For a while, the emotionally exhausted giant took the time to just let her gaze wander her room, letting her thoughts flow as they went, hoping that eventually they would collect themselves and make sense of it all. She then realized what day it was, and scrambled to search for her phone to check the time. There were plans to meet Autumn at the cafe, but the arrangement was missed by a couple hours. Yuw pushed herself up in panic, wanting to rush out, only to notice a note on the table with sandwiches from the café. 

The note was placed next to the plate addressed to her. Taking it, she opened the letter to notice it was in a familiar handwriting. “Yuw,” The now disoriented giant read aloud, softly mumbling her words as her eyes skimmed across the sentences. “I got worried when you missed our get together, and had stopped by to check up on you. Enjoy the treats, they’re your favorite. Your friend, Autumn.” 

Yuw had wanted to call her friend. To tell what had happened, hoping her mentor could help quell and answer what questions came to mind. When she went to pick up her phone, she was suddenly interrupted by a twinkling noise, echoing in her room.

Yuw raised her head and looked around her apartment, wiping the tears that were streaming down her face. Then something caught her eye from the shadows. She turned to see what was moving in the corners of her home and sure enough, Ryahno emerged, now dressed in her white and pink casual clothing. The woman’s arms were crossed, and looked rather unhappy.  

Next to the friend stood another figure, the lady with the vibrant pink irises. Yuw was about to speak up to Ryahno, but seeing that the woman was also there, made her hesitate. 

Finally getting a proper look at the woman, she noticed their glasses and black hair tied neatly in a bun. Her outfit was a simple red sweater with long sleeves that went down to the base of her fingers, and a plum colored skirt with leggings underneath. Though her eyes were pink, they were soft like a small animal. 

“Hello, Yuw. It’s been a while.” Ryahno greeted, slowly approaching the giant’s bed. Even with the unpleasant look, she was still gentle in her speech. The other woman followed closely behind her, timid and nervous. 

“Yeah… Yeah, it’s been…. Years since we’ve last talked… H-how’ve you been?” The giant responded, stuttering her words a little, hoping that this small talk could last a bit longer. She knew what was going to happen, and would rather avoid it.

“Busy.” Her friend said in a serious tone. “You mentioned last time that you heard a voice. Have you heard them since your outburst?” She asked, straight to the point.

“No, not since then. It has been quiet.” Yuw said honestly as she leaned against the wall, still on her bed. She paused to listen and see if the voice was still there. Not a peep was heard. 

“Good. You’ve met Dr. Aplacitien.” Ryahno introduced, while gesturing towards the pink-eyed lady.

“Y-Yeah… Yeah, you’re um…” The giant was quiet, and couldn’t shake the feeling that the old tales gave her. Although she wasn’t able to come up with the right words, it wasn’t hard to piece together who this person was. Especially after everything that just happened. 

“You can just call me ‘Red’. I’m Alex’s friend, she told me a lot about you…” The woman stepped forward as she spoke to the giant that was hiding in the corners of her bed. “You see, I am a therapist and… I would like to help you.” She noted the hesitation from Yuw’s gaze and stopped herself from getting any closer. “I-I don’t want to force you, but sometimes it is good to get things off your chest.” Red said with a soft and quiet tone.

The therapist took notice of Yuw's discomfort, and quickly glanced over to Ryahno, taking a deep breath. “Thank you. I’ll take it from here.” She then gave a nod to the woman before attempting to shift a nearby bench over with no avail. Eventually, Red settled with a stool, and moved it towards the edge of the bed.

Ryahno nodded back, returning to the shadows from where she came. Upon the woman’s departure, the giant’s posture started to relax as she sat up in bed. The atmosphere in the room calmed down, and remained quiet for a moment. 

“You don’t have to say anything today, I can come here again any time you want, or you can visit me in the Realms. Nor will anything you say be told to anyone else. Not even your friend that brought me here. And at no cost, the Realm will cover all of that.” Red gave the blue-haired woman a sweet comforting smile, “How are you?”

Yuw began to think to herself upon the question. “How am I?” It took a moment for an answer to come to mind, thinking upon it sincerely. “I’m worried, scared even. Am I going insane? Am I truly that messed up to need therapy?” Her voice trembled as she looked up to the therapist, eyes begging for a response to tell her she’s not crazy. The feeling of uneasiness settled in deeper. 

“It is quite a normal thing to do.” Red replied, “Sometimes people just need to let things out. I am not here to give you solutions, I am here to listen and help organize your thoughts.” Her smile remained comforting as she talked, and her gestures started to unwind as she leaned forward against the bed. “No one is crazy for just wanting their mind to be at ease.”

“Yeah, but… I know I’m not living up to society's expectations, but I am trying, and it’s hard.” Yuw wasn’t familiar with the experience of therapy on a personal level, but she has seen enough of it in movies and media to grasp the general idea of what it’s for. And to her understanding, it’s to help people who are not aligned with the social norms to get them back on track. Usually those who are sent to therapy are people who have addictions, are lazy, or have their life be a complete mess and are needed to be taught basic living skills to improve themselves. 

"And can you explain what you mean by 'society's expectations’?” Red asked, continuing to carry a gentle tone.

Yuw was about to respond, she opened her mouth but hesitantly closed it when she realized she had no answer to give. As someone who wanted to fit into social expectations, she found it quite hard to explain what they were, or if she even knew them in the first place.

“Or let me ask you this, how many people do you think are actually living up to ‘society’s expectations’?” Red pulled her stool closer, almost stumbling forward as it got stuck on the floor. 

Hesitant, still; the giant was only able to push out a few sounds to express that she was thinking, but she was still at a loss for words. She watched as Red scooted closer, and all Yuw could do was shake her head, unable to provide an answer. 

Red, seeing how Yuw isn’t able to answer, says “I-It’s alright if you don’t have all the answers. How about we just focus on what makes you feel better?”

Yuw thought about what the therapist just said. Thinking back, Ryahno wasn’t really someone who cared about the status quo or the roles they wanted her to fill. Insisting on getting her way, may it be to not do homework or escape her chore duties was a common complaint from the adults. But overtime, as Ryahno got older, she found herself able to reach a middle ground where she can cooperate with society while keeping her own independence and freedom. 

Perhaps Yuw viewing Ryahno’s stability as a conversion to the expectation of the masses being the problem. The giant had tried so hard to be ‘good enough’ to live up to those non-existent rules that it drained her motive to do anything else. 

She never really wanted to spend her weekends volunteering for charity, she wanted to kick back, dance in clubs, or drink in bars. The cafe meeting with Autumn was a substitute for all that, but it still wasn’t enough to quench her desire to go out and have fun in her free time. And yet, the pressures of ‘doing a good deed’ kept her from enjoying a life she wanted to experience. 

Yuw took a deep breath after stringing all the thoughts together, trying her best to clear her mind. She had too much to say, making it hard to express anything at all. “I don’t… I don’t know. I don’t know anymore…” the distressed giant mumbled, trying to force something out. The feeling of insecurity washed over her, influencing her to embrace the nearest pillow tightly, hiding her face from the therapist.

Red sat there for a moment, trying to think of a way to get the giant to open up. “How about we start somewhere else? I recall you mentioning something about voices when explaining what happened to Ryahno… When did you start hearing them?” The pink-eyed woman asked as she tried to find the source of it all.

“Well,” Yuw started to reply, with the pillow starting to come down, revealing her face to the therapist. “I have these nightmares…”