Everything is fine~! (open)

[yokeye]

WHO: Tokidoki Rikugou, you
WHAT: He's getting help - awkward discussions, go! / Also functions as general open post
WHEN: Mid-February-ish
WHERE: Various? The therapists' office? Who knows?
NOTES: Likely descriptions of death and dismemberment. Assorted other unsavory things.

Therapy - [Semi-Open] -

Toki admitted to himself he needed to see someone after having a panic attack in front of Ekkehardt over Orihime's phone call, and fainting in Ky's class a couple of days later. Then Rex happened on the Outlands field trip and he came back a little broken, but more determined to get it together.

So, anyone who has witnessed panic attacks, disturbing behavior, whatever else he's done that's concerning* since the Tea Party- now's the time to discuss it. An hour with whoever about whatever. Lycans must be accompanied by someone, otherwise it's optional whether a third person is needed to facilitate things. Group threads if you desire. Assumption is he's been seeing counselors/psychiatrists/whatever the school has since the 5th (and taking sedatives). He isn't as immediately panicked beyond control at the littlest thing anymore (and better off for later dates in the month).

* dissociative 'what is reality' things and some nihilistic viewpoints are unrelated to werewolf trauma


Freespace - [Open] -

Anything else with anyone else. During all of February. Plot on Plurk/Discord if you want, or just start something and surprise me.

Comments

Freespace

[hippocarnival]

Yuya doesn't have anything he feels he needs to get off his chest with Toki, but he does hear that Toki is talking to the counselor and Yuya's relieved he's getting help.

He waits a few days after he hears about it, and then when he's sitting in front if Tsuyukusa's tank, Kuroko in his lap he cranes his head back to look at Toki and ask.

"Is your therapy going okay?"

[yokeye]

Toki looks away from the window. Yuya asks it so casually, like it's so easy to talk about. Toki doesn't have anything to compare it to; maybe it's going like it should, maybe it's not.

"I guess~! I think so~!?"

He doesn't elaborate; it's hard to explain the feelings and even harder to stop immediately going with that fake excited persona. He joins Yuya on the floor though, and pets Kuroko.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you~, before when you..."

He trails off and keeps petting the cat. He's apologizing for things that happened like a month ago; it's taken him this long to start dealing with it and it's kind of awkward.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya shakes his head. "I'm just glad you're talking to someone now. It's not the kind of thing you can really deal with alone, you know?"

He scratches along their cat's back. "Having an animal you can cuddle helps, too."

[yokeye]

"It's still hard to talk about." He may have spent the first couple of sessions just crying and freaking out.

"Yeah, Kuroko was a good idea~!"

Even if Yuya got stuck basically taking care of her. She's soft and warm and he wonders why he never got a cat before.

[hippocarnival]

Probably the same reason Yuya's stuck taking care of her. Kuroko stretches, and Yuys flinches briefly when her claws dig into his leg through his pants.

"They probably told you this, but... it's normally hard at first, and then it gets easier as you get better."

[yokeye]

"You think it will?"

It's easier to talk when he's preoccupied with Kuroko and not paying as much attention to Yuya. A sudden irrational thought occurs to him and he panics a little, but that should stop soon. Maybe.

"You can't fail therapy, can you!?"

Because if you can, he will. He has no doubt.

[hippocarnival]

"Uh--" Yuya leans back a little. "I don't think so? It's not like a class..."

He supposes the therapy can fail, but he's not about to fill Toki's head with that kind of doubt when he's just finally started getting help.

"You just need to take it one step at a time."

Therapy

[bejustorbedead]

Between dealing with a few lingering spirits around the church in Soliel, and classroom duties, Ky didn't have much time to more than pass by Toki in the halls and going over the classroom materials, but when he had the free time, and the young man seem like he was in the mood to talk, he quietly checks in on the young man.

"Rikugou, how are you holding up?"

[yokeye]

That's always such a loaded question. He has to narrow everything down to a reasonable couple of sentences. He doesn't say things are 'well' or 'good', because that's inaccurate and he's trying to not lie so much.

"Uh, I'm doing better, I guess? I'm sorry about... It won't- well, I can't promise it won't happen again, because I'm trying to be realistic here, but I'm not like- afraid's not the really the right word... overwhelmed! Not overwhelmed by things as much?"

Was that even coherent? He hasn't had many conversations with faculty that weren't superficial banter or dramatic nonsense.

[bejustorbedead]

His expression softens, before he nods slightly in understanding. This was a different level then dealing with a comrade in arms who hides under the table when a servant drops a pot, or the not infrequent bouts of nightmares, and he feels less prepared than most faculty, but it's wrong to just walk away.

"It can be hard to not be overwhelmed by things," Perhaps speaking from experience here. "Just, I am not sure how much I can do to help, but I do wish to assist however I can."

[yokeye]

"I guess you get that, with like hundreds of years of technology that's all new... I didn't know anything about the supernatural or things like this and things happened right before I got here that I hadn't processed..."

Still hasn't processed completely, but it appears to be working out so far. Ky's pretty calm and likable thus far, but Toki's still apprehensive about talking to anyone regarding actual topics that require thought and focus.

"There's not really anything you can do to help; it's sort of an internal thing, but well, I don't know if I should start now or a little later with like, you teach some fighting stuff right? I'm really bad at that. Everything honestly~! But I don't have any experience or skills or magic powers or anything so for like, in general, what kind of uh... combat is good for just regular people without any training to start with?"

[bejustorbedead]

He goes to speak, but checks himself, letting Toki finish talking. "Of course I can teach combat skills, my teaching specialty is magic, but swordplay is something... although..."

Ky trails off thoughtfully, tilting his head as his eyes closed in thought. "I believe Gehring has made mention of wanting to teach the basics of self-defense, he might be the person for you to ask to get down the basics."

[yokeye]

"I'll look into that, then. But I might come for swordplay later~!"

He can't decide if Ekkehardt would be harder to talk to or not, but self defense basics was more his speed at present.

"Thanks for um, checking up on me..."

Toki looks at the floor when speaks, because he has mixed feelings about it. He's a bit embarrassed that he made enough impact for Ky to initiate a conversation, but also grateful for any encouragement or kind words at this point.

2/2

[leekspins]

[She's still pretty exhausted from the events of the past few days. Running into Ginshu on Thursday, and then Peter's uncle on Friday night. Using her power to undo whatever process had twisted Ben into that ghastly monster had completely wiped her out, and the only reason she's up right now is because her stomach is howling for food.]

[As a result, she's pretty groggy when she literally bumps into Toki at the cafeteria, her shoulder against his arm, and she has to actively resist the temptation to just keep leaning.]

Good morning...

[It's five in the afternoon.]

I'm glad I found you. There's a lot I need to talk to you about.

[She yawns against her hand before shoveling sandwiches into a bag.]

[yokeye]

[When Orihime runs into him, the coffee he's holding spills over the brim of the cup a little and runs down his hand. At least it's not too hot.]

Orihime~! It's afternoon~!

[Well, he hopes it's afternoon or he's more sleep-deprived than he thought. He transfers his coffee to the other hand in order to lick off what spilled. Orihime looks like she might fall over at any minute, and he's sure any conversation can wait.]

We can talk later~! You look like you need some sleep~!

[leekspins]

Yeah, that's true. But I can sleep later, since it's the weekend. We were fighting ghosts last night.

[She resists the temptation to let slip another yawn into her hand, rubbing at her eye instead to drive off her weariness.]

I'm sorry I worried you the other day. I didn't have much time to get out a proper message, and I wasn't even sure how to tell you about everything that happened. Honestly I'm not even sure you want to know. But I felt like I should at least offer, and you could tell me whether or not I should keep it to myself.

[yokeye]

More of them?

[How many ghosts were there?]

Haha, I wasn't that worried~!

[Hopefully, Ekkehardt hadn't told her he'd broken down in the hallway. He kind of wants the details, really, but he doesn't think he'd react well to anything even potentially worrying right now.]

I, um... I'd rather not know? At least not right now! I need to... I'm... Um...

[Like right now. It's nothing, and he's starting to panic.]

I have an appointment with the therapist in a couple of days! After that maybe, but I can't talk about things right now, I'm sorry!

[leekspins]

[She reaches out to catch his wrist, folding her other hand around his fingers. She even brushes off some of the coffee traces.]

It's okay. You don't have to apologize for that.

[Orihime didn't mean to stir up any fear or panic, and she feels bad about that. But he seemed to calm down when there was physical contact, or at least relax enough that he didn't put up any false barriers. Hopefully this helps.]

I'm honestly really proud of you. I know it's not easy to share something like that. I was never brave enough to do it when I was younger.

[But she'd had Tatsumaki, and between them, she'd managed to find a way to stand up again. Squeezing his hand, she lets ago and holds her wrist casually in front of her.]

It's okay if I root for you, then?

[yokeye]

[Her touch anchors him a little bit and he tries to calm down enough not to be so obviously panicked. Toki hadn't really been apologizing for not wanting to talk about things, but more for just existing in general at this point.]

Things t-turned out o-okay for you, though? Y-you must have done s-something right!

[He attempts a smile and just nods in response to her question, because his voice is wavering and he's stuttering and it's just a mess. Toki sets the coffee down on the closest table. He shouldn't be drinking that.]

2/14... ig... in the scant few hours pre-ball

[suddenlybees]

[ There's really no good time to do anything, with life so fast-paced as it is and Kano barely getting the time to breathe before he's swept here or there. Most of the time, it's "missions" of his own construction he's on, and today's mission is... well. He assigns it to himself the moment he spots Toki exiting one of his therapy sessions— he knows the room, having been invited in on multiple occasions and avoiding it all three years he's been here, and he knows the looks on people's faces after they finish their sessions. Exhausted. High-strung. Relieved. Sort of dazed. A quiet about them. Subtle little things, most of the time, but it's a little more apparent when Toki is never exactly quiet, as far as Kano can tell.

What to do... The last time Kano came to Toki's door, things didn't exactly work out how he intended (it was good- Toki had smiled- but the method was all wrong, wasn't it?) so he steels himself and tries again. Worst case scenario, he can give up forever and just follow through with their 'date' tomorrow as Tsubomi, and then vicariously through Tsuyukusa after that. ]

Toki, hey! Wait up a sec-- I have something for you!

[ He never figured out the card thing, so it's not that. ]

[yokeye]

Kano.

[He stops and waits for Kano to come to him. It's too much effort to meet him half-way right now.]

What did you want?

[Toki is referring to the gift voucher card, because he doesn't know he never signed his name on it.]

[suddenlybees]

[ Haha! How direct! Being brushed off, with that stark difference in tone too, Toki definitely hates him, definitely, there's no doubt in Kano's mind. Maybe he should rethink this. Maybe he should just go home. ]

Um! Hm... I wonder if it's no good, after all~ Maybe we'll put that off for now! It's just about lunch time~ Have you had lunch yet?

[yokeye]

If... what's no good?

[Did he miss something? Put what off? He blinks slowly. Kano's not making any sense.]

Lunch. No. Did you... want lunch? Did we plan this? I forgot if we did.

[Toki wants to sleep.]

[suddenlybees]

"What"...? No, never mind, that's not important~

[ Kano will continue to not make sense, as per the course and his predilection for speaking around things rather than answer anything directly. He leans down and peers at Toki's eyes, trying to get them to focus on his own. ]

Hey, are you sick? Do you want Ekkehardt? Hieke?

[yokeye]

[One of them will focus, a little. Kano caught him after a not so great session; Toki may have panicked more than a little and then taken something.]

I'm not sick. Can you just talk about one thing at a time? Wait, you have something for me? Is that what you said first?

[He probably shouldn't have left the therapist's office that soon.]