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[abrightboy]

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[abrightboy]

"I'm in the kitchen!" Malcolm calls. Making tea. To go with the cookies. Sugar cookies like he enjoyed nibbling at the fair, except smaller and prettier because Neal. "Do you want green tea or this herbal tea that I'm having?"

Re: text

[abrightboy]

I’m actually pretty easy going about it.

[empathicfault]

"Ah," says Will, his face falling a bit. This one's not fun, but it's...well, it's good to know about.

"You've mentioned this kid before," he points out. It had been while Malcolm had been trying to make him feel better about Abigail. "I'm glad he's doing well. I've never known how much those programs do, but I hope it helps him. Do they know what's causing his issues?" Probably not trauma, if he surprised everyone.

[abrightboy]

"He's been diagnosed with conduct disorder and the concern is it's leading to full blown psychopathy. They've been trying a specific regimen of cognitive behavioural therapy and so far he's responding to it." He pauses. "When I was eleven I became obsessed with snakes and my mom let me get some. I didn't know at the time that she was watching me for signs of psychopathy. Seeing if I hurt them."

[empathicfault]

Well, they caught the boy at the right time, if they're going to be able to do anything about it. Will does hope it helps him.

Turning back to Malcolm, Will smiles a bit. "What type of snakes did you get? I'm not super familiar- just had mudsnakes and king snakes around my house sometimes. They generally leave well enough alone." Especially with the dogs.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm lights up. "I had a corn snake, a ball python and two California kingsnakes." He winces slightly. "Eventually one of the kingsnakes escaped their enclosure and the solarium and ate my sister's gerbil," he admits. "And then my mother made me get rid of them." He leans forward, because this part is important. "I made sure to find them good homes."

[empathicfault]

Will smiles. "Of course, you did. Maybe it was harder to tell when you were...less verbal, but of course you cared. I'm glad you found someplace for them to go." He'd guess that snakes were a lot harder to rehome than dogs or cats.

"I went through my fair share of testing when I was a kid, too, but it was more overt. I'm sure you had a good chunk of that too," he notes. "Dad couldn't just stay home and observe me, and we were always moving anyway."

[abrightboy]

“I’m… on the spectrum,” Malcolm confesses. “But we moved in society back then, where one doesn’t acknowledge such things, and then afterwards… well. I had bigger problems.” He shrugs. “What places did you get to live in?”

[empathicfault]

Will rolls his eyes a bit, hearing about 'society'. Of course, it wasn't like people wanted to talk about it in lower class settings, either- everyone had enough problems. And- yeah, after Malcolm's father was caught, there was plenty else to check on.

"It was mostly southern Louisiana, and mostly in a houseboat. We'd pick up and move down-river occasionally, after I'd caused enough of a fuss, or Dad got transferred. I had...outbursts, at school. Took me until high school to start recognizing where my emotions were coming from." It was awful, but there wasn't much for it. Will shrugs. "I'd spend as much time as I could alone, fishing or reading. Fixing the boat, when it needed it."

[abrightboy]

“Did they ever take you to a doctor for it?” Malcolm asks. “Try to find out what was wrong?”

[empathicfault]

"Oh, yeah. Went to whatever our insurance would pay for, which wasn't much. Got diagnosed borderline, shizoaffective, bipolar, and autistic, all different visits. Agoraphobic, too, which was probably my favorite."

He smirks. "They were throwing things at the wall. It was probably a good thing that we couldn't afford the meds when I was that young. And I don't know if it was just convenient or what, but my dad realized I was always just fine on my own. So that's what we did. And during summers, he'd take a couple of weeks off and we'd just head deep into the bayou." It's clear he's remembering that fondly.

[abrightboy]

“That sounds really great.” He remembers enjoying camping with his dad. Until he didn’t. “How did you find out what your condition really is?”

[empathicfault]

It was really great, honestly. One of the few really positive memories Will has of his father. And the question makes him scoff. "Oh, they still don't actually know," Will replies. "Just that it's...more like autism than BPD or sociopathy- or, actually."

That's wrong now, isn't it? He tries to think back. "Didn't read anything Chilton wrote on me, so I don't know what the word is now. Last I heard, it was 'intelligent psychopath' but they wanted that one for Hannibal, so." Will shakes his head and makes an exaggerated display of shrugging. "I've had to just figure it out as much as I can."

[abrightboy]

“Psychopaths display a lack of empathy, not an abundance of it,” Malcolm points out. “Borderline personality disorder can indicate hyperempathy in some patients, but those other disorders you mentioned are often also associated with lower than average levels of empathy,” Malcolm says.

[empathicfault]

"Well, I didn't say they were right. I got the impression that people thought I'd been faking, this whole time. Do you have anything you'd think to diagnose me for?" They had, after all, spent some significant time together by now. "I guess it'd be more of a profile, but I'd take that too."

[abrightboy]

“Faking? Well. You’re definitely not doing that. Hyper-empathy has roots in a lot of mental health issues and I’d suggest anxious attachment made you prone to codependency already, which Hannibal exploited. Generally, hyper-empathy for others tends to make people less sensitive towards their own needs, which I’d also say is the case with you, so the best… therapeutic for you, I would suggest, is continuing to develop self-care routines that put your needs above other people’s demands,” Malcolm tells him. “Which I can help you with, if you want.”

[empathicfault]

Will nods in silent appreciation as Malcolm tags him for the anxious attachment style. It's a little more obvious here, where he can't hide in his house with his dogs, but it's still a good catch. And of course, Hannibal exploited it. The rest...

Will's eyebrows raise, even while he smiles. His eyes look down at the counter between them. "That's- you know, Doctor Lecter never gave me an official diagnosis, not one for any actual treatment. But in the early days, before I knew anything, that's what he recommended." His smile turns into a smirk. "I bet your methods are just a little less extreme. I'd be happy for the help."

Re: text

[empathicfault]

The way you write that makes me think that maybe you should be a little less easy-going about it.

[abrightboy]

"A little," Malcolm laughs. "I've already told you about yoga. I also do a few basic exercises first thing in the morning and I use affirmation cards my therapist gave me to focus my reframing through the day. But there are lots of different techniques that we can explore based on your specific needs. Like, you talked about the need to separate from the group and recharge. Maybe we can come up with some meditations or exercises that supplement the benefit from that, so that you can tame overwhelm in the moment, if you can't get away." He pauses. "Unless you find that kind of thing a little too... woo-woo," he adds, wiggling his fingers at Will.

Re: text

[abrightboy]

When people try to kill you a lot, a little punch to the face isn't much to be concerned about. Especially if you know where it comes from and you don't do much to avoid poking that sore spot. I mean, I don't do it for fun, but sometimes health and wellness requires purging the infection, as it were. And nobody enjoys that process.

Re: text

[empathicfault]

You don't have to take on all the effects of that process onto yourself, though. Let people get your aggression out, sure. But I happen to like your face, so I'd rather not see your nose suddenly permanently crooked.

[inlieuofadad]

Gil comes in, feeling beleaguered but looking... rested. The air of heaviness that usually follows him, that eau du overworked NYPD detective, is conspicuously absent.

"Herbal," he says. Pauses. "Green."

Maybe extra caffeine will keep him awake.

Re: text

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm smiles broadly at the screen, even though Will can't see it.]

I'll try to be more careful.

[abrightboy]

"I do have some that are both," Malcolm tells him, watching him carefully. "...Are you okay?" He looks well, but suspiciously so.

[inlieuofadad]

He gives a noncommittal little grunt at the question, taking what’s more or less become his seat at the breakfast table. “I’m… fine.”

A brief lift of his hand, the impulse to itch at his web tattoo under his shirt, but he catches himself half-way there and knocks his knuckles on the table instead.