((Counselor's Office / Chief Tactical Officer's Office))

Goodhart: =/\= Ensign Goodharrt to Commanderr Kolk. =/\=

Kolk: =/\= Kolk here. Are you getting antsy to finish our game, Counselor? =/\=

Goodhart: =/\= I am ssorrrry to ssay that thiss iss bussinessss, ssirr. Could you meet me in my office in five mintuess? The Captain hass assked me to counssel you and Wood. Togetherr. =/\=

::Jack frowned. He wasn't sure he had time for counselling, but... if the Captain had ordered it, the Captain had ordered it. At least the man had thought better of running away like a coward...::

Kolk: =/\= I can be there in three. =/\=

Goodhart: =/\= Ssee you ssoon, ssirr. Goodharrt out. =/\=

::Jack saved his work and turned off his computer terminal. Standing, he straightened his tunic and began trudging to the turbolift.::

((OOC: I won't repost Wood's because he SIMed it and posted it on his own. :) ))

((Counselor's Office))

:: Kathalia looked around her office, tapping her nails on her desk. This was always the worst part. The calm before the storm, the wait before something bad was uttered. She had no clue why these men were at ends, and it made her feel inadequate. She knew it was probably better this way - an outsider to view it from a different point of view. Someone who wasn't close to anyone yet, so there were no biases. There was always hope that it wasn't as bad as it seemed, and that one simple thing could be said and everything would be better. ::

oO Chancess arre sslim to none, but you can alwayss hope. Oo

:: Kathalia recalled the look on the Captain's face. She had a feeling she was about to be seriously disappointed by her hopes. She heard a buzz, stood up, and steadied her nerves. ::

Goodhart: Come in.

Kolk: ::looking around:: The place has changed...

:: Kathalia nodded, amused, and motioned for Kolk to sit down in one of the comfortable chairs. ::

Goodhart: ::Grinning:: I am ssurre it hass, ssirr. I will be changing it a little morre to ssuit my tasstess when I have morre time. I am going to wait forr Lieutenant Wood to sshow beforre I make my forrmal sspeech on my duty ass a counsselorr and the rruless of thiss ssessssion. Iss that alrright, ssirr?

::Jack nodded and kept his eyes on the Counselor for a moment longer. Without his realizing, his smile widened a bit. Before he'd had time to notice or think on it at all, the buzzer chimed. The man they'd been waiting for was no doubt outside.::

::Daniel stood outside the counselor's office, now back in his uniform, pips shined, shoes buffed, tunic and trouser's pressed, hair gelled, clean shaven. He was, without a doubt, ready to start fresh again. He straightened his uniform, took a deep breath and then pressed the chime waiting for an answer.::
 
Wood: ::Pleasant tone.:: Afternoon, Counselor.

Goodhart: ::Slight smile:: Afterrnoon, Lieutenant. Pleasse, have a sseat.

::Kathalia motioned towards the chairs, where Kolk had already sat down.::
 
::Spying Kolk, already sitting in one of the chairs, Daniel acknowledged his presence with a nod.::

Wood: Commander.

::Jack looked intently at his collar. He apparently had his pips back...::

Kolk: Lieutenant.

::Standing in front of the two men, Kathalia felt rather small. They outranked her, and it intimidated her a little.::

Goodhart: oO Herre we go. Oo Beforre I sstarrt with the actual counsseling, I am obligated to ssay a few worrdss. Nothing iss to leave thiss rroom. Thiss iss ssuppossed to be a ssafe, ssecurre ssessssion, ass alwayss. I am ssurre you both underrsstand that. I will be rreporrting only the sstatuss of prrogrressssion between you both, nothing perrssonal, to the Captain only. I am rrequirred, by law, to rreporrt any thrreatss, illegal actss, orr feelingss that you may harrm yourrsselvess orr otherrss. You two arre not to be physsically orr mentally violent towarrd each otherr, insside orr outsside thiss rroom. I do not feel that will be a prroblem, ::she made eye contact with each man in turn, showing she was absolutely serious about everything she was saying:: but I am ssurre you know how thesse thingss go. I alsso feel like I sshould let you both know that I am a touch empath, ssince we arre being honesst with each otherr. Ass forr grround rruless, in thiss ssessssion I want you each to take turnss talking. Do not interrrrupt each otherr. Lissten to what the otherr ssayss beforre rreplying. Do not talk overr each otherr. Voicess sstay norrmal, if possssible. One topic at a time, pleasse. Explain how you feel, be honesst, and do not insstigate a fight. Any quesstionss?

::Jack shook his head quietly. Her voice was very... relaxing. It made him feel much more content and willing to give Daniel the benefit of the doubt than he had been on the way up here.::

Wood:  No, no questions.

::Daniel sat in the chair with his hands smoothed along his knees, he sat straight back and ready to listen and talk of course.::

Goodhart: ::Glancing at them both:: Good. Let uss get thiss sstarrted, then.

::Kathalia pulled out her desk chair, rolled it in front of her desk, and sat down. Looking at the two men, she felt this was going better than... well, rock bottom.::

Goodhart: The first thing I would like to start off with is: list three things that bother you about the other, and then three things you respect. Which one of you would like to start?

Wood: If you don’t mind, I’d like to go first. I feel obliged, after all it was my outburst that resulted us in being here?

::Jack smiled and lifted his hand in a slight welcoming gesture.::

Kolk: Sounds reasonable...

Goodhart: ::Calmly:: Go on, Lieutenant.

Wood: Three things that bother me. ::Pausing.:: Without a doubt his attitude, his general lack of embrace when I suggest something, and his general snotty tone. However, three things I respect about you. ::Pausing.:: Your ability to get the job done, you’re a great tactician, and a great leader. oO Hmm this is easier than I thought. Oo

::Daniel waited with anticipation to hear Kolk’s side.::

::Jack took a moment to absorb the things Daniel has said, especially the negatives. He'd realized shortly after the Lieutenant's attempted resignation that he'd been at least partially to blame for what had happened.::

Kolk: ::sighing:: The bad three for me... First, I have concerns about the way he treats Breya. Second, he seems overly defensive about his ideas. Third... he's too impulsive; he doesn't think about the consequences of his actions. As for the good things, he's... ::Jack looked at the ground, and crinkled his forehead. He knew there was more good to the man, but... he was having trouble thinking of it.:: He's passionate about the crew, he's... a very dedicated officer, and... he's willing to defend those whom most others think are lost causes.

::Kathalia sat there for a minute, thinking about what she heard.::

Goodhart: Sseeing ass Lieutenant Wood went firrsst, we will addrressss hiss likess and disslikess, and then Commanderr Kolk'ss. What botherrss you about Kolk'ss attitude, exactly?

Wood: Well for a start his whole, superiority tone, thinking he is better than everyone else, whether that’s because he’s Second Officer, we're here to find out. I hate it. Yes, it means you have more experience in the field you’ve progressed in, but it doesn’t make you any better than the next officer. I mean, I might be good at Security and rubbish at Medical, that’s why I believe it’s important to embrace the advice of the Medical staff since they're the experts, otherwise it would be pointless in having fields and specialists.

Kathalia: ::Keeping her face completely neutral and unbiased toward either man, she motioned for Kolk to speak:: Would you carre to explain how you feel or yourr point of view?

::Jack fought down the urge to immediately point out how wrong the other man's perception of him was. He knew if he didn't take a moment to breathe and digest it, his tone would just reinforce the erroneous viewpoint in Wood's mind. He took a look at the Counselor. Her cat-like features helped to relax him. After taking a deep breath as well, he spoke evenly and respectfully to the other human.::

Kolk: Lieutenant, I assure you, I don't presume to believe that I know every specialty better than those in it; I certainly acknowledge that I have no experience in Security. But, as Second Officer, it's my job to consider how the actions of each of the departments on board will affect our overall mission and the mission of Starfleet. I'm sincerely sorry if the way that I pursued that goal this morning made you feel belittled. That was not my intention. And... I admit that I was very disrespectful in the way I reacted to your plans for the Hazard team. I was frustrated at being called away from shoreleave, and I let that disrupt my professionalism.

::Staying silent, Kathalia nodded to Wood, signaling that it was his turn.::

::Daniel sat looking at Commander Kolk, a little in disbelief, he’d just taken some responsibility for what happened not two hours ago. All over something so childish.::

Wood: I must apologise for my actions, I called you into that meeting at short notice and then accused you of something I didn’t really have proof off. Even if you were a little hungover, I’d say we’ve all earned the right to let our hair down.

Kolk: Agreed.

Kathalia: oO Thiss iss going much better than I had expected. Captain will be pleassed. Oo Now that these things are in the air, and you both have said your sides, how do you both feel about this subject? Lieutenant Wood?

::Daniel paused for a moment to think about what he actually felt. After realising, he sighed heavily.::

Wood: To be honest, I feel a little immature. I’m a senior officer on this ship, I run the biggest department and I acted inappropriately. There are ways and means of doing things and I did them the wrong way. ::Turning to Kolk.:: For that I apologise again. However, I must say working under you is going to be difficult; Security is my department and it won’t quite be the same being an assistant.

::Jack was a tad taken aback. He'd not expected Wood to be this contrite. He found himself wondering what exactly had transpired between the Lieutenant and the Captain for the man not only to be back in uniform, but in this room right now.::

Kolk: ::bowing his head as acceptance of the apology:: It will certainly be a change. But, I've been going over the logs a little, and I can already tell that I'm going to have to rely on you a good deal to understand how things have been run up to this point and to see if I - ::nodding to Wood again:: if we - think any changes need to be made.

::Daniel nodded and smiled in agreement to the Commander's comment.::
 
Wood: oO So Danny was right: he is going to rely on me for help. Oo

::Kathalia felt her lips pull up slightly. She looked at the chronometer on her lap, and then back to the men.::

Goodhart: Thiss iss going rratherr well, in my opinion. You two sseem to be admitting yourr rressponssibilitiess in thesse passt ssituations. Sseeing ass you arre bussy men, I feel I sshould let you get back to yourr dutiess. Beforre you go, though, I would like you two to worrk on ssome thingss. Lieutenant, rrememberr that you sstated you rresspect Commanderr Kolk ass a leaderr. I underrsstand that he iss now in charrge of yourr deparrtment, but it sseemss he did not do sso intentionally, norr would he disslike ssome consstrructive crriticissm. Commanderr Kolk, it iss apparrent that yourr attitude wass missinterrprreted. I would like you to worrk on thinking about how Lieutenant Wood will rreact to what you ssay - verrbally orr thrrough body language - beforre it happenss. If he rreactss defenssively to what you ssay, explain to him what you meant. I would alsso like the both of you to trry to keep yourr temperrss down. If you arre sstrruggling with that, pleasse come ssee me. If you have issssuess with each otherr, that you cannot sseem to worrk on togetherr, take that ass an incentive to vissit. It would be nice if you would sstop by or contact me via commbadge to let me know how thingss arre going between you. I would like to ssee you both back in my office in two dayss, at 1400 hourrss. If you cannot make it due to imporrtant issssuess and/orr dutiess, let me know ass ssoon ass possssible. If you have no furrtherr quesstionss orr anything you would like to disscussss with me, you arre dissmissssed.

::She ended with a smile at the two men, and hoped that this would all be resolved, for good, soon. She stood up respectively, waiting for their responses.::

::Daniel smiled politely.::
 
Wood: Very well, I'll do my best.

Goodhart: Thank you, ssirr.

Kolk: As will I.

Goodhart: And thank you, too, Commanderr.

::Jack smiled, turned to Wood, and gestured toward the door.::

Kolk: After you, Lieutenant.

::Daniel nodded and smiled in acknowledgment as the pair left the room.::

::Jack followed the Lt. into the doorway, then stopped. He stepped back and let the doors slide shut again. Turning to the attractive Caitian, he smiled winningly.::

Kolk: I should probably do a bit more work considering my new position, but... If you're free at roughly 1500 hours, we could resume our game.

::Kathalia had let out a relieved, but quiet, sigh as the men started to leave, and relaxed. When Jack started talking to her, she got formal again, out of surprise to hear his voice.::

Goodhart: ::Smiling shyly.:: I am pretty surre I will be. I will let you know if anything imporrtant comess up.

Kolk: Excellent. I'll see you tonight.

::He turned back to the door and walked out of her office with just a little bit of a spring in his step.::

::Kathalia slid back into her desk chair and tapped her claw on it's arm.::

oO Not bad forr yourr firrsst couple counsseling. You might actually get the hang of it. Oo

::She smiled to herself, and let herself relax. She felt her mind wander to Kolk, and his smile as he left.::

oO He sseemed oddly happy that I am willing to play rracquetball with him. Hm. Oo

::She felt her smile widen, and she stood up and walked behind her desk.::


TBC

------
Ensign Kathalia Goodhart
Chief Counselor
USS Ronin, NCC-34523

Leuitenant Daniel Wood
Assistant Security Chief
USS Ronin, NCC-34523

and

Leuitenant Commander Jackford Kolk
Chief Security, Tactical, & Second Officer
USS Ronin, NCC-34523