endlessflask | [ deerington inbox ]

[ Eliot can definitely sympathize with April being several shades of what the fuck. As the end of the month draws near, he's starting to feel a little more normal, at least. Things are starting to come back to him and the death flu is starting to fade, slowly but surely, which means he can drag himself to the school more frequently. He still rolls in a couple hours after Quentin does, but he sticks it out until the end of the day.

So he's there when there's a knock on his door, playing around on his Fluid by scrolling through the network. Eliot sets the device aside and gets up, straightening out his vest and his tie as he walks to the door to open it. ]

Hi. Come on in.

[ No, he's not expecting anyone, but he's always glad for a break from doing nothing. Stepping aside, Eliot motions to the chair opposite his own at the desk. ]

You're going to have to remind me of your name.

[ Not that Eliot would know it, having never met him, but he's seen him around here and there. Mostly he's seen the kid in Quentin's class when Eliot's strolled in to cause a disruption or come see Quentin between periods. ]

[ When the door's opened, Peter's realising that he recognises the man, too. Which isn't entirely surprising, seeing as how he's been coming to school here since October; it's been about half a year. Yet the boy's reaction is... weirdly taken aback; he blinks widely, looking like he's seen a ghost for a moment. Sorry, Eliot. That's... That's just Peter. Even when there's literally no reason to be Frightened and Paranoid, he finds one.

But that particular little moment passes quickly enough; he's a constant ride of anxiety with fleeting various reasons to keep it going along. The teen moves into the room — a tall, thin shadow, almost as tall as the man he's following in. Peter's already reaching six feet but seems awkward with himself, an oversized child slinking towards the gestured chair like he's not sure he wants to. But he does, slipping down in as directed, folding his hands into his lap submissively. The nerves are leaking from him now, being in an office like this.

He doesn't know what to expect from a school counselor. What kinds of things will he ask? What if he asks about his— family? ]

I'm, uh, Peter. Peter Graham.

[ He swallows, glancing back up to Eliot. ]

Mr. Coldwater said he knew you, and.... I uh. I'm not bothering you, am I?

[ Should he have made an appointment? Eliot seems fancy from the way he's dressed; what if he's persnickety about stuff like this? Peter's highkey intimidated by him already. ]

Oh, well, if Quentin sent you. [ Eliot's mouth ticks up in a smile and he closes the door behind Peter. ] You're not bothering me. At all. This is the most exciting thing to happen to me all day.

[ He means it, too. Not a lot of people wander into his office, and he doesn't really blame them. Eliot had never wanted to talk to his school counselor, either. Mostly because he knew it'd be a lost cause - he wonders, sometimes, if the kids here think that about him, too.

Well. It doesn't really matter now.

Eliot moves across the office and takes a seat, leaning back in the chair. ]

You can relax. I'm very chill.

[ Peter does give a little smile at that — It isn't the first time someone's outright told him he can relax; he knows he's... nervous and tense and wears that anxiety like a thin jacket over his shoulders. It does help? When people address it outright like that. Most of what Peter's known is just to suppress everything, and there's something in him that eases out with a soft breath, like he's exhaling a bit of his nerves out. ]

Thanks. I uh.. I guess I've never been to a school counselor or anything like that before.

[ He offers that, folding his hands into his lap, looking down at them. ]

My dad would be glad, though. He's a psychiatrist so he... you know. [ He knows counselors and psychiatrists and all that are different but it still falls under one umbrella of, like. Listening to people and helping them, so it feels similar enough. ]

Did you do this kind of thing back home? Before...here.

[ Fortunately for both of them, Eliot seems to enjoy collecting people that are nervous and anxious. They're a yin to his yang, or maybe he's just more like them than he cares to admit and that's why he feels so comfortable around people like that.

He raises his eyebrows and lets out an amused sound. ]

This? God, no. I've never actually worked a day in my life before I got here.

[ Well. Not a real job. He did farm work because that was just his childhood, and he was a king but that's not really a Real Job is it? He'd probably still put it on his resume, though. ]

I never actually went to my school counselors, either. I didn't really get the impression they'd be able to help me and I guess I'm just trying to do the opposite of what they did.

[ That response, ironically enough, has something in Peter's trust levels rising a little bit. Because it's... relatable, and it surprises him. From the way this guy's dressed, Peter would have thought he was like.. really put together in all facets of his life. Adults who display ways in which they aren't Perfectly Established makes them easier to talk to, easier be around.

Actually, that's how he's felt about Quentin, too. The sort of... self-deprecating sense of humour, the melancholic feeling his math teacher's displayed here and there. #PeterFeelsThat

And his impression is simply continuing down that route of "Eliot Might Be Another Cool Adult and Not a Scary One" the more he talks. Peter's eyebrows tick upwards, looking more invested now. ]

Yeah... Yeah, that's how it felt for me, too. I mean I get this sounds really teenage-rebel-without-a-cause cliché, but I knew they couldn't help me. They just... wouldn't get it.

[ A beat, before Peter continues with his abundance of cynicism. ]

They don't really care, they just... want to stop the problem. Whether it's kids getting bullied or acting up in class or being depressed. Those are all just seen as like... disruptions to put a stop to so the day can go smoother for the adults.

And they never want to stop the problem in favour of the kid who needs it.

[ Which is why Eliot had never even bothered. He's well aware at how easily and readily people are willing to turn a blind eye to problems that don't concern them or if it involved something they don't agree with.

But that's neither here nor there, really. This is about Peter coming to his office.

So, what was it that made Quentin tell you to come see me?

[ He refuses to refer to him as Mr. Coldwater, thank you very much. ]

[ There's a moment when Peter thinks maybe he's said too much — because saying anything feels like too much, to him. A moment when he's holding his breath, nervous after everything he's just said.

And because it isn't even necessarily himself he's thinking of, not fully. It's his sister, who had been bullied and ostracised and kind of.. kept out of the way. Charlie had never reacted to it much, but Peter knew she hadn't always felt welcomed at school. In her own unspoken way, she'd expressed that. In her art.

But then Eliot agrees with him, and Peter releases that breath, glancing down at his lap again with a nod, softly agreeing back. Yeah. They never want to stop the problem unless it's affecting them directly. ]

We uh.. we talked for awhile. I hadn't been coming to class, so I went to apologise and we... talked. [ A lot had been said at the meeting, a lot of things dipped into. Peter doesn't even know where to begin. ] I think he could tell I wasn't doing so hot and uh... could use someone to talk to?

[ There's another pause as he glances up at Eliot again. ]

...You're from his world, right? Are you a magician, too?

Yeah. We met at school.

[ He wonders why Peter asks. Eliot supposes it could be simple curiosity, someone trying to get to know things about another person. That's what people do, after all. But a part of him can't help but wonder if being a magician, and thus having experience in a wide range of bullshit, is relevant to what Peter wants to talk about. ]

I can't really say I'll be able to help you, but I can definitely talk. I can listen to whatever you need to get off your chest and, honestly, sometimes that's really all someone needs.

[ Definitely the latter there. Learning that Strange Things (or things he'd always perceived as strange, anyway) exist so prominently in other people's worlds has been terrifying and yet... helpful. He could never talk to someone back home in normal fucking Utah about things like, oh, demonic possession, but maybe he can talk to people here in Hell Town who know about... magic and spells and all that stuff.

Though he's still really nervous, hands fiddling with themselves again. ]

I uh... Uh..... [ Peter swallows with an audible sound. This is hard. But he's got to start somewhere. ]

There's something wrong with me. And I guess I'm afraid I could... I could hurt other people. That's why I stopped coming to school?

I, uh.... I don't want to hurt anybody.

[ Eliot shifts just a little in his chair, comfortable but attentive. He tilts his head while Peter talks. It's vague enough that Eliot can start filling in the blanks with any number of things. ]

To be fair, there are things all over the place here that can hurt other people.

[ He cracks a smile and it goes away just as fast. Whatever it is, even if it's really nothing at all, it's got Peter scared. ]

And there are people here that know how to handle things that can hurt people.

[ That.... is a fair statement; Eliot's right. Compared to the shit that this place gets up to, Peter's dangerous levels actually seem... relatively low. At least, so far they have been.

But what if that changes? What if he gets worse? He's fretting, shifting a bit, fingers twisting into each other, because he doesn't want to say too much, but he doesn't know how to skirt around it very well, either. ]

Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I saw Mr. Coldwater.... do magic. Something bad was happening, someone was attacking me, and he protected me. He was... really powerful.

[ Said magic could probably be used to stop Peter, too. If Quentin ever had to. Or any of the rest of these magician people around. ...This man, too. Peter glances up at him sideways, hesitating before easing into it. Maybe it's for the best if he makes sure the adults around here know how he can be dangerous. They can stop him. ]

Sometimes I'm not exactly myself. It's like... like something else takes over me. And I'm afraid it'll hurt someone.

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Apologies for running so behind on backtags, & if you need to drop I totally don't mind! ♡