(SNIP)

He squinted. He had seen her schedule a few times and from what he could remember she was in her office quite a bit. “If I remember correctly your area is kept neat and you are in it for a protracted period of time.”

“Of course it is. It’s not like I strip naked and hang out on the therapy couch for fun like I do my quarters. Why are you so hyper-focused on my apparent lack of cleaning skills?”

“Oh, my that got dramatic suddenly. I’m certain you don’t spend any time naked on duty.” He squinted at her.

Only years and years of hearing outlandish and whack-a-doodle statements allow Vanessa to keep a poker face. “Are you really that certain?” She imitated his squint as if scrutinizing him.

“Well you’d be violating uniform code,” which would be the very least of the issues of being an undressed officer on duty. “And probably a little cold.”

“Betazeds get married naked. A lot of cultures find the buff really natural.” Taking a sip of her beer, hid the smile that was threatening to break the corners of her mouth. His squint at her Vanessa found slightly humorous. Calvin tended to always be so serious and that was the first time she might actually consider him being playful so she was going to run with it.

“A lot of races come from colder climates and have made adaptions, they have fur are carapaces.. You are human, we’ve been dressed from before we learned to master fire. So it is far from ‘human natural.’”

“I try my best to get my clients as relaxed as possible so whatever they want I accommodate. Rock climbing, running, axe throwing, painting,” she ran off a litany of things she therapy sessions. Leaning forward, Vanessa set her beer down and looked at Calvin with what she hoped was a sincere and purely clinical expression. “Want to know the hardest therapy session? Scuba diving. Hard to talk when there is something in your mouth.” Picking up her pizza, she took a really really large bite and used a napkin to wipe off the bit of sauce and grease from her face. Well, that is what she hoped it appeared like. It was completely to hide the smirk she could not wipe off her face.

Marius just blinked at her for a moment. “You are playing games with me.” He knew that he was commonly viewed as the straight man in most crew members comedy routines, or the not funny friend in the sitcom that all the jokes happened around.

“Why are you so proud of your questionable hygiene?”

Marius

“The truth,” she took a long swig of her beer, “I wasn’t expecting company because I never thought you would accept an invitation to come over. Don’t get me wrong I am glad you are here,” she quickly, “but I am rarely in my quarters for anything more than sleeping, showering, and changing my clothes.” Picking up a second slice of pizza, Vanessa continued to answer his question. “Yes, I am in my office for long periods of time but it is mostly to complete paperwork. I tend to do mainly immersion therapy when I counsel my clients. Depending on what the client wants to do means I might have to change my clothes eight times in a day hence my pride in my pig sty. You see it as a mess but I see it as progress.”

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Immersion therapy?” Calvin didn’t know much about therapy, not that he had anything against it. It just seemed like a lot of talking. Which he though was helpful, but he didn’t know how it was a job unless they were dealing with really mentally ill people. “Sounds you just drop them into a pool.” He paused. Many people responded very poorly even to modest jokes about their profession. Although to be fair he actually didn’t know what the heck that was.

Vanessa let out a full belly laugh. “Sir,” she said out of reflex instead of authority. It would take a while to remember to drop it in these less formal settings but Calvin sounded more odd than Sir right now. “I guess I should call it immersion with a twist. Immersion therapy is when you expose people to what scares them gradually to show them there is nothing to be scared of. It is used mainly for panic and anxiety disorders or phobias. I personally never thought scaring the hell out of someone was particularly useful however with 9 brothers it was a daily occurrence in my house.” The mirth in her tone indicated it was probably more normal sibling torture than real psychological issues. “I tend to immerse people in positive scenarios or if they claim they don’t have a single one an activity they find enjoyable. This makes people more relaxed and gives them a sense of control. Most people stick to the same boring things but it’s not about me so,” she shrugged. “People like to stay in their lane and comfort zone instead of being adventurous.”

“Life isn’t rainbows and puppies. I’m not sure how that works. D you just say think happy thought?”Calvin actually spent a lot of time ‘not’ participating in therapy, and he never was buried in sunshine and rainbows by his therapist.

“You don’t think I’ll do much. You didn’t think I’d play that paint ball game with you and your urchins.” Which actually wasn’t that far off since he didn’t like playing at war. He thought it was a little insulting somehow to turn something that people died at into a game. “Nor did you think I was going to come back for a quick bit and beer. Who doesn’t like pizza and beer?”

Marius

“Urchins,” she let out a laugh finding humor in his comment. “They are always underfoot but I can’t blame them. Starfleet recruitment posters are all about honor, glory, integrity, and following your passion set to the backdrop of exploring the galaxy. The truth is that it is a hard life. People get hurt, die, changed,” she let her voice trail off. “You know I worked at the Veterans Affairs in Boston before coming here. Healing the person is only the first step. You also have to heal the family. Kids have a really hard time with the blank statement that mommy or daddy is sick or going through something. I realized early on it had to be a multi-faceted approach so I set up activities only sometimes kids don’t get the PTSD. They want to fit in but when your parent has a slip and shows up drunk or has a panic attack.” Vanessa didn’t need to fill in the blanks. Calvin was smart and could read everything she didn’t say. “That is where I show up. If the kids want to do something and they can’t I step in. Ninety percent of life is just showing up.” Sensing she was getting a bit heavy, Vanessa cleared her throat and picked up a third slice of pizza.

Calvin shrugged. “It wasn’t much.” It was a couple of hours and he needed the exercise and he enjoyed competition. “Plus putting those scrubs and bullies in their place” His mind went back to the challenge he laid at the foot of the other team. “It might be bad, if I just turned our victory into a defeat next week.”

“You though are quite the conundrum,” she pointed the slice at him. “I usually can figure someone out in about ten minutes but I am clueless with your highs and lows.”

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Well that’s easy.” Marius started. “I don’t have highs and lows. There is no value to it, much like the tortoise, just stay slow and steady. Its the same for emotions. If you get disregulated that’s when you make mistakes and damage relationships. You should know that counselor.”

That being said, Calvin didn’t have no range of emotions. it was just that he didn’t think there was much value to showing it.

Marius