Mind Games

[Winterwings]

Hailey, who was usually called Hay by those who knew her, put her red coat on as she went down the stairs and out to the streets. The wind blew softly and it was a bit chilly outside, although the sun was shining. Hailey put her blonde hair behind her ears as it made it hard for her to see since it wouldn't leave her face alone - she hated that. She sighed, obviously frustrated as she put her hair back in place once more, and crossed the road.

"Hey!", she said, as she was almost hit by a car, but luckily made her way across the road before it happened. The driver stretched out from the window and yelled at her. "Shut it", she said, mostly to herself, as she turned her back on whoever was screaming at her. Usually she didn't just walk out right into the road full of traffic without the slightest thought about what could happen, but sometimes she did, and she wasn't even sure why, herself. In fact, she wasn't even in a hurry, although she didn't like being outside for too long. Being visible and vulnerable in the way she was as she was walking, all by herself, down the road, made her slightly nervous. She was determined not to let some stupid government or whatever ruin her life though - that was one thing that she knew for sure.

It had just began to rain as she crossed her second road - this time there was no cars as she passed - and she walked in a faster phase than before. She was on her way to a friend's house, if you could call her, Zoe, that - they weren't exactly friends, but at least, Zoe didn't think that Hailey was all that crazy. She hadn't run out the door as Hailey had "hallucinated", as most people called it, and had actually stayed to see if she was OK. Not like Hailey cared too much though. Most people ran off as soon as they got to know her a bit more, which no one never did nowadays, she thought to herself. She was used not having anyone to talk to, or hang out with, and if anyone did, they disappeared as soon as they had got there in the first place.

 

[Kaisaan]

Drejan hated going out. He really did, but he'd run out of even peanut butter and that was a bad sign. So he was braving the world to go and get groceries. And to him, it really was a challenge. People were so LOUD. They didn't even realize it, but they were and they said the most stupid things when they didn't know someone was listening, and no one ever knew Drey was listening...to every thought.

He worked hard to make sure no one knew he was a Mind Reader. He'd escaped the government once, he wouldn't go back. At the thought, he looked around casually, hands in his jean pockets as he walked. His gray hoodie was pulled over his head, hiding his face and his shaggy brown hair hiding piercing gray eyes that saw everything even when most wouldn't even know he was paying attention. If only they knew.

Dodging a woman walking her toy poodle, Drey resisted the urge to make a loud sound as she was already going off in her head about how he was probably a gangster and don't look at him too long and just keep walking....

Oh, yes, people could be amusing, too, but he was relieved that at this time of day - work hours - and with the cold most people were inside. Always made his life easier and kept his head from feeling like it was going to split open. He supposed it could even be called a good day so far....

 

[Winterwings]

Hailey looked around, not quite sure of where she was any longer. Was she lost? She shook her head slightly now and then - no, she wasn't lost. She just didn't know these streets that well, but she had probably been there before, or at least she told herself that she had. No matter how much she looked around, she still seemed as confused as before. Where did she went wrong? She looked around, as discrete as possible, trying to hide the panic in her eyes. A good thing though, was that she was almost all alone on the street at this hour. She walked faster as if it would help her to find the right way again, but which it of course, didn't. She decided to try to get back the way she had come from, but that didn't work that well, either.

At this time, she had started running. Not too obviously, she tried to remind herself, as she, in the corners of her eyes, saw people turning their heads after her when she passed them. She hated getting the attention she got from running that way. She looked for a place to hide, somewhere where she wouldn't feel as vulnerable. She spotted something looking almost like an alley, and without thinking, she changed her way and ran towards it. As soon as she put her feet on the narrow path with two buildings on each side, she felt less watched. She followed one of the walls with her hand as if she was going to get lost again otherwise, and tried to slow down.

Her heart was pounding as she sat down on the ground, not caring about it being wet and a bit cold. She leaned against the wall and put her forehead towards her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs. "Please don't", she said, sounding just as confused as she felt, not even sure of who she was talking to. "I hate you!" she said quite loud as she hit the ground with one of her fists. "Breathe", she said, reminding herself to breathe, even though she had closed her eyes and partly weren't there any more. Something blurry crossed her vision, a sound similar to something passing by in a past phase, but not being able to understand anything else, all it did was to scare her. "I'm as crazy as you all say I am... ain't I, Zoe...", she said.

 

[Kaisaan]

Drejan kept his head down as he walked, starting to get into a place where there were a few more people and he had to concentrate on not hearing them all at once. He didn't want a headache, he really didn't. He hated going out for that reason. He always ended up regretting it someway or another. He was too damn helpful for his own good and the fact that he could read thoughts and know when someone needed help but wouldn't admit it was only a hindrance to his attempt at controlling his bleeding heart.

He was doing pretty good on this outing so far, though. Maybe, just maybe he'd get back to the apartment without having to stop, without-

Oh, stars above! Drejan halted abruptly at the surge of thoughts that overwhelmed him, swimming around in his mind like shrieks, making absolutely no sense and wild. He closed his eyes, attempting to get some control over his shields, startled to find that these thoughts had pretty much just evaded them like his barriers weren't even there. After a few struggling minutes, he managed to contain the shrieking and he looked up with a wince.

Yep, there was the headache. Great, just what he'd wanted.

He sighed and looked around, now intent on finding the person who'd invaded his mind in such a strong and violent manner, wondering just what kind of trouble they were in for their mind to be that desperate to reach out to someone - even if they didn't know it. Had to be something bad. His voice of reason told him to just ignore it, to walk away, but his heart won out easily - though, not many people would guess that about him if they were to look at him - and he started down the alley the thoughts pulled him to, sharp gray eyes searching carefully for their target.

 

[Winterwings]

Hailey opened and closed her eyes back and forth - it didn't make much of a difference. She covered her ears, but no matter what she did, she could still see something far away, in a fast phase, something scary. She felt anxious that it might run into her - it all felt threathning. She shook her head and hit the ground as if she was trying to get it all out of her head by doing so. It would be so nice if it would just work, she thought, although she had a hard time thinking of anything at the moment, as she was just very confused by everything. She tried to calm down and listen - anything could be going on on the 'outside world' without her knowing, she knew that much, at least. She kept her eyes closed, repeating to herself that there was nothing to worry about. Her hands looked for something to hold on to - something that was real, something that gave her a sense of being in the moment, of something being real. Soon she had presence enough to feel the cold ground underneath her hands, which made her feel somewhat relieved. She wasn't all gone, after all.

She opened her eyes and looked around, slowly, trying to understan where she was. Or maybe just what the surrounding looked like. Things still didn't look quite as they used to. As she was trying to get a feeling of what was going on, she spotted someone down the alley. She quickly realized that whoever it was was walking towards her. She stood up, loosing grip of reality as she couldn't feel the one thing that had been all real to her - the ground - and she stumbled. "No", she said, as clear and loud as she could, not sure if he had heard her. She stumbled backwards making sure she was facing him. Her eyes wouldn't focus at him as things were still passing by her eyes, and she felt her heart pounding even faster than before. Was this the end? Was he going to get her now? She should have been more careful, she thought. She looked around although she couldn't see much, but didn't see any way of escaping except from where the guy was standing.

"What do you want? What do you want?" she asked, over and over again, suddenly changing direction, now walking towards him. She walked towards as if she was blind, not focusing her eyes, but keeping her feet as straight forward as she possibly could. "Who are you?" she murmured as she found a wall with her left hand, trying to grab it, realizing that it didn't work. Her ears were filled with a humming sound as she began to walk again.

 

[Kaisaan]

A girl. No, a woman, a young woman.

Drejan grimaced as he got closer, feeling the shrieking voices only grow in intensity and to top it off, the female's emotions were starting to hit him, too. She was scared, but of what he couldn't pinpoint as her thoughts were nothing like he'd ever heard before. They made no sense and they wouldn't stop screaming. He knew that with time he'd be able to decipher them - he always could, even thoughts in another language - but right now they were too new, too feral for him to catch a hold of.

Giving up on that avenue of option, Drey tried for another, focusing on her emotions, something that didn't come as easily to him, but was still effective. She was scared....and confused. There was a touch of anger there, but almost unnoticeable - probably especially to her - and desperation....like she was running from something or to something maybe.

All in all, she was instantly fascinating to Drejan and when she spoke, he found himself stilling, waiting to see what she'd do. Hmm...backing up he'd expected, but walking forward? That was new. The male stayed where he was, purposely blocking the entrance to the street as he watched the blond. She staggered like she couldn't see and he felt concern bubble up, though, his mind sniped that maybe she was just drunk.

She wanted to know who he was, but Drejan didn't think she'd really hear him if he answered out loud so he did the next thing open to him as he approached her slowly, wary of scaring her into violence. Taking a breath and taking a risk he knew he might regret, he reached out and simply put his hand over her smaller one, the one pressed against the wall. She could jerk away if she wished, he knew that, so he made his reply quickly.

In her mind.

"I won't hurt you. What is wrong? Why are you scared?"

 

[Winterwings]

As Hailey felt a hand on her own, her first reaction was to jerk it off, run away, escape. Non of this was probably real anyways, she thought to herself, as something invaded her mind. Unusual, weird, strange, unknown. She immediately backed off, a bit too fast, as she fell to the ground. Being able to feel the ground again made her feel a bit calmer than before, but what he had told her, or rather the way he had done so, still made her even more confused and scared than before. As she felt dizzy and quite hurt from the fall, she figured it would be best not to move, if she didn't want to trip again. She tried to take control of her breathing somewhat before she actually started to think about what he had really told her. She curled up against the wall with one of her hands touching the ground, feeling the need of something real in her otherwise up side down world at the moment.

She opened her mouth, and even though she had a hard time thinking at all at the moment, she was determined to say something. Even though he wasn't real, he deserved an answer, she thought, slamming the back of her head at the wall twice before taking a deep breath. "Everything is so weird... nothing is real", she said and shook her head. "I'm not scared", she said, although that was, obviously, a complete lie, and all of sudden, her voice sounded more aggressive than before. "I'm not scared", she repeated and stood up, more carefully this time, not wanting to trip another time. "I'm just confused", she said, feeling good about finally being able to say something that, to her, made sense. She tried to focus her gaze on him, and realizing that it didn't work that well, she slammed her head at the wall, slightly. "Damn it!" she screamed and sat down, about to fall. "I hate you!" she said, frustrated, as she hit the ground with her fist.

Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself down. It would all be over soon, she thought, recognizing the world coming back to her, the way things used to be just before things slowly began to get back to normal again. Patience, she thought, patience. She inhaled rather quickly as something crossed her vision, too fast for her to recognize, and voices too many to listen to in her ears. "Shut up, please", she said, trying to sound as calm as she possibly could. "I just want it to stop", she said, rather desperate.

 

[Kaisaan]

Oh, yeah. He'd found a winner. Lucky him.

Drejan felt the urge to reach forward and restrain her every time she hit her head against the wall, but he refrained, knowing that holding her down would NOT be helpful at this point. She didn't know him and didn't even seem to know where she was. Her thoughts were no longer shrieking at him, seeming to have calmed somewhat as they realized he wasn't impressed with their display and could ignore them, and Drejan turned his mental eyes to them now, studying what he could learn in a short amount of time. Which was surprisingly a lot.

It was enough for him to know that this girl wasn't normal. Not even close. She was like him, only....well, worse. Much worse. He had some control over his abilities - she seemed to have next to none and while she babbled to herself - because she certainly didn't seem to really register him as being real - Drey watched her, debating. His mental voice hadn't been well-received and now he was beginning to wonder if all those voices....were actually her's. If they weren't, then he would have to decipher which one WAS and it made sense that his own voice added to the others would not be notable to her.

The male crouched slowly before the blond, his piercing gray eyes looking into her blue-gray, noting that they looked almost cloudy and definitively unfocused. Deciding to try again, Drey reached out and this time two fingers from each of his hands touched her temples and his power seeped into her, slow and gentle as he started to see the jumbled mess her mind was in. It wasn't something he could fix now, but maybe...

Drejan quickly constructed a filter with his own abilities, knowing that as long as he held it there, the girl MIGHT be more lucid. The stranger thoughts, the ones he was pretty sure were not hers, he held back, and the ones that seemed harmless, that meshed together well as if they belonged to one person, he let through, hoping that this technique might functiion long enough for him to at least get her name. First, though, he had to see if it was even going to work effectively....

 

[Winterwings]

Hailey felt his fingers on her temples, and her first thought was to get out of there, away. Everything was just such a mess at this point, and nothing really made any sense. She tried to think of what he had said though, that he wasn't going to hurt her. She held onto that as she forced herself to stay there, not hitting him nor herself or simply just freaking out in any way. She tried to calm herself down as she felt a smiliar feeling to the one she had had when he had touched her the first time, only this one feeling stronger and more determined. It scared her, but she didn't want to run until she was sure that he really was out to get her.

Hands holding her down, making it hard for her to breath. A pressure on her chest, anxiety, gasping for air, as if she was under water. Mouths moving, lips forming words, silence. Names on their badges, unable for her to read. Nothing that made sense. And all of sudden, restraint. No more hands holding her down, instead there were something feeling like ropes, making it impossible for her to get away. She was stuck, vulnerable. Crazy? Those lips were still, no more words, but sounds. As if she wasn't under water any longer - someone screaming at her, but no way of protecting herself. Vulnerable. No air.

She felt as if someone had hit her in the head as she felt his fingers on her temples again. She could feel her heart racing, as if it would pop out of her chest if she moved even an inch. She made a new effort to focus her gaze on whatever was real, and this time, it was more of a success. She could at least see something that looked like an alley - probably the alley that she was in - and someone standing in front of her. She stumbled backwards, not expecting someone so close to her. She hit her back against the wall and then sat down, leaning towards it. She realized that those sounds and screams weren't as intense anymore, and in a couple of seconds, they were almost gone. A strange feeling of being under water got to her, but as long as she didn't feel as trapped as before, she was satisfied.

Who was he? It was easier for her to think clearly, and she was happy that she hadn't run away or hadn't let him do whatever he had been doing - it seemed that it had been helping. Her heart was slowly beginning to pound as a normal heart would, which meant, not racing. She could feel the fresh air through her nostrils and she closed her eyes, wanting to feel reality for once. Would he be gone when she opened her eyes? She put her palms towards her forehead and then hitting her head with her hands, wanting to be free.

 

[Kaisaan]

His fingers were no longer on her temples, but they didn't have to be. He knew the feeling of her mind, the unique impression of it and his own stayed there with some effort....okay, actually a lot of effort. Not only was she a stranger - her thoughts hard to maneuver with because he didn't know her - but her mind was like nothing he'd seen before and that made his work even harder. But Drejan was stubbornly persistent and what he was doing, filtering the thoughts and flashing images in her mind to the best of his ability, seemed to be helping.

He grabbed her hand gently when she started to smack her head, a patience in his demeanor and actions that only seemed to ever appear when he'd chosen to help someone and Drey spoke quietly, but evenly. "Don't do that. You'll hurt yourself."

He watched the blond carefully, his own hood now pulled back around his shoulders and his piercing gray eyes partially hidden by his brown hair. Hmm...she was pretty, beautiful even, but her mental state...it worried him already. "My name is Drejan. What's yours?"

Would she even understand him?

 

[Winterwings]

Hailey flinched slightly as he took a hold of her hand, but let it be there. She opened her eyes, listening to his words. Or at least the little that she could hear through her confusion about everything. She nodded slightly looking down at her hand in his. Hitting isn't good, she thought, and then looked back at him again. This time it was easier for her to see, things seemed to be still this time, not at all as before. As he looked at her she didn't want to meet his eyes, she felt as if he was looking right into her. She glanced down again, looking at their hands, not sure if she liked the fact that they were touching each other like that or not.

As he spoke to her she looked at him again. Drejan. So that was his name. She had a hard time connecting, as if her brain wasn't really working as it should, and she found herself quietly looking back at him. She swallowed and thought about it, repeating his words inside of her mind. Her name. Right. "Hay... Hailey", she said, remembering that they didn't know each other. 'Hay' was only for those who knew her, she thought and took her hand out of his.

After thinking for a moment about what had really happened, she looked around slightly. She was still in the alley, and everything seemed to be fine. Or, as fine as anything could be, thinking of the circumstances, she thought. She glanced at him, Drejan, a complete stranger really, and slowly stood up. She leaned towards the wall as she looked at him. "I'm fine", she said, looking past him out towards the street where they had come from. "Don't worry", she said and looked at him again. "Don't call anyone, just let me leave. I know what's going on, you don't have to call an ambulance", she said, as if she had said it a thousand times before, no emotions in her voice whatsoever. She gave him a weak smile in an effort to concinve him that she was all right, before slowly walking down the alley, looking as if she would fall apart any second.

 

[Kaisaan]

Fine. Right. Drejan smiled a little in amusement when she started to stumble away and he followed Hailey with another patient sigh. He came in front of her slightly, his strides much longer than her own, but while he blocked her way partially, there was enough room for her to escape if she really wished it. If she could muster the stability to actually make her body obey her properly. That was something Drejan didn't see happening at all.

He didn't touch her, noting that she didn't seem to like it - therefore it was something he'd only do if he had to at this point - and he spoke slowly again. It wasn't as if he were talking to a child because he knew people with mental instability hated that, but it was aimed to help her be able to process his words more easily and his mind hadn't left her own, keeping whatever lucidity she had in the forefront of her mind. He had no idea what would happen if he retreated with his own gift and left her to herself.

"You're not fine. I'm not going to call anyone. I know they can't help you. I can, though, if you'll let me."

Drejan knew she wouldn't trust that, wouldn't trust him. He'd gotten just brief snatches of her thoughts from before and it seemed she'd been captured or held by someone before, people who hadn't been kind to her. She'd most-likely be wary of anyone who said they could help her, thinking they were going to use her or put her in a mental hospital...or worse. So Drey took a chance, one he didn't like to take with people he didn't know, but Hailey needed help, badly even if she didn't want to admit it.

"I'm like you, Hailey. Different. I can read thoughts. I will help you if you'll let me."

 

[Winterwings]

Hailey stopped as he stood in front of her. She looked at him, not seeming to mind the fact that he was, in a way, blocking her way. She looked at him with patience as if she waited for him to tell her something real quick and then let her pass. She glanced to the space that was still avaiable for her to get through if she wanted to pass him, but then looked at him again. She didn't feel like getting any closer at this moment. He would move, eventually, she thought.

She grinned slightly as she heard him speak. 'You're not fine', oh, wasn't she? She wasn't sure about that, if he was right or not. She wanted herself to be fine, but was she really? As he said that he wouldn't call anyone, she relaxed a bit, after, for a moment, having a tense look in her eyes. Good, no one's coming to get me, she thought, as she listened to him. She looked a bit more suspicious as he continued with that 'they can't help you but I can'-talk, she had heard that many times before. She shook her head and opened her mouth, about to tell him that she had heard that many times before, and why would things be any different this time? He was just like everybody else, and he'd run away. But she didn't say anything since he spoke, again. She shut her mouth and her eyes widened slightly.

Well, this was different. No one who she'd met had ever said anything like that. Many had said that they'd help her, but that usually meant being with them till they called the police without her knowing or kicking her out when they couldn't take it any more. She bit her lip and looked at him, a bit confused, not sure what to think. 'I'm like you, Hailey', she heard him say that over and over again in her mind, smiling slightly.

"You think I'll believe that? You think I'll let you 'help' me?" she said, sounding annoyed and a bit impatient. She grinned at how ignorant, to her, he seemed to be. "I'm not stupid, you know", she said, focusing her gaze on him. "Just out of curiousity, though. How exactly were you thinking you'd help me?" she asked, just about to take her first steps towards him.

 

[Kaisaan]

Drey found a smile curling at his lips at her inner dialogue, at her attitude when she spoke and he shook his head, his piercing gray eyes meeting her blue-gray ones steadily, with an understanding that surpassed anything someone normal could give her, because Drejan DID know what her mind looked like. A big, chaotic mess, not something he couldn't eventually sort through, help her with if she'd let him. And despite herself, she was curious, just as she said.

"No, you're not stupid. You just see to much, hear too much and it confuses you. You can't find reality, something to ground you to this time and place."

He spoke almost absentmindedly as he studied her and his gray eyes developed a sort of haze that came with using his gift for long periods of time and the fact that his mind was still in Hailey's, filtering, meant he'd been using longer than he normally did. "I'm helping you right now. You've got a lot images and sounds that want to bombard you right now and I'm holding them back so we can even speak." He wasn't bragging and there was nothing of that in his tone, it was merely factual and Drejan flicked his hair back a little out of his eyes with a shake of his head, wincing just a little at the pain - he already had a headache - developing behind his eyes.

"If you don't believe me, I could let some of them go. I can help you, Hailey. I learned to control my power and you could learn to control yours. You just need something to keep you grounded while you learn."

 

[Winterwings]

Hailey listened to him as he spoke, confused and scared about the fact that he actually seemed to know what he was talking about. Now that it seemed like he knew more than she had thought at first, she felt more insecure than what she had before. Just a few moments ago, he had been as everybody else saying that they'd help her, but now, it all felt different, and she began doubting that he was just like any other person wanting to help her.

She knew that what he was saying was real - her feelings in words, almost. It made her rather scared hearing him talking to her as if he already knew her, as if she had told him things about her. She had always been so cold towards strangers - her friends didn't even know most of the things that he was telling her. It scared her, it really did. She bit her lip not to freak out and do something stupid, forcing herself to stay calm, or at least to stay where she was, not moving. The last thing she needed was to be touched by him, she thought.

No. This was just wrong. Him helping her? Right now? She didn't want to believe that he was holding those sounds and images back. It scared her not to be in control. She glanced at him, aware of what he was telling her. She swallowed and looked down at the ground. She knew what he was telling her, in other words though. 'I control you.' She wanted to break free, she hated the feeling of depending on someone. Especially someone like him - a stranger, that obviously knew too much.

"I don't want you here", she said, looking at him, insecure, scared. "Get out of my head", she said, although she wasn't sure if that was what she wanted - she didn't want those sounds and images back, but at the same time, she didn't want him to be there. In her head. She wanted to be fine on her own. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone, you don't know me!" she screamed, walking towards him, desperately wanting the knowledge of someone else controlling her to go away. She reached towards him with her fists trying to hit him, hurting him.

 

[Kaisaan]

Well, that had escalated quickly.

Drejan sighed inwardly, but outwardly he was calm and when Hailey started to give him orders, he watched her patiently, knowing what she was going to do before she even did it. He was in her head, he knew her thoughts and that was an invasion of privacy right now, yes, but he was willing to risk her ire and initial dislike - or permanent dislike, whichever - to help her if he could. And to help her, she had to be lucid.

He let her hit him, her small frame stronger than it looked, but he'd had a lot worse and when her strikes became a bit more frantic, stronger, he caught her wrists in a hold that was surprisingly gentle even as it was firm and his voice was the same. "Hailey, stop. If I had any interest in controlling you, I could do it. The fact that you can speak what you'd like, move as you want to and think as you'd like should be proof enough that while I AM in your head, it's not for malicious purpose."

Drey let go of her again, knowing she didn't like prolonged contact - or any contact from him at this point - but fully prepared to catch her fists again if they came flying at him. He gave her a look that was stern even as it was patient, something he really didn't have a lot of with most people. It was only the ones his bleeding heart liked to pick that saw such patience. Lucky them.

"I understand that this freaks you out and I am sorry for that. I'm NOT delving into your mind, I'm only at the surface. Strong thoughts are what I see and I am holding back any that aren't yours. If you actually want me to let them go, I will. I'm not holding you against your will, Hailey. Walk away right now and I'll leave your mind. I can't stay in it once you're too far away anyway. I CAN help you, but if you want to go...then go."

 

[Winterwings]

Hailey looked at him, thoughtful. He was right. She wouldn't like to admit it, but what he said sounded as if it could be true. She relaxed some when he let go of her, glancing at her wrists quickly before looking at him again. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think without the constant reminder of him being there, right in front of her. She sat down slowly as if she was afraid of falling if she wasn't careful enough, and then she opened her eyes, glancing at him and then at her hands in her lap.

She didn't know what she wanted. It seemed like he was a good guy. Not that bad one that would take advantage of her being weak, she thought, as she had met plenty of those. "It's scary", she said, sounding a lot more calmer than before, although her voice was still a bit shaky. "If you let those thoughts go... the ones that you say aren't mine", she said and glanced at him, "will it be as it was... before, when you found me?", she said, thoughtful, looking down in her lap again. "I don't want that back", she said, not looking at him, but her eyes looking pretty scared. She bit her lip. "They'll go away eventually, though", she said, knowing that it would. Those frightening images and sounds would leave her eventually, even though it felt like ages before they did, sometimes.

"Maybe you could let go of some of them. Just so that I won't get it all back at once", she said, although what she really wanted to do was to run away from everything. She didn't want to deal with it at all. "Is there no way to just... skip it? It just scares me... a lot... as you said, not finding reality", she said, knowing that she was talking too much. She felt like there was no need to hold back though - if he was already in her mind, what difference would it make if she told him things, that he would find out, anyways?

 

[Kaisaan]

Drejan crouched in front of her, not speaking, not touching her, just listening as she spoke, as she thought and only when she started speaking TO him did he reply. He thought about what he should say, though, what he could say. His gray eyes grew even more clouded, almost white-ish as he focused on his gift, on the part inside Hailey's mind. The images and sounds beat at him, causing further pain, his headache to spike, but it wasn't anything he couldn't deal with and Drey frowned as he sifted through everything building up behind the filter he'd erected.

Eventually he actually spoke, voice slightly distracted but much more THERE than Hailey's had been when she'd been disconnected from reality. "I could start filtering some of them to you, sorting through them so maybe they make more sense, but I can't do that in the space of five or even fifteen minutes. It would take time, maybe an hour or two." He tilted his head, thoughtful, brown hair brushing his eyes as they cleared a little of the white glaze that had come over them, once again a piercing gray even if they weren't as sharp as before, still slightly distant.

"I don't know if it can be 'skipped'. Contrary to what you seem to think, I don't know everything about you or your ability." He smirked just a little, shaking his head. "I'm not THAT good." Drejan held her eyes again, making sure she was actually look at him before he spoke again. "I am good enough to make sure that you stay grounded until everything tapers off, however."

He raised a brow. "You'd have to stop hitting me, though."

 

[Winterwings]

Maybe it would be easier to just deal with it the usual way, she thought, closing her eyes. She couldn't quite remember the last time, specifically, that it had happened to her. She knew how she handled it though.

If there was someone with her, which she didn't like at all because of how they'd just freak out, they'd either call the ambulance or try to stop it themselves. The paramedics would only make it worse, thinking that she was in some psychosis, strapping her to a bed... she bit her lip and swallowed, put her palms against her forehead. When she was alone, it was easier. She didn't have to worry about anyone seeing her, and she would be able to do whatever she needed to. She wasn't sure what to do now though, because, after all, she wasn't alone.

"When I'm alone... I... Don't know really", she murmured, not sure of what to say any longer. What was there to say? "I don't want you to hold me down if I hurt myself... I hate that... everybody does that...", she said, maybe more to herself. She bit her lip and sighed. "It'd be good to stay a bit grounded. Maybe I won't get as freaked out", she said thoughtful, finally looking at him again. "I'll try not to hit you... but maybe then I'll hit myself instead. So, if you're OK with that, then I won't hit you", she said, although she knew that she couldn't make any promises.

 

[Kaisaan]

Drejan chuckled, his odd sense of humor tickled as he flashed Hailey a quick smile, his teeth white and then disappearing again. "Hailey, I'd rather you hit me than yourself. Just try to refrain as we walk, all right?"

He smiled a little again, this time closed-mouthed and stood, starting to offer a hand to the girl and then thinking better of it, letting her rise as he spoke. "I am going to assume you don't want to do this here. Not the safest place. We could be seen by anyone and that's dangerous for both of us, even if those people are well-meaning. His gray eyes met her blue-gray, studying. "I don't think you want me at your place. You'd most likely feel even more invaded than you do now, yes?"

Drey looked toward the alley opening and thought for a moment. Did he really want to take her back to his place - even if she'd go? No....and yes. It was HIS space, it was him in a way, but Hailey needed somewhere safe and she definitely needed help. And he WAS in HER head. Only fair to return the favor in a way, right? Ugh, stupid logic...

"We could go back to my apartment. I promise it's safe and as we've already established, if I had any alternative motives, I could have already implemented them."