“Thank you.” Theo got up from the couch, working the stiffness out of his legs.

“Hope you found it useful.” Sean shifted, becoming less professional as soon as he stood up. Sean started twirling the pen he held, and the smile was crooked as he leaned back in his seat and tipped it onto its hind legs. “Think you need another session?”

Theo considered it for a moment. “I think I’ll manage. I’ll keep what you said in mind, but I think I can work through it for now.”

Sean nodded. “If you do need any more, just let Eva know and we’ll schedule you in. But that probably won’t be covered by the Colleges, so you’ll have to pay.” Theo grimaced, trying to hide the way his body tensed up. He could imagine how much it would cost to essentially hire the services of a trained veteran warrior.

“Don’t worry, it’s not as much as you’re afraid of.” Sean, either through picking up how he felt, or just by having done this dance a thousand times, reassured him. “If it was too expensive, then mercenaries would just skip out and that would defeat the purpose. It’s enough to cover costs, and that’s all.”

Theo’s muscles unclenched at that.

“Plus you can just ask me any time for advice at The Pub…just know that it won’t be confidential.” Sean smirked. “You can pay me by paying for a drink or five.” He added, with a wink.

“I’ll take you up on that.” Theo waved goodbye to Sean, who stayed in the room, and headed down, out of the Guild (which looked about as populated as it was when he entered).

He nodded at Eva, who nodded back as she poured a beer, and began the walk back to the park in the middle of the College District.

---

It was odd for him to feel it now and not during the substitute classes, but Theo realised he missed Sparrow. Sure, they were cheeky and frustrating at times, inconsistent even, but there was a charm that they had. One whose absence he was starting to keenly feel.

Then again, being a bard (and a famous one, at that) it was no surprise that they had charm.

He brought his focus back to the present.

Sitting here, back against a tree, Jenny once again in his lap, watching everything move from a golden honey to deeper red as lanterns flickered on and the sun set, Theo found it rather calming.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Relaxing, even.

“I think they called off class for the week just to give us some breathing room.” Theo mused.

“I’m not complaining! Even if I don’t get therapy, I’ll take the break.” Finn was close by, with Rowena in his lap.

She swatted him for his response. “Therapy is a wonderful thing. You will understand once you experience it.” Rowena reassured him, before faltering. “Well, I have heard of therapists who aren’t a good match for their clients…b-but I’m certain that you will like those with the Guild.”

Finn’s deadpan stare said everything.

“Can you trust me and go into it with an open mind? It would mean so much to me.” She batted her eyelids and looked up at Finn. Theo had never seen Rowena’s puppy eyes before, and it felt a bit…wrong for him to see it. Like he had walked in on her changing (or the two of them in her bedroom). It was an intimate, private thing, and he averted his eyes, conspicuously studying the clouds that passed by.

One looked like a wad of cotton.

Finn softened for a moment, before shaking his head and setting his face into a stern look. “No, I’ll see for myself when my session comes up.”

“I have to agree, Finn. I liked it.” Theo looked down at Jenny, once again asleep at peace. “And I think Jenny did too.”

“You’re just saying that because you know the therapist.” Finn retorted.

“No.” Theo inwardly wondered how much of it was that, but he knew for a fact that he hadn’t felt this relaxed in too long. “It genuinely made me feel a lot better and re-assess things.” Theo tried to argue, looking around to see who would support him.

Francis and Drew both studied the clouds.

Traitors.

“Drew! What are your thoughts on therapy?” Theo picked one of them and put Drew on the spot, as he was dragged into the mess. Francis breathed a sigh of relief, even as Theo made notes to ask him next.

“I uh, I didn’t quite get what was going on, but it was nice?” Drew rubbed the side of his neck, hand coming away slick from the sweat that coated his face.

“See?”

“Nah, that’s not a vote of confidence.” Finn didn’t budge.

“Francis.” He cringed at the almost-command that Theo barked out.

“Well,” he considered, “It was an interesting conversation. We discussed philosophy and altruism, how to help others but also the importance of helping oneself. We are taught as priests to be selfless, but he reiterated that it is fine to be selfish now and then, and how that can be beneficial long-term as it gives us breaks and lets us perform and serve to an even higher standard.”

Finn hesitated before responding. “…fine, but I’m still not-“

“Excuse me, Rowena.” They broke away from their conversation (some, incredibly gratefully) to face the direction of the sound. They found Benedict standing delicately in front of them, hands tightly grasping each other. Theo couldn’t recall seeing him, ever since he had been rude to Rowena and gotten punched by Finn.

“I uh, just wanted to…apologise.” He grew quieter as he went, and was mumbling by the end. “It wasn’t okay for me to behave or think the way that I did, and I have realised that what I did was wrong.”

Before anyone could even process or react to what he had said, he’d already started backing off. “I hope you all have a lovely day, and I hope this doesn’t make you think less of me.” And with a stilted wave, Benedict ran away with the speed of a man who knew a hungry bear was chasing them.

There was a stunned silence as they all processed what had happened.

“Maybe you’re onto something.” Finn said.