Good Juju

Posted on 30 Aug 2016 @ 12:03am by Lieutenant JG Jonas Flynn PsyD & Lieutenant JG Braxton MacKenzie

2,171 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3, Counselor's Office
Timeline: MD -05 1400 hrs

[ON]

Braxton hated this the most. Counselors made him crazy. He was perfectly happy with who he was and had even embraced the panic attacks when they came. He knew that his whole file would be open for view. He stalled as much as he could. Finally he rang the chime and waited. Because he was a department head he fell under the Chief Counselor. He had heard good things about the man, he'd made it a point to contact the one counselor he trusted to ask but he was still nervous.

Jonas had been gazing out the windows of his office when he heard the chime. "Come in!" he called out, turning and moving towards the entrance to welcome his next appointment. He had scanned the man's file and made note of the recurring panic attacks and related medical history. However, a file was only a snapshot of the bigger picture, and he preferred to let others speak for themselves.

As the door opened, he offered a genuine smile. "Good afternoon, Lieutenant MacKenzie! Jonas Flynn."

Braxton gave a nod. He was already sweating. He always did when he had counselor encounters. That's what he called them because he usually left feeling like he'd spent an hour wit his head in the mouth o a lion. "Reporting for my first appointment I would have been here sooner to get this over with but...there was no appointment." He said his words bit different, his Cajun/Creole accent always became more prominent when he was nervous. He went in and sat down knowing the drill but he sad ridged and tense.

"No worries," Jonas offered as reassuringly as he could. MacKenzie's apprehension was palatable, and he knew they'd get nowhere fast if he couldn't ease some of the tension. "I appreciate you making this a priority. A lot of officers don't care for these sessions, and as a result put them off until I have to order them here. You can imagine how productive those conversations are, I'm sure."

He headed towards the sofa but paused. "Anything you'd like to drink? Or eat for that matter? I just finished lunch but am still feeling a bit peckish."

"In all honesty. I am one of those but...I found that if I get it over quick it is like ripping tape off skin. Hurts but he pain is brief. Coffee would be good."

"Cream or sugar?"

"Today just plain." He said. He rubbed his neck uncomfortable at being here. He knew the counselor was trying to make him comfy but.. He rubbed the amulet he had around his neck as if it was a life line.

"Comin' right up." Jonas was have tempted to make it a decaf, but messing with a man's coffee was no way to build trust. He decided to order a cup of rose congou, a blend of black tea and rose flowers. Once materialized, he brought the drinks over and sat Braxton's down on the table in front of him.

"So, Chief Science Officer on a science vessel," Jonas began as he took his own seat. "That's pretty impressive. It's been almost a full day since we arrived - how's it going so far?"

Braxton gave a nod. This he could do. He thanked the man for the coffee. "It has been busy. I am caught up on all reports met some of the staff. I still have to unpack but with work there has not been much time."

Jonas chuckled and sipped his tea. "I hear you, though I think I went in reverse. Managed to get mostly settled in last night, and spent this morning preparing for the next two weeks. I've technically met half of my staff, and I'm looking forward to meeting the other half later."

The counselor settled back and let silence fall for a moment. He always liked to allow pauses to prompt his clients to speak up about what was on their minds, but he didn't want to stay silent for too long lest Braxton become more agitated.

"So, anything on your mind? Anything you'd care to discuss?"

Braxton shook his head. He knew that to give an inch was to give a mile with counselors. Silence didn't bother him. Probing questions did and he knew that they were coming. That's why he was wearing the amulet today. It always gave him comfort. He touched his had to it now rubbing the emerald green round stone feeling calmed by it. He was steeling himself for what he knew was coming. Questions about his panic attacks, probing questions about that night in the Paulson Nebula.

Jonas accepted there was nothing Braxton wanted to talk about, and having observed his actions, decided to ask about the necklace. "That's interesting. where'd you get it?"

Braxton's tense muscles seemed to relax. "It is a Gris-gris (Pronounced: greee-greee). It is an object that is meant to ward off evil." He sighed and smiled for the first time. "My...what be the word....nanny, Marie gave it to me. It is an amulet to keep me safe." And he had needed safety when she'd given it to him. He truly believed that the necklace kept the evil at bay. That night in the nebula he hadn't been wearing it. He shuddered with the memory, sweat on his forehead was beading. He quickly brought his thoughts to Marie, the mother figure and friend in his life. The smile returned the pain and paleness of the moment before gone. "She was big on this...it was part of her religion."

The words and accent jarred a memory from Jonas' time at the Academy. "Would that be Santeria? Or, no, wait... um, Voodoo?"

"Santeria. Right the first time." He smiled. "Marie knew herbs and all sorts of things, stones. She was remarkable. I called her Mama Marie but den so did everyone else. Ma Belle Mama Marie." He grinned this time genuinely all the tension leaving his body.

"Sounds like an amazing woman," Jonas grinned himself, having found Braxton's contagious. "I spent a lot of time in New Orleans when I was in the Academy, just about every free weekend I could find. I went, as did most cadets, to eat at Sisko's Creole Kitchen, but I ended up falling in love with more than the food. What a city."

"Oui! It is amazing. I spent time there my self. I used to love eating Couche-Couche, Um...it is a cornmeal cereal eaten with milk. Not the cheap stuff you get with replicators but right from Paw Paw Jolie kitchen. Ohhh I could die a happy man eatin' nothing but dat." As he talked his accent crew deeper and his eye sparkles with mirth. His dazzling smile even made an appearance, the one that very few had seen, making it almost a myth.

"You left out the best part, the bacon drippings," Jonas pointed out. "That's what made it for me. Usually would have mine drizzled with cane syrup, or sometimes honey for variety. Don't know if I could eat it every day but I sure as hell miss it. Haven't had any in..." His mind started to do the math and he realized he didn't like the number. "Too long, I guess. Maybe we can talk the chef into adding it to the mess hall menu?"

He gave a little snort. "Gar ici (Cajun French: Look here) I will make for you true Couche-Couche jus like Mama Marie made. You come tomorrow morning to my quarters I make for you."

"That sounds fantastic, I'll be there." Jonas was glad to see Braxton begin to open up a little bit. He decided to try and keep the momentum. "Okay, so you've told me a little bit about yourself. What would you like to know about me?"

Brax shrugged. "I don't know." He smiled. "Not a question that counselor's usually ask. They usually just poke around in your mind and tell you your time is up. So...I guess you can tell me what you would like me to know....I promise I will not say our time is up."

Jonas maintained his smile but felt saddened that Brax's previous experiences with counselors had been so one-sided. He never understood how a counselor could in good faith encourage another to open up without sharing a bit of themselves. He supposed it worked for some, but that just wasn't his way.

"Lemme think..." he began, sifting through his mental Rolodex. Brax's memories of Mama Marie made him think back to his own childhood, and while it hadn't been horrible, there wasn't anything as heart-warming as the relationship the scientist had shared with his nanny. In fact, the only relationship that he could consider tender had turned out to be a lie. Jonas wanted to share something, but not that.

"Okay, here's something interesting," he began finally settling on an anecdote. "Would you believe you're sitting with probably the only person on board who finds a cargo bay more relaxing than a holodeck?"

Braxton raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why?" He genuinely wanted to know.

"Not that I have anything against holodecks, mind you," Jonas quickly clarified. "But I grew up on a freighter, an old Antares-class, the SS Deirdre. Needless to say, it was not equipped with a holodeck, or even anything really resembling a gym or rec room. We'd modified some areas, of course, but you had to be creative in how you used the space available." He got up to refill his tea as he spoke. "So, I of course used my imagination to turn maintenance tubes and airlocks into whatever I needed them to be, and I can't say I was ever that bored. However, finding someplace quiet, someplace to simply relax - that was difficult. There was always someone around."

He returned to his seat with a fresh coffee for Braxton, and sipped his tea before continuing. "So finally, maybe around the time I was ten or eleven, I realized no one really stuck around the cargo bays when they weren't working. It would be noisy enough in there when the cargo was coming or going or being checked, but mostly it was the quietest place on the ship. And the emptiest, which made it my go-to spot to get away from it all. To this day, if I really need to quickly center myself or step away from it all, I'll find the nearest cargo bay and just sit."

Braxton smiled. "I feel like that about airlocks." He tilted his head. "Um...thank your for sharing. I ... I have never met a counselor who opened up to a client....it's refreshing." He said with a nod.

"It's been my pleasure, Braxton," Jonas said sincerely. "May I call you Braxton?"

"Brax is fine." He said and meant it. He liked this counsellor. "May...I ask a question?"

"Of course you can, Brax."

"There is a girl...long black hair. Green eyes, like emeralds..." He stood up. No he wasn't going to ask bout Splendora. "Never mind. I should go."

The description was brief but vivid, and Jonas immediately knew to whom the other was referring. "Do you mean Dora? Um, I mean Ensign Nightingale. She's a member of my staff and a close friend."

"Okay. Good to know." He moved towards the door.

"Hold on a sec, Brax," Jonas called after him, standing but keeping the atmosphere relaxed. "I'm glad this little chat went well, and I am really looking forward to breakfast tomorrow, but I'd like to ask you something too. If that's ok."

"um....sure." He said nervously

Jonas could feel the return of apprehension like a force field suddenly pressing back against him, but he kept the same friendly and conversational tone. "I realize there is a lot on your plate right now... hell, there's a lot on mine... but I'd like to ask that, when things begin to settle down a bit, you find some time for another appointment. This is not an order, just a request. I could be biased since it's my field, but I think it's good to check-in once in a while. What do you say?"

"Sure. Sounds good." He said thankful that the question wasn't about the Green eyed beauty. "I'll see you at breakfast."

The counselor was relieved he hadn't pushed Brax away at the last minute. "Great! See you tomorrow!" Jonas smiled at the rapport they had seemed to build. It would be needed in the days to come, he was sure, as Braxton clearly had some demons to face. But he wouldn't have to face them alone, and certainly not today or tomorrow. It would take time, but the steps taken today would hopefully to a few more steps later, and a few more after that. Only time would tell...

[OFF]


Lieutenant JG Jonas Flynn PsyD
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

&

Lt. JG Braxton MacKenzie
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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