Fandom Island Counseling Services and Psychiatry, Wednesday

[sharp_as_knives]

"No, thank you," he told his patient on her way out the door, "I believe I'm fine." She was somehow convinced that as part of a "bachelor household", tuna casserole would be a lovely gift for him.

It was really not the least of her problems. But she would keep him occupied for some time, at least. He smiled and waved as she left.



[Open post! No OCD!]

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[crimson_sister]

Lucille didn't have and appointment for therapy, in fact she wasn't aware that Dr Lecter offered that. Instead she stoped by to apliogize for missing her music classes, which had been due to days of sleeping. She knocked on the door.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled from across the courtyard and closed the door to walk over. "Lucille, hello. I was in my office today. How have you been?"

[crimson_sister]

"I hope I am not interrupting," she said smiling back. "I came to apologize for missing my lesson. I believe I am allowed to blame the island."

She wouldn't have missed her lesson unless there was a good reason.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Apology accepted," he told her. "And you're not interrupting anything; my last patient just left. Would you like to join me for tea?" He gestured to the door.

[crimson_sister]

"I would love to," Lucille replied. "A patient?" She knew he was a doctor, she just hadn't considered it much.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I reopened my practice a few weeks ago," Hannibal said as he opened the door and held it for her. "There are certainly enough people here with enough issues to warrant it."

[crimson_sister]

"I suppose a doctor is always needed," Lucille replied, entering the house. "What are you treating them for?"

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal shrugged as he led the way back to the kitchen. "Anxiety, depression, an assortment of phobias and problems with coping. Fandom tends to have its own variations on the traditional themes."

He smiled as he got down the tea box. "I have a new blend of green and black teas, if you'd like to try it."

[crimson_sister]

"I would love to," Lucille said quickly. She needed a moment to consider her next question.

"Are they... insane?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"Insane?" Hannibal raised an eyebrow. "Not at all. That word has a very specific meaning these days. They are simply people searching for some help in dealing with trauma or day-to-day life."

He started the water boiling and got down the teacups. "Mental health practices have grown quite a bit from their infancy in your time," he continued without judgment. "People may consult a psychiatrist to help them with a specific temporary issue, or to learn coping strategies, or to obtain medication to help balance their brain chemistry, or simply to have a neutral individual to speak with."

[crimson_sister]

"I see," Lucille said, wishing she could take back her previous comment. Hesitating, she added: "You talk to them? Is that most of the treatment?"

She would never have expected Dr Lecter to use some of the more drastic treatments from her time, but it still surprised her.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I listen to them; that's most of it," Hannibal said. "Talking is the next largest part."

[crimson_sister]

"How does it help? How do they get better?"

She had seen women in the asylum who were not mad, and some who were. She hadn't cared much about them, but it had been clear to her that the treatments did not make them better, only subdued them for a while. But perhaps Dr Lecter's patients suffered from other things. The ones she had met had either raved or not spoken at all.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Sometimes they only need someone to listen," Hannibal said. "Sometimes I can suggest solutions to their problems that they hadn't thought of, or get to the root of a problem they weren't aware they had. It's the benefit of a critical but nonjudgmental point of view."

The water boiled, and he poured it over the tea. "And sometimes when people are having problems, they are exacerbated by chemical reactions in the brain, and we have drugs now that can help to counterbalance them."

[crimson_sister]

"The treatment of such illnesses has certainly improved since my time," Lucille replied thoughtfully. "People are not locked away anymore, then?"

She drew in the comforting scent of tea.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Occasionally, if they're felt to be in danger of hurting themselves or other people," Hannibal said. "And sometimes people may choose to lock themselves away, if they feel they need more help than they would receive otherwise."

He came to an (accurate) conclusion, but decided to come at it obliquely. "Did you know somebody who was locked away in your own time?"

[crimson_sister]

Lucille fell silent, glancing out the window. Had she asked about this so that Dr Lecter finally would ask this question? Was she tired of the burden of too many secrets? Perhaps she was weaker than she thought. Still, she wouldn't lie to Dr Lecter.

"Before I came here. After my mother was murdered."

[sharp_as_knives]

"A murder can be a terrible burden for some people," Hannibal said mildly. "Either temporarily or for quite some time. Would you like to tell me what happened?"

[crimson_sister]

She couldn't tell him the whole truth, of course, and for a moment Lucille considered just telling him that she would rather not talk about it, but there it was again, that weakness of wanting to share her secrets with someone.

"My mother was killed in the bath with a meat cleaver through her head," she said. "My brother and I had been confined to the attic nursery."

After their mother had found them in bed together. She had called them monsters and that's what they had become.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded. "That does sound terrible. How did you get out?"

It could have meant many things - how had she snuck out from there to kill her mother, as was clearly the case? How had she and her brother made it out of the attic afterwards? How had she made it out of the asylum later on? Hannibal left it deliberately vague; let Lucille tell the story that she needed to.

[crimson_sister]

Unaware that her secret was no longer a secret, Lucille said: "My brother and I waited in the attic until the servants arrived and let us out.. She paused. "Thomas was quite upset." Not that he hadn't been as keen to get rid of their mother as Lucille, but unlike her he had found the actual deed disturbing.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded. "Death can be upsetting for many people." He paused to pour the tea and set out the milk and sugar. "Are you familiar with the tarot?"

[crimson_sister]

"My brother can sometimes be sensitive," Lucille replied, leaning over her cup to draw in the scent of the tea. "The tarot? They are cards used for divination, aren't they? I don't know much more."

[sharp_as_knives]

"They are," Hannibal agreed. "One card in particular is relevant here - the card that stands for a sudden and often drastic change. It can be good or bad. That card is called Death."

[crimson_sister]

"I had thought most people would consider death a bad thing," Lucille said, looking at Hannibal. She didn't agree with that, and it seemed to her that neither did he.