𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖗 | ᴄᴏʀᴘꜱᴇ ʜᴜꜱʙᴀɴᴅ x ᴏᴄ | ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴏɴᴇ

The Ball & Chain

Jack woke up clutching the wolf Violet had gotten him. He sighed but a smile still made its way through. He was still reeling from the complete transition in mentality she'd incited in him. He sat up and grabbed the hoodie she'd worn and brought it up to his face, relieved that it smelled like her still. He noticed that it felt a lot heavier before he jostled it a bit, seeing a thin velvet box drop from the pocket. He picked it up and opened it, revealing a new chain within.

"Wh-" Was this hers? A gift for someone? A gift for him? He set it on his nightstand, catching the small light on his phone blinking. He checked it and found messages from all his friends, wishing him a happy birthday and letting him know that they got home safe, along with various threads about Violet he wasn't awake enough to deal with just yet.

It was already almost noon, meaning that Violet was probably already at her meeting. As much as he wanted to ask about the chain, as well as make sure she had a good time last night and she had liked his friends and everything, that would have to wait until she got home.

He groaned as he got up out of bed, waiting until the last possible minute to get ready for his therapy session. The last thing he wanted to do was log on and talk about things today. He tapped his desk in anticipation as he booted up his computer- still feeling the slight effects of the hangover in his temples. A pang of strange guilt was already beginning to creep under his skin. He'd lied and kept so many secrets from his therapist already, he hated it. It wasn't that he felt bad, so much as it was his silent acknowledgment that it was really only hurting him in the long run. He usually tried to give himself a little bit of leeway, knowing that relapses of toxic behaviors or his shitty trauma responses didn't mean that he hadn't made progress, but it was becoming more and more difficult trying to navigate all the situations he kept under wraps all by himself and without his therapist's help.

The sound of the video call ringing from his speakers startled him as he tried to gain whatever composure he could manage in a matter of seconds before clicking accept. He hoped that he looked somewhat mentally stable from the other side of the screen as he peeled the black electrical tape from his webcam and accepted the call.

"Hey Jack, It's great to see you again." His therapist, Molly, spoke softly through the screen. Her voice was always confusingly calm, yet firm.

"Hey, yeah you too..." He smiled back awkwardly. Although he was starting to get used to having virtual appointments with Covid and everything, his chest would still always tighten at just the idea that he had his webcam on.

"So, how have you been this week?" Her kind smile and more gentle tone told him he had not, in fact, pulled off a stable appearance.

"Uh, I mean- I've definitely been busy..." He chuckled wryly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Good busy I hope, it was your birthday on the eighth, correct?" She smiled again. "Hopefully that was a good time, not much stress to worry about?" She easily remembered, referencing even past suggestions that he should work to not let so many uncontrollable events increase his stress levels further.

"Um, yes and no?" He put his hands under the desk and absently twirled a pen in place of his usual butterfly knife. "Uh, some friends took me out to Dave and Buster's yesterday-" he coughed out a soft sheepish laugh, "- so, sorry that I look a little... disheveled, we stayed out pretty late."

"I was wondering about that, I won't lie..." Her laugh was genuine- something he always appreciated about her specifically out of all the professionals he'd seen- she was always professional, but she also was human with him. She didn't fake anything or mince her words very often, it was like talking to a friend almost, or a favorite distant relative. "Did you have fun? I can imagine from our past chats that a bigger outing like that could bring up some anxiety for you..."