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 Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:35 pm
This was getting rather out of hand. Uuni could understand disliking someone, maybe even absolutely hating someone. She could even understand Avery giving her a black eye over Kess. But not whatever the hell it was she did.
The accusations were alright. She could understand a little mental fun once and a while, but after the strange dreams and all the funny sensations running through her head? Something was off. It wasn't ferris; she knew what that felt like. It was some, crazy, foreign drug that she presumably didn't know about.
It had taken her approximately half a candlemark to get her wits about her and stalk down the Weyr halls. Another candlemark later before she actually located the mindhealers room.
In a display of utter rudeness, or just desperation, she poked her head inside and said, "Hey, you're the mindhealer, right?"
Without asking for an affirmation, she looked over her shoulder and slipped inside. "I think I need your help." Then she paused and rephrased. "I really need your help."
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:04 pm
People barging in wasn't anything new to Roka. The only real time she was taken by surprise was when someone presented themselves in a polite way, then spoke to her like a calm, rational person. That'd be the day. But not this day, Roka fussed internally. It was going to be another walk-in session. Assuming things about a patient was a lapse in judgment she prided herself in not making. Until Uuni walked in and her first thought was: Another wanna-be rider wailing about the hatchlings.
None of this was written on her face. None of it was put on display at all. The way she looked, the way she moved, how she spoke to Uuni suggested only the most gentle of people, concerned with nothing more than her welfare. It wasn't like Roka was two-faced. She did care about her patients. Just maybe not as much as they thought she did.
"I'm a mindhealer," she confirmed calmly. Calling her 'the' mindhealer made her heart flutter, she'd admit. Her reputation was really spreading. The woman was pleased, but not so arrogant to call herself 'the' mindhealer. Yet.
I really need your help?
Now, that was new.
"Alright, just relax and tell me what the problem is." Roka discarded the paper she'd been holding onto the desk and took a seat in her favored chair, across from a much wider piece of furniture. Her hand took a voyage from one side to the other, motioning the couch as if to say 'sit, it's alright!'.
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:21 pm
Uuni hadn't really expected to be turned away, but she was surprised all the same when the woman's voice remained calm.
She looked towards her and the couch as if uncertain. That wasn't the kind of help. . . Then it registered.
As if it were the easiest thing in the world, Uuni flopped herself down, crossed one leg over the other and regarded the mindhealer with a quiet air for a moment. Faranth, she was hot. Roka, that was; not the weather.
"There's this girl," she finally began and then stopped again. "I think she's jealous of me hanging around with this girl that's her lover, friend, old girlfriend I don't even know, but it's gotten creepy." She dropped her voice a bit and her brows furrowed tighter together.
"I normally can take a jealous girlfriend, but she's been acting strange and last night I had a dream about her. This morning? I ran into her out by the lake. How weird is that? And she was doing all these funny things. Again, I can tolerate weird, but everything she did felt wrong, but they were addicting. Does that sound like any drug you know?" Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and leaned back farther into that long, comfortable piece of furniture.
"She's absolutely batshit insane."
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:55 pm
This wasn't where Roka's roots were, this Weyr. She'd done studies before coming here. One of them had suggested crossing your legs could be absently taken as a sign of aggression or the opposite; submission. This was an annoying find because she was guilty of doing it. A lot. She had to remind herself to avoid that bad habit, all the while listening to Uuni as if she had her full attention.
Roka could multi-task without a problem, so none of the words had flown over her head even after she spent two minutes wondering why the population of same sex couples was higher here than she remembered back home. They were crazy about it, too. The women at least.
"What do you mean by 'funny things'?" Roka prodded thoughtfully. There was a personable air around her when she asked, like one friend talking to another. Before Uuni could answer she tacked on something else. Something she hoped would settle the other woman a bit. "I'm sure you're not drugged. You just seem worked up. Did she give you something and suggest it would harm you somehow? The power of the mind is a strong one."
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:12 pm
Had Uuni paid attention to 'relationships', she might have noticed a similar thing. Instead, she just took it as her being right about the fact that everyone was a dirty, sex-driven person underneath what facade they put up for themselves.
Funny things, though, funny things. . . Ugh! What was with people interrupting her train of thought?
"No. No suggestions, no threats. Nothing like that. I'm used to that sort of thing. They'll give you a glance, or their shoulders will tense and you know not to eat or drink anything they offer you." She was certainly worked up, however. It was clear in the tone of her voice and how she uncrossed and recrossed her legs the other direction.
There was silence again as her eyes wandered. It was lucky that Roka was so pretty; thinking about all sorts of (un)pleasant things allowed her to take a deep breath and finally make her voice calm.
"It was what she did. Completely normal things, in theory. Running her fingers through my hair, complimenting my smell. I would have thought she was just hitting on me, considering my reputation, but it was like she was pressing buttons on purpose. And she said things I thought I wanted to hear, but when they were spoken, I didn't. They were off. I can't explain it. All I know was that it felt wrong, but I didn't want her to stop. Like you feel when you're under a drug and fighting with the lust half and the sane half."
And now she was getting worked back up again, so she added, "Hey, are you doing anything later?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:39 pm
Wasn't this a day for surprises.
Roka furrowed her brows at the question, and quickly tried to pass it off as a look of musings from things Uuni had said prior. She did a good job of this. What her mind said was, 'Yes, and it's not you.' What her mouth said was different, much more mild. Absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.
There wasn't any way to not isolate her by answering that, and Roka could tell by her twitching and squirming it had been more of a knee jerk reaction--and probably a bit of shallowness--that had prompted the question, not a genuine interest. Not that it mattered. Her intentions were certainly not hook ups and booty calls. Kids these days.
Didn't need to ask about her reputation after that little outburst. "For starters, I assume it felt wrong because she's expressed enough interest in this friend of yours for you to be aware of it. By trying to woo you she may have made you feel disloyal to your friend." Roka considered other possibilities. It didn't take her long. Her mind was always fast, sharp. "Or it could be you misread her intentions, since you don't seem especially clear on what exactly her status with your friend is, and the truth is she's interested in you. It's possible since you aren't used to it, you just felt panicked out of your element. Change isn't something a lot of people are comfortable with."
At least this was a change of pace from dead babies. She'd take a case of 'my parents don't understand me!' over any more of those this week. "Tell me about this dream you mentioned. If you don't want to go into detail just tell me what kind of dream it was."
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:52 pm
She was a little deaf, wasn't she? But wait, what?
Hang on there. There was something in what Roka was saying. Interested in her? No. They loathed each other. She and Avery had made it quite clear the night before.
Skipping over the 'tell me about the dream', because, no, she didn't want to talk about it - it hadn't been erotic, it hadn't been pleasant, and it wasn't a normal dream for her to have, and she'd rather forget about it - she went on to a much different subject.
"She mentioned something about traumatic experiences and people forgetting lovers. You don't think. Oh, Faranth, you don't think she's trying to make me fall in love with her, do you?" It made so much sense now! And. . . it was slightly disturbing. What was she going to do about that?
"She's even crazier than I thought." But, still, it didn't make sense in some regard. She'd had people be affectionate before. They were easy to shrug off; she knew the telltale signs of crushes. She was going to have to smash Kess down quite shortly before she started to think they were anything more than friends.
"I'm going to have to think about this," she eventually decided. The panicked tone had gone completey from her voice and her legs uncrossed.
One hand slipping along the edge of the couch, she looked back over at Roka. "You probably get this all the time, but thanks. I. . . might be back later."
Apparently, she'd determined the session closed, because she moved off towards the door. She would have left, but she looked back over to add. "I'm serious about the what are you doing later. I kind of want to know what you're like underneath this extra-nice surface. No one's that nice to me first meeting and without other intentions." Well, Kess was. She'd seemed generally interested, which was why they were just staying friends. "It'll be totally platonic, really."
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 5:06 pm
People liked advice but didn't like being told what to do. Meaning, more than once a patient had come for her seeking help, started rambling to themselves and become convinced they'd figured out their own problem. They never really did. This was one such time, and the outcome would be no different. History repeated itself time and again in her line of work.
"I'm this nice to you without other intentions," Roka assured her, and boy did it ever sound honest. Probably because she wasn't lying. The drive to do this hadn't been a drive to help, but to understand, that was true. One could accuse this of being an 'other intention'. But the fact was if Roka had slammed the door on Uuni's face she'd still have more than enough to study for the next month. Maybe two. This past hatching was keeping her in business you might say.
"By coming in this room I'm asking you to trust me, you understand that I'm sure." That personable feeling had become one of seriousness, though not in an intimidating sense. Just... no nonsense. "How could I honestly expect someone to if I wasn't honest with you? I'm not here to judge you, or anyone. You're welcomed here at any time, for any reason, if you need to talk about anything. And I won't judge you at any point, nor will I tell anyone anything you say here. These aren't things someone being dishonest would promise you."
It was then Roka stood and walked across the room, back to her desk. Somewhere between here and there she reasoned maybe Uuni just wanted a friend. Did she have many?
"I'll take you up on that in a sevenday or so. We have a lot of dragon fanatics in and out of here lately." She felt no point in saying why.
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 5:12 pm
Uuni couldn't help it, she flat out laughed. "Mindhealer?" she asked, because she hadn't thought about getting a name. Or she didn't remember. One or the other. "I don't care. Judge me. Everyone does. I kind of like it. Spread rumors, be dishonest, I don't care. I'm used to it. Just don't ask me to trust you. You'll make a mistake. Everyone does, and I'd rather not be let down."
So, the easy way? Don't trust her. Unlike some people might have thought, it was a good thing. It was her method of coping, and so far it had worked really well. Until crazy Avery had shown up.
"See you in a sevenday, then, mindhealer!" With that, she was out the door and gone, a perpetual smile on her face.
She kind of liked this Roka. She was uptight and down to business. Also known as exactly the kind of person Uuni loved to drag around on spontaneous, scary trips. Vaguely, she wondered if Roka was afraid of heights. Or maybe tunnelsnakes? She'd be sure to find out.
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