Schizophrenic Steve || ʙʟᴜᴇꜱ ᴄʟᴜᴇꜱ

Brother Therapy

Steves younger brother, Joe is visiting for the weekend. He excitedly knocks on the door and Steve welcomes him in. They hug warmly, "Hi Steve! What's up, how have you been doing?" Joe exclaimed, unable to contain his happiness. It was just yesterday when things started to take a turn on Steve. Ever since he fell into an episode of derealization its felt like he's been dreaming. He didn't take his pills, he was feeling dizzy and that they weren't too important anyways. Right?

"Yeah— Yes. I'm doing great. And you?" Steve stammered. Joe paused for a second but his smile didn't leave his face, it just got more faint. "I'm good, thanks. I think we should catch up. Oh, but before we do that, how's Blue?" He asks. Steve is somewhat relieved that this catching up is being stalled. He doesn't want Joe to think somethings wrong with him, even though Joe is highly aware of Steves issues. But Steve just didn't wanna scare Joe. He just doesn't say anything because he doesn't want to see his brother upset.

Steve calls over Blue, she comes through the doggy door from the backyard and jumps up in excitement, even spins around a couple times when see sees Joe. "Hey Blue!" He expressed kindly, petting Blue. Yeah, if Joe can see Blue then she's definitely real. We already knew that, though. But Joe can't hear or see 'living' objects. That's because he isn't schizophrenic, unlike Steve. Joe is aware of Steves troubles, but he doesn't know how bad it got.

Steve nervously watched Joe and Blue interact with each other. Joe looks up at Steve and gets up. "Um, do you want anything right now? I can get you some water if you'd like" Steve offers. "I'm good, thanks. So, hows your studies been going? For getting into a college for detectives?" Joe curiously asks. Steve awkwardly takes a second to process the question... "college"... "detecting"? Steve always loved playing Blues Clues for a subconscious reason, he has dreams to be a detective one day. But he wasn't aware of that until Joe brought it up.

"Oh, yeah. It's great." Steve sighs. He seems tired, maybe even a bit uninterested. Joe is way better at reading signs than Steve. "Are you okay? Did you not get enough sleep?" Joe felt concerned. "No, Joe— It's just," Steve tries to think of something but nothing comes to mind. It's like endlessly scribbling on a piece of paper, his mind is a cluttered mess.

"Joe, somethings been going on. I think you might wanna sit on the handy-dandy thinking chair for this." Joe looks back and slowly sits down and nods, allowing Steve to go on. "I was playing Blues Clues the other day with Blue alright. Then I came across a clue on a cloud! I thought how in the world did Blue get her paw print up there? It seems impossible but all the other stuff going on in my life makes it seem normal." Steve states. Joe is carefully listening the whole time, giving his brother all his attention.

"You know— The uh, things that speak to me. And we communicate. And... I guess when I really think about it, it doesn't make much sense. Just like how the clue was on the cloud." Steve stuttered as he tried to say what he wanted to say. Joe is still staring at him, blankly, at least blank to Steve since he can't read emotions. No idea what he could possibly be thinking.

"That's alright, Steve. It's not like I think it's weird, well, it's not common... But I get it." Joe got up and this had Steve dumbfounded. "Wait, what?" He muttered. "It's okay, Steve. It's okay, as long as you get the right treatment and medication for this." Joe looked to the right and walked near the kitchen. "Where do you keep your medicine? You have been taking them, right?" Joe asked, Steves breath hitched as he immediately felt guilty. He didn't think it would be such a bad thing to not take them. But Joe is taking this way more seriously.

"Um, bottom cabinet on the left corner." As Joe opened it that's when he decided to tell the truth. "Okay, I may have not been taking, uh, most of them. I didn't know it was an illness for a while, maybe I was having a schizophrenic episode. Couldn't snap out of it," Steve sigh in self-disappointment.

"Sorry." Steve mumbled. Joe looked through the cabinet but then looked at Steve confused. Then he chuckled, "What are you sorry for, big bro? Don't be. Um, but you should really be taking these." He smiled and that warmed Steves spirit.

"Right." Steve nods. "It just, takes a moment for me to remember these things in reality when I'm in an episode. And God knows how long it lasts." He chuckles and so does Joe.

"Yup. Just be safe, okay? Remember dad? He had the same troubles as you, yet he was a great guy." Joe says sentimentally. They both smile in the bittersweet feeling. Remembering their moms many endless stories about their father. I guess he was just too great for the world. Nonetheless, Steve is almost like an exact copy of his dad. He looks just like him, he has his upbeat spirit, but he has his mentality. The history of it has been passed down by generations of every eldest sibling. It was rare if the youngest got it, Joe was lucky enough to avoid it, even though he has some of his dads features he favors his mother a lot.

"You're a great brother, Joe. You're too good for all the craziness in reality" Steve chuckles and Joe smiles. "I don't mind the chaos if it means I can live in a reality with the best brother in the world." Joe puts his arm around Steve. They go talking about memories and whatnot. The weekends to them. Steve feels much better when he's accompanied, especially by his brother.

It can only go downhill from here. Well, how bad can the illness possibly be? What's the worst that can happen?

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