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Post by somerandomhippie3 on Oct 3, 2010 11:37:04 GMT -5
With a happy sigh, Julia unpacked her miniature kettle and set it on top of her filing cabinet. Finally, after a week, her office was starting to look a little more like home. After the Venia had gone and helped with the forest fires over in Franklin, they'd finally gotten the chance to pick her up. Of course, she'd try to scale down on her packing, but she wouldn't do with a bland office. It would be so intimidating.
"What do you think, Ni?" she asked her cat. Nicaule simply blinked up at her blearily, and went back to sleep on top of her coat. She smiled. And some people thought cats were opinionated. She sat down in her chair, making sure not to run into Ni under her desk, and looked around. What a wonder a little redecorating could do. A few pictures, a potted plant, and a splash of paint later, and everything was feeling much more relaxed. Much better then it had been during her initial psych tests.
She had just set the kettle on when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in!" she called cheerily. Finally, the chance to meet someone new.
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Post by m on Oct 3, 2010 11:44:01 GMT -5
The knock on the door was from none other than the Captain. He felt like a little kid on the first day of school. He'd never seen a shrink before. As far as he knew they were old men with funny accents. He was not at all prepared for who he saw behind the door with the sign that stated "Dr. Julia Elkins".
Poking his head inside, he cleared his voice. "Dr. Elkins? I'm Captain Clarke." He put his hands behind his back, avoiding the awkward handshake that most expected from the Captain of a ship to a guest. "I hope you're finding everything comfortable..."
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Post by somerandomhippie3 on Oct 3, 2010 14:41:40 GMT -5
Julia didn't expect it to be the Captain who walked inside. Sure, he was supposed to see to everyone on the ship, but she didn't think he'd be making a personal visit. She blinked, but hid her surprise with a smile. "Hello, Captain! Nice to meet you!" He didn't extend for a handshake, so she didn't ask for one. Politeness and all.
She got up, and walked over to the door. "Oh, yes, everything's lovely," she insisted. "It's quite cozy, really. Nice and homey. I'm enjoying it, anyways." She stepped back, gesturing inside. "Come in?"
Pulling open a nice, comfy chair for him as she passed, she walked over to her now-whistling kettle. "Cup of hot chocolate?" she asked. "I was just about to make myself some." Taking a little tin out of her filing cabinet, she put a little chocolate in two mugs and stirred them up. "So, did you just come in to check on me, or would you like to chat?" she asked, looking back over her shoulder.
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Post by m on Oct 3, 2010 15:24:13 GMT -5
Mike stepped inside and cleared his throat. He looked around before withdrawing his hands from his back. There was another reason why he hid them. They were turning rather raw and red from how many times he scrubbed them during the day.
"Thank you." He said with a nod, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a couple of wipes. He wiped the chair down quickly, tossed the wipes into the incinerator and sat.
He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I've had it suggested to me that I should see you... not only by some I work with but also by my superiors... I don't know if they've said anything to you?"
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Post by somerandomhippie3 on Oct 3, 2010 15:41:47 GMT -5
Julia tried not to watch too conspicuously as the Captain wiped the chair down. She'd read his file from an earlier psych test that'd been done, and the man seemed to be more anxious that she had imagined. Poor thing.
Bringing the two mugs over, she sat down and shook her head. "No, but I have read your psych file, along with everyone else's. It's always kind of weird, getting to know someone before you actually meet them." She stretched her legs out under her desk, taking off a heel and petting Ni with a foot. She started purring. "Though I'm glad you came. It takes a lot of guts to come see us shrinks. We can be kind of intimidating." She smiled. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about us specifically?"
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Post by m on Oct 3, 2010 15:52:29 GMT -5
Mike eyes the cup but left it where it was for a moment. He leaned back into the chair and folded his hands together. He hadn't felt so uncomfortable in an office since he was a kid and ended up in the principals office.
"Er... well. I mostly just wanted to see how you were settling in. I don't have much to talk about really. It just seems that i've gotten slightly more... manic in my desire to have cleanliness than I used to."
He grabbed out another wipe form his pocket and started to clean off the cup. He lifted it up off the desk and scrubbed the spot under it then before pausing and looking at the doctor, realizing he might have insulted her by second guessing the cleanliness of her hands.
"Sorry."
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Post by somerandomhippie3 on Oct 3, 2010 21:12:33 GMT -5
Julia smiled reassuringly. Oh, poor man, he looked so tense, wringing his hands in his lap. He obviously wasn't very comfortable just sitting here chatting. She tried not to be too scary- that was one of the reasons she had decorated her office like it was- but some people just couldn't help it. Usually because they were nervous about something.
Some part of her wryly smiled when he confessed to his obsession with cleanliness. That's why he was sitting there so frightened. Stuffing her wry smile away, she replaced it with her calm one. "Oh? When did this start? It's okay if you don't know exactly, just talk. That's what I'm here for, after all."
She didn't raise a brow as he proceeded to scrub down her desk. "Not a problem," she soothed. "At least the hot chocolate is boiling water. You should have no problems there." She sat back, itching the base of Ni's tail with her foot. She rolled into the desk. "But please, continue."
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Post by m on Oct 4, 2010 11:57:23 GMT -5
Mike tasted the hot chocolate. It really was very good and definitely hot enough to have been boiled. He had to force himself to drink things made for him by others normally but on this occasion he managed. He looked at her over the mug, his eyes somewhat large as he thought about what he could say. Acting like he didn't have a reason for being there was like the elephant in the room. Deep down he knew he had a problem that seemed to be getting worse and worse. But he didn't seem to think it was as big a deal as others did.
"Well um. I guess i've always liked things clean and neat. My mother was rather insistent on it when I was a kid. She made us wash out hands before and after eating and after coming home from school. So it was just normal for me. My ex-wife used to tease me about it but it wasn't a big deal. I don't know. I guess it's started to get worse since my wife left me. I don't know how that could have anything to do with it though."
He frowned at the thought, looking away to think for a moment. He sat the mug down carefully in the same spot he'd wiped clean. Remembering how she looked when he walked in and she was sitting at the kitchen table with those papers in front of him always made him frown. He'd been on the phone with her only moments before that to tell her she was on her way and she sounded bright and cheery. Nothing at all tipped him off to the fact that everything he loved he was about to loose...
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Post by somerandomhippie3 on Oct 4, 2010 21:06:32 GMT -5
Julia sat back and listened, cradling her mug in her hands. Listening was something she was very good at-- her skills with that almost made up for her horrid public speaking. Studying him as he blinked over his hot chocolate, it was easy to see he was lost for words. She did the same thing all the time.
Raising her brows and nodding, thoughts ran about Julia's head. His wife had left him? Those types of things never came up on psych tests, which had always exasperated her. Often, relationships changed someone's personality quite a bit, depending on how they went about it. Patting Ni on the head thoughtfully, she set her mug down.
"Actually, that might have quite a bit to do with it," she suggested slowly. Now she was treading dangerous waters, emotion-wise. "Often, when people are... hurt from experiences like that, they lean back on little habits like that to help steady themselves. Unless the break-up was smooth, in which case it might be something else." She locked a gaze with him, hoping he would keep talking. She really didn't want to have to pry anything from him, especially if he didn't want to. She took a sip and waited.
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Post by m on Oct 5, 2010 18:04:11 GMT -5
Mike studied her as she spoke and her eyes locked on his making him look surprised before he glanced away almost shamefully. He nodded slowly, knowing of such things from schooling but never really thinking of himself as having a subconcious issue.
"Well it definately was something I didn't suspect. I don't know. I guess I should have seen it coming. We met in space you see, and when she told me she wanted to stay on earth while Sandy was little, Sandy, she's my nine year old daughter," As he explained his expression turned prideful and he smiled at the thought. Sandy was his pride and joy. The one person he missed more than any other.
"But then, even after she was well past five she said she didn't want to return to life on a ship. I guess now I can see how she'd been drawing away from me but... I didn't see it then." He lowered his gaze again in thought, feeling the slight heartbreak.
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Post by somerandomhippie3 on Oct 5, 2010 18:45:43 GMT -5
When the Captain glanced away nervously, Julia dutifully lowered her own eyes to her mug, swirling the hot chocolate around absent-mindedly. Some people just didn't like eye contact. She always tried to do it when she spoke to someone, but more often than not, it made them edgy. She was used to not having it, though she half-wished it was otherwise.
She smiled as he commented on his daughter, his face lighting up a little more now. She'd always loved kids, and she couldn't understand why some people hated them. There was something so innocent about them that made her heart glow. Obviously, the Captain loved his daughter very much.
"You miss her," Julia paraphrased when he was done talking. "I suppose being able to lean on your love for her has helped you, now that you're growing apart, your anxiety is kicking in again. Does that sound reasonable?" She waited for his reaction.
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Post by m on Oct 5, 2010 23:38:24 GMT -5
Mike nodded slowly, considering this. "So you're saying because I can feel myself missing and growing further away from my daughter it's making my OCD get worse?" He raised his eyebrows, looking up again to the doctor. There was silent ask for help from him in his expression. He knew there was something wrong, and he wanted to remain the captain of the Venia. If things got worse and worse perhaps he'd loose that too and have nothing in his life.
He slouched a little (a stance he hardly took) and folded his hands in his lap. If this was going to work he might as well tell her everything.
"My wife left me for a man named Steven. Sandy calls him daddy now. I know it's probably best for her but... I can't help but hate him for it."
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Post by somerandomhippie3 on Oct 6, 2010 21:29:17 GMT -5
Julia nodded slowly. "A little," she explained, meeting his pleading gaze with a thoughtful expression. "I think perhaps, if this doesn't sound too far-fetched, that maybe you're just a little lonely." She was taking a wild stab in the dark with this, but at least if she was wrong, she knew she was wrong. "Without having family and such to anchor you, maybe you're retreating back to your OCD now that you don't have anyone to ground you." She spun her hot chocolate around her mug again. She was lucky enough to have a doting family and dependent cat. Some people just didn't.
Her gaze softened as he curled in on himself, and explained a little deeper. She couldn't help but feel sympathetic. "I'm sorry," she said softly, letting her gaze melt slighty. "I wish I could empathize, and make you feel better, but I'm afraid I can only be sympathetic." It hurt a little, to have to admit that. "She just need stability, I guess. Kind of like you, I'm assuming." She looked down again, biting her lip. This was the chief reason she hadn't been a counsellor-- she hated seeing people upset. It made her much too upset herself, and did nothing for the situation. She forced herself to smooth her features out, and place a reassuring smile in it's place.
"Well, there's really no fast solution for this," she sighed. "Still, if you want to get control over it, there's some rather simple stuff you can do." She smiled back up at him again, keeping her foot on Ni's back for comfort. "The only real trick is to want to do something about it, which I think will be fine with you." He didn't seem to be denying it, or down-playing it, which looked promising.
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Post by m on Oct 7, 2010 9:29:47 GMT -5
Mike started to wring his hands at this, feeling even more uncomfortable. He didn't think it was such a big deal but apparently everyone around him did. It wasn't just the fact that corrisondance from UGAP had told him he had to, Hollie and several others on the ship had mentioned he might need to see someone about this. He felt bad that he was making people feel uncomfortable.
As she said she there was no fast solution he nodded slowly. "Okay." He said, "What kind of stuff do I need to do?"
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Post by somerandomhippie3 on Oct 7, 2010 18:35:58 GMT -5
Julia felt so sorry for the man, wringing his hands as he sat across from her. He looked nervous beyond compare. "It's not like it's a horrible thing," she said soothingly, hoping to make him feel better. "You've obviously learned to live with it. Still, though, I'm sure it'll feel nice to be back and balanced again." She pointed at his mug. "Your hot chocolate is getting cold, by the way. You don't have to drink it if you don't want it, but if you do, now's the time." She took a sip of her own.
Sitting back, she set her mug down. "Well, I guess the simplest way to do it is just do something," she said a little stiltedly. It was hard to explain without ranting on like her psychology professor. Dear little man, but he loved to talk. "Just find something you love to do, or someone you enjoy talking to. Try and find a center of focus, per say, so that it becomes what you want to think about, instead of what your OCD wants you to focus on. It sounds like your case isn't as bad as others, so that itself might keep it under control. If not, there's always other things you can do, but that's the best thing to start with." Being on this ship was the biggest problem she could foresee. It was a limited amount of space, which meant a limited amount of things to do. Less to take his mind off.
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