Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Previously the lodgings of the late Lady Braddock, the Dower House fell into disuse for a number of years, particularly after Braddock Manor passed to Brian himself. Since the arrival of the University, it has been renovated into an administrative building as well as faculty and staff housing on the second floor.

Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Narrator » Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:10 am

It's not particularly hard to find Dr. Holder's office in the admin building since all doors on the second floor where most of the faculty offices are have conveniently labels and Sean's familiar with it due to helping out Melody.
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:37 am

Once Sean found Holder's office he knocked on the door because we'll that was the polite thing to do, right?
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 4:38 am

"Do come in." a muffled voice comes from inside. Stepping inside Sean finds himself in what looks like an almost stereotypical psychiatrists office. A pretty spacious room with shelves full of books line the walls along with the occasional tasteful piece of decoration. Dr. Holder is sitting behind a modest wooden desk, a couple of papers and a closed laptop on it. He looks up at Sean and caps his pen, meticulously placing it down on the desk pad. The man himself appears to be on the older side of middle-aged with a friendly smile on his face and a somewhat intense gaze.

"Ah, Sean, it's alright if I call you Sean, yes? Please, have a seat." he says, rising out of his chair and gesturing at one of the two comfortable looking chairs in front of the desk.
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 4:48 am

"Yes, that's fine," Sean said taking a seat in one of the offered chairs. "You said you wanted to see me?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 4:59 am

"Ah, yes, indeed. I've been asked to evaluate you. In light of you taking up your recent position." he says, tilting his head towards the window where the Lighthouse is just about visible in the distance, rising above the other buildings of the school. "And possibly see you regularly. It's really just a formality but you know how it is, especially considering... well, you know." he says, wriggling his fingers in the international sign for magical mumbo and-or jumbo. He mostly seems to be trying to lighten the mood and make Sean feel comfortable, not try to pass any judgement. Ashlie probably the concerned party responsible for this anyway. "I hope you don't mind?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:09 am

Sean stared at Dr. Holder silently for a moment not really amused by the situation.

"I do mind," Sean said, "But if the headmistress wants me evaluated I suppose I must comply."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:16 am

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know that there's a lot of stigma associated with this but let me assure you that this has nothing to do with labeling anybody as crazy, okay? Plenty of jobs require this kind of thing." he says, gesturing at the chair again before sitting down himself. "You obviously don't like the idea. Do you want to talk about why? And it's fine if you don't. There are no wrong answers, after all."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:32 am

"Probably because this is likely how mutants were treated when they were rarer and didn't have multiple schools, a university, and a global organization like x-Corp," Sean said, "Brought into the offices of well meaning, polite, and seemingly helpful people who questioned if you really could read minds or move things with your mind or shoot lightning bolts out of your eyes. Likely the whole time with a couple well muscled people in the next room waiting for the signal to come in and pump some poor sod full of sedatives."

"Makes somebody a bit leery of being psychoanalyzed because they're different. In this case that I use magic instead of having power from having the x-gene."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:37 am

Dr. Holder nods. "For what it's worth, I don't question whether or not what you do is magic. All I care about is whether you're fit to..." he pauses to look down at his notes. "Guard a nexus of cross-dimensional confluence?" he says with the tone of someone who recognizes they're talking about something they don't understand. "That sounds like a lot of responsibility."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:45 am

"It is," Sean said, "Do you also evaluate all of the X-Men to make sure they're ready to save the world every other week?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:52 am

"If needed. I'm just doing my job. Sometimes that includes doing something I don't necessarily agree is required."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:59 am

Sean felt a pang of sympathy that was buried beneath the frustration of being singled out for psychiatric evaluation.

"Quite," Sean said tersely.
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 6:07 am

"What do you say we get started with some simple questions. For instance, do you consider yourself to be religious?" he asks, picking up his pen.
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 2:52 pm

"Not particularly," Sean said, "There are many powerful entities that people would probably call gods and some of them likely are worshipped in one plane or another. Some gods might even be inspired by encounters between people and those entities."

Sean paused.

"So I suppose you could say I think that deities exist, but know that they are more just an endless multitude of incredibly powerful extra dimensional beings. If you're asking if I go to church or a mosque, the answer is no."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:56 pm

"Interesting." he says, taking down a couple of notes, one corner of his mouth curling into the hint of a smile for a moment. When he continues talking he sounds pleasantly surprised. "That's a very pragmatic point of view. Historically but even contemporarily it would seem that people like you, 'practitioners' if you will, call upon gods and other supernatural beings. Do you consider yourself more... enlightened than them?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 4:40 pm

"Enlightened? No," Sean said, "More I was fortunate to have been able to explore magic without any formal instruction. It allowed me to avoid being inducted into one tradition or another."

Sean paused for a moment.

"Quite a few 'practitioners' are able to form contracts with and draw power from many entities. There are still others who only ever draw from within or from the magical energy all around them."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 4:48 pm

"Ah, I see. Beyond just being a community to share knowledge, what do you think is the point of traditions?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 4:59 pm

Sean was quiet for a couple moments while he considered his response.

"I guess it would be to ensure responsible use of magic by practitioners... Basically communicate magical ethics 101," Sean said, "What that would mean is probably unique to each tradition, right?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:05 pm

"One would imagine." he says, taking more notes. "Are you concerned that no one was around to teach you magical ethics? Do you imagine they differ from regular ethics? They're historically tied to religions, after all but magical traditions seem to often stray from the mainstream beliefs. And please, do correct me if I'm wrong in any of my assumptions."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:46 pm

"I more wish at times that somebody had been there to keep me from accidentally blowing up the shed," Sean said, "But there are ins and outs of magic that I don't understand. Rules that I don't know or ways to go about things that are possibly forbidden for any number of reasons or simply not a good idea, right? There may be some entities that are 'evil' or some spells that shouldn't be cast."

"So in short, yes it would have been nice to have somebody who could have taught me those things when I was younger, but now I at least have access to Dr. Malcolm and her bools."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 6:06 pm

"Ah yes, I should have a word with her at some point." she says, tapping his pen against his chin before writing down a couple short notes. "If you don't mind. Of course I wouldn't discuss anything that's said in here."

"But you say that there are things that might be forbidden. Do you think there are things that are intrinsically evil or is that more of a... question of morality? I would imagine those would be rather recognizable if they clashed with our ideas of what's right and wrong, no? Forbidden things sound more like something that was agreed upon by traditions. Why do you think some things are considered off-limits? Surely all magic can be abused in the wrong hands, just like any other power?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 6:59 pm

Sean shrugged as talking to Melody was likely inevitable.

"Some scholars claim that magic drawn from 'evil' entities or dark magic taints you and there's probably some truth to that. There are rituals that require things people would generally consider obscene and other spells that generally cause pain, chaos, and mayhem. Doing those things would probably change you... maybe for the worse," Sean said, "But like you said magic can be abused without drawing from those entities or using those kinds of rituals or spells, so maybe the distinction isn't that important."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:13 pm

"Well, you're the expert on that, at least in this room." he says in a jovial tone, almost chuckling a little as he writes a couple things down.

"Now, I'm going to bring up a couple of words, objects, people, that sort of thing and I want you to describe what kind of mental images comes to your mind, what kind of circumstances or surroundings you're picturing. Don't think about it for too long, just start telling me about the picture in your mind's eye. Ready? Topiary."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:38 pm

"The shrubs in my parents front yard. Perfectly manicured and cut into geometric shapes," Sean said not really sure the purpose of this particular exercise.
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:45 pm

Dr. Holder nods and writes Sean's answer down. "Good, good..."

"Animal."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:55 pm

"My old dog, Maximillian, a black lab. He's backing out the living room never taking his eyes off me. He never trusted me after a transmogrification spell I cast on him went horribly wrong when I was younger," Sean said.
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:02 pm

Dr. Holder raises an eyebrow. "Well then. That's certainly unusual." he says, making quite a few notes.

"A good deed."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:06 pm

"My adoption from an orphanage outside of Birmingham about 15 years ago maybe," Sean said, "I don't remember much about it other than the feeling of being warm."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:09 pm

Dr. Holder nods, making a small addition to his notes. "A bad deed."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:19 pm

Sean is quiet for a few moments.

"A woman I don't recognize who tells me everything will be fine," Sean said.
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:36 pm

"What does she look like? Can you describe her to me?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:56 pm

"Light brown hair, inhuman golden eyes, and angular features," Sean said, "I feel like if known her all my life and yet cannot remember her name.
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:51 pm

"Very curious. She could be a demonized version of your biological mother if she's who comes to mind. It'd fit the rest of your answers. They've all been very home and family focused. Is that something that's important to you?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:11 pm

"Maybe," Sean shrugged. "What little paperwork there was said I was found on the orphanage steps. Like something out of a fairytale.

Probably also why home and family are so important to me."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:14 pm

"You've looked into this then or have your parents told you about it?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:26 pm

"Both," Sean said, "My parents understood, but Elizabeth disapproved of the whole affair. Likely why I never told any of them about getting tested for the x-gene or that the results were negative."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:42 am

"So you just let them make their own assumptions. There's something to be said for that, less hassle, no hurt feelings, everybody's happy."
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:01 am

"The balance is kept," Sean said leaning back.
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Dr. Holder » Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:40 am

More notes being taken.

"How is the relationship with your adoptive parents? Would the knowledge that you're not a mutant put a strain on it?"
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Re: Room 2108 - Dr. Holder's Office

Postby Sean Hall » Sat Jan 16, 2016 2:02 am

Dr. Holder wrote:More notes being taken.

"How is the relationship with your adoptive parents? Would the knowledge that you're not a mutant put a strain on it?"


"Maybe, maybe not," Sean said, "They are my parents, so they likely would accept it once they'd gotten past the whole being introduced to that their son is not in fact a mutant and instead a mage. Given though that I was brought in for a psych evaluation for telling this school I'm a mage doesn't give do much for my confidence though."
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