The room was homey, at least that's what the large puffy chairs made him think. The goodies and tea on the table between two of them made the room smell like what a kicthen should be with someone baking cookies on a weekend afternoon. The soft colors were of little comfort to the huntsman as he stood awkwardly in the space. Looking around he finally decided to sit in one of the chairs, still not looking at the woman in the room. She was making him nervous and she wasn't doing anything to him at all. He felt closed in almost.

The cagey nervousness he felt around women made him uncomfortable, made him want to shoot something. Reflex making his hand twitch to where his bow would be if he had been wearing it. His hand only caught the edge of his black and red school cloak however. He tightened his fists as much as he could, tensing his whole body for a few counts before exhaling and relaxing himself. Instead of Maiko, he busied himself with straightening out the wrinkles in his pants, made by sitting as he felt his ears get hot. He knew the blush on his cheeks had to be visible.

As awkwar as he was around women he had developed a slight crush on the Counsuler. Though he wasn't sure if it was a crush or just the fact he wanted to cling to her like the mother his had failed to be. Maybe that was it. Who knew, all he knew is that when he was around her he felt more out of place and awkward, worried about the smallest of things, more like a child wanting to please a parent than a boy wanting to please a crush.

Still he made himself stop thinking for a moment and looked up at her fimally. He had come to her to ask for her help. He would be leaving Hogwarts soon and he needed to know how to deal with women before he left. And so here he was sitting in her office, in a big chair, not saying a word but watching her hoping she would speak and understand so he wouldn't have to try and explain.

Elian was no stranger to Maiko. They had spoken on multiple occasions, though never in her office. He had seemed like the type who was hesitant to ask for help, wanting to wait until things got to be too much before looking for help. The last few times he had spoken to her, it almost seemed like he was looking for an excuse to talk to her, to talk about any issues that never really came out at once. There were things hinted here and there that indicated that not all was well at home, and the boy felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. Because of this, Maiko was not surprised when he came into her office.

She nodded in greeting, though she didn’t smile. He was visibly nervous, and her smiling at him could be interpreted as her taking some sort of twisted enjoyment in his negative feelings. “Things are getting overwhelming, aren’t they?” Maiko said simply, though the question wasn’t one that Elian needed to answer. He had made that clear enough with his multiple little comments.  “Do you want to talk about it? I can wait.” She could also write a note for him if he was late for his next class.

Elian sat back as she asked if he wanted to talk about his issues. He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the phrase he'd seen used over and over again along with the iconic "How does that make you feel?." Of course he didn't want to talk about it, but he needed to, therein lay all the difference in the world. He looked around the office again, trying not to talk, he knew what was needed but he wasn't the type to break and he sure wasn't going to start now.

Through gritted teeth and a few half moon circles in the palm of his hand, Elian muttered out something. He shook his head and rubbed his face before taking a deep breath in, 8...9...10...release. Looking back at Maiko he kept his gaze steady for as long as he could before it happened. The waterfall of emotions finally breaking the levee in his brain. What was meant to be something to help him socially had suddenly, without control become a recounting of everything since he was five, since those were the first things he could remember.

After what seemed like forever Elain finally stopped and looked at her whispering, "I'm sorry..."

Well, it certainly didn’t take much for him to verbally vomit all of his feelings at her. Maiko took it with ease, though part of her was surprised that he had opened up so quickly. So many of the students around here were very hesitant,  just because of the nature of her job. She listened quietly, nodding every now and then to indicate that she was still listening. This person was under so much stress—and now she knew the details. He had mentioned vague things in the past, but now they made sense.

“You don’t need to apologize.” Maiko replied gently, “There’s nothing wrong with expressing what is going on in your life. The things that you ‘ave gone through, influence who you are today. You ‘ave an obligation to your family, you care about them. But don’t forget to take care of yourself, too.” She said. From what she had heard, she gathered that he didn’t allow much time for himself, for relaxation. He spent his time thinking and worrying about his family and their financial situation—and it was tough. “What are you going to do for yourself?”

He could see the shock in her expression, it was momentary but he saw it. He knew that he had surprised her by talking so quickly and so much, but it wasn't like it was that easy. For the past week since he had been thinking of coming to her to ask for help he had been staring at a mirror forcing himself to say exactly what he wanted to say. It was hard enough that she made him nervous, but at the same time he felt calm around her.

Sighing again he rubbed his face thinking of what he did for himself. There was his exercise routine and archery practice, no that was him preparing to get a job, since he was vying for becoming a hit wizard. There was studying....nope that was to get better grades so that he could get a good job or so he could know the material cold to help his siblings and other students who needed the help. There was showering, nope that was just necessary and usually consisted of reviewing what he needed to do.

Looking back up at Maiko he gave her a sheepish smile. "I have lunch with Odessa Eisley," he said finally.

“Lunch with Odessa Eisley. Good, that’s something.” Maiko smiled, “But do you feel like that is enough?” In her opinion, it wasn’t enough. HE was stressed, that much was clear. He needed more time for himself to relax and have fun—he needed to do things for himself. Everybody needed ‘me’ time, including her!  She knew hse would go absolutely mad if the only time she allowed for herself, was for work or for others. It was not a healthy way to live.

“Is there anything that you want to do to relax, but you can’t find time for?” She inquired. If there was, perhaps she could help him look at his schedule and make time for it. "I know things can be busy-- school and planning for your future. But it's easy to get run down if you don't give yourself down time." Even if you were too busy for down time, it was best to find time-- otherwise you wouldn't be able to do the things you have to do at a high level of quality.