Life's A Stress

Posted on 28 Feb 2012 @ 4:51am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy

1,890 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 00 - Pre-Deployment
Location: Starfleet HQ, Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 03 - 1330 hrs

[ON]

Despite still being late morning and having eaten breakfast only a few hours ago, Lirha was starving. Perhaps it was the anxiety of launching a new starship, or maybe the new pressure of being a commanding officer, whatever the reason, she needed to escape her office and get a meal. She exited the small room and made her way down the corridor and down a flight of stairs, then continued on until she entered the large main cafeteria. Lirha made a beeline straight for the buffet-style service line, grabbed a plate and some cutlery, then procured her lunch from the crewmen who were working the mess. Plate in hand with a glass of water, she squeezed her way through the crowded room and took a seat at an open table in the corner.

Dru walked into the mess hall, her stomach grumbling from having had missed breakfast due to some early morning appointments. She hadn't managed a good night sleep last night due to being concerned about the crew and how they were handling the stress and pressure of reading the ship for launch. As Dru walks over to the table she grabbed a sandwich, uncertain if she could manage much more, her stomach seemed so unsettled.

Glancing around the large room, Lirha somehow managed to catch a glimpse of her counselor, Drusilla, making her way through the crowd. Hopeful that she would have some company, she raised her green hand in the hopes that she would join her.

Dru noticed someone waving their hand at her and saw it was Lirha. She hesistated slightly, uncertain if she was in a form right now that company would feel comfortable with her.

The captain flashed a smile after making eye-contact with the brown haired woman, then motioned for her to come sit at her table. She had enjoyed Drusilla's company over the last few days and wanted to return the favor.

Dru looked down again at the sandwich in her hand, confused about what she should do. On one hand she didn't wish to upset the Commander but on the other hand, she felt she might distress the Captain if she realised the state Dru ws building herself into.

Dru closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to compose herself, before walking over to the Commander's table and taking a seat beside her, hoping that the side view would hide the dark rings under her eyes."Commander, how are you today?"

"I'm well, Lieutenant, and yourself?" she asked as she glanced over at Drusilla, noticing she seemed a bit fatigued.

"I'm fine Ma'am. Just decided I need a breather from the work and I needed something to eat." Dru held up her sandwich and smiled slightly. Suddenly Dru's stomach was heard grumbling. As Dru blushed she looked down at the table infront of her,"Apologises Ma'am, I guess I'm hungrier then I anticipated."

"You got here just in time, then." Lirha said with a smile, then started taking a few bites of her own salad. After a brief pause, she wiped her mouth and looked back over at the counselor. "Has our new crew been keeping you busy?" she asked, wondering what kind of work load Drusilla had undertaken in the past few days.

Dru picked at the crust on her sandwich as she composed a response,"Well I've already seen half of the crew coming with us at this point. Nobody I have any concerns over, a few I will need followups to keep an eye on certain issues, but overall your crew seems to be in good order Ma'am."

"That's good to hear," she replied with a nod, then took a sip out of her water glass, "Please, Lieutenant, when we're on duty, call me 'Captain'. Ma'am just seems so..." she paused to think of the word, "Formal." she finished with a grin. Lirha was happy to have Drusilla with her, as it provided her some much-needed company in an otherwise busy and administrative-filled day.

Dru smiled softly at the Commander's request,"I guess I can do that M...Captain. I know the feeling of formal really isn't nice sometimes. When I'm seeing people in sessions, I always telling them that ranks are left at the door and I'm Dru or Drusilla and I ask them permission to call them by their first name while they are in my office."

"That seems like a good technique." Lirha commented, then pushed a few more fork-fulls of salad into her mouth followed by another sip of water. "So when we are are off duty, I may call you Dru?" she asked. She hadn't been aware her counselor had a nickname but she liked it nonetheless.

Dru looked up at Lirha suddenly glad she had sat down with her. Dru was starting to feel slightly more at ease and relaxed which surprised her, she hadn't expected to feel that way around Lirha given as she was Captain of the ship, most stress and pressure would be placed on her."I much prefer Dru, I find Drusilla to be abit of a mouthful and everytime I hear it I imagine hearing my mother yell it because I've done something wrong."

"I'll be sure to remember that. You may call me Lirha when we're off duty. And I know that feeling all to well." the captain replied with a sideways grin. "I used to get a mouthful from my parents every time I acted up... which was pretty often, considering I was the only child stuck aboard a two-hundred meter cargo freighter. I had a tendency to wander around in places I shouldn't have." she said.

"What was that like Captain, growing up on a cargo freighter? I'm guessing if it was two hundred meters, you'd plenty of space for hide and seek?" Dru pushed away her sandwich, still feeling a little unsettled in her stomach.

"Oh yes," she replied with bright eyes as she looked at Dru, "Plenty of places to hide...and to get lost. I once trapped myself inside of a maintenance conduit for fourteen hours. The whole crew was searching for me and I was hysterical and traumatized by the time they found me." she said as she recalled that frightful day.

"And how do you feel now about enclosed spaces? It can't be easy living onboard a spaceship." Dru ran her hand through her hair as she watched Lirha.

The captain ate some more of her salad as she pondered the counselor's question. She wasn't particularly fond of tight spaces, but didn't necessarily fear them either. "I'm impartial to them, I guess." she said with a shrug. "I'd rather not be stuck in a Jeffries tube for hours at a time, but I don't feel uncomfortable inside of one."

Dru suddenly blushed slightly,"Sorry Captain, counselling side of me is kicking in, I do have a tendancy to sometimes over analyse situations."

"It's quite alright, Lieutenant. You know, sometimes it is effective to simplify things a bit. Especially for your own piece of mind. In my experience, over-analyzing can sometimes have negative effects on a person's decision making ability." she suggest to the blue-eyed woman, then took a couple more bites of her salad.

Dru looked down at her hands as she felt a level of upset building, her earlier feeling of being relaxed deminishing,"One would say my job is to over analyse to a certain degree. How else do I get people to talk about their true emotions...If I sat around all day in a chair there'd be no point of me being there. People may just speak to a wall."

Lirha finished her salad and wiped her mouth clean, then deposited her napkin on the empty plate. "You're anything but a wall, Lieutenant," she said and gave her a reassuring smile, "I know it's your job to think and to question things, but if you ever feel overwhelmed, don't be afraid to step back and simplify things." she added, "At least, that's what I do."

"It's difficult to simplify things when sometimes you need the complicated to get through to people and to understand people. Counselling isn't as easy as it seems. You need to be able to pick up on the smallest of things and to pick it apart." Dru pinched the bridge of her nose."Maybe I should go have a lie down."

"You do look a bit tired. I wasn't going to say anything earlier when I first saw you, but you look like you had a rough night." she commented in a quiet voice, then looked up into Dru's fatigued eyes. "Is everything okay?" she asked with concern. It wouldn't do any good to have her new counselor wearing herself out and unable to help other members of the crew.

Dru raised her hands to rub the palm of her hands against her eyes,"I'm alright Captain.I'm just having the same stresses as everyone else, trying to settle in and get read up on all of the crew files and evaluations."

Lirha nodded, "I feel the same way sometimes. It's been a challenge to get the Galileo ready for launch. " she said, then patted Dru gently on the leg. "Go get some rest until 1600 hours. Captain's orders."

Dru rested her elbows on the table as she kept the palm of her hands against her eyes,"Is there anyway I can get out of those orders? I'm not certain my schedual will allow me that much time off Captain." Dru moved her head to the side and smiled softly at the Captain, realising she was lucky to have a Captain who cared for her crew as much as Lirha was.

"I'm sorry Dru," Lirha said, breaking her code of on and off duty formalities, "You need some rest and I need my counselor to be in good mental health if you are to perform her duties competently." she said as she looked at the dark bags under the counselor's eyes. "It's only two hours of down-time, but I expect you to use it to get some rest." she said firmly.

Dru realised that Lirha might be right as she rubbed her eyes again,"Ok Li...Captain." Dru closed her eyes as she realised her mistake, when Lirha had address her by her name she'd forgotten she was still talking to her Captain.

"I'll see you later tonight then, Lieutenant." she said with a smile as she shooed away her counsellor back to her quarters.

Dru dragged herself to her feet, suddenly realising how exhausted she was,"Till then Captain. Good night I guess." Dru dragged herself off to her quarters, hoping there would be a bed available not covered in equipment.

Lirha watched her counselor slowly and tiredly walk out of the mess hall and into the hallway. She was more than concerned, at this point, and pulled her PADD from her belt to enter an appointment reminder to go visit Dru in a couple of hours. With a sigh, she stood up and maneuvered through the crowd in the cafeteria, finally making her way to the large exit doors and out into the hallway.

[OFF]

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CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

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