Doug and Topaz || Post Therapy
Jan. 24th, 2019 01:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAnother lunch after another therapy session, and Topaz calls Doug on his hypocrisy. Also possibly there's a little blackmail. Just a tiny bit.
Topaz raised an eyebrow at the exhausted man sitting across him. "I know why I feel like hell," she said dryly, largely ignoring the bowl of noodles in front of her. It'd end up in the fridge with her collecting pile of leftovers. "Why do you?"
"Turns out magical anemia is a real sonofabitch?" Doug leaned against the back of the booth. He was still figuring out the limits of what his body would put up with by trial and error. Mostly error. "So much for my super cut gym rat physique."
"You do know I can get to therapy by myself, right? You don't have to come every single time. Probably not worth exhausting yourself."
Doug shook his head. "Look, Marie-Ange told me to make sure you go. I'd rather not run the risk of getting poked with spears again, thanks." It was possible Doug had his own issues that he was sublimating into keeping a close eye on the young Brit, but he wasn't interested in debating what he saw as his responsibility.
That got him a raised eyebrow and a thoroughly unimpressed look. "I'm not looking to incur her wrath myself if she ever found out I skipped therapy - and I'm sure she would find out. You're supposed to take care of yourself. I've heard that's good for you."
"Didn't we cover 'do as I say, not as I do' before?" Doug asked wryly. "And besides, you just said you're sure she would find out if you skipped. I'm quite sure she'd find out if _I_ skipped. And I've got years more experience with her wrath than you." Okay, a fair chunk of that wrath had probably been his own fault. But still. "Besides, getting out and about means I'm less likely to spend fourteen hours of every day in bed, or something."
"And not taking proper care of yourself means you spend more time in a hospital bed." Topaz waved her chopsticks for emphasis. "I suppose I could just tell your therapist on you, though, if you won't listen to me."
Doug paused with his finger raised, his mouth open. "That is some dirty pool." He let the moment hang for a few seconds, just to see if Topaz could maintain her composure. Then he grinned. "Good on you."
Topaz smiled back a bit smugly, satisfied. "I've been around you lot for too long. I was bound to pick up something eventually."
"And I was the one who brought you to my therapist, who doesn't let either of us get away with anything, so it's probably doubly my fault." Doug kept shoveling his double serving of mongolian beef into his mouth as he talked. The next bro that asked him about eating paleo was going to get a chopstick up the nose, though.
"Funny how your good deeds always come back to bite you." Realizing she was actually hungry, she stuck her chopsticks into her bowl and dug out a few noodles.
Doug shrugged. "At a certain point you get used to it. Or at least I have." At the end of the day, the balance still came out to his actions resulting in a net positive, so he could live with side effects. The alternative was either a nervous breakdown - which he'd done and wasn't eager to repeat - or leaving the mansion and burying his head in the sand.
"I'm not sure if I'm worried about reaching that point or not," Topaz said, taking another bite of noodles.
It was. It was like seeing all of his own fatalistic, self-blaming bad habits from the outside. Doug harrumphed and gave Topaz a slightly unimpressed look. "I'm going to make you get a jar and put a quarter in it every time you say something fatalistic, or apologize when it's not warranted."
"Who gets the money in the end?"
Topaz raised an eyebrow at the exhausted man sitting across him. "I know why I feel like hell," she said dryly, largely ignoring the bowl of noodles in front of her. It'd end up in the fridge with her collecting pile of leftovers. "Why do you?"
"Turns out magical anemia is a real sonofabitch?" Doug leaned against the back of the booth. He was still figuring out the limits of what his body would put up with by trial and error. Mostly error. "So much for my super cut gym rat physique."
"You do know I can get to therapy by myself, right? You don't have to come every single time. Probably not worth exhausting yourself."
Doug shook his head. "Look, Marie-Ange told me to make sure you go. I'd rather not run the risk of getting poked with spears again, thanks." It was possible Doug had his own issues that he was sublimating into keeping a close eye on the young Brit, but he wasn't interested in debating what he saw as his responsibility.
That got him a raised eyebrow and a thoroughly unimpressed look. "I'm not looking to incur her wrath myself if she ever found out I skipped therapy - and I'm sure she would find out. You're supposed to take care of yourself. I've heard that's good for you."
"Didn't we cover 'do as I say, not as I do' before?" Doug asked wryly. "And besides, you just said you're sure she would find out if you skipped. I'm quite sure she'd find out if _I_ skipped. And I've got years more experience with her wrath than you." Okay, a fair chunk of that wrath had probably been his own fault. But still. "Besides, getting out and about means I'm less likely to spend fourteen hours of every day in bed, or something."
"And not taking proper care of yourself means you spend more time in a hospital bed." Topaz waved her chopsticks for emphasis. "I suppose I could just tell your therapist on you, though, if you won't listen to me."
Doug paused with his finger raised, his mouth open. "That is some dirty pool." He let the moment hang for a few seconds, just to see if Topaz could maintain her composure. Then he grinned. "Good on you."
Topaz smiled back a bit smugly, satisfied. "I've been around you lot for too long. I was bound to pick up something eventually."
"And I was the one who brought you to my therapist, who doesn't let either of us get away with anything, so it's probably doubly my fault." Doug kept shoveling his double serving of mongolian beef into his mouth as he talked. The next bro that asked him about eating paleo was going to get a chopstick up the nose, though.
"Funny how your good deeds always come back to bite you." Realizing she was actually hungry, she stuck her chopsticks into her bowl and dug out a few noodles.
Doug shrugged. "At a certain point you get used to it. Or at least I have." At the end of the day, the balance still came out to his actions resulting in a net positive, so he could live with side effects. The alternative was either a nervous breakdown - which he'd done and wasn't eager to repeat - or leaving the mansion and burying his head in the sand.
"I'm not sure if I'm worried about reaching that point or not," Topaz said, taking another bite of noodles.
It was. It was like seeing all of his own fatalistic, self-blaming bad habits from the outside. Doug harrumphed and gave Topaz a slightly unimpressed look. "I'm going to make you get a jar and put a quarter in it every time you say something fatalistic, or apologize when it's not warranted."
"Who gets the money in the end?"
