Need of Some Advice

[Richard Buckles]

Richard had more than a little to mull over with this situation with Petra. He wasn't sure what to do about her husband and the whole unhealthiness of the situation. At first he thought with some prodding she would wake up to realize how terrible he was. But no it just pushed her from Richard and more into the arms of Max, like somehow being told no don't do that made her want to more. She was a stubborn and bothersome person now that just clung to her marriage harder.

He never understood women who stayed with abusive men. Just did not make any sense to him in the least. Maybe if he talked to the school counselor it would help him understand the situation better also maybe come to a solution. But he was wondering how much he should say or if about who he was asking. So many worries of this coming back to Petra and causing worse backlash in the event of that. He saw the door open so he took that as she was available.

He stepped into the doorway then knocked on the door to draw her attention in a more polite fashion. It was also better to use that as an announcement of his presence that speaking he thought. "Hi there. You are Darcy right?"

Darcy I. Pearce

[Darcy I. Pearce]

Every time Darcy stepped into her office, nostalgia hit her. So many days were spent here, talking with the then therapist. It still blew her mind that she took his place. She promised herself that she would help others--the same way the psychiatrist helped her. Goodness knew she needed it. Cringing at the memory of her teenage self, she did not want anyone else to lose themselves in their melodrama.

That was why she was looking through all the files that morning. A mug of hot tea sat on her desk while she worked, half-empty. She wanted to familiarize herself with their profiles. It felt weird somewhat. She never knew there were children like these when she was still in school. But that may be mostly due to the fact that she was too focused on herself. Rubbing her brown eyes, she returned these files into the cabinets.

There were so many of them. And with so many different stories. There were even some students who graduated and became staff members--though she did not have complete access to their files. So when Richard Buckles stepped into her office, she already knew his age, position, power, and even middle name. She detected quite a bit of cortisol--stress hormones--about him. She smiled. "Yes, I am. Welcome to my office."

[Richard Buckles]

He was more than just a bit stressed to put it mildly. Though hormones were responsible for more than one emotion particular he reeked of stress. He was worried about Petra because of her husband but at the same time angry with her. More than that he was in a rage about her husband. He was fuming with frustration over the whole situation and hoped that maybe the school psychologist could help him decide what to do about Petra.

Maybe if he was lucky he could convince Petra to come see Darcy. Before he would do anything like that he had to get to know her himself and see what she was like. Petra was in such a bad situation that the wrong approach could be more harmful than good as he found before in their interactions of late. He had problems himself but nothing that trumped what Petra was going through and certainly not something he might talk about with someone besides a close friend.

He just had to wonder how established she was as she was a fairly young person for the position. Maybe a recent graduate for her degree. "Thank you. My name is Richard." he said as he stepped forwards and extended his hand for a shake. "I am a student teacher right now. It's nice to meet you."

[Darcy I. Pearce]

As he stepped towards her, Darcy could feel his anger and frustration. Such strong feelings from such a young man... So strong that the doctor felt herself getting frustrated--one of her most dreaded side-effects. She almost did not even shake his hand for fear of his emotions rubbing off on her more than it already did. But she took his extended hand and shook it. She had trained herself for this, after all.

Another's emotions are not my own.

She gestured to the round cushioned chair across from her. "Please, have a seat." She too sat down in her own chair behind her desk and took a sip of tea from her mug. Something with chocolate in it would have been more soothing but this would have to do. On that note, a thought struck her--chocolate was comfort food. Richard had all sorts of hormones raging about him, she felt the urge to enhance the oxytocin in the air to calm him--but she restrained herself. She had to remain professional.

Nobody got very far by getting emotional.

She doubted he stopped by for a chat--he wanted the doctor. "I can tell you are somewhat... conflicted." She smiled smally. "Let me assure you that doctor-and-patient privileges apply. What you tell me in this room, will stay in this room."

[Richard Buckles]

Darcy seemed fairly pleasant but then again if she was to do this job she couldn't by nature have a scowl very well. Though his apprehension about the situation must have been easy to read in some manner. Bit occurred to him that in a school of mutants that someone like himself would take up a profession their power helped them excel at. Seemed a natural though though if she was a mind reader she would already know why he was here.

When they shook hands he had a pleasant smile on his face. Even if she could sense otherwise in some fashion he had to keep a smile on his face best he could. He shut the door softly till he heard the familiar click of the latch setting into place. He sat down when she offered "Thank you." he replied as he reclined back a bit more eased by sitting.

"Well I am glad to hear that. I guess we can cut to the situation and skip over the small talk. I know someone who is being abused by someone physically. I need help approaching the situation." His temper flared hard now as he spoke this last part "I don't understand why she doesn't distance herself from him and when it is brought up she acts like I am the bad guy."

[Darcy I. Pearce]

The plot thickens.

The doctor started at his opening statement. This was the first time she had to deal with a case like this. She wondered if this was something ought to report. That would be the moral thing to do, yes? Darcy herself knew a different type of abuse--her mother manipulated her feelings just as she did her father's. Goodness knew she would have liked someone to step in then. She fingered the silver flower on her ring.

No. The patient reserves the right to confidentiality.

If she breached that agreement, any form of trust would be broken. Besides, Richard was a grown adult and, she supposed, so was his friend. They would fix their own problems.

She inhaled deeply and drummed her fingers on her desk once. "Mind if I take notes?" Opening the top drawer of her desk, she pulled out a notebook and a pen. She wrote the date and time at the beginning of an empty page. "I record every session I have." She got up and unlocked the file cabinet. She did not talk to Richard while she did this.

Look the patients in the eye. Call them by their name. Encourage the bond.

Darcy took his file, closed the cabinet door, and returned to her seat. "In some cases, the victim actually consider themselves indebted to the ones who hurt them. What's the relationship outside the "abuse"?"

[Richard Buckles]

He looked over at her hoping for an answer to his query and wasn't surprised she seemed to take a breath and try to process it. His eye twitched as she rubbed her ring as it triggered more irritation from him. Petra kept doing that the entire time, staring and rubbing her ring. He didn't say anything as he didn't want to be rude. Not like she could have known that it would bother him. THough if it continued he would have to say something for sure.

"If you need to go ahead." he replied as he wasn't sure how this work. He wanted some help not but maybe she had to think the facts over to come back to the situation. He was more than a little anxious to resolve this issue as soon as possible. "Well they are married. He seemed like a nice guy at first then after the wedding things started changing I could tell. Noticed her covering up a bit more even when it was warm out. Odd gates in her steps. Strangely restricted motions in his arms. She also started spending less and less time out of their house."

"Only time I have seen her in the last 3 months is in a classroom." he said as he brought his hands together and bringing them to his face. He pressed his lips onto the tops of his thumbs in at attempt to calm down a bit before taking a sharp breath out.

[Darcy I. Pearce]

Need Of Some Advice

TAG richard ⚪ NOTES testing a temp :3

Ah. The classic horror movie couple.

Darcy shook the thought out of her head, pretending to swing her hair from her eyes. She blamed the morbid thought on way too much Lifetime movies. But these were much too "extreme" and dramatic to be compared to.

She calculated the situation in her head as Richard said his piece. If she guessed right, this friend of his was about his age so that meant she was still quite young. Probably a little too young to be married already.

What's up with that? Why are people such in a rush to get married? People these days... so impulsive.

This girl had her whole life ahead of her. Now she had to put that on hold for this? Tragic. She was probably so in love too in love to get to know her lover better. But then a thought struck her.

Some of my clients sometimes come to me about their own problems but pretend it was happening to someone else. Could Richard be doing the same? Perhaps he's the one being abused--or the abuser?

Nah. She dismissed the thought. She trusted her gut and her gut told her that this was a man troubled by his friend's problems. Hm... the most common factor in cases like these were children. Mothers not leaving to keep the family together. "Do they have a child together?"

[Richard Buckles]

Richard was beginning to worry more if this was the right choice to come and talk to her as he wanted to handle this situation right and go through proper channels. But also if they failed to help he didn't want to be linked to Petra's domestic issues for what he would have to do if this didn't help. He felt he still had to try and do the right thing and handle the situation diplomatically rather than resorting to violence.

He cringed at the thought of that and shuddered visibly "Thank god no. And she isn't pregnant either as far as I know." he said predicting that might be a follow up. "All she does is stare at her ring and rub it like it reminds her of the terrible things but she is fixated on it." he breathed in slowly and deeply as he looked at her tilting his head "I don't know if that helps just hate feeling like this." he told her. This sense of helplessness as he knew that trying to talk to Petra would yield nothing. And yeah meeting with Max would end with assault and battering charges being drawn up likely.

[Darcy I. Pearce]

Need Of Some Advice

TAG richard
NOTES temp test

Darcy nodded. This was partly because that was what she usually did to assure her patients that they were understood. But also because she really did know about feeling helpless. "You mentioned trying to talk with your friend. What about her husband? Have you ever discussed the matter with him?" That would probably be a stupid thing to do considering what Richard thought of him but they had to look at this from all possible angles. How a person reacted in a situation said a lot about their character.

Especially when confronted about their actions, people tend to reveal their true nature. Fight, flee, or "paralysis".

She thought of what Richard said about his friend. She was submissive, that much was obvious. But the doctor could not help but feel there was a deeper reason as to why she would endure the abuse. People gritted their teeth through pain, usually with a motivation rather than lack of power. Her own father dealt with her mother's shit so that he could spend time with his daughter.

Darcy resisted the urge to finger her ring again, knowing how her patient felt about it. "What does the ring mean to her? Items often remind us of events."

[Richard Buckles]

Richard looked at Darcy as she pressed the issue of talking to Max about the situation. He shook his head rather hard at the very notion of something like that. He knew he wouldn't be able to see that smug smile without putting a fist into it. He did not handle the idea of someone being abused let alone a friend of his. "No I have not spoken with him at all. I don't think it would do me any good to have that talk."

He was sort of stumped by her question cause it seemed silly. Of course it meant a loving commitment you make to someone who respects and loves you in return. He was about to answer when he locked up and realized that was his definition not Petra's. "I ummm guess I don't know. I suppose I never thought to ask that but then she has been so out of it she doesn't really speak except to say Max this Max that and she has to go and take...." he stopped realizing he used a name when he didn't mean to.

[Darcy I. Pearce]

Need Of Some Advice

TAG richard
NOTES none

When he looked at her, Darcy could see that he really believed what he said. In a better world, he would be wrong. People could change--if given the chance. But in this world, she knew he was right. Abusers are usually hotheaded so pointing out their mistakes would likely only piss them off.

And people do crazy things when overwhelmed by anger--or any one emotion, really.

She held the man's gaze as his words faltered mid sentence. A careful smile curled at her lips. "You have confidentiality here, Richard." As if to prove this, she scratched out the name she had written in her notebook.

I have a brother named Max. Could it be?

But she dismissed that thought as quickly as it had appeared. It was a silly notion. Max Pearce wasn't even old enough to be legally married.
"Perhaps you don't know her as well as you thought," she suggested. Darcy tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and leaned back on her chair. "What does she say about her husband?" To understand why she stayed with him, one needed to know what she thought of him.

[Richard Buckles]

Richard was torn between his instincts and rational thought. Hence why this was such a difficult discussion. He wanted to be civilized and do this proper and Darcy was the first step towards that. He hopes she would be at least. He knew he didn't mind talking to her. Pretty sure he would have to drag Petra in kicking and screaming. No that was not colorful word choice either.

He was assured some when she said something about keeping this between them. "It doesn't matter how well I know her as much as I know that she needs help. She needs to get away from her husband and realize this is not the way you love life."

"I don't know how to put exactly. She sacrifices of herself to the fullest extent for him. Always worried about appeasing him. He is always on her mind I can tell. It's like nothing to her exists outside of him."

[Darcy I. Pearce]

Need Of Some Advice

TAG richard
NOTES sorry for the wait :3

Darcy really couldn't do much without talking with this friend of his personally. She dealt with psychology, not matters of morality and law. She understood better when face to face with the person she was evaluating. When Richard stepped into her office, she thought she had to soothe him, not give advice on how approach a problem. And even then, it involved someone else so how could she advise without understanding the person?

But every person will get the attention they deserve.

The doctor tried to evaluate Richard himself now. He seemed to believe that it was his duty to somewhat rescue his friend. Could it be that he had a thing for her? Not necessarily. So this sense of heroism probably came from somewhere else--probably a personal experience.

But other than that? Not much.

She could only tell that he did not like feeling helpless. "Maybe I should talk with your friend," she suggested. "It would help figuring out how to approach this."

[Richard Buckles]

He lowered his arms into a folded position before biting his lower lip for a moment. He was getting a bit defensive "I don't know if that will be possible. She is so fervent that nothing is wrong. I don't likely think I can drag her kicking and screaming to your office."

He lowered his arms and leaned forwards rubbing his face with his palm as he breathed in and out heavily with a sigh. "I get everyone makes mistakes and has feeling and ideas that might be wrong. But I just can never wrap my head around someone walking into abuse. Sorry I know you can only help so much without more information. But you are the first person I talked to about this."

He hung his head down a bit "How am I going to help anyone if I can't even help a good friend?"