Check Ups and Check Downs

[LtLukas]

Jessica had the note in her hand. She looked up at the door number, and then back at the note in her hand. The numbers were matching, and that was incredibly disappointing. Jessica wanted this to be some arcane nightmare of a building in which the door numbers were totally random, so that she would have a good excuse to give up and go home. But the directory was plain enough, and the numbers were sequential. And that led her right here, standing in front of the door.

She could still turn around. If she didn't go through with this, she could just lie about it. The Violent Violet had no real problem being a liar, as long as that made some progress towards her goals. And that is where she was. Looking at this door, wondering if going inside was a step forward or a step back.

Her father's voice was in the back of her head. You got wrecked. Bad. Talk about it. On the Skype call, her father's voice did not quite come through clearly, but she understood the idea. Jessica did not want to talk about it with her father. She didn't really respect him that much, nor was she emotionally open enough with him to make any real progress. Her dad wasn't the type to just listen without judging her anyways, and Jessica simply would not have accepted that lack of judgment. Not from him. She breathed in. Her nose flared a little bit. She didn't know if she were resigned or angry or frustrated, but she felt she really needed to talk about it.

Jessica rapped on the door twice before she walked into the room. She was encountered by more doors and she felt the urge once more to simply say that she got lost. There was a little secretary girl there who asked her who she was and what she was looking for. She checked her watch and said that she was two minutes late for her meeting with a psych named Doctor Fabulous. She rolled her eyes as she said the words, not quite believing that she was about to visit this lady. The secretary girl smiled and pointed her in the right direction, and Jessica followed the imaginary arrow. Her jeans hardly made a noise as she walked on by, but her rough walk meant that her sneakers fell upon the ground. Her black tank top hugged her body tightly.

She knocked on the door once and opened the door. "Doctor?" she probed.

[Dubski]

Spoiler

Dr. Lilly Becker, known also by her stage name of Doctor Fabulous, leaned back in her rather nice leather chair and looked through the paperwork she had. While she had gotten her name Doctor Fabulous from her penchant for having a raucous good time, she also got it from the rather fabulous amount of preparation she put into things, which is probably why she has always excelled at her career as a psychiatrist. She did her last bit of research on her next client, Jessica Wright, as her appointment grew closer. Gently adjusting her glasses, she began to formulate the type of person that Jessica was, and more importantly, why she may have made the choice. Having reviewed Jessica's prior match in which she was summarily dismantled and embarrassed, it came as no shock to her.

Doc Fab was excited, low-key of course, for a wrestler client. She had a few others, mostly girls with no renown, but she was always happy when they took advantage of the discounted rate she offered to any fellow wrestlers. They had a personality that she liked to dissect, and she felt like in that sort of profession, a little mental health always did them well due to the highly competitive nature of the career.

Then she heard a knocking on her door and then walked over as she saw it slowly open to reveal her client, the purple-haired Jessica. She canted her head slightly, offering her a friendly and reassuring smile. The blonde reached out to the door, opening it the rest of the way and extended her hand to the girl for a handshake. "Hello. You must be Jessica. I'm Dr. Lilly Becker. You can call me doctor, doc, Lilly, or most anything you feel comfortable with," said the psychiatrist, a rather calm tone to her voice for the girl.

Lilly would then gesture to the leather couch sitting towards the wall of the room. "Have a seat. Make yourself comfortable," offered the blonde doctor before closing the door behind them. If Jessica were to scan the room, she would notice an assortment of rather girly, colorful decorations sitting around the room. Cute little figures, a tiny unicorn statuette, cutesy emoji mini-plaques on the wall, a decorative, framed poster on the wall with the text "If life gives you limes, make a margarita", and a colorful stuffed bunny sitting on the table in front of the couch. She enjoyed the decorations, especially to contrast the drabness of the more motivational posters, family and friend photos, and framed credentials like her diploma and certificates. Even better, she felt it brought the mood up a bit and provided a good conversation starter. Nonetheless, Dr. Becker would make her way to her leather chair to have a seat, allowing Jessica a chance to acclimate herself before jumping into the session.

[LtLukas]

Jessica crumpled up the piece of paper, and jammed it into her pocket. Of course her name wasn't Doctor Fabulous. She was practically kicking herself for even thinking that. Jessica looked a little bit distracted as she shook the psych's hand, but otherwise did not really give off much of an impression. She looked around a little bit. It seemed that this woman was going for a 'mother-who-was-still-trying-to-show-youthful-energy-despite-the-fact-that-she-was-over-the-hill' vibe, and Jessica kinda hated it. She didn't let that on so much, but this woman was a shrink. She probably noticed Jessica's little ticks.

"Yeah, uh, I am Jessica. Jessica Wright." Jessica made that clear, but she wasn't entirely sure for who. Both of them knew who the other one was. Usually, Jessica was not one to be polite, but she felt a certain compunction that she could not quite put her hand on that made her mind her manners here. Jessica walked over to the leather couch and plopped herself down on it, sitting indian style with her one hand on her knee and the other serving as a rest for her chin.

No, she was probably not going to call her Lilly. That was a little too close to Lilliana. Doc had a nice ring to it, she decided. There was some distance in there, and Jessica did not want to get too close, especially not right away. Hell, she didn't really want to be here in the first place, let alone make a friend.

At least she sounded calm. Jessica needed that. Given the hectic nature of her life and what she had been through recently, it was nice to have a port in the storm. Although she did have a nasty tendency to start a storm herself.

"So, uh, did a fourteen year old's Amazon account throw up in here or what?" She said. Jessica brushed her long purple hair out of her face a little bit, so that Lilly could see her smile. She would leave it up to the blonde woman to decide if it was one of snarky condescension or of genuine mirth.

[Dubski]

Dr. Becker watched Jessica as she scanned her office. She always liked to see what sort of reaction her clients had when they saw it. Naturally, it was what Lilly wanted: surrounding herself with positive, cute things. It was her own feng shui. Still, she smiled calmly at her patient and then made her way to her chair, sitting down and crossing a leg over her other one before straightening her skirt. The blonde took a final glance at her paperwork and then snatched her pen from her coat and then went to scribble something before she heard Jessica's question.

Looking rather amused, Lilly smiled cheekily at the purple-haired girl and shrugged her shoulders. "That's a new one, actually. I usually get the single mother trying too hard line, or some variant of it," replied Becker in a good-natured manner. "I like to surround myself in some of my favorite things though. I like fantastical beauty and margaritas. Basic, I know, but you can't help what you like," continued the doctor, leaning back in her seat slightly and setting the clipboard on her lap, opting to not write in it for right now.

"So Jessica, have you seen a psychiatrist before or is this your first time?" asked Dr. Becker, with a serene tone to her voice. It was a straight forward question, but a rather important one. It usually set the tone for how she would approach her session, although Lilly had an idea of what the answer was already. While Jessica cracked a joke, she did seem a bit reserved. It was an indication that, perhaps, she just didn't know how exactly this would go. Still, Lilly was already formulating a guideline for their session in her mind, regardless of Wright's answer.

[LtLukas]

You can't help what you like. Jessica reflected on that as she looked over at the blonde. She was already writing things. Jessica wanted to lean up as far as she could and see if she couldn't read what the doctor was putting onto paper. It made her incredibly curious. After Doctor Becker responded to what she was saying, she put the clipboard down. Jessica really didn't know why, but that made the Violent Violet a little bit more comfortable. She had heard that certain groups of people refused to have their picture taken as they thought it would capture their soul. Usually, she would have found that totally ridiculous, but now she was starting to sympathize with them.

"Uh, nah. This is my first time. I was talking to some family members and they told me it would be a good idea. So..." Jessica spread her arms wide, as if that completed the thought. As if that suggested that she didn't really want to be here. As if that suggested that her family members knew how screwed up she was. As if that suggested that she listened to them a little bit too much.

"So be gentle." Jessica joked.

[Dubski]

Dr. Lilly Becker adjusted her glasses, smiling calmly at Jessica. "I would be gentle regardless of if it's your first time or not, Jessica." The blonde got more comfortable in her seat and then added, "And if you feel nervous or anything, that's perfectly normal. Many people feel that way in their first session, their second, or even their one hundredth. But just keep in mind that this is a safe place and all I ask is that you be honest with me. If you don't want to talk about something, just tell me so and we'll drop it right there."

The psychiatrist gently tapped her manicured fingers on the clipboard on her lap before finally asking another question. "Could you tell me why your family members thought it was a good idea for you to attend therapy?" questioned Dr. Becker, a sense of calm curiosity to her voice.

[LtLukas]

Nervous did not cover the half of it, but that was why she was here she supposed. But it felt like Lilly was not going to be that weird about everything, the same way that everyone else in her life was. So she blinked, and tried to weigh her options. The Violent Violet was mostly private, thinking that she didn't like to be predictable. Inside of the ring, and outside of it. She was at a crossroads, and she knew it. Jessica took a deep breath in, and resolved to launch into it.

"Well, they aren't exactly the lovey dovey type, and they really aren't that receptive to talking. Or I guess, listening. If you want to put it like that." Jessica's words came out haltingly, belying how awkward she was feeling. "But they uh, on our Skype calls I mean, they noticed that I was feeling down. And in a shocking display of self awareness, recognized that they couldn't handle it. So I am here," she said, gesturing with her arms again. This time, it was not so haughty.

[Dubski]

Dr. Lilly Becker listened intently to Jessica's answer, pursing her lips and nodding as she mulled it over. She then leaned back in her chair and offered a sympathetic look to the girl. "My parents were distant too, you know. Or, rather, they still are. So I understand that. At least they knew you needed help, and they cared enough to request you see a psychiatrist. Many parents don't even care that much," said the doctor, ending with a more positive note and a smile.

Her tone was gentle as she asked her next question. "Now why do you think you need therapy, Jessica? You sound like the type of person who wouldn't come just because your parents suggested it." Lilly kept a close eye on Jessica as she casually played with her pen between her fingers. If there was an art to toying with a pen, Lilly had all but mastered it. She was able to stop herself after a moment though.

[LtLukas]

The good doctor stumbled upon an interesting point. It was borderline miraculous that someone in her family had suggested something like this, because she could not earnestly remember another time when a member of her family did something nice for her, or in this case, suggested something nice. But that wasn't the matter at the moment. She found it interesting that Lilly mentioned that her own parents were rather distant, and that a lot of parents were somewhat distant.

"Well, uh, I always feel like that there is a lot of pressure on me. My dad is a wrestler too, but he has never been that good, so uh, I mean, I guess he kept talking about the belt. But he sucked. So did my brothers." She was talking more easily now. She didn't like talking about her family that much, but she found it easy now. "And like, when I wrestle, I always feel like I have to do the most, and I always have to win. And I had a match with this woman Lilliana and..." Jessica trailed off, and gulped. Okay, time to face facts.

"And she beat the shit out of me, stripped me naked, paraded my naked body for everyone to see then knocked me out. Then she wrote her name on my naked tit."

[Dubski]

The kind smile stayed on Dr. Becker's face as she listened intently to what Jessica had to say about the pressure she was under. She could relate to that much to a degree--she had gotten her license in record time. She understand and sympathized with Jessica's plight.

The smile slowly faded from Lilly's mouth when she heard what this Lilliana girl had done to Jessica. It turned to one of concern and compassion as she stood up and set down her clipboard and walked over, taking a seat next to her patient, giving her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. "I am so sorry that happened to you, Jessica," said Dr. Becker in earnest.

She knew how some people in LAW got, and the intense and humiliating situations that came from it from many girls who were, frankly, rather cruel. Still trying her best to comfort her, Lilly added, "It was very brave of you to admit that to me. Is that something you wish to talk about right now. It's a traumatic situation, and I understand if you'd prefer to discuss something else," explained Becker, not wanting to pressure Jessica into talking about it if she felt she couldn't, but offering it nonetheless.