Gestalt Support Groups (open to Gestalt pairs)

[Orion & Naomi Stewart]

This was all Orion’s idea. Or maybe it was the Gestalt trainers, Dio and Evan. That was a legitimate possibility. But whatever it was, somehow, they’d ended up putting up posters. And flyers. And asking Mike to make…cookies. Anyway, it didn’t matter, because the point was that they were here and they had to deal with it.

And Naomi was so not taking any kind of credit for this no matter who pointed a finger at her. After all, there was only one girl—and yes, she was counting minds, not bodies—in the whole affair, and she was not thrilled by the whole idea. But Orion thought it might help them if they saw someone else a little more on the path to being synchronized, and since the other twins weren’t generally having the same…difficulties…that they were (or at least, were mostly younger and so OK with being a little behind). Therefore, socialization was good. They wouldn’t be viewed as weird, they could share the problems with other people, and they could be, for a night, not creepies. So yeah, they’d baked cookies (with Mike’s help, as neither of the twins had ever had access to a kitchen before and had absolutely no idea how to cook anything). Remembering that there were two bodies per “person” to feed, they’d gone and gotten more cookies from the store. Then they’d politely reserved a room (with Mike’s help again, as he seemed extremely interested in encouraging them to be social creatures and not just with him), had put up the posters and had set out the chairs, then sat down to wait.

”No one’s going to show up.”

”Shut up.”

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

Lin dragged themselves down the hallway. Chonglin looking a tad more miserable than his older brother, and that made sense. Chonglin was the one who really didn't want to be there. After seeing some posters up around the school it was Bolin who wanted to see how it worked. Granted, he too thought it didn't really sound promising, but his influence still had enough effect to get Chonglin to come along.

Still they were no there way to this "support group" as the poster put it. They found the classroom rather quickly seeing how the door was open and a sign was up right outside of it. Together they peered in. There were plenty of chairs out, and a large plate of cookies was always a welcoming sight. They were unsure to enter though. Inside were two other students. Lin wasn't sure if they were just a couple of kids hanging out in an empty classroom with cookies, or maybe they were a fellow Gestalts. The two hadn't really met any other pairs (Chengs being the exception of course). Neither of them were sure who were the Gestalts around school, they even weren't aware of pairs that're opposite genders! But then again, who were they to judge if they didn't look alike. Lin wasn't even seen as twins half the time.

"Ummm… Hi!"

"Is this the Gestalt group-thingy?" They offered a couple of smiles, unsure if they wanted to two to say yes or not.

[Deleted]

Temp and Chair too didn't know why they were going, either that or they did and were just being stubborn about it. No, they needed this whole "support" group thing, needed it badly, and both of them agrees that maybe if they met other gestalts, they might be able to figure out how to better deal with the whole "two-becoming-one" thing...or if they could somehow ignore it, maybe?

However both twins were in complete agreement that if there was a way to undo this completely then they would take it without a second thought. And if there was the slightest possibility that anyone at this group would know that answer, then they would chance the social interaction and be as genial as they could muster.

They walked down the hall towards the meeting room, their legs in perfect sync because, as they quickly found, it was actually harder for them to walk at different periods and paces than it was to do it at the same time - very reminiscent of rubbing your stomach and tapping your head, you feel compelled to either rub or tap far more than doing both.

The young british girls both had their hair up in a high ponytail that swayed with their gait and their faces were made up making them appear at least 3 years older, with Charity having placed a little extra concealer to hide the mole that easily told them apart. Their clothing too, was nearly identical in style, but differed in colors - a black mini-skirt with black striped leggings and doll-like shoes and a white blouse with a single thin ribbon tied under the collar, with Charity's leggings and ribbon being baby blue and Temperance's being pink.

When they arrived at the classroom, they saw that some bozo(or rather a couple of them) was blocking the doorway. The girls stopped behind the boys and crossed their arms.

"Move it, fire hazards," they both said forcefully.

They glared with deep brown eyes that showed they clearly didn't want to be there and liked even less that they were held up by a couple of morons.

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

Expecting to get an answer from someone inside, Lin was surprised to her a couple of voices coming from behind. They turned to see two girls who were obviously twins, and identical at that. The matching outfits with the pink and blue color scheme reminded the boys of a pair of Barbie dolls, and the narrow glare and synchronized speech from the two of them made it a little creepy.

The Chinese boys stepped into the room and away from the door. They muttered sarcastically to themselves as they did so. "Well nice to meet you too!"

"A little rude much?" Chonglin settled down in a seat which, to no one's surprise, was right with his brother. The two sat there for a moment quietly. They felt a little awkward there. There were already a pair of girls who could instantly be recognized as Gestalts, let alone twins. The other two weren't as obvious, but as they were opposite genders it was understandable that they were fraternal. Lin on the other hand had often been thought of close friends or brothers near in age. Sometimes people understood they were twins, but it took a while for people to figure out they were a Gestalt pair. It almost made Lin feel out of place. But that was exactly why they were here. To get that taken care of and have a smoother sync.

"Sooo….." Bolin didn't know where he was going with this, but it was better than sitting there in awkward silence.

"Wǒ am Lin." They offered their name to start a conversation.

[Dio & Evan Thanos]

Upon hearing the idea of the support group from Naomi and Orion, Dionysius and Evander put their full support behind it. He told them that he would be there to supervise and offer assistance to those who needed it or had questions, but that this was their deal, and they could run it the way they wanted as long as it kept within school rules and was appropriately handled. He believed that among the abilities that there were, Gestalt pairs had it fairly difficult, if not the most difficult. The transition process was tiresome and grueling.

Dio and Evan were running a tit bit later than what they had intended, but were fairly sure that not everyone would show up exactly on time. If anything it would be Orion and Naomi there first. He still felt a little bad, but training session had run rather long and he had to close up his office before he could make his way to the classroom that had been reserved by the Stewart twins. He had to admit, he was pleased with the amount of posters that had been posted around the school. It showed true dedication from the two (or maybe it was just one of them).

Upon entering the classroom, after a light tap to signal his entrance, he walked in to witness a bit of tension between two pairs. Dio glanced at Evander when he noted who the girls were. The Quinn twins, dasterdly pair that they were. He gave them both a warning look as if to tell them to be nice, or there would be some serious consequences in training the following session. And by consequences he meant dreaded practicing of thinking as one. The worst kind of consequence there was...not for everyone, but either way, it got old really fast.

"Hello, students. How are we all feeling today?" He asked as one, both pairs of eyes meeting each other pair of eyes that were in the room.

[Deleted]

The roadblock moved and the girls entered without another word, ignoring the comments from the pair of twins who didn't even look like brothers, much less twins. There was another pair, a boy and girl, who Temp and Chair could only assume were twins as well. Apparently, Gestaltism wasn't limited to identical twins; fraternal twins and even different gendered twins could be affected as well.

Learn something new everyday, huh?

As expected, the girls sat next to each other as well, though they each crossed their legs and faced obviously away from each other. Temperance crossed her arms. Charity placed both hands properly in her lap. Then the male pair spoke. Temperance responded first.

"Wow, creative. Speaking right off in a different language. Attention starved much?"

"I'm positively smitten." Charity hadn't even looked at them, instead leaning forward to inspect her nails.

This was, of course, said just as their dubious trainer had finally decided to grace the group with his presence and immediately sent a scolding glance their way. The girls merely turned their heads away from him. God, why did their trainer have to be so good looking?

"Just peachy," they replied to his lame arsed question.

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

John and Jake weren't really known for their time keeping skills. It wasn't that they didn't care, they just got distracted so easily. That coupled with the fact that they didn't live at Hammel made them often late to activities at the school. Maybe when they got their licenses and could drive themselves (and god help us all when that day arrives) they would be able to arrive on time.

It was Jake who first spotted the poster in the hallways and mentioned the idea to his brother. Although the two of them had always enjoyed their twin status and the ability they developed, there were questions that were starting to arise. Questions that may or may not have become more important since meeting a certain plant manipulator. It was hard enough trying to talk to girls without having to worry about using the correct pronouns. Or figuring out how to share a girlfriend. So they'd decided to pop in. With the thought that if it wasn't their thing they could always go bother Ollie.

"We late?" "Sorry." The boys said as they walked into the room just as the to girls were claiming to be 'peachy'. It was a bit of a shock to see the other twins in the room. Although they knew there were others at the school, they hadn't had much of a chance to interact with them.

Even more of a shock was the Stewart twins. "Boy and girl?," John asked, unable to keep the question in his head. "How ya manage that?" The question was followed by a quick elbow in the side from his brother and a sheepish grin from both of them.

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

The Zhou twins could only roll their eyes at the girls. What died up their butts? They could be at least a little nicer. Didn't they come for support too? Lin could see little reason to give support to someone (or two) so rude. "Hardly."

"That's just how wǒ refer to wǒ zì jǐ." Lin had found that using the Mandarin form of first person singular pronoun was easier than juggling between 'I' and 'we.' They did do that for a while, but when people noticed them switch and start asking, it got confusing. So they figured a pronoun that no one really understood was just plan easier. If they ended up back in China though, Bolin and Chonglin expected to find themselves using the English form instead.

The sight of the fully synchronized pair that entered intrigued the two boys. Hearing the voices talk together without hesitation and the four eyes moving together so smoothly made them a little envious. But of course they were still a work in progress like all the other kids here. Chonglin shrugged while his older brother answered with words, "alright."

And of course another pair entered the scene, apologizing for being late. Another set of identical twins quite obviously. It didn't help Bolin and Chonglin feel any better about being the only fraternal twins of the same gender. Still, they didn't have to worry about hormones, and they were a bit curious about how opposite genders worked while merging.

[Orion & Naomi Stewart]

The first thing the Stewarts noticed was that they were the only mixed gender pair. That was…a disappointment. They’d been hoping there’d been someone else they could relate to. Not the only fraternal pair, though. Spotting the Zhou twins made them realize that right off the bat. That was slightly encouraging. But Orion and Naomi were both stricken into silence with nerves almost immediately, many what-ifs popping into their mind. What if this was a disaster. What if a fight happened, or what if everyone thought they were crazy….

For that reason, the twins were almost alarmingly quiet until the Bishop twins—and they knew them, everyone knew the Bishops—addressed them. Then they started, and two mouths offered similarly shy smiles.

”With difficulty.”

”I always thought it’d be easier, being identical. Is it?”

Then Naomi’s more forceful personality manifested itself. She’d grown up in the streets of Detroit—the bad areas—and wasn’t afraid of much. That, and she didn’t much like bullying. So after a brief, acknowledging nod to their trainer, the twins rounded on the only female twins there.

”This is supposed to be a free space or whatever,” Naomi said. “You have a problem with it—”

”Then leave.”

The twins turned to the Zhou twins and nodded. “wǒ, huh?”

”Does it apply to males and females too?”

[Deleted]

Temp and Chair sighed in concert, glared at each other, like they were offended that the other dared to do the same thing she did, then returned to looking away from each other. The Stewarts were right, they weren't here to start a fight, they were here to "connect", "relate", and get "support" from other students who shared their struggles.

"It's not," they said together, followed by another irritated exchange.

They were quiet for a noticeable while before speaking again, Charity, the quieter one, being the one to explain this time, her British accent swirling over her clipped words. "Just because we are identical does not mean we are the same person. No matter how similar we are in looks, interests, or personality, we are two separate people."

"At least we were, before this happened" They hadn't even been gestalts for four months yet. There was still a lot they didn't know about gestaltism or what to expect. The only thing they really knew was…

They didn't like it.

"In light of this, we refuse to leave."

"This is a support group, isn't it?"

"So support."

If this was a free space, then didn't Temp and Chair have just as much a right as any of the others to be there? Why did being identical, girls, or even straight up bitches make them any less entitled to getting help?They had problems too, the primary one being that they hated each other.

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

"Man, that sucks,"John said, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

"It's still...confusing..."Jake added, plopping down beside his brother.

The twins nodded along to what the two identical girls had to say. Although the sisters seemed a little creepyrough around the edges the boys felt like they understood.

Although John and Jake were a very ideal pair for gestalts, being that they were not only identical but also very like minded, it was still hard to deal with the whole two becoming one thing. No matter how alike they might be, they were still two different people...well at least for now. It seemed that more and more they confused their pronouns, spoke in tandem, or had trouble discerning what one was feeling between what one felt through the other.

And of course there was the whole girlfriend issue...

Speaking of which, John really wanted to bring up the whole issue of dating and such, but he could feeling both his own and his brother's anxiety of speaking up about it. So he took a deep breath before speaking again.

"So...uh...do you guys have...um...relationships?"he finally managed to get out as both he and Jake fiddled with the hem of their shirts.

[Dio & Evan Thanos]

Dionysius and Evander were strictly there for helping with questions that others didn't have the answers to, or to clarify an answer if they had the wrong idea. He didn't like the animosity coming from the Quinns, but he was proud of the way that the Stewarts had handled it. So over all, he kept quiet, sitting in the corner, planning out more of his lessons for the next wave of training sessions he would be having, still keeping an ear out.

When the Bishop boys spoke, he smiled faintly at how straightforward they were. He quite enjoyed listening in on the group as they all interacted. It had been a very good idea to have them all meet because despite what they all seemed to think, there were others dealing with the same form of problems. Relationship problems, thinking as one, learning how to use limbs in sync. It was difficult, a confusing ability to say the least, but they all were learning from each other. He was there for moral support mainly.

Glancing around again, he sighed faintly. He remembered what it was like, being mixed up about everything. And even still, Dio and Evan still had trouble with the relationship aspect of things. Evander had always gotten girls before they synchronized, and now, neither of them really focused on relationships at all. It was rare to find someone that could handle one person in two bodies, no matter the gender.