lifetothefullest | [IC Inbox]

[ Wash nods, pulling his phone from his pocket because of course he has a million pictures of Olympia already, offering it to Lance. She's tiny still, a little white ball of birman fluff with grey face and paws and bright blue eyes.

A goat, huh? Wash is about to ask what goats are like, when something else in that statement gets his attention. ]

A crime scene? I thought you were a psychologist.

[Kyna, meanwhile, scoots over and pats the empty cushion beside her. Sit down, Lance.]

[He takes the phone when offered and immediately lighting up a bit at the picture; that is quite possibly the cutest kitten to ever exist, although Harlan's kitten is pretty damn cute too. All kittens are cute, actually. It's a major problem.

But it's also generally a good sign as far as Washington's character goes; not hesitating to reveal that he adores a small animal means he's probably not the hyper-masculine aggressive type, although he'd already started getting that impression. Lance turns the phone back over to him before sitting down as indicated, resisting the urge to pull one of his legs up onto the couch; that's not a thing you're supposed to do in other people's houses.]

I am a psychologist, although I have a few other jobs as well. Does the FBI exist as an organization where you're from?

[He can't remember exactly what Ephemera had said.]

[ You should see him with that kitten, Lance. He's a mush.

At the mention of the FBI Wash's expression goes thoughtful. Law enforcement? Maybe a profiler or something? He wouldn't have imagined that sort of psychologist would be offering therapy to the general population. Maybe he did agent evaluations... again, Wash reminds himself to watch what he says. ]

Uh... I don't think so, but honestly I don't actually know much about Earth's government. I know what it was, though. American intelligence agency?

Yeah, pretty much, I think.

[And then Kyna grins at Lance.]

And they totally make people shit their pants.

As a whole, they do. Me, personally, not as much.

[Lance offers the correction to Kyna's addition, with a small grin, but he nods at Washington.]

But yeah, like Kyna said, that's pretty much it. I work as a psychologist there, so I primarily handle evaluations and counseling agents, but I'm also a criminal profiler and an agent myself. I'm often involved in criminal investigations, for those reasons.

I'm not surprised, intelligence doesn't mess around.

[ It's true that Lance isn't very intimidating at first glance, but appearances can be deceiving. Wash isn't going to let his guard down. ]

How'd you get into that?

[Kyna tucks her legs up underneath her on the couch, which might make Lance a bit more comfortable with doing it, too.]

He totally caught the Zodiac Killer single-handedly and then they begged him to work for them.

[Wait, does Wash know who the Zodiac Killer is? Does Lance? This multiverse thing is a joke killer.]

[He doesn't follow suit immediately, but he probably will soon. Instead he gives Kyna a look with raised eyebrows, amused.]

Can I hire you as like, a PR agent or something?

[Such unwarranted, but not unappreciated, hyping. But as for Washington's question--]

Which part?

[ Wash doesn't get the reference, but it's obvious enough from the name that it's a serial killer. The sort of person that kind of agency would be after. ]

Does it count as PR if you make it all up?

[ He considers the question. What's the most important aspect? ]

Psychology.

[Kyna grins.]

No, I'm pretty sure that makes it bullshit. Sorry, Lance.

[Lance rolls his eyes and makes an exaggerated 'ugh' of disappointment, but then goes serious a moment later. Fortunately enough, he's been asked the same question Washington asked a few times now, so he's found a way to answer that is truthful but avoids going into anything too personal.]

I wanted to do something that would help people. There were a few different careers I considered, such as being a medical doctor, but I decided I wanted to work with people on a more personal level and psychology seemed like a good choice.

[ That's the ideal answer, isn't it? Wanting to help people. Wash's eyes narrow a little, studying Lance. That's probably not all there is to it, but he shouldn't jump to anything malicious. Even if his personal experience with shrinks has been terrible. ]

And you're keeping it up here, huh?

[ He glances to Kyna, then. ]

Is that how you two met?

What do you mean? Like, I asked him to be my therapist or something?

[She shakes her head.]

We were talking about enchantment magic, I think.

Even if we had met for counseling, I wouldn't be able to tell you.

[Lance adds it slightly pointedly, in response to the studying.]

But yes, Kyna is correct; we were discussing the effects of magical or supernatural compulsions, in regard to the gods' events and whether it's reasonable to expect people to recognize and resist them.

[Which is a topic Lance is still quietly angry about, but he tries to ignore that for the moment.]

I continue to offer counseling here both because it's something that many here need, and because there's no one else here that's qualified and willing to do so.

Oh. Right. Patient confidentiality? Not really a thing I'm used to.

[ Everything he ever said to counselors or doctors went into his file, visible by higher ups. He signed his right to privacy away when he joined the military in the first place, and Freelancer? Well, they went digging. Picked him apart for a profile.

But the compulsion thing is interesting. ]

Is it reasonable?

Uh... Not really. I mean, I guess it depends. Harlan doesn't think whatever's making us do shit here is the same as enchantment magic anyway, but...

[She shrugs.]

I got charmed by a vampire on a job once, right? I'm pretty sure the only way I got out of it is because I'm a half-elf and I know how those spells work. Mostly. I almost totally fucked our team over before I snapped out of it.

[He nods at the question about confidentiality, then listens to Kyna's response; it's still reassuring that she agrees on this, and between her and Brennan he feels a lot more confident his own assessment.]

It's either some sort of magic, or they're altering or otherwise affecting our brain chemistry in order to create the mental effects. Whichever it is, it's the result of an outside influence, and expecting people to simply will themselves out of it is not realistic.

[And it puts the blame on the person affected instead of the beings responsible, which is something Lance really dislikes.]

Even if it were some sort of internal process, it's still very close to telling someone they should will themselves not to be depressed or anxious, which is unreasonable at best and actively harmful at worst.

[ Wash frowns a little -- his world doesn't have magic so it's hard for him to imagine what that would feel like, but chemical imbalances he knows a bit about. Even if that's not what caused his mental health issues, he's struggled enough to understand you can't just will yourself better. ]

And that kind of thing happens a lot here?

[ He hasn't experienced it yet, but it sounds like it could easily be as bad as getting taken by the Null was. So. That's fun. ]

[Kyna just shrugs and looks over at Lance. He's been here longer.]

According to the history that Mello compiled, it used to happen more, but yes. It's occurred at least a few times since I've been here.

...do they make us hurt each other?

Um... I don't think they do. They haven't since I got here.

Not since I've been here either, but apparently they used to.

[ Then it's better than the Null. Hopefully. Since now he's gonna be braced for this sort of thing to happen again. ]

Hmm. It's probably wishful thinking to think they figured out it was wrong.

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