Promises Kept

Posted on Sat Oct 8th, 2022 @ 3:33pm by Lieutenant JG Summer Wyse & Lieutenant JG Rafe Hunnicutt

1,012 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The devil wears tripolymer
Location: Counselor's office

Well Rafe, at least you keep your promises... Hunnicutt thought to himself as he walked down the corridor to the Chief Counselor's office. He wasn't purposefully slowing down as he walked, taking in the people passing him. And it wasn't that he minded his evals. Summer was nice, he had enjoyed his chat with her, and she was the sort of person you could just trust straight away. Being Betazoid meant she'd know when he lied to her, which meant he had to be truthful.

Now if only he could keep the jokes down to four a minute rather than six, they might even get somewhere.

He rang the chime, reaching to pull at his uniform jacket. Never seemed to sit right half the time, but maybe because being an Engineer he did a lot of stretching or climbing or crawling. Basically, the uniforms seemed to be designed for bridge officers. Made him envious of the jump suits, although they weren't perfect either.

Summer was sitting in a nice comfy chair, one of the perks of being a Counsellor, was you could choose your own comfy seating. She looked towards the door right on time “Come in Rafe.”

He chuckled, walking in as he met her eyes. "Let me guess, it was how I pressed that chime? Gave a happy little song..." he said, crossing his arms as he came to a stop inside. Now that this was an official psych eval, he was a bit nervous. He always was though, because he was used to keeping stuff to himself.

Summer offered a smile. “That, and it’s your scheduled time! Please have a seat.” She motioned to the sofa, or other chair.

"I'm on time? Let me come back in ten minutes, and I'll be fashionably late," he said and took a seat in the other chair. He shifted, before rubbing his palms together for a moment. He was acutely aware of his body, more that he had nothing to do with his hands.

“You don’t need to be nervous Rafe, you know me. I don’t bite...much!” Summer grinned. “I’m not the a-typical Counsellor who goes over and over old things. I prefer to start with the here and now.”

"Well, just as well, I am not your typical Starfleet person," Hunnicutt said easily, giving her a small smile. "It's white coat syndrome, I think. Or in this case, worry of the bench. Maybe it is just because I always feel I got something to hide. A guilty conscience, a trick up my sleeve, those five aces for the next poker game."

“Well as long as you don’t tell porkies, you won’t have to worry about having something to hide, will you?” Summer grinned. “So how are you getting along with the crew? Any problems? Anything you’d like to discuss?”

"Like, never," he said before he gave her a small smile. "But from my record, you may notice I...aim to live life with somewhat of a smile. I get bored easily, I hate seeing people not enjoying themselves, or being stressed out. So, I..." he stopped, watching her with a small shrug. "I cope with stress with joking. And some of those jokes are of a practical nature."

Summer nodded. “I understand. Humour is a very powerful emotion, you’d be surprised just how powerful. I’m pretty jolly most of the time myself, I find it helps when times are tough. Being a Counsellor, day’s can be hard sometimes. I’d imagine you’ve encountered those who find the humour too much sometimes?”

"Most of them are officers," he admitted, giving a small shrug. "I need to let off steam. A shift in Engineering can be...well, it can be a lot. If you can't make a joke, you'd break down under the responsibility. Besides. Every ship needs someone to be annoyed at now and then. Keeps morale up."

Summer offered a nod. “We all need a way to let off steam. So, do you have any particular worries, or anything you feel you need to get off your chest?” She gave Rafe a curious look.

He met her eyes, clearly thinking about it. "Not yet," he admitted, before he smiled. "Don't get me wrong, you will hear me whine alongside the best of them when things go bad. But we're not there yet. Things are running, no one in Engineering has given me any issues, or extra work...so I am just doing my job, then clocking off. There's no tensions yet, which is good. But things might change. They might not."

Summer nodded. “Fair enough. All I ask is that you come and see me if you need to talk. If it’s been a bad day, or someone has upset you, anything..okay?” She offered a warm smile. “it’s what I’m here for after all.”

"Promise," Rafe said quickly, before he laughed at how quickly he had said it. "Not much gets under my skin though. Not really that difficult to ignore it. Like, it is all...you know...professional."

Summer smiled and nodded. “Okay that’s good. I think we’ve spent enough time for now, thank you for being so honest. I’d like to talk again in say...two weeks? See how you’re getting on? Does that suit you?”

Rafe nodded, holding her eyes for a moment before he chuckled. "Suits me good, actually. Two weeks should be enough time for me to get my head into it all, and be able to report back to you on any gossip..."

Summer smiled. “Ohh I’m sure there’ll be plenty of gossip, there always is!”

He stood, nodding as he held her eyes for a moment longer before he looked down. "You take care...Summer breeze," he said with a wink, before the smile he gave her ended up being both boyish and carefree.

Summer giggled. “You too Rafe, any problems you know where I’ll be.”

{OFF}

 

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