Meggan and Topaz || Empathy

[x-topaz.livejournal.com]

Topaz and Meggan experiment a bit with empathy. Trees, as it turns out, are very peaceful.



Topaz fidgeted uncertainly as she sat on a rock, waiting. She'd been nervous, to say the least, when Mr. Haller had suggested working with Meggan. She wasn't about to say no either, though.

Her eyes flickered up, and she stood quickly when she saw Meggan approaching, shoving her hands into her pockets and trying to look relaxed.

Meggan’s first thought had been to start lessons somewhere where there was room to breathe, but also near to help if things went all wrong. Which they probably wouldn’t. “Hey,” she greeted with a small smile. It was nerves all around, then, but they could try tapping into nature to take care of that a little at a time as they went.

“We could scoot closer to the trees before we start," Meggan suggested. “If you want?” The grass would be softer than rocks, and there would be protection from the sun if the temperature went up, but she was fine with either location to start things off. It was Topaz she wanted comfortable.

"Sure," Topaz said quickly, trying to shove the nerves down. Being out of the sun would be better anyways, she wasn't a huge fan of the heat. "So...what is your mutation? If you don't mind me asking," she added hastily. "Mr. Haller said it was like empathy but not...?"

“I don’t mind,” Meggan reassured her as they found a shadier location. “He’s right. I’m an empathic shapeshifter, but I don’t project at all, I just receive. I feel people, animals, natural elements.”

Examples might help Topaz understand the elements part, Meggan realized. “So...I’m able to, for example, feel that tree if I’m synched up with it, and blend in by being leafy, with bark-colored skin. Or grow fur, or gills in the pool if I need to, depending on the situation. Some levitating.” She had left something out, and added, “I look a little fiery when I’m trying to synch with flames, but I’m not—it’s all just superficial.”

"Really?" Topaz looked around at the trees surrounding them. "What do elements feel like?" She was a bit fascinated by the thought of it. "I mean, they don't actually have feelings...do they?"

That was tough to explain, but Meggan would give it a go. “It’s more like the sensations of everything running through the tree, when I’m synched up with it, than actual specific emotions that they have, if that makes sense. Or for water, too, it’s usually calming, soothing.” Most of the time, she remembered. “Well, unless they have something like a terrible case of termites going on with the tree, and then it just feels strangely wrong and uncomfortable in the middle of that, without ever being specific.” But this one was fine, she knew, as she had played around with it before when she wanted to climb around.

Topaz...understood. Sort of. She was still having a bit of difficulty wrapping her head around it. "Sounds...peaceful," she said after a moment, eyeing the trees with some amount of curiosity.

“It tends to be,” Meggan agreed. “When nothing’s going on around the trees that might be bad, it really is peaceful and pleasant.” Like the aforementioned termites. And hopefully not too overwhelming for the other girl if Topaz felt it through her. Because trees would have to be lesson one, whatever they needed to try.

Another look at the trees, and Topaz pressed her lips together for a long moment before finally saying, "Could I...?" She waved a hand, trying to ask if she could feel it through Meggan. She'd been keeping her shields up high ever since the...incident.

“Yes, go ahead,” Meggan nodded as she leaned against the tree. Because if it could possibly make things easier for the both of them if she was close to it, then she’d better go that route. Instead of just next to it. Her plan had been to hold off on actually synching up with it until they were both totally, one hundred percent ready to dive in, but they were probably ready right now. “I’m ready whenever you are,” she added.

Topaz had learned quickly from working with Haller that it was easier to just dive right instead of waiting to be ready. Especially considering her tendency to put things off. So as Meggan leaned back she closed her eyes and let her shields down carefully, zeroing in on the only emotional source within her range.

Oh. Her lips tugged into a thoughtful frown as she opened her eyes again, focusing on Meggan. That was...interesting.

It was sort of different to have her feeling what Meggan was linking up to as she was doing it, but it wasn’t different in a bad way. It didn’t feel like anything was going wrong, either. But then how would she know before it did? She opened her eyes, quickly noting that her arm had gone the same shade as the bark, blending in like a chameleon wherever she was touching it. She was more concerned with how Topaz was faring. “Do you see what I mean about it not being a specific emotion? It's more a weave that overlaps.”

"It's strange," Topaz murmured. "Not in a bad way," she added quickly. "Just...usually when there's too much...yeah." Things like what had happened in June happened. But this was quiet. It wasn't overwhelming.

“Yeah,” Meggan agreed, understanding what she meant. Good, then she had picked a safe one. She thought she had, but it was good to confirm. “Since trees can’t really do much that’s all ‘ahh’ like people can, I’d hoped it wouldn’t be too much,” she explained. “Even if it was a teensy bit strange for you to feel it.”

Strange as it might have been, it was also doing quite a bit of good for her nerves. Topaz closed her eyes again, taking a moment to relax before putting her shields back up again. She didn't like spending too long in people's heads if she could help it. "I wonder..." She murmured as she opened her eyes again. She was curious how it would work if she were to drain Meggan when she synced like this. Not that she would. But she couldn't stop herself from wondering.

Surmising that the other girl was finished with this tree being Lesson #1 for the moment, Meggan gently moved her hand away from it, and shifted so she wasn’t leaning completely against the bark. It was nice to unwind that way, if she could…well, that, or climbing into it, and sleeping on a branch if the weather was just right. “Wonder what,” she finally asked, out of more than a flicker of curiosity. If it was a question about a thing she had felt in any layer of when they had been linked, she could try to answer.

She tilted her head for a moment, thinking. "When you...sync to something...what happens to your emotions?" It wasn't exactly the question she'd been thinking, but it might help her answer it on her own.

“They’re still there like always, they don’t ever go away. They’re not suppressed,” Meggan started carefully. She was trying to figure out how to phrase it in a way that made sense. “I guess it’s more that…it goes through and around me, and I can sift through. And I can pick apart the difference between mine and the feelings that are not me, the ones are coming from outside me. They register differently for me, if that makes sense.” She hoped it made some semblance of sense in the end, because it was the best way to explain it.

Topaz nodded as Meggan spoke. It made sense. It sounded a lot like what happened when she drained someone's emotions. "I get it." It didn't help answer her question like she thought it would, but she wouldn't ask either. It wasn't like there was any way to find out - she didn't really feel like experimenting with draining, never mind that she wouldn't be allowed to. She pressed her lips together for a moment before saying, "Could we...try again? With the tree, I mean."

“Of course we can, that's not going to be a problem,” Meggan agreed. It would be fine to dive right back into the tree. “Do you want to stick with trying this one, or select a different tree? There isn’t much of a difference between what you’d get to pick up.” At least not from the healthy ones in terms of quality of sensing, but it never hurt to ask. If there was, it was miniscule.

Topaz looked around for a moment, then said, "Could we try a different one?" Logically she knew there wouldn't be any real difference, but now she was curious.

“Sure! Let’s see...” Maybe that one? “How about we try the one with a fair sized chunk of moss growing down the middle of it--to your left, just over there,” she said as she pointed it out. “We’ll try that one next.”