15 minutes

Posted on Wed Apr 5th, 2023 @ 9:09am by Commander Antonia 'Tony" Stoffels

Mission: Starship Side Quest
Location: Tale Gilohesh Quarters

"Cmdr Stoffels!" Tale jogged down the hall to catch up with the scurrying XO. "Missed you at this morning's session, was really hoping to get absolutely get into it with you."

Tony sighed. "You may have noticed that I am back on duty now lieutenant. So I have no time for tea parties. My therapist is lieutenant Jansen. I am not shirking my sessions, I would rather not have to tell my whole story to somebody else. No offense. I am sure you are good at your job." Boy she really did not like this woman at all. Bossy, pushy and very annoying.

"You missed the part where that was optional," Tale smiled. She had become so incredibly used to the brush off from the ranked officers that it was second nature to just grin and bear it as it were. "I assure you, my tea parties as you call them, if you would just give them a chance, are just 15 minutes of your time for a while, then you can say you put in the effort for yourself (and the ship, she thought, did no one care about this assessment?) and I'll be out of your hair. It'll be like I was never here."

She managed not to roll her eyes with the greatest difficulty. "Alright, I can spare 15 minutes I guess." She knew very well you could not do an assesment in 15 minutes so what harm could it do. "When do you want to do this?"

"Great, well I have the morning booked with ensigns," Tale looked at her schedule. Noting Tony's facial twitches. "Why don't you stop by after you're done with your shift, just 15 minutes. Tell me how your day went. Simple. Just relax. Tell me about your day. I pour tea and listen."

"Very well." Tony said curtly and made her escape.

**
Later
**

Tony was tired. She was still not 100% recovered so work took more out of her then it ever had and she had thought about skipping or cancelling Gilohesh again but decided that it would be more bother in the long run so she was in the waiting room at the counseling suites at the appointed time.

Tale took one look at Tony and pushed a few buttons on her padd to adjust the air quality, temperature, the lighting and the scent in the room. She pulled the old earthenware tea pot to the middle of the table and gestured for Tony to sit on the pillow. Quietly, Tale allowed the room to fill with the spiritual aroma of the tea. She poured it into a small green cup with no handles and passed it to Tony silently. "Please Commander, tell me about your day."

Tony stifled a groan as she lowered herself on the cushion. Not too comfortable. "Well all routine to be honest. Getting back in the saddle. A lot of catching up on paperwork, meeting new staff. Nothing shocking or out of the ordinary."

Tale looked pleased. She was teetering on prodding, she didn't need the XO getting more aggressive. She merely wanted an honest friendly conversation. "Tell me about your routine? I am unfamiliar, of course, and just want to know about your day. The new staff, are they good?"

"I hope so. We took on a lot of new officers and crew at the starbase. As I am more approachable than the captain usually it falls to me to welcome them and make sure they fit in. As a counsellor I do like that. I am less fond of all the paperwork that comes with the job."

"That's so much work, it's very uncommon to have an XO that's doing Counseling work on such a large ship, says here there's over a thousand members of crew," Tale said reading her padd, even though it was a memorized fact. "Doing double duty must be exhausting."

"I am not an official counsellor. I meant that as a therapist it comes more natural for me to put people at ease. And I see a few patients, some on video call very few on the ship to be honest. I do that to keep my license current as well."

"That's a lot for you, what do you do for yourself?"

"Daily sessions with Sky at the moment. I am mourning a few family members who were killed recently and the poison is not completely out of my system so I need a lot of down time right now. I sleep a lot more than before." She admitted.

"That's therapy, but not self care," Tale reminded her. "What do you do for yourself? You know as well as well as I do that self care is more than just sleep and bathing."

"There is no time for anything else." Tony admitted. "I don't have enough concentration left to read after work. Or anything else. For now my body just needs the sleep and I am giving in to it."

"Why don't you finish your tea, enjoy it, take the space for yourself," Tale instructed fondly. "Perhaps this 15 minutes can be your time, to drink tea and you can meditate. Decompress about your day. Vent. This is a safe space. Taking 15 minutes is a small step, but a start."

Tony took a sip of the tea. "Most of what I stress about is above your pay grade, and I only discuss my patients with my supervisor, as it should be."

"That wasn't what I offered, that is what you inferred. Which is interesting," Tale noted. "Tell me Commander, as a Counselor, what would you suggest to a patient that is being reluctant to self care?"

"I am not reluctant about self care." Tony fought to stay calm. "I told you that my body needs sleep most at the moment and that is what I do. Sky will be back in a day or so and I will resume daily sessions with her. I know I am not well yet and I am doing what I can."

Tale marked down all this in her notes. The Doctor changed her tone from the light airy conversational one to harsh. "Very well. Consider your part of the assessment for the Resolution completed. I do not need any more information from you at this time Commander. If I have anymore questions, I'll submit them at the appropriate time. You're free to go."

"Thank you." Tony shot to her feet, glad to have this over.

The door closed. Tale tapped the padd on the table to raise the lights back to where she liked them, not the light level she had set for Tony - Oxford twilight. She readjusted the air levels to suit her, instead of Earth as well. She took the tea, the lavender, smoked bergamot, and pekoe that she had specifically gotten for a librarian on a Starbase near Kiley 279 with arthritis and a bad hip. The librarian told her it tasted like Oxford hall smelled and gave her warm smiles, and lovely memories. Tale groaned. "Well, this is going to make one hell of a report."

OFF