"So this is where Doctor Jones set up his clinic," Tyra spoke as she looked up to the sign painted in the window of a modest building in Lyre that was right on the border with Animalia.
The building had once been an insurance company office, but when Animalia bloomed, they found they needed a bigger office as Animalia opened the opportunity for new customers and this modest building wouldn't do. So, the insurance company moved out and Doctor Adam Jones moved in shortly after. Heather had managed some research on the doctor online and found that his coming to Lyre/Animalia was the result of another psychologist's papers on how Animalian's thought, though Heather didn't recognize the name that was credited. However, she did find that Doctor Adam Jones had come to offer not only relationship advice and help but actual therapy for any and all who needed it. When Tyra noticed Heather's research into this, she immediately encouraged the idea, as it would provide for the sorts of therapy needs that Heather would need to meet over the course of her probation.
Though the present appointment was more with regard to relationship advice than her required probation therapy, though that didn't stop Tyra from setting up the appointment and insisting on coming along with Heather. Getting the appointment wasn't too hard, as it appeared that Doctor Jones had a very attentive secretary, and one who didn't give any sort of angry hiss, growl, or squawk when Heather's name was mentioned. She had come to terms that what she had done was wrong and that she'd let her anger get the better of her... and in this, Heather could accept that it would probably take quite awhile before many Animalians would come to trust her. In some ways they had every right to be, given the delicate situation Animalia was in politically, but Heather did wish that some could just judge her silently rather than insisting on voicing some disapproval, particularly when she was trying to do better.
"Yes, this is it," Heather nodded.
"It's good that you're paying attention to the things you need to do with regard with your probation," Tyra said slowly as she reached for the door knob, "It'll show that you're complying with things."
Heather gave a slow nod and then a nervous shrug, "Well... actually... THIS appointment is more about some relationship issues."
"Even better!" Tyra gave a happy smile, "You find someone you like?"
If Heather could truly blush, her scales would surely change color as all her blood flowed to them. In a way she HAD found someone she liked in Jeremy. It went back to when they were both in college, then back in Alabama. Back then Jeremy was in college looking at a science degree with his eyes on curing Polly while Heather had been there as an art student. However, while they had managed a sort of friendship, which she had exploited while she was in Costa Rica to get the Animalia Virus, she'd never been particularly skilled enough manage anything more than friendship. Then they graduated and went their different ways. Heather ended up going to Costa Rica as part of an internship that she turned into her first scheme while Jeremy went into a masters program and eventually found himself working at Horizon, desperately trying to save his sister.
The reunion with Jeremy after her arrest had been something of a surprise, and Heather did privately admit to herself that he'd probably have every right to hate her for trying to manipulate him, but at the same time Heather had become a Syntixisaurus Rex Animalian and that had come complete with many of the same urges that every Animalian felt. That urge for a mate and companionship. It was an odd feeling, but Heather really couldn't deny it, given that while she was in prisoned, she'd found herself drooling over the Golden Retriever Animalian on the cover of "Animalia Magazine" as quite the desirable being to be with. In this, she knew that like any other Animalian a desire for a mate was there and was a strong pull.
And Jeremy was ultimately the only real choice she had or at least wanted. Both of them had made their fair share of mistakes. Heather in stealing the dinosaur bones and then mixing them with the Animalia Virus, that she'd essentially bullied Jeremy into sending to her, and then trying to eat Sophie and Roland. Jeremy for smuggling the Animalia Virus to Heather and for the fact that his experiments to save Polly's life probably went beyond what would be considered medically "appropriate." In this, Heather knew that most of the Animalians that didn't trust her, probably wouldn't trust Jeremy either. In that, they were the proverbial perfect match, especially since Jeremy's work habits were such that he wasn't likely going to be that involved on the dating scene...
Of course, Heather needed to actually work up the courage to actually voice her own attraction to him. The attraction in a way went back to their old friendship, and privately it felt real for the first time in a long time. But it also filled her with worries. That had partially been why she'd snapped at Marcy when she and Polly came to the lab. Marcy's clear irritation at Jeremy was enough to anger Heather and she responded in a way to reinforce and defend a claim that she'd been unable to voice. Seeing Jeremy then look down on the vial of Polly's blood later only further made Heather nervous that Jeremy might put aside some of his concerns with Animalia and join, but join as a different kind of Animalian, and as she'd learned, Animalia's Edicts demanded all romantic pairs be the same species.
Animalia had no problem with "casual sex" and "friends with benefits" sorts of things. But the Edict's concern was with regard to breeding. While there were cases where some animals could interbreed, such as horses and donkeys being breed together to make mules or lions and tigers to make ligers or tions (depending on the sire), in many of those cases the resulting offspring was sterile and could thus never perpetuate itself. Those that could produce viable offspring were generally considered the same species, such as the selective breeding for certain traits in dogs, cattle, horses, and just about every animal that man had domesticated, but they were all the same species, and scientists had even begun to argue that the dog was a subspecies of wolf, not a separate species that evolved from wolves. And in that, as Heather felt the pull and call to find a mate, proverbial images of herself and Jeremy with a ranch house scaled up to fit their size as Dinotopians with a white picket fence and two point five eggs fluttered in the back of her mind. And if she was to get that, she'd need Jeremy to become a Dinotopian.
"Can we not talk about it out here," Heather said weakly.
"Of course," Tyra answered with a smile, feeling that this was all part of getting Heather to be able to loosen up and truly start over. And with that she held open the door to let Heather walk into the waiting area, which at the moment she found to be surprisingly empty. She supposed that for the moment things were quiet or that the clinic was just opening up. The only person she saw was a young woman seated at a desk. She eventually looked up and addressed them.
"Hello, welcome to Doctor Adam Jones Therapy Clinic, do you have an appointment?" the woman spoke.
"Yes," Heather spoke as she stepped forward, "I'm Heather Wrex. I have an appointment at one thirty."
Heather figured to go with the last name her grandmother had picked out for herself. After all, she'd insisted in her defense that she wasn't Heather Wilcox, and most people looking to Effie... no Tyra Wrex wouldn't recognize Tyra as Effie Wilcox. So she figured to run with it. She then gestured to her grandmother, "this is my grandma Ef... Tyra."
"Does she have an appointment?" the young woman asked.
"I'm here to make sure that Heather attends her appointment," Tyra spoke, "and hope your doc gets her the courage to say who she loves so we can go forward from there."
Heather only sighed slightly. A part of her really wished that Tyra hadn't seen her researching Doctor Adam Jones, simply for the fact that as Tyra, she'd taken to many things that Heather never thought Effie would ever consider in a million years. Of course, some of it might be that a lot of Heather's thoughts on her grandmother were based on Tyra essentially being that stereotypical grandmother and in this she was still adapting to Tyra having gotten a double dose, based on Heather's DNA, was now much younger and feeling much more free than she'd ever felt before.
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" Heather asked, hoping that Tyra would go home, as she had enough on her mind concerning Jeremy. She really didn't want to have her grandmother learning of who Heather felt herself drawn to and coming up with ideas for sexy lingerie to seduce him with.
"Yes, and I'll wait for you to come out of the appointment," Tyra answered with a smile, "then you can tell me about this guy you like."
"Well, Ms. Wrex, Doctor Jones will be right with you," the secretary spoke.
The two of them looked to see the chairs and benches that were set on various sides of the first room, which was a waiting area. Many of them looked to be quite sturdily built, as if to hold the weight of even the largest Animalians. But it was surprisingly empty at the moment, which perplexed Heather a bit. After all, finding mates seemed to be the biggest issue Animalia seemed to have. She figured that something like this would attract a lot of attention.
"Things seem rather quiet here," Tyra commented.
"Today was just a slow day," the secretary commented, "besides we've only recently opened. The doc's had Geoff working out in advertising."
Heather managed a slow shrug as she and Tyra managed to sit down. Just she managed to sit down was when a door opened and a younger looking man slowly came out. He looked to Heather and then two Tyra and then blinked in some surprise, almost as though he was a bit confused. That was enough to get Heather to stand up and she did her best to refrain from saying anything aggressive in front of Tyra.
"I'm Heather..." she said slowly as she stood up, "I'm here alone."
The man blinked and then nodded, "Doctor Adam Jones. If you'll come with me..."
Heather slowly followed and was lead into a larger and more open room with a desk and computer in one corner and with a series of sturdy chairs arranged in a sort of circle. The colors were relatively cool and calming, enough to inspire peacefulness but there was just enough accenting color that the room wouldn't put anyone to sleep.
"You're much younger than I expected for a therapist," Heather stated as she moved to sit in one of the chairs.
"Well... based on the appointment that was made, I was thinking you were having trouble with a romantic partner," Doctor Jones answered, "So... BOTH of us were surprised."
Heather only frowned at the joke. She didn't come to be laughed at, though the man did catch and sat down in one of the chairs opposite her. He gave Heather a warm and rather calm smile, though she could only watch back carefully. Eventually he did speak and began with a question.
"So... what can you tell me about the problem that you have, Ms. Wrex?" Doctor Jones asked. "And rest assured, your privacy will be respected. You can be honest with me and have no fear of judgement."
"Okay... well... you see..." Heather began slowly, "there has been this guy that I like... kinda ALWAYS liked, going all the way back to when we were in college."
"Liked... did something change?" Doctor Jones asked.
"In some ways..." Heather gave a slight chuckle, "I'd never thought to ask him out when we were in college and often ended up in the friend-zone so to speak. From there as our paths diverged we began to move more and more apart. He became more and more concerned for his sister, particularly after his parents died and I found myself facing various financial struggles and began looking for short cuts..."
Heather watched as Doctor Jones nodded, but so far didn't say anything.
"We stayed in contact, but it was always an email here or a phone call there," Heather spoke, "nothing that would be anything more than just friends... Then came Animalia. Horizon's experiment to develop a animal hormone enhancer that would increase meat yields in livestock and wouldn't have the negative effects of similar drugs done in the past... I think as part of an idea that might even help the animals maintain that size on less, but I was in Costa Rica at the time, so I didn't the full details. Anyway, the experiment failed and sorta like the discovery of penicillin, the accident proved "beneficial" in that it created Animalians."
"Yes, I had just finished all my studies and gotten the licensing for this state when Animalia appeared," Dr. Jones nodded, "it came as a surprise to many people. Though in many ways it's a nice surprise. Nothing for you to be ashamed of, with regards to being an Animalian."
"Well... in many ways I probably DO have things to be ashamed of, but that's not quite the point of why I'm here," Heather sighed, "see, I had some hunch that the old scheme that I'd been running would be uncovered eventually. I had some hope that I'd be able to leave Costa Rica before then, but I had to come up with contingency plans... and to my surprise, my old friend from college turned out to be working AT Horizon. And so I contacted him... thinking our old friendship would count, but he seemed aloof... or my flirting didn't work, and I eventually blackmailed him into getting a sample of the virus to me... From there, I ran into Animalia Ambassadoria, my schemes were uncovered, and I ended up taking my dose with mixed the DNA from fossilized dinosaur bones and became what I am now... And from there... well... I'm sure you saw the news regarding what I did here."
Doctor Jones again nodded slowly, "I also followed the legal proceedings and your punishments... And the decision that you serve out the sentence on probation and with periodic therapy sessions. I can help with that... though you should know that my specialty has been more with couples therapy than anything else..."
This time it was Heather's turn to nod, "well... right now... finding a mate is more on my mind... or rather getting up the courage to actually ask him..."
Doctor Jones gave a small wave of his arm, as if offering Heather the opportunity to continue.
"Ironically... it's the same guy that I'd ultimately bullied into smuggling the Animalia Virus," Heather spoke, "Once I began getting more control over my instincts as an Animalian, I could begin to feel that drive. The longing for a mate... true companionship... that sort of thing. And by this time, I'd been drafted into helping with Project Mesozoic which included... included the guy I like. In that... it began to fuel some hope in me and I sorta teased him the way I used to. Sorta like that might trigger something. That didn't work. He's still rather aloof."
"And you haven't been able to say that you're interested him in directly, I take it?" Doctor Jones asked.
Heather slowly nodded.
"Has he forgiven you for your past mistakes?" Doctor Jones commented, "getting the courage to say "I love you" is a big thing... but given the circumstances of your past... if he feels betrayed, he may not accept any advances and in that you probably wouldn't want to force anything..."
"Oh... I'd think that he's forgiven me... probably because in many ways he knows he's made plenty of mistakes of his own," Heather answered, "but a lot of his mistakes relate to his sister who he's taken steps that could be considered illegal or at the very least unethical with regard to medical science in order to save her."
Doctor Jones nodded carefully, mentally memorizing everything that Heather told him. He'd type down the relevant notes later.
"That lead to her becoming an Animalian... and well... she recently came by the lab," Heather spoke, "she had another Polar Bear Animalian with her and that got him worrying... about whether or not he should stay human with regard to caring for her..."
"And he seemed to be considering being a Polar Bear, I take it," Doctor Jones said slowly. From his observations and conversations, he knew that Animalians tended to pair off with regard to those of the same species. This either included animals that had known each other, those pets that had inadvertently converted their owners, or in some cases humans that had willingly had themselves transformed. In all cases, the pairing seemed to relate things being the same species. Doctor Jones figured that a lot of this in Animalia's Edicts related to the fact that the first Animalians were wild animals and that as they developed their Edicts as a sort of moral code for all Animalia, they retained an importance on natural breeding, which went back to before Animalia appeared. After all, issues that had lead to interspecies breeding had ALL been in captive and human controlled situations. They didn't occur naturally. Thus by Animalia's own founding codes, if whoever Heather had interest in became a different Animalian, they could never breed.
"Yes..." Heather said slowly.
"Well... this is something of a predicament, isn't it?" Doctor Jones said slowly, "I can understand the fear... or at least I recognize it from the theoretical situations in my textbooks and classes..."
Heather gave a low snort at that.
"But you've been very brave in sharing all this with me," Doctor Jones answered, "and in that, I'm more than confident that you have the ability to tell the guy that you like that you like like him. You just can't let the fear of either rejection or that he may make another choice for his own future rule you. If you do that... he may make a choice that you will HAVE to accept, even if you don't wish it to be so."
"And what should I do?" Heather answered, "How do I go around that... right now... just walking up and saying, "I want you as my bond-mate" or "boyfriend," whatever term you wish to use... all he'll think I'm doing is teasing him."
Doctor Jones thought for a moment, "In many ways... It will be best to be direct. But I'd think that your specific case would mean setting the mood. Offer to help him with something you know that he knows you may not find the most enjoyable and go through with it. It would show that you're willing to put up with things you don't like to be with him. You can then build on that to let him know on how you feel... Though, make sure that it's a quiet and tranquil place where you won't have to yell or scream."
"As far as I know... he's never been into anything that was super loud," Heather answered, "the biggest thing that he personally would focus on is his sister."
"Then perhaps you could make an effort to befriend her," Doctor Jones offered, "as I've found nothing in Animalia's Edicts or the laws their city council has passed that would forbid Animalians of one species befriending another... and an official level in relation to your probation, that may help you earn forgiveness from those who haven't yet done so."
"Okay..." Heather said slowly and somewhat nervously as she figured that would be difficult, given that she cussed out Polly and very nearly picked a fight with Marcy, who had come with Polly to the lab. And while Heather knew she could probably beat the double dosed Polar Bear female, it probably wouldn't be that easy and wouldn't endear her to Jeremy, particularly as Polly had ultimately clutched at Marcy during the altercation. Heather knew bits and pieces of Polly's story and knew what she looked like, but never had enough contact with her to know her voice or how she acted. That was part of what ultimately triggered her response in thinking that Jeremy was under threat. "That may be a bit difficult... as... well... she may have come by the lab and I kind of snapped at her and her escort..."
"I see..." Doctor Jones said slowly, "Then at some point you WILL need to make an apology and make it heart felt. The sooner the better... but it must be honest..."
"Okay..." Heather said slowly, "work out an apology and find some task to help him with... shouldn't be too hard."
"And then be honest with him," Doctor Jones nodded, "and be ready to accept his answer and to talk honestly with him. No vague flirting or teasing. That can be... fun... if your partner is aware and recognizes that for what it is. But if they don't... as it would seem your mystery man has... it comes off as jokes and teasing, something that might keep you in the "friend zone" as it were."
Heather nodded. The two continued to talk over various things and issues, mostly with various ideas that could be used to set the tone for Heather to honestly state her interest in Jeremy. She found it helpful, though a part of her mind remained a bit nervous, particularly as she knew that Jeremy could say "no." Shoot, he'd generally kept himself at "arms length" from Animalia as far as she'd noticed. And at most, all she had was Doctor Jones' encouragement. It helped a little, but mostly in letting her know that it would be on her to be honest with him and move from there... hopefully in a way that would show her getting better.