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xp_logsManuel finally meets Meggan. It's not the bonding between empaths you'd expect.
Meggan tried not to bounce too much on her chair. She LIKED the kitchen... it was clean, and it smelled of lots of good food, and every time they came down here Manda gave her nice things to eat. She watched intently as clear yellowish stuff was poured into a cup (apul jooce, she remembered it being called), and orange things (car-ot stiks) and bread with brown stuff on it (she had no idea what THAT was, but it tasted good) were arranged on a plate. Then - joy! - the plate and cup were in front of her and she could eat.
"~Slowly, Meg, or you'll make yourself sick,~" Amanda cautioned, not wanting a repeat of the Unfortunate Vomit Incident. She'd really liked that pair of jeans, too. She repeated it in English, since translating for everyone was becoming a habit. "Slow, all right? There's plenty there." Grinning a little as Meggan obediently slowed down the wolfing, she sat down at the table, sipping at the cup of tea she'd made for herself.
Meggan gnawed on a piece of carrot, reaching over to pat Manda's arm a little. She didn't mind getting put down so much, now, but she still touched Manda often, just to make sure she was really there. "~Food good,~" she said in Romany. Before, she would have probably had no more to eat all day than she was having in this one meal - and it wouldn't have been fresh, either.
Aamnda didn't mind the contact - she understood the need, and actually it was nice, the little touches and hugs. "~Food's very good,~" she agreed. "~How about after lunch we go see Bella and Nate again? Would you like that?~"
Manuel, torn from his studies and his room by the desperate growling of his stomach, decided to risk public exposure in the sake of sustenance. So far, his luck was holding - he hadn't come across anyone on his way to the kitchen. Unfortunately, as was so often the case with him, overconfidence turned around to bite him.
His least favorite person in the universe and her new pet monkey-thing were sitting in the kitchen, making disgusting faces and cooing at each other in Romany. His language skills were nowhere near on a par with Amanda's, and she'd never shown much of an interest in teaching him the language. It didn't matter - he had to keep a pleasant face up, to keep from causing ugly scenes in the kitchen. He'd already had one of those in his lifetime, and that was quite enough, thank you.
But the feeling he got from the monkey-thing, that was an entirely different game altogether. Knowingly or not, the monkey-thing was an empath, or Manuel would eat Amanda's socks for a week. He was sure of it. Nobody else felt quite like that.
Amanda looked up automatically as Manuel entered the kitchen, but the greeting died on her lips as she realised who it was. It had been made abundantly clear how he felt about her - the weave on his door aimed specifically at her was one indication, the block on the link the other - and she'd been trying to keep out of his way as a courtesy. She understood a little better the family history thing, Margali having been trying to impress the history of the caravan on her, but she didn't agree with his reaction. The world was a better place without Alphonso. But Meggan was still eating, and she wouldn't interrupt that, not when she was still so woefully thin. "Hey," she settled for at last, knowing something had to be said. Her voice was flat and expressionless, all the hurt and longing and anger bottled up as well as she could.
Meggan stopped with a piece of bread halfway to her mouth, looking from one of them to the other. Manda suddenly felt awful - angry and miserable, and all because of the Person who'd just come in. And as for him... he was angry, too. Very. And hurt, which was making him more angry. Frowning, she reached out to take hold of Manda's arm. "~What?~" she whispered, glad the table was between her and the newcomer.
Manuel did his level best to ignore Amanda, choosing instead to focus in on the monkey-thing. Which was actually a little girl, he realized with a start. A very malnourished and extremely ugly little girl! "~Good morning. My name is Manuel.~" he told her in Castillian, approaching her slowly so as to accommodate her extreme wariness. As a courtesy, he thinned his shields for her, so she could feel who he was, know him in the way that only another empath could know someone. "~What is your name?~"
Meggan flinched, sensing his shock and repulsion when he looked at her. That was how most People felt, when they looked at her. And then... then she could feel what he was feeling more clearly, suddenly, as if he was somehow showing her what he was feeling. Anger at Manda, a mixture of disdain and interest in Meggan herself, and... recognition? She slid off her chair to lean up against Manda's side, giving him a puzzled look. "~Manda? What say?~"
"~He said hello, and that his name is Manuel. And then he asked you your name.~" Amanda wrapped a comforting arm around Meggan - she was pretty sure by now her little girl had empathic sensitivity at the very least, and the emotional turmoil coming off her alone must have been pretty confusing. "~It's all right, love. He won't hurt you.~" She looked up at Manuel. "She doesn't understand much more 'n a few words of German or Rom. I'll have t' translate for you," she said, in as neutral tone as possible.
Manuel ignored Amanda completely. He didn't need words to communicate, not when a much more primal and important means was available. Still looking at Meggan, he put his hands on the table and lowered his eyes to her level. "~We are alike, you and I.~" he said in Castillian, while lightly projecting reassurance and respect to her. Very lightly. "~We have much in common.~"
Meggan clung tightly to Manda's arm, eyeing the stranger suspiciously. He didn't like Manda, and Manda was unhappy because he was here. Those were bad signs. And then... he sort of pushed feelings at her, the way Nate had, but different. They were just feelings, not words or pictures in her head. And... HE felt different. He was pushing a comforting, recognizing feeling at her, but underneath it, she was sensing anger and pride, wrapped around him like a blanket. She made a distrustful little noise, wondering if he could sense her distrust and fear....
"~It's all right, love,~" Amanda repeated, although she wasn't entirely sure of that. It was obvious Manuel had recognised a fellow empath, and she wasn't about to come between that - no-one knew better than she did Manuel's feeling of isolation in that regard. But Meggan was frightened and that wouldn't do. "You're scarin' her," she told Manuel, a touch of hardness entering her voice.
Manuel glanced up at Amanda. "Be silent." he told her coldly. "Let me talk to the child's feelings. Do you think that, perhaps, you could just go over there and sit on your hands for a moment, or is that too much to ask of you? You've barely had time to unpack, running away again should be child's play for you." he said curtly to her. To Meggan, he softened his tone completely and tried to push away his toxically fouled emotions regarding Amanda in favor of the pure emotions of a child.
"~I will not hurt you, little one.~" he said in Castillian, extending a hand towards her, to touch her skin-to-skin. "~You have my word on that.~" he told her, trying to be sympathetic and soothing as best he could.
She could sense the venom in the incomprehensible words he directed at Manda, and Manda's pain at hearing them. And then he touched her, and she could read him better - and she flinched away. She'd known minds like that, but worse, before Manda rescued her, bitter and angry and selfish, thinking of her as a thing to be owned and used... this one might not see her that way, now, but he was capable of it.
And he was hurting Manda. And pushing nice feelings at Meggan, trying to make her like him, even as he made Manda hurt, trying to come between them. He was BAD.
With an angry, frightened yelp, she lunged, sinking her teeth into his arm, sharp little teeth digging through his sleeve and into his skin. BAD, go away!
Manuel's attempts at being understanding and sympathetic ended when the little rotter sank her teeth into his arm. "OW!" he yelled, forgetting discipline and power both in favor of giving his arm a good shake to try to dislodge the child.
"Meggan!" Amanda reached forward, grabbing Meggan around the waist. "~Stop it!~" she said sternly - sure, Manuel was being an A-grade shit and scaring Meggan, but biting was Not On. And neither was shaking, and if Meggan didn't let go, there was a chance Manuel would hurt her to make her stop. "~Let him go, now!~"
"She fucking BIT ME!" Manuel yelled, shaking harder to get the child to let go. Sure, he could just compel it, but he couldn't guarantee that her psyche would survive the experience. "LET GO!" he yelled at Meggan, unwilling in the extreme to use any real force against a child. Even his shakes were more to disengage himself from the child, not to hurt her. "Amanda, make this child release my arm." he ordered.
Shaken loose, Meggan smacked into the edge of the table and let out a wail.
She slid hastily under the table, trying to hide - it wasn't much of a shelter, but it was better than nothing. Once safely out of his sight, she managed a tiny, defiant growl. She'd drawn a little blood, at least. He deserved it, for making Manda hurt!
Moving between Manuel and Meggan, Amanda crouched down and stretched out a hand for Meggan to grab if she wanted to. "I told you she was frightened," she said to Manuel, shooting him a look that clearly said she'd had it with his arrogance. Then she turned her attention entirely to Meggan. "~It's all right, Meggan, I'm here,~" she murmured soothingly, hoping this wasn't going to damage her too badly. "~I'm sorry, I won't let him upset you any more.~"
Manuel walked over to the sink to wash the blood off his arm, and to gauge the extent of his damage. "Well, that was productive." he said disgustedly. "What a wonderful creature you've brought home." he said to Amanda. "Is it housebroken, or do we need to chase it with a scoop to clean up its messes?"
Meggan crawled over to clutch Manda's hand, still growling softly. This one was a BAD person, and she hoped he knew she thought so! Nasty, to make Manda so unhappy. She was glad she'd bitten him, even if she did get beaten for it. "~BAD,~" she said, with emphasis.
"She's fine with everyone else," she said pointedly, pulling Meggan a little closer to her and cuddling her close. "~Hush, love, it's all right.~" As an added reassurance, she cast the shielding spell, knowing she could block Manuel's power that way and hoping it worked the same for Meggan - anything to cut the toxic emotions even she was sensing.
Manuel eyed the blue flash of the shielding spell, and touched it experimentally. "Keep her away from me." he said between gritted teeth, as the paper towel he was using to staunch the blood was slowly soaking through. "Shit. I don't know what she could be infected with. I'll need to report to Medlab." he said, turning around to do precisely that. "I meant what I said." he told Amanda, still keeping his back to her. "Keep that thing away from me. Empathic or not, you've already poisoned her mind. Can you keep her in that bubble forever? She'll go mad without training."
There. She'd known she was right about him. Dark, savage emotion was pouring off him - anger, resentment, bitterness, fear... Meggan inched closer to Manda, peeking around her at the Bad Man. "~Bad AWAY,~" she told him, clinging to Manda's hand.
"~We'll go now,~" Amanda agreed, awkwardly scooting backwards with Meggan still clinging to her like a limpet and standing up, the child in her arms. Manuel's words were worse than physical blows, but she was damned if she was going to let him see that. And she had to get Meggan away from him. "~Come on, love, we'll go see Nate, all right?~" Hopefully Nathan would be able to help her sort out this mess - the telepathy meant he was better at communicating with Meggan than she was. "I'm her mum, I'll sort out her trainin', an' anythin' else. Don't bother yerself with either of us," she told Manuel coldly, shielding spell still up and a mutinous Meggan holding tightly to her. "An' you might want t' see 'bout a tetanus shot. Bites are bad that way."
"Tetanus and gangrene, most likely. Suppose I should get checked for syphillis while I'm there." he said unkindly, then stormed out of the kitchen. He never did get breakfast, he realized as he entered into the elevator that would take him down to Medical.
Meggan looked after him, cuddling up to Manda. "~Bad,~" she repeated disapprovingly, and then she put her arms around Manda's neck, hugging her gently. Manda was miserable, she could feel it, and she nosed her smooth cheek gently. "~Manda good,~" she said softly, trying to comfort her. "~Manda not sad be.~"
The link was aching in the back of her mind, vibrating with barely-surpressed hatred. "~I'll be all right, love,~" she murmured, although she wasn't entirely sure about that. "~Come on, let's go visit Nate.~"
Meggan tried not to bounce too much on her chair. She LIKED the kitchen... it was clean, and it smelled of lots of good food, and every time they came down here Manda gave her nice things to eat. She watched intently as clear yellowish stuff was poured into a cup (apul jooce, she remembered it being called), and orange things (car-ot stiks) and bread with brown stuff on it (she had no idea what THAT was, but it tasted good) were arranged on a plate. Then - joy! - the plate and cup were in front of her and she could eat.
"~Slowly, Meg, or you'll make yourself sick,~" Amanda cautioned, not wanting a repeat of the Unfortunate Vomit Incident. She'd really liked that pair of jeans, too. She repeated it in English, since translating for everyone was becoming a habit. "Slow, all right? There's plenty there." Grinning a little as Meggan obediently slowed down the wolfing, she sat down at the table, sipping at the cup of tea she'd made for herself.
Meggan gnawed on a piece of carrot, reaching over to pat Manda's arm a little. She didn't mind getting put down so much, now, but she still touched Manda often, just to make sure she was really there. "~Food good,~" she said in Romany. Before, she would have probably had no more to eat all day than she was having in this one meal - and it wouldn't have been fresh, either.
Aamnda didn't mind the contact - she understood the need, and actually it was nice, the little touches and hugs. "~Food's very good,~" she agreed. "~How about after lunch we go see Bella and Nate again? Would you like that?~"
Manuel, torn from his studies and his room by the desperate growling of his stomach, decided to risk public exposure in the sake of sustenance. So far, his luck was holding - he hadn't come across anyone on his way to the kitchen. Unfortunately, as was so often the case with him, overconfidence turned around to bite him.
His least favorite person in the universe and her new pet monkey-thing were sitting in the kitchen, making disgusting faces and cooing at each other in Romany. His language skills were nowhere near on a par with Amanda's, and she'd never shown much of an interest in teaching him the language. It didn't matter - he had to keep a pleasant face up, to keep from causing ugly scenes in the kitchen. He'd already had one of those in his lifetime, and that was quite enough, thank you.
But the feeling he got from the monkey-thing, that was an entirely different game altogether. Knowingly or not, the monkey-thing was an empath, or Manuel would eat Amanda's socks for a week. He was sure of it. Nobody else felt quite like that.
Amanda looked up automatically as Manuel entered the kitchen, but the greeting died on her lips as she realised who it was. It had been made abundantly clear how he felt about her - the weave on his door aimed specifically at her was one indication, the block on the link the other - and she'd been trying to keep out of his way as a courtesy. She understood a little better the family history thing, Margali having been trying to impress the history of the caravan on her, but she didn't agree with his reaction. The world was a better place without Alphonso. But Meggan was still eating, and she wouldn't interrupt that, not when she was still so woefully thin. "Hey," she settled for at last, knowing something had to be said. Her voice was flat and expressionless, all the hurt and longing and anger bottled up as well as she could.
Meggan stopped with a piece of bread halfway to her mouth, looking from one of them to the other. Manda suddenly felt awful - angry and miserable, and all because of the Person who'd just come in. And as for him... he was angry, too. Very. And hurt, which was making him more angry. Frowning, she reached out to take hold of Manda's arm. "~What?~" she whispered, glad the table was between her and the newcomer.
Manuel did his level best to ignore Amanda, choosing instead to focus in on the monkey-thing. Which was actually a little girl, he realized with a start. A very malnourished and extremely ugly little girl! "~Good morning. My name is Manuel.~" he told her in Castillian, approaching her slowly so as to accommodate her extreme wariness. As a courtesy, he thinned his shields for her, so she could feel who he was, know him in the way that only another empath could know someone. "~What is your name?~"
Meggan flinched, sensing his shock and repulsion when he looked at her. That was how most People felt, when they looked at her. And then... then she could feel what he was feeling more clearly, suddenly, as if he was somehow showing her what he was feeling. Anger at Manda, a mixture of disdain and interest in Meggan herself, and... recognition? She slid off her chair to lean up against Manda's side, giving him a puzzled look. "~Manda? What say?~"
"~He said hello, and that his name is Manuel. And then he asked you your name.~" Amanda wrapped a comforting arm around Meggan - she was pretty sure by now her little girl had empathic sensitivity at the very least, and the emotional turmoil coming off her alone must have been pretty confusing. "~It's all right, love. He won't hurt you.~" She looked up at Manuel. "She doesn't understand much more 'n a few words of German or Rom. I'll have t' translate for you," she said, in as neutral tone as possible.
Manuel ignored Amanda completely. He didn't need words to communicate, not when a much more primal and important means was available. Still looking at Meggan, he put his hands on the table and lowered his eyes to her level. "~We are alike, you and I.~" he said in Castillian, while lightly projecting reassurance and respect to her. Very lightly. "~We have much in common.~"
Meggan clung tightly to Manda's arm, eyeing the stranger suspiciously. He didn't like Manda, and Manda was unhappy because he was here. Those were bad signs. And then... he sort of pushed feelings at her, the way Nate had, but different. They were just feelings, not words or pictures in her head. And... HE felt different. He was pushing a comforting, recognizing feeling at her, but underneath it, she was sensing anger and pride, wrapped around him like a blanket. She made a distrustful little noise, wondering if he could sense her distrust and fear....
"~It's all right, love,~" Amanda repeated, although she wasn't entirely sure of that. It was obvious Manuel had recognised a fellow empath, and she wasn't about to come between that - no-one knew better than she did Manuel's feeling of isolation in that regard. But Meggan was frightened and that wouldn't do. "You're scarin' her," she told Manuel, a touch of hardness entering her voice.
Manuel glanced up at Amanda. "Be silent." he told her coldly. "Let me talk to the child's feelings. Do you think that, perhaps, you could just go over there and sit on your hands for a moment, or is that too much to ask of you? You've barely had time to unpack, running away again should be child's play for you." he said curtly to her. To Meggan, he softened his tone completely and tried to push away his toxically fouled emotions regarding Amanda in favor of the pure emotions of a child.
"~I will not hurt you, little one.~" he said in Castillian, extending a hand towards her, to touch her skin-to-skin. "~You have my word on that.~" he told her, trying to be sympathetic and soothing as best he could.
She could sense the venom in the incomprehensible words he directed at Manda, and Manda's pain at hearing them. And then he touched her, and she could read him better - and she flinched away. She'd known minds like that, but worse, before Manda rescued her, bitter and angry and selfish, thinking of her as a thing to be owned and used... this one might not see her that way, now, but he was capable of it.
And he was hurting Manda. And pushing nice feelings at Meggan, trying to make her like him, even as he made Manda hurt, trying to come between them. He was BAD.
With an angry, frightened yelp, she lunged, sinking her teeth into his arm, sharp little teeth digging through his sleeve and into his skin. BAD, go away!
Manuel's attempts at being understanding and sympathetic ended when the little rotter sank her teeth into his arm. "OW!" he yelled, forgetting discipline and power both in favor of giving his arm a good shake to try to dislodge the child.
"Meggan!" Amanda reached forward, grabbing Meggan around the waist. "~Stop it!~" she said sternly - sure, Manuel was being an A-grade shit and scaring Meggan, but biting was Not On. And neither was shaking, and if Meggan didn't let go, there was a chance Manuel would hurt her to make her stop. "~Let him go, now!~"
"She fucking BIT ME!" Manuel yelled, shaking harder to get the child to let go. Sure, he could just compel it, but he couldn't guarantee that her psyche would survive the experience. "LET GO!" he yelled at Meggan, unwilling in the extreme to use any real force against a child. Even his shakes were more to disengage himself from the child, not to hurt her. "Amanda, make this child release my arm." he ordered.
Shaken loose, Meggan smacked into the edge of the table and let out a wail.
She slid hastily under the table, trying to hide - it wasn't much of a shelter, but it was better than nothing. Once safely out of his sight, she managed a tiny, defiant growl. She'd drawn a little blood, at least. He deserved it, for making Manda hurt!
Moving between Manuel and Meggan, Amanda crouched down and stretched out a hand for Meggan to grab if she wanted to. "I told you she was frightened," she said to Manuel, shooting him a look that clearly said she'd had it with his arrogance. Then she turned her attention entirely to Meggan. "~It's all right, Meggan, I'm here,~" she murmured soothingly, hoping this wasn't going to damage her too badly. "~I'm sorry, I won't let him upset you any more.~"
Manuel walked over to the sink to wash the blood off his arm, and to gauge the extent of his damage. "Well, that was productive." he said disgustedly. "What a wonderful creature you've brought home." he said to Amanda. "Is it housebroken, or do we need to chase it with a scoop to clean up its messes?"
Meggan crawled over to clutch Manda's hand, still growling softly. This one was a BAD person, and she hoped he knew she thought so! Nasty, to make Manda so unhappy. She was glad she'd bitten him, even if she did get beaten for it. "~BAD,~" she said, with emphasis.
"She's fine with everyone else," she said pointedly, pulling Meggan a little closer to her and cuddling her close. "~Hush, love, it's all right.~" As an added reassurance, she cast the shielding spell, knowing she could block Manuel's power that way and hoping it worked the same for Meggan - anything to cut the toxic emotions even she was sensing.
Manuel eyed the blue flash of the shielding spell, and touched it experimentally. "Keep her away from me." he said between gritted teeth, as the paper towel he was using to staunch the blood was slowly soaking through. "Shit. I don't know what she could be infected with. I'll need to report to Medlab." he said, turning around to do precisely that. "I meant what I said." he told Amanda, still keeping his back to her. "Keep that thing away from me. Empathic or not, you've already poisoned her mind. Can you keep her in that bubble forever? She'll go mad without training."
There. She'd known she was right about him. Dark, savage emotion was pouring off him - anger, resentment, bitterness, fear... Meggan inched closer to Manda, peeking around her at the Bad Man. "~Bad AWAY,~" she told him, clinging to Manda's hand.
"~We'll go now,~" Amanda agreed, awkwardly scooting backwards with Meggan still clinging to her like a limpet and standing up, the child in her arms. Manuel's words were worse than physical blows, but she was damned if she was going to let him see that. And she had to get Meggan away from him. "~Come on, love, we'll go see Nate, all right?~" Hopefully Nathan would be able to help her sort out this mess - the telepathy meant he was better at communicating with Meggan than she was. "I'm her mum, I'll sort out her trainin', an' anythin' else. Don't bother yerself with either of us," she told Manuel coldly, shielding spell still up and a mutinous Meggan holding tightly to her. "An' you might want t' see 'bout a tetanus shot. Bites are bad that way."
"Tetanus and gangrene, most likely. Suppose I should get checked for syphillis while I'm there." he said unkindly, then stormed out of the kitchen. He never did get breakfast, he realized as he entered into the elevator that would take him down to Medical.
Meggan looked after him, cuddling up to Manda. "~Bad,~" she repeated disapprovingly, and then she put her arms around Manda's neck, hugging her gently. Manda was miserable, she could feel it, and she nosed her smooth cheek gently. "~Manda good,~" she said softly, trying to comfort her. "~Manda not sad be.~"
The link was aching in the back of her mind, vibrating with barely-surpressed hatred. "~I'll be all right, love,~" she murmured, although she wasn't entirely sure about that. "~Come on, let's go visit Nate.~"
