Captive audience

Posted on Sat Oct 28th, 2023 @ 11:10am by Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea & Lieutenant Commander Savin

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena :: Brig
Timeline: After "Professional Overthinking"
2731 words - 5.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Savin walked up to the forcefield after announcing himself with the brig officer and waited patiently for the woman inside to notice him. As soon as Zade had left, he too left his office and made straight for the brig. It wasn't a lightly made decision, reasoning that someone who was unexpectedly detained, might need someone to help process such feelings.

The lovely tour from Zia the other day saved Nayisa a whole five seconds of exploring her knew home. Even if she hadn't gotten the tour, she'd seen the inside of a cell before and it wasn't anything special. Three days wasn't as bad as Nayisa had expected, but it was still many hours of counting intersections in the seams of wall panels, which she knew were entirely aesthetic and served no real purpose.

Nayisa was currently staring at such a wall, arms crossed. She had just finished talking to Zia before she went off duty, leaving her with a boring and untalkative security officer. But only a few minutes later, the door hissed and she heard some indistinct conversation. Inspecting the wall once more in case something interesting decided to show up, she eventually turned to see someone in a blue uniform staring into her cell. "Counselor," she greeted calmly, giving him a smile. She knew who he was from her file browsing: one Lieutenant Commander Savin, the ship's counselor. Unless the counselor had a habit of watching for new check-ins to the Hotel Brig, the intelligence officer could easily guess that Zade went to him after she left. "What can I do for you?"

"The more suitable question is if there is anything I can do for you ensign," the counselor asked calmly, "I am surprised to find the acting intelligence chief in the brig."

Nayisa gave him a shrug to answer his question. "I don't need help processing what I did, counselor. I'm fully aware of my actions, and Didrea was within her rights to arrest me. I honestly would have been surprised if she didn't."

"Usually, the ones that claim not to need any help, end up needing help the most. That is at least my experience. Do you feel any remorse over having pulled her into a situation she is not comfortable with, considering your long friendship?"

Alright, Socrates, Nayisa thought, watching him. It was unclear what he wanted to talk to her about, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it. If it was going to be an adventure into her feelings then she was his captive audience, literally. "I mean, I feel something," she admitted. Nayisa couldn't forget the look on the Trill's face when she realized that the intel officer's job was not as simple as it first appeared. "I've known her for a long time. Have you ever revealed a huge truth about yourself to a friend? It changes everything." So it didn't feel like she was shouting from across the cell, Nayisa stepped a little closer to the field. Her body language conveyed nothing but calmness, a sign that she had nothing to hide regarding this particular situation. "But I would also do it again, without hesitation. I needed someone I could trust without a doubt in my mind."

Not that he would hear her shout, to begin with... "I have done," he admitted, "and these days it no longer is a secret at all. Did you consider her feelings, when you decided you needed someone?"

"Feelings don't matter when work needs to be done," Nayisa simply said. Shortly after the words left her mouth, she realized how insensitive that sounded. It wasn't a lie, though. When there was work to be done, emotions almost always caused problems. It was the one situation in which she fully understood the Vulcan practice of suppressing emotions. Nayisa knew Zade well enough to know that she'd put aside her emotions long enough to complete the task. It's what made Zade so reliable, in her mind. "Yes, I considered it. It was the first thing I considered after deciding that I needed help to complete my work. She's been mad at me before, she'll get over it. I'm sure as counselor you've probably noticed by now that sometimes she just needs to blow off steam."

"I have," the counselor admitted, unconsciously wincing at the somewhat painful reminder of their sparring session. "How long have you been friends?" He asked before the silence would become uncomfortable.

"Thirteen years in two months," Nayisa plainly answered. She didn't really care how uncomfortable the silence got, because she'd have to get used to it if she was going to be in here. The brig usually held more dangerous criminals than a trespasser, so it was understandably a stuffier room compared to the rest of the ship.

"In that time, has she ever had to arrest you before?"

"Not unless you count the training at the Academy," the silver-haired woman replied. Nayisa smiled slightly when she remembered being Zade's guinea pig to practice arrest techniques. "This is the first time we've been on the same ship."

"You seem to consider this amusing," the counselor prompted, mis-interpreting what caused her to smile. "Why is that?"

"Oh, I was just reminiscing." Nayisa dismissed his question with a wave of her hand. If he wanted to know more, he'd have to pry, because she wasn't about to share something that personal. "So, how much did she actually tell you?" Based off his line of questioning, she concluded that Zade had told Savin about her violating regulation. But to what extent? Could she really be trusted as much as Nayisa initially thought?

"What I needed to know in order to be of assistance," Savin answered vaguely, "why did you ask her? You must have known that she would perform her duty as security chief?"

So everything, Nayisa mused with a faint frown. To the trained eye, her disappointment was clear in her expression, emphasized by the slight furrow of her brow and a shift in her jaw. Of course, she knew Savin was bound by confidentiality, and she was expecting a much shorter response. She also knew how Zade handled stress, but usually it was security stress, not intel stress. "I asked her because I trust her. Simple as that."

"And yet here you are," Savin pointed out, "do you regret confiding in her?"

The faint disappointment was immediately replaced by the silver-haired woman's superficial smile. The one she normally used when she butted up against her own rules of confidentiality or hid her true feelings. The one Zade was all-too-familiar with. "No," Nayisa simply responded. It was the truth. If she had a chance to do it over again, she'd still likely choose Zade. Now if she'd trust Zade with intelligence matters in the future... that was another question. That was what her smile masked.

"Do you still trust her?" The counselor continued, easily seeing through the façade.

"Generally speaking, yes." Also a truth. Nayisa knew she could share some things with her friend, and it was an ongoing process to learn what not to share. She'd be more careful when it came to entrusting her with intelligence-related things, but she hadn't lost the friendship.

"Do you think she will still trust you?" He continued to probe. He didn't really know this woman, but he considered Zade a friend even if their dealings had been mostly of a professional nature.

Nayisa raised a brow. "That sounds like a question to ask her." While she certainly hoped that Zade would continue to trust her, this was not the worst argument they had. There was no point in speculating over such a thing. Speculating led to overthinking, which she knew Zade had a bad habit of doing.

"But I am enquiring after your feelings," Savin countered pleasantly.

Ugh, the talk about her feelings. While Nayisa didn't see Savin as one to poke around in her brain for answers, she still made sure to keep her mind closed to him. Her true emotions were her own, and she hated revealing them, even unintentionally. "The question is highly subjective." A subtle scrunch of her nose conveyed her reaction to how defensive that could be interpreted as. Nayisa put her hands on her hips, "it doesn't matter what I think her feelings are. Regardless of what she thinks of me, I will still care about Didrea as if she were family."

"Feelings are subjective," Savin agreed, continuing to watch her, "and from your bearing I gather that her feelings do matter. If she is family to you, surely you care about how this all reflects on her?"

Crap, he talked her into a corner. Nayisa couldn't redirect in any sensible way, and if she tried to then surely the counselor would counter it. "I care about her," she conceded, starting with the words he probably wanted to hear. They had an element of truth, but she was certainly not comfortable sharing her feelings. "You have a sibling, counselor," it was more of a fact than a question, since Nayisa had read his file. "Surely you are familiar with sibling conflict. It's the same thing."

"There is no conflict among Vulcan children," Savin answered, almost stoically. "My brother is several years my junior, and I have not spoken with him in quite some time." Not since the discovery of his true origin, anyway. "My sibling however is not up for discussion. We were discussing your relationship with Lieutenant Zade and how your actions reflect on her service. Why did you include her, what did she have, that you needed to complete your part?"

This was starting to sound more like an interrogation than some counseling session. The silver-haired woman crossed her arms, a subtle sign of her becoming defensive. "Maybe we have a well-defined level of trust. Maybe she was an extra set of hands to make my work easier. Maybe I got bored and wanted to test the extent of our friendship. Take your pick." She studied Savin as she rattled off some ideas, not fully buying that he was here just to inquire about her needs. "Let's get to the point. Why are you really here, Counselor?"

"Lieutenant Zade," he answered simply. "She has requested my assistance but for me to render it I require your permission to speak about our meeting. I cannot help her, not speak about it, without your consent."

It only took what, thirty minutes for her to spill the beans? Nayisa thought. By now, she was confident that Zade had told Savin about the entire mission into Kane's quarters. Him asking for Nayisa's permission to share a conversation she wasn't involved in was proof enough. But why did Didrea need his assistance? "Why do you need my permission? I wasn't involved in your meeting, and it's not like I can do anything about it right now." She flicked the forcefield to emphasize its presence, and to emphasize the situation she was in, before re-crossing her arms.

"Because this conversation is classified," Savin told her. "Doctor - patient privilege. I cannot discuss this with anyone, without your approval. And I need it, because I need to assist Lieutenant Zade. What you told me confirms what she is required to report, and it will likely save her career."

Save her career? Is she worried about getting kicked out of Starfleet or something? Knowing Didrea and her astounding ability to overthink, the intelligence officer didn't dismiss the possibility. Nayisa studied Savin carefully, looking for signs of intent beyond what he claimed while also trying to decide if it was worth sharing her side of the story with him. The part Zade didn't want to hear when she arrested Nayisa. "As I told her, this would likely give her a reprimand, a demotion at most, if she decided to do exactly what she ended up doing. She's not the one who broke regulation," she thought out loud. Pausing briefly, she added, "if she's that worried about her career, then fine. I'll give you permission, but only if I can provide a little extra context to the situation first."

Savin nodded. "Context is important," he agreed, "please continue."

Nayisa paused only to consider just how to reveal this secret. His rank alone certainly granted him the clearance to know more, but she felt like she had to choose her words carefully so neither Zade nor herself ended up in a worse situation. "Zade thinks I made this decision on a whim, but that’s not true. I was under orders." Anticipating his question of who gave her orders, she shifted her weight and continued. "Lieutenant P'Rel contacted me because she needed to confirm some information related to the explosion. She granted me the judgement to decide if I needed assistance, and some discoveries regarding the security of the Captain's quarters made this task difficult to accomplish alone. Knowledge of these details could have made things worse for Kane and P'Rel, which is why I let Didrea believe that it was my idea."

"How do you know for certain she thinks that?" the counselor countered, "and why did you not just inform her of your orders? You just stated you were given clearance to enlist any you needed, did you not think the chief of security would fall under 'need to know'?"

Nayisa gave him a questioning look, since she had literally just answered his questions to what she thought was sufficient extent. Perhaps he was trying to wind her up, make her slip. "Need-to-know is the minimum information required to do one's job, which I provided," she decided, ignoring his first question. "Control of information is critical in a high-risk scenario like the trial. By claiming it was my idea, I was protecting Kane and P'Rel, so if Didrea had chosen to arrest me when I first approached her, then the incident would have been chalked up as some Ensign being immature."

"Do you consider the security chief to be immature?" The Trill hadn't struck him as such at all in their encounters.

"What?! No!" Nayisa couldn't recall a time when she ever saw Zade be immature. She'd certainly never forget such a thing, since Zade being immature was about as rare as witnessing a supernova.

"And yourself?" Savin added, realizing belatedly that she hadn't meant Zade as the immature ensign, since Zade was a lieutenant, but rather herself.

"Only sometimes," Nayisa responded with a half smile. It was a rather poorly timed attempt at lightening the mood. "Could I have given Zade more to work with?" She shrugged, "probably. But she still could have used that extra information against me, which was a risk I wasn't prepared to take. Is there anything else I can help you with, Counselor?"

"Negative," the Romulan answered in very Vulcan fashion, "I am here for you ensign. It is I who must ask you that very question. Is there anything else I can do to help you?"

"You can help by stop asking that question, for starters." Nayisa got closer to the forcefield and sighed, realizing that he was probably going to keep pestering her about her feelings. "Look, Savin. Respectfully, I appreciate the effort, but I don't need help. I know what I did wrong, and I won't do it again." Of course, the lesson to learn from probably wasn't what she thought Savin expected the lesson to be, but her words were truthful. Nayisa made a mistake, simple as that, and she knew to not do it again. "So, are we good? Can I go back to counting the seams in the walls?"

"If you wish," Savin answered pleasantly. "I do hope you have... Fun?" He smiled at her. "If you wish to converse further all you have to do is page me. Good day ensign."

The intelligence officer gave him a light smile in return until he was out of sight, and then the smile immediately dropped. Nayisa knew it was probably in some "Counselor 101" handbook to offer a follow-up, but she certainly wasn't going to unless she was ordered. "Back to counting seams, I guess," she mumbled to herself, flopping onto the bed.

It was going to be a long three days.