That boy needs therapy...

[curious_copycat]

Who: Polymnia Terpsichore Aino Perdita Zyanya (curious_copycat) and YOU
What: Polly's mission this month is school psychologist. And she's a telepath... This can't NOT be fun in all sorts of interesting and potentially awkward ways. :-}
When: A random afternoon at any point within this month.
Where: The School (It doesn't specify which levels, so Primary school

Comments

...can't not tag this...

[withoutnobody]

[it had all started with a bad cantaloupe.]

[being away from the islands so long is great for trying new cuisines, but sometimes he just got hungry for the taste of home; this weird thing called "cantaloupe" he's discovered is the closest thing he's found to some of the exotic fruits that grow on Destiny Islands]

[...when he could get it good, anyway]

[problem came when it was bad and the boy's unfamiliarity with it gave him a big ol' too-ripe mouthful]

[he'd spit and spat as he sat in the food court, muttering something he barely thought anyone heard about 'bad fruit'. how was he supposed to know it was an insult to a certain type of alien? and that that alien had super great hearing?]

[a fight broke out almost immediately, before the islander had even gotten time to register what was going on, and was promptly broken up by a Lucky-For-Me-There's-A-Professor-Nearby]

[and so here he is, nursing a bloody nose and a clipped jaw, opening the door to territory he's never even been on, trying to explain to the professor that's ushering him in that he's not even in University]

>:-) Well, hello~

[curious_copycat]

[Polly looks up from her koala, blinking as she recognizes Riku. Instantly she's blushing a decidedly bright red at the memory of their last conversation, but any embarrassment is quickly supplanted by worry, at the sight of the much brighter blood on his face.]

Riku! What happened?

[withoutnobody]

Pol--?!

[he barely gets the name out before he gets smacked in the back of the head by the professor with a rolled-up set of papers, and before the waves of thoughts can come in, he's already mentally cursing the instructor]

[sitting down at the too-cushy seat across from the desk, his attention turns again when the door closes]

["You didn't. Answer. My question. Did you do anything else...?!"]

[...well... she is pretty...]

...Hi again.

[curious_copycat]

[Polly took a breath to reply, but promptly let out a squeak, as the thoughts came through. She hadn't thought it was possible for the blushing to get worse.]

[She had thought wrong.]

H-hi...

[She settled down behind her desk, trying not to think of the party. Trying very very hard shehasajobtodo.]

Are you alright...? Would you like a koala?

[withoutnobody]

[record screech]

[...stares]

Why would I want a koala?

[they aren't edible.]

[curious_copycat]

Because they're warm and fuzzy and comforting. [she replies frankly.]

[Creating an orange, she offers it to him, on the logic that edible things must comfort him better.]

Why are you all beaten up?

[withoutnobody]

...Uhh. Pass.

[whoa wait what where did that orange come from]

[he stares at it a bit hesitantly, reaching out slowly to poke at the skin, confirming that it's real]

[...he's never... seen...]

[trying to focus here]

A misunderstanding.

[bad cantaloupe, a cultural sensitivity, a broken chain of islands]

-- Where did this come from?

[sniffs it...]

[curious_copycat]

I made it, [she says, just as frankly as when she answered the question about koalas.]

[She tiiiilts her head a bit, his thoughts not really supplying much clarification, particularly the last bit.]

Islands...?

[withoutnobody]

[there's an absent sort of blink]

[she made it, but islands??]

[is she crazy?]

[(a wooden raft, a dark cave, palm trees with star-shaped fruits, a waterfall))]

...Uh. Right.

[he peels it (fingers digging into skin, green little leaves, a broken promise -- ThorThorThor, pay attention, idiot)]

Is this your job this month or something?

[(listings, and a decision to not take one this month)]

[curious_copycat]

[She takes the thoughts in, eyes slightly unfocused in the face of the ebb and flow of his consciousness. It takes her a moment to find words on the tide.]

It is... I'm supposed to help people with their problems.

[She tries to bring the present into sharper focus, too-blue eyes fixing on him.]

If you'd rather one of those fruit, I could make one of them instead.

[withoutnobody]

I don't really have a problem, so...

[it's met a bit flinchingly with his own too-pale-too-blue eyes]

[(Sora's eyes, cantaloupe? a too-ripe melting feeling in his mouth -- Paopu? promises, horizon, meteor shower, Namine's cat, Namine, back to meteor shower)]

[I don't have any problems. (liar)]

This is fine...

[curious_copycat]

[Her eyes unfocus again, the tide seeming to flow faster a moment, and then focus again all the sharper at that telltale liar...]

It's not any trouble... If you miss a place or a person. Sometimes it helps to have something that reminds you...

[Creating the star-shaped fruit she'd seen in his memories--Paopu, what a strange name--she holds it out in offering.]

It's alright, really...

[withoutnobody]

[the whole tide of his thoughts wanes out all at once; a dry, barren beach full of nothing, not even shells (like the ones they'd collect as kids during those dangerous low exposures)]

[he stares, blank, aghast, trying to comprehend what's in her hand, what's in front of him, what's...]

[it smells real. it's nostalgic, makes his stomach curl and his chest ache as it draws in tight]

[forever, together forever, together forever, together forever, destiny intertwined]

[withoutnobody]

[it all rushes in at once, like busy neon traffic signs and blurs of high-speed stopgostop lights on a city boardwalk at night: crossings, doors, paths, lightdark, vinesandstone, keyscrownsarmor, starmeteorshowerdrawingpaopu--]

[he slams the brakes, and then there is nothing -- not even the receded, quiet tide]

[static, and white noise]

[(he was the third party in the three-way conversation)]

[someone's been here before, Polly. he's got strict defenses.]

[withoutnobody]

[drawn tight, teeth bared, brows furrowed, he openly scorns the fruit]

I need to go.

[his mind offers no confirmations]

[curious_copycat]

[The tidal wave of thoughts overwhelms her and she drops the fruit, ineffectually clapping her hands over her ears. There was too much of it, too much to understand, aside from the fact that her attempt to do something helpful had backfired horribly.]

[When he shuts her out, it comes as a relief, and she sags back in her chair.]

Thank yo--...

[But she's interrupted by this statement, eyes going wide.]

I'm sorry... It's hard not to hear sometimes... Please, don't go..!