Destination Phoenix Nebula (Key-Tokki & Gatichan)

[Gatichan]

Ethan’s paradox intervention seemed to have sincerely rattled the unrattable- did that word even exist, or was he starting to create neologisms? – technician. Ever the perfect observer, Ethan hadn’t missed the momentary shock that had passed over the other man’s face before his familiar mask had fallen back into place. What had that all been about? Was it possible that Nathanial actually wanted to talk to him, but his personality, or something else, was blocking him, preventing him from doing so? As he watched the technician open his mouth, visibly preparing to take the plunge, the nurse hurried into his office and fell into the seat that Nathanial had before occupied. Removing three tissue packets, she neatly placed them down on the small table between her and Ethan’s chairs before sighing. “This is going to be dramatic,” she warned with an exaggerated sigh.

 

Just great- a histrionic. His first day on the Praxiteles really was turning out to be a memorable one. “I’ll be with you in a minute,” Ethan promised the nurse with a reassuring smile, but then poked his head out his office. “Mr. Powell?” he called after the technician, hoping his tactic would work. “If you do change your mind, do come and see me tomorrow at nine in the morning. If you don’t come, I’ll take it you aren’t interested and will see your superiors,” he stated and then, not giving Nathanial the chance to say anything, stepped back into his office and closed the door.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel pursed his lips silently as he walked, however he stopped to a halt when he heard his name called. Silently letting out a breath, he turned around and looked back at the other mutely. He now had a decision to make, come tomorrow, or don't and face the wrath of his superiors. It seemed like such a simple decision however for him, it simple was not. Without a word of acknowledgment he turned back around and continued back to wear he was going. He just needed to be up in the cabin for take off, which had past already, so now he had plenty of free time. So he chose to find Ishmeal, it took him a good amount of time to find the other in the ship. He had to go back to his cabin and change out of his uniform into simple, mainstream clothing in order to get others to leave him alone. However he could not take the collar off so if someone was looking for a staff member hard enough they would surely notice him.

 

However after he noticed him, he visibly relaxed. The other noticing him, leaving his group of friends and slinging an arm around the smaller boys shoulder, "So I heard you had your meeting with the Doctor guy? How did that go? Did he pull that whole, 'How does that make you feel', Crap?" Nathanie llet out a small laugh and shook his head before replying after a moment of thought, "You know, he isn't that bad, but he's a bit pushy, All but black mailing me to come back and see him." Nathaniel murmured out, however he honestly, now that he knew it was not a choice, did not dred tomorrows meeting. Night time came quickly, though it was not like earth were it grew dark outside, an announcement sounded that all passengers would need to head to there quarters. About an hour after everyone was supposed to be asleep, Nathaniel had made his way down to the observation desk, where he sat with the holographic equivilant of a rubix cube, in front of the very large wall of windows. He sat quietly, from his collar came an old, classical piano song, and an electronic candle sat on the stable beside him.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

The rest of Ethan’s work day passed by thankfully unspectacularly. After the nurse, who really only needed someone to listen to her and sympathize that her husband had died before the news had arrived that they had both been selected to board the Praxiteles, Ethan had seen the mother of the daughter he had helped, who had needed more information about what to do the next time her daughter began to have a panic attack, a mechanic who had fear of heights and thus had trouble going about his work near windows, and a severely depressed teacher, who was asking himself what the point was of teaching the children aboard the star cruiser anything since there was no assurance that the destination they were heading towards even existed. Of these, only the last had been the hardest, because the teacher had forced Ethan to have a look at his own fears.

 

When it was announced that everyone ought to retreat to their cabins, Ethan hastily scooped up his supper and began to make his way back to his room. It was then, as he was passing a group of young technicians, that he overheard the loudest say “and Nathaniel says the ship’s psych is pushy and manipulative”. Ethan frowned- ungrateful bastard. He’d offered Nathanial the chance to rethink his negative attitude, but all he was getting was more attitude. He might as well sit down and write a note of recommendation to the technician’s superiors.

 

Veering off to the left instead of following the majority of people on the walkway towards the cabins, Ethan disappeared into his office and removing his small tablet computer, made his way up to the observation desk. It was an enormous bay, divided into two parts: the upper one was strictly reserved for crew members, the lower for passengers. It allowed Ethan to gaze out the large bay windows into the infinity of space. Sitting down on one of the comfortable seats, Ethan felt his right hand tremble and knew it was time for him to take one of his pills. Reaching into his pocket, he removed a pill and swallowing it, closed his eyes and leaned back. He only hoped no one would disturb him right then.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel was focusing on his cube, however he noticed that he had forgotten his supper, sighing to himself he stood. Not bothering to pick up his things for he knew he would be returning shortly, he turned to leave however, he noticed someone else. What was someone else doing up here past curfew? Another crew member maybe? Even if it was, most of them would probably getting into bed right now, Nathaniel rarely slept, for when you sleep you have to close your eyes for a prolonged period, and when you do that, you see nothing but darkness. He raised his eyebrows slightly as he watched the man to whom he had unintentionally instulted so many times today, take some kind of pill and down it quickly. Nathaniel chose notto disturb him just then, and quickly and quietly made his way down to the kitchen, sighing when he found it to be closed off, so instead he walked over to the coffee machine, filled up two cups and began walking back to where he was previously. For some reason that he did not know, he had been speeding up, hoping that Ethan would still be there. However, as he saw the other and approached him, he simply stood there, three feet behind the other, where he was jsut holding the two cups like a child might hold milk that he wanted to give to santa clause. He opened his mouth to speak three different times, but could not find any words, so he simply walked around, and held out a cup of coffee for Ethan mutley, not uttering a word. His arm remained outstretched, waiting for the other to take the cup.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

Ethan was about to fall asleep and he didn’t want it. Sleep, or in general, night time, was the worst time for him, because then he was on his own and the fears he managed to keep at bay during the day thanks to pharmaceuticals, couldn’t remain away forever. So even though he was tired, Ethan just tried to convince that he was resting his eyes, not that he was fighting against the natural urge to sleep. He’d dutifully finished his annotations and still needed to start on that letter about Nathanial Powell. With a sigh, Ethan opened his eyes and gazing out into the darkness of space as it streaked by, he tried to quell the feelings of sorrow, depression and horror that battled inside his stomach, making him feel nauseous. He didn’t want to think about the future, where hour after hour his – rational? Irrational? – fears grew that nothing but death awaited them.

 

It was while he was staring into the void and it stared right back at him that he heard quiet footsteps shuffling up close to him. Ethan arched an eyebrow, mentally calculating how much time it would take him to reach for his concealed stunner. Like all crew members on the Praxiteles, he was authorized to carry a weapon around with him. Did he seriously fear an attack? Not really- most probably it was just another crew member who couldn’t sleep. Still, Ethan wasn’t going to turn around and invite the other person- he’d been interacting the whole day: now it was HIS time. So when the footsteps finally continued and the person Ethan had least of all expected to meet there appeared and wordlessly held a cup of steaming coffee out to him, he was surprised, but pleasantly. Ethan smiled up at the other man as he extended his hand and accepted the drink. “Thanks- just what I needed,” he admitted, taking a careful sip from the steaming brew. Scooting sideways, he made some space for Nathanial to sit down beside him. “So you can’t sleep, either?”

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel did not step forward much, so when the other reached forwad he had to reach a bit far, making it a bit awkward for the both of them. However he watched as Ethan shifted to the side for him, and after a good minutes hesitation he stepped forward and sat down quietly beside the other. Holding his own cup in both hands and enjoying the warmth of it on his fingers. He usually prefered hot chocolete opposed to the bitterness of the coffee, however you could only get that when the kitchen area was open so he would have to wait. He lived on a very poor diet of hot coco, tea, and dinner rolls, even since he was a child he was always extrodinarily picky with a very sensitive stomach, that was probably due to the slim variety of food that he ate as a child on the ships, because of that too he got sick often. Not having the proper nutriants in hsi system combined with all the foreign germs and bacteria from earth that others brought onto the ship, it would surely result in what they called 'Heater Era' Which is where the advanced crew memebers that spent most of there times on ships instead of earth, got hit by all these bacterias which was unavoidable and became very sick. The heaters always blasted and the ship was always very quiet during these few weeks. This, however, only really happened on lengthy transportations, the germs had to have enough time to fester past all the high tech sanitizers and such.

 

Adjusting in his seat he leaned back and shook his head, looking out into the vast emptiness of space, "I do not sleep much, and it is always quiet up here, and calm, so usually a night time I am here." Glancing over at Ethan he spoke in return, his usual soft voice seemingly quieter even now, due to him trying to be quiet because he knew, though he wouldn't be disturbing anyone, that others were currently sleeping.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Nathaniel did not step forward much, so when the other reached forwad he had to reach a bit far, making it a bit awkward for the both of them. However he watched as Ethan shifted to the side for him, and after a good minutes hesitation he stepped forward and sat down quietly beside the other. Holding his own cup in both hands and enjoying the warmth of it on his fingers. He usually prefered hot chocolete opposed to the bitterness of the coffee, however you could only get that when the kitchen area was open so he would have to wait. He lived on a very poor diet of hot coco, tea, and dinner rolls, even since he was a child he was always extrodinarily picky with a very sensitive stomach, that was probably due to the slim variety of food that he ate as a child on the ships, because of that too he got sick often. Not having the proper nutriants in hsi system combined with all the foreign germs and bacteria from earth that others brought onto the ship, it would surely result in what they called 'Heater Era' Which is where the advanced crew memebers that spent most of there times on ships instead of earth, got hit by all these bacterias which was unavoidable and became very sick. The heaters always blasted and the ship was always very quiet during these few weeks. This, however, only really happened on lengthy transportations, the germs had to have enough time to fester past all the high tech sanitizers and such.

 

Adjusting in his seat he leaned back and shook his head, looking out into the vast emptiness of space, "I do not sleep much, and it is always quiet up here, and calm, so usually a night time I am here." Glancing over at Ethan he spoke in return, his usual soft voice seemingly quieter even now, due to him trying to be quiet because he knew, though he wouldn't be disturbing anyone, that others were currently sleeping.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

Ethan nodded, wondering what had produced this change in the technician, who had proven beyond any doubt that he believed Ethan to be a nuisance. Was this coffee cup a peace offering? Rather inept, but well, it was a start. Or was this some manipulation on the technician’s side to get back on his good side? No, Ethan somehow didn’t believe that Nathanial could be so calculating. And since the technician had admitted something about himself, Ethan might as well open up as well on his side.

 

Slouching slightly and pulling up a leg, the psychologist disconnected his touch pad so that Nathanial wouldn’t be able to see what he had been about to work on. “I’m not much of a sleeper, either. I know that we need to sleep, but I need a long while to get accustomed to sleeping on a star cruiser that’s unfamiliar to me. It’s when I’m in my bed that a million thoughts fly through my head. And not all of them are nice, so I prefer to do something else, something more productive.” He raised the coffee cup and laughed. “Like polluting my body with caffeine that’ll keep me up for a couple more hours.”

 

He didn’t expect Nathanial to answer to this, so Ethan changed the topic of conversation automatically, expecting to be the sole entertainer between them until Nathanial believed he’d paid enough social due and got up to leave, probably as awkwardly as he’d arrived. But for the first time, this didn’t annoy Ethan- on the contrary: he actually thought this insecurity made Nathanial cute. Smiling peacefully out into space, Ethan cocked his head to the side. “What do you believe is waiting for us at Phoenix Nebula?” he asked, keeping his voice light, but his eyes betrayed how serious this question was for him. “Do you believe we’ll find anything there at all?”

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel only took his gaze off of the window long enough to watch the other explain his strange sleeping patterns, which were very much like his own. He laughed a bit when Ethan mentioned polluting ones body, he considered how unhealthy the food was that he ate and how polluted his own body must have been. Sitting here with the other crew member now, he had come to the conclusion that he honestly did not seem like a bad guy, maybe they had gotten off on the wrong foot? Though this did not matter much since he had no intentions of really making any friends on this journey, the fact that he had one friend, being Ishmeal was impressive enough.

 

For the first time since they met, the young tech seemed to hear a hint of fear in the others voice. Was he afraid of what was going to happen to them? Maybe he had never been on such a long voyage before? The issue about this voyage though, that was the reason that so many people were simply loosing it, was because that if this ship made it there, and there was not everything that they were promised, then there was no other options, they would run out of energy before trying to return to earth, they would run out of food, water, medical equipment, everything, and what only the high up staff new, was that the only expected to get there with a 70 percent survival rate. So 30 percent of the people currently on board were expected to die, before they reached there desination. Stupid things happened with so many people, there were likely be fights resulting in injuries, there would surely be suicides from those who simply lost it, those who were ill would likely die due to the limited medical equitmnet, those elderly individuals would die from old age. He had been in the meeting when they had decided not to take anyone over 50, however after vast issues had decided to remove the age limit restrictions. Also, he had no idea what the Phoeni Nebula was supposed to be like, they were told vague details, but for some strange reason, never specifics, which was very unusual for such an important job such as this. "I know we will, I mean why else would they waste all this money to build this huge ship, and transport all these people for nothing? We techies and pilots know how to do our jobs, and I can honestly promise you, we will get there safley." He put his emphasis on we, so the other knew that the tech was promising him in particular. It was a vague attempt to comfort the other, but he was unused to things like this so all he had.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

Hearing Nathanial laugh had been most pleasant, especially because it had come so unexpectedly. But the longer he sat there beside the technician, the more Ethan began to wonder why the other man was so bent on staying away from other people. What was the technician trying to hide? Why was he purposefully putting up protective walls around his body and ignoring the chance to make more social contacts? What terrible experiences had Nathanial made before that had him believing it best to remain alone? And would Ethan ever be able to find out about them, or would Nathanial keep blocking him, keeping him out? And why did this make Ethan feel so inexplicably sorrowful?

 

When Nathanial next spoke, he did little to reassure Ethan or dispel his fears. All the psychologist heard were the indoctrinated “yes, we can!” slogans that the final Earth Council had given out to encourage the final, fittest remaining humans to embark on the trip into uncertainty. And all that the technician was repeating were technical data. Ethan knew, as well as probably most of the educated passengers on the Praxiteles, that their star cruiser had been made to traverse the long distance safely. What they didn’t know was whether there would even be a Phoenix Nebula waiting for them or not. And what was to say if they came across another promising universe and half the passengers on board the ship chose to get off and try their luck then? How would Ethan decide? Would he even be given the choice? Would a terrible battle break out on the Praxiteles? After all, if there was one thing history had taught him, it was that mankind liked to go to war over petty things.

 

He shook his head. “To be perfectly honest, thinking about our immediate future freaks me out,” he found himself admitting to Nathanial, keeping his eyes on the enormous bay windows. He’d never admitted this to anyone, but something told him that he could trust Nathanial. “I have recurring nightmares that when we finally reach our destination, nothing will be waiting there for us but a black hole into which we’ll be swallowed. Or even worse, we’ll come across an alien race along the way that’ll destroy us. I’ve heard the statistics- you don’t have to repeat them for me, because statistics don’t consider human emotions.” He turned to finally look into the technician’s eyes. “I’m scared shitless. I’m so scared, in fact, that I’m not even sure at times that I’ll be able to help the other people on this ship to believe, because at times I don’t believe myself that salvation is waiting for us at Phoenix Nebula.”

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniels eyes widened slightly, listening to the other, he seemed scared, so very scared, and it was in the others feel that Nathaniel felt cold. So many people were scared for reasons such as the man before him, however Nathaniel was not, he honestly did not care. What did that make him? Was he ready to die at such a young age? Or maybe he was just mentally preparing himself for something he was inevitably going to be coming for him eventually. He was prepared to die, that die the ship with his parents went down crashed, he was on it, though the records did not show it. Due to the risk of the flight his parents had been denied access in bringing him, however they had no other choice so the snuck him on board, he was on the shio when it crashed. It did not just crash, a mutiny broke out between the crew and the passangers, this was all down played by higher ups so as to not induce a panic for long space voyages. But he had been there, clinging to his mothers hand we he watched his father ripped away and thrown into the air lock with many other crew members. Then watched as one moment they were there and the next, they were gone. He had cried when his mother was ripped away as well and beaten. They had been transporting a group of individuals, one of which had schizophrenia, and had managed to convence the rest of the passangers that the crew were going to fly them into the sun. Only a few people survives the crash, most where paid for there troubles, however, they really did not know what to do with an orphan boy that should never have been there anyway. So they simply shuffled him from pilot to pilot, making sure he didn't set foot on earth long enough for any family to recognize him, and inquire about his parents. To him, people were unstable, and scary. They could break at any moment, so it was best to just avoid them. "I can't promise you that we will arrive there and everything will be fine and happy, "He stated bluntly "But I can say this, you aren't alone. Many people on this ship fear the same that you do, so you can seek comfort in that. It's your job to look after others, but make sure you look after yourself too, or you will loose your mind up here. But i've been here a lot time and know ,if you let yourself be scared all the time, then it will consume you."

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

As had been expected, Nathanial didn’t offer him the comforting words that Ethan had so badly needed, but then again, the technician had been the wrong person to seek out when such fears threatened to take the overhand. And even though what he said naturally rang true, they lacked human warmth and Ethan once again felt himself coming up against a wall: Nathanial was purposefully keeping the conversation cool as he distanced himself emotionally from Ethan. What for? the psychologist wondered, frustrated. If ever he’d come across a seemingly helpless case, why did it have to go and be Nathanial?

 

Deciding that too much meta-communication was going on right then, Ethan abruptly stood up with a strained laugh. “I’m sorry. Here I am, talking to you about my irrational fears and you definitely don’t want to talk or even hear about them. I think I’ll be returning to my cabin now, so good night,” he said curtly, nodding once as he held the cup up. “And thanks again for the coffee. See you around.” And with that, he turned around and left the bridge, shaking his head at himself. Which devils had possessed him to open up the way he just had to a complete stranger? Ethan had to be more sleep deprived than he’d already believed.

 

Back inside his cabin, he took out some water and throwing back his head, popped himself a pill that would help him to sleep. Flicking off the lights, he pressed the shutters so that they closed over the circular window of his cabin and laying down inside his bed, Ethan stared glumly up at the seeing. Despite the pill, it took him a long time to grow tired and when he finally did, his sleep was restless. Standing up and feeling rested, but not relaxed, Ethan changed back into his uniform and hurried down into the canteen to fetch his breakfast. Smiling and waving at people along the way, he had just made it to his office shortly before nine. Recalling that he’d offered Nathanial to arrive at that time, Ethan snorted as he recalled the previous night: he very much doubted that the technician would come. So, telling his computer to play an old CD from Antonin Dvorák, Ethan leaned over his desk and began to read up on the patients he would see that day

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel sat back slightly, he had jumped a bit at the others sudden actions. He nodded a silent good night and looked over his shoulder as the others outline retreated into the distance. Once he was gone, Nathaniel relaxed back against the chair and sighed, trying to think of what he might have said that might have upset the other enough to cause him to leave. Reaching up, he rubbed a hand calmly over his eyes and collected himself before standing and making his way over to where he had been sitting previously, however something was different this time. The holographic rubix cube that he had left, unsolved where he was sitting, was now sitting there, and compeltly solved. Frowning in confusion, the young tech picked up the device, the looked around to see if anyone was visable, when he found no one, he simply nodded and shut his device, making his way back to his own cabin to review the records of Mr. Ronald Macers, the son of the David Macers, the soziopath that caused the ship to go down long ago. He would review this records every night they were to be on this ship, he had been tested many times and everyone seemed to think that the schizophrinic gene had simply skipped him, however, the tech was not so sure. He knew that this man would be goign constant psych evaluations on this ship as well. He didn't want to let this man do to this ship what was done back when he was a child, wait, why did he even care? Then, the face of Ethan flashed through his mind, causing him to stopped what he was doing nad stare at his hands in confusion. Did he care so much because of something Ethan had said? Or maybe he didn't want what happened to his parents to happen to Ethan? Quickly shaking the thoughts from his head, he jumped into his bed and pulled the covers over his head, not sleeping a wink that night. The next morning, without a hint of hesitation, he found himself outside of the psychologist door, and with a calm no to himself, he knocked.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

Ethan didn’t hear the knock his door at first, so immersed into his documents as he was. Diligently taking notes of what was probably to come up during the day, he hummed along to Dvorák. Reaching to the side, he absentmindedly turned the volume up even higher when the violin crescendo came on, rapping his pen against the thick file of the biologist he would soon meet. When the knock sounded again, however, Ethan quickly lowered the sound and sat up, estranged. Glancing at the clock, he was surprised to see that it was exactly 9 o’ clock. Turning around slowly, he stared at the door. Could it really be Nathanial?

 

Getting up, pretty sure that his mind had to be playing tricks on him, Ethan opened the door. He couldn’t help it: his mouth actually fell open when he saw that it really was the technician. “Mr. Powell!” he exclaimed, unconsciously running a hand through his hair as he hastily stepped back and gestured into his office. “What an unexpected surprise. Please, come in and sit down- I’ll lower the music immediately,” he promised, picking up the volume regulator and smiling at Nathanial, nodded towards the stereo that had been built into the wall. “That was Antonín Dvorák’s Symphony of the New World. Fitting, wouldn’t you agree?” he chuckled as he slid into his seat and picked up the black annotation book he had used the day before.

 

Why the hell was the technician there that morning? Hadn’t their conversation the day before fully convinced him that he and Ethan were too different to establish a patient-therapist relationship? Leaning his chin against his hand, Ethan pursed his lips. “I have to admit, I hadn’t expected you to come today. But since you have…what made you change your mind?”

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Ethan waited for a few moments, then considered simply leaving, the other had all but run away from him last night, so maybe he was actually upset with him? When he heard the music turn up however he was sure he was being ignored and knocked on the door, this time more defiantly, which was something way out of his character. The door opened and the other seemed a bit to excited, causing the younger to absent mind idly take a half step back in surprise. However ,collecting himself quickly, he stepped into the familiar room, the sweet music hit his ears, causing him to straighten a bit and glance over at the wall radio, smiling to himself. He had heard this song before, it was so sweet on the ears, it caused ones mind to wonder of better things.

 

He sat down in the seat that he had before as well, noting that the other picked up the annotation book. "A surprise? I did think you said that we had an appointment today? If I was incorrect on that, I can come back at a later time." It was in this moment, that he brought his gaze up to the other for the first time, and looked up directly in the face. The smaller boy rarely looked people in the eye, but when he did he tended to have a peircing gaze. Leaning back a bit he spoke again, though he was replying to the others question a bit late, "Yes, I would say that it is very fitting." Because he was actually looking at the elder male, he noted for the first time how attractive he was, did girl patients come here, faining issues just to have some alone time with the other? It was not any of his buisness though, and the mysterious thought was gone as quickly as it came.

 

"I didn't change my mind, I never said I would not be coming, I just wanted some time to think about it, and I do not mind conversating with you, and avoiding trouble at the same time, so I saw no reason not to come, plus morning shifts are very boring, so would much rather not be there." He spoke in a mono tone, but this was his very sad excuse for a joke, and it was clearly a failure, but at least he was trying.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

Ethan hastily shook his head, raising his hands at Nathanial’s almost petulant tone at being told that there was no reason to be surprised. “Well, you see,” he tried to explain himself as he flipped to the page inside his annotation block where he had begun to take notes from his first session with the technician, “I thought that, after yesterday, and after I’d overheard one of your colleagues describe me as pushy, that you wouldn’t give my proposition a second chance and decide to stay away altogether,” he admitted, about to continue when Nathanial raised his head and looked, for the first time, right into Ethan’s eyes.

 

Oh, wow. Nathanial was a little on the short side and with his very light hair, he was someone not easy to oversee, but Ethan would never have believed that such a small person could look so powerful and balanced as Nathanial did in that instance. Blinking rapidly as he tried to analyze and save this unfamiliar image for as long as he could, Ethan properly got a look at the technician’s eyes. Were they brown? Hazel, with a tinge of red? They were surprisingly warm, even though the other man was staring. It made a hot and cold shiver run down Ethan’s spine and he shrugged self-consciously as he caught himself wondering it Nathanial were into females or males. What an un-psychologist thought, he mentally rapped against his fingers and slightly blushed, unaccustomed to reacting in this way.

 

Hearing Nathanial’s lame excuse for a joke, especially when it came out so monotonously, Ethan couldn’t help himself: he burst out laughing. He was pretty sure that the technician hadn’t meant his statement to sound funny, but the comedic moment was epic. Holding his stomach as he wiped at his eye, he grinned widely at the man opposite him. “Well, I’ll take that as a compliment, I guess. That you prefer my therapy session to a morning shift…ought to flatter me…or something.” Hmm, come to think of it, when he put it that way…Ethan chuckled, shaking his head as he made a note. Clearing his throat, he looked at Nathanial head-on. “So tell me, Mr. Powell, if you don’t want to really speak to me, but want to stay out of trouble and off the morning shift…how exactly do you propose we spend our therapy time together?” he wondered, careful to repeat, more for his own benefit and not Nathanial’s, that their time and relationship was of a professional manner.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel watched, rather confused as he other burst otu laughing, confused he looked over his shoulder to see if there was something funny behind him, but finding nothing, turned back to simply stare as the male across from himself collected himself. He sighed softly and shook his head after the psychologist had collected himself "Pushy may not have been the right work and for that I am sorry, meant more along the lines of impatient, you wanted me to open up in a day and when I did not, threatened to tell on me, so I was understandably upset." He spoke, while leaning back a bit to think up something that they could spend there time doing, "We could play cards?" he suggested, "Or we could just talk, as friends would?" He said that, showing that he had completley missed any insinuation from the other that they needed to keep on a strictly doctor patient relationship. Finishing his comment he smiled softly at the other as he wondered if the other had even ever played a card game, since it was such an old past time.

 

 

(Sorry is so short r.r

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

Ethan quickly sobered up, feeling the need to protest. “I didn’t “threaten” you and anyway, you’re completely missing the concept of therapy here. People who come to see a psychologist come because they need to speak and see someone about troubles that they are having. Well, and then it’s clear that they have to open up and talk, because we therapists still haven’t mastered the art of mind-reading. Yet,” he said, grinning at this typical insider-joke. “And as for your being understandably upset, don’t forget that as a crew member, you are held highly responsible for the people aboard this star cruiser. If you aren’t psychologically fit and a danger to the crew and passengers on this ship, then it is my responsibility to report this.”

 

But Ethan didn’t want to push Nathanial away, so instead he leaned back, considering what the other man had suggested they spend their time doing. Again Ethan wondered if the technician were more into men or women…or was he perhaps asexual? Ethan hastily sat up in his chair and coughed, a little flustered. Where had that errant thought come from? Pursing his lips, he flicked his pen against the side of his shoe. “We could play cards, I guess, as it would give me a chance to test a few hypotheses about your behavior,” he agreed, careful to leave out anything that went along the line of friendship. But in fact, Ethan thought this a brilliant idea for the two of them to get to know each other better and really, he himself wouldn’t have minded a real friend, either. Clearing his throat, Ethan cocked his head to the side, not realizing that he did this quite often in his role as a psychologist. “Do you…have…friends?”

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel listened to the other and was not bored, however due to his night of no sleep, he could not with hold a short yawn that managed to creep its way out of the smaller boys mouth. He was rather surprised the other seemed to actually want to play cards, it had just been a joke made by boy, not meant to be taken seriously, the only game he knew how to play was solitair, a clear irony because of his very isolate personality, it seemed like the perfect game for someone like him. He noticed that the psychologist was giving him strange looks every so often, then looking away or down at his annotation pad quickly, and that only made him watch the other more carefully, confused at Ethans strange reactions to something that he didn't even realize he was doing.

 

He paused for a moment, surprised by the sudden question that was presented to him. He had to lean back a bit and take a moment to think, friends? Did he have any? Then he remembered Ishmeal, who he had known for quite sometime and was the only person that Nathaniel was willing to hold any kind of personal contact, or emotional responces with, after analyzing his and the other boys relationship he nodded, figuring that that must indeed, but what a friend was. "I do have a friend, his name is Ishmeal, he also works on board, he works down in the kitchen actually, he always makes the coco that I order from scratch for me, and we talk a lot so yes I would say I have a friend.."He stopped for a moment, thinking hard to see if he had any other friends, he did not want to seem like a creepy looser that had no friends at all, so spoke again, "Oh, this morning a women asked where the bathrooms were and I had to point so she knew which way to go, so I guess we would be friends now too." He nodded, his lack of relationships left him with very little information about what a relationship, friendship or more, was even like. Looking back up at Ethan he spoke, "And you? Do you have friends?"

 

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

“Hmm…” Ethan mused, using the excuse of needing to type something into the wall computer to turn his back on Nathanial. Was it his imagination, or was the other man looking at him a little more closely now that he had begun to feel more self-conscious about himself? “Computer, please bring us a simple card game.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Perhaps a game from the 21st century?” he suggested, turning back and punching in UNO into the computer. He had to get himself back under control- what was this, a date? Or was he a professional and in the middle of a therapy session? Thoughts collected again, Ethan turned around, his professional smile in place again on his lips. “We need to wait a minute before the computer creates the game. Trust me- you’re going to enjoy this game’s simplicity. It’s called UNO; do you know it?”

 

Using the minute between beginning to explain the rules and waiting for the machine to work its wonder, Ethan mentally went over what Ethan had said. An Ishmael was set to come to see him the follow day, if Ethan wasn’t very much mistaken. Hmm…that could prove to be interesting. At least this kitchen help or cook had the potential to become a friend, but did the technician really consider a person he had fleetingly pointed the direction out to as a friend? Ethan noted this down. Did this mean that Nathanial didn’t really have a notion of what a true friend was? Recalling that he had been asked a question, he nodded as the computer chirped and a red deck of cards popped up on the table between him and Nathanial.

 

“Yes, I do have friends. Not many, because I only consider friends to be people who have known me for a while and know the real me. The me you and the rest of my patients are seeing is the professional me, whereas with friends, they’re people that I can let down my guard with, people whom I can tell what I really think and feel without fearing that they will judge me.” Kind of like the night before, when Ethan had found himself opening up to Nathanial without really wanting to, but he kept this to himself. “On the Praxiteles, I only have three good friends: the head doctor, a pilot in charge of leading a unit down onto an unchartered planet if there is hope of finding life there and an astronomer. Most of my friends, however, died on Planet Earth during the last war,” he admitted with a sad expression in his eyes.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel leaned back a bit and crossed his legs, yawning wide once more, he watched the other type a few things into the digital computer. "Uno?" He asked, leaning forward a bit to watch the psychologist call up the cards, after they had appeared in front of him, he reached forward and took one. Listening to Ethans explination of the game as he slowly twirled the card around in his hand, rubbing his thumb along the hard, plastic edge of the card. What are you doing? His mind whispered as he almost dropped the card in shock of the sudden voice. Shaking his head quickly, he looked back up to see the psychiatrist noting something down in his book. As quickly as the little voice had come, it left. When he heard about Ethans friends, he thought about the pilot, whom he must have either known, or at least seen before. For a brief moment he wondered if they were good looking, and weither or not Ethan found them attractive but the thought was briefly dismissed as he came to the speedy conclusion that it did not matter. "Many perished in that war." Was all he said in reply, he was unwilling to say sorry for your loss to anyone who had lost someone, because of the simple fact that it was pointless. Saying you were sorry, would not comfort the person, it would not bring back the dead, nor would it help ease someone into acceptance. He had heard i'm sorry so many times due to his deceased parents, and he knew that it had no effect. He quietly drew his hand of cards, and after waiting for Ethan to do the same, sat down his fist card of a red 5. "It's your turn."Nodding up to Ethan he continued looking through his hand for moves.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

Ethan made a face. “Many died in that war- are you serious?” he asked as he lay down a blue five. “Do you even think before you say anything? That sounds really cold and brutish,” he complained, but then sighed and tried to explain what he meant. “You know, I just told you that I lost many people that were important to me, that I cared about and wished I could have saved or still have with me here today, on this ship. I admitted that they were special to me, yet all you say is something generic that keeps you distanced from me. Don’t you see that?” he wondered, a little frustrated. Hadn’t the technician ever had anyone teach him the basics of day to day communication? Or was he perhaps a little on the Asperger side?

 

This blunt response once again threw more questions at Ethan than he could answer. Now his focus had turned more to Nathanial’s past. What had become of his family? Could he remember his parents at all, or had he perhaps grown up with foster parents? Over the course of the past years, so many children had grown up without parents that this simple fact might be enough to explain the emotional deficits that the technician had. Although, Ethan mused as he tilted his head to the side, he didn’t believe that Nathanial was being roughish on purpose- it was more as if he…didn’t care about conventions? Didn’t understand them? Thought them to be superfluous? Ethan looked straight into the technician’s eyes. “Say…are your parents also on this ship?”

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel frowned as he saw the others responce, he had not meant to sound rude, and considering the fact that the other had lost friends, he must have sounded very cold. He and the psychiatrist were finally managing to get along, he didn't want to ruin what they had going, afraid that if he did, he would either have to go back to being asked those questions, or getting reported. Sighing to himself he simplly gave a shrug, he may have been rude, but he was a very blunt person and did not feel the need to apologize about that. The others sudden question surprised him, glanzing up quickly from looking at his cards, which promptly fell to the floor and scattered about. Quietly, after a few moments, he reached down and began collecting the few cards that fell from his hands, stacked them together, and set them neatly back onto the table beside the stack from which you draw from. He kept all trace of emotion from his face as he sat back, cool and collected and spoke in a rather curt tone, "No, they are not on this ship, or any other ship for that matter. They died a long time ago." As he spoke any eye contact that he had been willing to make with the other was gone.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

Bingo. And bummer. It seemed as if Ethan had hit cold hard granite, a core subject that meant a lot to Nathanial and which, by the overly obvious change in mimic and gesture, was something that the technician wasn’t about to discuss with Ethan any time soon. Ethan sucked in his breath as he slowly returned his card hand, face down, onto the table. Was it just his imagination, or had the room temperature dropped to somewhere below minus a thousand degrees Celsius? Jotting this down, he nodded once.

 

“I’m sorry. I seem to have broached a subject you are obvious uncomfortable about. I won’t push you into telling me anything about it. I told you already that all I want is to make sure that everyone on this ship, working as crew members or passengers, make it to Phoenix Nebula unscathed. And in order to keep your mental health, I’m not going to pry and make you talk about things you want best kept alone. I think this session is over, don’t you?” he suggested with a faint smile as he stood up. “Computer, show me my agenda,” he said, turning his back on Nathanial. The instant he did, his face fell. Why, oh why had he been so eager? He’d really wanted to get to know Nathanial more, but Ethan had to admit it had been for mostly personal and not professional reasons. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Should we leave these sessions out for a while, or should we make a new appointment?” he asked, back into his role as psychologist.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Key-Tokki]

Nathaniel sat back quietly, watching the psychiatrist, who seemed a bit shocked at the patience immediate shut down at the mention of his parents. He stood up and nodded slowly, as he turned towards the door, once more he had fallen back into the same, stotic person that he had been before. "I will drop by in a few days, and we can reschedual then?" He said this as he left, knowing only that this was a simple formality for him. He had been a bit lost in the conversation and had not remembered where he was and what exactly he was doing, that was why he let himself slip, and for a moment, just a tiny sliver in time, his wall crashed down at the sudden mention of his parents.

 

As he walked his mind drifted back to the conversation that he had just held with the psychiatrist, and he felt bad. Not for what he had done or said, but for the psychiatrist, himself. He had lost friends in the last war? The tech was not on the earth when the war broke out, so did not know anyone that had participated in it, nor anyone that had died in it. It must have hurt, to loose someone in such a pointless, bloody way. Something that he could at least relate too. All hsi thoughts stopped when he saw that familiar face, walk right past him, heading towards the psychiatrists office. The face of the schizophrinic, the one that he had been studying about recently. Frozen where he stood, all he could do was watch, mouth slightly open as the man, whom he hated so much though he had never so much as spoken a word to before, made his way the Ethans office for hsi appointment to prove that he had no real signs of schozophrenia. Nathaniel just stood there, and watched.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

[Gatichan]

Ethan was still reeling from Nathanial’s rejection. How could the conversation have ended so suddenly and so badly? A great part of him wanted to ignore the fact that another patient was probably already waiting outside his door and run after Nathanial, asking him to forgive him, tell him that it was okay to have a few secrets and that he wouldn’t ask any further if only the two of them could go back to being the way they had been moments before the fatal questions. Ethan. But just then the knock at the door sounded and this rendered Ethan hopeless: now wasn’t the time to go chasing personal issues, but to concentrate on the matters at hand. Maybe that night he’d go up to the observation deck- perhaps he would run into the technician there. With a sigh, Ethan pressed the button to allow the door to open and forcing a smile, held out his hand.

 

“David Macers, I believe?” The man who smiled back and took Ethan’s hand didn’t look anything spectacular. If anything, he was more on the plain side. As the new patient took his seat, the psychologist picked up the annotations he had carefully written out before Nathanial had unexpectedly shown up for his early session. Glancing over them again, words such as schizophrenic, non-compliance, medication problems and dangerous sprung to his eyes. Looking back at the other smiling man, right then at least Ethan couldn’t detect anything menacing about the man, but then again, as he well knew from experience, first impressions could be deceiving. “Mr. Macers, why have you come here today?” Ethan asked him conversationally. The other man chuckled. “Because someone on the Praxiteles thinks that I’m schizophrenic, that’s why,” he responded smoothly. A little too smoothly and something inside Ethan told him to be on his feet around this man. Ethan chuckled. “But I guess you aren’t?” “Of course I’m not,” the other man laughed easily, tipping his head towards the psychologist in a way that suggested the two of them were sharing a secret. “We both know that with the right medication, nothing ought to go wrong. Aside from that, my supposed attack was years ago. I’m surprised it’s still in my record, actually,” he admitted and for an instance, something dark swam into his eyes, but had then disappeared before Ethan could really check to see if he’d imagined it or not.

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.