1:37 PM, and it's freezing. Your house is new, feels like you've been there your whole life, and yet the minute you get upstairs you'd think you're back in the WoodSprings again with an A/C unit that goes mental when you turn it down two notches.
You've got a lot on your mind. Your mother wants you to learn how to cook, among a few otber things, but there's still one problem that looms over you: you're still not finished unpacking. It's already been four days and you're still down to old appliances you had back at [previous address you lived at before]. [Father figure] is going to be so [mood based on level of strictness] when he gets up and sees the remaining six boxes...
Wasn't there something [name of therapist] taught you to do when this kind of thing was bugging you? Some kind of meditation or something... Wait, you remember now! You just find somewhere you won't be bothered, and go to that beach in your mind with the shores made of diamonds instead of shells. You called it "the Oasis" so you could remember it well. But there was something you changed about it; the first time you "went" there, you started by floating on top of the water, but the previous time you went, you were underwater. And you were playing with...somebody. No, not a person, a fish... You try to remember by going to the Oasis again, underneath the heavy safety and softness of your Gravity Blanket you got for christmas...
A bright, sunlit teal sheen. Is all you see around you. Water from an ocean you can breathe in. There doesn't seem to be any other creatures around, not even a coral reef. There is a significant round area of ocean, sand at the bottom, and you can see where the base of the shore gets the way it looks like diamonds, because it actually is made of diamonds. Floating right in the center of this safe place, you stay there and contemplate for a minute, before you hear something moving through a few small currents. It's fluttery and thin-sounding, like someone left a pillowcase inside a whirlpool. You look around to see what could be making this sound... You see something in a dark, sleepy shade of blue; it's pulling something behind it in the same shade of blue, and it looks like it has eyes... Somehow it looks like something you'd see in a game from Japan, only if such a thing could exist in reality... That is, the same "cutesy" art style it would be drawn with in such a game is what you see here this three dimensional space.
It seems to be meandering along...until it sees you. You hear what sounds like an excited chirp of happiness, as it zigzags itself towards you, keeping its balance. When it gets into view, it reveals itself to be a medium-sized, blue Betta fish, her face beaming with joy at seeing you.
"[Name], you're here! I know why you came... You're having a bad day...?"
"N-not really. Just a little nervous..." you say, a little shy.
"We can't let that get out of control, can we? I can feel your blood pressure from here; you need to get it lower." She steadily hovers toward you, slowly so she doesn't appear threatening somehow. "I can't hurt you, I promise", she reassures you. You're only just now remembering this fish; it's Aloe the Therapy Betta. "It's never easy, dealing with being autistic... The world is always so unpredictable... Things change without telling us or letting us know... Sometimes too slow, sometimes too fast..." She speaks to you in a voice that makes you feel very safe and at ease. You're captivated by how adorable she sounds and looks; how could something that looks this way be evil at all? You think this because of how your family used to speak about their beliefs, that evil things can have a friendly appearance and try to tell you they don't/can't harm you. But Aloe...Aloe is different, you know.
You're lost in this train of thought when you feel something cool and soft fluttering over your knees, just above your waist... It's Aloe! She's wrapping herself around you, slowly and gently... How is she doing this? She's a betta...
"And sometimes" she continues, "...you just need someone to hold onto." You let her continue doing what she knows how to do...
Her body is now as long as you are, and she's coiled around you completely, your chest is being held by a reassuring long, thick stripe of blue, and Aloe has brought herself around a second time so she's facing you while she holds you.
"Ooooaaaaaah..." your mind forces you to breathe a much-needed sigh of relief. It's not just being held that elicits this; she's doing something with her scales. They're...tickling you? She can do that with her scales? But you feel something else... An oil or film or something, it's making you feel warmer now, instead of cool. Its a comforting warmth, as well.
"S-so...what...exactly are you?" You ask Aloe, dreamily.
"You can think of me as the imaginary friend you never had, or got to have." The words Aloe speaks give you an intense sense of sleepy euphoria, as she's speaking the truth.
"You can always visit me when you need to...."
A strange instinct takes you over, causing you to hold onto Aloe's body, hugging her, closing your eyes..."
"Yeah, I'm soft and warm, huh?" Her scales feel different, they feel more like a cat's fur now.
"A l o e..." The feeling of your body and mind being repaired causes a form of hypnosis to happen.
"You can take a nap if you want. I'll be right here until you need to get ready for the rest of your day... For now, I'll let you stay here and heal..."
Your eyes are already closed when you hear this.
"My sleepy friend..."
You've got a lot on your mind. Your mother wants you to learn how to cook, among a few otber things, but there's still one problem that looms over you: you're still not finished unpacking. It's already been four days and you're still down to old appliances you had back at [previous address you lived at before]. [Father figure] is going to be so [mood based on level of strictness] when he gets up and sees the remaining six boxes...
Wasn't there something [name of therapist] taught you to do when this kind of thing was bugging you? Some kind of meditation or something... Wait, you remember now! You just find somewhere you won't be bothered, and go to that beach in your mind with the shores made of diamonds instead of shells. You called it "the Oasis" so you could remember it well. But there was something you changed about it; the first time you "went" there, you started by floating on top of the water, but the previous time you went, you were underwater. And you were playing with...somebody. No, not a person, a fish... You try to remember by going to the Oasis again, underneath the heavy safety and softness of your Gravity Blanket you got for christmas...
A bright, sunlit teal sheen. Is all you see around you. Water from an ocean you can breathe in. There doesn't seem to be any other creatures around, not even a coral reef. There is a significant round area of ocean, sand at the bottom, and you can see where the base of the shore gets the way it looks like diamonds, because it actually is made of diamonds. Floating right in the center of this safe place, you stay there and contemplate for a minute, before you hear something moving through a few small currents. It's fluttery and thin-sounding, like someone left a pillowcase inside a whirlpool. You look around to see what could be making this sound... You see something in a dark, sleepy shade of blue; it's pulling something behind it in the same shade of blue, and it looks like it has eyes... Somehow it looks like something you'd see in a game from Japan, only if such a thing could exist in reality... That is, the same "cutesy" art style it would be drawn with in such a game is what you see here this three dimensional space.
It seems to be meandering along...until it sees you. You hear what sounds like an excited chirp of happiness, as it zigzags itself towards you, keeping its balance. When it gets into view, it reveals itself to be a medium-sized, blue Betta fish, her face beaming with joy at seeing you.
"[Name], you're here! I know why you came... You're having a bad day...?"
"N-not really. Just a little nervous..." you say, a little shy.
"We can't let that get out of control, can we? I can feel your blood pressure from here; you need to get it lower." She steadily hovers toward you, slowly so she doesn't appear threatening somehow. "I can't hurt you, I promise", she reassures you. You're only just now remembering this fish; it's Aloe the Therapy Betta. "It's never easy, dealing with being autistic... The world is always so unpredictable... Things change without telling us or letting us know... Sometimes too slow, sometimes too fast..." She speaks to you in a voice that makes you feel very safe and at ease. You're captivated by how adorable she sounds and looks; how could something that looks this way be evil at all? You think this because of how your family used to speak about their beliefs, that evil things can have a friendly appearance and try to tell you they don't/can't harm you. But Aloe...Aloe is different, you know.
You're lost in this train of thought when you feel something cool and soft fluttering over your knees, just above your waist... It's Aloe! She's wrapping herself around you, slowly and gently... How is she doing this? She's a betta...
"And sometimes" she continues, "...you just need someone to hold onto." You let her continue doing what she knows how to do...
Her body is now as long as you are, and she's coiled around you completely, your chest is being held by a reassuring long, thick stripe of blue, and Aloe has brought herself around a second time so she's facing you while she holds you.
"Ooooaaaaaah..." your mind forces you to breathe a much-needed sigh of relief. It's not just being held that elicits this; she's doing something with her scales. They're...tickling you? She can do that with her scales? But you feel something else... An oil or film or something, it's making you feel warmer now, instead of cool. Its a comforting warmth, as well.
"S-so...what...exactly are you?" You ask Aloe, dreamily.
"You can think of me as the imaginary friend you never had, or got to have." The words Aloe speaks give you an intense sense of sleepy euphoria, as she's speaking the truth.
"You can always visit me when you need to...."
A strange instinct takes you over, causing you to hold onto Aloe's body, hugging her, closing your eyes..."
"Yeah, I'm soft and warm, huh?" Her scales feel different, they feel more like a cat's fur now.
"A l o e..." The feeling of your body and mind being repaired causes a form of hypnosis to happen.
"You can take a nap if you want. I'll be right here until you need to get ready for the rest of your day... For now, I'll let you stay here and heal..."
Your eyes are already closed when you hear this.
"My sleepy friend..."
