Fandom Counseling, Friday

[sharp_man]

Hannibal was expecting a few clients today, so the coffee and tea were ready to go, along with mini cheese scones. And a nice warm room, which meant Beethoven was sleeping on a heat vent, twitching his tail, which Joni was pouncing on.

And in the foyer was another vent with a glittery pink flamingo sitting on it. Shut up, the stupid thing was cold and refused to go any further than the door. Hannibal wasn't going to leave it out in the cold.


Fandom Counseling was open!

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[flamesburned]

Liz was rather embarrassed about everything that had happened yesterday. She was still extremely tired but the sleep she had managed to get to yesterday at the clinic had helped a lot.

She knocked on the door, trying not to feel nervous about her next session with everything that had been happening.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal opened the door and beckoned her in. "Liz, please come in." He scrutinized her closely to see how she was doing today. "Coffee?"

[flamesburned]

"Actually..." she hesitated once she stepped inside, "could I please have a water today?" she figured she should try and reduce her caffeine intake while she was trying to get back to sleeping normally.

[sharp_man]

"Of course." Hannibal poured her a glass of water instead and set it by her chair.

"I understand you were in the clinic yesterday," he said. "Would you like to begin there?"

[flamesburned]

“I … I fainted yesterday,” she revealed after she had sat down and hesitated for a moment, “at ...at work, Prompto took me to the clinic,” she told him.

Well he had carried her to the clinic more like it since she had passed out in his arms.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal nodded. "And what was their diagnosis?"

[flamesburned]

"Exhaustion," she stared down at her hands, "from a lack of sleep," she fidgeted a bit, "I ... I haven't been sleeping well since before Christmas,"

She still felt guilty hearing Prompto's exclamation when she had made that revelation to the nurse yesterday.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal just nodded. "Is it insomnia or nightmares?"

[flamesburned]

“Both,” she said quietly, “I’ve been afraid to sleep … I keep seeing … “ her voice trailed off, "I feel so stupid... he's still alive but ... all I can is that fire," she trembled.

[sharp_man]

"There's no need to feel stupid for being traumatized," Hannibal said. "I can prescribe you something for the anxiety, if you wouldn't be averse. And we can discuss other methods of dealing with stress - behavioral therapy, hypnosis, and a good sleep routine."

[flamesburned]

“No, I wouldn’t be adverse,,” Liz said, shaking her head, “I …” she hesitated, “when I sleep …if I dream of fire … it can cause my powers to manifest without meaning to,” she said softly, “I … “ her voice trailed off, “after the last fire ...I don't ... I'm scared of it happening again ... of hurting more people,"

[sharp_man]

"Based on prior experience, that would seem to be a valid fear," Hannibal acknowledged. "Let's see what we can do to lessen the likelihood." He picked up his tablet. "First, I'm going to prescribe you medication that works for depression and anxiety. Once a day, long term - it won't work immediately, but I'm hopeful it will help. I will also give you a prescription to take as needed for extreme anxiety; it's more of a sedative, and I trust I don't need to warn you to be careful of becoming dependent on it."

He typed up the prescriptions. "Shall I send them to the local clinic, or would you prefer something on the mainland?"

[flamesburned]

Liz listened to his instructions, with the medication,nodding as he explained what she had to do.

“I think it might be easier if they’re sent to the clinic,” she told him.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal nodded and sent them off there.

"So, tell me about the last few weeks."

[flamesburned]

“I…” she hesitated as she tried to even think of how to begin, “I …they’ve been hard,” she finally said, “especially …I know what happened in the time loop …it didn’t end up being real but being arrested for the fire ..after Travis …it reminded me of what happened after Pittsburg,”

[sharp_man]

"And have you spoken to Travis since?" Hannibal asked.

[flamesburned]

Liz nodded, “I …I spoke to him at the New Years party,” she said quietly.

[sharp_man]

"How did that go?" Hannibal asked. "Did it help at all?"

[flamesburned]

“I think so…it was kind of weird,” Liz admitted, “I’m not used to there being survivors …well, survivors who aren’t fire proof,” she clarified since that was the only reason Hellboy had survived Pittsburg after all. “He was really nice about it actually…he invited me to go round to the fire station to learn about fire safety, to try and be more prepared,”

[sharp_man]

"Very sensible of him," Hannibal said approvingly. "You will be taking him up on it, I hope."

[flamesburned]

“I …yes I think so, I mean I told him I’d stop by,” Liz nodded after a brief hestation, “I suppose I can’t avoid the fire station for ever, especially on an island this small,” she added.

[sharp_man]

"You might be able to, but it would be difficult and inadvisable," Hannibal said. "Learning fire safety would be practical, and it might also help with anxiety. If you have something to concentrate on, to work at, if an incident occurs, you are likely to feel less helpless."

[flamesburned]

Liz nodded, "I guess there’s a part of me that’s still scared to go back … I … I keep seeing that fire …the destruction I did, that that could have been permanent if there wasn’t a time loop,” she admitted. “but I made the choice to come back though, when I returned after Christmas … I know it’s something that I need to work towards, to not be scared of my own mind,” she paused, "fire safety was never something that was taught as part of my training, the focus was on trying to contain and control my powers so I wouldn't have episodes but after these last several months ... since Pittsburg, I don't want to keep feeling like this ... I know that much,"

[sharp_man]

Hannibal frowned faintly at hearing that she hadn't been trained in fire safety. "Learning control is important, but your knowledge shouldn't stop there. We know that your anxiety can help to trigger an episode. Learning ways to deal with and ameliorate the effects should help somewhat with the anxiety. You'll feel more in control if you have more control over every aspect of your power."

He steepled his fingers on his knee. "Have you done much to learn about the physics of fire? How it behaves, what feeds or starves it?"

[flamesburned]

“I …” Liz hesitated, “no, I was never taught any theory … I didn’t … I … never thought about that aspect of the fire,” she hesitated, “it ..." her voice trailed off as she stared down at her hands, "the ...my local church, told me when I was a child that my powers were because I'd sinned and I needed to pray them away, I ... that always scared me off learning more about my powers," she admitted.

[sharp_man]

"And do you still believe that?" Hannibal asked.

[flamesburned]

“I …” Liz started and then stopped again “I …sometimes think I must have done something ..to upset God somehow and this is my punishment, that why else would I have been given these powers?” there was a lengthy pause and then, very quietly she went on, “I …I still practice my faith,” she admitted, “even though sometimes it’s hard to reconcile the two,”

[sharp_man]

"Do you think that everybody with these powers is an evil person?" Hannibal asked. "That a good number of the people here in Fandom deserve punishment?"


[Sorry, I keep losing things in my Inbox! We can keep going or pick this up in the next session if you'd rather.]

[flamesburned]

"No," Liz said quietly as she stared down at her hands, fidgeting slightly, "I just ... with everything I've done with them, I guess I'm afraid that what my parents and the local priests told me all those years ago ... that I'm as sinful as they said I was,"

{that's all good, I don't mind either way - whichever is easier for you :)]

[sharp_man]

Hannibal raised an eyebrow. "If I recall correctly, God is more likely to set things on fire than any sinner is. Surely that makes you more purely in his image than theirs."

[flamesburned]

Liz was quiet as she contemplated for a few moments and then nodded, “I … I guess, I never looked at it that way,” she said softly, “it … I’m just …most people just … well judge me, I’ve been told quite a few times that I’m damned and going to hell … it was especially bad after Pittsburg,”