Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (CNS) in Holodeck 2- Therapy in Unusual Places Day 1, Part 2

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Holodeck 2- Therapy in Unusual Places Day 1, Part 2

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (CNS) in Holodeck 2- Therapy in Unusual Places Day 1, Part 2
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

As comfortable as the cottage looked, Viyara found herself wishing that there was more space. Sure, she’d have her own bedroom and she could wander off if she wanted to. But other than that there was basically no privacy. Which was probably the whole point, she thought a little grimly. Looking at Janna, she nodded and then headed down the short hallway.

Before even opening any of the doors, Viyara stopped and pondered. She didn’t actually care which room she’d take, but since Janna wanted her to pick, she thought that the one facing the garden behind the house would be nice. Opening the door to that room, she peered inside and sight softly. The view was beautiful, just as she had expected. But the interior design was … not exactly what she’d pick. Too much pink and white and too many cute little flowers.

After a moments hesitation during which she pondered if she should have a look at the other room after all, Viyara asked, “Computer, if I’m allowed to make changes to this room, can you replace the sheets with a set in a warm, dark purple with some black ornaments on them or something. Make the curtains dark purple as well. Replace the painting of the flowers with the photograph of the butterfly nebula, but keep the one of the stormy ocean. And can you add a fountain pen with black ink and an extra fine nip to the desk?”

~Viyara Nazeen

The computer made the specified changes since they were only cosmetic changes to the program. Anything more than that or ordering food or garments would have to go through Janna.

For her part, Kingston moved to the other little room and set her backpack on the bed. It would do just fine. Her feeling was that if they were going to spend so much time together, they might as well be comfortable. This was not a traditional clinical setting and she had no intention of treating it as such. There were times and places for that but this was not it.

Moving back to the sitting room, she replicated a hard cover cloth bound notebook for herself and a weighty ballpoint pen. Sitting on the large sofa, the petite woman sank into it and slipped off her shoes, tucking her feet under her. Grabbing one of the throw pillows, she used it as a lap desk, opened the journal and began to write, her script surprisingly neat and tidy for someone who worked on a computer all day and most days. Tall slanted letters began to form, the spacing compact but legible.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

A small sigh of relief escaped Viyara’s lips as the computer made the changes she had asked for. That was much better! Undoing her ponytail again, she walked over to the window and looked outside for several moments. It really was a beautiful place. And yet it was still basically a prison. Albeit a cosy one. And that was something she didn’t like at all. It made her feel in edge and even though it had been like this since they were beamed onto the holodeck, it only really seemed to hit her now. It made her want to go back outside. Go for a run or a hike or something. But that would only serve as avoidance right now and she was worried she might do something that would lead her straight to sickbay. And she wanted to be there even less than here.

So Viyara turned away from the window and pulled her notebook out of her backpack instead. Sitting down at the desk, she opened the page where she had written down the grounding technique. At first she simply retraced the letters with the black ink, but that quickly led to her drawing all sorts of things around it. Including a tree whose branches and leaves turned into birds who flew away. A feather and a dragon who was spewing fire. In the end the whole page was covered drawings and a few words. Those had let to her scribbling in her tiny on the neighbouring page. She didn’t think about making sense or writing everything correctly. She simply wrote down everything that was going on in her head. So what if she jumped from topic to topic and thought to thought? This was her journal after all.

After what felt like a very long time to her, Viyara felt like she had really calmed and settled down. Enough at least to think about her constant homework from Janna and to really reflect on what had happened today. What had triggered her. And how she had reacted to it.

~Viyara Nazeen

Janna continued writing for a bit, giving Viyara the time alone if she needed it. But after about thirty minutes she got up and moved to the kitchen. She would simply ask the computer to generate the food but for some things she was going to be anachronistic. “I’m going to have some lunch I think,” she called out so Viyara could hear her. “Feel free to eat when you feel you need to.”

Even though she had heard Janna loud and clear, Viyara didn’t seem to react. She certainly didn’t reply. Nor did she stop writing and drawing in her journal.

Filling a kettle with water, Janna plugged it in and grabbed a large french press to make some coffee.

~Janna Kingston

A few minutes after Janna had started to make coffee, Viyara suddenly appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Leaning against it, she said, “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier. That was uncalled for.”

~Viyara Nazeen