xp_logs | LOG: Manuel and Lusanya - Bright Lights, Empty Mind?

Manuel has an encounter with the dead Askani empath Lusanya. They discuss his power, renew their acquaintance, and play some music. Manny proves, once again, that he's a letch. Takes place on Saturday, Jan 22nd, 2005.

The white bird fluttered down through the mindscape, landing amid the ash and debris of what had once been a vibrant nightclub, thrumming with color and music. The bird looked around almost speculatively, its blue eyes bright, and then blurred into the shape of a young blonde woman in a white robe.

"Manuel?" Lusanya called thoughtfully, the expression on her face a bit wary as she looked around.

Manuel poked his head out of the ruined club, carefully avoiding a few dandelions that were striving to break through the dust and catch some sunlight. "Yes?" he said courteously. "May I help you?"

Life, Lusanya thought, noticing the flowers. That was a positive sign, the outward representation of something more fundamental happening in his mind. She smiled gently at him. "I do not think you would remember me," she said firmly. "But I mean you no harm."

"That's good." he said with a smile. "I've had my fill of beings popping into my mind to do me harm. Come on in." he said trustingly, bowing courteously and allowing her access to the ruins of the Club. "Just trying to clean the old place up a bit. Stupid dust gets everywhere, you know."

"My name is Lusanya," she said, making the hand-to-heart gesture before she came in. "I used to visit you periodically, before your... accident." There was more stability here than she had expected, as well. More solidity.

Manuel nodded. "I am Manuel, but you already knew that. I am told my last name was de la Rocha, but it does not seem to fit me very well." he mused. "Anyway , come on in, make yourself at home. But I should warn you - I am not completely helpless here."

Lusanya smiled at the tone with which he delivered his warning - firm, but non-confrontational. "I would never harm you, Manuel," she said warmly. "I realize you have no reason to believe that, not remembering me, but I am content to simply visit and allow you to see that for yourself."

Manuel nodded. "I feel good about you being here." he said, oblivious to the overtones that represented. "So - do you like music?" he asked with a grin. "Because while the place may look like a mess, it does have a _killer_ sound system."

"I do. Very much." Lusanya tilted her head at him, intrigued. "You find your music here again, then?"

Manuel grinned. "Like Forge said, the sound system is fully capable of blowing women's clothes off at twenty paces. I've been listening to and playing a lot of music lately, and that tends to show up here as well. I like music. It makes me feel." he said.

"I am - " Best to stick to present tense; no need to confuse him. " - an empath too. In fact, I was one of your teachers."

"Really? I know that the new girl, Dani, is an empath. I don't remember ever having seen you around the Mansion - did I take any classes from you? How'd I do with the training?"

Lusanya smiled. "You did take classes," she said, making a mental note to speak to Nathan further about this Danielle. "But you do not see me around the mansion because I am... spectral, shall we say? In most cases, I can speak to you only within your mind."

"Umm, okay." he said, clearly confused but letting the matter drop. "That's a little weird. So - what kind of music do you like? I've been on an industrial kick lately, mostly from hanging out with Forge a little. But I like classical, trance, rock, you name it." he said with a flourish.

Ah, good. They weren't going to get into complex explanations. Lusanya smiled. "What you would call classical," she said, "or perhaps folk. Although you were teaching me to appreciate rock," she said, her eyes twinkling.

Manuel grinned and looked at Lusanya. "The robe has _got_ to go." he mused. "Really, it's so Middle Ages of you. You could try to keep up with the fashions of the time around you, you know." he said with a laugh. From the rafters of the club, the red house lights all flashed at once, drowning the entire club in red.

"Dammit!" Manuel growled in frustration. "It keeps _DOING_ that, and I have no idea why!"

Lusanya raised a hand in a soothing gesture. "Calm yourself," she said softly. "There is a reason. You will not see it if you are upset." She tilted her head at him. "How do the lights make you feel?"

Manuel stopped to think for a second. "I'm not sure." he confessed. "I got something, but it was indistinct, not sharp or real. Why do you ask?"

"This is all... symbolism," Lusanya said, waving a hand around at the clue. "A visual representation of what is going on deeper inside your mind. The lights are not lights, they are a manifestation of something else. To figure out what that something else is, you need to first understand your own reaction to it."

Manuel hrmmed as he sat himself down on the dusty ground to think for a moment. "Will you please lose the robe?" he growled at Lusanya as his mind spun. "I don't know." he said after a few moments. "Every time those things shine, it's different. This time my frustration levels just spiked. Other things, well, it was different." he said with just the hint of a blush.

Lusanya looked down at her robe a bit quizzically, then concentrated. It shifted into jeans and a t-shirt, and she looked up at him, smiling. "Better? And perhaps the lights are emotions, then. Your own projections, flashing through the damage."

Manuel grinned. "Better." It would help if he had mentioned about this thing called underwear, but really, she was far more fetching how she was. "Much better. And maybe. They do tell me that I used to be an empath..." he mused. "But my power is broken."

"Broken is perhaps a bad word," Lusanya said speculatively, sitting down and settling into a cross-legged position. "Wounded, perhaps?"

"Whatever." Manuel said dismissively. "Gone sums it up nicely. Inaccessable. Not here any more."

"There have been others here who have lost their powers. In many cases, they have come back," she said, trying to be encouraging. "Burnout is not permanent. The mind can heal itself, given time."

"Maybe." Manuel said skeptically. "But most people who burn out didn't have ancient sorceresses in their heads who wanted to use them for their own personal amusement. Not that I'm bitter or anything." he said with a rictus grin.

Lusanya reached out tentatively, laying her hand over his. "The peril of being so useful," she said, a trace of bitterness in her voice. "I am so sorry you were hurt."

Manuel clutched at Lusanya's hand for a moment, then let it go. "And right now, I'm not useful to anyone in that way." he said. "No power, no wealth, just me, taking up space and having weight." he said with great amusement. "Sometimes I wonder if I got the better of the deal."

"It does allow you to explore just... being. As opposed to being an empath," Lusanya pointed out, with another, sudden smile. "And you have Amanda, still."
Manuel got a stupid silly smile on his face. "I do at that." he said with a grin. "Wouldn't trade her for anything. She's been a real rock for me, putting up with all of my where-did-my-brain-go crap lately."

Lusanya got a speculative look suddenly, her gaze moving around the club. "Where is she? The link, I mean... can you show me?"

Manuel concentrated, and one of the floodlights (a red one, naturally) shone onto a spot on the floor. Inside the floodlight was Amanda, currently looking about to chew her fingernails down to the elbows. "She's a little stressed right now, so I'm trying to stay out of her way as much as I can. She's going to the Columbia memorial on Monday, and speaking at the ceremony."

"Are you going as well?"

Manuel nodded. "Yeah. To be there for her, mostly. Although I keep feeling guilty, feeling responsible. And I don't know why."

Hmm. A subject best avoided, perhaps. "She will be glad for your support," Lusanya said firmly, examining the image of Amanda in the flood. "You have a strong visualization of her, still. Broken powers or not."

"She's the one driving the link, not me." he said with a laugh. "I don't think the image dares be anything other than crisp and clean."

"What do you feel?" Lusanaya asked thoughtfully. "Looking upon that visualization, now."

Manuel looked at the projection and then colored slightly. "A gentleman does not kiss and tell." he said with an austere wink. "I'm worried for her." he admitted. "Worried about Monday, worried about how things will go."

"She needs... steadiness, more than anything else." Lusanya held his gaze. "Belief, that she will make it through this and make it through it well. To give her something to lean on." She was curious to see if his awareness of the nuances of emotions, such as it had been, had survived.

"I can do steadiness." he said with a great deal of bravado. "And I've tried my best to give her the belief that things will go well, and that this grand gesture of hers isn't just waving the red flag in front of the bull. Even though I'm not sure I actually believe that."

"A reference from your homeland," Lusanya pointed out, intrigued. "The red flag and the bull."

Manuel blinked, and then nodded. "Bullfighting." he said with a laugh. "I've actually missed it. Next time I'm back in Spain, I should go. Ah, they were such fun. As much action in the stands as there was with the matador and the bull. A passionate drama for passionate people."

Lusanya watched him for a long moment, smiling. "I am reassured," she said. "You are still healing, but it is progressing, I think."

Manuel grinned."It would seem. I remember more every day. Little things, bits and pieces. Some things are still locked away, but the trifles come back to me easily now."

"They are all pieces of the puzzle of you," Lusanya said almost mischievously. "And you are a puzzle, Manuel, that I have always believed... but you are reassembling yourself."

Manuel looked at Lusanya. "I'll take that as a compliment." he said with a laugh. "And speaking of memories, I just remembered something." And then in one corner of the ruined hall an Askani instrument appeared - their equivalent of the piano. "I do not recall what it is called, but you showed me this once."

Lusanya clapped her hands delightedly and jumped to her feet, almost skipping over. Her hands moved gracefully over the keyboard, coaxing music from it. "Very good, Manuel," she murmured, smiling at him as she played. "Very good indeed."

The instrument felt very, very right even if the play was distinctly off. "I knew you'd like it." he said with a laugh. Unnoticed to him, one of the red stage lights closest to Lusanya pulsed for a brief moment before falling dark again.

Lusanya did notice the light, but didn't stop playing. "Do you wonder why you are so drawn to music?" she asked.

Manuel shrugged. "It appeals to me." he said simply. "When a good piece of music is playing, I can just about feel what the composer intended. It stirs something inside of me."

Lusanya nodded. "Music is important, to most empaths," she said. "It is a visceral thing. It appeals to us on a very fundamental level."

"Sometimes a painting or something like it will evoke the same thing, but with music it's always there and always strong." he said with a grin. "Is that me, or is that my power?"

"A little bit of both, perhaps. What is that saying... what comes first, the chicken or the egg?"

Manuel grinned. "I suppose so, and I feel better for hearing it." he admitted. "Thanks."

Lusanya let her hands wander from one piece of music to the next, seamlessly. She was indeed much reassured. Taking the chance to enter his dream tonight had been a good thought.

Manuel closed his eyes to better hear the music, and the lights up in the rafters lit the entire hall in a red swath of light. The lights dimmed and swooped and swayed to and fro in time with the emotional content of what Lusanya was playing, and when the last notes died away and Manuel opened his eyes so too did the red lights fade away. "Amazing stuff." he said with a grin and a slight sniffle. "But a bit sad, don't you think?"

"Sad, perhaps. Or merely a recognition that all things are ephemeral." Lusanya said, making careful note of the change in the patterns of the lights. There were many interesting things to relate to Xavier, via Nathan.

Manuel made a face. "It's too nice of a day - night - whatever! - for such dark thoughts. You need to cheer up more."

"I have been sad, of late. Worried about my friends." Lusanya smiled at him. "I am less worried now than I was."

Manuel blinked. "Well then, one less worry is a reason to celebrate a bit, I suppose. But the hour is late, and I need some real sleep. I have an econ quiz tomorrow."

Lusanya took her hands away from the keyboard reluctantly, but continued to smile. "May I come back another time?" she asked hopefully. "You once gave me an open invitation."

Manuel smiled. "You may. I feel that you would never intentionally cause me harm." he grinned.
And she had the most _spectacular_ chest. He really had to convince her to wear modern garb more often. Her shapeless robe did her no favors, and while he was fairly sure she wasn't interested, he was decidedly male enough to enjoy the looking. "So you may return whenver you wish, with the understanding that there are some nights when I will need my sleep more than I desire the pleasures of your company."

"Merely tell me, on those nights, and I will depart again," Lusanya said, rising from the instrument. "Sleep well, little brother," she said, and blurred into the shape of the white bird. The bird circled around in the air, flying close enough to Manuel to brush his cheek with her feathers before ascending steadily.

Manuel watched the bird fly away. "Showoff." he said, but he was smiling when he said it.