Hey Gene. I hope you don't mind that I'm contacting you directly, but since I barely know any of the other doctors who are planning to help at the hospital and I don't exactly want this to be widespread public knowledge, it seemed better to message you than to comment on that post.
[You know the one. But okay, getting to the actual point--]
If there are any psychological emergencies that come into the hospital or manifest as a result of physical injury, I may be able to help. I'm not a psychiatrist, so I'm not going to be dealing with medication unless it's something life-threatening and there's no other choice, but I do have some knowledge in that area if no one else does. Stephen is far more experienced in the area of neurology than I am and would be a better choice for anything involving it, but the basics of that are also something I can do if absolutely necessary.
[Normally, since there are native doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists here, he can assuage the guilt he feels about not using his skills in those areas, but right now it feels like it would be morally wrong not to let someone know that he could help in the case of an absolute emergency.]
（ the night network is dark and full of terrors. gene rubs his hand along his jaw, scratching through the stubble he ain't had much chance to do away with. ）
Should there be a need, I'll reach out, thank you.
If you don't mind my asking, I don't recall this ever coming up before. Is it something you'd sooner keep under your hat?
Yeah, I'd prefer a few people know as possible. Letting those in the last place I was know I'm a psychologist caused a lot of problems, and you've seen the way people here talk to me. I don't really need to give them more ammunition.
[He can just hear all the comments now about how terrible it is that a psychologist would be so insensitive and manipulative and controlling and whatever other latest insults the person of the week wants to throw at him. He's just staying out of that.
Of course, there's also that he's just legitimately not in a condition to be doing any sort of counseling and yet wouldn't want to turn away someone who came to him for help, and so he's avoiding causing that situation in the first place. There are a several other related issues as well, and so overall it's just seemed like the best choice not to make this public knowledge.]
（ treatin' people medically is different. there ain't really any ethics involved there — even when he cares about the person under his hands, he's objective enough to manage it.
but matters of the mind? that has potential enough to get ugly, real quick. messy, tangled up in feelings, he can absolutely see that objectivity start to wane until your opinions and beliefs are compromised by the people you're around. it ain't like the displaced are so large a group lance could offer them his services at large an' in doin' so not be cuttin' himself off from personal relationships with a large swath of them. ）
Does anyone else among the Displaced know?
（ nate, maybe. they're close friends that he's seen. gene wants to promise him that he won't tell a soul — gene has never met a secret he couldn't keep — but knowin' if there are other folks may be useful down the line if somethin' happens to disrupt communications. ）
[The issue of being cut off from personal relationships had definitely been a factor in this decision too; it had been another problem in Hadriel, on top of an already long list. And since there had been no native citizens in Hadriel, Lance was the only option for any sort of psychological help, and he hadn't been able to convince himself it was okay to refuse to practice despite his own issues; thankfully here, with the prevalence of native psychologists--and even free care--has tempered the guilt about keeping this more or less a secret.
But on that note--]
Nate, Kyna, Drake, and Ian, and I'm sure some more people have probably figured it out. It's not exactly something I'm being extremely careful about, just enough for plausible deniability, so if for some reason someone else needs to know that's fine.
[Since he presumes that's probably the reason he's asking.]
（ he works his jaw off to one side. all folks he knows, more or less — though he doesn't recall ever having spoken with ian he's at least seen him around. ）
All right. I do understand your preference for this not to be public knowledge and I'll do my best to hold by that. Should I see a need, I'll disclose it as necessary.
（ but lance is sure to be no less traumatized than the lot of them, an' he ain't about to put that strain on him unless there truly ain't no other choice. he'll sell his secret dearly, in any case. ）
（ jason's defense of his stance was different, in a way. they've put miles behind their friendship by now, an' even though it made him deeply uncomfortable to have jason speak up, he's considerably more lukewarm on hearin' it from a fella he barely knows. gene isn't accustomed to validation because he's never looked for it an' certainly has no need of it. he works his jaw off to one side, then: ）
Don't mistake me, I can appreciate why you think that might be a thing I need to hear, but my words and my stance on them need no defense. Neither do theirs, frankly. I can't begrudge folks trying to do what's best, even if I disagree with how they're going about it. Given the Hell we all just went through, I can understand being on edge enough that something seen as an attack warrants rebuttal.
He and I worked it out between ourselves anyhow, so if anyone's fixing to hold a grudge over it, it's on them.
[This sort of response isn't one he's gotten in awhile, but it's not entirely unusual that someone will claim they don't need reassurance, with or without additional explanation that may be entirely true or entirely an attempt to justify themselves to themselves more than the other person.
He doesn't know Gene well enough to figure out which it is, especially over just text, but either way the way to handle it is the same when it's not someone he has a strong enough relationship with to risk calling a bluff.]
Okay, noted. Hopefully that's the end of it, then.
[He has like zero faith in that because people here love to pick fights over nothing, but whatever. This is something he's actually not involved in for once, and he plans to stay that way unless necessary.]
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@lance.sweets
Date: 2021-01-18 01:54 am (UTC)[You know the one. But okay, getting to the actual point--]
If there are any psychological emergencies that come into the hospital or manifest as a result of physical injury, I may be able to help. I'm not a psychiatrist, so I'm not going to be dealing with medication unless it's something life-threatening and there's no other choice, but I do have some knowledge in that area if no one else does. Stephen is far more experienced in the area of neurology than I am and would be a better choice for anything involving it, but the basics of that are also something I can do if absolutely necessary.
[Normally, since there are native doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists here, he can assuage the guilt he feels about not using his skills in those areas, but right now it feels like it would be morally wrong not to let someone know that he could help in the case of an absolute emergency.]
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 03:47 am (UTC)（ the
nightnetwork is dark and full of terrors. gene rubs his hand along his jaw, scratching through the stubble he ain't had much chance to do away with. ）Should there be a need, I'll reach out, thank you.
If you don't mind my asking, I don't recall this ever coming up before. Is it something you'd sooner keep under your hat?
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 03:59 am (UTC)[He can just hear all the comments now about how terrible it is that a psychologist would be so insensitive and manipulative and controlling and whatever other latest insults the person of the week wants to throw at him. He's just staying out of that.
Of course, there's also that he's just legitimately not in a condition to be doing any sort of counseling and yet wouldn't want to turn away someone who came to him for help, and so he's avoiding causing that situation in the first place. There are a several other related issues as well, and so overall it's just seemed like the best choice not to make this public knowledge.]
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 08:47 am (UTC)（ treatin' people medically is different. there ain't really any ethics involved there — even when he cares about the person under his hands, he's objective enough to manage it.
but matters of the mind? that has potential enough to get ugly, real quick. messy, tangled up in feelings, he can absolutely see that objectivity start to wane until your opinions and beliefs are compromised by the people you're around. it ain't like the displaced are so large a group lance could offer them his services at large an' in doin' so not be cuttin' himself off from personal relationships with a large swath of them. ）
Does anyone else among the Displaced know?
（ nate, maybe. they're close friends that he's seen. gene wants to promise him that he won't tell a soul — gene has never met a secret he couldn't keep — but knowin' if there are other folks may be useful down the line if somethin' happens to disrupt communications. ）
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 06:09 pm (UTC)But on that note--]
Nate, Kyna, Drake, and Ian, and I'm sure some more people have probably figured it out. It's not exactly something I'm being extremely careful about, just enough for plausible deniability, so if for some reason someone else needs to know that's fine.
[Since he presumes that's probably the reason he's asking.]
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 09:00 pm (UTC)All right. I do understand your preference for this not to be public knowledge and I'll do my best to hold by that. Should I see a need, I'll disclose it as necessary.
（ but lance is sure to be no less traumatized than the lot of them, an' he ain't about to put that strain on him unless there truly ain't no other choice. he'll sell his secret dearly, in any case. ）
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 09:55 pm (UTC)[And that all handled, he feels like he should mention--]
You were totally in the right about what you said in that post, by the way. I'm sure you know that already, but just for the record.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 10:12 pm (UTC)Don't mistake me, I can appreciate why you think that might be a thing I need to hear, but my words and my stance on them need no defense. Neither do theirs, frankly. I can't begrudge folks trying to do what's best, even if I disagree with how they're going about it. Given the Hell we all just went through, I can understand being on edge enough that something seen as an attack warrants rebuttal.
He and I worked it out between ourselves anyhow, so if anyone's fixing to hold a grudge over it, it's on them.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 11:02 pm (UTC)He doesn't know Gene well enough to figure out which it is, especially over just text, but either way the way to handle it is the same when it's not someone he has a strong enough relationship with to risk calling a bluff.]
Okay, noted. Hopefully that's the end of it, then.
[He has like zero faith in that because people here love to pick fights over nothing, but whatever. This is something he's actually not involved in for once, and he plans to stay that way unless necessary.]
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 11:21 pm (UTC)I'll see you around, Lance. Look after yourself, you hear?
no subject
Date: 2021-01-19 09:19 pm (UTC)