Log - We Need to Talk (Open)

[graveyounglady]

Who: Mercy Graves & OTA
When: Early/mid-November
Where: Around the ADI HQ
Summary: Going to some counseling sessions and offering her own counseling services.
Warnings: Will add as they come up!

A. Attending Counseling
It might be the first time she's here or the third or fourth. Stepping through the doors to the counseling center in ADI never does get much easier. She'd feel better if it were some sort of temple, maybe, knowing there were clerics behind the doors or some other leader. At least she knows that some of the time, there is another cleric. Caduceus when he's in is someone she feels safe with.

And today, she has someone else with her. Maybe an old friend, maybe someone she's only just met. They might be there to meet with Caduceus to talk or it might be someone else working in this department.

"You feeling all right with this?"


B. Mealtime Wisdom
It's not just Mercy who needs help. She knows others do, and some of them don't seem keen to head to the counseling center. That doesn't mean she can't lend an ear for those that might want it. She notices someone sitting alone in the canteen when she steps in during lunch or dinner. Maybe they're new, maybe they've been here a while and just look lonely to her eyes. Either way, she steps close to the table.

"This here seat taken? Don't much like eating by myself. Makes it dull as hemming a skirt."

Comments

A

[forethinking]

As per usual, Ren offers Mercy his arm to hold as they enter the counseling center. He isn't sure how easy or otherwise this is for Mercy, but his last experience with therapists has been... Complicated, to say the least. On top of that, ADI will have access to this information, won't he? Either way, he's here to support a friend, so he'll go with a clear mind and intention.

Ren sits on the couch, leaving the most space for her.

"I am. Are you?"

[graveyounglady]

"Right as I can be. We're seeing Mr. Caduceus for this first time. I want to see what it's supposed to be like with someone I know we can trust. He'll be a good one, trust me." She sits next to Ren and pats his leg gently before withdrawing her hand. "You met him, yet?"

[forethinking]

"Not that I remember."

So, probably not. Ren takes the hand as it hovers away, massaging it as a means to distract himself from his nervousness. He's a fidgeter, and there's nothing to fidget with. Sorry, Mercy.

[thatsreallygreat]

If one happens to meet him on ADI property, Caduceus is a particularly hard person to forget. A door in the waiting room opens and a seven foot tall firbolg steps through, pink-and-white hair hanging off to one side. He smiles when he sees Sister Mercy.

"Hey, little sister." He tips his head when he sees the new person with her. "And hello to you. Come on in, I've got the kettle on."

Whether or not anyone else wants tea, he tends to keep hot water ready whenever he's working. The room is eclectic, either because it had been thrown together with leftovers or because different people were adding touches that they thought would make the place more comfortable. Caduceus has to duck to avoid one of the hanging plans. There's a few mugs on a bookshelf, possibly Caduceus's contribution to the room: an owl, a cat, one with plants, and one that someone gave him.

"Have a seat wherever you like."

[graveyounglady]

Mercy gives Ren's twitchy hand a squeeze and rises to follow Caduceus, holding onto it for the journey. The room is warm, friendly, much like the firbolg, and it eases Mercy's heart considerably to see it. Others had seemed concerned about what this would really be like. But this is about what Mercy had expected so far. Caduceus wouldn't work somewhere stark and cold unless it was a sort of thing that you needed to keep the bad things out of a body.

"Hi, big brother! This is Ren. You... remember I told you about him? He's the fine fellow who keeps coming over and cooking for everyone in our apartment. Ren, this is Caduceus."

[forethinking]

(Oh. There is no missing this one. Ren's certainly seen him before, but has never really held a conversation with him as it is. He's not very into the idea of bearing his thoughts to a complete stranger once again -- he's felt and seen what can happen when he runs his mouth too much... But it can be different, right? He isn't going to bear suspicious thoughts of all therapists. His hate for cops is already enough.

His hand still doesn't leave Mercy's, though.)

I guess I practically live with you at this point...

(And hopefully that's not a bad thing. To Caduceus, Ren bows respectfully.)

Nice to meet you.

[thatsreallygreat]

"Yeah, I remember," he says with a smile.

He mostly remembers. Ren is a name that's important to Mercy, so it managed to stick better than most. But now that he has a face to go with it, it should be easier for him to hang on to.

"What do you like to cook, Ren? I do some for the people living with Bonnie when I've got enough to get a big meal together."

Caduceus moves to take a seat, then sort of pauses, hovering in place.

"Oh, would you both like some tea? I have a kettle on." He loves that electric kettle.

[graveyounglady]

"I'd love some tea, sir. Thank you." Mercy's more than happy for the current direction of the conversation. It's just... introducing two friends. That's easy and nothing to worry about.

"Ren's great at cooking all sorts of things. He does these cakes in a pan all slathered with syrup that're the best thing I ever tasted! He's always helping around the house. I reckon we're lucky we got him around. Akechi don't really know how to cook. Me and Monika do, and it's something fun we can do together."

[forethinking]

"I do the same. I cook curry and Japanese cuisine the most," but Mercy's words make him laugh a little, back of his hand hiding the smile. "And whatever Mercy feels like eating, too."

Tension defused-- a least a little bit.

[thatsreallygreat]

Caduceus offers Mercy a small wooden box containing hand-made sachets of tea: blends that he's put together through his foraging. He figures if Ren is interested, he can take a look too and pick something out. He turns away to pour hot water into mugs.

"I'm vegetarian, so whatever I cook, it's always that," he says as he brings the mugs over so that Ren and Mercy can pick one if they'd like.

"So what can I help you two with? How are you doing?"

Seems as good a place to start as any, right?

[graveyounglady]

Mercy picks out her tea and takes the mug eagerly once it's brought over, setting the bag in to steep. "Well, it's... I ain't as broke up as I was just after... after the whole... dreams." She'd been rather devastated after that, covering over it with helping the other people who'd come out of it in a physically bad way.

"But some days I still get to thinking about how I could've done something different." She glances over at Ren and maybe some of this next part is a little bit of a lie because she's worried about him, too. "How if I'd just been better somehow, I could've stopped it all. It's hard when you're used to being able to help, finding yourself in the same trouble as everyone else, not fixing it."

[forethinking]

Ren does spend a little while trying to figure out the teas. Something bitter, he chooses, and while that steeps, he turns his attention to the two others who share the room with him.

"You were not yourself, though."

Considering that she did try to murder him. He would never hold it against her, or Akechi, or even Aelwyn. One arm wraps around her shoulders, gently, as to offer support.