SD241912.22 || Joint Log || "Simple Tasks"

Posted on 22 Dec 2019 @ 10:47am by Captain Mallory Thorne & Lieutenant Quinle Rahl

1,062 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Tyr's Hand
Timeline: OOC: This takes place...sometime before the log I just sent. Like day before. #ExactCaptainIsExact

=/\= Begin Log =/\=

The news had, of course, gone straight to the top first...

Mallory had been thoroughly shocked by the news, and yet, there was a part of her that almost wasn't surprised. It was an odd dichotomy. It was on the topic of this that made her head down to the counseling offices in search of her new chief counselor. The woman with a job perhaps even less envied than Mallory's...

Rahl was in her comfortable chair reading her PaDD and drinking tea in her office. Click... click.. click... the soft click of her well groomed nails on the screen then she unfolded her legs and rose to stretch. Moving to her desk she lifted a small canvas holding it up and looking at it for a time before she took a hook moving to a wall near the door to hang it.

Despite a deep desire to avoid this conversation, Mal reached the office door and pressed the chime. Upon hearing the call to enter, she stepped in and looked around to find Rahl. "Do you have a moment, Lieutenant?" she asked.

Turning from making sure the painting she placed on the wall was perfectly straight she looked to the captain and gestured to the seats in her office. “Please make yourself comfortable. Can I get you water or tea? Anything?” As the captain moved in further the counselor followed the movement, paced almost like a dance but on the opposite side of the room, her steps just behind the captain as if shadowing a half a step behind to leave the captain with the lead in the timing of their placing.

"No, thank you," Mal said with a faint smile as she moved forward to take a seat. "I came to check..." She hesitated, trying to find the best way to broach this. "Well, information is still moving in a rough fashion around the ship. I wasn't sure if you were aware of what happened to the CMO yet. Security has been involved."

There was an ironic lilt to Quinle’s smile. “I am not the favored person to speak of gossip too and I haven’t been out of my office much of late. I am trying to remain near to my office as much as possible in case I am needed.” Settling into a chair, her feet spaced evenly on the floor in front of her, a very proper look to the counselor. “What has happened?”

Mallory winced slightly. Damn, she thought. "I... I hate the be the bearer of bad news, but you should be aware that it seems Commander Bell committed suicide in his office." She frowned.

All sense of good nature left Rahl and she swallowed, her skin paled making her markings stand out more against her complexion. A memory from her symbiont’s past rushed through her and she swallowed, then exhaled harshly before speaking. “How are you?” Falling back to her work over anything personal the elegant woman tipped her chin up slightly.

"Weary," Mal replied with a faint, sad smile. "I wish I didn't have to arrive to make your job even harder, but I imagine the medical staff is going to need to be extra aware of your presence. The new CMO likely will as well. These are hardly ideal circumstances under which to take over a department."

“These seem hardly favorable circumstances for much,” Quinle replied honestly, “and yet here we are.” The counselor tipped her head slightly, “I will work with whomever you need me to work with, and whoever needs me.”

Mal nodded, glad for the dedication of her new chief counselor although hoping it wouldn't become equal reason to worry as well. "I hope you're taking time to rest yourself as well?" she asked. "We don't need you collapsing on the job.”

“I am taking time for myself, and am pleased I am not an empath to handle this job as other are, the stress from that alone might push one to limits that are way beyond what is good for them.” Quinle tipped her head to the Captain acknowledging that not know what others are feeling intimately was a strength in a situation like this, even if many might see it as a weakness.

"No, I do not envy any of our ship's telepaths or empaths," Mal agreed somberly. "Speaking of which, how are our resident telepaths doing after their...difficult duties while we were over Earth."

Quinle brought her hands up around a knee, “Much was asked of many, it hasn’t been easy and some were pushed to a point of almost breaking but are working themselves back to where they can deal with all that happened. This trip will leave scars on many in unexpected ways.”

Mallory sighed. "Yes, it will. And that's just in addition to the expected ways," she said soberly.

“Captain, if I may?” Rahl asked permission but did not wait for permission to speak clearly. “Whatever we thought of as expected is long gone, it is time to help everyone realize we have a new normal and that means that we all have to adapt slightly.” Dark eyes looked almost black as she peered at the other woman, “Which also means that you have to realize that we might have to push people further than they have before if we all want a chance at finding our way back. It is not gentle, and is not easy at the least, but we have to all be working at a capacity never expected from us.”

"You're not wrong," Mal said quietly, meeting the counselor's eyes. "But we also may have to realize that there is no way back. Temporal issues are a quagmire and pretty much never occur how you intend them to. Yes, people will have to be pushed, but...we also must exercise due care when we choose to do so."

Quinle nodded slightly, that reality already in her head. “There may not be, but there will be people who never give up on that desire. Right now we just have to get everyone as healthy and settled in as we can. Work to the community of our ship and our reality.”

Mal nodded. "That's it in a nutshell, Counselor." She smiled wryly. "Easy, right?"

=/\= End Log =/\=

Captain Mallory Thorne & Lieutenant Quinle Rahl

 

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