Sarcasm, teenage boys and mating rituals [Jo]

[Dr. Gabriel Hudson]

Gabe dropped himself down in the sofa that occupied most of his living room, watching the blonde woman who followed him in with amused affection. What happened next could be interesting. He loosened his tie, undid the top button of his shirt, and stretched out his legs, waiting for Jo to make herself comfortable. He slung the tie over the back of the sofa, and appraised his wife with something approaching clinical curiosity. For a psychiatrist, she was surprisingly dumb about the people she worked with. Her confusion over Morph's flirtation, not to mention attempted rape, had him frustrated, sympathetic and adoring in equal measure. She seemed too naive to be working in a psychiatric hospital/boarding school, but she had surprised him with her dedication to the school.
Once she had sat herself down, he began to speak. “Jo, like I said earlier, I need to talk to you about certain... aspects of the personalities of the students that work here. I'll talk about the first and second session, relatively and seperatel, OK? I'm not sure how to put this delicately, so I'll have to be blunt with you. Many of these boys will see you as a target, if that's how you present yourself. I wasn't present for the whole of that session with Morph, so I'm not in any position to make judgments, but I don't believe he would have tried anything, had he not thought himself capable of getting away with it. Do you follow me so far?”
He spoke briskly, as was his manner with both fellow staff and students, but they never felt the underlying tones of affection he felt for his best friend and wife. She was expected to keep up, and understand what he was explaining to her, but if she tried to bluff her way out of the discussion, as he knew was her way in situations she found awkward, he would know. And he'd have to keep pressing the subject, unless a second encounter similar to the last would drill it into her mind.

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo settled down on the floor in front of Gabe, her head tilted upwards towards her husband. She hated the feel of the sofa, the pair having bought it online so she couldn't feel it beforehand. The leather made her feel sick, and that was a tactile sensation that she didn't feel she could deal with right then, not after the stress of being kiss-raped; an even more unpleasant tactile experience. It had felt...nice, in a way. Warm. But her wrists had been hurting, and there was a lot of touching, that made her quite anxious. Jo had decided that kissing was bad, in general, which led her to the conclusion that anything sexual was bad. Generally, sexual things involved touching, like that, and it made her legs shaky and her stomach tingle. She thanked her general hypersensitivity for that; although she thought that it might have been something to do with kissing in general.

Looking up at Gabe, she watched his lips as he spoke. Aside from not having to make eye-contact, it would be helpful as she could now lip read. And if she lost her sense of hearing, lip reading would prove very useful. Or if she just had to shout across a crowded room, which was slightly more likely to happen. She never understood inflection, tones of voice, aside from loud generally meaning angry. She wondered what he meant about her being seen as a target, and how she should answer his question. Usually, when people ask if you're following them, you are supposed to nod and smile: a lie, but a expected one. However, Jo suspected that Gabe wanted her to tell the truth.

Taking her notepad from her shoulder bag, she scribbled another question down on the list she'd been making, entitled "Things To Ask Gabe". Capitalizing every letter irritated her, but made it look more like a title. She had been making random notes; some from the start of the session, before Morph had trapped her hands, and others that she had scribbled as he was taken to isolation. She had even been jotting a few down as the two walked between the therapy rooms and their bedrooms. Having a list of questions was useful; she could remember everything she wanted to ask, but it was so much more efficient. And it saved her having to spend lots of time talking. Handing Gabe the complete list, she smiled and shifted from sitting cross-legged, to resting on her knees. " I made a list...of stuff to ask you. As you can see from the title. Please answer them. "

Things To Ask Gabe.
1. Morph said that I wanted "it" when he was kissing me. I assume he meant for him to continue kissing me?
2. 'Whore: Noun. A woman who engages in promiscuous sexual intercourse, usually for money.' From Dictionary Reference. I do not engage in promiscuous sexual intercourse, with or without money. Why did he call me a whore?
3. I told Morph that I would scream if he kissed me again. He said "Sure honey. I'll make you scream alright." That was almost definitely an innuendo, yes?
4. It is not usually considered good practice to attack your patients. You did. Explain yourself.
5. Morph ignored me when I enquired about internal bleeding (aside from slight bruising). Why?
6. You pushed me away to kneel beside Morph. That is not considered polite. Please explain.
7. How far away is someday?
8. How had Morph been hitting on me? Why is it 'hitting' on? How does grammar work there?
9. Flirting: You just removed your tie and unbuttoned your top button. That could mean that you want to have sex with me, or that you are physically uncomfortable. How can I tell?
10.`Should I tell the truth when you ask if I'm following you so far? A target for what? Kissing?

[/center]

[Dr. Gabriel Hudson]

One of the things people found the most memorable about Gabe was his eyebrows. They were constantly in motion, flicking up and down like... well, like eyebrows never had before. It was one way of telling his opinions on what he was seeing or hearing, and they were what people remembered most vividly about his appearance after first meeting him. That, and an impression of brisk, proffessional efficiency. Now, both were gone; his eyebrows above his hairline, and his aura of efficiency appeared to have left for warmer climates.
Laughing, he reached forwards, curling his feet up onto the sofa as he did so, then took the notepad off Jo. No matter all her oddities, he could always count on his friend to make him laugh. So used was he to dealing with complex, troubled people that someone as matter-of-fact and simple as Jo was a breath of fresh air, to say the least. He scanned the list of questions, shaking his head slowly as he did so. “OK, you don't mind if I answer these verbally? If you want to take notes, feel free.” He tore out the page of questions, before handing back the notepad and pen, settling himself back on the creaking leather sofa comfortably, before beginning.
“Number one. By “it”, he meant sex. He was saying that you wanted him to have sex with you. Two, it was meant as an insult, as a whore is generally considered someone of low or loose morals, and a bad thing in today's society. Three, he meant that he would make you scream in pleasure, as in make you orgasm. A less likely theory is that he planned to torture you. Definitely an innuendo. Four, it is not considered good practise to attempt to rape your psychiatrist, either. I acted entirely in your defence.”
“Five, I wouldn't know. Maybe he was occupied with talking to me. Six, I didn't want you to get too close to him, owing to the fact that it was quite possible he'd get violent again. The circumstances were... accepting. Seven, I do believe today is someday, as is any other day we both are willing and able. Eight, “hitting on” is a slang term for flirting, I don't understand the grammar behind it, and he was hitting on you by suggesting that you wanted sex, and attempting to have it with you. Nine: you can't. I'd hope that you trust me enough to know that I wouldn't attempt flirting with you, but unless I make it clear I am flirting, it is wise to assume otherwise. As for question ten, I do hope you would tell me the truth. By a target, I mean vulnerable to attack, both physical and otherwise. Do you have any other questions?”

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo smiled instinctively when Gabe laughed, an automatic reaction. She had no idea what he found amusing, but she assumed it was either her, at something she didn't understand, or he had remembered something amusing and was laughing at the memory. She waited three seconds, made the smile less bright, and after two more seconds completely faded the smile out. She had filmed people smiling, and then adopted the smile herself. Maybe it was fake, but it made people uncomfortable if she didn't smile with them. She thought that there should be a book, or a list of set rules: how long you should smile for, for example. And it would vary according to how amused you were, or how much the other person was smiling. It would be easier than having to work it out herself. Nodding and taking the notepad back, she scribbled out the questions she had asked him word for word (photographic memories could be useful, if irritating when people asked repetitive questions), leaving gaps so she could fill in the answer. Writing wasn't technically necessary, but it gave her something to do beside not make eye contact, and Gabe seemed to expect her to jot notes down. After all, he had given her paper and a pen, and usually when people did that, they wanted you to write.

Blushing at the answers to questions one, two, especially three, four, and nine, she scribbled them down anyway. Her writing was almost illegible; there was no need for neat writing when you weren't going to read over it. Unless it was homework. Then teachers wanted to be able to read it, apparently. She frowned at the memories of school, and tuned back into Gabe. Did she have any other questions? She wanted to know a lot of things. But they were all sorts of random questions; nothing related to the topic. She decided that she'd limit herself - ten more questions at the most. That would make the total twenty, which was a nice number. " Just a few more... And I follow you now. Because you explained. " Pausing to decide what she was going to ask, Jo took a deep breath and began to rattle off questions as fast as she could, hoping Gabe would remember them all and be able to answer them. She could always say them again, but slower, if he didn't.

" Was Morph trying to rape me? I don't think he was. We didn't have sex. He just kissed me a few times. Kiss-raped. I do trust you, but how would someone make that clear? If they were to be flirting? What sort of other attack is there beside physical? I mean, that you're referring to? Sexual or...verbal? Why did Morph flirt with me? I don't understand. " Jo paused. That wasn't ten questions. That was seven. She needed to think of three more, quickly. " Did it hurt when you got punched? Why did you say that I shouldn't work out how many minutes Morph would be in isolation? Should I have...not told you that answer? " There; twenty questions. Perfect.

Things To Ask Gabe.
1. Morph said that I wanted "it" when he was kissing me. I assume he meant for him to continue kissing me? He wanted to have sex with me. It = sex.
2. 'Whore: Noun. A woman who engages in promiscuous sexual intercourse, usually for money.' From Dictionary Reference. I do not engage in promiscuous sexual intercourse, with or without money. Why did he call me a whore? It was just used as an insult. Whore = not good.
3. I told Morph that I would scream if he kissed me again. He said "Sure honey. I'll make you scream alright." That was almost definitely an innuendo, yes? It was He meant It didn't mean torture.
4. It is not usually considered good practise to attack your patients. You did. Explain yourself. It is not good practise to rape your psychiatrist, so it's allowed.
5. Morph ignored me when I enquired about internal bleeding (aside from slight bruising). Why? Not answered.
6. You pushed me away to kneel beside Morph. That is not considered polite. Please explain. He didn't want me to get attacked, so it's allowed.
7. How far away is someday? Any time when both/all parties are willing and able.
8. How had Morph been hitting on me? Why is it 'hitting' on? How does grammar work there? Unsure about grammar. Flirting, and suggesting I wanted sex.
9. Flirting: You just removed your tie and unbuttoned your top button. That could mean that you want to have sex with me, or that you are physically uncomfortable. How can I tell? I should trust him. And he isn't.
10.Should I tell the truth when you ask if I'm following you so far? A target for what? Kissing? Should tell truth. Vulnerable to phys./other attack.

[Dr. Gabriel Hudson]

She seemed to be following him easily enough, scrawling answers on her paper in writing he'd have found challenging to read even if it hadn't been upside-down from his point of view, writing he was sure she would never need to go back and re-read. She blushed as several of the questions, which made him smile. She seemed so innocent, so naive, he could hardly believe she had lived to twenty-eight and retain that endearing childishness. It occurred to him that he needn't have given her the notepad back, seeing as she had a photographic memory, but expecting people to take notes when he spoke to them had almost become second nature to him.
She spoke again after a few minutes of frenzied scribbling. “Just a few more... And I follow you now. Because you explained.” “Good.” He replied crisply, and sat back as the reeled off the new list of questions, making mental notes of all of them. “Was Morph trying to rape me? I don't think he was. We didn't have sex. He just kissed me a few times. Kiss-raped. I do trust you, but how would someone make that clear? If they were to be flirting? What sort of other attack is there beside physical? I mean, that you're referring to? Sexual or...verbal? Why did Morph flirt with me? I don't understand. "
Gabe took a moment to digest the list, before beginning, slowly. He didn't have Jo's photographic memory, but he took the bombardment calmly, repeating it in his mind and filtering out the parts that he considered unnecessary. “Yes, Jo, he was trying to rape you. It may not have seemed like it, but if he hadn't been stopped, he would have gone much further, no matter what you threatened. Often, when people are flirting, they will act or talk a certain way; in this case, I would have made a show of removing my tie and undoing my shirt in order to attract your attention, something I didn't do. There are several different types of attack: mental, physical, emotional, and verbal. Sexual is a sub-category of physical. Morph flirted with you, and attempted to rape you, because you, as I mentioned before, present a target. You're female, smaller, and perhaps less confident that you could be, which leads these boys to believe they are capable of doing anything they want to you.”
Here, he paused, thinking back to Jo's last few questions. They seemed oddly bolted on, as though... Ah, ten more questions, of course, she'd want to ask him a 'nice' number of questions.
“Yes,” he continued, rubbing his cheek, “it did hurt when I got punched, which was part of the reason I winded him, so it wouldn't happen again. I said it because it wasn't necessary for that particular situation, and not because there is any reason you shouldn't.” He sat back in the sofa once again, smiling down at his wife. While not romantically interested, he was extremely fond of Jo Hudson, and the thought that that teenage boy had tried to take advantage of her innocent nature had him seething inside.

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo listened to everything she was told, processing it a second or so after she had heard the sounds. That was just the way her mind worked; it was strange, but she had always assumed that everyone was like her. Hearing things, and then really hearing them a little while later. That was why her replies always took a little while; she wasn't (usually) trying to work out what to say. She was just trying to understand what they had said. The huge block of information confused her for a second, but after closing her eyes and rocking slightly, it just clicked into place. Interesting. He had apparently been trying to rape her. Jo frowned at that. She wouldn't have liked that; for sure. But Morph would have stopped if she'd commanded him to. " He would have stopped. If he really didn't respond to my threats, then I'd have physically stopped him. " Maybe if she said it out-loud, she'd convince herself that it was true. She remembered that horrible time, when he had his lips on hers and not letting her free, and cringed slightly. What would have happened if Gabe hadn't been next door? She was fairly certain that she would have curled up into a ball, if Morph had allowed it, and cried until someone came. But she wasn't going to let Gabe know that. He'd think that she was incompetent if so, and that would be bad.

Jo turned her head sideways slightly, something she had seen in films. It was called 'cocking' your head to one side (she had chosen the left), and it was used to indicate some confusion. She didn't think she had done it very well; her head had turned too far to the side and it hurt a little. Self-consciously, she turned her head back and hunched her shoulders, hoping Gabe wouldn't have noticed her head-tilt confusion. She wondered exactly how someone would act or talk; Gabe had told her that it was 'different', but he hadn't explained how it was so. Filing the information about attack away, she searched her mini-dictionary. She had never looked up either mental or emotional, but she could guess how they differed. One was logical, thought-processes. The other was...emotional. Weak, really. Jo admitted that she could get very emotional - hadn't she cried earlier? And she cried when people died on television. Like Princess Diana. That had been sad.

" I don't think Morph was very good at flirting... He didn't buy me a drink, and he didn't say my hair or shoes looked nice. " There were obviously other ways of flirting, and Jo knew that. But they were good ones. " And... If I'm a target just because I'm female and small, isn't that sexist and..size-ist? Which is illegal. And I am very confident! " Jo stared at Gabe reproachfully. She was confident, she was sure. Confident: ' adjective. 1. Sure of oneself; having no uncertainty about one's own abilities, correctness, successfulness, etc.; self-confident; bold: a confident speaker. ' She was all of those things; maybe not a confident speaker, unless it was to Gabe or in her head. Or rehearsed prior to the event. But she had no uncertainty about her abilities for memorizing things. She knew that she was remarkably intelligent. But did that make her cocky? She bit her lip, slightly worried. She didn't want to be cocky. Just confident so she wouldn't get kiss-raped again. " How exactly do you...be confident? I mean, more confident? " Darn; she had asked three questions total. It had to be an even number, so she could ask one more or three more. Even numbers were just...right. She could stand odd numbers, but why stand odd numbers when you could marvel in the beauty of even ones?

Moving closer to Gabe, so her body was pressed-up against the sofa, she stretched up to his incredible height and poked his cheek gently. As well as being affectionate - what loving, married couples should do - it was to see if there was any obvious damage. There were no bones protruding, so she assumed that he would live from his wound, and pulled her hand back to her chest. Leaning against the sofa (her clothes preventing her from touching it), she considered the rest of his small speech. " Well, I don't think your bones are broken. But that must have hurt him. Which wasn't nice. And I'm sure Morph wanted to know how many minutes he'd be in isolation for. It makes it seem...less long. Although in seconds it sounds too long, so I didn't tell him. Also because you were looking at me like I should stop talking. "

[Dr. Gabriel Hudson]

Gabe sighed. She was confused, he could tell. That would explain the head-tilting, although he wasn't sure why she was doing it to such a degree. But then she flushed and bowed her head, and he decided to ignore it. He replied to her statement with cool conviction. “I highly doubt it. He's not the kind of person who would do that. Which is why we give you sedatives and a radio. And why the therapy rooms are so close together.”
When she spoke again, he actually scowled. “You watch too many movies.” He hated the feeling that if it did happen again, he might not be able to stop it, and she'd be too self-sure to stop it. She was convinced he'd do what she said, which was the worst part. She was completely unprepared for another attack, one he was convinced would come. Gabe didn't normally feel strong emotions towards students, but right now, he would happily have thrown Morph out, had he had any basis for it. As far as he was concerned, isolation was too good for the stuck-up bastard of a kid. How dare he do this to Jo?
Jesus. Now he was thinking of her as a child, something he always did his best not to do. Despite her childish naivety, he knew she was far more intelligent than that, and a fully grown woman. She just didn't seem like it some of the time. OK. Most of the time. “No, he wasn't. He's a person who thinks that every woman automatically wants to have sex with him, that he's so attractive he doesn't need to treat her well, or make her feel good. Remember that, Jo. For people like him, everyone female is a target. He'll never be much good at flirting.” As he paused, he considered his next sentence carefully. “People like that honestly do believe that all women are attracted to them, that all women want to have sex with them.”
Her next sentence caught him off guard, as she so often did, but he didn't show it, keeping his face calm. “I know you are, but you don't always appear to be. Sometimes, people think that because you're quiet, and you don't get in people's faces, you're weak. You need to show that you aren't, without becoming one of those people are constantly trying to prove themselves. You need to stay calm, assert yourself, and never, never, show discomfort, unless they are getting physical. You did right to scream when you did, or I wouldn't have come in.”
He flinched slightly when she touched his cheek. The bruise was sore, and it would show tomorrow, but as she so correctly guessed, nothing was broken and he would survive. “I'm sure it did hurt him. It was the only way I could ensure that he wouldn't carry on trying to hurt either of us. And isolation is a punishment, Jo, comforting him about it isn't a good idea. We want him to learn not to do things like he did.”

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo frowned. Yes, she had sedatives and a radio. But they didn't always work. " Yes. But when the student pins your arms and throws the radio across the room... What do you do then? " She didn't think that she had mentioned that to him before, about the radio throwing. Mainly because it would make her sound very weak. If Gabe had been in that same situation, he would have raised one eyebrow (possibly two), and broken Morph's hold. Possibly broken Morph's arms, if he felt like it. And she had burst into tears and basically begged him to let go.

What if Gabe hadn't been next door? Or if Morph had put his hand over her mouth? She repressed the thought, and focused on listening. " I don't watch films... Maybe documentaries, if they're on. And I saw Rainman... " She wondered what he had meant. Meant that she couldn't have physically stopped him? She hated to admit it, but he was right. Unless she started taking growth hormones, or steroids or something, anyway.

" And why would they think that? What if a woman was gay or something? Or just... I mean, I didn't want to sleep with him. " She frowned, resting her head against the side of the sofa. If she spent enough time touching it, soon enough she'd (hopefully) be able to stand sitting on it, and then she and Gabe could read together. She could rest her head against his chest and they could have intellectual discussions and other things that married couples always seemed to do in fiction books.

She had never actually seen a real married couple do that, but it sounded nice. If only she could actually sit on the sofa... Bringing her mind back to the present (again! She needed to learn to focus), she pulled her hand away from Gabe's cheek and frowned (also again). " I don't show discomfort. Aside from when he wouldn't let go of my wrists. And kissed me. And was touching me. " But aside from all that, she hadn't shown any discomfort.

She didn't quite understand, but nodded. " I guess...but couldn't you have just glared at him and told him to not do that in a scary voice? You're good at that. " She smiled. " And I know it's a punishment. But I think it's kinda...mean. I mean, you're all...isolated. "

[Dr. Gabriel Hudson]

He sighed softly. "I know, it's harder for you. I can't exactly relate. If you're in that situation, the best thing to do is scream as loudly as possible and hope someone hears you. And I meant, that's not the only way flirting works. It can be anything, really, anything that makes one person seem more attractive to the other. Films usually have those things, but they aren't all that likely."
He watched her resting her head against the sofa, shifting uncomfortably, for a few moments, before he got up, and sat down on the polished wooden floorboards beside her. "Does this make it easier?"
Her words worried him, he had to admit it. If Morph was willing to do that first session, who knew what he'd be willing to do the second, or third? And it didn't help that she had Riordan straight after, which couldn't help her stress levels. "They probably don't care, to be honest, Jo. They just want sex."
"And it's perfectly OK to be uncomfortable when they're doing something lke that. Like I said, just scream. As for glaring and telling him not to do that in a scary voice? If he really /was/ trying to kiss me, which I highly doubt," he paused to allow himself a small chuckle here, "I would have done exactly that, but it's better for you to try and get help. If you can't, or no-one comes, just go for the balls. You'd be surprised how much that puts guys off, I can guarantee it." He grinned at her; even sitting down at the same level, he was a good half-head taller than she was, and still had to look down into her eyes. He smiled at her, encouragingly, hoping she would smile back.
“Isolation is mean, that's the point. It'll stop them doing what they were put in isolation for, which means we won't have to do it any more, right?”

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo wondered what Gabe meant by 'harder for you'. How exactly was it harder for her? Because both her patients were about eight inches taller than her, male and apparantly hormounal? As well as strong. Absently stroking her wrist where one of the boys - she didn't know which one - had grabbed it, she listened carefully, determined to improve her listening skills. " Why is it harder for me? Can you not relate because... " Jo made a mental list of ways he couldn't relate to her. " Because you're bigger than me, male, statistically less likely to get raped, older, better at dealing with teenagers, more able to punch your students, and, um..." Damnit. She needed four more ways they were different. " Um, with no photographic memory, you understand the confusing things that patients say, you, um, broke two bones belong to my patients -" she couldn't resist a glare there "-today, and you...wear colonge? " The last one was a little...unrelated to the 'reasons why Gabe doesn't understand', but she needed ten, and the cologne was always very obvious. She could smell it halfway across a room... Not in a bad way. Just in a there's-Gabe way.

" And screaming... In the second session, before I did scream, one of them covered my mouth. If they'd been a little more...quick-witted, they would have been able to stop me screaming. What then? " Jo wanted a fail-proof way of getting out of that situation if she was pushed into it again. " Also...earlier, when I asked why Morph said 'Sure honey. I'll make you scream alright', you said that he meant... An innuendo. So screaming would...be bad? " She wriggled uncomfortably on the floor, deciding not to ask about flirting and general mating-rituals. That would take up too much time, and she was tired, from having both her mouth and her neck raped in one day. And from having two panic attacks, although only one was related to her therapy session. The other was from the ketchup bottle smashing that morning, which she felt vaguely bad about now. Smiling as Gabe sat beside her, she wondered how he could stand to sit on the sofa for even a minute. The floor was better. If you got stressed, it was so much easier to hide under the coffee table.

" So... Why do they want sex? " Jo asked naively, unsure of the answer. Maybe she should have worked with teenagers, ever, before founding a boarding school for teenagers. Gabe had more experience then her in that department; that was his job. She had preferred the younger children. They used less innuendoes, and all seemed to like her. " And I'm sure that he would have tried to kiss you. You aren't unattractive. " She smiled again; she was telling the truth. He wasn't unattractive. He could be considered handsome, she supposed, if she looked at him like that... " I don't want to...do that, to males though. It looks painful. " She didn't comment on the part about isolation. It was mean, but she supposed he was right. As she watched Gabe lean back against the sofa, Jo felt an odd rush of affection towards him. And a sudden wave of guilt about the...incident that morning. " And, um, well. The-ketchup-smashing-was-my-fault-not-yours-I-dropped-it-it-wasn't-the-way-the-fridge-was-stacked-I'm-sorry. " She spoke in a rush, blushing.

[Dr. Gabriel Hudson]

Gabe watched her, a little warily. He could see more questions heading his way at high speed, and he had an idea that he wouldn't be able to provide satsifactory answers to them all. He'd do his best, of course. She spoke quickly, looking as though she was thinking hard about her words, and he supressed a smile. Of course, she would have included a completely irrelevant one to make it an even number. He replied easily to that one. "All of those reasons, except maybe the last one and the one about photographic memory. That doesn't help in those situations, but yes, certainly the rest."
He sighed. It was very lucky they weren't as quick-witted as that, but he was fairly sure both were smart enough to learn from their mistakes. If either of them decided to try it again, screaming might not be an option. "If one of them covers your mouth, bite. Do whatever's nessecary to get free, you hear me? Struggle, bite, kick, scratch, anything. The moment you get your mouth free, scream like hell and hope someone comes. As for what Morph said, it's better to scream and have him stopped than let him get what he wants, yes? If he does get violent, or physical in any way again, scream."

Gabe sat there, watching her as she fidgited, part amused, part serious, and still raging over the boys' treatment of her. And then, there came the bombshell. The one question he had not expected, the one he'd rather not have to answer. He would, though. If he could, he'd answer all her questions.
"So... Why do they want sex?"
How? How could a woman her age, a psychiatrist, not know about these things? Having to explain sex to a twenty-eight year old had not been his 'to-do' list that morning.
He rubbed a thumb unconciously across his lower lip, thinking hard. How to answer her? Before he could, however, Jo spoke again, and he smiled at her. Maybe he wasn't unattractive, but he highly doubted any straight teenage boys would be trying to kiss him any time soon. Her confession was met with a soft chuckle, and he told her, "Don't worry, I've never been much good about packing anything. You remember when we first moved here?"
"As for the sex, it's a natural human drive, just like the drive for food, or company. They wanted to have sex, and you were a female; that's the basic psychology behind it. Especially teenage boys, who tend to be hormonal, leading them to be less controlled about certain desires. I also read that one of them was hypersexual, yes? He'd find it nearly impossible to control all his impulses."

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo nodded. She was quite aware that neither of those two points were linked to 'reasons why Gabe doesn't quite understand why it's harder for me to not be attacked by my angry male students', but she needed to make ten. Besides, wearing cologne might help keep men away. Like when male cats marked their territory. She wondered what would happen if Gabe sprayed her with his cologne; if Morph and Riordan would stay away then. It could work. She decided that she'd ask later, after searching it. Perhaps she'd steal his cologne and use it without asking, so he wouldn't laugh at her. She hated the color she went when he did that, and thought that she'd spent quite enough time blushing for today. For most days. " Okay... I'll try that, I guess. " She disliked screaming. It was loud, hurt her own ears. However, not being attacked was good, so she decided that she'd put up with it if she was being kiss-raped again.

She was glad that he hadn't yelled at her because of the fridge-thing. She shouldn't have picked up a glass ketchup with wet hands, but the eggs that she'd managed to get into the frying pan were sending out smoke, and she wanted everything to be organized before she served breakfast. When the smoke alarm went off, her hands slipped on the bottle and... Well, Gabe had come out of the shower to find a burnt pan, what looked suspiciously like blood on the floor, a smoke alarm that really wanted him to know that there was a fire, and Jo hiding in the cupboard under the sink, and he hadn't appeared to be very happy. She'd been worried that he'd show more of his not-being-happiness now, but he'd just laughed, and asked her if she remembered when they'd moved there. She spent a second or so searching for the link between ketchup and moving, before catching on and smiling back. " I do! Remember that! " She remembered everything, to be fair, so she wasn't too proud of her achievement.

She stared at him when he went into his little rant about sex. She didn't feel the need to have sex. But she was human, she was certain. She liked food and company, most of the time. " Yes. Morph is. So... If it's a 'drive', and if he found it 'nearly impossible to control all his impulses', why are we punishing him by putting him into isolation? If he can't help it? And am I unnatural, because I don't want, um...sex? I do like food and company! " She rather hoped that he wouldn't tell her that she wasn't human. She felt very human, aside from the not wanting to have sex. Maybe she did? " I mean, I might. What does wanting to have sex feel like? You make my stomach feel tingly... And Morph and Rio - one of them - made my neck tingle... Sorta in a good way. It hurt, but was nice... But scary, so I screamed lots. "

[Dr. Gabriel Hudson]

Gabe's face fell as she spoke. He had grinned at her when she has said she remembered – of course she remembered, why wouldn't she? - but now, his face fell again. She confused the hell out of him, if he completely honest, but then, a lot of things seemed to confuse the hell out of her, things he understood perfectly but she seemed to find completely illogical. Jo had her own brand of logic, he knew, and it was very difficult to argue with sometimes. It often felt less like an argument and more like a lesson in modern logic, but he was willing to put up with it. To be honest, it gave him a break from all the teenagers who thought they knew exactly what was going on and how he thought; Jo asked questions, something most of them didn't do regularly.
“We're punishing him because he can learn to control them, but he's refusing to by disrupting his therapy sessions. As for you being human, you definitely are. Unless-” no, this was Jo. Gabe stopped himself abruptly, and continued. “Food wasn't a good example, as it's essential, but company isn't, and neither is sex. Just the same way some people don't like having other people around, some people don't like having sex. Does that make sense to you?”
The last sentence seemed slightly patronizing, and Gabe hated being patronizing. He knew just how degraded it could make a person feel, and- her next words shocked the words right out of his mind. He made her feel tingly? That was new. Morph and Rio making her feel 'tingly', in a good way? Now that was a development. Could she be...? He analyzed her with his eyes and mind, quickly re-assessing her personality, and a conclusion reared it's ugly head. It was possible, but he found it hard to believe. If he was right, there was no way he was explaining this to her, and if... Bullshit. If Riordan or Morpheus found out about this, there was no chance she'd survive.
He collected his thoughts, and hoped he hadn't gone pale. He felt like he might have. “Different people feel the... drive in different ways. 'Tingly' is quite possibly one way of your body expressing attraction, but I doubt that the tingling in your neck was a good thing. It was probably fear.”

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo didn't take in Gabe's changing expressions. She missed them, usually, and that was probably because she looked at chest level. And even that took an effort; she preferred to look away. Apparently, that was rude, but she wouldn't have minded if someone refused eye-contact with her. She would have been quite pleased, actually. It was quite stressful, when she had people staring at her, but telling them to stop staring usually resulted in badness. She had done that in secondary school and got sent out of the room, where she'd had to stand for half an hour, with nothing to do. Since then, she had made a conscious effort to at least look in the direction of the other person.

Jo doubted that Gabe would send her out of the room, which she half-owned, but didn't want to risk it and make him use his scary voice. That was bad. The last time he had used it was at the psychiatric hospital where she had used to work, and she had wandered into his session, and asked how exactly bees flew. She had read that it was a 'miracle of nature' because nobody knew, but she thought Gabe might. He wasn't impressed, but how was she meant to know that his patient was having a breakthrough or something? Just because he'd been crying...


" I understand. I think. How do you know if you like having sex or not? " She wished that there was a manual, with answers to these questions. Jo assumed that you actually had to have sex before you knew if you liked it or not, but that wasn't something she wanted to do. That would be a lot of physical contact, was apparently painful and could result with unseemly diseases. And pregnancy. The risk of that outweighed the potential of having feelings that were supposed to be good. If only these was a test you could take. Like a pregnancy test, but instead of saying 'pregnant' or 'not pregnant', it would say 'you like sex' or 'you don't like sex'. Maybe something shorter. She should suggest it to the pregnancy-test-making-people. It would be very useful. " Do you like sex? " Jo was curious. They hadn't mentioned this before, because asking people that was inappropriate, but it was Gabe. He wouldn't mind, she was sure.

She shook her head at him telling her that it was probably fear. " I don't think so... I felt scared, but I had the feeling I get when I hold hands with you. Nice. Warm. " She was starting to feel frustrated; not knowing how to explain something was very annoying. She usually knew the words for this sort of situation. " I can't describe it... How do you feel when someone does that to your neck? If I did it right now? " She wasn't planning on biting his neck, because she didn't know how and it could be embarrassing if she did it wrong. She just wanted to know what it felt like.

[Dr. Gabriel Hudson]

Gabe surpressed a cough. Christ, this woman asked awkward questions. How was he supposed to answer that? Some did, some didn't. Most did. You had to try it. And he didn't know where that would lead them, knowing what Jo was like. Rubbing his lip again, he began slowly, “Having sex is... enjoyable for most people. Not everyone likes it; some like it more than others. It all depends on the person. As for how you know, it's generally difficult to tell without trying it... Not that I'm suggesting it you. Do you think you'd enjoy it?” This was going badly. He couldn't tell how she'd take it, and inwardly cursed his clumsiness. Knowing Jo, she'd take that to mean he wanted sex with her, or she should have sex with one of those students, and neither thing was what he'd wanted.
Gabe tugged his lip. Today, he had set out to have a psychiatric session with a stalker and a girl who thought she was evil, not with his own wife, and certainly not after breaking the bones of two of his new pupils. Was this some omen? Would he start regretting opening this school? No. He had done it in full acceptance that there would be trouble- it was for troubled teens, after all. This just wasn't what he'd expected, and Gabe liked to know where he stood in situations. He was just nervous. As for enjoying sex himself? “Yes, I do,” he began, but stopped, unsure how to go on. “But it's less... uncontrolled for me than it is for those boys.” Notice how I don't try and rape you?
Jo spoke again, and he winced inwardly. Nice and warm? Having two six-footers attempt to rape her? That sounded a lot like masochism, but he really didn't want to have to explain to her. He spoke very deliberately. “I agree, it's a difficult feeling to describe. But if you bit my neck right now, I don't think I'd find it very attractive. As for enjoying it, it's true that pain is a sexual stimulant for some people, a condition called masochism. Have you read about it?” If she had, she'd know what he was talking about. That was one of the good things about her; if she'd heard what you were talking about before, you didn't have to explain. Right now, he hoped she had read about it. He really didn't feel like explaining to her.