Manuel & Dani - Empathy

[x-mirage.livejournal.com]

After this post Manuel comes by to help Dani regain control. She falls into a much needed sleep on him.




Manuel knocked on Danielle's door. He didn't remember all of the specifics, but he spent the entire trip up to her room racking his brain as to everything he could bring back to mind about controlling
an empathic power. He knew he could help her - something deep inside of him demanded it. He didn't have anybody who could when he manifested, after all, and he would be _damned_ if he was going to let her feel what he felt, do what he did, when his power was out of control.

"Come in," she called brusquely, not getting up to open the door. She had been laying in bed trying to go to sleep, but had only ended up more agitated and wandering the journals and the halls. Now she was back in bed.

Manuel let himself in and closed the door behing her. "How do you feel?" he asked without preamble, ignoring her state of dishelvellment in favor of her mental state. "Do you want to try the shielding
technique I was talking about?" he asked her. "I can help you shut everyone else out. It worked for me, it can work for you."

"Yeah, sit," she said, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face, "Or do we need someplace else?"

"Here will be fine." he said with a reassuring smile. "Now then - I'm going to ask you to focus your power on me. As deep as you can go, don't worry about anything else. Focus on what I'm feeling. Feel what I feel, and the others, all the bombardments of lusts and fears and loves and all that should just fade away. But you have to concentrate on me, OK?" he instructed. "Can you do that?"

"I can try," Danielle sat up straighter looking at Manuel. Calm. Determined. Reassurance. Slowly the other emotions faded to the background before rushing back again, "Ugh, it's not as easy as it sounds!"

"Of course it isn't. If it was easy we'd all be doing it all the time and never have to worry. Now concentrate!" he told her, then closed his eyes to smooth out his own emotions as best he could. To aid him in this endeavor, he imagined his favorite calm piece of music - right now, that was an instrumental VNV Nation piece - and let the electronica soothe him, take him away from the peaks and valleys of normal emotional living.

Again Danielle followed, combining Manuel's feelings with what Nathan had taught her about breathing techniques. Gradually the other emotions faded leaving only Manuel. It was soothing and unbelievably scary to feel that much of a person without actually touching them. Danielle opened her eyes, confirming that they were still facing each other on the bed and the outside emotions came crashing back, "Owwww..." she moaned, clutching her head.

"You had it there for a second. You have to learn your own emotions, to be aware of them and how they mess you up. That will come with time. For now, just concentrate on me. Come on, you can do this, I know you can." There was something nibbling at the back of his mind, a figure cloaked in black skulking about the weeds and dust of his mindscape. Manuel paid it no mind. "Just stretch out your feelings." he urged her, unaware of how exactly like the Star Wars movies he sounded.

Closing her eyes again, Danielle reached out with her powers, enveloping herself in Manuel's emotions. The calm came much more quickly this time, the rest of the school receding like clouds. Without paying attention, she curled up in Manuel's lap, falling asleep.

Manuel looked at the girl sleeping in his lap. She was tempting him, she most indeed was. And she wasn't even really his _type_. But she was exotic to him, and exoticism had always excited him. He could still feel her power touching his mind, touching something deep within his mind. But she had dropped off quickly enough once she had mastered the distraction technique. He shifted his weight, to avoid her putting any direct contact on sensitive bits of his anatomy, and watched her sleep - making sure that she would not rouse if he removed himself from her presence.