Najjar
CNS USS Ark Angel