Anger Management Support Group

[Bacchus]

Bacchus could only blink to himself as he was condescended to by Winter. It was pretty much what he expected to happen but with more bite to Winter's tantrum. The nice thing about hatred is how unthinking it is. With no facts or reasoning to back their opinions, a hateful person will say whatever. Inferiority complex? Dick hanging out? One was a fabrication Bacchus couldn't see, the other presumably from the fact he checked out a single woman before accepting her invitation to a larger conversation. He couldn't even think of the other woman he had oogled, yet here Winter was in all his hatred turning people against himself while others reached out to Bacchus.

The Shaman sat in silence for the moment, content to let others fill the void of silence he had created. He simply looked down into his cup and swirled it's contents. Was it his coping mechanism for stress? Was his behavior a cry for help? Did a pig ever do the macarena? All those questions had the same answer and the same validity. The Lie of alcohols dangers was perpetuated by the Seers for people who didn't understand the Truth of Life or Ecstasy. Once alcohol in the form of wine, along with song and dance, were rituals of freedom from society and it's expectations. Now? It was neutered of it's meaning by bullshit like elitist wine pairings and slogans like 'you booze you lose'. Small minds forgot the Truths of the Romans and Greeks,and small minds had prevailed today.

Emily's slip of the tongue elicited a smile from Bacchus, and his eyes widened a bit as he started to realize why she was sitting next to him specifically.

"I like music!" He said in the most panicked way possible. Maybe Winter was still on his mind, but Emily definitely was now. "You ever try busking? I was debating that for some extra bucks after hours at the shelter."

When Theo spoke up, it was hard to argue that Winter didn't have issues. "We'll see." Was the only thing he thought to say to the man. HR department though? That was shaping up to be a Circle that needed Squaring.

"Obvious visual is obvious right now." His eye contact with the doctor was restored, as was the stream of alcohol refilling his cup.

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-09-05 19:27:21		Bacchus rolls 6 to Resist intimidation (10 Again)		9, 2, 6, 2, 7, 10, 3		2 successes

[Valentina Queen]

Ahem. So, after the rollback, we're just gonna move on to the mix and mingle part! Thank you all for experimenting with me in this scene

"Alright, well, I think we've had some great insight, and I think that, with everything I've heard, you are all well equipped to face the challenges that will greet you, even if it is far sooner than you'd like. It takes a lot of work, and introspection, and remembering that anger does not make up every facet of who we are. So, let's use the rest of the time we have here, today, to just talk and get to know each other better. Feel free to get up and walk around, and eat more of the snacks! No need to stay in the circle."

With a bright smile, Dr. Queen herself stood, though she waited until the others began to move before going over to refresh her coffee.

[Emily Makerith]

The remainer of the Support Group's interaction can be found here!

Okay. So, that went a lot more deep than I expected... Hopefully nobody noticed.

Emily gets up and ambles casually over to the food table, giving "Leo" a small smile as she passes, and putting a little more swing in her step. Even though she didn't actually say much about her problems, the Ithaeur's terrible poker face made it clear a lot of it was ringing bells. After the noticably intense section of opening up and thinking about the things that make them angry, she seemed to have rebuilt her walls over the last half hour, even if she was a little more sombre than before.

Emily takes a bagel and stacks it with cheese and deli meat, taking a bite, and pouring herself some juice - her generously spiked coffee consumed loooooong ago -before heading slowly back over to where Val was stood.

"So, Uh, Doc... you really know a lot about this stuff doncha?" She asks Val, still chewing her bagel. "Kinda intense," she adds, quietly.

[Circe]

Circe was hopeful the doctor would get regular meetings out of this. Not out of good will or self improvement but Glamour baby!

As it was, Circe would draw in some as things winded down but for now that gentleman had asked about instruction. She might as well get to know the angry possible future client, um, dude. The dusky blonde washed down the last of the cheese with coffee before bouncing up. She then strutted over to Bacchus , "So, ya seriously interested in learnin' ta shoot? And have ya ever shot a thing before? Not if ya can bullseye shit but if ya have held a gun before."

[Freya]

Emily's suggestion to pass a few venues Freya's way for open mic nights was met with a small smile from the Den Mother. However, before the conversation could move on, the Doctor had pressed the meeting on to the next phase. Normally, Freya enjoyed company and mingling, but, despite the Doctor's insistence, Freya could not bring herself to do it. This had been hard.

Freya did not move at first, instead watching as Circe and Emily initiated conversation with the Doctor.

Eventually, though, she rose and slowly made her way to the table of goodies. Finally filling up her first cup of coffee, Freya would return to her seat and her Watch, musing about whether or not she should involve herself or retire for the evening.

[Valentina Queen]

"Well," Val said to Emily with a small smile, "I wouldn't be a very good Doc, as you put it, if I didn't know this stuff. But I'm really impressed with you, Em. I'm glad you came, and I think you shared a lot. You know, you and Freya over there could actually benefit a lot by talking. You know, opening up a bit? Trust me. Leo's not gonna slip out without you noticing."

Val couldn't resist giving the blue-haired wolf a wink.

"Tell you what, why don't I introduce you two. You and Freya, I mean."

Without waiting for a response, Queen took her coffee and strode over to the silent woman, professional smile back in place.

"Freya, hello. I hope you don't mind some company, I just thought I could introduce you to my friend, Emily. She's been grieving the loss of a love one, as well. I thought perhaps you two would appreciate having someone to talk to that might understand what you're going through on a more personal level."

[Emily Makerith]

The Ithaeur blushes involuntarily. "Yeah... um. Well. I was just. Y'know. Trying to help. I wanted this to go well for you." She leers playfully and takes a huge bite out of her bagel. "He'd better not. What can I say? I really don't do subtle." She grins.

"About what? I mean, I gue- hey, uh,Val, Doc - wait!" is about all she can get out though her mouthful of bagel as she follows in Val's enthusiastic wake, casting half an eye at Circe talking to Leo. Don't you dare, Circe! I saw him first!

Loss of a loved one? "Valentina!" Emily hisses. "That's not... I mean, I didn't.... you... Whyyyy?" She growls through gritted teeth. The werewolf turns to Freya, looking a bizarre blend of frustration and awkwardness. "Um. Yeah. That. I know I didn't... Um. Say it. Quite so much. But, uh, yeah." She finishes off with a less than friendly scowl at the Doctor. "Guess I didn't hide that so well, huh, Doc?"

[Bacchus]

Emily's question of who the right people were caused Bacchus to stop and think for a moment. A moment that thankfully heralded the end of the touching. As nice and cool as the folks around the circle seemed to be, Bacchus didn't see a single scenario where hooking up with someone you just met at an anger management group ended well for him. There was also the fact that he didn't have a place yet to go back to but that, like his decision not to sleep with anybody, would remain unspoken.

"No experience." He shrugged, not sure what else to do with himself. "I've never even held a gun before, I just feel like sometimes the thing you need to defend yourself against might not be close enough to punch."

Or claw, but that was a different story.

"I'm not always a quick learner, but any assistance would be appreciated."

And assistance he would need. A lot.

[Valentina Queen]

"I'm just worried about you, Em," Val replied quietly reaching out to place a hand on her arm. "Besides, I think you and Freya might get along well. Just give it a shot."

With a friendly smile, Queen left the two women to talk, or not (especially given how quiet Freya seemed to be), and take a moment to observe the rest of the group. It seemed like it was going to end up being a pretty subdued night.

[Freya]

Freya watched as Valentina and Emily approached, her gaze landing first on the doctor as she explained the pair's approach before locking on to Emily as Queen confirmed her own loss. Uncertain of the consequences and uncaring about them, Freya would stand and reach for Emily's shoulder. If successful, the Hunterheart would give it a gentle squeeze as her face adopted a knowing expression of empathy. Perhaps she saw a part of herself in Emily's refusal to deal with her pain. Either way there was no way in hell that Freya was going to let the woman leave without trying to help her move past it. At least a little bit.

The Den Mother would not be contained any longer. She had to comfort. It was almost a need for Freya. Frankly, it was taken a fair amount of control not to bring Emily in for a full hug and a faint hesitance related to that fact was probably quiet prevalent on her face.

"Listen," she offered, her voice low and soft, "I know it sounds corny to say that 'I know what you're going through', but... I know about the hole all of it leaves behind. I am so sorry this has had to happen to you."

The tone was genuine, even as Freya's voice quivered lightly at the end of the statement, her own memories recalling her own loss. Then she went for it, moving to tug Emily in and embrace her tightly. Even the Blue Maned devil pushed it away, at least Freya would know she had tried.