ethnobotany: }{ first contact ({ i'm broken inside)
beverly crusher, md ([personal profile] ethnobotany) wrote in [community profile] ten_fwd2015-11-06 12:38 pm

it's the only way i can escape }{ OPEN

(( OOC: potential content warnings all over this for mentions of horror game content, telepathic violation, telepathic control of another, sexual harassment, death, etc. Basically, the doctor is not having a good month. ))


The only good thing to have come of Zelien was the ability to deal with horrific and traumatizing events as they happened. Afterwards is another story. Beverly had thought that being able to deal with the events themselves meant that she could deal with everything Q conjured up for them because it was over. She thought she would be fine.

She was wrong. She was so wrong.

The thing Zelien had yet to teach her was how to deal with the aftereffects of trauma. The nightmares flare again, worse than what Q had offered them recently, and even shadows make her twitchy. Memories, fears, anything traumatic that her mind could conjure up, it did. People might not want to be around her this month. She startles at the slightest movement and sometimes her instinct is self-defense, protection, because her mind remembers Zelien and the cultists, the soldiers who jeered, leered, called, and harassed.

The nightmares have her wrestling with the sheets, memories of Jev the Ullian -- was that his name? Have they been here yet? Does she need to prepare for that? -- or Ronin, different contexts, but both violations of her mental self. Of course, both lead to other nightmares of her husband's dead body or some Victorian man about 35 years old not only forcing her into his bed, but forcing her to enjoy it. Sometimes Wesley dies in place of Jack and she wakes up sobbing. Sometimes Jean-Luc's lifeless body haunts her, the Borg come in to take over the ship yet again, or the entire crew is systematically murdered to torment her. The last to die is always Jean-Luc because her subconscious mind knows that his death will haunt her the most. These and others cause her to bolt out of her quarters in the dead of night out of sheer, blind panic, heading for somewhere she can feel safe.

Most of the time, she can be found in a corner of the Arboretum. Here, she is either asleep, though it's a fitful sleep that she wakes easily from and often in a state of terror; sitting with her hands over her ears and eyes squeezed shut against that feeling of panic; or sitting with her knees tucked up to her chin and a dead look to her eyes while she stares straight ahead. When she isn't there, she might be in the holodeck, using a program of an open meadow. No walls or buildings will be in sight, not even that new cabin that she would so love normally. She remembers so clearly those buildings on that campus, remembers the sights and sounds and smells of the acid. Stomach acid. Like the buildings were alive and trying to eat them all. At least the meadow means nothing will be eating her alive. When she isn't in either of those places, she's likely in the gym, practicing Mok'bara to meditate and calm her nerves. Intruders might want to make their presence known before they startle her. Beverly is back to being twitchy and that means nothing good will come of it. What she needs are distractions, as many as possible, and people who are willing to work with her trauma.

She'll get better over the course of the month, but in the beginning and middle, she is not doing well at all.
lost_singularity: (Reaching Out)

[personal profile] lost_singularity 2016-01-18 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
DJ offered another of his small almost-smiles at her thanks. "Any time." He murmured softly. He returns the gentle squeeze of her hand and simply sits in companionable silence as he drank his tea. This was one of the rare times since he'd arrived on this ship where he felt any degree of contentment. Maybe even peace.

"I can keep watch and play more, if you want to rest." He murmured haltingly as he sought for words, nodding towards his guitar.

lost_singularity: (Seeking Peace)

[personal profile] lost_singularity 2016-02-02 06:42 am (UTC)(link)
DJ smiled at her and gestured towards the thermos to let her know she can have more if she wanted. He sipped at his own tea - metal glinting on his fingertips, and wiring poking along his skin and into the sleeve of his shirt. Placing his cup down and releasing her hand, he picked up his guitar and tinkered with the strings with long fingers, making sure everything was still in key. He found the motions of handling the instrument soothing.

Soon enough, melodies came from his fingers as he relaxed into the familiar motions.