[closed] the doctor is in

[cerebral]

Who: Charles Xavier, Olivia Dunham (prime) and Rachel Conway.
What: Various appointments.
Where: The Glory Shada.
When: Backdated to a couple of weeks ago, for whenever is convenient.
Notes: None.
Warnings: None.

On Newdi to Givdi, Charles Xavier keeps the usual nine to five office hours at the Glory Shada unless otherwise organised (i.e. nocturnal clients, people who need the discretion, others who need some advice but don't have the marks) and Veerdi morning eight until twelve acts as a drop-in hours. It's ideal for anyone who has been working up the courage or simply has a few questions that can be answered quickly.

His office is removed enough from the medical parts of the building that it doesn't having that lingering smell of disinfectant; he's done his best to set it up as a calm place with comfortable seating. A few pictures drawn by children --presumably patients-- decorate the walls. One appears to be a crayoned rendition of a man in a cardigan with a smiley face standing next to a small boy with a big smile sprouting fire from his hands. Even in Baedal, wobbly thank-you drawings are a constant.

The good doctor himself can most likely be found sitting behind his desk, taking care of paperwork or reading from various medical books, whilst waiting for knocks on his door.

Comments

[gotbottle]

If she were to find out, someday, well in the future, that the day she first came up here her thoughts announced her well before her soft footfalls on the industrial floor coverings, Rachel wouldn't be all that surprised. She feels overwhelmed by them as she walks down the corridor.

They've steered her in the opposite direction of Dr. Xavier's office half a dozen times already, easily. She's talked herself out of keeping appointments, convinced herself she can do without, worried she's beyond help. It had been a moment of bravery that had made her agree to see him and that moment had come and gone.

She might have kept ducking this meeting forever. But then the sky tore open, then the monsters happened. Then she was driven from her house, and found Raylan in a street. Then they were cornered, then she had to defend them both.

Then he'd found out the one thing she kept secret from everyone.

She tells herself she's lucky. Lucky he took it so well--but that was then and she hasn't seen him since. More than that, though, the sobering thought is that she's lucky she didn't get either one of them hurt or killed. Lucky she was able to exert as much control as she did, as untrained as she is, as fearful as she is.

In the end, it's that fear that carries her here, to finally meet Dr. Xavier. And even then it almost makes her turn away. She hovers by the door a moment, heart pounding, she can't possibly do this--

And then she sees the picture. The crayon drawing of the little boy and the man in the cardigan who resembles the man at the desk. It brings a faint smile to her lips and a measure of calm to her nerves. If a kid can trust this guy, she can at least give him a try, can't she?

She clears her throat to announce her presence. "I'm sorry to bother you. Dr. Xavier?"

[nolimitation]

Olivia's had a deep aversion to hospitals since she was a child, and her mother's death only reinforced that - she's tense and nervous even approaching Charles' office, where the triggers to unpleasant memories aren't quite so strong. Then again, perhaps not all of that nervousness can be attributed to the environment. It's been a difficult week for her, barely sleeping, fighting to hold on to her old (true?) memories, trying not to panic that something's happening to her mind that she has no control over. With all of that, who needs a few old memories to add to the tension?

She pauses outside of the office door, taking a close breath, flexing and relaxing her hands in an effort to keep them from shaking, and then straightens her spine and knocks twice on the door. That, at least, is firm and calm, and she manages to make her voice sound almost the same as she asks, "Dr. Xavier?"