New Behaviour and Old Habits

Posted on 17 Mar 2014 @ 11:48am by Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Teth Miir

1,948 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3, Counselor's Office
Timeline: MD -08 - 0930 hours

[ON]

When the doors to the counselor's office pulled apart, Andreus Kohl hesitated before he entered. Standing there in the corridor, the bearded Argelian visibly hesitated. He may have even recoiled a little. And so, when Kohl made his way into the compartment, his body moved with purpose and determination. He hoped the back-half of his entrance would counteract any judgements Counselor Miir might make of how Kohl began his entrance. Walking around the couch, Kohl sat himself in an upright desk chair; although, obviously, not the one behind the counselor's desk. He wasn't that comfortable with Counselor Miir; certainly not after their last appointment.

Miir looked up from his desk and smiled at Kohl.

"Lieutenant! It's good to see you. You seem to be ambulating much better than the last time we met. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well. ...Well, I'm doing better," Kohl said and then amended his statement after measure of thought. He scooted his chair closer and folded his hands on the surface of the desk. "Thank you, Lieutenant Miir. I, uh, I underwent some experimental gene therapy." --He shook head head slightly, and his lips curled to one side in distaste-- "But it-- it wasn't as successful as old fashioned physical therapy."

"So are you going to be going through physical therapy as well, then?"

Nodding at Miir's question, Kohl replied, "It's how I spent most of my shore leave. I don't think I've spent that much time at Starfleet Medical since I studied there. I will be continuing my treatment in Sickbay, I imagine, and the new workout room." Nodding again, a thin smile came to Kohl's lips. He relaxed his shoulders against the back of his chair. "It's almost funny. Rehabilitation was my favourite part of work as a Nurse Practitioner."

"I know what you mean." the counselor remarked without further explanation.

He had spent a great deal of time at Starfleet medical himself for a variety of reasons, including an attempt to remove Borg technology from his brain and intensive inpatient therapy at Starfleet Psychiatric.

"I would like to apologize for my behavior the last time we met together, Mr. Kohl. I behaved unprofessionally and was being needlessly antagonistic."

"Yes..." Kohl nodded just once. There was no malice in his tone, when he said, "Yes, you were." His expression was deadpan, and then he squinted at Miir. "If you don't mind my asking, what caused this change?"

"I suppose I have, to some extent at least, found a way to make peace with myself. I have burned the bridges of my past, so to speak, and am now trying to focus on the future. "

Teth smiled and took a sip of muddy colored tea from a fine ceramic cup with an intricate geometrical on it's exterior. A real cup he had purchased on Andoria some time ago.

"Not that such a thing is ever so simple."

At Teth's assertion, Kohl nodded enthusiastically. "Simple? Ha! Who would call that simple?" Kohl asked. The lack of a pause after his question suggested it was rhetorical. "That's an accomplishment. Not just an accomplishment, but a significant accomplishment."

"Vulcans...." the counselor mused, a response to the rhetorical question.

"It's still somewhat of a work in progress, though. But that isn't important now. You got to stay on Galileo. You are making a remarkable recovery so far, physically. How are you doing emotionally?"

"Overwhelmed. Is overwhelmed an emotion?" Kohl answered, and it was a common sentiment from him these days. "It was-- it was as bad as I feared. There are no available medical positions aboard Galileo," Kohl said. There was a certain formality to his choice of words to offset the disappointment in his timbre. "But. I've been selected to be the Assistant Chief of the Science department."

"So there is a job for you. But it's not involving medicine. You say you've been selected. Am I to guess that you are apprehensive to step into the role? Would you be the active chief or the permanent one?"

Kohl couldn't answer Miir's question right away. He rubbed his lower lip and then he said a, "weeeeeeell," with a seriously prolonged vowel. "They haven't put the word acting in my title, but, uh... I don't know if it's really meant to be permanent. Lieutenant Stace may only be waiting until I recover more, or until someone more experienced comes along."

"Have you considered getting your previous position back on a different ship?"

That question made Kohl click his teeth together and purse his lips. He didn't want to answer what came to mind, but he didn't want to lie, or give Counselor Miir the wrong impression. "I considered it," was all Kohl said at first. He blinked and he blinked. "And then life got easy."

Teth's expression twisted into one of puzzlement.

"Can you explain what you mean by that?"

Kohl held out an open palm, as if his explanation was sitting in the palm of his hand. "I thought about my options, but I didn't do anything about it. I didn't begin any inquiries or pursue any opportunities," Kohl said. "All of a sudden, Lieutenant Stace offered me an exciting new opportunity, and I grabbed hold of that, rather than have to decide what I really want. ...Easy."

"So... is that a good thing?"

Eventually any counselor who works long enough will encounter a patient that they just can't quite read. In his first conversation with Kohl and in the current one, the caitian found himself wishing he was a Betazoid instead.

Again, Kohl visibly struggled to find the words he thought would accurately convey his meaning. He tilted his head, and his lip curled into a curious scowl, and he looked at the ceiling. Kohl took a deep breath and then his eyes lit up with some pleasure. "Well, I don't suppose I can say that anything easy can be good. Not really. You have to earn good. You have to work for it, to be worth anything," Kohl said. "So that means, I'll call it nice. Being selected as the Assistant Chief, taking my career in another left turn, being able to stay aboard the same posting for more than a year... It's all very nice."

"I see. So nice is something that others do for you and good is something you achieve yourself. And I suppose in this case, it was your commanding officers being nice. Do you feel that they have given you the position out of pity?"

Kohl shifted in his seat, as if he suddenly noticed his seat pan was unbalanced. He was obviously attempting to make his voice sound level, when he said, "That's not what I was trying to say. Not quite." --Kohl shook his head, but watched Miir all the while-- "Do you think they offered me my job out of pity?" Kohl asked with some concern.

The caitian sighed and stretched back in his seat, putting his hands behing his hea. Which felt strange without his long, shoulder blade length hair that he'd had his entire life.

"I really can't answer that." Teth said after some thought, "I am certain that you must know them better than I do. Regardless, from what I can tell, people generally aren't given leadership positions out of pity. I think they must have thought you were a good fit for the job. And I imagine you will stay busy, given the kind of ship we are on."

"You're right about that part, at least," Kohl said, and he emphasized his point with a nod. "We haven't even reached a planet to point our sensors at, but there still seems plenty to do while we're in transit." --Kohl smiled over at Miir-- "Given the kind of ship we're on, we'll probably keep you busy too."

"This ship has kept me busy since before we left stardock, lieutenant." the counselor acknowledged wearily.

"Do you have much of a social life?"

"I would say," Kohl said, "I have as much of a social life as my Starfleet career will let me. I made close friends on Galileo, people I thought were an important part of my life, but they've mostly been reassigned, away from this ship." --Kohl shrugged helplessly at Miir-- "I was dating a few men before my injury, but," --Kohl cleared his throat-- "None of them were sitting by my biobedside with cookie baskets. With two of them, I guess I can't blame them? I don't think our relationship trajectory was headed anywhere but friendship. But one-- the other one..."

"The other one, what?"

A frown marred Kohl's expression. Kohl tried to squeeze the expression and the feeling away, but it just pursed his lips into a tighter frown. He wasn't looking at Miir anymore, because there was an accusatory stare behind his eyes. "It hurt," Kohl said. His throat tightened, and then he breathed. "It hurt that he wasn't there. That he wasn't there for me."

"Have you ever confronted him about it?"

Kohl folded his arms across his abdomen, and pressed his shoulders back against his chair again. "I wouldn't say I've confronted him," Kohl answered Miir's question, but there was a caution to the delivery of his words. "I didn't tell him how I feel. But we talked about it. I asked him. He told me he didn't think I wished to see him. I- I- I suppose he doesn't understand how much I value his company. Value him."

Miir's face wrinkled in concern. He stared thoughtfully at a fern at the corner of his desk, just for a moment.

"So... what is stopping you from telling him?"

Throwing his hands up, Kohl offered a shrug in response to Miir's question. "I don't even," Kohl said, and started again. "I hardly know how I feel. How would I know how to tell him?"

"Well, I think that might require further introspection on your behalf. You say you value him. He hurt you by not being there for you in your time of need. Obviously this person is of great significance to you."

At Miir's words, Kohl just said, "Yeah." He nodded shallowly, and he said, 'Yes, you're right."

Miir smirked at Kohl declaring his observation correct. The counselor had always worked hard to get along with everyone, but there was just something about Lt Kohl that had grated on him since they first met. He always seemed to be intentionally obtuse during conversation.

"Who knows, maybe it will go better than expected."

Kohl nodded once more, and he said, "I expect it will," obtusely.

Teth yawned and looked at his watch.

"Is there anything else you wished to discuss today?"

Kohl's lips drew back into a thin line, and his eyes followed each of Miir's considered movements. He stared at Miir's teeth when he yawned, and he tilted his head to follow the movement of Miir looking down at his watch during a counseling session. In a matter of fact timbre, Kohl replied, "No, there is not."

"Good." Teth said as he stood behind his desk. "It's been nice seeing you again, lieutenant. I hope you have a wonderful day."

Kohl offered a quick smile to Teth. He pushed back from his side of the desk, and, since the counselor was standing, Kohl was quick to stand as well. In a sing-song, Kohl said, "Likewise."



[OFF]

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

&

Lieutenant Teth Miir
Counselor
USS Galileo

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