Dr. Wong

Normal? That came to her as a surprise. Then again… no person can survive a war and come out of it unscathed. The Crystal Gems had their issues, and yet… they didn’t seem unhinged as she was. Maybe they hide it better. Maybe they had help. There was a spark of hope in her chest.

“Okay. Oh Stars, where should I start?” She mumbled to herself. “Okay… okay! I guess… it all started where I came to Earth and was ambushed by rebels. They destroyed my body and I was taken as a prisoner of war, trapped inside a mirror for over 5,000 years. Uhm, after a friend freed me, I saw those rebel soldiers again and freaked out. Because… they wanted to trap me again.”

“So… I… stole part of Earth’s ocean and tried to kill anybody who’d get in my way. Because I was trying to escape,” she finished lamely, looking at her hands. They furled into fists. All of this sounded horrible coming from her mouth, fleeing at all costs. Even at the cost of killing other people. She had her reasons, but…

Dr. Wong had heard many, many things over the course of her career, but this one took her a moment to digest. She would be lying if this was a lot more extreme than she anticipated, but after reminding herself to focus on the fundamentals, it was still manageable. What were the primary element of this, sans the extraordinary detail? This was a prisoner of war who made some rash and violent decisions after facing the possibility of incarceration again. She acted on instinct, and now after the fact, felt guilty about who those actions hurt. She probably thought herself dangerous and unstable because of it. Perhaps she was. 

“Well… I know… why I act this way, badly I mean. A lot of bad stuff happened to me and no one else really understands. My friends try to understand but they really don’t. It’s not their fault! I just… I wish I can be normal.”

Opening up to a stranger was difficult, constantly pausing and stumbling on her words. She usually did though when she was stressed out. She hated how anxious she suddenly became. The warm and welcoming atmosphere twisted into darkness, much like her thoughts. Letting out a deep breath, she tried to banish them away.

“My friends get scared of me when I– I act… like myself, like when I lose control of my emotions. I’m scared of me, too.”

“It is normal to react that way to trauma though, you know that right?” She knew what Lapis meant, of course, but it still seemed prudent to make that much clear. 

“I was told that, uh, this is a place where humans… talk about their problems.”

Peridot and Steven were good friends, but they weren’t (she looked at her hand, the word scribbled with magic marker) therapists. There was only so much they could do– aware of the burden she put on them, albeit unwittingly. It didn’t help that they were afraid of her… and her emotional outbursts, so afraid that they never wanted to tell her how much she was hurting them.

She had learned that the hard way.

After taking a seat, Lapis began fiddling with her thumbs. Nervous and unsure, yet still willing to have an open mind. The atmosphere was homely, it reminded her of the barn in that sense, with paintings strewn over the walls and fresh smelling flowers on top of the desk. Despite how nice this place seemed, avoiding eye contact was a given though… she didn’t know where to look, really.

“I’m Lapis.” Oh right. Dr. Wong had already said that. She flushed. “I’m…. I’m here because I want to understand how… I’m hurting myself and others ‘cause of my emotions,” she trailed off, shame-faced, and still avoiding eye contact.

“I see” she replied pleasantly, only once she was sure that particular sentence was done. “Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place. In fact, you’ve already taken a pretty big step by coming here yourself.” Many of her clients were sent here by requirement (familial or legal), so this situation made it slightly easier for her. Even so, Dr. Wong wasn’t about to assume this was going to be an easy case.

          Her scowl only DEEPENED. ❝ Yes. What are ya’ DEAF or somethin’ ?❞ Helga was DETERMINED not to let this lady get into her MIND, she let it happen with Dr. Bliss && that hadn’t ended well for her after Big Bob had FOUND OUT she had gone behind his back && went to see the therapist. Let’s just say it had ended up with BUSTED lip && black eye ( that had been hard to EXPLAIN to Mr. Simmons,  since the fruitloop was so COMPASSIONATE about his student’s wellbeing. ) God, it was almost SICKENING. Then again the blonde wasn’t use to that kind of SMOTHERING AFFECTION ( besides from Olga. )

          ❝ I play a lotta sports, gettin’ hit with baseballs or even a bat is somethin’ that happens. ❞ It wasn’t a TOTAL lie, those things had happened a few times– only this time it had been Bob’s fist.   

The snappy comment was completely understandable, expected even. Honestly, she was taking it very well so far, some patient got much more impatient with the repeating thing. But it was necessary at this stage, at least for Dr. Wong, to clarify every small detail she was able to coax out. 

The possibility that it was in fact an injury during sports wasn’t completely out, but she also had a feeling that if that were truly the case, Helga would have been up front right away. 

// So.....my old url “wongchoice” was primarily meant to be a combination of the name “Wong”, since that’s my muse, and “choice”, becasue she’s all about choice. The pun, “wrong choice” was a sort of secondary thing, vaguely alluding to them not making the right choice by not coming back I guess?? I don’t know. I made the url quickly, and didn’t think, so I apologize for anyone I’ve  offended. The racist joke there did not even cross my mind, and was not intentional. 

@wongchoice

“Hey, doctor…” The greeting was hollow, as was expected from one who had seemingly re-entered their element, only to find it just as UNFULFILLING as when they’d first departed. He took steps into the therapist’s office, settling himself in the nearest available seat with an inaudible sigh. Leaning back and taking a deep breath as both eyelids fluttered momentarily closed, he explained, “So… I’m sure Morty’s already told you that, well… Beth and I got back together.”      For Dr. Wong, Jerry couldn’t even bring himself to feign a smile as he expressed the immediate POSITIVES of recent happenings, “It’s nice, I guess - being back under the same roof as my son and daughter, whom I love dearly. I’m glad we’re together again. I just…” At that, he inhaled rather sharply, as if preparing himself for the sentiment he was about to utter. FEAR was evident, in both demeanor and tone of voice, as he went on, “…I’m worried, that things will go back to the way they were. That’s… That’s why I left in the first place…”

Dr. Wong led the man in without a word, sitting down across from him after shutting the door. She listened patiently while he talked, simply nodding once to acknowledge that Morty had indeed informed her of the reunion. 

So this was Jerry, at long last. She’d heard a great deal about him from other members of the family, and based on all of their accounts, this was largely what she expected. The only exception was just how sad he looked, even despite recent happenings. If she’d had to guess, she would have estimated that there would be at least a bit more of a honeymoon period before this reality set back in. But it seemed like he was already stuck with that uncomfortable realization that nothing had actually been fixed yet. Her heart went out to the poor man.