Here we go with the first session! Disclaimer remains the same. Oh, and please let me know if you think I forgot someone important!
Session 1: Family Therapy
As Mio opened the door, the seven "patients" looked up with various degrees of resignation or annoyance pasted on their faces. The nurse gave them all a bright smile, and took a seat. "Will everybody please form a circle?" she asked pleasantly.
"Do we really have to be here?" demanded Albert condescendingly.
The door opened again, and the fic author stepped through. "No one goes anywhere until I allow it. So…you might as well all get comfortable." She gave them an evil grin, and took her place in the corner. "Please, don't let my presence bother you," she entreated, when the eight characters continued to stare at her.
Mio glanced down at her clipboard, and then turned to Goro. "Let's start with you, Goro. Why do you think you are in competition with your father?"
The bath-maker scowled at the floor, and replied sullenly, "He makes the best baths. People fall asleep in them. Just once, I want someone to fall asleep in my bath."
The other six patients stared at him. Mio blinked, and then asked after an uncomfortable pause, "Have you tried asking him what he does that is so special?"
"Baths, bah! He should grow up and act like a man. Real men don't worry about baths," Billy said scornfully.
"That would explain why you smell like rancid meat," Ceaser suggested. Billy grew red in the face.
"Obviously, Goro feels inadequate about himself and his skills when compared to a master," Albert offered coolly. "Rather like someone else here right now."
Ceaser twisted to face his brother. "You take that back!"
"You runt! Don't turn your back to me!" Billy roared, stretching out his hands to wring the red-haired strategist's neck. Albert smirked as Ceaser tried and failed to breathe.
"Uh, Dad?" asked Melville hesitantly.
"In a minute, son," Billy replied absently, as he continued to choke the life out of the younger Silverberg.
"Try using your thumbs," suggested Albert mildly. "You can crush his windpipe so much better that way."
"You've been spending too much time with Yuber," Luc remarked in a disinterested voice.
Sasarai alone remained silent, staring at the floor morosely. Mio tried several times to detach Billy from Ceaser's neck, but it was no use. Finally, she looked pleadingly at the fic writer sitting in the corner.
"What? You want me to stop him?" the writer asked in disbelief. Mio wrung her hands, and nodded. The writer sighed, and waved one hand in the direction of the struggling strategist and the murderous thief, who were instantaneously returned to their seats. "Obviously, we have some anger issues to sort out, too. Carry on, Mio."
The nurse stared for a moment at the scowling but motionless Billy, and cleared her throat. "Yes, well. Billy, you should really think about the kind of role model you are setting for your son. Do you ever consider Melville before you act?"
"Consider…Melville? Why in the world would I do that? He doesn't run my life."
Melville had gone small and silent, with his shoulders hunched.
"This is not working," Mio remarked.
"You just now realized that?" Caeser asked scathingly, massaging his neck.
Mio paused for a moment, embarrassed, and then continued. "We'll end for today. I want everyone to write down one thing you like about your family, and one thing you need to work on. You're free to go."
The "patients" vanished like holly bushes up against a six-man killer team, but the fic writer was gone even quicker. Mio was left alone with her clipboard, stymied as to how to handle all these problems.
Well, should I keep going or not? I've written about three more chapters so far, but I won't post them if no one wants to read them. Please review and let me know!