Freud would not be proud [Closed to Howard and Kais]

[lillylivered]

While he'd wandered the city, Mark hadn't found his apartment or the building he worked at. In fact, he didn't find anything he recognized. But he did find a nice house that was only partly demolished. And inside was nice, comfortable furniture. No black leather couches but that was probably for the best.

Mark quickly moved a chair opposite one of the couches and took a seat. He took out his omnicomm and tried typing a few notes to himself as practice. Then he tried lying down in said couch and looked around. He could see the faded pastel colors of the wallpaper, a nice fireplace on the other side of the room. There weren't any paintings let alone upbeat posters promoting diversity, unity, or asking people to get tested for lycanthropy. Oh well, you couldn't have everything.

Mark got up, sent a message to his first patients letting them know when and where to meet him, and walked outside of the house. He took several deep breaths.

"O.K. Mark, there's no need to worry. You're on a living space ship full of people you've never met. How bad can it be?"

Comments

[lillylivered]

Mark remained seated. "I'm not saying it will be easy. But if you don't confront your fears you'll always have to deal with these panic attacks. The fact that you're here right now shows that you don't want that.

"That said, judging by your response, medication might be a good thing."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard's jaw drops. "You're not serious. Tell me you're not serious. Tell me you don't think I need to be drugged out of this."

[lillylivered]

Mark made a mental note to discuss how patients feel about drugs before mentioning them.

"I'm not saying you need to be- just that it's an option. Now, I understand you must be feeling angry. That's a common reaction but we have to work past that so..." He gestured to the couch. "Why don't you take a seat and we'll talk about it when you're ready."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard's eyes narrow. He does not want to get on that couch. God only knows if Mark's going to call him crazy now, after this small bit of information, Mark will want him getting a lobotomy or something if he knows the whole story. "And what if I say 'no way' and 'fuck you'?"

[lillylivered]

"Then I'd say you're using hostility as a defense mechanism so you can avoid dealing with your emotions." Mark said cautiously. To say this was not going well would be an understatement.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

If looks could kill, Mark would be in a body bag by now.

Howard gets up, lifts a certain finger in Mark's direction, walks out the door and slams it, resolving never again to see a therapist, especially a therapist who happens to be right.