Post-Care

Posted on Mon Dec 11th, 2023 @ 7:10am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Chief Petty Officer Virginia Pryce & Lieutenant Dr. Daniel Brasken

Mission: S1 Episode 6: Joy and Ashes
Location: Chief Medical Officer's Office
Timeline: Date 2371-09-09 at 1530
2508 words - 5 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Lyra had left her bridge shift a little early to see to some other necessary business; given things were not overly busy for most departments, the bridge officer leaving a bit early and giving one of the more junior officers a bit of bridge experience - even if it was only thirty minutes or so - wasn’t uncommon. She’d taken a brief detour to the armory to assign a few tasks, but her main goal was likely an unexpected one. She walked down the corridor and turned directly through the doors of Sickbay. Her eyes immediately found the nearest nurse.

“Good afternoon. I’d like to speak to Doctor Brasken. Is he available?”

Virginia looked up from her organization of one of the emergency surgery carts. On seeing Lyra standing there, she couldn’t help the mild swell of nervous concern she felt blooming in her body. She just hoped she didn’t show it too much. In truth, she regretted going snooping through the files of the other vessels in the fleet. It had been for good reason, but she had seen more than she wanted to when she had looked up the Lovarr.

“I’ll check. Just a moment.” She forced herself move as naturally as she could over to the small panel on the wall. Pressing the control, she spoke into it “Doctor Brasken, Lieuten- I mean Commander Cassiel would like to speak to you.”

In his office, Daniel raised his head from his desk and rubbed at his eyes. His hours had been long for a while and he didn't leave last night as he was perfectly aware he should have. Sometimes the puzzle was more interesting than common sense, though. The doctor hadn't been sleeping, just letting his neck rest for a minute when the call came through and the eye rub would add a bit more visible signs of fatigue for a sympathetic note.

"Yea, send the Commander in and then please check on Ensign Triel's nerve treatments for an update on progress." Daniel released the COMM channel button and stood up to await his visitor.

It was only a few short seconds later that the door opened and Lyra stepped inside of the office. She offered a small, polite smile while her dark eyes ran over his face and down his body, then back up to his enchanting eyes. "You look a bit worse for wear, doctor. Are you well?"

"Well enough." Daniel gestured to the chair opposite his as he continued talking. "There has been a lot of data changing to keep on top of over the last couple weeks and my chair is not as comfortable as other sleeping arrangements might be." He smirked softly. "How might I be of assistance today?"

Lyra took a seat and immediately crossed her long legs at the knee, placing her folded hands on top of them. "I know that I was officially returned to duty by the captain during the incident with the nebula, but I know you wanted to perform a psychological evaluation before you cleared me for duty. While I know I don't technically need to be here, I thought I might come by to see you for that evaluation anyways so you didn't have any lingering concerns."

Daniel shifted around his chair and took a seat while analyzing the situation. Lyra wasn't in officer mode based on how she sat and her words didn't sit quite right. Still he smiled easily and appreciated the show while it was being presented to him. "Interesting. Not many willingly submit," Daniel paused for half a breath, "To having their heads examined when they've already gotten away."

"I'm simply looking after my own health and by extension the safety of others. It is the responsible thing to do after all." She shrugged, obviously confident in her soundness of mind. She shifted her legs, planting her feet like she was about to stand. "If you feel it isn't necessary, however, I will go."

"Nonsense, it is admirable, just unexpected." With the comment he started calling up some files for the questioning he had planned a while ago. Not questions per se but more bullet points of things to touch on. After scanning the points to refresh his quick recall he then brushed the items off to the side and looked directly at Lyra. "How are you doing with your promotion, Commander? Excited for the new responsibilities of Second Officer?"

Satisfied with his response, Lyra crossed her legs again and sat back. Her perceptive gaze settled on him, watching him intently though the intensity of her interest was entirely internal. As ever, she was near impossible to read; she gave only what she chose to give. At his question, her brows lifted just slightly. “Truthfully, Doctor, there aren’t many additional responsibilities as second officer other than some additional reports and being another senior advisor to the Captain. The second part might have some meaning on another ship, but I doubt it will have much here. So I wouldn’t say I am excited - there is nothing to be excited by.”

Her eyes glinted, the corners of her lips pulled at the slight, flirtatious innuendo she offered freely.

Daniel's responding smile was small but present. He mentally noted how easily Lyra was able to shift the tone of her response even after how much had happened to her. Not that he had ever doubted the mental fortitude of this patient, but it was still worth noting. "Oh I wouldn't say that. You seem like the kind that would enjoy officially having more of the crew - under your command. Thankfully I still have some autonomy or I might be a bit grumpy." He leaned forward to brace himself on the desk and tilt his head to the side just slightly. "How are you doing with the memory removal?"

"Come now, Doctor, do you think it would be such a bad thing to be under me?" She challenged him mildly. "I take very good care of those who are under me."

"I'm not the 'taken care of' type, not that I doubt your care it just isn't my comfort zone." Daniel quirked a brow slightly after the response. "And your answer?"

Lyra chuckled at his response, her gaze still holding his. "I didn't take you for a man who didn't stray from his comfort zone now and then."

She let the comment sit there for a beat and then finally looked away from him and around his office. "You'll have to be more specific I'm afraid. That's a terribly vague question if you want more than the answer of 'fine'."

At her first comment, the playfulness in Daniel's eyes sparked a bit further before he was able to control his reaction. "Fair enough. Though the memory was removed, the incident in its entirety was not purged. Have you experienced any relapses, nightmares, or other symptoms?"

"Mm..." Lyra seemed to consider a moment while looking around, then looked at him again. "For a little less than a week my adrenaline would still spike around the time the memory would have been triggered, but I was able to overcome that with some more meditative and physical techniques. Nightmares, occasionally, but no more than any other thing, I suppose."

"Are nightmares a common experience for you then?" Daniel leaned back a little while keeping his forearms on the desk as he waited for the answer. Admittedly this answer was of high interest to Daniel as the life of Lyra was certainly one full of things that could lead to nightmares but she carried herself surprisingly light. Nightmares would be rather interesting.

His interest was impossible to miss, but Lyra’s expression remained just as it had been before. What about nightmares intrigued him so? “I wouldn’t say I have them with unusual frequency, no. Though I do definitely prefer the hot and heavy dreams over that.”

"Certainly, I would worry about anyone that thought otherwise. What is life good for but to hunt down pleasure, after all?" He moved his arms out, palms up in a gesture indicating a matter of fact statement. Meanwhile his eyes kept on her to see reactions and overall mood. She was disciplined and careful, he doubted he would be able to identify anything significant in this conversation but, you never knew.

"Not enough to impair your sleep and recovery time then, good. How about relationships with the crew? Have you noticed any difference in how you interact or respond to them?"

“No, I haven’t. My department might say differently because after the Banean debacle I’ve been putting everyone through investigative paces so they aren’t exactly thrilled, but it is needed.” Her eyes went down to his hands; smaller than Andrei’s but she also guessed probably more capable of delicate work. They were surgeon’s hands after all. Her eyes moved back up to his and rested there.

“How are things going with Mika now being your assistant chief? I know losing Lamon and Rosen probably wasn’t ideal for you.”

"We are working some things out. She is capable from an academic aspect but has a lot of time to put in before experience smooths out the gears as it were." The playfulness in his eyes dimmed slightly at the new topic. The idea of such a green officer being assigned was irresponsible in his opinion, but he certainly wasn't going to verbalize that particular thought anywhere it might be recorded. His fingers started tapping on the desk inaudibly as he traced out a pattern while his mind worked. "The losses we took are causing a lot of adjustment. What type of investigative practices are you putting your department through?"

Lyra watched him quietly, seeing his expression fade and watching the way he moved his fingers along the desk. Still no great fan of Mika's, then. She couldn't particularly blame him, she supposed. He'd more or less been bullied into passing her into her officer role - she herself had played a part in it, though her approach had been a much gentler hand than he would have otherwise received. Hopefully with some time and reflection, he understood that.

"The basics. Rigorously in fact as it seems everyone forgot them in my absence." Even Andrei, though she attributed that to the fact he was distraught he had lost her - probably wrongly, but it allowed her to give him grace. "Too many focus solely on the physical aspects of security and that simply must change."

Daniel was unsurprised that the Security department was more akin to a brute squad than detectives. The empire was quite fond of the axiom that Might Makes Right, after all. "I applaud and wish you well in your efforts. Effective as physical response can be it often requires damage control afterwards. Usually requiring my department's services."

"At least we give you something to do so you're not terribly bored." She gave him a charming smile along with her words and perhaps there was even a spark of playfulness in her eyes.

"How little you must think of me that I am unable to find things for myself to do." Daniel's mock offense in his voice was accompanied by a look of hurt on his face and a hand going over his chest. "Though I can't say I complain about being a thought."

Lyra smirked then, the expression mostly playful, but there was a hint of something else in it. "No... you enjoy being a thought very much, I think," she didn't give him chance to respond and simply continued. "So, what else is on your list of making sure I am mentally capable of doing my job?"

Daniel's eyes glinted slightly at her comment but as she moved on so quickly he allowed her to move the conversation. "We covered dreams, how about while you are awake? Do you find yourself reminded of your recent trauma in your day to day activities?"

“No, not at all.” The reply was quick and easy. She shifted in the chair to be a bit more comfortable. “Truthfully this is the most I’ve thought about it for a few weeks.”

"Last question then. Have you found that experiencing positive emotions has been difficult for you?" Daniel sat back and ran a hand through his hair as he watched her for a response.

This time, Lyra quirked a brow at his question. Positive emotion wasn’t something she felt a great deal of, nor any emotion really. A life of discipline and control would do that to a person. She was also in a relationship that felt like a chess match more often than anything that might have brought her comfort or “positivity” and she didn’t see that ever changing. Still, she found rare moments of joy and things that would make her smile - granted they were usually sadistic things, but he hadn’t asked that.

After giving his question thorough consideration, she finally shook her head. “No.”

Daniel filed away the pause to think on more later. It wasn't a pause because she was uncomfortable and didn't want to answer but to consider the possibilities. He hadn't expected any different answer from her of course but the pause and overall countenance was telling. "Very good then. You have official clearance to return to duty, not that you needed it of course. Do you want it filed anyways?"

“Oh yes. I do like to keep things neat and tidy for the official log.” Lyra smiled, though of course it didn’t creep into her beautiful eyes. “I wouldn’t want my decisions to be questioned because I never got medical clearance.”

"Well then, I hope this puts your mind at ease so that you can enjoy yourself." Daniel smiled back, his eyes easily showing the emotion as he had ample experience in his chosen profession. "What are your big plans after having this box checked off?"

“Conquer the galaxy, naturally.” She replied with ease. There was a glint of amusement in her eyes though there was something else there that couldn’t be identified. She shifted her legs and placed her hands on her thighs, giving the energy of someone getting ready to leave.

"By all means then, I'd best not keep you." Daniel stood up to then motion to the door of his office. She wasn't likely to break without some kind of warning and that was all he was really worried about being sure of. He had his answers and saw no reason to keep her longer than she clearly wanted.

"Thank you, Doctor. Always a pleasure." Lyra stood and left the office immediately now that her business with Brasken was done. She hated sickbay, but having him to look at certainly made it more palatable. She put those thoughts aside quickly and focused on the afternoon ahead - it was going to be quite busy.


END