Nothing is Ever Easy [Finished]

[Kari Muffin]

Rosewood couldn't decide if he wanted to be cheerful today. He had a new client. However this new client happened to be part of the Court of Hearts. It meant one of two things: He was going to be paid well and he was probably going to get nowhere with the patient.

It was truly important to the swan that a person who came to him actually accomplished something. There was no point in him getting paid for nothing. It had happened numerous times, of course. Some of his patients weren't willing to tell him the truth. They told half lies, fabricated stories, and even flirted with him to distract from his goal. None of it worked, of course, and he was left with the bitter feeling of defeat.

And there was the fact that this man was a Heart and he was a Club. Not everyone was accepting of the different suits, and he couldn't imagine this noble was accepting of anything.

Rosewood sighed as he slipped out of his room to speak with his secretary. There was still a few minutes before he was scheduled to show up.

[carcinoGeneticist]

This whole exercise was fucking stupid.

Everything about it seemed utterly pointless. Go to the Capital to get a break from having monstrous hands. Great, except then he'd get used to having normal fingers again and make coming home that much more difficult. Give Xiven a little break from his attentions. Not great, especially when he took into consideration the fact that being away from her would just make him more eager when he returned. But as stupid as both of those ideas were, they had nothing on the last reason he was here.

See a psychiatrist.

Awesome. That was the most pointless thing he could think to do with his free time. After all, he wasn't going to be able to tell the man a damn thing. What was he going to do? Walk in and announce "I used to be a Weapon! I was used to kill people! My summoner was nuttier than your mom's almond fudge and some of it rubbed off on me!"? That seemed like a damn good way to get himself tossed into the loony bin for a night, or longer.

Even the things he could tell the doctor, he just didn't want to. They were his emotions, his memories, his secrets. He'd never met the man before Who could say he was worthy of that kind of trust?

When he reached the building Xiven had given him directions for, he stared up at it for a long minute. Maybe he'd just go somewhere else and lie to Xiven. That thought didn't sit well with him, so he slowly opened the door. A quick glance of the room revealed a few things: Some modest decorations, a sterile-looking interior that made him feel rather uncomfortable, a secretary, and...

A Bipedal bird of some kind. Fruity. Tulgy. Club. "Fucking awesome."

[Kari Muffin]

The swan snorted at his secretary's comment, at least one of them was happy about how well business was going. She seemed rather thrilled about how things seemed to be going recently. All the more power to her, he supposed.

The door creaked slightly when it had been opened. Rosewood didn't look over until he heard the faint sound of speech. Unhappy speech. He managed to hide the frown that was trying to form.

"Why hello, Your Highness. It's a pleasure to see that you're early," Rosewood said cheerfully, a smile gracing his beak. He walked over to the door and opened it the entire way. Motioning for the man to come in the rest of the way. The Queen of Hearts wanted a report after this, so he might as well be as nice as possible to a person who probably wanted to set him on fire.

And from the look on the man's face that was the case.

Notes: It's odd but when you make direct eye contact with him, he's nigh on impossible to distrust...

[carcinoGeneticist]

This was the psychiatrist? A surge of anger flowed through Apocalypse, making his muscles tense and relax a few times as he eyed the man suspiciously. Had Xiven known anything about him? Had Peaches recommended his services? The bitch probably got some pleasure out of knowing how uncomfortable this whole situation was going to meet him. The man's orange eyes narrowed. Then, something happened.

Their eyes met for a moment, and despite the outrage the King still felt, he understood why they'd chosen the damn swan. He was the trustworthy sort, Apocalypse could tell. Some of his tension eased away, but he continued to regard the doctor with a cold sneer of dislike as he was lead into a back room. This was just... Not what the man wanted to do. There was a bar a few doors down, he could use a chance to unwind.

As soon as Apocalypse had stepped into the room, he glanced around, then fixed the swan with his name. "What now? I feed you some bullshit so that you let me go home and we both pretend that it went really well when we talk with Xiven later?" Perhaps there was a threat buried in his words. Perhaps not. It would be up to Rosewood to decide that one.

[Kari Muffin]

This was going to be painful.

Rosewood shut the door, quietly. His secretary made an awkward noise as she scurried off into one of the back rooms, clearly intimidated by the King of Hearts.

He wasn't about to sacrifice his reputation for a douche bag.

It was difficult, but he refrained from sighing. "No, Mr. Apocalypse, That's not what I would like for us to accomplish today. Generally I'd like to discuss this in my office so no one can randomly walk in on us. Secondly, I plan on giving Her Majesty an honest report. If things go badly, I will tell her, if things go well I will tell her. I've been a therapist to various nobles before, and I have no intention of sacrificing my integrity because you don't want to play nice."

The swan smiled. "My name is Rosewood, if Her Majesty didn't inform you. Now, would you like anything to drink before we begin?"

[carcinoGeneticist]

Not only did Apocalypse not want to play nice, he didn't really want to play at all, and the look on his face as he finally slipped into a chair would say that quite clearly. The curl of his lip added a second part to that message: and you can fuck yourself if you think you can make me play by your rules.

The King neatly folded his hands in his lap, running the ring and pinky finger of his right hand over the empty space where those fingers should have been on his left. He stared at the swan for several long minutes.

Apocalypse knew that no matter what he did, he wasn't going to be able to win. That fact alone made him angry and twitchy, almost more than anything else about the situation ever could. If he told the swan about everything that troubled him, then he was giving away some very personal information that he'd rather not share with anyone he didn't know, especially not some Tugley Club. It didn't matter much to him how trustworthy the fuck was. If he didn't behave, Xiven would be mad at him, and that would make his life at home nearly unbearable.

When the swan offered his name and a drink, Apocalypse cringed visibly. "Fucking fantastic," he muttered under his breath, staring at the floor. Then he cleared his throat and raised his eyes to the other man, posture tense. "Look, I don't know what Xiven has told you, but I refuse to tell you a single thing about myself that happened more than two years ago. I don't want to waste my time, and I'm sure you don't either."

[Kari Muffin]

Difficult. Painful and difficult. He watched the man carefully, his expression completely blank. This was going to be a game of hardball, wasn't it? When the man spoke it took all of the swan's will power not to roll his eyes.

This was great.

"That's fine, Mr. Apocalypse. I have no intention of prying where I don't belong. Hopefully you'll be willing to tell me enough that I can help you out, however. So don't close the doors before we've even started." He motioned towards the door to his office before walking towards it, expecting the man to follow him.

This was irritating. More irritating than some of the other nobles he dealt with. For the love of the suits, how difficult could one person be. If he wasn't getting paid by the Court of Hearts, he was fairly sure that he would be screaming at the top of his lungs by now.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Maybe he could make this fun for him. Apocalypse sort of doubted it, but it would be worth a shot, especially since right now he was feeling very anxious. Of all the emotions the man disliked, anxiety ranked high on the list. He didn't like being observed, didn't like feeling he was on display in a zoo for some stranger to poke and prod at until all his demons came out in the open. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, staring down at his own hands.

Even the other man's voice was annoying. Well, not really, but the things that he was saying sure as fuck were. What was the point in his even being here? That was where he didn't understand it.

He stared at Rosewood for a long minute, then sighed, holding the armrests of the chair and pulling himself forward, leaning in to rest his arms against his thighs. Then he glanced off to the side. Saying nothing wasn't going to work for long, he could tell that right away. The man would just keep on talking, and he would rather listen to his own voice than the calm tone of the damn swan.

"What do you want to know, anyway?" He finally asked, fixing Rosewood with a piercing glare. "I don't want to tell you anything, but if you ask a question I'll consider talking. I'm not just going to pour my damn life story out to you."

[Kari Muffin]

Fine. Don't come in his office. The swan grabbed his coffee and chair, dragging them both out to the waiting room. He would just have the meeting here. It wasn't like any of his other clients were scheduled closely to this man, he had anticipated at least a little trouble. Not this much though.

He set his chair down across from the man, taking a seat with his coffee. His clipboard was left abandoned in his office. The man was glaring at him as if he was trying to burn a hole through his head. That wasn't about to stop the swan from playing hard ball.

"Why do you think her Majesty sent you to me?" Rosewood asked before taking a small swig of coffee. "You're obviously here because you respect her wishes, but why did she send you here? Do you know?"

He waited for the response with a bright smile.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Having control of this situation was a good feeling, Apocalypse quickly decided as he watched the swan go to grab a chair. Get the man out of his natural environment, make him feel as awkward as his test subject felt. A triumphant and wicked little grin worked its way onto Apocalypse's face, his eyes glittering positively impishly. He looked like a child who had managed to swipe a mouthful of whipped cream before the rest of the cake was finished.

It was a small victory, because the swan was ready to just dive right into things, it seemed. Apocalypse twisted in his chair until he was sideways in it, his legs dangling over the armrest of one side, resting his back against the other and staring at the ceiling.

"She sent me because of my charming demeanor and love of all people, I'm sure. She doesn't approve of how trusting I am of people." He said in a tone of fuck off, wanker. Then he turned to look at the swan, rolling his eyes. "Actually, it's because I'm bipolar and don't want to take meds due to some unreasonable paranoia I have about losing myself and a latent hatred of all medical Corvies and everything they produce. She seems to hope that if I talk to someone about my issues it'll be able to solve what is, at its root, a chemical problem in my brain."

He split into a too-wide grin. "Any other questions, Rosie?"