Engineers need to Stick toghther

[Trichon 0]

A joint log from Warped Nacelle Productions...

 

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Merri was pretty happy with her Vulcan therapist, Solek. He was a Federation-trained physician and psychiatrist as well as being trained in Vulcan mind-healing techniques. He was able to help her get rid of the headaches the very first day, and after a couple days pronounced that she was ready to meet with a new therapist to deal with her aversion issues. She went to the appointment content that Solek would not lead her astray.

 

Trichon had been trying to avoid a therapy session. He never felt comfortable with people playing with his head. He had finally been scheduled for an appointment. Trichon decided it would probably be in his best interest if he went.

 

The meeting room was very comfortable, all in neutral tones with cushy couches and overstuffed chairs to relax in. Merri picked a soft comfy chair and waited for the therapist to arrive.

 

Trichon stood outside the door to the room. He hesitated for a moment and then opened the door and entered the room.

 

When the door opened, Merri turned to see who was coming in. To her surprise, it wasn't a Vulcan therapist. It didn't, in fact, look like a therapist at all -- it looked like her crewmate. The one who had dropped her on her head (twice!) and then sat next to her in the shuttle. She had been uncomfortable with him then because he just positively radiated uncomfortable emotions. Merri was pretty good at blocking empathic input, but with him sitting next to her it had been difficult. Now she wasn't sure how to respond. He seemed hesitant but she wasn't sure if it was because of her or some other reason. She looked at him directly and said, "Hi."

 

Trichon nodded to Merri. "I didn’t mean to interrupt. I can come back later."

 

"Oh, you weren't interrupting," she said. "I'm supposed to be in therapy to deal with aversion and I guess someone decided I had an aversion to YOU." She tried to smile. "I just wonder whether there'll actually be a therapist in this session or whether it's just the two of us and we're supposed to work it all out ourselves," she added wryly.

 

"Sounds like a Vulcan to me." Trichon managed a small grin. "I wouldn’t even know where to start to work it out."

 

"Well," Merri said with a small sigh, "maybe you should start by sitting down?"

 

"I guess that’s as good place as any to start." Trichon sat in a chair across from Merri.

 

"And we never were formally introduced," said Merri. "I'm Merri Meara-Callum, engineer."

 

"Trichon Light, engineer. Pleasure to meet you."

 

"Hey, I guess we're in the same department!" For the first time in many days, Merri grinned a genuine grin. "Where are you from? I never heard a name like yours before. Is it common where you come from?"

 

"You know I don’t really know where my name came from. My father was an odd one." Trichon leaned back in his chair, "As to where I am from... New Tycho colony. How about you?"

 

"I'm from Gaven." Merri shrugged. "You've probably never heard of it. It's an old colony but pretty isolated. Lots of farms, not much manufacturing."

 

"You’re right. I have never heard of it, but then again I am not much for farms either. It was more of my dad’s thing."

 

"Well, my da designs farm machinery, building it is one of the few industries on Gaven. And mum's a teacher. They weren't thrilled when I decided to join Starfleet but da was proud when I went into engineering." Merri smiled. "I think they were just worried about their one and only being so far from home."

 

"Well at least your parents were a little supportive. My dad hated the idea of me in Starfleet." Trichon sighed, "But then again he never approved of a lot of things I did either. That’s just the type of guy he was, I guess."

 

"Was? Is he gone now?"

 

"He passed away not too long after I was stationed on the Arcadia."

 

"I'm terribly sorry." Merri reached across to touch Trichon's hand. She was surprised at the sudden sharp mixture of emotions that came through that contact, and quickly barriered herself against them. She hoped he didn't think her pulling her hand away was rude.

 

Trichon didn’t notice Merri pull away from him. "To be honest it didn’t surprise me too much. After mom passed away people said he wasn’t the same." Trichon twisted in his chair. "How about you? What made you become an engineer? It couldn’t have been the incredible pay."

 

"Ha." It wasn't a real laugh, but Merri grinned with the sarcasm. "I like working with things, and making things work. And figuring out how they work, and making them better. You know."

 

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

 

She looked away while she talked. "And because I'm... well, I'm kinda empathic. And it's easier to work with machinery. It doesn't have feelings."

 

Trichon eyes widened in realization. "So that’s why you seemed so distant on the shuttle. You were feeling, well, what I was feeling."

 

Merri turned back to look at him and her eyes were moist as she nodded. "It was really hard to block it out, after having a concussion and all the drugs, plus the headache still wouldn't go away." She sighed. "It's still hard to block you out, and I'm not sure why. I've been working with Dr. Solek and my barriers have been pretty good. Except with you." She smiled gently. "Don't take it personally, I don't. I'm sure you aren't doing anything on purpose to make it that way."

 

Trichon scratched his head. "I wonder why you would have problems with me. I don’t have any telepathic or empathic gifts. So you must have known how I was feeling on the shuttle huh?"

 

"Well, maybe you have some baseline potential that's not really what you'd call a gift," said Merri. "And yeah, I knew how you were feeling on the shuttle. It was so awful it just made my skin crawl and my head ache more. I'm sorry I was so rude to you."

 

"Its okay, really." Trichon turned his head away, "I was still dealing with what happened on the planet. That’s all."

 

Bracing herself against the emotions she knew would come through, Merri reached to touch Trichon's hand again. "Have you worked through it by now?" she asked quietly. "It wasn't your fault, you know."

 

Trichon felt a swell of anger boil up inside of him. "That’s just the problem though. Even though we were being manipulated on Arcady somewhere deep inside that’s the kind of person I am. It scares me to know that I am capable of doing things like that. I don’t deserve to be forgiven for what I did."

 

Merri let the anger roll over her and squeezed his hand gently. "But think of all the things you COULD have done that you DIDN'T do," she pointed out. "You didn't violate anyone, you didn't kill anyone... you didn't even cause serious injury on purpose. You dropped me on my head, but it was from carelessness, not malice. It shows that even under evil influences, you're still basically a good, principled person." She smiled wryly. "If you weren't, you wouldn't feel so bad about it."

 

Trichon shut his eyes and tried to hide the tears. "After everything that happened on Arcady, I couldn’t even look at myself. I had caused you injury and I put Honeycutt in sickbay. I never thought my hands were capable of destroying something. I have always used them to fix and create things. Never to destroy."

 

Even though she felt every heartache and shudder going through Trichon, Merri hung onto his hand. "It's all right," she whispered. "Just let it out. When you share your pain it makes it easier to deal with." She didn't know where she had heard that before (it definitely wasn't Dr. Solek's style!) but it was so true.

 

Trichon nodded, "Your right. So much has happened to me in such a short time. It’s nice to talk about it again. Here lately I have felt alone."

 

"It's rough to suffer alone," said Merri. "You said your parents are both gone -- do you have any family at all?"

 

"No." Trichon looked at Merri, "None at all."

 

"Well, you mustn't shut yourself away," Merri insisted. "Us engineers have to stick together!"

 

Trichon grinned, "Very true. Very true indeed."

 

The door opened again, and a Vulcan woman entered. "My apologies for such lateness," she began, and then stopped when she saw them sitting near one another and their hands clasped together. "But I was told this was to be anti-aversion therapy," she said, clearly as confused as a Vulcan ever got.

 

"I think we've more or less gotten over the aversion," said Merri, and flashed a grin at Trichon.

 

"Oh yeah, Doc. No aversion here."

 

The sudden rush of feeling she felt from Trichon when the Vulcan entered made Merri feel rather honored that he had opened up to her. He definitely wasn't comfortable with therapy!

 

The doctor quickly regained her composure. "Are you, then, saying that you would rather not continue with the scheduled session?" she asked them, looking pointedly at Trichon.

 

"I think it’s safe to say we're good, Doc." Trichon looked over at Merri. "What do you think?"

 

She was still holding his hand, and squeezed it, smiling with her whole face. "I think we're going to be fine," she agreed. "Would you like to go get some lunch? I hear the plomeek soup here is pretty good."

 

"Lunch sounds great. Although plomeek soup isn’t really my speed." Trichon turned to the Vulcan doctor, "Hey, Doc, any place to get a cheeseburger around here?"

 

The Vulcan slowly raised her left eyebrow. "There is an outworlders' cafe a short distance from our complex. The receptionist can give you directions."

 

"Thank you," said Merri as they got up to leave. And they left the therapist standing there staring after them.

 

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