Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in SB 157 Zeanar’s Quarters Avoiding the XO

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ever Zeanar (Chief of Psychiatry) in SB 157 Zeanar’s Quarters Avoiding the XO

Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in SB 157 Zeanar’s Quarters Avoiding the XO

(snip)

Dira burst out laughting. She just couldn’t help it. Okay, so they were playing it this way. Given the circumstances, Zeanar could very well have her record open in front of her while they spoke and Dira certainly didn’t think that the COP was the kind of person to go into a command level eval blind and without ever having at least skimmed a person’s file. The complicated questions that shifted to another probing question on a topic that was related but tangential was a common technique and one they both would recognize immediately. But still, she had been a therapist long enough to appreciate the tactic. er eyes all but said ‘I see what you did there- you can’t fool me’. “Well, for starters, there’s no aspirations of being god-like over anyone. We therapists already have a significant impact on people’s lives, and I don’t believe in power over people. It’s antithetical to my own personal beliefs.”

Narcissists tended to have a inflated idea of self and mental superiority. Ever had seen enough of those personalities over the last few years to immediately recognize when the subject across from her was attempting manipulation. Dira’s amusement was genuine and she did not appear to be suffering from grand illusions or any other psychosis.  Any of those conditions would be extremely rare in find in any Starfleet officer. The newly appointed Executive Officer had passed all her previous evaluations with no flags. One of the many reasons Ever had accepted this assignment was for reasons like this, being seeing to the crew would require minimal effort to leave her free to pursue more important research. More than likely, it was the same reason many doctors signed up for this duty. Ever simply smiled lightly, not parting her lips, at Daira’s laughter. 

Her dark eyes gazed at Ever, dissecting the comments and flow of conversation. While they were clearly focused on Dira’s eval at the moment, she of course knew that Ever understood that Dira herself was evaluating Ever’s role as their COP simultaneously. It was the only way this brief conversation was going to work. “I could feign ignorance on your part and assume you haven’t read my file, but while it is absolutely a possibility, I highly doubt it. So for the sake of transparency, I will say that I have no problem talking about Paige, if that is where you want this conversation to go. And as we both know grief is a funny beast, it can be dormant for ages and then without warning leap out and overwhelm someone. Do I have those moments? On occasion. And I will always miss her and have regrets about how she died. But it’s been ten years and I’ve done the work. I wrestled with the hard questions and after a time I’ve found peace with it all. The truth is that had it been otherwise, Paige and I would, in all optimistic circumstances, been married right now. Maybe we’d even have kids too. But that’s not how my life went, and while I held back in my personal life for awhile, the grief and fear of ‘what if’ doesn’t control me.”

Commander Myqian, XO

“I am glad you have worked through the grief to an extent it is possible. You are right, it comes back when you are  least expecting it to,” Ever smiled more genuine this time, parting her lips slightly. The two women had many things in common. When the occupation occurred, Ever had lost most of her family and the man she had been betrothed too. If the Dominion had not invaded Betazoid, she would have likely returned after medical school and stayed on her home world content to be a mother, doctor and wife. Life was had it’s own course. Returning Myqian’s gaze, Ever observed the main difference between resolution to similar tragedies. While the XO appeared to move forward in a positive direction, Ever’s had calloused her heart and emotions crippling her to a point of making meaningfully attachments impossible. Maybe that was a choice. Enough personal reflection. “Since we are being transparent, we both know there is nothing to find in your psych evaluation that hasn’t already been dealt with. So shall with dispense with any more? Of course I am always here if you need me for personal or professional advice. So unless, you have any questions for me, I will let you get back to work and close this out for you.” 

Zeanar, CoP

Of course this entire time Dira had been evaluating Zeanar’s abilities as their new Chief of Psychiatry. It was just how this went. But this was only a first meeting and first impressions were just that. It would take working with the woman more to get to know her better. “Ahh, yes, but my turn,” she said with a glimmer of amusement in her dark eyes.

“These are obviously unusual circumstances and while we are await further news about our new ship, I am doing what I can to establish our initial needs with fleet command. We’re all dealing with temp workspaces, but is there anything you need for yours? Or access to resources we don’t yet? There are certain things I can expedite, while others require some negotiation.”

Commander Myqian, XO

Bump