The Science of Coping [m], Open

[Christian Anderson]

Christian grumbled to himself under his breath as he paced back and forth along a random hallway. He was bored; there wasn't all that much for the patients to do if they weren't artistically or musically inclined, which he certainly wasn't. "What I wouldn't give for a chalkboard." He groused under his breath. His boredom coupled with the fact that he was sober and celibate for nearly a month weren't exactly helping his foul mood. What he wouldn't give for a bottle of booze. Hell, he'd settle for that piss Americans called beer, he was that desperate. He briefly considered heading over to the nurses' station and seeing if he could convince them that alcohol was a medicine that he desperately needed. Never mind the fact that he did desperately need alcohol, he doubted they'd see it that way.

With a rather loud muttered curse that had a passing nurse jump and glare at him for his rudeness, he headed to the common room. Maybe he could find paper and a writing implement. He was bored, and when he was bored and sober, his mind tended to drift in one of three directions - fucking, boozing, or physics. The first two often went hand in hand, but he rarely exercised the third because he was rarely sober enough to warrant the immense amounts of thought required for it. The common room was about normal with a few equally nocturnal entities hanging around. After a bit of searching, he found paper. Finding a writing implement was harder because this was a mental hospital.

Cursing under his breath, he headed to the arts and crafts room because they usually had something to write with. He was quick in and quick out because he detested pianos. They reminded him of Suzie; she could play piano, and it brought back memories of just sitting back, relaxing, and listening to her play. Tears prickled in his eyes as he fought back his anger and his sadness for her death. It may have been twenty years, but on never quite gets over their murdered wife.

Once back in the common room, he settled into an unoccupied chair and started to write, working through various laws of physics and changing the variables. Other people worked sudoku or did crosswords; Christian worked physics problems. As far as a coping mechanism went, it occupied his mind and kept his wife's death off the top of his head.

[Akala Saito]

She had been in the arts and crafts room mainly because she’d found an extremely interesting talent. It seemed if she wanted to bad enough, she could rearrange molecules. That was interesting. She’d touched a pencil earlier and had managed to turn it into this sticky crap that she now had to clean up. Kind of like a weird goopy paint type substance.

That reminded her of painting which could have been interesting, just to see what she could turn it into if nothing else. She was quite interested when she took a bit of blue paint and took a bit of it in the palm of her hand. Before she could open her hand, she had turned her gaze over to see some guy entering the room. She could smell the tears and offered a curious look. When she opened her hand she found a blue tissue from the paint that was once there.

Well, that was oddly handy. Her eyes moved from the tissue and back to the guy who had just entered and watched as he moved out of the room and into another. She followed his scent a couple minutes later to the common room, the tissue once in her hand now discarded. She could see something on paper in front of him that she just… did not understand at all and kind of didn’t want to understand. Not daring get too close, she did near him and speak.

“If you’re intelligent enough to do shit like that, why the hell are you here?”

Sure it probably came across strongly, but she was honestly curious and that was the exact way she wanted to phrase it to get her point across. What was someone that smart doing in a place like this?

[Seth Berring]

He was just starting on the equation for time passing in space in comparison to earth when a female voice interrupted him, or at least he assumed she was talking to him. He didn't see anyone else working complicated physics problems. He frowned slightly at her question. What did intelligence have to do with mental sanity? He couldn't think of an answer to that question.

He twisted around with an annoyed expression, both for being interrupted and for being asked such a stupid question. The girl in question was of the beautiful but deadly sort. And she was completely useless to him as anything other than a good fuck because she too was a vampire. He made it a point not to drink vampiric blood. For some reason, it made him sick to the stomach. He wasn't entirely sure if it was some sort of weird allergy or if vampires couldn't drink vampiric blood.

Rather than deeming her question with an answer he settled on leering at her. Vampires were always interesting because they were usually rather evenly matched in the strength department, and it was harder to toy with their lust. Of course, he wasn't especially known for his blood-drinking, so she'd probably win in a dominance fight. Unless she was a closet submissive. Either way it would certainly be interesting.

"I am here to fix a sex addiction." And an alcohol addiction, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Bipolar Disorder. Of course, he doubted his sex addiction was ever getting cured since he had an incubus for a doctor.

[Akala Saito]

She caught the annoyed expression she was shot, and simply offered a stoic glance in return. Over the years she’d learned not to particularly give a damn about the opinions of most others. Most because there was a certain couple she did genuinely care for the opinions of. This one however, at the moment anyway, she couldn’t have honestly cared less about. Momentary entertainment is what he was, and nothing more.

A fleeting conversation really. She was actually amazed it had gone this far. Dealing with Punk for so long she was actually amazed at his serene response. She was actually expecting him to stand up and lash out at her. When he didn’t but simply offered that he was here for sex addiction, she offered the most curious of looks.

“You’re a vampire… and here for sex addiction?”

There was something that didn’t add up. Since vampires… at least the bulk of them fed on human blood they needed a high level of charisma, which included the ability to seduce. Humans were at their weakest when they were aroused or better, in the act. She thought to just pass it by as some random comment. She knew ifs he dwelled on it she’d get a headache.

Was he one of those nutso vampires who preferred animals? She never would understand that at all. Of course her sire wasn’t an animal-feeding vampire or anything, so.

[Christian Anderson]

"Is there a problem with me being here for a sex addiction?" Christian asked with a raised eyebrow. He got the feeling that she wasn't impressed by that. Then again, most people weren't. Most people were a bit leery about vampires with sex addictions since he had been known to kill people during bloodlust. That was sadly a side affect to his less than stellar drinking habits.

"I mean, I know most vampires don't have to resort to sex to feed, but it's really the only way I can." Mostly because by that point he was too far gone to care that he despised the taste and texture of blood. Of course, usually he had gone for quite some time without blood that his body's needs overruled his taste buds, so it didn't matter one way or another.

His annoyance had vanished just as quickly as it came, which in and of itself was an annoyance. His moods only seemed to skyrocket around when he was sober. When he was blasted, his moods tended to point in one general direction and stay there. His lack of alcohol was getting to him, he knew. As much as he hated to say it, he was practically normal when he was drunk, as opposed to now when his thoughts kept jumping from one subject to another and he had difficulty sitting still.

"I don't suppose you would know where one could acquire alcohol, would you?" He asked mildly.

((Ahh crap. I didn't notice I posted with the wrong account. *bangs head on desk*))

[Akala Saito]

When he asked if there was a problem with his being here for sex addiction, she had shaken her head slowly. Wasn’t a problem with her, she certainly didn’t care. Why should she anyway? It’s not like it affected her one way or the other… yet. The day if affected her was the day she’d start caring.

“Nope.”

When he continued on to say most vampires didn’t need to resort to sex to feed, she couldn’t help but offer a small, barely visible grin. It lasted but a moment though before it vanished. Her favorite way to feed was to find some mortal male and seduce him. Not for his pleasure, but for her own honestly. Why not be pleased and feed at the same time?

Maybe she just embraced what she was a little better than he, she had no idea.

“Never said anything against it, did I? It’s actually a favorite method personally. Hence the incredible curiosity, since I never did see it as a problem.”

Honesty was the best policy, right? When he asked if she happened to know where one might acquire alcohol, she couldn’t help but offer the smallest of sadistic simpers. She slipped off for a moment to ask a nurse for a bottle of water, which she wasn’t hesitant to offer. She opened the cap when her back was turned toward the nurse and tipped it just slightly, touching the water with her finger just slightly. She moved herself back to the sex addicted vampire she’d just met, sniffing the bottle briefly.

All those hours of practice paid off it seemed, and she was all too pleased with herself at the moment. She recapped the bottle before handing it over. This could get interesting in a manipulative sort of way. He wanted alcohol and she could make it happen. She smelled amusement in the future.

“Clear. Relatively odorless. Enjoy.”

[Christian Anderson]

Christian found himself wondering why she was even talking to him, since it was reasonably clear that she wasn't really interested in what he had to say. Still, he wasn't complaining. He was beyond bored at this point, and she was mildly interesting, so he didn't plan on trying to run her off anytime soon. It was also interesting to note that he had no real desire to get into her pants. She was certainly pretty enough, but there was something...off putting about her. It may have been her lack of interest; it may have been something else.

"It's my only method." He muttered under his breath. While he wasn't embarrassed about the fact that he rarely fed properly, he didn't exactly go around advertising it either. "I was a sex addict before I became a vampire. It...carried over, I suppose."

He watched with interest as she snagged a bottle of water from a nurse and did something to it. He couldn't quite make out what it was she was doing to it, not did he really care. When she handed it to him, he sniffed it casually. It wasn't water, that much he could tell. Tentatively he took a sip. It took all of his willpower not to spit it back out all over her.

"It's alcohol alright." He gasped out. He would almost drink blood to get the alcoholic taste out of his mouth. "It's rubbing alcohol." He couldn't help the giggle that escaped him. That was actually pretty funny, and although he didn't mean to laugh at her, he couldn't help it. "Perhaps I should have been more specific," He said amidst the giggles, "beer, liquor, whiskey, other unnamed alcoholic beverages!" Abruptly he stopped laughing. It didn't seem quite so funny now.

Great, I'm losing my mind. That thought depressed him.

[Akala Saito]

When he had stated, muttering, that it was his only method she hadn’t said anything. She looked fairly amused though, all things considered. When he’d mentioned that he had been addicted before being turned, she couldn’t help but offer the smallest of grins. She couldn’t help but have a few memories floating back to the surface at that mention from him.

“You wouldn’t be alone.”

No she had been too, still was honestly. Never did consider it a problem though, since it was something she’d highly enjoyed since she was sixteen. That said and done though, the moment he brought up alcohol, her interest in him increased ten fold. She was so hoping she’d gotten it right but the moment she saw the unmistakable look of disgust she knew something had gone wrong. That made her spirits plummet.

She was angry, not with him but with herself. If she had to steal a dozen cases of water she was going to get this right, she swore it to herself. Sugar… sugar was an important ingredient wasn’t it? Perhaps if she threw a bit of sugar in with… or better just grabbed a soda from the little bitty fridge. Maybe that would do the trick too.

Add one thing to a mixture and it changes the entire chemistry. When he laughed, she felt frustrated, not with him but with herself. Helping the doctors out wasn’t exactly something she had been intent on doing. She was determined to make this right. Moving herself to the mini fridge, she had grabbed a can of pepsi and opened it.

Same as she’d done before, she’d touched the liquid before setting it back in front of him yet again. Guinea pig anyone?

“Hey, this is a new talent. I discovered it last night. Don’t ask me how; I don’t want to have to explain. I will get this right!”

[Christian Anderson]

"What, in being a sex addict? Probably not." He answered wryly. "It makes therapy sessions interesting, I'll give it that." He actually looked forward to therapy sessions, now that he had figured out that his doctor was an incubus and therefore easy to convince to have sex. Although one had to be careful. Apparently vampiric life force drained incubus' or something. He had done that to one of his roommates a few years ago. Nothing quite like waking up next to a corpse.

He had been a sex addict since he was a teen, god that had been so long ago, he'd all but forgotten when exactly he'd first discovered that sleeping with someone helped. Sex had just been an added bonus at that point.

He could tell she was angry, but he wasn't sure if it was at himself or her. Not that he particularly cared. He wasn't the sort of guy that really cared about much of anything anymore. He had cared once. It had cost him his wife, and had nearly cost him his daughter. Never again, he had vowed to himself. He would never again allow his emotions to be used against him.

He was less enthusiastic about her second attempt at creating alcoholic beverages. While it was reasonably better tasting than her first attempt, it was quite clear that Se had no idea how alcoholic beverages were actually made.

"I have an idea. Figure out how to make beer before trying this. If you can perfect that neat little trick, you could make yourself one of the most important patients here." He doubted he was the only alcoholic. If she figured out how to make beer, or even drugs, there was very little that she wouldn't be able to do because some of the patients would do anything for their next high.

[Akala Saito]

She had yet to meet with the doctor, but she’d heard he could be quite entertaining. Perhaps she should schedule a meeting with him soon and see for herself just how interesting he happened to be. Seemed like a good idea to her anyway. The second beverage she had offered had also been shot down almost as quickly as the first at Christian’s suggestion of learning how to do beer first and going from there. She had no doubt in her mind she could very well be an incredibly important addition if she could figure that and drugs out.

This was something she was probably going to devote almost all of her free time too until she figured it out. There were no limits if she could just figure out how the hell to make the stuff that was needed… or desired. It was just going to take practice. She swore the first alcoholic beverage was going to Christian for being her guinea pig… and because she didn’t drink. But more importantly he deserved something for being tortured twice.

“Guess I should apologize.”

Hey she’d admitted it was a newfound talent. It was just… yeah going to take a little bit of time. He was right though, start small. Though she wasn’t sure that was necessarily his point. Perhaps starting by diving into her table of elements would be a good start.

She wondered briefly if the library had any such type of books. She would have to make a note to look later on in the night.

“Once I figure this thing out you’ll have a gift for you. In the meantime, I’m Akala. Your name is?”

[Christian Anderson]

Christian was reasonably certain that if she knew how to actually make beer, she could probably make it better using whatever it was she was using. The problem was that it had been years since he'd made his own beer. He had gotten himself a beer making kit as a teenager, and while he didn't remember everything, what he did remember was that it took a lot of time, and there was sugar and yeast involved. How it was actually done, however, was beyond him. He wasn't so great at remembering that far back. Besides, it had been somewhere between thirty and forty years ago.

"I did used to make my own drinks, back in the stone age." He commented to her. "I've forgotten how, though." Besides, it was easier to just buy a bottle of strong liquor to drink.

He grinned widely at her. "No need." He didn't mind too much. His taste buds had pretty much been shot to hell with as much alcohol he had consumed over his life. "There is literally nothing I wouldn't do for you if you were to actually succeed at making bottles of alcohol."

"Nice to meetcha Akala, I'm Christian." He introduced himself. "Since what brings you here?" Especially since he was fairly certain he had seen her in the Rec room when he'd gone in to collect a writing utensil. He wasn't going to accuse her of stalking him, however. God knew he did enough of that himself. There was no need in being hypocritical.

[Akala Saito]

When he mentioned making beer at one point way back when, she couldn’t help but offer a small simper. Just a slight one though, nothing big. What she could do was a little better than throwing hopps into a barrel and letting it vegetate for a while. All she needed was the molecular compound. And of course a little more practice couldn’t possibly hurt anything.

When he continued on to say there’s literally nothing he wouldn’t do for her if she were to succeed in making bottles of alcohol, she couldn’t help but offer a grin.

“I know.”

She couldn’t help but be honest in that moment. Hey at least he knew she was already figuring out how to manipulate alcohol and drug addicts. It was just making the things they wanted that was going to be the only obstacle that needed to be overcome. When he had stated his name, she nodded in response. When he had asked what brought her there, she thought for a very brief moment.

“Antisocial Personality Disorder and Post-Traumatic Personality Disorder.”

Oh yeah both had been super fun, especially simultaneously. Because dealing with them separately would just be way too much like something she could actually handle.

[Christian Anderson]

Oh dear, it was entirely possible he had just started a trafficking ring inside of a mental hospital. That didn't bother him in the slightest. If she succeeded in this little venture, he would turn a blind eye to just about anything. Not that he wouldn't in any case, but it was the principle of the matter. The thing about making beer was that it took a helluva lot of practice before one perfected the process.

"PTSD. Fun stuff." He commented wryly. He had that himself. "I've got that. Hence the alcohol addiction, sex addiction, and Bipolar Disorder." He wasn't entirely sure what Antisocial Personality Disorder was, but it sounded like she didn't like being around people, so he'd probably just go with that explanation.

"I wasn't actually referring to that, I was referring to the common room since I'm pretty sure you were in the Rec room a few minutes ago." He could care less why other people were at a mental hospital, but if they were going to share, so was he. Christian was not ashamed of his disorders and didn't mind spreading them around. Especially since there were those that thought it was cool that he was a sex addict. Of course, they usually regretted that when he left them nearly dead from blood loss.

[Akala Saito]

She couldn’t help but think something along a similar line, and honestly wasn’t upset by it in the slightest. It was definitely going to take some time to figure this out but she’d get it. Not like she ever really slept anyway, so she had all the time in the world to figure it out. Well, when she wasn’t in therapy anyway… or trying to get laid. When he said PTSD and fun stuff, she offered him an are you serious look, though catching the sarcasm.

“Bipolar sounds entertaining.”

Not really, again sarcasm. She’d known a few with bipolar disorder, and things could definitely get… interesting to say the very least. Those up and downs sometimes just… drove her absolutely nuts. She couldn’t help but be a little curious as to just how bad his was.

“Medication for bipolar by chance?”

At least that way she’d know if she needed to keep his bipolar in mind at a later date or not. When he mentioned her in the rec room a little bit ago she had nodded.

“Ah you meant here specifically, in this room. I caught your look right before you left. It caught my eye.”

[Christian Anderson]

He flashed her an innocent look at her unamused one. Clearly she hadn't been impressed by his sarcasm, not that he really cared. He had ceased caring what others thought about him a long time ago. He did recognize her own sarcasm, however. Apparently she wasn't above using it herself. There was hope for her yet. Eventually she might even become a semi-interesting person.

He deliberately ignored her sarcasm and took her word at face value. "Oh it is interesting!" He said brightly. "The high points are awesome and the low points are suicidally depressing." Although anyone who actually knew him would call him anything but suicidal. Christian was far too terrified of dying to ever consider killing himself. There were very few things that he knew he would never do in order to stay alive if the situation called for it.

"Haven't needed it yet." He shrugged. Or if he had, he didn't know about it. Considering the alcohol he consumed, it was entirely possible that something like Bipolar medication ha completely slipped by. "Generally speaking, my moods just kind of bounce around on a whim." He wasn't too bothered by that either.

"Pianos." Christian shrugged. "They're so boring they make me cry." He was lying about that, of course, but he figured that it was none of her business why pianos really made him cry.