byakkoyagirl | ✯ Seventh Session ✯ [Voice]

[Through the weeks Paprika has been noticing more people coming through, signalling another cycle. It seems that most of the arrivals have already come and still no Atsuko. Well, that's probably for the best anyway. She can't say she would be happy to see the woman stuck here. For some reason she's been thinking about it. Probably because of the rain. The cold, dim demeanor reminded her of her creator. Kind of sad actually.

In the morning, she flips open the journal and begins. She has something she wants to address and given the rain, more people will probably be inside reading to see it.]

So, I see we got some new arrivals in the village. I'm sorry that you all got stuck here. ...Well, only half-sorry. If you actually want to be here, that's fine too. [A small smile.]

My name is Paprika and I'm a psychotherapist. For anyone who doesn't have 'people doctors' in their world, psychotherapists help people cope with certain issues they feel they can't resolve on their own. Like mental stress or the like. Specifically, my specialty is dream therapy. Psychotherapists are known for having interpersonal relationships, so it's like getting to know the person inside and out and not just talking to them for an hour a week.

I'll get to the point: if any of you have things you want to talk about, but don't feel like you have anyone who will listen or want to keep a matter private from others, I'm willing to lend an ear. Everything we speak about is confidential between us and I won't force it on you. I already learned to make unhackable filters on this system. Or, if you prefer, we can talk in person.

It's just an offer I'm willing to give to anyone who needs it. We have plenty of medical doctors, but sometimes the deepest wounds come from within the psyche. This goes for current residents too. Luceti can be a stressing environment and no one would blame you for getting stressed to a point where you need help, if you can acknowledge you need it. I'll be here all day to answer in.

[ooc: replies come when I wake up.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cleaning is fun! Back at Heavens Ken-niichan, Konzen and me helped Ten-chan to clean and organize his office. There were tons of books and Konzen kept complaining about being there but it was fun to do it all together. Ken-niichan left while we were at it and Konzen got angry while Ten-chan laughed and I found a great book about the magic land of meatbuns and the adventures of the flying pork meatbun!

[She giggles. You are the cutest.]

Magic land of meatbuns? I hope you didn't get hungry afterward.

Actually I got hungry, but it was time to eat anyway so Konzen didn't get angry with me for saying that I was hungry!

[The kid laughs happily.]

He can get angry so easily, you know? He's very pretty, when I first saw him I thought that he would be even prettier if he would smile, because he didn't do it at all... It's not true though, he looks weird if he smiles. I don't know anyone else who looks weird when they smile though, do you?

I do. Some people you just get so use to seeing frown or have no emotion, that when they show some it feels unnatural and scary. It's not a bad thing, but you just get use to seeing them so angry and mean that seeing them being nice is bizarre.

Yes, that's exactly it! Konzen is always looking so angry and bored, even if he's a good person, when I saw him smile I thought he had hit his head badly or something. Because just before I had pushed him against the wall by accident, but he was back to normal in an instant.

I don't think he needs to smile anymore though, because once when we all where up in the middle of the night having fun under a cherry tree he had the same sour look as always but he still seemed happy. I thought so at least, can people look happy even if they don't smile or laugh?

Yes, they can. Not everyone has to express a smile to show their happiness. My co-worker, for example, almost never smiles herself, but I can always see when she's happy.

Then she's just like Konzen! But why is it that we can tell that they are happy even if they don't smile? I always thought that smiles were needed to show that one was happy and tears to show that one was sad.

We can tell because we're close enough to see through their faces. We can see into their hearts and know what they're really feeling on the inside. That's the most important thing.

But I wasn't staring at Konzen from that close! I'm sure I never saw through his face, that would have been scary, as if he was transparent or something, like a ghost. And he probably would have got angry if I stared that close to him.