May Support Group Thread

[tramitem]

Who: OPEN (Including to all the new characters who app throughout the month)
What: Bureau Run, Non-Mandatory Support Group
When: There are meetings at various times during the week, whatever works for your character between 8 am and 10 pm
Where: There are meetings at various locations around NYC, whatever works for your character
Rating/Warnings: We ask that players put appropriate warning labels in the subject lines of their threads as they become necessary


There’s a generic spread of food on a table off to one side of the room: donuts, muffins, bagels, and cookies; coffee, lemonade, water, and because one of the Different asked for it, hot chocolate. Maybe you’re hungry enough to try it—it’s free after all.

Or maybe you can’t stomach anything, given the event you’re attending.

The space is a local rec center. The beige-painted cinder block walls and the fluorescent lighting are a terrible combination. Maybe they are reminiscent of the public school you attended in your youth?

Why are you here? Curiosity? Maybe the Bureau official will say something that will help you make sense of things? The meeting was interesting—who knew there were so many people like you, receiving memories of a past life? The group was led by someone from The Bureau—the Department of Medical Services. Some people are staying in their chairs and chatting—they must know each other from previous meetings. Some of them are gravitating towards the food.

How do you feel about tonight? Has it helped you come to terms with the dream of memories you’re having? Maybe it’s time to talk to others, get an understanding of their experience.

Comments

[darkforcerising]

Anakin gave a small nod, not wanting to be too conspicuous.

"Mostly we talk about what we're experiencing..." he said quietly, and then added, "Try to find answers."

[chenqing_player]

"And have you been able to find any?" Wei Wuxian lowered his voice. If they were doing such a thing in secret then it meant they really didn't trust the people who told him to come here. And honestly, he wasn't sure he did either.

[darkforcerising]

Anakin shrugged a little, “We’ve mostly just started. We’re trying to figure out a way to communicate without …” He glanced at the Official: them, “knowing. Scouting out who trusts them. Finding places to meet.”

[chenqing_player]

Wei Wuxian grinned, "I mean..if you want a place to meet that these guys aren't likely to show up at, my club would probably be the best hideout ever." It wasn't exactly his club, but where he worked. And really any club would probably have the same affect.

"We have small private areas small groups can sit in and the music is so loud it isn't like they would be able to bug us or anything." Now he was thinking about all the spy movies he had watched. "It would just look like you were out having a good time."

[darkforcerising]

Anakin thought about it, but then had the question, "I'm assuming this club is twenty-one plus? I think the youngest of us is fifteen."

[chenqing_player]

He quickly shook his head. "Obviously you can't drink until you are 21, but I was working there when I was 18! We have certain days where they open up parts of the club so that it's pretty much open to everyone. We get a lot of younger people." Those days are usually his performance days. A lot of his fans fall into the younger crowd, which he really doesn't mind but they do get to be kind of loud. The club likes the extra revenue that the teenagers bring in on those days because they also like to eat.

"There is a door charge but its not a lot and I can probably get you guys in for free."

[darkforcerising]

"... Maybe as a backup," Anakin said. "These kids have parents they can't exactly tell they're having visions of past lives. Adding going to establishments that primarily serve alcohol and is used for pick-ups..." Anakin was sure he didn't have to spell that out fully.

[chenqing_player]

Wei Wuxian shrugged, "Well if you guys ever need the option, just let me know and I'll get you hooked up."

He paused and looked at him confused, "Why would the kids not tell their parents about the visions? Of all people I'd think the parents would understand.."

As someone who never had parents he doesn't really know what a family life was like but he assumed understanding stuff like that would be their job.

[darkforcerising]

"Their parents aren't getting visions," Anakin said. "How many people have you told about this? How many of them have the power to..." Anakin shrugged. "Commit you if they think what you're experiencing makes you a danger to yourself or others?"

[chenqing_player]

"I haven't told anyone. The people at work probably wouldn't like to hear something like that..I'm kind of their face and if their poster child is crazy it would be bad for business. But would a family really do the same thing? If your kid is hurting or experiencing something weird.." He just always assumed that's what family did. They stood by you no matter what.

"I guess that's the whole point of this group then." It made sense but if even this wasn't a safe place then what were they really supposed to do?

[darkforcerising]

Anakin made a face. "They wouldn't be trying to hurt their kid, seeking out mental health help isn't inherently abusive. But how many doctors do you think will believe you if you say you're getting memories of a past life? I didn't believe in past lives or visions before this all started."

[chenqing_player]

"But then..just call them dreams. Very strange dreams..why even mention the past lives? I mean..I don't believe that part myself really. It's just something that the suits around here tell us so we can't really be sure right?"

He just felt kind of sad for the kids. He knew what it was like to not have anyone to trust and so he didn't wish that kind of life on anyone else.

[darkforcerising]

"Then why tell them anything at all if you're just going to lie?" Aankin asked.

"Give it some time, we all experience something that confirms there's more to this than... I donno, over-active imagination."

[chenqing_player]

Wei Wuxian sighed but he nodded a little, "I just blamed mine on a really bad hangover and hoped it would be the end of it." Not that he had even drank enough the night before for it to come close to a hangover but he just figured there was a better explanation then a random vision of the past.

"These kids..how many visions have they had?"

[darkforcerising]

Anakin shrugged. "Everyone gets memories at different rates. Some of us get them all dumped at once. Some, like," Anakin gestured to himself. "They just come at slow trickle. So it's hard to say just how many we each received. So... multiple is the one word that applies to all of us."

[chenqing_player]

"I have so much to look forward to." He really really doesn't want to think about what his next vision might be like considering how awful the first one was.

"So what do you do with your time when you're not scooting out the new recruits at the food table." He smiled over at Anakin.

[darkforcerising]

Anakin could really sympathize with Wei. He very much wanted the memories of being a slave and all that entailed to stop. Those were glimpses of a live he thought he'd only ever have to imagine.

"Me?" Anakin asked. "Oh, I'm an aerospace engineer- I design rocket engines. And... I'm in a lot of therapy."

[chenqing_player]

Wei Wuxian was once again clearly impressed. "Rocket engines huh? That must keep you pretty busy." This guy was strong, smart and good looking. That's a triple threat if someone could get past the strange dreams and therapy.

There was no telling with he would have been capable of if he has chosen to continue to go to school. Wei Wuxian was smart but he had no desire to keep going with his education. Once school was done, he was all play, making sure even his job was one he could have fun with.

[darkforcerising]

Anakin shrugged, if Wei meant that flirtatiously, it went right over Anakin's head. He was trying very hard to block out anyone's emotions. "It's most fun when we're stress-testing designs. And the conventions are fun, too."

He turned the question around. "What do you do for fun when you're not enduring these meetings?"

[chenqing_player]

"Conventions?" Wei didn't know what those could possibly be like. He tried to think about what a convention would entail but all he could see were a bunch of suits sitting in an auditorium and discussing things he didn't understand. But that hardly seemed like a fun time.

"Ahh..well..I consider my job pretty fun and when I'm not there I often go to other clubs just to see what they have going for them. But I also take karate and like hanging out in the park. I always felt drawn to less city-like areas."

Wei Wuxian would probably be pretty content to live in the country and just spend his days lazing around a lake.

[darkforcerising]

"Ya, they usually happen in Las Vegas." And they were definitely more fun than Wei was thinking. with demonstrations of various new technologies and studies.

"What kind of clubs?"

[chenqing_player]

"Las Vegas? Nice! I wouldn't mind heading there. And all kinds of clubs. I love music and dancing so I go to check out DJs or bands that might be playing. Dance clubs, jazz clubs, tiny hole in the wall clubs that new groups play at. They are all fun."