Reficul Venus

A Not So Great Patient

"So," Othello folded his hands. "You're telling me you're the King of Hell and that your significant other doesn't believe you?" Reficul nodded. "And that the only reason you're here is because that individual suggested you go to a therapist?" Reficul nodded again. "Okay," Othello sighed, leaning back into his chair. "This is a bit of a doozy but let's start from the beginning. You believe that you're the King of Hell? Why?" 

"Dear Ol' Dad threw me out, of course. Haven't you ever heard of the human rendition?" Reficul shrugged. 

"I apologize, I'm not exactly a church-goer," Othello adjusted his glasses. "I'm more of an atheist..." 

"I'm sure someone of your nature is the type to not discount anything until proven untrue," Reficul smiled. "You're not really an atheist. You're agnostic." 

"This isn't really supposed to be about me though, is it?" Othello chuckled. "Let's change the line of questioning then. Why do you think that you want this individual believe you so much?" 

"Because it's true, obviously, I don't like lies and I hate it when certain people don't believe the truth," Reficul huffed and crossed his arms. 

"Why is this person a 'certain person'?" 

"Well," Reficul thought about it. "I'm not entirely sure. At first, I thought it was just because I wanted to have sex but now I don't understand a single thing about this interaction," Reficul shrugged. 

"Have you considered that this might be a more romantic inclination?" Othello smiled. 

"Romantic?" Reficul tilted his head. "What does that mean?" 

"Hm," Othello scratched his cheek. "Maybe you'd like a more emotional connection with this person. Angels self-actualize? Isn't that what your brother said? So you're physically more vulnerable because your brain wants you to be emotionally vulnerable as well...possibly," Othello laughed nervously. He was talking about this whole angel analogy quite well, in Reficul's opinion. 

"That's gross," Reficul wrinkled up his nose in disgust. "Absolutely not. I don't like it." 

"Sometimes, things you don't like are actually the truth," Othello folded his hands. "You might not like it but it's entirely possible." 

"I'm sure I would know if I had a romantic inclination for anyone," Reficul frowned. 

"It's quite possible that you've never been emotionally involved with anyone until now." 

"What makes you say that?" 

"You've had significant problems with your father and your siblings. It might be difficult for you to open up to anyone and now that you've found someone you want to open up to it's proving to be difficult," Othello adjusted his glasses. 

"You've lost me there, doc." 

Othello sighed. He could tell this was going to be a difficult patient. "Would you tell your person of interest to come to see me too? Perhaps seeing both sides of the story will help me." 

...

"Hello?" Vincent walked in and sat on the couch. He crossed his legs and folded his hands on his lap. "Reficul told me you wanted to talk to me?" he sighed. "Although it took him a long time to actually say anything remotely close to that." 

"Reficul is an interesting character," Othello agreed. 

"I never knew method acting to get so involved." 

"Are you entirely sure it's an act?" Othello stared. 

"Of course it is," Vincent scoffed. "Do you believe that he is the King of Hell?" 

"There are a lot of things neither of us know about the world," Othello pointed out. "Is there a reason you don't want to believe him?"

"You mean, outside of the obvious?" Vincent raised an eyebrow. 

"Have you never believed in a higher power?" 

"What?" Vincent wrinkled his nose and crossed his arms. "No. Well-...yes, but no." Vincent sighed. "I used to but..." 

"But?" 

"But how can there honestly be a God out there with all the shit that happens in the world?" Vincent raised his voice slightly. "Sorry..." 

"I'm trained to deal with patient outbursts, please don't worry about me," Othello smiled. 

"Still..." Vincent held his forehead. "If there were angels and demons out in the world...what does that make us?" 

"Humans?" 

"If there is a being with Great Plans for all of us then what of our choice? Is that also a lie? There are a lot of things that this could mean if it was true." 

"Is that why you want to deny it? Because you're afraid of an existential crisis?" 

"Who isn't?" Vincent scoffed. 

"I think you'll find that it comes down to one thing," Othello raised his finger. 

"What is that?" 

"Do you like Reficul?" Othello asked. "Are you attracted to him in any way?" 

"Well," Vincent's eyebrows furrowed. "It doesn't really matter if I am or if I'm not. I have kids...and a shit ton of baggage from my marriage to consider." 

"You're not really answering the question," Othello pointed out. "Reficul also has complicated family history but he is very invested in you." 

"I just don't think I'm ready to start a new relationship with anyone..." 

"Not ready? Or not willing to try?" 

"A bit of both, I suppose..." 

"You can't wait too long, Mr. Phantomhive," Othello warned. "There are a lot of things that get taken away from you in the world before you ever have the chance to start."