Beach Therapy (for CyanDimitrik)

[Dubski]

Lilly giggled when Blaise asked if she was loving this. In actuality, she sort of was. It was a fun little conversation and she did have some sense of humor, in her own quaint way sometimes. She looked up at him when he stood, still choosing to sit on her lawn chair, resting her chin in her hand as he spoke. "You can absolutely train for that, Blaise. In all actuality, a healthy sex life will probably be the best training so you don't feel... on edge and feeling those urges. Or, in a more boring fashion, you could always just have constant contact with scantily clad women until it becomes more comfortable." She didn't state it as a joke, but actually more legitimate advice.

Doc Fab canted her head, smirking. "I was loving it though. Flattery is always welcome with me. Being comfortable with your own sexuality is healthy too. You would probably have more of an advantage in the ring if you were confident enough in yourself to the point that you see it as them being fortunate enough to tussle up with your fit bod than the other way around. It might help with your dating life too." She wiggled her eye brows, smirking even more encouragingly.

[CyanDimitrik]

Blaise blinks at her again. Third time now in short order. "I don't wanna have just anonymous screw sessions with girls, or to.. like.. rub up against chicks in scant clothes just to dull myself to it. Feels.. I dunno, wrong. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I'll take the disadvantage over that."

Hey, wait, is she implying he's bad with girls? The look he gives her is a bit defensive, even a touch insulted, but he just shakes his head. No taking it out on her. She probably didn't mean it that way. "I'm not egocentric enough to act like that. And if I did, that'd just be too fake. S'not who I am. I don't really wanna be that guy, either."

[Dubski]

Lilly couldn't help but laugh at how flustered Blaise was getting. She stood up, shaking her hand and put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Blaise... Blaise... You're misunderstanding. I'm not saying you should do these things. I'm stating that if you had a healthy sex life, such as a girlfriend, a friends with benefit, or what-have-you, that it would be easier to cope with it. I don't want you to... I don't know, purchase lapdances or prostitutes." She then removed her hand from her shoulder to start thinking about it, tapping a finger to her cheek. "Although that may be an interesting case study... One I doubt has been done in any serious capacity..."

The doctor cleared her throat and shook her head clear. "Nevermind. I also don't want you to act egocentric. Just... confident! Why do you think I'm not self-conscious about you oogling me, hmm? Or your multiple flirtatious comments? Because I'm confident in myself. You want to be with me? Damn right you do! Would I tell you or any other man that in any context other than this? Of course not. What kind of arrogant woman would I be if I did? But you just need to exude that sort of confidence yourself, Blaise. If a girl wants to flirt with you, then you just say, 'Yes, of course she wants to, because I have a lot of upside!'" Doc Fab then preened happily, satisfied with her psychological elaboration. "So you would go out into that ring, see that girl on the other side, and when they look at you and see that fit piece of man meat that you are, you look back at them and think to yourself, 'I see you seeing me, and if you aren't excited about the prospect of getting grabby in a wrestling match with me, that's a problem with you and not me.'" She sighed, looking proud of herself, confident she had explained away any of Blaise's apprehension about her idea.

[CyanDimitrik]

The hand on his shoulder gets a suspicious look, then back at her with a raised eyebrow. She made herself pretty clear with him. He moved back to get some distance from her. And now she's touching him. That's not an accident, is it? She's screwing with him.

Fortunately, the more she speaks, the more exasperated he becomes. "Lemme be, like... really clear here," he says, canting his head to her. "..you're telling me I don't have confidence. Or enough confidence. That's what you're saying?" Despite it being phrased as a question, she - being a trained professional - should be able to pick up that it's less a query, and more a statement to the opposite. There's a flavor of annoyance in his voice.

Shades of Erin run in his mind again. He's pretty sure he was too nice to Erin, and it made her see him as a doormat. Has he made the same mistake here? Been too permissive? Didn't put his foot down hard enough when she was wrong about him before? She said her friends have told her to hush before when she starts on this, but she seems so damn sure of herself that just telling her to quit wouldn't tell her she's wrong.

Why does it matter?

Should it matter?

Blaise's lips twist. No. It doesn't matter. Odds are, he'll never see this chick again. Is it worth making her upset? Despite feeling patronized and demeaned, Blaise concludes that it's not. He tripped over her. This is his penance, and she'll never know about it. Because her knowing about it would undermine the whole purpose.

"Yeah, well," says a flat-voiced Blaise, "I'll keep that in mind."

[Dubski]

Doctor Fabulous was about to reply to his request for clarification, but then paused and thought about it. "Well... unless I were to actually have a much deeper discussion into your psyche that I'm sure both of us probably wouldn't want... your level of confidence isn't really mine to ask. However, not many people have quite the level of confidence to act as though I told you to, so there's not really any shame in it. It takes time and introspective thinking. And putting it into practice is difficult..."

She paused, noting his subtle annoyance, and pursed her lips. "I'm really not meaning to offend. Everyone could stand to be more confident. But perhaps... think about why you had that look on your face when I touched you earlier." Lilly then repeated the motion, placing her hand on his shoulder again, an inquisitive, friendly look on her face. "I'm perfectly fine with casual contact with a relative stranger. And I presume you take issue since I didn't accept your advances, which isn't necessarily your fault by the way. I consider my level of confidence... too much sometimes. I've been told perhaps I'm too okay with things. But because of it, I'm a toucher. I touch people. I give hugs to people I barely know. But ask yourself... if you are quite as confident in yourself and you being rejected as you were, why do you seem to take issue with that?"

Becker removed her hand from Blaise's shoulder, offering a friendly smile in its stead. "It's about improvement. I can improve quite a bit about myself too, I'll have you know. But your level of confidence? That is fine too. But I'm sure if you want to be the greatest professional wrestler ever, you would probably need some more of it." Her expression then turned more hopeful. "Do you understand any of that more clearly, Blaise...?"

[CyanDimitrik]

The look on his face makes a return when she seems to him to misread his reaction to her hand. So when the hand comes in again, he tips his shoulder away to avoid it. And it's that persistent touch that makes it too difficult to not say something.

"Stop horoscoping me. Stop saying one thing about me, then saying you didn't say it just enough that it applies to everyone. That's what horoscopes do. Horoscopes are crap, and so's what you're saying about me."

Blaise takes a step back to ensure her hands don't sneak his way again while he vents his grievances. "What you're calling a lack of confidence is what the rest of us call pride'n dignity. Yeah, you're not into me. Cool, whatever, I moved on. But keep your paws to yourself. You know why you're doing it, you know what you're doing, you're not stupid. You don't put your hands on a guy who was just hitting on you and you rejected, and act all confused and like there's something wrong with him for not liking it. It's a dick move."

His arms fold over his chest, expression cross. "I'm sorry to kind'a give you the business, but I really get the impression that you're one of those chicks who's too pretty for most people to call on her crap. Quit with the patronizing. Quit with the pop-psychology. Have a single conversation with a guy before you start tearing him down."

[Dubski]

Lilly looked rather surprised at Blaise's outburst, but then crossed her arms and watched him intently, taking it all in without a single word. She nodded, her lips pursed and maintaining a neutral expression as she was being brow beaten. He made a lot of points. Some not valid, but multiple valid ones. She found it interesting, because he was actually right--not many people ever did call her out on much. And in her own way, she was glad he had. It was a nice reflection onto herself she normally never got. She smiled calmly and nodded affirmatively at Blaise when he was done speaking. "I have quite a bit to improve about myself, don't I?" She wagged her finger at Blaise, still calm despite being told off rather effectively. [/color=#FF40FF]"Thank you. And I'll apologize again. I get... entirely too much into personality, mentality, and everything in between. It's more than horoscopes, but it's something very dear to me. I can't turn it off sometimes, and that's why I'm usually better with friends who can reign me in. So thank you for that."[/color]

She laughed humorlessly for a moment, running a hand through her hair and smiling more awkwardly. "And I apologize for touching you again after you had... moved yourself. I really wasn't playing games or anything. I'm just socially awkward, clearly. I should have noticed your apprehension of it, noted it, and stopped. I have been focusing too much on the inner workings of your mind that I overlooked exactly what was in front of me, and much more obvious to me. I often say just because I have a PHD doesn't mean I'm a genius, and my friends make sure to never let me forget that."

Then she frowned, awkwardly playing with the pair of sunglasses she had hooked on her bikini with one hand as she looked at him, upset, but at herself more than anything else. "Clearly you stumbled over the wrong girl today..." She bit her lip, clearly not knowing what else to say to him at the moment, and letting the awkwardness linger.

[CyanDimitrik]

It's difficult for Blaise to remain irritated at someone, and rare enough that he gets to that point in the first place. But once bitten, twice shy. He's definitely been bitten twice. Thrice, if you count the rejection! With arms still folded, he continues to eye Lilly through her defense.

"It wouldn't be so bad if the things you've been saying weren't just straight up wrong and insulting," Blaise drills. "And no amount of 'no offense' or 'this applies to everyone' really fixes it! You've been jumping to all kinds of conclusions about me, and the only one you've been right about is that I was interested in you!"

Once she's finished, Blaise is silent a beat, considering her. His weight shifts from one leg to the other, expression softening - but still grudging. "Apology accepted. Just.. quit it. Talk to me like a person. I know I started out tripping on you and flirting," he hates that he did that at this point, "but I deserve basic respect." It has, indeed, gotten rather awkward and uncomfortable. Blaise doesn't enjoy fussing at people. It's foreign to him. "Either way, maybe I should get back to the game I ditched."

[Dubski]

The psychiatrist nodded slowly as she continued to listen to Blaise. She wanted to object. Her mind was already going in the direction to analyze his response and reflect it into all of the lessons and theorems she had learned, but then shook her head and cleared it out of her mind. It frankly didn't matter, and it also didn't matter if she were right about anything, or if what she said was truly insulting or not. The fact that he was insulted was most important, and Lilly should have taken the cues much sooner than that. That much is on her. So she forgoed any objection and gave Blaise a sincere nod of understanding. "Understood. I have a thick head. I sadly need to be told more... bluntly sometimes, because I miss the obvious. And you absolutely deserve respect. Because you're a good person. I apologize, again. Truly."

Lilly then shimmied her shoulders in an awkward display before smiling slightly, nodding towards the game. "I'm sure they miss you over there. I'm sure you can play it better than I am," She rolled her eyes slightly, trying to ease the tension a little bit more. "I wasn't gifted with much talent in team sports like that. I think that I think too much for that. I'm much better at wrestling and combat sports, oddly enough." Her lip twinged slightly. She hadn't wanted to bring it up, as the only really thoughtful thing she did was neglect mentioning she was a wrestler when she knew Blaise had a thing for them, but she hoped it would be a bridge to understanding, at the very least, with them having some shared interest in the end.

[CyanDimitrik]

Blaise's expression dulls a little when she says she believes she thinks too much for team sports. A part of him wants to interrupt to gently let her know that, by itself, sounds like she's calling team players dumb. But he's done grilling her, and she's still talking. It already feels weird enough that he's had to fuss at someone. He'd have much preferred to just walk away.

Hang on. Hold on. What did she just say? She's much better at what, now?

That dulled expression takes on a more animated touch. An eyebrow lifts and his lips twist, head canting to her with a wordless, 'Seriously?' It's not that he doesn't believe her. Hell, why wouldn't he? He keeps running into female wrestlers in Japan. It's that she had chosen to keep it hidden, to play coy with it, or whatever it was she was doing. Why? To what end? A part of him feels like she was doing it just to screw with him. Or maybe that's why she's choosing to say it now, rather than before.

A hand lifts to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Citation-freakin'-needed," he mumbles. "I'll look that up later. Maybe." Maybe not. The last thing he wants is for her to think he's still holding onto any romantic notions for her. That's backfired to a weaponized degree.

The hand lowers again, and he has to ask. He somehow knows he'll hate the answer, but: "Why didn't you say that before?"