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Nov. 22nd, 2018 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavandarlizard2A little morsel for turkey day. ^__^
BFB – Part 106 – Crazy is as Crazy Does Part 2
Duo wiped his suddenly clammy hands on the legs of his jeans. Heero glanced his way; they were early. He had rather expected that the Banshee might need a few extra minutes to work himself up to this.
“I’m being an idiot, aren’t I?” Duo said suddenly.
“I wouldn’t say that. It’s a totally new experience; of course you would be a bit off balance.” Heero patted his thigh comfortingly. “You needn’t do anything you don’t want to do.”
“You mean, like actually see Julie again.”
“That too.”
“’Too’?”
It wasn’t only meeting his frenemy – Heero was pleased at having found that word on social media – but a bit of concern that the psychiatrist would somehow compel the Banshee to relate his own secrets.
“As I said -”
“Yeah, yeah. Nothing I don’t want to do.” His voice was tight, Heero noted. He leaned over to kiss him thoroughly.
“You are my Chosen; no one can do anything to or with you without your leave. I swear it.”
“And if they try, you’ll make them a smudge on the ground?”
“As smudgey a smudge as possible.”
Duo drew a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, then. I’m off.” He flung open the car door and sprang to his feet. “Back in a while,” he offered cheerfully.
“I will be here.” Heero filed away the ‘smudge’ promise; Duo seemed to like that one.
The Banshee crossed the parking lot and climbed the shallow steps to the front entrance.
“I’m here because I want to be here,” he muttered to himself. And really he did. He didn’t necessarily want to see Julie today, but talking to her doctor seemed a rather small thing to be getting so wound up about.
“I can spend a few minutes talking and drop off the yarn and be done with it all.”
What if the doctor asked him to talk to Julie? He could say no; there was no shame in refusing. Or maybe he would say yes and face up to his… fear. Yep, that was exactly what it was; fear of a seventeen-year old Human girl. “Oh, please,” he chided himself. “What’s she going to do? Cry in front of me? Big deal.”
Then he was pushing open the glass door and finding the reception desk in an alcove to his left.
*-*
Doctor Radcliffe wasn’t at all what I had pictured. No lab coat, no sensible white shoes and certainly no weird white hat. She wasn’t wearing thick round glasses or a bun either. And she looked very young for what my imagination had painted as a ‘psychiatrist – female’. The doctor was blonde, about thirty-five to his eye, not slim, but not fat either. ‘Healthy’ was the descriptor that came to mind, like Tiffany. She wore green leggings and a thigh-length tunic in a bright green print, and green running shoes. Huh. Green must be her favorite color.
She greeted me warmly with only a trace of an accent. California, he thought.
“Mr Maxwell,” she said, taking my offered hand. “I am so glad you could come today. Please, let’s step into my office.”
“Thank you, Doctor, and please call me Duo. Maxwell is a name of convenience for the Human world.”
“All right, Duo. I’ll get right to why I asked you to come here. I know you’re a very busy person.”
I found myself oddly impressed that she didn’t refer to me as a ‘man’. Not that I found it insulting when people did, but it always led to thoughts of hiding, which I had finished with when I came to the Castle.
“I understand that one of your associates made the discovery of Julie’s mother and sister.” I nodded without speaking. “The police have finished all their tests and confirmed that the two bodies buried there were indeed Julie’s mother and older sister. We assumed as such, but it’s always better to have the proof. I’ve talked to Julie about it and she was quite upset. She withdrew for several days, but eventually we were able to speak openly about it. Or as openly as Julie speaks of anything regarding her family.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “She hated talking about them.”
“Bad memories; we’re working on that,” she said quickly. “The reason I asked you to come was to inquire whether Julie ever said anything that might have given you a clue what went on in her family.”
I thought about it carefully, running conversations back in my head. “We talked mostly about yarn...” I began. “But there were a couple of times when she started to say something and stopped herself. I assumed she was just editing her words. Everybody does that now and then and I didn’t think anything about it.”
The doctor made some quick notes on her tablet, then smiled at me. “This is a matter of inches, getting to the real problem. Julie says things, then denies saying anything and wanders off into other realms.” She gave me a tiny smile. “She doesn’t want to look at the reality, but she can’t help circling around it, watching it in her peripheral vision. What we need is to get her to acknowledge the bad stuff, so we can put it in the past where it belongs. I think the yarn you gave her helps.”
“Really?” I couldn’t help asking. “It’s really helpful? That’s great. Does she need more?” I asked quickly.
The doctor laughed and nodded. “It does have a very calming and relaxing effect on her.”
“Sooo... more would not be a bad thing?” I reached into my other-space and withdrew the bag of yarn and books and needles and hooks I’d picked out for Julie. “Like this?”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. “Duo, this is too much… Surely...”
By this time I’d figured out that the doctor had mostly just wanted to get a look at me to decide whether Julie was being accurate about me or if she was wandering off into those ‘other realms’ she’d mentioned. Maybe she just wanted to meet a Banshee.
“It’s not, really,” I insisted. “She always liked to be busy and I told her when she was in the jail that she could make things for charity and help to make up for what she did to me.”
She considered that. “That makes sense. You really told her that? And she agreed?”
“Oh yeah. She liked the idea and promised that she’d make stuff. I promised to keep her supplied with yarn and tools. Didn’t she tell you?”
She grinned at me. “No, she did not, but she may have taken it as between the two of you. She’s very protective of her secrets.” She nodded to the bag. “Now what do you have in there? And where did it come from?”
I spent a good twenty minutes explaining ‘other-space’ and the fact of my lineage, and then another fifteen minutes showing her what was in the bag. She was astonished by all of it.
“I don’t think it’ll all fit in her room,” she said slowly.
“Maybe start with the books? Let her figure out which patterns she wants to do and then let her pick out the yarn. I made a lot of assumptions on which yarn she’d like for which project; I hope I guessed right. And if she runs out of something, I can always pick up more. In case she wants to make more than one of a particular pattern.” I felt great now that we were on the subject I was familiar with. Yarn makes me almost as happy as Heero does.
“Is that how it works? For people who knit or crochet? Pattern first, yarn next?”
“Uh… Well, that’s how it should work,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck in some embarrassment. “Most people try to do that, but still end up buying a pretty yarn, just because it’s pretty. Occupational hazard, I guess,” I grinned.
She laughed and ended up snickering. “Well, maybe this way will foster good habits for Julie.”
I grinned and shrugged. “Never worked for me, but I continue to try.”
We began loading the yarn back into the bag with the needles and hooks; the books remained on the desk. About halfway through, she looked at the pile that still remained and the bag.
“Why is that pile still there…?”
“It’s a bottomless bag. I always take it to the yarn shop.”
“Bottomless bag?! Oh, my god! Why have I never heard of these before?!” She lifted the bag. “It doesn’t weigh but a few ounces!” Her amazed look was pretty funny, but I managed not to laugh. It wouldn’t be polite.
“Um… It’s a Wizard thing; not for general public consumption.”
“Oh… Well, damn.” She set the bag back on the floor. “I don’t suppose there’s an ‘As Seen With Wizards’ store anywhere?”
“Sorry. You kind of have to be a Wizard or a Magical Creature to have one.”
“Bummer.”
I snorted, but managed to contain the laughter.
“Well, Duo, this is pretty remarkable of you. Would you like to see Julie for a few minutes?”
Aah, crap. Here I thought I was getting out of it. “Um… I’m not really...” I began, but she was kind enough to stop me.
“It’s all right, Duo; I know you have some issues. I won’t force it.”
Relief flooded me. “Thank you. It’s still a little too close for me to be casual about it,” I explained.
“Maybe you could think about it and let me know? I imagine Julie would like to show you what she’s making.”
Most likely. Yarnies generally do like to show off their projects. I sure do. And there was also the little matter of getting the finished goods to a charity.
“Yeah, that would work. Give me a chance to psych myself up for it.”
“It was good of you to come in today. You have a lovely day, now.”
We shook hands. I may have reciprocated her farewell; I was kind of just glad to be getting out of there and don’t remember.
I found myself approaching Heero’s car and he got out to sweep me into his arms.
“Was it durance vile?”
“Um, no. She didn’t try to psychoanalyze me or make me see Julie, but she was all over my bottomless bag. On balance, not horrible. She did ask me to think about seeing Julie at a later date, and I said I would,” I admitted. He hugged me tight.
“Will you do so?” he asked.
“Yeah. I gotta do it someday, but on my terms. She was nice, not like a doctor.”
“She has a good curriculum vitae. Good schools, good grades and good reports from places she’s worked.”
I leaned back to look at him in astonishment. “You stalked the shrink?!”
“Of course. She wanted to see you alone; she might have been a crazy person.”
I burst out laughing. “You are such an over-protective asshole!”
“Of course. I have you to be over-protective over.”
It took me a few minutes to get my laughter tamped down. Once I did, I slid around him and into the driver’s seat. “I’ll drive, big guy. I’m feeling like some lunch, since I didn’t have much breakfast. Chinese, sushi or Mexican?”
Heero joined me in the passenger seat. “How about Mexican? One of those super size meat burritos.”
“You got it, big guy!”
BFB – Part 106 – Crazy is as Crazy Does Part 2
Duo wiped his suddenly clammy hands on the legs of his jeans. Heero glanced his way; they were early. He had rather expected that the Banshee might need a few extra minutes to work himself up to this.
“I’m being an idiot, aren’t I?” Duo said suddenly.
“I wouldn’t say that. It’s a totally new experience; of course you would be a bit off balance.” Heero patted his thigh comfortingly. “You needn’t do anything you don’t want to do.”
“You mean, like actually see Julie again.”
“That too.”
“’Too’?”
It wasn’t only meeting his frenemy – Heero was pleased at having found that word on social media – but a bit of concern that the psychiatrist would somehow compel the Banshee to relate his own secrets.
“As I said -”
“Yeah, yeah. Nothing I don’t want to do.” His voice was tight, Heero noted. He leaned over to kiss him thoroughly.
“You are my Chosen; no one can do anything to or with you without your leave. I swear it.”
“And if they try, you’ll make them a smudge on the ground?”
“As smudgey a smudge as possible.”
Duo drew a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, then. I’m off.” He flung open the car door and sprang to his feet. “Back in a while,” he offered cheerfully.
“I will be here.” Heero filed away the ‘smudge’ promise; Duo seemed to like that one.
The Banshee crossed the parking lot and climbed the shallow steps to the front entrance.
“I’m here because I want to be here,” he muttered to himself. And really he did. He didn’t necessarily want to see Julie today, but talking to her doctor seemed a rather small thing to be getting so wound up about.
“I can spend a few minutes talking and drop off the yarn and be done with it all.”
What if the doctor asked him to talk to Julie? He could say no; there was no shame in refusing. Or maybe he would say yes and face up to his… fear. Yep, that was exactly what it was; fear of a seventeen-year old Human girl. “Oh, please,” he chided himself. “What’s she going to do? Cry in front of me? Big deal.”
Then he was pushing open the glass door and finding the reception desk in an alcove to his left.
*-*
Doctor Radcliffe wasn’t at all what I had pictured. No lab coat, no sensible white shoes and certainly no weird white hat. She wasn’t wearing thick round glasses or a bun either. And she looked very young for what my imagination had painted as a ‘psychiatrist – female’. The doctor was blonde, about thirty-five to his eye, not slim, but not fat either. ‘Healthy’ was the descriptor that came to mind, like Tiffany. She wore green leggings and a thigh-length tunic in a bright green print, and green running shoes. Huh. Green must be her favorite color.
She greeted me warmly with only a trace of an accent. California, he thought.
“Mr Maxwell,” she said, taking my offered hand. “I am so glad you could come today. Please, let’s step into my office.”
“Thank you, Doctor, and please call me Duo. Maxwell is a name of convenience for the Human world.”
“All right, Duo. I’ll get right to why I asked you to come here. I know you’re a very busy person.”
I found myself oddly impressed that she didn’t refer to me as a ‘man’. Not that I found it insulting when people did, but it always led to thoughts of hiding, which I had finished with when I came to the Castle.
“I understand that one of your associates made the discovery of Julie’s mother and sister.” I nodded without speaking. “The police have finished all their tests and confirmed that the two bodies buried there were indeed Julie’s mother and older sister. We assumed as such, but it’s always better to have the proof. I’ve talked to Julie about it and she was quite upset. She withdrew for several days, but eventually we were able to speak openly about it. Or as openly as Julie speaks of anything regarding her family.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “She hated talking about them.”
“Bad memories; we’re working on that,” she said quickly. “The reason I asked you to come was to inquire whether Julie ever said anything that might have given you a clue what went on in her family.”
I thought about it carefully, running conversations back in my head. “We talked mostly about yarn...” I began. “But there were a couple of times when she started to say something and stopped herself. I assumed she was just editing her words. Everybody does that now and then and I didn’t think anything about it.”
The doctor made some quick notes on her tablet, then smiled at me. “This is a matter of inches, getting to the real problem. Julie says things, then denies saying anything and wanders off into other realms.” She gave me a tiny smile. “She doesn’t want to look at the reality, but she can’t help circling around it, watching it in her peripheral vision. What we need is to get her to acknowledge the bad stuff, so we can put it in the past where it belongs. I think the yarn you gave her helps.”
“Really?” I couldn’t help asking. “It’s really helpful? That’s great. Does she need more?” I asked quickly.
The doctor laughed and nodded. “It does have a very calming and relaxing effect on her.”
“Sooo... more would not be a bad thing?” I reached into my other-space and withdrew the bag of yarn and books and needles and hooks I’d picked out for Julie. “Like this?”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. “Duo, this is too much… Surely...”
By this time I’d figured out that the doctor had mostly just wanted to get a look at me to decide whether Julie was being accurate about me or if she was wandering off into those ‘other realms’ she’d mentioned. Maybe she just wanted to meet a Banshee.
“It’s not, really,” I insisted. “She always liked to be busy and I told her when she was in the jail that she could make things for charity and help to make up for what she did to me.”
She considered that. “That makes sense. You really told her that? And she agreed?”
“Oh yeah. She liked the idea and promised that she’d make stuff. I promised to keep her supplied with yarn and tools. Didn’t she tell you?”
She grinned at me. “No, she did not, but she may have taken it as between the two of you. She’s very protective of her secrets.” She nodded to the bag. “Now what do you have in there? And where did it come from?”
I spent a good twenty minutes explaining ‘other-space’ and the fact of my lineage, and then another fifteen minutes showing her what was in the bag. She was astonished by all of it.
“I don’t think it’ll all fit in her room,” she said slowly.
“Maybe start with the books? Let her figure out which patterns she wants to do and then let her pick out the yarn. I made a lot of assumptions on which yarn she’d like for which project; I hope I guessed right. And if she runs out of something, I can always pick up more. In case she wants to make more than one of a particular pattern.” I felt great now that we were on the subject I was familiar with. Yarn makes me almost as happy as Heero does.
“Is that how it works? For people who knit or crochet? Pattern first, yarn next?”
“Uh… Well, that’s how it should work,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck in some embarrassment. “Most people try to do that, but still end up buying a pretty yarn, just because it’s pretty. Occupational hazard, I guess,” I grinned.
She laughed and ended up snickering. “Well, maybe this way will foster good habits for Julie.”
I grinned and shrugged. “Never worked for me, but I continue to try.”
We began loading the yarn back into the bag with the needles and hooks; the books remained on the desk. About halfway through, she looked at the pile that still remained and the bag.
“Why is that pile still there…?”
“It’s a bottomless bag. I always take it to the yarn shop.”
“Bottomless bag?! Oh, my god! Why have I never heard of these before?!” She lifted the bag. “It doesn’t weigh but a few ounces!” Her amazed look was pretty funny, but I managed not to laugh. It wouldn’t be polite.
“Um… It’s a Wizard thing; not for general public consumption.”
“Oh… Well, damn.” She set the bag back on the floor. “I don’t suppose there’s an ‘As Seen With Wizards’ store anywhere?”
“Sorry. You kind of have to be a Wizard or a Magical Creature to have one.”
“Bummer.”
I snorted, but managed to contain the laughter.
“Well, Duo, this is pretty remarkable of you. Would you like to see Julie for a few minutes?”
Aah, crap. Here I thought I was getting out of it. “Um… I’m not really...” I began, but she was kind enough to stop me.
“It’s all right, Duo; I know you have some issues. I won’t force it.”
Relief flooded me. “Thank you. It’s still a little too close for me to be casual about it,” I explained.
“Maybe you could think about it and let me know? I imagine Julie would like to show you what she’s making.”
Most likely. Yarnies generally do like to show off their projects. I sure do. And there was also the little matter of getting the finished goods to a charity.
“Yeah, that would work. Give me a chance to psych myself up for it.”
“It was good of you to come in today. You have a lovely day, now.”
We shook hands. I may have reciprocated her farewell; I was kind of just glad to be getting out of there and don’t remember.
I found myself approaching Heero’s car and he got out to sweep me into his arms.
“Was it durance vile?”
“Um, no. She didn’t try to psychoanalyze me or make me see Julie, but she was all over my bottomless bag. On balance, not horrible. She did ask me to think about seeing Julie at a later date, and I said I would,” I admitted. He hugged me tight.
“Will you do so?” he asked.
“Yeah. I gotta do it someday, but on my terms. She was nice, not like a doctor.”
“She has a good curriculum vitae. Good schools, good grades and good reports from places she’s worked.”
I leaned back to look at him in astonishment. “You stalked the shrink?!”
“Of course. She wanted to see you alone; she might have been a crazy person.”
I burst out laughing. “You are such an over-protective asshole!”
“Of course. I have you to be over-protective over.”
It took me a few minutes to get my laughter tamped down. Once I did, I slid around him and into the driver’s seat. “I’ll drive, big guy. I’m feeling like some lunch, since I didn’t have much breakfast. Chinese, sushi or Mexican?”
Heero joined me in the passenger seat. “How about Mexican? One of those super size meat burritos.”
“You got it, big guy!”
no subject
Date: 2018-11-25 02:27 am (UTC)Hope your turkey time was great!
no subject
Date: 2018-11-25 08:07 pm (UTC)There are a couple of earlier mentions of Duo's upcoming visit with Julie's shrink, but nothing big. This part takes place the week after getting Ctik and Farq squared away, so the mentions are during the week of getting Ctik's family moved, getting Farq's minder out of the way and Ctik and Farq making their own arrangement.
My turkey day was a victim of a check engine light, so we stayed home and had deli trays. I hate check engine lights. >.<
^___^