A certain kind of counselling.

[Lister D. Reynolds]

In case you didn't already know, LDR has a small fuming hatred for counselors and therapists. Fuming might not be the right word but you get the drift. He hated the way they always were analyzing what you did. How you said something. Whether or not you looked them in the eyes. And they always wrote it down. Always. Then they'd try to be nice. Would pretend they cared. That they knew how it felt. Maybe it worked for some people but LDR wasn't just a regular social reject.



Why he was sat outside their offices now was anyone's guess. But that is what he did. Wait patiently. Quietly. Preparing himself for an extended period of silence which always occurred between them. Without fail always occurred. By now he was used to the silence. Maybe not his own thoughts but the silence yes.



Then he got up. Turned to the right. And started walking away from the offices. Okay, today was not going to be a counselor day. No today was going to be a hide on the roof kind of day. And so it was that LDR made his way towards the roof. For the roof was one of those small places where one could go and find their own ways of 'calming down' without being interrupted.

---

tag:Silvia Almasy

[Silvia Almasy]

Despite her better judgment, Silvia had returned to the roof. It was mostly off limits, and there was a chance that she'd meet hostile faculty secretly smoking up there, but once again, she needed some peace and quiet, and a place with relatively few plants. So here she was, climbing up the stairs and sneaking up to the roof, hoping that no one would notice.

No such luck.

At least it wasn't a teacher this time. The guy looked like a student. Silvia deflated a little, realizing she was not alone, but one other person on the roof didn't mean she had to turn tail and leave. She had promised herself to try to make more friends, and she was holding to that promise. Taking a deep breath she fought down the urge to flee, and stepped forward cautiously, trying to keep her distance from the ivy vines.

"Hi" she said quietly "Do you mind if I sit here?"

[Lister D. Reynolds]

LDR was staring off into the hustle and bustle in the distance. He was zoned out from the world. Slowly moving through each part of his day and scrutinizing it. When he said something wrong. When he did something wrong. When he was overly weird. When he was too quiet. The only positive thing he had managed to do that day was...well nothing sprang to mind but he'd sure enough find something where he didn't fuck up so badly.

So entranced by his own failures was LDR that he didn't notice anyone creeping up behind him. It took him a second to respond, turning his head around slowly "S-S-Sure...I-I-I-I wa-wa-was...just..." He lost grip of the word he was searching for. What was it? Drifting off? After a few seconds he spoke again "D-D-D-Daydr-dr-dreaming..." Repeating it again in a quiet voice.

[Silvia Almasy]

>>"S-S-Sure...I-I-I-I wa-wa-was...just... D-D-D-Daydr-dr-dreaming..."

The boy seemed startled by her presence, which Silvia could completely understand; she tended to space out too, whenever she was alone, and meeting a stranger in those moments often became awkward. She smiled a shy smile and settled down, keeping a polite distance from him, but close enough to talk if he wanted to.

"Thank you" she said softly; the ivy opened some hesitant, pale flowers as it reacted to her voice, and leafs shimmered in the sun as the vines began to stretch "I'm Silvia. Nice to meet you."

There was not enough ivy up here to cause serious trouble. The boy might have wanted to sit around quietly; after the introductions, she would let him. And introvert herself, Silvia understood the need for silence.