Follow the Dragon Scales

Late Night Bonding With A Stranger

It didn't take long for Shae to fall asleep once they had boarded Harmony's car. She leaned against the window, mouth open, small puffs of air coming and going as she dreamed. Her breath fogged the window she leaned on. And, if Andy hadn't been so tense, he probably would have taken a photo to tease her with later.

Carpools are always bound to get a little awkward at some point. Carpools with complete strangers you've had half a conversation when you aren't the most eloquent person to begin with... well, that's downright torturous.

For Andy, those were just a few layers to a whole cake of anxiety eating away at his mind as Harmony drove them north. He tried his best to appear relaxed, but his tense shoulders and slouched, defensive position never changed no matter how much he willed them to.

"You good kid?" Harmony asked, glancing over at him. His breathing was shallow and quick while his hands flexed at his side.

"Yeah," Andy muttered, shifting so it looked like he was looking out the window. He was really watching, waiting, expecting. He'd taken rides from strangers that ended worse than anyone would ever want MORE than enough time.

"You sure you're good, dude? I can pull over and grab you some water or something if you want," Harmony said after another few minutes.

"It's fine," he grumbled back. "Strangers just mess with my head."

"What do you mean?" she inquired. "Like, I know there are some pretty awful people out there, but I like to think the rest of us are lovely to be around." She chuckled to herself after that.

"Not the strangers I've been forced to meet." Andy was clearly uncomfortable. He was practically folded in on himself in the seat glancing between the window, windshield, Harmony, and the lock of the door. If worse came to worse, Shae was on her own.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," harmony said after a moment of studying the boy out of the corner of her eye. She recognized the behavior. "You wanna know something cool about me? Or at least I think it's pretty cool!" Harmony was definitely the type of person to laugh more with herself than anyone else. Andy shrugged at her. It didn't matter. All that mattered was making it up north and finding Jarvis. "I'm a therapist!"

Okay, what's so cool about that? I've met plenty of therapists before, Andy thought.

"Now, you may be wondering why that's so cool," Harmony continued. "But, I've met tons of therapists. I had a really hard time when I was a teen, and none of them ever related to me, you know? Like, 'that's nice Jenifer, but have you ever been homeless in New York City?'" Harmony laughed again. Andy was wondering why on Earth the things she was saying would ever prompt her to laugh. "So, I figured a lot of people would want a therapist who understands them and the things the are going through, so I figured I'd become a therapist, since living homeless in NYC is a horrid experience. Definitely traumatizing. And, I always think it's pretty cool every time I think about it. Like, 'This is me? This is me?? I'm gonna be the one to help kids just like me? Pretty chill." That got a weak chuckle out of Andy. "But, like, as a therapist and being able to relate to some of my patients, I just want to say that it's alright to be anxious about stuff, but try to remember that it doesn't have to apply to everyone you meet. Each person is different, let the experience guide you, but also remember not to let it control you. I let it control me for years, and it lost me a lot of opportunities in life."

"U-uh. Cool," Andy stuttered out. "But, it's not really that easy. I've had a lot of horrible experiences dealing with strangers. My time in the foster system had a, uh, lot of new people with a lot of, uh, bad experiences. Cars always meant moving to different houses which was pretty hard, and some of my foster parents were pretty horrible people. So, uh, at school, or with my adoptive parents, it kind of bleeds through that I might have to leave so why would I get attached. You know?" Andy scratched at the back of his head.

"Well, it's always difficult, and you should never let someone tell you to simply get over it, but I found in my studies, and in my own experience, that in order to make the first step toward a universal healing in general, you've got to find a place where you do feel safe and want to put down roots. That's what I always found difficult. " Harmony smiled somewhat sheepishly. "I guess I just wanted you to know that this should be a place that you can feel somewhat safe and know that nothing awful is going to happen, but it obviously doesn't work that easily." Andy nodded.

"Yeah, but I guess it kind of makes sense. Thanks."

Andy continued to sit quietly, not quite sleeping, but his body language conveyed a bit more peace, and he just appeared to be more relaxed. When Harmony glanced over around five the next morning the teen was slumped in a rather deep-looking sleep, the beams of the half-risen sun shining across his face.