Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sathut (Counselor) in CNS Office-Capt. Shirazi Thorne

Posted by Captain Shirazi Thorne (Captain) in CNS Office-Capt. Shirazi Thorne

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sathut (Counselor) in CNS Office-Capt. Shirazi Thorne
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Once he was sufficiently settled in his new office, Sathut grabbed the list of crew. Well, this was a rather large crew, wasn’t it? If he spent an hour with each crewmate, eight hours a day, it would take him over three months to go through the whole roster. He was glad ships had both junior and senior counselors. His duties were focused on the officers, though. Particularly, the senior staff and a section of the junior staff. With a small sigh, he grabbed his PADD and sent a message to the Captain. =^=Captain Thorne, if you could come to my office at your earliest convenience, that would be absolutely lovely. I’ll see you then. Thank you. Sathut out.=^=
He smiled and put the PADD down, taking a sip of his Jinnen.
Sathut

Shirazi received the note while on duty. She typed out a quick reply: “Will come at my earliest convenience. Thank you.” As soon as it was sent, she shook her head just the tiniest bit. The Galdori (Raka) was an unusual addition to the crew. He was the smallest officer on board and would take some getting used to. Her first inclination after meeting him was to offer him a hand up into the chair in the Ready Room. She had to physically stop herself from making that error.

—Thorne, CO

It was actually the next day before the Captain had some time. She got D’vash to watch the bridge so she could get the evaluation done, telling him it wouldn’t take more than an hour, provided the Counselor didn’t determine that she was crazy. “If he does, then I’m afraid you’ll be on your own for the unforeseen future.” They’d both had a laugh at that.

Shirazi arrived at Sathut’s office door at 1100 hrs. She palmed the chime and waited for permission to enter.

—Thorne, CO

OOC: you can just call him a Raka. Galdori refers to his planet of origin, Galdor. :D

IC: Sathut glanced up as he heard the chime ring, glad that he had lowered the pitch to one that was not so painful as some chimes he had experienced.

“Enter,” he spoke, a few sips into his first cup of Jinnen that day. Like coffee, it had a slightly addictive quality to it, although not as pronounced. He just liked having it every morning. Seeing the face that was revealed upon the opening of his door, a bright smile appeared on his face. “Captain,” he spoke gently. “It is a pleasure to have you visit my office on this lovely morning. Now, where shall we begin? I suppose, you could tell me what you’d like to be referred to through the course of this conversation? You may call me Sathut. It is, unlike with you humans, my only name of reference,” he chuckled slightly.

Sathut
CNS

The doors opened to reveal the feline officer which brought an immediate smile to Shirazi’s face. “Counselor Sathut, how are you today?” She entered and found a chair, took a seat and crossed her legs.

“Until we know each other better, let’s stick with protocol. You can call me Captain or Sir and I will call you Counselor or Lt.” Her tone was friendly, but it was also firm in that she expected no argument about it. “We’ve been without a psychiatrist for a long time. I’m not sure if its something about the ship or her crew that drive them away so quickly. I hope you have some staying power.”

—Thorne, CO

“Protocol within the Counselor’s office is whatever he or she says, so please…” he said, his eyes narrowing slightly at the now long-lasting discussion about names. “You will call me Sathut, Captain, or I may have to lodge a formal complaint with your head office,” he insisted. “I will call you Sir or Captain, as you desire, but I wish to be called Sathut. Is that not too much to ask?” he spoke. Perhaps it was slightly impertinent, but in this room the Captain was no more in charge than any other Officer. This was his office, and he did not want it to be a hyper-formal place where he had to respond to Lt. or Counselor.

“Now. Would you like something to drink, Captain Thorne?” he asked, his narrow eyes widening back to their friendly expression.

Sathut

Well, size apparently wasn’t a stumbling block for the Raka. Although diminutive, he had moxie. Thorne, who liked things to run smoothly and for everyone to follow the same rules to avoid misunderstandings, wasn’t exactly pleased that he insisted on being called by his name without the benefit of rank or position. Still, it was his office…

“No thank you. I am actually taking time from my shift on the bridge to see you, so I’m hoping we can get through this fairly quickly. How can I help make that happen?”

—Thorne, CO

“Simple. Go back to your job and come back when you’re not in a rush,” Sathut stated simply, gesturing to the door. “I told you to come when it was convenient, not when it would take time out of your schedule”

He knew what it was like to be the counselor to someone who was checking their watch every moment to see what time it was. It was not a pleasant experience for either counselor or client.

Sathut

The Captain squinted at the Counselor through the blue glasses she wore. Was the Raka being mildly insolent on purpose? Did he want to see what kind of a reaction he could get from her by doing it? Was this some kind of test or was it simply the manner of all Raka? Shirazi cleared her throat and canted her head to one side. “Has something happened to upset you? I am here because you asked me to come, so I’m puzzled by your suggestion that I leave.”

“I am very healthy, both mentally and physically, so there is no reason to think the appointment would take a long time—at least when compared to other appointments I have had during my service with Star Fleet. If I have made an error there, you could clear it up with a few words instead of suggesting that I come back some other time.”

Her voice was conversational with notes of curiosity peppered through it. Thorne was truly wondering what had happened to get them off to a negative start when the meeting in her ready room had gone so well.

—Thorne, CO

“I have not had good counselling sessions with officers who believe themselves to have somewhere better to be,” Sathut explained, “Or those who have something urgent to get back to. I find it better to have time with my guests when they are off duty, as they then are less distracted. As a counselor, my job… my goal is to build relationships in order to better understand my guests. I am not going to let you or any of my other guests treat me like a dentist or a doctor. In that regard, I’d like you to go back to work and come back after your duty shift is over so that you are not preoccupied with what you must get back to,” he explained lengthily.

Sathut

Thorne started to say something, thought better of it and closed her mouth. The initial appointment with any counselor was basically to check a tic mark in a box that said a meeting had happened. It was also for the counselor to spot any obvious concerns about the crew. It wasn’t a social engagement to build a relationship—at least that’s the way Shirazi thought about it. A conversation over dinner was a much better way to build the initial foundations of friendship and knowledge about someone.

Knowing herself, she pressed her lips together and inclined her head in Sathut’s direction in a small bow of acknowledgement. “So be it.” was all she said as she left the Raka and headed back to the bridge.

—Thorne, CO