Is it So Much to Ask? [Sean]

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean overheard her mental question, which he considered loaded, not that he would answer it unless she verbalized it. She had mixed up two different points, which led to two answers with an important distinction between them. On the one hand, there was certainly nothing wrong with being a private person, or with being introverted, so that one enjoyed spending time by oneself or did not enjoy being in large groups, or preferred a few close friends to many friendly acquaintances. On the other hand, rejecting real emotional bonding, even with one outside person, by focusing on certain goals to the exclusion of human connection had any number of long-term psychological and physiological consequences. That was what the psychiatrist wanted Candence to avoid, particularly in light of the previous trauma, as that was a common enough occurrence with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She would be at Hammel for years at least, long enough that she would benefit from some real human connection, particularly during her formative years.

But he would help her with that. After all, she had only just arrived.

“You’ll have to let me know how the group sessions go,” he replied, taking her lie at face value for the moment, while indicating that this would not be their only meeting together.

Then, he shifted to the ethics of mental powers, which, while a partial distraction, was a topic that he kept close to his heart. Moreover, as he knew her power, it would benefit her to be aware of the situation as well. “Part of training is to teach you how not to have power slips. We also teach people proper boundaries.”

For the most part, the honor system worked well. After all, the students would find themselves in society’s honor system once they graduated and entered the outside world.

[Candence Waterson]

Candence smiled and nodded when Dr. Neville mentioned her telling him how the group sessions went. "Of course I will..."

Wait. Did that mean there would be more of these sessions? She studied him, carefully. Of course, he could have simply meant to drop in sometime to chat with him about it. Not that she'd ever want that, but in light of regular sessions, it would be preferable. "I'll be sure to let you know sometime." She nodded. Act as if the best would happen until you knew it wouldn't, right? Plus, she hoped the hint at "sometime" would help clarify if he really did mean "sometime at her leisure" or "sometime during an enforced imprisonment in his office". She didn't want to up actually ask, after all. And even if this didn't spark a correction or explanation of their varying definitions of "when", it would be found out eventually before the session ended.

Proper boundaries being taught... Right. "But there aren't like... blocks put up in peoples' minds or things like that." That could be good and bad. Probably more good. Definitely more good. She gave a quiet sigh of relief.

Candence stretched a little and leaned back in the chair, making it clear she was quite comfortable and relaxed. Which would hopefully offset her next question, which was born partially from impatience: "Was there anything else we needed to talk about, Dr. Neville?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean heard the thought, and she was quite correct; there would be more sessions. He allowed the remark to slip, since he would unveil the need for more sessions when arranging their next appointment. She could have one last moment of victory.

“The specific methods vary from trainer to trainer, but, no, we don’t prevent people from using their powers via mental block.” Chase was the closest to doing anything directly with someone’s power, and even he mostly had people calm down before teaching them how to shield.

But that was getting ahead of themselves.

“No, I think that’s enough for today.” If she had any actual interest in learning more about other abilities, they could resume that conversation at another time, and the psychiatrist could point her in the direction of the Side Effects Specialist in the interim.

Then he reached for his scheduling book and opened it to the next week. “I pulled your class schedule and I see that you have a free period on Tuesday afternoons. So I’ll see you on Tuesday at 2:00p.m.”

Typically, Sean was not this direct when it came to making sessions with students. Typically, he provided them with some sense of control over their schedules, some choice about what day or time would work best for them. However, Candence’s behavior had confirmed his expectations and had comported with the warnings he’d received from her brother and from her past school. He had to take the bull by the horns, otherwise she would slip through the cracks.

She would not slip away that easily on his watch.