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Quick Promotions

Posted on Wed Apr 22nd, 2015 @ 9:41pm by Commander Angelica Fairchild & Commander Sinek

Mission: Temporal Kickback
Location: Angelica's Quarters
Timeline: After Returning to Present and Bridge Duty Complete

Lieutenant Commander Sinek departed the bridge after his duty shift were completed. Actually, it was his first time doing bridge duty after being newly elevated to Acting Second Officer. It was the first he had command of the entire bridge.

At the same time he was elevated, Angel was elevated to Acting First Officer. She seemed to be taken aback by the quick promotion herself. The Captain made logical choices. They were the highest ranking officer's aboard, no matter their short time in their current roles. The death of Lieutenant Commander Raydt left a void that quickly needed filled.

Sinek thought Angel might need to process a bit. He had promised to be a sounding board for her, a center of logic. Without hesitation, the CSO went directly to her quarters and rang the chime.

Angelica hadn't been home for very long, just long enough that she should have fallen asleep by now. Yet, she was still sitting on the couch, leaning forward with her head bowed and her arms resting on her knees. So many people had died, and while she hadn't directly killed them... it was still her fault. Starfleet had seen fit to promote her anyway, but she didn't deserve it. And she knew that if Aelyn had survived the last battle she wouldn't be wearing this new red uniform. That thought stung a bit, and she blinked away tears she still hadn't been able to shed.

The sound of the door chime broke through the guilty fog in her head, but Angelica didn't bother to look up at the door. She didn't know who it was, and for a moment she was tempted to send them away. Or ignore them completely. But she didn't want to be rude, so she just sighed. "Come in."

The door whisked open. Sinek paused outside taking a view of the interior of Angel's quarters, until he spotted her on the couch. In his observance, she did not appear well.

"I thought I would check on how you were, Com...Angel." She had informed him to call her Angel. It was Sinek's protocol to be prim and proper, which meant to use titles for everyone. However, the protocol for friendship seemed to trump that of duty.

"I got a lot of people killed," Angelica replied quietly, not looking up at him. She didn't know if Sinek would understand that feeling or not, but saying it was better than not answering at all. "People I was supposed to protect."

Sinek sat down next to Angel. "Sometimes we take risks that we know may have drastic results. However, we do not control those results. They may or may not happen. There are an infinite number of possibilities. You did not cause the deaths; the Devidian's did."

"The Devidians wouldn't have been here if I hadn't let Amelia use the triolic radiation to turn the phaser beams blue. I should have told her to find a different way, but I didn't. I was too tired to fight her about it, and now her boyfriend's dead."

"I understand your point, Angel," the Vulcan stated. "But it may not have happened as well. We cannot account for other species choices. Or even those of our own species. We can take all the preventative measure we choose, but sometimes, the only choice we have is to react. We had to take the risk; we had no other choice. We did not have the old technology in our hands. You had to make the decision to improvise. We have all made decisions that have not panned out."

Sinek hoped he was making sense. "The truth is, I was attempting to do my own Philadelphia experiment to try to get us back. I had asked the Captain to investigate it."

"That doesn't make it any less frustrating." These were things that Angelica knew she should be addressing with a counselor, but there was no way in hell she was going to go talk to one. She had too many secrets for that, and she'd never met a counselor that could be trusted with that sort of secret. "I've heard of the Philadelphia experiment. Probably not a better option... no one knows what happened to those people."

"I made some adjustments," Sinek admitted. "The Captain wanted further testing before jumping into it. It was the correct decision."

Sinek leaned forward so that he were more eye level with Angel. "Angel, all of us have our plans frustrated from time-to-time. We cannot allow those frustrations to defeat us. The Captain sees that you will not. Otherwise, you would not be the First Officer right now."

As Sinek matched her posture, Angelica looked over at him, smiling a tiny bit. "I know. And I do appreciate the faith she has in me. It's just... well. I'm exhausted. The few hours I slept while Amelia worked on the phasers was the most sleep I've gotten in weeks. Maybe in months. This is too much all at once. I can't deal with it."

"You can and you will," Sinek expressed as a matter of fact. "I will assist you to succeed. I am your Second Officer and your friend." He was becoming more at ease with the term. With Angel, it seemed natural.

Angelica was quiet for a moment, mulling over Sinek's words. "Maybe I should rephrase that. I can't do it by myself... and I can't go talk to the counselor. Counselors drive me batty with all their questions and their psychobabble." But Sinek wasn't a counselor. She could talk to him; he was probably the easiest person on the ship to talk to. Turning sideways on the couch so that she faced him, she brushed her hair back from her face, looking at him more directly. "I'm fine when the pressure's on. When people are looking to me for a decision or to stand between them and the enemy. But when the moment passes... I get tense. Agitated. And once that fades... I look about how I did when you came in." She paused, not really sure where she was going with this train of thought. "I don't want to be some sort of Vulcan zen master. Honestly I don't know what I could possibly expect you to do about it. I just don't want to burn myself out and end up not being there when the crew needs me."

"Angel," Sinek began as he turned sideways to face her gray eyes, "you would not be yourself if you became Vulcan-like. The staff will only follow you if you are yourself. They do respect and follow you, because you are authentic. You are a natural leader. You do not ask them to do what you would not do. You earn respect; you don't demand it."

"I don't want to change who I am, Sinek. I just want to handle this better is all." Angel sighed a bit, though this time she didn't look away. "Can you teach me how to meditate? Just so I can sort through my emotions, not to suppress them."

"I will," the Vulcan replied. "Indeed, you have partially begun by relaxing." Already, Sinek had sensed a release of some stress from Angel's body language.

He quickly decided to start with her form since Angel was already sitting cross-legged on the couch, concentrating her gray eyes on him. "You are sitting in a good position. You must continue to relax and straighten your back, keeping your body centered." As he explained this position, he demonstrated it before her.

"Okay." Angel watched him change his position and then copied it, finding that as she straightened her back and let her weight settle in that position, some more of the tension she'd been holding flowed out of her. She didn't normally sit so straight, but she could see how it was beneficial; she breathed a lot easier in that position.

Sinek gently took Angel's hands. He eased her arms bending them at the elbow, forming a triangle with her thumbs and fingers just in front of the center of her torso. He was surprised from the sensory intake he received from his hands touching hers. His nervous system had not reacted to touch like that in a while. In six years two months to be exact - pon farr. He knew it was not yet time for him to experience the event again. Sinek had just never experienced this sensory stimulation outside of pon farr.

Always one to at least try to be a good student, Angel let him guide her hands into position, her attention on how he manipulated her posture. There was a brief rush of warmth and support before it rapidly faded, so quickly she thought she must have imagined it. "Will this help me focus?"

He eased his hands away and placed them in front of his torso in the same manner. "We usually have a lamp to keep focus. The flame represents the chaos that consumes when left out of control. The lamp is what controls the flame, keeping the chaos in check."

"Um..." That could be problematic, Angel realized. She didn't think she owned a lamp, at least not the sort with an open flame. "Should I replicate one?"

He spoke calmly. Evenly. "For now, keep your focus on me, my eyes. As you visually focus on my eyes, focus your mind on the center of the triangle. The triangle represents the center of your being. Slowly control your breathing. It may be difficult at first, but with more practice, you will be able to mentally focus on the center of being, while visually focusing on other things. This is the beginning of controlling emotions, instead of allowing the chaos they can cause control you."

Angel nodded slightly as she looked directly into Sinek's eyes, slowly focusing in on just him. As her visual focus narrowed, she found that her breath naturally began to slow, but she didn't have conscious control of it. When she tried to focus on her breathing, her gaze wandered away from Sinek's eyes. Gee, he wasn't kidding when he said it could be difficult. Feeling herself growing frustrated, she pulled in a deeper breath and gently released it, not entirely realizing that she'd just done exactly as she'd been bidden.

"You are doing well for the initial attempt, you showed ample control of your breathing." Sinek stated. "If you like, I can bring you a lamp for your next session. As you improve, you can decrease the rate of your heart, easing even more of the stress you feel. You are an excellent student, Angel."

"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be." She did have to admit to feeling better though, calmer and more grounded. It was such a strange feeling; Angel had nearly always felt some level of stress, even if she didn't show it. "Definitely bring the lamp next time. If it helps, I can replicate one for myself."

Sinek continued to keep Angel's eyes in focus, helping her to focus on his. He noticed the definite stress reduction in just a few moments. Vulcans could meditate for hours, even to the point of reducing their breathing and heart rate to the point of not being detected. For Angel, he would keep it to 1/2 hour intervals, seeing the effectiveness just a few minutes had.

"I have the ideal lamp; it is considered a gift to my student...and my friend," Sinek evenly stated. "I recommend meditating twice a week with your teacher. One or two times a week on your own. When you get to the point your are efficient on your own, you may elect the solitude over the teacher."

Angel smiled a bit, not having expected him to simply give her the meditation lamp. "I can make time for that. I'll be honest though... I don't know what my schedule's like anymore. Haven't had a chance to look at Commander Radt's calendar to see what was already planned."

"When you confirm the time you are available, notify me," Sinek offered. "I will make time." He could be more flexible, work while she rested. He knew he did not require as much rest as Angel.

As it stood, he would have to meditate tonight. His sensory system and mind were in conflict. Remembering the charge he had felt when he touched Angel, Sinek's mind reminded him that she was now his student. It was a question of ethics.

"I'll do that. Thank you, Sinek." With the tension and stress of the day no longer weighing on her, Angel couldn't quite resist yawning. It had been a long time since she'd slept more than a few hours at a time, and it would be a long time yet until she'd have regular full nights of sleep.

He recognized the tiredness in her eyes. "You should rest a while, Angel. I am able to fulfill anything you need accomplished. Get rest and do not be anxious."

"Good idea." Angel yawned again, rubbing her eyes. "Have Enalia wake me if anything critical happens."

"Indeed." Sinek walked to the door, turned and nodded his head to Angel, pushed the button for the door. He quietly exited, the door whisking shut behind him. Outside, he reviewed the time with Angel. She was a promising student and friend, no matter what his sensory system was saying. He had made it a practice not to mate outside of pon farr. Still, Angel fascinated him.

 

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