At three o'clock in the morning, the Rhodes Island Counselling Room was still lit.
Lin Ye made a cup of tea, not catnip. One that he brought back from Karlan for Blue Poison.
The teacup is a little full, so she was careful in handling it while looking at the list of the counselling room's members displayed on Lin Ye's desktop.
"Miss Skadi really turned out to be your assistant." She murmured.
"See? I told you so." Lin Ye says, "I wouldn't lie to you."
"But I still find it a little unimaginable." Blue Poison says lightly as she gets up and sits on the sofa opposite Lin Ye, "That Miss Skadi can actually do this kind of thing."
"... I feel that your tone is not right. What do you mean to do this kind of thing?" Lin Ye is a little speechless, "Is it weird to work here? I am not a black-market dealer, nor am I an underground mafia boss."
"I didn't mean like that." Blue Poison shook her head before showing a puzzled expression, "What is an underground mafia?"
Lin Ye coughed sharply, "Ahem, nothing, nothing." He hurriedly shook his head to prevent any more rumours from spreading, "I just want to say, I am very serious in counselling here."
"Can Miss Skadi also do psychological counselling?" She asked, "Is she not going to cut her patient?"
"What do you mean? How can that be...Wait actually, now that I think about it. she really might actually do that…"
Lin Ye tried to lighten up the mood by joking around and looking at Blue Poison's smiling expression, it seems that he had done it.
Feeling curious, Lin Ye decided to ask her a question, "In your opinion, is Skadi a terrible person? She's in fact a very gentle person y'know?"
"Gentle? You're probably the first in Rhodes Island to describe Skadi as a gentle person."
"What do you mean? I'm just telling the truth."
"It's just that a small number of people may be narrow-minded and make the wrong assumption about Miss Skadi, which in turn breeds rumours and from there, things escalated to the point where no one would want to interact with her."
"Yes." Lin Ye nods.
"Why is this?"
"It's simple really." Lin Ye says, "Even you yourself would avoid her. People will tend to avoid things that have a notorious reputation despite not experiencing them first-hand. Just like Voldemort."
"Voldemort? Who is that?"
"He doesn't matter." Lin Ye sits down and faces Blue Poison.
"There is a high probability that the rumours are false. This is why I will decide my own opinion on someone through my own means."
Lin Ye continued, "From your tone, I can somewhat tell that the people of Rhodes Island seem to be very afraid of you too. To be honest, this makes me a little bit confused, because, in my opinion, you are a very normal person. So what the hell is going on? Can you tell me?"
Her hands gently rubbed the teacup. She did not choose to answer but instead asked him a question.
"Why do you care about this kind of thing?"
"Because I am a Psychologist. Do you still need to ask?"
"Do you think I am your patient?"
"It doesn't matter whether or not you're a patient. To me, you're already a friend. Which means I am obligated to help you." Lin Ye said.
"If you don't want me to treat you as a psychologist does to a patient. Then think of me as this floor's owner. Which means you kinda have to listen to what I have to say. Or even better, think of me as a friend being concerned." Lin Ye smiled as he said this, allowing Blue Poison to relax.
Finally, after hesitating for nearly a minute, Blue Poison slowly began speaking
"They say that I am poisonous."
Lin Ye is stunned, "What?"
Blue Poison bit her lower lip and repeated her sentence, "They say that I am poisonous."
"... Poisonous?" Lin Ye is surprised, "Why is this?"
"Because my race has a unique trait." She said, "There is poison in my blood. This kind of poison can easily take a person's life."
Lin Ye became even more surprised.
Her whole body is poisonous? Is there such a race?
After being surprised, Lin Ye asked again, "Then can your poison spread to people who come into contact with you?"
"No."
"Oh." Lin Ye nods, "Then?"
Blue Poison freeze, "Then?"
"Yes. Then?" Lin Ye looks at Blue Poison with some confusion,
"Didn't you also say that it will not spread even if you touch them? So why are they so afraid?"
Why would people be afraid of her? Are they stupid?
Blue Poison shook her head. She was very surprised to see Lin Ye's reaction, "You are not afraid of me?"
Lin Ye looks at her with an incredulous expression, "Why should I be afraid of you?"
"There is poison in my blood."
Lin Ye is speechless with Blue Poison. But Lin Ye is not stupid, looking at Blue Poison's eyes, he slowly began to realize.
"Could it be that other people don't believe that the poison in your body would not spread by your touch?"
Her blue pupils dimmed a little.
Lin Ye touches his chin.
He finally found the key to the problem.
The source of Blue Poison being rejected by others is the toxin in her body, from this point of view, is much more serious than Skadi. After all, Skadi's scary image is just imaginary and born through rumours, but the toxin in Blue Poison's body is very much real.
People are afraid of Skadi because of rumours. However, the fear for Blue Poison is because of their own safety.
It's no wonder that Blue Poison, a girl who to Lin Ye seems to be a much gentler person than Skadi, receives the same treatment as her.
Lin Ye starts to feel pity for her.
Blue Poison shook her head, "It's useless."
"You didn't explain to them yet. How would you know it's useless?"
"It's not that I haven't told them. I already told everyone that you don't need to be so far away from me, but it's useless. Everyone would still avoid me." She smiled sadly.
"Not to mention, no one is willing to approach me and listen to my explanation."
"There's a simple solution to help you. If you let someone touch you and allow other people to see it, they will not be afraid of you anymore."
"But everyone dares not approach me. How could it be possible? How-."
Lin Ye nodded. Interrupting her words, "I understand."
Blue Poison raised her head and looked at Lin Ye with doubt, "What do you understand?"
"Can you raise your hand?" Lin Ye requested.
Blue Poison puts down the teacup and slowly raises her hand, "And?"
The next second, Lin Ye walked forward and took her hand before grasping it tightly. Blue Poison became stunned, her eyes widened, and she was startled.
She slowly looked towards Lin Ye with eyes filled with disbelief.
Lin Ye then slowly began speaking in a kind and soft tone.
"Operator Blue Poison. Now, you have someone who dares to approach you."
Lin Ye fondly smiled at her.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft by Jaq
Proofread by BrainNotWerk
Edit by Jaq