Lunchtime Chat

Posted on Thu Apr 8th, 2021 @ 10:21pm by Lieutenant JG Holly Swan & Commander Raiden Kosugi

Mission: A New Legacy
Location: Mess Hall
2509 words - 5 OF Standard Post Measure

Holly stabbed the buttons the replicator not really sure what she wished to order. This wasn't unusual for her - hunger did strange things to young woman most notably it made her irritated. Yet, on most occasions she didn't know how best to satisfy the gnawing sensation that consumed her.

She pouted slightly and drummed the keys again until her plate martialized: peanut butter sandwiches never failed she concluded and scooped up the tall glass of orange juice to wash it down.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked the Lieutenant Junior at the nearest table.

Raiden was in mid bite of a piece of orange chicken with a dash of garlic. His plate had orange chicken, chowmein noodles and mushroom chicken, with a pot of tea on the side. He quickly swallowed his morsel and nodded, sort of gesturing with the chopsticks he had in hand.

"Sure, please have a seat. My name's Raiden, I'm a helmsman. And what's your name Lieutenant?" taking in the fact she had pips for being ltjg, much like his." Raiden smiling. In fact he got up from his chair and moved to pull out the other chair for the attractive woman to take a seat.

"Thank you," the counsellor smiled at the rare act of chivalry and sat down. "I'm Holly Swan the ships counsellor, though don't worry this isn't a business call. I get hungry too."

Raiden gave a nod, "Well, I'm not worried about that so we can just chat like two crew members off duty" giving a warm smile. "However if you wish, I could book an official visit during office hours." his eyes twinkling up in fun.

Raiden once more seated himself, where his lunch was waiting for him to continue eating. "I do know that most times, there are those who want to avoid speaking to a counselor. Possibly due to a bad experience with a counselor or, they don't like it when someone seems to poking around in their business." giving a bit of shrug before picking up his chopsticks. "A counselor at times can make a person feel rather vulnerable, takes a great amount of trust to even let a counselor in." deftly winding some of his noodles around his chopsticks, before placing it in his mouth.

Holly nodded in agreement as he spoke, her fingers pulling her sandwich into smaller pieces. "It's a common barrier and very difficult to break down. The ancient old stigma around mental health has always been a tough pill to swallow and pride too gets in the way. Too many officers would rather shoulder their burdens than seek help." She explained. "It's the same for our physicians, its very frustrating as medical intervention could have eased the suffering or helped sooner before situations deteriorated." Holly sighed: "I'm sorry I tend to ramble a bit. You're more than welcome to make an appointment at your leisure on a voluntary basis of course."

"I don't consider you to be rambling at all, I will admit that I can be in that category of trying to bear the burden alone at times. I realized though one can not be an island with out bridges." he smiled. "A friend of mine, she tried to bear the burden all by herself and things weighed so heavily on her shoulders that she developed a few anxieties. She eventually decided that she had better go see a counselor and get that ever growing list of burdens lightened. She realized that she needn't have shouldered things on her own. She is much happier in the decision of seeking out counseling." Raiden ate a bit more, watching Holly. "I won't mind coming in on an official aspect as part of newly signing on the Arcadia."

She glanced at him through her lashes noting how he was both cute and sensible: "That would be great, saves me the hassle of making it an order or playing the bad cop card. I hate doing that, its against my nature." she chewed on her lunch. "I've only been here a few days myself, still trying to find my feet and get to know the crew."

"That is going to definitely be a process." Raiden remarked, giving a smile. "You have a lot to be doing there, meeting with the crew." he was certainly enjoying talking with the lovely counselor. "Now to keep the the shop talk out of this conversation." giving her a quick conspiratorial wink. "What sort of things do you like to do when off duty?"

Holly heard herself giggle at the cheeky wink taking an instant like to the helmsman. Tugging again at her sandwich she replied to his question: "If you're hoping for something surprising or glamourous I'm going to disappoint you. I mostly enjoy a good novel to whirl away the hours, occasionally I draw sketches for by niece or sharpen my piano skills. I love classical music, much like a good book it can teleport you wherever your imagination takes you."

Raiden raised an eyebrow, "I can certainly say I hadn't even thought of that. What people do in their free time, it is their personal time and if it isn't something that is so called glamorous or surprising, so what? What you just shared with me, what you do in your free time, I think that is admirable and interesting. I do agree with you about the magic of music, as well as a good book. They take you away from where you are to someplace new. The land of imagination is vast and far, with an ever changing landscape."

Raiden took a few more bites before he continued. "My hobbies may not be that fascinating to others. I like to fly historical planes, I like to work with wood and I also like to go fishing. Plus I like to keep myself up to par in my martial arts as well."

"You're kidding right?" Holly scoffed: "They sound amazing, though I might pass on the fishing side," she shook her head quickly back tracking slightly. "Wood working for example takes an awful lot of skill and creativity. What sort of things have you made?"

Raiden pulled out his PADD and selected some images he had taken of his work, the first one he showed was a nice piece of furniture, an cradle he had made. It had patterns carved in the wood. A butterfly. "This was done for a friend of mine, the baby is first born and he wanted something special. And this.." he showed a jewelry box made of rose wood. "Just an example of what I've done."

"They'll beautiful," the counsellor breathed. "You made these by hand?"

Raiden nodded, "Yes, I did. That was for my mother." giving a bit of a chuckle, "She loved it." he took a drink of his tea, then ate a bit more. Smiling towards Holly. When his mouth was clear he remarked. "It is something I do, as I enjoy it very much."

"I bet she did, they're exquisite," she returned the PADD to him before returning to her lunch. "Must have taken a long time to complete them, or are you one of these artist that is never truly happy with a piece?"

"The time doesn't matter, when I create something, and I won't pick apart my work. I do my best in what I do. If there is an imperfection, I won't heave it into a trash pile cursing the fact I made a mistake. Instead, the imperfection gives said project its own distinction. I try to follow the aesthetics of Wabi-sabi which is one of, appreciating beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete in nature. Therefore, I do things as best of my ability, yes, one can strive to make a perfect item, but at times the real beauty is ignored."

Holly continued to smile at Raiden as he spoke, his philosophy was in her opinion beautiful like his wood work. His method of integrating mistakes into artwork, embracing life's imperfections wholeheartedly instead of shrinking away to drown in sorrow.

"Sounds like to me you missed your calling," she pushed aside the empty plate and lent upon the table edge. "A art scholar teaching the young and talented the importance of art's journey through its ups and downs, encouraging to incorporate those life lessons into work not reject them as failures."

She paused: "You'd probably make a good counselor too if you fancied it with that way of thinking. I'd better watch my back," she chuckled.

Raiden grinned then finished up the last of his food. He stacked the empty dishes together, then he commented. "I don't plan on becoming a counselor. I have a friend who wants me to be in security and I said no. I want to fly, so you don't need to worry about my trying to take your job." he chuckled.

"That's a relief," Holly smiled. "Does flying a starship feel rather dull compared to the historic ones?"

Raiden thought for a moment or two, then shook his head. "Each one has their own strengths and weaknesses. And the historical ones are made for Earth, whilst the starships are made for being flown in space. So, I don't find it dull at all."

"I hadn't really thought about that," the counsellor nodded thoughtfully. "They'll rather hard to compare directly due to environments they experience. It's not very often we bring a starship planet side, its bulk would be hard to manoeuvre while a smaller craft would be more suitable. I meant the historic versions would have less aids, more fly by instinct - that must be exciting."

"Honestly, I feel that I am flying on instinct besides my skills and technology aids. On both there are different dials and readouts you need to look at, whilst flying. There is just more to look at when flying a starship, but not that much more." Raiden replied.

"Regardless I'm sure you'll do remarkably well," Holly smiled. "Piloting wasn't a subbranch I exceeded in at the Academy," she admitted.

"Well, I can help you out in getting a little bit better? Never hurts to expand a bit more" Raiden said smiling. "So, I've got to know, what is your favourite color or even food or foods?"

The counsellor was slightly taken aback by both the offer of personal instruction to brush up her skills at the conn but also at the new line of inquires: "A refresher would be nice thank you."

A blush began to bloom across her cheeks at the attention the rather cute Raiden was giving her: "My favourite colour I would say is a pale purple like lavender, also I find that fragrant quite relaxing. I'm a bit of unusual vegetarian, while I can eat my weight in veggies and fruit I do enjoy a serving of meat once in a while."

"Sounds to me you are being mindful of your protein intake. Which isn't a problem at all. Some people can't handle a huge amount of protein in their diet." Raiden commented. "I agree, lavender is a relaxing and refreshing scent. I like it myself."

"Maybe," the counsellor shrugged. "I hadn't really thought of that before, either way I feel I have enough nutrition's to get by without a hitch. Though, I'd be lying if I said I didn't crave chocolate like a mad woman some times just to upset the balance."

"Chocolate upsetting the balance? In just what way? It is recommended that people who are not allergic to chocolate, can eat dark chocolate which would help with antioxidants for the body. So how would that upset things?" giving a bit of a chuckle. "I do indulge in chocolates on occasion myself."

"Oh," Holly smirked. "I meant that I eat too much chocolate, I swear I'd eat it in my sleep if that were possible!"

"Are you saying you have an addiction to chocolate, or just that the chocolate is a mood enhancer. Sorry, its something that my sister would talk about. How the chocolate made her feel more settled. A stress reliever, and I will admit it is like that at times. Just something about it, helps." Raiden giving another smile. "My sister said she'd love to bathe in it." giving a laugh. " She showed me a spa where they had that available. And she went there. Told me all about it." he paused, took a look at Holly, "Sorry if I'm talking too much about my mom and sister, but they've been rather.. supportive of my being here in Star Fleet. Unlike the rest of my immediate family."

"No that all, family are essential in shaping ourselves," Holly smiled more broadly enjoying how their conversation had grown. "Sure they can push our buttons, give us a hard time but deep down we'd do anything for them."

He stopped once more and looked at Holly. "Oh definitely you are a really good counselor. Rather comfortable being in the presence of."

"Thank you Raiden," Holly felt her cheeks redden at the complement. "I can only hope the other members of the crew agree. There's still several I've not met yet I feel like the new girl at school at the moment."

'You are welcome and well you aren't the only new kid at school. I still have a few people to meet. Hopefully I'll be able to meet with a few more. And well, I do hope they will feel comfortable meeting you too." giving a smile. "Besides I can vouch for you, if you need me to spread the word. You know word of mouth goes a long way."

Holly's elbow slipped from the table top, luckily she caught herself before face planting the surface: "You volunteering to be my knight in shining armour?" she asked quickly hoping to gloss over her mishap, she was such a klutz.

"I'm quite willing to let people know that its not bad to talk to you, that it is a pleasant experience." Raiden giving a smile. "I can do that." ignoring what Holly almost did. He, acting as if nothing had almost happened.

"That would be great," the counsellor beamed at his positivity and politeness not to notice her near collision with the table top. "Like you said word of mouth goes along way. Oh shoot - !" she explained suddenly having caught sight of the time. "I'm really sorry I have to go, I have a meeting to set up. It was lovely to meet you Raiden."

Raiden nodded, then laughed. "Well I think I've got a meeting that is coming up as well. Definitely a pleasure to have met you, Holly." rising up from his seat. "Will see you around." giving her a smile, before he left to take care of the dishes he'd stacked up, and then left the mess hall. He paused once looking back at her, then gave a wave before walking out.

Returning his brief wave Holly departed feeling a increased spring in her stride and flutter in her chest.