Veronica Smyth (n_o_social) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-10-08 19:47:00 |
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Current location: | Roni's Office |
Current mood: | calm |
Entry tags: | kayla barnes, place: la, veronica smyth |
Shrink Visit
Who: Kayla and Roni
Where: Roni's Office
When: Monday Afternoon, 10/4
Roni sat with a notepad on her desk, writing up a few last notes from her last appointment. It was a girl that was coping with her newest ability to read minds. She wasn't too thrilled with it, obviously, mainly because now she knew that the boy she had a crush on only thought of her as a 'friend' and it was driving her up the wall. Of course, being unable to tune the voices out seemed to slowly be grating on her nerves as well. Roni had recommended that she talk to a fellow mind reader that she knew for some tips about learning to concentrate and keep the voices out of her head. Hopefully that would help her out.
Now she was waiting on her next appointment: a girl named Kayla Barnes. She was a Slayer who, after a real brush with death, had taken a violent turn. While some of her worst tendences were starting to be reigned in, there was still plenty of need to get the girl some general counseling.
Kayla was remarkably a few minutes early for her appointment, having taken the bus from school to Roni's office (since yes, she still had school - wasn't that wonderful?), and was currently sitting in the waiting room, dressed in ripped, faded denim jeans and a white tank-top and going through the notes for her last class, tapping her foot irritably.
After a few moments, the secretary motioned for her to go inside. Roni herself was sitting behind a desk, and there was both a couch for her to lay on and a couple of different chairs for her to sit in. "Come in and have a seat, Kayla," Roni said.
"Thanks," Kayla murmured as she stepped inside, stuffing her homework into her backpack as she did so. She closed the door and took a seat opposite Roni's desk, setting her bag down by her feet. "Hi."
Roni smiled. "Hello," she said back to the girl. "Why don't we start off with why you set up an appointment today?" Seemed like a good way to start.
Kayla sighed and drew one leg up to her chest, hugging it. "I guess because I've been overly aggressive lately and my Watcher's worried..."
"It's a behavior that's not terribly uncommon in Slayers," Roni said with a slight nod, taking a note. "When did you notice first start to notice this behavior?"
Kayla clenched her jaw and looked away. "After I was hurt. I was in a coma for a while. ...Bad head injury, obviously."
Roni couldn't help but note the girl's reaction. "You were in a coma?" she asked. "Have you thought that your recent violent tendencies may be because of a head injury? They can cause drastic changes in personality." It was just an idea, and one that could be explored.
"It... seems likely," Kayla murmured. The doctor had prescribed her mood stabilizers, but she never took them. "I always used to have trouble with my moods, though. This is just... Magnified."
One thing that Roni may do was prescribe medication for her as well, but she would have to take them for them to do any good. "I can only imagine how much they may be magnified," Roni said to her. "But you've always had troubles with your moods? Has this just been since your teens, or for as long as you can remember?"
Kayla nibbled on her lip thoughtfully, before saying: "For as long as I can remember, I think." Well now, wasn't that a depressing thing to realize?
Roni seemed to sense her unease with it. "There are plenty of people who have experienced the same thing," Roni told her. "It's actually something that's quite common."
"It's just... not something I've ever really talked about. Not even with my ex." And Deanna had been so patient with her, too. She sighed.
"If you keep problems like this from a significant other, then it can create problems in the relationship," Roni said to her. "I know it can be difficult to tell your situation to another person, but it's for he best."
"Yeah, I guess," Kayla murmured, before getting up from her seat and walking around the office. "I was always good with the other stuff, though. Y'know, comforting and surprises and... stuff."
"Talking about what can make us less than perfect can be challenging," Roni said. She watched the other girl pace for a moment. "It's something that we must do, though."
"I know," Kayla murmured, pursing her lips together, before picking up a frame from one of Roni's shelves. "Sorry. I don't mean to clam up on you, I just... Don't know how to do this."
Roni watched as she picked up the picture of her and her twin brother from last Christmas. "I know it can be hard to open up," she said to Kayla. "We can move on to a more pleasant subject if you'd like."
"Please? Anything else," Kayla replied with an almost heartbreaking tone. She traced her thumb along the photo frame and put it back carefully.
Roni nodded. "Why don't you pick out something for us to talk about next then?" she offered.
Kayla leaned against one of the patients chairs and pondered on that for the moment. "I'm, uh, seeing someone else now." Gabriel had said that Roni knew all about the supernatural, so she knew that she could be honest here. "My... Watcher. He wants to tell people, but... what if it affects his job? I don't want him to lose it."
"A relationship can be healthy," Roni said, thinking to the blond haired older man who had talked to her about Kayla a tad. Well, turns out he had a whole different reason to care about her, huh? Very interesting. "If he's willing to take the risk toward losing his job, it shows that he really cares about you," Roni said. "My knowledge on Watchers and Slayers isn't as strong as some other things, but times have definitely changed. Plus, to look at it from a logical stand point, I'm not sure that they can spare him enough to fire him as your Watcher." She did know that they were a bit...short staffed.
"Well, that makes me feel a little better. I just... worried that if we told people and it didn't work out... that he wouldn't have anything. He's a bit of a hermit," she added with a chuckle.
"Well, you can't hide a relationship forever," Roni pointed out to her. "That can lead to him thinking that maybe the relationship isn't of value." She looked toward Kayla. "I'm not saying that's how it is, but I'm saying that it can look like that if you keep it a secret for too long when one party is willing to possibly sacrifice a job for revealing it." She made a note in her notebook. "As far as being a hermit is concerned, you can always take him out a little."
Kayla nodded thoughtfully. Honestly, this was the most she'd talked to anyone other than Gabriel for weeks. "It's my friends birthday this week, I could ask him to that," she murmured, more to herself then to Roni.
Roni happened to hear her, though. "That would be an excellent way to debut, actually," she said to Kayla. Roni could tell that Kayla was a lot more comfortable talking about her new relationship than some of her past problems. Maybe this relationship would be good for her.
Kayla smiled then, "I'll have to ask him about it later." She finally sat down again, feeling a little less anxious now. "I, uh... Maybe when I'm used to the concept of coming here I'll be able to talk more."
"That's the case a lot, actually," Roni said to her in an effort to try and put her at ease. "Not just anyone can come in here and open up all of their problems right away. That's actually quite rare."
"I bet my cousin Maddie could... Of course, what comes OUT of her mouth would make nuns gasp in horror," Kayla smirked. "But thanks. That helps."
That actually made Roni smile. "Well, some people have no problem," she said. "Those people don't usually need a shrink, though." One thing you learned from a shrink is an ability to open up about your problems.
"Ooooh, I think she does," Kayla joked. "I think I'll get there one day. The whole talking-and-being happy. Or, I hope to. Which was more than I thought a month ago, which is something, right?"
"It's definitely a start," Roni said with a nod.