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Emptying his office of all kinds of decorations wasn't a new concept by any means, but the suddenly empty space did make Simon Glass feel slightly nervous. His office was his safe haven - heck, he'd spend days on end, sleeping and eating in it, never truly leaving. Was it unhealthy? Sure, probably. But as a psychologist, his job was to be available at all times, if only partially. His patients could reach him at any moment that way, and their wellbeing was a priority.
Simon still didn't like how empty it felt whenever he removed his plants. They added a splash of green in the otherwise neutral colour palette of his office. But it was necessary for whenever certain SCPs with bad reactions to plants were due to show up for a brief session.
One of those was, of course, SCP-073. Or Cain, as he insisted to be called. Other researchers tended to use his designation, but not Simon. In between the two, he could just be himself, and Simon made sure he knew that. Simon never agreed with the dehumanising treatment of SCPs like Cain, but his opinion as a psychologist was rarely taken into consideration. It was easy to forget that the role he served was essential to the structure of the Foundation, but Simon didn't complain. Sometimes his job wasn't to succeed, but merely to try and get the message out there. Show his patients that he cared.
And to show them that he cared, he sometimes needed to remove all the plants from his office. Cain would oftentimes get depressed when things disintegrated in his presence, especially plants. And ultimately, it was Simon's goal to get him to not feel that way.
Sessions with SCPs were still incredibly strange. Despite years of working this job, Simon would constantly be confronted with characters he struggled to understand. People like Cain, but also SCP 166, 105, 507, and others. They were people, not unlike his usual patients, but they were still different. Sometimes it was hard to not be mesmerised by Meri's antlers, or Cain's robotic arms. That curiosity was normal, but still something he needed to be more mindful about.
Thus, he developed a bit of a routine. Whenever an appointment came up, he'd mentally prepare for everything. Not just in context of his SCP patients, but his patients in general. Any kind of confessions of secret families, murder, or supernatural abilities. Heck, had he not prepared, he probably would've freaked out when one particular patient - a young, red-haired woman whose surname was Bee and who also wore a pin of a bee on her lab coat - admitted to being immortal and demonstrated such by stabbing herself in the stomach several times without being asked to - Simon wouldn't forget that session soon (Needless to say they had a lot more scheduled for the future).
Yet somehow, no amount of mental preparation and tinkering of scenarios would have prepared him for Cain showing up - on time, as usual - with a live goose in his arms.
-”Doctor Glass”, he'd smiled. “Please, meet Samantha”
-”Oh?” Glass flinched when Samantha leaned over the desk as Cain sat down. “Why hello there.. ehm..”
-”Are you doing okay today, doctor?”, Cain asked, his tone polite as always, while gently brushing his fingers over Samantha's wings.
-”I am good, thanks. Just wondering.. do you have a permit or something for that goose?”
Cain chuckled. “Paper doesn't survive around me. You'll just have to trust me that she's allowed to wander on Foundation property, as long as she is kept away from knives”
-”Uh huh..?” Glass raised an eyebrow. “Out of curiosity, who has permitted that?”
-”Doctor Bee's assistant”
-"Bee's assistant?” Glass thought for a moment. “Wait, you mean TJ?”
-”Ah yes, him”
-"Isn't he like, five years old?”
Cain shrugged.
-”Okay sure then, whatever” Simon rubbed his eyes behind his glasses with a little smile. “I will pretend that that's fine”
-”Samantha is a service animal, actually”, Cain explained. “The nights get lonely sometimes”
Simon flinched when the goose leaned in to bite him, only missing by an inch. “How did you.. come into possession of Samantha?”
-”Oh, well, it's a funny story, actually” Samantha climbed down from his lap, and Simon decided to let her wander around. Thankfully there was little around she could actually reach, since the shelves were emptied too. “I was out and about, enjoying my day to a cup of Monster Energy-”
-”Are you even allowed to drink that stuff?’, Simon quickly interfered, sounding concerned.
-"I don't know. Doctor Bee bet me ten dollars, which immediately disintegrated in my hands, that I couldn't do it”
-”I sincerely hope that didn't cause any damage to your body”, the psychologist added, making a mental note to confront Bee about her reckless behaviour. Cain was thousands of years old, dammit, a center shock could probably kill him.
-”It was fine. I just blacked out for twelve hours and woke up on the side of the road”
-”Cain, I'm not sure that constitutes as fine”
Cain shrugged, his metallic arms making an uncomfortable creaking sound in the process. He seemed unfazed, even though behind the sleeves of his lab coat, Simon was sure he'd see rust. “Anyways, I woke up and wandered around a bit. Ya know, I haven't left the Foundation in ages. So I ended up in a park somehow where I met Samantha. Apparently there was a half eaten Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich in my backpocket, which she kindly asked me for”
-”The goose-” Simon felt Samantha crawl under the desk. “the goose kindly asked you for-”
-”She bit my ass, Simon”, Cain said blankly. “But it's okay. She didn't like the taste of metal, so she just took the sandwich”
Simon did a double take. “Metal? Your-”
-”Oh, you thought my arms were the only metal on my body?”
-”I won't even question it, actually. I am just glad Samantha is making you happy” Simon forced himself to chuckle. Sometimes it was best to not ask too many questions.
-”Thanks, doc”, Cain smiled. Simon didn't see him smile all that often. He couldn't say anything about that, though, as his thoughts were interrupted by a harsh bite in his ankle.
-”You called?”
-”Jay! Good to see you” Simon took note of the bee pin on her lab coat. It was adorable, he couldn't deny that. “Please take a seat”
-"Our next meeting isn't scheduled until next month. Seems like you really needed to see me” She added the last part in a flirtatious tone Simon couldn't quite read as sincere or not.
-”Actually, I was meaning to ask-”
-”Minimalism? Wouldn't take you to like that kinda style. Or are you going for something more modern?” She tapped in the desk with a fingernail. “Hopefully you'll be replacing this old thing soon. The wood has been chipping away on the edges for a while”
-"Actually, I removed a few items temporarily because of a patient. One I've called you in after something they shared”
Jay looked confused at first, but then pouted. “So much about patient confidentiality”
-"I'm not saying any names”, Simon smirked. “But I've heard through the grapevine that you were placing bets on SCPs?”
She gasped. “Cain, that fucking snitch! I thought I could trust him”
-”Never said it was Cain”
-”You removed half of your furniture. It was definitely Cain. And listen, I may have done something stupid, but I'm not at fault for that goose”
-”Your little brother approved of it”, Simon interrupted her. “Which is another concern of mine - have you been making your brother sign documents for you?”
-”Well duh? He is an intern. He can do some easy jobs like get me coffee, pick up phonecalls, write Emails.. it's not that deep”
-”Jay, that's child labour”
-"Besides the point!”, Bee said defensively.
-”Is that why your emails are incomprehensible? I thought you were homeschooling him!”
-”Listen, that's all irrelevant to the greater conversation at hand. I guess I'll stop placing bets with SCPs if you so desire”
-”I am glad.. “ Simon noticed something wet on his shoe. When he looked down, a pool of blood had formed under the desk. “What the hell happened to you?”, he asked after following the trail and realising it came from Jay.
-”Oh? The goose chased me with a knife when I got here”
-”And you're just telling me now?!” Simon rummaged through his drawer, looking for a first aid kit.
-”Was I supposed to know you needed that information?” Jay seemed annoyed. "You know my pain tolerance is crazy, in case that's something you're into"
Simon furrowed his eyebrows, making another mental note to check how the hell nobody seems to mind a random goose chilling in the Foundation - he also made a note to not keep any hunting knives in his drawers anymore.
-"Do you speak to all your colleagues in that tone?", he finally asked. Bee leaned over the table.
-"Why? Jealous much?"
-"No", he lied. "Just concerned"
She laughed a little. Simon hated how much her laugh made him feel butterflies (or maybe he just swallowed 408 by accident).
-"Tell ya what", Jay leisurely took care of her wound. Normally Simon would've offered help, but she would've likely used the chance to make another sly comment about him looking at her ankles - which, in his defense, she had nice ankles. "Let's go for dinner someday, or for drinks. My treat, of course"
Simon furrowed his eyebrows. "That's highly unethical, I fear"
-"It's only unethical when someone else learns about it", she countered. "Or if you don't want to"
-"I do-" Simon shook his head, suddenly feeling blood rush to his face. "I-I mean I don't-", he tried to save himself, but Bee was already giving him that smile, looking at him through her glasses.
-"If you say so, Si" She got up. "But you know where to find me if you ever change your mind. If that's all you needed from me, I'll have to get back to work"
-"Yeah, alright" Simon nodded. "Take care"
For a moment, he stared at his computer. Something was up with that woman and he had yet to figure out what.