First Session: Kalik

Valli had a routine, even if the days of the routine changed regularly. Some days he was up at the school, keeping office hours and taking students (and the occasional member of the staff) as patients. Others he worked in the city, in his old office that was empty half the week, tending to adult clients, and those who preferred a visit well away from the school. Plenty of students didn't want to do anything to do with therapy on school grounds. Too likely someone would see them, apparently.

Valli disapproved, but he kept it to himself.

He normally came into his office almost an hour before his first appointment. It gave him time to get things ready, and time to go over his notes from previous sessions. Often he played his own secretary of sorts, calling to confirm bookings and make sure everything was in order. It was relaxing, and he liked the extra time.

Except that morning. Because after he let himself in, a heavy bag in hand, he turned to find someone there.

Someone sitting on his couch.

Valli dropped the bag.

No need to be alarmed said the man who broke into his office like it was no big deal. Valli was good and alarmed, and it no doubt showed on his face as he very, very timidly took the offered bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

Alright. He could roll with this. He'd rolled with stranger, hadn't he?

"I don't suppose you're my ten o'clock who happened to get here particularly early, are you?"

A surprise appointment. It wasn't as if this was the first time Valli had walked into his office to find a stranger, but it had been a long time since the last one. It was... well, it wasn't exactly a usual state of affairs.

"Alright," Valli said. "I usually take... actual appointments. But if you need to be seen badly enough..."

Well, it wasn't like he was going to kick him out. If nothing else, Valli was a bit of a bleeding heart.

"Why don't you tell me what brings you here, exactly? And we can work from there."

Oh. Oh.

He hadn't come there because he was a therapist. He'd come there because he felt that Valli was a kindred spirit. Someone who could understand. Someone who could understand what he'd been through.

Valli's expression changed. Normally he kept things casual. He tried to look interested, but not overly attached. This was something else though. Something... well, personal.

He didn't normally talk much about his experiences during sessions. If a therapist spent more time talking about themselves than the patient, that was a warning sign, and he'd always kept that in mind.

"Yes and no," he said after a moment. "I wasn't there against my will. My will was... adjusted. To match hers. If you had asked me while I was there, I would have told you I was there willingly. Happily, even. It was only after I got out that I understood that my feelings weren't my own."

Valli frowned a bit at his reaction. He understood it, but he wished, in a way, that he didn't.

"You might be surprised," he said, leaning forward. "Why don't you give it a try? Tell me about it, and see if I can't understand. Even if our situations weren't exactly the same, I've heard a lot."

Was this a normal session? No. Were they following a normal progression? Absolutely not. But he'd literally broken into his office in hopes of a kindred spirit, and Valli was going to do what he could for him.