Anger Management [Meloghia]

Chapter 6: Standard Experimentation

Melone snapped the metal ball on the Newton's Cradle sitting on Dr. Florence's desk and watched it agitate the other balls.  It began it's clicking routine as Melone breathed in the pink haze of the room. He relaxed as he exhaled.

"This should be a drug."

"It stimulates the production of Oxytocin and Serotonin in the brain. It's basically an antidepressant. It relieves anxiety and increases trust." She sat across the room in an armchair with her notebook in her lap. He noticed that Dr. Florence had been wearing heels last week and this week she was wearing Ugg boots. Aptly named because they were ugg-ly. He wondered if she wore them after his confession last week.

"Hm, sounds like something Ghiaccio could use," He mused as he grabbed both steel balls on the ends and lowered them back carefully to rest.

"Your partner, yes. We talked about not touching last week. How has that been going?" She inquired.

"I didn't touch him at all." Melone swelled at his accomplishment. Well, technically he had touched him two nights ago...but that was practically nothing to Melone.

"And?"

"Well, he definitely noticed. We actually had a talk about it."

"And how did that go?" She tapped her pen on the arm of the chair.

"He said it was okay for me to touch him. But I don't know..." Melone trailed off.

"What?"

"But then why does he yell at me all the time? I told him to tell me from now on when I'm making him uncomfortable. And he was like 'isn't it obvious?' I literally can't tell. I thought everything was fine. I never knew I was bothering anyone." He was getting worked up and his anxiety was increasing.

"Okay, so you're not very good at reading social cues. That's something we can work on," She spoke calmly. He noticed that the fog was getting thicker, she must have noticed his unease. He took a deep breath and felt reassured. He wished this woman would follow him everywhere. Or at least her stand.

"He also keeps contradicting himself. He tells me I'm gross, and then when I say I am, he tells me I'm not. And then tells me I am again later! Then I tried to point out that he's flip flopping and he just told me to shut up. I don't know what to make of it."

"Sounds like maybe he's not sure how he feels," She said and Melone huffed. "Maybe just give him some space and see if he doesn't start figuring things out."

"I guess, I mean I still have to work with him though."

"Have you tried using your stand on a man like we talked about?" She changed the subject.

"I haven't been sent on a mission yet, but I will." Melone fidgeted with the steel balls on the desk again. He pulled one and began the monotonous clicking. His mind came back to the same thought again, the one that kept him up the night he fought with Ghiaccio. "Can we...revisit something from last week?"

"Sure. What would you like to talk about?" She asked. Melone chewed on his lip as he thought about what he was about to ask. He was afraid of the answer and what it might mean.

"So...you said anything unwanted can be sexual abuse, right? Does that include women?" Melone didn't make eye contact.

"Are you asking if women can commit sexual abuse?" She crossed her leg but Melone tried not to look at her feet.

"Yeah." He swallowed dryly.

"Of course," she said without hesitation. "Abusers can be women just as much as men. It's statistically lower, but that might also be due to men not reporting such abuse because of feelings of shame or the thought that they can't be abused by a woman. That comes from a very dangerous ideology of men in our society, called toxic masculinity. It's a set of standards that often men feel required to adhere to, often being mentally detrimental to young men."