Ch 16. Isekai Support Group III
John stood in the corner of the group room watching everyone drink their tea and eat their stale cookies. It was a bit less lively than the last support group meeting with all of their otherworldly guests, but John welcomed the more laid back familiarity of it. He noticed that the group around Sarah was a bit smaller, but she didn’t seem quite so focused on making them laugh as having a conversation. Rene had skipped, though he’d sent a message to John that it was because he had a date with his new dwarven paramour so he didn’t mind much. He was proud of the young Frenchman. Ben was there, standing in the corner, but he hadn’t yet approached John, seemingly still sore over their last conversation. Eric was still his grumpy self, already sitting on his usual chair in the group circle, but John had heard through the grapevine that he’d gone out drinking with his new dwarven buddy at least once since the last time, so John was happy for at least that minimal progress. Overall, he was very proud of his group. They really seemed to be responding well to his new attempts to help them.
He wondered why he’d suddenly had more success? He’d been thinking about it more, he supposed, especially since Katrina had left. He sighed heavily and took a sip of tea. He had been doing what he always did. Throwing himself into his work to avoid working on his own problems. He thought about her for a moment, her long curly hair and that small divot in her hips. He nodded to himself, happy that thinking of her seemed to be stinging less at the very least. Time was probably the most effective tool in any therapist's arsenal. If he was a psychiatrist it would’ve been SSRIs.
There was a disturbance in the room as a large man with broad shoulders and a sword on his back walked into the room. He was wearing a white tunic that strained against his muscles, and had long golden hair that he pushed out of the way of sky-blue eyes. He looked around a little awkwardly as a number of people openly stared at him.
John walked over to him with a wide smile.
“Christoph! It’s good to see you again.”
The man returned the smile and they shared that kind of loose half-hug that men always seemed to awkwardly default to when they were excited to see one another.
“I thought this group was for portalers only?” asked Hannah, a young girl from San Francisco that had boarded the wrong ferry.
“Christoph is from Earth. He’s from Germany. Accidentally went cave-diving in the wrong forest.”
“Yes. Some holes are best left alone.”
“I dunno about that man,” said Ben snorting a bit as he shared a similar half-hug with him that John had given him. They’d arrived around the same time, though it appeared at least on the surface that Christoph had adjusted a bit better to his new situation.
“Ben. It’s good to see you,” said Christoph with a pearlescent smile.
“So, how’s adventuring treating you?” asked John.
“Uh, it’s good. We just finished clearing the tomb of the grand lich of the dark mountains. There was a lot of loot actually.”
“Oh, that was you? I just had a client who was talking about that.”
“Oh, was it Stavros? The man who was controlled by the liches' mind for a decade?”
“You know I can’t say who it was, but let’s just say he’s doing much better.”
“That is good.”
John felt a tug on his arm from Hannah and he pulled himself away from Christoph.
“Is everything okay?” asked John.
“I know I’m newer, but why is he here? He doesn’t really seem like he’s had much trouble adjusting.”
John nodded. “I understand your discomfort, but just because Christoph seems to be doing well doesn’t mean he doesn’t need something that the group can provide to him. There are plenty of people who have adjusted well to Avalon who still need a place to vent, or just to know that they’re not alone. Wouldn’t you like that option?”
She sighed. “I would.”
“Alright, well I’m going to get the meeting started in just a minute, so last chances for mediocre tea and stale cookies.”
A few minutes later they were all sitting in the traditional circle on their chairs. John went first, skipping his usual speech since he didn’t see anyone new.
“I’ve been feeling a little homesick lately,” he said, leaning forward a bit with his teacup in his hand. “I used to have a cat named Magpie, who would curl up on my chest and purr every time I went to lay down. I’m sure my brother or maybe my mom is taking care of him, but I realized the other day that I could have a cat here too. It seems really obvious, maybe even dumb, but it hadn’t even occurred to me that I could get another because there’s a part of me that still thinks Magpie is just back home waiting for me.” He sighed. “Anyway, that was just something I was struggling with a bit this week in the background of everything else.” He smiled at everyone, a little sadly. “Anyone else have something they want to share?”
His eyes drifted across the group and landed on Christoph.
“Chris? You have something you want to talk about.”
He shook his head. “No… I don’t think anything I’m dealing with is as bad as what the rest of you may have to worry about.”
“This is a safe place, Chris. Go ahead.”
He nodded, and coughed a little to clear his throat.
“I, uh, am having a lot of trouble getting along with other adventurers lately. It just feels like there’s this… barrier between me and the rest of them. A kind of insurmountable wall of different experiences and contexts that make it impossible to really know anyone who is from here. I’ll hum a tune and have to explain what electronica is, or not know a proper way to greet an air elemental and be looked at like I’m a fool, or even try to go on a date and have no clue what the proper procedure is. Even my closest friends will make comments that I don’t understand, and at this point I’ve even stopped asking them to explain them because I don’t want to keep bothering them about it every time.”
He shook his head.
“It’s already lonely on the road for everyone, but I just feel like I'm the one that’s the most alone.”
John nodded sympathetically, and Hannah who had wound up sitting next to Christoph put her hand on his back. A number of people who’d been giving him dirty looks now wore sympathetic ones instead.
“There is a wall between us and the natives of Avalon. I think it’s important to keep that in mind. I usually talk about it as a way to make sure we’re all giving the people here grace for their differences, but it can create loneliness as well. It’s important to never stop trying to climb the wall, even if it is impossible because the closer we get to scaling it, the closer we can be to those who care about us even with the wall in the way. Especially when they’re trying to climb that wall from the other side to reach us. For those times when it’s gotten too hard to climb, we have this group, we have each other, please always remember that all of you are always welcome here, no matter how integrated or adapted you feel like you are.”
There were nods around the group, and Christoph managed a small smile.
They continued going around and while normally most people didn’t speak, this time almost everyone had something to say. By the end of it, John felt very proud of everyone for being as open and honest as they had been.
When they broke for the night, everyone hung around for a while, and John was happy to see a number of people gathered around Christoph and speaking with him, even Ben although he had a few people talking with him who he’d driven off in the past, giving him another shot.
John went behind one of the tables and grabbed the handle of the small wagon he’d acquired that was filled completely with paranormal monster romance novels with salacious covers. He dragged it straight to Ben and dropped the handle in front of him, pointing at the pile of books.
“What the fuck is all that?” asked Ben.
“More examples of why you’re being a fool and need to correct your behaviour, Ben.”
Ben snorted and shook his head. “I thought you’d dropped that shit.”
“No. I just wanted to give you a hundred more examples of women finding men who look like you or stranger attractive and romantic.”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No. I’ve gone easy on you too long. I’m not letting up until you start to actually acknowledge your problems.” He’d given up before, unable to break through to him, but he didn’t intend on giving up this time.
“These aren’t real monsters like me. They’re fantasies.”
“No one is the real version of themselves when they meet someone. We all start out as an idea of a person when someone first meets us, and we become more real as they get to know us.”
“Uuuuuughhhh,” said Ben, shaking his head in surrender. “What should I do?”
“You can start by scheduling some one-on-one sessions with me that you actually show up for.”
“You’re not going to make me read these books too, are you?”
“No… but you can if you want to.”