Lieutenant Commander Krajj made his way towards the counselor’s office. As things got piled onto him, he completely forgot about coming to her office to chat. The engineer brought his toolbelt with him wherever he went at this point. He did not trust anything not to break. He stood outside the door and pressed the door chime.

No sound came from the other side. After a while, a noticeable spark was seen from the chime, indicating it didn’t function proper. 

Granth groaned softly and murmured to himself, “Glad I came when I did.” He stepped up towards the door and took off a panel just beside the doorframe. He grabbed the manual override switch and pulled on it, the door dragged open slowly. Granth stepped in the doorway and shoved it the rest of the way with his bodyweight, swearing under his breath.

He strode in and wiped off his brow with his sleeve, “I’ll fix that while I’m here.”

Looking up from her PADD as Arwa blinked and gave a soft smile “Nothing wrong seeing a man of your caliber work for a woman” She teased “But I honestly thought you forgot about poor me” She points her PADD at him. 

Granth emitted a small snort, “Guilty as charged. Work kept getting piled up. I’m sure you already know. You have my utmost attention and I am listening to you.” He glanced over at Arwa as he stepped towards the door and pulled off the interior panel, leaning over and started to work on the circuitry and wiring, “How has the station been treating you so far?”

Placing the PADD down on the desk “The station speaks chapters by itself. You’re fixing that door is one sentence on its own” Arwa smirks a bit. “But so far I have a station full of people that are far from having a proper mental health check for the past few years as this station has neglected the basic layout of medical care. I am understaffed and got Starfleet Personnel to ignore my request….so yea it is going lovely” She took a deep breath “What about you? I believe you are doing over hours?”

Granth replied wryly, “I feel like this door is just one word.” He glanced over towards Arwa and nodded sympathetically, “Understaffed and overworked seems to be universal here. It’s a constant for me too. I don’t think I had a proper night’s sleep or break since I arrived here.” He emited a small sigh

Giving a sigh at that comment, “Yea I can agree with that. While being optimistic when I arrived I dire to see now that the condition of this station is far from ready to be considered worthy for service” Arwa shrugs at that “But that is of course between us. I think you can vow that the work you do now only multiplies by four when you are done with the current task” 

Granth hums and nodded, “Oh boy does it ever.” He tries to close the door, sighing as it gets stuck and opens back up. He muttered darkly and walked over to teh door and gave in a swift kick and it slid shut smoothly, “Seriously?!” He turned back towards Arwa, “I agree, it’s far from service, though. I can never get a break…” He tested teh door a few more times, shaking his head as it opened and closed smoothly now.

“What a swift kick can do…” She grins a bit “Thank you for your gentle work on that door Chief. But really, how are you doing? Have you settled in, and I am not meaning a nearby Jefferson tube” Arwa leans back in her chair, “But more you?”

He stepped away from the door, “I mean, whatever gets the job done.” He stepped towards the replicator in the room, “Mind if I grab myself some coffee? Honestly, I haven’t any time to myself to properly settle in. I’m always tired, haven’t been able to socialise.” He paused and turned off his chronometer and PADD to have a little peace while he chatted with her.

She waved her hand. “Be my guest. I got a nasty Cardassian drink last time I ordered a coffee.” Area listen to the rest. “If the Doc heard that, he might confine you to your living space” She laughed softly

Granth lifted a brow, trying to order a coffee. He sighed as it spat out a glass of kanar for him, “Ok, so that’s not what I wanted but a glass of kanar sounds good right about now.” He set the drink aside and pulled the panel off the replicator. He plugged in his PADD and started to mess around with the code. He laughed at Arwa’s words, “Honestly I would welcome that right about now. It would be a break with no interuptions. The naps I could take…”

“Is that a what’s the word” Arwa thought for a moment. “A tick? Seeing something that doesn’t work needs your immediate attention?” Arwa references the replicator being fixed right now, “I don’t mind, but it seems that you talk better while moving those hands”

Granth chuckled softly, “It could be. Its a minor problem and its easier to fix it as I’m here, otherwise I’d have to file a work order for that and atars only know when that would get fixed. I’d call it laziness almost.” He emitted a small snort.

“You can also call it bureaucratic” Arwa softly laughs “But I do appreciate it, if all our sessions are like that then you need to slow down on the repairs. You will be done within 3 sessions if you keep this up”  Arwa teases a bit. “Thought back to the core of it all, is there a reason you are doing these over hours of working?”

Granth sighed softly, “There’s so much breaking and so much to do, I doubt I will run out. Which ties in with your question. Critical things keep breaking or minor things that would get lost on the list. And if I don’t do the minor things quickly, people get mad. People are mad that things break. All seem to think its my fault.” He paused and disconnected his PADD, putting the panel back on. He replicated two cups of coffee, setting one on Arwa’s desk and kept the other for himself as he sat down across from her, “I’m tired of getting yelled at accused of things breaking being my fault.”

“Are you sure that is the main reason you keep ….well, working? Is it not a way to escape the thoughts that initially made you come here?” Arwa nods as thanks for the cup of coffee and takes a sip. “Taste good,” she mutters to herself. 

Granth faltered at her words, frowning, “Well, partially yes and partially no.” He sighed and leaned back, sipping his coffee slowly. He spoke softly, “Wife caught me in an affair and took the kids and left. Been running from my problems ever since. Ended up here. The whole reason I joined Starfleet…”

“Well got to say, you are one of the few that give that as a reason to join Starfleet” Arwa took a sip of the coffee “Nothing wrong with that, but in the end, you should stop running from your problems and face reality. What do you want with your life? Do you want these problems to keep following you, or will you face them?” She realizes that the question is quite tricky to answer and leans a bit forward, “If you face those problems, I will be there every step of the process. If wanted, of course” 

Taking a brief moment to think, “It is not that I am saying, go talk to your ex-wife about it. I am saying…sit down and let it come to you. Those emotions need to get out”

Granth frowned gently, “Ya know? I don’t even know what I want anymore, to be quite honest. I clearly wasn’t ready to settle down back then. Now that I’m older… Who knows. It does sound nice some days. I would gladly accept help.” he sips his coffee slowly in thought, then grimaced at the mention of talking to his ex-wife, “She forbid me from contacting her or the kids… That is surely not happening.” He look of grief crossed his features at the mention of not being able to see, let alone speak to his children. He hid the expression quickly, sipping his coffee once more, “That sounds easier said than done.”

“You never know, the kids might ask questions” Arwa gave some relief to that “It does sound easier than it actually is, but I know that it takes time, and I am here for that precise reason” Taking a sigh at that “But it might take longer as expected due ….well” She saw the lights flicker above her head and pointed at it “The problems don’t sit still either, this base is a cluster bomb of emotions that is ready to pop”

Granth nodded slowly, “They probably would. They are curious.” He smiled genuinely at her, “I appreciate it, I really do.” He sighed and looked up, “I.. yeah. I can see that. This will be a slowburn case, I can see that already.”

Giving that soft smile “Good” Arwa looked at her PADD “How are you planning for next week Friday?” She asked, trying to get some order in this planning chaos that was left behind.

Granth leaned forward and sipped his coffee, “I can free up a block of time for that, not a problem. Think getting me out of Engineering for a bit may do my mental health some good.” He chuckled softly.

Leaning forward onto the table, “That is what we are….” She shrugs at that “…that is what I am here for” Pointing out the understaffed issue again she sighs a bit “So anything else you wish to talk about Chief?” Arwa looked at him.

Granth thought for a moment before shaking his head, “Nothing that can’t wait.” He paused, tehn offered a genuine smile, “If you are off duty and wanting to get a drink, feel free to let me know. I think I need a few some days.” He joked lightly.

Tapping the side of her cup as she looked at him, letting that joke settle in and take root. Taking a sip while letting a soft smile go, “That won’t do Chief. I want you to keep track of your shift today, and when you are done with it” She placed her cup down. “You contact me, and we will meet at the bars to toast away the day. No buts,” Arwa points her finger at him, “We both need it”

Granth chuckled and nodded slowly, “You are correct, asbolutely and a hundred percent correct.” He paused, “I’ll take you up on that, though. That sounds like a perfect ending to a day. I’ll be in contact, yeah? I should get back to work, regrettably.”

Giving that soft smile at him “Good to hear that, I look forward to talking to you about not work-related stuff” She placed her cup down on the desk “And don’t worry about the fixes that this station needs. Your health in this all is also important, if the Captain dares to push you to get it back operational feel free to contact me and I will knock some sense into his head” With that Arwa leans forward “I will see you at the end of the day Chief”

Granth smiled at her, “I’ll see you then, Counsellor. I look forward to seeing you later!” He bowed his head and turned to step out to get back to work.