“I know just the place…”

Luna followed her fellow Counsellor, wondering if this place they were going was somewhere she was familiar with. Probability said it wouldn’t be, she hadn’t been aboard Starbase Bravo long enough for even an extrovert to scratch the surface and an extrovert Luna was not. It was only after they had been walking for a short while that she realised she was still holding her padd. Normally she would have left it in her office but, characteristically she had gotten a bit flustered by the prospect of socialising.

“Have you had much chance to explore yet?” Ryke slowed his stride to match Luna’s as they made their way down the wide corridors of the base. Mid-shift, they weren’t too crowded, which was why he’d suggested grabbing a coffee now. Come shift-change, it would be carnage out here. “It took me weeks to get my bearings when I first arrived.”

Luna shook her head, not that Ryke could see it as he happened to be looking ahead at that moment, or so she observed a moment later.

“Um, a b… a b… a bit?” She replied after a longer-than-was-normal pause. Luna listened to their footfalls below and chided herself not to let the answer stop there. “I found a nice place to sit with a blanket and read a book.” Was that lame? It sounded lame. “B… by a b… b… large window. So I can look out at the planet. My quarters don’t have a window, you see.”

Ryke slid her a sideways look as he turned down the corridor in the direction of one of the smaller lounges. A little off the beaten ‘track’ it was usually quieter than the others on this level, which was perfect when he wanted to catch up on paperwork out of the office, or when his companion didn’t seem the sort to enjoy large crowds.

“Have you checked out the holo-projector in your room?” he asked, sweeping an arm to indicate she should precede him into the lounge. “Took me the devil of a time getting it to work. I don’t have a window either, but it doesn’t bother me too much. I’m really only ever in there to sleep.”

He smiled as they headed over to the replicators. “What’ll it be?”

Images of an unctuous frothy Cappuccino had been forming in Luna’s mind, but these vanished with a pop at the mention of a holo-projector.

“There’s, um…” Luna started to turn pink. “There’s a holo-p… p… a-projector in my room?” She asked, in a small voice.

“Yeah?” Ryke looked over his shoulder. “Opposite wall to the bed. Flick through the room settings on your console and it should be in one of the menus.” He ordered a large latte and stepped back to let her order her drink. “Or one of the submenus, I can’t remember now. Like I said, it took me the devil of a time to find. I’m not surprised you missed it.”

Relief. Luna’s embarrassment meter had started to bubble up towards the top but hearing Ryke mention how buried the settings were, it began to subside again.

“Um,” Luna said to the replicator. “L… L… ”

“Please re-state command.”

Luna took a deep breath and let the steam in her head come off the boil.

“… …Large Cappuccino.” The drink swirled into being and Luna gratefully warmed both her hands on the warm cup, looking up at Ryke once she had a solid grip on it.

He smiled and nodded toward a small table at the back of the room near a window. It was another holoprojector, but it showed a view of the system and the ships coming in and out. It was… peaceful.

Taking a seat after Luna, he took a sip from his drink and sighed in pleasure. “That hits the spot, for sure.”

“You um… drink a lot of coffee?” Luna asked. It was a pretty crap question in her estimation but it broke some ice. At least she’d managed something.

“Yeah,” he chuckled as he set the mug down in front of him. “Probably more that is good for me, to be honest. Doc hasn’t pulled me up on it yet,” he added, lowering his voice and looking around as if he expected to be accosted by wayward medical personnel. “So I figure I’ll carry on until they do. Besides, we’re counselors; it’s practically mandatory.”

Luna took a drink from the large mug of coffee, it’s copious diameter obscuring her mouth and nose so only her eyes were visible to her companion. They fluttered from the cup to look at him on a way that was, unknown to their owner, quite alluring.

“Is it?” She asked. “I um… well… don’t we um, counsel people on avoiding addiction?”

It was probably quite a young, naive approach, very in character for Luna’s sort of energy.

Ryke grinned, finding his companion quite delightful. A breath of fresh air after all the jaded counselors he usually associated with.

“We do, but as they say, ‘physician, heal thyself.’” He sat back in his chair and looked at her with interest. “So, what drew you to counseling?”

The question took Luna slightly by surprise, but without good reason. It was a perfectly valid and interesting question. Luna would have preferred it were submitted in writing before-hand for her to consider phrasing, but then so would she with all social interaction. She placed her coffee cup on the table and considered where to start, what to reveal and with what level of vitriol to speak of her home and family.

“I um, moved? From Setlik two,” Luna started. “The um, difference, I observed in society there and on Earth made me more interested in sociology and psychology. Both individual social choices and um, differences in ethos. I guess it um, snowballed from there?” Her words were clearly chosen carefully, the fact she was holding back plain for anyone, even without a psychology qualification.

“Both are really interesting, aren’t they?” Ryke nodded, taking another sip from his mug. That was a loaded reply and no mistake. But he didn’t regret asking. “Especially when you get the chance to see different societies practically side by side. I bet it must have been a bit of a shock?”

Luna nodded.

“It was. Earth is much more um…. p.. p… progressive. How about you?” She thought Ryke seemed very jock-like to be a counsellor and, if she’d had to guess would have put him in command or security. Of course she lacked the mettle to actually say that to him, but she was very curious to hear his answer. And that took the spotlight off her, always good in Luna’s book.

“Counselling?” He smiled, sitting back in his chair. “Let’s just say I spent a large part of my younger years getting people to tell me things that they didn’t necessarily want to tell me. After a particularly nasty incident involving some teens who got themselves wrapped up in a mess they couldn’t get themselves out of, I realized that I’d far rather use that skill set to help people.”

Luna was immediately struck by the funny coincidence that two counsellors talking to one another either couldn’t or wouldn’t be entirely open. But she was too shy to pry any further. At work she had to, at work it was her job. But this was socialising, her Achilles heel. She thought back to her charisma classes she’d taken and managed to come up with a question.

“I’m… I’m glad you did. Do you have a specialty?”

“I can bake a soufflé while riding a unicycle,” he deadpanned, then cracked a grin. “Yeah, I do. Hypnotherapy. And violent patients. Not together, obviously. How about you?”

Luna grinned too.

“Oh um… well, not violent patients!” She replied a little sheepishly, as if making a joke were some sort of faux pas. “Um, well, I think day to day stuff, stress, neurosis, couples, families, kids like me for some reason? My… my old Captain said I was very easy to talk to… and very unimposing…” Luna blushed a little. “I think it was a compliment? I’m um, well I find certain conditions fascinating, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorder, Schizophrenia, even Depression… just… working through everything with someone and trying to find the best route out of a kinda maze of stuff that life kinda does to us…” Luna realised she was looking past Ryke off into space and refocused back on him.

“S… sorry, I get carried away.”

He nodded. “Unimposing can work and you’re definitely easy to talk to. Take it from a professional!”

“Don’t worry about it. Being passionate about what you do is what you need in this job,” Waving off her apology, he smiled again and glanced at the time. Almost choking on his drink, he sat up. “So easy to talk to. I nearly forgot about my next appointment! Want to do this again sometime? Between patients?”

Luna looked surprised to be asked, but rallied quickly.

“Um, y… y… yes I’d like that” she replied brightly. “I’ll um, stay and finish this, I’ve got a b… b… break now.”

“Great!” he grinned broadly as he tucked his padd and notebook under his arm, grabbing another quick swallow from his mug. “See you then!”