Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (Counsellor) in Pre-sim: Psych eval for the CTO

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Harrison Callahan (Chief Tactical Officer) in Pre-sim: Psych eval for the CTO

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (Counsellor) in Pre-sim: Psych eval for the CTO
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>

“If I don’t make time for it, that’s when things start stacking. You carry one problem into the next, and eventually you’re not reacting—you’re anticipating ghosts.”

He exhaled softly , then straightened slightly.

“Baseball’s somewhere in the middle. It’s… uncomplicated. You focus on the next pitch, the next play. No galaxy riding on the outcome.” A small shrug followed. “Win or lose, you walk off the field and it stays there.”

Harrison studied her for a beat, a hint of curiosity creeping back in.

“So I guess the honest answer is—yeah, I come out of it better than I went in. Maybe not relaxed in the traditional sense… but reset enough to do the job right.”

The corner of his mouth ticked upward again.

“Which, I suspect, is the answer you were actually fishing for?”

Lt. Cmdr. Harrison Callahan
CTO-USS Athena

The pad of Janna’s index finger traced a small circle on her mug. She had let his explanation ebb and flow and how he addressed each point so methodically told her plenty. “Believe it or not, I’m not looking for something so precise as you might think. I’m always going to looking for red flags for things I need to address that might be a barrier to duty, but for the most part I’m trying to understand how you see things, Harrison, and how you navigate your daily life. That way, not only can I intervene and help when it might be needed, but I can help ease your transition into this senior officer team.”

She drained the last of her coffee and set the mug to the side. “Truly, if I thought you weren’t going to be cleared for duty then we’d be having a very different conversation and I’d be wanting to question the mental health officer at your last posting,” she said with a wink.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

“Whew, that’s good to know, Harrison said and laughed. “I would have hated to go through all this and not be cleared.”

He offered a her a smirk.

“But, let’s go back a bit to your people-watching. This might be a bit more difficult, because you’ve gotten to know me a bit better through this,conversation. Tell me what’s my story?”

“You see me for the first time, say, in the lounge. I’ve just arrived on board. Sitting by myself at a table, a big stack of . . . . .French toast in front of me, slathered in syrup, and . . a big plate of stacked bacon–gotta have bacon. And a large, ice cold glass of orange, condensation running down the side. Who am I?

Lt. Cmdr. Harrison Callahan
CTO-USS Athena

“Someone who likes breakfast?” Janna deadpanned.

Harrison threw his head back and gave a hearty laugh. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day>’

She broke into a grin. “Let’s see, you just came off of two weeks of night shifts and all you want to start your next three days off is comfort food. Yesterday, you had a subspace call with your Uncle Marty who used to come for week long stays at your house when you were a kid and he always made the best French toast. In fact, no one else’s has ever measured up and you can admit to yourself that it might just be the strong memory and not that actual French toast, but Uncle Marty was your hero. He’s where you got your love of space and encouraged you to apply to the Academy. So, you have Marty in your mind and you’ve been thinking about him lots lately because he’s retired to Earth after an accident on an outpost and has been having a rough time lately. So you order the big breakfast as an ode to him and all the wonderful memories in your life that he was a part of.”

Janna shrugged. “That’s one of more benign ones. When I’m in the mood, it’s way more fun to conjur up something you’d see in a holonovel.”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

He nodded slowly. “Okay, a bit mundane, but some downtime to reminisce about when life was simpler and less hectic is a good thing. Too bad I don’t often get a chance to eat a breakfast like that.”

Lt. Cmdr. Harrison Callahan
CTO-USS Athena