[Text + Image | Smartphone] (Backdated just a touch to be still daylight)

[shiromadoushi]

I think there's a problem.

I just went to check up on my camera and found this...

[[Attached is a photo of the inside of the abandoned room Bakura had set his camera up in. The snake statue can just be seen out the window, but what takes most the focus is how trashed the room looks. For an abandoned place with very little left behind in it, what little that was left has been knocked over and upended.]]

The camera's gone. Memory card with it.

[[Meaning there's no information at all as to how this could have happened.

BRB, getting the hell out of there.]]

Comments

[professorwolf]

If it's what you feel, it's not silly. And you've managed to work with it, so I say there's nothing wrong with it.

[He gives Bakura's shoulder a light pat.]

Come on. Let's get you home.

[shiromadoushi]

[[Nods, getting to his feet. Maybe he can keep the panic down for this ride. It's not too far, right? And he manages fine most of the time in his grandmother's car, so it should be all right, right? One more fear conquered? Just don't think about it, keep your mind off of things, deep breaths and you can do this...

...hopefully.]]

[professorwolf]

[Lyall leads the way out to his car, even opens and holds the passenger side door for Bakura. It's a clean little car, for all it's fairly old. He takes care of it, at least.]

Feel free to roll the window down, if you want to. It's a nice night, at least.

[shiromadoushi]

[[The problem word there, is small.

The apprehension is very clear on Bakura's face, even as he tries to hide it.

You can do this, Ryou Bakura. Just suck it up and push on through. It'll be fine. You can do this...! Deep breaths...

It still took him a good minute before he finally slid into the passenger seat, fingers shaking just a touch as he reached for the seat belt. Just pretend is the station wagon. Just pretend it's Grandma's station wagon. It'll be fine.

...Drive slow, Lyall.]]

[professorwolf]

[Lyall watched, baffled, and shuts the door gently at last behind him, trotting over to his own side to drop in. This part of Bakura's trauma, he hasn't been told about, but it's pretty obvious there's something going on here. The poor boy smells... sharp. And cold.]

Everything all right...?

[shiromadoushi]

[[The teen nodded, still doing his best to keep his breathing regulated and calm. He could do this. He could do this. It would be fine, nothing would go wrong, he could do this....!]]

Just... drive carefully, okay...?

[[Focus on the breathing. Slow inhale. Hold and count. 1. 2. Slow exhale. Hands flat on his lap. Don't tense. Breath in. Hold. Breath out. Calm and focused. He could manage when it was his grandmother, he could mange when it was his teacher. Don't think about the car, don't think about anything. Just breathe.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.]]

[professorwolf]

Always.

[He is, in fact, one of those people who drives exactly the speed limit-- or perhaps a couple miles below. He just rarely feels the need to hurry anywhere. So he pulls out of the parking spot and onto the street, nice and slow, keeping a sliver of his attention on Bakura for reactions, since he's just... puzzled.]

He'll be pretty unresponsive until Lyall attempts to refocus him on reality :)

[shiromadoushi]

[[Bakura's fingers tense into his jeans as the car starts to move. Focus. Breathe in. 1. 2. Breathe out. Focus completely on the breathing. Block out everything else and just... breathe.

It likely wasn't the best coping mechanism, but it was what got him through any ride where the panic started to over taken him. And just getting through it was enough right now. Small steps, right?]]

easily done :B

[professorwolf]

[Though Lyall knows Bakura's phone number, he's had no reason to delve into school records for an address. So while he waits at the light just beyond the coffee shop, and in part to draw the boy out of whatever huddle he's pulled himself into, he has to ask.]

So which way do I turn? I know which third of the city you have to be in, but nothing really beyond that.

[shiromadoushi]

[[The teen tenses, his self imposed trance broken by the need to interact with the real world.

It takes him a moment before he can manage to speak, quickly giving his address before looking down at his lap, trying to force his breath back under control. It's embarrassing, how badly he's reacting. But he can't control it. Keeping the panic down enough to not dissociate or start flipping out in the car was the best he could manage...]]

[professorwolf]

Can you give me the major cross-streets?

[Lyall sounds apologetic as he asks, since obviously Bakura is tense. But while he knows neighborhoods pretty well, individual housing streets he doesn't exactly have down. It's a big city, after all. He thinks it might help to keep him engaged, too-- though he'll allow he could be dead wrong, too.]

[shiromadoushi]

[[Good or bad is debatable. Two different therapists likely could give you three different opinions on which was the better way to handle the situation, but really, all Bakura wanted to do was escape the situation, even if he had been the one to put himself into it.]]

Three blocks from the arcade, towards that stip mall with the game shop, left at the light and then two blocks. Blue house. Number 601.

[[The words were tense and fast. And clearly, giving directions was not something he often did...]]

[professorwolf]

[It's a bit jumbled, sure, but it gave Lyall enough to go on.]

All right. Thanks.

[The light changes, and off they go. Slowly, since Bakura seems so on-edge and specifically asked for him to be careful about it. After a couple turns, about halfway there, he asks tentatively,]

... are you all right?

[shiromadoushi]

"I'll be fine." The reply was terse and very tense, Bakura's fingers still tight against the fabric of his jeans. "Don't like cars...."

It was so much easier to say than to admit that he had a problem. That it had taken a lot of effort and support from his family and therapist that he was even able to have come this far. Easier to admit than anything else closer to the truth.

[professorwolf]

"Ah." Well, that explained the tenseness. Lyall even, after another turn, put it together with "parents died in a car crash", and promptly decided not to ask further. There wasn't anything he could do or say that would help Bakura with that... it was beyond his knowledge.

They were almost there, anyway, and Lyall finally pulled up at the address in question. "Here we are. Hop on out."

[shiromadoushi]

There was a flurry of motion as Bakura unbuckled and all but flung himself outside of the car, giving a huge sigh of relief once he was outside, shoulders going utterly slack as the tension drained out of him. He paused a moment before looking utterly sheepish, sure that Lyall was staring at him. "...Sorry. Thanks for the ride...!"

And everything else, was the unspoken addition.

[professorwolf]

Not exactly staring... looking, though, certainly. With some concern. He did smile a bit, though, at the thanks. "You're welcome. I'll see you in class. All right?"

And he waited there, until Bakura was safely inside. It seemed the least he could do.

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura nodded, returning more and more to normal the longer he wasn't in the car. "Yeah," he nodded. "Until then!" he waved, closing the car door and heading across down the walk to the small city home.