The Appointed Hour

Posted on Fri Mar 27, 2026 @ 2:43pm by Lieutenant T'Lul & Lieutenant JG Anson Lee

3,783 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Jubilee
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: MD01 - 1200

As predicted, Anson had not made an appointment. There was something unusual about this human, even for a human, and T'Lul wished that she could figure it out.

Logically, the longer one waited to obtain data, the longer it would take to solve the conundrum. Therefore, T'Lul was not interested in waiting. She tapped her commbadge and said, =^= Lieutenant Lee, this is Lieutenant T'Lul. Where are you? I would like to meet with you. =^=

Anson froze, halfway through swallowing a mouthful of noodles, nearly choking in the process. Maybe he should let himself choke. The counselor couldn’t blame him for not responding if he was dead. Which was probably a thought a counselor would want to hear about. Just… no telling this one.

=/\=I’m in the middle of lunch at the moment.=/\=

=^= May I join you? =^= T'Lul asked politely.

His lunch turned to a lump in his stomach, and he pushed his bowl of noodles away. =/\=Actually, I think I’m done.=/\=

=^= Ah, then where would you like to meet? =^= T'Lul inquired curiously.

=/\=I kinda have a lot of work waiting for me….=/\= It was worth a shot.

=^= You are avoiding me, =^= T'Lul answered logically. =^= Regardless, if my hypothesis is incorrect, I can excuse you from said work. So, where would you like to meet? =^=

It was wrong to wish for a riot or other sudden emergency. Because she was right. Anson was avoiding her. And with T’Lul threatening to “excuse” him, she might pull him even in the event of an emergency. Which was a problem. He needed to get the counselor off his back, so he could do his job.

=/\=I can meet you at the Security Office.=/\= Somewhere with witnesses.

T'Lul raised her eyebrow at that response. That seemed almost hostile. =^= That is not a logical place to meet for a discussion. I would have asked you to come to my office, but given our last conversation, logic dictated that somewhere that might feel more comfortable to you might be in order. =^=

The Vulcan counselor thought for a moment, =^= Perhaps the arboretum. I am aware that a pleasant environment often assists individuals with feeling more at ease. =^=

How about the medical bay after he threw himself down the Promenade stairs? Anson thought. Not that he would, but a broken ankle did sound a little tempting at the moment. There wouldn’t be too many people at the arboretum, but unlike T’Lul’s office, there were multiple avenues of retreat. And now he’d probably been thinking about it too long, and if he didn’t say something, T’Lul would decide for him. “=/\=Fine. I guess the arboretum will work.=/\=

=^= I will see you there in 3.5 minutes, =^= T'Lul concluded, as the comm disconnected. True to her word, T'Lul was in the Arboretum in 3.5 minutes. She sat herself on a bench and contented herself with waiting for Anson to appear.

Anson snorted. She hadn't bothered to ask where he was coming from, and he was not three and a half minutes from the arboretum. And he wasn't exactly interested in hurrying to his execution. So he took his time, sauntering along, arriving roughly ten minutes later.

T'Lul tilted her head at Anson when Anson arrived ten minutes. However, she said nothing. There was no point in explaining the virtues of promptness when it was obvious that he was upset with her for some unknown reason. "Good day, Anson. Thank you for coming. Would you please sit down?" She nodded to the other end of the bench from where she was sitting.

Anson dropped into the seat indicated, as far from T’Lul as he could get. He folded his arms over his chest and waited. She could make him come to this meeting, but she couldn’t make him a willing participant.

"You are annoyed with me," T'Lul observed. "Why?"

“You’re the almighty counselor. You tell me.” Since she seemed content to tell him everything else he was supposed to think and do.

"I would not ask the question, if I knew the answer. I understand your body language and your tone. I do not understand the reason for your displeasure with me. I only seek to understand you and assist you in your quandries. If there has been some miscalculation on my part, I am sorry. That was not my intent." T'Lul tilted her head downward and to the side slightly.

Anson wished he could do the eyebrow thing Vulcans were so adept at. “You’re trying to take over my life. Or do you stalk everyone after a session and demand they do what you tell them?”

"Take over your life? Stalk you?" T'Lul asked, her eyes crossing slightly, as her head tilted in the other direction. "Why do you have either of those impressions?"

“This is the middle of my shift. You cornered me at the Marine Ball and I had to yell at you to make you go away. If I wanted someone dictating my life, I’d call my mother.” Anson paused for a moment and then added, “And, no, that’s not an invitation to talk about my mother.”

"I had no intention of speaking to your mother," T'Lul responded, wondering once again why Anson had these over grandiose visions of who she was or what she was doing. "Nor do I recall cornering you at the Marine Ball. I spoke to you and was perplexed as to why you raised your voice at me." Her eyes grew slightly larger. Was that an emotion? "As to this being in the middle of your shift, you indicated that you were at lunch. So, I am confused. Can you please clarify?"

“I said about my mother, not to. And I told you I had a lot of work waiting for me. Or do counselors just not eat for eight hours during their shift?”

The Vulcan counselor blinked, her eyes shutting for at least a quarter of a second. "Why do you keep thinking I will contact your mother? As I said a moment ago, I never had an intention of speaking to her." T'Lul marvelled at the way Anson's mind worked. It seemed that Anson heard words and then misinterpreted them in the way that gave him the greatest fear. "The work can wait, as I said before. This takes precedence. I am attempting to understand your reactions and assist you in whatever way that I can, as is my duty. However, I cannot do that if I cannot understand you." She put her hands on her lap and leaned a little forward towards Anson. "I believe that your reactions are the most illogical of any being that I have encountered. As I said at the marine ball, 'You refuse to do things directly and circumspectly you overthink things so much that you cannot act.' Even with me, now, you act indirectly. Rather than speaking your concerns, you ask me to guess. Rather than telling me that I have upset you in some way, you become curt and stifled."

T'Lul pulled back, her hands moving backwards on her lap as she did so. "I do not like conflict, Anson. So, not only do I want to assist you, as is my duty, I would like to resolve whatever issues may be causing discord between us."

“Sorry, should I have Ops check the Universal Translator? I never said anything about talking to my mother. I said it was not an invitation to do the counselor thing and talk about my mother. Two different words. Two different things.” Anson huffed in frustration. “And so glad to know that your confusion about the fact that I don’t want to talk to you is more important the the station’s security. I’ll be sure to pass that along to my boss.”

"No need. I could inform Lieutenant Tessaro now, if you desire," T'Lul answered logically. "And why would I want to talk about your mother? That is highly illogical. You seem to have several misunderstandings."

She pulled a hand off her lap and touched it to her face. After a moment, she pulled it away. "I have come to the conclusion that we must resolve these misunderstandings. I had considered that a pleasant environment might assist conversation, but the arboretum does not seem to be soothing you. Food often can assist. Do you like anise or licorice?"

“No, I do not,” Anson said. “What I’d like, is to go back to work.”

He was never going to a non-mandated counseling session again. He’d just wanted a chance to talk through his thoughts with a sounding board, and had instead ended up with a persistent pest.

T'Lul bowed her head. Why could this man not see reason? Almost as perplexing was how someone could not like anise or licorice. "You have made that clear. Would it not be logical to resolve the issues, so you could achieve that goal more quickly?" She raised her right eyebrow at Anson, as if emphasizing the point.

“So, I’m being held prisoner until you’re satisfied.”

"That is neither what I said, nor is it what I implied," T'Lul answered, again cocking her head to the alternative side. "Though, I would like to understand your apparent hostility."

"I'm not your science project," Anson said. "I'm not here so that you can poke and prod until you figure out the oh-so-illogical human. Just because I don't do things the way you'd do them doesn't mean there's anything wrong with what I choose to do!"

"You are correct. There is nothing inherently wrong with the way you choose to do things. I do not believe that I have said otherwise. I may have pointed out logical fallacies for you to consider, but there is infinite diversity in infinite combinations. You and your reactions are merely one of those combinations in the infinite diversity. I have no intention of forcing my will on you. If I have made you feel otherwise, that was not my intention and I apologize and wish to reconcile." The Vulcan's eyes rounded and again grew larger as she looked deeply into Anson's eyes.

Anson squirmed slightly under her gaze. She hadn't denied the science project comment. "Right, infinite diversity. Until you decide I'm not direct enough for you and try to 'fix' everything."

T'Lul shook her head. "I think there is a definite misunderstanding. I have not tried to fix anything. I would like to understand why you believe that I am trying to fix anything."

Anson snorted. "I need to do this. I need to do that. If you're not trying to fix things, then what are you doing?"

The Vulcan remained silent for a moment while she tried to track what she had told Anson in the past. "I believe my precise language was, 'I think you need to determine what you want before you can take action one way or the other.' However, that was a suggestion, not a command. I had not considered that my speaking in human vernacular would be misinterpreted. I apologize for being imprecise and confusing to you." Once again, she leaned in slightly towards Anson, her eyes remaining large.

"No one says 'I think you need to do' something, unless they think other options are wrong." He frowned. "And what are you doing with your face?"

"What do you mean, what am I doing with my face?" T'Lul asked. "As to the first statement, you are not completely incorrect. However, I am a counselor. I can lead the proverbial horse to water. I cannot make it drink. If you seek my advice, or my assistance, why roil when you receive it?"

Anson raked a hand through his hair. "You never even asked what I wanted. You just told me what you'd decided I wanted. For a counselor, you kinda suck at listening."

T'Lul tilted her head. "Am I not listening to you now?" she inquired. "I do assure you that I was listening. However, as much as you accuse me of not listening, I do not think you were hearing. You came to me for advice regarding a person that you were uncertain of whether she was your girlfriend still or not due to certain things we cannot share in public. You inquired about how to find out and I offered a number of suggestions. You did not like any, nor did you like my characterization of understanding the problem, insisting that meant she was a Zombie, which disturbed you. Please understand that part of the reason that I requested that we meet again is so that I could better understand you. I cannot do my job well without understanding the nature of the being or problem. I admit that you are difficult for me and I find your behaviors to be most illogical. However, my theories suggest that there must be some rationale for emotions and your behaviors. So, I wish to learn from you."

"No, you're not listening to me now," Anson snapped. "And I told you, I'm not your little learning project. Aren't there, like, ethics or something that you're not supposed to use people as study subjects?"

"You misunderstand, Anson. I am not using you as a study subject. I am asking you to teach me what I do not understand."

Anson blinked. Blinked again. “Have you been dropped on your head recently?”

T'Lul blinked back, then tilted her head. "I have not. Why do you ask?"

“Because what you just said makes no sense.”

"It is completely logical. However, the fact that you do not understand it perplexes me. So, I will try to explain," T'Lul stated as if explaining two plus two equaled four. "You are the most illogical human I have ever met. You say that I do not understand you. However, each time I attempt to do so, I apparently have failed. Therefore, my understanding of humans and their emotions must be limited somehow. Consequently, I require someone to educate me on the gaps. Since you are the person that I cannot understand, who is there more qualified to teach me what I am missing?" She tilted her head again in the other direction and raised an eyebrow.

Anson had a mental image of a frog being poked with a stick to make it jump. It was an exhausting image. “If I’m the most illogical human you’ve ever met, you can’t have met many humans.”

"That depends on your definition of 'many,'" T'Lul answered logically.

"More than five." And, okay, he wasn't serious, but her claim was ridiculous. After a moment's consideration, he added, "Who aren't in Starfleet."

"I have met more than five who are not in Starfleet." Her eyes rolled slightly. "We are on a Space Station. There are ample opportunities to meet beings of all varieties who are not in Starfleet."

“I don’t believe it.” Anson crossed his arms over his chest, learning back. “I don’t believe you actually talked to them at length if you think I’m the most illogical human out there. Or maybe you’re just as bad at listening to them as you are at listening to me.”

T'Lul crossed her eyes and raised an eyebrow skeptically at Anson. "I have very good relationships with humans. I could tell you of many situations but your disbelief is so strong, that it would not assist you and offers nothing towards the ultimate goal, which is understanding. I understand that you may find that difficult to believe and you feel unlistened to, but I am trying to listen to and understand you better. Perhaps it would be more productive for both of us to attempt different methods of communication so we can understand each other better. Would that not be logical?"

“Does this new method of communication also involve making childish faces at me?” Anson asked.

T'Lul blinked twice. "Excuse me? I do not understand your question."

“You’ve been making faces. Not very professional of you.”

"I was attempting to make you feel more comfortable by copying emotional faces that I have witnessed in the past. After all, you have reacted negatively to pure logic, so logic stated that this might make you more comfortable."

"Please don't." Anson pinched the bridge of his nose. Was he getting a headache? He was getting a headache. "And being a Vulcan doesn't make your opinion the epitome of logic."

"Logic is not based on opinion. It is based on structured reasoning and foundational principals. For example, there is the Law of Identity, which means that a statement is true if it is true. There is the Law of Non-Contradiction, which states that a statement cannot be both true and false at the same time in the same way. There also is the Law of Excluded Middle which states that a statement must be either true or false. Logic is topic neutral and applies to anything. Inductive logic, as opposed to deductive logic, is based on probability rather than certainty. So, if I am using inductive logic, which I must use mostly in this field, then you are partially correct. I can come to conclusions that may not be correct. This seems to be common where you are concerned. As the emotional expressions that I have copied seem to cause you distress, I will cease them at your request."

"Not everything is an invitation for a lecture," Anson said. "And, anyway, you're just using logic as an excuse to claim your views are the best ones."

"All Vulcans use logic as the basis of the foundations of their statements," T'Lul responded simply. "Based on your statements, I wonder if you just wish to be angry with me. I could counter your statement by saying just because you make a statement does not mean it is correct. Again, I do not believe this is helpful to reaching understanding. However, if you wish to remain angry with me, I cannot change it, though I do not understand it."

Anson sighed, starting somewhere around his toes. "I'm not angry, I'm frustrated. Different emotion."

"They come from the same root. Often it is just a matter of degree," T'Lul observed. "Even so, I wish to understand it in your case."

"You want to understand my feelings?" Anson asked. This was ridiculous. "Well, there's the fact that I can't even state what I'm feeling without you trying to correct me."

The Vulcan sighed. It seemed that Anson just wanted to complain about his inaccuracies being her fault. Worse, if she contradicted him now, it would only confirm what he was saying. Instead, she said nothing, and patiently waited for him to say something else.

For once, the counselor didn't immediately jump in to tell him what he "actually" thought. After several long moments, where she said nothing, he asked, "Can I go back to work yet?"

"What do you think?" T'Lul asked. "What would you do if you were me, and why?"

And she wondered why he was annoyed with her. "I'm not you. Which seems to be your problem with me."

"I have no problem with you," T'Lul again explained to Anson. He had a gift for needling her, though she would not admit to it bothering her. "You seem to ascribe emotions, feelings, and thoughts to me that I do not have. Of course, that is the crux of our problem, is it not? You think things about me which are not accurate and I cannot understand why you have the feelings and opinions that you have. Would that be a fair summation?"

"I'm not answering that," Anson said. "Since apparently I'd just get it wrong."

"Why do you insist on this black and white attitude of right and wrong? Even if it was a right and wrong situation, why do you fear being incorrect. If what I said is not a fair summation, then say so, and tell me why."

“So…. I’m wrong about saying you keep telling me I’m wrong. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is that you correct everything I say? I could tell you my favorite color, and you’d probably insist that I wasn’t doing it right.”

"You do realize that your perception puts me in an infinite loop of either always being right or always being wrong because according to you I correct everything. If I express or imply something differently, that only bolsters your opinion. If I say nothing, then you wait for the next thing I say and claim that I am always correcting you. If I were human, I would say that your behavior is frustrating, or can you not see that?"

Anson thought she was damned frustrating, even for a Vulcan. “Since we’re apparently in the same boat, how about neither of us says anything, and I go back to work?”

"That solves nothing and only leads to your avoidance," T'Lul observed. "If you wish to procrastinate or delay, I require a date and time certain where we can resume this conversation."

It was tempting to reply half-past-never, but that would just start her sniping at him again. “I have to cover Beta shift tomorrow, so that's out. I'm back to Alpha shift the day after, so I guess after that.”

Which gave him an entire day to arrange to get punched in the face and be unavailable.

"Very well," T'Lul answered with a resigned tone. "So, the day after tomorrow. Would you prefer to meet for dinner, meet in my office, or meet elsewhere?"

Not dinner. Absolutely not dinner. Too weird and it would ruin his appetite. And meeting here in the arboretum, he was aware of how anyone could walk by and butt in on his business. “Your office is fine.”

"Are you certain that will not feel too formal to you? I would prefer that you be comfortable."

"It’s. Fine,” Anson bit out. Now he wasn’t even being trusted to make a decision for himself. Great. Maybe for her next trick, T’Lul could do security staff performance reviews. He stood. “If you’ll excuse me, I do actually have a job to do.”

"We all do," T'Lul answered, hearing the annoyance in his voice. "Thank you for your time." She only wondered if Anson knew what she had in mind for her training sessions with security. It would be much easier if they could communicate more smoothly.

Lt. Jr. Anson Lee
Asst. Chief of Security
Deep Space 5

Lieutenant T'Lul
Chief Counselor
Deep Space 5

 

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