Asylum Meme

[waitingforsin]

Meme, Interrupted





"People ask, How did you get in there? What they really want to know is if they are likely to end up in there as well. I can't answer the real question. All I can tell them is, It's easy."


Well, you've really done it now. You're in a mental institution. Maybe it's a modern facility with a therapy garden, compassionate staff members, and a warm environment meant to help nurse people back to health, or maybe it's a glorified dungeon where the government shoves people they don't want to deal with and patients are abused by staff. Regardless of what it is, you're there, and it doesn't look like they're planning on letting you out any time soon.

Maybe you're actually not supposed to be there and you're trying to arrange for your release. Maybe you actually are meant to be there and you're struggling with your illness. Maybe you're not a patient at all and you're just there to visit or earn your paycheck. It's up to you.

Rules:

1. Post with your character's name, canon, and your preferences on the subject bar, and set up the situation.
2. Tag other people. Are you a visitor? A staff member? A fellow patient? A hallucination? It's your choice.
3. Have fun!

Comments

[aperfectthird]

I -

[I don't know what to say. I'm so bad at this. I'm frightened (of you, for you, it's all the same these days). I worry about you. I love you. I want you to be safe. I want you to be healthy. I don't want you to think you're evil or a witch or whatever. I want things to be normal again.]

- I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come across that way. What would you rather talk about?

[hexuality]

I want to apologise.

[Her voice is softer now, more imploring.]

That's all.

[aperfectthird]

You don't need to apologize to me. I know you weren't responsible for your own actions.

[He doesn't believe that this 'Tom' character was responsible, either; doesn't believe that 'Tom' is real or controlling his sister - but he does believe that Ginny is sick, that she needs to be helped, that sometimes her mind makes her do things she wouldn't otherwise.]

But you're getting help now. That's what matters.

[hexuality]

[At least he doesn't tell her any of that or she's liable to go off again. And that would be it. No family, no friends, just stuck here until they forget her and stop caring—]

Shut up.

[It's soft, firm, and not in any way directed at Percy. Ginny rubs at her temple irritably, shaking the cool hiss of snakes.]

You're making me sound mental. I'm not.

[aperfectthird]

Of course you're not. I know that.

[He doesn't miss the way she rubs at her temple.]

Do you have a headache? Should I call for a nurse?

[hexuality]

I'm fine.

[She drops her hand and curls it around the opposite arm, knuckles white.]

Please don't fuss. Everyone else here does. I meant it, Percy, I'm sorry. Don't brush it off like that—you're my brother, I love you, alright? It wasn't... [She takes a breath.] I couldn't... You don't hate me. Right? You can't.

[aperfectthird]

Of course I don't hate you, Ginny. You're my sister. I love you.

[He tries to meet her eyes, wanting to make sure that she's getting every ounce of genuine emotion that he's trying to get across.]

I mean it.

[hexuality]

[She does. She pauses, then smiles a little, and there's a break in the tension holding her. She teases softly,]

Can I get that in writing?

[aperfectthird]

If you'd like. I'm sure I can get a notepad and pen somewhere around here. I'll even get it notarized.

[hexuality]

So terribly proper, aren't you.

[She raises her brows.]

Could just write it on the wall of my room. I write on it all the time.

[aperfectthird]

I don't think we can get the wall of your room notarized.

[They're also not allowed to go into patient's rooms, but if he can avoid pointing that out, he will.]

I think some paper would be fine.

[hexuality]

You'll have to ask for it, they don't let me have anything.

[This she says a little more loudly and pointedly over her shoulder at the hovering nurse. Fact is, the moment she's got a pen in hand, most everything she writes aren't her words but Tom's. No need to encourage him, right?]

[aperfectthird]

I'm sure they'll let me have it for a moment. Excuse me, ma'am?

[The nurse comes over. There's a brief exchange, and the nurse emphasizes that it's important that only Percy handle the notepad and pen. He agrees, and she retreats.]

Now, how would you like me to phrase it?

[hexuality]

Surprise me.

[Meanwhile, she's crossing her arms over her chest and pointedly not watching. Partially to keep to the element of "surprise" and partially to stop herself from reaching over and snatching it all out of his hands. Tear it to pieces.]

I used to keep a diary. Remember?

[aperfectthird]

I remember.

[He remembers that's where this mess started, when she was eleven and he was sixteen; when she'd go white and mutter to herself, and he'd fretted over her, but everyone else had assured him it was just her being a teenager, dealing with change, and he'd believed them.

Stupid.

His eyes are focused on the paper, writing out in his neat, font-like handwriting:

I, Percy I. Weasley, do solemnly swear that I do not, have not, and will not hate Ginevra M. Weasley, and that I love her, and shall continue to, for all eternity.

Signed this day the xxth of xx, 19xx,

followed by his signature. He holds the pen and notepad up for the nurse, and hands the paper across to Ginny.]

Is that acceptable?

[hexuality]

[Not stupid. She wanted to believe it, too. Losing Fred had been the snapping point, though. An accident. Sometimes Ginny isn't sure if she should be glad that was something out of her hands; if it had been her, there'd be someone to blame instead of something so open-ended still.

She takes the offered piece of paper and looks over it, then breaks into a quiet, pleased grin, more relaxed.]

I'll keep it by my bed. Maybe the rest of the family can add to that wall before long.

[aperfectthird]

I'm sure they'll be happy to. You'll have a wall full of affidavits before too long.

[hexuality]

Affidavits.

Where d'you get these words?

[aperfectthird]

I am a bureaucrat, need I remind you. I have picked up some of the more commonly used words.

[hexuality]

So define affidavit for me.

[And she leans back and draws her feet up onto her chair, knees hugged to her chest like it's storytime. Really, though, she'd just like to hear about what he does, because she never much cared before—but letting him talk about himself means she doesn't have to talk about herself.

That, she picked up from her own sessions here.]

[aperfectthird]

[He gives her a brief glance, clearly not sure if he's being made fun of or not. His siblings have never cared about his job or the nitty-gritty bits of being involved in government before, but ... he's going to take her at her word, and hope she's being genuine.]

An affidavit is a written declaration made under oath before a notary public, or someone else authorized to administer oaths.

[hexuality]

I'm not taking the mickey.

[It's a quiet but firm reassurance when she sees his expression, and she offers a smile to soften it a bit more.]

Do you write affidavits a lot?

[aperfectthird]

Not really. I'm not a notary, so I don't do it as often as some of my co-workers do. I'm still good at it, though.

[hexuality]

So—

What exactly do you do now?

[Tell her how to get out of here. There must be a law somewhere.]

[aperfectthird]

A lot of paperwork, mostly. Sorting, filing, scanning, writing back to people, setting up appointments, processing things.

[Ah, the glamorous life of an administrative assistant.]