Against the Speakers [A Nighten Dove]

[DisreputableCharles]

It was a rare night that Avery Steele got an adequate amount of sleep. Never mind the fact that the Compound made her extremely uneasy; there were too many voices ringing inside her head that didn't belong to her. Being a Warp, she had access to the minds of everyone and anyone...though not always when she wished it. Supposedly that was the point of the Compound: to help them hone and control their powers. But no one had ever seen a telepath with Avery's kind of abilities.

She'd developed a habit of going to Dustin when this kind of insomnia occurred, but there were two main problems with that, despite him being her oldest friend: 1), there'd been rumors of something distinctly non-platonic going on between them, and 2) to prevent such relationships between members of the Unit, their rooms were on almost opposite sides of the Compound. Of course, that hadn't stopped Avery from using her powers to get there, though once she had she found herself simply pacing back and forth outside his door, debating whether or not she should knock. Part of her was hoping that he'd just be able to See her there, and avoid the whole knocking exchange altogether.

 

[DuskRaven]

Dustin was sitting in his room with a book open as he tried tof ocus on the book rather than anything else. It didn't work very well though. He could hear every mind that was around him. Her's was the loudest though he could have easily turned it down had he wanted to. He didn't have the best control over his gifts, but he'd learned over the years how to turn certain voices louder than others.

He rose from his desk and went over to the door and knocked on it playfully before opening it. "Yes?" He asked softly with a wink at her before he opened the door fully to allow her entrance into his room. "Couldn't sleep?"

 

[DisreputableCharles]

http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad318/iheartpaigecobb/RP%20Blonde%20Anime/617664-1-1.jpg

"Can I ever?" Avery returned her friend's smile with a shaky sort of confidence as she stepped inside, glancing behind her for any sign that she'd been followed. Never a dull moment in this place. She walked past Dustin and flopped onto the bed which was just as small as the one in her room, but more comforting because it was where Dustin slept. That was part of where the rumors started, though she'd never really seen him as more than a brother.

"I feel like it's gotten worse," she said, though her voice was muffled due to her face being half-pressed against the mattress, "since they started 'training'. It's like my brain's too tired to keep everyone quiet."

 

[DuskRaven]

Avery's words made him nod and relax back a little. "I hear they are bringing in a new girl tomorrow," he said softly as he closed the door and went to perch on his desk. He could tell there was something bothering her, but he tended to keep on the outside of her thoughts unless she wanted him in her head. Having grown up knowing each other that tended to be the best way to keep any unwanted thoughts straying between their minds.

He rested his feet in his chair and yawned, stretching a bit. "I've been having trouble keeping others out as well. I don't think they understand that the more they strain us the less control we have," he said with a frown. He had been very much against coming here, but had, in the interest of protecting Avery, kept quiet and shared his hatred of the place with only the occasional half-written angry letter that had quickly found its way into the trash bin.

 

[DisreputableCharles]

As she listened to him Avery stared across at her friend, with the one eye that wasn't obscured by the sheets in front of her face. She hardly needed to be inside his head to know what Dustin was thinking. "What is she?" Her fingers tugged at the fraying comforter. "Any word on what she can do? They've got you and me, plus that telekinetic boy...and honestly I don't think someone as unstable as him is really qualified to be able to throw things around with his mind..."

She rolled over onto her back, staring up at the white ceiling with one hand behind her head. "I don't want to go tomorrow, not when I haven't sleep in almost a week." Again she flipped over onto her stomach, leaning on her elbows as she looked towards her friend. "Can't we just ditch? I can make them forget training was even scheduled..." A mischievous smile crossed her face.

 

[DuskRaven]

The young man gave her a look that said he wished that he could but that they shouldn't. "You know that the more you use those powers the more like a Speaker you get. AS much as I don't want to go, it's when they are introducing the new girl. Apparently she can mess with people's vision. Make them see or not see what she wants them too. I think it might be interesting to see what she tries on us," he said with a small smile at his friend before he pushed himself up from the desk and walked over to her.

"I could help you cut out the voices and let you get a few hours of rest if it would make you feel better," he offered when he crouched next to the bed, coming eye level with her. He was calm, gentle in his offer, knowing that she could very well tell him no and return to her room rather than staying. He liked her presence. It was calming and fun at the same time. Since they had been taken from their families, these moments were becoming fewer in between and he treasured each one.

 

[DisreputableCharles]

Avery let herself fall forward again, but didn't break eye contact with Dustin as she pulled one of the pillows under her head. "Mm..." She closed her eyes, letting out a tired groan. "I'm not like them...but that's not so impressive; I can make her think she's an Olympic bobsledder. Or create a brother she's never had. Or..." Opening one eye, she looked at him again. "Well, I can't think of anything else right now, but I could---" A yawn interrupted her sentence.

"Yes, a little help with the sleeping would be appreciated." She smiled at Dustin, genuinely glad he was there. Honestly she hadn't much family to be taken from, not since her parents were killed by the Speakers. The only reason she'd come to the Compound was that she had nowhere else to go. And now that she was there, the only comfort was in the moments she got to spend with Dustin.

 

[DuskRaven]

Dustin stood and moved around as he kicked off his shoes. Slowly he crawled over her and laid down next to her, his arms wrapping protectively around her as he slowly closed his eyes, focusing on blocking her mind from the intrusive voices. "Relax and breath," he said into her ear gently. Slowly, for he was also tired, he wrapped her mind in a shield that couldn't be penetrated by the voices of the outside world. "Just focus on the silence and let the sleep come to you." Even to his own mind his voice sounded hypnotic, as he was aiming it to be, though his skills were nothing to what Avery could do. His was pure vocal talent while hers was her gifts.

 

[DisreputableCharles]

Avery smiled a little in spite of herself and shifted slightly, closed her eyes as she curled up against him. She marveled at how he kept so calm at all times, even when it was obvious he didn't really feel that way. "I hope you know," she said quietly, letting out a gentle sigh, "I'm relying on you to be my alarm clock tomorrow." The ache in her head began to diminish as the voices quieted, thanks to the one laying beside her, and gradually sleep took her.

----------

Strangely enough, she found herself up before him the next morning. There was a mind out there, tapping into hers loud and clear. No one had ever been as loud as this, not as far as she could remember. There was a sort of ringing to it that made the pain so intense she held her head in agony, gritting her teeth to keep from making a noise that would wake Dustin. It was getting difficult, though, and a whimper escaped her.

 

[DuskRaven]

Dustin had felt the nudge and then shattering of his shield though he'd thought at first that it was just Avery breaking free of it so that she could go back to his room. That was, until he heard her whimper. Blinking open tired eyes, he looked down at her. Within a second he had his eyes wide open and was looking around for someone that could be hurting her before he relaxed back down next to her and pulled her against him, strengthening the power he could put towards a shield, though only if the other girl helped him. "Avery? Avery, can you hear me?" he asked, knowing sometimes the voices became so loud that true spoken voices were drowned out. He scrambled mentally to build up the defenses around her again.

 

[DisreputableCharles]

It was excruciating, blinding. Avery couldn't even tell how long she endured it before it was suddenly gone and there she was, sitting up in Dustin's bed. Her breath came in heavy gasps as she looked around, blinking dazedly until her gaze came to focus on her friend.

"That was..." As a nervous habit, she ran a hand through her short, dirty-blonde hair. She'd been doing that out of anxiety since she was a child, and it wasn't about to stop now. "There's never been something like that inside my head before. Dustin," she looked at him, blue eyes betraying the slightest bit of fear, "I don't think it was human​."

 

[DuskRaven]

((Sorry about not replying. <3 Was kinda internally freaking out about this job thing I'm going to today. <3 Wish me luck! :D if I get it then I'll have a more structured roleplaying life I think. ))

Dustin watched her before he gently pulled her into a hug, his mind tickling over hers to search for any damage. "We should tell the Wainwright. As much as we don't like him we should tell him that someone was in your mind. If the Speakers find out they are training us then they'll attack us and we aren't ready to defend ourselves much less the people at this base," he said softly, though he hated the idea personally. What kind of help could that over pompous English dude--as Dustin had labeled him his first day--do to protect Avery from such an attack? It wasn't like just anything could get over Dustin's shields or hurt Avery's mind.

 

[DisreputableCharles]

It felt completely natural for Avery to hide her face in Dustin's shirt, allowing him to protect her for a little while. She wasn't in the habit of relying often on other people, but he was the exception, the only person she trusted enough to permit even the slightest bit of access to her mind. Especially in this situation, where she was almost positive that what she'd faced was distinctly non-terrestrial.

"They already know," she said quietly, in an almost foreboding tone. "Something got into my head, and it saw...and now they know; how couldn't they?" For a moment it seemed she had adopted the ramblings of a mental patient, then she looked up at Dustin and said, "We should tell Wainwright."

 

[DuskRaven]

Dustin nodded and slowly released her before watching her with worried eyes. "You should get back to your room so they don't move me over to Timbuctu this time," he said, a half attempt at a joke though it was obvious he was more worried about her than being moved away. The military was worried that they were having 'inappropriate relations' and what might be born from such a mixing. He wanted to roll his eyes at them and tell them to stop imagining such things though in truth he'd have paid his soul for Avery to look at him in that way; for her to need him like that rather than as just a friend and support figure. "We can go report it to Wainwright after you get changed. We'll tell him that you came to me first because... Well, we'll think of something I'm sure."

 

[DisreputableCharles]

"Right..." Avery's eyes wandered to her own attire: a grey shirt and pants that had been passed out for use as sleepwear. Life at the Compound was something she couldn't stand, though at the present it was the best option she had. Occasionally she found herself doubting the existence of Speakers at all, but the invasion of her mind that morning solidified her beliefs a bit.

"Well," she said, reluctantly shifting towards the edge of the bed, "time to manipulate some guards. Honestly, I don't know what the point of them is when I can slip by so easily." Shaking her head in disregard, Avery looked towards Dustin and was a bit unnerved by the worry she saw on his face. Why did he always have to do that?

"Hey." She was rather short, especially in comparison to him, so the only opportunity she had to ruffle his hair was when he was sitting down. "I'll be back in a little bit. Don't worry too much about this."

 

[DuskRaven]

He couldn't help but chuckle at her non-chelant way of telling him not to worry. He rose from his seated position and ruffled her hair in return. "Hey, I'm your friend. I'm suppose to worry when you are hurt. If I didn't I wouldn't be your friend," he told her before gently nudging her to the door. "Now scat Avery. I need to take a shower before I meet up with you again or I might kill someone." His voice was gentle but said that he was serious as well. If there was something that he needed every day it was a shower. It wasn't that he was ocd about smell or anything. He just liked the feeling of the stray on his body and how it pounded on his head drowning out everything else but that moment. It was a time when he could relax and not worry about anything getting in except maybe Avery.

 

[DisreputableCharles]

Avery stuck her tongue out at him as she stood and followed his hints to leave, acting more dramatic than was warranted in the situation. "You're never going to be any less of a clean freak, are you?" Her words were accompanied by a playful punch in the arm, though it might have been harder than she intended it. She didn't feel much need to be gentle with him.

"Fine, I'm leaving. Just don't be in there for an hour or something." As much as she teased him about it, Avery understood where he was coming from. Telepathy was exhausting. That thought reminded her of the abrasive presence from earlier, and a little shiver danced down her spine. Shaking it off, she opened the door and gave a little wave, then stuck her head out to look for any guards she'd need to "handle."

 

[DuskRaven]

He laughed and shook his head. "Shouldn't be more than ten to fifteen. You know us men, we hate long showers," he teased though in fact he could stand under the water for hours at a time if it meant not hearing a single voice but his own and occasionally Hers. He rose from his bed and started towards the bathroom that was connected to his room. Stepping in, clothes and all he turned the water on and stepped under, sighing out dreamily as all the other voices that had been pressing into his mind slowly faded behind the sound of water pounding on his head. It definitely did the needed and when he stepped out, clothes soaked, hair dripping in his eyes, he felt much better. He stripped and quickly changed into some more 'appropriate' clothes for the place--a shirt that said 'F-U' with a little fox holding up it's middle finger and a pair of baggy jeans, just to give the soldiers there an extra reason to dislike him--he exited the room and, with his 'army escort', slowly moved his way towards Avery's room. Unlike Avery, he had no aversion to knocking on her door when he got there.

 

[DisreputableCharles]

"Patience, young padawan!" Avery heard the knock on her door and rolled her eyes, as she was in the process of pulling on a form fitting sweater. She wasn't extremely girly, but her wardrobe did expand beyond the jeans-and-graphic-tee uniform. Besides the top she wore straight legged jeans and her weathered and worn Chuck Taylors, which had seen the most use out of any article of clothing she owned.

"So where're we off..." She opened the door with a hint of a smile, but that and her voice faded when she saw his escort. Until recently they'd been able to roam the Compound relatively free of restrictions, but someone must've caught wind of their meetings lately, otherwise there would've been no cause for Dustin's babysitter to be there. "So," she said coolly, collecting herself in a matter of seconds, "where are we to find the old miser?"

 

[DuskRaven]

Dustin reached out mentally and was about to answer when his escort did instead. "He'll be waiting in the learning room for the both of you, miss." Dustin turned to look at him and frowned. As much as they scared the escort, he was quickly developing a crush on the Speaker-like-girl. Dustin wanted to snort at his mental words and turned to give a shrug to Avery. "I suppose we get to tell him and meet the new girl," Dustin said with a small smile before turning and motioning for Avery to take the lead with a small wink that was hidden from view of the other man.

You want to dissuade him or should I find some way to make him thing we are both a bunch of nutjobs? he asked softly.