First Session: Aedan

Valli had been providing therapy for more than a decade, but Starlight Academy posed its own unique challenges. He was used to his office, used to the familiarity and the location. His new office had it's own benefits--mostly the proximity to the student base--but wasn't quite home yet.

He'd done his best to make it feel comfortable and lived in. It wasn't a terribly large space--there wasn't even a waiting room--but a small plaque outside the door had his name on it, and nothing else. In fact, he'd gone out of his way to avoid anything that might mention it was a therapist's office, preferring for things to remain as low key as possible. he was well aware of the importance of discretion, and he tried his best to stick to it whenever possible.

The office itself was simple and sparsely decorated. Light green walls, a large window with frosted glass to keep anyone from seeing in, and then a desk pushed up against the wall. Valli preferred not to give his patients the idea that he was looking at them over a desk, preferring to rest in his own chair while they rested in theirs with nothing between them. The desk was for between patients, and beside it was a large filing cabinet, already filled with patient files.

Aedan was a strange one. New patients rarely came with much in the way of files, only handing over the new patient paperwork. More than a week in advance, Valli had been sent a rather extensive file on his newest patient.

There was a lot. A lot of information. A lot of trauma. So much to work with that even Valli, with ten years of experience, felt a little bit overwhelmed.

He'd read through all of it just the same, and then he'd settled in to wait his usual half hour before the appointment started. There was no telling if he'd show up early, but considering how extreme the case was, he'd more or less cleared his schedule for the next several hours. He didn't usually plan for a session to run long, but he expected this one might.

Valli's first impression was that Aedan was large for his age. He was tall, yes, but he was also considerably more muscular than your average highschooler, and even though Valli was several inches taller than Aedan, he suspected he was also several pounds less than the boy.

"Mr. Drago?" Valli asked, gesturing down to the seats with an easy smile. "Grab a seat wherever you'd like, and if you need anything before we get started, just let me know."

His eyes were noted on his file, but even so Valli found himself slightly unprepared for them. They were very distinct, and he hadn't met anyone with that sort of characteristic before.

"In the interest of full disclosure, I feel the need to note that my powers make me look slightly more pleasant than you might otherwise find me. It's not something I can turn off, so if that bothers you, simply imagine I just rolled out of bed or something of the sort."

He always liked to make it clear what his powers were ahead of time, just to make sure no one assumed he was manipulating with them. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about his power. Even if he literally did just roll out of bed, he'd happen to look very good while doing so.

"You don't need to thank me for that," Valli said politely. "I also want to note that if you ever see me outside the office, I won't approach you. I always leave it up to the people I'm seeing to decide if they want to approach me."

Some people didn't want people to know they were having therapy, and that was fine with him. While Aedan had sought out therapy of his own free will rather than being forced, it was obviously something he was having trouble with.

"Why don't we start simple. How was your day? I don't necessarily mean your thoughts on therapy, but simply in general terms." It was always good to start casually, to get a feel for the person he was dealing with. A person's files often painted a very different picture from how they were in reality.

Easing him into the situation was exactly what it was. He could tell a lot about a person from how they answered simply questions. He'd already learned that Aedan was capable of functioning mostly normally, and that he had a girlfriend.

Even so, it was obvious that he wasn't entirely happy. Really, that wasn't surprising. While people dealt with trauma in different ways, there were very few people who could go through what Aedan had without having at least some amount of PTSD.

Really, Valli wouldn't have been surprised if he did have full blown PTSD, and that was without having even spoken to him.

"The idea that things feel empty isn't uncommon among people who have experienced trauma. I'd describe it as building on a shaky base. You haven't dealt with the issues in your past, and I have no doubt they pop up at inopportune moments."