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Fri 14th Jun, 2024 @ 10:35pm

Commander Paul Graves

Name Paul Edward Graves PsyD

Position Chief Counselor

Second Position Second Officer

Rank Commander

Basic Info
Personality
History

Character Information

Gender		Male
Species		Human-Betazoid
Age		39

Physical Appearance

Height		6'1"
Weight		170 lbs.
Hair Color		Black
Eye Color		Black
Physical Description		Paul is a tallish, lean man with a runner's build. He has smooth, dark hair cut to regulation length and the black eyes typical of a Betazoid. His complexion is fair, and he is clean-shaven. Out of uniform, he tends to prefer comfortable clothing in darker colors; he is fond of deep blue. Except under very stressful conditions, he projects an air of calm and emotional warmth, though he can sometimes be brisk. His gait is swift, his movements economical. He always walks as if he has a goal in mind; he rarely just strolls.

Family

Spouse		None yet.
Children		None.
Father		Alistair Graves of Mickleton Manor, Gloucestershire, Earth - a businessman
Mother		Damaris Rokshan of Askellon, Betazed
Brother(s)		None
Sister(s)		Sarah Amadrial Graves, a forensic anthropologist living on Earth.
Other Family		Cousin Petra Graves, a sculptor in marble.

Personality & Traits

General Overview		Paul is a highly observant man with a keen intelligence that he makes no great effort to conceal. He isn't obnoxious about it; it's simply evident from his natural diction and word choice. Personal honor and integrity are important to him, a blending of ethics he learned from both of his parents' cultures. His father taught him the moral code of a British gentleman; his mother taught him the moral code of a Betazoid empath--which equate to the same thing in Paul's mind. For him, however, good manners always include a telepathic component. If, for instance, he is asked to perform a task he really dislikes doing, he will either express his dislike of the task outright, or he will mentally project willingness to do the task and then simply do it, with no further comment. If presented with food that he really doesn't like, he will apologize and tell the cook that he doesn't like it, or he will find something genuinely complimentary to say about the food and then eat a small portion of it. How he responds will depend on his reading of the other person's emotions and how frequently he expects to see the person in the future. If he expects to interact with someone often, he is more likely to be straightforward in social situations, wanting the other person to know his true feelings from the beginning. His personality appears warm and friendly most of the time yet can become distant and reserved, even brusque, with little warning. He dislikes being in crowds--especially emotional crowds--and will avoid them as much as possible. He never attends live sporting events and has to be dragged into watching them with small groups of friends, even though he enjoys watching sports. Personality withdrawal is usually soon followed by physical withdrawal to a place where he can be alone. After a busy day of seeing patients he has to eat a dish from home called nut bars, which are for food what Gatorade is for beverages. They are made of chopped nuts, dried fruit, nut butters, and honey or some kind of syrup, all compressed together. They are disgustingly sweet, and Paul will eat them like a starving man until he feels less exhausted. If he feels tired and doesn't eat them, that's a problem. Paul's Duty Hours: Paul works a split shift, M-F 0000-0400 and 1200-1600. He is always in Ops 0000-0400 and can infrequently be found there 1200-1600. Paul's Counseling Hours: M-Th 1200-1600: In the Chief Counselor's office on Deck 83. On Fridays during this time he serves in the Brown Sector counseling clinic with Dr. Anderson.
Strengths & Weaknesses		Strengths: Keenly observant and intelligent. Has inherited the Betazoid ability of empathy, receptive and projective, and is able to preform telepathy if in close proximity to another telepath. He's a good listener and is unshakably calm in an emergency--if no more than a couple of people are in the room with him. Among more people than that, he must struggle to maintain his composure. In a very large-scale disaster, he might well shut down. He cannot handle being in Sickbay for long except in a secluded place with minimal outside personal contact. If early for an appointment he waits out in the hall, not in the lobby. He once almost suffered a mental shut-down in the casino. Weaknesses: Paul has only barely-adequate control over his receptive empathy. He is much better at controlling his own feelings than he is at shutting out the emotions of others. He becomes irritable when this happens.
Ambitions		Paul would like to marry and start a family eventually. Professionally, he is working toward becoming a Starfleet line officer at the moment, but his interest in that is waning in favor of becoming the starbase's official liaison to Brown Sector, instead. Having served for several years as Second Officer of Starbase 109, he feels more confident in himself as a line officer than he did when he first took the position and wants to challenge himself further, but he has decided that truly being a line officer is not the path he wants to pursue.
Hobbies & Interests		Paul likes to play tennis and golf. He also runs a couple of miles a day. He likes to sketch, and his reading tastes are wide-ranging, from mystery novels, to science-fiction, to religion, to history. He also likes to go horseback riding--as long as the horse is not in heat.

Personal History		Paul was born in 2354 in the town of Askellon on Betazed. His father, Alistair Graves, was an executive in a pharmaceuticals company based in Britain. He had married Damaris Rokshan of Betazed after settling on her homeworld when his employer transferred him there to run the Betazed branch office. Damaris was a physician who Alistair met during a pharmaceuticals corporate convention. Paul had a mostly normal childhood, complicated only by the fact that, though he had inherited his mother's sense of empathy, controlling the receptive part of it was a challenge for him. It caused him to avoid a lot of group activities that he would otherwise have joined in, such as sporting events and concerts. Despite his aversion to them, Paul became interested in studying crowds and mass psychology. By the time he was old enough to apply to and then enter Starfleet Academy, he had decided to major in Counseling with a minor in First Contact. He entered Starfleet Academy in 2368, graduating with an ensign's commission and a BA in Psychology in 2372. His marks were high enough for him to be granted a further year of study to complete a master's degree, which Paul opted to do. He received his MS in Gestalt Psychology in 2374, writing a master's thesis about the Cardassian occupation of Bajor and its effects on the survivors after the Cardassians departed. He earned his doctorate in 2378. Paul has participated in one first contact, with a race called the Dreel, while serving onboard the Ken. He and the ship's chief language specialist helped avert a war by figuring out how to communicate and interact with the Dreel, whose primary mode of nonverbal communication was through pheromones--which meant far more to the Dreel than verbal communication did. Paul regards his greatest failure as not realizing that his best friend, Rhys Eadvane, was suicidal. This almost caused him to change majors. However, part of his degree required him to undergo counseling himself, and the person who counseled him was able to demonstrate to Paul how effectively a determined Betazoid can hide or mask his or her emotions. This gradually enabled Paul to forgive himself, though his feelings of sadness that his friend didn't want to confide in him have never completely gone away.
Service Record		2372: Graduates from Starfleet Academy as an Ensign with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. Receives grant to stay on at the Academy and pursue a Master's degree, which he accepts. 2374: Completes Master of Science degree in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences. Promoted to LT(jg). Assigned to the Nebula-class ship Nightraven as a Master's-level Counselor. Works with a lot of PTSD patients as part of the Dominion War. 2378: Earns Doctor of Psychology degree. Promoted to full Counselor. Asked to stay on for a psych fellowship, as his ship specializes in refugee evacuations. Graves does. 2381: Promoted to LT. Assigned to the Nebula-class ship Vigilance as a Counselor. 2384: Assigned to the Sovereign-class ship Victoria as Asst. Ship's Counselor. 2386: Assigned to the Defiant-class ship Audacious as Ship's Counselor. 2390: Assigned to the Akira-class ship Ken as Ship's Counselor. 2392: Assigned to SB Vanguard as Chief Counselor. 2393: Promoted to Lt. Commander. 2393: Selected by Col. Horation Drake to serve as Second Officer. Accepts position and enters six-month training period for it. 2394: Promoted to Commander. Hasn't been fired yet!