Inconvenient Timing(Sean)

[Colton Bryan]

Why couldn't they schedule this at a different time, Colton thought to himself in annoyance. He was sitting outside the office of the school's psychiatrist, waiting to be called in the first of their meetings that will happen once every month. The problem for Colton was that he was currently missing one of the few things he liked to watch on television. He had also brought his journal, so that the man could see that he actually used it to write down his thoughts.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

For the most part, Sean scheduled his own sessions; he considered it a perk of his position as the Head of the Mental Health Department (as well as the brunt of the Mental Health Department). He tried to take student input when scheduling sessions, if the students in question came to him in good faith, but he couldn’t always work around their preferences and instead had to prioritize working around their class schedules or extracurricular activities.

Sometimes, the psychiatrist didn’t schedule the sessions. The administrative receptionist handled some of that, particularly when someone had an outstanding order for weekly appointments and emergencies occurred. All Sean could do was make himself available and deal with the potentially grouchy students who came to him less than pleased with timing or having to meet with him at all.

Fully 30% of his work involved dealing with potentially grouchy students; he wouldn’t have lasted twenty-five years at Hammel if he couldn’t do that.

However, Sean expected his meeting with Colton to settle down once they made it past the boy’s initial irritation. When Colton arrived, Sean gestured for him to come inside and take a seat. “And be sure to shut the door behind you,” he instructed him. They would need the privacy.

[Colton Bryan]

I just hope we can get through this quickly, Colton thought to himself as he entered the Mr. Neville's office. At the man's request Colton turned slowly and shut the door behind him hard, not hard enough to be called a slam but still it was loud. He then turned himself back to the psychiatrist and sat down in the nearest chair.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean said nothing in response to Colton’s thought, in order to provide the boy with a sense of privacy. Typically, the psychiatrist didn’t response to other people’s thoughts when in his office, unless the person in question was actively lying to him, and Sean wanted to make the point that he knew, and that it was a waste of time to obfuscate the truth. Otherwise, the facsimile of privacy was all that he could provide, since his powers made full privacy impossible.

The psychiatrist waited for Colton to close the door and then to join him over by the desk. One the boy had settled in, Sean turned his full attention to the boy, making eye contact since Colton hadn’t fidgeted or immediately looked down at his shoes – rare enough considering some of the students who came through his office. “How are you today?” He asked politely; they might as well get off on the right foot.

[Colton Bryan]

"I'm fine." Colton spoke quickly, hoping that the faster he talked the sooner the meeting would end. He knew in the back of his head it was a dumb thought, and that this meeting would almost certainly be longer than his show's runtime. Mr. Neville's question did get his mind thinking a little bit about his time at the school. The school wasn't very different from his old one which had also been a pretty diverse school. I guess I've been more talkative since I've come to this school, Colton thought to himself, forgetting for a moment about Sean's ability to read his mind while his thoughts went very quickly to the Indian girl he had met recently in the library. Aerina had been friendly to him and that had opened him up a little more than he was used to and had caused him to talk to someone who wasn't a teacher for the first time in nearly a year.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

”Fine” was a start, even if it wasn’t the most communicative reply that Sean had ever received in response to that question. It wasn’t the least descriptive reply, either, since Colton had answered the question, and that was more than he could say for some of the other students who had come through his office over the decades. He could only describe those conversations as akin to pulling teeth with how reticent they had been to engage him. Colton was already ahead of the curve.

Of course, since their meeting had just begun, the boy couldn’t leave just yet, even if Sean had heard that sentiment before, albeit from other students.

He heard Colton’s thought easily, although he knew it wasn’t directed at him; such was a hazard of meeting with a telepath. The psychiatrist did what he could to provide the students with the illusion of privacy, since he couldn’t promise actual privacy, and that involved not replying to their thoughts outright, as though he was continuing a conversation they had begun within the sanctuary of their minds. Instead, he used those thoughts for guidance, to provide segue. As he did now. “Have you been getting on with the other students?”

Perhaps that would be enough to get Colton to talk about Aerina.