Out Of Practice: Part 2/2

Posted on Sat Apr 11th, 2026 @ 6:26pm by Lieutenant JG Electra Drake & Lieutenant JG Elen Rell

2,485 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Prologue
Location: USS Guinevere

Continued from part 1

Elen nodded as she watched her before she reached for the puzzle again, looking at it and then starting to solve it again. "I do have medication too," she finally said. "But I only use it if...we have a long mission and I don't have time to do the things that...keep me going."

"What's that like? Going backward and forward between being medicated and not?" Lex asked softly, the calmness of her voice covering the slight concern.

Elen tilted her head as she thought about it, before she glanced at her. "Like...becoming someone else, then crashing down into knowing it was a dream. I am fine while I am on it, the moment it wears off..."

She nodded with understanding, having thought as much, taking a breath as she thought on it. "That kind of...whiplash can be difficult to contend with. Have you tried tapering?"

"When I was a kid, yeah," she said and frowned as she thought about it and let out a breath. "I was on them more or less constantly when my mother died."

"And you didn't like it?" Lex asked carefully, starting by asking about the medication rather than moving too quickly towards the death of her mother.

"I..." Elen considered it for a moment before she shook her head. "No...no, I didn't, back then. And I haven't tried tapering since, more...you know...grab the hypo and get going!"

"Was it being on it that you didn't like, or the aftermath?" Lex asked carefully, not wanting to lead her either way.

Elen met her eyes for a long moment, taking a deeper breath. "It's...like someone's done your hair. And it looks amazing. You feel amazing. But then it rains...and it frizzes. That...is what it feels like being on it. I am fine until I am not."

"Would you rather not use it at all?" she asked bluntly, meeting her eyes with reassurance that she could tell the truth either way.

Elen met her eyes and she let out a breath, suddenly looking worried...and younger with it. "Ideally...yeah. But...this is Starfleet and you don't want your engineer counting up isolinear chips during a warp core melt..."

Lex nodded softly before starting to make some notes on the paper pad. "So, if you're willing to come back for some more regular sessions, perhaps we could look at how to make that transition easier for you, and perhaps in the future, work on some strategies at work, so you don't need to take so much?"

"I..." she looked surprised, swallowing at that before she smiled weakly. She hadn't been in regular counselling since her mother died...and yeah, sure all the way through the Academy, but that was...years ago. "Sure. Yeah...not scared of hard work."

"But...you hesitated..." Lex met her eyes knowingly, a small almost playful smile tugging at her lips. "Why?"

"Out of practice," Elen admitted as she met her eyes with a small shrug. "When my mother died, I was...in constant sessions. To try and articulate it all, you know? And through the Academy it made sense and it also meant I was...actively making sure I didn't drive my instructors out the airlock."

"So...perhaps you connect counselling with difficult life events," Lex nodded with understanding, not contradicting it. "I ask just to give you some space to talk about your experience, see if we can find things that work well for you, not because anything bad is happening," she assured.

"Yeah, I think that sort of...explains it," Elen shifted, pulling a leg close to hug, her chin going to rest on her knee as she frowned a little. "I just don't...sit down and think much about it. Maybe because in counselling I...did think so much about it all. Mum dying. And...the silence after, you know? Not...not verbally. But my Dad grieved one way, me another and...I could feel his sorrow. We...it was grief in two languages and the Universal Translator had decided to take a long holiday to somewhere...warm and tropical that wasn't Mars."

"I can only imagine how difficult that must have been, and lonely," Lex admitted softly, shaking her head at the image it brought. "Do you speak to him much now?"

"Yes, we're...we manage," she said and gave a small, almost awkward smile. "He remarried. I got a sister too. Younger, obviously. It's different. It feels different, and I am very much the grown up when I go to visit. But Kaia...oh, I suppose I try and be the best long-distance older sister I can be."

Lex smiled as she noted the slight change in energy as she mentioned her sister. "You're fond of her?"

"Yes," Elen nodded as she looked at her, smiling as she shifted, this time more curled up in the chair. "She's...smart. So smart. A bit quirky, she's right now in her Princess stage. Last year she wanted to be an Orion Pirate Queen, so we are going towards more peaceful times."

Electra laughed softly at that, reaching for her drink as she shook her head lightly. "Has she reached her Princess Starfleet stage yet?" she teased.

"Oh not yet, but when she does? I got a uniform ready to be replicated," Elen said with shining eyes before she tapped her own arm for a moment. "She makes Dad really happy. They share a lot of the same interests. She is into medicine already."

"And what do you share with him?" she asked softly, her head tilting a little as she watched her with the slightly more pinpointed question.

"Hazel eyes and a love for poetry," she said with a warm smile tilting her head a little as well...not mirroring, just...settling down a little with it. "Mum was the one who adored Arthurian legend. He? He loves poetry."

"And what is it like for you? Being away from home?" she asked gently. She'd found it was a question that could awaken a lot in starfleet personnel.

"Oh..." Elen met her eyes with surprise before she tapped her leg thoughtfully. "I don't know, been away from Mars for so long it...doesn't feel like home. The ship, that feels...like home. I miss some bits. The hospitality, the way...tea is always there, or you help your neighbour...or the gossip in the Fleet Yards. But it's...not home."

"Which is why it's so important to you, to help and welcome people here. It's hospitality, not just duty," Lex nodded with a small smile of understanding and appreciation.

"Martian settler spirit," she said with a smile, stretching as she watched Lex. "Dates back to when the scientists suddenly had families. You had to help out, or else...you might not survive the next sandstorm. Pre-dates Terraforming, that sort of attitude. But it's...part of us. Those who can trace their families back and live on the planet's surface, I mean."

"It makes people resilient," Electra agreed as she considered that dynamic, glancing to the viewport for a moment. "But...being resilient can also be hard work."

"Oh, it does help if you enjoy hot drinks," Elen said and started counting them off on her fingers. "Teas and coffees, milk, oat, condenced...flavoured traditionally or with Martian-grown spices and herbs..."

Lex gave a small but fond smile, shaking her head lightly. "And which is your favourite?"

"Tea," Elen said softly as she leant closer, watching her with a small smile. "Martian orange chai..." she added in softly, tilting her head. "Black tea, orange peel...spices grown on Mars, so that it's got...a different flavour than Earth grown. More...mineral or coppery twang?"

Lex nodded lightly, even though she'd never tried it. Elen even spoke about tea passionately. "It seems you've found plenty of things that help soothe and ground you."

"Oh, sort of had to. I mean, always encouraged to," Elen said and tapped her knee for a moment before she looked at the puzzle again. "I think there's seven different ways to solve that. But I don't want to try them now..." she glanced around, to the view, then back at her. "I'm learning what grounds others doesn't necessarily ground me. A friend of mine has a holodeck programme...we met there, actually. He stayed over his time, I was going in for mild cardio, possible some singing or screaming at mountains...didn't realise it wasn't my programme until the vibe got colder and darker...anyway. I couldn't use that as a grounding space, no stimuli, just...woods, mist, bird song, no movement...." she practically rolled her eyes, but fondly. "Anyway, might ground him, doesn't ground me."

"Well no, that would be like sensory deprivation to you," Electra replied easily, confident enough to state it as fact rather than framing it as a question. "You will always need some kind of stimulation within your soothing and grounding activities, or it's just an invitation for your mind to play. The key is finding something that is both occupying and soothing, like tactile puzzles. Or...coupling two less occupying tasks together....like....art with an audio book."

"Oh, I can't draw a straight line...or a curved one!" Elen said and then leant closer, eyes shining with humour. "I tried pottery once...got more on me than on the... turning spinny thing..." It was the description her brain offered up and she was sure with enough time she might have figured out what it was called.

Lex chuckled at the image of wet clay splattering everywhere. She got the feeling she meant it too. "Oh, it was just an example, of how you can pair things up to quiet the brain down."

"I like pairings," Elen nodded, sipping back in the chair, giving her an easy smile. "So I guess I have a lot of work ahead of me, right?" she winked, but was also worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

"Not really," Electra offered her a small but reassuring smile as she settled back. "Your work is excellent, you have a healthy social life and you have deep empathy for those around you. I would just like to see if we can find some tools to make sure you don't burn out with all of that on your plate."

"See, sounds like work. Finding tools," Elen teased but she relaxed at the reassurance. "I like tools though. A nice toolkit."

"Precisely....you can slot them in a cute little kit on your belt, like your work toolkit," she teased her with a small, knowing smile.

Elen laughed warmly, nodding as she watched her. "See, cute things should be part of the uniform. As much as I enjoy the shoulders the uniform gives me...I am most comfortable in the overalls."

"Should have been a counsellor," Electra teased softly, motioning to herself, dressed in the wide legged slate coloured trousers coupled with a cream blouse. "I only wear the uniform in sessions where I think it will help."

"I am so jealous...but I'm clumsy and I crawl in dirty places...something like that? Would be wasted on me," Elen said with a soft, dramatic sigh. "Like painted nails."

"Painted nails aren't a waste if they make you smile just once after doing them," Lex corrected, but gently and with fondness, not admonishment.

"You seem to think I'd actually finish them..." Elen countered as she looked at her, the same fondness reflected. "Small stuff like that where it doesn't affect anyone else? I'm...forgetful. Distracted. Get bored."

"And so you walk around with three painted fingernails, so what? If you enjoy it, do it," Electra gave a slight shrug though, to indicate there was no pressure either way. "Life's too short not to."

"Ah, see, but it would annoy someone," she grinned at that, watching Electra with easy warmth. "And no one wants to have their nails be inconvenient. Besides...I've never been...good at that stuff..." she made a gesture, as if that stuff was some mystic, large thing she could just...pluck from the universe.

Electra nodded as she looked down to her notes, masking her interest in the way she shut down suggestions for doing the thing she had brought up. "That stuff?"

"Nails. Hair. Makeup. If we didn't have a wand to wave over our faces, I'd...most likely not bother. I'd forget to take it off anyway..." she grimaced and looked at Electra. "I do remember showers though. Sort of have to push myself, the...sonic ones? The way that the skin buzzes? Between us, it puts my teeth on edge. Like I can hear the right resonance and know what is happening and it isn't fun..."

Lex nodded with understanding. It wasn't unusual for someone like Elen to be sensitive to sensations that others didn't really think about. "Have you tried a water shower?"

"Oh yes," Elen gave a nod, smiling at that, her eyes warm. "I love them, but only if they're hot. My hair...prefers them over sonic ones, but you know technology can sort it out either way. I...didn't get many water showers. Growing up, I mean, we were in Ground Force housing on Mars, meant it had sonic showers and was on the Starfleet grids."

"Can't you rig something up for your quarters?" Lex asked with interest, sitting back to rest an elbow up on the back of her seat.

"I mean..." she looked at Lex with surprise before she grinned. "You're serious? Because...I didn't even think of that. Of course I could, it's just reprogramming and changing some parts..."

"It would likely take a little longer to get ready, but if it feels better, it might be worth it," Electra offered up with a small smile. Sometimes that was more important, making it more accessible rather than quicker and easier.

"Oh it's usually after shift I need a shower, you'd be shocked at where I end up getting stuck," Elen said with a grin, watching Electra with interest. "Not really though about that with my quarters. They're junior officer ones, I sort of felt...I couldn't personalise them. I mean, what if I suddenly got a room mate!"

"Okay, then how about I tell you to do it," Lex gave a delicate shrug, watching her with a small, half smile pulling at her lips. "As your counsellor. To improve your wellness."

"Oh...oh, okay, loophole unlocked," Elen said with approval, raising an eyebrow as she smiled. "And challenge accepted, Counsellor. Next check up, we can find out if I managed to complete it, or if I am sneaking to someone else's quarters because my shower is dismantled..."

---


Lt. JG Elen Rell
Engineer
USS Guinevere

Lt. JG Electra 'Lex' Drake
Counsellor
USS Guinevere

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