Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (Counsellor) in Holosuite 4- Always on Call

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Holosuite 4- Always on Call

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (Counsellor) in Holosuite 4- Always on Call
Beams filtered in through a tall, narrow window, casting sunlight onto the cement floor of the studio. Panelled wood walls were coated in white paint, and the ceiling held swathes of sheer white cloth draped from unpainted wood beams.

She pressed her foot to the pedal and watched the wheel spin. She had already wedged the ball of clay resting in her right hand and she waited till she felt ready. With a fair bit of practice, Janna threw it onto the centre of the wheel. Dipping her sponge into the pail of water beside her, she squeezed the water over the clay, set the sponge into the base, and placed her wet hands on the sides of the clay. Tightening her abdominal muscles and her arms, she locked her upper body in place so she could hold her hands steady as the clay bucked against her palms and resisted the manipulation. But after a few moments, the rocking smoothed out and the clay began to take on a more cylindrical shape. Janna smiled and continued manipulating the clay, pushing her thumbs in at the top to create an opening.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Faye paced back and forth in her quarters, rubbing her hands back and forth. Dag was on duty (was was often needed at more inopportune hours as CE than as COO), and Tess was all riled out because Faye was. Tess meowed and for a cat that was practically a shout saying ‘woman, sit the hell down!’, and Faye stopped and stared at her support animal. “You’re not helping, you know that, right?”

The trouble was that the fluffy feline wanted Faye to sit down so she could love on her and help calm her person’s nervous system. Faye couldn’t sit. She couldn’t stand. She just wanted to move. There was a moment when she considered yoga, but it was not what she wanted. It would help a lot more if she knew what she did want.

Tess gave up and trotted over to the desk, hopped up, and rubbed her face against the console. Smart cat, she was.

Faye did have options and while she would love to talk to Alex, she knew she couldn’t call him every time she was having a bad day. She absolutely could call Dag and he’d leave to come help her, but whatever was keeping him on shift was important and like Alex, she didn’t want to rely on him constantly when her emotions were hard to deal with. Sometimes she would have no choice but to deal with them on her own, but today she in fact had yet another option. So Faye opened an internal comm line. =/\=Calloway to Kingston.=/\=

~Faye Calloway, CIO

Janna pulled her thumbs outwards, opening up the interior of the clay. “Go for Kingston.”

There was a long pause. =/\=I was wondering if you were free to talk? If not, I can book an appointment. It’s fine. I can wait.I mean it’s really not that big of a deal.=/\=

Janna smiled to herself. “Come on down to Holosuite Four, Faye.”

=/\=Oh, no, I mean I don’t want to bug you on your downtime. That’s not fair-“

“Holosuite Four. See you in ten minutes, Faye,” she interrupted, her voice firm. If Faye was struggling enough to call her outside of her usual appointment time, then Janna was willing to meet her however it made sense. “Kingston, out.”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Faye stood there and blew out a breath. Janna was really good with boundaries and a part of her knew that the psychologist wouldn’t have said to meet her if she couldn’t. Still, Faye’s instinct to just deal with it on her own warred with the knowledge that she did better with outside input.

So a few minutes later, Faye stepped into the holodeck and took in the serene surroundings. The entry led into an open studio space and Faye paused, gazing at Kingston intensely focused on the clay in her hand. The potters wheel spun at a pretty good speed as Janna continued to manipulate the clay. Faye leaned against a thick wooden support post.

Janna took her hands off the clay and her foot off the pedal. The wheel slowed, coming to a stop. Faye noted the look on the therapist’s face, and it was clear by her silence that Kingston expected Faye to speak first.

“I dissociated again. Or rather whatever that thing is now where I lose time entirely. I mean, I was used to it before, but there were sensations that came along with it. It’s like… I don’t know. I want to say it’s like the mind dumps without the physical sensation but those-” She stopped, not wanting to traipse farther than was necessary.

“We’ve talked about them a lot, but not lately. Have you had one?” Janna asked.

Faye shrugged. “I don’t know. Not like before, that’s for sure. But sometimes I think I experience the shadow of one. I just can’t be sure.”

“Have you had Dr. Grey check it out?”

She paused and dropped her gaze to the floor. “He knows about the mind dumps, but not so much the rest. I did tell Commander Stone though.”

“Do you think it would be a good idea to let him know?”

Faye pressed her big toe down hard into the sole of her shoe, as if the pressure could distract her brain from the myriad of tracks it was already on.

~Faye & Janna