ic Child Psi-cology

[TheAbsurdist]

 

 

He ordered the pizza, and some soda, orange and lemon-lime.  Once that was done, he moved to sit out side, listening to music.  To drown all the voices he heard, though half the time it was more just flashes and feelings, but focusing on something else helped.  Also he didn't want to really bother their efforts, or intrude.  Holly was already upset at them, and Thaelia was already mad, so there was no suprise in all of that, but he didn't want to drive it further along, really.

 

Shaking his head slowly and sighing a little bit.  He felt the car pull up without lifting his head, and slowly he pushed himself up, and paid for the food, it was a little over what the Clines had left, but he had some cash, so it wasn't a huge issue.  Pizza was expensive.  Then he was pushing open the door, and setting it on the dining room table.  "Pizza is here!"

[Brown Dynamite]

"We shall emerge shortly"  Thaelia called out to Errant.  Not that she needed to yell.  He could probably hear her if she thought out her response.  Yelling just felt more natural.  "Violence is wonderful.  A simple solution to many simple problems.  Sadly, little one, a hero cannot solve everything with punching.  Knowing when to rely on discourse separates a warrior from a thug."  Thaelia smiled before she acted as the little girl's staff.

The Atlantean princess also appreciated having staff on hand.  There was something to be said about the value of had day's work.  Didn't mean perks of position weren't great still.  Applying the foundation and setting powder as best she could.  Thaelia exhaled before looking around.  "Now the eyes."

It happened quickly her hands shot out for a nude eyeshadow.  The color wasn't a perfect match, but it was fine for setting the base.  Rubbing a line over Holly's eyelid her hands lingered as the process was resumed with a powdered eyeshadow.  It was clear that the girl would prefer a splash of color, but the next layer would be another light tone of eyeshadow to be blended in with the nude eyeshadow base.  If there was something with sparkles or glitter Thaelia would readily use that.

[Electra]

"That's boring," Holly said, and for a moment it was unclear if she meant the eyeshadow or Thaelia's philosophy. She leaned over the counter and found a compact full of a dozen eyeshadows in different shades, most of which had seen little use. Paige, it seemed, generally went for a subtle color palette with her cosmetics. Holly had no such compunctions, selecting the darkest purple eyeshadow and applying it herself, quite liberally, from the edge of her eyelid to just below her eyebrow. She had some concept of shading, lightening the color as she went up, but the effect was still rather startling. "I can't use the eyeliner," she admitted with some disgust, "it makes me all teary. Mom says when I'm older." She huffed at the indignity, then began adding blusher to her cheekbones. "Would you get in trouble if you punched the girl who lied to you about Elias?" 

[TheAbsurdist]

 

There was a point where Elias could hold it in.  That point kept getting broached again and again, and while it was Holly and as such he could modify what he was saying, there was still some annoyances.  He was, however, a bit better trained under the rule of paranoia, and he moved back to the bathroom, knocking on the door.  A short, curt knock.  And then he opened the door.

"Please understand this with the bald faced intent it was intended.  Holly, she spoke with my mother.  Who is a mercenary and assassin, she commonly is known as Cattevaria.  She is willing to lie to achieve her ends, whether they are good or bad.  She is willing to harm and to kill.  Had Thaelia tried to punch her, it would have been a fight, and she would have tried to kill Thaelia.  Her touch is toxic, and she has no qualms about using it.  I know this quite well.  Though I can't say if she could readily beat Thaelia. "

And then his attention shifted to the Atlantean, "You are a risk up close, she'd prefer to hit you from range.  If at all possible, she liked a sniper rifle, or an anti-tank gun that uses depleted uranium shells.  In close she would take advantage that you tend to use a lot of circular movements in your fighting, so she'd to to get in and use short strikes.  Even let you grab her.  But you'd hit too hard for her to really prefer getting hand to hand."

Another pause, "Do hurry up, you don't want the pizza to get cold."  And then he ducked back from the door, letting it close behind him as he walked back to the kitchen making them plates, and glasses to drink, with ice.

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia examined the damage that occurred when Holly took the helm.  It was a pretty shocking sight.  And Thaelia had seen some pretty freaky sights in her young life to compare.  The only thing more shocking was Errant's sudden interruption.  For a second the princess almost jumped.

"Yes well there you have it.  Between you and I, the Daughter of the Seas would have bested her in combat."  Thaealia replied with a wink before confidently smiling.  Quite certain that Errant could hear her as she made no motion to lower her voice.  Past her overconfidence she did take note of the relevant information Errant shared.  Not quite positive if it would ever amount to more than just information sitting in the back of her head.

Venom.  Fitting for she who spins serpent's tales.  The Atlantean was technically reminding herself not to take anything Elias mom said at face value.  Including her supposed effect on him.  He certainly didn't seem to be lacking in focus as it were.  She gave Holly another look.  Thaelia had been working on the memory of other people putting makeup on her.  The princess had absolutely no muscle memory for fixing what was in front of her.

So she told the truth.  Thaelia may not have been capable of lying even to a child.  But, she was still a diplomat.  Choosing one's words meant the  truth didn't have to be detailed.  "I do not believe you are going to look any better than this with any more time here, dear.  You are a very lovely girl.  Let us replenish our strength with the pizza."

[Electra]

"Ugh, rude much?" Holly shouted through the door, opening it up just to slam it shut again for effect. Some of Elias' sparkle appeared to be wearing off for the young girl. "He just broke, like, three house rules in ten seconds," she informed Thaelia. "Even Will can only do that when he's using super-speed." She folded her arms and pursed her lips, extending a lipstick to Thaelia to enlist her help in applying it. Holly did not seem to think that moderation was a virtue, at least not when it came to a chance at her mother's makeup counter. "We aren't allowed to eavesdrop, we especially aren't allowed to use powers to eavesdrop, and we never walk into the bathroom when somebody has the door closed, cause gross. I guess even older, handsome boys are still just boys," she observed philosophically, heaving a sigh that was world-weary beyond her years. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Elias could shield his mental communication, even enough for the surprisingly powerful Holly to not see.  He caught Thaelia's efforts.  'Possibly.  She might have told you the truth.  She and I come from places where the cleanly divided lines aren't so clear.  But the best liar knows you have to be mostly honest.'  It was not such an easy, or simple thing, really, but that was all he could go on when he spoke to her.  He was reining himself in, hard.  She hadn't told him anything, and he hated probing other's minds, even the surface stuff, given his memory it was... more complicated.  And so he whatever communication he had with Thaelia it was stiff, overly formal in the mental arena, like he had an arm in front of him keeping a sort of distance between them.

Of course, he wasn't going to say how much noticed of Holly's looks at him, or any of that.  He had learned omission was better than outright lying years ago.  His mother taught him that.  As did living in New Freedom.

[Brown Dynamite]

"Boys are boys.  Regardless of species.  Even the gods cannot change that truth."  Thaelia jokingly confirmed while listening to Elias' mental response.  A small smile forming on her face.  Bemused by the seriousness of his consolation despite having just comically busted into the bathroom.  Appreciating the absolute lack of shame.

Not that he didn't have a mental warning system, nor did they have any reason for being indecent.  But, still most would have stopped with simply by virtue of the knowledge of the girl's current location.  He was odd.  In the best way some times.  "Yet...they are not all bad.  Come let us partake in the enjoyment of pizza."

[Electra]

With another small harumph, Holly spritzed her wrists with perfume and rubbed them together before departing the bathroom with her painted face tilted high enough to put her pug nose in the air. She looked more than a little comical, but somehow managed to move with great gravitas as she headed for the pizza and took a large slice for herself. Seating herself opposite Errant at the table, she began eating in small, quick bites and staring at him, obviously waiting for something. Waiting, her mind nearly shouted into his brain, for an apology for rude behavior. The first piece of pizza was disappearing at a prodigious rate. 

[TheAbsurdist]

 

Elias had made them plates, o their pizzas, but he hadn't gotten himself one, he did have a glass of water, and that was it.  IN fact he had his back to a wall, basically watching them eat.  He arched a brow, artfully as he looked back at her.  "I wasn't raised with the same boundaries.  And there was no door on the bathroom, when I did actually have a place with indoor plumbing..  I am not sorry, o tell you otherwise would be for me to lie to you Holly.  Though if it would make you feel better I can do just that."  Moving to the table he set his glass down, and then slowly eased back to the wall, and he folded his arms across his chest as he looked at her, and glanced to Thaelia.  He made no move to get himself food, at all, and it was clear he had not eaten a piece waiting for them.

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia reached for her plate.  But, not before serving an overeager helping on a separate plate for Errant.  She didn't know if he was hungry or not.  But, it wasn't as if he would tell them either.  So she simply left a plate waiting for him and glanced at him.  Before, devouring her first slice of pizza with ample speed.

If there was any area in which Thaelia could be considered unladylike.  It was in her devouring of food.  She wasn't a messy eater by any means.  And there wasn't any hints of talking with her mouth full.  But, the way she simply sat there and wolfed it down was like a woman possessed.  Like a competitive eater in the midst of practice for an upcoming tournament.  Not a second's hesitation.  

She listened to the back and forth between Elias and Holly.  A small smile on her face.  Indoor plumbing was so much simpler on the surface.

[Electra]

"I bet they teach you at school not to go in the bathroom if somebody's got the door closed," Holly commented archly, picking pineapple off her pizza to eat separately. "Anyway, you're supposed to say you're sorry even if you don't feel sorry, cause that's how people know you understand you did something wrong. Otherwise they have to keep telling you and telling you and telling you about it." She gave a longsuffering sigh. "Anyway, you still know it's wrong to listen to what other people say in private, because you got mad at me when I did it to you in your head at your school. So if you're not sorry about that, it makes you a hibblecrit." 

[TheAbsurdist]

He looked from to Holly and to Holly and he frowned a little bit.  "Thank you Thaelia, but I don't eat in front of people."  With that stated, he focused on the girl, and he unfolded his arms, letting them fall to his sides, and he was trying to not respond as he wanted, or more accurately, as he would nominally respond.

"They assume people my age don't need it.  Like I said, I didn't grow up with doors on most bathrooms, most of my life I dug holes to use them, but then I learned to butcher an animal properly before I learned to read.  I do not have similar experiences.  So I am not sorry for what I did, because I don't see it as wrong.  But, I did not mean to upset you."  He sighed softly, as this took effort for him, despite being an empath, he tended to be thoughtless with the feelings of others, because they... got in the way.

"Hypocrite.  That is the word you were looking for.  I am not.  I was not mad at what you did, I was surprised.  I doubt you will ever see my anger, and I truly hope you never do.  It is an ugly thing."  Of course Thaelia had seen it, she had even felt it, like an icy fire prickling over her senses when he had choked out the men who had tried kidnap her.

 

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia rubbed the bridge of her nose before doubling up for her second helping.  She, wouldn't call herself a social expert.  Atlantean culture wasn't exactly in line with what the surface considered  modern society for the most part.  Though, after three years she knew at least some of the social norms.  Enough to at least know to apologize for a faux pas, even if she didn't quite understand why some of those things were taboo to begin with.

She could appreciate Elias' honesty.  But, boy could he put his foot in his mouth even better than even Thaelia could.  The mental gymnastics it took to avoid saying the words 'I'm sorry' were nothing short of impressive.  "I shall ask for pardon on Elias' behalf.  As a royal, it would be unbecoming if the company I keep gained a reputation for making young ladies upset."

[TheAbsurdist]

 

And without realizing it Thaelia did anger Elias right there, as she felt him staring holes into the back of her head before he quickly responded.  "Thank you Thaelia."  He demurred, and then he frowned still and he looked at Holly.

"I am sorry to have upset you, I didn't mean to.""  It was as monotone as anything else he said, and he moved in, to sweep up his glass and finish it, before he walked away.  Going outside to sit on the stoop outside, perching himself so that his back was against the wall, and he put on his headphones.  Thoroughly done with today.  This was a mistake, he knew it, somehow he felt obligated to help, not because of Thaelia, he liked the Clines, genuinely.  But... he was bad at this, it sapped at energy he didn't have.  And with the music turned up, he could sit there, and start to focus.  It'd be over soon.  Thaelia would be back among her people, and he'd be... wherever he was ending up.  Probably deported..  Whether she realized it or not, and likely not, she had confirmed something he had worried over, so he started to dissect his feelings towards her, after all he hadn't told her, or communicated it to her, so it was his fault, or really his intention to make sure there was no progression.

Now?  Now he could focus the energy to picking apart his feelings, dissecting them.  Sterilize, and then ultimately reject them.  After all it was just a hormone fueled teen attraction.  That was it.   He could almost laugh.

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia watched as Elias walked away.  Retreating to listen to his music.  Maybe it helped him drown out the outside noises, she wasn't actually clear on how hearing worked with mental stereo.  Obliviously taking all his behavior at face value.  A monotone response wasn't unusual from Elias.  Nor was leaving without a stating as such.

She couldn't shake an odd feeling she got from him before he responded.  But, Thaelia, wasn't about to pry.  Prying led to passions running hot and fighting when it came to them for some reason.  And they had made a promise to the girl.  So she shrugged and resumed eating her pizza.  Assuming everything was as copacetic as could be.

[Electra]

"He's mad at you," Holly told Thaelia helpfully, then immediately defended herself, "I wasn't spying, he was loud! And then he stomped off and everything." She took another bite of her pizza. "He seems like he would be pretty high-maintenance to have as a boyfriend," she told Thaelia. "He's handsome, and he's a telepath like me, but he's not very nice, is he? And he doesn't know, like, basic rules about not being weird to people and he doesn't even care. Gwen says it's better to be the high-maintenance person in the relationship, because then you get to be the one somebody takes care of, instead of having to take care of somebody else. But I dunno, it sounds kinda stupid both ways to me." 

[TheAbsurdist]

 

He blinked, and folded his powers back, blocking everything else out.  Elias let out a breath.  Listening to the hard, fast music, jarring and angular, and it let him focus.  Let him drown everything out, and he quite literally faded off Holly's effective telepathic radar.  She was right, of course, he was high maintenance.  And he was getting needlessly worked up over little quibbles and words and all of that.

Hands pressed over his ears as he sank deeper into the meditative state.

[Brown Dynamite]

"Mad at me, wh-"  Thaelia almost asked why.  But, why talk about someone behind their back.  With Elias right there she was going to address things with him face to face.  "I do not know of such relationship roles.  Yet, my understanding is.  Everyone who cares about one another takes care of each other.  No man or woman is an island."  She didn't address Elias' handsomeness.  He was for the record.  She just wasn't sure how that lined up with niceness.

"If you will excuse me, young lady Cline.  I will attempt to mend what damage I caused now.  We can resume your arithmetic as soon as you are finished eating"  With a slight bow Thaelia stepped out to meet Elias.  Tapping on his shoulder she did spoke without waiting for him to turn down the music.  He could probably hear her one way or the other.

"Are you upset that I spoke for you?  My apology on your behalf was perhaps an ill attempt at humor.  I do stand by the apology.  One must be willing to bend to for their adoring fans."  Thaelia replied.  Hinting that she had at the very least caught on to the fact that someone had a crush.  Albeit not really sure of the full details of Holly's fading feelings.  "If it is because you do not eat in public.  Then pardon, I simply assumed"

[TheAbsurdist]

 

He didn't hear her, he did feel her.  It was something he rarely talked, that sense.  What did used to describe it... telehaptic?  He lifted his head and pulled the earphones off of his head, and just how tired Elias looked was noticeable, even as he pulled from her.  Touch made it hard for him to not reach out to someone.   Now, he was actively twisting his power about to stop Holly from hearing. "It is better she doesn't find me appealing."  He skirted her upsetting him, which maybe to others might be pointed, ideally Thaelia would skip over it.  "I mean, I don't eat in front of people because of lessons."  He laughed a little bit, though it was a wry, bitter sound.  "You are vulnerable, so I learned to not do that......"  There was a pause, and his eyes slide away from her, staring off as the memory came back as sharply...

He blinked and shook his head.  "I'm losing control, that's all.  It's my fault.  I shouldn't let it slip."

[Brown Dynamite]

"I see.  But, perhaps it is better to be vulnerable sometimes?  A sign of trust.  We are not in a life or death situation.  I do not have to worry about Atlantean barbarians or Deep Ones sieging the neighborhood.  You have not been attacked by your father or anyone from New Freedom that I know of.  The food does not seemed to be poisoned."  Thaelia smiled.  "Consider allowing room for vulnerability.  We cannot armor ourselves from everyone."

Thaelia leaned forward looking Elias in the face after he finished shaking her head.  "You have her eyes.  I do not know the rigors you face in your powers.  But, Elias you may be harder on yourself than need be."  Pulling back she stretched her arms into the air.  Looking up pensively for a moment.  Remembering something Thetis once told her.  "One person's adoration is beyond comprehension.  Whether for the best or worst.  Her feelings are likely blind to such concepts.  Her appeal in you simply is.  Do not concern yourself in whether it is a good or bad thing for her."   

[TheAbsurdist]

"Experience... experience informs you.  Builds the foundation for how you see the world..."  He started, and he leaned back when she leaned closer.  There was a moment of eye contact, and then he closed his, and licked his lips nervously, that distance, monotonous indifference was there.  Though now it wasn't holding so much.

"I can't...  It..."  He couldn't readily articulate it, though he let out a slow breath as she leaned back, tension leaving him, a little but he was cornered.  Whether she knew it or not.  "It isn't.  It isn't beyond comprehension.  I have to be in control.  I can touch the mind, the thoughts, and the emotions of others, you know that.  But... I can't forget.  Every piece is there, in my mind.  All the context... all the..."  He stopped, and turned his head, looking at the house across the street.

"My...  There are things I don't share with you because I do not want to feel your pity, there are things to share because it is hard to articulate.  I can remember every moment of my waking life, or near enough it doesn't matter.  I can remember everything I feel from others, enough that... I have to fight to keep my sense of self...  That when I use my powers to stop someone I can feel their pain, their confusion, and it stays in there... forever.  And if I can't control my emotions, myself, then I can just reach out with my power and... do things.  That Claremont has me in classes to point out all the ethical and moral implications of my powers.  That... somehow I am monster..."

"I am as hard on myself as everyone demands of me.  I am as hard on myself as I need to be."  There were unsaid parts, that he knew what the use of his powers, unfettered, looked like.  He remembered, with clarity.  Pushing himself to his feet.  "I know the weight and depth of adoration.  Without my powers I see, I feel all the little hints people give about themselves... It's... easy to learn once you know what's going on inside of people's heads..."  At that there was a ghost of a smile as he ducked his head.

[Brown Dynamite]

"I cannot argue with the logic that experience informs."  Thaelia replied  "Though I cannot say if being informed is the same thing as understanding.  We see the world through different lenses in that regard.  Nor do I pretend to understand the burden of your gift."

Thaelia scratched her head as she tried a simple approach at the overcomplicated philosophical and moral implications that society had taxed upon Elias' powers.  "Have you ever heard the tale of Medusa?  If so I am curious which version did you learn.  The original, in which Medussa and her sisters were born Gorgons.  Or was it the later version, in which a goddess punished not only Medusa for a perceived slight but her sisters who were uninvolved for no other reason than being related to Medusa?  Society went from accepting that some are simply born monsters to needing an outside force to blame."

The Atlantean princess shrugged.  "Surely the niece of a foe who once brought the Freedom League together under a united banner can too lay claim to the title of monster as well."  Thaelia didn't have an intimate familiarity with how fragile a psyche could be.  But, the surface world was an exercise on walking on eggshells. Everything needed a delicate touch.  Especially people.

"I shall simply strive to be a monster worth adoring and fearing."    Thaelia beamed at Elias.  Almost positive she had caught a smile from the ever stoic mind reader before he ducked his head moments before.

Edited May 30, 2015 by HG Morrison

[TheAbsurdist]

A frown on his mouth now.  "I am not... graceful with my words.  I can't seem to get the right ones out, or I can't seem to get across what I want to.  I..."  He made an exasperated noise in his throat.  "I am not of this world, the same as you."  He lifted his head and his eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze to hers.  "It... it isn't a burden, it is just...  It is hard for me to create acceptance with someone, I can understand them, I can understand their world... but getting the other way is hard...it..."  His frustration at this was palpable...  "The story ends the same Thaelia."  He never really said her name all that often.  Or really anyone's.  "It ends the same."

A beat, and then he almost seemed to snarl, as he looked away.  "This is why I hate John Hughes!  This is why Breakfast Club is filled with lies."  It was a strange notion to outburst on, but then Elias seemed to have a barely contained seething hate on for pop culture.  "What I did to those Atlanteans on the beach... I knew what I was doing because I felt it.  I felt the pain, the fear, all of it.  I could feel it when you hit them.  I knew what they wanted from that attack...  And they hurt you, and..."  His voice dipped low as he said the last part, "...that made me angry."

"I remember everything, and I have seen the depths of what a person can do to another person.  I know what it feels like to be the victim and the victimizer.   All of my instincts were burned and beaten into me.  But... I know the cost, I know what abuse of a power like mine can do.  My father would bring me along to his interrogations..."  He trailed off again, staring into space, or so it seemed.  It was the memory, or memories, it was vivid, and then he tore his eyes away from that point in space, and he shook his head.  "I knew what they were going to do.  I knew why they were going to do it.  And I changed the ending of the story."

[Brown Dynamite]

She would have hugged Elias in that moment.  If not for the fact that his mother already had such a largely negative reaction to being hugged.  His family was apparently not big on physical contact.  Granted from what she just heard it was easy to reason any physical reinforcement he had growing up was of the negative variety.

"Then you changed the ending."  Thaelia repeated in agreement.  A slight nod was all she could really offer.  Anything else would come out as pity.  An emotion Elias was explicit he did not want shown towards him. Acceptance.  So instead she pushed the front door wide open.  "I much prefer your ending.  Now, I believe there is a meal waiting."

Before turning to step inside a question escaped her mouth with urgency.  "Who is John Hughes?"  Daphne may have made great strides in updating the Atlantean's lack of pop culture awareness.  But, there was only so much info one media addicted Grue could unload into Thaelia's head.  Especially if the movies had a decided lack of dramatic explosions.