What Do You Seek? (Seth Harkness)

[Doctor Zendu]

Location: The Planet of Belasco, waiting room of the office of Doctor Robert Zendu

Seated at his desk, amid a large, but obsessively neat stack of undone paperwork, Doctor Robert Zendu flipped through his next patient file. Name: Seth Harkness. Age: Twenty-one. Occupation: Unknown. Species: Human. From the preliminary notes Doctor Zendu had jotted down from their phone interview, it looked like Mr. Harkness was seeking treatment for depression. He also noted that the man had mentioned issues with claustrophobia and might have a mild substance abuse problem. Seth had come to the right place!

Doctor Zendu peered out the door to his waiting room and spotted a young man in a dapper hat. That must be his patient. He gave the man a thin-lipped smile and gestured to the patient file he clutched to his chest.

"You must be Seth Harkness"

[member="Seth Harkness"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

[member="Doctor Zendu"]


Seth stood up and smiled softly in greeting " Yes thats me " He said taking off his hat and let his shaggy bangs fall into his bright green eyes " Thanks for taking time to see my sir" he added. Seth was dressed and a dark plum almost black shirt, black pants and boots. Along with the long duster jacket. His shoulder length hair was pulled back away from his face with a red strand of ribbon. At his side he held his Violin case " I hope you don't mind i brought my Violin.. I don't much like leaving it on my ship." He said.

 

[Doctor Zendu]

Doctor Zendu smiled warmly. "Of course you can bring your musical instrument, Mr. Harkness. I'm a music aficionado myself. It's medicine for the soul. Commendable, actually, that you have productive hobbies."

He looked the man up and down with a slight frown. "The only thing I ask is that you don't bring weapons into my office. If you have any on your person we can put them in a locker here in the waiting room."

"If you don't then, come on in." He grinned again and held the man's file close to his chest, gesturing to his office.

[member="Seth Harkness"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

[member="Doctor Zendu"]

Seth smiled " Its my favorite hobby other than flying" he said then added "And i left my pistols back on my ship, don't worry. "Seth said with a soft dip of his head before he stepped into the office.

 

[Doctor Zendu]

Doctor Zendu's office was large and neatly decorated office modern with white pod-like furniture and calming purple track lights. At the end of the office was the Doctor's desk and a few areas for patient seating. Escorting his patient inside, he gestured to the Hover sofa and the nearby chairs.

"You may sit anywhere you like. Most of my patients seem to prefer the Hover sofa. They find it's easier to share when they're relaxed."

The Doctor placed the patient files on his desk very neatly, obsessively and then he grabbed a notebook and took a seat.

"Now we can get started. First tell me a little bit more about yourself. What is it that you do for work?"

[member="Seth Harkness"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

Seth walked over to the hover sofa and sat down " I really don't have a true Job. I play my Violin for some credits or do some odd Jobs here and there, Nothing big. I make enough to get by and at least keep my ship running" Seth said as he set his Violin case next to him on the Sofa.

[member="Doctor Zendu"]

 

[Doctor Zendu]

Doctor Zendu quickly scribbled down some notes. He paused and gave his patient a concerned tight-lipped smile.

"Mr. Harkness the solitary lifestyle does suit some more introverted types of people. Most people crave the company of others however. What about your family? Are they around?"

[member="Seth Harkness"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

Seth just laughed " No.. never have. Never knew my father, My mother always payed more mind to my older sister who constantly teased me over everything.. She turned her back on me after mother died suddenly in her sleep.. Blamed me for her death and pretty much disowned me as her brother" Seth said looking down sadly. " Only family i have is that violin that belonged to my great great grandfather. " He added.

[member="Doctor Zendu"]

 

[Doctor Zendu]

Doctor Zendu shook his head. "That is a tragic story Mr. Harkness. With what you've been through I imagine that your instincts are to pull away from people. You don't want to risk the hurt of interpersonal relationships."

He scribbled a few more notes in his book and then looked back at his patient with concern. "Don't you get lonely on your ship with only your violin? As humans and near-humans we are social animals. Too much isolation can lead to disassociation with society. I wouldn't want to see you going down a self-destructive path Mr. Harkness."

[member="Seth Harkness"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

[member="Doctor Zendu"]

" im friendly to people..but... I just can't trust anyone. I don't think i could deal with rejection again. " Seth sighed " i find myself talking to my ship.. and i know thats not normal" he added shaking his head " and place call me Seth if.. you don't mind" he asked looking at him with his sad bright green eyes.

[member="Doctor Zendu"]

 

[Doctor Zendu]

Doctor Zendu chuckled. "You're absolutely right. I'm being overly formal. Seth it is." He made a few more notes in his little black book. As his pen ran out of ink, he frowned. But then quickly pulled another pen out of the front pocket of his jacket. He put his notebook on his lap and leaned in, his arms on his knees.

"I don't think talking to your ship is abnormal at all. In fact, I have another patient who talks to his ship and it talks back." He grinned. "His ship is a droid after all."

"Besides the obvious fear of rejection, do you know any other reasons why you have trouble trusting people?"

[member="Seth Harkness"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

[member="Doctor Zendu"]

Seth sighed " between you and me.. I've found myself many time at the wrong place at the wrong time. Been blamed for thing iv not done. True i have snapped at a few drunks when i felt threatened by them.. Nearly shot one when he tried to take my violin from me.. Maybe its the crowds i hang around.. I really dont know. I just feel nervous around people at times." he said

 

[Doctor Zendu]

The Doctor looked at Seth with the utmost concern in his face. He scribbled some more notes and continued. "I find it interesting that you wanted to resort to violence over your musical instrument. I know that your violin is important to you, but to snuff out a person's life over it is a bit extreme."

"This isn't a judgement on my part, mind you. Just an observation. Can you tell me a little more about that incident?"

[member="Seth Harkness"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

" that was an interesting day, and normally id never do anything like that. But heres what happen. I'll play anytime i can get a chance. And i love to play with the bands in taverns when they let me. Now theres a few other things about my violin that makes it valuable to me" he said moving the case to his lap " as i said it did belong to my great great grandfather. One: he built it himself. Two: its not your typical looking violin. Its very expensive .. why i never go anywhere without it." he said " Well anyway.. I was in the middle of playing a song.. Probably should have chosen a slower song because midway through the song this drunk came stumbling up and grabbed hold of my violin. I felt like he was either going to hit me or take my violin. Plus it kinda scared me why i acted the way i did. I'd never hurt someone over that.. but i only intended on him backing off from me.." Seth sighed

[member="Doctor Zendu"]

 

[Doctor Zendu]

"I see. You felt threatened. Well, no one can fault you for that." The Doctor smiled. "Art is very good for the soul and I think that violin of yours is a very healthy hobby for you. However, there is more to life than playing violin."

He drummed his fingers on his notes. "I'm not making a diagnosis just yet, but you seem to be suffering from some kind of depression. And I feel like one of the root causes might be your isolation."

"Do you ever attend parties or other social gatherings, outside playing your violin in taverns?"

[member="Seth Harkness"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

[member="Doctor Zendu"]

"I never get invited to them.. but no not really.. I've played at one or two weddings but thats about it. I dont know why i cant get myself to be around people.. I want friends and I dont want to be alone.. but everytime I feel myself close up and i Shy away from them. The closest person i've ever had to me was my uncle.. but he went insane and ended up killing himself... think maybe he drank to much that day" Seth said shivering a bit.

 

[Doctor Zendu]

Doctor Zendu nodded and clapped his notebook closed. "I'm afraid our hour is almost up Seth but I would very much like to talk about your uncle during our next session. Now, before you leave, I'd like to give you some homework." The Doctor smiled as he stood up and placed his notebook neatly on his desk, making sure that all the corners were perfectly lined up with the papers beneath it.

"Before we meet for our next session, I would like you to go to five places. They can be anywhere as long as they're spots where people gather. Cantinas, caf shops, libraries, et cetera. Once you're there, I challenge you to talk to at least one stranger. Then when you come back for our next therapy session, you can tell me how you fared, eh?"

He grinned and stuck out his hand to Seth. "Until next time?"

[member="Seth Harkness"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

[member="Doctor Zendu"]

Seth stood up and shook his hand " I'll do my best. And thank you kindly for seeing me. It was nice to talk with someone" he said before picking up his violin and stuck his hat back on his head.