[FIN] Such Fragile Broken Things [Kari]

[Vyn]

The silence felt like a weight on his shoulders, thick and oppressive. He remembered it acutely, but at least he wasn't in the cold and the dark. The feline glanced around, absently rubbed the cushion on the couch... touched Mocha. Trying to ground himself in where he was, not where he'd been.

The moment Seki heard the door open his ears twitched in the direction of the sound and he hesitantly looked up. He didn't want to be alone in the quiet anymore.

For a moment he was happily distracted by the familiar form of his father and a brief smile touched his muzzle, until he saw Rosewood. The feline's eye twitched at the corner and a sudden wave of fear lashed through him. He didn't manage to make eye contact before the welling fear took over, his breathing picking up as his heart began to pound like gunfire in his chest. He couldn't hear anything, couldn't think of anything... Nothing except those looming red eyes and shock white fur.

As if from somewhere far away he heard Ophelia's voice rising in worry but he couldn't understand her. He opened his mouth briefly, attempting to speak, but all that came out was a horrified little mewl.

He didn't want to go back there again! He couldn't!

[Kari Muffin]

It was expected. The swan choked back a small sigh. He slowly moved forward, doing his best not to aggravate the situation. The boy was already in a fragile state, things didn't need to be much worse.

"Please relax, Seki," Rosewood said quietly. He reached out, gently placing a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Look at me, I'm not going to take you back to that horrible place. I'm not like an other Tulgey from the Wood. I promise you that I won't do anything to hurt you. How threatening is a swan like me?"

He smiled at the boy, trying to reassure him. Rosewood just hoped that he would look up at him. That would make things much easier and prevent the boy from having a full out anxiety attack. Hopefully his father would say some reassuring words to make the situation better. The swan, however, made sure to put himself between the door and the feline.

[Vyn]

Ophelia was at Seki's side in a moment, she saw that familiar flash of terror, and then his face went blank as his eyes unfocused. He wasn't looking at anyone, he was in his own mind where things were far worse than they really needed to be.

Oh Suits, that's why he was here in the first place! To fix these things instead of trigger them!

The doe quietly cursed herself before she found the feline in her arms, whispered words of quiet reassurance being offered into the feline's ears even as she noted that Rosewood had moved himself between Seki and the door... Good man, good man... Even Ophelia had to trust him and she wasn't 100% comfortable with Tulgeys...

"Seki, please, give him a chance... I promise you, I would never bring you somewhere that would put you in danger. He's got the highest recommendations, and I've spoken to him personally -- he's wonderfully kind. I'd never put you in harms way, and I promise I won't leave. I'll be right out here, he won't take you anywhere, he won't hurt you."

The words kept flowing until she felt Seki relax, until she felt the rush of air return to his lungs and slowly she let go, stepped back... Let Rosewood come closer... Meeting a kind Tulgey... It was the best thing that could happen to move him along toward recovery...

[Vyn]

Seki could feel the tears streaming through his dark fur. Dad was there, hugging him and reassuring him that everything was fine... but that image, he couldn't get that awful image out of his mind, or even that terrible need he felt to feel those rough hands on him again. Everything in his head so jumbled, so confused.

He swallowed down another mewl, tried to breath and only managed to start hyperventilating for a few seconds until Rosewood's hand touched his shoulder and he started to speak.

Calm, quiet... Not rough, cold... dangerous. Another swallow of fear and then slowly he opened his eyes, peering into the rose-red orbs that loomed over him. For a second he didn't think, his mind numb with confusion but he recognized the smile and it was kind, and the eyes were kind and, without meaning to, he smiled.

"Promise?" It was the only word that his tongue seemed to be able to wrap around.

He promised not to take him back, not to hurt him, and for some reason Seki trusted him fully when he said it. Dad said it too, and he couldn't discredit that.

[Kari Muffin]

"I promise you on all the suits." Rosewood said with a smile. It was the truth. He would never go anywhere near the Wood. He may have been a Tulgey, but he despised the place. And he really couldn't imagine what the boy had been through to cause such an awful panic attack.

"Would you like to come into my office? I just want to talk about a few things." Rosewood offered as he removed his hand from the boy's shoulder. He glanced to Ophelia with a smile. Well at least he was making progress. The boy was calming down and things weren't falling apart.

"Would you like some water?" Rosewood offered both Seki and Ophelia. "I want you both to be comfortable." It was almost time to get down to business, which would probably be a long and complicated process assuming he made a decent amount of progress.

[Vyn]

While Seki slowly recovered his wits from his panic attack, Ophelia remained on the floor with her boy. When he was at last ready to find his feet Ophelia was there to help him up and remained nearby even once he'd managed to balance himself on his own.

So many times she'd been accused of negligence on this poor child's behalf and she couldn't take it any longer. Her family was everything and she'd done all that was within her power to keep him happy, healthy... But how could she help when he wouldn't let her in to his thickly walled terror? He fought her at every angle, ran away when she tried to confront his fears, exercised in secret when she forced him to eat. Nothing she had done had worked and, with all her heart, she hoped that Rosewood would be the answer to the nightmares that had plagued her poor Seki for so many years.

Ophelia returned Rosewood's smile with a thankful one of her own. This was exactly why she'd come to him instead of another psychiatrist (such as one from outside of Tulgey) but Rosewood was said to be the best. So far he was certainly living up to his name. "Water would be wonderful. I'm certain Seki would enjoy some as well."

[Vyn]

Slowly Seki's breathing returned to normal and, as the heaving slowed to a steady rhythm, the boy even began to uncurl himself from the near fetal position he'd crumbled into. His binding had bitten in against his ribs, completely vulnerable against the cold metal thanks to his utter lack of body fat. With a little whimper he sat up properly, keeping his head up (though he wanted to hide his eyes from everyone in the room) and he nervously wrapped his arms around the metal ring around his abdomen.

He kept his eyes glued to Rosewood's throughout the process of standing, trying hard to pretend that stark white coat was not what it was. As the panic dissipated at last, he finally managed the words that had been waiting tentatively upon the tip of his tongue. "Okay... We can talk n-now." The cat swallowed nervously and (without looking at the rest of the swan) tore his eyes away to glance at Ophelia for reassurance.

Ophelia nodded decisively and smiled. "I'll be right here. I promise."

That seemed to be the magic phrase and slowly Seki nodded again, looking back to Rosewood with a small semblance of confidence in his words. "I'm ready."

[Kari Muffin]

Rosewood poured two glasses of water, hoping that the poor boy would be able to keep himself together. His fear of Tulgey wasn't making anything easier. If Rosewood could temporarily change his feathers, he would have.

He put the water in easy access for both of them. Assuming he could get the boy in his office things would be much easier. And that way there wouldn't be the chance of having someone interrupt them in the waiting room. Even though he liked to heavily pad his appointments, he didn't want to run the risk.

He watched the boy carefully, making sure to keep his distance. Staying in the doorway seemed to be the best course of action. A smile was on his face when the boy finally spoke. "All right, then come in here and take a seat. The first step is making yourself comfortable. Then we can talk about what's bothering you."

[Vyn]

Seki was hesitant.

Those warm eyes said everything was okay, but his mind argued that it was only a trick. His feathers screamed danger. The feline stood in the waiting room with Ophelia and chugged down his cup of water in a quiet attempt to delay the inevitable of being alone with Rosewood.

The serpentine deer would smile encouragement at her son and, with nothing else to prevent him from moving forward, he awkwardly entered the doctor's room. He sat, as he was told, and tried his hardest to sit straight and proper. He was under a magnifying glass now, the best way to make this end was to be as normal as possible. He'd talked to doctors before.

"Uhm... I don't really know where to start." His hands, which he'd tried to lay politely in his lap, were now entwined and wringing nervously against each other. He swallowed and kept his green eyes attached to Rosewood's pink ones. "I guess I'm here because Dad - Ophelia - is worried... I guess a lot of people are. I have, uhm, weight problems." That was it, right? That was always why he wound up in situations like this.

[Vyn]

Outside the room, Ophelia found it a great deal harder to avoid eavesdropping on the pair than she had previously imagined. Luckily she had her glass of water to occasionally sip from and there were a great deal of magazines.

She'd just engross herself in reading and forget about the rest. Like what Seki could be saying in there - or what he might not been saying. She had told Rosewood as much as she was aware, but that didn't mean she knew everything.

Seki had become such a mystery to her, ever since he'd gone missing... She just hoped that she hadn't waited too long to get him help. If she had known the filthy things he'd been doing on his own. The woman shuddered to herself and, with great determination, buried her thoughts in one of the many psychology magazines.

Everything would be alright. They were here now, and that's all that mattered.