Give Me Therapy (Oliver, Sean)

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ sat in a chair in Dr. Neville's office, continuously pulling at the hem of her dress and fidgeting with the ring on her finger, nervously twisting it. She looked up every so often, her eyes glancing from the door to Dr. Neville who sat across from her, to the empty chair at her right. Where was he?

Did he decide it wasn't worth it? Could he not bear the idea any longer? Did he decie trying to fix things was futile? These questions spiraled around in her mind. "I don't want to start until he gets here," she finally said. They had to be here together, they had to address this together. So, where was he?

The ticking of the clock seemed louder than usual, drowning out her thoughts when she concentrated on the steady intervals of ticking as seconds passed by.

[Oliver Barnes]

Oliver had taken Everett's request to heart. Now, the introverted boy was trying his best not to use his ability as a means of effective transportation or escaping confrontations with a certain dark haired girl. Unfortunately, it also meant that his timing was off, as getting to Dr. Neville's office was taking longer than the usual seven minutes by phasing.

He was speed walking down the hallway, a worried, but concentrated, expression on his face. Oliver was determined to get to the bottom of his and AJ's issues, hopefully leading them on the right path again. Towards friendship and stability.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Oliver approached the door to Dr. Neville's office, wheezing and slightly out of breath. He didn't bother knocking, as he knew he was already tardy and could apologize for his lack of courtesy. "Sorry... travelling without phasing... took...longer..." He breathed out with a sheepish smile, running his hand through his hair before jogging over and taking a seat next to AJ. His chest heaved, trying to steady his breath once again as the anxiety for what was to come settled in as well.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean did not often engage in sessions with more than one person. Doing so was not wholly out of the ordinary, but sessions with more than one person, as opposed to group therapy, had occurred more frequently when he was in private practice, before he had moved to Vermont to work at Hammel. Typically, his meetings happened one-on-one with a student, or, with a student and that student’s concerned family members or legal guardians.

However, when AJ and Oliver had requested the appointment, the psychiatrist had not hesitated to make it. After his meeting with AJ a while back, this had seemed like a natural progression. As such, he had cleared a sizeable bloc of time for both students, and he had made sure to be there at the agreed upon time.

AJ had been on time, and Sean had let her into his office to wait. And to wait. And to wait.

Oliver was late.

Finally, the door opened without a knock, and the psychiatrist turned to look at red-faced and out of breath figure of Oliver Barnes. At least the boy was now accounted for.

“Have a seat,” Sean said, as he rose from where he sat so that he could close the door. “Would you like some water?” Given how out of breath Oliver was, this seemed the prescription, rather than mere courtesy.

“I think it would be best for the three of us to sit in a rough circle, unless either of you objects.” That was an invitation for either student to voice their opinion about seating arrangements.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ felt a slight sting when Oliver bounded into the room awkwardly, announcing that he hadn't been phasing through walls to get there, which he wasn't used to. He'd been avoiding her for over a year by phasing through the nearest wall whenever he spotted her, and AJ imagined he must have been ridiculously good at it because she hadn't seen him until a Truth or Dare party they'd both went to on a whim and out of character. At least he was here, right?

She nervously tucked a loose curl behind her ear, turning to look at him as he sat down flustered. She wondered how it was possible that Dr. Neville kept his cool when there was obviously tension in the room and a lot of it.

She looked down into her own cup of water as Dr. Neville asked Oliver if he'd wanted some. She'd accepted when he'd asked, mostly because it gave her something to do with her hands, or at least one of them and would keep her from other nervous habits. Somewhat, anyway.

AJ shrugged. "No, not at all," she replied, finally looking up at Dr. Neville. After all, he was the psychiatrist here. Sitting in a circle must be proven to help in sessions or something, right?

[Oliver Barnes]

Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, Oliver graciously nodded towards Dr. Neville. When first arriving at Hammel, he had been a walking disaster. Always hyped and anxious, the events from Fall Formal replaying over and over in his mind. It had taken some time and long, therapy sessions, but he had managed to get by. The one step he couldn't complete? Meeting face to face with AJ. Due to recent events, the introverted boy was thrust into the actions, but also figured it was about time.

Once Dr. Neville got Oliver the water, he nodded again, a small, nervous smile on his face. "Thank you, Dr. Neville." He said, quickly gulping down the cool liquid. It helped ease a little bit of his nerves. Glancing over at AJ, he quickly looked away, almost... afraid of meeting her eyes. Afraid as to what was going to happen over the next hour or so talking to Dr. Neville.

Focused on his thoughts, it took the dark haired boy a moment to realize that AJ and Dr. Neville were waiting for a response from him. "Oh.. right, sorry. Yeah, a circle sounds good to me." He rambled. As if on cue, Oliver ran a hand through his hair, waiting for the next instruction.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean pulled a small bottle of water from the miniature refrigerator he kept in his office, and he handed it over to Oliver. That would allow the boy to cool off and to catch his breath.

Briefly, the psychiatrist considered whether he wanted a bottle as well, but he decided against it. He had the mug on his desk, if he needed the caffeine, which went further than water alone. Besides, he would need to have his hands free while conducting this conversation.

With the acquiescence of both students, the psychiatrist began to move the chairs into a rough circle shape in the center of the office. That would allow all of them to see each other and to hear each other clearly. He also hoped that it would set the students at ease, as they would not have the desk separating him from them, providing an imposing authoritative symbol.

With the chairs moved, he sat down, facing both AJ and Oliver. He set a notebook down in his lap, with a pen atop it. “How would you like to do this?” He asked. “AJ, would you like to start?” She had been here first, and she was somewhat more active than Oliver was insofar as this meeting had demonstrated.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ was the one who went to Dr. Neville in the first place and made the appointment. She'd been more active about it because she'd had to face the consequences that had come with what had happened back home in Minnesota several times since she moved here. The anxiety, her crippling fear of manipulating someone when she was around people. It had all stemmed from that one night, her manifestation, which Oliver had just happened to be a part of. Unfortunately.

She moved her chair into the circle so she was facing Dr. Neville and Oliver and tightened her grip on the bottle of water when he'd asked her to start. How did she start? Where? That night? She warily looked over at Oliver and took a deep breath before turning back to face Dr. Neville. It was hard to talk about with actual people. They judged, but Dr. Neville did this for a living. So he probably wouldn't. She should know that.

"My power, I'm sure you know, is pheromone manipulation," she began slowly, her voice soft. "I manifested back home in Minnesota, during a school dance that I was with Oliver at. We, uh...lived in the same town, went to the same school." He was my best friend. "Anyway...I manipulated him." She was looking at the wall now behind Dr. Neville instead of at him.

[Oliver Barnes]

OOC: I am so sorry it took me so long to reply!

Oliver nodded graciously, twisting the cap of the water bottle back on, the plastic crinkling his hands as his hands too tightened around the bottle. He was... scared, really. Scared of what was going to come out of this session. Scared that he and AJ would never be able to face each other again without one of them breaking down or feeling awkward.

After the chairs were moved, Oliver felt more exposed, but understood that it was set up to provide a more comfortable setting. Maybe as the session progressed, he would feel more at ease, but for right now, he sat in the chair rigidly.

He nodded along with AJ's retelling of what had happened that night, but didn't say a word since it was her turn and not his. Oliver's eyes flickered between Dr. Neville's steady gaze and trying to catch AJ's attention, failing so far.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Since AJ had agreed to begin, Sean turned most of his attention to her. With the three of them in a circle, the psychiatrist was able to see both Oliver and AJ while one or the other spoke, which would help for the purposes of any mediation required.

He did not prompt her. He wanted this meeting to be as comfortable as possible, and while he would provide some formal structure, Sean also wanted both AJ and Oliver to feel free to open up, or to allow the conversation to evolve organically. If someone expressed hurt over something said, then he would pause the conversation so that they could dissect that, or if they wanted to have a back-and-forth sharing session. Otherwise, it was up to them.

The psychiatrist nodded, both to express that he did know her power, and also to demonstrate that he was listening attentively to her narrative. Pheromone manipulation was not an easy power, not personally and not with the reactions from those around them. He remembered how some students and faculty had reacted to Adam, which had always been a shame.

AJ cut herself off at the vague explanation, and the psychiatrist looked over at Oliver. Oliver had said nothing in response, which meant that AJ could continue. However, Sean did have a question of depth. “What happened?”

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ was hoping that somehow Oliver would jump in and say what happened, even if it actually hadn't been his fault. But she hated saying it out loud. It was so hard to talk about without making Oliver sound like a rapist or a horrible person in general, which she knew he wasn't. She knew she was being vague, but she felt her heart rate quicken as she told the story, looking over at Oliver every so often to just see him nodding as if he was agreeing with a story she was telling that wasn't like this.

Technically, she had told him what happened, so his question urked her a bit. He was pressing her in a way, at least it felt like it. "I manipulated him," she repeated, once more. But she knew this was in no way going to help Dr. Neville help them. If she wanted her and Oliver to ever have a chance of being friends again, she needed to tell him, no matter how much it hurt.

She looked down at her hands, at the bottle of water she was holding. "I manipulated his pheromones...meaning I manipulated something...a feeling that was already there...and..." How did she put this? She wanted to put it lightly, as if not to alarm Oliver all over again about what he'd done. "He pushed me up against the lockers and he was trying to do something I didn't want." Her hands tightened around the water bottle as she spoke.

[Oliver Barnes]

Oliver leaned forward in his chair slightly, clasping his hands together, as AJ continued. He too had difficulty accepting and acknowledging what had happened. He still felt incredible guilt to this day, and blamed himself for what happened. It was confusing; almost like an out of body experience. He didn't remember much when he had almost... taking advantage of her. Oliver swallowed hard, his throat feeling dry. No matter how much water he drank, no sense of relief washed over him.

He felt his cheeks go red as AJ mentioned that in order for her power to work, she had to manipulate something that was already there. Of course, it was fairly obvious he had had feelings for her, but recently, it had turned sexual in nature. Oliver realized it wasn't much help if he sat in silence, nodding along, and knew soon he would have to contribute to the conversation.

"I didn't mean to." Oliver suddenly blurted out, as if it wasn't obvious. "I... it's like a whole different person came out. And.. and when I did that... I don't remember it much." He admitted. He remembered before and after, and the sight of AJ running away from him, as Mason pinned him to the wall, letting her get away. His hands began to fidget with themselves.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Since Oliver had not yet said anything to interrupt, or to flesh out, AJ’s narrative, Sean continued to focus the majority of his attention on AJ. He knew how difficult it was for her to describe this, between the emotional pain of adolescent peer problems and the almost always dramatic and uncomfortable associations with one’s first manifestation. Pheromone manipulation brought with it certain associated difficulties that were absent in all but a few similar powers, such as mind control, empathy, memory manipulation, to a lesser extent dream walking and telepathy.

This was why her next words, and the full explanation, came as no surprise to him.

The psychiatrist’s expression did not change. He did not grow judgmental of her, because he knew what happened during those first uncontrolled days of developing an ability. He had had more than his fair share before he had come to Hammel, and then during his six years as a student. It would be grossly hypocritical of him to judge when the occurrences were done without any conscious intent.

Step-by-step she walked him through it, and then, finally, Oliver spoke up to provide his experiences as well.

Likewise, the psychiatrist was sure that Oliver had not meant to hurt her. While he was not a pheromone manipulator himself, Sean knew how the power worked; he knew how pheromones worked. Having those artificially induced or upset, coupled with puberty hormones and emotional drama, could be explosive.

“Were either of you hurt?” He asked, as that was his first priority, before helping them to walk back the guilt. He looked between AJ and Oliver to gauge their reactions, both verbal and non-verbal.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ kept her hands in her lap, around that water bottle, and when she finally realized she was squeezing it so much, she let up on her grip and it made a crinkling noise that seemed to echo in the small office. Had she been hurt? Not physically, except for a few small bruises where he'd tried to hold her down, her arms banging into the lockers behind them, but luckily, it hadn't been too long before Ace had come out along with all the other students seeing the commotion and pulled Oliver off of her. All of the hurt was more emotional than anything. She remembered that night, running out of the auditorium, walking all the way home with her shoes in hand, mumbling a reason why she was home to her parents and escaping into the upstairs bathroom. She'd felt so many emotions then.

"Just a few bruises really...I think the hurt is emotional...and I really wouldn't call it hurt. It's guilt." She craned her head to look at Oliver, to see what he'd offer, or if he'd agree.

"Someone, Oliver's friend, came by and pulled him off of me and then I left right away," she explained. She knew that also being recruited had left Oliver to face the ridicule of the school alone and she hated that part.

[Oliver Barnes]

The thoughts that came with the memory of Fall Formal consumed Oliver, as they usually did. His tight grip on AJ's arms, pinning her against the locker as he violated her personal space. His lips, forced onto her lips and roaming down her neck. The insatiable lust. Ace pulling him off of her and slamming him into the lockers, yelling at him to stop and asking what the hell was wrong with him. He visibly winced, thinking back to the feeling of being thrown into the locker, snapping him out of the lust induced rage. That had hurt. His back had been bruised for a good two weeks, his entire body radiating with pain.

It couldn't compare to what he put AJ through.

"Well, uh, I was." Oliver admitted, sure that Dr. Neville could see the memories in his mind and knew the extent of the damage. "Our... our friend Ace, he pulled me off of her and... threw me into the lockers." Fidgeting, Oliver ran his thumb along the cap of the water bottle. "But I think the emotional toll is more damaging than anything else." He agreed with AJ, sneaking a side glance at his former best friend.

"Guilt sums it up well. I.. still feel guilty."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Guilt, like many parts of the emotional spectrum, and many aspects of life, served as a double-edged sword. Guilt guided a person towards empathy and introspection, allowing an individual to learn from their mistakes so as not to repeat them, as well as to encourage them to make amends for their missteps. At the same time, too much guilt could paralyze a person, forcing them instead to inaction. Sean had experience with this, since his partner’s anxiety often led to paralyzing guilt, and that worsened problems.

As it had here. Both AJ and Oliver still felt guilt over something that had occurred years ago, with the injuries having not occurred or long since healed, and while neither of them held moral fault for what transpired. AJ had just manifested, and powers at that stage of development were entirely reflexive, more akin to a spasm than to a deliberate action. Likewise, Oliver had been under the influence of her abilities and did not know what was happening and could not make informed, conscious decisions.

For healing to occur, they each had to forgive themselves.

“I don’t think either of you should feel guilty,” the psychiatrist said, looking from AJ to Oliver and then back to AJ. To her, he asked, with a gentle tone, “Do you blame Oliver for what happened that night?”

He would have the same question for Oliver in a moment.