Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Counselor’s Office: Holloway’s Long Overdue Eval

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Renveer (Counselor) in Counselor’s Office: Holloway’s Long Overdue Eval

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Renveer (Counselor) in Counselor’s Office: Holloway’s Long Overdue Eval
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Renveer smiled as he listened to Holloway talk about her sister, which she obviously adored. “She sounds like an exceptional young woman, and the Federation Science Council is lucky to have her. We share some similar family dynamics, I have a younger brother who is the ‘extrovert in the family’ as well. From my personal experience, I know that younger siblings can be a bit much to handle sometimes, so it’s good to hear that you and Erin have always gotten along and been there for each other when you’ve needed it.”

Molly smiled softly, comforted by the sense of connection and understanding coming from the Counselor’s own experience.

As Renveer continued, he tried his best to keep his tone casual as the line of questioning became a little more pointed. “I imagine her departure felt like a little bit of a loss for your support system on the Dresden. In the time after she left, did you find other crew members to connect with on-board? People you could confide in, vent to, relax with?”

(Lt. Comm. Renveer, Counselor)

Molly pondered the question for a moment — not exactly thinking about the answer, but rather about what she should or should not say. She knew where he was going with it. Or at least, she thought she did.

“Erin was never part of my support system, per se…” Molly started. “Well…” She was visibly trying to phrase her feelings correctly. “There was a time when, even though she was not actively helping me, she was the person I relied on. That time has long past.” Holloway paused again. “When I enrolled at C.A. Riley at fourteen, I had to learn to move in a world without my sister. Three years later, she started attending Harker School in San Jose, and I got into the Academy a year later. I was half way through the program when she enrolled in high school. At that point, not only was she not around as she didn’t want me around… if you know what I mean.” Molly shot Renveer a weak smile. “She’s smart, beautiful, part of the cheer squad… I mean… she didn’t want her annoying older sister shooing all the boys away from her.” She chuckled softly, but her expression grew serious quickly.

“We started talking regularly in the evenings, when I was assigned to the Montgomery. She had just been accepted at UCLA. It was good for both of us. So when she came to the Dresden we had been doing that that for at least two years… we stopped it completely while I was off with Intel, of course, but when she left it was just like going back to the old days.”

“I learnt to rely on other members of the crew for support a long time ago.” Molly thought about Ashton, the counselor on board both the Montgomery and the Turing. He had been the one teaching her the value of human connections on board a starship. So much so that they had been engaged for almost the two whole years they had served together.

Holloway smiled softly at the Counselor’s last question. “Colonel Harris is a very close friend of mine. He was the Commander of the Turing’s Marine Expeditionary Unit. When I came back from Intel training, he requested me personally to be his Chief Intelligence Officer.” She shrugged. “He’s the one person I go to for my personal troubles, so to speak. That and the holodeck. So far that has seemed to work just fine.” Molly carefully omitted the fact that even though the Dresden’s CO was in fact a very close friend of hers, the pair had been involved in a serious relationship for the past two and a half years.

Capt. Holloway, CIO

Renveer nodded at the mention of the Dresden’s commanding officer, but intended on holding the information he had learned from Commander Manning close to his chest for the moment. “Tell me about this friendship with Colonel Harris. I’m sure you’re aware that he referred you to counseling following, if I’m not mistaken…” he paused to reach for a PaDD on the nearby shelf, scrolling through it for a second, “yes, a holodeck accident where the safeties were disabled.” He looked up at Holloway with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Renveer set the PaDD aside and leaned forward slightly. “Do you think Colonel Harris referred you to counseling as a punishment or out of genuine concern?”

(Lt. Comm. Renveer, Counselor)

OOC: Sorry about the wait. Creativity has been hard to come by these days, but it’s slowly coming back. – Joana

IC:
Molly sighed, finding her hands very interesting for a moment. There went any possibility of her getting her full access to her program again. It would have been naïve of her to assume that the Counselor wouldn’t know about the incident, but somehow, the way the conversation had been going so far, she had hoped to broach the subject later in the session.

“Genuine concern.” Holloway said flatly. “He would never do anything to ‘punish’ me.” That had never been a question. She paused for a moment pondering on what she should say. “Calvin and I went through a lot together. Sometimes I feel like he knows me more than I know myself.” She smiled softly. Her fondness for the Dresden’s CO clear in her expression. “He worries about me. For no reason, I may add. He seems to believe that I need someone to look after me, but he doesn’t allow anyone to look after himself.” Molly shrugged. “The past year was not easy, Commander. For any of us.” It was the first time Holloway admitted any sort of hardship. “But Calvin doesn’t know half of it, because I know that if he ever does, he might do something he will regret. Not to mention, he already has enough on his plate.” Molly paused. “Because of that, the holodeck became my main form of decompression. Of escape, if you will… and sometimes accidents happened. The situation you mentioned was an accident.” Or at least, that was the story she told herself. “But there’s no way I will ever convince him of such.”

Capt. Holloway, CIO

OOC: No worries at all, I’m feeling it too. And threads like these aren’t exactly uplifting, so if you’d like to revisit them at a later date when things might be a little less stressful in the real world, just let me know!

IC: Renveer found it interesting that Holloway obviously knew the colonel very well. Her assessment of him was the same that Renveer had made during their initial interaction, especially after Harris had directed Renveer to speak to Manning and Holloway before allowing the counselor to help him. But he did not want this conversation to become about the commanding officer.

“If Colonel Harris is currently your main source of inter-personal support and it sounds like he isn’t a viable outlet to express your feelings about the last year with, I’m not surprised to hear that most of your coping has played out in the holo-deck. I know you know this, but it’s important to find emotional release in the real world as well, especially with real people.” He paused. “I apologize for being so frank, Captain, but you mentioned escapism and I do have to ask if you may have found yourself experiencing some form of holo-addiction.” Renveer’s voice hadn’t changed, hopefully relaying the impression that such a possibility was nothing to be ashamed of or anything out of the ordinary.

(Lt. Comm Renveer, Counselor)