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[A smiling face appears on the screen, broadcasting to the crew of the Moira. The face in question is a handsome Frenchman in his late thirties. Its a warm face, at least, especially when he removes his glasses to stare intently at the recorder. Behind him you can see office space and he breathes a content sigh before he begins speaking.]

Good afternoon fellow crew members. My name is Eric Dufosset, some of you might have heard my name already thanks to a rather open invitation for a drink. I signed it, rather professionally as Dr. Eric Dufosset and it is for this reason I am talking openly to you all once more.

[He tries not to sound quite like he's giving a lecture.] It seems I have been given my employment aboard this ship, a task that falls under the division of the Medbay... I am not, however, a physician of the body. Rather, I am a psychiatrist... a doctor of the mind. Our captains have decided that it is my personal responsibility to ensure that the mental well being of all the crew members on board.

[A small grin, because he was really in his element.] As such I've been gifted with a rather impressive suite here on the ship. Granted, at first it was rather plain... but that was all taken care of this morning, I am a man who loves his work after all and the first point of call was redecorating.

[Magically redecorating that is, which had been taxing in its own right.] In short, I'm letting you all know that I'm officially open for business. There's no need to rest on formal terms, though I can offer these things on a strictly professional level, but I'm also here to be a kind ear for any who might wish to speak with me. After all, if any of you are like myself... this whole process could be considered a little daunting. The information with regards to my office hours and appointments has been made publicly accessible... though I will warn you, my methods aren't always strictly scientific. I would ask that you leave scepticism at the door before crossing the threshold and we'll get along marvellously.

((OOC: Information regarding The Safe Space is available here! That acts as an open post for the actual therapy. This post however, can be laughed at by anyone who feels like it or as a sort of introductory post outside of the actual intro log!))

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Can you elaborate on what you mean by your methods not being 'strictly scientific'?

[If anybody needs a psychiatrist, it's this lady right here. But she's not about to walk blindly into something where her brain is concerned.]

Ah, yes. [There's a slight chuckle.] That would be the important part of this venture, non? I am not just a psychiatrist, I am also a witch. A High Priest, in fact... but please, before you may jump to any conclusions. [Because there would always be jumping to conclusions.] I'm not like the story books in your home world might tell you, I use my craft to help ease the mind alongside my more mundane studies.

[Witches.]

[Sure. Why not. She's met a large cat-like guy, a dragon, and a woman who could change her limbs. She's been turned into a bird, Eggsy was a dog, witches. Yeah, okay.]

This may shock you, but I have not moved from my seat to any conclusion. I gave a dragon a book in the first two weeks I was here. If something surprised me after that... I shudder to think about what it might be.

...I'm assuming that given you advertise yourself as a psychiatrist, you allow your patients the same expectations of privacy...?

[His face becomes a little 'o' of surprise because he hadn't exactly expected that one.] A dragon? Well, you can consider even myself surprised. It seems even I might have a few shocks here and there on this ship.

[When she mentions privacy though, he gives that same warm smile.] Privacy and discretion are both very important concerns, yes. My offices and suite are both warded with the finest of privacy and silencing wards. The very entrance to the office can be tinted so no-one has to know you were ever there. Whatever is discussed between us will not leave the two of us, not even to go to the captains. I consider these matters personal between myself and my clients.

It seems as though the level of technology is unfamiliar to almost everyone here. Save for the captains, of course. So, if dragons are the only thing that give you pause, you'll still have a heck of a time trying to decipher all of the technology.

[The promise of privacy and the explanations of the safeguards put in place seem satisfactory to Elizabeth. This could be very good for her. Even on the Moira, much like elsewhere, she's kept her past and her struggles to herself. She has an opportunity here, a resource that she's never had before, that could take some of her burden away.]

Alright doctor, I think you have yourself a patient.

Edited (...please don't eat half my tag, phone. ) 2015-11-04 02:42 (UTC)

Ah, so it seems I'm not alone on that one? [He grins because that was great.] I was under the impression I was simply behind the times, I mean of course I'm not completely archaic, I do have an iPad at home. [He could totally do technology he just couldn't do crazy space aged tech.]

[Now though his grin is a little more pronounced.] I do? How wonderful. I promise, whatever problems you might wish to work on, I'll be happy to oblige and provide the experience. [Mostly because he assumed he wasn't going to be getting any patients here. It was a little presumptuous after all.]

...I have no idea what an 'iPad' is. That should give you a notion of where I'm at in the grand scheme of things-- 'completely archaic' was the term you used, right? [She teases, of course.]

I have... a lot, I should say that up front. And no one to tell them to for a long, long time. I know it's causing me psychological problems, but... the root of all of it is something that most people couldn't understand where I'm from. But given where we are and how we got here, this might be my only chance.

Its a tablet computer, like a laptop without the keyboard attached to it. [Its really hard to explain, isn't it? Why can't everyone come from the same universe where things such as iPads were completely normal.] Completely archaic however, I understand. I remember a lot of things about history, times long before the iPad had ever been imagined... worse times than there are now. [Except he didn't need to tell her he'd witnessed five centuries of atrocities.]

A lot may seem unconquerable at the moment but I assure you, we have a lot of time during which we can work on these things. After all... they have no idea on how to send us home and well, it would be comforting for myself to do something familiar. [He practises his best earnest expression, which is quite a truthful one.] I will try my best to understand where you come from. There aren't many who would understand my own plane of existence, either.

Oh, like our MID devices. [That's something she understands, however surface-deep her knowledge is of it.]

[Though something she does have knowledge of is when someone talks about remembering history and worse times. There's a strange weight that she can sense from those words, maybe because she's said them before herself.]

Then we'll be in good company when we talk. [There's a faint smile in her voice.] I'll try to understand where you come from, too. And if I can offer some comfort in the meantime, I'll feel a little better about telling you everything.

[He grins.] Like our MIDs but a little less advanced. For example these are rectangles that you carry around in a pocket. Not a device that wraps itself around your wrist and attaches itself on a physical level.

Don't worry too much about my own comfort. Of course, talking with you will please me greatly in the sense that while helping you, I'll be gaining some companionship in an otherwise unfamiliar world. The only real comfort I need outside of that though is a nice bottle of merlot. [Because red wine soothes the soul.]

That sounds a lot more comfortable. I don't know how I feel about this thing being attached to my hand. Sometimes, at night, I'll put my hands under my head and wake up because I just clocked myself with a screen.

Oh... that does sound nice. [She sighs wistfully.] I can't remember the last time I had a glass of wine. Not to mention it might make talking easier. ...Is this one of your 'unscientific methods'?

[He chuckles about that one, quite genuinely.] I've been suffering from the same things... and the damned thing is untransmutable. Would that I could make it into something softer than plastic and metal. [It was completely unnatural, too.]

Ah, no, the inclusion of wine is completely scientific. It loosens the tongue and calms the mind, for the earlier sessions at least. [A grin.] My unscientific methods pertain to the supernatural. I am, after all, a witch... the high priest of my coven.

If you ever manage that, let me know. I'm tired of jabbing myself in the eye with a hunk of metal.

Oh. [She frowns, considering the explanation.] But I think using your abilities is completely scientific. People use the word 'magic' or 'supernatural' to describe phenomena they don't understand. There was a physicist in my timeline, Rosalind Lutece, who made an apple float. From that, she made an entire city float. I suppose plenty of people called her a witch because they didn't understand the principles behind her invention.

But regardless, I guess I feel a little better knowing I'm not in the hands of a 'novice witch'. [She chuckles.]

[He chuckles.] Of course, if I ever do find a way of doing it I'll offer the method to anyone on board.

[Ah, there's a new interpretation.] I should consider myself happy that you're not rousing a mob. Although I know some older generations who would be appalled to hear the words magic and science as interchangeable. [His grandmother, for example. He didn't much subscribe to it, either.] You certainly don't have a novice, I've gone through the trials of becoming a high priest, with several centuries worth of visions to boot.

[There's a wry smile though.] I can float an apple, of course, but not a city... your Rosalind must have been formidable.

Well if your timeline is anything line mine, she was a female physicist living in the 1890s who convinced a man to fund her research so that he could one day have his own flying city. [Beat.] Most people would say that the most impossible thing about that statement is the words 'female' and 'physicist' situated next to each other. I think that's a good indication of just how formidable she was.

Granted, she did all of her work through machinery-- you probably can just manipulate fields without the use of anything but yourself, right?

[He chuckles at that.] It... it would've been similar. Well, one would say it might've been impossible at the time. Woman still weren't given their credit at that time in my own plane.

And yes, that's a rather appropriate description of how things work for us... sometimes we need catalysts or conduits. But mostly its done with one's own innate energy.

What a shock, thank God I was sitting down. [The sarcasm, she is thick.]

Seems like it can be more reliable than a machine. If one part fails, you have to take the whole thing apart to make it work again.

[He cackles at that.] You'll be happy to know that most covens are matriarchal in nature then, hm? I am somewhat an anomaly in that regard. As such I don't subscribe to the misogyny in the modern world. Mostly because if I even so much as thought about it my grandmother would probably magically castrate me... she's a real psychic after all.

[He grins now.] Well, yes... one probably shouldn't try to take apart the entire witch.

( have another handsome face, eric. ivan's accent is odd, but recognizable as some variation of russian -- as if someone had dumped a bunch of russians mixed in with some english, greeks, and frenchmen on a planet and left them alone for seven hundred years. imagine. )

Question. Is this mandatory, and what sort of therapy is this? On a scale from "great you're not going to snap in the middle of combat" to "let's sit down and talk casually about things that no one talks casually about and pretend doing this is normal". Aunt Cordelia's Betan. I know how this works.

[Eric isn't even going to pretend to be able to identify your accent good sir, linguistics are difficult enough when you have to speak English all the damn day.]

Mandatory? I do not think so. The details of my contract highlighted that I was responsible for- [A pause, he picks up the folder from his desk.] listening to and recording crew members' problems et concerns while maintaining an awareness of any psychological needs. I apparently will also work alongside a morale officer. [All very confusing.] It sounds quite mandatory under the provision that you have any problems or concerns? I don't wish to presume.

[He smiles warmly again as he takes off his glasses once more.] However if you prefer the therapy take the form of a conversation shared over a glass of wine I would also be much obliged. Alongside my office I've been provided with a rather comfortable lounge area.

( he'd be more than happy to converse in french, ok. )

Oh, I'm supposed to work alongside one of them, too. Public Relations. ( has ivan been doing his job? only as much as is absolutely necessary. ) Guess that doesn't cover me, though, because there's no problems or concerns here.

( sure, he's stuck with his maniac little git of a cousin and his other, more imperial cousin. but it could be worse. his mother could be here. )

And my cousin runs the bar here, so I can get alcohol without having my brain picked. ( thanks miles, you're the best. ) Thanks but... no thanks.

[Eric will love him when he learns this fact.]

Oh, really? And how are they... the relations with the public? [Because he feels like he should know these things. If the crew are all hated then people might start to feel down on themselves.]

None? Colour me surprised, Monsieur. For all my years on this planet I have never met a man without concern nor problem. [Which is the politest way of calling bullshit.]

That is fine, maybe some time we could just share a drink under normal circumstances. I assure you I'm not here to run headlong in the corridor's of everyone's minds.

( he knows french better than he knows russian, probably. what a terrible space russian he is. )

Er. Fine? No one's really complained. ( as far as he knows, anyway. ivan shrugs with one shoulder. ) Well sure, I've got some, but I'm the sort of man that can manage them.

( example: ivan is concerned about his continued existence in the face of the untimely murders of his grandparents and father. therefore he performs to a middling average at all times in order to increase his chances of being overlooked. he's done this since he was eight. it's worked out. )

As long as you promise to keep your probing questions to yourself, yeah. I think we're finally getting enough people here to actually manage something like a social scene. Which is good, because drinking with only my relatives for company is getting pretty boring.

( and all of the women he's run into -- with the exception of elizabeth -- have been terrifying. )

Edited 2015-11-06 00:27 (UTC)

That's good to hear. I imagine having some kind of ill reputation would be incredibly detrimental to morale as a whole. [A nod and a smile.] You are? I'd say you're quite a formidable man. [A small smirk.] But just know that the Safe Space is still available to you if you grow tried of managing things alone.

[He'll happily brush it aside though too.] But yes, I'm perfectly capable when it comes normal social etiquette. I promise we can sit, share a drink and converse without me trying to pick apart your brain.

[His expression quickly turns to surprise though.] Wait, have I misunderstood? You were brought here with family? [Lucky bastard.]

Yeah, yeah. ( he says, waving it aside. ) Ask anyone who knows me, you won't find anything if you try.

( or at least ask miles. and most people do. )

Oh yeah -- Miles Vorkosigan and Gregor Vorbarra. Miles is my second cousin, and Gregor's my... grandmother's father's half-sister's grandson. We're related through his grandfather too, but only distantly -- he was a relative of my great-great-grandfather's mother.

( not a close enough relation to emperor dorca to have made him a threat when emperor yuri decided to kill off any potential heirs. unlike ivan and miles' paternal grandparents. )

[He just chuckles.] Then I won't push it, I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable monsieur.

[He ponders that for a second.] How odd... after all I was under the impression they were pulling us from the four corners of the wind. Although, there's someone here from my plane as well, however we'd never met before.

Monsieur? ( that's definitely a prole title, but ivan will let it pass. ) Are you French?

( why is everyone from earth. earth is dull. earth is boring. there's a whole huge universe out there and everyone here is from earth. )

'Plane'. ( yeah ok he's gonna let that go. ) They might be, and we might have just lucked out. For a given level of 'luck', I guess.

( he loves his cousins. he does! but one of them is an emperor and the other bleeds trouble. it's awful. )

Bah yes, yes I am. [He kinda thought he was just instantly recognizable Frenchman.]

Plane, plane of existence, you know? Different levels separated by veils, the most common being the plane of the dead. [Except he just chuckles slightly at that.] There are certain members of my own family that I wouldn't quickly have around, to be completely honest. [Mostly aunts and grandmothers.]

Huh. ( ivan slips into a big of french, although it's translated by the ship itself, and therefore doesn't do as much good as it should. ) It's one of the four languages spoken on my planet. On account of the whole 'colonists from France' thing.

( he frowns, hearing it come out as english. ah well, there was an attempt. )

Yeah. No, not something I really ever want to have experience with. ( he just thought this was a different universe, alright. ) Yeah, I've got those too. M'mother, for one.

[A look of surprise crosses his features. Even with the ship translating the language he can see that Ivan had been intending on speaking French.] Planet? Colonists from France? We certainly come from different worlds then, after all my France doesn't exactly have a leg to stand on when it comes to space travel. We leave that to the Americans and the Russians. [Because they were the famous cosmonauts, right?]

I have a little experience with it, myself. This though? This is something else. I'm not sure if I'm a fan.

Or I'm just further in the future than you. It's, what, 3000 and something back home? Earth-wise. ( the mention about russians makes him grin, though. ) America's still a radioactive crater on Earth -- not that anyone really cares about Earth anymore -- but yeah, Russia sent most of the original colonists.

It's... ( not that bad? it kind of is ) the captains probably aren't going to try and kill us. At least they haven't tried yet.

[Ah.] Well, its only 2015 where I am. Quite a significant jump in comparison, yes. Nuclear war however never became a worry on my plane. Not when magic and other things became more significant. The best armies rely on the synergy between supernatural and science... [Which was both great and terrible.]

I should hope they wouldn't try, but I'll hold my reservations on them for now. They've been incredibly welcoming, at least.

Well, get ready for the fun of navigating alien emotions. I hope they grabbed someone with experience? Or at least some ability to comprehend reading material.

I'm Doc Yewll. I'm one of the ones that handles putting people's organs back where they're supposed to go. [Classy lady, she is.]

[He can't help the shadow of unease that crosses his face with that one.] Unfortunately I'm not well versed with the thoughts and feelings of alien species. Supernatural species were always more my forte... Reading, however, I'm very accomplished with and I'm sure there'll be volumes in the library that can help make the process easier.

Nice to meet you, Doctor. I imagine we'll see each other often enough, there was a stipulation in my paperwork that stipulated some of my work would take place within the medbay.

You'll be happy to note that saving lives is my priority, just above making my opinion known. So if you can help with that, you're welcome.

[Considering what happened with her wife, she's actually quietly glad to have someone like that around. She blocks the memory out most of the time, hid it for far too long. But sometimes it returns, and it's all she can do to bury it back under the layers of data again.]

I can certainly help with that. I happen to have certain other skills as well that would be beneficial. [A beat.] I may have said that I'm versed more with the mind than the body... but I also have a certain aptitude for healing, combined with methods that are nearly infallible. Should you ever need that kind of aid, I'd be happy to help you. [It would be a hard slog but if there ever was a medical emergency he could call upon his magic.]

Certain other skills, huh? [She doesn't know quite what he means, and wishes that there would be some upfront information that came to the infirmary before they brought people on.]

I'm all ears. Well, as close to ears as I have.

[He wrings his hands together, thinking of the best way to do this.] I understand that you are, presumably, a woman of science so I don't expect you to take much stock in my words- especially considering how we are from two entirely different worlds. But I am a witch, a high priest. As such the skills I speak of relate to that particular juncture.

[There's an audible sigh. Of course, magic. But the thing is, just a couple of weeks ago masks were making people go bug nuts. Who was she to say that there's no magic. She's in this bizarre space between universes where she has to deal with all sorts of shtako, why not magic too?]

Well, let's see the hoodoo that you do actually work on some minor injuries first before we put it to work on a bigger deal. We don't know what this place will do to whatever tricks you have up your sleeve.

So far it seems to have done nothing? But you're right... without extensive testing I shouldn't jump towards using it for bigger jobs.

[Which meant he'd need to get a lot of practising in some time soon.] I wouldn't completely knock it, however.

I can't really knock it considering I don't exist in some universes.

But maybe the Arks failed there.

[Meaning entire planets, entire races, gone. Not even the small bit salvaged by terraformers.]

The arks? [Because you can't just throw in strange vocabulary at him and expect him to understand.]

I think this is a question of planes and realities, really. As far as I was concerned in my own reality aliens didn't exist.

Sorry. Thinking out loud. [Most everyone where she's from knows what the arks are. Not that thought would have mattered to them- about half the humans where she's from would probably be happy to think they didn't.] It is probably a case of differing universes. [Indogenes aren't actually religious but she would question the mental value of any one that would only make one planet of value. Hopefully there are other species.]

I'm from a solar system that had several habitable planets. But it was a binary system and it appeared that our suns were going to collide, so we had to leave. The arks were the ships that took a select group of us yadda yadda escape went to new planet to set up shop, planet already inhabited, big war, blah blah blah.

I just considered that in some places where they've not heard of my kind those arks might have never been built. Or they missed.

Edited 2015-11-14 01:20 (UTC)

Ah, ark. Akin to the fabled boat. [Even if he didn't put much stock in that. Then again she might not know what the hell he was talking about running around mentioning Noah and the bible. Christianity wasn't as popular at home as it had been in the past.] It could be, of course. Its a little difficult to wrap my mind around...

[Because wow, universes were scary shit.] I can assure you no such developments had happened within my own plane.

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