Betazoids talk

Posted on Sat Nov 13th, 2021 @ 6:40am by Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes

Mission: Breen in Paradise
Location: Crew lounge
Timeline: After the away team return

With everything that had happened to her since boarding the Washington, Callie was feeling like she needed a stiff drink. Heading for the crew lounge she ordered the nearest thing she could get to a stiff drink and sat down in a quiet corner. She was trying to wrap her head around what Dex had shown her, and why she didn’t remember it.

Celes walked in and went to the bar, ordering a drink. She received her drink, a medium sized glass which held a blue liquid and turned to find a spot to sit. She scanned the room and saw a few tables open, but then picked up a telepathic echo, an empathic sense of sadness and confusion. She looked to the corner of the room and saw the new counselor. She was certain that the empathic burst was from her. She walked over slowly and in a gentle tone, "Hello lieutenant. I don't believe we have met. I'm lieutenant Deanna Celes. I'm the de facto Chief Ops Officer. I couldn't help but sense you needed someone to talk to, and while I'm not a counselor like yourself, I've been known to have an open ear. Care for some company?"

“Please” Callie nodded and motioned for Deanna to take a seat. “I’m Callie Raven-Grayson, the new Chief Counsellor. It’s nice to meet you.” She paused to sip her drink. “I guess we Betazoids don’t get to hide from each other, but I’m not sure you’d want to get inside my head right now.”

Celes took a seat opposite Callie. She smiled as she listened to the comment. "Despite the size of this ship, you'll find it difficult to hide from anyone for too long. And keeping things quiet is a hefty task as well." She sipped her drink. "For instance, and please don't be upset, but I understand you are married to our first officer, though perhaps neither of you were aware of that fact." She sipped her drink again. "I find that to be rather fascinating, though I'd imagine it might cause one some distress, perhaps even a need for a drink" she said as she clinked her glass against Callie's.

Callie grinned a wry grin and sipped her drink. “We filed for divorce after I suffered a miscarriage, but it seems a clerical error meant the paperwork was never processed. We’ve been married all these years and never knew it, until now.”

Deanna sipped her drink once more, considering her words. "That is certainly a rather large matter on your mind to be spoken of in so few words. I can't say I completely understand, but I do have some experience, perhaps. I can tell you that stargazing can certainly help for a time, but eventually your mind returns to the problem at hand, so to speak. I'm sure you know this, but let me say, Jon is a good man. And I sense that you may have regrets regarding him that you have never dealt with, am I right?"

“I do have certain regrets” Callie nodded as she looked out onto the view of the stars. “The fact that I left Jon, that it was all over a stupid argument that I now know I misunderstood.” She looked back at Deanna. “The fact that I’ve arrived just as Jon lost a love that I know he loved very much, I’ve never met her but she obviously meant a lot to Jon.”

Celes hung her head for a moment. "Estella. She was a beautiful person. Jon and her were very close. What happened was tragic." She finished her drink and signaled the waiter for another. "Ending a relationship, a marriage, over a single misunderstanding, that seems a bit extreme."

Callie nodded. “I know that now, I didn’t know it then. I wasn’t coping with my miscarriage, and it took its toll. I pushed Jon away when I shouldn’t have, I’m just grateful he’s seen fit to forgive me.”

The waiter brought over a new drink for Celes and took the other glass away. She waited for him to walk away before continuing her conversation with Callie. "Jon tends to be the forgiving type. Have you considered what you might do now that you are both here on the ship?"

Callie sipped her drink some more, nodding as she cradled the glass in her hands. “He’s asked me to move in with him, we’re going to try giving our marriage another chance.”

"Quite a big step..."she sipped her drink, "for both of you. DO you feel ready for something like that, and are you certain he is ready as well? It is a wonderful thing to be sure, but are you actually considering it might be the better question."

“We plan to work at this, but it’s going to take time” Callie offered a smile before sipping her drink.

Celes sipped her drink. "It's good you are being upfront about the potential difficulty. I've found counselors can be just a bad about mental health as regular doctors are with physical health." She gave a soft chuckle.

“That’s very true!” Callie grinned. “I tend to get my medical over with and then at least it’s out of the way!”

"The captain is, well, the captain. You know how StarFleet captains tend to be with doctors, especially around physical time. Jon is much the same. He'll be a very good captain in his own right one of these days, assuming the captain can handle letting him go. The captain thinks very highly of Jon. Most of us do really. In that sense I'd say you are very lucky."

“If I know Jon he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. He’s settled here, that much I’ve noticed. He has friends here, and if he’s happy then I’m happy” Callie smiled warmly.

"So what are your plans?" Celes sipped her drink and waited for the reply.

“I’m happy to give our relationship another try” Callie smiled. “That and I need to get fully settled into this crew. You don’t think the crew will resent me for coming into Jon’s life so soon do you?”

Celes sipped her drink. "Honestly, I sincerely doubt it. Before your arrival, the people he was closest to were Estella, Dr. Howard, Sachzny, and the captain. Sachzny left to be with her people. I think that hurt Jon quite a bit as it did the captain and others, but ultimately none of had any say in the matter. Estella was severely injured and was sent back to Earth. That also has caused him and others a great deal of personal pain. His relationship with the captain remains as it ever has, and I'd say he has a good bond with Samantha, that is, Dr. Howard. Those who are close to him, that would call him friend will be fine with you so long as you don't cause additional pain. Human bonding is different than how other species bond, but they also seem to gain great strength from their bonds of friendship, and those bonds can and typically do then spread to others."

“Well no matter what I’ll be there for not just Jon, but for this whole crew.” She offered a smile. “Helping others has always helped me, right now I could do with that.”

Celes took a moment to size up Callie, unsure if she wanted to saying anything. The moment of silence seemed to make her trust her. "If that is how you feel, let me give you a bit of information. Estella had seen the captain several times on a professional basis regarding his issues from the war, and particularly those he has with the Cardassians and the Breen. If you are looking to help, you'd do well to look into that with the captain as well."

Callie nodded. “I will, thank you.” She sipped, and finished off the drink that had been sitting on the table in front of her. “I guess I should be going, I’ve got a lot of paperwork, and personnel files to get through.”

Deanna sipped her drink. "If you must" she said. "Counselor...Callie, things were rough down on the planet. We saw some disturbing things. The Breen did things, monstrous things. Might I schedule a time to see you, to discuss it?"

“Of course” Callie nodded. “Are you free now? We could go to my office and talk in private, here isn’t exactly the best place for a counselling session.” She offered a smile.

Deanna raised her glass and then downed the remnants in a somewhat less than regal fashion and placed the glass back on the table. "I think that would be fine" she said with a smile as she got up. "This has been far more productive than I would have expected a trip to the tavern to be" she said with a giggle.

{OFF}