Posted by Lieutenant Commander Royal Sinclair (Counselor) in Pre-Sim: Doctor? Don’t mind if I do…

Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton/SARAH (Ships AI/Avatar) in Pre-Sim: Doctor? Don’t mind if I do…

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Royal Sinclair (Counselor) in Pre-Sim: Doctor? Don’t mind if I do…
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Corinne was taken aback but tried to hide her reaction as best she could. Then immediately thought it ridiculous, because he was a psychologist and clearly would have seen right through her. “I… wow. Foot… mouth. My bad,” she said softly. “What was your grandfather like? Did you get on well with him?”

~Corinne Dalton

Sinclair smiled and looked down at the glass as he swirled the whiskey around inside it. “Don’t be embarrassed, no need. You didn’t know, and statistically I should have had some family left. So there’s that.” and he took a drink and then reached for the bottle for another round. “My Senair, Scots Gaelic for grandfather… he was amazing.” Royal said with a smile. His eyes looked up at a point far away and in the past. “He was a Marine for a long time. Always told me stories about Star Fleet form the time I was a wee lad. And, unlike my Da, he was always very supportive. Every rugby match… every time my headmaster needed a word with my ‘parents’… Senair was there. Every single time. He was the one that pushed me to Star Fleet. I was all set to either play professional rugby or join the Marines. He told me I was worth more than that.” and he took a drink.

“It was hard going to the Academy so soon after he passed. Probably one of the reasons my academic career wasn’t what one would consider stellar.” and a dark look came over his face momentarily. “That’s why the one faculty I did my thesis defense with was so hot and bothered to try and get me. I had him in the Academy. We didn’t exactly get along.” and he laughed and looked at Corinne over the rim of his glass. “Probably because I and his daughter did get along. Quite well, there for a while actually.” and he snickered as he took another drink.

Sinclair, CNS

Cori threw back her head and laughed. “I should have known you were more of a dark horse than you were letting on,” she said with a smirk. “I have a feeling we got into similar amounts of quiet trouble. Nothing I was ever reprimanded for, but, well, let’s just say that after my adoptive parents, Kip and Janey, died, I didn’t care much about what people thought. I pursued Starfleet because it was still what I wanted, but I had… lost my grounding. It made me both more free with everything but also closed off. Everything was surface only.”

~Corinne Dalton

“But you care what people think now. Why the change? Other than the obvious, of course.” he asked as he waved his hand in the general direction of the ship as a whole. “And I’m not asking as a shrink. I just want to know. What happens in a drunken conversation in the holodeck, stays in the holodeck.”

Sinclair, CNS

She turned the glass in her fingers once again, allowing herself time to think of the best way to answer his perfectly reasonable question. “I let them in,” Cori said softly. “I let people in beyond the surface and found I couldn’t go back. And then… I guess when your existence depends so much on others you can’t help but care what they think. Because the consequences are just… far too real.” She knocked back her drink easily.

~Corinne Dalton

Sinclair looked intently at her for a few long moments and then said simply “Huh. Makes sense I guess.” and took a large swallow. Taking a deep breath after, he said “You know what I think? I think that letting people in very, very dangerous to one’s psyche.” and he looked at the brown liquid swirling in his glass. “I think it has huge risks and pitfalls that no one can ever be ready for, and sometimes we encounter people who want to use us.” and he then looked at Corinne. “But I also think that we need those connections… even that pain when it doesn’t work out. It keeps us grounded… humble to a point. My Da never dated anyone after my mathair. And he just got more and more bitter every day for the rest of his life. I think he forgot that he could have someone in his life. And that missing piece made him a right bastard.” Royal siad with a wistful chuckle.

Sinclair, CNS

“Missing her hurt too much. So he displaced it,” Cori surmised, though a lot of that was personal experience. Emptying her glass, she signalled for another. Was that her third now? The bonus about doing it this way on the holodeck was that she could partition herself slightly. She didn’t have to check for the correct answer, even though it would be there in a microsecond if she wanted it.

twirling her empty glass, she gazed at it while she spoke. “It wasn’t just Jarred, you know. There were others. And I know it’s a risk, every time. But… no one sticks around. After awhile, it’s hard to believe anyone ever will. Because my situation isn’t about to change without a drastic and possibly damaging risk. And either way, that’s a lot of baggage for anyone to take. I’m not convinced anyone would want to. And I wouldn’t blame them either.”

~Corinne Dalton