“So, because you’re magical, you’ll be fully able to enter and leave Rook, there’s archways about the city with Seattle across the top that you can get back into the city that way, if you’re in Seattle, the archway has a chess piece carved into it.” Ander explained despite the fact I was going to be in the hospital for at least another day. “Luckily, sense you’re in the system already, when you get back to your apartment, things that will help you learn magic will be delivered to you and we can see how about you take to magic.”

“Okay” I said quietly

“From what I heard, you did quite a number on the curse breaker who saw you”

“A curse breaker saw me?” I asked

“Curse breaker!” a voice hissed in distaste and anger, a venomous hiss that made my spine shiver

“You don’t remember?” he asked, I shook my head, “It would have been last night.”

“Nope” I said shaking my head softly, “I was put in a…medical sleep for the majority I’ve been here.”

“Oh”

“Are they…okay?”

“He’ll be fine, you just gave him quite the startle”

“Will I still be able to like…live on my own?” I asked, looking down towards my hands, a strange feeling in my chest, like…was I being saddled onto Ander? That he’s basically taking in a stray cat or something?

“Most likely, the only time where a sponsor would allow their ward to live with them is usually due to an unhealthy home environment or similar reasons, but it’s not something that every sponsor does” he assured, “Are you…concerned about that happening? Do you need to stay somewhere else?”

“The opposite actually” I said as I softly gripped my shoulder, rolling them around as the way the bandages were growing a touch uncomfortable and itchy, “As you’ve…probably been informed about me I am not the easiest person to be around” I sighed as I looked up to the ceiling, “Intense OCPD that manifests as an extreme obsession with cleanliness, my obsession with the number six and various other aspects: I…cannot feel comfortable somewhere else other than my apartment or a hospital like this” I said as I motioned around myself, “Only in somewhere I know I can truly be clean.”

“It’s…so…dark…”

“I’ve been informed” he said with a soft nod, “I have witnessed people who have had various issues caused by things like curses or other magical aspects: curses causing things like PTSD or various forms of agoraphobia among other forms. I am familiar with the way that some people have been afflicted.”

“And these scrubs being purple don’t help me either” I said with a laugh, “Purple is unlucky. I like red…red is lucky, or green or gold…not purple, not purple” I rattled off as I motioned towards the clothing I had been given.

“How would you feel if…releasing the ghosts eases your tics?” he asked, I paused as I thought about that, it felt like a lifetime, but was probably only a minute or two as I stared at the speckled tile of the room, softly wringing my hands, the bandages digging against my skin and stinging as where the soft cotton under it that were put to my opened wounds detached and I felt the familiar wet warmth of fresh blood against the prickly, dry, scratchy feeling of the blood that had dried there.

“I-I don’t know. I’ve been like this sense I was a child, so…I don’t know how to be myself without them” I explained, he nodded softly, taking in every word I said with the precise look at me and the calm and poised posture of a doctor, not interrupting or asking further, just meticulously dissecting each word I said as I said it. I went quiet for a little after that as he seemed to finally breathe, his shoulders and chest slowly rising with a deep breath.

“I see” was all he replied with.

“I…don’t know how I would function without cleaning as intensely as I do or doing things in sequence of six…or constantly carrying charms or various aspects” I said as I picked the charm I had been carrying and softly twirled it in hand, the soft vellum paper embossed with metallic gold with an ornate gold knot at the tapered top and the handful of characters in my native Vietnamese, those wishing for good luck. “Part of my mind is still constantly being plagued with the idea of how much I’m probably going to be cleaning when I get back to my apartment.” I laughed quietly.

“Your obsession with cleaning is noticeable on your magic” he nodded to the side, “Most people would find this level of bleach to be very, very unpleasant.”

“Mom!? Dad!?” a voice screeched out in panic that made me wince softly as I blocked it out before looking towards him again.

“You don’t?” I asked, he shrugged