fandom_clinic | FH Clinic: Office Hours

For making of appointments.

The door is open. Susan's right outside, decorating.

River entered the office nervously, trying not to hide behind Blair. There was no reason, after all. This wasn't scary. Dr Pevensie was a nice person. That didn't stop River from being nervous.

Blair smiled at Dr. Pevensie and reached beside him to grasp River's hand. "Hi, I'm Blair Sandburg and this is River Tam. I ~~handwavy~~ called about doing couples counseling?"

"Of course. Hello, Blair, and River." She gave the girl a sympathetic look, and remembered hearing about her from Peter, and the incident when she ended up in the clinic after fighting with, well, everyone. "I don't usually do couples counseling, but if you need someone to listen, I'd be more than willing to help. Let's go into my office, okay?"

The inside of the office was spacious and decorated in warm earth tones, with a little fountain against one wall. Art supplies were laid out on the coffee table, and Susan took her usual chair, waving to the couch and other chairs. "Sit wherever you like. Can you tell me what made you think of counseling?"

River examined the fountain and when Susan asked her question she smiled. "Blair thought of it."

"Yeah, I've done therapy in the past and I thought it might help." Blair said with a shrug, taking a seat on the couch so River could sit next to him if she wanted. "We've been having some communication problems."

"That's one of the first questions I usually ask, if you know what to expect from these sessions." Susan glanced at River a moment, and then asked, "And this is something you both want? You're both up for working on the communication issues, with me mediating the conflicts?"

River tore herself away from the fountain and sat down next to Blair. "Yes," she said, then continued: "We keep misunderstanding each other. And I can read minds. That doesn't make it easier."

Blair looked over at River and gave her a gentle smile, focusing on thinking that things were okay and safe. "I'm good with that too, man. Someone meditating would be helpful."

"Very well, then. Why don't you give me an example of how a typical disagreement between the two of you goes?" Susan asked, then turned to River. "Just for this part, if you could *not* try to read Blair's mind, or mine, I'd appreciate it, River. I want your reactions to what he says, first, and we can discuss the telepathy later. All right?"

River nodded. Completely keeping the thoughts of others out wasn't really possible, but not focusing on them was probably good enough. She said: "We had a bad argument recently. Blair kissed Jude, which I found out because I read his mind. He apologised but I was angry, so I stole his fish and kissed Jack. That didn't change my feelings for Blair, so I told him that perhaps kissing other people would be ok, but that made him very upset."

She looked at Blair, hoping he could add something.

"Uh...yeah." Blair thought back over the situation and tried to think of something to add. "I did kiss Jude and I was trying to think of how to explain to River about it when she read my mind. Which I don't have a problem with or anything. That's just a part of River. I didn't understand the fish stealing or the kissing of Jack parts."

Susan suppressed a smile, hard, and told herself that adult couples therapy might be more fraught but couldn't be more entertaining. "I see. Okay, River? Do you understand why Blair kissed Jude? And do you understand why you acted as you did, and could you explain it again for Blair?"

River thought for a moment. "I think Blair kissed Jude because he felt attracted to him. And that confused me, because it didn't feel like he cared less about me." She paused. "I stole Blair's fish because it would hurt him without causing and long-term damage. They were not in danger, I kept an eye on Berthold. Then I kissed Jack because... I wanted to feel how it felt to kiss someone else, and Jack is a friend and I knew he didn't mind."

Susan nodded, noting where part of the problems came in when River acted on impulse, then turned to Blair. "Does this make any more sense to you now, or do you think River's mistaken about the facts?"

Blair shook his head slowly. "I understand about the fish stealing more now. The kissing Jack thing...I get what she was trying to do but it bugs me."

River glanced at him, looking worried.

"Understandable. Do you both notice, that talking about things afterwards, after you've both had time to calm down, makes it easier to understand what the other person was feeling?" She paused, hoping they were listening.

"Blair's first thoughts and responses aren't always going to be the truest, or most representative, River. Humans process information on multiple levels, and the one that you may be picking up on may not be one that the person you're talking to is even aware of. What we say is not only what we *want* people to hear of our thoughts, but what we've been able to put together from the jigsaw puzzle in our head. Reacting to what he's thinking before he's had a chance to verbalize it isn't just a matter of being unfair, or having an advantage; it's deeply confusing for anyone."

"Can you explain why what River did 'bugs' you, Blair? And River, if Blair doesn't mind, you can pay attention to what he's thinking, and also what he says. But respond only to the words this time, if you can."

"I don't mind." Blair said, thinking for a moment. "It bothers me that River was so upset about me kissing Jude and then she went to kiss someone else. Especially Jack."

Blair didn't meant to say that last part out loud but it was true. With all the talk of kissing and spare boyfriends, it was a little intimdating to be up against Jack Harkness.

River frowned and was about to comment to that last thought, but stopped herself. "Why Jack? You know he doesn't take kissing seriously in the same way you do."

"No, he doesn't. But you took it seriously when I kissed Jude." Blair said, refraining from calling it an accident anymore. "Then after Jack you didn't seem to think it was such a big deal. Like you thought kissing other people was okay now."

Susan broke in, and said, "We're getting ahead of ourselves. Blair, you're doing a smaller version of what River was doing, do you notice that? Everyone does it, not just telepaths. You're assuming you know her motivations or opinions before you ask, based on what you'd feel." She waited a second, and asked, "Do you know why you kissed Jude now? And do you think it was okay, first, Blair? And River, then you can give your reaction to that. And you can also *ask* about any thoughts of Blair's that he's not articulating. Okay?"

Blair blushed and avoided eye contact with everybody. "Uh...the Jude kiss was a physical thing. There was hugging and uh...yeah. I was confused about how it happened and what how I felt, but I wasn't confused about the wrong part. I dont' feel like it was okay for me to kiss Jude while I'm dating River."

"I was angry at first," River said. "But Blair's feelings for me didn't seem to change when he kissed Jude. And my feelings for Blair didn't change because I kissed Jack. So not logical to be angry. Why is it wrong?"

"For some people it wouldn't be. For you, what's important is that Blair still feels most strongly about you, whoever it is that he kisses. You just found that out, that you care more about the feelings than the actions. For Blair, there may be other issues. Especially about Jack, I think you said, Blair?"

"I like Jack and I trust him, especially with River." Blair said, looking over at her. "I'm glad you had someone to go to that wouldn't take advantage of you and that was safe."

"It's just..." He waved a hand and tried not to sound like a total dork. "He's the biggest flirt and the probably the best kisser in the school and you go kiss him and then come back and say that it's not a big deal if we kiss other people and I sorta feel like I'm competing against Jack."

River looked at him. "But kissing isn't only about being good at it. It's about the person. I like Jack, but not like I care about you. And if you really want to kiss Jude I might accept that, as long as I can kiss someone else. But only because I care about you... a lot."

"Before you answer that, Blair," Susan said, sensing they were getting into deeper waters that might be better handled in the next session, "There's a couple questions and suggestions that I'd like to ask River, if that's okay? If you could think about if you *want* to kiss Jude-- whether you'll follow up on that feeling or not-- for a little bit, we can come back to it in a minute."

"River, how much of what someone thinks can you pick up on? You implied that you could feel what Blair felt, too. Is this constant, or something that's active off and on?" Susan was thinking of how noisy it had to be, hearing what everyone thought all the time, as well as mentally tiring.

"It's loud sometimes, when someone feels strongly. And then it's hard to shut out. At other times it's a background noise. Then I need to focus." River considered Susan's thoughts. "Need to be alone sometimes. Or with animals. They're less noisy."

Susan smiled in sympathy, and said, "I'd expect animal thoughts are simpler and more repetitive, aren't they? Not as distracting. So picking up on Blair's thoughts isn't really a choice for you; it's more a matter of how much gets through, perhaps. Have you always been able to read thoughts, or did it develop on its own? Were there any rules, at your home, about dealing with non-telepaths? Or were all conversations mental?"

A troubled look appeared on River's face. "I went to school that wasn't really a school. They wanted to make us into tools. Changed me." Her voice was quieter than before.

"I see," Susan said, her voice softening, hoping her horror at the idea didn't frighten River. "So, was there anyone there to teach you how to handle your gift? Or to set boundaries, let you practice what your were learning. I get the impression," she explained, "That you're making up your own limits and ideas as you go along. And that's okay, but I want to be sure I understand before I suggest anything to you about how you interact with Blair."

She'd been hoping that River had had someone to help her learn limits and understanding of the impact her abilities would have on non-gifted people, and that any misunderstandings were just cultural. That unfortunately didn't appear to be the case.

River swallowed. "My brother got me out of the Academy. But they came after us. Simon's a doctor, he's giving me medication."

She thought about how Ivanova had promised to help her, but there hadn't been enough time before she left. But she couldn't talk about that - she had made a promise.

Susan nodded, and said, "I'm glad someone's looking after your physical well-being." Especially remembering what Peter had said about how she'd had some kind of episode a couple months ago; Sussan had heard River had left school for a time to deal with it, and she didn't seem to be exhibiting any symptoms now. Hopefully her brother would continue to take good care of that end of it.

"Not being a telepath, I can't help you with how you use your gift most of the time, but I have a few things I think I should mention with regard to your relationship with Blair. A lot of the current situation seems to stem from both of you acting on impulse. For you, especially, this is always going to be an issue, I think. "

River looked at Susan, listening intently. She fingered nervously on her dress, trying to hide the fact that it had a big tear from the troll fight.

"You're going to have to be patient with Blair. Wait for him to talk, before you react, or form ideas about what's going on with him. And you might have to work out conversational 'turn signals' between the two of you, to tell Blair when you're asking about what he's not saying, instead of what he is saying." Susan cocked her head at River. "And be patient with yourself, too. You can't assume you understand all of what you're picking up. Nor should you have to. I don't think Blair expects you to just automatically understand him; but I wonder if you're thinking you should?"

That made River think for a moment. "I learn quickly," she said. "But things are different here. I misunderstand." She glanced at Blair. "Relationships might be different here."

"Emotions and relationships aren't like schoolwork. They're more like games. The point is usually to have fun, find out about the other person and yourself, and explore your feelings. Not to be right. Or worry about being wrong." She smiled, and added, "And what seems simple where you're from might be complicated for Blair, or vice versa. You just need to talk about these things in more detail, I think."

She checked the clock, noting that they had about fifteen minutes left. "Blair? You were going to think about what happened with Jude. Is there anything you want to share with River about that now? Or about her explanation of her feelings about it?"

Blair had been listening intently to Susan and River talking and it took him a moment to get back on track. "Uh...I want to say that I'm not planning on kissing Jude or anyone else while we're together. I want to work things out with you."

"River? Any other questions, or anything you want to add?"

"Not kissing anyone else then, either," River said, smiling a little.

"That seems pretty clear." Susan smiled at both of them. "And I think we're done for this week. Do you want to meet again next Tuesday? If so, I think you both should make lists about what you want-- and don't want-- from the other person, so we can discuss it next time."

River glanced at Blair and nodded. This had been a lot more interesting - and possibly useful - than she had expected.

"Then I'll see you two next week."

Ping me!

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