A Myriad of Issues (Gael)

[Camila Reyes]

She had not meant to snap at anyone. Not this time. Usually, she was of a surly disposition to begin with, thanks to her reluctance toward human interaction and anger at the world in general. That day, though, she had been pushed to the brink of patience and emotion. She had a huge fight with one of her close friends, which had already pissed her off enough. Adding a bad grade and the fact that the venomous words she has thrown her friend’s way were haunting her all damn day did not help the situation any. By the time, she had her last class, she was done In a fit of rage, she had lobbed her textbook at the fellow student who made a rather demeaning comment about her and promptly stormed out of the classroom, tugging her sleeves down over fists to prevent herself from attacking another set of lockers, like she had done after her fight with the blue-eyed young man that she alternated between hating and loving. Of course, none of that mattered now, because he had been made an offer that he did not want to refuse. She could see right through the government’s scummy trick, but he was too kind-hearted and gullible to see what was bad for him, and that was why they had fought. She leaned her back against the wall, sliding down it slowly as she looked up at the ceiling. She had a gut feeling that she was going to be in a lot of trouble this time. After the class rushed out, the teacher came out and found the brunette muttering to herself in anger. “Miss Reyes, your behavior was unacceptable today. I think you have some problems you need to deal with. This is a slip to go see someone in the counseling center in a few weeks.” The brunette took the paper wordlessly, picking up her schoolbag and heading toward her dorm in verbal silence, but in mental turmoil.

Camila knew exactly how she had gotten herself into that predicament. And, of course, here she was, sitting on an uncomfortable chair around the corner from the nurse’s office in what they liked to call a ‘mental health center’. I’m surprised not everyone has been here at least once, she thought with a snort and a smirk, leaning her head against the stone wall behind her. She was waiting to be called to see the shrink next, and her feelings were rather mixed. On one hand, it would be nice to talk to someone about her problems, but, on the other, she knew the other person did not really give a flying eff about her anyway. Clearly, no one did, except she herself. What did she expect of humanity, though? Humans have been, are, and always will be selfish creatures. They only think to themselves, and, even when they do think of others, it it only so they can gain something, like money, power, or fleeting feelings of happiness. Or at least, that is what life had taught her. She let out a grunt of frustration as her sapphire eyes glanced toward the clock in the corner. Its hands had long stopped moving, so she assumed it was broken, and her watch was now too big for her, thanks to the diet and exercise regimen she had put herself on. She was actually pretty proud of herself; she had lost more weight than she had intended to, but she was also able to get better control over her powers, specifically her yellow aura. It was actually starting to take shapes, but, for some reason, it liked to become a stapler as a construct over any kind of useful weapon, unless she gave it some direction. Of course, she could not exactly show off her body without revealing a darker secret. No one knew, and she intended to keep the whole thing away from the people she still had left. They would surely hate her if they knew what she had been doing to herself.

Thankfully, her thoughts had nowhere to go from there, because a voice started calling her last name, and it brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see another person standing in front of her. It was very clearly a young man, but, beyond that, she did not make much notice of his facial features, like she normally would have. She was just too tired. She stood up and followed him wordlessly into the office, looking around for some kind of adult in the place. She looked at the young man with a raised eyebrow, as if to ask him just what was going on silently, before remembering that not everyone at the school was a mind-reader. Instead, she decided to at least indulge the young man before her in a conversation, even if it was not really a pleasant one because, well, it was Camila after all.

“So, are we aboard this crazy train as passengers together, or am I the passenger and you’re the captain? The name’s Camila, by the way. ‘Miss Reyes’ was my grandmother.”

[Gael Lennox]

"Well, I feel we've made some progress today." Gael gave a warm smile to the young man sitting in front of him and stood, walking over to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Remember, your powers are not a curse. They're a gift. It's up to us to remember that." The young man nodded meekly and stood, shaking Gael's hand with a slightly more genuine smile than he had first had, and turned to go."I'll see you next week!" Gael gave the boy a light wave as he left, then stretched a bit and nodded satisfactorily to himself. The young man had only been in this position for a short time, but it never ceased to make him happy to do good for others. Initially he had been quite nervous, being put into place as the psychiatrist's aide, and he still was at times, but that feeling all but went away the moment he was faced with a soul that needed his help. In total honesty, the psychiatrist himself seemed to rarely be around, and Gael had already gotten quite a bit of experience to get over his nerves. Sad as it was, this island was full of people in pain, and dealing with a myriad of psychological issues. Gael could hardly blame them, the environment was anything but productive, but he was also determined to make a difference.

The white haired boy ran a hand through his bangs, taking a deep breath and making his way over to the desk, where he pulled out a clipboard and made a couple of notes, crossing out the boy's name and dragging his pen down to his next appointment. Camila Reyes. She'd gotten into a spat with a student, and thrown a book after quite the outburst. Gael frowned and chewed on his bottom lip. There had to be more to it. Emotions were rarely as vehement in the moment as people believed. They were often corked up, held back through issue after issue, and then sometimes quite literally exploded at the most random of times. No doubt the girl thought of her visit as a punishment, but he hoped to help her as best he could. He looked down for a moment at his white gloved hands, and closed his eyes. I owe that...

Gael took a breath and sat for a moment gathering his thoughts, but after a moment he stood and nodded to himself reassuringly before going to the office door and opening it, peering around the wall to spot who he could only assume was his appointment, sitting very quietly in a chair a ways away. He smiled a bit, though the expression held more concern in his eyes than joy, and made his way over. He blinked as he came close and stopped short, pinching the bridge of his nose as a wave of raw, very negative emotion washed over him. He peeked over his hand, thankful she hadn't noticed, and tried his best to shake it off. One could just as easily argue the ability to feel the emotions of others to be a weakness as a strength. He took a breath and called her name softly. "Camila Reyes?" Standing up with a very dead look in her eyes, she followed the young man back into the office; a simple, medium sized room, with a lounging couch, calming color scheme and soothing pictures decorating the walls, as well as a large central window positioned over an oak desk.

Gael closed the door behind her, shaking his head. The emotions rolling off her were almost enough to disconcert him. This wasn't going to be as simple as a quick conversation and a bit of empathic healing, another trick of Gael's. This was going to take time. He moved in front of her just as she looked up and raised an eyebrow at him, silent for a few moments before speaking. He gave her a warm, genuine smile and a light laugh. "You *could* call me the captain. Or you could just call me Gael, either will do." He extended a hand. "Gael Lennox. It's a pleasure to meet you, Camila."

[Camila Reyes]

Camila started to get restless while she was waiting in the chair. Unfamiliar environments had started to set her on edge lately, particularly because she knew she had no control over them. Being stuck in one place really drove her crazy, and being at the school was no exception. She would often find herself pacing around the room when Carter was not around, or taking midnight walks when she could not sleep. Of course, she had to sneak around to avoid detection by the night patrol, but that was pretty simple, since the prefects had seemed to ease up on their strictness a little bit. Her eyes drifted toward the clock and her brows furrowed in frustration when she realized it was broken. Who the hell kept a broken clock, especially in a medical-related office? It seemed like the school was falling apart at the seams, much like her psyche. It was then that she remembered a story she had read once and chuckled to herself, an amused smile on her face. Fall of the House of Usher had been not only about the decay of the actual building that the narrator had been returning to, but it was also about the decay of the mind of said narrator. The brown-haired young woman felt like she could sympathize with the fictional character, since it seemed like everything was falling apart around her and she took control over what she could; her body. Of course, this let her emotions go by the wayside and allowed her emotions to get out of control, hence how she had ended up seated in an uncomfortable chair with a yellow slip between her slim fingers.

The brunette did not hear the door open, mainly because she was too tuned into her own thoughts. However, she was able to snap out of them when the young man who had approached her was trying to get her attention by saying her name. Her dark eyelashes fluttered and she leaned back in the chair she was sitting in. The young man’s eyes conveyed a sense of kindness that she did not often see, but she knew better than to trust him right off the bat. She had been a guarded person all her life, and the only people she trusted were people who proved themselves to be trustworthy. This criteria had only intensified after the whole fight with that stupid idiot and god dammit, she was not going to get upset before they even set foot in the “therapeutic environment”. Without a word, she stood up from the chair and followed the young man into the office, her normally bright sapphire eyes dulled by frustration, anger, hurt, and lack of sleep. Her eyes darted around the room, observing the colors of the walls and the objects placed around. A pair of scissors placed in the pen holder on the desk caught her eye and she pulled the sleeves of her blazer down over her palms and gripped them loosely with her fingers. No one needs to know, she reassured herself, shaking her head and perching on the edge of the couch. She looked rather uncomfortable, but it was mainly because she hated being in a place that she could not really identify with or control in some way.

Camila glanced at Gael’s expression, noting something off about it. She wondered if, somehow, her emotions were affecting him, and that was entirely possible. He did not seem to dwell on his concerns or whatever he was thinking too much, though, because he flashed her a warm smile and responded positively to her joke. “Well, I’m not a prefect,” she replied with a shrug, “And neither are you, I can see, so I think Gael will be fine.” She placed her hands on her lap, letting the young man speak before nodding her head politely and replying, “Mucho gusto. Ah- I mean, nice to meet you too.” The brunette had a tendency to slip back into the language she grew up with as a way of feeling in control. A lot had been going on in her life, and if she had some influence over something, she might be okay. Maybe. “Soooo, what’s the deal?” she asked, leaning back slightly on the couch and crossing her arms over her chest, “Did you want to start somewhere, or did you just want me to start talking?” She knew that getting straight down to business would get her out of the office sooner than dancing around the reason she was there in the first place.