Joint Log | Cmdr Parsons, Lt Cmdr Neyes - "Initial Discovery"

Posted on Thu Oct 16th, 2014 @ 9:12pm by Commander Tristan Neyes PhD. & Commander Gabriel Parsons

1,171 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Are You Touched?

=/\= Deck Seven =/\=

Tristan had given Parsons some time to adjust after their meeting with the command team. He'd hashed out his concerns with Rochelle well enough, but something was still peaking his interest about how brusque the new JAG officer had been. Neyes was the first to acknowledge the man had been put in a slightly difficult position, career-wise. His file had come over just in time for the young counselor to skim it over, gleaning the important details about the man's lengthy tenure in Starfleet. He'd been on the surface during the Siege of Sol, and been a person of interest in Landon's dealings with Rob during his run-in with JAG.

To say he remembered much about Commander Parsons would have been a gross overstatement. Unfortunately, Tristan was going to have to converse with him like he did every other new officer who came aboard. Hopefully this time he'd be a little more open to receiving the welcome.

Stepping into the JAG offices on the Vindicator, they were already beginning to move furniture and redesign the interior. "Wow you don't waste any time, do you, Commander?" Neyes smiled as he spotted the man.

Gabriel was shoulder deep in a memorandum drafted by his clerk when the counselor's comment roused him back to the present, "No, no we don't," he didn't look up, still struggling through what his clerk insisted was controlling precedent for a case he'd left pending before leaving for the Vindicator. He would have believed the Ensign, but the young attorney's comma splices made it difficult to follow. How some people managed to graduate law school and fail with simple standard continued to boggle him.

He gave the padd one last glance, sighing in dismay before looking up at Neyes, "What can I do for you, counselor?"

"I wanted to follow up with you after the meeting with the Captain, Commander; if there's anything you want to ask or discuss." Tristan said. He had wanted to make sure Parsons was welcomed, and the Captain's brow-beaten entrance into his life was a little less than delicate. She had her reasons, but it wasn't clear to him that Parsons understood that. Even though Tristan was sure the law officer was well able to ensure his own adjustment to his new position, the young counselor still felt responsible for him.

"I can assure you, Commander, nothing about my encounter with the Captain was terribly interesting. She's commanding officer aboard a naval ship of the line. I have come to expect reactions such as hers; the attitude and personality required to do what she does is not new to me. I'm more than prepared to deal with her."

Neyes shook his head, "That's just it, sir. Dealing with-"

"Jensen," Gabriel interrupted Neyes, calling across the room to one of the NCOs. "Try engineering again, its still too damn hot in here." Sweat had begun to develop under the lead attorney's brow, an uncomfortable reality of the JAG office's proximity to the Vindicator's fighter lanes. Or perhaps someone in engineering was deliberately sabotaging environmental control--that had certainly happened before.

Tristan stepped in closer to the man's desk, closing the distance between them and forcing himself his sphere of operation. He calmly took a seat across from Gabriel, and watched him without saying a word. A gentle look of patience painted across the Trill's face, an unspoken pleasantness emanating from his person. Neyes would and could wait him out, and he'd do it in an infuriatingly polite way.

Gabriel looked ambivalently on as the counselor took a seat. He hadn't called the man here, and he had no real use for his services at the moment. Why he continued to press the issue of their meeting with the Captain was obvious and uninteresting. He was fine and had no problem going head to head with the CO if he came down to it. "Can I help you with something?" He finally asked, wanting to return to the brief in his hands.

"That's not how his works." Neyes responded. A look of vague amusement colored his warm features. "I'm here to help. You seem to be... perturbed. Or is that your normal resting attitude?" He said plainly, "I want you to feel welcomed by the rest of the crew, whether you think that's important to you or not, sir. Part of that is also ensuring the rest of the crew is comfortable with you.

"What I do think is important to you is the success of this department and the ease in which you accomplish your job here. Am I right?" Neyes brushed away a few errant hairs, keeping his eyes on Parsons.

A powerful vibration shook the room as Neyes finished. Gabriel only sighed, whether in reaction to the counselor or another one of the unfortunate realities of sharing a bulkhead with the fighter lanes, one couldn't tell. "I've been aboard enough ships with enough crews to know when I require the assistance of the counseling department, Commander. I can assure you nothing about this posting is different or otherwise unusual," he paused for a moment, considering the nature of his relationship with the other officer. There was one thing out of the ordinary, he'd questioned the former host of the Neyes symbiote before. An interesting tidbit, but neither here nor there considering the circumstances.

"My job requires me to stay outside the normal 'camaraderie' and daily workings of naval operations. I am foremost a representative of the Judge Advocate and advisor to the command staff only upon dire circumstance," he was of course speaking of his roll on the bridge during certain diplomatic and legal events, but he doubted he'd be required to reprise the roll much while aboard the Vindicator.

"As for my staff I can assure you these are some of the finest officers working for JAG," he wasn't lying, he'd hand picked them, stolen them from other commanders in a few cases. He might not have had much clout upon joining JAG, but he'd managed enough quid quo pro relationships while operating Starfleet Security to pull the necessary strings to get him the right people for his team.

Neyes nodded, "I'm pleased to hear you were able to assemble an acceptable team. Since, as you say, they will be your sole source of 'camaraderie' aboard Vindicator. I can certainly sympathize with your professional restraints, Commander, and far be it from me to interfere with your routine." Another jolting vibration punctuated his next words, "If you require any other measure of support, I'm just a tap away."

Thankfully this shrink knew restraint, and that much Gabriel could respect. "Thank you, Commander. If the need for your services arises I will not hesitate to contact you." Such a time hopefully never came, but should it Parsons was glad the man in charge of it would at least show an ounce of common sense.


=/\= END LOG =/\=

Commander Gabriel Parsons
Senior JAG Officer
USS Vindicator

Lt. Commander Tristan Neyes
Chief Counseling Officer
USS Vindicator

 

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