Psychoprotective (Youjo Senki/Psychonauts) (2024)

Tanya could be… prickly if approached wrong, just like the Acanthocereus Tetragonus Lili had once gifted her, using the same analogy.

Turns out they can both be prickly at a distance too.

After Lili had finished picking the spikes out from retaliation for the comparison, she had begged Tanya to teach her the Herbaphony trick to get them to launch like that.

Keeping with the theme, with patience, both could blossom beautifully too. Though one doesn't normally need to worry about the cactus' patience, which is where things broke down a little.

Tanya had little patience for fools, those that annoy her, or those that would waste her time. Unfortunately, to her, that was quite a large subset of people, which Milla felt was interfering.

It was during a person's younger years that they felt emotions most intensely. A teenager's breakup could literally feel as bad as the death of a relative does to an adult. Which meant positive feelings were all more intense too. And Tanya was missing out.

A small part of it was that experiencing the full gamut of emotions would help with socialization and prepare her for later in life, especially since she'd lacked it in her previous ones, and to a psychic having experience with such emotions was even more important.

But mainly, Milla simply wanted her daughter to feel so happy she'd cry, elated to the point she'd giggle uncontrollably, float to the point of light-headedness.

To truly feel the joy she'd been deprived of.

Guru Milla wasn't an archetype that generally saw much use, but it was proving its worth twice over now. She'd run through thought experiments with other romantically inclined versions, but most were only useful where attraction already existed. Guru's philosophical takes had been a boon.

For love to be blind was a great thing, but sometimes you need a starting point. Something to latch onto or act as a multiplier for interest.

She hadn't started her plan with such a focus, initially just getting her to interact with others.

They had these Mother-Daughter days twice a month, though that was perhaps a bit of a misnomer, as despite being called that, these days were usually about getting Tanya to try new things or interact with new people.

Of course, there were other outings they went out on fairly often, if not more regularly, that were for the two to spend time together. Sometimes even Sasha joined them. Though Tanya-Sasha days weren't really a thing, their hobby time together was usually just more work time with a focus on private projects, with the exception of a few convention trips.

While Tanya often had fun at the gatherings Milla pushed her towards, there never seemed to be a click, no one who sparked attention. At most, few she'd noticed her eye's lingering on.

But it had been a starting point, so Milla had started narrowing it down. And Guru Milla had spotted an opportunity.

The Psychonauts, although they'd changed a lot since their founding, still maintained connections with a lot of free-thinking groups worldwide. Those groups often had useful info, helped provide a range of meditation options, and provided some of the more well-balanced recruits. Though as time advanced, often they were less commune and more community that had regular gatherings.

Although other countries would prefer their own affiliated agencies recruit more, the Psychonauts were the undisputed leading Psychic organisation (anywhere with access to non-state global news), so they often drew in Psychics from outside.

Unfortunately, a portion of their overseas recruits were double agents, but that was manageable when there were twice as many triple agents, most of whom started as the former. In the meantime, the extra manpower could be put to use, and having some level of transparency helped keep some tensions from rising too high. Although some "stolen" information did help make unaffiliated Psychics stronger, it also coincidentally helped their mental wellness and indirectly led to improved conditions for known Psychics.

Upcoming was an event one of the communes the Psychonauts were connected with were hosting. Astronomy wasn't the first thing "hippies" were associated with, but the "Super Blood Wolf Moon" lunar occurrence, coinciding with one of Mars's higher visibility phases was an excuse for a gathering. It was convenient to renew ties, as well as introduce new and old agents to each other, new ideas, and safe places.

Milla might have manipulated the guest list a bit, to ensure more members with children would be coming.

As the hosts were non-psychics, obvious power use was being discouraged to as not appear to be showing off, and to make the night more about the activities. Of course, that was just a cover, but Milla had emphasised this to Tanya, otherwise she'd spoil her plan. The real reason she didn't want her using her powers, was that she could easily negate her main plot.

Out at night, in the cold, without thick clothing (oops, did she forget to warn everyone?), in a situation where everyone would naturally be in close contact gathered around to use the telescope apparatus. It was only natural that they'd huddle together for warmth.

Of course, the fact that this particular commune just happened to practice hug therapy meant their own members would be setting examples, so the pragmatic Tanya should feel comfortable following suit.

It had been easy to suggest the kids, mostly teenagers, have their own groups, each headed by one of the commune's own.

So here they were, with Milla ushering Tanya to find a group after arriving just a little late, enough that most others had arrived and formed up. Enough for her to have choices instead of being someone else's choice.

And as Tanya made a beeline to the Japanese group, she was sure now. Milla had noticed a common factor in the partners Tanya often chose in previous activities.

While learning slow dancing, the taller partner matched.

While ice skating, the one that the usually aware Tanya had let collide and fall on her, taking an unusually long time to get up, matched.

While taking turns on a tandem jet ski, the ride-along matched.

At first, there'd been a small part of her that wondered if it could have been jealousy. But Tanya wished to be a little taller, not larger in the way all those girls were. It had made her giggle when she realised her daughter had such a stereotypical desire.

The host member of the commune in charge of that group had the largest special features, as well as one of the visitors who came in a close second. Both were a little older too, and while not a requirement itself, it did help with non-psychics who didn't mentally mature as fast.

As the night went on, for a moment, Milla worried her plan was ruined when psychic power sparked around Tanya, evidently she'd learned a new trick as she trapped heat on her skin without projecting anything, but it seemed to work in her favour as the girls at her side exclaimed about how warm she was and pressed themselves closer.

Tanya seemed a little perturbed as the sky gazing was forgotten in exchange for using her as a personal heater, but she made no effort to extract herself from the human sandwich she was now stuck in, and after a moment, her expression soften in a way that was rarely seen on her.

Much later, Milla tried not to smile too much when Tanya request to visit again.
-----