--

cause i can see a heavenly
band full of angels

Kellan didn't know why his mother kept subjecting him to this nonsense. She made no effort to hide the fact that she was trying to cure him of being gay, and that she believed a psychologist should be able to accomplish this feat. Since, last Kellan recalled, this wasn't 1945, and homosexuality was no longer listed as a mental disorder anywhere except the Westboro Baptist Church, he figured that Regina would have little to no success in the endeavor. Reid really didn't agree with it, and only kept the fact from Cillian to avoid dragging his other son out to Washington during the school year. In any case, by some odd twist of fate, Regina actually found someone willing to go along with her crazy scheming. This didn't make Kellan feel great about the moral fiber of said psychologist, but maybe it was a ruse, designed to make Regina feel good about herself.

Somehow, Kellan doubted it. He sat in a chair opposite Dr. Ezra Grayson, his firetruck red jeans the most brightly colored object in the room. Paired with a white button-down, Kellan looked more or less presentable. Thankfully, his mother wasn't around to comment that he needed to stop dressing in such gay clothing. Her exact words. He stared at the good doctor (riiiiight) from beneath the brim of his dark red army cap, green eyes stony.

"You can't be seriously trying to do what my mother wants," Kellan opened with. He clearly didn't want to be here, and he was going to make it extremely obvious until the man let him leave. He could be spending time with his beautiful fiance in his dream world. Or doing his homework. Or seeing the dollar theater screening of Easy A downtown. Or sleeping.

coming to
set me free

--

cause i can see a heavenly
band full of angels

Kellan observed the man before him irritably, glancing him over. He looked intense, more intense than anyone Kellan had ever met. He hung around a pretty happy-go-lucky bunch of people. People told him Cillian looked a bit freaky, but Kellan grew up with him, so he was used to it. But it wasn't anything physical about Dr. Grayson, even though he looked like he could snap Kellan like a twig. It was his eyes. Dark, swirling pits of nothingness. Kellan, being Kellan, put up a front of dismayed distrust, not revealing that he really didn't want to know what lurked behind those black eyes.

Kellan asked if the man was going to actually go through with his mother's wishes. The man, matching Kellan's disdainful tone, asked if he said anything, addressing Kellan as young man. That kind of false pleasantry bothered Kellan more than being called a fag or what have you. Fag had some sort of visible hatred behind it; it could be combated. False signifiers, like young man, were harder to pinpoint - did they come from stuffy breeding or genuine distaste? Feeling very much like Lisbeth Salander in her ward's home, Kellan stared at Dr. Grayson, green eyes hard.

"Kellan, please, Doctor," Kellan informed him bluntly. Where did his mom find these people? Dr. Grayson seemed to live in a mansion, and the darkness in the room was beginning to make him wonder if this wasn't some elaborate hoax, perpetrated to get young boys into his grasp.

Seriously, Kellan, he's got all his hippocratic oath shit on the walls. You'll be fine. Kellan still couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong with this guy, though.

coming to
set me free

--

cause i can see a heavenly
band full of angels

Kellan didn't like this guy already. It wasn't anything personal; Kellan had a pretty sensitive mind, and first impressions counted for a lot with him. In rare occasions, his best impressions had been subverted, particularly with his mother, but most of the time, his first instincts didn't fail him. And his instinct told him that Dr. Grayson was a lot darker than he let on. There was something unsettling about him, something hinted at in his eyes. The man didn't note Kellan's correction, instead diving into his desk to pull out a notepad, a pen, and some glasses. Slipping them on, the man began his examination, putting extra emphasis on Kellan's name, asking him to tell about himself. Kellan frowned, noting the odd smirk on Dr. Grayson's face, but spoke.

"I'm sixteen," Kellan answered blankly. Surely he already knew this. "I'm a junior at Woodrow Wilson High. I'm gay, out, and my mom's the only one who gives a shit." He paused, trying not to make his voice sound too venomous. It was hard, to say the least. "My older brother's in college at Southern Miss. Political Science major. My dad's a mechanic, my mom's a secretary. We live fine. My mother hates me and probably hates my brother, too, but he's not around to be hated on." He crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. "I have friends at school. I'm in choir... I got in trouble with the administration for a painting I did because it was too violent. Otherwise the teachers like me." Kellan didn't know what else to add. He wasn't going to mention anything about Tom unless prompted; he wasn't going to breathe a word about the shared dreaming. "...Is there anything else you want to know about, Doctor?"

coming to
set me free

--

cause i can see a heavenly
band full of angels

Kellan noticed that Dr. Grayson scribbled furiously as Kellan spoke. The teenager didn't know how the doctor could get so much information out of so little speech. That was his job, Kellan supposed. Not that Kellan had to like it. He still felt completely out of place in this room, like he was about to fall head-first into something he wanted nothing to do with. Not that he wanted therapy in the first place, since gay was not something you cured, in any circumstances. Kellan crossed his arms disinterestedly, listening to Dr. Grayson as he asked if there was anything he planned on getting out of therapy. What were his goals? To leave. That was definitely one. Go back into his dream world and have a little bit of fun with his soon-to-be fiance. Sleep. Work on his painting, even.

"I don't know," Kellan admitted. He frowned visibly, eyes not focused on the intense doctor. He squirmed in his seat. "Regina made me come here. My house is just down the road, so I walked. Honestly, I'm only here so that she'll shut up about it." He finally glanced at Dr. Grayson, green eyes glazed over. "...Am I supposed to do something else?"

coming to
set me free