Antioch System, AUS Walpole, in orbit over Tancred
The counseling office on board Statesmen-class spaceships were the definition of low key. With the two constraints of patient privacy and the small amount of pressurized space available, the office was shoved in between the medical bay and the bunks for the enlisted crew. With a tiny reception area just outside the closet that was the counselor's office, it was a testament to how much stock ISOC put into their soldier's mental health.
"I'm sorry for the wait," a harried clerk said, flying in the zero g towards the waiting crew, handling out datapads to do last minute paperwork. "The ship's counselor got sick from the flu bug going around. The substitute is on their way, so just fill out the paperwork and she'll be here by the time you're done."
"Ahh, here she is," the clerk said, nodding to the officer that was coming down the hallway.
The tall, lanky woman floated her way down the hall towards the waiting group. She had a clipboard under her arm- and a datapad in her hand. She tapped furiously away at the datapad without bothering to look away from whatever task she was working on. The closer she got the more annoyed she appeared to be. When she was just close enough to the group she dragged one foot on the ground to stop herself.
"Hello. Yes. For the remainder of the counselor's recovery I will be handling all of your mental and emotional needs. My door is always open," Her voice was dull, like she didn't mean everything she was saying, "Welcome to your very first group therapy session."
Besides the cursory "are you crazy and a threat to the operation?" exam Maksim underwent before joining the crew, he had never set foot in any sort of therapy environment. At first, the idea of group therapy made him sweat, but he relaxed as he realized this would mean all he had to do was keep his mouth shut and let the more talkative team members take up the time. His grey eyes glanced at the others for their reactions.
Eliza had, unknown to her, had the exact same thought as Maksim. Sit here, and let other people talk. Unfortunately for her, she had forgotten that she only needed a topic before she'd have too much to talk about. To her surprise, Archie floated down the corridor to be their therapist. And as such Eliza had like 10 less things she would be able to rant about for a couple reasons. "Archie? Didn't know you did this too. You got the Ph.d for this along with the half dozen others, or were you just the most level headed egghead they could find at short notice?"
Arachne shrugged, "You don't have to have a PsyD to be a counselor.. I have a degree in psychology and I'm certified. Apparently the American Union does not care enough about the mental health of their personnel to get someone with a higher level of training. Don't worry too much, I am trained to handle your mental health- but if it's medication you want you'll have to go to medbay. I know how much you Americans enjoy your medications." She paused for a moment, before briefly smiling, "Veronica."
Eliza gave a grin, familiar jabs settling her nerves at the entire process. "There's my girl. Also fuck you, I don't have medication, except for how awesome I am. And like, the usual shots for space diseases."
Apparently, the counselor and Eliza knew each other. This made Maksim feel a little better -- Eliza seemed to have good instincts in his eyes, so any friend of hers could be trusted. Not completely, of course, but more than Maksim was originally planning on.
"Um," he softly spoke up. "Can I ask a question? About how long will this take?"
There was a short silence between Maksim's question and any sort of response. Arachne looked from him, and then down at her datapad, "An hour. Give or take. I assure you that I will not take up any more of your time that what I am required to. Based on this initial meeting I will schedule more group sessions- or private sessions based on need- or request. Of course, in the future it is more likely that you'll be scheduled with the ship's primary counselor."
"But you're way cuter tho," Eliza said from her relaxed, arms crossed stance. "Way more personable." Now, granted, she didn't know the person that was supposed to do this, but she had it on good authority, her own.
Arachne shrugged, "If you say so."
Benny arrived dashingly late, bundling his way into the room. "H-Hello," he awkwardly waved, removing his satchel and coat. He was no longer lanky, having gained a little more muscle from working out. He did, however, look a little worse for wear since the last mission.
Maksim moved his own stuff off the chair next to his to make room for Benny. He smiled in greeting, happy to see another familiar face and feeling less like a third-wheel now.
"Damn we're just racking up cuties today," Eliza declared, being entirely unhelpful as Ben took his seat. "Did you get more muscly since I last looked you over? Nice," she finished, nodding approvingly.
"Right. Now that you're all here, we can get started." Arachne started back up, barely giving Maksim time to set down. She tap, tapped on her datapad with her stylus, "We'll start with formalities- Especially since I've only interacted with... one of you in any sort of meaningful way. " She cleared her throat and motioned in the air towards herself with a quick, short flick of her wrist, "I am Stabskapitän Arachne Panagiotopoulou. If that is too much of a mouthful for you Americans, you may call me Stabskapitän- or Doctor. Either or, I do not mind either way." Her tone was brisk and clinical as she spoke, "Because this is a group session, please introduce yourselves."
"Uh hi, I'm Elizabeth Bakarra," Eliza started "and I've been sober for 12 minutes." She chuckled at her own joke, mimicking an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Of course making fun of people that we're trying to work through their problems was low hanging fruit, it would still distract her from actually working on herself. "Kidding. I'm Eliza, Liz if you're feeling saucy, and Veronica if you're Archie. I'm a Captain with the Americans, and I earned my place through deed and action. " She crossed her arms. "Also, fuck you Archie, I'm the only American here and you know it. Not my fault you were named after every geological landmass at once."
"A-Actually-" Benny began. Oh dear. "The S-S-Stabskapitän is named f-for a.... a m-mythological s-s-story about a w-woman who is..... is transformed into.... a... a s-spider. A-And the sur-surname-" he was on a roll by this point "d-denotes that, a-a-at some point, some-someone in her f-f-family was called.... g-give me a... second... if I r-rem-remember my G-Greek... Panagiotis?" He looks exceptionally proud of himself.
Arachne tilted her head at Benny, before jotting something down on her pad, "Yes, something like that, but I believe the Captain was attempting to be funny- let us not begin correcting one another. It isn't particularly condusive to a theraputic enviroment."
Deed and action, how very American. Safaa mused to herself as she rounded the corner and floated into the room before catching herself on the opposite wall and magnetizing her boots to the floor. She sat down on an empty chair and briefly eyeballed the room, figuring she probably didn't much of the conversation and nothing particularly useful so far.
"Yes Captain, you see us Germans are of course the galaxy's ranking experts on humour and are thus the only people allowed to determine if anynone else is being funny or not." she quipped with a grin as she took a moment to tie her hair back as it drifted in front of her face. "Oberstabsgefreiter Safaa El Fassi, or Corporal if you want an equivalent for the linguistically uninclined, though I suppose I'm just repeating myself since we've met before."
Camelia was late, sure, but she felt she didn't need to be here anyways. What was the point? Stupid requirements her mother gave her? She rolled her eyes as she walked in, and... Uncomfortably sat on the floor, considering these chairs were not meant for spider butts. Once it came around though, she hesitated. "Camelia. I'm only here because I'm required to.... My mother sent me here because of one too many lab accidents and now I'm a 'danger to myself' and 'need help'" She said those parts sarcastically, but she was clearly annoyed.
Maksim shifted uncomfortably in his chair before speaking up. "Um, hi everyone. I'm Maksim Sanova, archaeologist -- well, studying to be an archaeologist -- and I'm a researcher here." He wasn't sure if he was supposed to add anything else. This felt like the start of a new semester when the teachers would do the awkward "turn to your neighbors and break the ice" activities.
"I was gonna say another cutie had joined us," Eliza rumbled, looking at Safaa with a frown. "But then you called several people in here linguistically challenged." A purposeful pause. "It's not their fault they can't cook pasta." Her frown turned into a smile, a stupid joke that meant nothing, like this meeting. She looked around, before looking at Cam. "Do spider brains need therapy? Aren't you wired different or something? Your mom ain't here, you do you sister from another spinster."
Cam shakes her head. "Thakozois would tell. That snitch."
"Can't you use them spider womanly powers over him? Just stare him down? It literally worked for me," Eliza said, chuckling. "Surely you've got a chance. What's he gonna do, use the FTL lines to call her?"
"Spiderly whatnow?"
The counseling office on board Statesmen-class spaceships were the definition of low key. With the two constraints of patient privacy and the small amount of pressurized space available, the office was shoved in between the medical bay and the bunks for the enlisted crew. With a tiny reception area just outside the closet that was the counselor's office, it was a testament to how much stock ISOC put into their soldier's mental health.
"I'm sorry for the wait," a harried clerk said, flying in the zero g towards the waiting crew, handling out datapads to do last minute paperwork. "The ship's counselor got sick from the flu bug going around. The substitute is on their way, so just fill out the paperwork and she'll be here by the time you're done."
"Ahh, here she is," the clerk said, nodding to the officer that was coming down the hallway.
The tall, lanky woman floated her way down the hall towards the waiting group. She had a clipboard under her arm- and a datapad in her hand. She tapped furiously away at the datapad without bothering to look away from whatever task she was working on. The closer she got the more annoyed she appeared to be. When she was just close enough to the group she dragged one foot on the ground to stop herself.
"Hello. Yes. For the remainder of the counselor's recovery I will be handling all of your mental and emotional needs. My door is always open," Her voice was dull, like she didn't mean everything she was saying, "Welcome to your very first group therapy session."
Besides the cursory "are you crazy and a threat to the operation?" exam Maksim underwent before joining the crew, he had never set foot in any sort of therapy environment. At first, the idea of group therapy made him sweat, but he relaxed as he realized this would mean all he had to do was keep his mouth shut and let the more talkative team members take up the time. His grey eyes glanced at the others for their reactions.
Eliza had, unknown to her, had the exact same thought as Maksim. Sit here, and let other people talk. Unfortunately for her, she had forgotten that she only needed a topic before she'd have too much to talk about. To her surprise, Archie floated down the corridor to be their therapist. And as such Eliza had like 10 less things she would be able to rant about for a couple reasons. "Archie? Didn't know you did this too. You got the Ph.d for this along with the half dozen others, or were you just the most level headed egghead they could find at short notice?"
Arachne shrugged, "You don't have to have a PsyD to be a counselor.. I have a degree in psychology and I'm certified. Apparently the American Union does not care enough about the mental health of their personnel to get someone with a higher level of training. Don't worry too much, I am trained to handle your mental health- but if it's medication you want you'll have to go to medbay. I know how much you Americans enjoy your medications." She paused for a moment, before briefly smiling, "Veronica."
Eliza gave a grin, familiar jabs settling her nerves at the entire process. "There's my girl. Also fuck you, I don't have medication, except for how awesome I am. And like, the usual shots for space diseases."
Apparently, the counselor and Eliza knew each other. This made Maksim feel a little better -- Eliza seemed to have good instincts in his eyes, so any friend of hers could be trusted. Not completely, of course, but more than Maksim was originally planning on.
"Um," he softly spoke up. "Can I ask a question? About how long will this take?"
There was a short silence between Maksim's question and any sort of response. Arachne looked from him, and then down at her datapad, "An hour. Give or take. I assure you that I will not take up any more of your time that what I am required to. Based on this initial meeting I will schedule more group sessions- or private sessions based on need- or request. Of course, in the future it is more likely that you'll be scheduled with the ship's primary counselor."
"But you're way cuter tho," Eliza said from her relaxed, arms crossed stance. "Way more personable." Now, granted, she didn't know the person that was supposed to do this, but she had it on good authority, her own.
Arachne shrugged, "If you say so."
Benny arrived dashingly late, bundling his way into the room. "H-Hello," he awkwardly waved, removing his satchel and coat. He was no longer lanky, having gained a little more muscle from working out. He did, however, look a little worse for wear since the last mission.
Maksim moved his own stuff off the chair next to his to make room for Benny. He smiled in greeting, happy to see another familiar face and feeling less like a third-wheel now.
"Damn we're just racking up cuties today," Eliza declared, being entirely unhelpful as Ben took his seat. "Did you get more muscly since I last looked you over? Nice," she finished, nodding approvingly.
"Right. Now that you're all here, we can get started." Arachne started back up, barely giving Maksim time to set down. She tap, tapped on her datapad with her stylus, "We'll start with formalities- Especially since I've only interacted with... one of you in any sort of meaningful way. " She cleared her throat and motioned in the air towards herself with a quick, short flick of her wrist, "I am Stabskapitän Arachne Panagiotopoulou. If that is too much of a mouthful for you Americans, you may call me Stabskapitän- or Doctor. Either or, I do not mind either way." Her tone was brisk and clinical as she spoke, "Because this is a group session, please introduce yourselves."
"Uh hi, I'm Elizabeth Bakarra," Eliza started "and I've been sober for 12 minutes." She chuckled at her own joke, mimicking an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Of course making fun of people that we're trying to work through their problems was low hanging fruit, it would still distract her from actually working on herself. "Kidding. I'm Eliza, Liz if you're feeling saucy, and Veronica if you're Archie. I'm a Captain with the Americans, and I earned my place through deed and action. " She crossed her arms. "Also, fuck you Archie, I'm the only American here and you know it. Not my fault you were named after every geological landmass at once."
"A-Actually-" Benny began. Oh dear. "The S-S-Stabskapitän is named f-for a.... a m-mythological s-s-story about a w-woman who is..... is transformed into.... a... a s-spider. A-And the sur-surname-" he was on a roll by this point "d-denotes that, a-a-at some point, some-someone in her f-f-family was called.... g-give me a... second... if I r-rem-remember my G-Greek... Panagiotis?" He looks exceptionally proud of himself.
Arachne tilted her head at Benny, before jotting something down on her pad, "Yes, something like that, but I believe the Captain was attempting to be funny- let us not begin correcting one another. It isn't particularly condusive to a theraputic enviroment."
Deed and action, how very American. Safaa mused to herself as she rounded the corner and floated into the room before catching herself on the opposite wall and magnetizing her boots to the floor. She sat down on an empty chair and briefly eyeballed the room, figuring she probably didn't much of the conversation and nothing particularly useful so far.
"Yes Captain, you see us Germans are of course the galaxy's ranking experts on humour and are thus the only people allowed to determine if anynone else is being funny or not." she quipped with a grin as she took a moment to tie her hair back as it drifted in front of her face. "Oberstabsgefreiter Safaa El Fassi, or Corporal if you want an equivalent for the linguistically uninclined, though I suppose I'm just repeating myself since we've met before."
Camelia was late, sure, but she felt she didn't need to be here anyways. What was the point? Stupid requirements her mother gave her? She rolled her eyes as she walked in, and... Uncomfortably sat on the floor, considering these chairs were not meant for spider butts. Once it came around though, she hesitated. "Camelia. I'm only here because I'm required to.... My mother sent me here because of one too many lab accidents and now I'm a 'danger to myself' and 'need help'" She said those parts sarcastically, but she was clearly annoyed.
Maksim shifted uncomfortably in his chair before speaking up. "Um, hi everyone. I'm Maksim Sanova, archaeologist -- well, studying to be an archaeologist -- and I'm a researcher here." He wasn't sure if he was supposed to add anything else. This felt like the start of a new semester when the teachers would do the awkward "turn to your neighbors and break the ice" activities.
"I was gonna say another cutie had joined us," Eliza rumbled, looking at Safaa with a frown. "But then you called several people in here linguistically challenged." A purposeful pause. "It's not their fault they can't cook pasta." Her frown turned into a smile, a stupid joke that meant nothing, like this meeting. She looked around, before looking at Cam. "Do spider brains need therapy? Aren't you wired different or something? Your mom ain't here, you do you sister from another spinster."
Cam shakes her head. "Thakozois would tell. That snitch."
"Can't you use them spider womanly powers over him? Just stare him down? It literally worked for me," Eliza said, chuckling. "Surely you've got a chance. What's he gonna do, use the FTL lines to call her?"
"Spiderly whatnow?"