Harvest Counseling

Mar 23rd, 2014 12:32 PM

It had taken Ava a little bit to figure out exactly how to get from where she was to the Blue Note, but in the end the buses came through. After a quick ride, a transfer, and a slightly longer ride she found herself walking up the street toward the establishment, hands tucked into her pockets and a scarf wrapped several times around her neck. It wasn't so bad during the day anymore, but night was still on the chill side.

She paused by the front door, looking up and down the sidewalk in the off chance she'd find Ramona walking toward her; when she didn't, she stuck her head inside briefly, scanning the patrons for the familiar white hair, but again saw nothing. Concerned that if she went in too far before the person she was meeting she might get singled out as Alone and then be talked at by over-solicitous patrons, she stood a few feet down from the front door and had another cigarette, mostly to keep herself occupied.

But in the end she did go in before the Summer arrived, pausing at the bar to order herself something small and simple before bee-lining to the smallest, most out of the way table available. Taking a seat, she unwrapped her scarf and waited, placing her phone on the table in case Ramona called again.

**InvertedMonkey** · Mar 23rd, 2014 12:55 PM

Feeling small. Ramona hates that. She knows her former gaolers were bigger than her. That they used that size to crush her and to intimidate. It's not like she's a gargantuan or anything, but she hates feeling small. Yet as she walks down the sidewalk towards the Blue Note, she's almost huddling in her black leather jacket. Head down, shoulders tucked in. Her strides aren't as alarmingly broad and quick as they were when she left the apartment this evening, but they remain purposeful.

Stepping into the Blue Note, there's a hint of relief. Her head comes up and her back straightens, she rolls her shoulder a bit, and wipes her hair back from her face. She steps out of the doorway, almost rising onto her toes as she looks across the club for Ava's fanged face. Spotting her, she crosses the room, swiftly at first but then slowing to a more casual pace. She slides into the booth opposite Ava, sitting before she breaks the silence, "Hey, uh, thanks for meeting me." She says awkwardly, glancing away from Ava's eyes and down at the table.

Mar 23rd, 2014 01:26 PM

Looking up from checking the time on her phone, Ava smiled as she caught sight of Ramona moving toward her and tucked the phone back into her pocket. But as the Ogre sat down her smile faded slightly, replaced by a more reserved, searching expression; she'd only met Ramona a few times, but she was used to a more impassive front. The posture of the woman across from her seemed at odds with the leather jacket, the partially cropped hair - she felt a bit like she was looking at one of those red-blue 3-D images but her glasses didn't fit quite right; the image didn't resolve properly.

"No problem." She watched Ramona for a moment as she studied the table before adding in a softer tone, "Are you alright?"

**InvertedMonkey** · Mar 23rd, 2014 01:34 PM

She glances up at Ava at the query, then looks away, out of the booth, to a server that comes by the table, "Hey, can I get a beer?" She asks quickly, glancing at Ava to see if she'll order something, and waiting for the server to depart. The silence stretches for a moment, and Ramona fidgets in her seat, arms resting on the table. She makes a loose fist of one hand and covers it with the other, "... I didn't really know who else to call. I don't know a lot of people in this... club yet. I'm not in danger or anything, and neither is the club. I'm just... I'm trying to handle something kind of uncomfortable, you know?" Her lips part in sort of a wince/grimace, giving a flash of teeth. Almost a pleading expression as she watches Ava's reaction. "My last club, they told me its a bad idea to try to deal with this stuff on your own. That's why the club is there, right?"

Mar 23rd, 2014 02:14 PM

Ava gave the server a polite smile and lifted her glass off the table slightly, signalling that she already had something. As Ramona mentioned that she didn't know a lot of people in the local Freehold, she couldn't help a vague sense of amusement: now that she thought about it, the only Summers she knew for sure Ramona has met were Mal and Jason, who weren't always at their best in each other's company. At least, not the way she saw it.

The not-smile and beseeching gaze did her in a little, the natural allegiance she felt for members of the Freehold compounding with her sympathies for any Lost. "They were right, that's exactly what the club is for." Among other things. Her mouth curved into a smile and the faint crows feet around her eyes crinkled. "I'm glad to hear you're not in any serious trouble. What's been bothering you?"

**InvertedMonkey** · Mar 23rd, 2014 03:14 PM

The kindness and sympathy in Ava's eyes makes something proud inside Ramona wither just a little bit more than it has already. She leans back in her seat, looking up at the server as she delivers a mug of beer, false-smiling her thanks and taking a quick pull of it. She sighs as she lowers her mug back down to the table, and after a moment, leans forward again, "So... there's this couple in the apartment before mine. Penny and Martin. A few weeks ago, I'm at home trying to sleep, and there's this... godawful ruckus. Raised voices, plates crashing, furniture moving, thumps and bangs..." She looks Ava in the eye, expression grim, "Turns out Penny has a temper. And when Penny loses control of her temper, she beats Martin. And I'm not talking about cheek slaps or a few little lady-like shin-kicks. I'm talking about black eyes and sick days from work while he recovers."

She leans back again, "... I offered to drive Martin to a shelter or something... but he's not ready to leave. It's like alcoholism or drug addiction, you know? You can't really help someone who doesn't want to be helped. But while this has been going on..." she raises both hands, palms open, fingers together, making little helpless circles in the air, and lowers her voice when she explains "There's been a lot of anger... I've been tanking it up." She looks into Ava's eyes when she says that, trying to make a phrase for harvesting emotions sound innocuous. "As much as I hate what she's doing to him, I've been tanking it up. And you know, I've been dealing with it alright. Anger's familiar to me." Her hands close into loose fists and she slowly lowers them to rest on the table, eyes following their movement before flicking up to Ava's again, "Except now... the honeymoon's come around. Now it's all 'baby forgive me' and 'I'm sorry, but you know you shouldn't provoke me like that,' and date nights, and flowers, and romance, and fucking. Riding the high before they crash again."

She seizes her beer, taking another long pull. Her explanation's come fast. The need to just get it all out, even if Ava doesn't understand, spilling the words from her head, "And they're still giving off a lot of... fuel. And I've been tanking it up. All that sweetness and lust." Her hands clench, "It feels good, Ava," Her voice is tight, with a low, harsh edge, "God it feels good. Their euphoria. Their little Romeo and Juliet 'nothing else matters in the world' utter infatuation. Their lust... And it makes me sick," she grimaces, baring her teeth, "Every time I pull from them, it makes me sick that I enjoy it. Like it's not enough that I'm benefiting from a fucking domestic abuse cycle, I've got to fucking enjoy myself while I'm doing it. It's like... sadism." She finishes, breathing a little more heavily than before. She avoids looking at Ava and takes another pull from her beer. God help me.

Mar 23rd, 2014 07:21 PM

Once the flow of words began there was little to do other than sit back and listen. She stirred her drink absently with the little black straw leaning against the rim, occasionally raising it to take a small sip, but her full attention was on Ramona. Chin in her palm and elbows on the table, her gaze was level whenever the other woman chose to meet it.

When it seemed that the words had dried up, for the moment, Ava let the silence stretch as Ramona's eyes locked back onto the table. Figuring it was better to ask than assume, she finally spoke up. "Would you just like to talk, or are you looking for advice?"

**InvertedMonkey** · Mar 23rd, 2014 07:43 PM

Her eyes flick back up to Ava, "... Advice."

Mar 23rd, 2014 08:31 PM

She nodded slowly, collecting her thoughts. Resisting the urge to chew on her straw, she instead turned it between her fingers and finally tapped it on the bottom of the glass definitively. "I'm not going to pretend that I know what it's like to be in that position, and I'm giving this advice from a point of bias: I know you. I don't know them; I can empathize, we both know that's not the same. But from what it sounds like, you need to stop being the third person in their relationship." The Scrivener gave Ramona a measuring look before continuing.

"That could mean a lot of things. You mentioned you offered Martin another option, but he's not ready for a way out yet, or doesn't think he needs one. I assume you haven't tried giving Penny a similar offer; maybe trying to find a way for her to work on her rage could be another possibility. I have a bit of trouble imagining she'd want to listen to that, but..." She shook her head and shrugged; if she was being as fair as possible, both people in that relationship needed help. It was just harder to imagine Penny willingly accepting something like counseling, and also to sympathize with her. At all.

"At the very least, call the police the next time it happens. I know it might not feel like enough, but I think it might be better than confronting her personally."

Pinching the end of the straw between her thumb and forefinger, she turned a cool eye back to Ramona. "This would, of course, disrupt any benefits you were enjoying. I think, though, from what you've been saying, you'd rather find them somewhere else." She wasn't interested in condemning someone else's Harvesting habits, especially when she knew many would find several of her own fairly tasteless; people who weren't Autumn just didn't understand. But it was difficult not to identify a little with Martin, as someone who found a different sort of Keeper.

"It'll take some self-control, but I think it's best to avoid generating self-loathing whenever we can; don't you?" Straw tucked into the corner of her mouth, she took a long sip and watched the Ogre across for her.

**InvertedMonkey** · Mar 24th, 2014 09:57 PM

Ramona shakes her head, "Its convenient, which makes it appealing. I don't have to go anywhere else for my... benefits. They're throwing out all this emotion anyway, why not make use of it? It would be wasteful not to, right?" That last part was rhetorical, giving voice to an internal thought. She sighs and shakes her head, "Getting the police involved, and them having any impact on the situation at all, it's hard enough when the violence is male-on-female. I looked it up. When a woman beats a man, more often than you'd expect, the man ends up taking the blame. Even when he doesn't, they say its really hard to prosecute. Either the police already know about Penny and Martin and don't care, or they already know and there's nothing they can do." She slumps back in her seat, taking another pull from her beer. "In either case, I figure it's bad for me and bad for the club if I draw more official attention than your average citizen. If I'm a witness, if I have to testify, I go on their radar. I'm still new here, I don't know the club's policy on that."

Harvest Counseling

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