Private Finished First Session: Alma

It wasn't uncommon for patients to be slid around between therapists. Ideally, it was done as little as possible, but on Manta Carlos needs varied just as much as specialties. While Valli was confident in treating someone who had spent the last thousand years trapped inside a box fully conscious, it always seemed pertinent to refer more extreme or unusual cases to someone who had a specialty.

Valli's specialty was obvious. While he'd actually begun his career not treating anyone who was too close to his own story, it had been decades since it had happened, and Valli was well past the point where he'd accepted it. Realistically speaking, unless it was happening directly in front of him, he wasn't any more bothered than the average person might be.

He was, in the most general of ways, familiar with Alma already. He was fairly sure she was the same girl he'd recommended join the student council at the community center, but he didn't know for sure until she appeared in front of him, ready for her session.

Valli had let her in, let her sit, and then closed the door and sat himself. There was no stack of papers or clipboard or anything like that. Valli preferred his hands free, and his memory was good. He'd write what he needed to down after the session was over.

"Not much," Valli said directly. "Both he and I were of the opinion it would be better for you to discuss it with me directly. He simply told me that it was a part of my specialty, and he noted you were referred to him for mandatory therapy for a separate reason that he was going to continue working with you on, so I didn't have to worry about that part."

He had given Valli one small piece of information, but it had far more to do with Valli than Alma herself.

"Before we start, even though you have experience with someone who likely does something similar, the basics. Whatever you say here is confidential unless you or someone else is in immediate danger. While I already have met you in real life, I won't acknowledge you as a patient unless you acknowledge me first, and I'll continue to act as if this meeting never happened if we run into each other again. Lastly, in the interest of full disclosure you'll likely experience a very light supernatural effect, of which about fifty is actually there and fifty is your own impression. It makes me look more... presentable, I suppose. Like if I just rolled out of bed, I would look like I'd spent and hour getting ready. Do you have any questions about how I run sessions?"

Not an aura, although technically it was. It was simply a choice of wording, which his colleague had suggested he choose another word for. Functionally it was the same thing, but Valli was always careful with his word choices, and if his colleague had said don't call it an aura, he wasn't going to call it an aura.

"I suspect about half my patients google me, or already know of me. Anyone old enough who was on the island would likely recognize my name, even if it was quite a while ago." He didn't make a secret of it. Anyone who wanted to know could, and Valli settled back and let Alma talk. It was kind of important not to interrupt during the initial explanation. To let people explain without the desire to tell their therapist to shut the hell up and let me finish.

Valli had been on the island a long time, so he didn't even bat an eye at the reveal of her parentage. He ate lunch with demons and had dinner with vampires and if any of those things had bothered him, he wouldn't have lasted long as a therapist.

He would have to keep her aura in mind, however, and act against it. He'd have to second guess the things he wanted to do, although he doubted anything too bad would come of it.

The moment she said attraction aura, Valli could guess where the whole thing was going. It was like a road, and no matter how things deviated, the fact that Alma was there, his fellow therapists warning about calling it an aura... He could figure it out.

"I imagine there's no family immunity, for the aura?" Some came with that. There were as many variations as there were people on the island. For some the aura only worked with people they wanted to have sex with. For some it respected sexuality. They varied.

But he could still guess.

Ah, there it was. Alma's own aura acting on him. If she hadn't told him, he might not have noticed, and it was hard to tell if he'd have reacted to it without thinking. Hug her, his brain told him. She needs support.

That was bad. It wasn't the sort of thing a therapist did. It was the sort of thing a friend did, something too close and personal, and Valli settled on making sure that she had tissues beside her as he listened, if she wanted them.

It was obvious enough why she'd been referred to him. It hadn't been a family member for him, nor an aura, but the broad strokes were the same. Consenting in the moment. Even initiating. But the ability to consent being compromised. The ability to say yes wasn't quite there, just like someone who had been drugged or had too much to drink.

The sense of betrayal, however, would be it's own issue.

"If you're worried about your boyfriends reaction," Valli said, being even more careful with his words than he already was, wary of her aura, "I've always stood by the mantra that while not any partner would stay with a partner who dealt with this sort of situation, any good partner would. He might need some time to figure things out, but that's something he will likely have to do on his own."

The Plan B was good. But he had no timeline, and the timeline was important.

"Has it been long enough you're through the worst of Plan B's side effects?" Valli asked, mentally running back through his checklist.

There was familiarity, and where there was familiarity, Valli could speak with absolute confidence.

He knew, because he'd studied situations like this. But he also knew because he'd been there. Alma knew that, at least to some degree, even if she maybe hadn't read the whole thing. She had an idea.

"That's normal," Valli said. "There are a million and one possible reactions to situations like yours, but there are still broad patterns we see, and almost all of them come hand in hand with I can't tell if this is normal. But it is. It's normal to... to scrub, I suppose." He certainly wasn't going to say shove steel wool where the sun doesn't shine. "To scrub until you're red and raw. It's a very common reaction. Part of it a metaphorical cleaning, but there's also the sense of taking ownership of yourself again, of getting rid of the old skin and having something new and untouched."

Common. Normal. These were reactions people had and words they needed to hear. To know that their reactions were not some strange and abnormal response.

"Auras come in as many types as there are stars. Without knowing his exact aura, it's impossible to say how much it did or didn't effect him. It's impossible to say if it was something he was also caught unawares of, or if it was something he'd already hoped for. In the end, however, it doesn't really matter. What matters is how you react to it."

The apartment, however, was easy.

"I rarely strongly encourage anything, but I will in this case. Having physical space can help with emotional space. Regardless of how you feel about him when this is all said and done, having a space that is yours and yours alone will help."

Valli had been misspoke, and he cringed internally at the realization.

"Alone as in... I apologize, I wasn't clear. Not necessarily alone. A roommate would be fine, but ideally it should be someone who has no stock in the situation. The point is to create a clear line in the sand. Partially a 'before and after', but also simply so that you have a place to retreat."

People often stigmatized running away, but there was truly no issue with it.

"A good option might be having your own private bedroom, but sharing a living area with others. The school has setups like that, which will give you privacy without actually meaning you're alone. You might end up with multiple roommates that way, letting you choose easily between being with others and taking time for yourself."

That said, he was happy she'd made it clear. There was no way for him to know if she'd already been attracted to him and the aura was emphasizing that or if the aura had created the attraction completely.

Except she'd told him, which made things much easier.

"I don't put much stalk in what people say about different species. There's a massive amount of variety, and plenty of demons that are upstanding members of society. If it was an intrinsic thing--something that was guaranteed to be true of you--wouldn't it be true of all demons? From what you've said, it seems more likely that you had a very unfortunate mixing of auras. His aura makes you desire him, and your aura makes you act on your desires."

If it had been just one, it likely wouldn't have happened, but both? Valli's personal opinion from hearing both sides of the stories was that the onus was on the one with the clear mind to stop it, but that wasn't what Alma needed to hear.