Tremble meets Talli
Posted on Sat Jun 29th, 2019 @ 8:02pm by Major Cornelius Tremble
Edited on on Sun Jun 30th, 2019 @ 12:14pm
3,038 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
Episode 7 - Home Again
Location: HS Room 7, Deck 5
Timeline: MD004 1700 hrs
Tallida was sitting in her office as she looked at the next name on her list. She had been there in sickbay when he had come in and her mind was automatically on the medical side of thing and she was struggling with with the transition into the counseling role. She needed to focus on the emotion and mental side of the crew and that was something that she knew the least. This was going to be an interesting posting.
Wearing the proscribed uniform of the day (service class B, green/ship) boots and the beret he was not terribly fond of, Neil walked purposely down the corridor, pausing a few steps in front of the Counselor’s office. He wasn’t really looking forward to the mandatory seasons, but it was the only way to get cleared for duty.
Taking a breath and letting it out, he stepped to the door and touched the annunciator. “Lt. Ovaa? Lt. Tremble reporting as ordered.”
The sound rang out, it was obtrusive but it pulled her from her thoughts. Rising from her chair she popped her head out first before her body followed. "Oh, hello Lieutenant." She smiled. "Please come in, make yourself comfortable."
Stepping through the door crisply, Neil removed his beret and sat rigidly into the chair indicated, putting his cover over the arm rest. Looking at the counselor he smiled, "Are the two usual at the start of sessions like this. Coming in and being comfortable?"
Tallida moved into the room and took the seat across from him. Her head tilted sideways at the question like a puppy would. "I don't know." She started as she began to think it. "You are my first one." She added simply.
Neil's eyebrows raised at that, "First one ever? Or just aboard the Pioneer?"
"I mean," She started with a non-committal shrug. "Not my first one ever but my first one since my clinical rotation during my residency.' She replied seeing no reason to not be honest or why her confession might not have instilled the most confidence in the Marine across from her.
Nodding, Neal met her eyes."Alright Doctor Ovaa. So, what now?"
"I don't know." She said with a shrug. "The textbooks would say that out goal is to talk about your feelings." she looked over him for a moment. "You don't strike me as the hum and hug type." She joked using an old phrase Merriam had said to her many times. "So, why don't we start with what you do here on the Pioneer?"
"Dance master," Neil said deadpan.
“Do you find that rewarding?” She asked without giving away whether she thought he was serious or not. “I can’t imagine trying to teach a ground of military minded individuals the emotional and creative art of dance.” She smiled at him giving nothing away.
"It's all about training," Neil replied. "Once you have the steps down, then you allow for extemporization. Part of the marine way is to Improvise, Adapt and Overcome." Then he smiled, "The rest is about blowing things up and neutralizing targets."
"Well," Tallida said with a grin. She was quite proud of herself. "Round one goes to the doc." She said simply. "You enjoy your job." She stated. "Or at the very least you take pride in being a Marine." She added. Not all men enjoyed their job, it was a natural behavior. Most however, too pride in what they did. Providing a purpose.
Neil smiled disarmingly back at Tallied and asked, "What about you Counselor? I know you're new to the Pioneer, but how goes the Doctor job? Has Fleet been bouncing you around or have you had the fun of digging into a duty station prior to Pioneer?"
"Actually," She responded with a pause as she tried to figure out to tell her story, but not the whole story. "I was at Starfleet Medical for five or six years before I was stationed on the USS Yorktown for a year or so before I came here." She smiled back at him. This was already making her uncomfortable, however she was doing her best to keep it off her face even though she was failing. "Satisfied?"
Neil's eyes swept over her face, then the rest of her and then met her eyes again. "Perpetually, I'm a Marine so it usually goes with the territory, but typically I hear the word smug attached to it," he said grinning. "Do the parties we hear about at SFM really the light your hair on fire kind or are they exaggerated."
"I wouldn't know," Tallida replied simply. She was never allowed to socialize much with anyone she worked with. "I have never gone to a party." She added.
Considering the woman, Neil decided he wasn't surprised. "Wouldn't that, as you counselor's would say, leave the social aspect of your education slightly unrounded? I believe I was once told that group socialization activities help us fit into the overall dynamic of a group." Listening to his own words, Neil shrugged. "At least I think that's close to what they said. I'd spent three weeks in a ghillie suit, observing an Andorian security team that wasn't where they were supposed to be and after didn't really feel like 'rejoining my comrade in arms in a routine celebration'.
"I am a medical doctor." Talli replied as if that explained everything. Looking down she continued speaking. "Socialization was discouraged when I was younger and it has only been recently that I have been allowed to explore, as it were." She looked up dropping the padd she was holding she covered her mouth in shock at the realization of what she had said. Her cheeks turned bright red. "I shouldn't have said that."
Neil didn't miss a beat. "That you're a medical doctor? Don't worry counselor, your secret is safe with me." He kept his eyes on hers, kept his tone easy, seeing how she would react.
Tallida let out a nervous laugh before clearing her throat. She couldn't help but feel like he was learning more about her than she was about him. Typical. She tried to resist fidgeting in her chair but she failed. "So," She started. "How do you handle social situations?" she asked and forced herself to listen to his answer.
"Socialization isn't always easy," he shrugged. "As a senior non-com, I felt fairly well grounded. I had years of experience at it. This officer business is awkward. Command is easy. Small talk and the niceties of the officer corps is a whole other ball game. Have you ever heard of the phrase, 'it makes my teeth itch?'. Making small talk about nothing, hoping something of substance rear's its head requires patience I don't have."
"Or, maybe I'm just wired too tight for this job. That has crossed my mind more than once," he added.
"You might be right. Not everyone is built for command." The Counselor started with a non-committed shrug. "There is no shame in that." She added as she looked down and tapped a few things into her PaDD.
Neil let himself go quiet then, continuing to watch the Counselor. He'd fed her some information, what she chose to do with that might be interesting.
It took all of her willpower to not look down once she had caught his eye. There was something about the way he was evaluating her that made her feel like a fraud. "So," She started clearing her throat. "Am I supposed to talk you into doing your job?" She asked evenly.
Neil grinned then, "Counselor, I'm a marine from my fingertips to my toenails. I'll do my job until the last breath leaves my body and beyond. Then my name will be entered unto the rolls with those who have fallen before me as I pave the way for those who come behind."
He paused for a few beats, then said "That being said, I think I'm here because, during the ordeal on Cardassia Prime I apparently was reacting to at least three separate influences. I was captured by Dominion forces back during that war and apparently was conditioned for something or other which came out during the Cardassian torture. Then there's the...shadow...,I don't know what to call it, of a man from an alternate reality that someone followed me back. He was at least trying to help."
Neil thought about that for a moment, then added "I think."
"He does speak." Tallida said with a grin. "With more than sarcasm. I am impressed." She teased. "Thank you." She added sincerely. "It is my experience that officer such as yourself tend to operate with the motto of, 'I'm fine' and if you find your way to my office it is typically not by your own accord." She looked up at him. "I can help you but only if you accept it."
Squinting at her, his brow furrowing he asked "Doc. You're dancing around the fact that you have to clear my return to duty. Until then, I'm in hack."
Sighing then, settling back, he added "And in your hands."
"You are," She replied bluntly. "I know your type. You don't need me. Or at least you don't think you do." She paused. "I can no more rubber stamp your return to duty than you should allow a Marine to serve who wasn't fit." She held up her hand. "I am not saying you aren't fit, just that I can't approve you until accept the fact that I have to be sure."
Neil's eyes went up at that. "I have a type, Counselor? Well, granted you have to be a certain type to be a marine in the first place, especially a lifer. And I never asked you to rubber stamp me either. So far, I'm kinda waiting to see what you come up with. As I mentioned, I've been through many of these. From all sorts of counselors."
"Honestly," Tallida started. "I don't know." She let out a breath. "I know what the text book tells me and I know what the computer would tell me is the correct path, but honestly it is bullshit." She flushed slightly at how forward she was. "I guess we should start with what you want from this."
Neil was starting to think she was messing with him. "Aren't we going in circles here Doc. I need to prove I'm good to go. So, I need to be the good lab rat, jump through whatever I need to do so I can get back to work." Some heat was starting to enter into his voice and his jaw tightened.
Tallida's eyes went wide. She took in a deep breath as she tried to think of what to say next. "Uh, so..." She started. "Do you think you are 'good to go'?" she asked using her fingers to emphasize the good to go part.
He met her eyes directly again, weariness growing in his voice and told her, "Doc. I'm a Marine. Of course I do. We're the razor's edge. The tip of the spear. We're trained to do the impossible. Go where other's fear to tread and defend the Federation and her citizens with our last bit of strength. In my career, I've bled more than twice the amount of blood my body holds. I'm sitting hear because I've been subjected to things that probably should have shredded my mind to pieces. Ultimately, if you were ever told to beware of things that go bump in the night. You've nothing to worry about because we're right out there with those things and they're more nervous about us then they are thinking about hurting you."
Chuckling then, he said. "Do you know that as a buck sergeant, a counselor told me I had to open up. I needed to bare all if I was going to get signed off. Get in touch with the dark things I'd seen. The next session, I showed up wearing only the beret and boots."
Sighing then, he said "It doesn't matter what I think though, does it?"
"I think it does." Tallida replied. "You know you better than I ever could." She added simply. "I can tell you have darkness in your past but in my experience learning to cope with it. Learning to keep it from eating us alive is necessary to survive. Getting in touch and coming to terms, is bullshit." She shook her head. "You can't come to terms with things outside your control. You have to learn how to live as this new person who replaced the person you were before it happened." she looked over at the Marine. Her eyes going wide and her cheeks flushing at her embarrassing. "I am sorry." She apologized for rambling.
Neil shrugged. "Counselor, I've lived in this skin for a long time, doing what I do. If I couldn't, they'd never have let me into a leadership position, much less been confirmed as an officer by the Commandant," then a sly smile traced over his mouth. "As to the rambling, you were talking about me and not you, weren't you doc?"
"It doesn't matter who I was talking about." Tallida replied before clearing her throat. "The statement still applies don't you think?" she looked down at the padd she was holding in her hand. "There, I have signed off on your release."
Neil took it, looked at it then looked at Talli. "So, you don't think I'm a danger to anyone?"
"Of course you are." She replied simply. "But the benefit of having you outweighs any potential harm you may present." Her clinical medical training coming into use as she tried to hide how badly she wanted out of that room. She wasn't so sure she could do this.
Neil considered that and then said, "Ok, but...what about the conditioning I was subjected to. That's still got to be in there and I don't really want to have something else happen where I hurt my comrades or end up getting a forebrain shampoo from Fleet medical."
"Then perhaps next time we meet," Tallida started her voice even if some what stern. "You will be more amenable to treatment." She rose up from her chair. "Perhaps for the benefit of your men, the next time you are in my office you won't be such an ass." She moved to the door. "We are done, Lieutenant."
Neil made a point of taking the beret from it's resting point, placing it at the correct angle atop his head so that the flash and his insignia was placed just so and then looked at Tallida, "Well that's plain enough. And since you did sign me off, thank you doctor for your kindness, compassion and understanding.
Then he let his own voice sharpen and he said, "However, Lieutenant. Something is bothering you and that is troubling to me. I have marines that will most likely need to see you as we go along and I want to be sure of you."
"Now," he continued, his voice quietly and calm. "If you have an issue, you can grab a tissue and talk to me. I am a Marine CO, outside of the Fleet structure and chain of command aboard the Pioneer. What you say to me would go no further."
Then he stood and said, "Or I'll go. Now you get to choose."
"You don't get to be sure of me nor do you get to lecture me." Tallida replied with an almost bored tone. "I did my job. While you may pose a threat to the body of the crew at a later date, you currently appear in control of you mind. Since you have no desire to discuss your experiences with me, I am not going to make you. You are a big boy who runs your own marine detachment, I am sure you can determine when or if you need my assistance. Until then..." She continued his dress down. "I have signed off and returned you to duty due to the value of having you on the front lines over the loss of having you on the bench. Nothing more, your choice not mine." Tallida had baggage like any person with her background, but she didn't need a jarhead telling her to put on her big girl pants and deal with it.
Neil continued to look at her for a few beats, then turned and moved to the door which hissed open at his presence. Then he turned back to her. "Well, that's more fire than you had for most of this interview, Lieutenant. You mentioned my marines and I might as well say this here and now. If you dance around with any of them instead of helping them when they need it, I'll lodge formal complaints and call for a full review."
Then his eyes narrowed as they locked on hers, "Then, if they bust you or bounce you from the ship, the only sympathy you'll find from me will be between shit and Syphilis in the dictionary."
"You will not have to worry about that, Lieutenant." Tallida replied, unphased. "If your men waste my time as you have today you will find exactly how much little I care about your sympathy."
"Funny,"Neil replied dryly. "I was more or less thinking the same thing about wasted time. But, since I actually do have better things to do, I can rectify that." Snapping to attention, he saluted her then turned sharply on his heel and strode from the Counselor's office without another word.
Tallida watched him leave. That hadn't gone how she had hoped, but what had she expected from a Marine? With very little fanfare she turned and headed for her office hoping she wouldn't have to have Tremble or any of his Marines in her office anytime soon.
A Joint Post By
First Lieutenant Cornelius Tremble
Marine Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Tallida Ovaa
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
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