Chapter Text
An individual sits in a cozy armchair behind a large desk. A therapy office, cozy and inviting. They're wearing a light blue dress that reaches their ankles, a ribbon in the middle with a bow in the back. Their hair is in a boy-cut and is colored a silvery grey, dyed as they are too young to have graying hair just yet.
A child, about 13 years old, sits in a similar chair on the other side of the desk. They have black hair held back by a green hairclip, and they wear a lime green hoodie with a print of a frog on the front. They're wearing large sweatpants that barely fit, clearly made of pajama material. Their eyes are a reddish brown, gleaming in the light of the room. There are odd puncture marks, barely scabbed over in regular intervals all around their cheeks and nose, as if stabbed in with a fork to hold something down. There are other miscellaneous scars around their face, hands and ankles, the most apparent one on their neck like they had worn a shock collar at some point.
The therapist smiles welcomingly, crossing their legs right over left before speaking in a deep, smooth voice.
"Hello there, my name is Dr. Elith, I will be your therapist for a while. What's your name?"
The child nervously slaps their thigh, trying to ease the tension in their shoulders the best they can.
"Marcy. Marcy Regina Wu. I'll try my best to make sense."
The other closes their eyes and picks up a clipboard, seemingly ready to start the session for real.
"I'm sure you will, Marcy. You seem like a nice kid. Let's start with the simple question, how are you today?"
"Uh, a little nervous, still settling in. Just moved here. Everything's been feeling...fuzzy since...uh..."
"Since you went missing for eight months in your hometown?"
The child winces a little, it's clearly a sore subject, before nodding. A sympathetic look passes the therapist's face before they jot their findings down.
"Sorry, I'll avoid that subject for now. Can I assume green is your favorite color?"
Marcy lights up a bit at that, nodding again with more energy.
"Yeah, it's a good color! Some people think it means stuff like growth and harmony and nature, but I think it's a witty color. It knows what it is and it's proud of it!"
Dr. Elith chuckles, a mischievous grin taking over their face.
"Seems a bit more like you're just projecting on the color, huh?"
Marcy seems to deflate a little at that.
"Uh...maybe a little. But it means a lot to me!"
"I can tell, and it's not a bad thing. I personally quite like the color gray, it's a color many overlook."
"I don't think you get it, but that's okay. Not many others could."
Dr. Elith looks a little confused, jotting a bit more down. They have many questions in their eyes, but they stay quiet.
"Well, Marcy, I suppose I don't. Sorry about any discomfort at the moment, the first sessions are always a bit janky. Your parents signed you up for the 30-minute sessions, though that is subject to change to a longer time limit if things are worse than they thought."
"Of course, they did...nothing's really that wrong, I'm as fine as I can be. It's just...weird."
"Go on?"
"After...disappearing, I thought mom and dad would be more understanding. Like they'd get why I was upset and try to comfort me, but they didn't. They yelled and cried for a bit, but it was all about how 'You running off had us so worried, never do that again!' It just sucks, they didn't even care that I had bleeding gashes all over me."
The therapist seems to soften at that, if just a bit.
"Marcy, that's not exactly normal. You went missing, it wasn't your choice-" Marcy winced a bit, "-and it certainly wasn't in their right to speak to you like that. It's not the worst it could have been, sure, but it's still harmful. You didn't deserve to have your feelings put on the back-burner and left to simmer."
Marcy avoided Dr. Elith's eyes. They had been doing that before, but this was more deliberate. They wrung their fingers together, tapping them against the base of the opposite hand in a specific order, perhaps a tune to a song or tone of someone's words.
(The clock's ticking in the background shifted from comforting to suffocating in a second, the pale pink arms of the chair they were in seeming to want to swallow them whole. Faces and object blurred into globs of color, sketchy and shifting, the world seeming so similar and yet terrifying. )
"-a-cy, Mar-y, Marcy! Are you doing alright? The session is nearly over, if you need to leave then I can wrap this up early."
"Y-yes, please."
"Alright then, Marcy, you can go outside."
The child left, leaving the therapist alone in the room.
The footage cuts off with a staticky sound.