Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (Counsellor) in Business As Usual - CNS Office - Tag Kingston

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Serena Stone (Executive Officer) in Business As Usual - CNS Office - Tag Kingston

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (Counsellor) in Business As Usual - CNS Office - Tag Kingston
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Serena didn’t move to stop her, and as she made contact turned her hand over beneath Janna’s, taking hold, but not restraining, just good contact. Beneath her touch were wear patterns, semi-soft callouses across her palm and at the heel of her palm. Leftovers from a different kind of labor and one not suitable for civilized and polite society. Evidence of countless hours of training.

Janna was right, she was tense again. It only took a moment for her to synch up with the counselor, setting into a box breathing pattern.

Stone

Gaze fixed to Serena’s, Janna let her calmness radiate outward and once she felt the other woman relax she smiled. For the time being she did not remove her hand.

“When our experiences tell us that bad things happen under certain sets of conditions, it’s perfectly reasonable to be conditioned to avoid those circumstances. That’s how we survive, how we stay safe. We need that.”

“But… there can come a part where that inclination can prevent us from living fully in our lives. If we could on occasion set aside the reaction we might find there are other ways of being. But it’s not natural to set that aside. It feels dangerous, risky. And I’m not suggesting you set it aside right now. You need that. That’s okay,” Kingston said very matter-of-factly. “Instead I’m going to give you some homework and if it’s okay with you I‘d like you to come back next week and we can discuss how it went.”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

The redhead nodded. “Alright,” she said, not much more than a murmur, not quite able to meet Janna’s gaze for long suddenly. In some ways she seemed to have almost shrank in her seat a little. “Let’s hear it.”

Stone

Janna’s remained connected to Stone’s and she tilted her head seeking out the XO’s gaze, but not in a confrontational way. “What’s happening for you right now? Just pause and check in with your body and mind.” She didn’t want to move forward without them both knowing where Serena was at.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

How did she even disentangle that or quantify it? Much less without making things worse. Part of her wanted to pull rank and just end things now. And she probably could have, but that didn’t work so well. Didn’t look good on her as an officer, leader, or person in general. And Miss Kingston, despite their disparity .. was one of the few people on the Athena who had the right kind of authority to have her pulled from duty. If she deemed it so, she could have Serena removed as a danger to the ship, crew, and herself.

“I feel like…” she let out a sigh that had so many layers of weight to it. “Nothing I’ve said is right, or correct. Despite it being my reality, and the world I’ve had to live in and survive in. And developed the tools and things I need to thrive in. And in some ways I feel like I’m somehow wrong for it. And I feel like I’ve been in a different fight, and somehow, I’m losing all the way around.” she shook her head, almost imperceptibly, and never was able to meet the blonde’s gaze. “So I’m kind of at a loss.”

Stone