Chris Traeger is a perfect storm of emotions. (waytogo) wrote in the100,
“Oh! I love surprises,” Chris exclaimed, his eyes bright with anticipation. It was a bit of an overstatement, or at least a generalization. He loved surprises when they were good, like dance performances and birthday presents and budget surpluses. Bad surprises, on the other hand, he was… not so great at dealing with. But that was why he had a therapist. A new therapist, who was nothing at all like his beloved Dr. Richard Nygard back home. That had turned out to be a good surprise, once he realized that Dr. Charles Xavier was just as patient, understanding, and skilled at helping him process his emotions. Which was the thing about surprises -- they were unpredictable. To someone like Chris, who wanted his life to be as neat and orderly as possible, that was terrifying. As Dr. Xavier would have put it: he needed to learn to tolerate the discomfort of uncertainty.
"You know what I've always wanted to learn? The Argentine tango. Scent of a Woman came out when I was in graduate school, and I just loved the dance scene in that movie. But my friends usually laugh off the idea of learning how to do it myself. I believe Tom Haverford's exact words were, 'Why don't you go to Impossible school and take some Impossible lessons while you're at it?' He's hilarious." His voice was surprisingly cheerful while recounting the interaction. At least he handled criticism well. He didn't need to be the best at everything, or anything, really, as long as he was doing his best.