Jean & Tandy: Mind Therapy
Jan. 22nd, 2020 06:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsTandy has been doing mind therapy to undo the damage done by Dweller. Tandy ends up telling Jean a bit more of what Dweller did and as healing starts to being. [Trigger Warning: Mention of non-consensual sex]
Once a week, Tandy came in for mind therapy and had been coming since July, when her mind was finally free of the Dweller's hold. His control over her left her mind in a mess but slowly it was healing. The session was already started as Tandy's astral form of light stood in the lobby of the movie theater looking up at the statue of Dweller. As long as he was here, his allies would never stop coming from him.The lobby was looking better but part of the ceiling was missing and cracks littered the floors and walls. The theater, well, it was still in bad shape.
"Three months left a lifetime of scars. I wish we could get rid of him for reals." Jean pulled back the dusty curtains from the windows of the lobby, letting a stream of sunlight in.
"Someday, hopefully. But let's go with baby steps for now," she said. She glanced around, a bucket of plaster and a spackling knife appearing in her hands. She offered it to her before taking one of her own. "You may have scars, but that doesn't mean you're damaged. With the right tools, the mind has a remarkable ability to heal. Just like a broken bone or sutured wound."
Tandy turned away from the statue and took the knife from Jean. She had to admit, this was an interesting, yet satisfying, way to mend her own mind. "How bad was a mind you had to mend?"
Her astral form shifting into that of overalls and a white shirt, Jean paused a moment or two. "It varies. A few of them, actually," she said, approaching one of the cracked walls. Scraping and smoothing some of the edges with the spackling knife, Jean then started to spread plaster over the crack. "Each person's type of damage requires it's own approach when fitting in with their mind. With yours it's plaster and paint, with someone else string, or bandages, or glue. The actual repair is more complicated than that but the astral plane tends to deal in euphemisms."
Tandy nodded as Jean told her it varied. "I see. The mind is a funny thing." She scooped up some of the plaster and put it on the wall. Immediately she felt the cooling effects as if someone was putting something soothing on her, both when she did it and when Jean did it. "Weird feeling." Tandy's astral form shivered slightly. "Almost like a tickle."
Jean laughed. "Someone once told me it felt like Vicks Vaporub for the brain," she said, neatly smoothing out the edges of the wall. "We'll take a few days to let this dry or...heal rather...and then we'll add the paint later. You can even change the color if you want." Her eyes flickered toward the hole in the roof. "That part will be a little trickier, but it shouldn't be too difficult."
Tandy looked over at the roof and then over to the door, "What about that?" She nodded to the double doors to the unknown. They were still things that Dweller made her do that she would rather forget and to be honest, she was a coward when it came to sharing that part. Not even Julian knew that much.
Setting down her bucket, Jean eyed the door. "Well, we approach it like a doctor. First we examine, then we assess, then we treat, and the mind does the rest." There was very little Jean had seen at this point that surprised her. But she always allowed a little room, just in case. "Are you ready to do that now? Not the whole thing...just a look, to see what we're dealing with." She kept her eyes on Tandy. "It's okay if you're not. Baby steps."
"I-I'm not too thrilled of what he did. I think, I remember you once came in there with Amanda. Back when he was sleeping. It was playing on the screen." Tandy's form looked away from the door. "Do those ever heal?" She asked.
Jean was silent a moment. "Some cuts are deeper than others. So you might carry it longer. And it might take a different way of healing," she said. She sat down on a nearby pouf. "What did he do?"
Tandy dunked the knife back into the bucket, pulled out more plaster, and began to spread it over the cracks. "Killed, mostly. People who succumbed to his power, the unlucky ones. Dweller orchestrated a lot of what happened, like the devil in peoples ear. Cul was worse, ex-king of Asgard. I can see why they exiled him. Both benefited from the other, they did so in the past and when they were reunited. A partnership." Tandy then said something else with no emotion in her voice. "Dweller allowed Cul to sleep with him."
Jean rose from her seat. The implication hung there. It didn't need to be spoken. This was not something done in the metaphorical sense, but the physical. In bodies that were not theirs.
"I'm sorry," she said. She stared at the door, not sure what to say. There were so many of them that she had stood with in houses built by death, and pain, and horror, trying to bust the walls down and rebuild. It never got easier. Taking a step closer, she gently tried to put her hand on Tandy's shoulder.
"It's not your fault."
"I know. At least I keep telling myself that I know it isn't. Trying to place the blame on others. Stuck in a movie theater watching what my body was doing. Watching someone else speak. Watching someone else do horrific things. Seeing the faces of those that were tormented through my body. Seeing his face..." Tandy turned and placed her head on Jean's shoulder, the knife fell to her side. "Your presence helps." She whispered.
Jean sighed, closing her eyes a moment. "I'm glad," she said. Opening her eyes, she glanced around. The colors on the walls of the movie theater lobby seemed to be leached away, bright golds muted to pale yellow, shining white marred by dinged grey. Hopefully they could help fix that together.
"One thing to keep in mind is that we're in a movie theater. Your safe space. The great thing about a movie theater..." Jean motioned toward the foreboding door, as a movie poster appeared in a "now showing" frame. The title of the movie, "Fear in the Dark" was splashed across the poster, with Dweller and his monsters and Tandy and her friends dramatically dotted across it in various action poses.
"Is that there is always one than more movie showing," she said, pointing toward an empty patch of wall as a shiny new door materialized. An empty frame formed next to it along with another "Now Showing" sign, waiting for the next movie poster.
"You can choose to go to a different one."
"Oh, a multi-viewing theater. Who would had thought that a it could morph like that." Tandy still didn't move from her spot and looked back at the wall she had been repairing. Her eyes closed as once more she felt a cool breeze touch her mind, "Maybe next time we can explore deeper into the mind. I might be putting it off a bit more, but I am a chicken."
"It's okay," Jean assured her. "Take your time. We can take a break for now, if you'd like. Believe it or not this is really good progress."
"Is it?" Tandy's image looked over at the good doctor before looking at the wall, "The soothing does help."
Jean smiled brightly. "Any progress is good progress," she said. She glanced around. "So, shall we call it a day or do you want to do some more lobby cleaning?"
"I think, I think that is enough today. I think a nice nap is in order." The figure of Tandy dropped the tools and took a step back to admire the work. Though it was only a small patch job, the wall almost looked like it healed, as if there had been workers going at it for hours, not minutes. "Same time next week? Any homework I should focus on?"
Silent for a moment or two, Jean dusted herself off. "Yep, same time. Homework wise...See a movie with a friend," she said with a smile.
"Find the coolest theater you can. See if it'll give you some inspiration for here."
There was no point telling her to try relaxation exercises or whatever. This was a long process.
"If you need anything between now and then, though, my door is always open."
Once a week, Tandy came in for mind therapy and had been coming since July, when her mind was finally free of the Dweller's hold. His control over her left her mind in a mess but slowly it was healing. The session was already started as Tandy's astral form of light stood in the lobby of the movie theater looking up at the statue of Dweller. As long as he was here, his allies would never stop coming from him.The lobby was looking better but part of the ceiling was missing and cracks littered the floors and walls. The theater, well, it was still in bad shape.
"Three months left a lifetime of scars. I wish we could get rid of him for reals." Jean pulled back the dusty curtains from the windows of the lobby, letting a stream of sunlight in.
"Someday, hopefully. But let's go with baby steps for now," she said. She glanced around, a bucket of plaster and a spackling knife appearing in her hands. She offered it to her before taking one of her own. "You may have scars, but that doesn't mean you're damaged. With the right tools, the mind has a remarkable ability to heal. Just like a broken bone or sutured wound."
Tandy turned away from the statue and took the knife from Jean. She had to admit, this was an interesting, yet satisfying, way to mend her own mind. "How bad was a mind you had to mend?"
Her astral form shifting into that of overalls and a white shirt, Jean paused a moment or two. "It varies. A few of them, actually," she said, approaching one of the cracked walls. Scraping and smoothing some of the edges with the spackling knife, Jean then started to spread plaster over the crack. "Each person's type of damage requires it's own approach when fitting in with their mind. With yours it's plaster and paint, with someone else string, or bandages, or glue. The actual repair is more complicated than that but the astral plane tends to deal in euphemisms."
Tandy nodded as Jean told her it varied. "I see. The mind is a funny thing." She scooped up some of the plaster and put it on the wall. Immediately she felt the cooling effects as if someone was putting something soothing on her, both when she did it and when Jean did it. "Weird feeling." Tandy's astral form shivered slightly. "Almost like a tickle."
Jean laughed. "Someone once told me it felt like Vicks Vaporub for the brain," she said, neatly smoothing out the edges of the wall. "We'll take a few days to let this dry or...heal rather...and then we'll add the paint later. You can even change the color if you want." Her eyes flickered toward the hole in the roof. "That part will be a little trickier, but it shouldn't be too difficult."
Tandy looked over at the roof and then over to the door, "What about that?" She nodded to the double doors to the unknown. They were still things that Dweller made her do that she would rather forget and to be honest, she was a coward when it came to sharing that part. Not even Julian knew that much.
Setting down her bucket, Jean eyed the door. "Well, we approach it like a doctor. First we examine, then we assess, then we treat, and the mind does the rest." There was very little Jean had seen at this point that surprised her. But she always allowed a little room, just in case. "Are you ready to do that now? Not the whole thing...just a look, to see what we're dealing with." She kept her eyes on Tandy. "It's okay if you're not. Baby steps."
"I-I'm not too thrilled of what he did. I think, I remember you once came in there with Amanda. Back when he was sleeping. It was playing on the screen." Tandy's form looked away from the door. "Do those ever heal?" She asked.
Jean was silent a moment. "Some cuts are deeper than others. So you might carry it longer. And it might take a different way of healing," she said. She sat down on a nearby pouf. "What did he do?"
Tandy dunked the knife back into the bucket, pulled out more plaster, and began to spread it over the cracks. "Killed, mostly. People who succumbed to his power, the unlucky ones. Dweller orchestrated a lot of what happened, like the devil in peoples ear. Cul was worse, ex-king of Asgard. I can see why they exiled him. Both benefited from the other, they did so in the past and when they were reunited. A partnership." Tandy then said something else with no emotion in her voice. "Dweller allowed Cul to sleep with him."
Jean rose from her seat. The implication hung there. It didn't need to be spoken. This was not something done in the metaphorical sense, but the physical. In bodies that were not theirs.
"I'm sorry," she said. She stared at the door, not sure what to say. There were so many of them that she had stood with in houses built by death, and pain, and horror, trying to bust the walls down and rebuild. It never got easier. Taking a step closer, she gently tried to put her hand on Tandy's shoulder.
"It's not your fault."
"I know. At least I keep telling myself that I know it isn't. Trying to place the blame on others. Stuck in a movie theater watching what my body was doing. Watching someone else speak. Watching someone else do horrific things. Seeing the faces of those that were tormented through my body. Seeing his face..." Tandy turned and placed her head on Jean's shoulder, the knife fell to her side. "Your presence helps." She whispered.
Jean sighed, closing her eyes a moment. "I'm glad," she said. Opening her eyes, she glanced around. The colors on the walls of the movie theater lobby seemed to be leached away, bright golds muted to pale yellow, shining white marred by dinged grey. Hopefully they could help fix that together.
"One thing to keep in mind is that we're in a movie theater. Your safe space. The great thing about a movie theater..." Jean motioned toward the foreboding door, as a movie poster appeared in a "now showing" frame. The title of the movie, "Fear in the Dark" was splashed across the poster, with Dweller and his monsters and Tandy and her friends dramatically dotted across it in various action poses.
"Is that there is always one than more movie showing," she said, pointing toward an empty patch of wall as a shiny new door materialized. An empty frame formed next to it along with another "Now Showing" sign, waiting for the next movie poster.
"You can choose to go to a different one."
"Oh, a multi-viewing theater. Who would had thought that a it could morph like that." Tandy still didn't move from her spot and looked back at the wall she had been repairing. Her eyes closed as once more she felt a cool breeze touch her mind, "Maybe next time we can explore deeper into the mind. I might be putting it off a bit more, but I am a chicken."
"It's okay," Jean assured her. "Take your time. We can take a break for now, if you'd like. Believe it or not this is really good progress."
"Is it?" Tandy's image looked over at the good doctor before looking at the wall, "The soothing does help."
Jean smiled brightly. "Any progress is good progress," she said. She glanced around. "So, shall we call it a day or do you want to do some more lobby cleaning?"
"I think, I think that is enough today. I think a nice nap is in order." The figure of Tandy dropped the tools and took a step back to admire the work. Though it was only a small patch job, the wall almost looked like it healed, as if there had been workers going at it for hours, not minutes. "Same time next week? Any homework I should focus on?"
Silent for a moment or two, Jean dusted herself off. "Yep, same time. Homework wise...See a movie with a friend," she said with a smile.
"Find the coolest theater you can. See if it'll give you some inspiration for here."
There was no point telling her to try relaxation exercises or whatever. This was a long process.
"If you need anything between now and then, though, my door is always open."
