dex . wanderer . fin

MATTIO Librarian 2,308 POSTS Pronouns: he/him Member is Online	dex . wanderer . fin Aug 14, 2021 15:19:33 GMT -5 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by MATTIO on Aug 14, 2021 15:19:33 GMT -5 name: dexter corley nickname: dex age: seventeen origin: district six (now a wanderer) he/him/his fc: cole christie MBTI: INTJ "The Architect" Enneagram: 8w9 "The Diplomat" Sign: Virgo the wandering defiance plot
	Last Edit: Aug 17, 2021 0:44:48 GMT -5 by MATTIO

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dex . wanderer . fin Aug 16, 2021 1:37:13 GMT -5

Post by MATTIO on Aug 16, 2021 1:37:13 GMT -5

D E X

potential content warning: drug misuse, unethical practices

Psychology textbooks decorate the shelves of his family's living space. Articles and letters written by the best psychiatrists in the field crumble in the couch cushions or scatter when the door lets all of the windy air in. His fathers practice the study of the human mind: the psyche. Corley's. That's the name. After Pops, of course, because Dad hated his last name. Dickens. Dexter Dickens didn't have a nice ring to it, so Dad vowed under Pops' last name to make it work. Dexter Corley. Dad is Dex's biological father, but he finds himself close to both. No real-father-step-father business, Dex was made on agreeance between them both. Something or other about Pops' bad eyesight and genetic risks meant Dad had to get the job done.

Corley's is the psychiatrist's office around their end of Six. In fact, Dex and his family live on the second floor of the building. The thin walls and weak floors meant that whenever Dex was home, he could hear Pops talking to his clients. Laying in his bed, he could always hear Dad's conversations on the floor below. Anxiety. Depression. Disorder. Medicine. Both of his fathers were caring to their customers. After all, if they were anything but, their clients could just scatter to another place if they really wanted. No business? No money. Pops and Dad would not allow that to happen.

Psychology surrounds everything in the Corley household. From a young age, Dex would listen to his parents talk about case studies and their approach to handling disorders within Six. By age twelve, his parents handed him a pen and a pad of paper and told him to take notes. {"You're the only other Corley, Dex. When we get old, you're gonna have to take over downstairs. Psychology and therapy, it's an art. It's about time you start to master that craft."}

Despite the crashing impact of definitions and names and theories on his brain, Dex loved psychology. Every chance he got, he eavesdropped on the confessions coming from the clients below him, practicing what he might say to calm them down, or at least provide a reason or rationale to help them. He'd spin through his spiral notebook of disorders and definitions, trying to diagnose the problem before Dad or Pops. Helping people, and doing what he could to make them feel better, became more than enough motivation for Dex to begin his contributions to the conversations, buying more books from the library. His favorite ones to read consisted of case studies on correcting negative or dangerous behaviors during adulthood. He was only fourteen when he started to read up on the studies, but starting off early helped ween him off of dependence on his fathers or school teachers, who did their best to keep him close like a dog on a leash. They could never contain him, though, even if they wanted. Reinforcement and persuasion only work on unknowing victims.

Age fifteen was when Dex's fathers gave him his first cigar. Grow up quickly, Pops said. It became a good coping mechanism for years to come as he worked hard to keep its use in moderation. After all, how can future therapists support their patients' addiction rehabilitation if they have an addiction of their own? Dad and Pops keep him to one a week to protect his health and also maintain most of the spoils for themselves. Dex looks calm with his cigar, only adding to his matured appearance. Most of the clients at Corley's wonder if he's a new twenty-something-year-old intern.

He didn't actually begin interning with his fathers until sixteen. Dad took him out to buy nice pants, warm sweaters, and suit coats. A t-shirt and jeans wouldn't cut it when Dex was on his way to becoming a professional. The job wasn't much, usually just sitting at the front desk or brewing Pops more coffee if he was running low. He didn't even get paid his four-hour shift, with both his parents claiming his paycheck paid would pay the bills and put food on the table, so there was no need. Perhaps the one useful part of his job was filling prescriptions for clients. Having a psychiatric practice meant that Pops and Dad could provide pills and drugs for their clients if they felt it to be necessary.

And damn, did they! Dex was filling prescription bottles for almost every patient walking in and out of Corley's doors. At first, he didn't think anything of it. But patterns developed, as more and more patients were piling on for the same type of prescription drugs, even if they weren't being used for the same reasons.

Beyond that, Dex remembered that the pills that Pops and Dad were prescribing to the patients were experimental and unproven. Where were the forms for the patients to sign on to do such things?

He inquired with his fathers about all of it, hoping that there was just some sort of misunderstanding, or maybe Dex forgot about a certain rule or procedure. Maybe they were all given placebos, maybe-

{"Dex. Running a business is all about the money. All these people, all their issues and their baggage, the end game isn't to fix it. We need to make sure that we survive and stay afloat."}

"But you're not giving them the pills that they need. You don't even know the side effects, Pops, they could get hurt or worse."

{"They don't get hurt or worse. They get their asses back here for a change in their dose or a change in their pill altogether. Once you're old enough to understand the concept of money, Dexter, you'll get it."}

"No, we're supposed to help people, talk to them, make them feel better."

{"You're a budding psychologist, Dexter. Please try not to be so juvenile with your words."}

It was then that Dex realized were more considerate of how much money they could stuff in their pockets than how they could make someone's life changed for the better. They want cigars, fancy clothes, and rich food more than anything else. Dex hated that about his parents. They could choose any line of work where scamming people was the game, yet they chose mental health. They chose to attack and exploit the mind, the body's assassin for hire if not treated with the proper amount of care.

{"Dex, we got rich for you. And when you take over, you'll have to stay rich for your kids. And for us, you know, paying for a nursing home isn't cheap."}

"It's not moral, not ethical, not-"

{"Who gives a damn about morals. Morals are grey the moment you step into any business. That's capitalism. If you want to whine about ethics, Dexter, maybe you shouldn't have been so eager to grow up! If you want to get out of the business, get out while you're still young!"}

Dad and Pops managed to team upon him in a way he'd never seen them do. For all of Dex's life, they'd been so interested and encouraging towards him, wanting him to succeed. But the moment he disagrees, they pounce, accusing him of a deep betrayal.

He took a moment to regain his composure. His fathers are his entire world, his future depends on their thriving business as much as his personal success. Maybe he can compromise with them to change. "How much money would we lose if we did the right thing?"

{"We get the experimentals for free, Dexter. It's only profit. Judging by the prescription market, we'd be at a deficit if we gave the real stuff."}

"Can't you just charge more for sessions, or add on fees. It just doesn't feel right."

{"When you're in charge, Dex, you can do whatever you want. If you drive this place into the ground, that won't be our problem. If you want to be a failure of a businessman, be a failure of a businessman."}

It's as if he had opened the door on his fathers making love and they transitioned from emotional manipulation to insults within a flash to keep his mouth shut. Dex loves his family, but he can't look his friends, or his future patients, in the eye and mistreat them and their health.

So what was his only option?

Run. Run away.

intelligent • mature • over-compromising • arrogant

elegant

Last Edit: Aug 17, 2021 0:46:03 GMT -5 by MATTIO

MATTIO Librarian 2,308 POSTS Pronouns: he/him Member is Online	dex . wanderer . fin Aug 17, 2021 0:44:54 GMT -5 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by MATTIO on Aug 17, 2021 0:44:54 GMT -5 ripred_bot omg?

gamemaker 🍒 maryn hale RP Tutor 3,267 POSTS Pronouns: he/him last seen Apr 27, 2024 15:16:54 GMT -5	dex . wanderer . fin Aug 19, 2021 15:53:03 GMT -5 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by gamemaker 🍒 maryn hale on Aug 19, 2021 15:53:03 GMT -5 love the history you've established here! <3 i'm excited to see how everything plays out for him!