Right Here, Right Now

"Nothing crazy." Eleanor assured him. It wasn't like electroshock therapy or lobotomies were a thing anymore, not that she'd feel inclined to go with either of those if they were still a thing anyway. "You have a couple of different options actually...Image Rehearsal Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, self-exposure therapy..." She didn't think any of the methods she had in mind were overwhelming, and they'd all been pretty effective based off of different studies she'd read about. "It would be completely up to you."

---

"Well, as long as you like it, that's all that matters." Peter said thoughtfully. He knew that some people didn't like their job at all, so the fact that she didn't mind it was a step ahead of how otters felt about their jobs. "Yeah, I am actually. Got some pretty great shots of him too." Mostly because I am him... He wondered what she would say if she knew that he was Spider-man, not that he planned on telling her or anything like that. "I think that's something a lot of people have been wondering..."

"I never went to college, you're going to have to go a bit more into detail than Image Behavioral therapy," Bucky said with a slight smile. He was nearly positive he mashed two of the things she'd just said together, but that'd just further his point. He was trained with basically every weapon from the forties to present day, but he couldn't tell you worth a damn anything about psychology.

---

"I don't think he should have left," Kate said, tracing her finger around the lid of her to go coffee cup. Her eyes were on her fingers as she spoke. "He was doing more good than anyone else has managed for this city. I don't know what made him leave either but I guess it must have been pretty bad for him to just peace out. Unless he's dead, which really sucks."

Eleanor smiled slightly. "Fair enough." She said. She'd sort of figured that she'd have to tell him a bit more than just the names of the different methods she had in mind. "If we went with Image Rehearsal Therapy, I'd really just have you recall the nightmare and then right it down. If you didn't feel comfortable telling me what happened, you wouldn't have to. When you write it down, I'd also ask you to alter things slightly. Turn it into something positive. Again, if you didn't want to tell me, you wouldn't have to. Any of these methods would be for your benefit, not mine." She didn't want him to feel obligated to tell her anything if he wasn't comfortable doing so. She was there to help him, but she'd respect his decision if he decided he didn't want to talk about everything. "That's only one of the methods that I have in mind."

---

Well, there was his answer right there. She thought what he'd been doing was good. "Maybe he'll come back." Peter told her, taking a sip of his coffee. "Maybe you're right. Something bad might have happened, and maybe he's just coming to terms with it." She didn't know that she was actually talking to Spider-man, so it wasn't like he was promising her anything. He didn't know if he'd be back or not. He wasn't so sure he was ready to put himself back out there. If he couldn't even really do that just as Peter Parker, how could he possibly do it as Spider-man?

Bucky nodded his head, listening to what she said. Okay, that one didn't sound too bad. "What about the other two you mentioned?" He figured he might as well hear the options before going ahead and picking which one he wanted to try, right? Might as well start from the one he was most comfortable with. So far, though, it didn't seem like these options were horrible. Unless she had some weird twist up her sleeve that involved him removing his arm and throwing it out an airplane.

---

"I hope he does come back," Kate said honestly. "It feels more safe around here when he's saving the day. Hopefully whatever happened to him ends up okay." She gave a little shrug and looked back up to Peter with a small smile. Even if she hadn't thought he was doing good, she wouldn't have wished bad on him anyways. She wasn't the type to hope people ended up hurting or worse.

Well, so far, so good. Eleanor had a feeling that he'd be willing to try out at least one of the methods that she had in mind. He seemed as though he was willing to cooperate, something that she was glad to see considering the fact that this was only their first session. "Cognitive Behavior Therapy or self-exposure therapy. The first one would involve changing up your sleeping habits and schedule, as well as trying out some relaxation exercises. It sounds simple enough, but it's not really all that easy, none of them are. They'll all take some work and effort, but if you're willing to work at it, so am I." She assured him with a small smile. Something told her that she wouldn't have to worry about him though. He seemed as though he was willing to try things out so that things would, hopefully, improve. "The second would involve creating a list of thoughts that cause you to become anxious and distressed from your dreams. I'd then ask you to go through those thoughts mentally, starting with the least anxiety provoking thoughts and working your way up to the more severe ones. We'd work at each one until you no longer felt any anxiety before continuing on to the next."

---

"Well, I'm sure you're not alone in thinking so." Peter told her. He knew that there were quite a few people in the city who thought it was safer with Spider-man around. He just didn't know if he was ready to put himself back out there yet. He was only just working his way up to doing so as Peter Parker, though he wasn't sure if he'd even consider this conversation as him working his way up to it, and he didn't really know when, or if, he'd be ready to go back out there as Spider-man. He was still grieving, and the future still seemed rather dark and bleak. Maybe he'd have a change of heart later on, he wasn't really sure.

@ fortune teller

Bucky nodded along, listening to his options. He knew he didn't have to do any of them if he didn't want to, but he also knew he wouldn't get better if he didn't at least try. "Which one do you think I should start with?" Bucky asked, raising his eyebrows. She was the professional, right? If anyone knew which one they should try first, it'd be her. None of them really seemed more unpleasant than the rest, so he was going to let her pick.

---

Kate took a sip of her drink, looking out the window for a brief moment. She looked back to Peter, figuring they could move on from Spider-man and onto other topics. "So, how old are you, Peter?" She asked with a smile. Hopefully he wasn't one of those weird people who were standoffish about their age, even when they were young. Kate never saw the point of hiding your age. Everyone could tell when you weren't young. People could tell when you weren't old. Why bother hiding it?

"Like I said, none of these will be simple." Eleanor started. She just wanted to make sure that he understood that, that he realized that this was going to take time and effort from both of them. She didn't think that she'd have to worry too much about that though, he'd cooperated thus far, so she doubted that he'd stop suddenly. "I think starting with the second might be best and, if that doesn't work, we can try something else."

---

"Nineteen." Peter responded instantly. While he didn't want to answer questions, or ask them, he also didn't want to be rude. He'd tried doing that, but he clearly had too much of a conscience to not care about hurting someone who he didn't know in the slightest. He knew that this was going against what he planned, but he just didn't have it in him to act like a complete jerk towards her. She was nothing but nice to him. "What about you?"

"Alright, doc," Bucky said with a nod. "Lets do number two then. I trust you." He wasn't sure if he really trusted her yet, but if Steve said she was good at what she did, and that she was worth the time, then that was close enough. He trusted Steve with everything, so people Steve told him to trust were good in Bucky's books.

---

"Twenty-one last month," Kate replied. "It's still weird to me that I'm not a teenager, but I haven't been nineteen in two years." She was in a constant state of denial that she was as old as she was. Her mother always told her she was an old soul anyways, and every birthday it was her body catching up. Kate thought it was a load of garbage, herself.

Part of Eleanor wondered if he really did trust her or if he was simply going off of Steve's opinion of her. She quickly pushed the thought to the back of her head. It didn't matter right now. It was the least of her worries really and, quite honestly, what mattered right now was helping Bucky as best as she could regardless of whether or not he trusted her. "Alright, here." She handed him her notebook and pen. "I want you to start out by writing down anything that causes you even slight anxiety. Work your way up on the severity scale."

---

"I think it's because we're all so used to being teenagers." Peter said, sipping his drink. "So many things happen to us in that small window of time, and, at the time, we don't realize that there's we still have the rest of our lives after that." He could see why it'd be strange no longer being a teenager. He was sure that, when he turned twenty in a couple of months, it would take some getting used to.

@ k stewart
[Are we still doing this? ]

[i think it's been too long since i've posted here for me to get back into it :(((( im sorry!]

[Alrighty, I was just curious.]