Posted by Lieutenant Koria Sutret (Chief Engineer) in Deck 4 - Mess Hall (Anyone welcome)

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Mariah Lee Grayson (Chief of Psychiatry) in Deck 4 - Mess Hall (Anyone welcome)

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Mariah Lee Grayson (Chief of Psychiatry) in Deck 4 - Mess Hall (Anyone welcome)
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Mariah sat in a quiet corner of the mess hall reading the current mission notes in preparation for the upcoming meeting with the mental health team. Information was still being gathered on the illness the crew were to address, but in preparation for offering support to the rest of the medical team, Mariah wanted to meet with members of her department just to review how they could divide and conquer to the best of their abilities. Previous psychiatric department heads had put some excellent protocols in place Grayson saw no need to upend, but it was still important to make sure her folks were placed where they could be of most use, even if that was offering comfort to distressed patients or helping to run basic labs.

Grayson was not an expert in infectious disease, but she hadn’t lost her emergency medicine or triage skills, wisdom she was prepared to impart on members of her team who may have felt a bit rusty.

For now, however, she felt restless and in need of a distraction, which is how she found herself in the Mess Hall staring into cold tea, just looking for a distraction.

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, CoP

Koria slid her tray onto one of the other tables before dropping into the chair. There always seemed to be another mess that needed cleaning up in Engineering, but she had managed to pull herself away in order to get something to eat. Mentally she was counting it as a win, because for once she had actually remembered to take a break, instead of getting pushed out of engineering by her team.

After taking a long drink of water, she settled in to eating her lunch, or was it dinner, she would have to check what time it was later.

Lt Sutret - CE

After reading her notes for about 10 minutes, Mariah’s brain decided it was time for a break, and her eyes naturally looked away from her notes and casually scanned the room. Spotting the chief engineer, eating by herself, Grayson contemplated whether she should say hi or leave the woman in peace. It wasn’t often the psychiatrist found herself needing to interact with anyone in engineering, but that didn’t mean she didn’t value them or would intentionally go out of her way to ignore them either. Frankly, she would’ve much rather engaged in even brief, casual conversation ahead of this mission‘s challenges, and she could make the case in her own mind that it was precisely because she didn’t often interact with members of the engineering staff, unless it was for evaluations or therapeutic support,

Grayson decided to make her way over and say hello, risking that she might be interrupting, preferred alone time. If she was interrupting, she trusted the chief to say so, and of course, if that were the case, she would happily step away with no hard feelings. “Hello, Lieutenant. Please forgive me if I’m interrupting. I just saw you sitting here by yourself and thought I’d come over and introduce myself. I’m Mariah, Grayson, Chief Psychiatrist.”

~ dr.Mariah Grayson, CoP

Koria looked up mid bite, she started to open her mouth but it didn’t take more then a moment before she realized that was a bad idea. Quickly chewing and swallowing, she picked up a napkin to wipe her mouth.

“Nice to meet you. Koria Sutret, Chief Engineer.” After a moment she abruptly indicated towards one of the chairs. “Would you like to join me?”

Lt Sutret - CE

“Forgive me,” Mariah replied, raising a hand in embarassment. “I didn’t mean to catch you with your mouth full.” Taking a moment to consider the kind offer, Grayson said, “No pressure, Chief, but if you’re sure I wouldn’t be intruding, I’d love to join you.” She really did need a break and hoped she hadn’t made things awkward for the engineer by coming over.

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, CoP

Koria considered for a second. Part of her wanted to run back to Engineering as fast as possible. But she was hungry, and she couldn’t keep hiding in Engineering all the time. Plus maybe her engineering leads would stop trying to push her out and take a break.

“No, it’s alright. Please, uh, join me.”

Not sure what to do, Koria took another bite of her meal.

Lt Sutret - CE

Not expecting the offer when she stopped by, Mariah realized she had left her food at her original table. Holding up a finger, she then went to retrieve her tray - a simple sandwich and drink - and then came back to sit, offering with some degree of embarrassment, “I guess I didn’t fully think that through. I’m not usually one to accost strangers, at least outside of professional obligations, on my personal time. I suppose I just saw you sitting by yourself and wondered if you might be as tired as I am of being alone with my own thoughts today.”

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, CoP

OOC: Whoops! Fixed my signature. Forgive the character confusion!

Koria looked down at the table as she took another small bite of her meal. She hadn’t minded the quiet, it was kind of nice after the commotion in Engineering.

“Uh, actually it’s the first time I’ve had a quiet moment today, we are doing a calibration of the Matter/Antimatter reaction chamber, so it’s bit of chaos in Engineering today.”

Lt Sutret - CE

“Oh yeah,” Mariah replied, her tone one of agreement. “I imagine that task requires a great deal of intense concentration because the consequences can be deadly if mistakes are made. I don’t blame you for needing some solitude and I’m sorry for crashing your bubble. I talk to people quite often in my work but sometimes still miss connecting with people, if that makes sense?”

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, CoP

“Uh yes? Though I’ve always better connecting with machines then with people.”

Blushing slightly at admitting that to practically a stranger Koria quickly used her fork to pick a piece of broccoli off her plate and shoved it into her mouth.

Lt Sutret - CE

“I get that,” Mariah replied with a nod. “Machines are pretty straight-forward. They require direct and specific instruction, but if you give them that, much of the time you’re going to get the outcome you expect. Machines may be blunt in their refusal to cooperate if you aren’t specific or clear enough, but you always know where you stand with them. People, on the other hand, are harder to predict and to read. They can be dishonest, intentionally or unintentionally if they have other worries or competing interests, which can lead to perplexing interactions even when you have no indication you’ve done or said anything to bring them about.”

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, CoP