Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Issac Forgrave (Chief of Security) in The Return

(snip)

Issac chuckled and shook his head at her assessment of the situation. “I can’t help but be impressed by yer assessment; though I reckon that is part of the job, eh?” At the mention of Luna, Issac glanced down at his arms, seemingly surprised by the rabbit’s presence. He started to shrug; but thought better of it and continued scritching her ears.

“It is. It’s not an exact science though. Very similar to what you do, trying to determine the motive for someone’s actions, or trying to make an educated guess on what a person will do next.” She glanced a Luna and laughed softly. Luna was sick of being locked in her cage, and Bethany had assumed she’d want to get out and move around. Apparently Luna just wanted to enjoy being with her favorite person who never got tired of seeing her. And to Bethany’s surprise she found she felt the exact same way, and that was something she was going to have to ponder later.

“Hmmmm; I reckon I can be a bit of a softie; ‘least when it comes to critters. But I don’t think that’s news to you, though.... And I think Luna here has my number memorized, so ta speak! Not that I mind; most animals make fine companions. Certainly a higher percentage than the average person… But as far as them in the cafeteria go, I reckon we can let them talk. But Stylkos… Yea, she is hopeless; I ain’t heard about her causing any major trouble, but I remember Braxton mentioned he had to have a word with her regarding Heimdel and himself…” For his part, he hadn’t thought much of himself and Bethany; sure, he certainly enjoyed her company - hell, he had been the one to greet her on her return! Yes, there were misgivings in the back of his head - questions of appropriateness, as well as his lingering prejudices. To add to that, Forgrave was very much so a ‘business first’ man; particularly since becoming the Dresden’s Security Chief, he made few efforts to give himself genuine free time. Today was actually the first time in weeks that he had deliberately taken time away from his duties; though even as he considered that, the question surfaced… How many others on this ship would you have done that for, eh?

-Forgrave, CoS

She stepped into the turbolift as it arrived with the intention of taking Luna to roam the arboretum a bit before having to get to work. “Stylkos doesn’t mean anything by it. She’s honestly happy and excited for everyone. She takes great care to never air ‘dirty laundry’ as she puts it. She can’t seem to help herself. Though if she’s not careful someone might help her help herself. I think Braxton handled it well. Poor Stylkos was so busy imagining flowers and candle light she didn’t bother to see the reality. They seemed to take her apology willingly, though before I left it did seem they were teasing her about it. Nothing horrible though.” Bethany grinned, she wouldn’t call Forgrave a teddy bear, but he certainly had a gentler side to him when it came to animals. There was a strong sense of confusion and contemplation coming from Forgrave. Bethany however wasn’t talented enough to identify the emotion or where it was coming from. She had just enough talent to recognize that something had crossed her awareness. Out of years of habit she tried, but failed to identify anything about the sensation. She had always felt it was a point of disappointment for her Betazoid father. You’re Betazoid how could you not know he was planning to harm himself? The accusation was like a knife to the gut. If she’d just had a little more talent she might have known what he was going to do, but she didn’t and she hadn’t seen it. And she felt responsible for the consequences. she leaned against the wall of the lift, eyes closed, not really aware she was speaking out loud. “Suicide is just self-inflicted homicide. Isn’t accessory by neglect a thing? I didn’t see it, I didn’t know, so I neglected to stop it. But I’ll never be held accountable.” There was guilt and sadness, and an ache the belied the refusal of tears in her voice. Legally and morally Bethany hadn’t done anything wrong, but she felt responsible, that she hadn’t reached him, hadn’t help ‘him’ find his way back.
Lt Gadi, CNS

Issac was silent for a moment; the sudden shift in the conversation had absolutely caught him off guard. Inwardly he grimaced; Bethany’s quiet words were likely unintentionally voiced, and certaninly not meant for him. But here he was....
In keeping with the sudden somber mood in the turbolift, Issac spoke quietly. “Ain’t no expert… but uh, well, I reckon not everyone can be helped… It ain’t a failing on no-one’s part or nothing, just… I don’t know. I think some people just decide that’s the best option…” Issac sighed deeply; not really sure of what direction he was taking this conversation, but not wanting to end it on that note. “I know ya well enough ta say that it weren’t yer negligence that lead to… well, suicide. Neglect may be a factor at times, but that ain’t the whole story, right? I don’t figure yer responsible fer every action a man under your care makes - they ain’t your prisoner, and you’re doing what ya can to help ‘em. But that don’t mean you can change their thoughts. Void knows; we all gotta walk that line in some regard, right? All we can do is our best; based on what we know. But iffin’ we don’t know something, or if we’re being deceived… well, hindsight is the worst kind of bastard. It’s like a.... double-edged sword, right? Yea, you can learn from it - but void if it don’t hurt at the same time.” Issac turned to face Bethany directly; concern writ plain on his face. “Y’ain’t responsible for no-one’s actions; long as ya did what you could. Ain’t nothing fer you to be held on account for.”

-Forgrave, CoS

At first she just listened, Issac’s southern drawl reminding her of home, and she figured at the moment it would be nice to be home. Then his words began to sink in and she was embarrassed, clearly indicated by the flush on her face. “I am so sorry. You didn’t need to hear all that.” She wanted to explain that if she was any other telepath she could have/might have been able to stop him, to help him, but she didn’t because it didn’t change anything. And she knew not all counselors were telepathic. She also really didn’t want to remind him of how alien she was. Not at the moment. For the first time, in what felt likes weeks, no one was looking at her with disgust. It wasn’t all just her own perception and guilt. She enjoyed her conversations with Issac, brief and fleeting as they were. There was never an end of work to be done for either of them, but she did enjoy the chance to talk to him passing in the corridor or the more likely encounters to grab coffee. “Thank you, Issac,” she said it softly in reaction to the concern on his face. “I’ll be alright. It’s no the first time, an’ iffin’ there be any gods in this existence, it’ll be the last. But it never stops hurting.”

Issac shrugged uncomfortably at the apology; he was never quite sure how to deal with apologies or praise. But beyond that, he felt it wasn’t really needed either. Sometimes people needed to vent; and Issac couldn’t say he minded listening.

Luna lifted her head looking from one to the other. As Issac had observed earlier, animals usually knew something was wrong before people did. Bethany reached over and ran a hand down Luna’s back. “I was going ta take her to the arboretum to run a bit.” She knew Issac rarely took time away from work. There was a lot to do to cover security on a ship this big. It didn’t go unnoticed by Bethany that he had come to welcome her back and he’d taken what little down time he did take to spend it with her. Or maybe Luna. Luna had that effect on people. “We’d enjoy the company, but I don’t want to keep you if you’re busy.” It was honest, she would enjoy his company, but it was also genuinely respectful of the amount of work she knew he dealt with on a daily basis.
Lt Gadi, CNS

“Hmmmmm…” Issac pondered for a moment; absently petting Luna. Carefully, he shifted her in his arms and checked his watch; a frown and a sigh quickly followed. “As much as I’d like ta join ya.... I think I been away fer too long already. Void knows what’s passed my desk in the last while…” Gently, he transferred the lazy bun back to Bethany, grinning as she sniffed for treats in exchange for the hand-off.

Bethany took Luna and let her settle on her arm. “I really need to get to my office as well. But I’ll give her a good stretch first.” She was sure there was a mountain of paperwork waiting to spill out of her office when she got there. She smiled as Luna sniffed for treats, the somberness dissipating, and pulled out the tin of treats. She offered one to Luna who sniffed it and then looked at Issac. Her look clearly indicated she expected to get one from him too before choosing which treat was better. She bit her lip in a futile attempt to stifle her laughter, which broke free into the confines of the tubolift, just before the doors opened. As she stepped out she handed the tin to Forgrave. “Honestly Luna, I’m not sure who’s the pet here, you or us?”

Issac didn’t leave straight away; recognizing that he was delaying intentionally - though whether that was just to postpone the inevitable headache that had popped up, or to spend more time with the prodigal Lt; well, he wasn’t quite ready to delve into that just yet.

-Forgrave, CoS

“I haven’t forgotten the check-in rotations for security.” When they had first met Isaac had responded to her offer to assist well. He’d requested a rotation of check-ins for his department, above the required, to make sure they were doing alright, given the nature of Dresden. “Give me a day to get caught up on everything and I can stop by your office to review the schedule? Make sure anyone who’s needing to be seen first doesn’t get pushed off? I can bring coffee.” It was a bribe, totally. Not that she thought Forgrave needed to be bribed. It was an effort to move past her quiet outburst in the turbolift.
Lt Gadi, CNS