Interlude – New Faces in Teal Trim
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek
Post Details
::ON::
Lt Ben Kensington reported for his first shift and began to find his way around the large medical facilities. Chelsea had decided to coincide her shift with his for the first morning and ease him into place gently. In future they were likely to pass a lot like ships in the night as their rotas would be alternated so that a senior officer were on duty or available at all times. It had always been the way of making the best use of the CMO and ACMO but the day shifts were often busier so it made sense to be flexible.
She walked across to where Ben was to be found exploring the storage areas, a padd in his hand. "Morning" she said from behind him.
Ben knew that voice from yesterday and remembering their charade at being a loggerheads he put on a show of jumping and banging his head on the top of the cupboard he was nosing into at the time. He spun round holding his crown and looking so comical that Chelsea had a huge struggle not to burst out laughing.
The corners of her mouth fought upwards with such determination that she was forced to twist her whole mouth into a grimace to kill the grin that was breaking out.
"Sir..... " Ben spluttered very credibly. "Didn't see you there"
Chelsea was impressed. He was good at this, later she'd tell him she was worried he'd be this good at fooling *her* and that she wouldn't appreciate that if he felt inclined to try it out. "Perhaps I should show you around myself, to be certain you stay in one piece.....?" she suggested, making it sound as if he couldn't be left alone in case he hurt himself.
They walked towards Theatres. "This area is where the most intensive care happens." They disappeared into the operating suite where both dissolved into peals of laughter.
"shhhhhhhH" she managed to get out. "They'll tumble us soon enough but i have to say, you're good at this!"
Ben was still laughing. "Yes but their faces!" he grinned broadly.
"Did we get your tormentress?" she conspired as they toured the facilities.
"Yes, she was too apologetic. She's even agreed to a date as a way to make it up to me!" if it was possible for his grin to widen then it did.
"Neatly done!" Chelsea admired his speedy results. "So now we can drop it?"
"Could we make it last until tomorrow morning if that's okay Ma'am? So she comes out to dinner tonight first?" he asked.
"Sure!" the CMO agreed "and when no-one else is listening, it was going to be Chelsea, remember?"
"Thanks, Chelsea" he replied, only just remembering to drop the grin in time for them to re-emerge into the main bay, to continue their tour looking suitably grumpy with each other.
After the basic tour, the arrived back at Chelsea's office and a nurse announced that the new Pathologist had arrived. "Oh, come and meet him, Ben" Chelsea offered. Ben nodded and followed her into the office.
As they walked into the office, a tall, lean figure awaited them in the form of DS5's new Deltan Pathology Resident. Kaelin turned to watch the two enter and smiled at them warmly. Next to the chair opposite Chelsea's desk was a satchel bag with a Starfleet logo on it.
"Good morning," the Deltan greeted them kindly. "I'm sorry for bringing my bag with me. My shuttle was late and I know I had scheduled to come here this morning and didn't want to be late."
"Good morning... er.... " Chelsea searched her memory. "Ensign?" she hoped that was the right padd she was recalling from the many she'd read lately. "This is Lieutenant Kensington, my ACMO....." she went on, introducing Ben first.
"It's a pleasure," Kaelin said, then nodded to the CMO, "and yes, it's Ensign," he nodded. He was a little old to still be an Ensign, but, in truth, Kaelin couldn't really care less. He valued his position as a doctor much more than his rank. "And you must be Lieutenant Commander Adams," he guessed, though it was pretty obvious.
"Pleased to meet you Kaelin" Chelsea replied with a smile and held out her hand to shake his.
"I hope you had an uneventful journey" Chelsea went on, indicating for them all to sit and moving towards the replicator. "We've had some eventful times with terrorism and hostage taking on the station recently and I know that incoming traffic has had a hard time getting in and out. Can I offer you a drink?"
"Thank you, I'll have a cup of green tea," he told her gratefully.
Ben waited until their new colleague had answered before replying himself. "The usual please" he smiled.
Chelsea nodded slightly and ordered her own Bajoran tea and Ben's Alomanian Remaberry juice together with Green tea for Kaelin.
She carried the drinks over carefully as there were three and balancing them was a little awkward. Setting them down on the desk, she chose one of the comfortable chairs alongside them rather than taking the usual formal position behind her desk.
Ben held up his juice and proposed a small toast, chinking the glass against the mug of Chelsea's tea and the cup of Kaelin's. "New beginnings" he said cheerfully.
"New beginnings" agreed Chelsea, smiling back at him, waiting for Kaelin to join in before taking a sip.
"New beginnings," Kaelin smiled, surprised that they were this relaxed here. His last assignment was with an older Bolian man who was very hard working but completely professional in everything he did.
Chelsea noticed a look of surprise on Kaelin's face. "Something wrong, Ensign?" she asked, wondering what he was finding so unexpected.
He looked up with wide blue eyes. "No, of course not. I'm just a bit...surprised by all of this. I was expecting a much more formal type of welcome," he admitted, looking uncomfortable as he sipped his tea, as if wanting to just disappear into his cup.
"If you'd prefer we could be formal, but this is who we are. Please don't misunderstand, I run a tight ship here, medically speaking, carrying on the record of excellence and efficiency that i inherited from my predecessor. Like him, I take no prisoners. We can't afford to allow mistakes in our profession, because people's lives are at stake, but I don't see why we can't be the best team of doctors in the quadrant and the happiest in our workplace too." she explained her philosophy.
"I'm a perfectionist, you see.... ?" she grinned at the last part of that, joking at her own high expectations, before going on a more seriously again. "But of course, no-one can possibly *BE* 100% perfect, which is why if a team all get on and gel with each other, they'll have each others backs more effectively. That's my theory. Time will tell if it works."
"I'm quite sure it does. It's a good philosophy. It's just that, on my last assignment, the atmosphere wasn't as favorable," Kaelin explained, placing his cup onto the desk to let it cool further. "And there is nothing wrong with wanting perfection from ones staff."
"Well everyone strives to do their best and no-one can ask for more, but I think if you drive people out of fear and severity.... i.e. you're all *stick* and no carrot.... you get less from them. People are known to do more out of loyalty and team spirit than they can achieve if they're stressed or unhappy." Chelsea commented.
Kaelin nodded thoughtfully, agreeing as he sipped his tea. After a moment, he shifted and spoke again. "All stick and no carrot?" he asked finally, his expression utterly confused.
"It's an Earth expression. The metaphor of using a carrot to entice and reward a donkey to work harder as opposed to a stick to beat it into performing out of fear.
"So we're donkeys?" Kaelin drew the conclusion, blinking up at her almost innocently. "Isn't that an insult on Earth?" Okay, now he was completely confused.
"No, no!" Chelsea laughed. "It's just the metaphor for whether one offers an incentive or one drives by instilling fear. It has no 'literal' relevance other than the illustration of enticement and driving as methods of motivation" she explained.
Ben turned the conversation back to a lighter subject matter. "I hope you're going to like it here, Kaelin. The station is huge and contains a whole universe of diversity! What do you like to do for leisure?" he smiled diverting the intense young man much to Chelsea's relief.
Kaelin looked over at the ACMO as he spoke to him. "I enjoy sports. All types, though I enjoy team sports more," he admitted.
"Cool!" Ben replied. "How about if I take you down to the Leisure decks and we see if we can't get you a game or two?" he offered genuinely.
Kaelin grinned, obviously excited like a child being offered to go play sports with his father after school. "That sounds great! When are you free? How about today after our shift?" he asked.
"Great" Ben grinned back. "I finish at 18:00 today. I'll go grab my stuff and meet you back here at 18:30?" he calculated.
"Sure that sounds great. When does my shift end?" Kaelin asked Chelsea suddenly, realizing he was still 'new'.
"Eight hours after you signed in" she replied. "Pop in and see CPO McBain for the roster for the rest of the week, when you get a chance. He's a treasure. You might need to know where to find him. I know *I* still do!"
"Great!" Kaelin smiled. "So, is there any special work I should give attention to at the moment, Lieutenant Commander?" he asked her curiously.
"Well, there *are* a couple of autopsy reports outstanding from the recent Terrorist attack but it seems a little bit depressing to start on those on your first day. If you want to take a tour, Ben will show you around and you can dip into anything for starters and move on to the deep-end tomorrow. I hope you're going to like it here. We're a busy station and there's always plenty going on in Sickbay." Chelsea replied, patting Kaelin on the shoulder in a friendly manner.
"Ben, please take our guest to see the facilities!" she smiled at Ben and offered her hand to shake Kaelin's. "Great to have you aboard, Ensign." She turned to leave them and Ben opened his arm to indicate a direction for them to go off in.
"Come and see the Labs first!" he grinned and led the way.
"Okay," Kaelin nodded, following him. "I don't see why I shouldn't deal with the autopsy reports first though. I've always found them to be fascinating when I focused on forensic pathology a couple of years back," he explained.
"Don't rush to get in at the deep end, this is the sort of station where in Medical there's never too little to do. We'll have you working your butt of in no time!" Ben laughed as they left Sickbay.
::OFF::
A JP Between:
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
CMO
and
Ensign Kaelin
Pathologist (NPC by Maja)
and
Lt. Ben Kensington
ACMO (NPC'd by Jools)
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek
Post Details
| Title | New Faces in Teal Trim | |
| Mission | Interlude | |
| Author(s) | Commander Chelsea Dunham & (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek | |
| Posted | Thu Aug 19, 2010 @ 3:48pm | |
| Location | Sickbay | |
| Timeline | SD23 |
Lt Ben Kensington reported for his first shift and began to find his way around the large medical facilities. Chelsea had decided to coincide her shift with his for the first morning and ease him into place gently. In future they were likely to pass a lot like ships in the night as their rotas would be alternated so that a senior officer were on duty or available at all times. It had always been the way of making the best use of the CMO and ACMO but the day shifts were often busier so it made sense to be flexible.
She walked across to where Ben was to be found exploring the storage areas, a padd in his hand. "Morning" she said from behind him.
Ben knew that voice from yesterday and remembering their charade at being a loggerheads he put on a show of jumping and banging his head on the top of the cupboard he was nosing into at the time. He spun round holding his crown and looking so comical that Chelsea had a huge struggle not to burst out laughing.
The corners of her mouth fought upwards with such determination that she was forced to twist her whole mouth into a grimace to kill the grin that was breaking out.
"Sir..... " Ben spluttered very credibly. "Didn't see you there"
Chelsea was impressed. He was good at this, later she'd tell him she was worried he'd be this good at fooling *her* and that she wouldn't appreciate that if he felt inclined to try it out. "Perhaps I should show you around myself, to be certain you stay in one piece.....?" she suggested, making it sound as if he couldn't be left alone in case he hurt himself.
They walked towards Theatres. "This area is where the most intensive care happens." They disappeared into the operating suite where both dissolved into peals of laughter.
"shhhhhhhH" she managed to get out. "They'll tumble us soon enough but i have to say, you're good at this!"
Ben was still laughing. "Yes but their faces!" he grinned broadly.
"Did we get your tormentress?" she conspired as they toured the facilities.
"Yes, she was too apologetic. She's even agreed to a date as a way to make it up to me!" if it was possible for his grin to widen then it did.
"Neatly done!" Chelsea admired his speedy results. "So now we can drop it?"
"Could we make it last until tomorrow morning if that's okay Ma'am? So she comes out to dinner tonight first?" he asked.
"Sure!" the CMO agreed "and when no-one else is listening, it was going to be Chelsea, remember?"
"Thanks, Chelsea" he replied, only just remembering to drop the grin in time for them to re-emerge into the main bay, to continue their tour looking suitably grumpy with each other.
After the basic tour, the arrived back at Chelsea's office and a nurse announced that the new Pathologist had arrived. "Oh, come and meet him, Ben" Chelsea offered. Ben nodded and followed her into the office.
As they walked into the office, a tall, lean figure awaited them in the form of DS5's new Deltan Pathology Resident. Kaelin turned to watch the two enter and smiled at them warmly. Next to the chair opposite Chelsea's desk was a satchel bag with a Starfleet logo on it.
"Good morning," the Deltan greeted them kindly. "I'm sorry for bringing my bag with me. My shuttle was late and I know I had scheduled to come here this morning and didn't want to be late."
"Good morning... er.... " Chelsea searched her memory. "Ensign?" she hoped that was the right padd she was recalling from the many she'd read lately. "This is Lieutenant Kensington, my ACMO....." she went on, introducing Ben first.
"It's a pleasure," Kaelin said, then nodded to the CMO, "and yes, it's Ensign," he nodded. He was a little old to still be an Ensign, but, in truth, Kaelin couldn't really care less. He valued his position as a doctor much more than his rank. "And you must be Lieutenant Commander Adams," he guessed, though it was pretty obvious.
"Pleased to meet you Kaelin" Chelsea replied with a smile and held out her hand to shake his.
"I hope you had an uneventful journey" Chelsea went on, indicating for them all to sit and moving towards the replicator. "We've had some eventful times with terrorism and hostage taking on the station recently and I know that incoming traffic has had a hard time getting in and out. Can I offer you a drink?"
"Thank you, I'll have a cup of green tea," he told her gratefully.
Ben waited until their new colleague had answered before replying himself. "The usual please" he smiled.
Chelsea nodded slightly and ordered her own Bajoran tea and Ben's Alomanian Remaberry juice together with Green tea for Kaelin.
She carried the drinks over carefully as there were three and balancing them was a little awkward. Setting them down on the desk, she chose one of the comfortable chairs alongside them rather than taking the usual formal position behind her desk.
Ben held up his juice and proposed a small toast, chinking the glass against the mug of Chelsea's tea and the cup of Kaelin's. "New beginnings" he said cheerfully.
"New beginnings" agreed Chelsea, smiling back at him, waiting for Kaelin to join in before taking a sip.
"New beginnings," Kaelin smiled, surprised that they were this relaxed here. His last assignment was with an older Bolian man who was very hard working but completely professional in everything he did.
Chelsea noticed a look of surprise on Kaelin's face. "Something wrong, Ensign?" she asked, wondering what he was finding so unexpected.
He looked up with wide blue eyes. "No, of course not. I'm just a bit...surprised by all of this. I was expecting a much more formal type of welcome," he admitted, looking uncomfortable as he sipped his tea, as if wanting to just disappear into his cup.
"If you'd prefer we could be formal, but this is who we are. Please don't misunderstand, I run a tight ship here, medically speaking, carrying on the record of excellence and efficiency that i inherited from my predecessor. Like him, I take no prisoners. We can't afford to allow mistakes in our profession, because people's lives are at stake, but I don't see why we can't be the best team of doctors in the quadrant and the happiest in our workplace too." she explained her philosophy.
"I'm a perfectionist, you see.... ?" she grinned at the last part of that, joking at her own high expectations, before going on a more seriously again. "But of course, no-one can possibly *BE* 100% perfect, which is why if a team all get on and gel with each other, they'll have each others backs more effectively. That's my theory. Time will tell if it works."
"I'm quite sure it does. It's a good philosophy. It's just that, on my last assignment, the atmosphere wasn't as favorable," Kaelin explained, placing his cup onto the desk to let it cool further. "And there is nothing wrong with wanting perfection from ones staff."
"Well everyone strives to do their best and no-one can ask for more, but I think if you drive people out of fear and severity.... i.e. you're all *stick* and no carrot.... you get less from them. People are known to do more out of loyalty and team spirit than they can achieve if they're stressed or unhappy." Chelsea commented.
Kaelin nodded thoughtfully, agreeing as he sipped his tea. After a moment, he shifted and spoke again. "All stick and no carrot?" he asked finally, his expression utterly confused.
"It's an Earth expression. The metaphor of using a carrot to entice and reward a donkey to work harder as opposed to a stick to beat it into performing out of fear.
"So we're donkeys?" Kaelin drew the conclusion, blinking up at her almost innocently. "Isn't that an insult on Earth?" Okay, now he was completely confused.
"No, no!" Chelsea laughed. "It's just the metaphor for whether one offers an incentive or one drives by instilling fear. It has no 'literal' relevance other than the illustration of enticement and driving as methods of motivation" she explained.
Ben turned the conversation back to a lighter subject matter. "I hope you're going to like it here, Kaelin. The station is huge and contains a whole universe of diversity! What do you like to do for leisure?" he smiled diverting the intense young man much to Chelsea's relief.
Kaelin looked over at the ACMO as he spoke to him. "I enjoy sports. All types, though I enjoy team sports more," he admitted.
"Cool!" Ben replied. "How about if I take you down to the Leisure decks and we see if we can't get you a game or two?" he offered genuinely.
Kaelin grinned, obviously excited like a child being offered to go play sports with his father after school. "That sounds great! When are you free? How about today after our shift?" he asked.
"Great" Ben grinned back. "I finish at 18:00 today. I'll go grab my stuff and meet you back here at 18:30?" he calculated.
"Sure that sounds great. When does my shift end?" Kaelin asked Chelsea suddenly, realizing he was still 'new'.
"Eight hours after you signed in" she replied. "Pop in and see CPO McBain for the roster for the rest of the week, when you get a chance. He's a treasure. You might need to know where to find him. I know *I* still do!"
"Great!" Kaelin smiled. "So, is there any special work I should give attention to at the moment, Lieutenant Commander?" he asked her curiously.
"Well, there *are* a couple of autopsy reports outstanding from the recent Terrorist attack but it seems a little bit depressing to start on those on your first day. If you want to take a tour, Ben will show you around and you can dip into anything for starters and move on to the deep-end tomorrow. I hope you're going to like it here. We're a busy station and there's always plenty going on in Sickbay." Chelsea replied, patting Kaelin on the shoulder in a friendly manner.
"Ben, please take our guest to see the facilities!" she smiled at Ben and offered her hand to shake Kaelin's. "Great to have you aboard, Ensign." She turned to leave them and Ben opened his arm to indicate a direction for them to go off in.
"Come and see the Labs first!" he grinned and led the way.
"Okay," Kaelin nodded, following him. "I don't see why I shouldn't deal with the autopsy reports first though. I've always found them to be fascinating when I focused on forensic pathology a couple of years back," he explained.
"Don't rush to get in at the deep end, this is the sort of station where in Medical there's never too little to do. We'll have you working your butt of in no time!" Ben laughed as they left Sickbay.
::OFF::
A JP Between:
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
CMO
and
Ensign Kaelin
Pathologist (NPC by Maja)
and
Lt. Ben Kensington
ACMO (NPC'd by Jools)