[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office, Deck 2, Front Ear Station]

Judy had her weekly meetings with Lt. Harmon, mostly business with a few baked goods thrown in, about the work of his department. She had, in one of their first meetings, arranged to procure new furniture for his people.

She supposed this meeting was going to go less swimmingly. It was on Monday instead of the usual Wednesday, morning instead of mid-afternoon, and the topic on the meeting agenda wasn't Intelligence of furniture, but Matt Harmon's own indiscretions.

As the time of the meeting came, Judy was seated at her conference table, little cheese knishes[fn]Small, Jewish pastries with a filling[/fn] and ice water laid out, ever the gracious host. She was, as usual, perfectly put together, her blonde hair combed neatly and her bifocals without a speck of dust on them, as was her elegant office, full of bookcases and family photos.

She was ready.

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Tag Matthew Harmon

[NPC - Ens. Mabel Henriksen - Mabel's Nook, Outside the XO's Office]

Mabel looked up from her nook, decorated as it was with various colorful items, mostly pink. On her screen currently was a graph, specifically of transfer requests in and out. It was neatly color-coded, to boot.

"She's waiting for you," she answered, with all her usual cheer.

At the push of a button, she opened the door to the spacious office occupied by the First Officer.

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[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]

Judy looked up when the doors opened, recognizing the figures at play.
"Thank you, Mabel!" she called out to the young woman outside, who responded with a little wave.

"Mr. Harmon, good morning," she then greeted the Lieutenant. "I hope the timing isn't too much of a pain for you, but with the grandchildren visiting, I don't have much slack in my schedule."

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Tag Matthew Harmon

[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]

Judy took a quick sip of water.

"These are knishes, filled with a mixture of beaufort[fn]French cheese[/fn], comté[fn]French cheese[/fn], vacherin fribourgeois[fn]Swiss cheese[/fn], and appenzeller[fn]Swiss cheese[/fn]" she answered, effortlessly listing off the European cheeses, using a French accent for the first three and a German for the last. "The exact proportions are classified."

Judy took one for herself. The taste was strong, somewhat nutty, a little earthy, all in all distinctly Alpine. The cheese was gooey, as the knishes were still warm, and the dough was just a little crunchy on account of being fried. There were hints of canola oil, in which they had been fried.

At their size, Judy used two of her restrained bites to eat her knish.

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Tag Matthew Harmon

[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]

Harmon wanted to get to business, Judy could tell. She understood - that was what they were here for.
"I'd like to talk about some ideas for action regarding Caldonia sometime, but that's a topic for Wednesday's meeting," she said, acknowledging his statement. She did indeed want to pitch some plan to the higher-ups, and even toyed with some ideas of her own. "I called you up here today because we need to talk about you."

Judy adjusted her glasses, moving them maybe a few millimeters up her elongated nose, a regular sign of unease for her.

"I'll preface this by saying you're not in trouble, and if we can get everything smoothed out, you won't get in trouble," she stated gently, aware that this sounded ominous.

"We need to talk about your drinking habits," she added. For all her disarming, motherly presence, she couldn't fully take the sting out of these words.

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Tag Matthew Harmon

[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]

Judy sighed.
"You and I both know that's not quite accurate," she stated calmly. "At the end of the day, everything affects our job performance. Every choice, legitimate or not, ends up trickling down into our work lives. The question is whether the effect on our performance is large enough, and negative enough, to become my business."

Judy was a prime example for this. The presence of her grandchildren on the station mostly distracted her, but in other senses also invigorated her. Yet, it did not reach the level where it merited an intervention.

"When you wear shades on duty to deal with a hangover on a regular basis, and when you sometimes carry a flask in your uniform pocket, that becomes my business."

Judy didn't like having to do this, but she had to.

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Tag Matthew Harmon

[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]

Judy made a strategic choice at this juncture. She chose to engage with the personal question, to open up herself a little bit.
"I used to drink," she said. "The doctors took that joy away from me. Booze doesn't really mix with blood thinners, unfortunately. I miss my Chardonnay very much."

It was no secret that the First Officer was a cardiac patient. She had a bracelet on her left hand, informing first responders that she had an artificial heart.

"In any case, Lieutenant, you carry a flask on duty sometimes. Setting aside whether you imbibe too much - we'll get to that - you have to admit that that's not a good look."

Judy was firmly attuned to optics, a political instinct inherited from her mother. Her presentation, a mix of propriety, intellectualism, and maternal warmth, was natural, but it was self-aware. To her, having the outline of a flask visible through the uniform was an unthinkable lapse.

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Tag Matthew Harmon

[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]

Judy cracked a slight, almost amused smile.
"Lieutenant, think about what you're saying here," she said calmly. "If I wanted to get rid of you, would I put my time into working on your behavior with you? Would I feed you?"

This was true. Judy presented herself, and usually conducted herself, as a kindly grandmother, and she preferred it that way, but she could be cold and merciless when she needed to be.

"The reason I'm talking to you about optics is because we, as the senior staff of a station, are public figures, and the rumor mill here churns at Warp 10. If the talk of the town is that you're an alcoholic, then we'll have to treat you as an alcoholic whether you are one or not. And that's before we even mention that you have subordinates, and what they think of you matters as well," she explained. It came down to those nasty humanoid tendencies, the ones they both had to work with.

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Tag Matthew Harmon